China targets second prong of US global strength (after nuclear arsenal)

U.S. has plundered world wealth with dollar: China paper

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States has plundered global wealth by exploiting the dollar's dominance, and the world urgently needs other currencies to take its place, a leading Chinese state newspaper said on Friday.

The front-page commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily said that Asian and European countries should banish the U.S. dollar from their direct trade relations for a start, relying only on their own currencies.

A meeting between Asian and European leaders, starting on Friday in Beijing, presented the perfect opportunity to begin building a new international financial order, the newspaper said.

The People's Daily is the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party. The Chinese-language overseas edition is a small circulation offshoot of the main paper.

Its pronouncements do not necessarily directly voice leadership views. But the commentary, as well as recent comments, amount to a growing chorus of Chinese disdain for Washington's economic policies and global financial dominance in the wake of the credit crisis.

"The grim reality has led people, amidst the panic, to realize that the United States has used the U.S. dollar's hegemony to plunder the world's wealth," said the commentator, Shi Jianxun, a professor at Shanghai's Tongji University.

Shi, who has before been strident in his criticism of the U.S., said other countries had lost vast amounts of wealth because of the financial crisis, while Washington's sole concern had been protecting its own interests.

"The U.S. dollar is losing people's confidence. The world, acting democratically and lawfully through a global financial organization, urgently needs to change the international monetary system based on U.S. global economic leadership and U.S. dollar dominance," he wrote.

Shi suggested that all trade between Europe and Asia should be settled in euros, pounds, yen and yuan, though he did not explain how the Chinese currency could play such a role since it is not convertible on the capital account.

A two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of 27 EU member states and 16 Asian countries was set to open on Friday. Though few analysts expect much in the way of concrete agreements, Shi said it could prove momentous.

"How can Europe and Asia grasp each other's hands and together confront the once-in-a-century global financial crisis sparked by the U.S.; how can they construct a new equitable and safe international financial order?" he said.

"The world is waiting for this Asian-European meeting to achieve big results in financial cooperation."

Original article posted here.

Venezuela beefing up against potential US aggression

Analysis: Venezuela buys Russian tanks

Russia to sell Venezuela rocket launchers: report Moscow (AFP) Oct 15 - Russia plans to sell Venezuela armoured personnel carriers and multiple rocket launchers, the Russian arms export agency said Wednesday. "We are preparing to deliver a large number of BMP-3 armoured personnel carriers" and multiple rocket launchers, Igor Sevastyanov, deputy director of Rosoboronexport, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. Venezuela has already bought 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, 50 helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles from Russia in contracts worth a total of 4.4 billion dollars signed between 2005 and 2007, officials said. During a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Moscow last month, Russia announced it was giving Venezuela a one-billion-dollar credit to buy Russian weapons and the two countries discussed nuclear energy cooperation. They are also planning joint naval exercises in the Caribbean in November. US military chiefs have said they are concerned about the military build-up in Venezuela and the US State Department has said it will be watching the Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises "very closely."

by Jack Sweeney

In 2006 and 2007 Venezuela's air force purchased 36 Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30 "Flanker-C" fighters, of which 24 already are in service and the remaining 12 will be delivered before the end of 2009. However, President Hugo Chavez has also placed an order for 24 state-of-the-art Russian Sukhoi Su-35 "Flanker-E" fighters with delivery starting by 2010.

After the U.S. State Department thwarted Venezuela's plans to buy Spanish military air transports in 2006, Chavez purchased from Russia 10 Ilyushin IL-76E -- NATO designation Candid -- troop/cargo transports and two Ilyushin IL-78 -- NATO designation Midas -- in-flight tankers with the capacity to refuel three aircraft simultaneously.

These transport aircraft will be delivered between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the end of 2009, giving Venezuela's armed forces the largest strategic air lift capacity in Latin America, defense procurement officials say.

However, the arms purchases Venezuela made between 2005 and 2008 are only the start of a bilateral military and security alliance between Caracas and Moscow potentially worth billions of dollars in future sales by Russian arms manufacturers.

During Chavez's latest visit to Moscow on Sept. 25 and 26, his third trip this year, Russian Prime Minister and former President Vladimir Putin agreed to expand Venezuelan-Russian military cooperation. Underscoring Venezuela's importance to Moscow as a major client for Russian weapons, Chavez was granted $1 billion in credit to finance more arms purchases.

The first item on Chavez's arms shopping list is between 20 and 30 TOR-M1 9M330 air defense missile systems. Venezuela's president also wants at least three diesel-powered Varshavyanka (Kilo)-class submarines.

Venezuelan defense sources say Chavez also wants to replace his army's obsolescent AMX-30 main battle tanks with between 50 and 100 Russian-built T-90 main battle tanks. The army also wants to buy at least 100 Russian-made light tanks and armored fighting vehicles, and up to 400 BMP-3 armored personnel carriers.

The Chavez government also is expanding defense and security ties with China. During his visit to Beijing on Sept. 24, Chavez signed an agreement to purchase 24 Chinese-made K-8 light attack aircraft, which Venezuelan air force officials say will be used for training purposes. The K-8s, which are scheduled to arrive in Venezuela during 2009, will operate from the Teniente Vicente Landaeta Gil Air Base near the city of Barquisimeto in Lara state.

China also is supplying Venezuela's air force with 10 long-range JYL-1 radars, three of which already are operating at Paraguana and Mene Mauroa in Falcon state near state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela's 940,000 bpd Paraguana refining complex and in Apure state near Venezuela's border with Colombia. The air force expects to achieve almost 100 percent radar coverage of Venezuela's national territory by 2013 when all 10 radars are installed and operational.

Spain's Navantia shipyard at Cadiz is building eight seagoing vessels for Venezuela's navy, including four coastal patrol boats -- 39 dwt -- equipped with a helicopter deck aft and Oerlikon Contraves DMN 0008 Millennium 35mm anti-aircraft guns. But navy officials say the patrol boats probably also could be armed with air and anti-ship missiles or heavier guns forward.

The other four vessels Navantia is building are missile-capable frigates that Venezuelan navy officials describe as "similar in design" to Venezuela's Italian-made Lupo frigates, which have been in use for about 30 years.

Original article posted here.

Looks like Venezuela may become to Russia what Israel is to the US

Russia offers Chavez $1 billion for weapons

By Michael Schwirtz

MOSCOW: The Kremlin has decided to offer a $1 billion loan for arms purchases to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is currently on a two-day swing through Russia aimed at bolstering an already solid relationship that has caused increasing discomfort in the West.

Following a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday, Mr. Chavez, who is on his second visit to Russia in two months, traveled on Friday to the southern city of Orenburg near the border with Kazakhstan for a meeting with President Dmitry A. Medvedev. The two leaders held talks on enhancing economic cooperation and trade in both commercial goods and military technologies, according to a Kremlin statement.

The $1 billion dollar loan is to be allocated for programs related to military-technical cooperation, the statement said. A Kremlin spokesman would not elaborate on the details of the deal. Between 2005 and 2007 Venezuela has signed 12 contracts for weapons purchases from Russia for a total of more than $4.4 billion, the Kremlin statement said.

The move is the latest gesture of military friendship between Russia and Venezuela, two counties that have increasingly positioned themselves as mavericks vis-a-vis the West. The Kremlin says its economic and political stability have allowed it to broaden the scope of its military and economic cooperation beyond what it calls its traditional sphere of influence.

Moscow is also frustrated with what it considers aggressive military posturing from the West, particularly the United States. Washington's plans to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as its support of NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine, have set Russia on edge.

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In turn, Russia has sought to expand its military footprint in recent years, inching closer and closer to American shores. Russian bombers have flown sorties close to Alaska and its naval vessels have been pushing deeper into the Atlantic.

Latin America, and Venezuela in particular, has become has become a major theater for this expansion.

Earlier this month a pair of Russian Tu-160 long range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons received a warm welcome when they landed in Venezuela. Russia has also dispatched squadron from the Russian Navy's North Sea Fleet to the Caribbean to take part in joint naval exercises with the Venezuelan Navy sometime in November.

"Latin America, of course, is becoming an obvious link in the chain making up a multipolar world," Mr. Putin said during his meeting with Mr. Chavez. "We will allocate more and more attention to this vector of our economics and foreign policy." Russia has already delivered Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, Mi-17 transport helicopters, and thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles to Venezuela. There are also plans to build a factory in the country that will manufacture these weapons under license.

Ties between the two countries appear to have been strengthened following Russia's five-day war with Georgia last month, which caused relations between Moscow and the West to plummet to their lowest point since the Cold War.

At his meeting with Mr. Medvedev on Friday, Mr. Chavez expressed "firm support" for Russia's unilateral recognition of independence for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two Georgian separatist enclaves, Interfax reported. Only Nicaragua has officially followed Moscow's recognition, which prompted broad international criticism.

Mr. Chavez's remarks fell short of official recognition of the republics, despite speculation that he would use his visit to offer it.

Original article posted here.

The refrain is growing: Yankee, go home.

Expulsion of US Ambassadors: Ecuador, Honduras support Bolivia & Venezuela

Ecuador, Honduras support Bolivia, Venezuela in expulsion of U.S. envoys

Ecuador and Honduras on Friday voiced support for Bolivia and Venezuela's decision to expel U.S. ambassadors in their countries in protest of Washington's intervention in their domestic affairs.

"The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales and the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, have enough reasons to label (as "persona non gratas") the U.S. ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, and that in Caracas, Patrick Duddy. I respect those countries' decisions and I am sure that they had their concrete and verified reasons," Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said during his visit to Peru.

"Ecuador will make its resolutions in a sovereign way," Correa noted.

"I have to acknowledge that former U.S. ambassador to Ecuador always respected my country," the president said, adding that "if any U.S. ambassador or of any place attempts to interfere in our internal affairs or affect the country's security, he will be immediately expelled."

Correa made the remarks at a press conference at the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) that groups Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The Ecuadorian president had previously met with his Peruvian counterpart Alan Garcia.

Meanwhile, reports monitored here said that Hondurian President Manuel Zelaya also voiced support for Bolivia's decision to expel the U.S. ambassador, saying he will not receive the new U.S. ambassador to Honduras for the moment, though he does not want to have problems with Washington.

In another development of the day, the Venezuelan government said it formalized the expulsion of U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, after President Hugo Chavez announced the decision on Thursday to show solidarity with Bolivia.

The U.S. ambassador was asked to leave the country within 72 hours starting from 19:15 local time (2345 GMT) on Thursday.

In a communique, the government declared Duddy as "persona non grata" , saying it subjects the ties with the United States to an intense evaluation "to guarantee the respect to our homeland."

Bolivian Ambassador to Venezuela Jorge Alvarado said on Friday that he appreciates Venezuela's sympathy with La Paz, describing the words of President Chavez as a honor and an incentive for the Bolivian people.

"The Bolivians, Venezuelans and the Latin Americans should feel proud because our governments are dignifying us," Alvarado said.

Alvarado said Latin American nations could not react to the U.S. intervention before, because they lived with alleged help from it. "But we are now showing that we can expel a U.S. ambassador," Alvarado told local VTV channel.

Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday requested U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg to leave the country immediately, accusing him of "heading the division" inside Bolivia by encouraging, together with the opposition, the protests agains this government.

Original article posted here.

Honduras joins anti-empire struggle against US and in support of Bolivia

Honduras in diplomatic snub to U.S. over Bolivia

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras, a former U.S. ally in Central America now run by a leftist government, told a U.S. envoy not to present his credentials as ambassador on Friday in a diplomatic snub in support of Bolivia.

Bolivia and anti-U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are in a fight with Washington over what they see as U.S. support for violent protests against Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who has moved the country closer to Chavez, was due to receive a new U.S. ambassador on Friday in a ceremony at which the envoy would present a letter with his diplomatic credentials.

But Zelaya temporarily put off the event in support of Bolivia, a government source said.

"The government decided to temporarily suspend the reception of the new ambassador's letter of credentials in solidarity with Bolivian President Evo Morales," the source said. The snub means that envoy Hugo Llorens is not officially U.S. ambassador.

The United States imposed sanctions on aides to Venezuela's Chavez on Friday in retaliation for his expulsion of the U.S. ambassador, escalating a crisis that raises the spectre of a possible oil supply cutoff.

Bolivia and the United States expelled their respective ambassadors earlier this week after Morales accused Washington of supporting the opposition in the Andean country.

Violent anti-government protests have killed eight people in Bolivia, where rightist governors have rebelled against the popular president, demanding autonomy and rejecting his plans to overhaul the constitution and break up ranches to give land to poor Indians.

Original article posted here.

South America with a possibility of shaking of US repression and intervention by unifying over Bolivia

Leaders to meet on Bolivia crisis

The toll from clashes between opponents and supporters of the government has risen to 30 [AFP] South American leaders are set to gather in Chile on Monday to come up with a plan to prevent Bolivia from breaking apart. The emergency meeting comes as Evo Morales, Bolivia's president, struggled on Sunday to re-impose order in the country as the toll from violence between opponents and supporters of the government continued to rise. Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez, reporting from Caracas, said the situation was tense and the economic stakes high in Bolivia. The South American leaders were keen on a way out of the crisis - in part so that Bolivian gas supplies to the region would not be disrupted - but Morales and his opponents had to compromise and offer up some concessions, our correspondent said. Talks within the country were already under way in La Paz late on Sunday between the country's vice-president and Mario Cossio, the governor of Tarija province representing governors of resource-rich provinces who are against Morales' plans to redistribute wealth to the country's poor indigenous people. Rising toll The toll from clashes in Pando province – where Morales declared martial law on Friday – had risen to at least 30, Alfredo Rada, the interior minister said on Sunday, as the authorities accused protesters of setting fire to a town hall and blocking highways in opposition-controlled provinces, impeding fuel and food distribution. Food and fuel deliveries have been disrupted by protesters blocking roads [AFP] Morales dispatched troops on Friday and accused anti-government forces of killing his supporters. Officials said the toll was expected to rise as more bodies continued to be found in the hills and the river. Ivan Canelas, a presidential spokesman, said without providing details that opposition-led highway blockades continued on Sunday and that "an armed group" had set fire to the town hall in Filadelfia, a municipality near Cobija. "There are people who want to continue sowing pain across the region," he said. The La Paz newspaper La Razon quoted the country's highways chief as saying blockades had halted transit on major roads in the opposition-governed eastern provinces of Tarija, Beni and Santa Cruz. US rejects accusations Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Bolivia is on his way out of the country. Morales and Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president and staunch Morales ally, ordered the US ambassadors expelled from their countries last week. Some provinces oppose Morales' push to empower the indigenous majority [AFP] Morales has offered no detailed evidence of Philip Goldberg's alleged conspiracy with the opposition, but has accused Goldberg of egging on anti-Morales forces through meetings with governors who have publicly called for the president to be removed. But Goldberg denied the charge and called the decision to expel him a big mistake on Sunday in his first public comments on the matter. "I would like to say that all the accusations made against me, against the embassy and against my nation are completely false and unjustified," he told reporters in La Paz as he prepared to leave. The gravest challenge to Morales' nearly three years as Bolivia's first indigenous president stems from his struggle with the four eastern lowland provinces where the country's natural gas riches are concentrated and where his government has in effect lost control. The provinces are seeking greater autonomy from Morales' leftist government and are insisting he cancel a December 7 referendum on a new constitution that would help him centralise power, run for a second consecutive term and transfer fallow terrain to landless peasants. Morales says the new charter is needed to empower Bolivia's indigenous majority. Original article posted here.

The Fourth World War

The Fourth World War

Directed by Rick Rowley. With Suheir Hammad

4th World War - taken from a speech by Marcos calling the war against globalization the 4th World War - is a brief, documentary of radical resistance to global capitalism

Despite the titanic struggles of dispossessed peoples around the world, the wealth of nations continues to reside in fewer and fewer hands. The economies of poor countries collapse under vicious IMF policies, and capitalism's global 'clubs' thrive ever and ever upward. Meanwhile, people keep struggling, ultimately downward.

Asserting independence and pushing the envelope regarding sovreignty

Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

They also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and will continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months, they told the news conference.

Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free -- provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Means said.

The treaties signed with the United States are merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists say on their website.

The treaties have been "repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life," the reborn freedom movement says.

Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.

"This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution," which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.

"It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent," said Means.

The Lakota relaunched their journey to freedom in 1974, when they drafted a declaration of continuing independence -- an overt play on the title of the United States' Declaration of Independence from England.

Thirty-three years have elapsed since then because "it takes critical mass to combat colonialism and we wanted to make sure that all our ducks were in a row," Means said.

One duck moved into place in September, when the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples -- despite opposition from the United States, which said it clashed with its own laws.

"We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children," Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference.

The US "annexation" of native American land has resulted in once proud tribes such as the Lakota becoming mere "facsimiles of white people," said Means.

Oppression at the hands of the US government has taken its toll on the Lakota, whose men have one of the shortest life expectancies -- less than 44 years -- in the world.

Lakota teen suicides are 150 percent above the norm for the United States; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

"Our people want to live, not just survive or crawl and be mascots," said Young.

"We are not trying to embarrass the United States. We are here to continue the struggle for our children and grandchildren," she said, predicting that the battle would not be won in her lifetime.

Original article posted here.

China busts neo Con for economic sanctions against Iran

China signs $2bn Iran oil deal


The deal comes at a crucial time for an Iranian energy industry facing
mounting international pressure

One of China's biggest energy companies has signed a $2bn deal to develop a huge oil field in Iran, defying US calls for a trade boycott with Tehran.

Under the deal, China's biggest refiner, Sinopec, will eventually help pump out 185,000 barrels of oil a day from the Yadavar field in southwest Iran.

Gholam Hossein Nozari, Iran's oil minister, said the deal showed Western efforts to isolate Tehran had failed with Iran instead "solidifying our economic relations with China".

"This contract has a clear message that despite the negative atmosphere … trying to falsely imply that no one is willing to invest in Iran's energy sector, we have such contracts signed," he said at a signing ceremony in Tehran.

US 'deeply disappointed'

Officials in the US warned that the agreement would undermine international efforts to press Iran over its nuclear programme.

"We're deeply disappointed and disturbed at the reports [of the deal], and we'll be making this clear to the Chinese authorities," Jessica Simon, a US state department spokeswoman, told reporters in Washington on Monday.

"Major new deals with Iran, particularly ones like these involving investment in oil and gas, really undermine international efforts to pressure the Iranians to comply with obligations already in place under the UN Security Council resolutions," she said.

She did not say whether Washington would review the deal to see if it violates the US-imposed Iran Sanctions Act, which seeks to punish foreign companies that invest more than $20m annually in Iran's energy sector.

Last week a US intelligence report suggested Iran had halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and was "less determined" than previously thought to develop a bomb.

But four days later Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, insisted Iran remained dangerous, calling on allies to "intensify" pressure on Tehran over the issue.

Iran has the world's third largest oil reserves and second largest gas reserves in the world and had been seeking foreign partners to develop its oil fields.

According to Iranian estimates, the Yadavaran field holds 3.2bn barrels of recoverable crude oil and 2.7trn cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.

In recent years China has been snapping up energy deals around the world as it seeks to ensure supplies of fuel for its booming economy.

China has been securing energy deals around the world to fuel its booming economy [Reuters]

Iran is already China's third largest supplier of crude oil.

But Chinese investments in countries such as Iran and Sudan have proved controversial, with critics saying it undermines diplomatic efforts to tackle issues such as nuclear proliferation or the conflict in Darfur.

Beijing, meanwhile, has rejected US demands for new UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, saying that the standoff over Iran's alleged development of atomic weapons requires a diplomatic solution.

Original article posted here.

From the frontlines of the grand chessboard

Caspian summit a triumph for Iran

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

Few regional summits have drawn closer attention, by both the media and world governments, than this week's summit of leaders of Caspian littoral states in Tehran.

The two day summit, coinciding with twin nuclear crises and escalating US-Iran tensions relating to Iraq and the Middle East, is bound to be regarded as a milestone in regional cooperation, with serious ramifications for a broad array of issues transcending the Caspian Sea region.

Billed as a "great leap toward progress" by Mehdi Safari, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Iran's Caspian affairs, the summit has been a great success for Iran as well as Russia and the other participants (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan), and Tehran is likely to capitalize on it as a stepping stone for full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), considered a security counterweight to NATO and US "hegemony".

Indeed, it is as much shared interests as common worries and concerns, eg, the US's unbounded interventionist policies, that have now brought Iran and Russia closer together and to the verge of a new strategic relationship. After all, both Iran and Russia are today objects of American coercion, their national security interests and objectives imperiled by the US's post-9/11 militarism and its feudalistic ossification of the international order.

The upshot of the Caspian summit is, in fact, a prominent message about the need to democratize the international order by erecting effective barriers to the American "leviathan", as shown by specific agreements reached at the summit, including prohibiting other countries from using the littoral states for attacks on one another "under any circumstances'', and disallowing any ship not flying the national flag of a littoral state on Caspian waters.

How did this summit come about? The answer is, first and foremost, by astute diplomatic efforts on Iran's part and, equally, by a strategic evolution of Russia's foreign policy that is no longer self-handicapped by prioritizing tactical or conjunctural interests above strategic ones.

Having reached this level, Moscow is now poised to enter into a new strategic relationship with Iran that will serve the geostrategic, security, and other shared interests of both nations.

"Iran is an important regional and global power," President Vladimir Putin said after his initial meeting with Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who has been much vilified in the West and yet is respected in the Third World and beyond as an assertive leader of a developing nation standing up to world-domineering policies.

A major achievement for Iran's diplomacy and particularly for Amadinejad's embattled foreign policy team, the "good news" summit will likely serve as the hinge that opens new breathing space for Iran's diplomacy, and not just toward the Caspian, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Iran's Persian Gulf policy is also bound to benefit from the improved image of Iran in the Middle East, making more attractive Iran's role as a corridor to Central Asia which the Arab world in general and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in particular can take advantage of in their external trade and energy policies.

Iran's summit diplomacy
The most salient feature of Iran's summit diplomacy has been its multifaceted complexity, seeking to enhance regional cooperation among the five Caspian littoral states by, for instance, initiating the idea of a Caspian regional organization to promote inter-region trade, and, simultaneously, pushing bilateral cooperation alongside multilateral cooperation. The net of bilateral and multilateral agreements signed at this summit is quite extensive and a detailed examination belongs elsewhere.

Suffice to say, however, that from Iran's vantage point the summit has been a complete turnaround from the rather disastrous Caspian Sea summit of leaders in Ashghabat, Turkmenistan, in 2002, when Putin prioritized the issue of Caspian delimitation and division, a divisive issue. In comparison, at this summit, the thorny subject of Caspian ownership and "legal regime" was relegated to the background, with the attending leaders focusing on areas of shared interests, transboundry issues, and trade, hoping that in subsequent meetings the goodwill generated at this summit will carry over to those more divisive issues.

Various expert-level meetings of the Caspian states have so far failed to resolve the ownership question and, from Iran's vantage point, given the relatively minor energy interests at stake in Iran's sector of the Caspian Sea, it made more sense to draw the right lesson from the Ashghabat failure and adopt a long-term view of things.

That approach by Iran has paid off handsomely, resulting in a sudden shift in the geostrategic climate in Iran's favor, in light of the joint communique of the other Caspian states regarding their refusal to allow their territory to be used for any militiary aggression against Iran, cemented by Putin's forceful statement against any such gambit.

Putin's other comment, regarding Russia's commitment to complete Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, represents yet another significant development for Iran, which has defied the UN Security Council's resolutions calling for a suspension of uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities. By stating on record that there is no evidence to support the allegations of a nuclear weapon ambition on Iran's part, Putin looks to have provoked Washington's fury, as seen in Condoleezza Rice's instant counterpunch that Iran has been "lying" about its nuclear program. Yet more importantly Putin has signalled the beginning of the end of Rice-crafted "diplomatic consensus" vis-a-vis Iran.

As expected, the US government and mainstream media, unable to show any signs of adjustment to Russia's, and even China's, new line of thought toward Iran, have stepped up their Iran-bashing, with both the Washington Times and Wall Street Journal dedicating more of their opinion pages to the ritual anti-Iran commentaries.

Surely, the Tehran summit and its results represent a serious setback for Washington's Iran diplomacy, but they also show the defects of its Russia diplomacy and the fact that Moscow and Washington have reached a dead end. Putin has held his ground against his Washington detractors, wooing various European leaders such as Germany's Angela Merkel and snubbing the pro-US Nicolas Sarkozy, while working on a new model of Russia-EU relations that is not dominated by US prerogatives. There is undoubtedly an element of risk here and Putin's new Iran policy may backfire, particularly if he does not generate more Iranian cooperation on the nuclear issue.

Regarding the latter, Iran is apt to reciprocate Putin's gestures by accommodating itself to more IAEA demands, and next week's meeting of Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, with the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, is an important occasion for Iran to appease Putin and his foreign policy circle, some of whom are openly worried about a parallel corrosion of US-Russia relations because of the new Iran-Russia developments.

Yet this is not a "zero-sum game" and US policy makers can draw the right impression about Iran's good neighborly policies benefiting regional and global peace, presently deepened in part thanks to Russia's singular influence on Iran. That is highly unlikely, however, and the continuation of the one-dimensional coercive policy toward Iran, so deeply entrenched in Washington, is the more likely scenario, no matter how out of sync with the rest of the world community.

The "lonely superpower" that Samuel Huntington once wrote about now appears dangerously on the verge of losing its "coalition of the willing" against Iran, both inside and outside the United Nations. The only choice is either stubborn refusal to make the necessary policy adjustments toward Iran, along the lines of a non-threatening civil diplomacy, or to face what is certain to be a diplomatic defeat in the global arena.

Iran's soft-power diplomacy should be given much credit for both the summit's success and the related frustration of the US's coercive diplomacy.

Original article posted here.

Well beyond "not so scared", now it's Russia who issues warnings

Putin, in Iran, issues warning to U.S.

Ahmadinejad and Putin on Tuesday. Putin's trip to Tehran is the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II. His visit took place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid hopes that personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran's nuclear program.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russian leader Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Tuesday and implicitly warned the U.S. not to use a former Soviet republic to stage an attack on Iran. He also said countries bordering the Caspian Sea must jointly back any oil pipeline projects in the region.

At a summit of the five nations that border the inland Caspian Sea, Putin said none of the nations' territory should be used by any outside countries for use of military force against any nation in the region. It was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. was planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran.

"We are saying that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state," Putin said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also underlined the need for solidarity.

"The Caspian Sea is an inland sea and it only belongs to the Caspian states, therefore only they are entitled to have their ships and military forces here," he said.

A State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said the United States is not planning military action against Iran.

"We are pursuing a diplomatic course with respect to Iran that includes with respect to its nuclear program as well as with respect to its support for terrorism and other issues that are out there," he said.

Putin refused to set a date for the start-up of Iran's first nuclear power plant, to be built by Russia.

"I only gave promises to my mom when I was a small boy," Putin told Iranian reporters, when asked whether he could promise that the plant that Russia is building would be launched before his term ends next May.

At the same time, he said, "We are not going to renounce our obligations."

Putin's careful stance suggested that Russia is seeking to preserve solid ties with Iran without angering the West. A clear pledge by Putin to quickly finish the plant would embolden Iran and could complicate international talks on the nuclear standoff.

Putin, whose trip to Tehran is the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, warned that energy pipeline projects crossing the Caspian could only be implemented if all five nations that border the sea support them.

Putin did not name a specific country, but his statement underlined Moscow's strong opposition to U.S.-backed efforts to build pipelines to deliver hydrocarbons to the West, bypassing Russia.

"Projects that may inflict serious environmental damage to the region cannot be implemented without prior discussion by all five Caspian nations," he said.

Other nations bordering the Caspian Sea and in attendance at the summit are: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

The legal status of the Caspian — believed to contain the world's third-largest energy reserves — has been in limbo since the 1991 Soviet collapse, leading to tension and conflicting claims to seabed oil deposits.

Iran, which shared the Caspian's resources equally with the Soviet Union, insists that each coastal nation receive an equal portion of the seabed. Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan want the division based on the length of each nation's shoreline, which would give Iran a smaller share.

Putin's visit took place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid hopes that personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran's nuclear program.

Putin has warned the U.S. and other nations against trying to coerce Iran into reining in its nuclear program and insists peaceful dialogue is the only way to deal with Tehran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment.

"Threatening someone, in this case the Iranian leadership and Iranian people, will lead nowhere," Putin said Monday during his trip to Germany. "They are not afraid, believe me."

Iran's rejection of the council's demand and its previous clandestine atomic work has fed suspicions in the U.S. and other countries that Tehran is working to enrich uranium to a purity usable in nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is only wants lesser-enriched uranium to fuel nuclear reactors that would generate electricity.

Putin's visit to Tehran is being closely watched for any possible shifts in Russia's carefully hedged stance in the nuclear standoff.

The Russian president underlined his disagreements with Washington last week, saying he saw no "objective data" to prove Western claims that Iran is trying to construct nuclear weapons.

Putin emphasized Monday that he would negotiate in Tehran on behalf of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members — United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and Germany, a group that has led efforts to resolve the stalemate with Tehran.

Original article posted here.

Call Bush a Moron, win an electoral mandate for sweeping reforms (not that the two are connected, but they damn well should be)

Ecuador's Correa with strong mandate after vote

By Patrick Markey

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Monday emerged with a strong mandate to dissolve Congress and seek broad reforms after claiming a majority in a weekend vote for an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

The left-winger joins allies Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales in convoking a national assembly to push through a constitutional rewrite and limit the influence of powerful elites who resist his proposals.

A convincing victory for his Alianza Pais, or Country Alliance, party in the assembly will allow Correa to shore up legislative control and push through his "21st Century" socialism and plans for tighter state economic control that have already rattled Wall Street.

Correa on Monday called for his delegates to press for early presidential and congressional elections after the assembly, end the central bank's autonomy and abolish special oil saving funds that restrict government spending.

He also struck a more moderate tone in dismissing concerns he wants to expand his authority and saying his renegotiation of oil contracts would be "friendly," with no deep reforms expected in the energy and mining sectors.

"This is a great slap on the back for the government ... we will take this with great responsibility because we cannot fail," Correa said at a press conference. "No one is trying to establish a monarchy here."

Correa, who came into office in January, wants to purge the influence of traditional parties, which are widely blamed for the instability that ousted three presidents in a decade.

With an initial 3 percent of votes counted, Correa's party had a lead in votes. But a tally of seats could take weeks because of the complex proportional representation system.

A government-linked exit poll and a quick count -- in which a sample of the votes are tallied -- on Sunday showed Alianza Pais had won far more than the 66-seat majority needed to control the 130-member assembly.

Correa claimed his party may have secured about 80 seats in the assembly.

WALL STREET JITTERS

Slight early bond trading reflected Wall Street's expectations of a Correa victory. Ecuador's benchmark 2030 global bond on Monday fell 0.250 point to bid 90.000 with a yield of 11.359 percent.

Investors are worried about his vows to renegotiate the country's $10 billion foreign debt, rework oil contracts in South America's No. 5 crude producer and review mining deals.

"With Alianza Pais in the driver's seat, the new legislature is likely to validate greater government intervention in critical sectors of the economy," Goldman Sachs analyst Alberto Ramos wrote in a note to clients.

Government officials have differed on the reforms they want. But Correa's key delegate and choice for assembly president is Alberto Acosta, a former energy minister who favors more state control over energy resources.

A U.S.-trained economist, Correa is highly popular for his rallying cry against career politicians as a corrupt mafia, but foes fear he will amass power and follow Chavez by steering his poor Andean country away from free-market policies.

Correa says his majority bloc would push to dissolve the Congress and be replaced by a legislative committee while the assembly debates. The make-up of the legislative committee will reflect his majority in the assembly.

The assembly will debate a draft of constitutional reforms put together by academics. A final version must be approved in a popular referendum after at least six months.

Original article posted here.

Nice short article getting the points across

Ten Reasons Why Russia Can’t Trust Uncle Sam by Robert Bridge

Global Research, August 26, 2007

The West says that it is perplexed by Russia's "aggressive" behavior of late, and suggests that Moscow is desirous to regain its past superpower status, and even a little empire. But if cashing in on oil is imperialism, how do we explain the following U.S. moves: 10. Scrapping the Anti-Ballis­tic Missile Treaty In Decem­ber 2001, three months after 9/11, U.S. President George W. Bush told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. was pulling out of the 1972 ABM Treaty, a Cold War-era document that specifically forbade the development and deployment of anti-missile defense systems. The treaty ensured that signatory nations adhere to the mutually assured destruction (MAD) concept - if you destroy us we will destroy you formula. Yes, it was certainly MAD, but it kept the peace for 30 years. Former Defense Secre­tary Donald Rumsfeld attempted to reassure Moscow that the decision was nothing personal. "It [the treaty] failed to recognize that the Soviet Union is gone and that Russia is, of course, not our enemy." Putin called the move "a mistake." 9. "Mission Accomplished" On March 20, 2003, the United States - without a mandate from the United Nations, and against the heated objections of France, Germany and Russia - invaded Iraq on the pretext that the secular Baathist state of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was a proud sponsor of terrorism. Both accusations were proven wrong. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the BBC in an interview that the attack was a violation of international law. "From our point of view and the UN Charter point of view, it [the war] was illegal." 8. Pentagon Spending Spree The United States, which just put the finishing touches on a $583 billion dollar shopping trip for 2008, accounts for about half of global expenditures (or the next 14 nations). However, as Robert Higgs of the Inde­pendent Institute argues, "the trillion-dollar defense budget is already here." Higgs calculated that U.S. military-related spending in 2006 was actually $934.9 billion if we figure in Home­land Security ($69.1bln), the Dept. of Energy, which oversees nuclear weapons ($16.6 bln) and the Dept. of Veterans Affairs ($69.8 bln), as well as other juicy pork chops. In May, the Democrat-controlled House and Senate approved almost $95 billion for the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through September (Go Dems!). Meanwhile, "aggressive" Russia, with a 48 percent increase in military spending since 1996, still spends ‘just' $85 billion annually on military expenditures. 7. NATO XXL As Dan Simpson, a retired U.S. diplomat argued in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "The United States and other NATO members have taken some actions along the way to lull the Russians into acquiescence as NATO expanded to include the former Warsaw Pact na­tions... The argument was that these countries wanted to join NATO and that their membership posed no threat to Russia. That line prevailed as NATO membership grew to include also Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, former republics of the Soviet Union. Now the Russians see the same argument being advanced for Georgia and Ukraine. That's getting close to home." 6. New Military Bloopers As the Pakistani government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf struggles to contain the fallout of an 8-day battle against militants at the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), a U.S. official turned up the heat by telling CNN that if the U.S. "had actionable targets, anywhere in the world," including Pakistan, then "we would pursue those targets." Meanwhile, talk about a possible attack on Iran, a nation that ranked on America's axis of evil hit parade, continues. 5. Think-Tank Saber Rattling Keir A. Lieber and Daryl G. Press write an article in the prestigious U.S. journal Foreign Affairs entitled "Nuclear Primacy" (March/April 2006), which argues, in a nutshell, that "It will probably soon be possible for the United States to destroy the long-range nuclear arsenals of Russia or China with a first strike." Is this the sort of article that America should be supporting if it wants Russia to believe that elements of the proposed U.S. missile defense system in Poland and... oops! Don't want to spoil the plot! Anyways, Moscow ‘responds' with very accurate penmanship one year later as it test-fires its new RS-24 ballistic missile that it said could "overcome any potential missile defense systems developed by foreign countries." 4. Cheney Comfort One month after the above love letter hit newsstands, Vice President Dick Cheney, during a trip to Vilnius, Lithuania, assuaged Moscow's fears by reiterating, once again: "Russia has nothing to fear and everything to gain" by ‘democratic activity' on her borders. 3. Gates' Gated Community In early 2007, Pentagon chief Robert Gates urged viligance when he warned, "We don't know what's going to develop in places like Russia and China, in North Korea, in Iran and elsewhere." Was this a simple case of mistaken identity by a former White House Russian analyst? Whatever the case, it certainly helped to provoke Putin's heated Munich speech in February, where he admonished the world's "one master, one sovereign." 2. EU Culpability As the War on Terror continues, Europe is losing its Snow White innocence. As the German magazine Der Spiegel reported, "On July 19, 2002, a Gulfstream business jet took off from Frankfurt am Main bound for Amman, Jordan. The flight received an AFTM exempt [pilot code for ‘extreme situation'], although it carried neither patients nor politicians. Instead, the jet was carrying a CIA team that took a Mauri­tanian terrorism suspect... to Guan­tanamo." Der Spiegel reported that this "camouflaging of an illegal kidnapping as a rescue flight" was not an isolated event: There were 390 such takeoffs and landings in Germany between 2002 and 2006. And considering Eastern European hotels, it's just too scary to consider those secret terrorist prisons that allegedly exist in Poland and Romania. 1. Don't Worry, These anti-Missile Missiles won't Hurt You, Really - Washington is now incredulous, shocked, mortified that Moscow has the nerve to suggest that there could be less than good intentions involved in the construction of an anti-missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, even though there are no bad-guy technologies on the horizon that such a system could intercept. Go figure! Original article posted here.

The kind of headlines only possible under the Bush Regime

Ex-soccer star Maradona tells Chavez he hates U.S.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona on Sunday said he hates the United States "with all my strength" during an appearance on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's weekly television show.

The leftist soccer legend, like the fiercely anti-U.S. Chavez, is a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro.

"I believe in Chavez, I am Chavista ... . Everything Fidel does, everything Chavez does for me is the best (that can be done)," Maradona said, sitting with Chavez on the set of the president's Sunday talk show.

"I hate everything that comes from the United States. I hate it with all my strength," he added to thunderous applause and cheering from the hundreds of Chavez supporters gathered in an auditorium for the show.

Chavez, a self-described socialist revolutionary, is an unrelenting critic of Washington and frequently describes the United States as a decadent empire.

U.S. State Department officials call Chavez a threat to regional democracy and accuse him of using the OPEC nation's oil wealth to meddle in the affairs of neighboring nations.

Maradona, 46, received drug rehabilitation treatment in Cuba following a hospital stay in 2000 linked to cocaine use. In 2005 he launched a television talk show that lasted one season.

One of the most brilliant soccer players ever, he led Argentina to its 1986 World Cup victory and is revered in his own country and around the world.

Original article posted here.

Further strikes against Empire and its funny money

Iran demands Japan's oil payments in yen, not US dollars

The dollar has sharply plummeted against the yen this afternoon on reports Iran has asked Japan to stop paying for its oil in dollars.

The dollar was driven down against the Japanese yen this afternoon, hit by the news that Iran had asked Japan to pay for its oil purchases in the Japanese currency and not in dollars.

Iran has sent a letter to Japanese refiners, signed by Ali A Arshi, the general manager of crude marketing and exports for Iran's national Iranian Oil Company, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The letter asks for yen payments "for any/all of your forthcoming Iranian crude oil liftings."

The request is for all shipments "effective immediately".

Japan's oil payments to Iran rose 12 per cent last year to 1.24 trillion yen (£5 billion).

The yen dropped against the dollar initially coming down to below 120 from 122.40 but later recovered somewhat on strong consumer confidence data from the US.

Three big oil producing nations - Iran, Venezuela and Russia - have all been moving much of their foreign currency reserves from dollars to euros in recent months.

The latest move can only add to the long-term pressure on the dollar, already hit by worries about the US economy based on the crisis in the sub-prime mortgage market.

It was also under pressure against the euro and sterling as US retail sales for June showed their sharpest drop for two years. This was later countered by consumer sentiment data showing consumers had high confidence in July.

By mid session Wall Street was trading up on its record rise from yesterday with the Dow Jones index up 29 points at 13890.

Against the euro, the dollar was still close to all-time highs this afternoon at $1.378 and against sterling it was $2.033.

Original article posted here.

Bush Co.: Bringing People Together In New Ways

Iranian, Nicaraguan leaders meet, vow to work together

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- Iran's hardline president expanded his courtship of allies in his standoff with Washington on Sunday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged deeper ties with Nicaragua's leftist leader through the opening of new embassies in each other's capitals.

Ahmadinejad was in Managua as part of a whirlwind series of meetings with Latin America's newly inaugurated leftist leaders.

He visited fellow OPEC member Venezuela on Saturday, vowing with President Hugo Chavez to spend billions of dollars financing projects in other countries to combat the global influence of their common enemy, the United States.

Ahmadinejad's tour comes as he faces rising criticism at home for his handling of the international debate over his country's nuclear program and its alleged meddling in Iraq.

Conservatives and reformists alike have blamed his provocative remarks for increasingly isolating Iran, which now faces sanctions for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.

President of a fundamentalist Shiite theocracy deeply hostile to Washington, Ahmadinejad met with Nicaragua's newly inaugurated leftist President Daniel Ortega.

Ortega's first government faced a U.S.-backed guerrilla insurgency during the 1980s.

The leaders announced they would open embassies in each other's capitals, strengthening ties between two countries that have had little interaction yet share long and troubled histories with the U.S.

Their paths crossed in the 1980s during the Iran-Contra affair during which the U.S. secretly sold arms to Iran to free American hostages. The U.S. then used some of the proceeds to back Contra rebels who fought Ortega's first, Soviet-backed government.

"Our two counties have common interests, enemies and goals," Ahmadinejad said. "We may be far apart, but we are close in heart."

Ortega, however, did not match Ahmadinejad's confrontational rhetoric in his remarks Sunday.

The Nicaraguan president instead focused on how Iran and Nicaragua should work to help the developing world.

He spoke of "constructive agreements to combat hunger, unemployment and poverty."

While pledging close ties with Ahmadinejad, Ortega has tried to start his new government on a cordial note with the U.S. government.

His measured remarks also contrasted those of Chavez, who railed against America during Ahmadinejad's visit to Venezuela on Saturday. (Full story)

Later in his visit to Nicaragua, Ahmadinejad toured a poor, trash-strewn neighborhood in Managua, where barefoot children on their parents' shoulders waved flags from Ortega's Sandinista party.

"The imperialists don't like us to help you progress and develop. They don't like us to get rid of poverty and unite people," he said. "Iran, Nicaragua and Venezuela and other revolutionary countries are together and we will resist together."

Ortega and Ahmadinejad are expected to sign a cooperation agreement.

On Monday, the Iranian leader will attend the inauguration of Ecuador's new president, Rafael Correa, and meet with Bolivian President Evo Morales. Both are both outspoken critics of the Bush administration's policies in Latin America.

Venezuela and Iran, both oil-rich nations, had previously announced plans for a joint $2 billion fund to finance investments in their own countries.

But Chavez and Ahmadinejad said Saturday the money would also be used for projects in other countries.

Chavez is a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro whom Washington sees as a destabilizing influence. He has pledged billions of dollars to the region in foreign aid, bond buyouts and preferentially financed oil deals.

Iran, meanwhile, is accused of bankrolling militant groups in the Middle East like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, as well as insurgents in Iraq.

On Saturday, the U.S. military said five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq last week were connected to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard faction that funds and arms insurgents in Iraq.

Ahmadinejad did not respond to those allegations while in Managua.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday denied reports that nuclear activities had stalled at one of its uranium enrichment plants and reiterated it would press ahead with its nuclear program.

The West fears that Iran could be using uranium to make atomic weapons.

Original article posted here.