Analysis

Why is the US targeting Iran? An abundance of reasons

Jim Fetzer – The situation with Iran is completely absurd–unless there is a hidden motive. Iran poses no military threat to the United States. Iran has not attacked any other country for more than 300 years. It has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It allows inspectors. In 2007, 16 US intel agencies converged in the opinion that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons–an opinion they reaffirmed in 2011. The Supreme Leader of Iran has declared, “Nuclear energy for all; nuclear weapons for none”, which is the policy of the nation. Whatever the motive for targeting Iran, it is not the development of nukes. ……….. Read more  >>>>

Mauritania hosts International Military Exercise with 19 European, Arab and African Nations, among growing concerns for Spill-Over of Mali War and a widening of the French Africa-Pivot

Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) On Monday, 18 February 2013, a military exercise with participation of 19 European, Arab, and African nations began in Mauritania. Among the participating nations are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO/OTAN. The initiative for the exercise was taken among growing concerns about a possible spill over of the war in neighboring Mali into Mauritania. The exercise raises concerns about the possibility that Mauritania will fall victim to the recent years French / NATO pivot in Central and Northern Africa. …… Read more >>>>

Tunisia, Revolt and Revolution or Reform. Tackling the Challenges of the Arab Spring Hang-Over

Two years after Tunisia became the first country to undergo regime change and the ousting of President Ben Ali through the phenomenon which was to be doubt “The Arab Spring”, the assassination of the prominent opposition leader Shokri Belaid has cast Tunisia, and with it the An-Nahda government of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali into the worst crisis since early 2011. With Egypt in turmoil, Libya far from stable, Mali in a state of war, Mauritania having experienced the first  fire-fights between purported Al-Qaeda troops and “French” military forces, and a growing influence of Salafist groups in Tunisia and the region, who sweep or are being swept into the ensuing power vacuum, the security, stability and integrity of Tunisia is increasingly becoming more vulnerable. Tunisia urgently needs an inclusive political leadership and reform. …….. Read more >>>>

War in Mali: USAFRICOM Targets China

F. William Engdahl  Part I: Africa’s New Thirty Years’ War?

Mali at first glance seems a most unlikely place for the NATO powers, led by a neo-colonialist French government of Socialist President Francois Hollande (and quietly backed to the hilt by the Obama Administration), to launch what is being called by some a new Thirty Years’ War Against Terrorism. Mali, with a population of some 12 million, and a landmass three and a half times the size of Germany, is a land-locked largely Saharan Desert country in the c……… .. Read more >>>>

Australia’s National Security Paper 2013 Did It Amount To Lost Opportunities?

Prof Murrey Hunter (The 4th Media) – The policy you have when you don’t have a policy. Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered a statement about the country’s national security policy to a carefully selected crowd of defense, public service, and academic personnel at the Australian National University late last month. The 58 page paper titled Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia’s National Security supersedes the last one given by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd back in 2008 and is considered a supplement to the White Paper, Australia in the Asian Century presented by Premier Gillard last October. The paper outlines the country’s assessment of priorities, risks, and capabilities. The four ma…... Read more >>>>

Mursi´s Choice: Inclusiveness and Compromise, or Intolerance and Catastrophe.

The unwillingness of President Mohamed Mursi, the Freedom and Justice Party and the Muslim Brotherhood to engage in open dialog with the opposition continues spiraling Egypt into conflict and instability. Encouraging dialog, while rejecting to address the core issues which have caused the conflict is not a recipe for successful crisis management or conflict resolution…. Read more >>>>

The volatility of Gas, Geo-Politics and the Greater Middle East. An Interview with Major Agha H. Amin

Major Agha H. Amin is a retired Pakistani military officer and the author of various books, including ”Development of Taliban Factions in Afghanistan”, ”Taliban War in Afghanistan” and ”History of Pakistan Army”. He studied at the Forman Christian College and at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kalkul.

Agha H. Amin has been working as Assistant Editor of Defense Journal, Executive Editor at the Globe, and as Editor of the Journal of Afghanistan Studies. He is an active member of the Think Tank ORBAT and the Alexandrian Defense Group and he is working as security management consultant.

Agha H. Amin has been working as consultant on various oil, gas and energy projects in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the TAPI pipeline, CASA 100, the Uzbekistan Afghanistan Pakistan line and the Turkmenistan Mazar Sharif line. He is an expert on national and regional security, energy security and geo-political issues. The following is the full text of an interview by Christof Lehmann with Major Agha H. Amin from 30 January 2013…… Read more >>>>

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