Israel gearing up for ‘surprise war’ with Syria if Assad falls – general

End Of Days News

The unrest engulfing the Middle East could result in Israel becoming involved in a “surprise war” with Syria, according to the head of the Israeli air force.

"When you look [around] today I think that a surprise war can be born in very many configurations," Major General Amir Eshel said at a conference near Tel Aviv.

In particular, the general stressed that if rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and seized the huge stockpiles of missiles within the country, it could lead to a major conflict in the region.

"If Syria collapses tomorrow, we are liable to find ourselves in this stew very quickly and in a very big way,"Eshel said.

"The enormous arsenal parked there... will be spread all over the place and you find yourself having to act on a very broad scale."

On Tuesday, Israeli chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz issued a personal warning to President Assad, saying the Syrian leader would “bear the consequences” in the event of further attacks on Israeli forces. The threat followed the Syrian military firing across the armistice line on the Golan Heights, hitting an Israeli military vehicle. Israeli troops have responded to such events by taking retaliatory shots at targets across the Syrian border.

Read More: http://rt.com/news/israel-syria-surprise-war-685/

California seizes guns from owners - and it might become a national model

End Of Days News

In California, the government is already coming for the guns.

Notwithstanding the Second Amendment, rules and regulations across the United States outline certain restrictions for who can legally possess a firearm. In the state of California, factors such as a felony conviction or a history of mental health issues mean roughly 20,000 gun owners are holding onto their firearms illegally. Slowly but surely, though, Golden State police officers are prying them away. 

There’s more, though: backers of the program suggest this becomes a nation-wide practice, and are asking the White House to help make it happen.

“Very, very few states have an archive of firearm owners like we have,” Garen Wintemute of the Violence Prevention Research Program tells Bloomberg News. Wintemute helped set up a program on the West Coast that monitors not just licensed gun owners but also watches for any red flags that could be raised after admittance to a mental health institute or a quick stint in the slammer.

Wintemute says that as many as 200,000 people across the United States may no longer be qualified to own firearms, and in California they are making sure that number drops day by day. In one example cited in this week’s Bloomberg report, journalists recall a recent scene where nine California Justice Department agents equipped with 40-caliber Glock pistols and outfitted in bulletproof vests knocked on a suburban residence, requested to speak to a certain gun owner and then walked away with whatever arsenal they could apprehend.

Read More: http://rt.com/usa/california-gun-program-model-157/

US, EU may start training and equipping Syrian rebels

End Of Days News

 

The US will increase aid to the Syrian opposition, the White House has announced. Europe may follow suit by increasing aid to the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The decision is expected after a key conference on Syria in Rome.

"We will continue to provide assistance to the Syrian people, to the Syrian opposition, we will continue to increase our assistance in the effort to bring about a post-Assad Syria," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.

"We are constantly reviewing the nature of the assistance we provide to both the Syrian people, in form of humanitarian assistance, and to the Syrian opposition in the form of non-lethal assistance," he said.

So far the US has no plans to provide the Syrian insurgency with body armor, vehicles or military training, Reuters reported citing sources familiar with the matter.

Washington is however changing its policy on the conflict, and will send “medical supplies and food” directly to the rebels, sources said.

Earlier, the Washington Post reported that the White House is considering sending the rebels body armor and armed vehicles, and also possibly providing military training.

 

Read more: http://rt.com/news/us-eu-armor-syrian-rebels-516/

N. Korea conducts 3rd nuclear test, warns more ‘measures’ may come

End Of Days News

 

A defiant North Korea has conducted its third nuclear test, prompting a wave of international criticism from governments and other organization. It also said that more “measures” may follow, raising concerns that more nuclear devices may be exploded.

­Track LIVE UPDATES on the fallout of the North Korean nuclear test.
Pyongyang said the Tuesday morning explosion was part of an effort to protect its national security and sovereignty, citing US opposition to the recent North Korean space launch.

"It was confirmed that the nuclear test – that was carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect manner using a miniaturized and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than previously – did not pose any negative impact on the surrounding ecological environment," North Korea's KCNA state news agency said.

The UNSC has condemned the test by North Korea, calling it a “great violation of Security Council resolutions,” which poses “continuously a clear threat to international peace and security.”

The UN Security Council has unanimously approved the non-binding statement. The 15-member council "will begin work immediately on appropriate measures".

The move came in defiance of the UN and individual nations, which have pressured North Korea not to proceed with its plan. After the test sparked condemnation, Pyongyang threatened that if the US responds to the test “with hostility,” then unspecified “second and third measures” may follow. This corresponds with earlier speculation that Pyongyang seeks to detonate more than one nuclear device.

North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong also told the UN disarmament forum in Geneva that his country "will never bow down to any resolution," in respondr to criticisms that the nuclear test violated several UN Security Council resolutions banning such actions.

South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye strongly condemned the new test. She said her incoming administration would not tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea “under any circumstances,” and pledged to enact strong deterrence measures against Pyongyang's nuclear program.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has urged all parties involved to reduce tensions and solve the issue through dialogue in the framework of six-party talks. It also expressed “firm opposition” to the test, called on North Korea not to take any actions that would aggravate the situation, and to “honor its commitment to denuclearization”.

South Korean passengers watch TV news reporting North Korea's apparent nuclear test, at the Seoul train station on February 12, 2013. (AFP Photo/Kim Jae-Hwan)

US President Barack Obama warned that both Tuesday’s test and the earlier satellite launch are provocations, and that “far from achieving its stated goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation, North Korea has instead increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.” He threatened"further swift and credible action" against Pyongyang.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has condemned the nuclear test, calling it “deplorable” and a “grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.” The statement released by Ban’s spokesperson voiced concern over the “negative impact of this deeply destabilizing act on regional stability as well as the global efforts for nuclear non-proliferation.”

The test was also criticized by Britain, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, the EU, the IAEA and NATO.

Protesters shout slogans and raise their fists towards the headquarters of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) as police officers stand guard in Tokyo February 12, 2013, after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test. (Reuters/Toru Hanai)

The likely response to the nuclear test will be a new round of sanctions from the UN. But no matter how many sanctions other nations impose on Pyongyang, it is unlikely to yield to demands voiced by Washington, Asia specialist Tim Beal explained.

“No country really changes policy under sanctions if the alternative, what is being required, is worse than the sanctions,” he told RT. “And that is the case with North Korea. North Korea in a sense could surrender to American demands, but that in fact in their eyes would be worse that what the Americans can do to them with sanctions. So they will persevere until the Americans come to the negotiation table.”

­The United States Geological Survey confirmes an earthquake in North Korea's northeast of between 4.9- and 5.1-magnitude, at a depth of about one kilometer.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency reports that the tremor's epicenter was located in Kilju county, at exactly the same place and depth as the quake caused by North Korea's last known underground nuclear test in 2009. North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 was also carried out at the Punggye-ri test site.

Japan Meteorological Agency's earthquake and tsunami observations division director Akira Nagai points at a graph of ground motion waveform data observed in the morning in Japan during a news conference in Tokyo February 12, 2013. (Reuters/Toru Hanai)

Pyongyang informed the US and China of its plans for a nuclear test on Monday, Yonhap reported. North Korea said it would continue with the test despite pressure from the UN Security Council and its non-UNSC neighbors.

The South Korean military estimate that the yield of the nuclear explosion was between six and seven kilotons. Russia’s defense ministry says the size of the blast was over seven kilotons. The Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization said the yield was roughly twice as big as the previous nuclear test in 2009.

Further investigation into the nature of the explosion is underway. The evidence gathered – including seismic data, satellite images and data from spy planes detecting radioactive fallout – could allow researchers to deduct the status of North Korea’s secretive nuclear program. So far, the isolated country was believed to be unable to build a nuclear device small enough to fit onto one of its long-range ballistic missiles, making its nuclear capabilities virtually useless for offensive warfare.

Concerns over the claimed miniaturization effort were fueled by North Korea's rocket launch last December. Pyongyang said it put a satellite into orbit for civilian purposes, and for national prestige, but many countries claimed it was a clandestine rocket weapons test. The UN Security Council condemned the launch, which it said was carried out in violation of a UNSC resolution banning the development of ballistic technology by North Korea.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) speaks to media after attending a meeting of Security Council of Japan at his official residence in Tokyo February 12, 2013 after reports of North Korea's possible nuclear test. (Reuters/Issei Kato)

An hour after the test, Japan said that it is considering leveling further sanctions against North Korea.
"I have ordered that we consider every possible way to address this issue, including our own sanctions, while cooperating with other countries," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters after a meeting of Japan's security council.

The news of the suspicious seismic activity in North Korea came days after South Korea and the US threatened that they may carry out a pre-emptive strike at North Korean facilities to halt its nuclear program.

China, North Korea’s main economic partner and only ally, said Pyongyang would pay a “heavy price” and threatened to scale down aid should it carry out a nuclear test.

A screenshot from facebook.com

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The timing of the test makes it difficult to ease tensions, and a lot of uncertainty surrounds the situation, independent news editor James Corbett said.

“I certainly couldn’t have happened at a worse time internationally speaking,” Corbett told RT. “It’s the Lunar New Year in China, so basically the entire country is holiday. And in the US there is no confirmed defense secretary or central intelligence director.”

“Throw into that the wildcard of Xi Jinping – we don’t know much about him or how he is going to lead China – and the fact that Kim Jong-un is a relatively new leader as well," he said. "You also have the new Abe government in Japan. There is a lot of wildcard in this mix.”

http://rt.com/news/north-korea-artificial-earthquake-981/

Citadel: Survivalists build city-fortress with mandatory weapon ownership

End Of Days News

 

Ever wished you could travel back in time? Idaho might soon provide a glimpse into the past: a group of survivalists are planning to build a giant medieval-style fortress in which residents would carry their own weapons and defend against invaders.

The walled city would be built in the woods of the Idaho Panhandle, 70 miles southeast of Spokane, Wash. Few people live in Benewah County, and the population 9,000 would be more than doubled if the survivalists most into the region.

Coined the “Citadel”, the fortress would house 7,000 people and include houses, a school, and a gun factory. The people of Idaho are well-known for their love of guns and panic about proposed federal gun rules has only spurred a rush to purchase more of them out of fear of having their Second Amendment rights being taken away.

But those who are proposing the establishment of the Citadel say that all of the city’s residents would have to own an AR-15 rifle, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and enough supplies to withstand a collapse of society. And since AR-15s have become difficult to obtain and would be outlawed if Congress reinstates the 1994 ban on assault weapons, the fortress would have its own factory to produce them.

Residents would also be required by law to carry a side arm – a small weapon worn in a holster – whenever visiting the town center.

“Marxists, Socialists, Liberals, and Establishment Republicans will likely find that life in our community is incompatible with their existing ideology and preferred lifestyles,” states the proposal’s website.

Organizers refer to their proposed city as “a community of liberty”, which has no leader and instead hosts “a significant group of equals… each bringing their own professional skills and life experiences to the group,” Christian Kerodin, a convicted felon who is a promoter of the project, told the Associated Press.

“It is very much a ‘grass-roots’ endeavor,” he added.

Such proposals are more common among groups who have a stark opposition to mainstream society and politics in the US. Right-wing television host Glenn Beck last month revealed his plans to build a self-sustaining community named “Independence, USA”. Beck’s utopian city would remain cut off from the rest of the US and thereby isolate its residents from the propaganda that Beck believes Americans are exposed to in their current society, as well as provide them with freedom that he believes the US is lacking.

And the number of ‘patriot groups’ desiring their own utopias has only grown since President Obama was first elected, according to spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center Mark Potok. But Potok said these ideas rarely generate into action and that the Citadel’s organizers are unlikely to actually build their fortress.

“The people behind the Citadel are like 12-year-old boys talking about the tree house, or the secret underground city they’re going to build some day,” he told AP.

But the Citadel’s organizers are already making money off of their proposal: several hundred people have already paid the $208 application fee to live in the Citadel if it is developed.

Although no construction has begun on the fortress, organizers have already purchased 20 aces of land. Eventually, they hope to acquire the entire 2,000-3,000-acre compound.

And while organizers already have at least several hundred supporters, some Idaho residents are skeptical about the idea – especially the requirement for future residents to carry arms and defend themselves against invaders.

http://rt.com/usa/news/survivalists-build-idaho-fortress-600/

US senators have requested the legal justification for the killings of US citizens suspected of terrorism by the Obama administration. Meanwhile a ‘chilling’ leaked memo showed that the government sees little need for constraint on the issue

End Of Days News

 

US senators have requested the legal justification for the killings of US citizens suspected of terrorism by the Obama administration. Meanwhile a ‘chilling’ leaked memo showed that the government sees little need for constraint on the issue.

A group of 11 senators on Monday wrote a letter to President Barack Obama, asking him to release all Justice Department memos on the practice of targeting US citizens suspected of being terrorist leaders with lethal force, particularly drone airstrikes. The request comes as the administration seeks Senate approval for John Brennan, Obama's nomination for CIA chief.
"As the Senate considers a number of nominees for senior national security positions, we ask that you ensure that Congress is provided with the secret legal opinions outlining your authority to authorize the killing of Americans in the course of counterterrorism operations," the letter's opening paragraph reads.
Brennan, who is deputy national security advisor to the president, is to face questioning from the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 7. As the Obama administration carries on many of the Bush-era policies that exist in something of a legal gray area, lawmakers want to be sure they have all the information possible in order to "avoid an unnecessary confrontation that could affect the Senate's consideration of nominees for national security positions."
And in case the White House attempts to block the release of the documents by appealing to some legal "privilege," the legislators continue, "We would encourage you to simply waive whatever privilege might apply, if you would like to make it clear that you are not setting a precedent that applies to other categories of documents."
The legislators are not alone in their desire to see the secret justification for targeted killing of Americans by the US administration. The New York Times and the ACLU have filed a lawsuit seeking access to the Justice Department memos on the issue under the Freedom of Information Act.
Previously a number of US officials, including Brannon, Attorney General Eric Holder and others, have argued in public speeches in favor of drone killings of Americans who pose an imminent threat to the country. But apparently in practice the administration has a broader view on what constitutes the imminence of a threat.
NBC News published on Tuesday a copy of a 16-page memo detailing legal reasoning of the killings, which was provided to members of the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees in June on condition that it would not be discussed publicly.
The white paper argues that the US is operating lawfully in kill “senior operational leaders of Al-Qaeda or an associated force” even if a person happens to be a US citizen and is not known to be planning an attack on America.
“The condition that an operational leader present an ‘imminent’ threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on US persons and interests will take place in the immediate future,” the memo states.
It is sufficient that an “informed, high-level” official of the US government determines that the target of the killing has been “recently” involved in “activities” posing a threat of a violent attack and “there is no evidence suggesting that he has renounced or abandoned such activities” the document says. It gives no definitions of “recently” or “activities”.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, called the white paper “a chilling document” that “redefines the word imminence in a way that deprives the word of its ordinary meaning.”
“Basically, it argues that the government has the right to carry out the extrajudicial killing of an American citizen. It recognizes some limits on the authority it sets out, but the limits are elastic and vaguely defined, and it’s easy to see how they could be manipulated,” he told NBC News.
Obama had attempted to nominate Brennan for the post in 2009, at the start of his first term, but Brennan withdrew his name from consideration after facing claims that he supported former President George W. Bush’s torture program. Brennan was described as a “supporter of the ‘dark side’ policies,” with critics claiming his appointment “would dishearten and alienate those who opposed torture under the Bush administration,” read a letter sent to Obama in 2008.

http://rt.com/usa/news/senators-legal-assassinations-inquiry-452/

UK deploys toy-sized spy drones in Afghanistan

End Of Days News

 

British troops in Afghanistan are now using 10-centimeter-long 16-gram spy helicopters to survey Taliban firing spots. The UK Defense Ministry plans to buy 160 of the drones under a contract worth more than $31 million.

­The remote-controlled PD-100 PRS aircraft, dubbed the Black Hornet, is produced by Norwegian designer Prox Dynamics. The drone is a traditional single-rotor helicopter, scaled down to the size of a toy. British troops use the drones for reconnaissance missions, sending them ahead to inspect enemy positions.

Each drone is equipped with a tiny tillable camera, a GPS coordinate receiver and an onboard autopilot system complete with gyros, accelerometers and pressure sensors, which keeps it stable in flight against winds as strong as 10 knots, according to reviews. The tiny aircraft is agile enough to fly inside compounds, and is quiet enough not to attract unwanted attention. If detected, the drones are cheap enough to be considered expendable.

The auto-pilot either follows a preprogrammed flight plan or receives commands from a manual control station, which is about the size of a large smartphone. The drone's camera can feed compressed video or still images to an operator up to a kilometer away, and its rechargeable battery provides power for about 30 minutes of flight.

In addition to the drone and the controller, each system comes with a ground base station, which houses the operating system, main electronics, internal batteries and chargers. It also protects the drone while being transported. The weight of the entire kit is about a kilogram, easily portable in the field.

PD-100 PRS (Image from proxdynamics.com)

 

­Prox Dynamics started working on the nano-drone in 2008, and released a video of the first prototype in flight a year later. The manufacturer initially planned for it to be put to civilian use, to scout sites of natural or man-made disasters for survivors and provide intel to rescue teams. A marketable version of the Black Hornet was first presented at the Counter Terrorist Expo in London in April 2012.

The British Ministry of Defense announced last November that it was awarding Prox Dynamics a contract to supply the drones to its troops in Afghanistan. The initial contract is worth about $4 million, but will likely be expanded to more than $31 million.

http://rt.com/news/black-hornet-nano-drone-378/

Post-Assad plans: US focuses on Syrian chemical arms

 

Painting a picture of a post-Assad Syria, Washington has voiced concern over how it can secure the country's chemical weapons stockpiles in case the regime falls while under attack. Some experts warn that this is only a new pretext for meddling.

Speaking to reporters, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said he was concerned about how the US and its allies would be able to secure the chemical and biological weapons stored in various locations across Syria and make sure they do not end up in the wrong hands.

"I think the greater concern right now is, what steps does the international community take to make sure that when Assad comes down, that there is a process and procedure to make sure we get our hands on securing those sites," Panetta told a news conference. "That, I think, is the greater challenge right now."

Stressing that the US has no plans of putting ground troops in Syria, the Pentagon chief did however add that the US could provide forces if the Assad government agrees to a peaceful transition. “You always have to keep the possibility that, if there is a peaceful transition and international organizations get involved, that they might ask for assistance in that situation."

At the same press conference, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that if the Assad government decides to use its chemical weapons, the US military would be unable to stop it. He therefore stressed that the US must rely on deterrence and continue warning Syria that using them would be unacceptable.

“The act of preventing the use of chemical weapons would be almost unachievable,” Dempsey told reporters at the Pentagon. “You would have to have such clarity of intelligence, persistent surveillance, you’d have to actually see it before it happened. And that’s unlikely, to be sure.”

US President Barack Obama has said that the Assad government's use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and cause him to change his “calculus” about possible military intervention in Syria.

Earlier, the Pentagon said that any military effort to seize Syria’s stockpiles of chemical weapons would require some 75,000 troops.

Middle East commentator and blogger Karl Sharro believes the talk about such stockpiles is just another pretext for Washington to get involved in Syrian affairs.

“There is a process of planning for the day after Assad, as Western powers are imagining it,” he told RT. “They are piling up different reasons for them to step in and take control of the country.”

He stressed that there are multiple forces engaged in this process, saying that “it is really shocking that the fate of Syria can be decided from outside this blatantly.” 

Brahimi ‘flagrantly biased’

Meanwhile, Damascus has slammed UN and Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi as “flagrantly biased,” casting doubt on his role as a mediator in the crisis that has claimed over 60,000 lives since March 2011.

The international peace envoy told the BBC that he didn’t see Assad as a part of a transitional government, and called for him to step down. Brahimi added that “ruling for 40 years is a little bit too long,” referring to Assad, who inherited the presidency from his father, whose tenure lasted 30 years.

The pro-Assad al-Watan newspaper referred to Brahimi as "a tool for the implementation of the policy of some Western countries."

http://rt.com/news/syria-us-chemical-weapons-758/