Modern Banks and Banking Are Terrible!

Modern Banks and Banking Are Terrible!

Τhe Good Book tells us there's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 good folk who've never strayed from the path of virtue. That being the case, the angels upstairs must be singing the Hallelujah Chorus these days over the return of Sanford I. Weill, a Wall Street legend, to the ranks of the righteous ... In a television interview last week, Weill allowed that repealing Glass-Steagall was a grievous mistake. He would, he said, downsize the big banks. – Star Ledger

Dominant Social Theme: We need to return to highly regulated banking.

Free-Market Analysis: Sandy Weill is sending shivers up the legs of those who are partial to financial regulation. In asserting he was wrong and that Glass-Steagall was a prudent regulation, he has now assumed the role of a Wall Streeter who understands that when it comes to the securities industry, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Nancy Pelosi are a mitigated or unmitigated good.

GREEK CRISIS: Geithner intervention threatens to split Athens coalition

GREEK CRISIS: Geithner intervention threatens to split Athens coalition

Commentators on the Coalition/Troika negotiations are underestimating the geopolitical dimension

Emboldened by an American promise of support – and terrified of being wiped out politically if further Troika burdens are placed upon the Greek people – the faux and moderate Left part of the Greek Coalition is in disagreement with right-wing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras this evening about how to proceed in its negotiations with the EU/ECB/IMF triad. The Troika itself (aware of an increasing US influence in Greece) is treading more softly than it was last week. Against a background of growing anger in Germany, this is now an extremely unstable situation for the debt markets to analyse…and one from which America can benefit enormously.
The decision to hand tonight (Tuesday) in Athens is which way to jump – into Merkel’s FiskalUnion, or under Geithner’s cloak of protection. And it looks like that choice is causing a split between Right and Left. The coalition leaders met on Monday evening to finalise the austerity proposals, but there was no agreement: Venizelos and Kouvelis suggested that there should be no more taxes, and a renegotiation of the repayment timelines. Samaras disagreed.

Germany participates in war preparations against Syria

Germany participates in war preparations against Syria


by Christoph Dreier




Behind the scenes, the German government has long been active in the civil war in Syria and in preparations for military intervention.

Berlin is an important hub for the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Syrian National Council (SNC), who discreetly work there on plans to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The 70 states comprising the “Friends of the Syrian People” group, who have supported the armed uprising against Assad, maintain a secretariat in Berlin and met there last month.

So far, many of these activities have taken place in secret. Outwardly Berlin poses as a mediator, seeking to win Russia and China to support a Syria resolution in the UN Security Council. That orientation appears to be over, however.

The Syrian opposition: who's doing the talking?

The Syrian opposition: who's doing the talking?

The media have been too passive when it comes to Syrian opposition sources, without scrutinising their backgrounds and their political connections. Time for a closer look …

A nightmare is unfolding across Syria, in the homes of al-Heffa and the streets of Houla. And we all know how the story ends: with thousands of soldiers and civilians killed, towns and families destroyed, and President Assad beaten to death in a ditch.
This is the story of the Syrian war, but there is another story to be told. A tale less bloody, but nevertheless important. This is a story about the storytellers: the spokespeople, the "experts on Syria", the "democracy activists". The statement makers. The people who "urge" and "warn" and "call for action".
It's a tale about some of the most quoted members of the Syrian opposition and their connection to the Anglo-American opposition creation business. The mainstream news media have, in the main, been remarkably passive when it comes to Syrian sources: billing them simply as "official spokesmen" or "pro-democracy campaigners" without, for the most part, scrutinising their statements, their backgrounds or their political connections.
It's important to stress: to investigate the background of a Syrian spokesperson is not to doubt the sincerity of his or her opposition to Assad. But a passionate hatred of the Assad regime is no guarantee of independence. Indeed, a number of key figures in the Syrian opposition movement are long-term exiles who were receiving US government funding to undermine the Assad government long before the Arab spring broke out.

The New Mediterranean Oil And Gas Bonanza Part II - Rising Energy Tensions In The Aegean - Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria

The New Mediterranean Oil And Gas Bonanza
Part II - Rising Energy Tensions In The
Aegean - Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria

The discovery in late 2010 of the huge natural gas bonanza off Israel’s Mediterranean shores triggered other neighboring countries to look more closely at their own waters. The results revealed that the entire eastern Mediterranean is swimming in huge untapped oil and gas reserves. That discovery is having enormous political, geopolitical as well as economic consequences. It well may have potential military consequences too.

Preliminary exploration has confirmed similarly impressive reserves of gas and oil in the waters off Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and potentially, Syria.

Euro Zone Crisis Heads for September Crunch

Euro Zone Crisis Heads for September Crunch

Over the past couple of years, Europe has muddled through a long series of crunch moments in its debt crisis, but this September is shaping up as a "make-or-break" month as policymakers run desperately short of options to save the common currency.

Crisis or no crisis, many European policymakers will take their summer holidays in August. When they return, a number of crucial events, decisions and deadlines will be waiting.

"September will undoubtedly be the crunch time," one senior euro zone policymaker said.

11 Signs That Time Is Quickly Running Out For The Global Financial System

11 Signs That Time Is Quickly Running Out For The Global Financial System

Are we rapidly approaching a moment of reckoning for the global financial system? August is likely to be a relatively slow month as most of Europe is on vacation, but after that we will be moving into a "danger zone" where just about anything could happen. Historically, a financial crisis has been more likely to happen in the fall than during any other time, and this fall is shaping up to be a doozy. Much of the focus of the financial world is on whether or not the euro is going to break up, but even if the authorities in Europe are able to keep the euro together we are still facing massive problems. Countries such as Greece and Spain are already experiencing depression-like conditions, and much of the rest of the globe is sliding into recession. Unemployment has already risen to record levels in some parts of Europe, major banks all over Europe are teetering on the brink of insolvency, and the flow of credit is freezing up all over the planet. If things take a really bad turn, this crisis could become much worse than the financial crisis of 2008 very quickly.

Afghanistan Veterans With Genital Wounds Receive Little Help From Pentagon

Afghanistan Veterans With Genital Wounds Receive Little Help From Pentagon

WASHINGTON -- For the growing number of soldiers and Marines whose genitals are damaged or destroyed by blasts from improvised explosive devices while in combat, the Pentagon has decided it will not provide some critical reproductive health benefits.


To put it bluntly, if you are sent to war and an IED blast blows off your testicles, the U.S. government will not pay for your wife to have in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination using donated sperm.


The new policy, quietly adopted without announcement by the Defense Department, responds to the growing demands of the more than 1,800 veterans with genital wounds that the government that sent them to war now help them return to normal life, including raising a family.


The policy authorizes payment for some reproductive procedures for the first time, including limited in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination. But it also specifically excludes covering males who cannot produce sperm. "Third-party donations and surrogacy are not covered benefits," the policy states firmly.

Depression in the Eurozone’s Periphery and how to restore Aggregate Demand without creating new bubbles: My reply to Kantoos Economics

Depression in the Eurozone’s Periphery and how to restore Aggregate Demand without creating new bubbles: My reply to Kantoos Economics

YANIS VAROUFAKIS

Preamble: Kantoos Economics recently posted an article discussing points of agreement and points of disagreement between us regarding the restoration of growth in Greece, both in the short and in the long run. Here is my reply.

The problem with any Crisis is that it eliminates the type of scarcity which helps two crucial markets function properly (the market for labour and the market for money/capital) and replaces it with another kind of scarcity that causes these two markets to cease up: severe scarcity of aggregate demand. This is what happened in the 1930s in the USA and Europe. And it is happening today in countries like Greece and Spain with, however, a hideous twist. Can the depressed Eurozone Periphery be refloated, aggregate demand-wise, without new bubbles being formed? What would a New Deal for the Eurozone look like?

Greece toughens border policing over Syria war

Greece toughens border policing over Syria war

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece is quadrupling the number of guards at its border with Turkey and boosting other defenses in part because of a potential influx of Syrian refugees, a government minister said Monday.

Greece is the busiest entry point for illegal immigrants trying to reach the European Union. Turkey, meanwhile, is hosting thousands of Syrians who have been fleeing their country's civil war.

Iran, Syria, Russia, China plan naval drill in Mediterranean

Iran, Syria, Russia, China plan naval drill in Mediterranean

Countries' militaries to stage large-scale maritime maneuvers off Syrian coast. Drill to include 90,000 soldiers, submarines, aircraft, tanks and warships





Joint military drill amid violent crackdown – The armies of China, Russia, Iran and Syria are planning to hold naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea over the next few weeks, Iranian news agency Fars reported Tuesday.

Mossad, CIA and Blackwater operate in Syria - report

Mossad, CIA and Blackwater operate in Syria - report

A security operation in Homs reveals Mossad, CIA and Blackwater are involved in the military violence in this part of Syria, as over 700 Arab and Western gunmen and Israeli, American and European-made weapons were detained in Baba Amr district.

Syrian security forces got yet further proof of Western powers’ military involvement in Syria’s internal conflict, reports Al-Manar, a news agency, affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militant group and political party.
Around 700 gunmen were recently arrested in the former rebel stronghold of Babar Amr.
“The captured gunmen held Arab nationalities, including Gulf, Iraqi, and Lebanese. Among them were also Qatari intelligence agents and non-Arab fighters from Afghanistan, Turkey, and some European countries like France,” the agency quotes Syrian expert in strategic affairs Salim Harba as saying.

The Savage Bull Doth Bear The Yoke

The Savage Bull Doth Bear The Yoke

Via Mark E. Grant, author of Out of the Box,

“In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke."

-William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing

Sometimes, certainly not all of the time, one has a certain sense of amusement when eyeing the markets. The head of the ECB says that he will do everything in his power to defend the Euro and the equity markets rally and what did anyone expect the head of the European Central Bank to say? It is rather an obvious statement from his position and one that carries no substance as it is purely rhetorical in nature. We could expect the same comment from Bernanke or the head of any other central bank. The EFSF has only $65 billion left in capital without further funding, the ESM is not in existence, and the German Finance Minister announces that the Stabilization Fund will not be buying Spanish debt and I point out that while Draghi’s remarks are nice and soothing that there is scant evidence that anything will actually be done. The pattern is likely to continue; up on the rhetoric, flat about two days later and then down as nothing is achieved. It is up on the huff and puff, flat as the evidence is awaited and then back down when the door is opened and everyone finds themselves in the hallway of smoke and mirrors of the Mountain King.

Arrest the Criminals at Goldman Sachs and in the Greek Government

Arrest the Criminals at Goldman Sachs and in the Greek Government

EUROZONE 'Either we'll save the euro properly or not at all'

EUROZONE'Either we'll save the euro properly or not at all'

Seventeen of Europe's top economists have issued a report that details a way out of the eurozone crisis. Saving the euro will very expensive and take more commitment from politicians, they argue.


Greece is on the verge of bankruptcy, and Spain is battling unemployment, record interest rates and ailing banks. Hardly a day goes by without more bad news coming from Europe's financial markets.

The crisis is not going away - in fact it's getting worse. Politicians and economists are at odds on they view the mess: some see a possible end of the euro currency as an economic and politic catastrophe, while others prefer a painful end over a long, drawn-out breakdown. It's better, they argue, to have a smaller eurozone or to return to national currencies than to keep throwing good money after bad.

The End Game Is a Greek Default

The End Game Is a Greek Default

Stephen Davies, CEO, Javelin Wealth Mgmt says it is likely we'll have to see a proper Greek default and exit out of the Euro zone for the sovereign debt crisis to be "fully" resolved.

IMF can end its agony over Greece

IMF can end its agony over Greece

The International Monetary Fund fought hard and successfully to join the eurozone governments and the European Central Bank when a rescue for Greece was launched more than two long years ago. It has not been a happy experience. The Greek economy has underperformed growth and debt targets and is now enmeshed in a post-election tangle. Unless there is a sharp reduction in the disarray and denial among the fund’s European co-lenders, it is time the IMF handed the reins over to them.

The IMF’s disquiet about Greece has been evident for more than a year. That in itself was a belated recognition of reality: it should have pushed from the outset for a restructuring of privately-held sovereign debt and insisted on a much more realistic view of how much economic growth a battered and sclerotic economy was likely to produce.

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The Next Stage in the Destruction of Syria

The Next Stage in the Destruction of Syria

by Shamus Cooke

The U.S. media has made its intentions clear: the 'rebels' attacking Syria's government must have more support to advance Syria's "revolution.” This was the result of the much-hyped advance of Syria's rebels into the country’s two largest cities, which the western media portrayed as a defining moment in global democracy. But "journalists" like these have blood on their hands, with much more in the works.

The systematic dismantling of Syria has more to do with western media lies and geo-politics than "revolution;” and the more that the U.S. media cheers on this bloodletting, the more politicians feel enabled to spill it.

The Syrian cauldron

The Syrian cauldron

While the Western powers have their own reasons for wanting to bring down the Syrian regime, Turkey's agenda is far less clear, writes Jeremy Salt in Ankara

Tensions between Turkey and Syria along their border are edging closer to a flashpoint. Some weeks ago, a Turkish air force jet was shot down after violating Syrian air space. The Syrian government said the plane was hit while inside Syrian air space. Turkey says it had already left Syrian air space and was hit in international air space.

What the plane was doing inside Syrian air space is another matter. Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, said it had "strayed" off course. Other accounts suggest that it was there to "light up" Syria's radar system or test its missile defences. Turkey immediately sent troops and armour to the border and invoked Article 4 of the NATO Charter, calling for consultation with its partners in the alliance. They immediately endorsed the Turkish version. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the shooting down of the plane "brazen" while UK Foreign Secretary William Hague thought it was "outrageous", words, one cannot help noting, that have never been used to describe the missile attacks by US and UK armed forces that have killed civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.

Euro group president warning the collapse of the risk of the euro area

Euro group president warning the collapse of the risk of the euro area

Euro Group Juncker, chairman of 29, warning that the euro area was threatened with disintegration. He said that the euro area through the European financial stability tools (EFSF) together with the European Central Bank action to calm financialmarket turmoil to defend the euro.

Juncker said to accept the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung interview, said that the euro area has reached a decisive stage. To save the euro, “no more time to waste. He said the euro-zone countries must now use all possible means clear that to the outside world: “We are determined to ensure the stability of the monetary union”.

Syria: Aleppo is nail in Assad's coffin, says Panetta

Syria: Aleppo is nail in Assad's coffin, says Panetta

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's assault on the city of Aleppo will be "a nail in his coffin".

Mr Panetta was speaking at the start of a five-day Middle East tour.

Heavy fighting is continuing in Syria's largest city where government forces are trying to oust rebel fighters.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said 200,000 people had fled the fighting in Aleppo and that an unknown number were trapped.

She said that the city urgently needed supplies including food and water.

Mr Panetta said the Syrian crisis was deepening and that President Assad was hastening his own demise.

"If they continue this kind of tragic attack on their own people... I think it ultimately will be a nail in Assad's coffin," he told reporters.

"What Assad has been doing to his own people and what he continues to do to his own people makes clear that his regime is coming to an end. It's lost all legitimacy."

Chinese destroyer enters Mediterranean via Suez

Chinese destroyer enters Mediterranean via Suez



Warship crosses through Suez Canal into Mediterranean Sea, possibly en route to Syrian coast for naval maneuvers

A Chinese destroyer sailed through Egypt's Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea, Egyptian daily Al-Shuruk reported on Sunday.

The destroyer could be on its way to the Syrian coast, the Egyptian newspaper reported, adding that the warship is planning to hold naval maneuvers in the area.

The time for patience in Syria is over

The time for patience in Syria is over

AMERICA’S LONG paralysis in responding to the conflict in Syria is coming home to roost. Outside Aleppo, one of the oldest cities in the world, Syrian forces are massing for a possible assault on opposition fighters. President Bashar al-Assad has sent fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and armored columns, threatening tens of thousands of terrified civilians.

When peaceful protest broke out in Syria last year, there was hope for a transition that would be turbulent but not violent. Mr. Assad chose instead to open fire on the protesters. President Obama called on Mr. Assad to leave office, a proper reaction to the brutality. But Mr. Obama has not backed his words with actions that might help them come true.

For a long while, the administration tried to give diplomacy a chance, saying it hoped to bring Russia, Syria’s ally, into the effort. It was never realistic to expect autocrat Vladi­mir Putin to assist in the overthrow of a fellow autocrat, and Russia predictably refused.

23 crucial days for Greece

23 crucial days for Greece

YANIS VAROUFAKIS

On 20th August, the Greek government will have to borrow 3.2 billion from one arm of the Eurozone (from the EFSF) in order to repay another (the ECB). Yet Greece is insolvent. The very idea of an insolvent entity borrowing more from a community, like the Eurozone, in order to repay that same community is obscene. All it does is to shift the burden from the Central Bank to the taxpayers of Germany, Holland, Austria and Finland. This is not an act of solidarity with Greece. It is an act of irresponsible kicking-the-can-up-a-steep-hill. The simple point I have been trying to drive home for a long while now is that the Eurozone must make a simple decision: Either to give Greece a proper chance of exiting its current death spiral. Or to dump Greece now, before the Greek state loses all its remaining assets and before it gets deeper into debt. And if our Eurozone partners are not prepared to make up their minds (caught up in their own short term concerns and shenanigans), then Athens must force their hand to decide within the next 23 days. How? By announcing that Greece will NOT be borrowing on 20th August monies it cannot repay under the present scheme of things.

German minister: No room for Greece concessions

German minister: No room for Greece concessions

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's finance minister said in an interview published Sunday that he can't see room for further concessions to Greece, insisting anew that the country must implement far-reachingreforms and cut its budget deficit.

International debt inspectors are scrutinizing Greece's finances and its progress in implementing unpopular budget cuts and reforms demanded in exchange for the rescue loan program that is keeping the country afloat.

Greek officials have called for more time to implement the measures, but patience among creditors is running extremely short. If the inspectors' report, expected in September, is damning, Athens could stop receiving rescue loans and face a disorderly bankruptcy and exit from the 17-nation euro.

Russia Prepares Armed Forces for Syrian Military Deployment

Russia Prepares Armed Forces for Syrian Military Deployment






Given the worsening crisis in Syria, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper reported [June 2012] that the Russian army is apparently being prepared for a mission in Syria. Citing anonymous sources in the military leadership, the newspaper said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the general staff to work out a plan for military operations outside Russia, including in Syria.

The units being prepared for an intervention are the 76th Division of airborne forces (an especially experienced unit of the Russian army), the 15th Army Division, as well as special forces from a brigade of the Black Sea fleet, which has a base in the Syrian port of Tartus.

The details of the operational plan are being prepared by the working parties of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, to which most of the post-Soviet states belong, as well as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to which China and Russia belong.

Robert Fisk: Syrian war of lies and hypocrisy

Robert Fisk: Syrian war of lies and hypocrisy

The West's real target here is not Assad's brutal regime but his ally, Iran, and its nuclear weapons

Has there ever been a Middle Eastern war of such hypocrisy? A war of such cowardice and such mean morality, of such false rhetoric and such public humiliation? I'm not talking about the physical victims of the Syrian tragedy. I'm referring to the utter lies and mendacity of our masters and our own public opinion – eastern as well as western – in response to the slaughter, a vicious pantomime more worthy of Swiftian satire than Tolstoy or Shakespeare.

Who is fighting in Syria? Journalists Lie Than Admit That They’ve Been Manipulated

Who is fighting in Syria? Journalists Lie Than Admit That They’ve Been Manipulated

Though the Western press portrays the Free Syrian Army as an armed revolutionary group, for more than a year Thierry Meyssan has affirmed that it is on the contrary a counter-revolutionary body. According to him, it would have progressively passed from the hands of reactionary monarchies in the Gulf to those of Turkey, acting for NATO. Such a non-mainstream affirmation needs demonstrative proof…

For the last 18 months, Syria has been prey to troubles that have steadily increased to become a widespread armed conflict having already killed about 20,000 people. If there is consensus on this observation, narratives and interpretations vary beyond.

For Western states and their press, the Syrians aspire to live in the Western market democracies. Following the Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan “Arab Spring” models, they rose up to overthrow their dictator Bashar al-Assad. The latter suppressed the demonstrations with bloodshed. While Westerners would have liked to intervene to stop the massacre, the Russians and Chinese, out of self-interest or contempt for human life, opposed intervention.

Syrians: NATO-backed Militants Seen Donning Gas Masks Reports of Libyan chemical weapons brought in through Turkey, caches discovered in Damascus point to possible false flag.

Syrians: NATO-backed Militants Seen Donning Gas MasksReports of Libyan chemical weapons brought in through Turkey, caches discovered in Damascus point to possible false flag.

July 27, 2012 - For a Western media so fond of reporting "activist" accounts, rumors, and even fabrications, and with all the talk of an impending "massacre" in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, reports of so-called "Free Syrian Army" militants seen trying on gas masks, along with reports of Libyan chemical weapon caches & equipment being discovered in Damascus is surely headline news.

Images: (Top) FSA fighters, one on the left wearing a "Jihadist" headband, another on the right trying on a military-grade gas mask, were reportedly photographed in Aleppo, Syria. (Bottom) Chemical weapons and equipment from Libya have been reportedly discovered as troops search areas of Damascus after quelling last week's militant attack.

Syria 360°

Syria 360°

PHOTOGRAPHER, MARCO DI LAURO, EXPOSES BBC’S USE OF HIS IRAQ PHOTOS AS PROPAGANDA FOR HOULA MASSACRE

Italian photographer, Marco Di Lauro, has exposed the BBC which illegally used one of his photographs taken in Iraq as anti-Syrian Propaganda on their website’s front page.

Di Lauro said: “Somebody is using illegaly one of my images for anti syrian propaganda on the BBC web site front page.

SYRIA: A brief heads-up on who’s massacring who

SYRIA: A brief heads-up on who’s massacring who

Doubts raised as to responsibility for ‘Assad regime’ atrocities

I hear from Sloggers that German intelligence reckons some ninety terror attacks in Syria (for which the Assad regime has been blamed) can be attributed to jihadist groups, over the last six months, perpetrating the atrocities for purely propagandist reasons. The statistic was revealed after the German government responded to a Bundestag member’s question.

Exclusive: ECB may take losses in second Greek debt restructuring

Exclusive: ECB may take losses in second Greek debt restructuring

(Reuters) - European policymakers are working on "last chance" options to bring Greece's debts down and keep it in the euro zone, with the ECB and national central banks looking at taking significant losses on the value of their bond holdings, officials said.

Private creditors have already suffered big writedowns on their Greek bonds under a second bailout for Athens sealed in February, but this was not enough to put the country back on the path to solvency and a further restructuring is on the cards.

For E.U. Leaders, a Political Dare

For E.U. Leaders, a Political Dare


By JOHN VINOCUR

PARIS — Europe’s Olympian vision of its future — great power plus universal indispensability as a beacon of reason — has dimmed to a flicker. Without willingness to accept a dare or two, the situation is unlikely to brighten soon.


The European Union’s debt and deficit grief, compounded by a crisis of political will, is much more than a bad moment that puts progress temporarily on hold.

Syrian army supply crisis has regime on brink of collapse, say defectors

Syrian army supply crisis has regime on brink of collapse, say defectors

General who swapped sides says regime can last 'two months at most' as troop morale sinks and petrol trucks are ambushed

Bashar al-Assad's military machine is on the brink of logistical meltdown and collapse, because it lacks petrol and food, and is having problems resupplying its soldiers, according to a Syrian general who has defected to the opposition.

Much has been made of the Syrian military's supposed superiority over the opposition, but General Mohammad Al-Zobi told the Guardian: "The benzine is nearly finished. They are running out of rockets. There is scarcely any bread or water for the soldiers."

Exclusive: Secret Turkish nerve center leads aid to Syria rebels

Exclusive: Secret Turkish nerve center leads aid to Syria rebels

 

(Reuters) - Turkey has set up a secret base with allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar to direct vital military and communications aid to Syria's rebels from a city near the border, Gulf sources have told Reuters.

News of the clandestine Middle East-run "nerve centre" working to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad underlines the extent to which Western powers - who played a key role in unseating Muammar Gaddafi in Libya - have avoided military involvement so far in Syria.

"It's the Turks who are militarily controlling it. Turkey is the main co-ordinator/facilitator. Think of a triangle, with Turkey at the top and Saudi Arabia and Qatar at the bottom," said a Doha-based source.

"The Americans are very hands-off on this. U.S. intel(ligence) are working through middlemen. Middlemen are controlling access to weapons and routes."

Syria and Obama's Strategic Box

Syria and Obama's Strategic Box

Why hasn’t President Obama intervened militarily in Syria? After all, this is a president who issued a directive last year stating that a “core” national security interest of the United States would be to prevent mass atrocities of precisely the kind Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is now unleashing on his own people. And this is a president who, to his credit, helped remove Muammar Qaddafi from power. Certainly, overthrowing Assad, cutting Syria’s ties to Iran, and putting an end to its destructive role in Lebanon is far more important to American security interests than the campaign to end Qaddafi’s rule in Libya ever was.

One a Day: Soldiers and Suicide in the U.S. Military

One a Day: Soldiers and Suicide in the U.S. Military

Citi: 90% chance of Greece leaving euro

Citi: 90% chance of Greece leaving euro

The chances of Greece leaving the euro in the next 12-18 months have risen to about 90 per cent, US bank Citi said in a report on Thursday, saying Athens was most likely to quit the single currency within the next two to three quarters.

The report, dated July 25 but distributed in an email on Thursday, said the bank expected Italy and Spain to take a formal bailout from the European Union and IMF on top of the banking aid for which Madrid has already asked.

AP: U.S. weighs more direct involvement in Syria

AP: U.S. weighs more direct involvement in Syria

(AP) WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is weighing its options for more direct involvement in the Syrian civil war if the rebels opposing the Assad regime can wrest enough control to create a safe haven for themselves, U.S. officials told the Associated Press.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it's only a matter of time before the rebels have enough territory and organization to create such areas.

"More and more territory is being taken," Clinton said this week. "It will eventually result in a safe haven inside Syria, which will then provide a base for further actions by the opposition."

Officials are already starting to brainstorm how a safe zone might allow Washington to step up its assistance, which has been limited to humanitarian aid and nonlethal equipment such as medical supplies and communications gear.

UK may be drawn into Syria conflict

UK may be drawn into Syria conflict

Britain will find it increasingly difficult to avoid taking part in action in Syria, a former Army commander warned today.


Colonel Richard Kemp, who led UK forces in Afghanistan, said the escalating civil war meant it was more likely that western governments would intervene to stop the bloodshed spreading to neighbouring countries.

Last week President Bashar al-Assad's regime was rocked by the assassinations of two defence ministers and a series of military defections.

Turkey a hub for Syria revolution as illegal border crossing points abound

Turkey a hub for Syria revolution as illegal border crossing points abound

ON THE TURKEY-SYRIA BORDER — Come nightfall, a bucolic farming village begins to buzz with unusual activity. Shadowy figures emerge from olive groves, clutching small suitcases. Cars crowd the winding rural road collecting and discharging passengers. Farmers step onto their porches, ready to offer a bed for the night to Syrians who have hiked across one of the countless illegal crossing points along Turkey’s 550-mile border with their country.

On Wednesday, Turkey closed all of its legal border posts after Syrian rebels seized control of several crossings on the Syrian side. The move was prompted in part by concerns that Islamic extremists may have overrun at least one of the Syrian posts, at Bab al-Hawa, after a video posted online showed jihadi fighters there declaring they had established an “Islamic state.”

Spot The Naval Hot Zone

Spot The Naval Hot Zone

'Things' appear to be hotting up in a couple of places around the world. While the Middle East's incessant instability only grows worse; the following clip from Stratfor sheds light on the 'discussion' that is occurring in the middle of the Pacific with the Chinese and the Phillipines over potential energy rights. Nothing to see here, move along.

What is life in the military actually like?

What is life in the military actually like?

More from readers of last week's inaugural column: On the one hand, several people argued that military benefits aren't all they're cracked up to be, and pointed to high levels of poverty and homelessness among veterans, food stamp use by active duty personnel, and other problems. Similarly, several readers noted that financial benefits can hardly compensate military personnel for the danger, the disruptions to family life, and the high suicide and divorce rates.

On the other hand, some readers argued that the risks and problems associated with military service are often de-contextualized, and that if all factors are considered, military personnel have no more reason to complain than many civilians. The military may be a dangerous and important career, but it's no more so than several other occupations, and the risks depend greatly on which branch of the service we're talking about.

Big Russian fleet nears Syria. Iran to fight regime change as foreign forces pile up

Big Russian fleet nears Syria. Iran to fight regime change as foreign forces pile up

Russian, Western and Arab forces were piling up on Syrian borders Wednesday, July 25, bringing closer a war confrontation which could spur the Assad regime into making good on its threat to use chemical weapons against “external aggression.”
Based on this reading, Moscow added its voice Tuesday to that of US President Obama and warned Bashar Assad against using chemical weapons in view of “its commitments under the international convention it ratified prohibiting the use of poisonous gases as a method of warfare.”
DEBKAfile’s military sources: With operational intelligence deployment and electronic stations positioned inside Syria, the Russians are better placed than any other outsiders to know what is happening on Syria’s battlefields. Their warning must therefore be tied to solid information confirming Washington’s assessment that Assad is dangerously close to deciding to use his chemical and biological weapons in a way that would precipitate a regional conflict.

Moscow condemns Syrian threat to use chemical weapons

Moscow condemns Syrian threat to use chemical weapons

Moscow has condemned a threat by the Syrian government to use chemical weapons.


During a meeting with Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian president's envoy on the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, "set out in an utterly clear form the Russian position that no threats of use of chemical weapons are acceptable and that Damascus must strictly abide by its commitments under the Geneva protocol of 1925," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.



Bogdanov, who is a deputy foreign minister, "re-emphasized the Russian principle that the Syrian crisis must be settled in a peaceful way on the basis of the fulfillment by all the parties of the plan of Kofi Annan, special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League, and the decisions worked out by the Action Group for Syria on June 30 this year in Geneva," the ministry said.



Earlier, Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdissi had said Damascus would use chemical weapons but only in the event of a foreign attack on the country. Later, the Syrian government said his words had been torn out of context.

Turkish Frigate Trespasses Greek Territorial Waters Near Myconos

Turkish Frigate Trespasses Greek Territorial Waters Near Myconos

Another maritime trespassing case near the Aegean islands of Mykonos and Tinos by our neighboring country Turkey was reported late on Wednesday. The Turkish military frigate Gokova was found sailing on the Aegean violating the national territorial waters of our country and the rules of innocent passage.

A frigate of the Greek Navy was monitoring the moves and route of the Turkish ship. It appears that Gokova had actually been exploring the Greek seas since the early morning of Wednesday starting from the area near Crete and Kasos, then Folegandros and Milos and at approximately 19:00 o’clock islands Myconos and Tinos.

Ankara’s provocative decision to send a military frigate in the heart of the Aegean during the pick of the tourist season has really troubled the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

Even if our neighboring country claimed it was merely a military exercise, it would still be a violation of the moratorium that forbids military exercises from taking place during the summer months.

And all this on the day that Greece’s Army Chief of Staff Konstantinos Zazias unexpectedly resigns. The turmoil in the country’s political matters has probably signaled to certain people that our defense has become vulnerable.

Euro’s Medicine May Be Making Greece’s Symptoms Worse

Euro’s Medicine May Be Making Greece’s Symptoms Worse




By RACHEL DONADIO and SUZANNE DALEY

ATHENS — Only a month after Greece installed a new government, the country is facing renewed peril. Its official lenders are signaling a growing reluctance to keep paying the bills of the nearly bankrupt nation, even as the government is seeking more leniency on the terms of its multibillion-euro bailout.



Adding to the woes, there is little agreement within either side. The Greek government is itself a motley coalition of conservatives and Socialists, and the leaders of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and theEuropean Central Bank, known as the troika, are increasingly divided among themselves. That is creating even more uncertainty as Greece and the rest of Europe head for yet another showdown, renewing doubts about how long Athens can remain within the euro zone.

Syria: West 'could deploy 300,000 troops following regime collapse'

Syria: West 'could deploy 300,000 troops following regime collapse'

Western governments could be called on to deploy up to 300,000 troops to intervene in Syria following the collapse of the current regime, an influential defence think tank has said.

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent

The end of the President Bashar al-Assad's rule could lead to an explosion of conflict both within Syria and beyond its borders, the Royal United Services Institute paper said.


It was now more urgent to prevent the conflict spreading into neighbouring countries or cross-border invasions than to contain the violence inside Syria, said the paper 'Syria: A Collision Course for Intervention'.


It warns that after Mr Assad's likely departure the "military options will be seen in a different light".

Europe is sleepwalking towards imminent disaster, warn top economists

Europe is sleepwalking towards imminent disaster, warn top economists

The euro has completely broken down as a workable system and faces collapse with “incalculable economic losses and human suffering” unless there is a drastic change of course, according to a group of leading economists.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor

Europe is “sleepwalking towards disaster”, according to the 17 experts, who warned that over the past few weeks “the situation in the debtor countries has deteriorated dramatically”.


“The sense of a neverending crisis, with one domino falling after another, must be reversed. The last domino,Spain, is days away from a liquidity crisis,” said the economists. They include two members of Germany’s Council of Economic Experts and leading euro specialists at the London of School of Economics, all euro supporters.

UK GDP Falls Again, Making This Britain's Longest Double-Dip Recession In 50 Years

UK GDP Falls Again, Making This Britain's Longest Double-Dip Recession In 50 Years

 

Britain is in the longest double-dip recession for more than 50 years, as gross domestic product shrank by 0.7% between April and June, official figures revealed on Wednesday.

The fall in GDP came as a shock to the City - where predictions had been for a fall of around 0.2%.

Chancellor George Osborne said: "We all know the country has deep-rooted economic problems and these disappointing figures confirm that."

Labour’s shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: "These shocking figures speak for themselves. As we warned two years ago, David Cameron and George Osborne’s ill-judged plan has turned Britain’s recovery into a flatlining economy and now a deep and deepening recession.

Afghanistan Hospital Abuse Probe: 'Auschwitz-Like Conditions' Ignored By U.S. General

Afghanistan Hospital Abuse Probe: 'Auschwitz-Like Conditions' Ignored By U.S. General

WASHINGTON — An active duty Army colonel testified Tuesday that the three-star general who headed the training mission in Afghanistan made him retract a request for an inspector general's investigation into corruption and horrible conditions at a U.S.-funded Afghan military hospital.

Col. Mark Fassl, who was inspector general for the training command, said he was shocked when Lt. Gen. William Caldwell cited the then-upcoming 2010 congressional elections and asked, "How could we ... make this request with elections coming? He calls me Bill."

Fassl said he believed this was a reference to President Barack Obama.

Two retired colonels who worked with the training command also told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Caldwell did not want an inspector general's investigation of the Dawood National Military Hospital. One said in his statement that the hospital had "Auschwitz-like conditions."

100 Million Poor People In America And 39 Other Facts About Poverty That Will Blow Your Mind

100 Million Poor People In America And 39 Other Facts About Poverty That Will Blow Your Mind

Every single day more Americans fall into poverty. This should deeply alarm you no matter what political party you belong to and no matter what your personal economic philosophy is. Right now, approximately 100 million Americans are either "poor" or "near poor". For a lot of people "poverty" can be a nebulous concept, so let's define it. The poverty level as defined by the federal government in 2010 was $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four. Could you take care of a family of four on less than $2000 a month? Millions upon millions of families are experiencing a tremendous amount of pain in this economy, and no matter what "solutions" we think are correct, the reality is that we all should have compassion on them. Sadly, things are about to get even worse. The next major economic downturn is rapidly approaching, and when it hits the statistics posted below are going to look even more horrendous.

Breaking news - Irelands Bankers being Arrested and Charged!

Breaking news - Irelands Bankers being Arrested and Charged!

Russian flotilla headed for Syria enters Mediterranean

Russian flotilla headed for Syria enters Mediterranean

MOSCOW — A Russian naval flotilla of warships destined for the Syrian port of Tartus has entered the Mediterranean, Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday.

“The Russian ships today passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean at 1200 GMT,” said a defense ministry spokesman, quoted by Itar-Tass agency.

Greece's Default To Cost Germany €45 Billion

Greece's Default To Cost Germany €45 Billion

Greece's default on the remainder of its debt would cost Germany alone €45 billion, said Matthias Kulla, an economist at the Centre for European Politics (CEP), Die Welt reported.

That sum has been calculated by counting Germany's share of the loans to Greecethat was previously disbursed from the first and second aid package.

Mr. Kulla warned that Germany could end losing more even if the other euro crisis countries fulfill their bailout obligations, according to the report.

Exclusive: Greece will need more debt restructuring - EU officials

Exclusive: Greece will need more debt restructuring - EU officials

By Luke Baker

(Reuters) - Greece is unlikely to be able to pay what it owes and further debt restructuring is likely to be necessary, three EU officials said on Tuesday, a cost that would have to fall on the European Central Bank and euro zone governments.

The officials said that twice bailed-out Greece would be found to be way off track by EU and International Monetary Fund officials who have been assessing the country.

Inspectors from the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF -- together known as the troika -- returned to Athens on Tuesday and will complete their debt-sustainability analysis next month, but the sources said the conclusions were already becoming clear.

BBC's Hopeless Attempt to Elevate Keynes

BBC's Hopeless Attempt to Elevate Keynes

A Point of View: What would Keynes do? ... What would John Maynard Keynes, one of the most influential economists of the 20th Century, have made of the current economic situation, ponders philosopher John Gray ... The influential Cambridge economist has figured prominently in the anxious debates that have gone on since the crash of 2007-2008. For most of those invoking his name, he was a kind of social engineer, who urged using the power of government to lift the economy out of the devastating depression of the 30s. That is how Keynes's disciples view him today. The fashionable cult of austerity, they warn, has forgotten Keynes's most important insight – slashing government spending when credit is scarce only plunges the economy into deeper recession. –BBC/John Gray

Consequences of the Fall of the Syrian Regime Read more: Consequences of the Fall of the Syrian Regime | Stratfor

Consequences of the Fall of the Syrian Regime



By George Friedman

We have entered the endgame in Syria. That doesn't mean that we have reached the end by any means, but it does mean that the precondition has been met for the fall of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. We have argued that so long as the military and security apparatus remain intact and effective, the regime could endure. Although they continue to function, neither appears intact any longer; their control of key areas such as Damascus and Aleppo is in doubt, and the reliability of their personnel, given defections, is no longer certain. We had thought that there was a reasonable chance of the al Assad regime surviving completely. That is no longer the case. At a certain point -- in our view, after the defection of a Syrian pilot June 21 and then the defection of the Tlass clan -- key members of the regime began to recalculate the probability of survival and their interests. The regime has not unraveled, but it is unraveling.

The Story of Your Enslavement

The Story of Your Enslavement

James Stavridis: How NATO's Supreme Commander thinks about global security

James Stavridis: How NATO's Supreme Commander thinks about global security

Announcement: Moody's changes the outlook to negative on Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and affirms Finland's Aaa stable rating

Announcement: Moody's changes the outlook to negative on Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and affirms Finland's Aaa stable rating

Global Credit Research - 23 Jul 2012



London, 23 July 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today revised to negative from stable the outlooks on the Aaa sovereign ratings of Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In addition, Moody's has also affirmed Finland's Aaa rating and stable outlook.

All four sovereigns are adversely affected by the following two euro-area-wide developments:

1.) The rising uncertainty regarding the outcome of the euro area debt crisis given the current policy framework, and the increased susceptibility to event risk stemming from the increased likelihood of Greece's exit from the euro area, including the broader impact that such an event would have on euro area members, particularly Spain and Italy.

2.) Even if such an event is avoided, there is an increasing likelihood that greater collective support for other euro area sovereigns, most notably Spain and Italy, will be required. Given the greater ability to absorb the costs associated with this support, this burden will likely fall most heavily on more highly rated member states if the euro area is to be preserved in its current form.

These increased risks, in combination with the country-specific considerations discussed below, have prompted the changes in the rating outlooks of Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In contrast, Finland's unique credit profile, as discussed below, remains consistent with a stable rating outlook.

12 Signs That Spain Is Shifting Gears From Recession To Depression

12 Signs That Spain Is Shifting Gears From Recession To Depression

Where have we seen this before? Bond yields soar above the 7 percent danger level. Check. The stock market crashes to new lows. Check. Industrial activity plummets like a rock and the economy contracts. Check. The unemployment rate skyrockets to more than 20 percent. Check. The bursting of a massive real estate bubble pushes the banking system to the brink of implosion. Check. Broke local governments beg the broke national government for bailouts. Check. The international community pressures the national government to implement deep austerity measures which will slow down the economy even more and hordes of violent protesters take to the streets. Check. All of this happened in Greece, it is happening right now in Spain, and mark my words it will eventually happen in the United States. Every debt bubble eventually bursts, and right now Spain is experiencing a level of economic pain that very, very few people saw coming. The recession in Spain is rapidly becoming a full-blown economic depression, and at this point there is no hope and no light at the end of the tunnel.The bad news for the global economy is that Spain is much larger than Greece. According to the United Nations, the Greek economy is the 32nd largest economy in the world. The Spanish economy, on the other hand, is the 4th largest economy in the eurozone and the 12th largest economy on the entire planet. It is nearly five times the size of the Greek economy.