Pakistan’s anti-drone campaigner Imran Khan removed from US airline for interrogation

 

Pakistani politician Imran Khan (AFP Photo / A Majeed)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/us-immigration-drone-strikes-398/

US immigration authorities have taken Pakistan’s former cricket superstar-turned-politician Imran Khan off a flight to New York and interrogated. Khan is known for his anti-drone campaigning.

Khan, who is now a popular political figure in Pakistan and ahead of the Pakistan Movement for Justice party (PTI), was removed from an American Airlines flight heading from Canada to New York and interrogated. Immigration officials asked him whether he was planning to protest in the US, as well as demanding to know his views on drone strikes and jihad.

Earlier this month, the former cricket star led thousands of Pakistani protesters, together with some US anti-war advocates, on a march from Islamabad to the tribal region of South Waziristan in opposition to US drone strikes. About 15,000 of his supporters joined him in the high-profile march, which focused attention on the strikes that have killed large numbers of civilians. Islamabad recently said that 80 percent of drone-related deaths were civilians.

“I was taken off the plane and interrogated by US Immigration in Canada on my views on drones. My stance is known. Drone attacks must stop,” Khan wrote in a tweet after being questioned on Friday. Khan had been on his way to the US to give a speech and attend a fundraiser organized by his political party, which the delay caused him to miss.

“Missed flight and sad to miss the fundraising lunch in NY but nothing will change my stance,” he tweeted.

Furthermore, Khan said the official who was questioning him did not seem to understand drone warfare himself. He also expressed confusion over why he was granted a visa to visit the US given if his stance on drones was a problem.

Khan heads a political party that was founded in 1996 and ignored for years. The PTI was called “Pakistan’s one-man party” by the US Department of State. Today, it is rapidly growing, with electable officials joining. The Pakistani leader believes the War on Terror “has been devastating for Pakistan,” he said in an interview with Julian Assange in June.

“Basically, our army was killing our own people,” he said.

He is an avid opponent to US presence on Pakistani soil – even when it came down to the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011. The US mission to kill the former terrorist leader in Pakistan shows that “our ally did not trust us,” the politician said.

Rather than employ Pakistan as “a hired gun, being paid to kill America’s enemies,” Khan believes the US should trust that there will not be terrorism coming out of Pakistan.

Several Canadian commentators have suggested that groups protesting Khan’s entrance to the US may have influenced Immigration to pull him off the flight. The American Islamic Leadership Coalition last week requested that Hilary Clinton attempt to revoke his visa due to what they believe are sympathetic views towards the Taliban.

“The US Embassy made a significant error in granting this Islamist leader a visa,” the group said in a statement reported by the Sun. “Granting individuals like Khan access to the US to fundraise is against the interest of the people of Pakistan and the national security interests of the US.”

Ali Zaidi, a senior PTI party leader, demanded an apology from the US government for removing Khan from the plane. So far, no apologies have been made, and Immigration officials have only restated their policies.

“Our dual mission is to facilitate travel in the United States while we secure our borders, our people, and our visitors from those that would do us harm like terrorists and terrorist weapons, criminals, and contraband,” Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Joanne Ferreira told the Toronto Sun.

Horrors of war US UK munitions cause birth defects in Iraq

 

Iraqi women wait with their sick children at a Baghdad hospital.(AFP Photo / Karim Sahib)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/birth-defects-iraq-report-385/

US and UK weapons ammunition were linked to heart defects, brain dysfunctions and malformed limbs, according to a recent study. The report revealed a shocking rise in birth defects in Iraqi children conceived after the US invasion.

Titled ‘Metal Contamination and the Epidemic of Congenital Birth Defects in Iraqi Cities,’ the study was published by the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. It revealed a connection between military activity in the country and increased numbers of birth defects and miscarriages.

The report, which can be found here, also contains graphic images of Iraqi children born with birth defects. (The images were not published on RT due to their disturbing content.) It documents 56 families in Fallujah, which was invaded by US troops in 2004, and examines births in Basrah in southern Iraq, which was attacked by British forces in 2003.

The study concluded that US and UK ammunition is responsible for high rates of miscarriages, toxic levels of lead and mercury contamination and spiraling numbers of birth defects, which ranged from congenital heart defects to brain dysfunctions and malformed limbs.

Fallujah, around 40 miles west of Baghdad, was at the epicenter of these various health risks. The city was first invaded by US Marines in the spring of 2004, and then again 7 months later. Some of the heaviest artillery in the US arsenal was deployed during the attack, including phosphorus shells.

A round lights up the night-sky before a U.S. bombardment over the Iraqi city of Falluja at the beginning, November 8, 2004.(Reuters / Eliana Aponte)

Shocking findings

Between 2007 and 2010 in Fallujah, more than half of all babies surveyed were born with birth defects. Before the war, this figure was around one in 10. Also, over 45 percent of all pregnancies surveyed ended in miscarriage in 2005 and 2006, compared to only 10 percent before the invasion.

In Basrah’s Maternity Hospital, more than 20 babies out of 1,000 were born with defects in 2003, 17 times higher than the figure recorded in the previous decade.

Overall, the study found that the number of babies in the region born with birth defects increased by more than 60 percent (37 out of every 1,000 are now born with defects) in the past seven years. This rise was linked to an increased exposure to metals released by the bombs and bullets used over the past decade.

Hair samples of the population of Fallujah revealed levels of lead in children with birth defects five times higher than in other children, and mercury levels six times higher. Basrah children with birth defects had three times more lead in their teeth than children living in areas not struck by the artillery.

The intense fighting in Iraq led by the US and UK is not the only thing that harmed children in cities like Fallujah and Basrah – a new study revealed a shocking rise in birth defects in children conceived after the invasion. (AFP Photo / Odd Andersen)

The study found a "footprint of metal in the population,” Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, one of the lead authors of the report said. Savabieasfahani is an environmental toxicologist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health.

"In utero exposure to pollutants can drastically change the outcome of an otherwise normal pregnancy. The metal levels we see in the Fallujah children with birth defects clearly indicates that metals were involved in manifestation of birth defects in these children," she said.

The study's preliminary findings, released in 2010, led to an in-depth inquiry on Fallujah by the World Health Organization (WHO), the results of which will be released next month. The inquiry is expected to show an increase in birth defects following the Iraq War.

According to the WHO, a pregnant woman can be exposed to lead or mercury through the air, water and soil. The woman can then pass the exposure to her unborn child through her bones, and high levels of toxins can damage kidneys and brains, and cause blindness, seizures, muteness, lack of coordination and even death.

US and UK 'unaware' of rise in birth defects

US Defense Department responded to the report by claiming that there are no official reports indicating a connection between military action and birth defects in Iraq.

"We are not aware of any official reports indicating an increase in birth defects in Al Basrah or Fallujah that may be related to exposure to the metals contained in munitions used by the US or coalition partners,” a US Defense Department spokesperson told the Independent. “We always take very seriously public health concerns about any population now living in a combat theatre. Unexploded ordnance, including improvised explosive devises, are a recognized hazard.”

An UK government spokesperson also said there was no "reliable scientific or medical evidence to confirm a link between conventional ammunition and birth defects in Basrah. All ammunition used by UK armed forces falls within international humanitarian law and is consistent with the Geneva Convention."

 

Saudi Arabia mulls buying nuclear weapons from Pakistan: Report

Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf meets with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud at Royal Palace

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/26/252852/s-arabia-mulls-buying-pakistani-nukes/

A report has unveiled that Saudi officials are trying to strike “a secret deal” with Pakistan to buy nuclear weapons from the Asian country.

Citing the recent meeting between King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in Jeddah, United Press International (UPI) said that “these events heightened speculation Riyadh is trying to strike a secret deal with Islamabad to acquire nuclear weapons.”
The meeting came as Riyadh has started sending its special forces to Pakistan for military training.

Pentagon: US-Pakistani talks stall as no agreement reached

Pakistani protesters hold burning US and NATO flags rallying against US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal belts during a demonstration in Multan on June 4, 2012. (AFP Photo/S.S Mirza)

Source: Russia Today
http://www.rt.com/news/pakistan-us-talks-stall-586/

US negotiators are leaving Pakistan with no agreement on a supply route to NATO troops in Afghanistan have been reached.

Part of the US team left Islamabad over the weekend and the rest will leave shortly. However, they will be prepared to return on short notice if circumstances change, Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Monday.

"We will continue to work through the (ground supply route) matter with Pakistan. And the members of the team that are leaving, or have, left are prepared to return to Islamabad at any moment to continue discussions in person," Little said.

Senior Pentagon official, Peter Lavoy, held talks with senior Pakistani officials over the weekend, but he failed to meet with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, chief of the Pakistani army, Pentagon said.

Little added that the withdrawal was not imposed by Pakistan saying that the team, which has spent six weeks in Islamabad needs a rest.

Ties between the long-time partners started souring in 2011 from assassination of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Pakistan considered that attack “violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Over the years, the US military mission in Pakistan’s little-controlled tribal areas was criticized for indiscriminate killing of civilians along with militants. The culmination of the conflict was a US cross-border attack that mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November.

In response to the strike Islamabad closed its territories for the US which actively used Pakistani soil to deploy supplies and troops.

In addition to banned routes, Pakistan also denied the US the use of its Shamsi Air base in south of the country.

In March 2012 Pakistani parliamentary commission demanded an end to American drone strikes on the country’s territory as a condition for renewing Pakistani relations with the US.

The withdrawal of US negotiators comes just days after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the US was “reaching the limits of patience”.

Worsened relations between Washington and Islamabad significantly complicates NATO’s military mission in Afghanistan. The alliance had to turn to Afghanistan’s northern neighbors. However, alternative routes – from the north through Russia and Central Asian countries – are about two times more expensive than shipping directly through Pakistan.

Possibly that is why Pentagon says securing a deal with Pakistan remains a priority for the US and NATO.

Killing Pakistanis by US drone attacks violates human rights: Pillay

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/07/245041/us-killing-of-pakistanis-is-illegal-un/

A senior United Nations human rights official says the killing of civilians in non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes by the US assassination drones in Pakistan is illegal and in violation of human rights.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay made the remarks on Thursday at the end of a four-day visit to Pakistan, where more than 150 people have died in twenty US drone attacks since the beginning of the year.

“Drone attacks do raise serious questions about compliance with international law,” she added.

The commissioner noted that in her opinion “the indiscriminate killings and injuries of civilians in any circumstances” was in violation of international norms of human rights.

Pillay also called for a UN investigation into civilian casualties, which she said were difficult to track.

“I suggested to the government that they invite the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Summary or Arbitrary Executions and he will be able to investigate some of the incidents,” she said.

Washington claims its drone strikes target militants, though casualty figures clearly indicate that Pakistani civilians are the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned attacks.

On Tuesday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the US Charge d'affaires Richard Hoagland over Washington’s continued drone attacks saying they violate Pakistan sovereignty.

However, the US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Washington would continue its drone attacks in the country despite complaints from Islamabad.

Panetta admits that US is at war in Pakistan

 


Leon Panetta (AFP Photo / Pool / Jim Watson)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/news/panetta-us-war-pakistan-225/

Hold the phone, anti-war activists. President Obama says that American troops are done with Operation Iraqi Freedom and their episode in Afghanistan is almost over. Now, though, it looks like the US is calling its operation in Pakistan an actual war.

Only one day after American officials announced that US troops executed an alleged al-Qaeda higher-up with a drone strike in Pakistan, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters on Wednesday that America’s fair-weather ally is indeed serving as a battlefront in the War on Terror.

“We are fighting a war in the FATA, we are fighting a war against terrorism,” Secretary Panetta said this week. Panetta was referring to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a region in northwest Pakistan that is currently the scene of American airstrikes.

Since well before the top-secret raid and execution of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden brought US troops into Pakistan, the American military has tried time and time again to sugarcoat its activities overseas. Despite being an at-one-time top ally of the United States, Pakistani officials have continuously condemned the US over Uncle Sam’s continuing air strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. Now after years of trying to re-develop those deteriorating ties with Pakistan, the United States’ top military man flatly called his country’s operations in FATA an actual war.

To put it simply, this might not be good news for anyone.

While Panetta’s comment came only a day after the Pentagon confirmed that al-Qaeda’s “number-two in command,” Abu Yahya al-Libi, was executed with a drone strike in the FATA region, it also coincides — coincidently — with a statement made by another former CIA official. Robert Greiner, the one-time head of the CIA’s counterterrorism center, tells reporters this week that America’s mishandling of drone attacks is creating a safe haven for terrorists.

In a report published this week by the UK’s Guardian, Greiner says that ongoing attacks that target a broad and often unspecific range of targets is causing anti-American sentiments to increase faster than the US can actually combat terror. After the US has increased its air strikes in locales such as Pakistan and Yemen, says Greiner, insurgency has only become more rampant.

Because the Obama administration has gone on the record to say that all military-age men in strike zone are considered combatants, Greiner believes that unrest with the US is adding up at a rate that repeated strikes won’t help.

"We have gone a long way down the road of creating a situation where we are creating more enemies than we are removing from the battlefield. We are already there with regards to Pakistan and Afghanistan," says Greiner.

"That brings you to a place where young men, who are typically armed, are in the same area and may hold these militants in a certain form of high regard. If you strike them indiscriminately you are running the risk of creating a terrific amount of popular anger. They have tribes and clans and large families. Now all of a sudden you have a big problem … I am very concerned about the creation of a larger terrorist safe haven in Yemen”

US assassination drone strikes kill 16 in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani protesters shout slogans while burning a US flag during a demonstration in Multan against the US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal belt, May 25, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/04/244514/us-terror-drones-kill-in-nw-pakistan/

As many as 16 people have been killed and four others injured in an airstrike carried out by US assassination drones on the northwestern Pakistan tribal area of North Waziristan.

Early Monday morning, the unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on a residential building and a vehicle in the Mir Ali area, 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, near the Afghan border , killing 16 people and injuring four more.

The Monday airstrike is the third attack in the area over the past three days, during which time a total of 30 people were killed in the raids.

Four drones were reportedly hovering over the tribal belt after the attacks.

More than 150 people have died in 20 drone attacks in Pakistan's northwest tribal region since the beginning of this year.

Despite the Pakistani government’s repeated calls on Washington to end the drone attacks, the US has increased the non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes

Waziristan and other tribal regions in northwestern Pakistan have been frequently targeted by US drones over the past few years.

Washington has been using its pilotless drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia and claims that it is targeting militants, but civilians are the main victims in the attacks.

Figures show that the American drone strikes killed at least 212 people in Yemen and Pakistan in the month of May.

The aerial attacks were initiated by former US President George W. Bush but have been escalated under President Barack Obama.

Pakistan reopens NATO supply routes to Afghanistan

Trucks carrying NATO supplies are seen parked at Pakistan’s Torkham border crossing. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/05/19/241933/pakistan-us-supply-trucks-afghanistan/

Pakistan has allowed four trucks containing office supplies for the US Embassy in Kabul to cross into Afghanistan, which is the first time the supply routes have been opened since Islamabad closed them six months ago.

Pakistani officials, speaking condition of anonymity, said that the four trucks recently crossed Pakistan's Torkham border into Afghanistan, AFP reported on Friday.

"I can confirm that three trucks have gone to Afghanistan and there are also reports about the crossing of the fourth one on Friday," said one of the officials.

Islamabad closed the border crossings used to transfer NATO supplies to landlocked Afghanistan in November 2011, after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in US-led airstrikes on two checkpoints on the Afghan border.

Pakistan has called on the United States to apologize for the November attack, but Washington has refused to do so.

Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has left the country and is traveling to the US at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to attend the May 20-21 NATO summit in Chicago, during which he will discuss future ties with NATO countries.

Russia calls to speed up India and Pakistan joining SCO

Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states pose for a group photo before a meeting in Beijing, May 11, 2012 (Reuters / Petar Kujundzic)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/politics/russia-sco-pakistan-india-lavrov-076/

In an effort to add some muscle to the regional economic bloc, Russia is looking to expedite India and Pakistan's membership process into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said delaying the decision on the accession of India and Pakistan was "counter-productive." He made his comments while taking part in a meeting of foreign ministers of SCO member states in Beijing on Friday.

"We should take an active part in all international discussions on Afghanistan, coordinating our positions and stressing the SCO's readiness to contribute to efforts by the international community aimed at the political and economic revival of Afghanistan," Lavrov said.

The SCO, which was officially established in 2001, includes Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan presently have observer status, while Afghanistan and Turkmenistan attend SCO meetings as guest nations.

Lavrov said that an international conference on Afghanistan will take place in the Afghan capital of Kabul on June 14.

The acting minister stressed that granting SCO observer status to Afghanistan would help achieve these goals.

China has held the organization's rotating presidency since August 1, 2011

Pakistan's Supreme Court convicts Gilani of contempt

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (C) waves upon his arrival at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on February 13, 2012.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/238157.html

Pakistani Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani has been convicted of contempt of court for refusing to reopen old corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

After a three-month trial, the country’s Supreme Court on Thursday found the premier guilty for failing to follow its order to write to the authorities in Switzerland and ask them to reopen graft cases against Zardari, AFP reported.

Gilani denies that he was in contempt for failing to reopen the cases due to the fact that Zardari, who also rejects the corruption charges, enjoys immunity as the country's president.

The Supreme Court, however, spared Gilani a prison term in a case that has sparked political tensions in the country.

His lawyer says the premier would appeal the verdict, which means a further delay for any action that could see Gilani lose his job.

The Pakistani prime minister arrived at the court in the capital, Islamabad, along with members of his cabinet earlier in the day.

The embattled premier left the court while smiling and waving to his supporters.

The government alleges that the judges are attempting to bring down the president and the prime minster.

India tests first nuclear-capable ICBM (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/india-firses-intercontinental-missile-426/

India has test-launched its first long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, significantly upgrading the emerging Asian nation’s military capabilities. It has the capacity to target major Chinese cities and Europe.

The Agni-V missile has a range of 5,000 km and is able of carrying a 1.5 ton nuclear warhead. It can also be used to launch satellites into orbit. India’s military reportedly spent US$486 million on building the ballistic missile which stands at 17.5 meters high and weighs in at 50 tons.

According to Indian media the missile was launched just after 8am local time from WheelerIsland off India’s east coast. It rose to an altitude of 600 kilometers and successfully completed the three stages of its flight before releasing its payload.

The Agni-V will undergo four or five more trials and is expected to join India’s military arsenal before 2015.

The government had earlier hailed the missile project as a major step towards regional dominance, counterbalancing China.

“India has today become a nation with the capability to develop, produce, build long-range ballistic missiles and today we are among the six countries who have this capability," said Vijay Saraswat, head of India's Defense Research and Development Organization.

It was originally planned to test-fire the missile on Wednesday, but the launch was delayed due to weather conditions.

India has dramatically increased its military budget by 66 percent over the last decade, investing almost $49 billion in 2011. While China, which India regards as its most significant regional threat spent around $142 billion last year.

In 2010, India successfully launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-II, which has a range of more than 2,000 km.

Only the United States, Russia, China, France and the UK currently possess operational intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Political analyst, Professor Sreeram Chaulia believes India’s new capabilities will certainly help to keep a balance of power in Asia.

“India feels that it is in a neighborhood where it cannot take anybody’s intensions for granted, and therefore it needs to help itself through these kinds of nuclear tests,” he said.

He pointed out that India felt vulnerable, especially with regard to China, and while the two may have a smooth relationship economically, “there are tensions and there are lingering mistrusts that go back over fifty years.”

Deepak Tripathi, a journalist and expert on Asia added that concern about another neighbor, Pakistan, is on the table as well: “The aim is to stay ahead of Pakistan, but as close behind China as possible.”

An important aim for India with this launch is also to be taken more seriously on a global scale, Tripathi stressed.

Thousands of Pakistanis attend anti-US rally

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/236466.html

An alliance of around two dozen political parties gathered in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday for a demonstration against the United States.

The parties resolved to launch a movement to push the Pakistani government to cut off its ties with the U.S.

Thousands of activists and supporters from various Pakistani parties turned up at the Defense of Pakistan Council Conference, waving flags for their respective parties.

Pakistan's parliament recently unanimously approved new guidelines for the country in its troubled relationship with the U.S., a decision that could pave the way for the reopening of supply lines to U.S.-led troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

The strategic routes have been closed down since last November, when a U.S. airstrike left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead.

The party chiefs at the rally were unequivocal in their condemnation of the U.S., lashing out at the Pakistani government as well for following the American line. AP

FACTS & FIGURES

Killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers back in November sparked the worst diplomatic crisis between Islamabad and Washington over the past decades.

Pentagon claims the soldiers were killed because of firing at a U.S. helicopter. However, Islamabad has firmly rejected the claim, saying the attack was premeditated.

The attack prompted Pakistani officials to close a U.S. base in the country which was used for carrying out assassination drone strikes in northwestern tribal regions. Pakistan has also shut down a key supply line for U.S.-led in Afghanistan.

Pakistan president in India on rare visit

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235151.html

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has travelled to India for a private visit, marking the first such trip by a Pakistani head of state in seven years.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to host a lunch in honor of Zardari in his residence in the capital New Delhi on Sunday, before the Pakistani president heads to the shrine of a revered Sufi saint at Ajmer in Rajasthan state.

Although the visit is a private one, there is a hope it could boost the economic ties between the two nations.

However, little progress is expected to be made on sensitive issues such as the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which has been the topic of dispute since 1947.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of which were over the disputed Kashmir region.

The nuclear-armed rivals have been making gradual progress toward normalizing relations. Bilateral ties suffered a major blow following the 2008 Mumbai attacks which India blames on Pakistan.

Zardari’s visit is the first such trip made to India by a Pakistani leader since former President Pervez Musharraf made an official visit to New Delhi in 2005.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said earlier that Zardari is expected to formally invite Singh to Pakistan during his Sunday visit.

The Pakistani chief executive is scheduled to return to Islamabad in the evening.

US: Turning war-fear into warfare

U.S. Military Academy cadets wave a flag in the stands prior to the 112th Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/america-warfare-militarized-society-251/

Ever since its creation, the US has had a role to play in combat operations worldwide. Today the country’s public opinion is dominated by warfare, making American society all-too-easily manipulated and turned against practically any country.

The US has a strong record of persuading the public that war is the only way.

A military industrial complex worth billions of dollars is largely America’s driving force. Deeply rooted in the system, it would serve no purpose if there was no one to fight.

“If there were no more enemies left, there would be a loss of a sense of mission,” anti-war activist and journalist Don Bebar told RT.

Serving Americans are on permanent stand-by to deploy to battle zones on command.

“The US army flag has 183 campaign ribbons on it. Those 183 ribbons each represent wars,” Iraq war veteran Matthis Chiroux from New York shared with RT.

“When you compare that to the 236 years that we’ve actually been around as a country, you’re talking about a war on average of once every year and three months,” he calculated.

As a consequence of the American bellicosity in general, Matthis Chiroux is now soothing his nerves in company with 170,000 American soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

The US always has a bone to pick with one enemy after another. For nearly half a century it was the Soviet Union.

“The communist threat was the most useful enemy. Where legitimate, and where completely fantastical, it was always available as a global conspiracy against which to justify anything,” Roots Action campaigner David Swanson told RT.

With the Cold War declared over, the list keeps expanding to smaller antagonists.

So it was with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1991, when then President George H. W. Bush Sr. announced that “Allied forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.”

Or with the former Yugoslavia, to which former President Bill Clinton signed a sentence in 1999 by announcing that the American Air Force was conducting “Air strikes against Serbian forces.”

Then it was ex-President George W. Bush, who was let off the leash after 9/11 terror attacks and announced a global War on Terror symbolized by Al-Qaeda. He started by invading Afghanistan in 2001 and continued with the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In 2003, the US Air Force was “Striking selective targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein’s ability to wage war,” announced George W. Bush, meaning that waging wars is an exclusive privilege of the chosen mighty ones.

Ultimately, it has been current President Barack Obama, who was elected on promises to end wars, but now looks forward to military conflict with Iran after lending a hand in toppling the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. As in previous cases, last spring he made a characteristic “We hit Gaddafi’s air defenses” statement on the American TV.

With a defense budget that surpasses the military expenditure of all other countries combined, no other nation drums up war as consistently as America.

“While people are still responding and recovering from the violence that’s been committed in one place, or even in the same place, we’re launching new operations and more atrocities in different parts of the world,” acknowledged war correspondent Keith Harmon Snow.

So Fox News cannot but reiterate that Iran is the biggest threat, Syria is a minor threat, Russia is a traditional threat and China is an emerging threat.

That makes America's top brass state that a strike on Tehran is in the planning stages.

It also makes the US President Obama latest quest for diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program look derisive in the face of a pending military confrontation.

Year in, year out, Americans are convinced that the US has to remain on the defensive.

“We’re petrified of death by terrorism. Shoot, I think a lot of Americans wish we’d spend more money on war,” veteran Matthis Chiroux confessed.

Finding the next target is never difficult.

Campaigner David Swanson says “We are inventing the nation of Iran as an enemy, as a threat to the United States, as a possessor of nuclear weapons it does not possess, a nation that has not attacked another in literally centuries, and has no capability or desire to attack ours.”

RT's Anastasia Churkina asked people on the streets of New York “Which country is the US going to be in a war with next?”

The most common answer she got was “Iran.”

The US has been picking and choosing which countries to intervene in for centuries. As the list of nations the US loves to hate expands, the concept that no war at all is also an option seems to have been forgotten.

US terror drones kill 35 in Yemen, Pakistan

A US Predator drone firing a Hellfire missile (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230868.html

Thirty-five people have been killed in the latest non-UN-sanctioned US assassination drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.

On Friday, US drones fired several missiles targeting areas in Yemen's southeastern province of al-Bayda, killing 20 people, while 15 people were killed in attacks in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a local security official said that the number of casualties announced in the Jabra area of Yemen’s al-Bayda governorate was based on an initial security report from the targeted area.

The official added that more than two US drones were still striking several areas in three villages outside al-Bayda city.

In Pakistan, at least 15 people were killed and three were injured in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.

Some sources said missiles fired from the US aircraft landed on a vehicle, while others said they targeted a house.

Dozens of people have lost their lives in CIA-operated assassination drone attacks in Pakistan since the beginning of 2012.

Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants crossing the Afghanistan border, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned strikes.

Pakistanis have held many demonstrations to condemn the United States’ violations of their national sovereignty.

NATO withdraws Afghanistan staff after US advisers killed

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/228625.html

NATO on Saturday pulled all its staff out of Afghan government ministries after two U.S. military advisers were shot dead in the interior ministry, as anti-U.S. protests raged for a fifth day.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it was in revenge for the burning of Qur'ans at a U.S.-run military base - an incident that forced U.S. President Barack Obama to apologize to the Afghan people. Thejakartaglobe

HIGHLIGHTS

"For obvious force protection reasons, I have also taken immediate measures to recall all other ISAF personnel working in ministries in and around Kabul," said U.S. General John Allen, commander of NATO's international security assistance force. news24.co

The two advisers, including a lieutenant colonel and a major, were shot in the back of the head, according to Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information. Huffington Post

U.S. officials said the assailant - who has not been identified by name or nationality - remained at large and a manhunt was underway. Huffington Post

Britain said its embassy was also temporarily withdrawing all civilian mentors and advisers from Afghan government institutions in Kabul. Thejakartaglobe

The latest deaths come hard on the heels of the killing of two American troops on Thursday when an Afghan soldier turned his weapon on them at their base in eastern Nangarhar province as demonstrators approached. Thejakartaglobe

Anglo-French drone files stolen

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228282.html

Highly secret documents related to the Anglo-French project aimed at building Europe’s assassination drones have been stolen at the Gare du Nord station in Paris.

A briefcase containing highly confidential documents relating to the Anglo-French assassination drone project has been stolen from a senior French executive.

The senior executive from Dassault Aviation, a French manufacturer of military jets, was on his way to London when two people, possibly linked to “a highly-sophisticated operation by a spy agency” as described by the French police, stole the documents.

Britain and France agreed to carry out a joint project aimed at building a new generation of assassination drones, known as Male (medium altitude long endurance) drones, by 2020.

British arms giant BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation are to launch the joint venture so that the new assassination drones will fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the US and Britain’s so-called “War on Terror.”

British anti-arms campaigners have severely criticized the Anglo-French project as they describe the assassination drones as “the latest ‘must have’ weapon system” that Britain is “desperate” to build.

“Drones are the latest ‘must have’ weapon system and it is important they say, that the UK keeps up with the US and Israel in this key market,” said Drone Wars UK in a statement.

US presses Pakistan to allow intelligence bases near Iran

Satellite photo of Iran-Pakistan border

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227892.html

An Indian newspaper says the United States is putting pressure on Pakistan to allow Washington to establish espionage bases in the country’s Balochistan province to gather intelligence on Iran.

According to a report published by The Times of India on Monday, the US Congress has been discussing a resolution to recognize the right of Baloch people to self-determination as a means of putting pressure on Islamabad to give in to the US demands.

The move elicited angry reactions from Pakistan’s top leaders including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who described it as an attack on the country's sovereignty.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, also said though the resolution was an isolated move by a few individuals, it "is contrary to the principles of the UN Charter and international law.”

“The outburst in America for Balochistan…is part of the move [by the US] to set up intelligence bases close to the Iranian border,” an unnamed Pakistani official was quoted by the paper as saying.

The official indicated that the Congressional hearing and resolution were nothing but "pressure tactics."

"They [Americans] want to use our soil against Iran, which we can never allow," he added.

Meanwhile, two officials from Pakistan’s security agencies and one from diplomatic circles confirmed to the daily that the American diplomats and military leaders had requested permission for their agents to operate near the Iranian border in Balochistan.

The revelation came a few days after the US House of Representatives blamed Pakistani security agencies for the abductions and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan.

This is not the first time that the United States has made efforts to spy on Iran.

On May 30, 2011, the members of a CIA espionage and sabotage network were arrested by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.

On November 24, Iran announced the arrest of a dozen other CIA spies, who were found to have been on a mission to sabotage the country's nuclear facilities and other important compounds.

Another CIA espionage network with 12 members was busted in Iran and Lebanon in cooperation with the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah.

On December 4, Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit downed a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft when flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border.

Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone had been part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the United State's intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.

UK to deploy second Prince to frontline

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225793.html

In a bid to fulfill the constitutional role of the British monarchy, Tory-led government will deploy yet another member of royal family, Prince Harry, to the frontline in Afghanistan as an Apache attack helicopter pilot.

The Prince, the third in line to the throne, will be deployed to Afghanistan warzone towards the end of 2012, following a Ministry of Defense announcement that Harry, known as Captain Wales, would fly the aircraft to fight Taliban.

The latest development comes as the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, was sent to the Malvinas Islands for a six-week deployment as a search and rescue pilot while tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed islands have heightened.

Royal sources claimed that Harry was looking forward to “doing his duty” after finishing a demanding 18-month training program and will join an operational unit in Afghanistan, where he was sent four years ago to stay 14 weeks, but ended up his duty 10 weeks into the tour after reportedly failing in military operations.

Analysts criticize MoD’s plan to send Harry again to Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter, which can fire different types of rockets such as laser-guided Hellfire missiles and has a 30mm cannon for close-quarters fighting.

Analysts believe that the deployment of the royal brothers to the frontlines while the monarchy is celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee year, show that the royal family is seeking to increase its constitutional role in the country.

Anti-monarchy activists also condemned the costly deployments of the second and third in line to the throne and blamed the government for being “anti-democratic” as it put the monarchy’s controversial policies into practice.

The question on the minds of the critics now is that if 27-year-old Prince is ready enough to represent a role for Britain, while his regular evenings at London nightclubs made him unsure on his feet.

Pakistan leaders spurn pro-NATO move

Activists of Pakistan Defense Council gather during a rally in the city of Multan on January 29, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/223828.html

Pakistani religious and political leaders say they will not let Islamabad reopen Pakistan's crossings to NATO's supply trucks, closed after the US forces with the alliance conducted a deadly attack against the country.

The leaders made the announcement on Sunday during a massive anti-US demonstration arranged by the Defense of Pakistan Council, which is an alliance of 40 religious and political parties, in the city of Multan, about 400 kilometers southwest of the capital Islamabad.

Attending the demonstration, thousands of people from different religious and political groups condemned Washington's policies and its non-UN-sanctioned drone strikes on Pakistan's tribal region.

Islamabad stopped the supply convoys destined for the 130,000-strong US-led force deployed in Afghanistan in response to NATO airstrikes on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two checkpoints on the Afghan border.

According to reports, Pakistan's parliament is likely to approve reopening of the supply routes to NATO on the condition that the Western military alliance pays heavy tariffs.

Speaking during the rally, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest religious political party, said that any resolution submitted in parliament favoring the reopening of the routes would be a step to the detriment of the country.

In a reference to the clandestine activities of the CIA and Israel's spy agency, Mossad, in Pakistan, Munawar Hassan said that international spy agencies were involved in terrorist incidents in the country.

He also stated it was time that Islamabad detached itself from Washington and its harmful policies for the region.

The head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami, another large religious political party in Pakistan, told the participants in the rally that if “the US, Israel, India or NATO forces” attacked Pakistan's border again, members of his party would retaliate against them with full force.

A leader of a religious movement warned the government that if it decided to reopen the routes, his group's members would block the passageways themselves.

Former chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Hameed Gul, also said that renewed flow of the supplies to the US-led forces would expose Pakistan to potential dangers.