News for today's 2018

<br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NqByj5o7kJgpeBA08yEKbKibGYEMzfItRTfLiHGbA2Ybax_yvbR9C5Ldj9rWoBbvtJZum2p0cCySg1IU0vTlwIYNO0oxOmMmMfDcgAHibD50ff-Fqi8TIAdI2q94PibXkia6smFT5QDQ/s1600/ilv4V6ZmBeEI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NqByj5o7kJgpeBA08yEKbKibGYEMzfItRTfLiHGbA2Ybax_yvbR9C5Ldj9rWoBbvtJZum2p0cCySg1IU0vTlwIYNO0oxOmMmMfDcgAHibD50ff-Fqi8TIAdI2q94PibXkia6smFT5QDQ/s320/ilv4V6ZmBeEI.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UN Chemical Weapons Inspection Team in Damascus</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 653px;"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">  <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 489.5pt;" width="653"><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">  </span></b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">WHO REALLY USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS, THAT IS THE QUESTION </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYRIAN   opposition figures based in Istanbul, TURKEY, have claimed that up to 1,400   people have been killed in chemical weapons attacks</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">!!!</span></span></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Could it be that the BRITISH and FRENCH stance and eagerness of military action in SYRIA  is because </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">that the two are former  imperialist, colonialist powers in that region, thus resurrecting colonial ambitions and   distant memories of the</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> SYKES–PICOT AGREEMENT?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(See: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement</a>)</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="watch-title  yt-uix-expander-head" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Chemical Weapons False Flag Against Syria Update">Chemical Weapons False Flag Against Syria?</span></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DbMdll58lis?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This video clip was posted on YouTube April 2012</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">  </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  The coincidence couldn't be more telling. No sooner than the UNITED NATIONS chemical   weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus - within 72 hours, in fact - the SYRIAN   opposition figures based in Istanbul, TURKEY, have claimed that up to 1,400   people have been killed in chemical weapons attacks by the government forces   on the outskirts of the SYRIAN capital. <br />  <br />  The media blitzkrieg has been equally stunning - press conferences, video   presentations by opposition activists, "expert opinion" from   Western capitals and instantaneous reactions by western politicians. <br />  <br />  The UNITED STATES, BRITAIN, FRANCE, GERMANY, the EUROPEAN UNION and the ARAB   LEAGUE are among those who have demanded for urgent action. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />  <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The UN Security Council promptly held a closed-door   meeting to consider the allegation against the SYRIAN government.   Unsurprisingly, the SYRIAN government itself has strongly refuted the   allegation calling it a "dirty" media war, which reflected the   "hysteria, disorder and breakdown" of the rebels who have suffered   a string of devastating military defeats in the recent days and weeks. <br />  <br />  <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SWEDISH</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WEAPON INSPECTOR SELLSTROM:</b> <b>IRAQ DÉJÀ VU? </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  What is the game plan? One vital clue lies in the appointment of the SWEDISH   expert Ake Sellstrom as the head of the UN team that landed in Damascus three   days ago. Sellstrom served in the select band of UN weapon inspectors in IRAQ. <br />  Reuters quoted Sellstrom backing the demand that the alleged attacks in   Damascus suburbs should be investigated and he even mooted a plan of action.   Sellstrom suggested, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It [SYRIAN opposition claim]   sounds like something that should be looked into. It will depend on whether   any UN member state goes to the secretary general and says we should look at   this event. We are in place.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PiW4lZnbmBkmiv_Dz7D0L5t9AeFN_QE2B-EUKoIAqWdDqQHOAbwrsUsAmb1nj76ywxQXvN7BZVkO43ibmxfMgWD0a8QwzZREfJmIZZjRm8LBI2IOJn1WvP6uS2JDnCmZ6YQKcU-Vg7Og/s1600/iraq_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PiW4lZnbmBkmiv_Dz7D0L5t9AeFN_QE2B-EUKoIAqWdDqQHOAbwrsUsAmb1nj76ywxQXvN7BZVkO43ibmxfMgWD0a8QwzZREfJmIZZjRm8LBI2IOJn1WvP6uS2JDnCmZ6YQKcU-Vg7Og/s320/iraq_b.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BRITISH Foreign Secretary William   Hague picked up Sellstrom's excellent idea and said, I call on the SYRIAN   government to allow immediate access to the area for the UN team currently   investigating previous allegations of chemical weapons use ... The UK will be   raising this incident at the UN Security Council. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">France concurred within no time.   President Francois Hollande too felt that the allegations "require   verification and confirmation" and Paris would ask the UN to go to the   site "to shed full light" on the allegations. GERMANY nodded in   agreement. <br />  <br />  The TURKISH foreign ministry had a full-fledged statement ready, which said   Ankara is "deeply concerned" and the team of UN inspectors already   in SYRIA "must investigate the allegations in question and present its   findings" to the security council. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KKrkokQIx9g?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Interestingly, the much-awaited statement by the White House in Washington   turned out to be an endorsement of the EUROPEAN-TURKISH demand - stopping   short of confirming the incident but adding it was working to gather   additional information, while demanding, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is today, as we speak, on   the ground in SYRIA, a UNITED NATIONS team with a specialty in investigating   the use of chemical weapons. So, let's give this team the opportunity to   investigate what exactly occurred and get to the bottom of this so that we   can hold accountable those who were responsible. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Indeed, an emergency meeting of   the UN Security Council has taken place in New York. The council did not   explicitly demand a UN investigation but agreed that "clarity" was   needed and welcomed UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon's calls for a prompt   investigation by Sellstrom's team. <br />  <br />  In the words of Ambassador Cristina Perceval of ARGENTINA, currently   president of the Security Council, there is "strong concern among the   Council members" about the allegations, and "a general sense that   there must be clarity on what happened" and that the situation has to be   followed carefully''. <br />  <br />  Meanwhile, Ban's spokesman told journalists in New York that Sellstrom is   already "in discussions with the SYRIAN Government on all issues   pertaining to the alleged use of chemical weapons, including this most recent   reported incident''. <br />  <br />  <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>CAMEL IN BASHAR'S TENT</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  In sum, the UN inspection team which is mandated to be in SYRIA up to 14 days   - as agreed between the SYRIAN government and the UN - "with a possible   extension" to probe the use of alleged use of chemical weapons at Khan   al-Assal and two other undisclosed cites may just be getting an enhanced   mandate. <br />  <br />  If so, it becomes a diplomatic coup of sorts for the Western powers and their   MIDDLE EASTERN allies who have been persistently seeking some form of UN   intervention in SYRIA. <br />  <br />  In essence, Sellstrom may well be on an open-ended mission now since the SYRIAN   opposition will endeavor to make fresh allegations in other places in SYRIA   as well. Most important, Sellstrom may tiptoe at some stage toward the   chemical weapon stockpiles of the Bashar Al-Assad regime. <br />  <br />  Clearly, the camel has entered Bashar's tent. Sellstrom will now begin filing   reports to Ban, which the latter will be obliged to bring to the notice of   the Security Council and that, in turn, could mean the opening of a SYRIAN   file in New York, which the West all along wanted. <br />  <br />  What does it all add up to? Three things emerge. One, the momentum of   stunning successes by the SYRIAN military over the rebels is almost certainly   going to be punctuated. The SYRIAN regime will need to turn attention to the   diplomatic battle that lies ahead. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEY   HAS NOW REALIZED ITS STRATEGIC MISTAKE AND LEFT THE FRONT</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  <br />  The government forces have won successes in key battlefields such as in the   central and coastal regions of Homs and Latakia and the suburbs of Damascus.   General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the influential military aide to IRAN'S Supreme   Leader Ali Khamenei, claimed in Tehran that the "[SYRIAN] terrorists   have been almost defeated from the military perspective." Savafi added, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What   is left is the Geneva 2 conference. On one side there will be the US, ISRAEL,   FRANCE, ENGLAND, TURKEY and some ARAB states, which supported the opposition.   As a result of its domestic issues, TURKEY has now realized its strategic   mistake and left the front. SAUDI ARABIA is dealing with its EGYPT project.   The rest of the front is present but defeated. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />  <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />  </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIA’S   REACTION?</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  But on the other side of this front, there reside RUSSIA, CHINA and IRAN,   which aided SYRIA. Of course, IRAN and the LEBANESE Hezbollah aided SYRIA politically   and internationally as they support restoration of peace, stability and   tranquility to SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Did Safavi speak one day too soon?   Is Iran fully in the loop? Is its triumphalism warranted? The answers will unfold   soon. <br />  <br />  Meanwhile, Moscow is maintaining deafening silence over the latest   allegations on chemical weapons, presumably taken aback by the lightning   speed with which the Western powers and their regional allies got the SYRIAN   file into the agenda of the Security Council. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">TECTONIC   PLATES IN THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST SHOW SOME MOVEMENT</span><br />  </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov had a telephone   conversation with the SAUDI spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud to   "discuss the situation in EGYPT and SYRIA ... [and] the relations   between the two countries''. Bandar is a delightful bag of tricks, and at any   rate, by Wednesday evening, Riyadh sang a different tune, with Foreign   Minister Saud al-Faisal saying, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The UN Security Council should   work out a clear resolution to put an end to the tragedy. We are shocked by   the massacre in SYRIAN cities with the use of chemical weapons, which are   prohibited under international law.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the second thing. The   tectonic plates in the geopolitics of the MIDDLE EAST were beginning to show   some movement in recent weeks over developments in EGYPT. The disharmony   amongst the erstwhile allies who were until recently collaborating over the SYRIA   project was becoming too obvious to be papered over. <br />  <br />  <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TURKEY began openly criticizing the EGYPTIAN   junta and its GULF Cooperation Council (GCC) supporters and taunting the WEST   over its much-vaunted democracy project in the new MIDDLE EAST. QATAR   vanished from the SYRIAN frontline. Washington still wouldn't call the EGYPTIAN   coup by its real name, while the EUROPEAN UNION is dithering on imposing any   embargo on EGYPT, with SAUDI ARABIA threatening to make up for any Western   embargo on EGYPT. </b><br />  <br />  <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>STALLING A RESET </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">But the most sensational part of the   realignment is the nascent proximity between RUSSIA on the one hand and SAUDI   ARABIA and its GCC allies (especially the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) on the other   hand in their shared antipathy toward Muslim Brotherhood. <br />  </b><br />  At the very least, the SYRIAN chemical weapon controversy puts a sudden break   on the incipient moves of a "reset" in the political alignments in   the MIDDLE EAST. The Western powers have circled the wagons and their restive   ARAB allies - SAUDI ARABIA, in particular - are being told to stay put, with   the signal that the SYRIAN project is work in progress. <br />  <br />  <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE HEART OF THE MATTER IS THAT THE   WEST SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD A REGIONAL ASCENDANCE BY RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN</b>.   </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nor is the West comfortable with   the increasingly maverick ways in which its regional allies are behaving. <br />  <br />  Paradoxically, the chemical weapons controversy provides a vital lifeline for   TURKEY'S beleaguered Recep Erdogan to break out of acute isolation over EGYPT.   Erdogan is at his wit's end in coping with the KURDISH problem, which has   been surging lately as the leitmotif of the SYRIAN conflict. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3HUgF79x9IK2GSysqWuZVW4d-qePrGbyz8H-M7tRIPluRofLNZwkVvRU0WUfppBV0eepV1-oRAxZqYFPeQcebkGYxduFEswc5a_8GaIRDGTzE4VOLYK43YRIMdMsQaikZXErSRnIYEvL0/s1600/734px-Kurdish-inhabited_area_by_CIA_%25281992%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3HUgF79x9IK2GSysqWuZVW4d-qePrGbyz8H-M7tRIPluRofLNZwkVvRU0WUfppBV0eepV1-oRAxZqYFPeQcebkGYxduFEswc5a_8GaIRDGTzE4VOLYK43YRIMdMsQaikZXErSRnIYEvL0/s1600/734px-Kurdish-inhabited_area_by_CIA_%25281992%2529.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:   </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">KURDISH EQUATION AND TURKEY</span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/libya-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/libya-syria.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE   KURDISH INDEPENDENCE GAMBLE WITH TURKEY </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TURKEY'S   GAMBLE ON KURDISTAN OIL</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">KURDISH   MARCH TOWARD AUTONOMY GAINS MOMENTUM</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The SYRIAN KURDS have frontally   challenged Ankara's covert nexus with the al-Qaeda affiliates operating in   northeastern SYRIA bordering TURKEY, which puts Erdogan in a tight spot. <br />  <br />  A tantalizing question, however, arises. The EUROPEAN powers - BRITAIN and FRANCE   in particular - and TURKEY are evidently spearheading the latest controversy   over chemical weapons. But how far and how real is the Obama administration's   involvement in it? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Comment by Geopolitical   Analysis and Monitoring:</span></i></b></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUAgEj1qR7eRFvmz9yN5p28Q0-Zyb-MXgPrnpLl6hlSh3Mhhp05tCH1PPtdl9_BZ1X1fbcYB_j6-XA82mSXmalmpYj4p65i4Znn_8aOFz9b7A2rAQuNGFxEXKrizWwXckBXRXjIsvshVE/s1600/MPK1-426_Sykes_Picot_Agreement_Map_signed_8_May_1916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUAgEj1qR7eRFvmz9yN5p28Q0-Zyb-MXgPrnpLl6hlSh3Mhhp05tCH1PPtdl9_BZ1X1fbcYB_j6-XA82mSXmalmpYj4p65i4Znn_8aOFz9b7A2rAQuNGFxEXKrizWwXckBXRXjIsvshVE/s200/MPK1-426_Sykes_Picot_Agreement_Map_signed_8_May_1916.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">SYKES–PICOT AGREEMENT</span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Could it be that the   BRITISH and FRENCH stance on SYRIA and use of Chemical Weapons is all about   the resurrection of colonial ambitions and distant memories of the </span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">SYKES–PICOT AGREEMENT? (See:</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement</a>)</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of   Staff, General Martin Dempsey, went on record that the Obama administration   is opposed to even limited military intervention in SYRIA because it believes   that the rebels fighting the Assad regime wouldn't support AMERICAN interests   if they were to seize power right now. <br />  </b><br />  He wrote with brutal frankness in a formal letter addressed to US Congressman   Eliot Engel (Democrat - New York), </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYRIA today is not about choosing   between two sides but rather about choosing one among many sides. It is my   belief that the side we choose must be ready to promote their interests and   ours when the balance shifts in their favor. Today, they are not. <br />  <br />  It is a deeply rooted, long-term conflict among multiple factions, and   violent struggles for power will continue after Assad's rule ends. We should   evaluate the effectiveness of limited military options in this context. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Comment by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Worthwhile to mention is that the SYRIAN conflict will most   probably continue for some time, similar to the civil war in LEBANON, which   lasted 15 years.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />  <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The use of US military force can   change the military balance. But it cannot resolve the underlying and   historic ethnic, religious and tribal issues that are fueling this conflict. </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dempsey concluded that the Obama   administration is on course with its current policy of focusing on   humanitarian assistance and bolstering the moderate opposition in SYRIA,   since such an approach "represents the best framework for an effective   US strategy toward SYRIA''. <br />  <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />  <span style="color: #cc0000;">SYRIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONTROVERSY OPENS AN EXIT DOOR OF SORTS FOR THE   WESTERN POWERS (AND TURKEY) IN SYRIA</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />  <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />  </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All in all, therefore, the   chemical weapons controversy opens an exit door of sorts for the western   powers (and TURKEY) in SYRIA. The western powers have been dodging the issue   of arming the SYRIAN rebels after making verbal pledges while Assad's forces   have been gradually gaining the upper hand militarily. <br />  <br />  The SYRIAN opposition is in a mess and EGYPT'S strongman General Abdel Fatteh   el-Sisi told its leaders who were based in Cairo to get lost. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">On the other hand, the Brotherhood, which   dominated the SYRIAN opposition, is under heavy SAUDI artillery fire all   across the region</b>. <br />  <br />  In sum, the compass of the "regime change" project in SYRIA has   shifted in favor of the Salafists. Besides, these are still early days in   Egypt and what happens on the Nile banks would ultimately rewrite Middle   eastern politics. In the present situation, Assad will negotiate from a   position of unassailable strength at the "Geneva 2" negotiating   table, which is untenable. <br />  <br />  This is where the chemical weapons controversy and the opening of a SYRIAN   file at the UN Security Council offers a breather to break the momentum of   Assad's army and the swagger of the Hezbollah and IRAN and end the look of   smug satisfaction on the RUSSIAN face. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SELLSTROM   DOES NOT EVEN HAVE A MANDATE TO NAME THE PARTY RESPONSIBLE</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">.</span><br />  <br />  Is this a prelude to an IRAQ-like scenario? The chancelleries in Moscow,   Tehran and Beijing will be assessing. No doubt, Sellstrom is tiptoeing   dangerously close toward Bashar's WMD stockpiles, something, which the US   (and ISRAEL) always wanted to fasten. <br />  <br />  The only task assigned to weapon inspector Sellstrom when he landed in   Damascus three days ago with his team was to inspect three specific sites to   determine whether chemical weapons were used in SYRIA. He didn't have a   mandate even to name the party responsible. <br />  <br />  Now, all that is history. The plain truth is that Sellstrom's footfalls are   beginning to echo in the memory. One could visualize Sellstrom going down the   passage towards the door "we never opened into the rose-garden''. <br />  <br />  Maybe, as T. S. Eliot wrote, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"But to what purpose<br />  Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves<br />  I do not know."</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But we know that what was an   abstraction until the dawn broke on Wednesday is becoming a perpetual   possibility in today's world of speculation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By M K Bhadrakumar </span></div></td> </tr></tbody></table>

SYRIAN MEDIA BLITZKRIEG

UN Chemical Weapons Inspection Team in Damascus WHO REALLY USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS, THAT IS THE QUESTION SYRIAN opposition figures bas...

SYRIAN MEDIA BLITZKRIEG

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