South Ossetian police tell Georgians to take a Russian passport, or leave their homes

The soft-backed school exercise book in which he jotted has become a weapon in Russia's war in Georgia. In Akhalgori, which Russia troops seized on Tuesday as part of an extended buffer zone around South Ossetia, it is a vital tool in a campaign to force ethnic Georgians to accept Russian passports.

Akhalgori's residents must register at paramilitary checkpoints, giving details that are passed on to the town police station. At a compulsory interview a new Russian appointed chief of police gives people a stark and simple choice: take a Russian passport, or leave the town.

Passports are a vital plank in Russia's strategy of securing a toehold in democratic Georgia. By issuing citizenship to South Ossetians, Russia gained a pretext to invade in early August, claiming to be defending its own from Georgian attacks.

Since signing a ceasefire agreement with Georgia two weeks ago, the Russian military and its local allies have carved a substantial buffer zone around the tiny enclave. To consolidate its latest conquests, Moscow has shipped in what Georgian officials describe as "industrial batches" of passports.

"The Russians are telling everyone in the town they must take a Russian passport," said Akhalgori shopowner Guram Chkhvidze. "One came to me and explained that if I did not take it, my safety could not be certain. I was scared, so I am leaving."

German weekly: Georgia planned attack on sleeping civilians

Evidence of “numerous erroneous decisions of the Georgian leadership which led to the beginning of a crisis in the Caucasus” are accumulating in the OSCE headquarters, says the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel in an announcement of an article to be published on Monday.

The magazine says that “a lot of corresponding reports by OSCE observers in the Caucasus have unofficially fallen into the hands of some governmental authorities in Berlin.”

According to this data, Georgia had been actively preparing a military strike against South Ossetia and began the attack before Russian tanks entered the Roksky tunnel connecting South Ossetia and Russia.

Also, there are reports of observers who say that the Georgian authorities ordered that the attack on South Ossetian civilians at night when they were sleeping, the announcement says. Russiatoday

OSC: Russia - Iran Alliance?

The USG Open Source Center translates an article from the Russian press proposing a strategic alliance between Russia and Iran.

The recognition of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's independence by Russia is a timely step to protect these republics from new Georgian aggression. However, taking into account the United States' plans to expedite Georgia's and Ukraine's accession to the NATO military-political bloc, the situation near the Russian border remains alarming.

At the same time Moscow has a lot of possibilities to take balanced counter measures to the United States' and entire NATO's unfriendly plans. In particular, Russia can rely on those countries that effectively oppose the United States' and their satellites' expansion. Only collective efforts can help to create a situation which would, if not eliminate then at least reduce the risk of the Cold War's transformation into local and global conflicts.

For instance, Moscow could strengthen its military-technical ties with Syria and launch negotiations on the reestablishment of its military presence in Cuba. However, the most serious step which the United States and especially Israel fear (incidentally, Israel supplied arms to Georgia) is hypothetical revision of Russia's foreign policy with regard to Iran. A strategic alliance presuming the signing of a new large-scale military political treaty with Iran could change the entire geopolitical picture of the contemporary world. More

“Soviet Collapse” Revisited

As you know, the Boosh Administration party line on the present conflagration in the Caucasus is that Georgia is right and Russia is wrong. This position remarkably puts Boosh in bed with Obama, at least on this issue, because Senator Hussein’s chief handler is Zbigniew Brzezinski, who hired Jimmy Carter as President on behalf of David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission, and apparently has now been assigned to hire Hussein. Brzezinski certainly agrees with Boosh.

As I write, Senator Hussein must confront the recent assertion in federal court by Philadelphia attorney Philip Berg, a Democrat official, that he is not a natural born citizen. Attorney Berg says he has the documents to prove that Hussein was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and therefore is not eligible to be President. Berg’s web site is obamacrimes.com. Go there and decide for yourself. If Hussein survives, we shall have much more to say about Zbig Brother.

Right now, let’s go back a few years and look at the “Soviet collapse,” which certainly figures in the Caucasus explosion. First, how do we know the Soviet Union “collapsed?” We know they collapsed because they said they did, and the bird brains in our Communist media have long parroted whatever the Soviets say. As I recall, the bird brains swallowed the Soviet bird seed whole. More

Relief agencies decry military role in Georgia

Non-governmental relief agencies working in Georgia are furious that President Bush has put the Pentagon in charge of the operation, charging that the “militarization” of the humanitarian operation puts them at risk.

“We are concerned about blurring the lines between who is an aid worker and who is a soldier,” said Anne Richard, a vice president of the New York-based International Rescue Committee, a non-governmental organization working in Georgia and elsewhere.

“If we are mistaken for soldiers, in very dangerous situations we can become targets,” said Richard.

Just two weeks ago, three women working in Afghanistan for the International Rescue Committee were traveling in a clearly marked IRC vehicle when they were attacked and killed by insurgents.

The U.S. military has provided helicopters and heavy-lift cargo planes to support civilian relief efforts in previous humanitarian crises, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. In such cases it is often the United Nations or the U.S. Agency for International Development that leads the effort.

But Bush, acting on Aug. 13 as he sought diplomatic footing against Russia's military confrontation with Georgia, declared that he was putting the Defense Department in charge of the humanitarian relief mission.

The president's order set in motion a stream of military cargo aircraft flights and two ships, a Navy destroyer and a Coast Guard cutter, which delivered military humanitarian supplies to Georgia this week. More

Japanese protest arrival of US nuclear aircraft carrier

Legal bid to stop CERN atom smasher from ‘destroying the world’

Critics of the Large Hadron Collider - a £4.4 billion machine due to be switched on in ten days time - have lodged a lawsuit at the European Court for Human Rights against the 20 countries, including the UK, that fund the project.

The device is designed to replicate conditions that existed just a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, and its creators hope it will unlock the secrets of how the universe began.

However, opponents fear the machine, which will smash pieces of atoms together at high speed and generate temperatures of more than a trillion degrees centigrade, may create a mini-black hole that could tear the earth apart.

Scientists involved in the project have dismissed the fears as “absurd” and insist that extensive safety assessments on the 17 mile long particle accelerator have demonstrated that it is safe.

The legal battle comes as the European Nuclear Research Centre (CERN), in Geneva, prepares to send the first beam of particles around the machine at the official switch on, on September 10, although it will be several weeks before the first particles are collided together... London Telegraph

Japan lifts ban on use of space for defense

The basic space law went into force Wednesday, lifting a long-standing ban on the government use of space for defense purposes.

The headquarters for space development strategy, led by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, also was established with the enactment of the basic law. The law also stipulates that the government formulate a basic plan for space use.

On the same day, the Defense Ministry told the Liberal Democratic Party's joint conference of a plan to establish an office within the ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute to study technologies that could be used in space for defense purposes.

Diet resolutions had limited the use of space to nonmilitary projects. The new law sought to redefine the usage of space. It stated that space development should be carried out under the U.N. Outer Space Treaty's spirit of nonencroachment and the Constitution's philosophy of pacifism.

The basic space law allows the government to use space for defense purposes, such as launching early-warning satellites that monitor missile attacks around the clock and high-end reconnaissance and communication satellites.

In July, the Defense Ministry established the Space and Maritime Security Policy Office. It plans to establish a space-use promotion committee next month to create plans for the next midterm defense buildup program scheduled for next year. The committee will be led by the senior vice minister.

The ministry will request in its fiscal 2009 budget funds for studying space technologies that could be used for defense purposes.

The LDP has formulated a proposal on the use of space that includes the introduction of early-warning satellites, reconnaissance satellites and a communications satellite system by 2015.

Russia threatens to supply Iran with top new missile system as ‘cold war’ escalates

Russia is deploying the threat to sell a “game changing” air defence system to Iran as a high stakes bargaining chip in its new “cold war” with America, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

US intelligence fears the Kremlin will supply the sophisticated S-300 system to Tehran if Washington pushes through Nato membership for its pro-Western neighbours Georgia and Ukraine.

The proposed deal is causing huge alarm in the US and Israel as the S-300 can track 100 targets at once and fire on planes up to 75 miles away.

That would make it a “game-changer”, greatly improving Iranian defences against any air strike on its nuclear sites, according to Pentagon adviser Dan Goure. “This is a system that scares every Western air force,” he said.

Senior US intelligence operatives believe that Russia is planning to use a stand-off over the S-300 to create a foreign policy showdown that would test the mettle of a new US president.

Republican candidate John McCain has taken a strongly anti-Kremlin line on a series of international issues and backed Georgia’s desire to join Nato. His Democratic rival Barack Obama has also indicated he supports Nato membership for Georgia. London Telegraph

'US Fears Russia to Sell S-300 to Iran'

US intelligence is concerned Moscow will supply the S-300 anti-aircraft-missile system to Iran if Washington pushes through NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine, the Telegraph reported Sunday.

The S-300 is one of the most advanced multi-target anti-aircraft-missile systems in the world today and has a reported ability to track up to 100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time. It has a range of about 200 kilometers and can hit targets at altitudes of 27,000 meters.

Iran's acquisition of the system would vastly upgrade Iranian defenses against any air strike on its nuclear sites, Pentagon adviser Dan Goure was quoted by the British newspaper as saying. "This is a system that scares every Western air force," he added.

"If Teheran obtained the S-300, it would be a game-changer in military thinking for tackling Iran. That could be a catalyst for Israeli air attacks before it's operational," he said.

George Friedman, director of Stratfor, a leading US private intelligence agency was quoted by the Telegraph as saying that if the S-300 became operational, it would effectively rule out an IAF strike and seriously complicate any US air raid.

In early August, a top defense official told The Jerusalem Post that if Russia goes through with the sale of the S-300 to Iran, Israel will use an electronic warfare device now under development to neutralize it and as a result present Russia as vulnerable to air infiltrations.

Friedman said Moscow was saying that if US and Western Europe don't stop meddling in its sphere of influence, the S-300 deal would go ahead. "Back Georgia and Ukraine for NATO membership and you'll see the S-300 sent to Iran. It is a very powerful bargaining chip and a major deterrent to US actions in the region. Moscow is playing very strategically on America's obsession with Iran," the UK paper quoted Friedman as saying.

David Kelly's closest female confidante on why he COULDN'T have killed himself

A female confidante of Dr David Kelly raised disturbing new questions last night over how the Ministry of Defence weapons inspector was able to kill himself.

After his body was discovered in woods near his Oxfordshire home in July 2003, a Government inquiry led by Lord Hutton ruled that he committed suicide by slashing his left wrist with a knife and taking an overdose of co-proxamol, a painkiller commonly used for arthritis.

He was said to be anguished about being named as the source of a BBC report, which alleged that Tony Blair ‘sexed up’ a dossier justifying the invasion of Iraq.

But five years after his death at 59, his close friend, American military linguist Mai Pederson, has come forward to dispute this account.

The Hutton inquiry heard that he died after making several cuts to his left wrist, which severed the ulnar artery, buried deep in the tissue on the side of the hand nearest the little finger.

An earlier coroner’s inquest was halted when the Government used an obscure law to turn the investigation over to Lord Hutton. His inquiry concluded that ‘there was no involvement by a third party’ in the scientist’s death, which was said to be caused primarily by the cut artery and hastened by the painkillers.

Ms Pederson, a former US Air Force officer, met Dr Kelly when she was assigned to work in 1998 as a translator for the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq.

And she revealed in an interview with The Mail on Sunday that, in the months leading to his death, the right-handed scientist was unable to use his right hand for tasks requiring strength because of a painful injury to his right elbow.

According to Ms Pederson, when she dined with Dr Kelly at a Washington restaurant in the spring of 2003, the hand’s grip was so weak that he struggled to get a knife through a steak he had ordered.

The linguist, who counselled Dr Kelly during his conversion to the Baha’i religious faith that she follows, says he had begun to favour his left hand for even relatively minor tasks, a tendency she observed on numerous other occasions... Dailymail

Why I believe David Kelly's death may have been murder by MP

The Murder Of Dr. David Kelly

The Murder of Dr. David Kelly

THE MURDER OF DAVID KELLY

South Ossetia a Prelude to Iran?

Afshin Rattansi talks to State Duma Deputy in Moscow about McCain's ties to Georgia, Obama's defeat after a Ukranian Civil War or another George W Bush war - against Iran, and before the U.S. Presidential Elections

Europe and the U.S. are not the whole world

Russia will not be isolated because it protected its citizens and upheld its peacekeeping mission, the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said. In an interview on German TV, Putin suggested that if Russia had not responded to Georgian aggression, there could have been a tragedy along the scale of what happened in the former Yugoslavia.

“I think a country like Russia, that protected its citizens, and fulfilled its peacekeeping duties, won't be held in isolation, no matter what our partners think within the limits of their bloc. Europe and the U.S. are not the whole world,” he said.

He recalled the Srebrenica massacre, when thousands were killed when Dutch peacekeepers didn't intervene in the Balkan war.

The Prime Minister insisted that the Georgian government should be held responsible for its action.

“Speaking about the Georgian leadership, people who wreck the territorial integrity and national identity of their country with their actions shouldn't be ruling that country, be it big or small. They should resign straight away,” he said.

”Of course, it's up to them, but we all remember the precedents that we have in history. Let's remember how U.S. troops entered Iraq, and what they did with Saddam Hussein for destroying several Shiite villages. Here, ten Ossetian villages were destroyed right out,” Putin told ARD TV.

Putin blasts Europe for following USraeli foreign policies

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned European countries against following U.S. foreign policy ahead of an EU emergency meeting on Monday on the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Russia officially recognized the Georgian breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Tuesday, saying the move was needed to protect the region following Georgia's military offensive on August 8. Western countries condemned the move as an "irresponsible decision."

"If European countries continue carrying out such policies, we will have to talk to Washington about European matters," Putin said in an interview with Germany's ARD television on Friday.

The Russian premier said that Europe backed the U.S. and supported Kosovo's declaration of independence in February, while a UN resolution on Serbia's territorial integrity was "thrown in the garbage."

Russia, Serbia's long-time ally and a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, refused to recognize Kosovo's autonomy saying that it would cause a "chain reaction."

Putin justified Russia's actions in South Ossetia saying Moscow had defended the lives of its citizens, saying that if forced to choose between life and sausage, "we choose life."

The former Russian president stressed that Russia did not fear Western sanctions: "Such a country will not be in isolation," he said in an excerpts shown on state-run Russian television.

Russia to spend almost half of its budget on new arms race

Russia to spend almost half of its budget on new arms race / President Medvedev fails to secure even allies' support / Moscow wants new rules on international stage / Russia may deploy three military bases in Abkhazia, South Ossetia / EU considers two sets of sanctions against Russia

Weapons of the future on display in Moscow

The military equipment exhibition at Moscow’s Expocenter was attended by nearly 70,000 people. Over 400 Russian and foreign companies from 23 countries took part in the event, displaying cutting edge weapons and military equipment.

Surprise attack on Iran, 'impossible'

Iran's Deputy Army Commander Abdul-Rahim Mousavi

The Islamic Republic says a surprise attack on Iran is impossible as the country's Armed Forces are fully prepared for all scenarios.

The US and Israel have long threatened to launch military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities should the country continue with its uranium enrichment program.

Iran has warned that the country's Armed Forces have fully monitored the US army's combat methods, its weaknesses and strong points, and are therefore fully capable of countering US tactics.

"We know the strategies the enemy might employ for a surprise attack and we have also readied special tactics of our own to give the enemy a surprise response far greater than they could ever imagine,” Deputy Army Commander Brigadier General Abdul-Rahim Mousavi said Saturday.

Brig. Gen. Mousavi added that all the country's military capabilities had not been unveiled yet and said Iran has 'important' defensive equipment, which will significantly impact the course of events in case of an attack.

The commander cautioned that the enemy must learn to differentiate between 'having the power to attack' and 'willing an attack.'

The remarks came after Israeli lawmaker Ephraim Sneh said the opportunity to find a non-military solution to halt Iran's nuclear program would cease within 18 to 24 months, adding that Israel is preparing a contingency plan to attack Iran.

The Islamic Republic, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says that diplomacy is the only practical approach for clarifying the civilian nature of its nuclear program.

Iran, however, has warned that it would not hesitate to target the heart of Israel and 32 US bases in the region should the country come under attack.

Israel can't defeat Iran: Abdullah II

Jordan warns against a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, saying Tel Aviv is not capable of defeating Tehran.

"An attack against Iran would provoke reprisals and Israel doesn't have the capability to destroy Iran's nuclear sites", says the King of Jordan.

"Iranians assert that their nuclear program has no military nature and an American report, which was published recently, apparently recognizes their claim," said King Abdullah II in an interview with French magazine L'Express.

National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) said in September 2007 that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons. Yet the Bush administration, ignoring the country's NIE's conclusion, claims that Iran's nuclear program poses a "threat" to Europe and the United States.

King Abdullah hinted at Iran's increasing power and influence in the Middle East and said, "What Tehran wants to tell us, I think, is that Iran is an important player in the region and that we should note it well".

The King of Jordan said his country hopes that there would be no military intervention against Iran as such a move would bear dire consequences for the whole region.

"All the countries in the region will pay the price for such a situation," he concluded. Press TV

Taiwan acquires Harpoon anti-ship missiles

Taiwan has acquired 60 Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the United States in a boost of its defence against rival China, the defence ministry here said Thursday.

The missiles will be used by the air force's F-16 fighter jets, the ministry said, in a 90-million-dollar deal.

The sale was announced after Washington affirmed in July that its policy on supplying arms to Taiwan remained unchanged amid speculation of an arms freeze to the island.

Washington has been the island's leading arms supplier, despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taiwan to seek more advanced weaponry to defend itself. AFP

Iran warns any attack would start 'world war'

A senior Iranian military commander has warned that any US or Israeli attack on the Islamic republic would start a world war, the state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

"Any aggression against Iran will start a world war," deputy chief of staff for defence publicity, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, said in a statement carried by the agency.

Iran is under international pressure to halt uranium enrichment, a process which lies at the core of fears about Iran's nuclear programme as it can make nuclear fuel as well as the fissile core of an atom bomb.

"The unrestrained greed of the US leadership and global Zionism... is gradually leading the world to the edge of a precipice," Jazayeri said, citing the unrest in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and Georgia.

"It is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything," he said, without naming any countries.

Iran does not recognise Israel, which is often described by officials in Tehran as a "fake regime."

The United States and its staunch ally Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear armed nation, accuse Iran of seeking atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme.

Iran has repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting its nuclear drive is aimed solely at providing electricity for a growing population when its reserves of fossil fuels run out.

The United States has never ruled out military action against Iran over its defiance of international demands for an enrichment freeze, but so far is pursuing the diplomatic route with calls for more sanctions.

Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed a crushing response to any attacks.

Space War
http://www.spacewar.com/2006/080830075437.d91oozx3.html

Bush quietly seeks to make war powers permanent, by declaring indefinite state of war

As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.

Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention -- and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and "associated organizations."

Part of a proposal for Guantanamo Bay legal detainees, the provision before Congress seeks to “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”

The New York Times page 8 placement of the article in its Saturday edition seems to downplay its importance. Such a re-affirmation of war carries broad legal implications that could imperil Americans' civil liberties and the rights of foreign nationals for decades to come.

"if you see the bear coming, you either get under a rock or out of the way.”

The soldiers, trained by US and Israeli advisers, are gung-ho about returning to the fray once they recover and re-equip.

Major Malkhaz Dumbatze was in a celebratory mood. His 14 Georgian tanks had just taken control of the rebel South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, and he was already looking forward to a trip to Israel to study new battle command systems. The jets flying over the city, where his men were mopping up Ossetian snipers, he took to be Georgian fighters.

Major Dumbatze is still going to Israel, but now it is to have reconstruction surgery on his legs. The aircraft he had spotted were in fact Russian, and one of them dropped two bombs on his armoured unit.

Speaking with difficulty because half his teeth had been blown out by shrapnel that exited through his throat, the battalion commander was undaunted about the future of his crushed army.

“I'm 100 per cent sure we'll recover from this,” he said, his wounded comrades on either side of his bed in a Tbilisi hospital. Georgia's soldiers, trained by US and Israeli advisers

Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will join ‘one united Russian state’

The Kremlin moved swiftly to tighten its grip on Georgia’s breakaway regions yesterday as South Ossetia announced that it would soon become part of Russia, which will open military bases in the province under an agreement to be signed on Tuesday.

Tarzan Kokoity, the province’s Deputy Speaker of parliament, announced that South Ossetia would be absorbed into Russia soon so that its people could live in “one united Russian state” with their ethnic kin in North Ossetia.

The declaration came only three days after Russia defied international criticism and recognised South Ossetia and Georgia’s other separatist region of Abkhazia as independent states. Eduard Kokoity, South Ossetia’s leader, agreed that it would form part of Russia within “several years” during talks with Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian President, in Moscow.

The disclosure will expose Russia to accusations that it is annexing land regarded internationally as part of Georgia. Until now, the Kremlin has insisted that its troops intervened solely to protect South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgian “aggression”.

Interfax news quoted an unidentified Russian official as saying that Moscow also planned to establish two bases in Abkhazia. Sergei Shamba, Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister, said that an agreement on military co-operation would be signed within a month.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that agreements on “peace, co-operation and mutual assistance with Abkhazia and South Ossetia” were being prepared on the orders of President Medvedev. Abkhazia said that it would ask Russia to represent its interests abroad. London Times

Obama would engage Iran early next year

US Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama (R) and his vice president, Senator Joe Biden

A senior advisor to Barack Obama says the Democratic nominee would engage Iran on its nuclear work early next year if elected president.

"He (Obama) is saying that as soon as he takes office that we have to have a very serious set of negotiations with the Iranians in which we in effect present them with a choice," said former US national security adviser Tony Lake, who now serves the Obama campaign, on Thursday.

Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says it is constructing nuclear power plants as its growing population suffers from electricity shortage. The US, however, accuses the country of having plans to develop nuclear weapons.

This is while the UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed that Tehran enriches uranium-235 to a level of 3.7 percent - a rate consistent with the construction of a power plant. Nuclear arms production requires an enrichment level of above 90 percent.

The Bush administration, claiming to be committed to diplomacy to resolve the standoff, has sought to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment activities through a carrot-and-stick approach of incentives and sanctions, as well as threats of launching strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Under US pressure, the UN Security Council has so far imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran, demanding the country to halt its enrichment program.

Tehran says while it is fully committed to dialogue to protect its right to the peaceful application of nuclear technology, it will not accept Western demands.

Lake said Tehran should be given a sharper choice between the 'consequences' of continuing its nuclear program and the benefits of abandoning it.

"This is an extremely important issue, an extremely serious issue and an extremely urgent issue," Lake continued.

Despite Obama's promise of bringing 'change' to the White House, Lake's remarks suggest the Democratic candidate has adopted an approach of sanctions which echoes eight years of policies pursued by the incumbent US President, George W. Bush. PressTV

US scientist denies secrets to Iran, China

Biggest Newspaper In Holland Says Dutch Intelligence Helped Prepare Imminent Attack On Iran

The biggest Newspaper in the Netherlands today devotes its front page to news that the Dutch intelligence agency has helped the CIA prepare for an air attack on Iran which it now believes is imminent.

AVID, Holland’s military intelligence service, has pulled back from operations it was carrying out inside Iran as it believes an American led attack will go ahead within weeks according to De Telegraaf’s sources.

The headline reads: “AIVD is calling back spy because of US plans ATTACK ON IRAN IMMINENT”

De Telegraaf reports that the decision has already been made by the U.S.
to attack Iran using unmanned aircraft. Potential targets are said to be nuclear facilities and military installations. The latter have been mapped by the CIA with the help of the Dutch secret service.

A portion of the article reads:

Good sources have declared to the Telegraaf that the AIVD has been operating in Iran for the last few years with the purpose of the infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry of the Iranian republic.

The operations are said to have been "very successful" but have recently been put to a halt because of american plans for an air attack. Information regarding the AIVD operation has been shared with the CIA in recent years according to the sources.

Iran is probably working towards an atomic bomb and refuses to comply to western demands to stop enriching uranium. In june Israeli vice president Shaul Mofaz made the statement that an Israeli attack is inevitable if Iran continues its quest for atomic weapons.

The full article is online here.

A roughly translated version can also be found here.

Holland is a staunch ally of the U.S. government in the "war on terror". Dutch troops have served on the front lines in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

'Israel Reaches Strategic Decision on Iran'

Israel ready to stop Iranian nukes

Russia 'could destroy NATO ships in Black Sea within 20 minutes'

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is capable of destroying NATO's naval strike group currently deployed in the sea within 20 minutes, a former fleet commander said on Friday.

Russia's General Staff said on Tuesday there were 10 NATO ships in the Black Sea - three U.S. warships, the Polish frigate General Pulaski, the German frigate FGS Lubeck, and the Spanish guided missile frigate Admiral Juan de Borbon, as well as four Turkish vessels. Eight more warships are expected to join the group.

"Despite the apparent strength, the NATO naval group in the Black Sea is not battle-worthy," Admiral Eduard Baltin said. "If necessary, a single missile salvo from the Moskva missile cruiser and two or three missile boats would be enough to annihilate the entire group."

"Within 20 minutes the waters would be clear," he said, stressing that despite major reductions, the Black Sea Fleet still has a formidable missile arsenal.

However, Baltin said the chances of a military confrontation between NATO and Russia in the Black Sea are negligible.

"We will not strike first, and they do not look like people with suicidal tendencies," he said.

In addition to its flagship, the Moskva guided missile cruiser, Russia's Black Sea Fleet includes at least three destroyers, two guided missile frigates, four guided missile corvettes and six missile boats.

NATO announced its decision to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia after the conclusion of hostilities between Tbilisi and Moscow over breakaway South Ossetia on August 12. Moscow recognized on Tuesday both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgia republic, despite being urged by Western leaders not to do so.

Russia's General Staff later said the alliance's naval deployment in the Black Sea "cannot fail to provoke concern", with unidentified sources in the Russian military saying a surface strike group was being gathered there.

According to Russian military intelligence sources, the NATO warships that have entered the Black Sea are between them carrying over 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. RIA Novost

Russia accuses UN of double standards over Georgian regions

Russia has accused the UN Security Council of having double standards over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and of lacking understanding of the conflicts in the separatist Georgian regions.

"Abkhazia and South Ossetia have much stronger grounds for independence than Kosovo," Russia's envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told an open session of the Security Council on Thursday.

The inconclusive discussions took place at the request of Tbilisi, which sought to address Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Churkin said the deliberations could not be complete without hearing from representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Without understanding the expectations of the people of these republics, he said, "it is impossible to form an objective picture of what happened."

The United States and France suggested sending a UN mission to the region to establish the facts of Georgia's attack on South Ossetia and Russia's response.

"The facts are clear," Churkin said. "Georgia planned the action against South Ossetia in advance. The only thing they did not expect was that Russia would react so forcefully."

Russia launched a five-day operation to "force Georgia to accept peace" in the wake of Georgia's August 8 assault on Tskhinvali, and officially recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Tuesday despite Western warnings, saying the move was needed to protect the regions... more

Russia may cut off oil flow to the West

Fears are mounting that Russia may restrict oil deliveries to Western Europe over coming days, in response to the threat of EU sanctions and Nato naval actions in the Black Sea.

Any such move would be a dramatic escalation of the Georgia crisis and play havoc with the oil markets.

Reports have begun to circulate in Moscow that Russian oil companies are under orders from the Kremlin to prepare for a supply cut to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. It is believed that executives from lead-producer LUKoil have been put on weekend alert.

“They have been told to be ready to cut off supplies as soon as Monday,” claimed a high-level business source, speaking to The Daily Telegraph. Any move would be timed to coincide with an emergency EU summit in Brussels, where possible sanctions against Russia are on the agenda.

Any evidence that the Kremlin is planning to use the oil weapon to intimidate the West could inflame global energy markets. US crude prices jumped to $119 a barrel yesterday on reports of hurricane warnings in the Gulf of Mexico, before falling back slightly. [... Telegraph]

U.S. citizen was among Georgian commandos - Russian Military

A U.S. passport was found in a building in South Ossetia occupied by Georgian troops, a Russian military spokesperson revealed on Thursday. After Russian peacekeepers cleared the heavily defended building, a passport belonging to a Texan named Michael Lee White was discovered inside.

Deputy Chief of Russia’s General Staff Anatoly Nagovitsyn showed photocopies of the passport to media in a press briefing on Thursday.

“There is a building in Zemonekozi - a settlement to the south of Tskhinval that was fiercely defended by a Georgian special operations squad. Upon clearing the building, Russian peacekeepers recovered, among other documents, an American passport in the name of Michael Lee White of Texas,” said Nagovitsyn.

Neither the owner of the passport nor his remains were found at the scene, despite a thorough search.

“I do not know why he was there, but it is a fact that he was in the building, among Georgian special forces troops,” Nagovitsyn said.

The briefing was delivered on the same day Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told CNN, “We have serious reasons to believe that American citizens were right at the heart of the military action”. Putin said the conflict in South Ossetian may have been planned to benefit one of the U.S. presidential candidates. Russia Today

Retired Generals Scold Bush Administration On Torture, Pentagon Spokesmen

Yesterday evening, ThinkProgress spoke with Lieut. Gen, Harry Soyster and Ret. Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, at a Human Rights First reception honoring retired generals who have spoken out against President Bush’s torture policies. Soyster criticized Bush’s veto of a bill banning the CIA from waterboarding — a veto Sen. John McCain supported. Soyster said one clear standard on torture was needed:

SOYSTER: Our position is, all of us, that we need one standard for the United Sates. And because the Central Intelligence Agency has authorized torture, then Americans are torturing. It doesn’t matter where your paycheck comes from.

Taguba reiterated Soyster’s critique of Bush’s torture policies, and also slammed the Pentagon’s military analyst program, which the New York Times revealed in April. He said he found it “incredible” that generals would agree to be the Pentagon’s spokesmen, and said military “experts” should do their own research:

TAGUBA: You can probably provide an expert opinion, but you always have to preface that by saying, ‘Nobody told me to say these things.’

TP: What if someone did tell you to say those things? Then you shouldn’t be saying them?

TAGUBA: You shouldn’t be saying them. We should take bold measures to provide our own perspective through your own research. That’s why they call you an expert. They don’t call you an expert because they fed you information. That means you’re just a talking head. You don’t want to be a talking head. Do your own research.

In fact, the participants in the Pentagon program were explicitly prohibited from following Taguba’s urging: to say explicitly whether they were repeating someone else’s facts. As the Times report revealed, “The access came with a condition. Participants were instructed not to quote their briefers directly or otherwise describe their contacts with the Pentagon.”

Thinkprogress

Israel clears troops who killed Reuters cameraman

An Israeli tank crew who killed a Reuters cameraman and eight young bystanders in the Gaza Strip four months ago acted properly and will not face legal action, Israel’s senior military lawyer has concluded.

The military advocate-general told the international news agency in a letter sent on Tuesday that troops could not see whether Fadel Shana was operating a camera or a weapon but were nonetheless justified in firing a shell packed with darts that killed him and eight other Palestinians aged between 12 and 20.

Reuters said on Wednesday it was deeply disturbed by a conclusion that severely curtails the freedom of the media to cover the conflict by effectively giving soldiers a free hand to kill without being sure they were not firing on journalists.

Shana, 24, filmed two tanks positioned about 1.5 km (a mile) from where he was standing for several minutes before, in a chilling final 2 seconds of video, his camera captured one tank firing a shell that burst overhead, showering the journalist and others with thousands of metal darts known as flechettes.

“The tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod and positively identify it as an anti-tank missile, a mortar or a television camera,” Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit of the Israel Defence Forces wrote. More

Turkey is refusing US naval ships access to Georgia via the Black Sea

The Black Sea is the back yard of three big players Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Syria’s Assad has been billed as the first Arab leader to publicly support the Russians. And that was after nearly two weeks.

Is Turkey going to surprise the world? And continue to refuse the Americans? Is there is a pax Russia unfolding? And Ukraine for all its vitriol to Russia, transports about 90% of the Russian gas that goes to Western Europe. So there is clearly some interdependency between these 2 Black Sea neighbours. And if Georgia ends up a Russian dependency then Turkey is beholden to Russia for the BTC pipeline.

Public sentiment in Turkey for the US is still at rock bottom because of Iraq.

The President of Iran has just visited Turkey for two days against Israels objections.

It was in Turkey that the BTC pipeline was blown up, a few days before Georgia attacked, and a few days after Kazakhstan agreed to send its oil to Russia and not through the BTC pipeline. The Kurds claimed the sabotage, the Turks officially denied it was sabotage. If western agents had a hand in this might the Turks be upset? Their intelligence service knows what happened. As do the Russians, the Iranians and Israelis.

Are the Turks saying no to the Neocons?

New Evidence Contradicts Official Explanation for U.S. Spy Satellite Shoot-Down

Newly released documents show that officials knew a satellite falling towards Earth posed no threat

When the Pentagon ordered a Navy ship to shoot down a crippled U.S. spy satellite last February, it claimed the operation was necessary to prevent a harmful fuel from being dispersed in the atmosphere. At the time, critics charged that the Bush administration was using the toxic fuel as an excuse to demonstrate missile-defense and antisatellite capabilities.

Now, there is new evidence that the critics were very likely right.

Astrophysicist Yousaf Butt obtained U.S. government documents showing that NASA's own analysis concluded that the satellite's fuel tank was expected to burn up completely during re-entry—even though NASA probably overestimated the tank's chances of survival. "Despite its optimistic oversimplifications, the released study indicates that the tank would certainly have demised high up in the atmosphere," Butt, a staff scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, writes in an article for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

Up to now, U.S. officials had refused to release any of the prelaunch analyses regarding the fuel tank, claiming they contained sensitive information. More

South Ossetia claims Georgian spy plane shot down

South Ossetian forces have shot down a Georgian spy plane, officials in the breakaway province said today.

Mikhail Mindzayev, South Ossetia's interior minister, said the drone had crossed into South Ossetia from the south, meaning it was from Georgia. The claim was dismissed by Tbilisi, where a Georgian interior ministry spokesman, Shota Utiashvili, said Mindzayev was "seeing things".

Russia this week stepped up its defiance of the west by recognising as independent South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia's two separatist regions. The move was denounced by the west as an attempt by Russia to redraw the map of Europe and in contravention of UN security council resolutions.

As the west hammered away at Moscow diplomatically, the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, today appealed to the five other leaders of an Asian security alliance for unanimous support over Georgia [... Guardian]

Cold War tension rises as Putin talks of Black Sea confrontation

A new Cold War between Russia and the West grew steadily closer yesterday after the Kremlin gave a warning about “direct confrontation” between American and Russian warships in the Black Sea.

Dmitri Peskov, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, declared that Russia was taking “measures of precaution” against American and Nato naval ships. “Let’s hope we do not see any direct confrontation in that,” he said.

Any attempt by countries in the West to isolate Russia would “definitely harm the economic interests of those states”, he said.

A day after the Kremlin said that it was ready to fight a new Cold War, both sides gave the impression that they were preparing for a protracted stand-off. Foreign ministers of the G7 leading industrialised nations condemned Russia’s excessive use of force and the decision to recognise the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, while the US and Russia shelved a key nuclear agreement that would have given the Americans access to Russian nuclear technologies and Russia help from the US in establishing an international nuclear fuel storage facility for spent fuel.[... London Times]

Belarus says to recognize Abkhazia, S. Ossetia by weekend

Russia's Topol ICBM hits target with new warhead in test launch

A Russian Topol strategic missile test-launched on Thursday from the Plesetsk space center has successfully hit a designated target on the Kamchatka peninsula, a Strategic Missile Forces spokesman said.

A joint team from SMF and Space Forces fired an RS-12M (SS-25 Sickle) ICBM at 14.36 Moscow time (10.36 GMT) from the Plesetsk space center in a launch that tested not only the performance characteristics of the missile but also the capabilities of a new warhead to penetrate strong missile defenses.

"An experimental warhead hit a target at a testing range on the Kamchatka peninsula with high precision, demonstrating its capability to deliver pinpoint strikes on well-defended targets," Col. Alexander Vovk said.

The missile, whose service life was extended to 21 years last year, covered a distance of about 6,000 kilometers (over 3,700 miles) before it hit the target.

"The performance data gathered during the test launch will be used to increase the effectiveness of future Russian mobile ballistic missile units," Vovk said, adding that the Topol ICBM remains the core of the Russian mobile strategic missile forces.

Russia has been enhancing the performance characteristics of its ballistic missiles in response to U.S. plans to place a missile-defense shield in central Europe near Russian borders.

Vovk said that judging from experience the most economical and quickly achievable countermeasures against the deployment of missile-defense systems are the so-called asymmetrical measures.

"These measures include enhanced "stealth" capability, a variability of flight trajectory and the use of warheads capable of penetrating any missile shield," he said.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet has stepped up security at its facilities in Ukraine to deter possible provocative acts, a senior navy official said Thursday.

Iran Could Reap Benefits of U.S.-Russian Tensions

Iran could emerge as a big winner, at least in the short term, from the rapidly escalating tensions between the United States and Russia over Moscow's intervention in Georgia, according to analysts.

Whatever waning chances remained of a U.S. military attack on Iran before President George W. Bush leaves office next January have all but vanished, given the still-uncertain outcome of the Georgia crisis, according to most of these observers.

Similarly, the likelihood that Moscow will cooperate with U.S. and European efforts to impose additional sanctions on Tehran through the U.N. Security Council, where Russia holds a veto, for not complying with the Council's demands to halt its uranium enrichment program has been sharply reduced.

Not only has Washington's confrontation with its old superpower rival displaced Tehran at the top of the administration's and U.S. media foreign policy agenda, but Tehran's geopolitical leverage – both as a potential partner for the West in containing Russia and as a potential ally of Moscow's in warding off western pressure – has also risen sharply as an incidental result of the crisis.

"When the U.S. invaded Iraq, it didn't do so to improve Iran's power position in the region, but that was the result," noted Gary Sick, an Iran expert at Columbia University who served on the National Security Council staff of former Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan. "That wasn't the purpose of the Russian invasion of Georgia either, but it, too, may be the result."

So far, Tehran's response to the Georgia crisis has been measured. Despite calls by some right-wing voices to side with Moscow, according to Farideh Farhi, an Iran expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars here, the government, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has expressed disapproval of the Russian action, particularly its recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia. More

Torture As Official Israeli Policy

The US and Israel are the only two modern states that legally sanction torture. An earlier article covered America. This one deals with the Jewish state, but let there be no doubt:

Although its language in part is vague, contradictory and protects abusive practices, Section 277 of Israel's 1977 Penal Law prohibits torture by providing criminal sanctions against its use. It specifically states in language similar to the UN Convention against Torture:

"A public servant who does one of the following is liable to imprisonment for three years: (1) uses or directs the use of force or violence against a person for the purpose of extorting from him or from anyone in whom he is interested a confession of an offense or information relating to an offense; (2) threatens any person, or directs any person to be threatened, with injury to his person or property or to the person or property of anyone in whom he is interested for the purpose of extorting from him a confession of an offense or any information relating to an offense." However, Israel clearly discriminates against Palestinians, (including Israeli Arab citizens), denies them rights afforded only to Jews, and gets legal cover for it by its courts. More on that below.

Nonetheless, the Jewish state is a signatory to the 1984 UN Convention against Torture and other international laws banning the practice. It's thus accountable for any violations under them to all its citizens and persons it controls in the Occupied Territories.

US statutes leave no ambiguity on torture. Neither do international laws like The (1949) Third Geneva Convention's Article 13 (on the Treatment of Prisoners of War). It states: [...thepeoplesvoice.org]

Russia wins backing from China

RUSSIA today won support from China and Central Asian states in its standoff with the Zionist arrogant West over the Georgia conflict as the European Union said it was weighing sanctions against Moscow.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped the "united position'' of a summit of Central Asian nations would ``serve as a serious signal to those who try to turn black into white.''

The West has strongly condemned Russia's military offensive in Georgia this month and Medvedev's decision to recognise the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

Ratcheting up pressure on Russia, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union, said the 27-nation bloc was preparing sanctions on Moscow.

EU leaders meet on Monday in Brussels for an emergency summit to press demands for a further Russian withdrawal from Georgia.

"Sanctions are being considered, and many other means,'' Kouchner said in Paris.

China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan voiced support for Russia's "active role'' in resolving the conflict in Georgia, according to the draft of a joint statement released by the Kremlin.

Leaders from the countries met in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional group set up in 2001 to counter NATO influence in the strategic Central Asia region.

Yesterday, the Group of Seven industrialised powers strongly condemned Russia's recognition of the two rebel regions.

"We deplore Russia's excessive use of military force in Georgia and its continued occupation of parts of Georgia,'' said the statement from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. More

Putin: U.S. incited conflict in Georgia

Change?

Not really.

When Bill Clinton, "the man from Hope," took the White House one of the things he did not put on his agenda was a serious investigation into the vast criminal enterprise operated by George Bush, Sr. that went by the name Iran/Contra.

Bush Sr. who belonged in jail on many counts walked away scott free. Since Clinton left the White House, it's obvious that he and Bush Sr. are the best of friends playing golf together and posing for numerous photo ops.

Is Obama going to go after the vast criminal enterprise Bush Jr. presided over?

The message is loud and clear. He will not.

What do you call the form of government where the chief executive can break serious laws repeatedly causing grave harm to the nation without consequences of any kind?

On the other hand, can Bush pardon himself in advance for murder? I don't think so.


Why a murder indictment against Bush is not only realistic, it's also advisable. Best of all, it won't require cooperation from the next occupant of the White House or the Congress.

Like father, like son. No consequences for Bush Jr?


How to indict Bush for murder: Vincent Bugliosi lays it out

Forget impeachment.

Try Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and all the rest for murder.

Former LA Deputy District Attorney, who successfully prosecuted, dozens of murder cases, makes the case that George Bush is indictable for murder.

Any state or city that had a citizen killed in the course of the Iraq War is eligible for pressing charges and bringing these lying psychopaths to justice.


Brasschecktv

Russia: NATO interference means war

Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitri Rogozin

Russia's ambassador to NATO has warned that any military interference in the Caucasus conflict will be considered as declaration of war.

In an interview with the Russian newspaper Vremya Novostei, Dmitry Rogozin, warned that any NATO attack on the Moscow-backed regions would "mean a declaration of war on Russia."

This is while the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held talks with the Chinese President Hu Jintao in Tajikistan ahead of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which is taking place on Thursday.

Medvedev, "informed his Chinese colleague about the situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia," AFP reported. The two men also discussed regional and international issues.

Russia's Dmitry Medvedev (L) China's Hu Jintao (R)

The SCO is an intergovernmental organization which was founded in 2001 by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran holds an observer status in the SCO. This year's summit will also be attended by the presidents of the above mentioned nations on August 28.

Russia monitoring NATO movements

US 'reviewing relationship with Russia'

David Miliband steps into a minefield

In lecturing the Russians about Ukrainian sovereignty, the British foreign secretary appears not to know what he's talking about.

It will be a cold winter in parts of the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, and that prediction has nothing to do with the weather forecast. The ripples of Russia's war with Georgia are spreading far and wide, and neither Russia nor the west is showing any moderation in their desire to limit the damage. The latest to engage in dangerous and irresponsible grandstanding is David Miliband. Is he a student of even recent Ukrainian history? I very much doubt it, but there he stood in Kiev today lecturing the Russians about the need to respect Ukrainian sovereignty.

Which bit of sovereign Ukraine was he talking about, the pro-Russian enclave of Crimea or the majority of the east and central Ukraine that, when asked, is against joining Nato? Does Miliband not realise that Ukraine as a nation has historically been torn between east and west, and what does he think would happen to old wounds if he, among others, starts to tug a little bit harder?

The history of the relationship between Russia and Ukraine is at least as tangled and interwoven, culturally, politically and religiously, as that between England and Scotland. You only have to take a closer look at what Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a hero of the west, said about Ukraine to realise that our zero-sum calculations do not stack up. He called for a slavic revival based on Russian orthodoxy. Solzhenitsyn fought both the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence – and what's interesting about Solzhenitsyn is that he has Ukrainian parentage.

Miliband appears to be blissfully unaware of this. He went on to claim that Russia was not reconciled to "the new map" of the region. Is this a map which includes, as it did yesterday, the spectacle of the US and Russia sending rival warships to rival Black Sea ports? The history of the division of the former Soviet Union's Black Sea Fleet and its bases was long and bitter. It aroused passions on both sides, but it forced both Ukraine and Russia to make what each side regarded as painful military and territorial concessions. The dispute is still not over, because doubts over the future of Russia's main base at Sevastopol continues to rumble on. More

Exposing the Zionist Hidden Hand Ruling Britain and the United States

David Miliband: Russia must face consequences of Georgia 'aggression'

Sissy Saakashvili says afraid to leave for summit

Georgia's puppet has said he will not attend a European Union summit to address his country's conflict with Russia, as he fears Moscow would not let him return.

"If I leave Georgia, the Russians will close our airspace and prevent me from returning home," Mikheil Saakashvili said in an interview published in Wednesday's edition of the popular German newspaper Bild.

EU leaders will gather Monday in Brussels, where they are expected to review ties with Russia, which has been criticized by the bloc for recognizing on Tuesday the separatist Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and for excessive use of force in its response to Tbilisi's attack on South Ossetia earlier this month.

Saakashvili said his country's military capabilities are not enough to withstand Russia. "Militarily, we have no chance," he said.

Russia has said that Georgia lost its right to the two regions after its offensive in South Ossetia, which left hundreds dead and forced thousands to flee the devastated region.

'1,692 killed in Georgian aggression'

Russian warships arrive in Abkhazia

Any country could be next, warns Ukrainian president

USSA and Russia On a War Footing

Kremlin sends missile cruiser to Abkhazia port. US coastguard boat forced to redirect 'aid' delivery.

US and Russian warships on opposing sides of the Georgia conflict took up positions in the Black Sea yesterday in a war of nerves.

With the Russians effectively controlling Georgia's main naval base at Poti, Moscow also dispatched the missile cruiser Moskva and two smaller craft on "peacekeeping" duties at the port of Sukhumi on the coast of Abkhazia, the breakaway region that the Kremlin recognised as independent on Tuesday.

The US, wary of escalating a fraught situation, cancelled the scheduled docking in Poti of the US coastguard vessel Dallas and instead sent it to the southern Georgian-controlled port of Batumi to deliver relief supplies.

"Let's hope we don't see any direct confrontation," said Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, as Moscow challenged the US policy of using military aircraft and ships to deliver aid.

"The decision to deliver aid using Nato battleships is something that hardly can be explained," said Peskov. "It's not a common practice."

He added that Russian naval forces were taking "some measures of precaution" around the Black Sea as the dispute caused by Russia's recognition of Abkhazia's and South Ossetia's independence resulted in strong criticism from the European countries most reluctant to sever relations with Russia... Guardian

Russia to respond militarily to U.S. missile shield

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia will have to respond militarily to the deployment of elements of a U.S. missile shield in Central Europe.

The deal to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland was reached in mid-August, and followed the signing of an agreement on July 8 by the U.S. and Czech foreign ministries to place a U.S. radar in the Czech Republic.

“These missiles are close to our borders and constitute a threat to us,” Medvedev said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television on Tuesday. “This will create additional tension and we will have to respond to it in some way, naturally using military means.”

The Russian president said that offering NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine, two former Soviet republics, would only aggravate the situation. He added that the Ukrainian people should be asked their opinion in national referendum. Opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Ukrainians are against their country joining the military alliance.

Moscow has consistently expressed its opposition to the U.S. missile shield, saying it threatens its national security. The U.S. claims the shield is designed to thwart missile attacks by what it calls “rogue states,” including Iran.

Medvedev’s statement came on the same day that Russia recognized the Georgian breakaway republic so South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The move came two weeks after Moscow concluded its operation to “force Georgia to peace” following an attack by Georgian troops on South Ossetia on August. RIA Novosti

Russian analyst points to link between Georgian attack and Iran

A senior Russian military analyst said on Wednesday that the U.S. and NATO by arming Tbilisi used the conflict in Georgia as a dress rehearsal for a future military operation in Iran.

Col. Gen Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy of Geopolitical Studies, told a news conference at RIA Novosti, “We are close to a serious conflict - U.S. and NATO preparations on a strategic scale are ongoing. In the operation the West conducted on Georgian soil against Russia - South Ossetians were the victims or hostages of it - we can see a rehearsal for an attack on Iran. There is a great deal of “new features” that today are being fine tuned in the theater of military operations.”

He said the likelihood of a war against Iran was growing with each passing day, “As a result, the situation in the region will become destabilized,” and added “causing chaos and instability” was becoming Washington’s official policy line.

Ivashov said it was difficult to predict how other countries would react to a conflict with Iran, but according to him, “old Europe” would be reluctant for events to develop and to some degree would become Russia’s allies.

With regard to the Georgia-South Ossetian conflict, he said that one of the principal goals of NATO’s “geopolitical operation” was to neutralize Russia as a global player. RIA Novosti

The Basic Flaw

The basic flaw in the neoconservative ideology is that democracy cannot be imposed on other people at the point of a gun.

Furthermore, if neoconservatives came from an American tradition rather than a Trotskyite tradition, they would understand that America itself is not a democracy. Benjamin Franklin emerged from the Constitutional Convention and a lady asked him, “Well, Mr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?” He did not say democracy. He replied, “Madam, we have given you a republic – if you can keep it.”

A republic and a democracy are two different animals. A democracy, which can actually work only in a very small country, allows citizens to vote on every issue. A republic allows citizens to elect representatives, who then use their own judgment to decide issues. If the citizens disagree with the representatives’ decisions, they can replace them at the next election.

Furthermore, mere elections are not what define America’s unique form of freedom. Today, practically every country in the world has elections, most of dubious validity. What most countries lack is a commitment on the part of their individual citizens to the concept of human rights, which cannot be legitimately abrogated by government.

For us, that concept took centuries of thought and conflicts to mature. It began at Runnymede when some barons presented a British king with demands that became known as the Magna Carta. It placed limits on the king’s powers and defined certain rights not only for the aristocracy but for the common folk, too. And the barons were there with their swords to make sure the king understood that it was not negotiable.

A great deal of blood was shed and words written and spoken before the concept matured. Today it’s found mainly in what in politically incorrect days were called the Anglo-Saxon countries – the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Our form of freedom is a gift from our English-speaking ancestors. In other parts of the world, government went off in different directions, even those we consider more or less free. But their concept of freedom is not the same as ours. [... Lew Rockwell.com]