U.S. to build missile shield in Poland

This article was first posted at Love America First-2 and moved to Rosemary’s Thoughts so as the article will not be lost your access.

Source: CNN.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A U.S. missile-defense system will be built in Poland despite Russia’s anger over the plans, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said on Monday after a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Kaczynski expressed confidence over the proposed system, although Poland has held off a formal agreement to host it and pressed for concessions on issues including related military contracts.

“The matter of the shield is largely a foregone conclusion,” Kaczynski said at a news conference following the meeting.

“The shield will exist because for Poland this will be a very good thing,” he said.
Washington wants to place up to 10 ground-based interceptor missiles in northern Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic to protect against attacks from what it calls “rogue states” such as Iran and North Korea.

Kaczynski said several issues still have to be ironed out, including the size of the base and the number of U.S. soldiers to be stationed there.

“The location on the technical level is already decided, but we will soon announce where,” Kaczynski said.

The Czech Republic has already agreed to the radar site.

Russian President Vladimir Putin late last week suspended Moscow’s participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe, or CFE, treaty from mid-December, in a move widely seen as an effort to raise pressure over the U.S. plans.

Bush and Kaczynski insisted the system was not aimed at Russia.

Rather, it would provide security for Europe from countries where “leaders don’t particularly care for our way of life and, or, are in the process of trying to develop serious weapons of mass destruction,” Bush said with Kaczynski at his side in the Oval Office.

Kaczynski is one of Moscow’s most outspoken critics and a key U.S. ally in Europe. He said he wanted to emphasize the “defensive” nature of the proposed missile shield.

NATO expressed concern on Monday at Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the CFE treaty, which covers the deployment of armed forces in post-Cold War Europe.

The White House said it would keep working with Russia on missile defense.
Bush and Putin met earlier this month at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, in an attempt to improve ties that have become frayed partly over the missile shield.

Putin made a new counter-proposal that expanded on his previous offer to use a radar system in Azerbaijan as an alternative to the U.S. plan.

He suggested incorporating a radar system in southern Russia and bringing more European countries into the decision-making through the Russia-NATO Council.

“The comments that the Russian president made up in Kennebunkport offered a certain amount of promise for moving forward. We continue to have discussions with them on it,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Polish and U.S. negotiators held talks on the shield in late June in Washington and will resume them later this summer.

Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who represents Poland in the talks, has said he expects a deal in September or October.

On Tuesday, Kaczynski will visit Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where the United States has been testing missile-defense technology and plans to place four interceptors by 2011.

Paris pushes swift deployment of troops in Darfur

This article has moved from Love America First-2 to Rosemary’s Thoughts.

Source: CNN.

June 25, 2007.

PARIS, France (AP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed fast international action toward speeding up deployment of troops in Darfur, as key world players met Monday to try to consolidate efforts and resources for the ravaged Sudanese region.

Sudan was not invited to the one-day Paris conference, organized by a new French government that has made the four-year conflict in Darfur a top priority. The meetings come after Sudan agreed — under international pressure — to allow the deployment of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in the region.

Sarkozy pledged an additional $13.4 million to the existing — and cash-strapped — African Union force. “Silence is killing,” in Darfur, Sarkozy said in greeting participants to the conference.

“The lack of decision and the lack of action is unacceptable,” he added.

He praised Sudan for agreeing to the hybrid force but insisted, “We must be firm toward belligerents who refuse to join the negotiating table.”

Stepping up pressure for progress, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said Sunday night that the international community has fallen down on the job in Darfur.

Rice and Sarkozy had their first face-to-face talks since Sarkozy took over last month from Jacques Chirac.

Details about the composition, mandate and timetable of the joint force are expected to top discussions at Monday’s meetings.

More than 200,000 people have died in the Darfur region of western Sudan and 2.5 million have become refugees since 2003, when local rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudan’s government is accused of unleashing in response a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed — a charge Sudan denies.

The U.N. and Western governments had pressed Sudan for months to accept a plan for a large joint force of U.N. and AU peacekeepers to replace the overwhelmed 7,000-strong African force now in Darfur.

Sudan initially accepted the plan in November but then backtracked, before finally agreeing earlier this month. Rice warned Sudan’s government not to renege on its agreement.

Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, insisted Sunday, “This is not a ‘peacemaking’ meeting, but on the contrary, a meeting to support the international efforts that have been deployed.”

Kouchner, a Socialist who co-founded the aid group Doctors Without Borders, said “humanitarian work … is not enough.” He also noted that the world powers must agree to support the U.N. force financially.

“If there are 20,000 forces who are in the hybrid force, whoever they are, they must be paid,” he said.

The conference includes Rice, Kouchner, officials from the United Nations including Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the Arab League and the European Union, as well as 11 European countries, Egypt and China.

Notable absences, other than Sudan, include the African Union and neighboring Chad, which has seen an influx of tens of thousands of people fleeing Darfur and is a key conduit for aid.

China is viewed as a power broker in Sudan because of its heavy investment in the country. China has long opposed harsh measures against Sudan over Darfur.

Beijing has dramatically stepped up efforts to end the violence in Darfur in the wake of mounting criticism that threatened to taint the 2008 Olympic Games, which it is hosting.

China has not received a formal request to send soldiers for the AU-U.N. peacekeeping mission, but officials have said the country is open to contributing troops.

France had long been less vocal than the United States, Britain and others in pushing for peace in the region, but Sarkozy has made Darfur a foreign policy priority since taking office last month.

Sarkozy leads first election round

By BREITBART.com.
Jun 10, 2007.

Voters in France have resoundingly endorsed President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to overhaul the French economy, giving his party a commanding lead in the first round of elections for parliament.

Mr Sarkozy’s UMP party won 39.6% of the vote, while the opposition Socialists had 24.7%, the Interior Ministry said.

Mr Sarkozy’s conservatives have a strong advantage heading into the decisive runoff next Sunday, on track to expand their absolute majority in the 577-seat parliament.

Control of the National Assembly is central to Mr Sarkozy’s agenda of tax cuts, labour reforms, and other plans to try to shake France out of its malaise.

The election sapped support from the fringes — including Jean-Marie Le Pen’s once-influential extreme right National Front and the Socialists’ farther-left allies — and leaves France facing a parliament tilted unusually deeply to the right.

Turnout sank to a record low of 60.4%, which pollsters blamed on lack of suspense.

The UMP has been widely expected to win since Mr Sarkozy’s strong victory over Socialist Segolene Royal in the president election last month.

Socialists tried to rally backing for the second round — and tap fears of an all-powerful “Sarko state” if the president’s camp gets a lopsided majority.

“There are crushing majorities that crush, dominant parties that dominate, absolute powers that govern absolutely,” Socialist leader Francois Hollande warned.

Mr Sarkozy’s backers say a convincing mandate is the only way to get the French, eager to strike and wary of globalisation, to reform.

ALERT: EU is ripping us off & using OUR name to do it!

This is just another reason why we should never trust an ally, just like President George Washington stated in his farewell address. They will stab you in the back the first chance they get. That is what Europe is doing now.

EADS: Partner or proliferator?
CSP Occasional Paper Apr 25, 2007

In this paper, the Center argues that the U.S.’s involvement with European defense conglomerate EADS poses potentially serious problems for our security. For example, although EADS routinely bids for U.S. defense contracts, it sells military equipment to Iran and China, and has even been fingered in a scheme in which Iran purchased nuclear weapons parts.

If EADS wants to be a legitimate, reliable partner for the U.S., it must stop its dangerous and irresponsible behavior, plain and simple. Its bribery, corruption, proliferation, and anti-Americanism need to come to an end. Also, it must fully make clear the extent to which Putin’s Russia – which owns a substantial part of the company – is capable of guiding EADS policy.

Until these behaviors are changed, the U.S. has every right to deny EADS a role in our national security.

View Full Paper (PDF).

We must let all Americans know the truth. This is not right. As a matter of fact, it is very dangerous! We are the informers, so let us inform! Get writing, e-mailing, calling, and doing whatever it takes to get this news to as many people as possible.

We got the truth out about Islam vs. Islamists. We can do this. Thank you for all of your help. Have a wonderful day.

Hat tip: Bryan Hill, Research Associate, Center for Security Policy.

Top officials: U.S. to impose Sudan sanctions soon

Source: CNN.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The United States will impose tough new measures against Sudan, likely within days, to try to force it to change course on Darfur and aims to pressure Khartoum militarily by helping rebuild forces in the south, U.S. officials said.

State Department, Defense, Treasury and other U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the goal was to “tighten the screws” on President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and have him accept an international force in the vast western province.

A White House announcement on sanctions and a further limit on dollar transactions was expected very soon, a State Department official said.

Military options like a no-fly zone over Darfur — which Britain wants — or a forced intervention have been ruled out for now, but the Pentagon has done some “back of the envelope” calculations on what might be needed, a defense official said.

Some Sudan experts said the new sanctions were too little, too late.

“This is the right idea but it is simply not enough and not multilateral enough to make an impact, a dent, in the calculations of the Sudanese regime,” said John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group.

The United States had threatened an unspecified “Plan B” by January 1 if Bashir did not agree to a U.N./African Union force in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since 2003 in what Washington says is this century’s first genocide.

That deadline passed but it was Bashir’s comments that he would not accept a hybrid force that pushed the administration to roll out “Plan B,” senior officials said.

One idea: Bolster military force in the south

The U.S. government is also looking at how to change the military equation in Sudan.

One tactic is to help the government in the south build a strong force out of the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army which was at war with the north until a 2005 peace deal.

“If he (Bashir) is faced with a credible force in the south, he will start to relook at how his forces are dispersed and where his risks are,” the defense official said.

But the initial focus will be on putting the financial squeeze on Bashir.

About 130 firms with ties to Sudan’s government, including the two leading oil companies, are already on a U.S. sanctions list barring them from doing business with the United States or from using U.S. financial institutions to do dollar transactions — the favored currency for lucrative oil trades.

Other companies will be added to the list, current sanctions will be tightened and existing loopholes closed, making it harder to do dollar deals.

“The goal is to be more pro-active and have tighter enforcement (of sanctions),” said a Treasury Department official.

Aside from slapping travel and banking restrictions on at least three more Sudanese individuals, including a rebel leader, Washington also wants to put more pressure on splintered rebel groups in Darfur.

‘You have to squeeze them all,’ Khartoum and rebels both

“You have to squeeze them all,” said the defense official. “The goal is to get both Bashir and the rebels to come to the conclusion that they are not going to get anywhere with their current course of action.”

The United States is working closely with Britain, which takes over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council next month, and is planning a new resolution on Darfur.

But a senior U.S. official made clear the United States would not wait months for the United Nations to act.

Britain has been pushing for a no-fly zone in Darfur but the Pentagon sees that as fraught with problems, as it does a forced military intervention which would ostracize Arab nations still smarting from the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

“When you look at a no-fly zone, the conclusion that pretty much everyone comes up with is that it will not have any impact at all,” a defense official said.

With Sudan’s limited number of fixed-wing aircraft, it would also be a logistical nightmare maintaining a no-fly zone in an area the size of Texas, the official said.

French Total oil boss under formal investigation

Source: Middle East Times.

AFP March 23, 2007

PARIS — A French judge has placed the chief executive of the Total oil group under formal investigation on suspicion of paying bribes to secure a major gas field deal in Iran.

Christophe de Margerie, who is already under investigation over the Iraq “oil-for-food” bribes scandal, was officially warned of the new accusations Thursday night after he had spent more than a day in detention.

The judge placed Margerie, who has only been Total’s chief executive since February, under investigation for suspected “corruption of foreign public agents and misuse of corporate assets,” a legal source said.

Margerie was given conditional release.

The French oil company is suspected of paying top Iranian officials nearly 100 million Swiss francs ($80 million) through two Swiss bank accounts to win a contract for the South Pars offshore gas field in 1997.

Margerie was detained by French police Wednesday before being transferred to a serious financial crime unit a day later, judicial officials reported. Four other serving and former Total executives were also detained but later released without charge.

In a statement, Total said that its chief executive had been placed “under formal investigation in proceedings related to the development of the South Pars project in Iran.”

Being placed under judicial investigation is one step short of being charged with a crime in the French legal system. It does not necessarily mean that 55-year-old Margerie is heading for trial.

A case can be dropped if a judge is unable to sustain his accusations against an individual.

In the statement Total expressed “its full support for its employees and confirms that the agreements for the development of the South Pars project were entered into in compliance with applicable law.”

It also said that the company was “confident” that the “investigation will establish the absence of any illegal activities and reaffirms that Total adheres to a strict code of conduct regardless of the difficulties linked to its activities and the environments in which it operates.”

The suspicions center on a contract Total won from the Iranian oil company NIOC for the South Pars field.

The French judge is partly relying on testimony given by an employee of Norwegian oil company Statoil who revealed the existence of a corruption system in Iran during an investigation in Norway.

According to sources, money was paid to Iranian officials between 1996 and 2003 when Margerie was Total’s Middle East director.

Last year he was charged with complicity with fraud and corruption by the same judge as part of an investigation into a French link to the “oil-for-food” scandal in Iraq.

Companies were said to have paid money to get oil deals from Iraq while it was under UN sanctions during the Saddam Hussein years.

Several other Total executives and former executives, including Patrick Rambaud, who was also questioned over the Iran deal, have also been put under investigation as part of the “oil-for-food” scandal.

Known in the company as “Big Moustache,” Margerie was promoted to head of Total in February in succession to Thierry Desmarest who had overseen huge expansion of the group and is president of the supervisory board.

Margerie studied at the elite ESCP business school in Paris, joining the finance department of Total in 1974, rising to the managing committee in 1992, and becoming director for the Middle East region in 1995.

French Judge grills Total chief over corruption accusations

Source: Yahoo News.

A French judge on Thursday questioned Total oil chief executive Christophe de Margerie over corruption suspicions surrounding a major gas deal in Iran, bringing formal charges a step closer.

The French oil giant is suspected of paying top Iranian officials nearly 100 million Swiss francs (60 million euros, 80 million dollars) through two Swiss bank accounts to win a contract in 1997

Margerie was detained by police on Wednesday and on Thursday was transferred to the serious financial crime unit, legal sources said.

He was later taken to the office of magistrate, Philippe Courroye, who has spent three months investigating the South Pars contract that Total secured with the Iranian oil company NIOC.

Courroye could place de Margerie under judicial investigation which would be the first stage toward formal charges.

Four other Total executives, including financial director Robert Castaigne and a former senior executive, Patrick Rambaud, who was in charge of Total’s negotiating section, were also detained on Wednesday but released late in the day without charge.

Total has confirmed that the executives have been questioned over the South Pars offshore field deal. But a spokesman said the group, France’s biggest company in terms of turnover, supports Margerie and “confirms that the agreements signed respected the law.”

If Margerie is not charged he could still be warned that he is needed as a witness or given an unconditional release.

According to sources close to the inquiry, the money was paid to Iranian officials between 1996 and 2003, when Margerie was Total’s Middle East director. The Swiss accounts belonged to a suspected intermediary in the deal. Switzerland has frozen some 9.5 million euros from the accounts.

The oil group’s chief executive is no stranger to controversy.

Last year he was charged with complicity with fraud and corruption by the same judge as part of an investigation into a French link to the “oil-for-food” scandal in Iraq.

Companies were said to have paid money to get oil deals from Iraq while it was under UN sanctions during the Saddam Hussein years.

Several other Total executives and former executives, including Rambaud, have also been charged as part of the “oil-for-food” scandal.

Known in the company as “Big Moustache,” Margerie was promoted to managing director of Total in February in succession to Thierry Desmarest who had overseen huge expansion of the group and is president of the supervisory board.

Update: Spain Train Bombing Investigation

Since I reported yesterday, there has been more disturbing news about the police officer, Agent Maussili Kalaji. Fausta from The Bad Hair Blog has continued to translate El Mundo into English for those of us in America (or other English speaking countries.)

According to today’s story in El Mundo [available by subscription only], the apartment belongs to Syrian brothers Mouhannad and Moutaz Almallah, jailed for the Madrid attacks. In Moutaz’s case, the police considers him a very important operative within Al Qaeda, and speculates that he might have worked as liaison between the terrorist organization and the actual terrorists in the attacks. The police agent who “liberated” the 3/11 cell phones [i.e., Kajali] has explained that the document [the sale of property from the Agent to the terrorist, my addition] originates from the 1998 sale of a different apartment to Moutaz.

Frank Gaffney has a more cautious take on this. Is it possible that it wasn’t either one of those groups that set off the bomb? Why didn’t they hand over the x-ray of the “lost” backpack for 3 months after the Judge asked for it? Why was his (ex-)wife the first officer on the scene of an investigation he was going to investigate? Many questions, not enough answers yet to come to ANY conclusion.

Even Arthur Chrenkoff has a few questions. He also has some links to very good articles covering this issue.

There is a fabulous chart over at The Adventures of Chester which ties together all the links that we know of so far. Please remember, they may not mean a thing. Then again, they may.

I would like to thank Fausta, who also wrote this and this. I would also like to thank Arthur Chrenkoff, Frank Gaffney, The Adventures of Chester, and BarcePundit, also who wrote this, this, and this. Have a great day, everyone!