Thursday, January 29, 2015

Has The Next War In The Middle East Already Started?


According to this author, it has:



The Next War In The Middle East Has Begun And Israel Vows 'To Act Powerfully On All Fronts'


Israel and Hezbollah are at war.  On top of everything else that is going on in the world, now we have a new war in the Middle East, and nobody is quite certain what is going to happen next.  Israel has been preparing for this moment for more than 8 years.  So has Hezbollah.  According to some reports, Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of 50,000 rockets since the end of the Hezbollah-Israel war in 2006.  

If all-out warfare does erupt, we could potentially see tens of thousands of missiles rain down into an area not too much larger than the state of New Jersey.  And of course the Israeli military is also much more sophisticated and much more powerful than it was back in 2006.  If cooler heads do not prevail, we could be on the verge of witnessing a very bloody war.  But right now nobody seems to be in the mood to back down.  Hezbollah is absolutely fuming over an airstrike earlier this month that killed six fighters and a prominent Iranian general.  And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel is “prepared to act powerfully on all fronts” in response to a Hezbollah ambush that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded seven.  Just such an incident is what sparked the war between the two sides back in 2006.  But this time, a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could spark a full-blown regional war.


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising a “disproportionate” response to the Hezbollah attacks, and he says that Hezbollah should consider what Israel recently did to Hamas before taking any more aggressive action…

If things continue to escalate, we might not just be talking about another Hezbollah-Israel war.
In the south, tensions between Israel and Hamas remain near all-time highs.  In the event of a full-blown war, Hamas probably could be easily convinced to join the fray.  And if Hamas jumps in, the rest of the Palestinians might not be far behind.
In addition, ISIS now has territory near the border with Israel
Because of the strategic importance of the terrain, Iran and Hezbollah have been building infrastructure there for some time.  But their interest in the Golan skyrocketed in December.
The reason: ISIS gained a foothold there when the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade of the Free Syrian Army “defected” from the de facto alliance with the U.S.-Arab coalition against Assad, and declared its allegiance to ISIS.  The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade had been one of the most active rebel factions holding territory directly adjacent to the “area of separation” between Syria and Israel administered (in theory) by the UN.  In particular, it has held the southern line of confrontation with Syrian regime forces, in the transit corridor leading to the Quneitra border crossing.


Needless to say, ISIS would be extremely interested in any conflict with Israel.
And of course there are all of the other surrounding Islamic nations that are not too fond of Israel either.
The truth is that the Middle East is a perpetual tinderbox.  One spark could set the entire region on fire.


Meanwhile, Barack Obama continues to do all that he can to undermine Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The animosity between the two is well known, and now an “Obama army” of political operatives has been sent to Israel to help defeat Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.
The “leader” of this “Obama army” is Jeremy Bird, who was the national field director for Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign.  But he has plenty of company.  Just check out the following list that was compiled by WND

Besides Bird, the 270 Strategies team includes the following former Obama staffers:
  • Mitch Steward, a 270 Strategies founding partner who helped the Obama campaign build what the U.K. Guardian called “a historic ground operation that will provide the model for political campaigns in America and around the world for years to come.”
  • Mark Beatty, a founding partner who served as deputy battleground states director for the Obama campaign. He had primary responsibility for Obama’s election plans for the battleground states.
  • Marlon Marshall, a founding partner at 270 Strategies who joins the team after holding several key positions in national Democratic politics, most recently as deputy national field director for the 2012 Obama campaign.
  • Betsy Hoover, a founding partner who served as director of digital organizing on the Obama campaign.
  • Meg Ansara, who served as national regional director for Obama for America where she was responsible for overseeing the 2012 programs in the Midwest and southern states.
  • Bridget Halligan, who served as the engagement program manager on the digital team of the 2012 Obama campaign.
  • Kate Catherall, who served as Florida deputy field director for Obama’s re-election campaign.
  • Alex Lofton, who most recently served as the GOTV director of Cleveland, Ohio, for the 2012 Obama campaign.
  • Martha Patzer, the firm’s vice president who served as deputy email director at Obama for America.
  • Jesse Boateng, who served as the Florida voter registration director for Obama’s re-election campaign.
  • Ashley Bryant, who served most recently as the Ohio digital director for the 2012 Obama campaign.
  • Max Clermont, who formerly served as a regional field director in Florida for Obama’s re-election campaign.
  • Max Wood, who served as a deputy data director in Florida for the 2012 Obama campaign.

As the first month of 2015 wraps up, our world is becoming increasingly unstable.
In addition to the oil crash, the collapse of the euro, looming stock market troubles, civil war in Ukraine, tensions with Russia, an economic slowdown in China and imploding economies all over South America, now we have more war in the Middle East.
And if lots of missiles start flying back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah, it could potentially spark the bloodiest war in that region that any of us have ever seen.








[Note: This is one of the best summaries on the current state state of affairs involving Russia and Putin available]



Something isn’t right. And, whatever is happening, it is very bad news.
If you haven’t already heard, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave the U.S. and the West a stern warning on Tuesday, January 27. If future sanctions end up restricting Russia’s ability to operate via the SWIFT system that is used for international banking transactions, Russia’s response will be “without limits.”
“We’ll watch developments and if such decisions are made, I want to note that our economic reaction and generally any other reaction will be without limits,” Medvedev said.

A Stunning Threat
Threatening an unlimited response is remarkable. In war – and this is a war, by the way – responses are generally expected to be proportionate. Disproportionate responses are obviously frowned upon and, for whatever it’s worth, against international law. As a result, unlimited responses are generally restricted to situations where the threat at hand is viewed as an existential threat.
This is important. If unlimited responses are reserved for existential threats, then this means Russia is saying somethingvery surprising. In particular, if Russia is threatening an unlimited response to a potential SWIFT ban, then they’re suggesting that this ban would be a threat to Russia’s very survival as a country.
Why is this so surprising?
As we all know, the dollar is dying. The U.S., to prop it up, is waging wars everywhere. And currently, Russia is in its cross-hairs. This is why the U.S. has been doing everything in its power – including sanctions, economic warfare, and covert operations in Ukraine – to provoke Putin to make some stupid move so that he can be blamed for the hot phase of World War 3.
How has Putin been responding to these provocations? Wisely. He has been buying gold, dropping the dollar, and patiently waiting for the U.S. to collapse under the weight of its own problems – something bound to happen fairly soon.
Given Putin’s strategy for handling U.S. provocations, there’s one that wouldn’t make any sense to do. In particular, it makes no sense for Putin or his government to announce that they have a weak spot that will force them to make the stupid move they’ve been actively avoiding.


That would be like announcing that your quarterback has a bum left knee. You’re just begging the opponent to hit it.
But that is precisely what Putin’s government appears to have just done. When Medvedev threatened an unlimited response to a SWIFT ban, he basically told the U.S. that they can get the war they want with a simple sanction. The move appears so stupid that it demands an explanation.

So, what’s really behind this threat? There are at least three possible explanations, and none of them inspire confidence.
  1. One possibility is that Putin realizes that the U.S. has found their weak spot, and they’re coming after it soon. As a result, he had no other option but to make this threat, perhaps hoping that the prospect of nuclear war will stop this from happening.
  2. A second possibility is that Russia has finally screwed up. They’ve had enough, and they’ve departed from their plan. Instead of sitting back and watching the West escalate the war in the Ukraine, impose additional sanctions, etc., they’ve drawn a line in the sand – a line, no doubt, they know the West will cross.
  3. A third possibility is that Russia is actually in on the conspiracy, and Medvedev’s threat is all part of the show. This is just an international version of the battle between ‘Republicans’ and ‘Democrats’ – a big theatrical production designed to make people believe something that isn’t true. In this case, they want us to believe that sovereign countries and the lack of a global government are the reason World War 3 will happen. Once the war is over, the bankers who control both sides plan to step in and establish their New World Order – a global, fascist government.
The bad news, here, is that a hot, global war appears inevitable. The chance that Russia can sit back and win the war by letting the U.S. collapse on its own is now near zero. If the U.S. is provoking them because they want a hot war, Russia has told them how to get it – include a SWIFT ban in a future round of sanctions. And if this is all a show, then we know what both sides are eventually working towards: global war that serves the bankers’ interests. So, there isn’t a “good guy” to support because he is opposing the New World Order. They’re just all working together to make this diabolical world order a reality.
What do I think? I don’t know precisely what’s happening. It is possible that Putin really is a thorn in the side of the NWO. If that’s the case, then it appears he plans to hit the West first and hard – possibly even with an “unlimited response” to an economic sanction. On the other hand, as the video above shows, we know that Obama, Medvedev and Putin have had some secret plans for a while. So it is also possible that this is all a grand conspiracy with an inevitable war at the end.



Also see:







Wednesday, January 28, 2015

2 IDF Soldiers Killed In Hezbollah Attack, Bill Gates Calls For 'Global Government', 5.7 Quake In Northern California







Two soldiers were killed Wednesday when an Israeli army patrol came under anti-tank fire from Hezbollah operatives in the northern Mount Dov region near the border with Lebanon.
The IDF confirmed that at least seven soldiers were wounded in the attack and ruled out the possibility that a soldier had been kidnapped.
The two soldiers were identified later as company commander Captain Yochai Kalengel, 25, from Har Gilo and Sgt. Dor Nini, 20, from Shtulim.

Their vehicle was hit by the first of five Kornet guided anti-tank missiles fired at an IDF convoy near Ghajar, on a civilian road near the border. Other soldiers in the convoy evacuated their vehicles when the first missile struck, preventing further loss of life. The missiles were said to have been fired from a distance of some 4.5 kilometers.

“Earlier today, an anti-tank missile hit an IDF vehicle in the Har-Dov area, killing two soldiers and wounding an additional seven, two of them moderately,” said the IDF in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “The soldiers’ families have been notified.”

Photos that emerged after the attack showed two badly damaged vehicles in flames. The IDF vehicles were unarmored.

Five more soldiers were lightly hurt. Dr. Hani Bahus, head of the trauma unit at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, said two wounded soldiers who arrived with shrapnel injuries to their abdomens and chests are “fully conscious and do not require surgery,” Ynet reported.

For over an hour after the attack, IDF positions in the area, as well as on nearby Mount Hermon, were hit with mortar shells.
Israel responded to the attack with artillery strikes in southern Lebanon. Two Lebanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel targeted the border villages of Majidiyeh, Abbasiyeh and Kfar Chouba with at least 50 shells.

Hezbollah said in a statement that a squad from the “fallen martyrs of the Quneitra brigade” had attacked the Israeli convoy in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike near Quneitra, just over the border in Syria, last week that killed at least seven, including an Iranian general and a senior commander in the organization. The statement said it was a “first announcement,” alluding to the possibility of further attacks.
The attack was praised by Iran and by Hamas.
The attack, launched from an area controlled by Hezbollah, comes after repeated threats by the group, which said it would retaliate against Israel for an airstrike earlier in January that killed its top commander in the Syrian Golan Heights, along with an Iranian general and 10 others.




Updates: 2 Soldiers Killed In Hezbollah Attack; Israel Vows 'Zero Tolerance'


Israeli soldiers came under attack in the northern Har Dov area near the border with Lebanon on Wednesday morning. Two were killed and 7 injured when their army vehicle was targeted by anti-tank missiles. At the same time, IDF positions in the area were hit with mortar shells. Israel responded to the attack with multiple artillery strikes in southern Lebanon. The Times of Israel liveblogged events as they unfolded.

The residents of the northern village of Ghajar say a house is on fire after it was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, Ynet reports.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for the attack in northern Israel today, in which an IDF vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile.

Security officials hint that the attack along Israel’s northern border is “one of the most severe” attacks of its kind.
The attack was reportedly a kidnapping attempt by Hezbollah.
The Haifa and Rosh Pina airports have been shut down due to fear that they may be targeted by projectiles fired from Lebanon, Ynet reports.
Meanwhile, Arab media sources quote Israeli officials as saying Hezbollah tried to kidnap soldiers but failed.






Billionaire Bill Gates called for “a kind of global government” this week, arguing that the creation of such a system would be needed to combat major issues such as “climate change.”
Speaking with Germany’s “Süddeutsche Zeitung” newspaper Tuesday, Gates decried the fact that a proper United Nations system has failed to materialize as planned.
“You can make fun of it, but in truth it was sad how the conference in Copenhagen is run, how individual who behave like the UN system failed,” Gates said according to an English translation in the Huffington Post.
Gates went on to stress his position further, stating that a global government was “badly needed” in order to combat an array of issues ailing the planet.
“Take the UN, it has been created especially for the security in the world. We are ready for war, because we have taken every precaution. We have NATO, we have divisions, jeeps, trained people,” Gates said. “But what is with epidemics? How many doctors do we have as much planes, tents, what scientists? If there were such a thing as a world government, we would be better prepared.”
The billionaire made headlines last week after introducing a plan to implement a cashless system in multiple third-world countries, a program that would undoubtedly give financial elites total control over monetary systems.







A magnitude-5.7 earthquake struck 25 miles southwest of Ferndale, Humboldt County on Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake was reported 40 miles southwest of Eureka. According to USGS, the quake took place at 1:08 p.m.

The California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) tweeted that "a room full of Public Safety Officials felt the 5.7 earthquake that shook Humboldt County a few minutes ago."









Israeli Casualties As Soldiers Come Under Attack On Lebanon Border




Casualties As Soldiers Come Under Attack On Lebanon Border


An Israeli army patrol came under anti-tank fire from Hezbollah operatives Wednesday in the northern Mount Dov region along the border with Lebanon. The IDF confirmed that there were casualties in the attack, but did not say how many soldiers were hurt. The army ruled out the possibility that a soldier had been kidnapped.

The incident took place in an area of the border that doesn’t have a fence. At the same time, and for over an hour after the attack, IDF positions in the area, as well as on nearby Mount Hermon, were hit with mortar shells.
Israel responded to the attack with artillery strikes in southern Lebanon. Two Lebanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel targeted the border villages of Majidiyeh, Abbasiyeh and Kfar Chouba with at least 50 shells. A Spanish United Nations peacekeeper was killed, Lebanese reports said. Families living on the border of the villages fled further within, fearing they’d be hit, said the officials, who are based in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah said in a statement that a squad from the “fallen martyrs of the Quneitra brigade” had attacked the Israeli convoy in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike near Quneitra, just over the border in Syria, last week that killed 12, including an Iranian general and a senior commander in the organization. The statement said it was a “first announcement,” alluding to the possibility of further attacks.
Six soldiers were evacuated to Ziv Hospital in nearby Safed in light to moderate condition, and other wounded were airlifted to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Channel 2 reported.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was holding high-level consultations to mull further responses to the attack. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a tour of the Gaza Strip border region and headed to the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv to join the meeting.
The attack, launched from an area controlled by Hezbollah, comes after repeated threats by the group, which said it would retaliate against Israel for an airstrike earlier in January that killed its top commander in the Syrian Golan Heights, along with an Iranian general and 10 others.

At least two rockets launched from Syrian territory landed in the Golan Heights Tuesday in an attack that Israeli defense officials attributed to Hezbollah. In response, Israel shelled Syrian army positions, and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon issued a stern warning to Hezbollah and its patron Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“The Assad regime is responsible for the fire into Israel, and we will exact a heavy price from any government or organization that violates our borders,” Ya’alon said Wednesday. “We have no intention of ignoring or abiding terrorist attacks on our soldiers and citizens.”



Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Israel’s opponents in the north to take the summer war with Gaza as an example of the magnitude of IDF retaliation for Wednesday attack, which saw Hezbollah forces wound four IDF soldiers in an attack on northern Israel.
“At this moment, the IDF is responding to events in the north. To everyone who is trying to challenge us at the northern border, I recommend for them look what happened there, not far from the city of Sderot, in Gaza. Hamas took its hardest hit since its formation and the IDF is prepared to act strongly on all fronts,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony in the southern city of Sderot.
Four IDF soldiers were wounded along Israel's border with Lebanon Wednesday noon after Hezbollah fire hit Israel. Meanwhile, residents of the north were told to stay indoors.

Mortars later hit Mt. Hermon in an attack which Hezbollah says is a response to the IDF's attack in Syria, which in turn was also a response to rockets fired by Hezbollah at Israel from Syria on Tuesday.

"We will not tolerate any firing towards Israeli territory or violation of our sovereignty and we will respond forcefully and with determination," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said in a statement after IAF warplanes attacked Syrian military targets shortly after midnight on Wednesday.




It may be too soon to point to a new, cohesive Hezbollah strategy along Israel’s northern border. And yet, repeated rocket fire at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights Tuesday prompts speculation that the Shiite terror group and its ally, the Syrian regime, are seeking to draw Israel into a ground offensive.
In the aftermath of the killing of Hezbollah commander Jihad Mughniyeh and Iranian general Mohammad Ali Allahdadi (along with 10 others) in an alleged Israeli airstrike, prevailing wisdom was that Hezbollah, bent on revenge, would try to launch a major campaign against Israel, if not along the border than by attacking Jewish targets abroad.
But it may well be that the Lebanese organization is initiating a different campaign, one that would be somewhat surprising, although it would not necessarily preclude hits on Israeli targets or Jewish targets outside Israel: the repeated shelling of Israeli communities from the Syrian Golan Heights with the aim of drawing in Israeli ground forces.
Indeed, although it seems counterintuitive, there may be some in Hezbollah who hope to see Israeli tanks entering Syrian territory and hitting Syrian military targets.
The next stage, as far as Hezbollah is concerned, could be to try to further upset the security situation by firing rockets sporadically into the Israeli Golan Heights, in a manner that may force the IDF to send troops deep into Syrian territory.
Furthermore, if Hezbollah manages to draw Israel into committing even a small number of troops to a ground incursion in the Syrian Golan Heights, the Sunni radical groups Islamic State and al Nusra Front will be in the problematic position of being portrayed as collaborators with Israel in its battle against the Assad regime and its Lebanese ally.
The rockets fired at the Golan Heights constitute a serious challenge for Israel. On the one hand Jerusalem seeks to deter Hezbollah from continuing to disrupt life in the north. On the other, too aggressive a response will prompt Hezbollah to escalate its attacks in a manner that may leave Israel no choice but to deploy ground troops, furthering the goals of Assad and the rest of the Shiite axis.


Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Medvedev Warns Of 'Unlimited Reaction' If Russia Cut From SWIFT






Medvedev Warns Of 'Unlimited Reaction' If Russia Cut From SWIFT



While nations around the world continue to de-dollarize, Russia signed into law its anti-crisis plan today (though details will not be released until tomorrow). Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, however, was quite vociferous in some of his threats, warning The West that the "Russian response - economically and otherwise - will know no limits" if Russia is cut off from the SWIFT payments system. Additionally, as Royce, the chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, explains Iran nuclear talks "appear to be stalemated," just days after Iran completes its de-dollarization and news today, that Russia and Iran plan to create a mutual account for bilateral payments in national currencies.



Western countries’ threats to restrict Russia’s operations through the SWIFT international bank transaction system will prompt Russia’s counter-response without limits, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

"We’ll watch developments and if such decisions are made, I want to note that our economic reaction and generally any other reaction will be without limits," he said.

In late August 2014, media reports said the UK had proposed banning Russia from the SWIFT network as part of an upcoming new round of sanctions against Moscow over its stance on developments in neighboring Ukraine. However, this proposal was not supported by the EU countries at the time.

After recent shelling of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol some western countries again started calling to disconnect Russia from SWIFT.




As Reuters reports, Russia's isolation appears to be shrinking...



Russia and Iran plan to create a mutual account for bilateral payments in national currencies, RIA news agency quoted Mehdi Sanaei, Iran's ambassador to Moscow, as saying.

"Both sides plan to create a mutual bank or a mutual account to make payments in rials and roubles possible," the ambassador said.