Friday, March 9, 2012
National News
Canada news: More potential bad news for nation's grain farmers; Preston Manning says Canadian political workers should receive ethical training in Canada, not the USA; 50-year bastion of Canadian theater arts crumbles
Below: Canada's farmers produce the highest quality wheat and the Canada Wheat Board sells the cleanest wheat in the world. Now that the Harperites have effectively declawed/defanged the Canada Wheat Board, Canada's wheat could be mixed with inferior (and dirtier) wheat by the agri-biz corporations thereby lowering the price our farmers receive. Further, Canada's farmers are now fully exposed to the vagaries of the speculative commodities markets. Possible buyers of Viterra are almost certain to be multinational grain companies eager to move into the Canadian market in light of the federal government?s decision to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its marketing and oversight roles. The National Farmers Union says it is going to become much more difficult for Canada's farmers to sell their superior grain.
Grain-handling giant Viterra acknowledges 'expressions of interest' in company
Lauren Krugel The Canadian Press/CanadianBusiness.com Canada March 9, 2012
CALGARY - Viterra Inc. acknowledged Friday that it has received "expressions of interest" from unnamed third parties concerning a possible takeover, a deal that could be worth more than $5 billion based on the company's stock price. ...
The potential bid comes as Calgary and Regina-based Viterra (TSX:VT) is poised to benefit from the end of the Canadian Wheat Board's long-running monopoly [sic] on the marketing of wheat and barley. ...
Viterra was formed by the merger of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United. Its acquisition of ABB Grain provided it with a foothold in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Alberta Investment Management Corp. is the largest shareholder in Viterra with a roughly 16 per cent stake or about 60 million shares.
The company has operations across Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and China, as well as a growing international presence elsewhere with its grain handling and marketing, agri-products and processing businesses. ...
Viterra says third parties showing interest in grain handler; shares climb
Liezel Hill and Matt Walcoff Bloomberg USA March 9, 2012
Viterra Inc. (VT), Canada?s largest grain handler, received expressions of interest from third parties just as the company plans to capitalize on the end of the Canadian Wheat Board?s marketing monopoly.
There can be no assurance that there will be an agreement or a deal, the Regina, Saskatchewan-based company said today in a statement. Paul Tierney, a Viterra spokesman, declined to comment on parties involved. The shares jumped the most in nine years in Toronto.
The Canadian government passed a law in December that will end the CWB?s monopoly and give farmers in the west of the country the choice to sell wheat and barley to other buyers as of Aug. 1. Viterra, formerly known as Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Inc., said in January that it expected to increase its earnings following the change by attracting additional grain volumes.
?With the CWB disappearing, the market?s drawn the interest of a lot of international players, so why not go after the player that has got the biggest market share in Viterra?? Jason Zandberg, an analyst at PI Financial Corp. in Vancouver, said in an interview.
Canadian agricultural supplier Agrium Inc. could bid, John Hughes, an analyst at Desjardins Securities Inc. in Toronto, said in an interview. U.S. agricultural trading companies Bunge Ltd. (BG), Cargill Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. may be interested, said Andrew L.B. Hamlin, a money manager at Aston Hill Financial Inc. (AHF) in Toronto, which oversees about C$5.5 billion ($5.6 billion), including Viterra shares.
?The most interesting of those is Bunge,? Hamlin said in a telephone interview. ?They do have some presence in western Canada --they have some canola-crushing plants in Saskatchewan and Alberta -- but they don?t have any grain-handling.?
Susan Burns, a Bunge spokeswoman, David Weintraub, an ADM spokesman, and Lisa Clemens, a Cargill spokeswoman, all declined to comment. Mark Thompson and Todd Coakwell, Agrium spokesmen, didn?t immediately return calls seeking comment. ...
Viterra is based in the same province as Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., which successfully fended off a $40 billion hostile bid from Australia?s BHP Billiton Ltd. in 2010. The Canadian government blocked the offer, saying the sale of the world?s largest fertilizer company wouldn?t provide a ?net benefit? to the nation.
The federal government should block any foreign takeover of Viterra under the Investment Canada Act, just as it did with BHP, Pat Martin, a New Democratic Party lawmaker, said by telephone today.
Kathy Young, a spokeswoman for Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, declined to comment. ...
Below: The Harperites play dirty everywhere with 'little people' not just Canada's farmers.
With enforcers on the ice, the fight never ends
Michael Den Tandt Ottawa Citizen Ontario Canada March 7, 2012
Just as in the NHL, the House of Commons has its enforcers. Invariably they are young, but not too young; bright, combative, ambitious and sure-footed. These are people trusted by the prime minister to say the right thing, at the right time, without notes, and not put their foot in it too often.
At the height of the sponsorship scandal, Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison played that role for the Liberals. These days, Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro and Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre are skating elbows up for the Conservatives, as they fend off opposition accusations of electoral fraud daily, in question period.
Critics say the enforcers' efforts have been ineffective - or, to use Liberal interim leader Bob Rae's expression, "wacko." Not true. In fact, Del Mastro and Poilievre's efforts are having exactly their intended effect, from a tactical point of view, in the short term. Longer term? Perhaps not.
Clearly the [CPC] strategy is to fill the air with chaff - to envelop the debate in so many claims and counterclaims that Canadians, literally, change the channel. The newscast moves to talk of robocalls and the clicker is immediately in hand, flipping to something less tedious. Conservatives are banking on the idea that voters are skeptical of everything they hear in the House, from any party. If the debate can be drowned in white noise, therefore, it may be made to pass over Canadian living rooms like a storm cloud. Once passed, forgotten.
But there's another side to this kind of pitched combat: It oxygenates and prolongs the fight. ...
Below: Although we differ often and sometimes strongly with Preston Manning's political views, we regard him as a loyal Canadian and as an erudite, intelligent and good Christian gentleman.
Robocalls scandal should worry all politicians: Preston Manning
Jason Fekete Postmedia News/Victoria Times Colonist Canada March 9, 2012
OTTAWA ? Preston Manning, the patriarch of the current Conservative movement in Canada, says the robocall vote-suppression scandal that's rocking Canadian politics is "deplorable" tactics and a problem that all parties need to try to eradicate.
The former Reform party leader and hundreds of other conservatives from across Canada ? including several current and former [CPC] cabinet ministers ? are in Ottawa for what's being dubbed "a conservative family reunion" that's hosted by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.
Manning also noted that new poll results released Friday by his centre demonstrate Canadians' perceptions of politicians "is bordering on contempt" ? which he said poses problems for all parties, particularly the government. ...
Preston Manning condemns voter suppression robocalls
CBC News Canada March 9, 2012
Includes a video (5:23)?former Reform party leader condemns dirty tricks at conservative conference bearing his name. Manning told a conference in Ottawa Friday that campaign workers need better ethics training to prevent another robocalls controversy.
The patriarch of the modern-day conservative movement in Canada is calling for better ethical training for campaign workers in the wake of the robocall scandal.
But one-time Reform party leader Preston Manning also cautions against pointing the finger for the scandal at the Tories, saying the problem is much broader.
Manning condemned the idea of campaigns using robocalls to harass voters or divert them to the wrong polls.
"I've spent my life trying to get people to participate more in the political system and trying to vote more," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conservative conference sponsored by his Centre for Democracy.
"And the fact that there would be people out trying to work in the opposite direction is deplorable." ...
Manning said part of the problem lies in the fact that young Canadians are sent to political training schools in the United States where politics is far more aggressive.
Preventing those tactics from taking over the Canadian political process requires a new approach, he said.
Stricter oversight of campaigns by their managers and by Elections Canada, could be one solution, he said.
"I actually think the more effective thing is preventing it in the first place and that involves ethical training," he said.
Manning's centre already offers training for campaign workers.
The large role played by technology in campaigns today is also an issue, Manning said.
"These technologies are available to all political people and you will have rogues in your organization that might employ those technologies," he said.
"You can find illustrations of people who play close to the edge in every political party." ...
Below: Vancouver's venerable Playhouse Theatre Company is out of money and plans to shut down operations after a final performance Saturday night. The Playhouse was to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. The Playhouse is one of the oldest of Canada's 15 large regional theater companies. Over its history the Playhouse has supported, in many ways, a number of smaller theater companies.
Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company to shut down for good Saturday
Cassidy Olivier The Province British Columbia Canada March 9, 2012
Battered by a perfect storm of government cuts, mounting debt and tough economic times, the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company will close its doors for good Saturday night after a final performance.
Max Reimer, the artistic managing director of the venerable company, which has entertained audiences for 50 years, made the announcement Friday afternoon.
NDP arts critic Spencer Chandra-Herbert, who was at the announcement, said closure of the company is a huge blow to B.C.?s arts community.
?It is very, very distressing and I think it just shows how fragile the arts industry in B.C. is right now,? he said. ?Arts and culture in B.C. is in crisis and has been since the Liberals made the deepest cuts to arts in B.C. history.?
Chandra-Herbert, who has a ?long relationship? with the company, having performed in a production of Shakespeare?s Macbeth as a boy, described the mood at the announcement as sombre.
?[There are] a lot of tears in people?s eyes,? he said. ...
Vancouver's Playhouse Theatre company plans to close down
Neal Hall Vancouver Sun British Columbia Canada March 9, 2012
VANCOUVER ? Vancouver's venerable Playhouse Theatre Company is out of money and plans to shut down operations after a final performance Saturday night.
The announcement was made Friday by the board chair, who said the decision was made at 4 a.m. after an emergency board meeting.
"I'm overwhelmed by a sense of loss," artistic managing director Max Reimer said at a press conference, which is continuing. "The Playhouse will be remembered," he told a crowd that included employees, actors, theatre directors and members of Vancouver's theatre community.
The Playhouse' current production, Hunchback, a co-production with Catalyst Theatre, is slated to have its closing night performance Saturday.
It will be the company's last performance. ...
Money woes force Vancouver theatre company to close curtains
Sunny Dhillon Globe and Mail Canada March 9, 2012
VANCOUVER? The curtain is about to close on B.C.?s second largest theatre company.
The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, which was in its 49th season, has announced its final performance will be held Saturday.
The company?s board of governors called an emergency meeting Thursday night and decided it couldn?t continue operations with the amount of debt it has, with no way to pay it back.
?We put forward a motion to begin to wind down operations effective tomorrow,? said Jeff Schulz, chair of the company?s board of governors. Mr. Schulz?s voice broke as he made the announcement.
Mr. Schulz said the theatre company had a debt load between $900,000 and $1-million. He said it was particularly hard hit by the recession, and saw revenues and sponsorship decline sharply in 2008.
When asked why the company didn?t go the bankruptcy route, Mr. Schulz said: ?We thought that as soon as you take the bankruptcy step, it?s a very formal process. It also becomes a very expensive process. Our hope is to work with all of our creditors to do this in a more expedient, less costly fashion.? ...
In June, Vancouver city council agreed to forgive a Playhouse debt of $426,888, and to provide an emergency one-time grant of up to $400,000. In April, the city agreed to provide a $100,000 emergency grant.
City manager Penny Ballem said in September - when news of the bailout was made public - that there would have been a ?significant impact? if the Playhouse went out of business. ?It?s a very important platform for the growth and support and nurturing for the theatre performing arts,? she said.
Posted at: Friday, March 09, 2012 - 08:04 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#)
World News
Falkland Islands transformed by war and oil. 'Wills', in uniform, conquers Islanders' affections while Argentinians debate the importance of the archipelago's natural resources to the Argentine state and mumble about the renewed colonial prescence
The Falkland Islands. Administered by United Kingdom. Claimed by Argentina. Go here for larger images.
The Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located over 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) East of the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 lesser islands. Stanley, the capital and only city, is on East Falkland. The islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory, with the United Kingdom responsible for its defense and foreign affairs. Controversy exists over the Falklands' original discovery and subsequent colonization by Europeans. At various times there have been French, British, Spanish, and Argentine settlements.
A sign at the Argentine-Brazilian border, translated into English, proclaims "The Malvinas are Argentine". There are several signs like this in Argentina. Photo: Leandro Kibisz. The United Kingdom bases its claim on continuous administration of the islands since 1833 (apart from the Argentine military occupation in 1982) and the Islanders? "right to self determination, including their right to remain British if that is their wish". Argentina claims that it acquired the islands from Spain when Argentina became independent in 1816 and that the United Kingdom exceeded their authority by expelling the Argentine settlers in 1833.
Falkland Islands: Argentina can't scare us, say islanders
Tom Leonard in Port Stanley Daily Telegraph UK February 22, 2010
Stanley's Globe Tavern denizens are proudly British. Photo: Eddie Mulholland, 2010. Today, in March 2012, British soldiers and Islanders are sharing beers at the pubs and queues at the supermarkets, and Land Rovers are the vehicles of choice for both civilians and military.
With a British-owned oil rig preparing to drill 100 miles off the coast despite Argentina?s attempts to disrupt exploration efforts, the view of Bill Luxton, a member of the Falklands? eight-strong ruling assembly, was that ?we just need to put two fingers up to them and say get on with it?. It was echoed by many across the South Atlantic islands.
The 3,000-strong community is already proudly British ? the phone boxes are the old red ones, the groceries are from Waitrose and many still refer to the UK as ?home?.
A police officer described how last week?s Argentine sabre-rattling had set off a rash of unofficial flag-flying, joining the houses that already have the British or Falklands flag painted on roofs and walls. ?Everybody?s on edge really but they?re being philosophical about it,? said the police officer.
Few seriously believe Buenos Aires will go to war again, even if the website of the local newspaper, the Penguin News, was hacked into over the weekend and its contents replaced by a giant Argentine flag. On an island in which there is estimated to be more than one serviceman for every two citizens, backed by fighter jets and a destroyer, the main reason for their confidence is clear. By contrast, the invading Argentinians in April 1982 were met by around 60 Royal Marines and sailors. ...
A modern Falkland Islands, transformed by war
Michael Warren Associated Press/Yahoo! News USA March 8, 2012
STANLEY, Falkland Islands (AP) ? Falkland Islanders are still bristling over the invasion by Argentina 30 years ago, but they're not complaining about its aftermath.
The April 2, 1982, invasion led by Argentina's dictators and the subsequent war with Britain launched a process that transformed the archipelago from a sleepy backwater of sheep farms into a prosperous outpost whose residents enjoy one of the highest per capita incomes in the Western Hemisphere.
"It took a war to make it better," said Sybie Summers, who runs a gift shop in Stanley. "Life really changed. When we were kids we played with sheep bones. Now it's a new iPad they have to have."
The key to jump-starting their economy, islanders say, was the British military muscle left in place after the invasion. The presence of 8,000 troops and a military fleet gave the Falklands the power to establish a fisheries licensing program, and collect fees off of the hundreds of rogue trawlers from Asia and Spain that had been overfishing the South Atlantic.
That fisheries revenue then paid for free educations in Britain for every Falklands teenager. About 80 percent of those kids have returned debt-free with university degrees and advanced skills.
Most islanders still have to work multiple jobs to provide all the necessary services among a population of just 3,000. But last year's government surplus was nearly 19 million pounds (US$29.9 million), and the rainy-day fund now provides a nearly 3-year cushion against economic crisis.
The revenue from the fishing industry also seeded offshore oil exploration, which paid off last year with the Sea Lion discovery, an oil strike some analysts estimate could deliver $3.9 billion in taxes and royalties in the years ahead. Oil exploration is already generating more in revenues than the islands' government has ever seen. ...
Britain's William conquers affections in Falklands
Michael Warren Associated Press/Seattle PI USA March 9, 2012
STANLEY, Falkland Islands (AP) ? The William-and-Kate refrigerator magnets in the gift shops are about as close as most people here have come to spotting the future king of England, who has only strolled through town once so far during his six-week tour of duty in the Falklands.
But islanders are trying to follow his every move nonetheless, proud to have royalty around as the anniversary of the April 2, 1982, Argentine invasion nears. Sharing gossip by cellphone and Facebook, they excitedly update each other on the latest sightings. Word of his gift-shop penguin purchase spread quickly, and when helicopters approach town, heads pop outside to see if it's one of the Royal Air Force's familiar yellow search-and-rescue birds, the sort that might have William at the controls.
"The ladies of Stanley have suddenly become experts on helicopters," laughed Gavin Short, the local cable guy who doubles as a legislative assembly member for the Falkland Islands Government. "They can spot a yellow helicopter now at five miles."
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez recently said William should have come in a diplomat's suit and not the "uniform of a conquistador" to the "Islas Malvinas," which is the name Argentines apply to islands they consider to be an integral part of their nation held illegally by Britain since 1833.
"Absolute rubbish," says Short.
"What kind of threat is he in a search and rescue helicopter? He's driving a machine that rescues people. It's one of the least warlike things you'll find out here," Short said. ...
Flight Lt. Wales, as he's known in the Royal Air Force, is one of several pilots on call for search and rescue missions in the sprawling archipelago of 704 islands, where even the few gravel roads are far between. His actual missions have not been made public, although several islanders said he plucked a BBC reporter with an injured leg off one of the smaller islands.
William also briefly visited the local hospital, and made a weekend pleasure trip to remote Sea Lion island, a birders' paradise where penguins, sea lions, elephant seals and can be seen up close, islanders said.
Still, even knowing William is here thrills the islanders, who have embraced the British military ever since soldiers rescued them from occupation. Now, with the 30-year war anniversary approaching, Union Jack flags have gone up all around town, and the normally pro-British culture of the islands' 3,000 residents is more fervent than ever. ...
Varied views towards the Falkland Islands dispute from young Argentines
Physorg.com UK March 7, 2012
Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that that the opinions of young people in Argentina towards the Falklands/Malvinas Islands are varied and influenced by a number of factors including geographical location, family history and their views on domestic politics.
A pilot study involving 20 18 - 26 year olds from throughout Argentina, found that despite being well-informed about the sovereignty dispute, young people did not always conform to the views of either the Argentine Government or the media. Many of the young people considered domestic political issues to be more important, while others supported the Islands' independence. Despite this there was recognition of the importance of natural resources to the Argentine state and some expressed concerns with having a 'colonial' presence in the Latin American region.
The research undertaken from December 2009 to June 2010 sought to explore the significance of the disputed Islands in everyday life amongst young citizens of Argentina. Opinion polls from 2010 showed that 45% of the Argentine population have little or no interest in Las Malvinas and the age group 18 ? 29 year olds have the least interest of all. However, 52% - mainly male and over-50 - were found to regularly follow the news on Las Malvinas. More recent opinion polls ? since tensions between Argentina and the UK have increased - suggest more interest from all age groups.
Dr Matt Benwell, from the University's School of Environmental Sciences, who led the research said: "This study found that young people were influenced by a number of factors and contexts. Many of the young people did not put the issue of who owned the Falkland Islands as high on their list of concerns as international trade, higher education or the issues of drugs and insecurity.
"We found that if interviewees had a family member, or knew of someone who had taken part in the 1982 conflict, then the issue was more important to them, although that didn't necessarily mean they supported the government's actions. Also, the views of young people who lived nearer to the South Atlantic territories were far stronger than those who lived in Buenos Aries, or the northern regions of Argentina." ...
Posted at: Friday, March 09, 2012 - 04:04 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) Commentary
Homs lies deep in the heart of all Syrians, Sunni and Alawite alike. Yet, wallowing in its ambitions and nonsensical illusions, the Western Axis built its hope on the city
Intro:
1995: Women and children are loaded on to buses. Refugees who speak to reporters by the fence of an airport say all males over the age of six have been taken. Soldiers round up all males over the age of 16 in the group and take them away separately for interrogation ? apparently to question anyone who has taken up arms against them. Caption: The Independent. Photo: Getty Images. In just 11 days in July 1995, 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica were murdered by Serb forces in the single worst wartime atrocity since the Second World War.
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2012: Men and boys are being detained in raids or at checkpoints, and then tortured or even executed summarily. One woman tells the BBC that soldiers have rounded up 36 men and boys in her district, including her son. Caption: The Independent. Photo: AFP
Items: So why were we so surprised when the "Free Syrian Army" fled the city? Did we really expect the Assad regime to close up shop and run because a few hundred men with Kalashnikovs wanted to stage a miniature Warsaw uprising in Homs? Did we really believe that the deaths of women and children ? and journalists ? would prevent those who still claim the mantle of Arab nationalism from crushing the city? When the West happily adopted the illusions of Nicolas Sarkozy, David Cameron and Hillary Clinton ? and the Arab Gulf states whose demands for Syrian "democracy" are matched by their refusal to give this same democracy to their own people ? the Syrians understood the hypocrisy. - Robert Fisk. Robert Fisk (born July 12, 1946) is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has been based primarily in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported from a number of wars around the world. Fisk holds more British and International Journalism awards than any other foreign correspondent.
The fearful realities keeping the Assad regime in power
Robert Fisk The Independent on Sunday UK March 4, 2012
In my 1912 Baedeker guide to Syria, a page and a half is devoted to the city of Homs. In tiny print, it says that, "in the plain to the south-east, you come across the village of Baba Amr. A visit to the arcaded bazaar is worthwhile ? here you will find beautiful silks. To the north of Homs, on a square, there is an artillery barracks..." The bazaar has long since been demolished, though the barracks inevitably passed from Ottoman into French and ultimately into Baathist hands; for 27 days last month, this bastion has been visiting hell on what was once the village of Baba Amr.
Once a Roman city, where the crusaders committed their first act of cannibalism ? eating their dead Muslim opponents ? Homs was captured by Saladin in 1174. Under post-First World War French rule, the settlement became a centre of insurrection and, after independence, the very kernel of Baathist resistance to the first Syrian governments. By early 1964, there were battles in Homs between Sunnis and Alawi Shia. A year later, the young Baathist army commander of Homs, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Tlas, was arresting his pro-regime comrades. Is the city's history becoming a little clearer now?
As one of the Sunni nouveaux riches who would support the Alawi regime, Tlas became defence minister in Hafez al-Assad's Baathist government. Under their post-1919 mandate, the French had created a unit of "Special Forces" in which the Alawis were given privileged positions; one of their strongholds was the military academy in Homs. One of the academy's most illustrious students under Hafez al-Assad's rule ? graduating in 1994 ? was his son Bashar. Bashar's uncle, Adnan Makhlouf, graduated second to him; Makhlouf is today regarded as the corrupting element in the Assad regime.
Later, Bashar would become a doctor at the military Tishreen Hospital in Damascus (where today most of the Syrian army's thousands of victims are taken for post-mortem examination before their funerals). Bashar did not forget Homs; his British-born Sunni wife came from a Homs family. One of his closest advisers, Bouthaina Shabaan, comes from Homs; even last year the city was too dangerous for her to visit her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death. Homs lies deep in the heart of all Syrians, Sunni and Alawite alike. ...
Below: War Child (the charity for children affected by war) was founded in 1993 by British filmmakers Bill Leeson and David Wilson when they returned from covering the war in former Yugoslavia. Shocked by what they had seen, they raised enough money to return later that year with a convoy and mobile bakery to help provide for the children affected by the conflict. The War Child family soon grew as War Child Holland was formed in 1994 and War Child Canada started in 1998 - all under the umbrella of War Child International.
What's happening in Syria?
War Child UK UK March 6, 2012
Since gaining independence from France in 1946, Syria?s political history has been characterised by military rule and a state of emergency ? first declared in 1963, but which stood for over 4 decades ? which effectively suspended the political freedoms of the country?s citizens. The Assad family came to power in 1971, when Hafaz Al Assad seized the presidency in a military coup. The current president, Bashar Al Assad, succeeded his father in 2000. Under the Assads, the rule of the Alawites ? the Shi?a sect to which they belong and that makes up 13 per cent of the Syrian population ? was enshrined in the constitution and further cemented by the monopoly held by Alawites over all senior positions in Syria?s state and military apparatus. Political dissent was ruthlessly suppressed. ...
Despite making some concessions in an effort to ameliorate the unrest ? including the lifting of the state of emergency in April 2011 [and drafting a new constitution] ? President Al Assad and his government maintained that the use of military force was proportionate to the threat posed by armed gangs and terrorists that it claimed were responsible for the violence. ...
The violence has created a dire humanitarian crisis. In Homs, many districts are without electricity; food, water and medicine is in short supply; and the people there have been forced to shelter in their homes for fear that they will be targeted by snipers, or become victims of artillery fire. The situation has been worsened further by the restrictions placed upon aid agencies by the government; The International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied access to Baba Amr, one of the most embattled districts of Homs, despite earlier assurances from the government that it would be able to deliver aid on 2 March. Local Security Forces claim that bombs and landmines left behind by opposition forces after they were routed from Baba Amr make it unsafe for the ICRC to enter; some fear however that the government is playing for time whilst it continues to brutalise the civilian population. Valerie Amos, the UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has been refused entry into Syria.
The crisis has not been limited to within Syria?s borders. In spite of reports that Security Forces have fired upon, and killed, those trying to flee the country, tens of thousands of Syrians have crossed the border into Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
Although parallels can be drawn between the causes of the uprising in Syria and those of other Arab Spring uprisings, they end there. Relative to Tunisia, Egypt and even Libya ? where fighting to remove Colonel Gaddafi from power lasted for eight months ? the conflict in Syria is likely to be protracted. In the first instance, there remains no agreement among the international community about how to respond to the Syrian uprising. ... Similarly, opposition groups in Syria ? including the Syrian National Council, the National Co-ordination Council and the Free Syria Army ? remain fractious and deeply divided over how to achieve regime change.
Whilst the future of Syria is uncertain, the current crackdown is reminiscent of the response of President Hafaz Al Assad to an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982, when Security Forces laid siege to city of Hama with impunity, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, most of them civilians. ...
Is Homs an echo of what happened in Srebrenica?
Robert Fisk The Independent UK March 7, 2012
No entry to the International Red Cross. Not yet. Maybe in a few days, when the area has been secured. Men and boys separated from the women and children. Streams of refugees. Women, children, the old, few males. Stories of men being loaded on to trucks and taken away. Destination unknown. Devastation. No journalists, no freedom of movement for the UN. The place was called Srebrenica.
Parallels are seductive, dangerous, frightening, often inaccurate. Nasser was the "Mussolini of the Nile" to Eden in 1956, Saddam the "Hitler of the Tigris" to Bush and Blair in 2003. Standing up to tyrants ? unless they happen to be "our" tyrants ? has been quite the thing. It's only when we don't stand up to them that we get a bit queasy and start asking awkward questions. Why did we "stand idly by"? Hafez el-Assad's massacre of his Sunni Islamist opponents at Hama in 1982 comes to mind. Saddam's massacre of his Shia and Kurdish opponents in 1991. Srebrenica, of course. And now Homs. In Libya, as Gaddafi advanced on Benghazi, it was "chocks away!" During Homs, our chaps lingered at dispersal and the "scramble" never sounded.
Yes, the phantoms of Srebrenica move across our planet faster than we realise, high-speed ghosts whose shadows darken the prisons of Libya and then the towns of Syria. Or maybe those ghosts of Hama ? Hama of the nouriya water-wheels, still creaking away as the Syrian Defence Brigades battled their way through the city's underground tunnels 30 years ago, fighting Islamist suicide girls with grenades strapped to their bodies ? had visited Srebrenica before its fall in 1995. Mass killings, executions are a kind of revolving wheel. Now you see them. Now you don't. And afterwards, we all ask "why?" How did we let it happen?
In Hama, perhaps 10,000. In Srebrenica, more than 8000. In Homs? Well, if all Syria has lost 8,000 souls in a year, Homs's sacrifice must be far smaller. But then the UN statistics do not appear to include the thousands of Syrian army casualties. Government soldiers were also killed in Homs. As they were in Hama. Not many Serbs in Srebrenica. Of course, Benghazi could have been the next Srebrenica if Nato hadn't bombed the Gaddafi tanks which were already nosing into the city last year. Even the Syrians made fun of Gaddafi's "zenga, zenga" ? "from alleyway to alleyway", to be sure a loose translation ? in Benghazi. Now the Syrian government forces are doing a little "zenga, zenga" of their own.
There are other parallels, of course, between Srebrenica and Homs. ...
Related: Syrian Kurds seen as revolt?s wild card
Ernesto Londo?o Washington Post USA March 8, 2012
Visit this page for its embedded links.
IRBIL, Iraq ? Syria?s long-oppressed Kurdish minority is emerging as a key wild card with the potential to boost the momentum of a scattered and beleaguered opposition movement as a year-old revolt appears poised to become more violent.
So far, the Kurds have not been enthusiastic supporters of the wider revolution, which is primarily led by Syria?s Sunni Arab majority and has increasingly taken on sectarian overtones. They remain fearful that a new government dominated by Sunni Arabs could deepen their marginalization.
But largely unnoticed, the Kurds in the northeast of the country have been engaging in daily peaceful protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The government has concentrated most of its efforts to suppress revolt on Sunni Arab cities such as Homs and Hama, and it has, for the most part, refrained from using force against the Kurds.
Sunni Arabs make up a majority in the nation of 22 million, which for decades has been ruled by members of the Shiite Alawite sect. Kurds are estimated to make up between 8 and 15 percent. Syria?s deep ethnic and religious divides make its revolt far more complex and potentially divisive than those in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.
Syrian Kurds appear divided over what kind of role they want to carve out for themselves if the opposition movement succeeds in toppling the Assad government. But U.S. and allied Western nations are increasingly trying to find ways to bring the Kurds into the mainstream opposition, an effort that remains elusive. ...
The predominantly Kurdish region, strategically important because it shares borders with Iraq and Turkey and has substantial oil reserves, remains essentially up for grabs.
Officials in Turkey, whose own oppressed Kurdish minority includes an insurgent wing, and in Iraq, where Kurds have attained a great degree of sovereignty, are watching the conflict closely, worried about cross-border ripple effects. The Kurds, an ethnic group spread out in Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria, have long aspired to have their own state, an ambition that has often led to their persecution. ...
Posted at: Friday, March 09, 2012 - 02:49 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) Thursday, March 8, 2012
Commentary
Putin is driving the Western Axis nuts. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble
A New World Order is a no-go for Washington's top bogeyman, back-to-the-future Russian President Vladimir Putin. Good old-fashioned state sovereignty rules his world. The Putinator will be ultra tough on all fronts, from closer coordination with China, thwarting NATO bases in Afghanistan, ensuring Iran is not attacked, and all points in between. That makes Anglo-American elites apoplectic. Relentless Brazilian, pull-no-punches investigative reporter Pepe Escobar's latest filing.
Why Putin is driving Washington nuts
Pepe Escobar Asia Times Online Hong Kong Dateline March 9, 2012
Forget the past (Saddam, Osama, Gaddafi) and the present (Assad, Ahmadinejad). A bet can be made over a bottle of Petrus 1989 (the problem is waiting the next six years to collect); for the foreseeable future, Washington's top bogeyman - and also for its rogue North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners and assorted media shills - will be none other than back-to-the-future Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And make no mistake; Vlad the Putinator will relish it. He's back exactly where he wants to be; as Russia's commander-in-chief, in charge of the military, foreign policy and all national security matters.
Anglo-American elites still squirm at the mention of his now legendary Munich 2007 speech, when he blasted the then George W Bush administration for its obsessively unipolar imperial agenda "through a system which has nothing to do with democracy" and non-stop overstepping of its "national borders in almost all spheres"." ...
Make no mistake. Behind the relentless demonization of Putin and the myriad attempts to delegitimize Russia's presidential elections, lie some very angry and powerful sections of Washington and Anglo-American elites.
They know Putin will be an ultra tough negotiator on all fronts. They know Moscow will apply increasingly closer coordination with China; on thwarting permanent NATO bases in Afghanistan; on facilitating Pakistan's strategic autonomy; on opposing missile defense; on ensuring Iran is not attacked.
He will be the devil of choice because there could not be a more formidable opponent in the world stage to Washington's plans - be they coded as Greater Middle East, New Silk Road, Full Spectrum Dominance or America's Pacific Century. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble.
All the above is no doubt true but master game player Putin will not be above sacrificing some significant pieces in the middle game in order to achieve checkmate in the end. Syria perhaps?
Posted at: Thursday, March 08, 2012 - 03:33 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) Commentary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rode a crescendo of alarm and bellicosity about Iran's nuclear program in talks with Stephen Harper Friday and, later, during his AIPAC address Monday
Anyone who considers himself or herself a patriotic American as well as a friend of Israel should think about some other things as well when considering Netanyahu address to the AIPAC conference on Monday. Despite the smoothness with which he operates in U.S. political circles, he does not have U.S. interests at heart. That observation by itself is unremarkable; we should not expect any leader of a foreign government to have U.S. interests at heart. But of course the U.S.-Israeli relationship has been not just another bilateral relationship. Despite the enormous, exceptional and automatic support that the United States bestows on Israel, Netanyahu has not hesitated to slam the door in the face of Israel's patron and protector. He has done it repeatedly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - most notably concerning the continued Israeli colonization of captured and disputed land - and now he is doing it again regarding Iran. - Paul R. Pillar. Pillar, in his 28 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, rose to be one of the agency?s top analysts. He is now a visiting professor at Georgetown University for security studies.
Intro: The point of no return
Jeffrey Goldberg The Atlantic USA September 2010
This lengthy item contains embedded links.
It is possible that at some point in the next 12 months, the imposition of devastating economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran will persuade its leaders to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons. It is also possible that Iran?s reform-minded Green Movement will somehow replace the mullah-led regime, or at least discover the means to temper the regime?s ideological extremism. It is possible, as well, that ?foiling operations? conducted by the intelligence agencies of Israel, the United States, Great Britain, and other Western powers?programs designed to subvert the Iranian nuclear effort through sabotage and, on occasion, the carefully engineered disappearances of nuclear scientists?will have hindered Iran?s progress in some significant way. It is also possible that President Obama, who has said on more than a few occasions that he finds the prospect of a nuclear Iran ?unacceptable,? will order a military strike against the country?s main weapons and uranium-enrichment facilities.
But none of these things?least of all the notion that Barack Obama, for whom initiating new wars in the Middle East is not a foreign-policy goal, will soon order the American military into action against Iran?seems, at this moment, terribly likely. What is more likely, then, is that one day next spring, the Israeli national-security adviser, Uzi Arad, and the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, will simultaneously telephone their counterparts at the White House and the Pentagon, to inform them that their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has just ordered roughly one hundred F-15Es, F-16Is, F-16Cs, and other aircraft of the Israeli air force to fly east toward Iran?possibly by crossing Saudi Arabia, possibly by threading the border between Syria and Turkey, and possibly by traveling directly through Iraq?s airspace, though it is crowded with American aircraft. (It?s so crowded, in fact, that the United States Central Command, whose area of responsibility is the greater Middle East, has already asked the Pentagon what to do should Israeli aircraft invade its airspace. According to multiple sources, the answer came back: do not shoot them down.) ...
Items: Bibi warns of Iran talks trap
Arab Times Kuwait March 3, 2012
OTTAWA, March 3, (Agencies): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday global powers would be falling into a trap if they pursued talks with Iran and he challenged Tehran with a series of demands before he meets US President Barack Obama.
But at the same time, Netanyahu was careful at a news conference with Canada?s leader to avoid widening a rift with Obama over what Washington fears could be an Israeli rush to attack Iranian nuclear facilities before economic sanctions and diplomacy run their course.
Israel, Netanyahu said, has not set nor does it intend to set red lines for the United States in preventing Iran from using its uranium enrichment program to obtain nuclear weapons.
Facing sanctions that could cripple its oil exports, Iran said last month it wanted to resume talks on its nuclear programme, negotiations frozen since January last year. But six big powers, represented by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, have yet to respond to the offer.
?It (Iran) could do again what it has done before, it could pursue or exploit the talks as they?ve done in the past to deceive and delay so that they can continue to advance their nuclear program and get to the nuclear finish line by running up the clock, so to speak,? Netanyahu said.
?I think the international community should not fall into this trap,? he told reporters, with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a staunch ally of Israel, at his side. ...
An Israeli October surprise on Obama?
Paul R. Pillar Consortium News/Reader Supported News USA March 7, 2012
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference, March 5, 2012. Photo: Reuters. Visit this page for its embedded links.
The celebration and display of political muscle known as the AIPAC policy conference this year rode a crescendo of alarm and bellicosity about Iran's nuclear program. The connection between the lobbying power assembled in the convention hall and the wave of saber-rattling rhetoric about Iran was strong and profound.
The AIPAC meeting merely underscored what has been obvious for some time: that the primary reason the Iranian nuclear program has become such a high-profile issue in the United States is that the government of Israel has chosen to make it so.
In the absence of the Israeli agitation, the nuclear activities of Iran - which does not have a nuclear weapon and probably has not to date made a decision to make one - would percolate along with many other national-security matters worth watching and addressing but not worth beating a war drum about. ...
The greatest danger the United States (and any peace-loving person in the Middle East) currently faces is that [Israeli Defense Minister Ehud] Barak and Prime Minister Netanyahu will spring an October surprise (or a surprise in any month between now and the first Tuesday of November) in the form of an armed attack on Iran. [For more on a historical precedent, see Consortiumnews.com?s ?The CIA/Likud Sinking of Jimmy Carter.?]
A key consideration for them is the possibly different reactions of a U.S. president facing a fight for reelection (while also facing that political muscle represented at the convention center) and a newly reelected president who knows he never would be running for anything again.
Because Netanyahu and his government probably prefer that President Obama not be reelected, any of the aftereffects of their surprise - such as a big spike in gasoline prices and maybe even a slide of the U.S. economy back into recession - that would hurt Mr. Obama's reelection chances would be a bonus for them. The welfare of American consumers and workers is not high on their list of decision-making criteria.
What is billed as an Iran problem is thus mainly an Israel problem. If the United States were to be sucked, or pushed, into a new war in the Middle East, the Israel dimension would be significantly greater than it was even with the Iraq War, despite the many disturbing similarities between the run-up to that conflict and the current situation regarding Iran. ...
President Obama's attempt to handle this problem was reflected in his speech on Sunday to the AIPAC conference. ... In the nearer term, the president's comments about how ?no Israeli government can tolerate a nuclear weapon in the hands of? Iran and reference to ?Israel's sovereign right to make its own decisions about what is required to meet its security needs? sound almost like an invitation to Netanyahu to launch a war. ...
Posted at: Thursday, March 08, 2012 - 02:13 PM -- Posted by: Jim Scott -- Permalink: (#) World News
The Western Axis myth of Syria
Jim comment: The fierce MOUT battle that the US Marines fought in the city of Hue in 1968 lasted about a month. The fierce MOUT battle that the loyalist Syrian forces fought in Homs lasted 27 days. I don't know the specifics of the Homs battle but in Hue, as the Marines gradually drove out the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, the city of Hue was virtually destroyed and more than 5000 civilians were killed. Photo left: US Marines (1st Battalion, 1st Marines, part of Task Force X-Ray) under heavy fire among the ruins of Hue City. Photo taken by U.S. Army Specialist 5th Class John Olsen for Pacific Stars and Stripes.The Syrian mirage
Pierre Piccinin CounterPunch USA March 6, 2012
Pierre Piccinin is a professor of political science at the Ecole Europ?en de Bruxelles I.
More than a year after civil unrest broke out and plunged part of Syria into the chaos of the ?Arab Spring?, the Baath government remains firmly in control and the majority of the country is calm; almost untouched by an opposition which is scattered and confined to the cities of Homs and Hama, as well as a few towns on the Turkish and Lebanese border. The main reported cases of unrest are linked to regular attacks from Salafist bands which are of an extremely violent nature and more importantly, the Free Syrian Army. The latter counts amid its ranks numerous Qataris and Libyans, all whom have been trained in the art of urban guerilla warfare by the French army in refugee camps, which provide perfect bases from which to operate and orchestrate attacks.
How can one explain the resilience of this regime? A regime which is more or less in complete control despite facing what is usually described as a ?revolutionary populist uprising?? One which is determined to overthrow the ?Alawite dictatorship? from the political and economic realms of Syrian society, the so-called privilege of the Alawi, a community which accounts for no more than about 10% of the population?
Perhaps it is because the reality does not correspond to this over simplified equation. ...
Indignant Western media demands that Syrian "massacres" stop are simply salvos in a Hollywood-inspired information war, rooted in cold, calculating interventionism. Images of mutilated bodies and weeping women paint the conflict in simple moral terms. In reality, Europe, America and Arab nations are sharpening knives for a movable feast. See Alistar Crooke "Syria: Straining credulity?" posted today. Alastair Crooke is founder and director of Conflicts Forum and is a former adviser to the former EU Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana, from 1997-2003. He concludes his essay thus:
Do these Western interventionist proselytizers really believe that the onslaught on Syria is only about democracy and reform? Obama said it plainly. It was always about Iran. And, as Europe and America increasingly become bystanders to a Qatari and Saudi frenzy to overthrow a fellow Arab leader by any means it takes, do these "apostles" truly think that these absolute Arab monarchies simply share the Guardian's or Channel Four's nice humanitarian aspirations for Syria's future? Do these reporters really believe that the armed insurgents that Gulf states are financing and arming are nothing more than well-intentioned reformists, who have simply been driven to violence through Assad's incalcitrance? Some perhaps do, but others perhaps are simply "saying these things" to prepare the battlefield?
Meanwile, Syria's loyalist forces are slowing gaining the upper hand. Syria's bloody revolt has become a massive push to overthrow a dynastic Ba'athist system and ruling Alawiite cabal. However, as the Free Syrian Army buckles and Assad moves from Homs to new targets, the entrenched sectarian security state that his father created stands defiant. See Derek Henry Flood "Correcting Syria's Corrective Revolution", posted March 6. Derek Henry Flood is a freelance journalist specializing in the Middle East and South and Central Asia and is the editor of the Jamestown Foundation's Militant Leadership Monitor. Flood, apparantly an Axis sympathizer, concludes:
Many critics and pundits will instantly discount the notion of assisting the Free Syrian Army simply over who is advocating military or clandestine action. From the Saudi monarchs to the Qatari defense minister, from spent presidential candidate McCain to the discredited neoconservative Paul Wolfowitz, these are the "Friends of Syria" the Syrians are left with after more beneficent players have been content to watch Homs be razed to the ground with Russian and Iranian support.
Conservatives have repeated the mantra that there remain no "good options" left on Syria, while those on the anti-interventionist left and right decry the idea of yet another misguided military adventure in a Muslim-majority nation-state with a hastily thought-out plan.
For the people of Homs, the sand has already run through the sinews of the hourglass. The inhabitants of Hama, Idlib, Dera'a, Deir ez-Zor and Rastan must now prepare to be pulverized by a vindictive Bashar al-Assad determined not to let his father's sectarian-entrenched, precious security state unravel at any cost. For now, the Corrective Revolution stands undeterred leveling those who dare oppose it.
Still, the Western Axis' semi-secret war on the Assad regime continues as the rest of the world watches with concern and consideration.
Iran has corroborative evidence to prove US involvement in arms smuggling into Syria
Fars News Agency Iran March 6, 2012
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is in possession of documents substantiating involvement of the US and a number of Arab countries in the smuggling of large weapon cargos into Syria, an Iranian deputy foreign minister revealed on Tuesday. ... "We have precise information and documents which prove tens of thousand of guns have been smuggled into Syria through US aid and assistance and a number of Arab countries have also been involved in this," [Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir] Abdollahian stated. ...
Last week Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mohammad Khazayee deplored foreign meddling in Syria, and cautioned that arming Syrian rebels will deepen the political crisis in Syria and entail negative consequences for the region. Addressing a UN General Assembly session on Friday, Khazayee stressed that foreign meddling and preventing flow of money and arms to the Syrian rebels should immediately end before a way can be found out of crisis in the Arab state. ...
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria once again.
NATO behaving like a law unto itself
M. D. Nalapat China Daily China March 7, 2012
M. D. Nalapat is vice-chair of Manipal Advanced Research Group, and UNESCO peace chair and professor of geopolitics at Manipal University, India.
Over the past decade, the overwhelming majority of NATO "kills" in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya have been unarmed civilians. A large number of Iraqi, Afghan and Libyan civilians have lost not just their limbs but also their lives, because of "mistakes" made by NATO personnel in the field.
A look at the diaries kept by alliance troops in the different theaters of war show the casual way in which human lives are taken, often on just the merest suspicion of hostile intent. ...
The impunity with which NATO personnel have killed and injured civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya has resulted in a sense among its personnel that they are "superior" to the people of these countries, all three of which are outside the charmed circle of those countries NATO considers "civilized".
As a result NATO soldiers have developed a casual disregard to the killing of civilians in combat zones. Aware that the chances of being punishment are so remote as to be non-existent, many are willing to act as both judge and executioner of "hostile" locals.
Since the Libyan operation, civilians also face a further threat, as a dangerous new policy has emerged, that of giving weapons to those disaffected with the government of a country that is a NATO target. ...
In Syria as well, armed gangs are being encouraged to kill not just security forces but elements of the population that favor the recognized regime in Damascus. Such a policy has the potential to wreak havoc throughout the Middle East. And while NATO may gain from such unethical actions, the rest of the world is the loser.
But everything done by NATO indicates that it has set itself up not only as the enforcer of international law, but also the law itself.
Mossad, CIA and Blackwater operate in Syria - report
RT Russia March 7, 2012
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.
Harba also confirmed to the agency that ?a coordination office was established in Qatar under American-Gulf sponsorship. The office includes American, French, and Gulf ? specifically from Qatar and Saudi Arabia ? intelligence agents, as well as CIA, Mossad, and Blackwater agents and members of the Syrian Transitional Council.?
The Syrian expert also added the security forces have al
Source: http://saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22247
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