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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Jun 28, 2013 4:45:51 GMT -7
Must Read / Syria | By Shoshana McCrimmon US Marines Deployed To Syria, Perhaps — Intel Blackout Breaking news today: US marines deployed to Syria, perhaps, as they were seen heading north toward Syria from the assault ship just off Jordan’s shore. US Marines Deploy in Aqaba Jordan June 2013 A thousand soldiers from the 24th US Marine Expeditionary Force deploy north from Aqaba, Jordan. Debkafile, in an exclusive report Wednesday, revealed that 1,000 members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force disembarked from the USS Kearsage amphibious assault ship in the Jordanian port of Aqaba and were seen heading north towards the Syrian border, under heavy Jordanian escort: Washington and Amman have imposed a blackout on their arrival. The Pentagon has only let it be known that the annual joint US-Jordanian “Eager Lion 2013” military exercise is due to begin later in June and last two months, with the participation of US F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile defense systems. According to our US sources, the arrival of the US force in Jordan was not directly related to the regular exercise but decided on at an emergency meeting at the Pentagon on May 31, which was attended by top military and civilian Defense Department officials. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is away from Washington, took part by video conference… The meeting decided that the military situation evolving in Syria and the threats it posed to Jordan were urgent enough to warrant the dispatch of extra American military strength to Jordan, over and above the contingents participating in the joint exercise. The US Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. T.G. Taylor in a statement to the US media put it this way: “In order to enhance the defensive posture and capacity of Jordan, some of these assets may remain beyond the exercise at the request of the government of Jordan.” That request, according to our sources, was for the US to leave behind when the exercise ended and the troops departed – not just some of the weapons systems but all of the equipment which arrived with the marines Wednesday, as well as the F-16 fighters and Patriot missiles.” The arrival of US troops has coincided with reports that Hezballah, an Iranian proxy in the region recently recognized as a terrorist group by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council, transferred over 1200 of their own ‘fighters’ from Lebanon to Syria in mid-May to support the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad, which is having trouble drumming up support among the populace: “The armed members who arrived from Lebanon to Syria committed “a hideous crime” in the town of Talkalkh, the [Saudi al-Watan] daily said, adding that tens of thousands of fighters entered from Iraq to aid the Syrian regime… The daily quoted sources as saying that the Damascus regime “is resorting to the aid of fighters from Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which implies that the Syrian recruits’ desire to fight alongside the regime is decreasing.” The source added that reservists are also not complying with the army command’s repeated calls to join the regime troops in their fighting. The regime has also been arresting men in their forties and forcing them to join recruitment camps so they join the fighting between regime troops and the rebels, the daily added.” The buildup of forces in the region is thought to be related to Iran nearing completion of its nuclear weaponization capabilities. Israel has promised to destroy such a capability, given public threats by the Iranian regime to destroy the Jewish state. The Iranians have positioned Hezballah along Israel’s northern border with an estimated 200,000 rockets and missiles pointed at Israeli civilian populations and may once again resume active hostilities if Israel strikes the Iranian nuclear program. The Islamic republic has close ties with the Syrian regime and has been sanctioned by the US State Department for funneling weapons and money to Hezballah through Syrian territory. The current positioning of international players in the Mideast is reminiscent of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and United States squared off in the region using Arab countries and Israel, respectively, as proxies. Russia, which exports mainly weapons systems these days, is set to deliver an S-300 air defense system to Syria, but Israel has threatened to destroy the system if delivery is attempted out of concern the system would provide the Assad regime a military advantage preventing the effective defense of Israel. Such concern is not unfounded, as during the Cold War the Russian SA-6 system employed by Syria destroyed nearly 100 Israeli fighter jets in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Complicating matters are reports that the Syrian regime and/or rebel forces may be deploying chemical weapons, further escalating the 2-year conflict and prompting Israel to conduct homeland defense drills. The weapons were allegedly developed with Russian assistance, an allegation Moscow has vehemently denied. However, there are breaking reports from Britain and France, confirming the presence of sarin gas in samples taken from Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also allied with Iran, and in fact has provided much of the nuclear technology being implemented in the Islamic republic. There is real concern that either success or destruction of the air defense system in Syria, or the nuclear infrastructure in Iran, could spark a regional conflict with the potential to grow into global conflict, a catch-22 that will be difficult for the Obama Administration to navigate. Fri Jun 14, 2013 1:45AM GMT The United States has decided to keep F-16 fighter jets and Patriot anti-missile weapons in Jordan after ending a joint military drill there this month. On Thursday a US defense official said Washington will also keep a unit of marines on amphibious ships off the coast in the region after consultations with Jordanian leaders. The US officials decided to keep the troops and weapons upon the request of Jordan amid concerns over the conflict in neighboring Syria. The military equipment had been sent to Jordan for a major military drill, dubbed Eager Lion. According to military officials over 4,500 US troops, around 3,000 Jordanians, and 500 soldiers from other countries participated in the exercise, which started on Sunday. Russia and Syria have already shown concerns over the deployment of U-S Patriot missiles and fighter jets to the region. On May 14, Jordan’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lieutenant General Mishal Mohammed Zabin met with the army chiefs of the US, France and Turkey as well as the deputy secretary-general of the NATO, Alexander Vershbow, to discuss “preparations underway for the Eager Lion exercise.” Jordan has received bulky aid from the US in recent years. Washington has granted USD 2.4 billion (EUR 1.85 billion) in aid to Amman in the past five years, according to official figures. Jordanians Suspicious as US Expands Military Presence in KingdomLocal Editor Jordanians are suspicious as the United States is deploying troops and weapons in the Kingdom. A US defense official has told Agence France Presse (AFP) that WashingtUS troops during a military exercise this month near Amman.on has expanded its military presence in the country to 1,000 troops. "Jordanians do not feel comfortable about the presence of US troops, weapons and equipment in the kingdom," analyst Oraib Rintawi, who runs the Al-Quds Centre for Political Studies, told AFP. "For Jordanians, the US military presence is linked to plots and conspiracies against their neighbors, which would impact the country itself." Washington claims it is worried about the security of Jordan, which is already struggling to cope with around 550,000 refugees from its war-torn northern neighbor, Syria. It has kept F-16 warplanes and Patriot missiles in the country since a joint military exercise ended on June 20. "For the Americans, protecting that stability is key and at the core of their strategy in the Middle East,” Rintawi added. "But public opinion here does not welcome the Americans, even if they say they want to protect the country." Earlier this week, Wall Street Journal quoted diplomats and US officials as saying that the Central Intelligence Agency has begun moving weapons to Jordan from a network of secret warehouses and plans to start arming foreign-backed militants fighting the Syrian government. The diplomats and the US officials said that Washington plans to provide training, small arms, ammunition, and possibly certain types of antitank missiles. Last week, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur denied a Los Angeles Times report that the Central Intelligence Agency and US special forces have been training Syria armed groups at a new American desert base in southwest Jordan. "There is no training in our country whatsoever of Syrian opposition forces... the only Syrians we are dealing with in our country are refugees," he told journalists. Source: AFP
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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Jul 11, 2013 5:00:56 GMT -7
Marines Put On Standby to Respond to Egypt Unrest
Jul 02, 2013
Military.com| by Richard Sisk 47 Add a Comment A police helicopter flies over the presidential palace, as a man waves the Egyptian national flag , in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 2, 2013.
Marines at bases in Spain and Italy were poised Tuesday for the possibility of rushing to Cairo to protect or evacuate U.S. citizens and the U.S. Embassy amid the ongoing violence and political unrest in Egypt.
"We do believe we have taken steps to ensure our military is ready to respond to a range of contingencies" flowing from the faceoff between President Mohammed Morsi and opposition protesters that has the Egyptian military threatening to intervene, said George Little, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman.
In response to the killing last year of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, Libya, the U.S. posted 550 Marines to the air base in Moron, Spain, to serve as a response force to turmoil in the region.
As the Egyptian protests have escalated, elements from the Marine force at Moron have been moved closer to Cairo at the air base at Sigonella, Italy, Pentagon officials said. The Marines have MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft available at both Moron and Sigonella to move them quickly to any contingency.
Last Thursday, and again on Monday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, phoned Egyptian Gen. Sedki Sobhi to gain assurances on the safety of U.S. citizens in Egypt, Pentagon officials said. Morsi picked Sobhi to become Egyptian chief of staff after dismissing his predecessor, Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Anan.
Dempsey’s phone call to Sobhi on Monday came on the same day that the Egyptian military threatened to take over the government in 48 hours if Morsi and the opposition failed to resolve their differences.
However, hundreds of thousands of protesters calling on Morsi to step down remained in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.
Across town, Morsi's backers from the Muslim Brotherhood also remained at their own rally site, where they vowed to resist a military coup.
Gehad al-Haddad, a senior Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, told CBS News that the military’s threat of a takeover was serious.
"I think it's a coup," al-Haddad said.
On Monday night, President Obama, who was wrapping up his week-long visit to Africa, phoned Morsi "to convey his concerns about recent developments in Egypt" and to urge Morsi to be responsive to the demands of the protesters, the White House said.
Obama told Morsi that democracy means "ensuring that the voices of all Egyptians are heard and represented by their government, including the many Egyptians demonstrating throughout the country," the White House said.
Obama also "stressed his expectation that the government of Egypt continue to protect U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities," the White House said.
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Post by karl on Jul 11, 2013 7:57:25 GMT -7
With regards to US troop/equipment deployment in Jordan is one thing, as long as the deployment not cross on to Syrian soil. Then no provocation is physically made. The endangerment of risk to US deployment, is the increasing chance of insurgent non-Syrians should conduct an attact. This in self would be the licence to cross over as a protective deployment in in short, would constitute an invasion of a foreign sovern nation. At present, the situation is a civil war in attempt to over throw an established goverment by external forces. It would be good for all of us to keep this situation contained with out entrvening foreign forces. We do not need a war in this regen. It needs be remembered, the role of military is to conduct war, all every thing else is simply an excuse for existance. It is to civilian authority to conduct what ever is needed as a matter of resolution. President Obama is not trained in the manner of such resolution but is apparant in the belief that he apparntly is.. The following is of a news source perhaps not condoned by US press people or other wise of by their superiers, but it is factual. www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/15/pers-j15.htmlPresenter Karl
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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Jul 11, 2013 11:41:47 GMT -7
Karl,
Thank you for the news web site. I wasn't aware of this one. It's another one to peruse and extract info.
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Post by karl on Jul 11, 2013 12:26:47 GMT -7
Karl, Thank you for the news web site. I wasn't aware of this one. It's another one to peruse and extract info. J.J. Information is what it is, no matter the source...I was with some concernation as rather you would find the url as offensive for it was a sociolist publication. If you find it acceptable, this will be fine, if you have some concerns as to others, this will be fine in self, I will promptly deleat it out into where ever these things go.. Karl
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Post by pieter on Jul 11, 2013 13:55:43 GMT -7
Dear Karl, Bill Van Auken's article "Obama moves to escalate Syrian slaughter" on the Trotskyist ' World Socialist Web Site' is an exellent antithesis or alternative for the news of the other media, who often side with the opposition and do not take a clear stance. It's a legitimate opinion and is clearly voiced. It is critical of the USA, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. One statement of van Auken's stayed in my mind: " The majority of the population, however much they might dislike Assad, hate the Islamist “rebels” even more." Bill Van AukenSyrians are fed up by the destruction of their cities, towns and villages. The destructions of their houses and apartments, neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, infrastructure, and the killing of women, children, men and old people. I think that they are fed up with the unsafety, the fact that their future is unclear (uncertainty), sectarian violence and the lack of food, medicine, fresh water, shelter and hygiene. Van Auken is critical towards Democratic and Republican politicians, Sunni Muslim islamists, Bill Clinton, Barak Obama and John McCain. Leftist movements who are supporting the US Syrian policy of arms supplies to the opposition are criticized as are pseudo-left groups and they have blood on their hands. An NBC- Wall Street Journal poll released this week showed that barely 11 percent of the US public supports even arming the “ rebels.” Bill Van Auken ends in a classical socialist manner: "The struggle against war, opposed by the pseudo-left groups that once led the official “anti-war” movement and now back Obama and imperialism, can be prosecuted only on the basis of the independent political mobilization of the working class against the Obama administration and the capitalist system that is the source of militarism." Cheers, Pieter
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Post by karl on Jul 12, 2013 7:55:31 GMT -7
Pieter
Thank you for your contribution and addition to the artical of presentation. Even though the {most} people to be met on the streets were not political, but in this stead though, held a high interest in their country and goverment. Even though it was family governed and well protected by police of various departments. For the most part, it was very safe for people both on the streets and their homes. Women rights were protected and provided for,,at this moment, it escapes my memory, but the women had their own organization for them selves only, men were not allowed to enter their meetings or enquire as to what was discussed.
Their were for some years, an embargo created against trade and export to Syria between The US and allies. But, buisness will be what it is, buisness. The same products were exported from the various manufacturiers, with the same brand names and abundant in access, just though a different house of export/import.
At present, with the popular named: Arab Spring idiots. A civil war has ensued for no good reason other then to topple a sovergn nation instituted by forign fighters of which ever with only the reason to destroy.
It is at present, a very deplorable situation that is being condoned by the West with back door support to the rebels. All at the expense of the Syrian people and families. To bring into reality of the currant and present situation in effected areas. Bring in to mind, the mothers and their children. The fear to send off their child in the morning to school in presence of the possiblity they may face a group of armed foreign idiots pointing thier weapons about for an excuse to shoot some thing or some one. Their layst the fear to carry on daily life in shopping/any type of recreation/the simple act of crossing the sreet or plaza and so on.
All of the above, and to be condoned by the west for matters of politects. Yes, it is a problem. Democracy is simply a word, reality is the matter of living with the freedom of choice in safety.
Karl
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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Jul 13, 2013 4:45:05 GMT -7
Karl, Thank you for the news web site. I wasn't aware of this one. It's another one to peruse and extract info. J.J. Information is what it is, no matter the source...I was with some concernation as rather you would find the url as offensive for it was a sociolist publication. If you find it acceptable, this will be fine, if you have some concerns as to others, this will be fine in self, I will promptly deleat it out into where ever these things go.. Karl Karl, I try to look at all sides of a coin. Including the edges. Brings a better perspective into view.
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Post by Nictoshek on Jul 20, 2013 14:58:11 GMT -7
Gauck and Germany commemorate soldiers who tried to kill Hitler
Date 20.07.2013
German President Joachim Gauck has honored soldiers who attempted to kill Adolf Hitler. Meanwhile, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has announced that Germany still has Nazis to hunt. About 500 German soldiers were present when President Gauck delivered his address before the parliament building about the ultimately failed 1944 attempt on Hitler's life. The president remembered the soldiers who, 69 years ago on July 20, "didn't just obey orders, but thought critically and stood for their convictions in word and deed." Also present were representatives of the federal and local governments and various clergy members. The soldiers, Gauck said, "served the Federal Republic of Germany faithfully and bravely defended the rights and freedom of the German people." Depicted in the American film "Valkyrie," starring Tom Cruise, the 1944 plot involved the assassination of Hitler and the arrest of the Nazi leadership. The plan was led by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and by General Friedrich Obricht in his capacity as the head of the General Army Office. The idea was to make Hitler's death look like an SS coup d'etat rather than a military takeover. The Führer's death was required to free Germans from their loyalty to him, or Reichswehreid, the historical oath of allegiance taken by soldiers following World War I and into the mid-1930s. After the bomb intended to put an end to Hitler's reign detonated without achieving its objective, the soldiers involved in the conspiracy were executed by the Nazis. 'Not too late' While Germany remembers mavericks, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has offered rewards for leads on the surviving Nazi death camp guards. The Jerusalem-based director of the Nazi-hunting center, Efraim Zuroff, told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) that he believed about 60 former Nazi death camp guards were still alive, "the majority in Germany." WAZ, published in the Ruhr District city of Essen, quoted Zuroff as saying 6,000 guards worked 70 years ago at camps where Hitler's regime murdered six million Jews across Europe. Posters carrying the words "late, but not too late" will be displayed in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne and shown in black and white the rail entrance to the notorious Birkenau camp, near Auschwitz, in formerly occupied Poland. Rewards worth up to 25,000 euros ($32,800) would be offered to informants. Zuhoff said the center found encouragement by the May arrest of Hans Lipschis, a 93-year-old suspected former Auschwitz guard. A recent war crimes case against the 98-year-old officer Laszlo Csatary in Hungary after he fled to Canada following the war, for running a camp, where 12,000 Jews were sent to their deaths, in Kosice in present-day Slovakia. Impetus for new investigations in Germany came in 2011 when a Munich court convicted the Ukrainian-born former Sobibor death camp guard John Demjanjuk. He died in March last year, aged 91. dw.de/p/19BEh
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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Jul 22, 2013 6:42:41 GMT -7
Thia goes to prove we are a forgiving nation.
In 1975, on this day, Congress restored Confederate general Robert E. Lee's U.S. citizenship.
And in 2003, Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Ousay, were killed in a firefight in Irag. We happily sent them to visit their 72 virgins.
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Post by Jaga on Jul 22, 2013 23:14:04 GMT -7
John,
interesting memories of the confederate general and Hussein's sons. It make me wonder about how wars and conflicts are often relative.... and our memories and history changes them.
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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Aug 1, 2013 3:37:22 GMT -7
On this day in 1914 - Germany declared war on Russia.
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Post by pieter on Aug 1, 2013 12:50:46 GMT -7
69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior ( Netherlands) revolt under the leadership of Gaius Julius Civilis. Gaius Julius CivilisThe Conspiracy of Julius Civilis, completed in 1661 by Rembrandt. It depicts a Batavian oath to Gaius Julius Civilis, the head of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69.Gaius Julius Civilis was the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69. By his nomen, it can be told that he (or one of his male ancestors) was made a Roman citizen (and thus, the tribe a Roman vassal) by either Augustus or Caligula. He was twice imprisoned on a charge of rebellion, and narrowly escaped execution. During the disturbances that followed the death of Nero, he took up arms under pretence of siding with Vespasian and induced the inhabitants of his native country to rebel. The Batavians, who had rendered valuable aid under the early emperors, had been well treated in order to attach them to the cause of Rome. They were exempt from tribute, but were obliged to supply a large number of men for the army, and the burden of conscription and the oppressions of provincial governors were important incentives to revolt. The Batavians were immediately joined by several neighbouring German tribes, the most important of whom were the Frisii. The Roman garrisons near the Rhine were driven out, and twenty-four ships captured. Two legions under Mummius Lupercus were defeated at Castra Vetera (near the modern Xanten) and surrounded. Eight cohorts of Batavian veterans joined their countrymen, and the troops sent by Vespasian to the relief of Vetera threw in their lot with them. The result of these accessions to the forces of Civilis was a rising in Gaul. Hordeonius Flaccus was murdered by his troops (70), and the whole of the Roman forces were induced by two commanders of the Gallic auxiliaries — Julius Classicus and Julius Tutor— to revolt from Rome and join Civilis. The whole of Gaul thus practically declared itself independent, and the foundation of a new kingdom of Gaul was contemplated. The prophetess Veleda predicted the complete success of Civilis and the fall of the Roman Empire. But disputes broke out amongst the different tribes and rendered co-operation impossible; Vespasian, having successfully ended the civil war, called upon Civilis to lay down his arms, and on his refusal resolved to take strong measures for the suppression of the revolt. The arrival of Quintus Petillius Cerialis with a strong force awed the Gauls and mutinous troops into submission; Civilis was defeated at Augusta Treverorum (Trier, Trèves) and Castra Vetera, and forced to withdraw to the island of the Batavians. He finally came to an agreement with Cerialis whereby his countrymen obtained certain advantages, and resumed amicable relations with Rome. From this time Civilis disappears from history.
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Post by pieter on Aug 1, 2013 13:37:27 GMT -7
1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela.
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Post by pieter on Aug 1, 2013 13:38:26 GMT -7
1800 – The Acts of Union 1800 is passed in which merges the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
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