6 Nov, 2022

 

Defense News: The United States is increasing the grouping of satellites to conduct reconnaissance for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on the eve of the offensive in the Kherson direction.

The US National Directorate of Military Space Intelligence (NRO) has accelerated a program to increase the grouping of satellites in Ukraine at the expense of commercial satellite companies. To this end, NRO will additionally use the resources of five companies: the American division of Airbus, the California Capella Space and Umbra, the Florida PredaSAR and the American branch of the Finnish ICEYE.

According to the publication, the NRO has an orbital satellite grouping consisting of 50 satellites for intelligence gathering. It is reported that they monitor the movement of Russian troops, the course of hostilities in Ukraine, and also monitor the situation on the implementation of the "grain deal" in the Black Sea

Former MI5 agent Annie Machon added: Turkey had US blessing for attack against Russia

Former MI5 agent: Russia ruins Western plan to build a pipeline from Qatar to Europe via Syria.

"Tomorrow's Battlefield": U.S. Special Ops

As U.S. Special Ops Enter Syria, Growing Presence in Africa Goes Unnoticed

Published on 13 Nov 2015 : Democracynow.org - The recent U.S. deployment of special operations forces to Syria expands a global U.S. battlefield that is at a historic size. This year, special ops have been sent to a record 147 countries—75 percent of the nations on the planet. It’s a 145 percent increase from the days of George W. Bush. And it means that on any given day elite U.S. forces are on the ground in 70 to 90 countries. Those shocking numbers are revealed by our guest, the journalist Nick Turse. For years, Turse has been tracking the expansion of global U.S. militarism for the website TomDispatch and other outlets. His latest book, "Tomorrow’s Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars and Secret Ops in Africa," focuses on one particular American military battlefield that often goes unnoticed. Turse says the U.S. military is now involved in more than 90 percent of Africa’s 54 nations.

The Lab

Published on 1 Dec 2014 - For Israeli - US Military industrial Complex from where weapons & Military/Police trainer contractors goes worldwide! Based on : An Israeli Soldier's Story - Eran Efrati

Who's Profiting From Israel's Offensive in Gaza?

Published on 29 Jul 2014 - Shir Hever: Israel continues to reject Hamas' offer of a ten-year ceasefire because it would undermine Israeli arms sales, which reached $7 billion in 2012

China Considers Turkish Missile Deal As A Victory

Published on 2 Oct 2013 | Turkey's $4 billion (2.46 billion pounds) order for a Chinese missile defence system is a breakthrough for China in its bid to become a supplier of advanced weapons, even though opposition from Washington and NATO threatens to derail the deal.

The winning bid from the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) to deliver its FD-2000 air defence missile system in a joint production agreement with Turkey is the first time a Chinese supplier has won a major order for state-of-the-art equipment from a NATO member. U.S., Russian and Western European manufacturers were also in the fray.

The decision last week to award the contract to CPMIEC, a company that is under U.S. sanctions for dealings with Iran, North Korea and Syria, surprised global arms trade experts and senior NATO officials.

"It is quite significant I would say, if it materialises," said Oliver Brauner, a researcher on China's arms exports at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)."It would certainly be a landmark deal."

Turkey signalled on Monday that it could back away from its decision after Washington said it had "serious concerns" about the deal with a sanctioned company for a system that would not be compatible with NATO's other weapons and networks.

And, in a reminder that Ankara faces stiff opposition from its alliance partners in Europe, a NATO official in Brussels said it was important that equipment ordered by member countries is compatible.

"It is premature at this stage to say whether Turkey's acquisition will be able to operate with the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System," the official said.

NATO's disappointment with Turkey is heightened by the fact that the United States, Germany and the Netherlands each sent two Patriot batteries earlier this year after Ankara asked for help in beefing up its air defences against the threat of missiles from Syria.

Ankara could call off the air defence deal under pressure, but some Chinese and foreign commentators suggested it would still be a symbolic victory for Beijing.

They say Turkey's willingness to choose the FD-2000 over established rivals confirms the rapid technical improvement and competitiveness of China's missile and aerospace sector.

Chinese military experts say the system performed well in live tests for the Turkish Defence Ministry.

It also signals that China's sprawling defence industry is poised to become a low cost supplier of high technology weaponry alongside its rapidly expanding sales of basic military equipment including small arms, artillery, armoured vehicles, general purpose vehicles and older generation missiles.

CHINESE MILITARY EXPORTS SOARING

China has displaced the United Kingdom as the world's fifth biggest arms supplier in the five years to 2012, according to SIPRI.

Chinese exports of conventional weapons increased 162 per cent in the five years from 2008 to 2012 compared with the five years from 2003 to 2007, the arms trade monitor reported earlier this year.

Sales to close ally Pakistan accounted for most of this but China is also expanding its deliveries to other markets, mostly in the developing world.

While almost three decades of double digit, annual increases in military spending has accelerated Beijing's ambitious military build-up, it has also allowed China's defence factories to boost the quality and performance of home-grown weapons and military hardware.

"There are good reasons for China to succeed in Turkey," says Vasily Kashin, an arms trade expert at Moscow's Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. "The key factors were price and the readiness to transfer technology."

CPMIEC, the marketing arm of China's missile manufacturing industry, outbid the Franco-Italian company Eurosam and its SAMP/T Aster 30 missile, Russia's Rosoboronexport's S-300 and Patriot air defence batteries from U.S. contractors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

Atilla Sandikli, the chairman of think-tank Bilgesam and a former high-level officer in the Turkish army, said an offer of technology transfer from China was decisive.

Turkey's NATO allies were less enthusiastic about co-production and technology sharing, he added.

Israel to test-fire new missile system after Iron Dome failure.

The Israeli regime is set to test-fire a new missile shield developed by US company Raytheon after its Iron Dome missile system failed to intercept hundreds of rockets and missiles fired from Gaza.

Israel has turned to engineers from the American company to help the regime develop the next-generation missile shield called the Stunner.

According to Boston Globe newspaper, the new missile interceptor is scheduled to be test-fired in “Negev Desert in coming days.”

If the system proves viable, Tel Aviv will add the system to its missile shield, known as David’s Sling, which is designed to complement Iron Dome.

“They are working hard to get David’s Sling operational. The hope is it will be able to knock out a variety of targets,” said Theodore A. Postol, professor of science, technology, and national security policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former adviser to the US Navy.

Israel developed the Iron Dome with a 200-million-dollar fund from the United States. The US plans to give Tel Aviv another $600 million for additional batteries and replacement missiles.

The US will also help finance the Stunner project if it proves viable. The Israeli firm Rafael has spent a total of $130 million over the past three years to complete the system.

The new interceptor missile system “is designed to intercept a variety of short-range ballistic missiles, large caliber rockets and cruise missiles,” Raytheon said in a statement.

The report added that Tel Aviv is also working with the giant American aerospace corporation, Boeing, on another missile shield known as Arrow 3, designed to intercept missiles that can travel hundreds, even thousands of miles.

The landing of Hamas rockets in Israeli cities has raised serious questions on how the Israeli regime would protect itself in case of other retaliatory strikes.

An Egypt-mediated ceasefire agreement on Wednesday ended eight days of Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip that killed more than 160 Palestinians and injured about 1,200 others.

The Iron Dome missile shield intercepted about 420 out of some 1,500 rockets fired by the Palestinian resistance fighters into the Israeli cities.

The resistance fighters incessantly fired rockets and missiles into the occupied lands during the eight-day Israeli war on Gaza, killing at least five Israelis, in retaliation for the fatal attacks on the besieged Palestinian territory. 

original news here  >>>

WMD-free Middle East conference cancelled for Israeli worries

Nuclear warheads (file photo)

A major conference aimed at banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East has been cancelled over concerns that criticism at Israel would further isolate the Tel Aviv regime.

The major event has reportedly been scrubbed on US worries that its long-time ally in the region, the Israeli regime, would come under fire as the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

"We would not support a conference in which any regional state would be subject to pressure or isolation," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, alluding to the Israeli regime.

Israel is widely known to possess between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads.

Nuland, however, mentioned on Friday the current conditions in the Middle East as the reason why the conference, slated to be held in Helsinki, Finland, probably in mid-December, has been cancelled.

"As a co-sponsor of the proposed conference ... the United States regrets to announce that the conference cannot be convened because of present conditions in the Middle East and the fact that states in the region have not reached agreement on acceptable conditions for a conference," Nuland said in a statement.

She added, "The United States believes that a deep conceptual gap persists in the region on approaches toward regional security and arms control arrangements.

"These differences can only be bridged through direct engagement and agreement among the states in the region. Outside states cannot impose a process on the region any more than they can dictate an outcome.”

Britain and Russia, as other sponsors of the major conference, had insisted that all regional countries, in particular Israel, attend the meeting and it appears that Tel Aviv’s refusal has, according to reports, led to the cancellation of the major event.

The Israeli regime rejects all the regulatory international nuclear agreements - the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in particular - and refuses to allow its nuclear facilities to come under international regulatory inspections.

Original here  >>>

Gaza's Hopes Dashed by Morsi and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

Ever since the toppling of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, Palestinians in Gaza have hoped that they would see an end to the punishing restrictions on their movement through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, their only gateway to the outside world.

I know first-hand about the hardships these restrictions cause, not only because as a reporter I have covered them for years, but because my family has borne them personally as we have had to go back and forth from our home in Gaza to Egypt for my wife’s medical treatment.

But though there was a loosening of the restrictions since the fall of Egypt’s Mubarak regime, 1.6 million residents in Gaza now face the return of the tight closure imposed on their movement since 2007, as Israel, the occupying power, works with Egypt to impose a tight siege on the area.

Punishing Palestinians for electing Hamas

Israel claimed that the siege was necessary because Hamas, in power in Gaza, represented a threat; meanwhile Egypt bowed to international pressure by shutting down Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world. The goal was in fact the same — to tighten the siege on Gaza to make Hamas’ rule unviable, even though it had won an election in 2006.

Egypt then contended that the Rafah crossing terminal should operate according to the terms of the 2005 “Agreement on Movement and Access” brokered by the United States. This agreement required the presence of European Union “observers” who acted as Israel’s eyes, ears and hands, and the forces of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

However, Hamas’ election victory has changed the rules of the political game, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who need to be able to move in and out of Gaza have been the victims.

Instead of welcoming one of the rare democratic exercises in in the Arab world, years before the Arab uprisings that have, so far, led to the fall of long-time rulers in Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Egypt itself, the so-called international community imposed a boycott on the Palestinians to punish them for the result.

A year and a half after Hamas won legislative elections in both Gaza and the West Bank — declared free and fair by international monitors — Hamas and the western-backed Fatah faction of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, architect of the Oslo Agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, engaged in a brief civil war.

Abbas’ forces aimed to prevent Hamas from gaining hegemony despite their election victory, while Hamas wanted to consolidate its control and prevent what it saw as a coup against its legitimate authority.

In June 2007, the conflict reached a climax, and Hamas ousted the forces loyal to Abbas and established sole control in the interior of Gaza. This only led Israel and its international allies to tighten the siege and closure.

In 2008, Israel declared Gaza — of which it is still legally the occupying power — a “hostile entity” that is dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel.

Original here   >>

Obama signs $70 million Israel military aid bill

US President Barack Obama signs the US-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act in the Oval Office on July 27, 2012.

US President Barack Obama has signed a piece of legislation ratified by Congress that gives Israel another $70 million in military assistance, on top of the $3 billion the United States had already pledged to provide to the Israeli military this year.

On Friday, Obama signed the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, which provides more US taxpayer dollars to help Israel expand its Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system, Xinhua reported. 

The Iron Dome is a short-range rocket defense system designed to intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from a range of between four and 70 kilometers. 

Representatives of the pro-Israeli lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and Israeli journalists were invited to the signing ceremony, which was held at the White House. 

“I have made it a top priority for my administration to deepen cooperation with Israel across the whole spectrum of security issues -- intelligence, military, technology,” Obama said before signing the bill in the Oval Office. 

“And, in many ways, what this legislation does is bring together all the outstanding cooperation that we have seen, really, at an unprecedented level between our two countries that underscores our unshakeable commitment to Israel security,” he added. 

According to a White House fact sheet published on Friday, Obama said that “despite tough fiscal times” he “fought for and secured full funding for Israel” in fiscal year 2012, including $3 billion in Foreign Military Financing.

The fact sheet also said that Obama secured an additional $205 million in 2011 to set up the Iron Dome system. 


original report  | 28 July 2012

Is Netanyahu Bluffing?

Uploaded by TheRealNews on Apr 4, 2012 - Gareth Porter: Netanyahu is telling the Israeli people an attack on Iran will not cost much, but is the real objective to destroy the Iranian economy through sanctions?

China's nuclear arsenal 'many times larger'.

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on 1 Dec 2011 - A recent report by Georgetown University analysing hundreds of hours of Chinese state television, newspapers and blogs says China's nuclear arsenal may be many times larger than previously thought. The report says China could have as many as 3,000 nuclear warheads, a significant increase from the previously estimated high of 400.

the "nuke policy of ambiguity".

WARNING Israel's nuclear weapons can now reach the UK :: from the US state dept mouth-piece? this vid was before AJE attained that status.

        Uploaded by 91177info on Jun 9, 2010 - Israel refuses to allow inspections or sign the NPT which safeguards the sale of nuclear material. Is it safe to allow Israel to disregard UN laws especially after the Gaza Flotilla Massacre where they murdered humanitarian peace activists and the United States turns a blind eye? While Israel is one of the loudest voices calling for a tougher line on Iran's nuclear programme, its own nuclear capability has never been put to inspection. Israel has two nuclear research centres - at Dimona and Soreq. 

The latest estimates suggest that Israel has produced at least 118 warheads with weapons grade plutonium. The Jericho ballistic missiles are capable of carrying such weapons. The Jericho One, which is now obsolete, had a range of 500 kilometres, and could carry a 20 kiloton nuclear warhead - 20 times more powerful than the US bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The Jericho Two has a range of 1500 kilometres. It could just reach Iran - and is believed to be able to carry a one megaton nuclear bomb, which is 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. I

t is believed a Jericho Three missile is now being developed - that will be able to travel around 5,000 kilometres, bringing all of Iran and Europe into its range.

Rudd calls for inspections of Israel's nuclear facility.

FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd has arrived in Israel with a blunt message: allow international inspectors into your nuclear facility.

He has also called on Israel to stop building in Jewish settlements in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In an interview with The Australian before he arrived in Israel last night, Mr Rudd staked out strong positions on both issues.

While many countries are calling on Israel to halt settlement growth, it is Mr Rudd's strong stance on Israel's nuclear facility that is bound to be most controversial in Israel.

Israel refuses to confirm that it even has nuclear weapons, but foreign intelligence analysts familiar with the program believe Israel has just over 200 nuclear warheads at its facility in Dimona in southern Israel. Israeli officials have confirmed to The Australian that Israel has nuclear weapons but will not place a figure on them.

The Australian - a4 December 2010 | Read full report :

A Simple Question-Nuclear Weapons.

PressTVGlobalNews | November 09, 2010 - This episode of Press TV's "A Simple Question" is about nuclear weapons; a strategic deterrent that responsible countries should have and should keep, or a threat so great that they should abolish altogether.

The US tested the world's first nuclear bomb in New Mexico, 1945. On the 6th of August that year, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. 3 days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The US justification for these actions was that dropping the bomb was necessary to end the 2nd world war.

The dropping of the Hiroshima bomb heralded the start of the atomic age. The USSR developed its first weapon in 1949, the UK in 1952, France in 1960, and China in 1964. These nations and many more signed the NPT in an attempt to control nuclear weapons at the international level. The treaty consists of 3 central pillars:

- First, all nuclear states agreed not to help non-nuclear states acquire nuclear weapons.

- Second, all nuclear states would move towards disarming their own nuclear weapons.

- Third, all countries -- both nuclear and non-nuclear -- were granted the right to develop their own nuclear energy programs.

Pakistan and India developed nuclear weapons with the support of the US. In 2006, North Korea tested its first nuclear missile. Israel officially has a policy of ambiguity; it neither confirms nor denies whether it has nuclear weapons. The US and a number of other countries accuse Iran of covertly trying to make nuclear weapons and as a result, the US, UN, and EU have all placed economic sanctions on Iran. But Tehran rejects the west's double standards and insists its nuclear program is just for peaceful purposes; it's enriching uranium to meet its energy needs.

In the UK and around the world resistance to nuclear weapons continues.

Watch videos below :

THE MERCHANTS OF DEATH & DESTRUCTION - THE LEAGUE OF DOOM!

Top 5 arms exporters: who feels secure? Weapons piling up, enough to blow up Earth many times over rather than defend it.

The United States of America remains the largest exporter of conventional weapons in the world, according to the latest study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). 

The U.S account for 30% of global arms sales, or about $7 billion per year, for the period 2005-2009, SIPRI statement says. From 2005 to 2009, the U.S. sold one-third of its arm exports to South Korea (15%), Israel (13%) and the United Arab Emirates (11%). The top U.S. military equipments included JDAM guided bombs and RGM-84L Harpoon-2 anti-ship missiles, delivered to South Korea, in 2008.

Read full report :


Vid below seems to conflict with latest report below: 

UN Security council offer talks with Iran

Or is it arm twisting? Iran signed the NPT, now let IAEA do their work!

AlJazeeraEnglish | September 23, 2010 - Iran were close to purchasing Russian S300 missiles before Dmitry Medvedev, Russian President, cancelled the sale.

Instead Russia, along with the US, China and the European Union say they're offering Iran a chance to negotiate an end to the long running dispute over its nuclear program.

Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from New York.

Robert Fisk: Nine years, two wars, hundreds of thousands dead – and nothing learnt!

Did 9/11 make us all mad? Our memorial to the innocents who died nine years ago has been a holocaust of fire and blood . . .

Just five years ago – on the fourth anniversary of the twin towers/Pentagon/Pennsylvania attacks – a schoolgirl asked me at a lecture in a Belfast church whether the Middle East would benefit from more religion. No – less religion! – I howled back. God is good for contemplation, not for war. But – and here we are driven on to the reefs and hidden rocks which our leaders wish us to ignore, forget and cast aside – this whole bloody mess involves the Middle East; it is about a Muslim people who have kept their faith while those Westerners who dominate them – militarily, economically, culturally, socially – have lost theirs. How can this be, Muslims ask? Indeed, it is a superb irony that the Rev Jones is a believer while the rest of us – by and large – are not. Hence our books and our documentaries never refer to Muslims vs Christians, but Muslims versus "The West".

read full post 

Saturday, 11 September 

2010

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GETTY IMAGES

The World Trade Center site with memorial footprints of the twin towers visible

Global Arm Sales and Buyers!

AlJazeeraEnglish Inside Story | July 10, 2010 - Following the meeting between Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Barack Obama, the US president, Inside Story asks if the US is an honest broker in the Middle East and if there will be any progress in the peace process.
Global Sales of Arms have increased by 20% in the last five years.
USA, Russia, Germany, France & UK are the Arms suppliers.

US produces 31% and sell one-third of that to Middle East.
Israel gets 22% of all arms to Middle East and

Iran only imports only 5% of the total imports of Middle East: