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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
2/12/2016 8:18:57 PM

Cuban Missile Crisis Mark 11

By Katherine Frisk on February 11, 2016

This IS World War Mark 111

by Katherine Frisk

Kirill_serveimage

On Friday the 12th of February, Patriarch Kirill of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church in Moscow will meet with Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, on the island of Cuba in Havana.

This after the Great Schism in 1054 A.D. when the Hagia Sophia of the eastern Church in Constantinople was sacked and robbed by the mercenaries of the west. A case of pick your hat?

The Turban with the cross on the top?

Or the Sumerian Dogon Fish Hat that shall rise from the sea in red and purple?

pope-john-paul-

This is the Cuban Missile Crisis Mark 11. Mark 1, as you recall, in 1961 almost set the course for a Nuclear War between the USA and the Soviet Union, with Cuba as the central theme.

In those days, Camelot was in the White House, and America was the good guy. Years later, Kremalot is in the Kremlin and Russia is the good guy. My how the wheel turns!

On September the 19th 2015 in Havana, Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church made the remark that “the US and Cuba could be an example to the world, a world that needs reconciliation amidst this Third World War.”

F William Engdahl in his Op-Ed rightly asked:

“Was that meant to signal that, led by the militant banner of history’s first Jesuit Pope, the Vatican is bringing us into a World War III against Russia and her allies, most certainly also China? Very few statesmen or political leaders that I know of are calling this World War III today. Is the comment intended to signal that the thousand-year quest of the Roman church to eradicate Orthodox Christianity, for which Russia today is the bastion, along with Greece, Serbia and eastern Ukraine and elsewhere, is seen as the ultimate prize? Let’s devoutly hope not, and hope that the inserted phrase owed to fatigue or jet lag on the long flight from Rome to Havana.”

In early 2016, the Russian intervention in Syria to wipe ISIS off the face of the earth was noticeable for its lack of action. By the end of January, things began to speed up remarkably. What has become clear is that Putin is not going to back down. He will remove ISIS from Syria in no uncertain terms. And if invited, will do same in Iraq, which would mean the fall of Mosul occupation.

Vladislav-Surkov-Nuland_385194928A flurry of meetings between western “leaders” for lack of a better word, though none of them appeared to be acting on behalf of the President of the United States of America, took place.

Victoria Nuland-Kagan, the Khazar princess of the west, though some would rather call her the wicked witch of the west, made a surprise visit to Russia demanding to see “Your f#cking Tzar!”

Unfortunately, the duly-elected President of Russia, Mr Vladimir Putin with a 95% approval rate was not available. So she was invited to see the Spin Doctor Vladislav Surkov instead, who as rumor has it, can replicate a “color revolution,” Boston Bombing or Sandy Hook with more finesse and better crisis actors than his western counterparts. One wonders if he also has a bag of cookies in his arsenal? Kagan-Khazar was also heard to scream something along the lines of “you are going to start World War III!”

Even the Bilderberg Group got in on the act and sent die-hard “military men are just dumb animals” Kissinger for an emergency meeting with Putin.

John Kerry was heard to say, “What do you want me to do? Start a war with the Russians?”

Was this a rhetorical question?

A desperate bid was attempted at the UN for a cease-fire, which failed. It failed because the Saudi-backed rebels refused to take part.

Don’t blame me,” Kerry said, “Blame the opposition. It was the opposition that didn’t want to negotiate and didn’t want a ceasefire, and they walked away.”

So what is all the fuss about? Aleppo and Raka and ISIS finally being irradiated from Syria. While Takfiri, al Qaeda, ISIS, Daesh, Syrian “rebels,” (the multi-named, multi-headed, lunatic fringe, oil stealing, women- and children-abducting terrorists whom Bush and the gang have supposedly been fighting since 9/11 — though they have been funding them and supporting them along with the Muslim Brotherhood, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel, who supports them on the Golan Heights) are fleeing across the border into Turkey and Iraq, screaming foul as they go.

The western Murdoch Mockingbird media is insisting that they are all hard done by “refugees” and that Putin is creating an even worse refugee crisis. Gotta be the bad guy right? But if anyone has forgotten who these people really are, please seeHERE and HERE as two examples of many.

Even the Wall Street Journal had to admit:

“About a half-dozen cities and towns targeted in the new regime offensives have one thing in common: All were held by a mix of Islamist and moderate rebel groups funded and armed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Complicating the picture is that some, but not all, of these groups collaborate with the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. That gives the regime and its allies fodder for their claim that they are fighting terrorism.”

But then on the 10th of February the US decided to “create” some “collateral damage”for the Russians. RT reported:

“Two US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II assault warplanes carried out airstrikes on the city of Aleppo on Wednesday, destroying nine facilities, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported. The same day, the Pentagon accused Moscow of bombing two Aleppo hospitals, while there were no Russian flights over the city.

Yesterday, at 13:55 Moscow time (10:55 GMT), two American A-10 assault aircraft entered Syrian airspace from Turkey, flew right to the city of Aleppo and bombed targets there,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Thursday.

Also on Wednesday, Konashenkov recalled, the Pentagon’s spokesman, Colonel Steven Warren claimed that Russian warplanes allegedly bombed two hospitals in Aleppo.

In his words, some 50,000 Syrian have been allegedly deprived of vital services,”Konashenkov said, pointing out that Warren forgot to mention either hospitals’ coordinates, or the time of the airstrikes, or sources of information.“Absolutely nothing.”

Most interesting statement of Major General Igor Konashenkov .– US bombing hospitals Aleppo (subs)



So what do the
“rebels” know that we don’t? A massive build up on Turkey’s border and a Saudi buildup on the border of Iraq? Are they ready for an all out war? Is Kerry playing the innocent ”I tried to stop it but couldn’t” line? While the US still backs ISIS?


As usual this is all about oil and control of the Middle East and the whole of Eurasia.
But the BZ “Grand Chessboard” is coming unraveled by the hour. China, Saudi Arabia’s biggest buyer of oil is insisting on being paid in Yuan, not the petro dollar. Russia is the main supplier of oil to China, Angola coming a close second. Angola has more oil than Saudi Arabia. Now that sanctions are lifted on Iran, they too will start pumping and are cutting deals with India. Also excluding the petro dollar.

ISISOIL1

All that aside, there are also the individuals and companies who have been buying oil from ISIS delivered to Turkey, where Erdogan and his son have been lining their pockets rather nicely. Western companies have also been buying up all this oil, and in effect have been funding ISIS through these purchases. SeeHERE and HERE.

Now Aleppo and Raka are about to fall into the hands of the Syrian Army with the assistance of Russia, Hezbollah and Iran, and their lucrative oil deals will tumble. No doubt Iraq will soon get the same assistance and will follow.

So that is the setting for World War Mark 111. What about the Cuban Missile Crisis Mark 11?

In a recent report from Pravda we find:

“From my point of view, should the war with Turkey start, it must be a determined, ambitious and quick war. Russia will have to strike a nuclear blow on main infrastructure and military targets in Turkey immediately – not on cities, of course, where people live, but on headquarters, major centers of communications, ammunition depots, airfields, ports. During the first few hours of this war, Russia must destroy the entire military infrastructure of Turkey,” Mikhail Alexandrov said. “One does not even have to use ballistic missiles in this strike – Iskander-M with nuclear warheads would be enough. As soon as the military infrastructure is destroyed, the Russian troops will go and take the area of the straits,” he added.

“The West will not even have time to do anything. European countries will be so horrified that they will not even dare to intervene. The Americans will face a choice – either they begin a strategic nuclear war against Russia or not. As a result, Russia will take the area of the straits, and the rest will be left to Turkey,” said the expert, explaining that “this is not a cunning plan of the aggressor, but the requested scenario of “what to do if the war breaks out.”

One has to wonder what the Roman Catholic Pope knew in when he said: “the US and Cuba could be an example to the world, a world that needs reconciliation amidst this Third World War.”

And now the meeting in Cuba with Patriarch Kirill.

Russia is not going to blink. It did not blink in Crimea and said no to the Kiev junta. It did not blink in Ukraine and said no to invading that country and sent much needed aid to the besieged Donbass instead. It has not blinked in Syria and has said no to all terrorists groups.

One thing I have learnt about bullies, they do not understand the word “no.” “No” does not exist in their vocabulary. They persist and persist and persist until you say “yes.” Or… you finally have had enough and take a knockout punch. To which they reply in surprise, “What did I do?” Or to quote Kerry, “wasn’t me it was him!”

neoconservatives-Neoconed1If the Neocons persist, if Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel persist, that knockout punch is coming. It is written.

To the Zionists in Tel Aviv, Jeremiah told you centuries ago. You did not listen then, and you are not listening now. Same sh#t different day. Read Jeremiah 34. Nothing has changed.

To all those who have besieged Damascus and laid it to waste, Isaiah told you centuries ago. You did not listen then, and you are not listening now. Same sh#t different day. Read Damascus The Anti Christ and Armageddon.

A Messiah came from the East. Cyrus the Great, and overthrew the suppressors. The plot never changes. It stays the same.


Katherine Frisk is a freelance writer, political commentator and the author of: Jesus Was A Palestinian.






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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
2/13/2016 9:32:17 AM

Russia keeps bombing despite Syria truce; Assad vows to fight on

Reuters






An unexploded cluster bomblet is seen along a street after airstrikes by pro-Syrian government forces in the rebel held al-Ghariyah al-Gharbiyah town, in Deraa province, Syria February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir



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By John Irish and Warren Strobel

MUNICH/AMMAN (Reuters) - Major powers agreed on Friday to a pause in combat in Syria, but Russia pressed on with bombing in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad, who vowed to fight until he regained full control of the country.

Although billed as a potential breakthrough, the "cessation of hostilities" agreement does not take effect for a week, at a time when Assad's government is poised to win its biggest victory of the war with the backing of Russian air power.

If implemented, the deal hammered out during five hours of late night talks in Munich would allow humanitarian aid to reach besieged towns. It was described by the countries that took part as a rare diplomatic success in a conflict that has fractured the Middle East, killed at least 250,000 people, made 11 million homeless and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing into Europe.

But several Western countries said there was no hope for progress without a halt to the Russian bombing, which has decisively turned the balance of power in favor of Assad.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that if the peace plan fails, more foreign troops could enter the conflict.

"If the Assad regime does not live up to its responsibilities and if the Iranians and the Russians do not hold Assad to the promises that they have made ... then the international community obviously is not going to sit there like fools and watch this. There will be an increase of activity to put greater pressure on them," Kerry, who was in Munich, told Dubai-based Orient TV.

"There is a possibility there will be additional ground troops."

U.S. President Barack Obama has ruled out sending U.S. ground troops to Syria, but Saudi Arabia this month offered ground forces to fight Islamic State.

A White House spokesman, Eric Schultz, called the agreement "an important step," but added, "In the coming days, we will be looking for actions, not words, to demonstrate that all parties are prepared to honor their commitments."

The complex, multi-sided civil war in Syria, raging since 2011, has drawn in most regional and global powers, producing the world's worst humanitarian emergency and attracting jihadist recruits from around the world.

Rebels said the town of Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo province was the target of intensive bombing by Russian planes on Friday morning. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring body, said warplanes believed to be Russian also attacked towns in northern Homs.

The news agency AFP quoted Assad as saying he would continue to fight terrorism while talks took place. He said he would retake the entire country, although this could take a long time.

Another week of fighting would give Syria's government and its Russian, Lebanese and Iranian allies time to press on with the encirclement of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the war, which they are now on the verge of capturing.

They are also close to sealing the Turkish border, a lifeline of rebel territory for years.

Those two victories would reverse years of insurgent gains, effectively ending the rebels' hopes of dislodging Assad through force, the cause they have fought for since 2011 with the encouragement of Arab states, Turkey and the West.

The cessation of hostilities agreement falls short of a formal ceasefire, since it was not signed by the main warring parties, the opposition and government forces.

REBEL MISSILES

Two Syrian rebel commanders told Reuters they had been sent "excellent quantities" of ground-to-ground Grad missiles with a range of 20 km (12 miles) by foreign backers in recent days to help confront the Russian-backed offensive.

Foreign opponents of Assad including Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been supplying vetted rebel groups with weapons via a Turkey-based operations center. Some of the vetted groups have received military training overseen by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Russia suggested it might not stop its air strikes, even when the cessation of hostilities takes effect in a week.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not stop bombing fighters from Islamic State and a rebel group called the Nusra Front, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, neither of which were covered by the cessation deal. "Our airspace forces will continue working against these organizations," he said.

Moscow has always said that those two jihadist groups are the principal targets of its air campaign. Western countries say Russia, in fact, has been attacking mostly other insurgent groups. Turkey's foreign minister said on Friday Russia was targeting schools and hospitals in Syria.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Moscow must halt strikes on insurgents other than Islamic State for any peace deal to work.

"Russia has mainly targeted opposition groups and not ISIL (Islamic State). Air strikes of Russian planes against different opposition groups in Syria have actually undermined the efforts to reach a negotiated, peaceful solution," Stoltenberg said.

Britain and France said a peace deal could be reached only if Russia stops bombing insurgents other than Islamic State.

The United States has been leading its own air campaign against Islamic State fighters since 2014. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday he expected Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send commandos to help recapture Islamic State's eastern Syrian stronghold, Raqqa.

Assad said he believed Saudi Arabia and Turkey were planning to invade his country. Russia has said Saudi ground troops would make the war last forever.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, said in an interview published on Saturday that Russia's military interventions will not help Assad stay in power. "There will be no Bashar al-Assad in the future," al-Jubeir told a German newspaper.

Kerry had entered the Munich talks pushing for a rapid halt to fighting, with Western officials saying Moscow was holding out for a delay.

The tactic of agreeing to a break in hostilities while battling for gains on the ground is one Moscow's allies used in eastern Ukraine only a year ago. A ceasefire there eventually took hold, but only after Russian-backed separatists overran a besieged town after the deal was reached.

Diplomats from countries backing the plan met on Friday to discuss sending urgent humanitarian aid. "Convoys can go very soon if and when we have the permission and the green light from the parties," said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who chaired the meeting in Geneva.

(Additional reporting by Denis Dyomkin, Shadia Nasralla, and Robin Emmott in Munich, and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Writing by Peter Graff, Anna Willard and Will Dunham; Editing by Andrew Roche and Andrew Hay)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
2/13/2016 9:53:02 AM

The battle for Aleppo is at the center of the Syrian chessboard


Aleppo rubbleAbdalrhman Ismail/ReutersResidents inspect damage after airstrikes by pro-Syrian government forces in the rebel held Al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria on February 4, 2016.

With ample Russian and Iranian help, regime forces have cut the rebels' main lifeline in the north, and they will likely steer their relentless steamroller to the west unless outside powers take action.

On February 2, the Syrian army and its allies succeeded in cutting the northern road between Aleppo city and Turkey, known as the Azaz corridor. Although the battle was a local affair involving a relatively small number of fighters, it may prove to be a turning point in the war.

In addition to threatening the rebel presence in Aleppo province, the development could put the entire Turkey-Syria border under the control of pro-Assad forces within a matter of months, or spur Kurdish forces there to choose coexistence with Assad.

Cutting the Northern Corridor

The offensive against the corridor was launched from Bashkuy (on the northern outskirts of Aleppo) and from the pro-regime Shiite enclave in the villages of Nubl and Zahra. Hezbollah and two other Iranian-supported Shiite militias (the Iraqi brigade al-Badr and the enclave's local "National Defense" militia) are the main ground units participating to the battle, pitted against rebel forces led by al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, which had previously sent hundreds of reinforcements from the Idlib area.

For Shiite fighters, the purpose of the battle is highly symbolic: to defend their fellow Shiites against Sunni Islamists who want to expel them. The small Nubl-Zahra enclave has resisted rebel assaults for three years, with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) protecting its western flank and allowing food deliveries to enter.



In exchange, the Syrian army has protected Aleppo's Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud against rebel attacks. Passive cooperation between the PYD and the Syrian army is now becoming active as both forces are on the offensive against rebels in the Azaz corridor.

A February 2015 attempt to join the Nubl-Zahra enclave with the government zone failed dramatically due to lack of preparation and insufficient forces. Afterward, a heavy rebel counteroffensive took Idlib, then threatened Aleppo and even Latakia. Bashar al-Assad was obliged to ask for Russian intervention without any conditions. In contrast, the latest offensive was preceded by weeks of heavy aerial bombardment against rebel defenses, particularly at the Bab al-Salam border post with Turkey, through which the rebels receive many of their supplies.

The opposition-controlled corridor between Aleppo and Turkey is only five to fifteen kilometers wide, wedged between Islamic State (IS) forces to the east and the Kurdish canton of Afrin to the west. The main rebel groups in this area are Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zinki, and the Sultan Murad brigade (a Turkmen group very close to Turkey).

These groups are formally members of the rebel umbrella organization Jaish al-Fatah, which is supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Since their victorious campaign of spring 2015, however, significant internal divisions have emerged. Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra have recently fought each other, while Nour al-Zinki has withdrawn from the outskirts of Aleppo, and Sultan Murad is only fighting IS forces, not Assad.


A man waves a Syrian national flag as residents of Nubul and al-Zahraa, along with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, celebrate after the siege of their towns was broken, northern Aleppo countryside, Syria, in this handout picture provided by SANA on February 4, 2016.

The Azaz corridor grew particularly weak after the Democratic Forces of Syria (DFS) -- an alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces under the PYD umbrella -- gained the upper hand against the rebels and began to advance westward in recent weeks, approaching the Aleppo-Azaz road. The DFS has benefitted from Russian shelling against rebel lines, as well as direct Russian weapons deliveries.

On February 4, the group announced the capture of two villages north of the Nubl-Zahra enclave, Ziyarah and al-Kharba. In light of this situation, the Syrian army's latest victory would seem to benefit the Kurds, who can advance in the northern part of Azaz corridor while regime and allied forces content themselves with solidifying their position around Aleppo instead of heading to Azaz.

Closing the Western Border

Now that the northern road is cut, the next target is likely the road from Aleppo to the rebel-controlled western border crossing of Bab al-Hawa. In parallel with the Azaz offensive, Hezbollah launched attacks in the northern suburbs of Aleppo to cut the road called "Castello," by which the eastern rebel neighborhoods are supplied.

This offensive has been less brutal than the one in the north because the terrain is more difficult to conquer: the high density of residential buildings prevents tanks from progressing. The regime and its allies will not try to retake this area quickly, since the risk of heavy losses from urban warfare is too great.

Abdalrhman Ismail/ReutersA boy inspects damage after airstrikes by pro-Syrian government forces in the rebel held Al-Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria February 4, 2016.

The best solution is to surround it and wait, which will allow time for tens of thousands of civilians who remain in eastern Aleppo to flee. Many fighters are fleeing as well, perhaps because they fear they will not be able to withdraw once the area is fully besieged, as happened in Homs in spring 2014.

Meanwhile, Syrian and Russian efforts will likely focus on the countryside west of Aleppo. From Zahra, it is now possible to attack the rebels northwest of Aleppo and support similar actions from the southwest, where the army has progressed a great deal since October.

Again, Assad's forces are unlikely to tackle dense urban areas, instead moving in the open field and cutting rebel lines of communication. In the coming months, the army and its allies will probably aim to seize a sizable section of the western border between Bab al-Hawa and Jabal Turkmen in northern Latakia province.

The Washington Institute

At the same time, the PYD might attack the ninety-kilometer border area between Azaz and Jarabulus in the north, currently held by IS. This would be in keeping with the group's strategy of linking the Kurdish enclaves of Afrin and Kobane.

Unlike the United States, Russia does not want to antagonize the Kurds by prohibiting their deeply held goal of territorial unification. Moreover, Vladimir Putin wants to put pressure on Turkey's entire frontier with Syria: it is one of the main regional goals of the Russian intervention.

If the PYD and pro-Assad forces succeed in their separate offensives, the whole border will be under their control, with no window into Turkey for anti-Assad forces, be they rebels or IS.

Launch a Counteroffensive or Open a New Front?

Moscow's strategy since September has been shaped by three goals. The first is to protect the coastal Alawite area where Russia has installed its logistics bases. The second is to strengthen Assad, pushing the rebels far from the large cities of Homs, Hama, Latakia, Aleppo, and Damascus. The third is to cut the rebels' foreign supply lines.

The first two objectives have largely been met: there have been no attacks on Latakia or Tartus that could interfere with the Russian bases there, and no large city has fallen to the rebels. To the contrary, the rebels evacuated the Homs neighborhood of al-Waar in December because they were desperate, not seeing any help coming.

Thomson ReutersA Free Syrian Army fighter carries his weapon as he walks along the fence of the Menagh airport which, according to the FSA, is partially controlled by Syrian regime forces in Aleppo's countryside

Now that the Azaz road has been cut, the third goal is halfway reached. Russia and its allies seem to have the means to meet their ambitions, with Assad's manpower weakness offset by complete air superiority and Shiite militia reinforcements.

Yet Turkey and Saudi Arabia may not remain passive in the face of major Russian-Iranian progress in Syria. For example, they could set up a new rebel umbrella group similar to Jaish al-Fatah, and/or send antiaircraft missiles to certain brigades. Another option is to open a new front in northern Lebanon, where local Salafist groups and thousands of desperate Syrian refugees could be engaged in the fight.

Such a move would directly threaten Assad's Alawite heartland in Tartus and Homs, as well as the main road to Damascus. Regime forces would be outflanked, and Hezbollah's lines of communication, reinforcement, and supply between Lebanon and Syria could be cut off. The question is, do Riyadh and Ankara have the means and willingness to conduct such a bold, dangerous action?

Whatever the case, without that or another black-swan development, it is difficult to see how the rebels can resist the Russian-Syrian-Iranian steamroller. The latest successes in Aleppo place Putin at the center of the Syrian chessboard, contrary to forecasts that Russian intervention would make little difference or trap Moscow in another quagmire.

Fabrice Balanche, an associate professor and research director at the University of Lyon 2, is a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute.

Read the original article on The Washington Institute For Near East Policy. Copyright 2016. Follow The Washington Institute For Near East Policy on Twitter.

(BUSINESS INSIDER)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
2/13/2016 10:08:57 AM

US deploys more Patriot missiles in South Korea

Associated Press


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NKorea Orders Takeover of Cooperative Factories


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States temporarily deployed an additional Patriot missile battery in South Korea in response to North Korea's nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch, ahead of talks next week to set up an even more sophisticated U.S. missile defense in a move that has worried China and Russia.

The new tough stance follows South Korea's decision to shut down an inter-Korean factory park that had been the rival Koreas' last major symbol of cooperation, but that Seoul said had been used by North Korea to fund its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea responded by deporting South Korean citizens, seizing South Korean assets and vowing to militarize the park.

South Korea on Friday cut off power and water supplies to the industrial park and announced that its planned talks with the United States on deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world, could start next week. Officials say they have yet to set a specific starting date for the talks.

In the meantime, the U.S. military command in South Korea said Saturday that an air defense battery unit from Ft. Bliss, Texas, has been conducting ballistic missile training using the Patriot system at Osan Air Base near Seoul.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, said "exercises like this ensure we are always ready to defend against an attack from North Korea."

"North Korea's continued development of ballistic missiles against the expressed will of the international community requires the alliance to maintain effective and ready ballistic missile defenses," he said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Forces Korea couldn't confirm how long the Patriot missile battery from Texas would be deployed in South Korea. The U.S. military already has an operating Patriot missile defense system in South Korea to counter the threat of North Korea's shorter-range arsenal and medium-range missiles.

South Korean media have long speculated that the two countries are working on a THAAD deployment in South Korea, but it took the North's rocket launch last Sunday, which outsiders see as a test of banned ballistic missile technology, for the allies to formally announce they will begin the missile defense talks.

Beijing and Moscow are sensitive to the possibility of THAAD in South Korea; critics say the system could help U.S. radar spot missiles in other countries.

China's state media quickly made the country's displeasure known, while Russia also expressed worries about the deployment. North Korea has previously warned of a nuclear war in the region and threatened to bolster its armed forces if the THAAD deployment occurs.

In Munich, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts to discuss the response to North Korea's actions, including the missile system. In talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Kerry expressed support for Seoul's decision to shut down the factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and discussed a broad range of potential sanctions against the North, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said.

Seoul and Washington want to deploy the system at an early date and the upcoming talks will discuss where and exactly when the deployment can be made, a South Korean defense official said, requesting anonymity because of department rules.

The official said the THAAD deployment is designed to protect South Korea from North Korean threats and isn't targeting China or anyone else.

The current standoff flared after North Korea carried out a nuclear test last month, its fourth, followed by the long-range rocket launch on Sunday. Pyongyang said the launch, which put an Earth observation satellite into orbit, is part of a peaceful space program.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Munich, Germany, contributed to this report.




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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
2/13/2016 10:29:26 AM

Thursday, 11 February 2016

Thousands of dead fish washing up dead this week on beaches in several countries across the South Pacific


Photo © MICHEL BOUILLIEZ


There's a warning that extreme temperatures are causing fish to die in their thousands from heat stress, with thousands washing up on beaches in several countries across the Pacific.

Photos of dead fish have been shared on social media in Fiji and Vanuatu in recent days.
Meanwhile this week fish have been washing up dead in their thousands on the coast of New Calidonia.
Particularly warm temperatures marked this weekend and early this week on the islands.
Added to this is the lack of wind.
According meteo.nc several maximum temperature records were broken.
This Sunday, February 7, temperatures around 31 ° C exceeded the islands to the coast of Grande-Terre, ranging from 31.6 ° C to 35.8 ° C and Hienghène airport Tontouta.
The government has also triggered Monday night a level 2 warning of "Strong heat."
The current climate does not spare our bodies especially the most vulnerable: the elderly, children, infants.
Therefore, the idea of ​​an impact on the aquatic environment is not ruled out.
The fish may die due to lack of oxygen caused by the water temperature to rise. And a few drops of rain in the last 24 hours are nothing
Two Tropical storms, Tatiana and Winston have also moved into the area See here

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12 beached sperm whales die in week of carnage on Dutch and German coast

At least 45 whales died after a group of 81 washed ashore in Tamil Nadu India: Underwater disturbance... earthquake or volcano thought responsible.

70% of our sea birds and 75% of the worlds fish are now depleted: No fish left in our oceans by the year 2048 NOAA: Carnage along the west coast exploding since 2011

Alaskan bird die off update: "The number is totally off the charts!" Nearly 10,000 dead murres on a 1-mile stretch of beach along with hundreds of dead star fish...Lack of food blamed

The death of more than 100,000 common murres on the west coast of America blamed on El-Nino even though die off reports started last April!

It could be tens of thousands.....Nearly 10,000 common murres found dead on an Alaskan beach on the first week of 2016

(
thebigwobble.org)

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