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Thinking dangerously: Tom Cotton suggests war with Iran would be a breeze

Igor Volsky
ThinkProgress
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 11:29 UTC
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
© AP
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), a strong opponent of President Barack Obama's diplomatic efforts to contain Iran's nuclear program, suggested on Tuesday that armed conflict with Tehran could be easily contained to "several days of air and naval bombing" and would not require the deployment of American ground troops. The comments eerily echoed the false predictions of Bush administration officials on the eve of the Iraq invasion.

Appearing on the Family Research Council's Washington Watch radio show, Cotton slammed Obama for suggesting that military confrontation was the only alternative to diplomacy in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"This president has a bad habit of accusing other people of making false choices, but he presented the ultimate false choice last week when he said it's either this deal or war," Cotton said, before adding, that "Even if military action were required...the president is trying to make you think it would be 150,000 heavy mechanized troops on the ground in the Middle East again as we saw in Iraq and that's simply not the case."

"It would be something more along the lines of what President Clinton did in December 1998 during Operation Desert Fox," he continued. "Several days air and naval bombing against Iraq's weapons of mass destruction facilities for exactly the same kind of behavior. For interfering with weapons inspectors and for disobeying Security Council resolutions. All we're asking is that the president simply be as tough as in the protection of America's national security interest as Bill Clinton was."

But American military leaders — who worked for lawmakers of both parties — strongly disagree with Cotton's assessment, arguing that an attack could actually prove a regional war and further push Iran towards the bomb.

"[If Iran were to be attacked] the United States would obviously be blamed and we could possibly be the target of retaliation from Iran, striking our ships, striking our military bases, and there are economic consequences to that attack....which could impact a very fragile economy in Europe and a fragile economy here in the United States," former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta predicted in 2011. General Anthony Zinni, former CENTCOM commander, put it more clearly, "I think anybody that believes that it would be a clean strike and it would be over and there would be no reaction is foolish," he said in 2009. And former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates explained that "such an attack would make a nuclear-armed Iran inevitable. They would just bury the program deeper and make it more covert." "The results of an American or Israeli military strike on Iran could, in my view, prove catastrophic, haunting us for generations in that part of the world," he said.
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Newspaper

China and India lead rescue of foreign nationals, including Americans, trapped in Yemen

Ishaan Tharoor
Washington Post
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 00:00 UTC
Indian Air Force evacuation plane
© Indian Air Force via AFP
This undated photograph shows Indian nationals evacuated from Yemen sitting in an Indian Air Force plane in Djibouti before being flown to Mumbai.
Yemen is in the midst of a spiraling crisis. A Saudi-led bombing campaign against the country's Houthi rebels has led to stark warnings of a looming humanitarian disaster. Food is running out, the water supply is dwindling, and hundreds of Yemeni civilians have perished.

Things are also tough for foreign nationals trapped in the escalating conflict. The Saudi-led offensive has virtually caused all flights in and out of the country to be canceled; main seaports are either blockaded or in the midst of battles between rival militias. Embassies have been shuttered.

More so than any other nation, India has taken the lead in the rescue of foreigners trapped in Yemen, evacuating more than 550 foreigners from 32 countries, including a dozen Americans and three Pakistanis.

Comment:
Rescue Mission in Yemen Proves to Be Boon for Chinese Military's Image

Chinese military experts are engaging in a bit of exuberant backslapping over the naval evacuation not just of more than 600 Chinese citizens in Yemen, but of hundreds of other foreigners. It was the first time China had deployed warships to carry out such an evacuation, and the fact that so many people from other countries were welcomed on board and ferried to safety was seen as polishing the country's image as a helpful hand in an international crisis.

"It is the new responsibility of a great power," Zhu Feng, executive director of the China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University, said on Wednesday. "China's vision of the navy is decisively widening. When it is operating in international waters, it should shoulder international responsibility. It's good, it's good."

The state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday that three Chinese Navy ships had evacuated 629 Chinese and 279 citizens of 15 other countries.


...
The last group of Chinese left Yemen on Monday on the naval frigate Linyi. The ship, which carried 38 Chinese evacuees and 45 Sri Lankans, arrived in Djibouti on Tuesday after a 12-hour voyage, Xinhua reported. Another Chinese ship, the Weishanhu, arrived on Tuesday in Oman with nine Chinese evacuees and one from Japan.

Germans, Ethiopians and Pakistanis were among those evacuated by the Chinese. The Japanese government thanked China for inviting a Japanese tourist to join the evacuation.

"We have conveyed our gratitude to the Chinese government," the Japanese chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said at a news conference on Tuesday. The Chinese had taken the Japanese tourist on board voluntarily and had not been requested to do so by the Japanese government, Mr. Suga said.
...
When a ship pulls into a country to evacuate its own citizens from danger, there are no fixed rules on whether it has a legal responsibility to rescue other foreigners as well, several Western military experts said. But it certainly is expected that people stranded with little hope of escaping a conflict should be taken on board, they said.

"They're getting bigger and more professional," said a United States Navy official of the Chinese operation, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists. "It's good for them and good for us because it binds them into the international system."


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Bad Guys

EU to simplify GMO import approval: Greenpeace


phys.org
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 00:00 UTC
GMO
© Unknown
Only one GMO is currently allowed to be cultivated in the EU—the multinational Monsanto's brand of corn GMO MON810, that is grown in Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic
The EU plans to simplify the import approval process for controversial genetically modified foods and animal feed, allowing member states to decide whether to admit them or not, sources said Wednesday.

The sources said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will unveil proposals on April 22 which will in effect allow GM products into the 28-nation bloc where previously fierce opposition by some member states had blocked them.

The plan is similar to legislation approved by the European Parliament in January which allows member states to decide for themselves whether to cultivate Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) after years of bitter dispute.

This opt-out compromise means that those countries such as Spain which want GMOs would no longer be stymied by opponents such as France.

If the plans are accepted, import licences currently blocked for 19 GMOs including food, animal feed and flowers could be cleared.
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Gold Coins

Dead or alive: Al-Qaeda in Yemen offers 20kg gold for Houthi leader, ex-president


RT
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 21:50 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Mohamed al-Sayaghi
Leader of the Houthi group Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.
A bounty of 20 kilograms of gold has been promised by Al-Qaeda for the capture or killing of the leader of Yemen's Houthi rebels and his closest ally, ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, SITE monitoring group said.


Comment: At the current $1,200 per ounce of gold price, equals $846,000.


Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced the bounty in a video released through its media arm on Wednesday.

The Shiite Muslim Houthi rebels, who took control of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and are now on the offensive in the southern part of the country, are led by Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.
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Megaphone

Putin aide debunks CNN propaganda on Russians hacking White House - "Accusing Russia is now a sport"


RT
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 20:29 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Blaming Russia for everything has recently become a sport, Vladimir Putin's spokesman said in response to a detailed CNN report that claimed to show how "Russian hackers" had hit White House systems in recent months.

"In regard to CNN's sources, I don't know who their sources are," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "We know that blaming everything on Russia has already turned into some sort of sport."

"But what's most important is that they aren't looking for any submarines in the Potomac River like has been seen in other countries," he added ironically, apparently referring to the Swedish hunt for an alleged Russian submarine in October 2014.

The Kremlin's website, as well as the officiate site of the Russian President, face hundreds and even thousands of cyberattacks every day, said Putin's spokesman, adding that there were attempts to crash Putin's annual Q&A.

Comment: Another transparent attempt by government mouthpiece CNN to demonize Russia. You can bet that if Russia actually had hacked into sensitive U.S. computer systems, it wouldn't be announced for all to hear by the mainstream media.

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Yoda

Putin to meet with Argentinian president to discuss trade and economic ties


Sputnik
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 20:12 UTC
Image
© Sputnik/ Aleksey Nikolskyi
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Argentine counterpart, Cristina Kirchner, on April 23 in Russia, the Kremlin press service announced Wednesday.

The two leaders are planning to discuss the future development of trade and economic ties, as well as the expansion of cooperation in investment.

"The leaders of the countries will also look into their interaction on the topical international agenda, bilaterally as well as within the framework of multilateral organizations — the UN, the G20 and through regional integration," the press service said.

In light of Russia's souring relations with the West in 2014 over the crisis in Ukraine, Moscow has significantly increased its economic, trade and other cooperation with the countries of Latin America, the BRICS and the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2014, head of Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor Sergei Dankvert said that Russia expects to increase its bilateral trade with Argentine to $3 billion in 2015 - a significant increase from $1.9 billion trade turnover in 2013.
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TV

South Front, Ukrainian Crisis News: OSCE catches Kiev moving heavy artillery into demilitarized zone, Toronto Orchestra bans pro-Novorossiya Ukrainian musician


South Front
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 19:12 UTC
Image
© South Front
8 April 2015

OSCE observers report Kiev forces breaking terms of ceasefire (again)

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Bacon n Eggs

Russia readies to end Greece food embargo


RT
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 19:31 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti/Vladimir Fedorenko
Minister for Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev
Russia has drafted a number of proposals that could end the embargo on food products from Greece, Russia's Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev said at a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday.

"We'll be discussing in detail this issue during the meeting of the Russian Prime Minister and his Greek counterpart tomorrow," Ulyukayev told reporters, as quoted by TASS.

"We've prepared a number of proposals regarding the embargo issue for discussion," the Economy Minister said.

Russia is also considering rescinding food sanctions against Cyprus and Hungary, according to Aleksey Pushkov, head of the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee.

Greece has been hit especially hard by the ban, as more than 40 percent of Greek exports are to Russia. In 2013, more than €178 million in fruits and conserves were exported to Russia, according to the Greek fruit export association, Incofruit-Hellas.

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Light Sabers

Why Putin won't "pull a Saudi Arabia" in Ukraine

Rostislav Ishchenko
Fort Russ
Tue, 07 Apr 2015 19:22 UTC
Image
Translated by Kristina Rus

The Weapon of Retribution

In the past year, an increasing number of Russians support the disputed opinion that Russia should have spit on the world and quickly occupied Ukraine in March 2014. Now, in light of the actions of Saudi Arabia and its allies in Yemen, the notion that Russia should not follow the protocol, but follow the example of the USA, and now the "wretched Saudis," by bombing left and right is spreading like wild fire (the particularly zealous recommend to use nuclear weapons) to put everyone in their place, afraid to make a peep, and the state interests of the Russian Federation would, thus, be protected worldwide.

Since it is obvious that the tendency of society for mindless use of force in both cases has common roots, and because in both cases it is motivated by Russian national interests, it must be worthwhile to take a detailed look at how realistic are such ideas and whether they really correspond to the national interests of the Russian Federation.

First, contrary to the societal consensus, Russia's armed forces cannot stretch like rubber. To ensure the existence of more or less stable regime in Kiev, not less than one hundred thousand Russian soldiers would have to be stationed in Ukraine on a permanent basis. This is the minimum number of troops under favorable conditions.
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Eye 1

Ex-Army Intelligence officer: MI5 covered up child sex abuse in Belfast, Ireland care home


RT
Wed, 08 Apr 2015 11:40 UTC
Image
© mi5.gov.uk
The MI5 headquarters in central London.
Britain's MI5 security service deliberately covered up the sexual abuse of vulnerable boys in a notorious children's care home in Belfast, Northern Ireland, an ex-Army Intelligence officer claimed on Tuesday.

Brian Gemmell, a former captain in Britain's Intelligence Corps, said security service chiefs at MI5 ordered him to"stop digging" when he reported suspicions of a pedophile ring at the Kincora care home for boys in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Gemmell made the disclosure during a meeting with child abuse victim Richard Kerr in an exclusive Channel 4 News interview. Kerr was sent to the Belfast care home in the mid-1970s at age 15.

Kerr said he and two other boys were abused in Kincora in the mid-1970s, trafficked to London in 1977 and subsequently molested by a number of "very powerful" members of a Westminster pedophile ring.

He claims he was sexually abused by British politicians and senior establishment figures at a luxury Dolphin Square apartment in Westminster, and also at Elm Guest House in west London. Both locations are being investigated by Scotland Yard, following allegations that a Conservative MP murdered a young boy.

Campaigners battling for justice for victims of child abuse argue that Kerr's account provides evidence of a concrete link between powerful pedophile rings that operated in Belfast in London during the 1970s.

Comment: The depravity and coverup of these heinous crimes is jaw-dropping. Unfortunately, it is just the tip of a very large iceberg:

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