3,000 US Troops Secretly Return to Iraq

Over 3,000 US troops have secretly returned to Iraq via Kuwait for missions pertaining to the recent developments in Syria and northern Iraq, Press TV reports.

According to our correspondent, the US troops have secretly entered Iraq in multiple stages and are mostly stationed at Balad military garrison in Salahuddin province and al-Asad air base in al-Anbar province.

Reports say the troops include US Army officers and almost 17,000 more are set to secretly return to Iraq via the same route.

All US troops left Iraq by the end of 2011, after nine years of occupation, as required by a 2008 bilateral security agreement between the two countries. The troops left Iraq for the neighboring Kuwait.

Washington decided to pull out all its troops from Iraq after Baghdad refused to grant legal immunity to the remaining US soldiers.

Washington claims that the only US military presence left in Iraq now is 157 soldiers responsible for training at the US Embassy, as well as a small contingent of marines protecting the diplomatic mission.

US-led forces attacked Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein on the pretext of possessing weapons of mass destruction. But no WMD was ever discovered in Iraq. At the peak of the US-led military operation in Iraq, there were 170,000 US troops and more than 500 bases in Iraq.

More than one million Iraqis were killed as the result of the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.

‘US may Build New Atomic Bombs’

The recent US subcritical nuclear test can be a camouflage for developing a more sophisticated stockpile of nuclear weapons, a political analyst tells Press TV.

In a Saturday interview, author and political scientist Kaveh Afrasiabi noted that the subcritical test, known as Pollux, involves underground high-explosives experiments on plutonium

He argued that although the test does not reach the critical mass and nuclear chain reaction, “You don’t have any international inspectors to verify the fact that there are no low-yield nuclear explosives involved.”

“This could be a cover for computer simulations for advancing new nuclear warheads. We don’t know that because the US program is shrouded in high secrecy,” the analyst pointed out.

On Wednesday, the US - the only country that has ever used atomic bombs against other countries - conducted a subcritical nuclear test in Nevada in a declared aim of providing “crucial information to maintain the safety and effectiveness of the nation's nuclear weapons.”

Afrasiabi pointed to the recent written requests by the heads of US nuclear laboratories to President Barack Obama to earmark more funds for conducting tests for new warheads and noted that Obama approved the plans despite Washington’s official announcements that it is not rebuilding any new warheads.

“There is a huge gap between the rhetoric and the actual policies when it comes to the US’ nuclear weapons policies,” he said.

“What needs to be done is for the international community to exert pressure on the US, as well as other members of the nuclear weapons club, to desist from such activities that pose a proliferation risk and the risk of a new nuclear arms race,” Afrasiabi pointed out. 

source

DOD Drafting Plans To Strike Supposed Syrian Chemical Weapons As NATO Strike Appears “Imminent”

Chemical weapons propaganda mirrors lead up to Iraq Invasion.

By Alex Thomas
theintelhub.com

According to multiple reports, the Department of Defense is currently drafting plans for a full fledge preemptive strike on targets within Syria.

In a post published on CNN’s Security Clearance Blog, Barbara Starr (who many believe is herself nothing more than a CIA operative within the corporate media) wrote that DOD officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, had revealed to her that they are currently drafting plans for a potential strike on chemical weapon sites in Syria.

“The U.S. military has updated its plans for a potential strike against Syria after intelligence showed that the regime has filled aerial bombs with deadly sarin gas in at least two locations near military airfields, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

A senior U.S. official confirmed the details but declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information. There has been no movement to put the bombs on aircraft and no significant additional movement of chemical materials as far as the U.S. knows, he said.”

Meanwhile, other reports have also surfaced that seem to confirm that a NATO lead attack on Syria is indeed imminent and that the firepower to do so is already in place.

In early December, UN officials said they’re recalling all non-essential Syrian staff. Growing conflict dangers were cited. Perhaps advance word of imminent NATO intervention was gotten.

On December 6, CNN cited a Pentagon spokesman Little saying Washington updated its military options for potentially striking Syria. “We are prepared for a full range of contingencies,” said Little.

He added that US forces have all the firepower needed in the region for full-scale war if ordered. A previous article said Washington positioned considerable military strength off Syria’s coast.

It includes 10,000 combat troops, 70 fighter-bombers, 17 or more warships (including the USS Eisenhower and Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group), heavy armaments, offensive Patriot missiles, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System readiness, and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) capability.

It suggests US-led NATO intervention could happen any time. More than ever it looks imminent.

In the blog post cited above, Barbara (intelligence operative extraordinaire) Starr also confirmed that the firepower is ready to go.

The official also said the U.S. has all the firepower it needs in the region to conduct military action against Syria if Obama orders it. The U.S. maintains a fighter and bomber aircraft presence across the Middle East, including on board aircraft carriers. There are also warships with satellite-guided Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be programmed to hit specific targets.

Initial Chemical Weapons Claims

The initial claims that the Syrian government was mixing their supposed stockpile of chemical weapons actually originated from an NBC report that heavily cited anonymous officials.

As if right on que, the national security correspondents on both Fox News and CNN went to work stressing the dangers now facing the world and again quoted unnamed operatives who could either be lying to the corporate media journalists or actually be giving them their orders in the first place.

Now, the United Kingdom has joined the “chorus” of concerns over Syrian chemical weapons.
In a statement at a regional security conference, British Foreign Secretary William Hague picked up on the ludicrous narrative that Assad would use weapons against the Syrian rebels when in reality these rebels are actual al Qaeda terrorists.

“We are extremely concerned,” Hague told reporters on the sidelines of a regional security conference Saturday.

He noted several “dangerous scenarios” for the use of chemical weapons. One would be terror groups obtaining such munitions.

Falling into the hands of terrorists?

We truly are in a Orwellian nightmare especially when you consider that the groups being funded by the UK and the US through NATO are the actual terrorists and now, with the threat of weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, a military strike is  being planned.

The fact that the claims that Assad is stockpiling and mixing chemical weapons with plans to use them in the very near future hasn’t even been debated within the mainstream media just goes to show how controlled the war propaganda within the media has become.

For their part, Syrian officials have wholeheartedly rejected all reports that have claimed they plan to use chemical weapons at any time.

Syrian Depurty Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad made this clear in a statement on December 7.

“Syria stresses again, for the 10th, the 100th time, that if we had such weapons, they would not be used against our people. We would not commit suicide.”

Many legitimate researchers and independent journalists have also noted that the initial chemical weapons claims are in themselves absolutely ludicrous and that if anyone within Syria were to use them it would most likely be the al Qaeda CIA linked and run Syrian Rebels.

In a report published on Prison Planet, Saman Mohammadi noted that from the very beginning the Syrian rebels have been Jihadist CIA run terrorists and that the corporate media is literally reporting the opposite of reality.

“After funding and arming the Jihadist insurgency in Syria, which has engaged in brutal executions of civilians and other war crimes, Washington is now finally ready to go to the next step in its long-planned aggressive war on Syria. The Obama administration is ludicrously hyping the non-existent chemical weapons threat to isolate the Syrian regime from the international community and justify a NATO ground and air assault against Syria.”

As noted above, the corporate media has gone from exaggerating and slightly altering the truth to outright lying for the military industrial complex.

“What’s really interesting is the complete rejection of reality and basic truths by Washington’s occult elite and the dinosaur media.

They have abandoned the realm of facts, logic, and scientific evidence. Instead, they have fully embraced magic. Their policies towards the Middle East are based on messianic fanaticism and irrational hubris.”

These chemical weapons claims may very well be nothing more than well fabricated nonsense made up by the global power structure through the art of fiction.

USrael pretends reality doesn’t even exist. Its high-minded officials have transcended history. They govern with the arts of fiction. Truth is so passe. Whenever they want to attack a country they make up lies about its leaders, spread panic in the international media, and then pose as the saviours of the world.

Syria War Propaganda Equals Iraq War Propaganda

Eerily, the claims coming out of Syria seem to mirror the lead up to the Iraq War, complete with possibly false intelligence, corporate media war hype, and the possible return of the Bush Doctrine.

A shockingly accurate and telling video report was recently published that showed the direct connections between the now ongoing Syrian war propaganda and the Iraq War propaganda ten years ago, complete with a startlingly spot on description

“How can you tell when a country is about to get invaded? Listen to the sellout traitor talking heads on television tell you the country has “weapons of mass destruction” or “chemical weapons” and is “about to use them on their own people”..

The Gullible American public fell for it once, the media and government assume it will work again, only will it? ”

The Obama Administration has outlined two scenarios that they claim would cause them to intervene militarily in Syria which are if Assad decides to use the weapons on his own people (which seems highly unlikely to happen) and if the weapons have a chance of falling into the hands of “Islamic” terrorists. (Such as the ones that have been supported and funded within Syria?)

A report published on Anti-War noted that Obama is set to use the Bush Doctrine in a preemptive attack on Syria.

“Three international relations scholars, Paul R. Williams, J. Trevor Ulbrick, and Jonathan Worboys, explain in Foreign Policy how “the Obama administration risks resurrecting the much-maligned Bush Doctrine of preemptive self-defense.

Under international law, a state may only invoke its right of self-defense in the case of an actual or imminent attack.

After the 9/11 attacks by al Qaeda, however, the Bush administration asserted a right of preemptive self-defense against terrorist groups and states that harbor them or could supply them with weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Many states and experts rejected this justification for the 2003 Iraq war because Iraq could not be linked to WMDs or the 9/11 attacks.

Unlike Iraq, Syria has CBW and has forged a close partnership with Hezbollah. Nevertheless, preemptive self-defense still suffers from the same theoretical deficiencies it did in 2003. The doctrine has a weak basis in international law and its legal recognition would improperly justify the use of force by powerful states.

“The situation with Syria right now isn’t exactly identical, but it’s notable that the Obama administration’s calculations for intervention rest on the same, almost universally reviled war criminal logic as the Bush administration.”

Possible Looming False Flag

With the news that Assad is supposedly getting ready to use chemical weapons, many in the alternative media have speculated that a false flag chemical weapon attack may be on the horizon to further justify what surely would be a war crime filled attack on Syria.

In a new report on his Land Destroyer Blog, independent researcher and geopolitical analyst Tony Cartalucci wrote about a video recently released on YouTube that seems to show Syrian rebels testing out chemical weapons.

“The video (see here) starts with several scenes showing chemical containers with Tekkim labels (Tekkim is a Turkish chemicals company) and some lab equipment, while playing Jihadists chants in the background.

A glass box then appears with two rabbits inside, with a poster on the wall behind it reading The Almighty Wind Brigade (Kateebat A Reeh Al Sarsar). A person wearing a lab mask then mixes chemicals in a beaker in the glass box, and we see some gas emitting from the beaker.

About a minute later, the rabbits start to have random convulsions and then die. The person says: You saw what happened? This will be your fate, you infidel Alawites, I swear by ALLAH to make you die like these rabbits, one minute only after you inhale the gas.”

An editors note from Tony provides even more important analysis.

Now would be a good time to recall US’ informant, codename “Curveball” – the man who provided the US with baseless “intelligence” regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons capabilities which were gladly used as a false pretense for a war that has left millions dead, mutilated, displaced, poisoned, or otherwise affected. 

If chemical weapons are deployed in Syria, it will be by NATO-backed terrorists who acquired them from looted Libyan stockpiles, or apparently, perhaps Turkish supplied chemical precursors. While the White House cites baseless, nameless “officials,” here we see a video -  not conclusive evidence, but by far more compelling.

Although the validity of the video has been thrown into question, the idea that the US-Israeli-NATO axis would stage a false flag attack to gain support for their new war is far from unrealistic.

We have seen false flags by government against the people throughout history, with the 9/11 attacks being the most recent large-scale staged attack.

The advent of the internet and rise of the alternative media has made it extremely difficult for the global power structure to use the corporate media to easily sell a war as was done so many times in the past.

A false flag just might be the main course on the menu as a planned strike on Syria could happen at any time.

Weapons of Mass Destruction (Chemical weapons) AGAIN?!!!! This time in Syria...

The President has intelligence that Syrians have nerve gas chemicals (WMD) inside their bombs...

It is true, or is this the same as when another President had intelligence that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?  How do we really know; we have been outright lied to, time and time again through our mainstream media that I, for one, do not know whether this is honest, or another cooked up reason to get us to back our generals in support to go to war in Syria this time.

The mainstream news "reports" are saying that this is true, and Obama has threatened Syria that chemical warfare WILL have consequences.  Is his intelligence straight, or is he being 'LED TO BELIEVE' this through his sources, just like our past President was.

There were NO Weapons of Mass Destruction found in Iraq AT ALL, and our past Presidential administration knew this all along!  Our soldiers were sent to fight for the Upper 1%, NOT our freedom.
 
This is like the boy who cried "wolf:" which cry of "wolf" do we believe, if any...?

Rescued Stray Dogs in New Zealand Learn to Drive

Porter is one of three dogs who began by driving a wooden cart, before graduating to a modified Mini. Picture: SPCA Source: Supplied

IN a world already full of road hogs this is perhaps the last thing you want to see in the rear view mirror. Animal experts are teaching dogs how to drive.

Astonishingly, it took three mutts just eight weeks to master the basics in wooden carts. They then graduated to a modified Mini in which they sat on their haunches in the driver's seat with their paws on the steering wheel.

The dogs began their driving lessons on wooden carts and trainers say they took just eight weeks to master the basics. Picture: SPCA Source: Supplied

Their feet go on extension levers which are attached to the accelerator and the brake while their paw rests on the gearstick.

The experiment was set up by an animal welfare group in New Zealand which wanted to show the public how intelligent dogs are.

The dogs and their skills will be put to the test in a live broadcast next Monday. Picture: SPCA Source: Supplied

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will put Porter, a ten-month old beardie cross, Monty, an 18-month-old schnauzer cross, and Ginny, a one-year-old beardie whippet cross to the test in a live broadcast next Monday.

Mark Vette, who is schooling the dogs, said: ‘"We train them to do different actions, touch is the first thing and then we teach them to touch the different objects with the right paw and left paw. They've all come through at this point and they're all going really well".

All of the dogs involved had been rescued by the SPCA. The organization hopes the public will be so impressed that they will adopt them and others like them.

SPCA Auckland chief executive Christine Kalin said: "I think sometimes people think because they're getting an animal that's been abandoned that somehow it's a second-class animal.

"This really shows with the right environment just how much potential all dogs from the SPCA have as family pets."

source

Thousands of US Troops Arrive Near Syrian Shore on USS Eisenhower

(Reuters / Paul Hanna)

The USS Eisenhower, an American aircraft carrier that holds eight fighter bomber squadrons and 8,000 men, arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preparation for a potential ground intervention.

While the Obama administration has not announced any sort of American-led military intervention in the war-torn country, the US is now ready to launch such action “within days” if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad decides to use chemical weapons against the opposition, the Times reports.

Some have suggested that the Assad regime may use chemical weapons against the opposition fighters in the coming days or weeks.

The arrival of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the 11 US Navy aircraft carriers that has the capacity to hold thousands of men, is now stationed at the coast of Syria, DEBKAfile reports. The aircraft carrier joined the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which holds about 2,500 Marines.

“We have (US) special operations forces at the right posture, they don’t have to be sent,” an unnamed US official told The Australian, which suggested that US military troops are already near Syria and ready to intervene in the conflict, if necessary.

If the US decides to intervene militarily in Syria, it now has at its disposal 10,000 fighting men, 17 warships, 70 fighter-bombers, 10 destroyers and frigates and a guided military cruises. Some of the vessels are also equipped with Aegis missile interceptors to shoot down any missiles Syria might have at hand, according to DEBKAfile.

“The muscle is already there to be flexed,” a US official told the London Times about the US military’s presence outside of Syria. “It’s premature to say what could happen if a decision is made to intervene. That hasn’t taken shape, we’ve not reached that kind of decision. There are a lot of options, but it [military action] could be launched rapidly, within days.”

The move comes after NATO made a significant strategic decision Tuesday to deploy Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems in Turkey on the border of Syria where opposition groups have the stronghold. The defense would be able to protect Turkey from potential Syrian missiles that could contain chemical weapons, as well as intimidate Syrian Air Force pilots from bombing the northern Syria border towns, which the armed rebels control. Syria is thought to have about 700 missiles.

“The protection from NATO will be three dimensional; one is the short-range Patriots, the second is the middle-range Terminal High Altitude Air Defense [THAD] system and the last is the AEGIS system, which counters missiles that can reach outside the atmosphere,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

DEBKAfile’s anonymous military sources claim the THAD and Aegis arrived at the Syrian coast aboard the USS Eisenhower.

“The United States now stands ready for direct military intervention in the Syrian conflict when the weather permits,” the news source wrote.

source

Government Issues Statement Debunking End of the World: “Just Rumors”

Mac Slavo
December 4th, 2012
SHTFplan.com

With the purported 2012 Mayan Apocalypse calculated to take place on December 21st rapidly approaching, thousands of letters have poured into government agencies like NASA from citizens concerned about the end of the world.

Doomsday fears surrounding the end of the Mayan calendar, a possible collision with a mystery “Planet X” theorized by some researchers, and pole shift popularized in the Hollywood movie 2012, have forced the government to issue a rebuttal debunking the claims at their USA.gov web site:

Scary Rumors about the World Ending in 2012 Are Just Rumors
False rumors about the end of the world in 2012 have been commonplace on the Internet for some time. Many of these rumors involve the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 (it won’t), a comet causing catastrophic effects (definitely not), a hidden planet sneaking up and colliding with us(no and no), and many others.

The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012.
Unfortunately, these rumors have many people frightened, especially children. NASA has received thousands of letters concerned about the end of the world. David Morrison, a planetary astronomer and senior scientist for NASA who answers questions from the public about astrobiology, says, “At least a once a week I get a message from a young person ― as young as 11 ― who says they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday.”

According to NASA, the old mystery-planet-collision rumor year was 2003, but when 2004 arrived safely, the rumors changed to 2012.
So what end-of-the-world year will the rumor mill make up next?

NASA scientists have set up a dedicated questions and answers page to quell panic surrounding a variety of theories and rumors that include:

• End of the World
• ‘Prediction’ Origins
• Mayan Calendar
• Total Blackout
• Planetary Alignment
• Nibiru/Planet X/Eris
• Polar Shift
• Meteor Strike
• Solar Storms

NASA and the government have taken extraordinary steps to assuage the feelings of fear surrounding potentially life-ending “global killer” events.

Widespread blackouts resulting from solar storms, for example, are of particular concern among many individuals researching potentially devastating scenarios. A detailed 2010 report from the Center for Security Policy found that a wide-spread national level blackout for extended periods of time would leave some 90% of Americans dead within one year should it come to pass. In this case, the public’s fears stemmed from numerous reports warning of powerful solar storms that may hit earth in late 2012 through 2014 during the Sun’s peak solar cycle, as well as from an agency-wide preparedness alert issued by NASA head Charles Bolden which warned employees to think about and prepare for attacks “from outside forces.”

Though NASA claims their organization is not predicting such a blackout and that there is nothing to be concerned about regarding the peak of the sun’s solar cycle over the next couple years, they are actively building a solar shield to protect against massive flares from the sun and have created detailed preparedness plans in the event such a scenario unfolds, leaving many wondering what is actually being discussed behind closed doors.

Moreover, further confusion and distrust stems from NASA’s claims of the impossibility of events such as pole shifts and meteor strikes.

Though pole shifts have clearly occurred in the past, as evidenced by this NASA report, and are likely in progress right now, the NASA debunking page claims, “as far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth – scientists believe a magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia.”

Likewise, NASA says they have ”determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs,” in Earth’s vicinity, yet they and the US government are actively preparing for ex-planetary threats such as asteroids.

The government has gone to great lengths to let us know that there are no potential threats on the horizon, but they have invested tens of of billions of dollar into preparedness strategies that include bunkers, food supplies and continuity of government contingencies just in case.

While we are hard-pressed to believe the world will end on December 21, 2012, or even in 2013, nothing is outside of the realm of possibility. Obviously, the government has determined that utilizing billions of dollars at the taxpayer’s expense to build backup plans is a worthwhile investment, which suggests that officials at the top of the homeland security food chain are more paranoid then anyone else.

Curiously, though they are not necessarily traditional end-of-the-world Armageddon scenarios, there is very little discussion and much denial about the possibility of an economic collapse, an elite takeover of the global population through centralized governance, implementation of martial law, and the potential for World War III to go hot, yet the government seems to be fully involved in planning for such activities as well.

Perhaps those who take it upon themselves to research these far-from-equilibrium possibilities are a bit paranoid.

However, with government transparency being as opaque as it’s ever been, the people have been left with no choice but to be suspicious of official stories and paranoid about their government’s activities.

FEMA AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA HAS ABANDONED SUPERSTORM SANDY’S VICTIMS

Mainstream Media is, sadly, still the Media that MOST people watch.  They have abandoned the stories on Hurricane Sandy's victims, and as a result, the majority of the people in the US, as well as the world, have no idea how bad the victims’ lives are there still.

It’s the news coverage that prompts people to take action to help. 

FEMA has also abandoned these victims, and they have been left to fend for themselves; without power, water, and good sources of food, as well as shelter and warmth.  FEMA has begun evicting the few survivors out of their large, inhumane, but heated tents; just as winter is settling in.  Meanwhile, FEMA has at least 100 empty warming trailers sitting idle in Connecticut, and hundreds of trucks with thousands of pounds of water and food sitting; waiting for the NEXT storm!

The Mainstream News Media spoke of how terrible this tragedy ‘was,’ but the real tragedy is now, and how these people are being ignored by the News, and especially by FEMA.  What have they done?  Have they just written them off, like a car that has been in an accident???!  This is a HUGE city, and there are literally countless people that are freezing, hungry and thirsty, with no-where to turn for help.