Syria: Clinton Admits US On Same Side As Al Qaeda To Destabilise Assad Government

Source: Global Research
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky and Finian Cunningham 
 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has acknowledged that Al Qaeda and other organizations on the US “terror list” are supporting the Syrian opposition.

Clinton said: “We have a very dangerous set of actors in the region, al-Qaida [sic], Hamas, and those who are on our terrorist list, to be sure, supporting – claiming to support the opposition [in Syria].” [1] (Click here to watch video)

Yet at the same time, in the above BBC interview the US Secretary of State repeats the threadbare Western claim that the situation in Syria is one of a defenceless population coming under “relentless attack” from Syrian government forces.

There is ample evidence that teams of snipers who have been killing civilians over the past year in Syria belong to the terrorist formations to which Clinton is referring to.

As Michel Chossudovsky points out in a recent article: “Since the middle of March 2011, Islamist armed groups – covertly supported by Western and Israeli intelligence – have conducted terrorist attacks directed against government buildings, including acts of arson. Amply documented, trained gunmen and snipers, including mercenaries, have targeted the police, armed forces as well as innocent civilians. There is ample evidence, as outlined in the Arab League Observer Mission report, that these armed groups of mercenaries are responsible for killing civilians. 

While the Syrian government and military bear a heavy burden of responsibility, it is important to underscore the fact that these terrorist acts – including the indiscriminate killing of men, women and children – are part of a US-NATO-Israeli initiative, which consists is supporting, training and financing  ‘an armed entity’ operating inside Syria.” [2]

The admission at the weekend by Hillary Clinton corroborates the finding that armed groups are attacking civilians and these groups are terroristic, according to US own definitions, and that the situation in Syria is not one of unilateral state violence against its population but rather is one of a shadowy armed insurrection.

Clinton’s admission retrospectively justifies the stance taken by Russia and China, both of which vetoed the proposed UN Security Council Resolution on 4 February, precisely because that proposal was predicated on a spurious notion that the violence in Syria was solely the responsibility of the Al Assad government.

Michel Chossudovsky: "Al-Qaeda Was Created by the CIA"

Source: RT

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has offered a referendum for a new constitution that will put an end to a 50-year reign of a single party system. For several months the country has been torn apart by the al-Assad government and anti-government rebels and many critics believe al-Assad's referendum is too late. Many believe the people aren't looking for other political parties to vote for, but would like Bashar to be removed from office. According to some reports, the CIA and MI 6 have agents in their provoking conflict. Michel Chossudovsky, director for the Centre for Research on Globalization, joins us for more and gives us his thoughts.

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.

Chossudovsky: Iran and the Globalization of War

Source:  KPFA


"Iran and the Globalization of War" with Michel Chossudovsky. Recent developments in the Middle East including the wider implications of the destabilization of the entire area; the current global war as a different kind of conquest than that of World War I and II; US military deployment in the area; the role of Israel; Iranian Defenses; US war planning and war scenarios since 2003 concerning the nation of Iran, including Austere Challenge 12, Theatre Iran Near Term, Global Strike 2003, Concept Plan 8022, and Vigilant Shield; the effect of sanctions; and The Responsibility To Protect.

Visit http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25185 for more info

"Guns & Butter" investigates the relationships among capitalism, militarism and politics. Maintaining a radical perspective in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, "Guns & Butter: The Economics of Politics" reports on who wins and who loses when the economic resources of civil society are diverted toward global corporatization, war, and the furtherance of a national security state.

Produced and hosted by Bonnie Faulkner
Originally aired on KPFA, January 18, 2012
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/77020

SYRIA: British Special Forces, CIA and MI6 Supporting Armed Insurgency. NATO Intervention Contemplated

Source: Global Research
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Several articles in the British media confirm that British Special Forces are training Syrian rebels.

The underlying pattern is similar to that of Libya where British SAS were on the ground prior to the launching of NATO's military intervention.

A Responsibility to Protect (R2P) modelled on Libya is contemplated. The Free Syrian Army is a de facto paramilitary creation of NATO.

The reports confirm that British military and  intelligence operatives are already on the ground inside Syria:

"There has been growing chatter indicating that British Special Forces are in some way assisting forces aligned against the Syrian regime.

 

Reports from late November last year state that British Special forces have met up with members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the armed wing of the Syrian National Council. The apparent goal of this initial contact was to establish the rebel forces' strength and to pave the way for any future training operations. 

 

More recent reports have stated that British and French Special Forces have been actively training members of the FSA, from a base in Turkey. Some reports indicate that training is also taking place in locations in Libya and Northern Lebanon. British MI6 operatives and UKSF (SAS/SBS) personnel have reportedly been training the rebels in urban warfare as well as supplying them with arms and equipment. US CIA operatives and special forces are believed to be providing communications assistance to the rebels." http://www.eliteukforces.info/uk-military-news/0501012-british-special-forces-syria.php (emphasis added)

These reports confirm unequivocally foreign interference in the affairs of a sovereign state.

This is not a popular uprising.

The insurrection as well as the killings of civilians were sponsored by the Western powers from the outset.

US, UK and Turkish operatives are supplying the rebels with weapons in violation of international law: 

THE WAR ON IRAN: The Deployment of Thousands of US Troops to Israel, The Integration of US-Israeli Command Structures

Source: Global Research
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been threatened with military action by the US and its allies for the last eight years.

Iran has been involved in war games in the Persian Gulf.  The US Navy is deployed. Iran's naval exercises which commenced on December 24th were conducted in an area which is patrolled by the US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain. 

Meanwhile, a new round of economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran has been unleashed, largely targeting Iran's Central Bank, leading to a dramatic plunge of Iran's currency. 

Reacting to US threats, Iran declared that it would consider blocking the shipment of oil through the Strait of Hormuz:

 "Roughly 40 percent of the world's oil tanker shipments transit the strait daily, carrying 15.5 million barrels of Saudi, Iraqi, Iranian, Kuwaiti, Bahraini, Qatari and United Arab Emirates crude oil, leading the United States Energy Information Administration to label the Strait of Hormuz "the world's most important oil chokepoint." (John C.K. Daly, War Imminent in Strait of Hormuz? $200 a Barrel Oil? Global Research, January 3, 2012)

The Globalization of War and the Demise of the American Republic

There is a symbiotic relationship between War and the Economic Crisis.

The planning of the Iran war is being carried out at the crossroads of a worldwide economic depression, which is conducive to widening social inequalities, mass unemployment and the impoverishment of large sectors of the world population. 

Crushing social movements on the domestic front --including all forms of resistance to America's military agenda and its neoliberal economic policies-- is an integral part of the United States' hegemonic role Worldwide.  

Does Constitutional Government in the eyes of the Obama Administration constitute an encroachment to "The Globalization of War"? 

History tells us that an Empire cannot be built on the political foundations of a Republic.

In this regard, it should come as no surprise that the new Iran sanctions regime adopted by the US Congress became law on New Year's Eve, December 31st, on the same day Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2012), which suspends civil liberties and allows for the "Indefinite Detention of Americans". (See Michel Chossudovsky,  The Inauguration of Police State USA 2012. Obama Signs the “National Defense Authorization Act ", Global Research,  January 1, 2012) 

The Obama administration is intent upon crushing both social dissent as well as antiwar protest. The American Republic is incompatible with America's "long war". What is required is the instatement of a "democratic dictatorship", a de facto military rule in civilian cloths. 

Thousands of Troops to Israel

Advanced war preparations are ongoing. Barely mentioned by the Western media, although confirmed by Israeli press reports, the Pentagon is preparing to send several thousand US troops to 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

Preparing to Attack Iran with Nuclear Weapons: "No Option can be taken off the Table."

Source: Global Research
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

The World is at a Dangerous Crossroads. America is on a War Path. 

World War III is no longer an abstract concept.

The Pentagon’s global military design is one of world conquest. 

The military deployment of US-NATO forces is occurring in several regions of the world simultaneously. 

War pretexts and "justifications" abound.  Iran is heralded as a threat to Israel and the World.  

The war on Iran has been on the drawing board of the Pentagon for more than eight years. In recent developments, a renewed set of threats and accusations directed against Tehran have been launched. 

A "war of stealth" has already commenced. Mossad intelligence operatives are on the ground. Covert paramilitary formations are being launched inside Iran, CIA drones are being deployed. 

Meanwhile, Washington. London, Brussels and Tel Aviv have launched specific destabilizing initiatives "to choke Iran diplomatically, financially and economically".

A stepped up economic sanctions regime has been formulated by the US Congress: 

"a bipartisan consensus has emerged in Washington in favor of strangling the Iranian economy."  The latter consists in implementing "an amendment to the 2012 defence authorisation bill, designed to "collapse the Iranian economy"... by making it virtually impossible for Tehran to sell its oil." (Tom Burghardt, Target Iran: Washington's Countdown to War, Global Research, December 2011). :  

This new wave of diplomatic hype coupled with the threat of economic sanctions has also contributed to triggering an aura of uncertainty in the market for crude oil, with potentially devastating consequences on the global economy. 

Meanwhile, the corporate media has embarked on a renewed propaganda stint pertaining to Iran's alleged nuclear program, pointing  to "activities related to possible weaponization." 

Military Buildup Across The Globe

Source: Corbett Report

The world's attention is increasingly focused on Syria and Iran as the region continues to move toward military confrontation. Less noticed, however, is that the pieces are being put into place for a truly global conflict, with military buildup taking place in every region and threatening to draw in all of the world's major powers.

America`s Global Warfare: Military Redeployment to Asia and The Pacific Threatens China

Source: Global Research
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

The 2000 Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which was the backbone of the NeoCon's agenda, was predicated on “waging a war without borders”.

The PNAC's declared objectives were to “fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars” in different regions of the world as well as perform the so-called military “constabulary” duties “associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions”. Global constabulary implies a worldwide process of military policing and interventionism, including covert operations and “regime change”.

This diabolical military project formulated by the NeoCons was adopted and implemented from the very outset of the Obama administration. With a new team of military and foreign policy advisers, Obama has been far more effective in fostering military escalation than his White House predecessor, George Bush Junior....

Escalation and Military Redeployment
The Iraq war is "officially over". The thrust of US foreign policy in the wake of the Iraq war is not towards "peace" but towards military escalation and redeployment in all major regions of the World. This process is supported by new military technologies including cyber warfare as well the development of special forces.  

The Pentagon’s global military design is one of world conquest. The emphasis in the wake of Iraq will be placed on the militarization of the Asia Pacific region requiring the redeployment of military capabilities from Europe to South East Asia and the Far East, visibly implying a military build-up directed against the "region’s rising economic and military power", namely The People's Republic of China. To this effect, the US will be reinforcing its military ties with several Asian and Pacific countries including Australia, South Korea, Japan, India, Singapore and  The Philippines:

"The United States has laid bare its concerns about China. Obama last month announced that the United States would post up to 2,500 Marines in the northern Australian city of Darwin by 2016-17, a move criticized by Beijing.

The United States also has some 70,000 troops stationed in Japan and South Korea under longstanding alliances and has offered assistance to the Philippines which launched its newest warship on Wednesday.

Singapore is also a long-standing partner of the United States. The US military already operates a small post in the city-state that assists in logistics and exercises for forces in Southeast Asia. (AFP Report, December 17, 2011, emphasis added)

A report published in Stars and Stripes, December 19, 2011 confirms the Pentagon`s continued resolve to wage a global war, with increasingly advanced weapons systems:

A day after the last U.S. troops left Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the U.S. military must redirect its focus of the last 10 years from preparing for continuous deployments to training, with an eye toward the growing strategic importance of the Pacific region.

Corbett Report Interviews Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Source: Corbett Report
James Corbett

Michel Chossudovsky of GlobalResearch.ca joins us to discuss the worrying steps toward a greater middle east conflict that threatens to gulf the entire region. From Syria to Iran to Pakistan to Palestine, each situation represents a potential spark that could ignite the powder keg that will lead to World War III. We discuss the implications of this situation and the lack of concern on the part of the public and the so-called anti-war movement.

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.”

World War III: The Launching of a Preemptive Nuclear War against Iran

Source: Global Research
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

The launching of an outright war using nuclear warheads against Iran has been on the active drawing board of the Pentagon since 2005.  

If such a war were to be launched, the entire Middle East Central Asia region would flare up.  Humanity would be precipitated into a World War III Scenario. 

World War III is not front-page news. The mainstream media has excluded in-depth analysis and debate on the implications of these war plans. 

The onslaught of World War III, were it to be carried out, would be casually described as a "no-fly zone", an operation under NATO's Responsibility to Protect (R2P) with minimal "collateral damage" or a "limited" punitive bombing against specific military targets, all of which purport to support democracy and human rights in the targeted country.  

Public opinion is largely unaware of the grave implications of these war plans, which contemplate the use of nuclear weapons, ironically in retaliation to Iran's nonexistent nuclear weapons program. 

Moreover, 21st Century military technology is at an advanced stage of development combining an array of sophisticated weapons systems.   

We are at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in World history. 

The future of humanity is at stake.  

The present situation is one of advanced war planning by a formidable military force using nuclear warheads. 

The Pentagon’s global military design is one of world conquest.

The military deployment of US-NATO forces is occurring in several regions of the World simultaneously.

Militarization at the global level is instrumented through the US military's Unified Command structure: the entire planet is divided up into geographic Combatant Commands under the control of the Pentagon. According to (former) NATO Commander General Wesley Clark, the Pentagon’s military road-map consists of a sequence of war theaters: “[The] five-year campaign plan [includes]... a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.” 

Military action is waged in the name of the "Global War on Terrorism" and Global Security. It has a stated "humanitarian" "pro-democracy" mandate. 

It is predicated on the notion that the West's arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons are (in contrast to those [nonexistent] of the Islamic Republic), according to expert scientific opinion on contract to the Pentagon "harmless to the surrounding civilian population because the explosion is underground."

Irresponsible politicians are unaware of the implications of their actions. They believe their own war propaganda: nuclear weapons are heralded as an instrument of peace and democracy. 

War is heralded as a peace-keeping making operation carried out with the support of the "international community". 

The victims of war are described as the perpetrators. Iran and Syria constitute a threat to Global Security thereby justifying pre-emptive military action.

Global Warfare
The concept of the "Long War" has characterised US military doctrine since the end of World War II. 

Asia-Pacific: US Ramps Up Global War Agenda

Source: Global Research
Finian Cunningham

Like a schoolyard bully, President Barack Obama is flexing American military muscle as he currently sweeps through the Asia-Pacific region. The nominal impetus for the tour was the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Hawaii last week. But rather than discussing “economics” (the E in APEC), the salient focus for Obama and his entourage appears to be “war” – and in particular laying down battle lines to China. 

Testy relations with China is nothing new for Washington given recent months of US haranguing over trade and finance, but what Obama’s bombast signals is a sinister ramping up of the militarist agenda towards Beijing. 

As if bouncing underlings and lackeys into his gang, the American president has moved on from Honolulu with stopovers in Australia, Indonesia and elsewhere. Given the primary economic power of China in the hemisphere, it might be thought appropriate for Obama to make a cordial visit to Beijing to discuss partnerships and policies to revive the global economy. But no. The omission of China on this major US tour seems to be a deliberate snub to Beijing and a message to the region: that China is to be isolated and ringfenced. This is the stuff of warmongering writ large. 

The blatant aggression is naturally smoothed over and made palatable by the Western mainstream media. Reporting on Obama’s unilateral belligerence at the APEC, the Washington Post bemoans: “Try as he might to focus Asian and Pacific leaders on forging new economic partnerships during a regional summit here, President Obama has spent much of his time in private meetings with his counterparts discussing another pressing concern: national security [that is, US military power].” 

The Financial Times reports breathlessly: “Barack Obama will not set foot in China during his swing through the Asia-Pacific region… yet the country’s rapid economic ascent and military advances will provide the backdrop for almost everything he does on the trip.” 

Note the assertion that it is China’s “military advances” that are prompting US concerns, not the more reasonable and realistic observation that Washington is the one beating the war drums. 

The FT goes on to say: “The Pentagon is quietly working on a new strategy dubbed the AirSea Battle concept, which is designed to find ways to counter Chinese military plans to deny access to US forces in the seas surrounding China.” 

In “seas surrounding China” it may be thought by some as entirely acceptable for Beijing to “deny access to US forces”. But not, it seems, for the scribes at the FT and other Western mainstream media, who transform US offence/Chinese defence into Chinese offence/US defence. One can only imagine how that same media would report it if China announced that it was intending to patrol nuclear warships off California. 

China-US Energy Geopolitics: The Battle for Oil in the South China Sea

Source: Global Research.ca
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

A new area of potential confrontation is developing between China and the U.S. According to reports, Exxon Mobil which has acquired exploration and production rights from Vietnam has discovered substantial gas reserves in the South China Sea  off the coast of North Vietnam.

"U.S. oil company ExxonMobil is reporting a "potentially significant" gas discovery off the coast of Vietnam, stating in a press release, "We can confirm ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Vietnam Limited drilled its second exploration well offshore Danang in August 2011 and encountered hydrocarbons." (See John C.K. Daly, Apocalypse Redux? U.S. Natural Gas Find off Vietnam Could Raise Tensions with China,  http://oilprice.com )

It is important to note that  these off-shore reserves are located between the North Vietnam coastline and China's Hainan island in area of disputed jurisdiction between Vietnam and China. The contested area is made up of blocks 117, 118 and 119, which according to Hanoi falls well within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone under international maritime law (Ibid).

The War on Libya and the Broader US-NATO Military Agenda - Is a World War III Scenario Unfolding?

Source: Global Research.ca
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

With the killing of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi this past week, NATO is celebrating what, in their view, is a great victory. However, this so-called "victory" has nothing to do with democracy, freedom or justice; it is part of a broad, insidious geopolitical strategy that has been on NATO's drawing board for years. And what is even more frightening than the bloodlust being shamelessly splashed across the mainstream media is the fact that this latest maneuver is merely a small part of a much wider military agenda with potentially catastrophic consequences.

In his latest e-book, "Towards a World War III Scenario", Prof. Michel Chossudovsky outlines the strategies and real motives behind the war on Libya, what we can expect next from NATO (the world's deadly "humanitarian" force), and the necessary steps for dispelling disinformation and preventing war on an unprecedented scale. The object of this e-book is to forcefully reverse the tide of war, challenge the war criminals in high office and the powerful corporate lobby groups which support them.

The following extracts by Prof. Chossudovsky reveal several key issues facing humanity today. (The full version of "Towards a World War III Scenario" is available to purchase from Global Research in convenient PDF format.)

Towards a World War III Scenario

The war on Libya is an integral part of the broader military agenda in the Middle East and Central Asia which until recently consisted of three distinct areas of conflict: Afghanistan and Pakistan (the AfPak War), Iraq, Palestine. These four war theaters are interrelated. They are part of a broader region of conflict, which extends from North Africa and the Middle East, engulfing a large part of the Mediterranean basin, to China's Western frontier with Afghanistan, and Northern Pakistan.

"Mere Protest is for Wimps; Revolutionaries Are Into Taking Power" — How Occupy Wall Street Can Create a General Strike to Dump Obama

From: Press TV
Dr. Webster Griffin Tarpley and Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Afghanistan: Ten Years of War

From: Global Research.ca and The Corbett Report
 

TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES:

October 7th marks the ten year anniversary of the commencement of NATO operations in Afghanistan. Although the impending illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 was enough to drive millions of people worldwide into the streets in protest, there has never been the same widespread resistance to the Afghan war.

This war has been deemed the “right war” and given a broad measure of support from across the political spectrum because it is still linked in the popular imagination with the events of 9/11. Even a cursory interrogation of these assumptions, however, shows that the absurd nature of this pretext for what has been all along an illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation.