Tag Archives: un

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: More Hypocrisy; the U.S. exempts EU & Japan from Iran oil sanctions

In a move that is hypocritical, the United States has exempted 10 European Union countries, and Japan, from U.S. imposed Iran oil sanctions.

It also brings up the question: What was the point?

I already showed how, under the Bush jr administration, U.S. corporations were exempted from future sanctions against Iran, back in 2000!

The countries now granted exemptions from the U.S. oil sanctions are Belgium, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Japan.

Again: What was the point of the U.S. imposed sanctions against Iran, if the U.S. is going to grant exemptions to other countries, and, a Republican created law in 2000 already exempts U.S. corporations from having to obey any sanctions anyway?

International, U.S.

World War 3: Russia supports UN resolution on Syria, but only if….

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Russia will support a resolution on Syria proposed by Kofi Annan, but only if two conditions are met.

One: The details of the resolution are made public.

Two: That it is not an “Ultimatum”, but an on going process of dialog to “…end to violence on all sides…”

International, U.S.

World War 3: Afghans torch NATO convoy, violence against women increases, Karzai shuts down 58 private security companies

In Farah Province it seems the “Taliban” have started the Spring Offensive early.

A convoy of U.S./NATO/ISAF fuel tankers has been destroyed, and several people killed.  Also, in a separate incident two militants were detained and accused of plotting to launch an attack on Afghan forces.

The fuel convoy was being escorted by a private security company, two of the security guards were killed.

Speaking of private security companies, the media hasn’t talked about the Afghan President’s mission to shut them down. Turns out that Hamid Karzai ordered an end to privately run security companies.  So far 58 companies have been shut down.  Another 40 have been given an extra three months to get out a town!

In Kandahar yet more attacks.  Afghan National Security (ANS) forces say several of their troops were killed and wounded in the past 24 hours.  They claim it was the result of military operations against anti-government militants.  Although the ANS listed the types of weapons they confiscated, they did not mention any casualties on the militant side.

Afghan police claim that violence against women is on the increase.  In the latest case a Baghlan Province woman was found with her head shaved, made to sit in the snow, was beaten with cables, and was forced into prostitution by her husband.

Afghan officials are praising their increased efforts to end violence against women, but the woman in the latest case says she had been tortured for the past three years of marriage, and had asked for help from the police several times!!!

Because the Afghan officials are finally doing something about violence against women, it might seem like there’s an increase in the violence.  But like the woman said, in her case it had been going on for three years, and she told the authorities several times.

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: U.S. oil sanctions have actually increased Iranian oil sales! Saudi oil sales increase! Algeria oil increase! Ecuador oil increase! Iraq planning to avoid Strait of Hormuz

According to the Joint Organization Data Initiative (JODI), Iranian oil sales have gone up since the United States started their sanctions games last year!

In January 2012, Iran exported 2.265 million barrels per day. The highest since December 2008!

Of course part of the increase is from customers stocking up now, ’cause they’re afraid the Iranian oil supply will end due to new sanctions and a possible war (again, no thanks to the United States, European Union and Israel).

Those same sanctions, and threats of war, have also increased Saudi Arabian oil sales to the United States.  U.S. officials managed to get Saudi officials to change their minds about not increasing oil production, at a recent IEF meeting.

Canadian media reporting that Saudi oil exports to the U.S. have already increased by 25%.

Algeria and Ecuador have also increased oil production.  Algeria by 18%, Ecuador by 41%!

All this comes at a time when oil industry leaders say there is plenty of oil in the system. It could be a sign of stockpiling before the Third World War gets going full throttle.

Iraq is preparing by planning oil shipment routes that will avoid the Strait of Hormuz. They plan to build new pipelines to Turkey: “Short and mid-term plans will be through boosting crude pumping and upgrading export capacity via Ceyhan port in Turkey. Also to increase the number of trucks that are shipping crude.”-Iraqi government statement

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Proof that U.S. forces officially operating in Rogue Mode, detainees placed in prisons known to U.S. forces as torture sites

“They said they would rape me, and one time they took a stick and dipped it into chili powder and threatened to insert the stick into my anus. They tried to pull off my pants. When they did that, I confessed to everything they wanted.”-prisoner at Kandahar prison

“After [the torture] was finished I told them that I only confessed because of the beating. But they responded to that by beating me again. I swear by God and by my children that I am innocent.”-prisoner at Kandahar prison

U.S. forces know prisons use torture because they were told about it in an order in 2011!  However, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission has evidence of several cases where people were sent to the torture prisons, after U.S. personnel were ordered to stop such practices, and it looks like U.S. forces also operate their own torture centers!

The United States detains thousands of individuals all across Afghanistan, with the majority held in the Detention Facility in Parwan (DFIP) as well as a number of temporary detention sites, including a secretive U.S. screening facility at Bagram Air Base run by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).-report titled Torture, Transfers, and Denial of Due Process: The Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghanistan

Investigators discovered there are U.S. units that officially operate outside NATO/ISAF command, even though there’s only one commander for Afghan operations: USMC General John Allen.  However there are some U.S. units that are even exempt from General Allen’s authority!

It is important to note that some U.S. forces in Afghanistan operate as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), a U.S. led counter-terrorism coalition that is separate from ISAF forces. Known as U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), most of these non-ISAF U.S. forces are special operations forces and also referred to as Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan (CFSOCC-A). CFSOCC-A forces frequently conduct operations in which individuals are detained. USFOR-A is under the command of General John Allen, who also serves as the commander of ISAF (COM-ISAF). There are also a number of U.S. military units that operate separately from ISAF and USFOR-A forces, and are not under the command of General Allen.-report titled Torture, Transfers, and Denial of Due Process: The Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghanistan

Investigators also discovered that prisoners have tried to report the torture, but are punished for doing so: “I have nothing else to say. They will put me somewhere else after I talk to you. They will disappear me.”-prisoner in Herat prison

They even torture children: “We wrote a complaint letter once, but the director found out, and then we got hit very hard with the pipe after that.”-child prisoner Juvenile Corrections Center in Helmand

The latest investigation was conducted between February 2011 and January 2012.  In September 2011, the United Nations said they found evidence of torture at 16 detention centers in Afghanistan.

The latest report also talks about coalition forces and goes into detail about torture run by U.S. supported Afghan prisons.  Torture, Transfers, and Denial of Due Process:The Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghanistan

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Global March on Al Quds (Jerusalem) includes Asians and non-Muslims

The planned Global March on Al Quds includes people from South East Asia: “The troubles we have in this world now is because nobody stands up for justice.  Everybody is so selfish….Therefore we feel that although Palestine does not affect us directly, it is imperative for every single person who loves peace and justice to stand up…”-Nusrat Howard-Moore, Malaysia

Many people from India have joined the march as well: “We come to support the Palestine issue, as human beings, not Muslim, not Islamist.”-Suresh Khairnar, India

Thousands of demonstrators are hoping to surround Jerusalem on the 36th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, which is March 30.

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. citizen killed in Yemen, anti-U.S. protests rage, foreign teachers being targeted

March 18, 2012, as protest against the U.S. puppet government of Yemen rage on, a U.S. citizen is assassinated.

Witnesses say two men on a motorcycle shot and killed the director of the Swedish Language Center, located in the city of Taez.  The director is a U.S. citizen.

This follows the kidnapping of a teacher from Switzerland on Friday, March 16.

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. citizen, posing as travel agent, caught illegally mapping Chinese cities which just happen to be near military bases

The Xinjiang Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has revealed that they detained a U.S. citizen after he was caught using two GPS devices to map out cities in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The detention happened back on January 31, 2012.  Chinese officials say he collected and stored over 90,000 geographic coordinates using his GPS receivers.

Officials with Xinjiang Bureau of Surveying and Mapping were tipped off in August 2011, after several people told them they had spotted a U.S. citizen using GPSs around a local military base.

China’s National Administration Bureau of Surveying and Mapping confirmed the man did not have permission to do any GPS mapping of China.  The U.S. citizen claimed he was establishing routes for tourists from the United States!

 

 

International, U.S.

Week of Terror Drone strikes, March 11-17

March 13, two U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, one in North Waziristan, one in South Waziristan, killed 15 people.  Two of those killed were pro-government militants!

March 11, Israeli drone hits family as mother walked her children home. All ended up in the hospital with cuts and fractures. One 15 year old boy died.

“We were coming back from school along with six of our companions when suddenly a drone hit us. I had the sensation of flying.”-Hani Al-Qanoo, boy injured in attack

“The drones fly low over the night sky, the explosions are now less frequent but nobody is relaxing or being lulled in to any false sense of security, Gaza is awake and will not sleep tonight.”-eyewitness living in Gaza Strip

March 11, nine people killed in Yemen by U.S. drone strike. Three people killed in Jabal Khanfar, a hill overlooking the Abyan town of Jaar. Six people killed in Makhzan, southeast of Jaar.  Witnesses say at least six missiles were fired from several U.S .drones.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Whistleblower & Wikileaks founder Julian Assange running for Australian Senate, hosts Russian TV show

Despite being under house arrest in United Kingdom, Assange is getting a new TV show, and running for political office in Australia.

Assange is scheduled to host The World of Tomorrow for RT (Russia Today): “Assange to record TV series for RT while under house arrest – I am sure it will be an amazing show!” -Margarita Simonyan, RT editor in chief

Assange is also running for a seat in Australia’s Upper House.  Wikileaks is also sponsoring a candidate to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard.