Tuesday, September 21, 2010

DTN News: The River Of Afghan Corruption And Its American Source

DTN News: The River Of Afghan Corruption And Its American Source
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 21, 2010: The distinguished American ambassador glibly explains the unprecedented security situation in Afghanistan, blaming the entire mess upon the last 30 years without accepting US responsibility for causing it all. We created the conflict in the first place, by bringing together the criminal enterprises of international arms dealers, opium suppliers, suitcases full of cash, and the most dangerous militants we could gather together from Africa and the Middle East into a “pipeline” which flowed into Afghanistan and from there throughout the region, before abandoning it all to start the first Iraq war. We “abandoned” the war and the Afghan and Pakistani people, but we left the pipeline intact, running at full capacity for the past thirty years. Richard Holbrooke admitted that the core of the problem was the “huge amount of ‘international contracts,’ particularly American military contracts which brought such a lucrative opportunity for . . . this kind of thing,” but he didn’t bother to mention that all of the contracts were initially American, or that the pipeline of weapons, drugs, and militants that supplied the materiel to the contractors, was our pipeline, or that it was still in operation. This is diplomatic deception of the highest order, meant to provide cover for a criminal war and the long-standing criminal American foreign policy which made it all possible. This is the only real problem with Afghanistan, the fact that the governments which are waging war there are run by the same people who have created the dangerous situation to begin with. This is the only problem that affects everything else in the Afghan field of conflict. Cut the American/Pakistani pipeline and the war either ends outright, or slowly winds down, as the flow of money, weapons and foreign fighters simply dries-up, along with the Afghan opium trade which pays for it all. In spite of intimate knowledge of all of this corruption we have sown, Holbrooke places the “cart before the horse,” claiming that the corruption is the problem, and not the deluge of cash, weapons and drugs which fuels the corruption. Without this enormous financial backing, the warlords and drug lords of Afghanistan would be “small potatoes.” There is no limit to American hypocrisy or the galling nerve of American diplomats like Holbrooke, who front for the empire builders as we wage covert war upon the entire world and call it “foreign aid,” or promoting “democracy” or stability.
Peter Chamberlin may be contacted at peterchamberlin@naharnet.com. Email Online Journal Editor *This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com *To read this article in original form "The River Of Afghan Corruption And Its American Source ", for link click here.
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DTN News: Gulf States In $123 Billion US Arms Spree

DTN News: Gulf States In $123 Billion US Arms Spree
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources including FT.com By Roula Khalaf in London and James Drummond in Abu Dhabi
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 21, 2010: The Arab states of the Gulf have embarked on one of the largest re-armament exercises in peacetime history, ordering US weapons worth some $123bn as they seek to counter Iran’s military power. A package of US arms worth more than $67bn for Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest single component of this military build-up, providing a huge boost to the American defence industry. The first phase of this agreement – soon to go before the US Congress for approval – is estimated at about $30bn. Anthony Cordesman, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that the US was aiming to achieve a “new post-Iraq war security structure that can secure the flow of energy exports to the global economy”. The arms sales would “reinforce the level of regional deterrence and help reduce the size of forces the US must deploy in the region”. The purchase of new weaponry comes at a time when many countries in the Middle East, home to two-thirds of the world’s proven oil reserves, are alarmed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions. They also fear that any Israeli or US military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities could provoke retaliation against them, or disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia will receive 85 new F-15 jet fighters and another 70 will be upgraded. Boeing will be the principal supplier, allowing the US company to strengthen its ability to manufacture advanced military jets, an area where it has been slipping under competitive pressure. A successor agreement is expected to provide for the upgrade of radar and missile defence systems and an ambitious modernisation of the Saudi Navy’s eastern fleet. “The Saudi aim is to send a message especially to the Iranians – that we have complete aerial superiority over them,” said a Saudi defence analyst. Other US allies in the Gulf are also involved. Theodore Karasik, from the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, said that the United Arab Emirates had signed contracts to buy military equipment worth $35bn-$40bn. The UAE has received clearance to buy Thaad, a high altitude missile defence system being developed by Lockheed Martin. The UAE and Kuwait have each signed contracts for upgrades to their Patriot missile defence systems, developed by Raytheon, which cover lower levels of an air defence “curtain”. Elsewhere, Oman is expected to spend $12bn and Kuwait $7bn in the period until the end of 2014 on replacing and upgrading warplanes and new command and control systems, according to Blenheim Capital Partners, a consultancy that arranges offset deals. Oman’s package will include 18 new F-16 jet fighters and upgrades for another 12. This will benefit Lockheed Martin, reinforcing its position as the leading US manufacturer of warplanes. The total value of all US arms deals with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Kuwait is estimated at $122.88bn over the next four years. Grant Rogan, Blenheim’s chief executive, said that Middle Eastern and south-east Asian countries had traditionally bought arms on a one-off basis. But now they were replacing western Europeans as some of the biggest regular arms purchasers. “They are the big buyers,” he said.
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*In depth: Iran - Jul-22