Stop NATO news: November 28, 2011

====

Russia To Hold Talks In China, Iran On Global NATO-U.S. Missile Shield

NATO Attack: Pakistan On The Boil

Pakistan Buries Soldiers; U.S., NATO Flags, Obama Effigy Burned

Pakistan To Completely Review Relations With U.S., NATO

Pakistan: Several Thousand Protesters Surround U.S. Consulate In Karachi

Hundreds Of NATO Containers Blocked At Crossing Points

NATO Supply Line Has Been Cut Permanently: Interior Minister

Government: 83 Percent Of Pakistanis Killed In Drone Strikes Innocent Civilians

U.S. Drone Strike Kills At Least 39 In Somalia

Russia Could Cut U.S.-NATO Afghan War Transit Over Missiles

Putin Warns West Against Interfering In Russian Election

Dark Clouds Of War Shroud Syria

France Says Assad’s Days Numbered, Russia To Deploy Warships

Video And Text. Mideast Regime Change: 21st Century Energy Strategy

NATO Soldiers Wounded In Clash With Serb Protesters

Chicago NATO Summit To Boost Georgia’s Accession Bid

====

Russia To Hold Talks In China, Iran On Global NATO-U.S. Missile Shield

http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/1962755.html

Trend News Agency
Nobember 28, 2011

Russian rep to NATO to hold global missile defense talks in China and Iran

Permanent Representative of Russia to NATO Dmitry Rogozin plans to visit China and Iran in the middle of January to discuss problem of deploying the global missile defense system, RIA Novosti reported.

“On behalf of the president’s instructions, we plan to visit Beijing and Tehran, to discuss the issues related to the promotion plan for a global missile defense,” said Rogozin during a round table in the State Duma on Monday.

In China, meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs and authorities of the General staff are scheduled, and in Iran with the Secretary of National Security Council, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In October, Moscow’s NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said Russian talks with the United States on missile defense had hit a dead end.

The Kremlin says the U.S. expansion of an anti-missile system in Europe is a potential threat to Russia’s nuclear arsenal, while Washington has been trying to convince Moscow that the system poses no threat to Russia and is needed to protect against missiles that could be fired from countries with smaller arsenals such as Iran.

The missile shield dispute between Russia and the United States has undermined efforts to build on improvements in relations between the former Cold War foes and is intensified by Russia’s uncertainty of U.S. policy after the November 2012 presidential elections.

Edited by: S. Isayev

———————————————————————————————

http://en.rian.ru/world/20111128/169117562.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
November 28, 2011

Russia’s NATO envoy to visit China, Iran over missile defense

MOSCOW: Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin will visit China and Iran in mid-January to discuss a U.S.-backed global missile defense network.

“We are planning to visit both Beijing and Tehran soon under the Russian president’s directive, to discuss the planned deployment of a global missile defense network,” Rogozin said during a roundtable meeting at the lower house of the Russian parliament.

Rogozin said he would meet with Foreign Ministry and General Staff officials in China, and hold talks with the head of the Supreme National Security Council and diplomats in Iran.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev outlined on Wednesday a series of possible “appropriate measures” if missile defense talks between Moscow and Washington result in failure, including the deployment of “advanced offensive weapon systems” targeting the European component of the missile defense network.

Russia and NATO tentatively agreed to cooperate on the European missile defense network at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010 but differences in approaches toward the project led to a deadlock in negotiations.

The Kremlin says the U.S. expanding anti-missile system in Europe is a potential threat to the Russian nuclear arsenal, while Washington is trying to convince Moscow that the system poses no threat to Russia, that it is needed to protect against attack from “rogue states” such as Iran.

Rogozin called the U.S. proposals to jointly monitor missile threats over Europe and to allow Russian experts to take part in the first tests of the global missile shield next spring as “absurd” on Monday.

“It looks more like propaganda than a serious proposal…Our specialists might have been interested in monitoring the tests if they could use telemetric equipment but Washington will not allow that,” he said.

“They said our experts could look through binoculars from some sort of a barge from a long distance…We have a planetarium in Moscow and it is very exiting to watch the stars there, so they might well have invited us to visit this planetarium,” Rogozin quipped.

The United States and NATO plan to place elements of the proposed global missile shield in Poland, Romania and Turkey.

Moscow is seeking written, legally-binding guarantees that the shield will not be directed against it but Washington has refused to put its verbal assurances in writing.

====

NATO Attack: Pakistan On The Boil

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2665908.ece

The Hindu
November 27, 2011

NATO attack: Pakistan on the boil
By Anita Joshua

The helicopter attack on Pakistan Army border posts in Mohmand tribal agency could further strain the already tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul that ran into rough weather in September following the assassination of Afghan High Peace Council chairman Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Islamabad on Sunday protested to the Afghan government about the use of its soil by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for attacking Pakistan…

Given that this attack comes in the wake of several cross-border incursions into Pakistan from Afghanistan through the summer despite heavy coalition force presence west of the Durand Line, Pakistan was up in arms and the anger was primarily directed against the U.S.

Protest marches were held in various parts of the country including near the U.S. consulate in Karachi, even as funeral prayers were offered for the 24 soldiers killed in the attack. The combined funeral prayer organised in Peshawar before the bodies were sent to their respective native places was attended by Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the provincial leadership.

Apprehensive of attacks, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad issued an alert asking Americans to be vigilant. While the U.S. Embassy maintained it was not aware of any specific threat, employees have been advised to reduce non-essential travel and use “buddy systems” to account for the whereabouts of colleagues. As a matter of caution, the Embassy has asked some of its personnel employed outside Islamabad to return to the federal capital.

With the closure of supply lines for NATO troops in Afghanistan, trucks were lined up at the two border crossing points of Chaman in Balochistan and Torkham in the Khyber agency. The closure is not expected to affect NATO troops drastically as attackson these trucks had forced the U.S. and its allies to shift movement of the bulk of non-military supplies through Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus.

====

Pakistan Buries Soldiers; U.S., NATO Flags, Obama Effigy Burned

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg1_1

Daily Times
Agencies
November 28, 2011

Pakistan buries troops as rage spreads

* Thousands of enraged Pakistanis take to streets across country, burning an effigy of Obama and setting fire to US, NATO flags

* Kayani attends troops’ funeral prayer in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Pakistan on Sunday buried 24 troops killed in a NATO cross-border air attack that has pushed a crisis in relations between the United States and an ally it needs to fight militancy towards rupture.

Television stations showed the coffins of the soldiers draped in national flags in a prayer ceremony at the Corp Headquarters in Peshawar attended by Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani. Pakistan shut down NATO supply routes into Afghanistan – used for sending in nearly half of the alliance’s land shipments – in retaliation for the worst such attack since Islamabad uneasily allied itself with Washington following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

About 500 members of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) staged a protest in Mohmand tribal area, where the NATO attack took place. “Down with America” and “Jihad is The Only Answer to America”, they yelled. In Karachi, the port city used by the US to ship supplies to troops fighting in Afghanistan, thousands gathered outside the US consulate. They shouted: “down with America, stay away Americans, Pakistan is ours, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our army”, while riot police were deployed near the consulate. Outside the press club in Karachi, dozens of political activists burnt an effigy of President Obama.

In the central city of Multan, more than 300 activists loyal to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as local traders took to the streets, burning US and NATO flags. They carried placards and banners, and shouted: “down with America,” “down with NATO,” “Yankees go back”, “vacate Afghanistan and Pakistan” and “stop drone attacks”. Speaking at the rally, opposition lawmaker Javed Hashmi demanded that the government end its alliance in the US-led “war on terror”.

In Islamabad, at least 200 activists of the JI held a rally. “We strongly condemn the attack and the killing of our soldiers,” local JI chief Mian Aslam told the rally, as protesters chanted “Pakistan is America’s graveyard.”

In Karachi, dozens of truck drivers who should have been transporting supplies to Afghanistan were idle. Taj Malli braves the threat of Taliban attacks to deliver supplies to Afghanistan so that he can support his children. But he thinks it is time to block the route permanently in protest. “Pakistan is more important than money. The government must stop all supplies to NATO so that they realise the importance of Pakistan,” he said.

Pakistan is reviewing whether it will go ahead with plans to attend a major international conference in Bonn next month on the future of Afghanistan in light of the NATO attack. Around 40 troops were stationed at the outposts at the time of the attack, military sources said. “They without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep,” said a senior Pakistani officer.

====

Pakistan To Completely Review Relations With U.S., NATO

http://rt.com/news/nato-attack-pakistan-us-305/

RT
November 27, 2011

Pakistan to ‘completely review’ ties with US

Pakistan says it is reviewing its relations with the US and NATO and has taken “urgent action” after a NATO attack on Friday killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. A key Afghan border has been sealed and the US ordered to quit an air-base in the country.

NATO helicopters allegedly fired on a checkpoint in northwest Pakistan’s Mohmand tribal area near the Afghan border.

The decision to review relations was taken at an urgent meeting of Pakistan’s government defense committee with the participation of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and top military and government leaders.

In a statement, officials said “the government will revisit and undertake a complete review of all programs, activities and co-operative arrangements with US/NATO/ISAF, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence.”

Islamabad condemned what it called an “unprovoked attack” by NATO helicopters. The statement called for “strong and urgent action against those responsible for this aggression.”

…

Pakistan has cut a key NATO supply route to Afghanistan in the wake of the strike. Islamabad has also demanded that the US Air Force abandon Shamsi military airbase in Belujistan within 15 days in an official memorandum of the defense committee headed by Pakistan’s prime minister. 

Pakistani truck drivers carrying supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan say they are now worried about militant attacks following the border closure.

Nearly 300 trucks were stranded at the country’s two Afghan border crossings on Sunday after Islamabad decided to block the coalition’s supplies. Drivers say they hardly slept all night, fearing possible attacks. Suspected militants destroyed about 150 trucks a year ago after Pakistan closed the Torkham crossing for about 10 days following a similar incident.

The 24 soldiers killed in the assault were buried on Sunday, with a prayer ceremony for the deceased at the headquarters of the regional command in Peshawar being televised. The coffins were draped in green and white Pakistani flags. Two officers were reported to be among the dead.

About 500 members of Jamaat-e-Islami – Pakistan’s most influential religious party – staged a protest, yelling “Down with America” and “Jihad is the only answer to America”, Reuters reports. The rally took place in the Mohmand tribal area where the attack occurred.

“They attacked our post and killed soldiers while they were asleep without any reason,” a senior Pakistani officer told Reuters.

Around 40 troops were stationed at the outposts at the time of the attack, military sources said.

====

Pakistan: Several Thousand Protesters Surround U.S. Consulate In Karachi

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/27/61119020.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
November 27, 2011

Pakistanis angered by US attack on border checkpoint

Several thousand Pakistanis have staged a rally near the US consulate in Karachi, a port city in the country’s south.

They were protesting against the recent attack of US helicopters on a Pakistani checkpoint on the border with Afghanistan, as a result of which 24 Pakistani servicemen were killed.

The crowd surrounded the consulate and chanted anti-US slogans.

…

The shelling of the checkpoint caused a tough reaction from Pakistani authorities, which have threatened to review Pakistan’s plans of cooperation with the US and NATO.

====

Hundreds Of NATO Containers Blocked At Crossing Points

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg1_7

Daily Times
November 28, 2011

Hundreds of NATO containers blocked at Torkham, Chaman

TORKHAM/CHAMAN: Long queues of NATO supply tankers have been formed on the Torkham and Quetta-Chaman highways as Pakistan closed the crossing points for NATO supplies after helicopter attacks in Mohmand Agency on Saturday.

According to reports, NATO supply containers entering from Punjab were stopped at Nowshera and all clearance points were sealed.

After the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Defence, all the routes for NATO supply have been closed for the supply vehicles. Owners of the containers have been directed to take them to secure points.

Hundreds of containers were also parked at the Chaman crossing point and heavy contingents of police and FC have been deployed there for security purposes.

====

NATO Supply Line Has Been Cut Permanently: Interior Minister

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=10583&Cat=13

News International
November 28, 2011

Supply line permanently stopped: Malik
Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday said the Nato supply line had not been suspended but permanently stopped, making it clear that containers that had been stopped would not be allowed to cross the Pak-Afghan border.

Talking to the media here at the National Crisis Management Cell of the Ministry of Interior, he strongly condemned the Nato attack on Pakistani forces and said Nato should respect the feelings of the Pakistani nation. The minister said the nation and the government mourned the death of 26 personnel of the Pakistani security forces caused by Nato aggression on the Salala post in Mohmand Agency.

He said the decisions of the Defence Cabinet Committee (DCC) on the Nato attack would be implemented in letter and spirit. “The decisions of the DCC are final and will be implemented,” the minister said. “The democratic government of Pakistan will not take dictation from anyone.”

…

—————————————————————————-

http://ftpapp.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=167031&It\

emid=2

Associated Press of Pakistan
November 27, 2011

NATO supply stopped permanently: Malik

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday said that the supply of NATO has not been suspended rather it has been stopped permanently. Talking to reporters here at National Crisis Management Cell of Ministry of Interior, he strongly condemned the NATO attack on Pakistani forces. “The NATO force should respect the feelings of the Pakistani nation.”

He said the nation and the government were aggrieved on the death of 24 officials of Pakistani security forces in the wake of NATO aggression on Salala post in Mohmand Agency. He said the decisions of the Defence Cabinet Committee (DCC) on the NATO forces attack inside Pakistan would be implemented in letter and spirit. “The decisions of the DCC are final and would be implemented,” he added.

The Minister said that NATO containers which have been stopped would not be allowed to cross the Pak-Afghan border.

Malik said that the democratic government of Pakistan would not take dictation from anyone.

…

====

Government: 83 Percent Of Pakistanis Killed In Drone Strikes Innocent Civilians

http://www.sananews.net/english/2011/11/pak-terms-83-percent-people-killed-during-drone-attacks-in-past-seven-years-%E2%80%98innocent%E2%80%99/

South Asian News Agency
November 25, 2011

Pak terms 83 percent people killed during drone attacks in past seven years ‘innocent’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has termed 83 percent of people killed in US drone attacks in the tribal areas of the country during the past seven years as “innocent”.

…

According to a private TV channel it is revealed from the intelligence sources that most of the drone attacks happened during the era of the present government which are over 200; meanwhile the US has carried out 285 drone attacks in Pakistan so far from 2004 to till this date.

During the current year 72 drone strikes has been carried out and from 2004 nearly 2,780 people has been killed; meanwhile the intelligence institutions in their latest research report said that only 17 percent has been killed during these attacks of those killed were terrorists belonging to al-Qaeda and Taliban.

Most of the people killed in the drone attacks were innocent and include women, children and aged people, and during the current year 46 drone attacks were carried out in North Waziristan Agency, 22 in South Waziristan Agency and two attacks were carried out in FATA and other areas of KPK.

[M]eanwhile the it has also been decided to take up the issue in the United Nations and in this regard the data is being collected and the issue would be raised in front of the UN Human Rights Council.

====

U.S. Drone Strike Kills At Least 39 In Somalia

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=160403

Azeri Press Agency
November 27, 2011

US terror drones kill 39 more in Somalia

Baku: At least 39 people have been killed after US assassination drones launched aerial attacks on southern Somalia near the Indian Ocean coast, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Dozens of others were also injured after the remote-controlled aerial vehicles fired several missiles, Somali tribal elders told Press TV on Saturday evening.

The incident took place on the outskirts of Kismayo, a strategically important port city on the Somali coast located some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the country’s capital Mogadishu.

Somalia is the sixth country where the United States has used assassination drones to launch missile strikes. The US military has also used drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen.

On October 28, Washington admitted to flying the terror aircraft from a base in Ethiopia.

…

The confirmation appeared a day after The Washington Post revealed in a report that the US flies ’armed’ drones from an airfield in Ethiopia’s southern city of Arba Minch.

…

====

Putin Warns West Against Interfering In Russian Election

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111127/169086652.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
November 27, 2011

Putin warns West against interfering in Russia’s votes

-“It would be better if they used this money to pay off their national debt and stop conducting an ineffective and costly foreign policy.”

MOSCOW: Russia’s prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has warned Western powers against meddling in Russia’s forthcoming elections after agreeing to stand for president in March 2012.

Addressing a glitzy congress of the ruling United Russia party on Sunday, Putin said any attempts by “foreign states” to influence Russia’s political process would be “futile.”

Russia will hold a crucial parliamentary vote next week, followed by presidential elections in March next year.

“Representatives of some foreign states” were paying politically-active NGOs in Russia to “influence the course of the election campaign in our country,” Putin said to a roar of approval and applause.

…

“It would be better if they used this money to pay off their national debt and stop conducting an ineffective and costly foreign policy,” he said in a clear reference to the debt-ridden United States.

“It’s a wasted effort, like throwing money to the wind,” he added.

…

====

Russia Could Cut U.S.-NATO Afghan War Transit Over Missiles

http://rt.com/politics/nato-afghanistan-missile-defense-365/

RT
November 28, 2011

Missile defense sparks diplomatic offensive

Russia could review its relations with NATO on the critically-important issue of Afghanistan if it does not react to Moscow’s statements made in response to America’s missile defense plans, Russia’s envoy to the alliance has said.

“If our partners do not react to the statements [which were] predictable and proportionate to risks and threats, we will have to reconsider our relations with our partners in other areas as well,” Dmitry Rogozin said, as cited by Interfax.

Such a review could apply to Russia’s co-operation over the transit corridor used by NATO to move equipment and supplies into Afghanistan. Moscow’s permanent representative to NATO noted that he supports a systematic approach when it comes to addressing the problem.

Earlier last week, President Dmitry Medvedev outlined a raft of military and diplomatic measures in response to the US deploying its missile defense shield in Europe and failing to provide any legal guarantees that the system would not be targeted against Russia.

On Monday, speaking at a roundtable at the State Duma, Rogozin underlined that when it comes to national security, Moscow must think globally, “just as our partners do.”

He stressed that Russia would only be respected if its partners see it as a power that is capable of an adequate response to “any aggressor or group of aggressors.” The diplomat pointed out that the US plans all its military operations based on the concept of a lightning strike. NATO can simultaneously fight two large wars and six medium-scale ones.

“It’s a good question, especially for us, who would be enemies in large wars,” Rogozin noted.

The president of the Council for Strategic Priorities, Aleksey Pushkov, also believes that Russia should review its relations with NATO in the case that the alliance does not react to Moscow’s statements. If the military bloc pushes ahead with its projects despite Russia’s harsh rhetoric, the latter would lose credibility and cease to be taken seriously.

…

Meanwhile, Washington and its NATO allies were only going through the motions of holding a dialogue with Moscow, while pushing ahead with their plans for a European missile defense shield without reference to Russia’s concerns.

Earlier in the day, Dmitry Rogozin met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss preparations for next week’s ministerial session of the Russia-NATO Council, due to be held in Brussels.

Further efforts to reach an agreement on building the missile defense shield close to Russia’s western border will be made at the NATO summit in Chicago next May.

====

Dark Clouds Of War Shroud Syria

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-11/28/c_131274625.htm

Xinhua News Agency
November 28, 2011

Dark clouds of war shrouding Syria
By Li Hongmei

-[U.S.]activities are reminiscent of a similar initiative when a group of NATO vessels were concentrated near Libya. Washington wants to collect a maximum dividend from the series of revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa. With this aim in mind, Washington is likely to start a military intervention even without UN approval…[A] possible encounter between USS George HW Bush and Russia’s Admiral Kuznetsov off the Syrian shores could finally ignite the tinderbox, threatening the already brittle tranquility in the region.
-The Sarkozy administration, having reaped a string of “firsts” in Libya attack, has once again become the first Western nation to suggest an international intervention on the ground in Syria with its calls for a “secure zone to protect civilians”, and first to endorse the exiled opposition Syrian National Council.

BEIJING: In…an unprecedented move against an Arab nation, the Arab League has voted to impose economic sanctions on Syria.

On Sunday, Damascus slammed the sanctions as a betrayal of Arab solidarity and insisted a foreign conspiracy was behind the revolt, all but alluding to more bloodshed could follow.

This has not only sent thousands of pro-government Syrians to street rallying against the sanctions which are interpreted as the clearest sign to leave Syria in the cold and more vulnerable to the outside assault, but has raised fears of civil war – a worst-case scenario in a country that is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East.

Syria borders five countries with whom it shares religious and ethnic minorities. And its web of allegiances extends to Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran’s Shiite theocracy. Chaos in Syria could send unsettling ripples across the region.

As a latest sign of Western intervention, the nuclear aircraft-carrier USS George HW Bush has reportedly anchored off Syria. The ship is capable of carrying up to 70 aircraft, including 48 attack jets. The aircraft-carrier is escorted by a group of vessels which contains a destroyer.

As the deadline set by Arab league to allow observers into the country meets with no response from Damascus, the possibility of a direct military intervention in Syria seems to be augmented.

In this connection, experts are giving both a pessimistic and comparatively moderate prospect of the latest developments near the Syrian sea border. Many believe the U.S. redeployment of its carrier from the Persian Gulf to the Syrian shores is part of preparations for a military operation against Syria.

After all, these activities are reminiscent of a similar initiative when a group of NATO vessels were concentrated near Libya. Washington wants to collect a maximum dividend from the series of revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa. With this aim in mind, Washington is likely to start a military intervention even without UN approval.

…

Meanwhile, whipping-up tension around Syria is taking place along different lines as well. The day before The George Bush was redeployed near the Syrian coastline, the Al-Arabiya Saudi TV channel reported that three Russian Navy ships entered Syrian territorial waters, although the information is as yet to be confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry.

However, Russia has voiced its opposition to any move to target Syria as the next Libya, say, foreign military interventions into the country, with whom Russia would consistently kept arms deals with. There is a Russian naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, which is the only Russian military base abroad at present.

It is also reported that, due to increasing tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, Russia has sent its “Admiral Kuznetsov”, the only aircraft carrier on active duty, and it is now on the way to the…zone off Syria. This also gives rise to some speculations that the possible encounter between USS George HW Bush and Russia’s Admiral Kuznetsov off the Syrian shores could finally ignite the tinderbox, threatening the already brittle tranquility in the region.

It is still a mooted point whether Russia could look back from the plow and come to a halt at the critical juncture.

America and Turkey are urging their citizens to leave Syria. The US released a statement last week urging its citizens to “depart immediately while commercial transportation is available.”

France is urging the creation of a secure zone to protect civilians “that would allow aid groups and observers into Syria” and it is seeking support from the US, UN and the Arab League. The imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria by the Arab League with US logistical support, is also being discussed, according to the Jordan-based Al Bawaba news website. A strong sense of déjà vu prevails, with the specter of a Libyan scenario repeating itself.

Rumors about the no-fly zone over Syria came in the wake of the UN resolution last Tuesday which condemned human rights abuses by the Syrian regime.

The Sarkozy administration, having reaped a string of “firsts” in Libya attack, has once again become the first Western nation to suggest an international intervention on the ground in Syria with its calls for a “secure zone to protect civilians”, and first to endorse the exiled opposition Syrian National Council.

With Libya now in the rearview mirror, Syria appears to be the next stop.

There is already criticism saying the “secure zone” proposal is a French fig leaf, and it could be a pretext for intervention, in an echo of the NATO bombing campaign in Libya. It is might as well taken as an attempt by France to regain some prestige on the international arena.

On this analysis, things would possibly turn out to be that: Bashar al-Assad is irreversibly to go, and a tacit agreement involving all the concerned parties will be finally clinched on the verge of bloodshed or, if al-Assad would never yield to the mounting pressure to step down, Western allies would replicate what they did in Libya, and Russia then would make an about-face from its current standpoint, Syria would be grilled over flames of war, with its people more suffering.

What’s more, once the Syrian regime is overthrown, a Pandora’s box might be opened.

…

====

France Says Assad’s Days Numbered, Russia To Deploy Warships

http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1962676.html

Trend News Agency
November 28, 2011

Assad’s days are numbered, Russia to send warships to Syria in 2012 – French FM

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Monday that time was running out for the regime in Syria as Russia said it will send a flotilla of warships led by its only aircraft carrier to its naval base in Syria for a port call next year, Al Arabiya reported.

A report said Monday that Russia will send a flotilla of warships led by its only aircraft carrier to its naval base in Syria for a port call next year amid tensions with the West over the Syrian crisis. The ships, headed by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, will dock at the little-utilized Russian base in the Syrian port of Tartus in spring 2012, the Izvestia daily said, quoting the Russian navy.

Juppe’s remarks came after the Arab League agreed sweeping sanctions against Damascus over its deadly crackdown on protesters.

“Its days are numbered, that is obvious. It is totally isolated today,” Juppe told France Info radio, while acknowledging that efforts to try to stem the bloodshed in Syria were moving slowly.

“Things are going slowly unfortunately … but they are advancing since the Arab League, which carries considerable political weight, has just decided on some sanctions which will isolate the Syrian regime a bit more.”

He also voiced hope that the idea of humanitarian corridors had not been ruled out for Syria, where well over 3,500 people have been killed since protests erupted in March.

Last week, Juppe said France would ask its EU partners to consider setting up protected escape routes…

“We have done this in other situations and it is the only way in the short term to ease the plight of the population,” he said Monday.

The United Nations said at the weekend that international help was needed to feed 1.5 million people in crisis-torn Syria, but that humanitarian corridors were not yet justified.

====

Video And Text. Mideast Regime Change: 21st Century Energy Strategy

http://rt.com/news/regime-iran-us-oil-347/

RT
November 28, 2011

Regime change: the 21st century energy source

====

Video

====

The US and Europe are to hammer out harsh penalties for Syria and Iran at a joint summit in Washington on Monday, but their objectives are being widely seen as far from democratic.

The summit comes as the US and Europe seek new ways to strengthen their global position, with the two Arab countries proving a tempting source of fortification as hawks call for regime change in one nation and a megaton of discipline in the other.

Observers believe European politicians are joining with the US president in turning tensions around Syria and Iran to economic gain. After all, the decision on whether or not to meddle in a foreign country’s affairs is never entirely selfless. Looking at Iran, for example, a country with vast natural resources, it is not hard to see the benefits of such a venture.

Iran is the world’s third-largest oil exporter. It is second in gas reserves.

And the US is not getting any of the Iranian oil.

Europe, on the other hand, accounts for a significant proportion of Iran’s crude exports.

Despite facing severe energy problems, it has recently stopped buying oil from Syria and might stop buying crude from Iran as well if the EU decides to impose an oil embargo on the Islamic Republic.

But analysts say the West will not be able to do without Egyptian oil for long.

“They would need more oil, more gas, a lower price for oil and gas, a more steady supply,” financial analyst Max Wolff told RT.

How to make it happen?

“What they would like to do is make the population so economically miserable that they would seek to change the regime,” believes Professor Lawrence Davidson, a MidEast expert from West Chester University.

“The second way is to isolate the country from its neighbors to the point where you can safely, without too many complications, go in and simply attack Iran and destroy the regime through destroying the country.”

The US and the EU are trying to press Iran’s biggest trade partner, China, to do less business with Tehran. And the US is now calling on Pakistan to stop building a gas pipeline with Iran.

Isolation seems to be the strategy – regime change, the endgame. And the benefits could be enormous.

====

NATO Soldiers Wounded In Clash With Serb Protesters

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/28/nato-soldiers-wounded-in-clash-with-serb-protesters/

Voice of America News
November 28, 2011

NATO Soldiers Wounded in Clash With Serb Protesters

A NATO spokesman says two soldiers serving with NATO’s Kosovo Force were wounded Monday during a confrontation with Serb protesters in north Kosovo.

The violence erupted when NATO troops began removing several earthen roadblocks put in place by the Serbs who reject the authority of the Kosovo government. The ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.

A KFOR spokesman said the wounded soldiers condition is not known.

====

Chicago NATO Summit To Boost Georgia’s Accession Bid

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/nato-2012-summit-to-ease-georgia-s-bid-czech-pm-necas/721027

Czech News Agency
November 28, 2011

NATO 2012 summit to ease Georgia’s bid – Czech PM Necas

Prague:The May 2012 summit of NATO in Chicago may bring progress to Georgia’s NATO bid, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said after meeting his Georgian counterpart Nika Gilauri today.

Necas said Prague supported Georgia’s euro-Atlantic aspirations.

…

Necas said when the talks on NATO accession had been held with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in the late 1990s, one could also hear a “very similar rhetoric” from Russia about the unacceptability of the step and its serious consequences.

Necas said time had clearly demonstrated that the step has succeeded…

Since then, NATO was been enlarged to include the three Baltic countries, former parts of the Soviet Union, Necas said.

…
Necas said Georgia’s NATO bid had also been backed by the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008 and that there was no need to backpedal on its conclusions.

While on a visit to the Russian part of Caucasus a week ago, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said if Russia had not won the 2008 war with Georgia, NATO would have been widened to include some more former Soviet countries.

…

====

About these ads