Tuesday, August 24, 2010
North Korea Massing Troops and Arms Near Capital
South Korean defense officials say North Korea is deploying massive numbers of troops and arms near the capital of Pyongyang.
South Korea's defense ministry said in a report to Parliament Tuesday that the large numbers of soldiers, armored vehicles and artillery have been stationed near the Stalinist state's capital since mid-July.
The report said the deployment appears to be related to a meeting of key communist party delegates next month and the party's 65th anniversary on October 10.
North Korea-watchers say the massing of military assets could be for a parade or to provide security for the events.
Some analysts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will probably designate his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his successor at the September meeting, only the third such gathering since the communist state was founded in 1948.
-VOAChina's Coal Trucks Cause 9-Day Traffic Jam
Only in China: thousands of trucks carrying coal to produce electricity for the world's fastest-growing major economy cause a nine-day traffic jam. Read the report here.
Notice the importance of coal. Ordinary Americans overly influenced (indoctrinated) by mainstream media have no idea how electricity is actually produced. They don't understand the severe limitations of wind and solar alternatives, the simple fact that coal and nuclear power are presently the only ways to produce the staggering amounts of electricity that a modern civilization demands (and that there are no viable substitutes for oil and gas for motor transport fuel and heat--with the exception of some buildings in the northern climes that burn wood during the winter months). Electric cars? The so-called cleaner vehicles should really be called coal cars.
Click here to read about Sasol's coal-to-liquid fuel project in China, which has reportedly reached an "advanced" stage. The South African company, which is the world leader in coal liquefaction, wants to build such a plant in the United States. But environmental extremists and anti-coal groups are likely to kill the enterprise, even though the U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal. The anti-growth fanatics prefer that Americans continue to rely on imported oil and inefficient and non-existent green energy solutions.Why China Will Surpass US in Total GDP
Monday, August 23, 2010
Intrepid Blogger Uncovers Shocking Anti-American Statements by US-Sponsored Ground Zero Imam
Is the Ground Zero Imam another Reverend Wright?
Click here for the story--a solid exclusive. Be sure to scroll down and to read carefully. The anti-American rhetoric is incredible. Read the New York Post piece here.
Moreover, the supposedly moderate Imam, who is on a U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of the Middle East, reportedly aimed at promoting "Americanized Islam," favors the elimination of Israel--a "one-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict that would by definition mean the end of the Jewish State. In other words ... practically speaking ... given Israel's determination to survive as the independent homeland of the Jewish people ... another Holocaust. At the very least, the Imam sides with those who seek to demonize, delegitimize, and isolate Israel in order to pave the way for its physical destruction--actual annihilation--or piece-by-piece (in the name of peace) dismantlement and dissolution.
Curious question: Is there an American imam who wears a suit and tie? Seriously. Most members of the Protestant and Jewish clergy wear conventional attire, including, when appropriate, jackets and ties. But the Muslim clerics ... including, even, the supposed moderates ... seem to agree with Iran's mad mullahs on matters of style. They see a conventional shirt with a collar and a tie as Western (Christian and Jewish) symbols--to be despised and rejected. The notion that these radical Muslims ... followers of right-wing political Islam and fascistic fundamentalism ... can somehow be assimilated and integrated into the fabric of American society is worse than idiotic. It is downright dangerous--a prescription for national suicide.
Islam is incompatible with America's religious freedoms - VIEWPOINT - The News HeraldIran Almost a 'Virtual Nuclear Weapons State'
Countdown to conflict ... because "Iran's nuclear clock is not slowing" ... as reported here.
Not only has appeasement of Iran failed to preserve the peace; appeasement has made war with Iran inevitable--on Iran's terms.
Welcome back (to the future?) to 1939....China's Territorial Disputes Examined
China’s use of force in territorial disputes has varied widely throughout history. Some disputes led to war, such as China’s border conflicts with India in 1962 and Vietnam in 1979. A contested border with the former Soviet Union during the 1960s raised the possibility of nuclear war. In more recent cases, China has been willing to compromise with and even offer concessions to its neighbors. Since 1998, China has settled eleven land territorial disputes with six of its neighbors. Several disputes continue over EEZs and ownership of potentially rich, off-shore oil and gas deposits.
The East China Sea contains approximately 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and up to 100 billion barrels of oil. Japan maintains that an equidistant line from each country involved should separate the EEZs, while China claims an Extended Continental Shelf beyond the equidistant line to the Okinawa Trench (which almost reaches Japan’s shore). In early 2009, Japan accused China of violating a June 2008 agreement providing for joint exploration of oil and natural gas fields, and claimed that China unilaterally drilled beneath the demarcation line and extracted reserves from the Japanese side. China and Japan continue to dispute possession of the nearby Senkaku Islands. However, both sides have said that this dispute should not undermine their overall relationship.
The South China Sea
The South China Sea plays an important role in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia security considerations. Northeast Asia relies heavily on the flow of oil and commerce through South China Sea shipping lanes, including 80 percent of the crude oil to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. China claims sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel island groups—claims disputed in whole or part by Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Taiwan, which occupies Itu Aba in the Spratly Islands, also claims all four island groups in the South China Sea. In 2009, China protested claims made by Malaysia and Vietnam and reiterated it has “indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters and enjoys sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters as well as the seabed and subsoil thereof.”
Tensions with India
Despite increased political and economic relations over the years between China and India, tensions remain along their shared 4,057 km border, most notably over Arunachal Pradesh, which China asserts is part of Tibet and therefore of China, and over the Askai Chin region at the western end of the Tibetan Plateau. Both countries in 2009 stepped up efforts to assert their claims. China tried to block a $2.9 billion loan to India from the Asian Development Bank, claiming part of the loan would have been used for water projects in Arunachal Pradesh. This represented the first time China sought to influence this dispute through a multilateral institution. The then governor of Arunachal Pradesh announced that India would deploy more troops and fighter jets to the area. An Indian academic also noted that in 2008, the Indian military had recorded 270 border violations and nearly 2,300 cases of “aggressive border patrolling” by Chinese soldiers.
Source: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2010Required Reading: US Defense Department's Unclassified Report on Iran's Military Power
China May End Death Penalty for Economic Crimes
Spotlight on Iran's Salafi Sleeper Cells
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid
News reports about Iranian plots to target the Arab Gulf States through local Shiite cells, which have been planted and programmed to carry out terrorist activities and create chaos, in the event of an attack on Iran, may not be far from the truth. However, it is incorrect to suggest that the Shiites alone would be Iran’s agents in a time of crisis. This belief is completely naïve, for Iran today is the largest employer of Sunni movements, specifically the Salafist groups, who are considered the most radical Sunni group, and certainly different from the Shiites. The attack which struck the Japanese oil tanker near the Straits of Hormuz a month ago was not a Shiite operation, but that of a Sunni-Salafi Saudi national based in Iran! There are hundreds more like him, of Arab nationality, hiding and being trained inside Iran. There are also hundreds of others receiving support from Iran for their activities in other areas such as Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon, Gaza and so on....
Continue here.Another Look at Iran's 'Ambassador of Death'
As previously reported, the drone has a range of about 600 miles--too short to reach Israel from Iran. But the drone could attack targets across Israel from Lebanon. China Confidential analysts believe Iran intends to smuggle the drones into Lebanon for deployment there by Iran's Islamist proxy, Hezbollah, under the command of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Readers should recall that Hezbollah (under IRGC supervision) successfully attacked an Israeli ship with a drone more than four years ago, on July 14, 2006, during the last Lebanese war. Read the archived news report here.Analysis: China's Public Housing Stimulus
Tuesday 24 August 2010
The people are poor but the country is rich; nevertheless, China will soon surpass the United States in total GDP (as opposed to per capita GDP) and achieve superpower status. Click here for the analysis.
DoD - Unclassified Report on Military Power of IranDoD - Unclassified Report on Military Power of Iran
China, the world leader in executions, is apparently moving to end or, at least, to seriously reduce capital punishment for economic and other non-violent crimes. Click here for the story.
A tricky, high-stakes balancing act, analyzed here.
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