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Permission to relocate Okinawan US military base withdrawn by island's governor


RT
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 00:25 UTC
okinawa U.S. base
© Issei Kato / Reuters
Hercules aircraft are parked on the tarmac at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan on Okinawa
Okinawa governor Takeshi Onaga has revoked permission granted for the construction of a new US military base designed to shelter the US Marine Corps after relocation. The Japanese government opposes the decision, insisting on resuming construction works.

"I have sent notice that I am revoking permission," Takeshi Onaga said at a news conference on Tuesday in the Okinawan capital of Naha, as cited by The New York Times. His statement was met with applause from about 200 protesters opposing the construction of the base.

"I will continue to do everything in my power to fulfill my campaign pledge of not allowing the construction of a new base at Henoko," he added, the Asahi Shimbun reports.

The Okinawa governor said that an independent report on the legal aspects of the permission given by his predecessor, Hirokazu Nakaima, revealed a number of legal flaws.


The Japanese Ministry of Defense disagrees with Onaga, criticizing his decision and saying that the permission was absolutely legal.

"We stand firmly in our position that there was no error in approving the land reclamation work and that the order to rescind it is illegal," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said as cited by Asahi Shimbun.

"We will swiftly move ahead with procedures for submitting a complaint to appeal the illegal rescinding of the approval," he added noting that he is going to submit a complaint with the Ministry of Land.

Nakaima also said that the relocation operation would be suspended but the ministry would take measures to resume it as soon as possible.

Comment: Resistance to the U.S. hegemony is growing stronger every day.

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Light Saber

Showing the way: Russia starts building secure refugee camps in Syria


Speisa
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 23:55 UTC
Syrian refugees camp
© Unknown
Now Russia starts construction of secure refugee camps in Syria, in cooperation with local authorities.

Russia has set up a first reception center for 500 refugees at a racetrack in the Syrian city of Hama. There are tents, four field kitchens, dining rooms and sanitary facilities, writes the German-speaking newspaper Sputnik.

During the past week, two Russian transport aircraft have flown 80 tons of supplies to the crisis area. The Russian planes have brought 15 tons of food and other supplies.

At the opening of the camp, the governor of the province of Hama, Hassan Omar Haljaf, and representatives of the Syrian military attended.

In his speech, the Governor thanked Russia for its help.

During the four-year war in Syria, more than six million people have lost their homes.

Most have fled to Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. Some have sought asylum in EU countries.

This is of course how it should be done. Giving aid where it's needed. Where the costs are thousand times cheaper than importing refugees to Europe. Where the culture is what they are used to. Where the climate is what they are used to. Again Russia shows more common sense than the West, sorry to say.
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Attention

DHS wants to resurrect the color-coded terrorism alerts

Kevin Baron
Defense One
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 18:47 UTC
Jeh Johnson
© AP PHOTO/Andrew Harnik
Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson
With terrorist-inspired attacks on the rise, the federal government may revise the unused successor to the Bush-era color alerts.

President Barack Obama's top homeland security official has ordered a review of the nation's terrorism alert system to reflect what he called the growing threat of attacks originating within the United States.

The U.S. has never used the National Terrorism Alert System, a two-level system that replaced the oft-derided color-coded terrorism alerts installed after 9/11 to spread the word about potential attacks from abroad. But after a "homegrown violent extremist" killed five service members in Chattanooga, Tenn. — and amid the expectation of more terrorist-inspired attacks — the Department of Homeland Security wants to revise and jumpstart the system.

"I've asked our folks to consider whether we should revise that system to accommodate how the terrorism threat has evolved," DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C."That review is underway now."

Comment: Is the Dept. of Homeland Security ramping up the fear factor just in time for a false flag attack?

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Question

Mush for brains: US 'adjusts' aid program to supply new rebel group in Syria


RT
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 21:00 UTC
Image
© Khalid Mohammed
Col. Steve Warren.
Washington has 'adjusted' its controversial program of aiding the Syrian rebels to vet commanders rather than individual fighters, and provide supplies instead of training. A new rebel group in northeastern Syria has emerged as a recipient of US aid.

"The train-and-equip program has changed, but it has not gone away. We're still equipping moderate Syrian opposition fighters," Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, told the press on Tuesday.

As an example, he cited the airdrop of 50 tons of ammunition to the "Syrian Arab Coalition" (SAC), a 5,000-strong force of Arab insurgents in the east of Syria, which he said was fighting against Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS and ISIL) militants. The shipment consisted of small-arms ammunition, hand grenades, and rounds for mortars and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, he said.

Comment: Yup, the US looks pretty clueless on their plans in Syria. As Putin says: "I believe some of our partners simply have mush for brains,"

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Dominoes

A new coalition: Iraq begins airstrikes on ISIS using new intelligence center shared by Iran, Syria and Russia

Babak Deghanpisheh
Reuters
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 20:38 UTC
Image
© REUTERS/STRINGER
Militant Islamist fighters hold the flag of Islamic State (IS) while taking part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province in this June 30, 2014 file photo.
Iraq has begun bombing Islamic State insurgents with help from a new intelligence center with staff from Russia, Iran and Syria, a senior parliamentary figure said on Tuesday about cooperation seen as a threat to U.S. interests in the region.

The center has been operational for about a week, and it provided intelligence for air strikes on a gathering of middle-level Islamic State figures, Hakim al Zamili, the head of parliament's defense and security committee, told Reuters.

The new security apparatus based in Baghdad suggests the United States is losing clout in a strategic oil-producing Middle East, where it has been heavily invested for years.

Two weeks ago Russia started bombing anti-government rebels in neighboring Syria, including the ultra hardline Islamic State, to support its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, to the consternation of the West.
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X

Scorched Lives: Al-Qaeda and al-Nusra militants in Syria call for ethnic cleansing after losing ground


Sputnik
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 09:06 UTC
Image
© AFP 2015/ AMC / FADI AL-HALABI
One of Syria's more moderate terrorist groups has called for ethnic cleansing against minority civilian populations after losing ground in the conflict.

The leader of al-Qaeda offshoot al-Nusra Front, a terrorist group fighting in Syria, has called for increased attacks against civilians belonging to Syria's Alawite minority.

The Syrian Alawite minority is often targeted by anti-government fighters and Western media, being labeled as a "ruling" minority in the country because President Bashar Assad is an Alawi. The al-Nusra Front and allied groups have previously massacred hundreds of Alawi civilians during offensives against the Latakia province in 2013 and 2014.

Comment: "They're beating us militarily so let's go kill a bunch of innocent people!" : A prime example of the pathological warfare - through its proxies - that the U.S. has and will continue to unleash on the world in order to meet its objectives. And is also further evidence of why Putin's Russia is perfectly justified in taking the actions it is to eradicate this scourge on humanity.

See also: How telling! Russia targets ISIS, U.S. targets power stations

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Blackbox

U.S. special forces in south Syria? Downed drone suggests just that


Moon of Alabama
Mon, 12 Oct 2015 09:39 UTC
drone in syria
Hassan Ridha @sayed_ridha
Drone downed by #SAA over Izraa #Daraa countryside http://pic.twitter.com/sHPTthL1Yv
More pictures of the debris can be found here.

The various munition experts on Twitter agree that this is debris of an Aerovironment Switchblade (Datasheet-pdf) loitering munition "for use against beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) targets":
This miniature intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and lethal platform can be operated manually or autonomously. Switchblade provides the operator with real-time video and GPS coordinates for information gathering, targeting or feature/object recognition.
The switchblade has the size of a remote piloted hobby plane but features a visual and infrared camera and an explosive charge. It can be "suicided" on a target. According to the datasheet the battery powered killer drone has a "10 km radius of operation".

Izraa, where the debris was found, lies (map) at the crossing of the M5 highway from Amman in Jordan north to Damascus and road 109 which runs west to east through south Syria. Izraa is about 40 km north of the Syrian Jordan border and 40 km east of the Golan demarcation line. Anyone who used this armed drone must have been on Syrian ground.

Comment: If true, this is flagrantly criminal and the U.S. will do whatever it can to avoid the truth coming to light. Think about it this way: there are U.S. special forces and intelligence operatives on the ground in Syria, but the U.S. cannot admit this. Russia is conducting hundreds of airstrikes, which the U.S. claims are "not targeting ISIS". Put that together and what do you get? Perhaps Russia is targeting U.S. operatives who have been engaging in acts of terrorism (that's what cover operatives tend to do, after all)? If so, there isn't a thing the U.S. can say or do to stop it.

See also: Undercover British SAS operatives dressed up as ISIS terrorist fighting Assad in Syria

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Stormtrooper

Undercover British SAS operatives dressed up as ISIS terrorist fighting Assad in Syria

Stephen Lendman
Global Research
Tue, 04 Aug 2015 15:44 UTC
Image
On August 2, Britain's Sunday Express newspaper headlined "SAS dress as ISIS fighters in undercover war on jihadis," saying:

"More than 120 members belonging to the elite regiment are currently in the war-torn country" covertly "dressed in black and flying ISIS flags," engaged in what's called Operation Shader - attacking Syrian targets on the pretext of combatting ISIS.

Maybe covert US special forces and CIA elements are involved the same way. During Obama's war on Libya, Britain deployed hundreds of Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) paratroopers - drawn from SAS (Special Air Service) and SBS (Special Boat Service) personnel.

Around 800 Royal Marines and 4,000 US counterparts were on standby to intervene on short notice if ordered.

The latest revelation comes two weeks after learning Prime Minister David Cameron last year approved British warplanes joining US ones in bombing Syria despite parliamentary rejection in August 2013.

At least part of its current covert ground operation is under US command - so-called "smash" units traveling in pickup trucks able to launch mini-UAVs to scan terrain for targets to attack.

Over 250 UK (and perhaps US) specialists are involved to provide communications support, the Sunday Express explained.

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said "(o)ur actions and surveillance capabilities are freeing up other countries to strike in Syria."

Comment: Remember when British SAS operatives dressed up as Arabs in Iraq to conduct their bombing operations?
In earlier reports, we focussed on the operation of two undercover British SAS operatives, dressed in traditonal Arab clothing, who were planning to set of bombs in the main square in Basra, coinciding with a religous event.

They were arrested by Iraqi police and subsequently "liberated" by British forces in a major military assault, directed against the Iraqi police authorities with tanks and armed cars.


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Bullseye

How telling! Russia targets ISIS, U.S. targets power stations

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 17:55 UTC
russia america flag
In yet another telling episode, the United States has again demonstrated its true position in regards to ISIS and the Russian bombing of the terrorist organization.

As Russian forces drop bombs and missiles on top of ISIS fighters all across Syria, lobbing cruise missiles from the Caspian, regular sortie missions, and combat helicopter attacks against ISIS and other "relatively moderate" cannibals and terrorists, the United States launched a bombing mission of its own against two power plants in Aleppo.

The power plants were located in al-Rudwaniya east of Aleppo and resulted in power outages affecting the Syrian people, adding to the American tradition of bombing civilian infrastructure instead of ISIS and other terrorist targets in Syria. The power outages only further contribute to the misery surrounding the people of Aleppo who have been bombarded by barbarians funded by the United States and NATO, intent of raping and beheading their way through the city and declaring their caliphate of pre-civilization on civilized people.
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Windsock

Lavrov: Moscow is satisfied with Russia-US military dialogue on Syria


Sputnik
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 13:24 UTC
Lavrov
© english.pravda.ru
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov offers US a way forward.
Russia is satisfied with the dialogue on Syria established with the United States through military channels, though regrets Washington's unwillingness to coordinate its anti-terrorism efforts with other actors in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"We need to coordinate our steps. We are pleased that we have been able to develop a mechanism to avoid unintentional incidents through Russian and US military departments, but we are disappointed by the fact that the Americans, at least for now, cannot take the next step and begin to truly coordinate efforts with all those involved in the fight against terrorism on Syrian territory," Lavrov told reporters.

Washington has also yet to respond to Russia's call for humanitarian cooperation in the war-torn country, the minister said.

Moscow is sure that a significant proportion of weapons the United States sends to the so-called Syrian opposition ends up in the hands of the terrorists, Sergei Lavrov said. "I'll be honest, we have no doubts that at least a significant part of these weapons ends up in the hands of terrorists. Even the United States is worried about this," Lavrov told the NTV channel in an interview.

Russia is "all for" coordinating efforts with Syria's moderate opposition, including the Free Syrian Army, and is currently awaiting advice and contacts from the United States and other Western partners, Russian Foreign Minister said.

"As for coordination with the Syrian opposition, we are all for this. We have asked our partners for several days now to advice us on whom from the Syrian patriotic opposition, which rejects terrorist methods, we could establish contacts with. They promise to provide the relevant coordinates, we expect this to happen," Lavrov told reporters.

Comment: As we have seen in the past few weeks, Russia is again bending over backward to give the US and cohorts a way forward, with careful and inviting rhetoric backed by solid, effective action. Washington is either sucking its thumb, trying to figure out how to spin this conundrum, or still believes its own fallacy that Western empirical tyranny is democracy and justice for all. Bravo to Russia for the offer to the US to save face, reevaluate its folly of mass destruction (and destruction of the masses) and join, for real, a plan and partnership to turn this deadly fiasco around. Apparently the US military still has some intelligence. What are the chances for a Washington epiphany and rebound?

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