U.S.A. Foreign Policy & Defense

[mistyronin 1181]

To avoid crowding the forum with a thread for each of the US related news, I decided to create this one to gather them all.

As always, please focus on posting news and commenting them in a civil and polite manner.

- - -

(Vice News) The CIA Just Declassified the Document That Supposedly Justified the Iraq Invasion

Thirteen years ago, the intelligence community concluded in a 93-page classified document used to justify the invasion of Iraq that it lacked "specific information" on "many key aspects" of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.

But that's not what top Bush administration officials said during their campaign to sell the war to the American public. Those officials, citing the same classified document, asserted with no uncertainty that Iraq was actively pursuing nuclear weapons, concealing a vast chemical and biological weapons arsenal, and posing an immediate and grave threat to US national security.

Congress eventually concluded that the Bush administration had "overstated" its dire warnings about the Iraqi threat, and that the administration's claims about Iraq's WMD program were "not supported by the underlying intelligence reporting." But that underlying intelligence reporting — contained in the so-called National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that was used to justify the invasion — has remained shrouded in mystery until now.

[eddo36 16]

(Global Policy Forum) US and British Support for Hussein Regime

US intelligence helped Saddam's Ba`ath Party seize power for the first time in 1963. Evidence suggests that Saddam was on the CIA payroll as early as 1959, when he participated in a failed assassination attempt against Iraqi strongman Abd al-Karim Qassem. In the 1980s, the US and Britain backed Saddam in the war against Iran, giving Iraq arms, money, satellite intelligence, and even chemical & bio-weapon precursors. As many as 90 US military advisors supported Iraqi forces and helped pick targets for Iraqi air and missile attacks.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Eddo36

[maddogx 13]

Good idea, but I think we should use this thread for foreign policy only, have domestic issues on another thread, since it can be quite big.

Let me know what you guys decide and I'll rename the thread if necessary.

[mistyronin 1181]

Good idea, but I think we should use this thread for foreign policy only, have domestic issues on another thread, since it can be quite big.

Let me know what you guys decide and I'll rename the thread if necessary.

Yeah sounds good to me.

The title could be called something like "U.S.A. Foreign Policy & Defense" (to make it more specific ). If MadDogX is so kind :)

[mistyronin 1181]

(NY Times) More U.S. Troops Seen Staying in Afghanistan

The Obama administration is nearing a decision to keep more troops in Afghanistan next year than it had intended, effectively upending its drawdown plans in response to roiling violence in the country and another false start in the effort to open peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

(RT) US to delay Afghanistan withdrawal, leave more troops

[eddo36 16]

(CNN) U.S. pulling last of its Special Operations forces out of Yemen

The U.S. military is in the process of evacuating about 100 Special Operations forces members from the Al Anad airbase in Yemen due to that country's deteriorating security situation, sources in the region familiar with the situation told CNN.

[oxmox 73]

Okinawa governor blocks controversial US marine base

Escalation in dispute poses diplomatic headache for prime minister Shinzo Abe and threatens to sour relations between Japan and the US

The governor of a southern Japanese island, home to tens of thousands of American troops, has triggered a potentially bitter confrontation with Tokyo and Washington after he ordered a halt to the construction of a controversial US marine base.

The ultimatum raises the possibility of a drawn-out legal battle over an issue that has divided Tokyo and local leaders, and soured relations between Japan and the US.

US defence officials say the new base, which is expected to cost at least $8.6bn (£5.8bn), is an essential part of the White House’s strategic “pivot†towards the Asia-Pacific, amid rising concern over Chinese military spending and North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

Japan and the US agreed to close Futenma and move troops and hardware to a new location after the rape and abduction of a 12-year-old in 1995 by three US servicemen sparked widespread protests against the American military presence on the island.

Okinawa, about 1,000 miles south of Tokyo, hosts more than half of the 47,000 US troops in Japan and three-quarters of US bases. Many Okinawans, angered by pollution, crimes involving servicemen and the risk of aircraft accidents, are demanding that Futenma be closed and any replacement be built outside of the island.

The Futenma relocation is part of a broader realignment of the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, based in Japan under a bilateral security treaty.The relocation plan, agreed upon in 1996, has been repeatedly delayed.

Construction work has been marred by clashes between protesters and Japanese security guards employed by the US military at the entrance to Camp Schwab, which lies close to the location for the base. Other activists have taken to kayaks in an attempt to block the seabed drilling survey, sparking confrontations with the Japanese coastguard.

Takeshi Onaga, who was elected governor of Okinawa last December on the back of vowing to block construction of the base, instructed Japan’s defence ministry to suspend work at the site after local officials found builders had damaged coral reefs when they laid concrete blocks to help conduct underwater boring surveys.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/23/okinawa-governor-blocks-marine-base-takeshi-onaga

The quarrels about the Okinawa US military base is also a part of the following interesting and awarded documentary and its worth to watch it:

Standing Army - the secret strategy of US military bases (saw it only in german on YT; for english maybe HULU).

"Over the course of the last century, the US has silently encircled the world with a web of military bases unlike any other in history. No continent is spared.They have shaped the lives of millions, yet remain a mystery to most."

The film posits that while the traditional definition of the term empire means possession of colonies, the foundation of an "American empire" is based on a worldwide network of military bases.

The film explores historical displacement of native populations, including Italy, on Diego Garcia (an Indian Ocean island) and the Middle East.

While they used to serve as simple supply facilities in war-like conflicts, they are often formed in the aftermath of armed US interventions, raising the question if this is intentional strategy. The film presents various data and concludes with Chalmers Johnson, former CIA advisor, who claims this is a new type of imperialism containing a self-destructive recoil force that will lead to a medium-term decline and the ruin of the American position of power in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N5OokrLUno

Edited March 24, 2015 by oxmox

[oxmox 73]

Americans see Putin as only slightly more imminent threat than Obama, poll says

People in the United States feel under threat, both from beyond our borders and within them. In fact, when asked about both U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was a pretty darn close call — 20 percent saw Putin as an imminent threat compared to 18 percent who said the same about Obama.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll asked more than 3,000 Americans what they see as some of the biggest threats to themselves and the country. You can slice and dice the information in literally hundreds of different ways here. People were shown a range of potential threats and then asked to rate how dangerous they were with one being no threat and five meaning the threat is imminent.

.....terrorism is still considered threat number one, pulling in an impressive 55 percent.

More people fear Boko Haram, a scary but ragged Islamic radical group in Nigeria that might have trouble paying for plane tickets to the United States, than Russia, which recently invaded a major European country.

And a whopping 34 percent consider Kim Jong-un, the leader of impoverished North Korea, an imminent threat. Kim may have a couple of nukes, but otherwise his nation is a basket case, so poor that it relies on international aid to feed itself.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri — the late Osama bin Laden’s replacement — came in as number one, which makes sense since al Qaeda is the only Islamic militant group to successfully strike inside the United States.

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad used to rank high in people’s imaginations. Only 17 percent see him as a threat now, but a year and half ago, Secretary of State John Kerry put him on a list he apparently keeps that also includes Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein.

Lower on the list of beliefs and movements we feel are imminent threats sit Judaism and Christianity (7 and 6 percent, respectively), thus pulling in all three major Western religions. Still, many Americans feel atheism is an even bigger threat — 12 percent.

Depressingly, people see gay rights (12 percent) and women’s rights (5 percent) as imminent threats.

Perhaps the most disturbing part, however, is how Americans view each other, simply because of the political party they favor.

Thirteen percent of us see the Republican and Democratic parties as an imminent threat. That’s the same number who think the Chinese might be. Quick reality check: neither political party is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, nor could they cripple us economically in an afternoon. Nor has either party independently building an army that may soon be able to rival that of the United States — that we know of, anyway.

It’s also interesting to see that both sides of the political aisle are worried about themselves: 38 percent of Democrats and 42 percent of Republicans think their own party is something of a threat.

Meanwhile, the world is certainly worried about the United States. In a Gallup survey of people in 65 countries, about one quarter named the United States as the greatest threat to world peace.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/03/30/americans-see-putin-as-only-slightly-more-imminent-threat-than-obama/

Edited March 30, 2015 by oxmox

[Tonci87 163]

Why is something like this a thing? How can anybody behave like this and expect to keep his job? Good that the driver wasn´t alone, otherwise the cop would have done something worse to him.

[ScratcH334 10]

@Tonci87, people/cops that abuse their "power" are in almost every country and is not exclusive to the United States. For example, in Vienna (where I currently live) at new year's eve, several police officers apparently abused a middle aged woman at a gas station, which was partially caught on CCTV cameras.

In the case you posted, the police officer should be withdrawn from duty and put back to his desk while undergoing psychological reviews to determine if he's still fit for the job.

[oxmox 73]

McCain Advises Israel “Go Rogue,†Blow Up Iran Negotiations By Starting War (March 31st, 2015)

McCain Joins Bolton, Invites Israel to Bomb Iran

Senator John McCain took to the Senate floor last week to rail against peace talks with Iran. No surprises there. But McCain went beyond blasting the deal. He suggested a surprising and disturbing method of blowing up the talks.

McCain:"The Israelis will need to chart their own path of resistance. On the Iranian nuclear deal, they may have to go rogue. Let's hope their warnings have not been mere bluffs. Israel survived its first 19 years without meaningful U.S. patronage. For now, all it has to do is get through the next 22, admittedly long, months."

Go rogue? This saber rattling it is not just a momentary fit of John McCain's signature pique. McCain, and his allies like Senators Lindsey Graham and Robert Menendez, have repeatedly slipped language into bills calling for the U.S. to support Israel if Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities.

[Congress] urges that, if the Government of Israel is compelled to take military action in self-defense, the United States Government should stand with Israel and provide diplomatic, military, and economic support to the Government of Israel in its defense of its territory, people, and existence.

While that language was later watered down, McCain's war talk is part of an effort to normalize the idea of military attacks on Iran as Plan B if Congress torpedoes diplomacy.

Lo and behold, Former UN Ambassador John Bolton, just wrote a piece in the New York Times bluntly titled, "To Stop Iran's Bomb, Bomb Iran." Bolton, was one of the main cheerleaders for the war in Iraq and assured the public that: "We are confident that Saddam Hussein has hidden weapons of mass destruction and production facilities in Iraq."

Now Bolton counsels us to embark on another preventative war.

In a recent Washington Post opinion piece titled "War with Iran is probably our best option", neoconservative Joshua Muravchik acknowledged this dynamic and gave another shocking response

Say what?

Yep, the hawks' vision for Iran sure sounds ludicrous. But their vision of Americans being greeted as liberators by cheering Iraqis with sweets and flowers was equally ludicrous. A decade later we're still dealing with the tragic fall-out of chasing after that particular pipe-dream. That's why Congress needs to resist the tough-on-Iran rhetoric and give diplomacy a chance.

more in the report:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-rainwater/mccain-joins-bolton-invit_b_6973978.html

Fortunately the Iran talks did lead to a new nuclear agreement, despite there will be a tough road ahead.....

Edited April 4, 2015 by oxmox

[Tonci87 163]

Mc Cain and his friends are seriously lunatics, but then again, that is the same group of people that got really rich during the Iraq war, so....

[mistyronin 1181]

Mc Cain and his friends are seriously lunatics, but then again, that is the same group of people that got really rich during the Iraq war, so....

Yeah, I'm afraid the adjective "disgustingly selfish" describes him better than "lunatic". Besides he's a well known warmonger.

[Tonci87 163]

Brilliant interview with Edward Snowden (and funny as hell)

[oxmox 73]

Obama says days of U.S ‘meddling’ in Latin America are over (WT April 10th)

President Obama told Latin America leaders in Panama Friday that the days of U.S. exploitation of the region are over, and that America owes a debt to the rest of the world for helping to bring equality to the U.S.

Mr Obama told a forum of civil society leaders in Panama City that "the days in which our agenda in this hemisphere presumed that the United States could meddle with impunity, those days are past".

“We are respectful of the differences among our countries,†Mr. Obama said at the Summit of the Americas. “The days in which our agenda in this hemisphere so often presumed that the United States could meddle with impunity, those days are past.â€

The crowd erupted in sustained applause.

“It’s not to say that my country’s perfect, we are not. And that’s the point,†Mr. Obama said. “We have to wrestle with our own challenges from issues of race to policing to inequality. We embrace our ability to become better through our democracy.â€

Referring to slavery and Jim Crow-era segregation in the U.S., Mr. Obama also said that outside forces helped to improve life in America.

“There was a time in our own country when there were groups that were voiceless and powerless,†Mr. Obama said. “Because of world opinion, that helped to change those circumstances. We have a debt to pay because the voices of ordinary people made us better. That’s a debt I want to make sure we repay in this hemisphere and around the world.â€

Earlier, Mr. Obama took an apparent swipe at Cuba’s communist regime when he said “almost everybody†in Latin America has been smart enough to move their countries to a market-based economy.

Analysis

While Mr Obama name-checked Cuba when he was talking about the US's days of meddling being in the past, the message was equally - if not more so - aimed at Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has not only accused the US of meddling but of fomenting a coup against his government.

His open distrust of Mr Obama was only heightened when the US president signed an executive order last month declaring Venezuela a threat to the national security of the US.

It had not only incensed Mr Maduro but also Latin American leaders sensitive to what they see as US imperialist rhetoric.

As part of the sanctions, Mr Obama issued an executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to the national security of the United States.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32261550

Edited April 11, 2015 by oxmox

[x3kj 1247]

they will only stop exploiting other countries if those have been sucked dry and there is nothing to gain anymore... talks are talks, actions are actions.

[oxmox 73]

Cambodia marks 40 years since Khmer Rouge came to power (FT, April 17th)

Cambodians gathered at a notorious “killing field†on Friday to mourn victims of the mass slaughter

launched by the Khmer Rouge after it took over the country 40 years ago.

On April 17 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured the capital, sparking a killing spree that was to claim the lives of almost a quarter of the population.

It was the first of two key events in less than a fortnight that defined the conflict raging in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia, which was convulsed by Washington’s war with communist movements. On April 30, the US-backed regime in Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese army.

John Gunther Dean, the last U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia before it fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, is interviewed by the Associated Press in Paris, France, on March 19, 2015:

Ambassador: U.S. handed Cambodia to 'butcher' 40 years ago (USAT, April 10th)

Residents believed the Americans were rushing in to save them, but at the U.S. Embassy, in a bleeding city about to die, the ambassador wept. Forty years later, John Gunther Dean recalls one of the most tragic days of his life — April 12, 1975, the day the United States "abandoned Cambodia and handed it over to the butcher."

"We'd accepted responsibility for Cambodia and then walked out without fulfilling our promise. That's the worst thing a country can do," he says in an interview in Paris. "And I cried because I knew what was going to happen."

Five days after the dramatic evacuation of Americans, the U.S.-backed government fell to communist Khmer Rouge guerrillas. They drove Phnom Penh's 2 million inhabitants into the countryside at gunpoint. Nearly 2 million Cambodians — one in every four — would die from executions, starvation and hideous torture.

The pullout, three weeks before the end of the Vietnam War, is largely forgotten, but for historians and political analysts, it was the first of what then-U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger termed "bug-outs."

"It was the first time Americans came anywhere close to losing a war. What worries me and many of us old guys who were there is that we are still seeing it happen," says Frank Snepp, a senior CIA officer in Saigon and author of Decent Interval, which depicts the final years of the Vietnam War. After Cambodia and Vietnam came Laos; there would be other conflicts with messy endings, like Central America in the 1980s, Iraq and — potentially — Afghanistan.

The former ambassador to four other countries is highly critical of America's violation of Cambodian neutrality by armed incursions from neighboring Vietnam and a secret bombing campaign in the early 1970s.

The U.S. bombed communist Vietnamese sanctuaries and supply lines along the Vietnam-Cambodia border, keeping Cambodia's Lon Nol government propped up as an anti-communist enclave, but it provided World War II aircraft and few artillery pieces to Phnom Penh forces fighting the Khmer Rouge.

In his memoirs, Kissinger says the U.S. had no choice but to expand its efforts into the neighboring country which the North Vietnamese were using as a staging area and armory, and that anti-war sentiment prevented it from giving Cambodia more assistance.

Secrets of the CIA in Cambodia

(SKY One - UK TV)

Prince Sihanouk, King and head of state did follow a political neutrality. Sihanouk's unwillingness to join the crusade against Communism made him a problematic leader for other interests. Sihanouk denounced US military encoursions into Cambodia during the Vietnam War, and in 1970 the Cambodian Coup did disempower him and the US supported Lon Nol gained power as the head of state. The political weakness of Lon Nol and as a result the suffering of the population, massive bombings and invasion of Cambodia by the US did lead at the end to the strengthening of the Khmer Rouge.

(As a side note: Cambodia was bombed with over 2,756 million tons by the US Airforce with up to 150.000 civilian victims, the allies in world war 2 just dropped over two millions including the nuclear bombs of Hiroshima/Nagasaki with 15.000 and 20.000 tons. Cambodia may be the heaviest bombed country in history, North Korea or Vietnam comes probably second..)

more:

Our Collaboration With The Khmer Rouge

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-07-18/news/9002280544_1_khmer-rouge-cambodia-guerrilla-coalition

• Former US National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, on China and the Khmer Rouge, 1979 - rebuilding Khmer Rouge:
  "According to journalist Elizabeth Becker, U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski “himself claims that he concocted the idea of persuading Thailand to cooperate fully with China in its efforts to rebuild the Khmer Rouge.†Brzezinski said, “I encouraged the Chinese to support Pol Pot. I encouraged the Thai to help the D.K. [Khmer Rouge government-in-exile of Democratic Kampuchea]. The question was how to help the Cambodian people. Pol Pot was an abomination. We could never support him, but China could.†In fact, U.S. support went well beyond encouraging others to rebuild the Khmer Rouge."
  source
  
• 
  

• In 1979, after north vietnamese troops did invade and remove the Khmer Rouge from power, the Khmer Rouge Pol Pot Regime in exile and in coalition with opposition groups was backed by the US and other western countries, recognized by the United Nations and did hold a seat until 1993.
  
• 
  

Edited April 17, 2015 by oxmox

[mistyronin 1181]

President Obama told Latin America leaders in Panama Friday that the days of U.S. exploitation of the region are over, and that America owes a debt to the rest of the world for helping to bring equality to the U.S.

And not even him believes that... And even if he does, he only has 2 years in power... Probably the next president is gonna have a different view on the issue...

[vilas 477]

i do not know if it belongs to topic or not

but from time to time there appears horrible lack of knowledge of some US elites about WW2 history

i mean "Polish" death camps issue

from time to time one or another US politician shows that he doesn't know Poland was under occupation of Germany

yesterday director of FBI said about Polish Holocaust

i understand that "redneck" without education may not know

but politician, director in FBI, congresman should know that Aushwitz was organized by German SS on territory of occupied Poland, not by Polish army

such things make horrible noise in my country,

because if is very annoying to see basic lack of knowledge from US politicians from time to time who do not even know which country's was SS or that "Poland cooperated in Holocaust cause death camps were on Polish territory" (like they had no knowledge that almost all Europe was occupied from 1940-1944 by Third Reich not by other countries such as Poland, Czech , France )

director of FBI is not person who should be such stupid that speaks about WW2 history and doesn't know who started WW2 and who occupied other territories in WW2 and who organized death camps (on other country territory under occupation and had nothing to say about localisation of such camps )

the same time in USA it is legal to wear SS uniforms, keep websites and trade SS memorabilia etc.

the same time:

http://cmsimg.marinecorpstimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M6&Date=20120209&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=202090327&Ref=V2

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/09/article-2098946-11A8BEA5000005DC-962_634x345.jpg

-------

so far:

US ambassador was called by Polish Ministry of Foreign Affair to fix this issue

cause it is unforgiven that Director of FBI calls Waffen SS a Polish formation

maybe Heinrich Himmler was Pole according to him too

but this shows something must be very wrong in US school system- if so many cases like this happen from USA

what people in USA hear in schools ?

that Germany invaded Poland to defend Jews from antisemitism ? or what ?

what US citizens know about WW2 ? only D-Day ?

what they know about Holocaust ? if they do not know it was organized by Germans with little coopertion of Ukrainian nationalists (SS-Galitzien) and some French SS volunteers (big number of foreign SS were French, Ukrainian, Muslim legions)

Slavic nations and Jews were victims of WW2, not organizers

are American aware of it ?

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS#Pochodzenie_cudzoziemskich_.C5.BCo.C5.82nierzy_Waffen-SS

who was in Nazi SS:

- Germans of course

- Ukrainians,

- Belgians (Flamands, Valons)

- Italians,

- Serbs

- Croats,

- Denmark,

- Latvians

- Estonians

- Muslims

those nations were among SS

many thousands of Belgians , Ukrainians, Croats, Latvians, Estonians, etc. yes, they can be called responsible for WW2 crimes, but for fuck sake, there was no Poles , Russian, Czechs, as part of Nazi war machine

in case of Latvians, Estonians - they were in SS probably to fight with USSR , Muslims (from different countries) were simply to kill some Jews they hate,

Edited April 19, 2015 by vilas

[oxmox 73]

Sale of U.S. Arms Fuels the Wars of Arab States (New York Times, April 18th)

WASHINGTON — To wage war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is using F-15 fighter jets bought from Boeing. Pilots from the United Arab Emirates are flying Lockheed Martin’s F-16 to bomb both Yemen and Syria. Soon, the Emirates are expected to complete a deal with General Atomics for a fleet of Predator drones to run spying missions in their neighborhood.

As the Middle East descends into proxy wars, sectarian conflicts and battles against terrorist networks, countries in the region that have stockpiled American military hardware are now actually using it and wanting more. The result is a boom for American defense contractors looking for foreign business in an era of shrinking Pentagon budgets — but also the prospect of a dangerous new arms race in a region where the map of alliances has been sharply redrawn.

The United States has long put restrictions on the types of weapons that American defense firms can sell to Arab nations, meant to ensure that Israel keeps a military advantage against its traditional adversaries in the region.

But because Israel and the Arab states are now in a de facto alliance against Iran, the Obama administration has been far more willing to allow the sale of advanced weapons in the Persian Gulf, with few public objections from Israel.

“When you look at it, Israel’s strategic calculation is a simple one,†said Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The gulf countries “do not represent a meaningful threat†to Israel, he said. “They do represent a meaningful counterbalance to Iran.â€

Industry analysts and Middle East experts say that the region’s turmoil, and the determination of the wealthy Sunni nations to battle Shiite Iran for regional supremacy, will lead to a surge in new orders for the defense industry’s latest, most high-tech hardware.

Saudi Arabia spent more than $80 billion on weaponry last year — the most ever, and more than either France or Britain — and has become the world’s fourth-largest defense market, according to figures released last week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks global military spending. The Emirates spent nearly $23 billion last year, more than three times what they spent in 2006.

Qatar, another gulf country with bulging coffers and a desire to assert its influence around the Middle East, is on a shopping spree. Last year, Qatar signed an $11 billion deal with the Pentagon to purchase Apache attack helicopters and Patriot and Javelin air-defense systems. Now the tiny nation is hoping to make a large purchase of Boeing F-15 fighters to replace its aging fleet of French Mirage jets. Qatari officials are expected to present the Obama administration with a wish list of advanced weapons before they come to Washington next month for meetings with other gulf nations.

American defense firms are following the money.

Boeing opened an office in Doha, Qatar, in 2011, and Lockheed Martin set up an office there this year. Lockheed created a division in 2013 devoted solely to foreign military sales, and the company’s chief executive, Marillyn Hewson, has said that Lockheed needs to increase foreign business — with a goal of global arms sales’ becoming 25 percent to 30 percent of its revenue — in part to offset the shrinking of the Pentagon budget after the post-Sept. 11 boom.

American intelligence agencies believe that the proxy wars in the Middle East could last for years, which will make countries in the region even more eager for the F-35 fighter jet, considered to be the jewel of America’s future arsenal of weapons.

The plane, the world’s most expensive weapons project, has stealth capabilities and has been marketed heavily to European and Asian allies. It has not yet been peddled to Arab allies because of concerns about preserving Israel’s military edge.

But with the balance of power in the Middle East in flux, several defense analysts said that could change. Russia is a major arms supplier to Iran, and a decision by President Vladimir V. Putin to sell an advanced air defense system to Iran could increase demand for the F-35, which is likely to have the ability to penetrate Russian-made defenses.

“This could be the precipitating event: the emerging Sunni-Shia civil war coupled with the sale of advanced Russian air defense systems to Iran,†Mr. Aboulafia said. “If anything is going to result in F-35 clearance to the gulf states, this is the combination of events.â€

All sales to the Middle East are evaluated based on how they will affect Israeli military superiority.

But the Obama administration has also viewed improving the militaries of select Arab nations — those that see Iran as a threat in the region — as critical to Israeli security.

There is an unquestionably sectarian character to the current conflicts in the Middle East, nowhere more so than in the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen. The Saudis have assembled a group of Sunni nations to attack Houthi militia fighters who have taken over Yemen’s capital, Sana, and ousted a government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

But Sunni nations have also shown a new determination to use military force against radical Sunni groups like the Islamic State. A number of Arab countries are using an air base in Jordan to launch attacks against Islamic State fighters in Syria. Separately, the Emirates and Egypt have carried out airstrikes in Libya against Sunni militias there.

Meanwhile, the deal to sell Predator drones to the Emirates is nearing final approval. The drones will be unarmed, but they will be equipped with lasers to allow them to better identify targets on the ground.

If the sale goes through, it will be the first time that the drones will go to an American ally outside of NATO.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/world/middleeast/sale-of-us-arms-fuels-the-wars-of-arab-states.html?smid=re-share

Strange, suddenly only Muslims from Iran are a threat to Israel and in general is america sure there will be no risk with all their meddling and sudden weapon distribution in those muslim nations....its all right as long the money is right.

[vilas 477]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/poland-summons-u-s-ambassador-over-fbi-chiefs-holocaust-comments-1429449607

lots of comments show that part of US citizens have total lack of education about WW2 and Holocaust and War in Europe apart from Jews who play only victim of WW2, while they were in lower number than Russians , Chinese , Poles, Hindu : http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofiary_w_II_wojnie_%C5%9Bwiatowej fact is that Russians and Chinese paid biggest price in WW2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS_foreign_volunteers_and_conscripts

Edited April 20, 2015 by vilas

[vilas 477]

http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1342,title,Amerykanscy-Zydzi-krytykuja-Jamesa-Comeya,wid,17472753,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=114bac&_ticrsn=3

American Jewish Comitee calls FBI boss to say sorry for his words about Holocaust

[vilas 477]

opposite to all historical resources and knowledge - boss of FBI still sustains that Poland was responsible for holocaust as Germany and he doesn't want to appologize even after Jewish protests,

wtf ?

boss of police institution , police which should look for truth - ignores history, ignors facts and claims that victim was criminal

i can understand idiot with IQ 90 cleaning street claiming that 2+2 =3, that Martians rape cows, that WW2 was opposite cause Czech attacked Germany in 1938 and Poland attacked Germany year later,

but i cannot understand such things from boss of police agency of USA

policeman should stand for facts and proofs , not for fiction

seems all knowledge about SS and who which nationalities were serving in SS and keeping sentry in Aushwitz for this guy is not matter

only shame for those who had problem with his investigation

i can imagine how he lead investigation:

"we have 2 bodies, husband, wife, both in blood, both with hands tied, and there is neigbor with knife in hand on dope, i have theory, wife killed husband, than she killed herself and Martians tied them both after death and injected dope to poor neighbor, and neighbor found a knife and he wanted to help and clean floor so he stained with blood accidentaly, poor innocent guy, Martians flew away, we must invade Mars cause they also rape cows" - is this the way FBI make investigations ?

policeman who ignores facts and proofs - should loose job

maybe next day this idiot will say that holocaust was organized by Austrialia, Czechoslovakia, Tanzania and Kenya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS_foreign_volunteers_and_conscripts

this idiot (boss of FBI) should learn by hard those tables from Wikipedia who the fuck was in Waffen SS: Germans, Romanians, French, Dutch, Belgians, Ukrainians and A LOT OF Muslims from Croatia and several USSR republics, Muslims were very large number in SS, add Croats, Azerbeijan, Tatars , other republics, there were more Muslims in SS than Benelux , France together

numbers in wikipedia say all who organized holocaust , who was criminal in WW2

there were no Poles in Waffen SS, Poles were second nation after Jews that suffered from holocaust and death camps, Jews and Poles and Russians (p.o.w.) were victims of holocaust in death camps, not organizers of holocaust

Edited April 22, 2015 by vilas

[sudayev 27]

Who knows maybe Mr Comie probably has "shares" in Jewish-American extortion groups that enforce this kind of historical revisionism.

[maturin 12]

this idiot (boss of FBI) should learn by hard those tables from Wikipedia who the fuck was in Waffen SS: Germans, Romanians, French, Dutch, Belgians, Ukrainians and A LOT OF Muslims from Croatia and several USSR republics, Muslims were very large number in SS, add Croats, Azerbeijan, Tatars , other republics, there were more Muslims in SS than Benelux , France together

MAN, are you a class act. Going and trying to shift blame on every nation but your own.

Sure the FBI director's article had ambiguous wording that suggested an insupportable position. But that doesn't change the fact that many Poles didn't need to join the SS. In some places they massacred all their Jewish neighbors before any German even suggested the idea.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/new-case-study-explores-role-of-polish-peasants-in-holocaust-atrocities.premium-1.503742

Yes, everyone knows that the Poles suffered perhaps more than any other nation in the war, and that many of them helped Jews to escape. A plurality of Righteous Among the Nations are Poles. But that doesn't wipe away the deeds of those who did the reverse. Quit playing the victim contest.

Who knows maybe Mr Comie probably has "shares" in Jewish-American extortion groups that enforce this kind of historical revisionism.

Yeah, because anti-Semitism is a magical curse inflicted on the Germans by Hitler, invented out of nothing by him in 1939, and totally absent in all other nationalities.