US Forms Anti-China Military Alliance

Source: PressTV

Pentagon has backed the US President Barack Obama's military spending plan, which features a shift in strategic focus to the Asia Pacific region.

Interview with Jeff Steinberg, editor of the Executive Intelligence Review

Chossudovsky: Foreign Powers Behind Syria Unrest

Source: PressTV

A report recently released by DEBKAfile, an Israeli military intelligence website, which is believed to have close links to Israeli intelligence sources, has shown that the UK is providing logistical support to armed terrorist groups in Syria.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Michel Chossudovsky, the director of the Centre for Research on Globalization in Montreal, Canada, to further discuss the issue.

The video offers the opinions of two additional guests: Sukant Chandan, a filmmaker and political commentator in London and Hisham Safiedding from Al Akhbar, a Lebanese daily published in Beirut.

Drones and Deaths - News Analysis

Source: PressTV Global

Press TV Global discusses President Obama's recent admission of the previously unacknowledged drone strikes in Pakistan which demonstrate a clear violation of international law. Assassination drone strikes were initiated under the Bush administration and escalated by the Obama administration. Confirmed drone strikes have been reported in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. Pakistani sources report an average of 50 civilian casualties for every one militant killed by drone strikes. An investigation by the London based Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found that attacks in Pakistan alone have killed 775 civilians including nearly 170 children since 2004.

'US Failure in Afghanistan Destabilizes Region'

Source: PressTV

A political analyst says that amid a US official's warning of a failed mission in Afghanistan, "all the neighbors have a responsibility to aim for a stable government."

Press TV has conducted an interview with Marvin Weinbaum, Middle East Institute, to further discuss the issue.

LA Protesters Slam War Threats Against Iran

Source: PressTV

Hundreds of demonstrators are gathering in Los Angeles for a "No War on Iran" rally.

Romney and Gingrich Vent Disinformation as They Compete for Israeli Lobby Support

Source: PressTV

In last night's Republican "debate", establishment candidates Romney and Gingrich vent disinformation to demean the people of Palestine as they vie for Israeli lobby favoritism.

UK Gears Up for Iran Face Off

Source: PressTV

UK Defense Secretary Philip Hammond says Britain could send military reinforcements to the Persian Gulf in the wake of a military confrontation with Iran.

Speaking at a press conference in London on Tuesday, he said two British and French warships and the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln had entered the Persian Gulf on Sunday. 

Hammond added that the decision to send British HMS Argyll sent a "clear signal" to Tehran, The Telegraph reported. 

When asked if more resources could be sent, Hammond said, "The UK has a contingent capability to reinforce that presence should at any time it be considered necessary to do so." 

UK defense ministry declined to offer further details on what assets and personnel are currently in the Persian Gulf. 

Anti-Iran measures and war rhetoric provoked by the United States and its Western allies are aimed to deny Iran's right of having peaceful nuclear program. 

Iran, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has the legal right to develop nuclear capability for civilian purposes. 

Iran's nuclear facilities are under the constant surveillance of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) cameras. The agency's inspectors have repeatedly traveled to Iran and inspected the country's nuclear sites and held talks with officials at the sites. A high-ranking delegation of IAEA negotiators is also scheduled to visit Iran on Saturday, January 28. 

Information obtained by the IAEA inspectors during visits to Iran's nuclear sites has been abused, and the leakage of confidential information by the UN nuclear agency to the Western countries and the Israeli regime has led to all the recent assassination attempts against Iranian nuclear scientists. 

Iran's Press TV loses UK licence

Source: BBC

Iranian news network Press TV has had its licence revoked by the media regulator Ofcom and will no longer be allowed to broadcast in the UK. 

Ofcom said the state broadcaster's English language outlet had breached several broadcasting licence rules over editorial control of the channel. 

Press TV has also failed to pay a £100,000 fine imposed last year.

The channel called the decision "a clear example of censorship". It will be removed from Sky on 20 January. 

The £100,000 fine was imposed last year after the network broadcast an interview with imprisoned Newsweek and Channel 4 journalist Maziar Bahari, which the Ofcom said had been conducted under duress.

Ofcom said Press TV had "indicated it is unwilling and unable to pay".

It was during the investigation into the Bahari interview that the media regulator formed the impression that editorial decisions on the channel were being controlled by the offices in Tehran, instead of the UK. 

Press TV was given the opportunity to respond and make the relevant amendments needed to comply with the broadcasting code, but "failed to make the necessary application", Ofcom said. 

In a statement issued to the BBC, Press TV's newsroom director Mr Hamid Emadi said: "We asked Ofcom if Press TV Limited did not have control over the broadcast, why was it getting fined, if it did have control, why would the licence be revoked? 

"Ofcom contradictions are nothing new for Press TV. The British government's tool to control the media has, on several occasions, changed its decisions regarding Press TV in its two-year campaign against the alternative news channel."

The statement also claimed that Ofcom, which it called "the media arm of the Royal family", had failed to respond to a letter sent by its Chief Executive earlier this month.

Press TV channel launched in 2007 to break what Iran's state broadcaster called a Western "stranglehold" over the world's media.

Does Might Make Right? The US Now Threatens Countries Who Buy Iranian Oil

Source: PressTV

Trying to flex its muscles again, the United States want the world to go along with its demands. And this time it wants the world to boycott Iranian oil or be punished by Washington.

According to Chinese authorities, Washington wants the world to listen to them based on their own domestic law, and that is simply not right.

Europe Anti-Austerity Rallies Turn Ugly

Source: PressTV

Police forces have clashed with anti-austerity protesters in Spain, Greece, and Romania, arresting several activists and injuring many others.

During the latest such protests in Spain, police scuffled with demonstrators in the capital Madrid on Sunday, detaining three people and wounding several others.

Scuffles broke out when 'indignant' Spaniards gathered at a Madrid subway station to protest against rises in the cost of public transportation. Dozens of protesters entered the station and refused to pay, shouting slogans such as “I don't pay for your crisis.”

In the Greek capital Athens, riot police attacked around 2,000 demonstrators protesting against job cuts outside parliament, before detaining three and injuring one.

The demonstrators say Athens has failed to decrease its debt, despite massive lay-offs. Last year, the Greek government cut 10,000 jobs and announced plans for further lay-offs in 2012.

Clashes between riot police and demonstrators have also erupted in the Romanian capital Bucharest for a third day in a row.

At least seven people, including a number of police officers, were injured in the confrontations.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against President Traian Basescu, whom they blame for the country's falling living standards, and called on him to step down.

The demonstrations originally started on Thursday in a show of support for Deputy Health Minister Raed Arafat, who resigned earlier in the week, and as a protest against a pension freeze and a 25 percent cut in public sector wages approved by Romania's center-right government in July 2010.

Arafat, a doctor born in Palestine, had harshly criticized a draft healthcare reform bill and entered a dispute with the president, who is a main supporter of the potential law.

'Obama Ready To Give Iran Strike Order'

Source: PressTV

A US senator says President Barack Obama is prepared to issue the order for a military attack on Iran if the Washington-engineered sanctions fail to stop Tehran's nuclear program.

"[Obama] is definitely capable of ordering a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities," Joe Lieberman (I-CT) told The Cable in a Friday interview.

"I don't know that the president will order a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities even if the sanctions don't work, but I know that he's capable of doing that and I believe he's prepared to do that," Lieberman said, adding that he doesn't think Obama would ever send ground troops to Iran.

The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to convince the UN Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

On New Year's Eve, President Obama signed into law fresh unilateral economic sanctions against Iran's Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.

The European Union followed suit with its foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton threatening Tehran with continuing sanctions. “I expect Iran will realize that we will continue with sanctions. EU members are discussing further sanctions right now,” she said.

The EU foreign ministers are expected to hold a meeting later this month on January 23 to discuss the proposed embargo on Iran's oil exports.

Washington and Tel Aviv have also used nuclear weapons allegations to repeatedly threaten Tehran with the "option" of a military strike.

Israel Threatens Gaza After Panetta Signals Green Light for Attack on Iran; More Imperialist Moves Against Syria; Wall Street Faction Seeks Closure of Hormuz to Stave Off Dollar Collapse

Source: PressTV
Dr. Webster Tarpley

In this edition of News Analysis we will examine the possibility of another war on the Gaza strip by Israel and whether this latest threat underlies deeper worries by Israel due to changes in the regional landscape from the Arab Spring in which parliamentary results from different Arab countries show a break from the past with Israel.

Chossudovsky: West tries to discredit AL report on Syria

Source: Press TV
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Arab League monitors investigating the unrest in Syria say they have found nothing frightening during their initial visit to Homs, the epicenter of the unrest.

Interview with Professor Michel Chossudovsky, director of Center for Research on Globalization

US Covert Operations May Be First Phase of War on Iran

Source: Press TV

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

The director of the Centre for Research on Globalization says ‏the loss to Iran of the CIA's surveillance drone reveals the United States and Israel's broader “military agenda directed against Iran.”

“This [spy drone operation] is a centralized operation out of strategic command headquarters in Nebraska,” Michel Chossudovsky said in an interview with Press TV's U.S. Desk on Saturday.

“It contemplates both theater operations as well as covert operations using panoply of sophisticated weapons systems,” to destabilize Iran, he added.

“These covert operations, constitute, potentially, the first phase of an all-out attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Such an operation to attack either Iran or Syria is in blatant derogation of international law, it is classified as a war of aggression under international law.”

Chossudovsky noted that the fact that Iran was able to down the advanced RQ-170 unmanned U.S. spy plane lends further credence to “recent developments that suggest Iran has developed its own capabilities in terms of cyber warfare and command and control counter-operation.”

Turkey: War on Syria 'An Option'

Source: Press TV

Amid already deadly violence in Syria, Turkey has raised the prospect of military option in its southern neighbor, while Russia has called on 'warmongering' countries to show restraint over the matter.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkey's Kanal 24 on Tuesday that application of military force remained an option if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad failed to curb the unrest in his country, Reuters reported.

"Turkey is ready for any scenario," he said.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was time to stop issuing Damascus ultimatums.

He blamed armed groups for provocations in Syria.

Russia joined China in October to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution drawn up by France, Britain, Germany, and Portugal, which had threatened military action and sanctions against Damascus.

Syria has been experiencing unrest ever since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of Assad's government.

Hundreds of people, many of whom members of the Syrian security forces, have been killed during the unrest.

The Syrian government says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the turmoil and deadly violence, while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

The Syrian government also says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country and that the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.

In September, the Syria Steps news website said Syrian cyber specialists had uncovered an anti-Damascus agreement struck between Turkey and France.

In line with the deal, Turkey would facilitate implementation of France's strategic plans in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Israel, and Lebanon.

The report noted that, in line with the accord, Ankara would help deposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by reinforcing the Syrian opposition among other things. Paris would instead ease Turkey's accession to the European Union before the end of 2012.

US Terror Drones Kill 11 More in Somalia

Source: Press TV

At least 11 people have been killed after US assassination drones launched aerial attacks in southern Somalia near the border with Kenya, Press TV reports.

Somali tribal elders, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Press TV that the remote-controlled aerial vehicles fired several missiles at Bilis Qooqaani town, which is located 448 kilometers (278 miles) southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu, on Thursday morning.

They added that over 50 people were also injured in the strikes.

Somalia is the sixth country where the United States has used assassination drones to launch deadly missile strikes.

The US military has also used drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen.

On October 28, the United States admitted to flying the terror aircraft from a base in Ethiopia.

"The US has unarmed and unmanned aircraft at a facility there (Ethiopia) to be used only for surveillance as part of a broad, sustained integrated campaign to counter terrorism," said Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby.

The confirmation appeared a day after The Washington Post revealed in a report that the US flies “armed” drones from an airfield in Ethiopia's southern city of Arba Minch.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world.

Pakistan Defies US Over Iran Gas Deal

Source: Press TV

Pakistan says it will press ahead with its Iran gas pipeline deal despite a strong opposition by the United States, Press TV reports.

Pakistan's Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Friday that Islamabad will not accept any dictation regarding its internal affairs from any foreign country, adding that exporting gas from Iran is in the country's best interest.

The remarks came as a reaction to earlier pleas by Washington's Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter that the Pakistani government abort its multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project with Iran.

“Pak-Iran gas pipeline is not a good idea….However, the plan to get gas from Turkmenistan is a better idea,” Press TV correspondent quoted Munter as saying on Friday.

The USD 7.6 billion gas pipeline deal, which was signed in June 2010, aims to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (or 8.7 billion cubic meters per year) of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

Last month, Pakistan's Minister of Oil and Natural Resources Asim Hussain said the Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline would be inaugurated before the end of 2013, one year ahead of the original schedule. Maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline, which runs over 900 km of Iran's soil from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province to the city of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, has been given at 110 million cubic meters.

Iran and Pakistan finalized the details of the deal during bilateral talks held in Tehran in October 2007. The deal comes in the face of Washington's efforts to isolate Iran economically through UN Security Council sanctions and its own unilateral penalties over Tehran's nuclear programs.

Iran ranks second in the world in natural gas resources after Russia with available gas reserves estimated at over 33 trillion cubic meters.

In addition to exporting gas to Turkey, Armenia, and Pakistan, the country is currently negotiating gas exports to Iraq.

Bush and Blair Found Guilty of War Crimes

Source: Press TV

A War Crimes Tribunal in Malaysia has found former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair guilty of war crimes for their roles in the Iraq war, Press TV reports. 

 

The five-panel Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal decided that Bush and Blair committed genocide and crimes against humanity by leading the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday.

In 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of international law and under the pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction allegedly stockpiled by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The Malaysian tribunal judges ruled that the decision to wage war against Iraq by the two former heads of government was a flagrant abuse of law and an act of aggression that led to large-scale massacres of the Iraqi people.

Bombings and other forms of violence became commonplace in Iraq shortly after the US-led invasion of the country.

In their ruling, the tribunal judges also stated that the US, under the leadership of Bush, fabricated documents to make it appear that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

However, the world later learned that the former Iraqi regime did not possess WMDs and that the US and British leaders knew this all along.

Over one million Iraqis were killed during the invasion, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.

The judges also said the court findings should be provided to signatories to the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, and added that the names of Bush and Blair should be listed on a war crimes register.

Why does the U.S. want a total media blackout on long-term Afghan deal?

Source: End The Lie
Madison Ruppert

During a press conference yesterday, Safia Sediqi, loya jirga (which in the Pashto language means “grand council”) spokeswoman, said that Washington wants a complete media blackout over the conditions set forth in the new strategic long-term deal with Afghanistan, according to Press TV and BBC Persian.

Called by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the loya jirga began in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday and will run for four days.

The discussion will focus on the Afghan-American relationship, specifically the possibility of long-term American basis on Afghan soil after the U.S.-led coalition forces are supposedly going to withdraw in 2014.

Both political and religious figures in Afghanistan have been vocal in their opposition to American plans for long-lasting or very possibly permanent military bases on sovereign Afghan territory.

As I previously reported, the people of Afghanistan are increasingly seeing the foreign troops as occupying forces that are not protecting their security, which is reflected in the utter failure that the decade-long battle in Afghanistan has been.

As Press TV points out, the U.S. has not met its goals after 10 years and the security situation is abysmal despite nearly 150,000 U.S.-led foreign troops deployed around the nation.

The state-funded BBC Persian news network reports that the most common complaint amongst loya jirga participants is that they have not been provided with information about the terms and conditions of the long-term deal.

Sharifullah Sahak, an Afghan employee of The New York Times covering Kabul and provinces said via Twitter just four hours ago at the time of writing, “Loya Jirga members with different views saying government should sign the strategic pact for 10, 20, even for 50 years with US.”

War Crimes Tribunal Tries Bush and Blair

Source: PressTV

A War Crimes Tribunal in the Malaysian capital has begun its hearing against George W. Bush and Tony Blair, charging the former officials for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, Press TV reports.

The tribunal will determine whether the former US president and British prime minister committed war crimes and violated international law during the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.