25 MAy 2013 — Strategic Culture Foundation
US Makes Syria an ‘Offer it Can’t Refuse’ – again
25.05.2013 | 07:45 | Finian CUNNINGHAM
In Mafia terms, it’s called «making an offer that can’t be refused». The «offer» is not one of free choice between options that may benefit the object party. In reality, it is about setting up a scenario of duress, under which the object party is coerced to capitulate to detrimental terms of extreme prejudice determined cynically by the other party. This is the scenario that Washington and its NATO allies are contriving for the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad…more
The ignominious anniversary of an illegal court. On 20 years since the creation of ICTY
25.05.2013 | 00:00 | Alexander MEZYAEV
Twenty years ago, on 25 May 1993, the UN Security Council created the so-called International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The UN Charter does not give either the Security Council or any other UN body the right to create international law courts, which means that the creation of the tribunal was unlawful. Those who established the ICTY were fully aware that they were acting unlawfully, but went ahead nevertheless… From the outset of the ICTY, its activities were illegal…
Terrorist Attacks in the U.S.: Totalitarianism vs. Civil War (II)
24.05.2013 | 00:00 | Nikolai MALISHEVSKI
The U.S. government faces the dilemma of determining the relative likelihood of domestic conflicts developing according to the «Boston» model (dictatorship) or the «Texas» model (civil war). In 2008 information was leaked to the media about secret sessions of the House of Representatives at which congressmen discussed the possibility of the crash of the U.S. financial system, the development of disturbances into a civil war and the expediency of preventatively arresting potential «antigovernment elements» and isolating them in concentration camps. At that time, as a result of raising the threshold of the federal debt and the abatement of the first wave of the crisis, it didn’t come to that…
US Senate Panel Endorses Further Involvement in Syria
24.05.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has overwhelmingly approved the Syrian Transition Support Act that calls on the U.S. to provide arms to «moderate» Syrian opposition groups, underscoring growing sentiment among lawmakers for a change in the U.S. stand on the conflict. The 15-3 vote showed broad support from both parties… The Senate panel’s vote will hinder diplomacy efforts at the time the world is pinning hopes on Moscow-initiated Geneva conference…
The Syrian Pendulum
23.05.2013 | 12:01 | Dmitry MININ
Official Damascus, ignored by the West, not only remains the main political force in Syria, but is also gaining ground against its adversary. The Syrian army has rearmed, gained needed battle experience, augmented its forces with professional volunteers from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, and begun to systematically make up its losses. Although Damascus, understandably, denies that foreigners are participating in military operations on their side, many sources say that they are, and that they are being led by the commander of the Quds Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, Iranian general Qassem Suleimani…
Terrorist Attacks in the U.S.: Totalitarianism vs. Civil War (I)
23.05.2013 | 00:00 | Nikolai MALISHEVSKI
Bloody Mother’s Day in New Orleans on May 13 became the most recent in a series of terrorist attacks in the U.S. in a short period. After the bombings in Boston came a terrorist attack during a car rally in Atlanta (4/16), the sabotage shooting of a power substation in the Silicon Valley (4/17), massive explosions in Texas (4/18), an announcement that seven more bombs had been found in Boston (4/20)… Why Boston and Texas? Why, several hours before the explosions in Texas, did Republican Gregg Abbot, the attorney general of that state and a likely gubernatorial candidate, declare to his fellow party members that President Obama and his Democrat supporters are «far more dangerous» than the leader of North Korea, who had threatened a nuclear attack on the U.S.?
Who is Compromising «South Stream» in Europe?
22.05.2013 | 00:00 | Igor ALEXEEV
The third and fourth sections of Russia’s «South Stream» will be completed by 2018. However, supranational structures in Brussels and their representatives in Berlin still cannot set forth a predictable and unified position on this project of undisputed geopolitical importance. Bureaucratic hurdles like «Third Energy Package» or even more mysterious «Southern Gas Corridor» create non-competitive and non-transparent advantage to the EU initiatives on the energy market…
US Boosts Military Presence in Balkans
22.05.2013 | 00:00 | Anna FILIMONOVA
The Serbs living in the north of Kosovo flatly refuse to abide by the agreement reached in Brussels, which makes them deprived of the Serbia’s citizenship in favor of becoming Kosovars, or the citizens of Kosovo. Soon they will face a military force called in to guarantee the fulfillment of Brussels accords. By the end of May – beginning of June the formations of 525th US Army Battlefield Surveillance Brigade come to take part in the three-week-long exercises in Hohenfels, Germany. The brigade is using the training event to complete the final preparations before taking over Multinational Battle Group-East as a part of Kosovo Forces… The brigade’s headquarters and 1st Squadron, 38 Cavalry Regiment, which originally was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, will make up the first active-duty unit deployed to Kosovo in 10 years…
Bahrainis Demand Regime Change
21.05.2013 | 00:00 | Vladislav GULEVICH
World media outlets give little attention to the events in Bahrain, a small island nation, which is a key ally of Saudi Arabia and the United States in the Persian Gulf… It’s a long time since Bahrain joined the zone of instability. The Sunni-ruled country is home to Shiites, making up 75% of the population deprived of rights and distanced from political mainstream… In April 2013 the stand off between the Shiites and Sunnis entered the phase of terrorist activities…
The Tumult and the Shouting Dies
21.05.2013 | 00:00 | Rafe MAIR
The European Union is an empire. Empires are often unwilling to describe themselves as such. My own effort would be «numbers of ethnically diverse peoples who have a political and economic history together». To that I would add, «History tells us that empires sooner or later collapse when the benefits of a common economy no longer mask the ethnic strains.» Sprinkled into those definitions I would add «ethnicity never goes away»…
CIA Troublemaking in Caucasus
20.05.2013 | 00:00 | Wayne MADSEN
According to Turkish sources, the Jamestown Foundation’s operations in the Caucasus are tied in directly with those of the CIA. Accused Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, according to documents from the Georgian Interior Ministry, attended training sessions in Tbilisi, Georgia last year sponsored by Jamestown… Jamestown president Glen E. Howard is fluent in Turkish and Azerbaijani… Howard has publicly revealed the U.S. bases of operations are in West Azerbaijan and Georgia and the target is the South and North Caucasus… A Circassian Russian named Ali Berzeg also operates under Jamestown’s umbrella, according to Turkish sources and he is active in the «No Sochi» campaign to boycott the Sochi Winter Olympics next year…
ISAF Afghan Pull Out and Security Concerns
20.05.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
Russia has voiced concern over the security threats increasing following the planned withdrawal of most US-led foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. On May 8 the President of Russia said at the Security Council meeting that U.S. and NATO-led forces «have not yet achieved a breakthrough in the fight against terrorist and radical groups» and that these groups have become more active recently… The President further pointed out that «international forces have done practically nothing to root out drug production in Afghanistan» and ignored Russian proposals for more efforts to eradicate crops of poppies used to make heroin. As a result «there is every reason to believe that in the near future we may face a worsening of the situation»…
EU Trust Hits Record Low
19.05.2013 | 08:03 | Vladimir NESTEROV
Figures from Eurobarometer, the EU’s polling organization, analyzed by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a think tank, show a vertiginous decline in trust in the EU – a real shock for Berlin, the genuine European capital, and Brussels, which is the formal one accordingly. The EU confidence index has hit unprecedented record low. Euroscepticism is going strong in the South, hit hardest by the ongoing crisis…
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