Political News or Comments

The war machine has been turning since the end of WW2, and isn't about to put the guns back in the arsenal simply because people are tired of war. It's just business. Though evil as it is, it's just the way powerful psychopaths conduct business, and they aren't interested in doing business with the rational and sane.

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, with up to 20 % of other hydrocarbons as well as impurities in varying amounts such as carbon dioxide. Natural gas is widely used as an important energy source in many applications including heating buildings, generating electricity, providing heat and power to industry, as fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of products such as plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals.

Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistan), formerly also known as Turkmenia (Russian: Туркмения), is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest and the Caspian Sea to the west.



Turkmenistan's GDP growth rate of 11% in 2010 ranks 4th in the world, [natural gas and oil] but these figures are subject to wide margins of error. It possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas resources. Although it is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert. [it's a dirt poor shit hole made wealthy from the extraction of gas and for those who own it and process it]

REBRANDING THE LONG WAR, Part 2
Balochistan is the ultimate prize
By Pepe Escobar
PART 1: Obama does his Bush impression

It's a classic case of calm before the storm. The AfPak chapter of Obama's brand new OCO ("Overseas Contingency Operations"), formerly GWOT ("global war on terror") does not imply only a surge in the Pashtun Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). A surge in Balochistan as well may be virtually inevitable. [should probably change the name to 'drone alley']

Balochistan is totally under the radar of Western corporate media. [unless a few Baloch tribal warriors get blown to shreds in a drone attack, then we hear all about it, but don't worry none, they're just taking out Taliban members] But not the Pentagon's. An immense desert comprising almost 48% of Pakistan's area, rich in uranium and copper, potentially very rich in oil, and producing more than one-third of Pakistan's natural gas, it accounts for less than 4% of Pakistan's 173 million citizens. Balochs are the majority, followed by Pashtuns. Quetta, the provincial capital, is considered Taliban Central by the Pentagon, which for all its high-tech wizardry mysteriously has not been able to locate Quetta resident "The Shadow", historic Taliban emir Mullah Omar himself.

Strategically, Balochistan is mouth-watering: east of Iran, south of Afghanistan, and boasting three Arabian sea ports, including Gwadar, practically at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. [this is the ultimate prize]

Gwadar - a port built by China - is the absolute key. It is the essential node in the crucial, ongoing, and still virtual Pipelineistan war between IPI and TAPI. IPI is the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, also known as the "peace pipeline", [a 'peace pipeline' did they say?!] which is planned to cross from Iranian to Pakistani Balochistan - an anathema to Washington. [send in the drones to punish them] TAPI is the perennially troubled, US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, [pipeline wars: because its not the damn gas, that's cheap, it's the pipeline construction projects that are enormously lucrative] which is planned to cross western Afghanistan via Herat and branch out to Kandahar [majority of American deaths in this area of Afghanistan; how‘s that for protecting the American way of life?] and Gwadar.

What Are The Prospects For Iran-Pakistan 'Pipeline Of Peace'?
By Bruce Pannier
May 25, 2009

The signing of a 25-year deal under which Iran aims to export some 150 million cubic meters of gas to Pakistan per day has resurrected a moribund pipeline project known as the "Pipeline of Peace."

Not much has been heard about the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline for some time, but that all changed on the sidelines of a regional summit that brought together Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Tehran on May 24.

At a signing ceremony, the two leaders hailed the prospects of a pipeline that would start in the Iranian city of Asalouyeh, travel to Pakistan, and could eventually end in India. But there are some major obstacles to overcome [this is an understatement; western interests including Israel do not want this competition] before any Iranian gas actually crosses the border into Pakistan -- and even more before that gas can be routed [pipeline manufacturing contracts are more lucrative than the actual gas itself] to India.

TAPI Pipeline - The Real Reason for 4 More Years of War

Yosef A. Maiman is President and CEO of the Merhav Group of Companies. Merhav is an Israeli based multi-national corporation with a global outlook. During its 25 years track record in the development, implementation and operation of a large volume of projects in relatively difficult economic environment Merhav has become a sophisticated project developer in the areas spanning from energy, infrastructure, agriculture industry and telecommunications.

Mr. Maiman holds a masters degree in economics from Cornell University in New York and a BA in economics from the University of Texas. His previous job experience prior to the founding of the Merhav Group in 1976 included work with the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, Standard Oil, Citibank, Diners Club and Israel's Sonol.

Mr. Maiman plays a leading role in Israeli politics as a private citizen, working with present and past Israeli government leaders on business strategy, cross-border business development and international economic issues.

Mr. Maiman is a board member of the Middle East Task Force of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. [a paper is published below by two CFR members, Walter B. Slocombe and Robert D. Blackwill justifying America's support for Israel] He is Honorary Consul of Peru and Special ['special' means being in on the oil and gas deals/contracts being cut in Turkmenistan; and if they don't get the deals they want they send in the CIA to dismantle society until they give into concessions] Ambassador for the Government of Turkmenistan. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of Ben Gurion University, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Policy Institute for Counter Terrorism.

U.S./Middle East Project, Inc - International Board - Yosef A. Maiman

Israeli corporate connections between the war in Afghanistan and 9-11

Yosef A. Maiman

Israel: A Strategic Asset for the United States

Walter Becker Slocombe (born September 23, 1941) is a former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (1994–2001) [wonder what Walter was doing when New York got attacked?] and was the Senior Advisor for Security and Defence to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003).

A lawyer and career federal official, Slocombe joined the staff of the National Security Council in 1969. Prior to that, he worked as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas. He is a four-time recipient of an award for Distinguished Public Service ['distinguished public service' means securing pipeline construction projects for natural gas] and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. [see paper above] He currently practices law with the Washington firm of Caplin & Drysdale.

Richard Holbrooke - A Zionist Running The War In Afghanistan

"We're building gas pipelines, I'm the corporate contractor to make sure it gets built; if you
don't like it that's just tuff shit."

Germany To Sell Tanks Saudi Arabia

Berlin, July 03: Germany plans to sell 200 Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia, after the lifting of a ban on the sale of long decades of heavy weapons in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
The German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday the decision, said the Federal Security Council approved the sale of billions of dollars last week.



Saudi officials met with the Spanish subsidiary of the American military-industrial complex General Dynamics Corporation to buy their version of Leopard, but much of the order goes to German companies Rheinmetall and Kraus-Maffei, said the report.

3/11 was Japan's 9/11. It's all documented folks! NEW ULTRA HIGH RESOLUTION FUKUSHIMA PHOTOS

57 members of Congress among wealthy 1%

Finance and the Mafia State

Meanwhile, the nationalism of America, Russia and China is much as it has been. Military systems are national, and will remain so. The current geo political battle is over Central Asia, both for reasons of military positioning and for its economic significance, the reserves of gas. [confirmation for the above post; see where we're headed?] There is no sign of a fading nation state, as John Chan reports:

“In Beijing, Russian and Chinese leaders publicly stated their opposition to the drive by the US and its allies towards military intervention in Syria. In a joint statement, Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao declared: “Russia and China are decisively against attempts to regulate the Syrian crisis with outside military intervention, as well as imposing… a policy of regime change.”

Writing in the official People’s Daily, Putin declared: “Without the participation of Russia and China, without considering Russia and China’s interests, no international matter or issue can be discussed and implemented.” Russia and China have blocked UN resolutions for sanctions against Syria. [do it, Vladimir, threaten them with nuclear annihilation]

Both Russia and China have a great deal at stake in opposing US machinations in the Middle East. [gas pipelines and the control of energy resources] Russia has longstanding ties with Syria. Moreover Putin and Hu are well aware that the drive for regime change is also directly against Syria’s main ally, Iran, [the pipeline is going through here] that is confronting threats of war from the US and its allies. China and Russia have significant economic interests [gas pipelines?!] in Iran.”

‘Iran, Russia, China, Syria to launch biggest joint war game in Mideast’

Sweden on alert, explosives found near nuke plant
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden ramped up security at its three nuclear power plants Thursday after a small amount of explosives without a triggering device was found on a forklift on the grounds of the country's largest atomic power station, authorities said. Police were investigating possible sabotage, but insisted that even if there had been a blast it would not have posed any great danger.

Bomb-sniffing dogs detected the explosives in a routine check Wednesday afternoon by security staff in the power plant's industrial area near its high-security enclosure. Police declined to describe the amount or type of explosive.

Bomb technicians said the material lacked a detonating device, meaning there was no danger of an imminent explosion. "But even if it would have been equipped with a detonator, a potential blast would have had pretty limited effects — the truck would have received some damage and perhaps some passers-by would have been injured, but it wouldn't have harmed the plant in any way," police spokesman Tommy Nyman said.

With police providing little information, a terror expert speculated it might have been an attempt to test the security system of the Ringhals power plant with a later attack in mind. Four nuclear reactors are at Ringhals, 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Sweden's second-largest city, Goteborg, which has a population of 550,000 people. The plant is controlled by energy companies Vattenfall and E.ON.

Police said the driver of the forklift truck had been unaware of the explosives and was not suspected of being involved. Nyman said authorities had no suspects and were searching the premises to see if there was more suspicious material.

"An outsider has obviously placed them on the truck," Nyman said. "We're talking to the truck driver and are trying to map out her movements within the (Ringhals) premises throughout the day." The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority said the explosive material was found "en route from the Ringhals industrial park into a protected area ... and did not enter the facility."

The government declined to comment, saying it was a police matter. Martina Kruger, head of the Climate and Energy Division at Greenpeace in the Nordic region, said that even though the explosive material lacked a detonator, the incident was extremely serious, showing how vulnerable nuclear plants are for potential attacks.

"It doesn't matter if it was outside the protected area or not, it shouldn't have made itself within the premises at all," she said, accusing authorities and plant operators of playing the incident down.

Magnus Norell, a terrorism expert at the Swedish Defense Research Agency, said the incident unlikely was a planned attack. "They never got into the security area. It seems very strange that they tried, knowing that security would be high and also that they used explosives that could be detected by a dog," Norell said. "To me that indicates that it's not very professional."

But he said that someone might have been testing the systems. "It could suggest that someone was testing it to do something serious later on. But it's all pure speculation right now as we have so little information," he said. "It shows the (security) system did work. They picked up on it and nothing happened. That's one good signal."

Security at Swedish nuclear plants has also been criticized. In 2010, Greenpeace activists broke into the Forsmark power plant site by climbing a fence and staging a demonstration there. Twenty-nine Greenpeace activists from Germany, Poland, Britain, France and the Nordic countries were convicted and fined.

Kruger, of Greenpeace, said that it did not look like the incident was the work of environmental terrorists. "I find that very hard to believe. Especially in this sort of way," she said. "If environmentalists would have wanted to test the system, they might have used a toy gun or something, but they never would have crossed the line and go on to use something as real as this."

The Swedish nuclear industry has come under fire for the lack of some safety precautions while operating the reactors. Last year, a fire broke out in a Ringhals reactor after the staff had left a vacuum cleaner in the containment building.

Sweden has 10 nuclear reactors at the country's three power plants: Ringhals, Forsmark and Oskarshamn — providing about half of the country's electricity. The country has a four-stage security risk scale for the plants, with four representing the highest security alert.

Ringhals was rated at one — situation "normal" — but after the incident, the nuclear authority said it raised the security alert by a notch to 2, on a four-grade scale, meaning that security has been increased at all the plants.

In 1980, the Nordic country decided to phase out the use of nuclear energy after Swedes voted for that in a referendum. But two years ago, the center-right government overturned that decision, citing the lack of viable long-term environmentally friendly alternatives, a move that paved the way for old reactors to be replaced by new ones.

Ringhals is Sweden's largest power plant, producing 28 Terawatt-Hours a year, or supplying around 20 percent of the country's electricity.

Fighting breaks out in Syrian capital as Turkey, NATO threaten war

NATO Member Turkey Solidifies Its Ties with Iran and Syria

Turkey seeks NATO intervention in Syria

Are U.S. military leaders lying about Afghanistan?

Army's $5B failed pixelated uniform getting scrapped

Where's the outrage at Pentagon horrors?

Footage shows US Marine vehicles destroying Afghans' homes

15 Years Jail For Exporting Gas to Israel At Low Prices