Rabu, 19 Maret 2014

USA-NATO-ISRAEL-SAUDI ARABIA-TURKI... SEAKAN MENJADI KUNCI JARINGAN BARAT YANG SANGAT KOKOH DAN TAK TERGOYAHKAN...??? SEDANGKAN BLOK TIMUR DAN RUSIA YANG DIANGGAP SAINGAN SUDAH PORAK PORANDA.. DIMANA EROPA TIMUR SUDAH TERLEBURKAN DENGAN ISSUE PRESTROIKA... DAN SOLIDARITAS.... SUATU GELOMBANG PENGHANCURAN KEKUATAN UNI SOVYET DAN BLOK EROPA TIMUR... YANG SUKSES...???>> RUSSIA DI GELANDANG MENJADI PARTNER YANG PASIF... BAGI BARAT... DAN AS - NATO -ISRAEL DAN ARAB SAUDI TERUS MENGEMBANGKAN PENGARUHNYA DAN MENGHANCURKAN IRAQ- AFGHANISTAN DAN NEGARA2 AFRIKA UTARA YANG TIDAK TERLALU KUAT...???>>> SEDANG MESIR SEDANG DI PROSES UNTUK BISA KACAU BALAU PERANG SAUDARA YANG TAK KERUAN...???>>> KARENA BAIK MILITER DAN SAYAP POLITIK RAKYAT ... SEMUA MASIH DIBAWAH KENDALI ARAB SAUDI-AS DAN TENTU ADA ISRAEL DIDALAMNYA...???>>> MAKA DENGAN TAK SEGAN DAN SANGAT GANASNYA ISRAEL MELAKUKAN PENDUDUKAN DAN PEMBUNUHAN RAKYAT PALESTINA... DAN PENGHANCURAN TANAH PERTANIAN DAN RUMAH2 RAKYAT PALESTINA... DAN BAHKAN MENEROBOS GOLAN DAN LEBANON...???>>> ... SEMUA TERDIAM... DAN TAK ADA GERAKAN MUQOWAMA YANG BERARTI ... SEDANGKAN IRAN DAN SURIAH DI DITEKAN DENGAN ISSUE NUKLIR-ALIRAN MAZHAB SYIAH- DAN KEKEJAMAN DIKTATOR KELUARGA ASSAD...???>> PADAHAL SYIAH BAGIAN DARI MAZHAB ISLAM YANG SHAHIH.(REF: AMMAN MESSAGE).. DAN KELUARGA ASSAD ADALAH DARI SUKU ALAWITE YANG SANGAT KECIL NAMUN SANGAT BERPENGARUH KARENA TERKENAL KEBIJAKAN DAN SANGAT PRO RAKYAT...???>>> MAKA TAK AYAL PERANG BESAR2AN DICIPTAKAN DENGAN MENGIRIM RATUSAN RIBU MILISI BAYARAN SAUDIA DAN BARAT.. YANG DI KOMANDANI... PETINGGI SANGAT KUAT... PANGERAN BANDAR... DARI SAUDIA YANG TERKENAL SANGAT KAYA DAN MEMILIKI HUBUNGAN DEKAT DENGAN PETINGGI USA DAN JUGA ISRAEL...??? DIMANA SANG PANGERAN SECARA TERANG2AN.. MELAKUKAN KUNJUNGAN2 ...STRATEGIS DENGAN BERBAGAI FIHAK DI TIMUR TENGAH...DAN TENTU KE ISRAEL JUGA..???>>> HAL YANG TAK DIDUGA.. ADALAH HEZBULLAH... YANG DIPIMPIN OLEH SYEIHK HASAN NASRALLAH... YANG SANGAT KONSISTEN MELAKUKAN PERLAWANAN TERHADAP ISRAEL.. DALAM SEGALA BENTUK PERJUANGAN TERMASUK PERANG TERBUKA DENGAN ISRAEL...???>>> KEKUATAN HEZBULLAH INI, ...... BEBERAPA KALI DI TEROR OLEH KELOMPOK AL SAUD... SEBAGAI KERAJAAN YANG MEMILIKI KEKUATAN DAN DANA... YANG TAK TERBATAS...>>> NAMUN KONON.. SATU PERSATU... MEREKA DILIBAS DAN DIGUNDULI ..... OLEH HEZBULLAH...???>>> MAKA TATKALA SURIAH DILANDA KRISIS... FAKTOR STRATEGIS HEZBULLAH SANGAT LUAR BIASA MENENTUKAN KEMENANGAN SAA-YANG SETIA DAN SOLID DENGAN PIMPINAN BASYAR ASSAD ....???>>> KONON... PANGERAN BANDAR BIN SULTAN KOCAR KACIR DAN KINI DIA..... KABUR KE AMERIKA..???>>> BAHKAN KERAJAAN SAUDIA KINI SUDAH SANGAT KETAKUTAN... OLEH ARUS BALIK PARA MILISI YANG SUDAH KOCAR KACIR DIGEMPUR... OLEH PASUKAN SAA PRO ASSAD... DAN JUGA HEZBULLAH YANG TERKENAL SANGAT..SOLID...???>>> MAKA KINI ARUS BALIK PUN ...... BERHIMBAS DI UKRAINA... DAN CARIMEA... DIMANA .. NEGERI ... KONON SUDAH MENJADI POROS BARAT...???>>> NAMUN TINDAKAN PUTIN DAN RUSSIANYA... SANGAT MENTAKJUBKAN... ???>>> MAKA GONJANG GANJING BARAT DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN BADAN DUNIA PBB SEAKAN MAU MAIN POLITIK PROPAGANDA... KUNO...???>>> MAKA GELOMBANG KRISIS DAN KEMUNGKINAN PERANG TERBUKA SEDANG DI-OLAH OLEH PARA AHLI PERANG DI EROPA-AS DAN TENTU ISRAEL DAN ARAB SAUDI...??? INILAH KEADAAN MENJADI SEAKAN KEMBALI KEPADA AWAL DAN BISA JADI GELOMBANG PASANG BARU DARI ARUS BALIK SEDANG MENUJU EROPA-AS- DAN BISAN JADI ISRAEL DAN ARAB SAUDI..???>>> MEMANG TERKESAN ARAB SAUDI TERUTAMA KEPENTINGAN PARA RAJA2NYA YANG SEDANG BERKUASA... ADA RASA KETAKUTAN DAN WAS WAS... MENGHADAPI ARUS BALIK GELOMBANG YANG TIADA TEDUGA ...???>>> MUNGKIN SAJA ADA REVOLUSI RAKYAT DAN BISA JADI PENGGANTIAN REZIM DENGAN KORBAN YANG SANGAT ... MENGERIKAN...???>>> WALLAHU A'LAM....???>>> REZIM2 KERAJAAN ARAB SAUDI MENUJU... TEPI JURANG..KEHANCURANNYA... ??? .. KARENA SELAMA INI TELAH TERJADI KEBENGISAN2 DAN POLITIK KEJAM SECARA TERSELUBUNG.. DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN BAJU DAN TABIR... SYARIAH DAN HUKUM ISLAM..???>>> BENARKAH...???>> .... Seorang mantan menteri pertahanan Ukraina menyatakan penyesalannya, negaranya kehilangan Crimea. "Saya dapat memberitahu Anda, kami memiliki mereka, Rusia semestinya tidak memasuki Crimea," kata Anatoliy Hrytsenko mantan Menteri Pertahanan Ukraina dari 2005 sampai 2007. Anatoliy Hrytsenk juga meminta Amerika Serikat dan pemerintah Eropa untuk mengirimkan kapal perang dan pesawat ke wilayah tersebut....>>> ...The outcome of the war in Qalamoun has now been settled. Though not all battles there have been won, the capture of Yabrud by the Syrian army and Hezbollah on Sunday has dealt a fatal blow to the project for a Qalamoun mini-state. In terms of geography, the Qalamoun region acts as a link between Damascus and Homs. Qalamoun is also Syria’s foremost gateway to Lebanon. Simultaneously, the Qalamoun mountain range opens up to the boundless Badia, the desert bordering Hama, Aleppo, Raqqa, and Deir al-Zour in the north, Iraq in the east, and the Damascus countryside in the south. The Syrian opposition’s plan was to extend its control over the Qalamoun Mountains, including both the area east of the Damascus-Homs highway, from northern Dmeir in the Damascus countryside to the southern Homs countryside, and the area west of the highway, from northern Zabadani in the Damascus countryside to south of Qusayr in the Homs countryside. ...>>> Menteri Perminyakan Iran, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh memperingatkan meroketnya harga minyak global jika Amerika Serikat menjatuhkan sanksi pada sektor minyak Rusia sebagai reaksi terhadap pemisahan Crimea dari Ukraina. "Jika peristiwa dan kasus Rusia semakin serius, harga minyak akan melambung naik, " ujar Zanganeh, Selasa (18/3/14). Pada hari Senin (17/3), Presiden AS Barack Obama mengeluarkan perintah eksekutif yang memberlakukan sanksi pada 11 individu Rusia-Crimea dan Ukraina yang terlibat dalam Referendum dan situasi di Ukraina......>>> ... Obama memerintahkan pembekuan aset para pejabat tersebut atau yang akan memiliki aset di Amerika Serikat. Selain itu, perintah dan sanksi itu juga melarang individu tersebut bepergian ke negaranya. Namun menurut Zanganeh, AS akan berfikir panjang jika menjatuhkan sanksi terhadap minyak Rusia. "Hal ini tidak mungkin terjadi, karena pasar Minyak dunia tidak bisa bertahan tanpa minyak Rusia, tegasnya. Rusia adalah produsen minyak terbesar di dunia. Pada 2012, Rusia menghasilkan $ 160 miliar dari ekspor minyak mentah, BBM serta bahan baku industri ke AS dan seluruh Eropa...>>

Rusia akan Membalas Sanksi Ompong AS
Islam Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdccm1q1o2bqei8.5fa2.html
"Dari perspektif pasar, risiko terbesar adalah, referendum akan memicu sanksi keras terhadap Rusia yang dapat menyebabkan perang dingin lain," kata Kathleen Brooks, direktur research Forex kepada AP.
John Kerry Menlu AS dan Sergey Lavrov, Menlu Rusia
John Kerry Menlu AS dan Sergey Lavrov, Menlu Rusia


Rusia menolak sanksi "ompong" pimpinan AS yang dikenakan terhadap para pejabat Rusia dan Ukraina setelah referendum Crimea dan bersumpah untuk membalas sanksi tersebut.

Pasar Rusia juga menolak sanksi AS, dan nilai Rubel di pasar global tetap stabil.

"Sejauh ini sanksi tampak ompong dan efeknya tidak seperti yang diperkirakan pekan lalu.

"Dari perspektif pasar, risiko terbesar adalah, referendum akan memicu sanksi keras terhadap Rusia yang dapat menyebabkan perang dingin," kata Kathleen Brooks, direktur research Forex kepada AP.

Pada Senin kemarin, pejabat senior Uni Eropa memperingatkan blok negara-28 dan Ukraina akan menderita kekurangan gas pada akhir Oktober jika Rusia memainkan politik energi dan memotong pasokannya dalam perang diplomatik atas nama masa depan Crimea.

Pada waktu yang sama, para menteri luar negeri Uni Eropa (UE) juga, menyetujui sanksi terhadap 21 pejabat Rusia dan Ukraina yang dianggap bertanggung jawab atas pemisahan Crimea dari ukraina melalui referendum pada Ahad kemarin.

Pernyataan itu diutarakan oleh Menteri Luar Negeri Lithuania, Linas Linkevicius kepada AFP, dan menyebut bahwa, 21 pejabat kedua negara akan menjadi sasaran larangan perjalanan dan pembekuan aset-aset mereka.[IT/r]


Analis: AS Menumpuk Pasukan di Perbatasan Rusia
Islam Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcaaenee49nim1.h8k4.html
Penggulingan Presiden Ukraina, Viktor Yanukovych adalah kudeta yang didukung-Barat, dan Barat membiayai kudeta itu, tambahnya lagi.
AS, Rusia dan Gejolak Ukrainia.jpg
AS, Rusia dan Gejolak Ukrainia.jpg

Amerika Serikat dan Uni Eropa telah membengkokan semua hukum internasional di Ukraina dan Washington tengah menumpuk pasukannya di perbatasan Rusia, kata seorang analis.

"Saya pikir isu-isu hukum internasional di sini (Ukraina, red), tidak dapat dilihat hanya dengan satu sisi pandang. Realiasnya, bahaya terbesar adalah ada penumpukan pasukan AS di negara-negara garis depan NATO di Baltik dan di Polandia, tepat di perbatasan Rusia," kata Jeff Steinberg, editor senior di Executive Intelligence Review, kepada Press TV pada hari Selasa, 18/3/14.

Menurutnya, pembicaraan sedang berlangsung dan akan mempercepat keanggotaan Ukraina dalam anggota blok-28 Eropa.

"Ada upaya untuk mendorong perbatasan NATO tepat di perbatasan Rusia," tambahnya.

"Jadi semua hukum internasional dan aturan tengah dibengkokkan oleh Uni Eropa dan Amerika Serikat untuk menyembunyikan fakta bahwa mereka telah melakukan kudeta secara efektif terhadap sebuah negara berdaulat sebelumnya. Barat telah melanggar perjanjian Ukraina sebelum terjadi tindakan di Crimea," jelasnya.

Penggulingan Presiden Ukraina, Viktor Yanukovych adalah kudeta yang didukung-Barat, dan Barat membiayai kudeta itu, tambahnya lagi.


Steinberg lebih lant mencatat, organisasi neo-Nazi adalah salah satu kekuatan yang paling signifikan yang digunakan dalam kudeta itu, dan badan-badan ini sebelumnya dikecam oleh Uni Eropa, bahkan Parlemen Eropa dan pejabat pemerintah AS menyatakan kelompok neo-Nazi ini sangat berbahaya.[IT/r]


Russians reportedly attack two Ukrainian naval units in Crimea




MOSCOW -- Ukrainian forces at two naval facilities in Crimea reported Wednesday that they were attacked by gunmen linked to Russia in violation of an earlier agreement to give them until Friday to leave the breakaway region.

“So-called pro-Russian self-defense forces of Crimea aided by Russian gunmen in unmarked uniforms stormed and gained control of our navy chief’s headquarters in Sevastopol,” Alexei Mazepa, regional spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said in a phone interview. The headquarters building was under Russian control by midday, he said.

Ukrainian forces on the peninsula have largely been surrounded and barricaded by Russian troops and pro-Russian militia who seized control of Crimea late last month. On Tuesday, following a controversial referendum among Crimeans, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Ukrainian region would become part of Russia.

A Russian journalist who witnessed the assault on the headquarters said it was launched by about 200 armed pro-Russian militia in Russian army uniforms and masks and by Russian Cossacks. The attackers broke down the gates of the base and surrounded the main building.
Ukrainian naval officers barricaded themselves in the building and the assault subsided when Vice Adm. Alexander Vitko, commander of Russia’s Crimean-based Black Sea fleet, arrive to negotiate, said journalist Oleg Klimov by telephone from the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
“As soon as Vitko was gone, the storm continued as the Cossacks and militiamen broke down the door and threw at least one stun grenade inside,” he said.

The defenders were overwhelmed without a shot fired, Klimov said.

“When the entire base was in the hands of the attackers, Russian gunmen in unmarked uniforms arrived on the scene in great numbers and took positions everywhere inside the base,” Klimov said. “As Ukrainian officers, looking demoralized, started leaving the base one captain … stopped for a minute, looking around the base as if saying goodbye.” He carried framed photographs of naval vessels he had served on.
A similar scene unfolded miles away at Donuzlav Lake, where armed pro-Russian militia broke down the gate of a Ukrainian naval base with a tractor, according to Mazepa, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman.

“The unit’s armed officers and sailors barricaded themselves inside the command building of the base, threatened to open fire on the attackers and those retreated,” Mazepa said over the phone.
On Tuesday night one Ukrainian officer was killed and at least two were injured as Russian gunmen reportedly opened fire at a Ukrainian army cartographic unit in the center of Simferopol.
Russia is trying to rid the peninsula of Ukrainian servicemen as quickly as possible to gain full control over Crimea, Ukrainian defense expert Dmitry Tymchuk said.
“Our army and navy units in Crimea are the only element of Ukraine's presence in this region the Kremlin has annexed by force,” Tymchuk, the head of the Kiev-based Center for Military and Political research, said in a phone interview. The Ukrainian troops “are in a very desperate situation now as the political and military leadership of Ukraine still refrains from issuing concrete instructions for their conduct in these dire circumstances.”

Ukraine had managed to save at least half of its navy fleet, including its flag ship Hetman Sahaidachny, which relocated to the ports of Odessa and Mariupol. The seven vessels trapped at Donuzlav Lake may soon fall into Russian hands as the waterway’s access to the Black Sea has been blockaded by the Black Sea Fleet. The Russians sank at least three old vessels there early this month to prevent the Ukrainian ships from leaving, Mazepa said.

Rear Adm. Sergei Gayduk, commander of the Ukrainian navy, was temporarily detained by Russian investigators in Sevastopol on suspicion that he ordered his forces “to open fire against peaceful civilians,” Russian ITAR-TASS new agency reported.

[Updated 10:55 a.m. PDT March 19: Ukraine's acting president, Olexandr Turchinov, was later quoted by the UNIAN news agency as saying that Gayduk was still being held and demanding the release of the admiral and other "hostages."]
A Ukraine marine battalion stationed in the Crimean port of Feodosia demanded instructions from Kiev, UNIAN news agency reported. The marines also demanded guarantees that they would be able to continue their military service in Ukraine proper and in the same unit.
“If this is not done, the consequences may be unpredictable,” the battalion commander’s statement said, suggesting their possible defection.
ALSO:
Navy SEALs seize tanker in illegal sale of Libyan oil
Malaysia flight search expands to 2.2 million square miles
Ukraine's surrounded soldiers in Crimea await their orders
sergei.loiko@latimes.com


Ukraina Kerahkan Militer, Siap Perang Melawan Rusia
Islam Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcevx8x7jh8pwi.rabj.html
Garda Nasional ini akan bertugas melindungi "tempat-tempat strategis" dan membantu memadamkan protes sporadis di kota-kota timur Kharkiv dan Donetsk.
Tentara Ukrainia.jpg
Tentara Ukrainia.jpg

Pemerintah Ukraina tengah menggelar militer darurat dan memanggil tentara cadangan sebagai bagian dari persiapan untuk perang melawan Rusia.

Persiapan itu dilakukan satu hari setelah Crimea memilih untuk memisahkan diri dari Ukraina dan bergabung dengan Rusia.

Parlemen Ukraina pada Selasa, 18/03/14, sepakat untuk mengalokasikan anggaran negara sebesar USD 600 juta untuk membeli senjata, reparasi perangkat keras militer dan meningkatkan latihan dalam tiga bulan mendatang.

Selain itu, Ukraina juga memanggil 40.000 tentara cadangan.

Sejumlah tentara cadangan akan dikerahkan menjadi Garda Nasional baru dalam beberapa hari kedepan dan minggu mendatang.

Garda Nasional ini akan bertugas melindungi "tempat-tempat strategis" dan membantu memadamkan protes sporadis di kota-kota timur Kharkiv dan Donetsk.

Seorang mantan menteri pertahanan Ukraina menyatakan penyesalannya, negaranya kehilangan Crimea.

"Saya dapat memberitahu Anda, kami memiliki mereka, Rusia semestinya tidak memasuki Crimea," kata Anatoliy Hrytsenko mantan Menteri Pertahanan Ukraina dari 2005 sampai 2007.

Anatoliy Hrytsenk juga meminta Amerika Serikat dan pemerintah Eropa untuk mengirimkan kapal perang dan pesawat ke wilayah tersebut.
[IT/r]
Iran: Harga Minyak akan Meroket Jika AS Jatuhkan Sanksi pada Rusia
Islam Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcefx8xzjh8pwi.rabj.html
"Hal ini tidak mungkin terjadi, karena pasar Minyak dunia tidak bisa bertahan tanpa minyak Rusia, tegasnya.
Iran: Harga Minyak akan Meroket Jika AS Jatuhkan Sanksi pada Rusia

Menteri Perminyakan Iran, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh memperingatkan meroketnya harga minyak global jika Amerika Serikat menjatuhkan sanksi pada sektor minyak Rusia sebagai reaksi terhadap pemisahan Crimea dari Ukraina.

"Jika peristiwa dan kasus Rusia semakin serius, harga minyak akan melambung naik, " ujar Zanganeh, Selasa (18/3/14).

Pada hari Senin (17/3), Presiden AS Barack Obama mengeluarkan perintah eksekutif yang memberlakukan sanksi pada 11 individu Rusia-Crimea dan Ukraina yang terlibat dalam Referendum dan situasi di Ukraina.

Obama memerintahkan pembekuan aset para pejabat tersebut atau yang akan memiliki aset di Amerika Serikat. Selain itu, perintah dan sanksi itu juga melarang individu tersebut bepergian ke negaranya.

Namun menurut Zanganeh, AS akan berfikir panjang jika menjatuhkan sanksi terhadap minyak Rusia.

"Hal ini tidak mungkin terjadi, karena pasar Minyak dunia tidak bisa bertahan tanpa minyak Rusia, tegasnya.

Rusia adalah produsen minyak terbesar di dunia. Pada 2012, Rusia menghasilkan $ 160 miliar dari ekspor minyak mentah, BBM serta bahan baku industri ke AS dan seluruh Eropa.

Oleh karena itu AS akan berfikir ulang hilangnya sebagian besar minyak produksi Rusia dari pasar global, ungkapnya.(IT/TGM)

The end of the Qalamoun mini-state

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/end-qalamoun-mini-state

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 17, 2014, shows Syrian pro-government forces and supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hoisting their national flag in the western town of Yabrud.(Photo: AFP-SANA/ HO)

Published Monday, March 17, 2014


The outcome of the war in Qalamoun has now been settled. Though not all battles there have been won, the capture of Yabrud by the Syrian army and Hezbollah on Sunday has dealt a fatal blow to the project for a Qalamoun mini-state.


In terms of geography, the Qalamoun region acts as a link between Damascus and Homs. Qalamoun is also Syria’s foremost gateway to Lebanon. Simultaneously, the Qalamoun mountain range opens up to the boundless Badia, the desert bordering Hama, Aleppo, Raqqa, and Deir al-Zour in the north, Iraq in the east, and the Damascus countryside in the south.


The Syrian opposition’s plan was to extend its control over the Qalamoun Mountains, including both the area east of the Damascus-Homs highway, from northern Dmeir in the Damascus countryside to the southern Homs countryside, and the area west of the highway, from northern Zabadani in the Damascus countryside to south of Qusayr in the Homs countryside. 


The opposition envisioned establishing a mini-state in the form of a horizontal bar extending from Lebanon to Iraq, dividing Syria into two parts: Damascus and south Syria; and Homs and northern/western Syria. Practically, this would have led to Syria falling to the opposition without much trouble. Compared to the effort to control Qalamoun, operations that were previously touted to separate Damascus from Homs, and the Syrian coast from the capital, would have then been a fait accompli. 




But the Syrian army and its allies stood their ground in the Ghouta region of Damascus’s countryside, the agricultural belt surrounding the capital, before the decisive battle in Qusayr. The opposition’s plot and the project for the Qalamoun mini-state began to reel, until it was dealt a deadly blow in Yabrud on Sunday. This, according to field commanders, will lead to “positive aftershocks” throughout the Homs and Damascus regions in the coming months.

But Yabrud and Qalamoun border another area: Lebanon. The first consignments of weapons and fighters sent to the Damascus countryside had come via Lebanon through Qalamoun. The first batch of weapons and fighters to arrive in Homs had crossed Qusayr and Tal Kalakh, coming from the Bekaa and Wadi Khaled. 


But this is only a small part of the story. The success of the mini-state project would have forced the Lebanese to coexist with an emirate stretching from the borders of Akkar in the north to the borders of the Shebaa Farms in the south, under the control of al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, the most formidable faction operating in Qalamoun. Al-Nusra Front is rivaled only by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic Front – which has been engaging in dreadful one-upmanship with al-Nusra Front both in its sectarian conduct and discourse.

The top exports of that emirate to Lebanon were car bombs, the vast majority of which came from Yabrud, prepared by al-Nusra Front, ISIS, and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. But does the end of the battle of Yabrud mean that no more car bombs will be detonated in Lebanon?

No doubt, according to Lebanese security officials, the battle of Yabrud, the dismantling of several terrorist networks in Lebanon, and the security measures enforced in the eastern wilderness regions near Baalbek and Hermel have all helped reduce the ability of terrorist groups to carry out attacks in Lebanon. However, the suicide bombing in Nabi Othman on Sunday proves that the threat remains and will not go away soon.

True, the outcome of the war in Qalamoun has been settled, but battles are ongoing. Rankous, Assal al-Ward, Flita, Ras al-Maara, and Ras al-Ayn in Qalamoun will all see battles or ceasefires in the coming period. Many expect the fighting in Rankous to be very fierce, but that the battles to come will only serve to further weaken the armed opposition. 


As a result, the strongholds these factions used to plan and stage attacks in Lebanon will shrink more and more. This will force terrorist groups to find areas inside Lebanon that they can use to prepare car bombs, which would change the nature of their battle with Lebanese law enforcement agencies. 


What happened in Yabrud on Sunday brought shellshocks for the opposition. A near complete silence prevailed in the ranks of the opposition and its supporters. Only the spokesman for al-Nusra Front in Qalamoun, Abdullah Azzam al-Shami, broke the silence, blaming “traitors” for the defeat, as well as the Syrian army’s firepower and Hezbollah’s capabilities. 


Meanwhile, an opposition source told Al-Akhbar that the opposition groupings based abroad convened a meeting in Istanbul on Sunday, to discuss the outcome of the battle of Yabrud. The meeting was stormy, according to the source, marked by harsh self-criticism, focusing on the dispersion of the fighters, but also the blurry military vision of their political leadership, which distracted the fighters on the ground.

What may be deduced from the chatter coming from the opposition is that they are now convinced that Damascus’s walls are becoming more and more unassailable.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

Iran nuclear deal draws Israeli criticism of US again

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
Israel's war minister has accused the United States of projecting weakness internationally and said Israel could not rely on its main ally to take the lead in confronting Iran over its nuclear program.
Moshe Yaalon, whose remarks were reported in the Haaretz daily on Tuesday, caused friction with the United States only two months ago when he described Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.
His latest comments, confirmed by an Israeli official who was present at lecture Yaalon delivered at Tel Aviv University on Monday, displayed deep disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama's handling of current world issues.
"We had thought it would be the United States that would lead the campaign against Iran," said Yaalon, who pointed to the Ukraine crisis as an example of Washington "showing weakness".
It was unclear from Yaalon's reported remarks where he believed the United States had gone wrong on Ukraine.
Iran and six world powers will try to make headway on the nuclear dispute in talks that started in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western officials hoping to find final agreement over the case.
Angry with the massive progress over Iran’s negotiations with the Western countries over its peaceful nuclear issue, Yaalon said "Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody to look out for us but ourselves."
"Unfortunately, when it comes to negotiating at a Persian bazaar, the Iranians are better," claimed Yaalon.
In the Middle East, Yaalon also said, he had heard "voices of disappointment" over a lack of U.S. support for the foreign backed terrorist groups in the three-year-old conflict in Syria.
And on a recent visit in Asia, he added, he found "disappointment about China getting stronger and the U.S. getting weaker".
He has demanded that any final accord dismantle Tehran's uranium enrichment centrifuges, a position at odds with Obama's suggestion that Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, could be allowed to enrich on a limited basis for civilian purposes.
"Comfortable Westerners prefer to put off confrontation, if possible to next year or the next leadership term. But in the end, it will blow up," Yaalon said, referring to probable final nuclear deal of the West with Iran.
- See more at: http://en.alalam.ir/news/1576966#sthash.eztOVhZU.dpuf

Corn-eating worm evolves to feed on GMO corn designed to kill it

By David Ferguson
Tuesday, March 18, 2014 13:09 EDT
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/18/corn-eating-worm-evolves-to-feed-on-gmo-corn-designed-to-kill-it/
 
'Girl eating corn' [Shutterstock] http://tinyurl.com/nb3e7jf
A voracious crop-destroying pest has evolved to feed upon the very GMO product that was designed to eliminate it. Wired.com reported that the triumph over corn rootworms was one of biotech’s great success stories, saving billions of dollars in crops each year.

So-called Bt corn — named for the Bacillus thuringiensis gene, which killed rootworms, corn borers and other pests — currently makes up more than three quarters of the total corn grown in the U.S., a lack of crop diversity that could spell disaster if the resistant cornworms spread.

The crop itself is not to blame, say scientists, but rather mismanagement by farmers, corporations and lawmakers that has led to the squandering of whatever benefits had been gained by the use of the genetically modified crop.


Aaron Gassman, Iowa State University scientists and lead author of the study “Field-evolved resistance by western corn rootworm to multiple Bacillus thuringiensis toxins in transgenic maize,” which was published in the March 17 PNAS journal, told Wired, “Unless management practices change, it’s only going to get worse. There needs to be a fundamental change in how the technology is used.”


Bt corn was first introduced to the market in 1996. Since then it has proven to be enormously popular and populations of corn rootworms and borers have plummeted in the Midwest where the Bt corn is grown. However, scientists were warning more than a decade ago that problems were looming.

In order to keep the rootworms from developing a resistance to the Bt corn toxin, farmers were told to keep “refuges” of non-Bt corn so that rootworms could grow there unaffected. Those worms were meant to be mated with worms in Bt fields in order to keep the worms from developing an immunity to the GMO corn. 


Scientists proposed to the EPA that farms should consist of at least half non-Bt corn, but these regulations were opposed by the seed companies peddling the GMO corn. Eventually, the EPA set voluntary guidelines of 5 to 10 percent of land left for non-Bt corn.

Many farmers didn’t even follow that recommendation. 


Now, rootworms are back, returning in 2009 to cornfields in northeastern Iowa. Those worms had become resistant to one species of the three available Bt corn types. More reports followed from Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Farmers are going to have to return to the pesticides they abandoned in order to fight the rootworms. They will most likely to continue to use the Bt corn because it repels other pests, but the reintroduction of pesticides promises to undo the environmental benefits that GMO crops were supposed to produce.

Scientists wrote to the EPA in 2012 about this problem, saying, “When insecticides overlay transgenic technology, the economic and environmental advantages of rootworm-­protected corn quickly disappear.”

[Image: "Girl Eating Corn" via Shutterstock]

Iran nuclear deal draws Israeli criticism of US again

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
Israel's war minister has accused the United States of projecting weakness internationally and said Israel could not rely on its main ally to take the lead in confronting Iran over its nuclear program.
Moshe Yaalon, whose remarks were reported in the Haaretz daily on Tuesday, caused friction with the United States only two months ago when he described Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.
His latest comments, confirmed by an Israeli official who was present at lecture Yaalon delivered at Tel Aviv University on Monday, displayed deep disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama's handling of current world issues.
"We had thought it would be the United States that would lead the campaign against Iran," said Yaalon, who pointed to the Ukraine crisis as an example of Washington "showing weakness".
It was unclear from Yaalon's reported remarks where he believed the United States had gone wrong on Ukraine.
Iran and six world powers will try to make headway on the nuclear dispute in talks that started in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western officials hoping to find final agreement over the case.
Angry with the massive progress over Iran’s negotiations with the Western countries over its peaceful nuclear issue, Yaalon said "Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody to look out for us but ourselves."
"Unfortunately, when it comes to negotiating at a Persian bazaar, the Iranians are better," claimed Yaalon.
In the Middle East, Yaalon also said, he had heard "voices of disappointment" over a lack of U.S. support for the foreign backed terrorist groups in the three-year-old conflict in Syria.
And on a recent visit in Asia, he added, he found "disappointment about China getting stronger and the U.S. getting weaker".
He has demanded that any final accord dismantle Tehran's uranium enrichment centrifuges, a position at odds with Obama's suggestion that Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, could be allowed to enrich on a limited basis for civilian purposes.
"Comfortable Westerners prefer to put off confrontation, if possible to next year or the next leadership term. But in the end, it will blow up," Yaalon said, referring to probable final nuclear deal of the West with Iran.
- See more at: http://en.alalam.ir/news/1576966#sthash.eztOVhZU.dpuf


Iran nuclear deal draws Israeli criticism of US again

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
Israel's war minister has accused the United States of projecting weakness internationally and said Israel could not rely on its main ally to take the lead in confronting Iran over its nuclear program.
Moshe Yaalon, whose remarks were reported in the Haaretz daily on Tuesday, caused friction with the United States only two months ago when he described Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.
His latest comments, confirmed by an Israeli official who was present at lecture Yaalon delivered at Tel Aviv University on Monday, displayed deep disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama's handling of current world issues.
"We had thought it would be the United States that would lead the campaign against Iran," said Yaalon, who pointed to the Ukraine crisis as an example of Washington "showing weakness".
It was unclear from Yaalon's reported remarks where he believed the United States had gone wrong on Ukraine.
Iran and six world powers will try to make headway on the nuclear dispute in talks that started in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western officials hoping to find final agreement over the case.
Angry with the massive progress over Iran’s negotiations with the Western countries over its peaceful nuclear issue, Yaalon said "Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody to look out for us but ourselves."
"Unfortunately, when it comes to negotiating at a Persian bazaar, the Iranians are better," claimed Yaalon.
In the Middle East, Yaalon also said, he had heard "voices of disappointment" over a lack of U.S. support for the foreign backed terrorist groups in the three-year-old conflict in Syria.
And on a recent visit in Asia, he added, he found "disappointment about China getting stronger and the U.S. getting weaker".
He has demanded that any final accord dismantle Tehran's uranium enrichment centrifuges, a position at odds with Obama's suggestion that Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, could be allowed to enrich on a limited basis for civilian purposes.
"Comfortable Westerners prefer to put off confrontation, if possible to next year or the next leadership term. But in the end, it will blow up," Yaalon said, referring to probable final nuclear deal of the West with Iran.
- See more at: http://en.alalam.ir/news/1576966#sthash.eztOVhZU.dpuf

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