Infinite Unknown

Flashback:

At the Commonwealth Club of California:

- U.S. 4 Star General Wesley Clark, Oct 3, 2007: ‘We’re Gonna Attack And Destroy The Governments In 7 Countries In 5 Years’ … ‘Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan And Iran’ (Video)

… or here in this interview with Democracy Now:

- Interview With US General Wesley Clark (Ret.): US Government Planned To ‘Take Out 7 Countries In 5 Years’: ‘Starting With Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan And Finishing Off Iran’ (Video)

- Iran Sends 4,000 Troops To Aid Syria’s Assad (ZeroHedge, June 16, 2013):

While the world awaits Russia’s formal response to last week’s US escalation in Syria (as Putin demonstratively arrived an hour late for talks on Syria with UK PM David Cameron) another country: Iran – fresh from an election in which moderate candidate Hassan Rohani became the new president – is taking matters into its own hands. The Independent Reports that “a military decision has been taken in Iran – even before last week’s presidential election – to send a first contingent of 4,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against the largely Sunni rebellion that has cost almost 100,000 lives in just over two years. Iran is now fully committed to preserving Assad’s regime, according to pro-Iranian sources which have been deeply involved in the Islamic Republic’s security, even to the extent of proposing to open up a new ‘Syrian’ front on the Golan Heights against Israel.”If it was the west’s desire all along to drag Iran into the Syrian escalation, and thus shoot two birds with one cluster bomb, Iran may have just happily obliged.

So while we now await for Israel in turn to ratchet up the war rhetoric one more time, perhaps while punctuating its sentences with the occasional bomb over Syrian soil, here is the Independent with a comprehensive analysis on how America, courtesy of its now formalized support of the Syrian mercenaries rebels, suddenly finds itself in uncharted territory: “For the first time, all of America’s ‘friends’ in the region are Sunni Muslims and all of its enemies are Shiites. Breaking all President Barack Obama’s rules of disengagement, the US is now fully engaged on the side of armed groups which include the most extreme Sunni Islamist movements in the Middle East.”

More:

In years to come, historians will ask how America – after its defeat in Iraq and its humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan scheduled for  2014 – could have so blithely aligned itself with one side in a titanic Islamic struggle stretching back to the seventh century death of the Prophet Mohamed. The profound effects of this great schism, between Sunnis who believe that the father of Mohamed’s wife was the new caliph of the Muslim world and Shias who regard his son in law Ali as his rightful successor – a seventh century battle swamped in blood around the present-day Iraqi cities of Najaf and Kerbala – continue across the region to this day. A 17th century Archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbott, compared this Muslim conflict to that between “Papists and Protestants”.

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Tags: Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaida, Barack Obama, David Cameron, Global News, Government, Iran, Middle East, Military, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, Syria, Terrorism, U.K., U.S., Vladimir Putin, War

Brought to you by Mossad’s DEBKAfile:

- Putin Again Warns Netanyahu Hands Off Syria (DEBKAfile, May 14, 2013):

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spent three hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin at his residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Tuesday, May, 14. He came for a last-ditch attempt to head off the supply of advanced Russian anti-air S-300 missile systems to Syria. Instead, the Russian leader turned the conversation around to focus implicitly on Israel’s air strikes against Damascus on May 3 and May 5. After their conversation he issued a warning: ”In this crucial period it is especially important to avoid any moves that can shake the situation.”

This was clearly a hands-off caution to Israel not to repeat its attacks on Damascus. And, furthermore, after “shaking the situation” in Syria by its air attacks, Israel was in no position to demand that Russia avoid selling Syria advanced weapons.

The prime minister, for his part, warned that the entire Middle East was in a dangerous state of volatility.

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Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Global News, Government, Israel, Military, Politics, Russia, S-300, Vladimir Putin

So why not attack Russia because they might want to send some weapons to Syria, …

… like Israel claims to have attacked Syria, because it wanted to send some advanced missiles to Hezbollah???

Oh, wait a minute, it’s RUSSIA!!!

- Putin: Russia Will Not Tolerate Another Israeli Attack On Syria And Would Respond:

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while in Shanghai, was given a sharp dressing-down by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a warning that Russia would not tolerate further Israeli attacks on Damascus and would respond.

Putin did not say how, but he did announce he had ordered the acceleration of highly advanced Russian weapons supplies to Syria.

Israeli Debkafile’s military sources disclosed that the Russian leader was referring to S-300 anti-air systems and the nuclear-capable 9K720 Iskander (NATO named SS-26 Stone) surface missiles, which are precise enough to hit a target within a 5-7 meter radius at a distance of 280 kilometers.

In his phone call to Netanyahu, the Russian leader advised the prime minister to make sure to keep this in mind.

Don’t miss:

- Gerald Celente On WW 3 – Middle East Out Of Control (Video)

- Israel Informs US That Russia Plans To Sell Weapons To Syria (ZeroHedge, May 9, 2013):

We almost got an entire 24 hour period that did not have news about imminent war rumblings out of Syria. Almost. Late last night WSJ reported about the civil war torn country (in which the rebels may or may not be using chemical weapons, but are backed by both Al Qaeda and the US government) again, this time on a leak by Israel having warned the US that Russians are “imminently” going to sell advanced ground-to-air missile systems to Syria “that would significantly boost the regime’s ability to stave off intervention in its civil war.” Supposedly this means that Israel would be unable to continue its unimpeded military incursions of Syrian sovereign airspace and blow stuff up at whim just because it feels like it, and for whatever pretext the Israeli defense forces come up with.

Some details on what Syria is said to receive from Moscow via the WSJ:

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Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Global News, Government, Israel, Middle East, Military, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, S-300, U.S., Vladimir Putin, War, WW III

- Russia Not to Tolerate Further Israeli Attacks on Damascus (FARS News Agency, May 7, 2013):

TEHRAN (FNA)- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while in Shanghai, was given a sharp dressing-down by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a warning that Russia would not tolerate further Israeli attacks on Damascus and would respond.

Putin did not say how, but he did announce he had ordered the acceleration of highly advanced Russian weapons supplies to Syria.

Israeli Debkafile’s military sources disclosed that the Russian leader was referring to S-300 anti-air systems and the nuclear-capable 9K720 Iskander (NATO named SS-26 Stone) surface missiles, which are precise enough to hit a target within a 5-7 meter radius at a distance of 280 kilometers.

In his phone call to Netanyahu, the Russian leader advised the prime minister to make sure to keep this in mind.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Damascus, Global News, Government, Israel, Middle East, Military, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, Syria, U.S., Vladimir Putin, War, WW III

- Putin gives Russian officials 3 months to close their foreign bank accounts (Washington Post, April 2, 2013):

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has given Russian officials a three-month deadline to close their foreign bank accounts or face dismissal.

Putin’s decree released Tuesday by the Kremlin obliges officials to file their income declarations by July 1. Putin’s chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, said they will have to close their bank accounts by that time. Those who have real estate abroad will be required to explain how they could make the purchase, and those who fail will face being ousted.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized there will be “no untouchables.”

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Tags: Global News, Government, Politics, Russia, Vladimir Putin

- Putin Offers 3-Month Offshore-Tax-Cheat ‘Amnesty’: “There Can Be No Untouchables” (ZeroHedge, April 3, 2013):

“This is the nationalization of the elite,” is how one ex-Kremlin-ite described Putin’s new policy. “For [years], the elite saw Russia as a hunting ground – they would keep their money and live somewhere else,” but no more, as the FT reports, Putin has moved to inject some moral fibre into the country’s top-level bureaucrats and state employees by giving them a three-month deadline to close their foreign bank accounts and divest themselves of offshore assets – or face the sack. “There is a sort of algorithm [in Russia] for civil servants. You stash a lot of money abroad, send your family to live there, and then when you retire, you join them. This new legislation will put a question mark next to the career plan of a generation of top-level people.” Putin’s new decree makes it clear, “There are no untouchables and there cannot be any.”

Via The FT,

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has moved to inject some moral fibre into the country’s top-level bureaucrats and state employees by giving them a three-month deadline to close their foreign bank accounts and divest themselves of offshore assets – or face the sack.

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Tags: Banking, Economy, Global News, Government, Politics, Russia, Society, Vladimir Putin

- Twitter Caves to Vladimir Putin, Censors Content Within Russia (PJ Media, March 27, 2013):

If you have been following the Internet crackdown underway in Russia, you will not be surprised to learn that Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin has recruited many websites — which are either terrified of his wrath or interested in currying his favor — to help crush and eradicate criticism of his government online.

However, you may be surprised to learn that one of those websites is Twitter.

The Moscow Times reported last week that — according to the Kremlin itself — for the past several weeks Twitter has been blocking Russian access to any tweets designated by the Kremlin as “extremist.” Twitter has also deleted at least one user account at the Kremlin’s request.

On its applicable agency website (known by its acronym Roskomnadzor), the Kremlin praises Twitter’s management team for its “constructive position” in reconfiguring its website in a manner “acceptable to Russian side.”

Here is the full Kremlin statement, via Russian wire service Interfax: Continue reading »

Tags: Censorship, Dictatorship, Global News, Government, Internet, Politics, Russia, Vladimir Putin

- Russian Authorities Raid Amnesty International Office (New York Times, March 25, 2013):

MOSCOW — The Russian authorities on Monday raided the local headquarters of the human rights group Amnesty International, the latest in a continuing series of office searches intended to put pressure on nongovernmental groups.The head of Amnesty’s office in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, said in a telephone interview that officials from the general prosecutor’s offices and from the tax police arrived unannounced on Monday morning to conduct what they described as an “audit” and demanded a list of documents, most of which Mr. Nikitin said were already on file with the government.

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Tags: Amnesty International, Global News, Government, Politics, Russia, Vladimir Putin

- Russia Launches Surprise Large-Scale, 36 Warship Military Exercise In The Black Sea (ZeroHedge, March 28, 2013):

Many were wondering what Russia’s response to Germany’s deposit confiscation drill in Cyprus would be. The confusion was moderated somewhat after it was uncovered that the very Russians who were supposed to be punished, have been able to withdraw some or most of their Cyprus-based cash either before the Cyprus D(eposit Confiscation)-Day or during the capital controlled blackout using various disclosed loopholes. Yet that doesn’t mean that Putin would avoid this opportunity to give the “developed world” and his closest neighbors a quick lesson in realpolitik. After all, who better than a former KGB agent understands that one should never let a crisis go to waste. Sure enough, today at 4 am, in a very surprising move, Puitin ordered the launch of large-scale Russian military exercises in the Black Sea region in a move which according to Reuters “may create tensions with Russia’s post-Soviet neighbors Ukraine and Georgia.” Of course, it may create tensions with our island nations reachable by the Russian naval fleet, such as Cyprus, which would naturally mean tensions with the same European (read German) forces who structured the entire Cypriot bail in.

From Reuters:

Putin issued the order to start the previously unannounced maneuvers at 4 a.m. Moscow time (12.00 a.m. EDT) as he flew back from an international summit in South Africa, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters by telephone.

“These are large-scale unannounced test exercises,” Peskov said, adding that 36 warships and an unspecified number of warplanes would take part. “The main goal is to check the readiness and cohesion of the various units.”

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Tags: Global News, Government, Military, Politics, Vladimir Putin

- Russian Billionaire In Exile Boris Berezovsky Commits Suicide – The First Cyprus Casualty? (ZeroHedge, March 23, 2013):

Just your ordinary run of the mill Russian billionaire oligarch in exile who had so much money he was terminally depressed… or just the opposite, and the first tragic casualty of the Cyprus capital controls which are about to eviscerate a whole lot of Russian wealth (and ultraluxury Manhattan real estate prices)?

From RT:

Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has died at the age 67, according to a Facebook post from his son-in-law Egor Schuppe. Details regarding the nature of his death are yet to be released.

His death has not been officially confirmed, and details have not been disclosed.

According to Schuppe, Berezovsky was recently depressed. He failed to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances, and often chose to stay at home rather than go out.

Damian Kudriavtsev, the former CEO of Kommersant Publishing House also commented on the businessman’s death saying he passed away at 11:00 GMT in London.

On his twitter account, Kudriavtsev said there were no signs of a violent death.

Aleksandr Dobrovinksy, a famous lawyer and head of Moscow-based The Alexander Dobrovinsky & Partners law firm has said that Berezovsky committed suicide.

“Just got a call from London. Boris [Abramovich] Berezovsky committed suicide. He was a difficult man. A move of disparity? Impossible to live poor? A strike of blows? I am afraid no one will get to know now,” the lawyer said on his social network page.

BBC confirms the death:

Berezovsky has been found dead at his home in Surrey.

The circumstances of the death of Mr Berezovsky – a wanted man in Russia, and an opponent of President Vladimir Putin – are not yet known.

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Tags: Boris Berezovsky, Economy, Global News, Suicide, Vladimir Putin