Russia Begins Operations in Syria: End Game for the US Empire?

[angelburst29]

Condolences to all.

[...]
Aerial footage: Russian IL-76 plane crash site in Siberia
http://sputniknews.com/russia/20160703/1042355153/crash-site-il-pilot.html
Rescue workers have found the remains of the pilots of the Russian Emergency Ministry Il-76 aircraft that went missing on Friday morning in Russia's Irkutsk region as well as the black box of the aircraft, the rescue operation headquarters said Sunday.

IRKUTSK — On Friday, an Il-76 aircraft working in territories affected by forest fires in Russia's Irkutsk Region failed to report back to rescuers at the scheduled time. Debris from the aircraft was found earlier on Sunday.

I also offer condolences to the Families of those crew members who perished in the plane crash.

The bodies of eight people have been found at crash site of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's Il-76 aircraft that went missing on Friday morning in Russia's Irkutsk Region, Deputy head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry Leonid Belyaev said Sunday.

8 Bodies Found at Russia's Il-76 Crash Site - Deputy Emergencies Minister
http://sputniknews.com/russia/20160703/1042374505/russia-il-76-crash.html

On Friday, an Il-76 aircraft working in territories stricken by forest fires in Russia's Irkutsk Region failed to report back to rescuers at the scheduled time.

"The two black boxes and eight bodies were found at the scene of the accident," Belyaev said at the meeting convened by Emergency Minister Vladimir Puchkov, which was aired by the Russia-24 channel.

While initial reports on the numbers of the crew varied between nine and 11 people, the Emergencies Ministry later confirmed that there were 10 people on board.

The search for the remaining bodies is to continue during the night.

Syrian president's administration said that Bashar Assad has appointed a new government headed by former Electricity Minister Imad Khamis.

Syrian President Shuffles Cabinet, Defense, Foreign Ministers Keep Posts
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160703/1042367912/syria-new-cabinet.html

Syrian President Bashar Assad has appointed a new government headed by former Electricity Minister Imad Khamis, Syrian president's administration said Sunday.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Defense Minister Fahd Jassem Freij, as well as National Reconciliation Affairs Minister Ali Haidar have retained their posts, according to presidential decree number 203, as quoted by administration's official Twitter account.

Syria held parliamentary elections on April 15 with over 3,500 candidates contesting the 250 seats in Syria's parliament. Ballot stations were set up in 12 of Syria's 14 provinces, as the northern province of Raqqa was still under the control of Daesh terrorist group and the northwestern Idlib province was controlled by al-Nusra Front.

Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups.

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the law on creation of the Russian National Guard.

Putin Signed Law on Russian National Guard Troops
http://sputniknews.com/russia/20160703/1042374664/putin-national-guard.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday signed the law on creation of the Russian National Guard.

The document was published on the legal information portal.

In April, Putin announced the creation of the National Guard on the basis of the Russian Internal Troops and introduced to the State Duma a corresponding bill.

A new federal executive body will be engaged in the fight against terrorism and organized crime, provide legal regime of emergency and anti-terrorist operations, protect significant government facilities and special cargo, assist the Federal Security Service (FSB) in protection of the state border.

Once brushed aside by President Obama as al-Qaeda’s JV-team, the terror group has adapted their tactics to focus on creating mass casualty events.

Daesh Morphs into a More Deadly al-Qaeda Style Terror Network
http://sputniknews.com/asia/20160703/1042351820/daesh-osama-terror-dhaka-istanbul.html

In the wake of this week’s terror attacks at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport that killed 45 and left over 200 others clinging to life in critical condition, US Secretary of State brushed aside assertions that the Daesh terror network is metastasizing into an unrelenting global threat calling the coordinated strike a sign that the Islamist terrorists are "desperate" and "losing."

If you’re desperate and if you know you’re losing, and you know you want to give up your life, then obviously you can do some harm," said the US diplomat-in-chief in a press appearance riddle with public relations snafus including minimizing the horror experienced by the victims as "daily fare."

To many in the defense community it appeared that the Secretary of State was doing his best to channel the ill-fated words of President Barack Obama when he underestimated the extremist organization as al-Qaeda’s "JV team."

Yet starting with the Paris attacks followed by Brussels, Orlando, Istanbul, and Dhaka it is becoming all the more clear that while Daesh leadership is losing its ground war against the West to retain territory in Syria, Libya and Iraq, the Islamists’ scourge appears to be taking on a new form altogether.

Unlike prior Daesh attacks that have included kidnapping and brutally killing individuals by decapitation, burning them alive in steel cages, and any number of other 8th century methods of bringing a person to their demise, the group had previously lacked the network to execute a coordinated multi-person attack capable of creating a mass casualty event.

That changed in Paris where a stream of attacks was plotted by a regional cell to be conducted concurrently so as to limit the French police’s ability to respond to each incident. That same terror cell went on to institute carnage and mayhem at an airport in Brussel. Now, when the fight against the extremists appeared to be reaching a final stage with their territory stripped from under them, the terrorists appear to be adapting from a 20th century guerilla war unit to a 21st century terror network.

The events in Dhaka sent shivers down the spine of security analysts worldwide as at least six gunmen armed with automatic rifles, bombs and grenades were able to inflict terror in a highly secured diplomatic neighborhood only a rock’s throw from several international embassies.

Similarly, the terror cell half a world away in Istanbul carried out a methodical, well-planned strike in the soft underbelly of an otherwise highly secure airport with multiple attackers sorting out logistics to arrive at the site of the attack with the weapons needed to conduct an attack with maximal impact.

The disturbing reality is that al-Qaeda’s JV team is looking more and more like the varsity squad each day. Daesh, once limited and strangled by their need to maintain land in order to affirm the legitimacy of their purported Caliphate Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi have learned what the organization they were grafted from learned so long ago – that terrorism is a lot easier than statehood.

They learned that lesson and are perfecting the craft. Daesh grew up to be al-Qaeda’s next century corollary and that is more than the “daily fare” whether or not they are doing so out of desperation.

Former president of Poland Lech Walesa said that US Navy should have shot down Russian Su-24 fighters that came within 30 feet of the missile destroyer Donald Cook in the Baltic sea in order to identify the ship.

Ex-President of Poland Calls on US to Shoot Down Russian Jets
http://sputniknews.com/world/20160703/1042353782/walesa-shootdown-russian-planes.html

According to Walesa, such actions on the part of Russia cannot be tolerated.

"If I was a commanding officer on that ship, and I saw those planes flying above, I would just shoot them down." He said in an interview to Free Europe radio, "I wouldn't kill the pilots. I'd shoot through the wing"

The former leader of the eastern European country asserted that it is the proper way to answer the alleged "Russian threat" and that "otherwise they will win," but he does not believe such an act of hostility would lead to a military conflict with Russia.

"Nobody wants conflict, including Russia," he said, adding that Moscow would rather use such methods as blackmail and intimidation to achieve its goals.

He recommended that Washington avoid playing too soft with Moscow suggesting instead that they follow the example of Turkey which on November 24, 2015 shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber with an F-16 fighter jet near the Turkish border over Syria.

Following the incident, Moscow imposed a number of restrictive measures on Turkey and has repeatedly said that Ankara should apologize for downing the plane and cover any material losses to the country and the pilot's family.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin to express regret and send condolences for the downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber over Syria.

Alexander Kirstein, a lawmaker in Latvia's parliament, has proposed building a memorial in Riga to commemorate the Nazi German forces which occupied the country during the Second World War. In response, Riga Mayor Nil Ushakov advised the Sejm MP to 'stop drinking in the mornings'.

Riga Mayor Tells MP Proposing Nazi Memorial to Stop Drinking in the Morning
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160703/1042363246/riga-mayor-monument-proposal-response.html

On Friday, Kirstein had suggested on Twitter that "symmetrically [to the memorial] to the Red Army, a monument should be erected to the German forces who freed Riga from the Bolshevik hordes in July 1941."

Ushakov responded on Facebook: "On Friday morning, I ready MP Alexander Kirstein's proposal to put a monument to the Nazi soldier 'liberators' near the monument to the Soviet soldier liberators. Sasha! Do not drink in the mornings. And if you do, be sure to disable your Twitter account!"

Kirstein, an MP from the right-wing National Alliance, the fourth-largest party in the country's parliament, had proposed erecting a monument to Nazi soldiers in Riga's Pardaugava district.

Last month, a Latvian parliamentary commission rejected an initiative to demolish Riga's Memorial to Soviet Liberators. The Latvian Foreign Ministry has also indicated that Russia and Latvia have reached an agreement on the preservation of Soviet-era monuments.

Latvia proclaimed its independence from the Russian Empire in 1918, before being forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940 in the early stages of World War Two. Between 1941 and 1944, the country was occupied by the Nazis. Within seven months of the German invasion, the Nazis and local collaborators had killed most of the country's Jewish population; a concentration camp was established in the Riga suburb of Salaspils which was handed the grim task of exterminating Jews who were sent there from other countries. After the collapse of the USSR, Latvian nationalists began actively commemorating Nazi collaborators, including the Latvian Legion, a volunteer formation of the Waffen-SS accused of war crimes and participation in the Holocaust.

Last month, a study by the Defense Academy of Latvia's Center for Security and Strategic Research revealed a dangerous trend — that nearly one third of Latvians believe that the country is seeing a revival of Nazism.

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[Ca.]

Jazeera
John Kerry: Entrepreneurs crucial to rebuilding Syria (Video if one has the stomach for it)
01 Jul 2016 13:22 GMT Middle East, War & Conflict, United States
_http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2016/06/john-kerry-entrepreneurs-crucial-rebuilding-syria-160630110311909.html
The US Secretary of State and deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes discuss Syria, ISIL & investing in innovation.

Is there a future for the war-torn countries of the Middle East and beyond? If so, who will build it and what will it look like?

In an attempt to provide an answer, business leaders and government officials came together last week for an event spearheaded by the White House - the 7th Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which was held in Silicon Valley.

There, hi-tech investors, innovators and political representatives from around the world assembled to exchange ideas, contacts and concepts that, in their mind, could lead to a constructive future.

But how meaningful is the concept of entrepreneurship for those who live with civil war, mass migration and sectarian conflict? And how is the Obama administration responding to critics, including those who work inside the State Department, who feel the White House has been ineffective in dealing with these conflicts?

To discuss all this, we spoke to US Secretary of State John Kerry, the official face and voice of the administration's foreign policy, and Ben Rhodes, President Obama's deputy national securityadviser, who led efforts behind the scenes to achieve the nuclear deal with Iran, at the summit in Silicon Valley.

They spoke to us about the Obama administration's role in the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), the war in Syria, what they hope to achieve in the next six months under the current administration, and why they believe this kind of entrepreneurial summit is a long-term investment critical to rebuilding Syria in the future.

Kerry underscores the point that entrepreneurs are the "people who create the jobs", and the summit presents a "vision" of the future.

"You have to have a place you want to go, and leaders need to be providing people with that vision. Now, obviously, we have to end the war [in Syria]. We're trying, very hard, working with Russians, with our 66 nations in the coalition - we are trying to find a political path to end the war," he says.

"But this kind of entrepreneurial activity will be critical to the rebuilding of Syria, the rebuilding of Yemen, the rebuilding of Libya, and I think that's what's exciting about the possibilities here."

Kerry says his energy is focused on the now and talking with Russia and other countries about "how we guarantee that we have clarity about a genuine cessation where we know who's responsible for breaking it and people will be held accountable for breaking it, and that's what we're working on".

The pressure to end the war in Syria, he says, doesn't come from the critics.

"I feel pressure from the children I see getting killed. And the women and the innocent civilians in Syria. That's the pressure. The pressure I feel is what motivated me to go to Vienna last November and begin to put together the International Syria Support Group and work towards peace.

"I mean, five years of war and 450,000-plus people dead and people tortured, and gassed and barrel-bombed - that's enough pressure. That's enough motivation to get something done."

Kerry says the current administration believes there is ample time to accomplish many things before the Obama presidency ends on January 20, 2017. They are making "steady progress" in certain talks and in the battle against ISIL, he says.

"I'm hopeful that the next six months will actually produce some progress that's definable, tangible, and has an impact, positively," he says.

Rhodes speaks to us about the Iran nuclear deal and why the administration is investing in a platform for global ideas and innovation where entrepreneurs can come together.

"In the long term, the question is what is going to rebuild societies. What is going to bring greater opportunity to countries. And in fact, some of the drivers of grievances in countries, has been a lack of opportunity, a lack of opportunity for young people, in countries with huge youth populations.

"And we believe the long-term solution to that is in large measure having the type of environment and the type of value on entrepreneurship that can allow people to build businesses and to connect and succeed in a global economy."

Rhodes also discusses the "diverse set of tools" the US brings to challenges around the world, where, for example, in countering ISIL and the Assad regime, there is military know-how, influence in the global financial system, diplomacy and political leadership, and humanitarian assistance.

In addition to these current tools, he says: "We also are showing people everywhere that we want to connect them to long-term opportunity and the hope is that obviously you want the situation resolved, you want to transition to a new government.

"We would hope that five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, as Syrians are rebuilding, that they are able to benefit from the types of skills, connections and opportunities that are represented here [at the summit]. We know that's not what's going to be most relevant to people in the near term, but it's one part of how we engage people around the world."

Syrian War Report - July 4, 2016: US-Russian Deal?
Published on Jul 4, 2016

http://<iframe width="560" height="...SQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Iraq War, another footage released by Iraqi MOD for ISIS convoy tried to escape Falloujah
Published on Jul 1, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO2iyeKvFCE

Iraq War another footage released by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense shows the motorcade that was wiped out by the Iraqi Air force, around 20 Iraqi Helicopters charged the attack once they got the Intel about ISIS members the motorcade was about 11-12 kilometers long according to the Iraqi officials

Aleppo Battle Update: Syrian Army foils rebel attack in northern Aleppo
By Zen Adra -
Al-Masdar News
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/aleppo-battle-update-syrian-army-foils-rebels-attack-northern-aleppo/
04/07/2016
Fierce urban warfare continues to rip through Al-Layramoun district as government troops managed to maintain their positions against a full-scale offensive launched by multiple Islamist factions. Syrian soldiers storming the once booming industrial district and recaptured the Shbeib factory located in Khalidiyah neighborhood, alongside several nearby blocks following ferocious battles with Islamist fighters yesterday.

The hardline militants, however, have massively attacked the facility, using tanks, heavy machineguns and hundreds of fighters.

The Syrian Army’s elite 4th Armoured Division holed up in the shattered factory managed to prematurely blow up a booby-trapped BMB before getting closer to Army’s defensives. Huge cloud of dust then was seen all over the area.

Violent clashes followed the explosion whereby the army troops managed to destroy a tank, kill dozens of the attackers.

Anti-government factions in the industrial district include the FSA-affiliated 16th Division, Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Muajereen Army (made up of extremist fighters from the Caucasus).


Footage of Syrian Republican Guard operations in Aleppo city
Al-Masdar News
Published on Jul 3, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27h-9LfxGII

 

[Ca.]

With all Respect.

Tass
Forensic experts examine of Il-76 crash site in Siberia
http://www.therussophile.org/forensic-experts-examine-of-il-76-crash-site-in-siberia.html/

IRKUTSK, July 4. /TASS/. Forensic experts have examined the crash site of the Ilyushin Il-76 plane in the Kachugsky district of the Irkutsk region,[/b] the press service of the Irkutsk region government reported on Monday with reference to the region’s Health Minister Oleg Yaroshenko.

“The Irkutsk region’s Health Ministry resources are ready to transport the bodies of the killed plane crew form the Kachug village and from Irkutsk airport. The regional center has mobilized a genetic laboratory of the Irkutsk regional bureau of forensic medical examination”, the minister said.

According to him, the leadership of the Irkutsk regional bureau of forensic medical examination arrived at the crash site. In addition, two forensic experts worked at the Kachugsky District Hospital to organize the biological material sample taking for genetic examination.

Meanwhile, the operational headquarters of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said that the bodies of the plane crew were taken to Irkutsk for identification procedures. According to a source in the headquarters, after the identification the bodies of the Il-76 crew will be transported to Moscow by an Il-76 plane of the Emergencies Ministry.

Russian Emergency Ministry’s Il-76 plane with tail number 76840 crashed in the Irkutsk region on July 1 during the operation to extinguish forest fires that threatened populated localities. All 10 crew members that have extinguished hundreds of fires over their work record, were killed. According to a preliminary version of the accident, the plane, having dropped water on a hot spot in the Kachugdky district at an altitude 300 meters, turned to fly back to the base. Possibly, hot air from wildfires got into the plane engines, and the airliner lost thrust, as a result of which the aircraft could not ascent, hit the tree tops and crashed. The plane burned down during the crash.

A day of mourning has been declared in the Irkutsk region on Monday in connection with the Il-76 crash. The state flags are flown at half-mast in the region.

Ilyushin Il-78
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-78

Wreckage of missing Il-76 found on Siberian hillside
03 July, 2016 BY: David Kaminski-Morrow London
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/wreckage-of-missing-il-76-found-on-siberian-hillside-426940/

Search teams in Siberia have found the wreckage of an Ilyushin Il-76 transport which vanished while conducting firefighting operations in the Irkutsk region.

The aircraft has been destroyed, says the Russian emergency situations ministry, stating that it was discovered around 07:00 on 3 July.

It has displayed an aerial photograph of the crash site with only the vertical fin and horizontal stabiliser recognisable.

The ministry has not indicated whether there are any survivors among the 10 crew on board the jet when it disappeared on 1 July.

It states that the wreckage is located in the Kachugsky district in the southern part of the Irkutsk oblast.

The ministry says the aircraft was found on the slope of a hill, some 9km east-south-east of a village called Ribniy Uyan, by teams from the ministry’s specialised mobile rescue division Centrospas as well as the Russian aerial forestry protection service.

It adds that the area had previously been identified as a possible location for the Il-76, following consideration of the aircraft’s operational assignment before it disappeared.

Deputy emergency situations minister Leonid Belyaev says the jet has sustained a “high degree” of destruction, adding that further rescue resources are being sent to the crash site.

He says conditions remain difficult in the region, with visibility down to less than 100m as a result of smoke from wildfires.

The crew of the Il-76 was “experienced” and the aircraft was in “good condition”, says Belyaev.

Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee and the federal Investigative Committee are supporting the crash inquiry.

The Investigative Committee says the aircraft departed from an airport in the Usolsky district, in the far south of the Irkutsk oblast, at 10:19 on 1 July, in order to attend the Kachugsky wildfires. Contact was lost with the aircraft at 11:30.

Firefighting operations in the Kachugsky district have continued. The aerial fleet is supported by a pair of Beriev Be-200s from the emergency situations ministry.

Oblast d'Irkoutsk, Russie (Map)
https://www.google.fr/maps/place/Oblast+d'Irkoutsk,+Russie/@56.4596315,89.6920718,4z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5c5879e6fa31bc9f:0x103c6af52459670!8m2!3d56.132142!4d103.948625

 

[youlik]

Захарова назвала призыв Британии расширить санкции "наглостью высшей марки"
РИА Новости http://ria.ru/world/20160705/1459117862.html#ixzz4DXpbo2ch

МОСКВА, 5 июл — РИА Новости. Официальный представитель МИД России Мария Захарова прокомментировала призыв британского парламента к расширению санкций против Москвы, сделанный им накануне.
Британский парламент призвал расширить санкции против России
В понедельник Оборонный комитет парламента Великобритании призвал Евросоюз расширить санкции против России, включив в санкционный список еще нескольких представителей российских властей.
"… Наглость и подлость высшей марки", — написала Захарова в Facebook, отметив, что Великобритания уже проголосовала за выход из ЕС, но продолжает толкать "европейцев к обрыву".
В июне британцы на референдуме проголосовали за выход страны из Евросоюза. Такое решение, по официальным данным, поддержали почти 52 процента граждан.

Translation
Zakharova called the call of Britain to extend sanctions "arrogance of the highest grade"

MOSCOW, 5 Jul — RIA Novosti. The official representative of Russian foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova commented on the appeal of the British Parliament to expand sanctions against Moscow made them the day before.
British Parliament urged to expand sanctions against Russia
On Monday, the Defence Committee of the British Parliament urged the EU to expand sanctions against Russia, including the sanctions list of several of the representatives of the Russian authorities.
"... The audacity and meanness of the highest grade," wrote Zakharova in Facebook, noting that the UK has already voted to secede from the EU, but continues to push the Europeans to the edge".
In June, the British voted in a referendum for the country's withdrawal from the European Union. This decision, according to official figures, has supported nearly 52 percent of people.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Over 20 ships of Russia's Caspian Flotilla out to sea for exercises

http://tass.ru/en/defense/886443

The group includes the Tatarstan missile ship, the Uglich and Veliky Ustyug small missile patrol ships, the Volgodonsk small artillery ship, the Stupinets missile boat and artillery boats

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. More than 20 warships and support vessels of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla put out to sea on Tuesday for tactical exercises, the press service of the Southern Military District reported.

"The exercise involves 20 warships and support vessels, including the Tatarstan missile ship, the Uglich and Veliky Ustyug small missile patrol ships, the Volgodonsk small artillery ship, the Stupinets missile boat, artillery boats, base type minesweepers and harbor minesweepers, the P-351 Grachonok anti-sabotage boat, as well as vessels of the hydrographic service and auxiliary ships," says the statement, received by TASS on Tuesday.

The crews also had rapid combat deployment and operational readiness drills in the Caspian Sea.

Putin, Security Council members discuss confidence building over Baltic

http://tass.ru/en/politics/886449

Vladimir Putin said last Friday after talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto that Russia supported Finland’s initiative to ban flights over the Baltic Sea with transponders switched of

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russian President has discussed with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council confidence-building measures in the skies over the Baltic region, the coming possible contacts within the NATO-Russia Council framework and the situation in Syria, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

According to him, the head of state held on Tuesday the traditional briefing with the Security Council members. "They discussed the international problems, in particular, exchanged views on the issues related to confidence building in the skies over the Baltic region, following up upon the conversation between Putin and (Finnish President) Sauli Niinisto that has recently been held in Finland," the Kremlin official said. In addition, Peskov said, the meeting participants "discussed certain issues related to the possible contacts within the NATO-Russia Council framework" that are expected soon.

Vladimir Putin said last Friday after talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto that Russia supported Finland’s initiative to ban flights over the Baltic Sea with transponders switched of.

The situation in Syria was also discussed, the Russian presidential press secretary said.

Four businessmen arrested in northwest Russia on suspicion of links with Syria militants

http://tass.ru/en/society/886469

According to preliminary information, they were funneling funds to Syria

VOLOGDA, July 5. /TASS/. Four businessmen have been arrested in Vologda in northwest Russia on suspicion of their links with militants in Syria, the regional branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Tuesday.

"The court has chosen arrest as a measure of restraint for these persons," the regional branch’s press office said.

As was reported on July 2, security officers carried out a joint operation with Interior Ministry operatives and the regional prosecutor’s office in the village of Saninskaya of the Babayevsky district in the Vologda Region to detain a group of adherents to radical Islam suspected of links with militants in Syria.

According to preliminary information, they were funneling funds to Syria from the sale of timber, the FSB regional branch said.

During the special operation in the premises where the suspects could be living, the security officers seized presumably "a suicide belt with 1.2 kilos of hexogen-content explosives, a pistol-machine gun, cartridges, three grenades and another home-made explosive device."

"The investigative unit of the FSB branch for the Vologda Region has opened 10 criminal cases after operational measures were carried out in populated areas in the Babayevsky district. The FSB operatives are checking information on the suspects’ participation in the terrorist activity of the Islamic State [terrorist organization outlawed in Russia], on the territory of Syria, their complicity in the terrorist activity and the illegal turnover of weapons," the FSB regional branch said.

During the joint operation of the Federal Security Service, the Interior Ministry and the regional prosecutor’s office, the law enforcers also found literature of presumably extremist nature.

According to the law enforcers, the prayer room was used during religious gatherings to demonstrate sermons of the ideologists of international terror organizations justifying terrorist activity.

Diplomat: NATO’s actions provoke risks and challenges to Russian security interests

http://tass.ru/en/politics/886520

According to the diplomat, new formats of military activity have been launched in the new NATO member-states

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. NATO’s actions have provoked risks and challenges to Russia’s security interests and frustrated confidence, Anton Mazur, the leader of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, said on Tuesday.

"Despite our warnings of counter-productivity and risks of NATO’s eastwards expansion, the borders of the biggest military bloc have nearly reached Russian borders," the Russian Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying at the annual security review conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). "Works have started in the territory of new members to develop military infrastructure. New formats of military activities have been launched on the ground, in the air and at sea, including a mission on air patrolling and multinational exercises."

The Russian representative also drew attention to the fact that the creation of NATO missile defense facilities on the basis of the European segment of the US global missile shield "has embarked on a practical track." "Non-nuclear countries, including those of Eastern Europe, take part in NATO’s nuclear drills," Mazur said. "The alliance is using confrontational schemes in the Baltic and Black Seas as well."

"Thus, NATO’s steps provoked risks and challenges to Russia’s security interests even before the current crisis in Russia-NATO relations," he stressed. "It has seriously undermined trust."

NATO member countries do not want to discuss with Russia the topic of control over conventional weapons in Europe, he went on.

"Member countries of the Alliance want neither to limit their ‘freedom’ nor discuss the topic of control over conventional weapons in Europe," Mazur said.

"Taking into account close connection between regime of control over conventional weapons in Europe and pan-European regime of trust measures, it is just impossible to seriously work on deep modernization of the military agreement from 2011 in such conditions," the diplomat noted.

He added that NATO should stop its activities near Russian borders in order to launch talks on establishing measures of strengthening trust and security. "Sometimes we hear that additional measures of strengthening trust and security are allegedly needed to prevent accidental clashes between the forces of Russia and NATO member countries. However, there is a much simpler way to reach this goal - it is enough just to move forces and equipment of the Alliance away from our borders," Mazur said.

"We consider it necessary to note that in order to create conditions for discussions on measures of strengthening trust and security, the Alliance should stop building up activities on the eastern flank, and later wrap them up completely," he concluded.

NATO is to blame for suspending dialogue with Russia

The diplomat said the NATO leadership initiated the suspension of dialogue with Russia.

According to the Russian diplomat, confrontational decisions taken by NATO against the background of the Ukrainian crisis aggravation have further exacerbated the situation.

"The Alliance has made a rapid turn in its policy and military planning to the complex ‘deterrence’ schemes, and in fact - to the plans of intimidation of our country", he said.

According to Mazur, "military exercises in Central and Eastern Europe, just along our borders have not only become more frequent and large-scale (for example, almost 50,000 troops of NATO countries have simultaneously conducted drills there this month), not only command centers and arms and military equipment depots have been created there, but also the deployment of foreign troops has started actually on a permanent basis (the periodic "rotations" make no difference)."

"Moreover, these activities continue to grow in scale (as we understand, this is what will be discussed at the NATO summit in Warsaw) and so they call into question the viability of the agreements enshrined in the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997", the Russian delegation head said.

"We are told that these measures are ‘purely defensive’ in nature", Mazur said.

He added that Russia remembers that the "defensive" NATO bloc and its individual members have often used military force under false pretexts to the detriment of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of various states in Europe (Yugoslavia) and outside it (Iraq, Libya, Syria and others).

"Instead of reducing tensions and strengthening the professional military dialogue, the leadership of the Alliance, on the contrary, has initiated its disruption," the diplomat said. "They even went so far as to impose illegitimate personal sanctions on the Russian Defense Ministry senior officers." "Even during the Cold War times such steps were never taken", he said.

NATO’s actions incompatible with trust-building initiatives

Mazur went on to say that NATO’s actions are incompatible with trust-building initiatives.

"We have repeatedly stressed that the alliance’s current policy, and now its military practices, are incompatible with initiatives of measures to build up trust and security," he said.

"In current conditions, we think it inappropriate to complain about alleged ‘insufficiency’ of the existing measures," he said, adding that Russia is "the most inspected state of the OSCE."

Thus, in his words, more than 30 flights under the Open Skies Treaty are performed annually over Russia. More to it, the Russian side receives all inspections and visits envisaged by the Vienna document of 2011.

"Notably, the instruments of the measures of trust and security have been dramatically discredited by the alliance," Mazur stressed.

"As is known, the Western countries used these measures in areas adjacent to Ukraine (an inspection under the Vienna document of 2011, observation flights under the Open Skies Treaty), but failed to spot any unusual military activities or destabilizing concentration of forces (we demonstrated it on concrete examples of observation flights under the Open Skies Treaty and no one could provide any argument of the contrary with photos). However, the ‘vision’ (and to be more precise, entrenched phobias) of Western politicians seems to be of bigger importance that the reality which runs counter to it. Hence, NATO continued its loud political statements."

Moscow registers "ever increasing violations of liabilities in the area of measures of trust and security by the alliance’s members."

As examples, the head of the Russian delegation cited Turkey’s refusal to receive an inspection flight under the Open Skies Treaty over its southeastern territories and the United States’ and Canada’s hampering flights of a Russian Open Skies plane equipped with digital surveillance instruments.

"Some of the alliance’s ‘associates’ are demonstrating rather negligent approaches to their liabilities. Thus, Georgia used trumped up pretexts that have nothing to do with the Open Skies Treaty to close observation flights involving Russia," the Russian diplomat said. "For two years, Ukraine has been conducting military activities in its territory which involve up to 90,000 servicemen and big numbers of weapons but has issued no notifications required by the Vienna document, neither has it invited observers to this region."

"So, as a matter of fact, it means that NATO countries and their closest partners have dramatically devaluated the significance of instruments of measures of trust and security," Mazur underscored.

NATO’s switch to military planning deteriorated Europe’s security

According to mazur, NATO’s switch to the policies and military planning based on confrontational schemes has deteriorated security in Europe.

"Along with the curtailment of NATO’s dialog with Russia, an unprecedented campaign was unleashed on discrediting the day-to-day activity of the Russian Armed Forces," he said.

"Openly fabricated stories are replicated about the search for non-existing submarines or the alleged danger of Russian aircraft’s flights for civil aviation in Europe," he added.

According to the head of the Russian delegation, the root cause of the security deterioration in Europe "stems not from a deficit of instruments for measures to strengthen confidence and security in Europe but from NATO’s switch to the policy and military planning based on confrontational schemes" when the presence of foreign troops on Russian frontiers "was announced as the sole guarantee for security," he said.

France's Foreign Ministry against visit of French parliamentarians to Crimea

http://tass.ru/en/world/886524

A delegation of French parliamentarians led by Thierry Mariani may again visit Crimea and Sevastopol on Navy Day

PARIS, July 5. /TASS/. Official Paris does not support the French parliamentarians who intend to visit Crimea, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said on Tuesday.

"The same as the EU, France does not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea," Nadal said. "Therefore, the French authorities do not support any initiatives that challenge this position."

Previously, Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots at the Russian State Duma lower house of parliament Leonid Slutsky said that a delegation of French parliamentarians led by Thierry Mariani may again visit Crimea and Sevastopol on Navy Day, which Russia annually celebrates on the last Sunday of July.

"We are preparing another visit of a large delegation of French deputies and senators on Navy Day to Sevastopol at the invitation of the city leadership and command of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The delegation will again be headed by Russia’s friend Thierry Mariani - France’s former transport minister," Slutsky said.

He recalled that it was thanks to the efforts of Mariani that the National Assembly and then the French Senate adopted the resolutions that "clearly stated all over Europe that anti-Russian sanctions are inadmissible." "It’s an important situation to convince the European Council to cancel at last the unreasonable sanctions, which are contrary to the very nature of parliamentarism," Slutsky said.

The French parliamentary delegation comprising deputies and senators visited Crimea in July 2015, contrary to the recommendations of the French Foreign Ministry. That was the first visit of West European parliamentarians to the Black Sea peninsula since March 2014, when Crimean citizens voted overwhelmingly for its reunification with Russia in a referendum. Delegation leader Thierry Mariani said the visit was to seek first-hand information about developments on the peninsula. The trip caused a negative reaction in the West, and all the delegation members were declared persona non grata in Ukraine.

Kazakhstan to focus on nuclear issues, conflicts in UN Security Council — minister

http://tass.ru/en/world/886507

Kazakhstan was for the first time elected the UN Security Council’s non-permanent member for 2017-2018, the Foreign Ministry is working out a comprehensive plan of the republic’s work

ASTANA, July 5. /TASS/. Kazakhstan will focus on nuclear issues and the resolution of long-standing conflicts in Eurasia during its work in the UN Security Council in 2017-2018, Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov said on Tuesday.

The Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan is working out a comprehensive plan of the republic’s work in the UN Security Council, the foreign minister said.

"The implementation of the anti-nuclear and anti-terror initiatives [of President Nursultan Nazarbayev] put forward at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly and reflected in the Manifesto ‘Peace. 21st Century’" will be the top priority of Kazakhstan’s work in the UN Security Council, the foreign minister said.

Kazakhstan will also focus on "ensuring the continuity of ideas, values and priorities, which Kazakhstan followed during its chairmanship in the OSCE [the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe], the OIC [the Organization of Islamic Cooperation], the CIS [the Commonwealth of Independent States], the SCO (the Shanghai Cooperation Organization] and other large regional structures," the minister said.

Kazakhstan’s second priority will be "the search for ways to resolve the existing problems among large powers and long-standing conflicts, first of all, in Eurasia, taking into account the national interests of Kazakhstan, and also the involvement of the international community in the efforts to solve the problems of Central Asia, primarily, in the fight against terrorism and extremism and the solution of urgent economic problems," the Kazakh foreign minister said.

According to Idrisov, membership in the key UN body also provides "possibilities for strengthening cooperation with our traditional partners and developing relations with Kazakhstan’s new partners in Oceania, Equatorial Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean basin."

Kazakhstan was for the first time elected by 193 UN member states on June 28 as the UN Security Council’s non-permanent member for 2017-2018.

Russia calls on Israel to stop its settlement activity in Palestine

http://tass.ru/en/politics/886566

The Russian Foreign Ministry is seriously concerned over new settlement projects in occupied Palestinian territories

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russia calls on Israel to stop its settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territories, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Moscow is seriously worried over new settlement projects in occupied Palestinian territories," the ministry said. "We once again reiterate that such unilateral activities should be condemned and are to be stopped to preserve perspectives for a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem and create conditions for the resumption of peace talks."

UN Chief Slams Israel as Netanyahu Approves West Bank Settlement Extension

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160705/1042465980/ban-slams-israeli-settlements.html

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has hit out at Israel following the approval of a new wave of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, labeling the decision "deeply disappointing." It comes just days after international diplomats warned such actions could erode the possibility of a two-state solution.

Ban reaffirmed his opposition towards the construction of Israeli settlements in Palestinian Territories, saying that they "are illegal under international law" and called on the Israeli government to "halt and reverse such decisions in the interest of peace and a just final status agreement."

The criticism came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman approved the planning of 560 new Jewish homes to be built in the Maale Adumim settlement, east of Jerusalem.

The settlement, established in 1975, already has a population of 37,000.

On top of the permission for extra houses to be built in Maale Adumim, the government also approved for 240 new dwellings to be built in parts of east Jerusalem, along with new units for Palestinians to be constructed in other parts of the city.

Settlements Approved Despite International Criticism

The issue of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian Territories is already a tense one, however the recent announcement has drawn additional ire from the international community as it came just days after an international report warned that such actions were putting in doubt the possibility of a two-state solution.

A report from the international diplomatic quartet — consisting of the US, United Nations, EU and Russia — was hugely critical of Israel's policy of constructing settlements, while it also called on Palestinians to halt attacks against Israelis.

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, took aim at the recent settlement announcement as well as the lockdown on the Hebron region of the West Bank.

​"The reason for the continuation and the diminishing and declining prospects for the two-state solution is not incitement. It is the occupation itself," he said.

"A good example, just 24 hours after the release of the Quartet report [July 1], the governorate of Hebron with its population of around 700,000 people is under total military siege."

Ongoing Violence

The flare in tensions comes amid an ongoing spate of violence.

A week ago, a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl was stabbed to death in an Arab settlement on the outskirts of West Bank, which along with other attacks on Israeli citizens, prompted Israeli officials to put the city in lockdown and search for assailants.

The increase in violence has led to the deaths of 234 Palestinians, 34 Israelis and four foreigners since October last year.

‘Price to pay for US’: Beijing ready to confront Washington if it intervenes in S.China Sea dispute

https://www.rt.com/news/349534-us-china-military-confrontation/

Beijing must prepare to make the US “pay a cost it can’t stand” if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force, a state newspaper editorial has warned, days before a court at The Hague rules on the territorial row between China and the Philippines.

The American military build-up in the South China Sea, including the deployment of two carrier strike groups, comes in defiance of China’s vital interests and represents “a direct threat to national security,” the state-run Global Times said in strongly-worded editorials in its Chinese and English editions on Tuesday.

Beijing should accelerate developing its strategic deterrence capabilities to contain the United States, the newspaper added.

“Even though China cannot keep up with the US militarily in the short-term, it should be able to let the US pay a cost it cannot stand if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force.”

China is a peaceful country that welcomes dialogue on the disputed region, the influential newspaper wrote, “but it must be prepared for any military confrontation.”

The Global Times is believed to have close ties with the government as it operates under the auspices of the Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily.

The Tuesday editorial went online a week ahead of a ruling by the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines. In 2013, the Philippines filed a complaint with the court, asking it to rule on who owns the Spratly Islands, which lie at the heart of economically important shipping routes in the area.

China sees the ruling – which is due to be announced on July 12 – as “posing more threat to the integrity of China's maritime and territorial sovereignty,” the Global Times stated, claiming “the arbitration becomes nothing but a farce.” Beijing has said it will not recognize the ruling.

The Spratly Islands, or Spratlys, comprise more than 750 islets, atolls and reefs, and lie off the coastlines of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and China, with all the claimants having their own national names for the archipelago.

China runs military drills near Paracel Islands

Prior to The Hague court’s ruling, Beijing announced it will conduct a routine naval exercise covering an area east of China’s Hainan Island all the way up to and including the Paracel Islands (known as Xisha in Chinese), another disputed area. The drill will run from Tuesday to July 11, and will involve two Chinese guided-missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Ningbo, as well as a frigate, the Chaozhou, according to the People’s Daily.

The exercise has sparked fears across the region, but “could be regarded as a countermeasure” to the US efforts “to press China militarily and politically,” the Global Times’ editorial said.

Over the past few years, Beijing has reclaimed several atolls and built up military installations on the group of disputed islands in the South China Sea. Washington has accused China of “aggressive behavior” in the region, sending warships to enforce what it calls freedom of navigation in international waters.

China’s President Xi Jinping says Beijing has no plans to attack anyone, but will continue its policy of active defense.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

New Tor-M2U air defense missile systems arrive in tank unit in Siberia

http://tass.ru/en/defense/886630

The new-generation system is designed to protect the most important facilities from strikes of warplanes and helicopters, from cruise missiles, guided missiles, glide and guided aerial bombs, UAVs

ULAN-UDE, July 6. /TASS/. Russia’s new anti-aircraft missiles defense systems Tor-M2U have arrived at a tank formation of the Eastern Military District, stationed in Buryatia republic, Siberia, the district press service reported on Wednesday.

"The air defense missile systems have arrived in the republic after successful live-fire exercises at the Kapustin Yar range in the Astrakhan region", the press service said.

The military of the tank formation’s air defense units have undergone retraining in the training center in the city of Yeisk (Krasnodar Territory) to qualify for the work with the new systems.

The military have studied the equipment and tactical and technical characteristics of the new system, learned to load the launchers and search and detect air targets.

Tor-M2U is a new-generation system of the Tor short-range air defense family. It is designed to protect the most important military and state facilities from strikes of warplanes and helicopters, from cruise missiles, guided missiles, glide and guided aerial bombs, unmanned aerial vehicles. The Tor-M2U combat vehicle tracks and engages simultaneously four targets. The surface-to-air missiles of the system were designed to effectively intercept pinpoint maneuvering targets, which is a significant advantage over the foreign analogues. The first Tor air defense missile system was made operational in 1986. The modern Tor-M2 air defense missile system can eliminate targets flying at a speed of 700 meters per second at a distance of 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) and an altitude of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).

The Eastern Military District said previously that the latest Tor-M2U systems will replace the Osa-AK air defense systems.

Russia, India Agree on Types of Warships to Take Part in Joint Indra Drills

http://sputniknews.com/military/20160706/1042500693/russia-india-navy-drills.html

Russia and India have agreed on the number and type of warships involved in the joint naval exercises.

KHABAROVSK (Russia) (Sputnik) — The Russian Pacific Fleet and the Indian Armed Forces have agreed on the number and type of warships that will be involved in the joint Russian-Indian naval exercises, Indra, in December 2016, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry’s Eastern Military District said Wednesday.

"The Pacific Fleet and the Indian Armed Forces have agreed that the drills will involve a Project 1155 anti-submarine destroyer, a Project 956 fleet destroyer, an anti-submarine helicopter Ka-27, a tanker and a fleet tug from the Russian side. The Indian side will provide for the drills a Kashin-class destroyer, a corvette, a tanker and a shipboard helicopter," Alexander Gordeev told reporters.

He noted that the final composition of forces and means involved in the drills would be specified during the final planning conference, which is scheduled for October.

The Indra exercises, first held in 2003, are tasked with boosting cooperation and interoperability between the Russian and Indian navies. In 2016, some 500 servicement are expected to be engaged in the drills, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Is US Domination at Its End? Inside the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

http://sputniknews.com/asia/20160706/1042496805/sco-us-unipolar-domination.html

As India and Pakistan join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) economic and military alliance, Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear is joined by political analyst Eric Draitser to discuss Washington’s shrinking global influence.

“The SCO is really seen, in many ways, as sort of the vehicle by which Russia and the Chinese moved closer together,” Draitser tells Loud & Clear host Brian Becker. “This multilateral, international organization provides a potential platform, a potential forum for conflict resolution…”

“I think we have a new potential vehicle for peacemaking and prosperity-making,” he suggested.

The inclusion of India and Pakistan is the first expansion since the 2001 founding of the SCO. Taken with other recent economic unions, Russia, China, and many former Soviet republics are seeking to provide for their own opportunities, free of Western influence.

“I think there are a number of reasons why there is a potential for a lasting alliance here,” he says. “If you take these things together, what you see is one cohesive and coherent strategy for the creation of an antidote to the West.”

“That is to say,” he stated, “something that balances the unipolar hegemony of the United States and of NATO.”

Despite political conflicts between India and Pakistan, a new partnership between the two nations could work to prevent Washington’s ability to meddle in Asia.

“Can these seemingly disparate issues be, sort of, coalesced into one formal relationship? Ultimately, that’s what would benefit all of these countries, and, in my view, that’s what the United States fears more than anything else,” Draitser says.

Iran could be the next nation to join the SCO, a development that could have an even stronger impact on the image of US hegemony.

“If we see that, what that allows Iran to do is to access major investment that is non-Western. That is again what the United States and Europe fear,” he says.

“Will the West accept competing with Chinese oil companies and Russian companies in an Iranian market? That would be a devastating geopolitical blow for Washington, and you better believe they’re concerned about it and they’re watching it very closely.”

Russia Reveals Has Started Buying Chinese Yuan Assets Last Year

http://russia-insider.com/en/russia-reveals-has-started-buying-chinese-yuan-assets-last-year/ri15430

Foreign currency reserves are still overwhelmingly in dollars and euros

Originally appeared at Reuters

http://atimes.com/2016/07/russia-central-bank-buys-chinese-yuan-assets-for-reserves-in-4th-quarter/

Russia’s central bank started buying Chinese yuan-denominated assets in the fourth quarter of last year as part of its drive to diversify its foreign-currency reserves.

The central bank said on Monday in a report on its foreign-currency assets that the yuan accounted for 0.1 percent of its foreign-currency assets by the end of 2015.

In the third quarter the yuan had not figured in the central bank’s forex assets.

A central bank spokeswoman said yuan assets did not yet count as part of Russia’s official gold and forex reserves, since the International Monetary Fund has not yet given the yuan reserve asset status.

But it is set to get that status in October this year, in what is seen as an important milestone for China’s recognition as a global economic power.

The share of the U.S. dollar in the central bank’s foreign-currency assets was unchanged over the fourth quarter at 47.5 percent.

The share of the euro fell from 38.9 percent at the end of the third quarter to 37.0 percent at the end of the fourth, while the share of the British pound rose from 9.5 percent to 9.9 percent.

Canadian dollar assets accounted for 3.6 percent of the Russian central bank’s foreign-currency assets as of the end of 2015, versus 3.1 percent three months before.

The share of Japanese yen assets rose from 0.1 percent to 0.9 percent over the fourth quarter, while the percentage of the Australian dollar rose from 1.0 percent to 1.1 percent.

Russia has been striving to diversify its reserves, including by buying gold, in order to make its economy more resilient to external pressure such as sanctions.

The economy is stabilising after a steep recession of 3.7 percent last year prompted by a collapse in international oil prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister to Visit Moscow on Thursday

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160706/1042499607/russia-south-korea-visit.html

South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun will visit Russia on Thursday, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun will visit Russia on Thursday for political consultations with his Russian counterpart Igor Morgulov, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

"Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun will visit Moscow for the 16th round of political consultations between the Republic of Korea and Russia with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister on Asia and the Pacific Igor Morgulov that will take place on July 8, as well as for holding the 10th meeting on the Russian-South Korean Far East and Siberia matters subcommittee on July 7 with First Deputy Far East Development Minister Alexander Osipov," the ministry said in a statement.

The deputy ministers will discuss collaboration on the Korean peninsula situation with regard to the North Korean nuclear program, the statement added, noting that agricultural and healthcare issues will also be dealt with.

On Monday, Morgulov discussed North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches during his meeting with Tikahito Harada, the Japanese government representative for relations with Russia.

Tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs escalated after Pyongyang said on January 6 that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test and put a satellite into orbit on February 7. The moves violated UN Security Council resolutions, prompting the United Nations to impose new sanctions on the North.

On June 22, North Korea claimed it had successfully tested a missile that traveled about 250 miles before dropping into the Sea of Japan. US and South Korean officials said two missiles were fired and that one missile failed.

China’s largest military transport plane enters service

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/07/06/473843/China-Y20-Japan-East-China-Sea-South-China-Sea

China’s largest military transport aircraft has been put into service, enabling Beijing to deploy its forces around the world.

Xinhua news agency said the Y-20 plane entered service on Wednesday and will be used to move forces and cargo over “long distances in diverse weather.”

It "marks a crucial step for the air force improving its strategic power projection capability," Air Force spokesman Shen Jinke was quoted as saying.

The plane will be used for "safeguarding national security as well as domestic and international rescue and relief work," Shen added.

The plane is the largest transport aircraft built in China. It has a maximum payload of 66 tons and can carry that for as far as 4,400 km, the state news agency said.

It added that the aircraft could fly from western China to Egypt with 55 tons on board.

China is engaged in territorial disputes with its neighbors in the East and South China seas.

On Monday, China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that two Japanese jets took “provocative” actions near a pair of Chinese jets in the East China Sea on June 17.

The Chinese aircraft were on routine patrol where they were met with the Japanese jets, who "even went so far as to start "lighting up" the Chinese planes with their fire-control radar," the statement said, adding that the Chinese jets responded “decisively.”

"The Japanese plane's provocative actions caused an accident in the air, endangering the safety of personnel on both sides, and destroying the peace and stability in the region," the statement also said.

It further urged Tokyo to end all provocative action in the region.

Relations between China and Japan have soured over the past few years over a territorial row on the uninhabited yet strategically-important island group in the East China Sea. Tensions grew after Tokyo nationalized part of the resource-rich islands in 2012.

China maintains that the islands are inherent parts of its territory and that it has indisputable sovereignty over them, while the Japanese government regards the islands as a part of its Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture.

The islands have been under Japanese administrative control since the reversion of Okinawa to Japan from US administrative rule in 1972.

Beijing also claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety and is involved in a series of disputes with several neighboring countries over the issue.

President al-Assad observes Eid al-Fitr prayers in Homs

http://sana.sy/en/?p=81827

Homs, SANA – President Bashar al-Assad performed on Wednesday the prayers of Eid al-Fitr (the Festival of Fast-Breaking at the end of the holy month of Ramadan) at al-Safa Mosque in Homs.

Militant mortar attack kills three Syrians marking Eid al-Fitr

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/07/06/473837/Syria-militant-mortar-attack-Mashhad-Aleppo-Takfiri-militants-killed-injured

At least three civilians are killed after Takfiri militants attack Eid al-Fitr prayers at a residential neighborhood in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo.

Sources said more than 30 others were injured when several mortars fired by the extremists struck the al-Mashhad neighborhood of the city on Wednesday.

The attack came as people gathered in the city located some 355 kilometers (220 miles) north of Damascus to say Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

President Bashar al-Assad joined Eid al-Fitr prayers at a mosque in Syria's third city Homs outside the capital for the end-of-Ramadan holiday.

Large parts of Homs were once under the control of foreign-backed militants but since May 2014 they have been confined to a single neighborhood in the city's outskirts.

The al-Safa mosque, where Assad joined worshipers, is in Akrama which has been hit by repeated attacks by Daesh and al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front terrorists.

Official television broadcast footage of the president in the congregation alongside Islamic Endowments Minister Mohammad Abdel-Sattar Sayyed and Syria's top Muslim cleric Ahmad Badredine Hassoun.

Assad has attended almost all Eid prayers since the war erupted in 2011, but this was possibly his first public appearance for the occasion outside Damascus.

Russian Air Force attacks jihadist rebels all over Syria

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-air-force-attacks-jihadist-rebels-syria/

The Russian Air Force kept busy on Tuesday night, carrying out several airstrikes against the jihadist rebels all over Syria’s vast countryside.

A Syrian security source told Al-Masdar News on Tuesday night that the Russian Air Force began their aerial assault by targeting Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) at the village of Durkabiyah in the West Ghouta region of Greater Damascus.

The Russian Air Force would conduct four airstrikes at Durkabiyah, resulting in the destruction of a jihadist base.

While one of their air squadrons attacked the Greater Damascus area, another one concentrated on the northern Aleppo countryside, where the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is currently on the offensive at Al-Malaah Farms.

The security source stated that Russian Air Force carried out three airstrikes over the ‘Anadan Plains, targeting Jabhat Al-Nusra’s positions at Hayyan, Haritan, and Bayyanoun.

However, the Russian Air Force did not stop there; they would carry out another series of airstrikes over the Al-Castillo Highway, which is used by the jihadist rebels to resupply their forces in the ‘Anadan Plains.

Israeli drones spotted over the Golan Heights prior to airstrikes

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/israeli-drones-spotted-golan-heights-prior-airstrikes/

A senior officer from the Syrian Arab Army told Al-Masdar News on Wednesday morning that several Israeli reconnaissance drones were seen flying over the Golan Heights and Sheba’a Farms before two missiles struck Ba’ath City in the Al-Quneitra Governorate.

The reconnaissance drones were first seen flying over the Syrian Golan Heights before they circled back towards Mount Hermon and the disputed Sheba’a Farms.

The source added that the Israeli drones were sighted over Ba’ath City, Hader, and Khan ‘Arnabeh in the Golan Heights.

They were also seen flying over the villages of Hasbaya and Arqoub in the occupied Sheba’a Farms of Lebanon.

Not long after their drones captured footage in Syrian and Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force’s attack helicopters fired two missiles at the Workers Housing Facility inside Ba’ath City.

No casualties were reported after this abrupt attack; however, local sources claimed that Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) is preparing for an offensive at Ba’ath City in the coming days.

 

[youlik]

Путин отменил все запланированные на неделю поездки
http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/news/2016/07/06/n_8850791.shtml?utm_source=rnews

Президент России Владимир Путин отменил все свои поездки, которые должны были состояться на этой неделе. Об этом сообщает РБК со ссылкой на три источника, близких к Кремлю.
О причинах отмены пока не сообщается. Отмечается, что отменены визиты на Алтай, в Якутию и Новгород.
В свою очередь пресс-секретарь президента Дмитрий Песков уточнил, что ни одна из этих поездок не анонсировалась.
«Они были среди десятка предполагаемых. Находились справки и т.д. Но окончательно не подтверждались», — заявил Песков.

Putin canceled all scheduled for the week of the trip

Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled his trip, which was to be held this week. It is reported by RBC with reference to three sources close to the Kremlin.
About the reasons of cancellation is not reported. It is noted that cancelled visits to the Altai, in Yakutia and Novgorod.
In turn, the press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov said that none of these visits were unannounced.
"They were among a dozen alleged. Were references etc. But finally was not confirmed," — said Peskov.

 

[Ca.]

NATO July 6 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYLmegUAW-U
_https://www.youtube.com/user/NATOCOMMUNITY/videos

NATO: What is it, why does it still exist, and how does it work? Forgot
Alliance animation.

http://<iframe width="560" height="...l8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

July 6 2016
Poland modernises its defence programmes

NATO: What is it, why does it still exist, and how does it work?

How does NATO work? 28 member stronger together (Animation 3/3)

Why does NATO still exist? Discover our current challenges (Animation 2/3)

What is NATO? Find out about its origins (Animation 1/3)

July 5 2016
Polish Navy minesweepers

July 4 2016
NATO Secretary General - Pre-Summit Press Conference, 04 JUL 2016, 1/2

NATO Secretary General - Pre-Summit Press Conference, 04 JUL 2016, 2/2

 

[Ca.]

RT
Russian ‘traitor’ who exposed Anna Chapman's spy ring dead in US – reports
Published time: 7 Jul, 2016 18:56
https://www.rt.com/news/349932-russia-spy-dead-us/

Russian intelligence officer, Aleksandr Poteyev, who was sentenced for treason in absentia by Russia after blowing the cover of a spy ring in the US, has reportedly died. Moscow, however, is not confirming the news or taking the defector of its wanted list.

“According to some information, Poteyev has died in the US. This data is currently being verified,” an informed source told Interfax early Thursday.

Another source confirmed that the news of Poteev’s death has reached Moscow, but stressed that “it could well be disinformation aimed at ensuring that the traitor would simply be forgotten.”

In 2010, intelligence service colonel Aleksandr Poteyev blew the cover of a group of Russian sleeper agents working in the US.

Back then, ten people were detained by the American authorities, including red-headed femme-fatale Anna Chapman, who launched a successful television career after her involvement in the spy scandal.

The detained Russians were later exchanged for four US citizens accused of espionage by Moscow.

Poteyev and his family were able to flee to the US, with the defector later sentenced in absentia by a Russian court to 25 years behind bars for treason.

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service stressed that “it’s not commenting on reports” of the defector’s possible demise.

However, Poteyev will not be removed from the international wanted list despite news of his death, Interfax said, citing an unnamed source.

“Without receiving the official documents confirming his death, he is listed as living and, accordingly, can’t be removed from the international search,” he said.

Russia’s presidential spokesman Dmitry Preskov said that the Kremlin is not concerned by Poteyev’s fate.

“It’s not an issue for the President and not an issue for the Kremlin,” Peskov told the journalists.

According to the spokesman, Moscow also sees no danger of an information campaign launched against it over the death of the defector.

“It’s obvious that he’s a traitor, but in this case we don’t see [any threat],” Peskov said.

The former head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Nikolay Kovalev warned that speculation over Poteyev’s death may explode.

“There may be conspiracy theories that its ‘the long arm of the secret services’ that is responsible.’ It’s now a trend to see Russia behind every event,” Kovalev told RIA Novosti.

The ex-FSB head suggested waiting until an official confirmation of the reasons for Poteyev’s death by the US side.

“I think an autopsy should certainly be performed and official cause of death announced,” he said.

READ MORE: Ex-officer who exposed Anna Chapman found guilty of treason

“But I'm still inclined to think that the death was caused by a constant stress; an aggravation of all diseases – and as a result, the lethal outcome. This is the fate of all traitors,” Kovalev stressed.

Related Link connected to this article

Did Russia's sexy spy, Anna Chapman, seduce an Obama official?
Published time: 3 Apr, 2012 16:47
https://www.rt.com/usa/spy-anna-chapman-official-156/

Russian Aggression? NATO doesn’t need warmongering to bring security to eastern border – German FM
Published on Jul 7, 2016

http://<iframe width="560" height="...Sg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Even key NATO ally Germany is voicing deep concern over the organization’s buildup in Eastern Europe, with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier accusing it of war-mongering against Russia.

Energy security : what's at stake? (NATO Review)
Published on Jul 7, 2016
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN5HtceXFLE
For the Baltic States, the pursuit of energy independence is about more than reliable energy sources – it’s about political freedom.
In today’s security context, many dimensions of energy security have become increasingly important.

 

[angelburst29]

As the US Marine Corps faces an unprecedented number of accidents, the military has turned to outside help to determine the cause.

US Marines Can't Figure Out Why Their Planes Keep Crashing
http://sputniknews.com/us/20160708/1042614828/us-marine-corps-mishap-investigation.html

In 2016, the US Marine Corps has documented nearly twice the number of nonfatal accidents as previous rates. The sudden uptick has baffled the military, and officials have hired an outside consultant to investigate the causes.

"This study will focus on mainly the ground mishaps," said Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, speaking before the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee, according to Breaking Defense.

"It could be a pilot taxiing an airplane (and having an accident), or it could be a towing mishap or a marine falling off of an airplane. Whatever it is, it leads to a degraded readiness position. We need to get our arms around that."

Categorized as Class C mishaps, incidents of this nature are rarely investigated fully, as they are nonfatal and cause relatively little damage, ranging between $50,000-$500,000. Still, these incidents can have a heavy impact.

"In the last eighteen months, the Marine Corps lost nearly eleven years of aircraft availability to Class C mishaps," reads a report from this year’s issue of the branch’s safety newsletter. "The average aircraft requires fifty-five days of work before its next flight. In more extreme cases, the aircraft is unavailable for fifteen months or more.

This has had a dramatic impact on military readiness.

"Our mishap rates are at the same rate that they have been for over the past 10 years," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott West, adding that lower budgets "have contributed to the creation of one of the smallest, oldest and least ready [air] forces in our history."

Budget cuts are apparent. According to Davis, only 443 aircraft are flight ready, out of the 1,065 in the Marine Corps’ possession.

"We’re in a deep hole and have a ways to go to climb out," he remarked.

The US Marine Corps has ordered nearly a quarter of a billion dollars work of repair and rebuilding work on its fleet of mission vehicles, the Raytheon Company announced in a press release.

Raytheon to Help US Marines to Repair Combat Vehicles for Nearly $250Mln
http://sputniknews.com/military/20160607/1040892176/raytheon-us-marines-combat-vehicles.html

The Marine Corps takes delivery of the items at approximately half the price of buying new so that the savings can be reinvested into Marine Corps logistics, Raytheon noted.

"The US Marine Corps Logistics Command has awarded Raytheon Company up to $249 million with options over five years for work on the Secondary Reparable, or SECREP program, rebuilding vehicle parts such as engines, transmissions and electronics," the release said on Monday.

The release also said Raytheon had helped the Marine Corps realize millions in cost underruns through sustainment programs, which were made available for reinvestment and that the company had ensured 98 percent on-time delivery of mission-critical components.

The contract covers approximately 1,000 different items serviced by a network of original equipment manufacturers, military depots and small business suppliers, the release added.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics has been awarded a $93.8 million US Navy contract to buy additional electronic components for the troubled F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter aircraft, the US Department of Defense announced.

US Navy Spends Nearly $94Mln on More Electronics for F-35 Jet - Pentagon
http://sputniknews.com/military/20160707/1042557977/f35-jet-electronics-contract.html

The contract combines purchases for the US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, foreign military sales customers and international partners under the Foreign Military Sales program, the Defense Department said.

"Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company [of] Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $93.8 million… contract for procurement of diminishing manufacturing sources electronic components," the announcement stated on Wednesday.

The problem-plagued F-35 program has already cost more than $1.5 trillion with recent estimates indicating that its cost may further increase as a result of an embarrassing array of mishaps since the effort began to construct the jet in 2001.

Now that the beleaguered F-35 joint strike fighter is, according to official statements, flight ready, the US Air Force is faced with a new problem: upgrading bases abroad to accommodate the aircraft.

More F-35 Drama: Foreign Bases Unprepared to Receive Troubled Fighter
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160707/1042556329/f-35-uk-base-upgrades.html

The Royal Air Force base at Lakenheath, England, is preparing to accept a fleet of 54 F-35s by 2020, with the first batch to be stationed overseas. While the plane has seen its share of troubles, including software glitches, faulty engines, and flight performance issues, Col. Robert Novotny’s chief worry is the base itself.

"For me the concern I have when I look at Lakenheath is not the F-35," the commander of the 48th Fighter Wing, stationed at the base, told Defense News. "For me the concern I have is: Are we going to be able to build enough stuff fast enough?"

The upgrades include maintenance requirements needed to accommodate the plane’s unique features.

"There is some construction that needs to be done for the communication bandwidth requirements that we don’t have here, and there are some infrastructure improvements, power wise, because there’s going to be a lot of demand on the power system," he said.

New housing and living facilities will also be needed for some 1,200 new military personnel needed for the fleet.

But while the RAF needs to spend roughly $200 million in making upgrades to base facilities, Novotny isn’t sure the money will be provided in time. Additionally, he expressed concern that a number of other military bases in the region are also in need of upgrades, and Lakenheath may not get priority.

"We’ve had about three or four formal meetings with folks from the United States and the [UK] Royal Air Force and Ministry of Defense. These are big meetings. The engineers come in, we’ve looked at our power requirements, we’ve looked at our connectivity requirements. We’ve looked at our space on the flightline," he said.

It may be a while before plans come to fruition, however. The estimated completion date has already been pushed back to 2022, two years after the first F-35s are scheduled to arrive.

Built by Lockheed Martin, the F-35 has been plagued by problems throughout its development, despite its eye-opening price tag of over $1 trillion. Most recently, production of the fighter has experienced additional delays due to a faulty ejection seat. A US government report found that any ejecting pilot weighing less than 136 pounds faced a "high likelihood" of a fatal neck injury. Pilots weighing between 136 and 165 pounds faced an "elevated level of risk."

 

[angelburst29]

Footage has emerged showing a Russian guard wrestling down an American diplomat and alleged CIA spy before he enters the US embassy in the Russian capital Moscow.

Screen grab from a video released by Ruptly on June 7, 2016 shows the moment when a Russian guard attacks an alleged CIA spy before entering the US embassy in Moscow.

Russian guard takes down CIA spy, video allegedly shows
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/07/07/474093/Russia-US-embassy-Moscow-CIA-spy

The video, released Thursday by video news agency Ruptly, shows the guard tacking the man to the ground.

Apparently shot from a CCTV camera across the street, the video shows a Taxi pulling off in front of the embassy and the man jumping out.

After being taken down by the guard, the man apparently struggles to enter the embassy by dragging himself on the ground but is faced with resistance from the guard.

There was no more information or any official confirmation of the footage as the motive for the attack also remained unclear.

Citing US officials, the Washington Post said the incident occurred on June 6, adding that the guard was with Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

The report alleged that the diplomat suffered a broken shoulder, among other injuries, and was later flown out of Russia and back to the United States.

The US authorities have expelled two Russian officials from the United States after an alleged attack by a law enforcement officer on a US diplomat in Moscow, US Department of State spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

US Expels Two Russian Officials After Alleged Attack on US Diplomat
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160708/1042674096/us-diplomat-attack-moscow.html

On June 6, according to media reports, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) guard stationed outside the US embassy in Moscow got into a physical altercation with an American diplomat who was allegedly attempting to enter the compound.

"On June 17, we expelled two Russian officials from the United States in response to this attack," Kirby stated.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters last week that video of the incident actually shows the US diplomat attacking a Russian police officer.

Zakharova further noted that the US diplomat was a CIA agent who was returning from an intelligence operation that night.

Foreign-backed Takfiri militants have launched several mortar attacks against two residential areas in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo, killing nearly two dozen people and wounding over 100 others.

Militant mortar attacks kill 17, wound 140 people in Syria’s Aleppo
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/07/08/474244/Syria-Aleppo-militants-alFurqan-Daesh

At least 17 civilians were killed and 140 others sustained injuries as the Takfiris fired rockets at the al-Furqan and al-Sukan neighborhoods of Aleppo city on Friday night, Syria's official news agency, SANA, quoted military sources as saying.

This item is being updated…

Three people have been killed in an Indonesian military helicopter crash in the province of Central Java.

3 killed in Indonesian military helicopter crash
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/07/08/474223/Indonesia-military-copter-crash

Indonesia's disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said six passengers were on board the helicopter when it crashed into a suburban area north of the city of Yogyakarta on the island of Java on Friday.

"Three personnel died," the spokesman said, adding that three other people were also seriously wounded.

The helicopter reportedly fell on a house, damaging it heavily. The local broadcaster TV One said the house was empty at the time of the incident.

The disaster agency said the chopper apparently had engine trouble shortly before the crash, but it has not confirmed the cause of the crash.

The Indonesian military has gone through several incidents of the crash of its aircraft in the recent years. The latest incident was in March, when a helicopter went down in central Indonesia due to bad weather, killing 12 people.

A month earlier, a pilot was killed as a military plane crashed into a house in an urban area in Java during a test flight. The crash also killed two people who were in the house.

In June last year, a Hercules C-130 crashed into a residential neighborhood in the city of Medan on Sumatra island. Over 140 people died in the plane crash.

This article was originally published by Mint Press News.

For years, Lebanese media and the country’s army have reported lurid details about Israeli spy rings inside the country which assist in reconnaissance and espionage targeting Israel’s arch-enemy, Hezbollah.

Israeli Commandos Penetrate Syria, Lebanon; Plant Spy Devices And Murder Civilians
_http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2016/07/08/israeli-commandos-penetrate-syria-lebanon-to-plant-spy-devices-and-murder-civilians/

The Israeli Defense Forces intelligence apparatus uses sophisticated listening devices planted in southern Lebanon — just one of the many surveillance tools at Israel’s disposal — to eavesdrop on the Lebanese militant group’s communications and track troop movements, among other things.

Rumors have trickled back from the front to Israeli reporters that the forays into Lebanon by the IDF’s elite commando units, Sayeret Matkal and Maglan, weren’t always clean operations. In fact, Israeli forces have encountered Lebanese civilians while planting their equipment more than once. Like Bob Kerrey and John Kerry during their days as commandos in Vietnam, when this happens, there’s only one option: eradicate the threat.

That means killing anyone, even a civilian, who detects your presence. Not just because exposure would mean certain death or capture for the team, but because it would cause a major political scandal that could embarrass the state.

‘Strange Incident’: The IDF conceals civilian murder There is a name for these tragic encounters in Hebrew military jargon: mikreh muzar (“strange incident”). It occurred to an Israeli who I consulted about this report that this might be a veiled reference to Mark Haddon’s 2003 mystery novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” the plot of which harkens back to the famous Sherlock Holmes story about the dog that, mysteriously, didn’t bark.

There is a name for these tragic encounters in Hebrew military jargon: mikreh muzar (“strange incident”). It occurred to an Israeli who I consulted about this report that this might be a veiled reference to Mark Haddon’s 2003 mystery novel, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” the plot of which harkens back to the famous Sherlock Holmes story about the dog that, mysteriously, didn’t bark.

[...]

Odenheimer’s novel recounts the battlefield experiences of a hero who served in a unit similar to the one in which the author himself served. In some sense, the novel format enables the author to provide a more truthful account than if he were writing a piece of nonfiction, because the IDF censor would require him to heavily censor a book claiming to be fully factual. For a novel, however, the censor can afford to be more flexible.

In Odenheimer’s book, the narrator says there are two possibilities when an Arab civilian disrupts an IDF commando patrol on foreign soil: the operation can be aborted or the civilian can be murdered. If the operation is not of the highest priority, it might be cancelled. If it is a high-priority mission, though, that leaves only one option.

Of course, the army can’t just shoot the intruder and leave his body on the hillside — that would expose the fact that an Israeli patrol had intruded on foreign ground, constituting a major incident with ensuing fallout. So, seeking to conceal not only its presence, but its bloody deeds, the civilian’s death is made to look like an accident. They decide to take him to the top of a cliff and throw him off, preferably into a ravine. Again, though, exposure is a danger, so great pains must be taken to ensure the victim’s cries aren’t heard. That is why the killing must take place in a remote area where no one can hear.

This appears to be the first elucidation of the full meaning of this military procedure by any Israeli source, though another “strange incident” was portrayed in a sanitized version by Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence in one of their IDF military testimonies.

Of course, there’s an easy way to end these cold-blooded murders: stop trespassing on Lebanese and Syrian territory. After all, in this day and age, the most sophisticated nations don’t need surveillance devices to be planted physically on enemy soil. (While it’s been reported for years that élite Israeli troops encroach on Lebanese sovereignty, it’s been far less known that this also happens in Syria, and so Odenheimer’s book is a bit of a revelation, despite its place on the fiction shelf.)

The death of the Hannibal Directive In a related matter, Israel’s military chief, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, recently revoked the “Hannibal Directive.” The practice, which calls for Israeli troops to prevent their comrades from being captured, even if it means killing them, has been invoked several times in combat situations in Gaza.

Amos Harel, writing for Haaretz on Tuesday, reported on the end of the practice, but portrayed it murkily, perhaps even fraudulently:

“The order calls for soldiers to thwart captivity even at the expense of a fellow trooper’s life.

… The procedure requires soldiers to try and [sic] thwart being captured even if doing so – for instance, by shooting at the abductors – might endanger the captured soldier’s life.

Though the procedure doesn’t permit soldiers to intentionally kill a kidnapped comrade, many officers and soldiers in the field have interpreted it in this way.”

Other Haaretz reporters have alluded to the explicit meaning of Hannibal and what it entails. But even those who are more explicit have portrayed it in veiled terms that force the audience to read between the lines and infer that it involves deliberate murder.

But my own independent Israeli sources have confirmed the true meaning of the directive and numerous instances in which it was invoked, resulting in the deaths of soldiers at the hands of their comrades. Several Israeli journalists and I have published exposes of Hannibal and railed against the immorality it entails. Now, finally, it appears someone has been listening.

Eisenkot is likely dumping Hannibal as a precursor to an anticipated report by that state controller on the IDF’s conduct in Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza, Operation Protective Edge. In the report, a draft of which has been publicly released, the controller recommends abandoning Hannibal because of the likelihood that it contravenes international law. (Here, the controller is referring to the massive firepower the IDF brings to bear in attacking territory where a captured soldier has been taken by the enemy.)

Yet this official analysis doesn’t even deal with the essential depravity of Israeli troops killing their own in order to avoid the future prospect that Israel may have to trade Palestinian prisoners to get the soldier or his body returned.

Israel’s neutrality in Syrian conflict disputed Returning to Syria, knowledge that the IDF violates Syrian territorial sovereignty in the fashion described in Odenheimer’s novel is yet another bullet point in the list of reasons why Israel is certainly not neutral in the Syrian civil war.

While Israel claims to play no role in the conflict, the truth is that the state is up to its eyeballs in it. From numerous air attacks on Syrian and territorial targets, to the shooting down of a Syrian war plane that strayed for a millisecond into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, to meetings between the IDF and Nusra Front commanders and supply of materiel to their forces — it is clear that Israel is deeply involved in the war against Syrian President Bashar Assad. It has forged a fateful and hypocritical alliance with the Nusra Front, the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, while still charging forth with the construction of more illegal settlements and oil and gas exploration.

Unlike Iran and Hezbollah, which have been invited by the Assad regime onto Syrian soil, no one invited Israel. The truth is that Israel doesn’t respect the borders of any of its Arab neighbors.

In some ways, the information published in Odenheimer’s book is not only shocking, but unprecedented. In a phone interview, the author told me his publisher had submitted the manuscript to the military censor for review. It had censored only one portion of the book which dealt with IDF snipers.

Astonishingly, though, the Israeli organ had no problems with the portion of the book that blows open the cover on Israel’s deadly machinations on its neighbors’ territory.

Back dated article - August 9, 2013
4 Israeli Commandos Wounded in Lebanon Landmine Explosion Were Infiltrating Spy Gear
_http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2013/08/09/4-israeli-commandos-wounded-in-lebanon-landmine-explosion-were-infiltrating-spy-gear/

The Daily Star reported yesterday that there was a major explosion on the Israel-Lebanon border in which four IDF soldiers were wounded. After the Lebanese army investigated, it reported that a likely Israeli patrol had crossed the border for an unspecified purpose and caused the explosion. The article speculated that the incident might’ve resulted from either an Israeli landmine planted by the IDF along the border; or from a Hezbollah IED designed to foil precisely such unwanted “visits.” Daily Star notes that the Lebanese militia has discovered a number of similar Israeli attempts to tap into its communications lines.

The article further notes a disagreement on the position of the Israeli patrol when the mishap occurred. The Lebanese army said it was 400 meters inside the border. Another source said it was only a few meters inside the border.

An Israeli confidential source allows me to clarify much of what occurred: a combined unit of Israeli special forces (Sayeret Matkal) and Egoz (a commando reconnaissance unit) infiltrated Lebanon in order to plant “listening devices.” They’d only managed to penetrate a few hundred meters into the country when they set off a landmine, which injured four members. The mission was aborted and the unit retreated.

The Star notes that the IDF planted an extensive mine field to frustrate Hezbollah penetration into Israel. It would seem highly unlikely an IDF patrol would’ve been unable to avoid its own landmines. Therefore, it’s much more likely a Hezbollah munition exploded. If so, this represents yet another failed IDF mission to monitor Hezbollah and stay one step ahead of it in the espionage race.

Over the past year or more, Lebanon exposed a series of espionage rings operated by Israel. Earlier this summer, Hezbollah hijacked the navigation system of an advanced Israeli drone, which was scuttled before it fell into enemy hands, as a U.S. drone did inside Iran. Another intelligence failure was Israel’s attack on an Assad missile depot in Latakia. Though Israel did destroy a warehouse, much of the targeted munitions had been moved. The mission had been compromised by a mole within the ranks of Israel’s FSA ally.

(Also reported here:)
Lebanon-Israel Border Incident Tests UNIFIL-Hezbollah Ties
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/08/lebanon-israel-border-incident-hezbollah-unifil.html

 

[Ca.]

Al-Masdar News
Syrian Army begins offensive in northern Homs (Video-Heavy Syrian army shelling amid new offensive in north Homs)
By Ibra Joudeh - 09/07/2016
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-army-begins-offensive-northern-homs/

Early this morning, elements the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) 10th and 11th divisions – assisted by the National Defence Force (NDF) initiated an offensive to seize the towns of Zarah, Hirbnafsah and Kissin In the northern countryside of Homs.

Under the cover of artillery strikes, the government troops began advancing towards positions held by Islamist rebels in the region.

Al-Masdar News
Saudi Air Force bombs own troops in the Jizan, 50+ casualties By Leith Fadel -
08/07/2016
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/saudi-air-force-bombs-troops-jizan-50-killed/

The Saudi Royal Air Force accidentally bombed their own troops on Friday after launching a series of airstrikes over the Jizan Region of Saudi Arabia.

According to Al-Masdar’s Yemen War correspondent, Tony Toh, the Saudi airstrikes left over 50 Hadi loyalists dead or wounded after their positions were struck at the village Mawasim.

The Jizan Region has recently seen an influx in violence following the collapse of the U.N. sponsored peace talks in Kuwait City.

Al-Masdar News
Iraqi Army captures important base south of Mosul By Izat Charkatli -
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraqi-army-captures-important-base-south-mosul/
09/07/2016

Under intense pressure from artillery shelling and aerial bombardment, ISIS militant retreated from the strategic Qiyyarah Airbase allowing easy access to the Iraqi Security Forces into the imperative base.

Located less than 15 km west of the ISIS’s key stronghold of Qayyarah, the base will be used by the Iraqi Army as a launch point towards the imperative city that lies approximately 60 miles south of Mosul. Its capture will also enable the Iraqi Air Force to station helicopters and fighter jets to expand the war against ISIS in Mosul province.

Should the Iraqi forces seize Qayyarah, the Iraqi army will be better positioned to strike the historic city of Shirqat 25km to the south. This way, Shirqat would be assaulted from two flanks- from the Makhmoul mountains in the south and from Qiyyarah in the north.

Syrian news Facebook
7-8-16
_https://www.facebook.com/683442598373598/videos/1212033098847876/

Syrian army targeted 2 mechanisms & 2 motorcycles for militants on a road near the town of Hamar Talul in the northern countryside of Quneitra killing 16 militants yday.

Anna News
21+:Месть террористов за дорогу Кастелло/ 21+:Terrorist`s revenge for Castello road
Published on Jul 8, 2016
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek_a9Z4Q1P4

В третий, завершающий день празднования окончания священного месяца Рамадан, на улицах Алеппо было особенно многолюдно.Не имея за душой ничего святого, террористы провели чудовищный обстрел мирных районов.Это можно расценивать как месть за операцию по перекрытию дороги Кастелло - единственной артерии снабжения террористов в городских районов Алеппо с территории Турции.
GTrans
In the third and final day of the celebration of the holy month of Ramadan, in the streets of Aleppo was particularly mnogolyudno.Ne having a soul is nothing sacred, terrorists carried out a monstrous bombardment of peaceful rayonov.Eto can be seen as revenge for an operation to cut off the road Castello - the only artery supplying terrorists in urban Aleppo districts from Turkey.

Al-Masdar Podcast 03 – Doctor Tim Anderson and The Dirty War on Syria
By Brad Blankenship - 26/01/2016 Dated
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/podcast/25659/

In this week’s installment of the Al-Masdar Podcast, Brad Blankenship discusses issues such as the Syrian Civil War and the state of Latin America with Dr. Tim Anderson. Dr. Tim Anderson has just released his book “The Dirty War on Syria” that can be purchased on
Global Research. Tim Anderson has Degrees in Economics and International Politics, and a Doctorate on the Political Economy of Economic Liberalization in Australia.
https://media.almasdarnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Tim-Anderson-InterviewMASTER.mp3

Syrian War Report – July 8, 2016: Syrian Army Cuts Off Militants Supply Line to Aleppo
South Front
Jul 8, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2MuXsMnClg


11 Years of Merkel Democracy
South Front
Published on Jul 9, 2016

http://<iframe width="560" height="...bQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[angelburst29]

The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Daesh terrorists shot down a helicopter near Syria's Palmyra, killing two Russian military instructor pilots.

Daesh Terrorists Shoot Down Helicopter Near Palmyra: Russian Pilots Killed
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160709/1042708976/russian-helicopter-downed-syria.html

On July 8, Russian military instructor pilots conducted a test flight of a Syrian Mi-25 helicopter (export version of the Mi-24 helicopter), when it received a request from the Syrian authorities to carry out airstrikes against a large group of Daesh terrorists advancing to the east of Palmyra, the ministry said.

The Russian crew of the helicopter repelled the attack of a large Daesh group of fighters on the Syrian government forces.

"The crew received a request from the Syrian unit's command to strike the advancing fighters. The captain, Ryafagat Khabibulin, made a decision to attack the terrorists. The skillful actions of the Russian crew thwarted the terrorists' advance. When the helicopter's ammunition was spent and it changed its course to the opposite direction, it was shot down by terrorists from the ground and crashed in an area controlled by the Syrian government army. The helicopter's crew was killed."

The killed Russian pilots, Ryafagat Khabibulin and Yevgeny Dolgin, will be posthumously awarded, the ministry said.

Russia expelled two U.S. diplomats in retaliation for a similar move against two Russian diplomats stemming from a bizarre fracas last month between a U.S. diplomat and a Russian guard at the entrance to the U.S. embassy compound in Moscow.

Russia expels 2 U.S. diplomats in fallout over bizarre embassy fracas
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/07/09/russia-expels-2-us-diplomats-fallout-over-bizarre-embassy-fracas/86809674/

The Russian foreign ministry, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, said in a statement Saturday that one of the expelled U.S. diplomats was involved in the embassy confrontation June 6. Another diplomat was "also a CIA operative," Ryabkov said, Reuters and the AFP news agency reported.

Ryabkov said the two U.S. diplomats were declared persona non grata.

"We hope that they in Washington will realize all the viciousness of the aggressive anti-Russia line. If they decide there to move on the path of escalation, they won't be left without a response," the statement quoted Ryabkov as saying.

In the embassy incident, the American diplomat and Russian guard are shown on surveillance video wrestling and falling to the ground. The video, broadcast last week by Russia's NTV, shows two men struggling on the ground with the American eventually wriggling to the door and pulling himself inside.

The report claimed that the diplomat was returning from an "intelligence operations" and, NTV alleged, was wearing a cap so that he could not be easily remembered by the taxi driver or Russian guards.

The TV report identified the man as a career CIA officer allegedly working undercover as third secretary in the embassy political department. NTV did not clarify the source of the video.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday two Russian officials were expelled June 17 in retaliation for the "beating" last month of a U.S. diplomat in Moscow.

He said the American was an “an accredited U.S. diplomat.” Kirby declined to comment on the incident, but expressed frustration over the treatment of U.S. diplomats in Russia in recent years.

Russia says it has expelled two US diplomats in a retaliatory move after Washington made two Russian officials leave the United States in the wake of an attack on an American diplomat outside the US embassy in Moscow last month.

Moscow expels 2 US diplomats in tit-for-tat move
http://www.presstv.us/Detail/2016/07/09/474369/Russia-US-diplomat-embassy-Kirby

“After their unfriendly step, two employees of the United States embassy had to leave Moscow. They were declared persona non grata for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in a statement on Saturday. He also stated that the officials were CIA agents.

“We hope Washington recognizes all the same the perversity of its anti-Russian line. If they decide to move further along the path of escalation it will not remain unanswered,” Ryabkov warned.

The news of expulsion came hours after John Kirby, the US Department of State spokesman, announced that on June 17 Washington told “two Russian officials” to leave the United States in order to “respond to this attack.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry says the assaulted American was a CIA agent, who on June 6 refused to show his identification documents and punched the guard in the face. However, the US State Department says the attack was “unprovoked and it endangered the safety of our employee.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance’s ballistic missile defense system in Europe is now operational. The system includes warships, long-range missile defense interceptors and radars placed across the territory controlled by the allied forces.

NATO missile defense goes live in Europe, isolating Russia not the goal – Stoltenberg
https://www.rt.com/news/350281-stoltenberg-nato-buildup-russia/

“Today we have decided to declare initial operational capability of the NATO ballistic missile defense system. This means that the US ships based in Spain, the radar in Turkey and the interceptor site in Romania are now able to work together under NATO command and NATO control," he explained.

Stoltenberg added that the shield is “entirely defensive" and "represents no threat to Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent.”

 

[Ca.]

Wall Street is salivating

Bloomberg News
Baltics to Black Sea: NATO Unity May Be Tested by Next Challenge
July 9, 2016 — 9:17 PM CEST
_http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-09/baltics-to-black-sea-nato-unity-may-be-tested-by-next-challenge

Soldiers walk at the national stadium where the NATO summit takes place in Warsaw, Poland on July 9, 2016.
Photographer: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images

NATO leaders upgrade Black Sea to ‘strategic importance’
Russia has built up its fleet after annexation of Crimea

Leaders at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit that ended Saturday sought to demonstrate unity among the 28 alliance members as they face multiple threats and uncertainties, from Islamic State to Russia to Brexit. In that, they appeared to succeed.

The seeds of discord, however, were also evident, as leaders wait to discover what Russia’s response to the decisions made at the Warsaw summit will be.

For Poland and the Baltic states, the 4,000 troops that NATO members agreed to deploy across four countries may not be the end of what’s required, depending on Russia’s actions. At NATO’s last summit just two years ago, leaders announced a smaller rapid reaction force for the Baltic states, to similar fanfare.

Further south, Romania and the U.S. are now looking to shift attention to beefing up defenses in the Black Sea region. Saturday’s communique upgraded the Black Sea to an area of “strategic importance” for the alliance. Member governments were given until a meeting of defense ministers in the fall to produce proposals on how to strengthen security there.

French Concerns

For France, however, according to a senior French official, it’s now time for NATO to pause. “We don’t want NATO to do anymore,” he said.

One concern for France and some other alliance members is that they want to avoid forcing Russia into a corner, triggering an escalation. Like other NATO leaders, President Francois Hollande called for dialog with Russia and stressed that the alliance’s deployments were purely defensive.

Russia, however, has already said it will respond to NATO’s plans by deploying three divisions in its western and southern military districts, a force that would dwarf NATO’s “tripwire.” On Saturday, Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, often a more moderate Russian voice, as saying that “the rhetoric in Warsaw just yells of a desire almost to declare war on Russia. They only talk about defense, but actually are preparing for offensive operations.”

Crimea

The Black Sea may prove even more contentious than the Baltic, should NATO decide to develop a land, sea and air defense capacity in a region bordered by Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. The security outlook has transformed since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. It has since built up its fleet and created what security analysts describe as an air exclusion bubble, which could turn the sea into a Russian-controlled lake.

“Look at where the main challenges from Russia have been,” Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu said in an interview as the summit ended. “Crimea, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Transdnistria in Moldova -- these are all in the southern part of NATO’s eastern flank.”

Securing agreement to form a NATO fleet in the Black Sea could also be more complicated than deploying troops in the Baltic states. Romania is a keen proponent, but Bulgaria, a NATO member with strong economic and historical ties to Russia, has expressed opposition. In June, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov warned it would “turn the Black Sea into a territory of war.”

Turkey, too, has mixed feelings about the idea, due to sensitivities over its relations with Russia as well as over the international treaty that controls access through the Bosporus strait, according to Ahmet Unal Cevikoz, a former Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan and Iraq, attending a summit conference.

This week’s drive for unity seems to have papered over those differences for now, but that may not last for long. As Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst said: “It’s going to need clear vision and serious U.S. leadership.”

Cameron Says U.K. Needs to ‘Tool Up’ With Hires for Trade Talks
_http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-09/cameron-says-u-k-needs-to-tool-up-with-hires-for-trade-talks
Government is seeking 300 specialists by end of year
U.K. hasn’t discussed ‘back of queue’ comment with Obam

David Cameron at the Nato summit in Warsaw on July 9.
Snippet: smoking mirrors

“Everybody knows now that Britain is now in a process of working out the best end state for leaving the European Union,” Cameron said. “But we don’t have to wait until that happens until we start scoping out what are the trading and investing and other opportunities, and that’s something we need to start with right away.”

_http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-09/plunging-pound-s-fate-seen-clearer-after-boe-meets-post-brexit

What has NATO decided to do about issues facing the south of the Alliance?
Published on Jul 9, 2016

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NATO AWACS planes are being deployed to support the coalition against ISIL. That’s just one pledge that’s been agreed to at the NATO Summit in Warsaw.

TASS
NATO holding summit of deception in Warsaw Russian Politics & Diplomacy
July 09, 3:38 UTC+3
http://tass.ru/en/politics/887215
MOSCOW:

Chairman of the foreign policy committee in the upper house of Russian parliament, Konstantin Kosachov, has labelled the NATO summit underway in Warsaw 'a summit of deception', as its most vociferous decision has been taken on the grounds of purportedly forged allegations about the 'Russian threat'.

"The only resounding decision on deployment of four battalions in Poland and the eastern Baltic countries" will unlikely make any radical changes in relations between Russia and the alliance, he wrote in Facebook on Friday.

"It's like building a dam in the desert sands where it will protect against non-existent risks," Kosachov wrote.

"It's not the soldiers that scare us, it's the politicians who deceive millions of people while being perfectly aware of the absence of any threats from Russia," he said. "The Warsaw summit is a summit of deception.

The decisions endorsed by NATO on Friday "have cemented a second wall in Europe after the Berlin one, since all of them proceed from the logic of confrontation of the World War II era."

"This logic goes along the lines suggesting 'we'll feel secure because we're stronger'," Kosachov said.

"In Warsaw, NATO decision-makers could make a choice between the fanning of tensions and detente but there's no one so far at the level of leaders to work for detente," Kosachov wrote. "Too little of the German position can be heard or seen. The same for France and Italy. It's the novices endorsed by the Chaperon who're setting the tune."

"Yet there is a definite hope a change of Western elites will come about soon," Kosachov wrote. "Warsaw may go down in history as a bow-out summit," as new people ranging from Trump to Boris Johnson are breathing heavily down the necks of the current leaders.

"These politicians don't feel bounded by the previous rules of the game," he indicated. "No doubt, there are absolutely no guarantees these off-system politicans will raise the upper hand, to say nothing of the guarantees the situation will be any better, but Western societies have a great demand for them, because the situation can't be any worse than it is today.".

:D

Sputnik
Brief History of Russia-NATO Relations
Published on Jul 9, 2016

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NATO countries recently finalized arrangements to boost the alliance's rotational presence in Eastern Europe with four battalions in 2017. Let's take a walk down Memory Lane and see how the alliance’s relations with Russia have been unfolding up till now

 

[angelburst29]

Thirty civilians were killed and some 150 injured during the shelling of dormitories by the al-Nusra Front militants in the Syrian city of Aleppo, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.

Thirty Killed in Al-Nusra Front Shelling of Dorms in Syria’s Aleppo
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160709/1042715422/aleppo-nusra-front-shelling.html

"More than 30 civilians were killed and about 150 were injured by shelling of dormitories near al-Furkan (Aleppo city) carried out by Jabhat al-Nusra [al-Nusra Front] terrorists. Most of injured and killed were women and children," the ministry said in a daily bulletin posted on its website.

As a death toll in Syria’s Aleppo continues to rise amid intense shelling of residential areas by so-called “moderate” rebels, Damascus officials sent a letter to the United Nations, saying that the situation in the city highlights the hypocrisy of the Western nations.

Damascus Slams West’s Hypocrisy Amid Massive Bombings of Aleppo
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160710/1042719636/syria-aleppo-hypocrisy.html

Some 30 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed and 150 were injured as a result of bombings of Aleppo’s dormitories, the Russian Defense Ministry reported Saturday. The attacks were carried out by US-backed “moderates,” joined by al-Nusra Front, in the midst of 72-hour ceasefire. At the same time, the population of Aleppo, the country’s largest city, remains besieged with not enough food and fuel.

"Over the past few days, there has been no ceasefire on the ground," Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr said. "On the ground, there is no truce and the violence continues."

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev declared in an interview with radio station Echo Moskvy that if the crisis escalates to another war, this war will be the last.

Gorbachev: 'The Next War Will Be the Last'
http://sputniknews.com/world/20160710/1042719574/gorbachev-on-nato-decisions.html

NATO leaders agreed on Friday to deploy military forces to the Baltic states and eastern Poland while increasing air and sea patrols to demonstrate readiness to defend eastern members against the alleged ‘Russian aggression.'

Mikhail Gorbachev reportedly said after the summit that the decisions made at NATO summit in Warsaw should be regarded as a preparation for a hot war with Russia.

On Saturday, Gorbachev told Echo Moskvy in an interview that he sticks to what he had said earlier and that he considers NATO decisions short-sighted and dangerous.

"Such steps lead to tension and disruption. Europe is splitting, the world is splitting. This is a wrong path for the global community" He said. "There are too many global and individual crises to abandon cooperation. It is essential to revive the dialogue."

According to the ex Soviet President, by irresponsibly deploying four multinational battalions to Russian borders, "within shooting distance", the alliance draws closer another Cold War and another Arms Race.

"There are still ways to…avoid military action." Gorbachev stressed. "I would say that UN should be called upon on that matter."

He also called on Moscow not to respond to provocations but to come to the negotiating table.

"In the current situation…all political, economic, diplomatic and cultural forces should be engaged to pacify the world. Mind you, the next war will be the last."

US President Barack Obama told journalists at a press-conference following NATO summit in Warsaw that the US has engaged in “almost no wars between great powers” under his administration calling that a legacy he is proud of.

Oh No He Didn’t: Obama Pats Himself on the Back Over Fewer Wars
http://sputniknews.com/us/20160710/1042717035/obama-wars-legacy.html

According to the president, the nature of the US military activities has substantially changed since the end of George W. Bush presidency. After Obama took office, US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have shifted from combat to training local forces in their fight against terrorist groups.

"Our military operations today in Iraq and Afghanistan are fundamentally different than the wars that we were engaged in when I came into office," the Noble Peace Prize laureate noted, adding that he has been working on a creating a structure that emphasized partnerships with the world's great powers.

"The good news is that there are fewer wars between states than ever before." He stressed. "And almost no wars between great powers. And that's a great legacy of leaders in the United States and Europe and Asia, after the Cold War — or after the end of World War II that built this international architecture."

In 2009 Barack Obama was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples", in large part due to his pledges to wind down US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and to pursue constructive relations with Russia.

In the last year of Obama's presidency, the United States is far from the finish line of exiting a nearly decade and a half conflict in the Middle East or reestablishing positive relations with Moscow.

In June 2016 NATO agreed to extend its mission in Afghanistan, maintaining a stable military presence there and reiterating its funding pledge for Afghan security forces to 2020. The commitment was bolstered by President Barack Obama's decision to alter the Afghanistan exit plan to keep 8,400 US troops in the Middle East country.

On Friday NATO leaders announced plans to beef up forces in eastern European countries bordering Russia, with America taking the lead. Officials called stationing of 1,000 American troops in Poland, with complementary numbers from allies in three Baltic states, the largest deployment of military personnel by the alliance since the end of the Cold War. Some regard the move as a preparation for a hot war with Russia.

"All the rhetoric in Warsaw just yells of a desire almost to declare war on Russia." Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev told reporters. "They only talk about defense, but actually are preparing for offensive operations."

Fewer wars between states is good news indeed, yet Mr. Obama's presidency remains marked with two full terms with the nation at war and escalated tensions with Russia.