American Special Forces deployed to Iraq: US general

US re-deploy's its military forces in Iraq.

Source: Press TV

The American military has recently deployed a unit of US Army Special Operations soldiers to Iraq in what the US claims is an effort to offer advice on counter terrorism and intelligence.

The United States is again pushing for an agreement with the Iraqi government to redeploy small units of American soldiers to Iraq on military training missions and also to accelerate weapon sales to the country in a move to secure the oil-rich Persian Gulf nation as an ally, said the American commander in charge of the effort, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, the New York Times reported this week.

According to Caslen, the United States is encountering difficulties in the delivery of weapons desired by Iraq, particularly anti-aircraft systems, so that it can prevent Baghdad from seeking required arms from other countries, including Russia.

Iraq, according to the report, is negotiating with Russia to purchase air defense systems that could be delivered much faster than those acquired from the United States.

Meanwhile, Washington is reportedly providing Baghdad with refurbished anti-aircraft guns, which would not be delivered until June.

The US military pulled out of Iraq at the end of 2011 after intense talks to maintain American troop presence in the country collapsed since the Iraqis refused to agree to provide legal immunities for the occupying forces.

Lobbying campaign takes Iranian dissident group off US terror list

 

A supporter of the Iranian opposition group based abroad, the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (Mujahedeen-e-Khalq) shouts slogans as celebrate the removal of the group from the US black list of designated terror groups in Washington, DC on September 28, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mark Garten)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/us-terror-list-mek-iran-269/

A group with a history of bombings and murders, including the killing of US citizens, which also happens to oppose the current Iranian government, has paid its way off of a US blacklist, Lajos Szasdi, an international affairs analyst told RT.

­The US Secretary of State announced the removal of the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MKO) from its list of terrorist organizations on Friday. Originally one of the main participants of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, it is now in opposition to the government in Tehran, and with the help of Israeli special forces carries out “assassinations of nuclear scientists in Iran and obtains information on the Iranian nuclear program,” Szasdi says.

RT: Why has Washington chosen now to remove Mujahadeen-e-Khalq from its list of terrorist organizations?

Lajos Szasdi: This group, the MKO, has been apparently very successful in gaining the support of both the Republican and Democratic parties, civilians, as well as retired members of the military, senior officers included. So apparently, there has been a very successful lobbying campaign before the government to overturn the government’s decision, made in 1997, to place the MKO on the terrorist list of the Treasury Department.

There is also another issue. Washington might find this group highly useful. It seems that they have made use of it since 2007, in trying to destabilize the internal situation in Iran, and apparently with the cooperation of the Israeli secret service, the Mossad. They have used this group to conduct, it is said by some authors, assassinations of nuclear scientists in Iran and obtain information on the Iranian nuclear program. And they've carried out some acts of sabotage – they caused the explosion of a missile factory as well. There is some strategic interest in terms of current and ongoing, bad relationships, to say the least, to put it mildly, between the United States on one side and Iran on the other.

And this group has also been carrying out a highly successful lobbying campaign, which is very interesting because according to some sectors in the press, if you spoke for ten minutes in favor of the group in a speech, you could have gotten twenty thousand dollars. And they have been paying for speeches defending their cause, so they would be removed from the list of being terrorists, between ten and fifty thousand dollars. So, it is quite interesting.

RT: Do you think this will influence the upcoming Iranian elections, is that the intention?

LS: The Iranian candidates will try to portray this event, the fact that the US government removed this group from the list of terrorists … it would be a further justification of any hardening of the position that the United States has no interest in finding a negotiated solution, but on the contrary – they are supporting its enemies.

It is going to, in any case, work to the detriment of the relationship between the West and Iran, and in particular the United States and Iran. It is going to favor taking hardening positions towards the West and the United States. I think it is quite inevitable in light of the rhetoric coming from Washington, alongside that coming from Tel Aviv regarding Iran and the Iranian nuclear program. It might not make much difference, but it certainly is going to be ammunition for those that would try to suppress the idea of any dialogue with Washington, because after all, Washington is not offering any olive branch for such a kind of dialogue.

UN raises alarm on antibiotic resistance

Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary general

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173380.html

The UN secretary general has warned against antimicrobial resistance, stressing the need for the 'urgent' addressing of the issue through concerted international efforts.

In his message for the World Health Day on 7 April, Ban Ki-moon warned of the increase in microbial resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial medications across the globe.

The UN chief praised the health improvements caused by the discovery of the antibiotics and the availability of antibacterial medications for poorer communities over the past two decades, which have helped fighting major killers, including TB, HIV, malaria, pneumonia and diarrheal diseases.

However, he expressed great concern about threats caused to these improvements due to the emergence of drug-resistant organisms.

“Antimicrobial resistance is a natural phenomenon, but it is exacerbated by the widespread use, overuse and misuse of medicines, and the spread of resistant infections in healthcare and agriculture. Trade, travel and migration are increasing the spread of these organisms across communities and borders,” ban said.

“Some of the medicines that saved our parents and grandparents are already unusable today. Drug resistance imposes huge costs on health systems and is taking a growing - and unnecessary - toll in lives, threatening to roll back much of the progress we have made towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals,” he added.

Moreover, the current problem may undermine the gains of other modern medicines and technologies used to fight non-communicable diseases. Perhaps most disturbing is that the pipeline for new antimicrobial medicines to replace those that have been lost has nearly dried up, Ban further warned.

“The World Health Organization has selected "Combat Antimicrobial Resistance: No Action Today, No Cure Tomorrow" as the theme for this year's World Health Day.

“Today, WHO is calling for action to raise accountability and halt the spread of drug resistance through a six-point policy package: joint planning; surveillance; drug regulation; rational use of medicines; infection prevention and control; innovation and research,” the UN chief urged, adding “Governments, industry and all stakeholders must answer the call. Global health and untold millions of lives are at risk.”

New superbug blight on Britain

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138323&sectionid=3510210

A new superbug resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics has travelled back to the UK in patients who underwent surgery in India and Pakistan, experts warn.

According to a study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, the multi-drug resistant bacteria has been tracked in patients returning to the UK after recieving cosmetic surgery, cancer treatment and transplants in Asia.

The NDM-1- (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1) making bacteria was found attached to strains such as Klebsiella pneumonia and E-Coli, making them highly resistant to nearly all antibiotics, even carbapenems -- the most powerful class of antibiotics.

"The fear would be that it gets into a strain of bacteria that is very good at being transmitted between patients," said David Livermore director of antibiotic resistance monitoring at the UK Health Protection Agency and a study co-author.

He also warned that NDM-1 may also attach to antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, making them harder to eliminate through conventional antibiotic treatment.

While only 50 cases have been diagnosed with the condition in the UK, officials fear it may spread worldwide as similar cases have been reported in the US, Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Netherlands.

Patient-to-patient transmission has been spotted in UK hospitals, raising fears of the rapid spread of the bacteria that would make the condition almost impossible to treat.

Scientists believe close international monitoring and surveillance as well as new drugs are needed to fight the disease and preventing it from becoming a global health concern.