Is Erdogan’s political honeymoon nearing its end?

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister

By: Anthony Mathew Jacob

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/09/307954/erdogans-political-honeymoon-ending/

Turkey has been protesting for over a week now, thousands have gathered in huge numbers in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Mugla, Antalya, and many other cities and towns.

According to initial media reports the protests were in reaction to a planned demolition of Gezi Park, a traditional gathering point for rallies and demonstrations, the park is also a popular tourist destination and Istanbul’s last green public space.

The number of protesters has only increased with each passing day and Istanbul’s Taksim Square has become the center of protests. What started as a peaceful sit-in protest soon turned violent when the police force; under direct orders from the government, started using violence to disperse the protesters. Amnesty International observers at the protests witnessed the use of water cannon and tear gas against peaceful protestors. Later in the week, two major trade union members with a huge strength of 600,000 went on a strike to express their support for the protesters facing police brutality.

Testimonies of protesters, lawyers, civil society observers and medical professionals at the scene and video evidence confirm the use of widespread brutal tactics employed by the police at demonstrations continuing across central Istanbul.

Reports suggest that thousands of protesters have been injured and at least three have succumbed to their injuries. According to a press release by Amnesty International on 3 June 2013, “The Turkish Medical Association has said that as many as 4,100 people injured during the police response to protests have been treated in hospitals across Istanbul over the past two days. Two of them had life threatening injuries and five remain in intensive care as a result of injuries sustained at demonstrations in the city.”

For what are the people protesting?

At the face value the protests look like a reaction to save the last green public space in Istanbul, however the causes are more than what meets the eye. According to reports in the Turkish media, the demolition of Gezi Park is to pave way for a Mega Shopping Mall and the Mayor of Turkey, Kadir Topbas from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), is the owner of a retail chain that will have an important presence in the mall. Moreover, Erdogan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak is believed to have bagged the contract for the development of the mall. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), is severely criticized for widespread cronyism and support for those who fund their electoral campaigns. The rising politician-businessman nexus in Turkey has eroded the people’s trust in the government.

Additionally, Ankara’s economy has witnessed a steep fall for the last two years. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Turkey's rate of economic growth slowed sharply to 2.2% in 2012, as weak domestic demand and spillover from the European debt crisis took its toll after two years of rapid expansion that rivaled China.”

Turkish economy’s meteoric fall has brought along with it the perils of inflation, unemployment and a troubled market. The very economy that was hailed for its pace of growth is now experiencing a downward slump, thanks to the spillover of the European debt crisis.

Suppression of journalists and rights activists

Another important factor that has resulted in widespread discontent is the blatant suppression of journalists, human rights activists and lawyers. Turkey tops the list of countries known for brutal suppression of freedom of press and is the first country in the world that has the largest number of journalists imprisoned.

Hundreds of Turkish journalists are languishing in jails and more than a thousand face charges of supporting terrorists and other unspecified charges. Any journalistic activity that criticizes the government, its policy, scandals, etc. is dealt with an iron fist. Several journalists had to leave their jobs or got fired because of pressure from the Turkish government. One of Turkey’s famous journalists, Ertugrul Mavioglu, once said: “You can write anything, but only under constant threats of unemployment, fines, arrest or worse.”

Erdogan’s mischief in Syria backfires

Erdogan’s lust for power and position has blinded him to atrocities towards his own people and the neighboring Syrians. Despite his claims of supporting the Syrians, his real intentions in Syria are not a secret anymore.

One of the biggest allies of the Western-led, Arab-funded and Israel-directed sabotage and regime change operation in Syria is the Erdogan-led Turkish government. Since the beginning of the bloody terrorist insurgency in Syria, the Turkish authorities have done their level best to support terrorism and sabotage across the border.

Ankara has taken the lead in providing training, logistical support and a safe transit way to the terrorists fighting against Damascus. Furthermore, Ankara has hosted numerous conferences in support of the so-called Syrian opposition groups. Naturally, the Turks are opposed to their government’s role in the merciless bloodshed across the border. According to opinion polls, “some 70.8 percent of respondents think the AKP’s policy on Syria is wrong.”

Erdogan’s policy towards Syria has backfired on him in the worst possible way; today he seems to be falling in the same grave that he’s been digging for Assad. He dreams of becoming the most powerful leader in the Middle East but given the current situations in Turkey it looks like he is soon going to fall off his bed very soon…

It may be too early to predict Erdogan’s fall, but a careful observation of the recent events in the Middle East makes one wonder whether Taksim Square will turn out to be another Tahrir Square.

I wish Erdogan and others like him learn from Egypt’s Mubarak, Yemen’s Saleh and Tunisia’s Zine Al-Abedine before they end up like Libya’s Gaddafi…

 

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Strike on Gaza, Netanyahu's swan song of rage

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

By: Gordon Duff

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/15/272432/netanyahus-swan-song-of-rage/

Three missiles have traveled the 50 miles from Gaza to Tel Aviv and Israel’s “Iron Dome” was proven less than promised and the possibility of tens of thousands of missiles from Lebanon became an inexorable reality if the “madness of Netanyahu” goes unhindered.

I understand Netanyahu; I just do not forgive him. Where Gaddafi faced physical danger, defiant to the end, Netanyahu believes himself under similar circumstances.

He sits in Tel Aviv like a spider as he hatches his plots, Romney and the promise of a Greater Israel and a “shock and awe” attack by the US on Iran, those schemes lie in ruins.

Another of the leaders of men, the “Masters of the Universe,” small men, heartless, narcissistic, borderline personality disorder or full-blown sociopaths, they spin from fantasy to rage to self-destruction.

We see the daily attacks on Gaza. We also know of his preparations, a massive armed assault on the world’s largest walled prison, its women and children slated to fall under the cluster bombs, the white phosphorous, the shelling and staffing that Likudist Israel turns to when the world begins to open its eyes to see what is there.

For over six decades, a stranglehold on pop culture, movies, television, movies, even the American congress, creatures like John McCain and Lindsay Graham of the US Senate as examples, all have provided “cover and deception” for genocide.

Small men, small in stature, small in heart, small of intellect do not take the unraveling of their plots easily.

We have seen the rage of Greater Israel before. Were an accurate history to be laid bare before all, it would constitute an act of criminality in many nations, we have sunk that low.

The tendrils that stretch from Tel Aviv have shown themselves of late, not immediately but the mosaic is beginning to come together, the pattern to be seen, understood, its brazenness and hubris grossly contradictory to popular “victimization mythology” used to wage war on the world “through deception.”

BENGHAZI

As the flood of cash from Sheldon Adelson’s worldwide casino empire proved more and more ineffective in overcoming America’s doubts about Romney’s character, a plan was hatched.

We had seen such a plan before; a political party in Norway had stood its ground in support of a boycott of Israeli goods in response to an apartheid society enforced with untold violence.

Anders Breivik assisted by right wing extremists in Norway’s police, murder 77 children, the families of those who stood for freedom and justice. All investigations were suppressed and Breivik will spend a few short years in relative comfort, enjoying the free society he had worked much of his life to deny others.

Breivik is what is known as a “Zionist.”

Benghazi is, in many ways, a very similar incident, clearly the product of a wide-ranging conspiracy of spies, of journalists, of members of congress, of “chat room” trolls and “bloggers.” There were some killers too, we may seek some of them out, but as for the others, they are unlikely to receive the punishment they deserve.

The American president had to be humiliated, not just that, but “set up” as well, accused of endless conspiracies, all equally senseless and asinine but if repeated enough to a nation of “apocalypse junkies” and “birthers,” it might just work.

To pull off the Benghazi killings, assets were called upon, some “dual citizens” within the American Department of State, to make sure the Ambassador was vulnerable at a key time. Thus, those who controlled his schedule, who knew his every move, they are who I would look at first.

Then I would turn to what history has denied, the invisible partnership begun in 2004 between the Bush family, Israel and Gaddafi. While the British built Gaddafi’s military, while Haliburton took over their oil, Israel befriended the Libyan leader.

It was Gaddafi’s belief that, if he let Israel in to set up his intelligence agencies and his communications network, if he allowed secret CIA prisons and America’s rendition program to operate under the cover of Libyan “seclusion,” it would assure the survival of his rule.

Gaddafi had weathered decades of change while others had fallen, he was a survivor, or so he thought.
Hence, when time came to kill an American ambassador, Israel had been in Libya for eight years, establishing themselves among the acolytes of Gaddafi, those who would supply the needed electronic jamming equipment, the heavy weapons and the needed additional manpower for what was a far larger military operation than anyone has yet told the public.

Why are there no photos of Benghazi, no film, in a world where every person carries a phone that records video? It was not just the jamming; nearly a square mile taken down by one of Gaddafi’s many convoy security trucks.
Special teams were infiltrated through Tunisia, through the Tripoli airport. They were seen, French and British intelligence, many were told that there would be a target but none imagined the killing of the lone American diplomat and his tiny security detail, one of the “soft targets” of all time.

This was figured to cost Obama two percentage points on the election, just a few murders, that is all.
This was only the beginning. Not only would Israel unleash her army of former Internet chat room trolls, elevated to the status of “bloggers,” but also an army of journalists, including a mix of pundits, “tea party” extremists and fantasists.

Behind them, on demand, like ordering “take away Chinese,” members of congress would chime in, the dirtiest and those most easily blackmailed would lead the way. Thus, Lindsay Graham, the “homophobic” homosexual Senator from South Carolina and “Hanoi John” McCain, the former POW with a presidential pardon protecting him from life in prison for giving “aid and comfort to the enemy” during his “imprisonment” during the Vietnam War are unleashed.

For that story, names like Colonel Ted Guy, Colonel Earl Hopper and Sgt. Major John Holland, all now deceased, supplied endless fully vetted documentation.

CIVIL WAR OR COUP

The story of former CIA Director, General Petraeus becomes more dark and complex as each hour progresses. When Allen Dulles ran the CIA, he was famous for having had a “relationship” with every woman in the agency.

The story about Petraeus began as a simple affair, took on the perception of a “honey trap,” a typical methodology used in the spy trade where sex and blackmail are used.

Now “informed sources” are saying that things may have gone further, much further.

What we do see, however, is a “second term” presidency where it is a very good guess that a veil has been lifted and those that needed “dealing with” during Obama’s first term, those who helped bring down America through illegal wars, through financial crimes, through espionage, those who were very much “above the law” may very well no longer be so.

Sources within the Department of Justice now indicate that the Israeli lobby, long under investigation for espionage but protected by powerful friends is no longer safe.

Where Gaza will suffer destruction, the plans for America are more complex and, perhaps, even more deadly. Military officers long under the control of Tel Aviv, some willing, some under blackmail, others bought for “30 pieces of silver” stand ready to overthrow the lawful government.

Other groups, millionaires trolling America for damaged and disaffected special operations veterans, trained snipers and bombers, cells of domestic terrorism we have clearly seen in formation, are to be called upon.

The plans are always simple, a template of Bush (43.) We will have an iconic act of terror, an attempt to seize power through “decapitating” the government, Iran will be blamed and a multi-decade war will be waged while America will be gutted of everything but the topsoil.

None of this is conjecture.

REALITY AND DEFLECTION

Mythology is dying. Netanyahu knows this very well. He knew it the second he saw himself on video at the UN, his “Wylie Coyote” poster in hand, a lifetime of lies and dissemblance for nothing, all in ruins, now a “dead man walking.”

He will not go quietly into the night, many will die, as he sees it, all may die except him. He may even see himself as the hero of his own life.

Others place him among the monsters of history but this is always the case.

----------------------------------

Gordon Duff is a Marine Vietnam veteran, a combat infantryman, and Senior Editor at Veterans Today. His career has included extensive experience in international banking along with such diverse areas as consulting on counter insurgency, defense technologies or acting as diplomatic representative for UN humanitarian and economic development efforts. Gordon Duff has traveled to over 80 nations. His articles are published around the world and translated into a number of languages. He is regularly on TV and radio, a popular and sometimes controversial guest.

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UK PM deals out diplomacy and fighter jets in the Gulf

 

Eurofighter typhoon fighter jets (Reuters/Darren Staples)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/uk-deal-saudi-arabia-987/

PM Cameron has begun a diplomatic tour to patch up relations with the Gulf with a billion-dollar arms deal on the cards. He has minimized press coverage of the trip amidst accusations Britain is arming countries with debatable human rights records.

During the tour Cameron will seek to revive relations with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the UK has significant business interests in the oil industry. In addition, Britain will also seek to peddle 100 Typhoon fighter jets to both nations in a deal worth a potential US$10 billion.

The UK PM faces stiff competition, with French President Francois Holland also in the region to sell defense equipment.

Despite the minimized press presence accompanying the PM, Downing Street has said they are in no way trying to hush up coverage.

"This is not a secretive trip in any shape or form. We have the media traveling on the plane with the prime minister – they will have access to the events he is doing in country,” said a Downing Street spokesperson.

The British government has stated that the motive behind the trip is “to work together with the Gulf countries towards a future that is rich in prosperity, strong in defense and open in its handling and pursuit of political and economic reform.”

However, in the wake of the Arab Spring, ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been put under strain with both countries being targeted for their questionable human rights policies and authoritarian governments.

The UK’s significant financial dealings with the region, worth around $27 billion according to UK newspaper The Guardian, are also on the rocks. Saudi Arabia has warned that if the UK shows support for anti-regime groups pushing for government reform it will begin courting Asian markets with lucrative trade deals.

The UK government has come under increasing pressure from human rights groups to use its influence with UAE and Saudi Arabia to push for reform. Nevertheless, Britain has been reluctant to vocalize any criticism for fear of endangering economic ties with the Gulf nations.
­

Saudi Arabia ‘insulted’ by UK

The trip comes after Saudi representative said that they felt insulted by a UK parliamentary review of relations with Saudi Arabia and its neighbor Bahrain, which has been undergoing significant social upheaval against the country’s Sunni monarchy.

Enraged Saudi officials told the BBC that they were "re-evaluating their country's historic relations with Britain,” adding they would rule nothing out.

The parliamentary inquiry followed a report on the Arab Spring which said that the UK should "support peaceful reform efforts where possible in Bahrain," but that it "must also be clear in its public criticism of human rights violations there if it is to avoid charges of hypocrisy."

Saudi Arabia has shown open support for Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy, lending 1,000 troops last year to quash a pro-democracy movement.

The Saudi Arabian monarchy implicates Iran in having a hand in the unrest currently engulfing Bahrain and also accuses it of triggering a Shiite uprising on its own territory.

The currently international nuclear conflict with Iran is also expected to be high on the agenda during Cameron’s visit. In the case of a severe deterioration in relations with Tehran, British media have speculated the UK might base fighter jets in the UAE for a possible strike on the country.

The US, along with other Western countries, has accused Tehran of enriching uranium for the purposes of building nuclear weapons and have sought to allay progress by slamming sanctions on Iran.

Iran, for its part, maintains its atomic research is purely for civilians ends and denies claims it is developing weapons.

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Erdogan tells Turks to prepare for Syria war if necessary

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (file photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/08/265491/erdogan-asks-turks-to-be-ready-for-war/

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on his nation to be prepared for a possible war with the neighboring Syria if need be.

"You have to be ready at every moment to go to war if it is necessary. If you are not ready for this, you are not a state, if you are not ready for this, you are not a nation,” Erdogan said in a speech on Sunday.

The prime minister reiterated that Turkey does not want war, but warned Syria not to test its resolve.

"Nobody should attempt to test Turkey's decisiveness and sensibility,” stated the Turkish prime minister whose country is accused of being a key member of an international coalition attempting to destabilize Syria.

Tensions have been running high between Syria and Turkey, with Damascus accusing Ankara - along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, and the United States - of backing a deadly insurgency that has claimed the lives of many Syrians, including security and army personnel.

“Nobody should ask… but what will happen if a war were to begin and bring us to that point. You should be ready for it and have the memorandum in hand. What is necessary will be done if it becomes necessary," he stated.

Erdogan’s remarks came amid days of military strikes between the two countries.

On Sunday, Turkey's military fired an artillery shell into Syria shortly after a mortar round fired from Syria hit the southeastern Turkish border town of Akcakale.

On Saturday, the Turkish military fired mortar shells into Syria for the fourth day in a row after a number of projectiles slammed into the southern border province of Hatay.

Saturday’s exchange came three days after mortar shells from the Syrian side of the border killed five civilians in the town of Akcakale, which is located in Sanliurfa province in southeastern Turkey.

On October 5, Erdogan said that Turkey was not far from war with Syria due to the cross-border attacks.

"We are not interested in war, but we're not far from it either," Erdogan told a crowd in Istanbul.

On October 4, the Turkish parliament authorized cross-border military action against Syria “when deemed right.”

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Suppliers of arms to opposition want to destroy the Syrian people – Iraqi PM

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/iraqi-pm-maliki-interview-703/

States that send arms to Syria face upheavals and unrest due to sectarian violence, their stability will be in jeopardy and the state of affairs will be no better than in Syria, warned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in an interview to RT.

"He who starts a fire will be destroyed by fire in the end,” Al-Maliki stated, predicting that sponsorship of the Syrian opposition will backfire on supporting states.

RT: What do Iraq and Russia have in common in terms of their approach to the Syrian crisis; and do you think the two countries can come up with a joint proposal on how to settle it?

Nouri Al-Maliki: Of course, the crisis is a matter of serious concern both for the countries in the region and for the world’s major powers. And it’s not only countries – this issue has been on the agenda of many international organizations. We have repeatedly said that we take the Syrian crisis as our own problem. It is a very important country, with its own political position. We did warn everyone earlier – and keep reminding – that the fire that started in Syria will spill over the borders to engulf other countries of the region and, in the end, it will have a global impact. The Middle East is one of the major energy producers of the world.

Just like Russia, we believe that the use of force cannot be a solution to the crisis. Many other countries now share this approach, even those that used to think that supplying arms to the opposition would be sufficient to generate regime change. They now recognize that it is impossible to settle the Syrian crisis through the use of force. This is also Russia’s position.

Russia, Iraq and many other countries are united in their conviction that force will not end the crisis in Syria – we need to look for a peaceful solution through political dialogue. It is our joint task – I mean Iraq, Russia and the whole international community – to help both sides find common ground, to agree on a mutually-acceptable form of government.

This new government must be based on the principles of freedom and democracy. The Syrians must have the right to vote, they must have a Constitution. These are the things that the Syrian people demanded when they started the revolution. But of course, not everybody in Syria agrees with these demands, some groups don’t think that reforms are needed. We’ve heard different statements and demands. Of course dialogue will continue, because we are very much concerned about what’s going on in Syria. We have been seriously affected by the situation in Syria. We have experienced some spillover effects of the Syrian crisis here in Iraq.

We will discuss this issue with our Russian counterparts; we will talk about possible ways to make existing initiatives effective, including the original peace plan put forward by the Arab League, as opposed to the flawed proposals made during the sessions of the ministerial committee and the Geneva agreements. According to them, there is no military solution to the conflict. The agreements call for an end to arms supplies both to the opposition and the regime. Unfortunately, a number of states ignore these initiatives and continue to send arms to Syria, which only makes the situation worse.

This is where Russia, Iraq, China, and many Muslim and Arab countries in the region agree. It is our duty to address this issue and try to find ways out of this turmoil which, we are afraid, might turn into a fully-fledged regional war.

RT: How would you assess the calls by some countries, especially Arab countries that have the support of the West, for military intervention in order to resolve the crisis in Syria?

NM: I’d give them a piece of brotherly advice: “Forget it! He who starts a fire will be destroyed by fire in the end.” Those who want Syria to follow this path have to understand that it will destroy the Syrian people. This is what’s happening in Syria right now. Cities lie in ruins, the war rages on and is likely to spill over involving new actors – international, regional, religious and political ones. If they care about themselves and their people, if they seek stability and security, if they care about Syria and its people, they have to stop sowing the seeds of discord by supplying arms. They also have to stop thinking it will be them who will shape Syria’s future.

I met with several representatives of the Syrian opposition and I felt they understand the threat that is coming from the Arab forces that provide them with weapons. These forces openly declare that they want to interfere in Syria’s affairs. But the Syrian nation is against it.

RT: Do you share the view that it’s foreign interference in Syria’s affairs that’s made the situation in the country so dangerous?

NM: Absolutely. And they will keep driving it to an even more dangerous degree until eventually it will backfire on the states that are now sponsoring the Syrian opposition. All these states will face upheavals and unrest due to sectarian violence, foreign interference, the spillover effect and expansion. They’re already feeling it. If these countries keep sending arms and using force for a regime change, their stability will be in jeopardy, and the situation inside these countries will be no better than in Syria.

RT: What do you think about the “national partnership government”? Is this the best form of governance to help to move Iraq forward or are there any negative aspects that make that government less effective? What do you think of “the majority government”, something many other countries rely on?

NM: A partnership government has exhausted both its capacity and agenda. It was necessary during previous stages, but not any longer. Right now everyone, even the people of Iraq, feel that the regime of national partnership keeps our hands tied, hinders our development, stands in the way of the breakthrough that Iraq could make in the development of infrastructure, the services sector and economic recovery.

We hear more and more voices now, in our society and in parliament, calling for a shift to a majority government, to make parliament united so that it can pass decisions and laws that would help to rule the state; because right now the government is paralyzed. It can’t do anything. The partnership originally built to pursue a major breakthrough has now degraded to a partnership that generates obstacles. Because of that we need a majority government, and I am working hard to make it a reality.

RT: Both the Iraqi government and its citizens still suffer from regular terror attacks. Who is behind this violence – international players interfering in your affairs or Al-Qaeda militants opposing the political process? Or are there any other reasons that the Iraqi people are not aware of? Why is it so hard to take out these armed groups that are still out there?

NM: Violence continues and it’s been down to all the factors you have mentioned. Foreign intervention is fully underway. What they want to do is to use these acts of violence to prepare for the next, post-Syrian stage. It’s the same states that are now interfering in Syria. They are sending arms and militants there, over and over again. Their goal is to change Syria, then Iraq, and ultimately the entire region. Also, Al-Qaeda is back, it came to life again – regrettably, as part of the Arab Spring. It flooded the streets in the capitals of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. Its slogans, groups and terrorist attacks are clear signs of its revival, and Iraq couldn’t escape that. And those states that are interfering won’t escape it either.

But the really embarrassing thing is that the national partnership government cannot be effective in the fight against terrorism. That’s the problem. When your partner supports both security measures and terrorist acts, you get problems. I wouldn’t like to go into detail now. I am only saying that this is one of the downsides to the national partnership. How can we expect security agencies to control the situation when the government’s own money, arms, transport, and the nature of the government are used to support those seeking to carry out terrorist attacks?

RT: Mr. Maliki, when Iraq was about to buy F-16 fighter jets, Iraqi Kurds, along with some neighboring states, including the Gulf countries voiced their concerns over the future deal. Are these concerns justified? And can they be allayed?

NM: They are totally unsubstantiated. These people might still have old stereotypes of Iraq that go back to the times of dictatorship that were characterized by reckless operations, wars and invasions. Some regimes, both big and small, still have expansionist ambitions. Sadly, they have learned no lessons from Saddam Hussein’s experience. He had it all: troops and offensive capabilities, but the end of his career was a disaster. These people still believe that just like in the past, Iraq is still capable of invading its neighbors, concocting conspiracies, attacking other countries like Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia or slaughtering people in its southern or northern regions.

But today Iraq is a different country. It does not wage war on its own people. The Kurds who believe that Iraq is taking up arms to fight them are seriously deluded.

These talks are no more than political maneuvering used to make up for the mistakes and failures of the past. These countries are aware that present-day Iraq has nothing in common with the dictatorship of the past. It is a democratic country which is against the use of force, as set forth in the laws adopted by its parliament. Generally speaking, our main principle is non-interference in the affairs of other states. But we would like this to be a two-way street.

But the reality is that Iraq is located in an arms-infested region. All the neighboring states have impressive arsenals of modern weapons. Even the smaller states in the region have more weapons than Iraq, a large state with a rich history. Iraq is entitled to self-defense, so it has the right to use different armaments to protect its sovereignty. And so it can have the same weapons as other countries who claim they need the same weapons as Iraq to defend their sovereignty.

I would like to allay their concerns by saying that Iraq is not interested in offensive weapons, only defensive ones. Indeed, we would like to have very strong defensive weapons to repel any attack on Iraq’s sovereignty. But primitive weapons won’t be enough. What we need is something very strong and absolutely sophisticated to counter any possible aggression. This would make anyone who plans to breach our sovereignty to think twice before attacking Iraq.

RT: Mr Prime Minister, as commander-in-chief, when do you expect Iraq’s armed forces to reach combat readiness in terms of the size of personnel and materials?

NM: We already have the number of troops that we need, but we are still working on the list of weapons and hardware. We are receiving weapons supplies from the US, former Soviet nations and possibly from Russia, too, in line with the contracts that we signed earlier. However, we expect to ensure maximum defensive capabilities by 2020, according to the plans we have at the moment. By that time we expect to re-equip the armed forces with powerful weapons to protect Iraq on land and in the air. So currently we would still be able to defend the nation but our capabilities need to be maintained and further improved.

 

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Israel seeks war on Iran to keep lid on 9/11

 

 

By: Dr. Kevin Barrett

http://www.truthjihad.com/

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/20/262683/israel-seeks-iran-war-to-keep-lid-on-911/

Almost every politically-aware person on the planet is puzzled by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's bizarre obsession with Iran. Netanyahu is risking his political career, his reputation, and Israel's future by intervening in the US presidential elections.

He is using all of Zionism's considerable might - including organized crime assets like “Las Vegas Godfather” Sheldon Adelson - to force Obama to attack Iran; or, failing that, to make sure that Obama is defeated by the Zionist puppet Romney. There are even rumors of Israeli-sponsored assassination attempts on Obama.

Even the rabidly pro-Zionist Jewish Daily Forward has editorialized:

“It’s difficult to recall a time when an Israeli prime minister has inserted himself into a presidential election campaign in the way that Benjamin Netanyahu has. It’s even harder to recall a time when a trusted ally openly urged the American president to undertake a questionable, unpopular and highly risky war. We sure hope Netanyahu knows what he’s doing, because the stakes for him - and for the two nations he professes to care about the most - could not be higher.”

The Jewish Daily Forward has good reasons to wonder whether Netanyahu knows what he's doing. The editorialist cites polls showing that the American people strongly oppose attacking Iran, even if war breaks out between Iran and Israel and only US intervention could save Israel! These polls show that American voters no longer give a damn whether Israel, which has chosen to live by the sword, finally dies by the sword. As Dave Lindorff observes, Netanyahu's mad obsession with pushing the US into yet another unwanted war for Israel “may have fundamentally undermined the long-standing 'special relationship' between the US and Israel.”

And still Netanyahu continues on this seemingly suicidal course. He even orders the Mossad and its CIA assets including Gladio veteran Terry Jones to unleash a rabidly anti-Islam film, spammed into the faces of every Muslim on the planet via millions of dollars of computer server time and intelligence agency expertise - an obvious attempt to fan the flames of Islamophobia and pave the way to a US war on Iran for Israel. Obama, who is on record saying he hates Netanyahu and that Netanyahu is a liar, and who knows that Netanyahu manufactured the “Innocence of Muslims” crisis to try to get Romney elected, responded by refusing to meet with Netanyahu in New York, and going on the David Letterman Show instead. A more blatant snub could hardly be imagined.

So, what in the world is Netanyahu really up to? Does he actually believe that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, even though the CIA has certified that it does not?

Of course, he doesn't really believe such nonsense. Even hard-line Israeli strategists admit that Iran appears to be only developing nuclear expertise, not actual weapons. Furthermore, Iran has not attacked another nation in centuries.

Since the “nuclear crisis” is a hoax (like alleged Iraqi WMD in 2003), then what is the real reason for Netanyahu's Iran obsession? Is it the Iranian government's support for anti-Zionist resistance groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, and its calls for an end to Zionism through free and fair elections?

Perhaps. Iran's open commitment to principled anti-Zionism represents the nearly unanimous position of the people of the Middle East, who have never accepted the genocidal Zionist entity as a legitimate state. Israel has been able to bully every other government in the region into shameful silence. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not be silenced. Threats to level Iran with bombs seeks to send a message to future Middle Eastern governments: Do not give a voice to your people's resistance to Zionism, or else!

But while starting a war might seek to punish Iran for its anti-Zionism, such a war would carry terrible risks for Israel. In the impossible event that all goes well for Israel on the battlefield, the suffering of the people of Iran would probably shame the world into turning against Zionism even more sharply than the world turned against apartheid in the 1980s.

But there is no guarantee that things would go well for Israel on the battlefield. Iran has the capability to riddle Israel with rocket attacks, or even to take out Israel's Dimona nuclear facility and perhaps render Israel and much of the surrounding region permanently uninhabitable. And Israel does not have the capability to seriously damage Iran's nuclear energy program without US help. If the US intervened on the side of Israel, Iran could shut the Straits of Hormuz, and possibly sink many, if not all, of the ships there with Sunburn missiles, driving gasoline prices over USD 10 a gallon and paralyzing the world economy. Additionally, Iran has the capability to massively attack the US bases that surround it, killing thousands, if not tens of thousands, of US soldiers. A US president, especially one who dislikes Netanyahu and puts America's interests ahead of Israel's, would be very unlikely to help Netanyahu attack Iran.

Given that a war on Iran is an all-loss proposition for Israel, why is Netanyahu fanatically fanning the flames of war, to the extent that even his American Zionist cheering section is baffled and embarrassed by his behavior?

Some question Netanyahu's intelligence, arguing that he is just a furniture salesman who has been promoted far beyond his level of competence. While there may be some truth to this - I certainly wouldn't want to overestimate Netanyahu's intelligence - I don't think he's quite that stupid. I think Netanyahu has a very good reason to prefer war with Iran, despite all its risks, to peace. I think he does know what he's doing.

Netanyahu needs the 9/11-triggered 100-years-war on Islam to continue for the very good reason that if it does not, the State of Emergency still in place in the US will be lifted, and Americans, unencumbered by the National Security restrictions of wartime, will quickly learn what really happened on September 11th, 2001. That possibility poses a very real existential threat to Israel - and to Netanyahu.

As Alan Sabrosky, former Director of Strategic Studies at the US Army War College, told Press TV: “I have had long conversations over the past two weeks with contacts at the Army War College, at the Headquarters Marine Corps, and I have made it absolutely clear in both cases that it is 100 percent certain that 9/11 was a Mossad operation. Period. If Americans ever know that Israel did this, they are going to scrub them off the earth.” And even if Israel were “scrubbed off the earth” peacefully through a one-state solution, Netanyahu would certainly hang for his role in the 9/11 attacks.

Unfortunately for Netanyahu and Zionism, Dr. Sabrosky isn't the only US National Security insider leaking the truth about 9/11. A very large number of military and intelligence people have come forward.The two biggest recent leaks are revelations by CIA asset Susan Lindauer that the CIA had detailed foreknowledge of 9/11 and attributed the controlled demolitions of the three NYC skyscrapers to “those goddamned Israelis”; and the assertion by Gwenyth Todd, who worked beside Richard Clarke on the National Security Council, that Clarke (who was publicly fired from an earlier job for being an Israeli spy) is the top suspect as hands-on controller of 9/11 from the US end. Yes, you heard that right: Richard Clarke's colleague on the National Security Council, Gwenyth Todd, suspects Clarke of masterminding and running the 9/11 attacks. If Todd and other high-level sources are right about this, Clarke's book title Your Government Failed You is an understatement.

Some of the same high-level sources who point to Richard Clarke as the US boss of the Israeli-instigated 9/11 false flag operation also claim that President Obama, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dempsey, and other powerful Americans are considering exposing the truth about 9/11 during a second Obama term. In other words, Obama's re-election could put Israel out of business, and get Netanyahu hanged from the nearest lamp-post.

No wonder Netanyahu is “overplaying his hand” by doing everything he can to get rid of Obama. And no wonder Netanyahu is desperately trying to throw gasoline on the “clash of civilizations” fire and trigger war with Iran. A huge Middle East war, no matter how destructive, would maintain the wartime State of Emergency in the US and impeded the inexorable revelation of America's biggest state secret: That American traitors, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Richard Myers, and others, helped Israel blow up the World Trade Center, bomb the Pentagon, and kill 3000 Americans on 9/11.

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Dr. Kevin Barrett, a Ph.D. Arabist-Islamologist, is one of America's best-known critics of the War on Terror. Dr. Barrett has appeared many times on Fox, CNN, PBS and other broadcast outlets, and has inspired feature stories and op-eds in the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Tribune, and other leading publications. Dr. Barrett has taught at colleges and universities in San Francisco, Paris, and Wisconsin, where he ran for Congress in 2008. He currently works as a nonprofit organizer, author, and talk radio host. He is the co-founder of the Muslim-Christian-Jewish Alliance, and author of the books Truth Jihad: My Epic Struggle Against the 9/11 Big Lie (2007) and Questioning the War on Terror: A Primer for Obama Voters (2009). His website is http://www.truthjihad.com/

 

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