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He sure is a likeable guy in the segment: once a KGB guy, always a KGB guy...especially when he answers the question about charm and seduction! Totally cracked me up.
This article published by the Carnegie Endowment For International News reveals quite a lot in regards to China's stepping out to intervene in Syria. Published in 2012, it puts energy as the major motivation...surprise, surprise, surprise!
http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/02/08/china-s-position-on-syria
This article published by the Carnegie Endowment For International News reveals quite a lot in regards to China's stepping out to intervene in Syria. Published in 2012, it puts energy as the prize.
http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/02/08/china-s-position-on-syria
Murky intentions...preparations being made for what?
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/28/politics/russia-syria-military-airstrikes-isis/
I rather doubt that tonight is the last day on earth, or the rapture. I do think that the development or rather emergence of a China Russia Alliance as "core partners" is something the west is totally unprepared for, both militarily and diplomatically.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/09/russia-china-navy/99999/
As much as it may rankle some people on this board, we should probably be getting used to calling Putin "Mr. Putin", with some humble respect, because our Pentagon simply does not have the capabilities to deal with the current developments...if you read the press reports about the Baltic's and current war game strategies. If we with our allies can't handle Russia by itself, we aren't going to be able to stop an alliance of Russia, China, Syria, and Iran.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/18/exclusive-the-pentagon-is-preparing-new-war-plans-for-a-baltic-battle-against-russia/
Now if you do believe the Bible, and accept the interpretations of some preachers that America is the mystery Babylon mentioned in Jeremiah 51 and Revelations 18, the emergence of an alliance between the Medes (China) and Armenia (southern most extent of the former Soviet Union closest to Israel) is the very precursor to the utter destruction of "Babylon" within the timeframe of one hour (EMP attack followed by devastating overwhelming first wave nuclear attack?). Here is one interesting perspective from a man who survived tortures in a former Soviet Block country (once you get past the lengthy introduction):
Blood Super Moon tonight. Omen?
Most forward thinking story on current Syria and Baltic developments.
http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/09/25/china-joining-russia-in-syria-while-germany-prepares-to-leave-nato-in-advance-of-world-war-iii/
Chinese Navy sets off for Syria
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-09-2015/132137-china-0/
Chinese Navy sets off for Syria. Vessel
Source: Pravda.Ru photo archive
According to the Russian Senator Igor Morozov, Beijing has taken decision to take part in combating IS and sent its vessels to the Syrian coast.
Igor Morozov, member of the Russian Federation Committee on International Affairs claimed about the beginning of the military operation by China against the IS terrorists. "It is known, that China has joined our military operation in Syria, the Chinese cruiser has already entered the Mediterranean, aircraft carrier follows it," Morozov said.
According to him, Iran may soon join the operation carried out by Russia against the IS terrorists, via Hezbollah. Thus, the Russian coalition in the region gains ground, and most reasonable step of the US would be to join it. Although the stance of Moscow and Washington on the ways of settlement of the Syrian conflict differs, nonetheless, low efficiency of the US coalition acts against terrorists is obvious. Islamists have just strengthened their positions.
As Leonid Krutakov told Pravda.Ru in an interview, the most serious conflict is currently taking place namely between China and the US. Moscow may support any party, the expert believes, and that is what will change the world order for many years.
Also read: Fox News worries: Russia, Iran and Syria set "shock staff"
Chinese Navy sets off for Syria
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-09-2015/132137-china-0/
Chinese Navy sets off for Syria. Vessel
Source: Pravda.Ru photo archive
According to the Russian Senator Igor Morozov, Beijing has taken decision to take part in combating IS and sent its vessels to the Syrian coast.
Igor Morozov, member of the Russian Federation Committee on International Affairs claimed about the beginning of the military operation by China against the IS terrorists. "It is known, that China has joined our military operation in Syria, the Chinese cruiser has already entered the Mediterranean, aircraft carrier follows it," Morozov said.
According to him, Iran may soon join the operation carried out by Russia against the IS terrorists, via Hezbollah. Thus, the Russian coalition in the region gains ground, and most reasonable step of the US would be to join it. Although the stance of Moscow and Washington on the ways of settlement of the Syrian conflict differs, nonetheless, low efficiency of the US coalition acts against terrorists is obvious. Islamists have just strengthened their positions.
As Leonid Krutakov told Pravda.Ru in an interview, the most serious conflict is currently taking place namely between China and the US. Moscow may support any party, the expert believes, and that is what will change the world order for many years.
Also read: Fox News worries: Russia, Iran and Syria set "shock staff"
Pravda.Ru
Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru
Here's a revealing quote that may shed more light on Russia's interests in the Middle East:
"...at the end of August Russia’s Putin proposed to Israel for Moscow to undertake responsibility for guarding Israel’s Mediterranean gas fields, along with the offer of a Russian investment of $7-10 billion for developing Leviathan, the largest well, and building a pipeline to Turkey for exporting the gas to Europe.”A multibillion Russian investment in the field would make it a Russian project which neither Syria nor Hizballah would dare attack, even though it belongs to Israel,” they noted."
http://journal-neo.org/2015/09/22/washington-has-now-lost-the-middle-east/
To me this offer smacks of a New York shakedown of a mom and pop business, making them pay "protection money" to stay in business.
7 years of QE and you think a rate hike won't pop that bubble? That's optimistic.
lol...maybe you are thinking India, eh? I do admire many things about India. For instance:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2015/09/pictures-india-mars-mission-150921100528030.html
The fact the reached Mars on their first try is only outdone by their budget to do so:
"Partly in keeping with the Asian space race, MOM was conceptualised, planned and implemented by the ISRO in the spirit of a 100m dash and sticking diligently to a shoestring budget of Rs 450 crores or about $74m; a figure that has surprised many across the world, and prompted the country's newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suggest that "the Hollywood movie Gravity cost more than our Mars mission - this is a great achievement".
Cheapest inter-planetary mission
Perhaps the world's cheapest inter-planetary mission, MOM was a tense, 15-month rollercoaster for the more than 500 engineers and scientists involved. Most global missions take over a decade to execute and cost a lot more, the current and ongoing mission to Mars by NASA called MAVEN has cost around $670m."
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/09/india-giant-interplanetary-lea-2014922125058568658.html
But, alas, I'm from the country that spends the most on the cost of printing food stamps, has the worlds largest military budget, but still can't keep current war contingency plans for long term threats that warned they would lull the world to sleep through huge overtures of peace, before taking off the velvet glove to smash America with their iron fist.
The Ruskies might have us at $200 crude before you can say Mecca stampede kills 717.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34346449
Second mass tragedy in Mecca in two weeks.
Russia now in Bagdad, Iraq.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34346449
More tragedy in Mecca.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34346449
Reading between the lines of this Wall Street Journal report seems to indicate a lot of instability is coming to the Middle East, because Russia's economy needs higher oil prices.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-returns-to-mideast-upends-status-quo-1443116010
1) The Republic of India is the largest democracy in the world.
2) Here's a story coming out of Russia about a lawyer representing Russian troops who have refused to go to Syria, and why they refused.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/23/russian-soldiers-don-t-send-me-to-syria.html
Exactly what my dad used to tell me as a boy growing up, that Gog and Magog, Russia definitely and possibly China, would come down into Syria in an alliance with Iran (ancient Persia), and make war on Israel.
IMO, there is nothing noble about communism, period. People want to talk about the evils of radical Islam, and how many they kill in the name of Allah, and it is horrific. But in these two countries, China and Russia, the Bolshevik's that seized power consolidated their hold of power through the greatest mass murders in history, outdoing Hitler in Nazi Germany in their crimes against humanity.
You are right, that there is corruption in every government, including ours. So it should not surprise you that in the power vacuum left by the American war in Iraq, that Russia and China (China being starved for energy, and Russia seeing golden opportunity) should seize upon the moment to back their allies, Syria and Iran, to make war on radical Sunni factions, and seize the spOILs of war as "protectors of the region, there to maintain peace and stability". They are seizing upon the opportunity that we passed on, as we tried to leave self government in the hands of warring factions.
It's nothing more than a New York City mafia shakedown of mom and pop businesses that makes them pay protection fees. Already the Syrian rebel factions are warning the Russians that they should not forget the body bags of Afghanistan, but America was pouring arms into that conflict through Osama Bin Laden. The world is a different place now, in this moment. And it is in this moment, now, a year and some months before the next president will take office that they have decided to take definitive action to change the complexion of Middle Eastern power structure.
Having said that, what Tom pointed out is that only one Arab source has reported that China is sending troops into Syria...yet that is how the whole scoop about Russia deploying there began.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-china-launch-largest-joint-naval-exercise-in-history/528346.html
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/if-assad-asks-china-can-deploy-troops-to-syria/
Historically Russia and China vote as a block at UN. They just signed a $400,000,000,000.00 energy trade agreement.
You have heard of BRICS?
Middle East Oil War...will it be over before it starts? One Arab news source says China is also sending troops to Syria to back Russia.
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/chinese-military-personnel-expected-to-arrive-in-syria/
Pentagon was dusting off the Cold War Era contingency war plans after Russia deployment in Syria began.
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/naval/2015/09/03/chinas-parade-puts-us-navy-notice/71632918/
China's Parade Puts US Navy on Notice
TAIPEI — China showcased its growing capability to deny the US Navy access to the maritime domain of both the East China Sea and South China Sea during a celebratory parade Thursday commemorating the 70th anniversary of its victory over imperialist Japan.
Parade officials commented that 80 percent of the weapons on display had never been exhibited to the public before, and all the equipment was Chinese-made and operational. Though this is a fair statement, three fighter aircraft that took part in the parade are actually pirated copies of foreign fighter aircraft, including the J-11B (Sukhoi Su-27), carrier-borne J-15 (Su-33) Flying Shark, and the J-10 (Israeli Lavi).
The parade showcased for the first time a variety of ballistic missiles under the command of the Second Artillery Corps. Mark Stokes, a China ballistic missile specialist at the Project 2049 Institute, said that leading each parade formation were corps leader grade officers – chief of staff, chief engineer or deputy commander.
"It appears that each of the six missile bases were represented with a new missile system," he said.
The ballistic missile line-up was impressive: DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missile, DF-15B short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile, DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile with ASBM capabilities, and the DF-31A ICBM.
The DF-5B is believed to be China's first nuclear-armed ICBM with multiple independent re-entry vehicles. Officially, the DF-5B can carry only three nuclear warheads, but there are suspicions it can carry as many as five.
The parade in Beijing comes roughly 20 years after the Taiwan Strait missile crisis (July 1995 to March 1996). China's decision to conduct missile drills with SRBMs was in part an effort to disrupt Taiwan's first democratic presidential elections. The US deployed two aircraft carriers to monitor the crisis. In total, China fired 10 DF-15A SRBMs around the island. China took offense to the positioning of US aircraft carriers, and began to develop a means to hold at risk US carriers in future scenarios.
This has led to the development of the first ASBM ever deployed. The DF-21D ASBM, dubbed the "carrier killer," was on parade for the first time, along with a surprise statement by Chinese commentators that the DF-26 intermediate range ballistic missile was also an ASBM.
Though the DF-26 has been dubbed the "Guam Killer" by some Western analysts, the announcement during the parade that the missile also had anti-ship capabilities came as a chill to some analysts.
"The nickname 'Guam Killer' is obviously a misunderstanding because China has had the capability to 'kill' Guam for many decades with other ballistic missiles, but it is the first ballistic missile that is capable of targeting Guam with conventional warheads," said Hans Kristensen, director, Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists.
"That is important because it would enable China to damage or disable Andersen AFB [Air Force Base] in a war without resorting to use of nuclear weapons."
"The most interesting possibility from the parade is that China debuted not one ASBM, but two," said Andrew Erickson, now a research associate at Harvard University's John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. The DF-21D and DF-26 were both described during the parade as ASBMs, he said.
Furthermore, the parade announcer said the DF-26 was able to hit medium and large size ships.
"If that is the case, and Chinese surveillance capabilities are capable of providing sufficient intelligence and guidance at long distances, then it would allow Chinese military planners to hold at risk US aircraft carriers at twice the range of the DF-21D," Kristensen said.
"Striking ships with ballistic missiles at long range is technically challenging and there are many weak links in the chain of necessary sensors that are vulnerable to interdiction," Kristensen said. "A good indicator would be to see how much effort US missile defense systems will spend on the DF-26 and DF-21D." The 16 launchers on parade indicate the DF-26 is operational, he said.
This makes the DF-26 a second-generation anti-access weapon that carries strike capability far into the second island chain, said Richard Fisher, senior fellow, International Assessment and Strategy Center. "This is important because the United States has barely started to respond to China's first generation anti-access ensemble targeting the first island chain, like the DF-21D ASBM."
Fisher believes that the DF-26's ASBM capability is another sign that China is winning the "anti-access" versus "access" arms race with the US.
China also paraded two supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles: the DF-10A (formerly CJ-10) and the air-launched YJ-12. Erickson said that while China may not have progressed as far as it wants with DF-26 targeting support, "it probably already has sufficient surface wave stations to enable the DF-10 to cover the approaches to the Taiwan Strait."
During the parade the Chinese Air Force flew its upgraded H-6K medium-range bomber, which can now carry six YJ-12 anti-ship cruise missiles, and China has already indicated it plans to outfit its Song, Yuan and Shang-class attack submarines with the new YJ-18 supersonic anti-ship missile, Fisher said.
The fact that China showcased new anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles together at the parade underscores arguments that China plans to overwhelm the US Navy with saturation strikes during a war, Fisher said.
Email: wminnick@defensenews.com
If your economy is floundering, go to war:
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/chinese-military-personnel-expected-to-arrive-in-syria/
If Russia and China take over the Middle East oil reserves, do you think the day of the Petro Dollar is over? Gold for oil? Gold is about to get a big boost, just in my opinion only, as war looms ever closer.
***News Flash***
No western journalists have reported on this yet, but one Arab news source states that CHINA IS ALSO SENDING TROOPS TO SYRIA!!!
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/chinese-military-personnel-expected-to-arrive-in-syria/
The Russian deployment has the Pentagons heads spinning. This will overload them.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/09/pentagon-plans-to-go-to-war-with-russia/
I've been expecting this for many reasons.
a) My observations about your posts indicate to me that you are a man with a keen wit of humor, which I enjoy. At the same time, you can also be a very serious individual, and very analytical, which I also enjoy. I keep reading your chart postings and try to make as much sense as I can of all the lines and arches you draw, and how you arrive at your conclusions, as there is definitely a lot for me to learn in that arena.
b) You may find this tidbit of news interesting: China is also sending troops into Syria! The worlds power players are making their stakes known. America has indeed lost in the Middle East.
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/chinese-military-personnel-expected-to-arrive-in-syria/
• EIA Petroleum Inventories:
• Crude -1.9M barrels vs. -0.7M consensus, -2.1M last week.
• Gasoline +1.4M barrels vs. +0.45M consensus, +2.8M last week.
• Distillates -2.1M barrels vs. +1.25M consensus, +3.1M last week.
• Futures +0.55% to $46.62.
• ETFs:USO, OIL, UCO, SCO, BNO, DTO, DBO, UWTI, USL, DWTI, DNO, SZO, OLO, OLEM
This is an interesting story that could lead to isolating Saudi Arabia from the US:
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/09/23/saudi-arabia-and-al-qaeda-unite-in-yemen/
Then that thing that happened on 9/11 this year in Mecca, with the Bin Laden owned crane falling on Mecca, possibly after being struck by lightning, had me thinking about our 9/11, and how close the Saudi ruling family was/is to the Bin Laden family.
You have to wonder how much ties these extremist groups have with their mother governments.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/23/middleeast/syria-russia-military-buildup/
CNN reports now two more bases in Syria under development.
Unless the world begins to understand what Russia is doing in Syria. Have you seen this article yet? Most interesting portion from this article is this:
"...at the end of August Russia’s Putin proposed to Israel for Moscow to undertake responsibility for guarding Israel’s Mediterranean gas fields, along with the offer of a Russian investment of $7-10 billion for developing Leviathan, the largest well, and building a pipeline to Turkey for exporting the gas to Europe.”A multibillion Russian investment in the field would make it a Russian project which neither Syria nor Hizballah would dare attack, even though it belongs to Israel,” they noted."
(Your link)
http://journal-neo.org/2015/09/22/washington-has-now-lost-the-middle-east/
Let's be shrewd and note this obsession Putin has with becoming guardian of the worlds oil and gas reserves!
Most interesting portion from this article was this:
"...at the end of August Russia’s Putin proposed to Israel for Moscow to undertake responsibility for guarding Israel’s Mediterranean gas fields, along with the offer of a Russian investment of $7-10 billion for developing Leviathan, the largest well, and building a pipeline to Turkey for exporting the gas to Europe.”A multibillion Russian investment in the field would make it a Russian project which neither Syria nor Hizballah would dare attack, even though it belongs to Israel,” they noted."
(Your link)
http://journal-neo.org/2015/09/22/washington-has-now-lost-the-middle-east/
Let's be shrewd and note this obsession Putin has with becoming guardian of the worlds oil and gas reserves!
(((If he does become this great "broker of peace, guardian of oil and gas reserves", at what price will he sell to America...if we survive to buy from him?)))
Might have something to do with the $400,000,000,000.00 energy deal he signed with China? Something is fishy about that deal. It is said that Russia does have some vast oil and gas reserves, but does he have the infrastructure to deliver on that deal? I don't have all of the facts yet, but it seems from reading the Gazprom Oao board on ihub (the company that was supposed to build the pipeline from Russia to China?), the pipeline hasn't even been started yet...meaning, no, he doesn't have the ability to deliver.
Might fully explain his presence in Syria to fight ISIS, and by coincidence they share that ISIS problem with oil rich Iraq.
Maybe I'm old and cynical, but I have been betrayed too many times by those I trusted. My ex could look me in the eye and tell me something I knew full well in foreknowledge was a lie, but she could be so sincere and convincing without batting one eye that I would have to go and reverify the very fact of the matter. I know that these people exist. There is a great betrayal in progress.
The story does have it right, the US has lost the war in the Middle East, and Putin has swooped in to scoop up the spOILs of war. I bet on this visit Xi tells O to leave Russia alone and just smile and take it like a Jenner kind of man...or else!
Quote:
"Phat, I read this article carefully ....
to see if there was any unfair bias or propaganda shadiness to it, coming from the foreign news sources, but it seems reasonable to me. an insightful point of view different from the BBC or CNN."
My reply:
Hmmm...yes, it was all seeming very reasonable to me as well, Tom, until my eyebrow began twitching at the first hint of suggestion that Putin could outdo Obama at creating peace in the Middle East. But when the Golden Image of Putin appeared before my eyes in hologram form emanating from the glow of the print on my iPad as the author sang his praises...I very suddenly had to wash my feet and put on my waders...because I had barfed my guts out!!!
Truly if you are this gullible, perhaps I could point you in a more harmless direction. Do you know that in streams, all around the world, Pet Rocks have been left in the cold and merciless water by themselves, without the warmth of human touch, or the comfort of a caring human voice, often submerged in water so long that many drown in dire loneliness...others just suffer in cold despair. Just a twelve dollar donation per month could save dozens of Pet Rocks from this tormenting nightmare of torture, as they slowly shrink day by day and night by night, being eroded by the unrelenting fury of rushing water, forcing one Pet Rock to tumble and grind with other Pet Rocks. Just twenty-four dollars per month, and together we could save twice as many Pet Rocks per month!
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Timothy, you post on the Gazprom Oao board. Isn't that the company that is supposed to build the pipeline from Russia to China to supply them the gas and oil to satisfy that $400,000,000,000.00 energy trade agreement they made?
Something seems fishy to me about that whole deal. Does Russia have the resources and the infrastructure built to satisfy that deal? Do you think that is the reason why Putin keeps doubling down on the number of troops he's putting in Syria, first 500, then 1000, and today now 2000? To get a foothold in oil country, possibly Iraq, who shares the ISIS problem with Syria where he is now?
If you can, please fill this board in on the status of all of that. Thanks.