AMTV News: UN Arms Treaty, China Slowdown, Syrian Show of Force

Topher Morrison

AMTV News

This is AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison.  Today is Monday July 9^th 2012.

Americans Up in Arms Over UN Treaty

Forbes & The New American

Meet the latest bright idea to walk out of New York, the UN’s “Small Arms Treaty.”  Flanked by humanitarian rhetoric this internationalist effort is aimed at one thing, ensure the monopoly of violence stays with the governments of the world – hardly a demographic with a respectable human rights record.

The Obama administration has thrown its full support behind the treaty and therefore to subordinate the Constitution’s 2^nd Amendment guarantee and with it the police powers of the sovereign s tates:  The treaty is said to impose:

-       tougher licensing laws

-       confiscation and destruction of weapons deemed in violation

-       elimination of semi-automatics referred to prejudicially as “assault weapons”

All this backed by the same administration that signed off on the biggest weapons deal in the history of the planet to that bastion of civil rights – Saudi Arabia.  July 27^th is the deadline for the treaty, any surprise it’s right before Congress’ August recess?

Would-be Terrorist Caught at Olympic Park

London Telegraph

For months the chatter about London has been of terror plots.  To be sure, the Olympic grounds will be protected by the largest peacetime security operation ever seen  in Britain.   The heightened attention has nabbed a 24-year-old ex con rumored to have fought with Somali Al Qaeda affiliate al-Shahaab last week ending a flurry of 14 terror-related arrests across Britain – all based purely on suspicion.  In a nation fearing extremists around every corner, even within it own police ranks and boasting a camera on every lamppost expect more arrests as the opening ceremonies approach and due process is eroded.

Syria’s Show of Force

Associated Press

“Naval forces conducted an operational live fire excersise on Saturday.”  Launching missiles from sea and coast, helicopters and missile boats the Syrian government displayed its ability to repel foreign aggression.

Western nations have been beckoned to intervene on behalf of opposition forces who claim over 14,000 deaths since the start of the uprising, but Syria’s powerful network of allegiances stretches from Tehran to Beijing impeding political efforts at subduing Bashar al-Assad’s embattled regime and western efforts to overthrow it.  Foreign intelligence services, however, are supporting a shadowy network of insurgents steadily encroaching on Damascus threatening further escalation of violence as pro-Assad forces scramble to survive.

Chinese Demand Slows, Reflecting Global Trend

Reuters

China's consumer and producer prices eased more than expected in June, inflation data on Monday showed, signaling falling demand for goods from the world's second-biggest economy.  The economy overall is seeing its slowest full year of growth since 2002 – albeit at a 9.2 percent clip.  Falling prices indicate not just declining input prices, but declining demand from foreign customers reflecting a weakening global economy.

Monsanto’s Full Court Press

Activist Post

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) have been linked to infertility, weight gain, organ dysfunction and the desctruction of the environment.  Nearly 20 states are considering “Right to Know” legislation, forcing producers to label food containing GMOs and prohibiting false representation as “natural” or “naturally made” from appearing on such products.   Monsanto and Dow ally StopCostlyFoodLabeling.com launched a campaign claiming malicious costs and warning of a legion of trial lawyers taking advantage of the system.  Both claims are handily debunked, Americans have the right to know what they’re eating.

Catch our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com and PurpleSerf.com part of the AMTV network.

Massive War Games Planned Off Syrian Coast

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Iran, Syria, Russia and China are planning the “biggest-ever wargames in the Middle East,” according to an unconfirmed report on the semi-official Iranian news site Fars News. A Syrian official denied the claims, however, China and Russia have come to the aid of both countries in recent months at the UN Security Council, vetoing military intervention in Syria and expanded sanctions on Iran.

According to the report this new axis, as it were, are preparing 90,000 troops, 400 aircraft and 1,000 tanks for the massive joint maneuvers, which are to take place along the Syrian coast within a month.

It has been recently reported that Russian armament sales will continue unabated to Syria including shipment of refurbished Cold War era attack helicopters.  The shipment has been reported to have turned back off the Scotland coast after losing its insurance due to the controversial nature of its mission, however, its transponder has since been turned off and verification cannot be achieved.  It is possible the armaments are still on their way to Syria.

Russia’s tacit support of the Bashar al Assad regime has the US State Department dismayed, however, in light of covert training, funding and harboring militant opposition elements in Turkey, a NATO member, the western nations are hardly blameless in the intervention.  It has been reported that presumably US, UK, France, Jordan and Turkey have Special Operations Forces in Syria since at least December of 2011 training opposition forces and providing reconnaissance.  Outfinanced and outgunned and fearing another Libyan style multilateral qu d’etat Iranian Quds Force and Russian SOF have also been reported providing similar assistance to the Syrian military.

Russian interests in the region center around the deep sea ports of Tartus and Latakia.  In 2007 Russia endeavored to reestablish a permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean for the first time since the Cold War.  Needless to say the prospect alarmed many in Washington and Tel Aviv.  China has a similar and potentially sticky port access issue in Gwadar, Pakistan in a region where NATO and US forces are waging a full-blown drone war and are covertly, as in Syria, aiding opposition forces.  It has been speculated that this Balochistan region could change Sino-US strategic equations significantly.  An effort in Congress to drive a wedge between the region and the Pakistani government in Islamabad was shelved in February – at least for now.

The Fars News report of war games states that Russian “atomic submarines and warships, aircraft carriers and mine-clearing destroyers as well as Iranian battleships and submarines will also arrive in Syria” and that Egypt has agreed to let 12 Chinese warships cross the Suez Canal for the exercises.  Considering US designs to deny Chinese naval freedom out of Pakistani ports and therefore projection into the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf China has a vested interest in aiding Russia and its claims to access the Mediterranean.

Syria meanwhile faces international pressure, predominantly from the West’s NATO member nations, to end a 15-month crackdown on local rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.  But this is of course more than about “rebels.”  The small wars of the last decade are mere peons on the grand chessboard, however, it looks as though larger pieces are being moved into place.

To understand the containment policy I invite you to read NATO's Ring of Fire: The Western Flank and Russia and its follow up The Eastern Flank, China and the Indian "Linchpin."

You may even wish to delve further into America's Pacific Century: Containing China and indulge in an informative analysis of US hegemonic machinations in a new video from Nile Bowie and Global Research TV.

NATO's Ring of Fire: The Eastern Flank, China and the Indian "Linchpin"

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Chinese President Hu Jintao

China is a poor juggernaut by most standards, albeit with extraordinary bright spots.  China's rise has been steady since the days of Mao Zedong and if you ask around the developed world most will tell you they believe it's the top economic power reflecting a rising public image rather than a reality.  Americans, for instance, know nearly everything is "Made in China," but most could scarcely fathom the immensity of many of its cities.  In 18 years it is predicted that China will have over 221 cities boasting over 1 million residents.

China is no doubt standing tall these days and looking forward to the day when it, by objective standards, reclaims its historical role as the largest economy in the world.  One of the most ancient cultures on Earth, China is ready to take a position of leadership once again and if not globally, at the very least, within the region.

It's "near peer", the United States, currently enjoying the largest and most advanced economy on Earth with commensurate hegemony, is no doubt watching these developments with much caution and anxiety.

This is a layout of just some of the players involved in the Sino-Russian
containment zone NATO and the U.S. are attempting to install.
The real containment sphere, as it were, is 4-dimensional
 incorporating land, sea, air, space, and the internet.

Eastern Flank, South China Sea

China for one understands the U.S.’s “Global Force for Good” – as the Navy’s advertisement heralds - has held dominion over the Pacific since the end of World War II.  The Chinese Navy has also recently recognized the Obama administration’s focus on the Pacific and away from over a decade in the Middle East.

The Taiwan Straight crisis of 1996, during the Clinton administration, provided China with an impetus for investing in “anti-access, area denial” technologies.  China has since been rapidly developing its own indigenous warfare technologies to ebb American hegemony in the area and secure what it believes are traditional Chinese claims on its peripheries believed to be rich in natural resources.

To that effect China has recently tested a wide range of cutting edge armaments.  The most startling development is referred to as the “Carrier Killer” – the DF-21D – designed to arc into the stratosphere and explode onto the deck of a U.S. carrier.  China has also retrofitted and sea trialed a retired Russian aircraft carrier, debuted its first stealth fighter last August and overall has increased its military expenditures substantially.

Since 2002 China’s submarine fleet, according to the Rand Corporation, has increased from eight to 29.  In 2006 these submarines became so quiet that one was able to surface amidst a small fleet of U.S. subs hitherto undetected, causing quite a stir.  In the darkest of suspicions some have speculated whether the missile seen off the coast of Los Angeles in 2010 was an in-your-face example of this deep threat.

It was recently reported China announced how it would go to war against the U.S. fleet should it feel the need to do so.  By firing multiple missiles at the same time, no doubt deploying the Carrier Killer (when it’s ready), China would prevent U.S. aircraft carriers and their fighter jets from being able to penetrate Chinese territory.

In response, the U.S. Navy is developing long-range carrier drones in the hopes of eventually providing a fleet of pilotless bombers.  The U.S. military and NASA in a partial realization of that goal just test flew the Phantom Eye – “a ginormous, hydrogen powered uber-drone” able to stay in the air for 4 days at an altitude of 65,000 feet.  It is not deployable from an aircraft carrier yet, but you get the picture.

Outside of direct U.S. confrontation the South China Sea is seeing an arms race reminiscent of the Cold War.  It is clear China’s ravenous appetite for natural resources is whetting an appetite for military grade technology.  Defense industries’ top arms dealers are hurrying to meat the demand as the nations of Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore among others were all courted recently in at an international arms expo:

Eastern Flank, The South Pacific

In the final analysis of the Eastern flank surrounding China and Russia, it is important to note that as China’s brown water navy evolves into a long range blue water force U.S. “mutual defense” treaties with the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan will overlap.  But the U.S. is no longer the only player in the region, NATO has just gone global and has expanded into the Pacific, signing a partnership deal with New Zealand.

With thousands of U.S. Marines now being stationed in Australia, its Navy looking forward to access at Port Darwin in the north and more Aussie troop commitments Sec. Gen. Rassmussen’s words weigh heavy on the region.  “Australia and New Zealand may be far away geographically, but they are very close to us in terms of values and commitment. Together, we will discuss how we can come even closer together.”  As the Pacific becomes more crowded the opportunity for butting heads grows by leaps and bounds.

The Indian “Linchpin”

Last weekend Tim Roemer, former ambassador to India, opined in the Washington Post about the improving ties with the largest democracy on the planet – India.  However, rather than elucidate his audience on the economic opportunities first he detailed the U.S. tactical relationship just three paragraphs in.

“Security cooperation has never been better.  The United States and India share unprecedented amounts of highly sensitive intelligence and have started a homeland security dialogue; the United States has joined in more combined defense exercises with India than with any other ally.  Defense sales are at record levels.  We also have historic new collaboration on nuclear nonproliferation issues.” (emphasis supplied)

To be sure, this part of the world is swarming with American Special Forces, in fact, they are in five South Asian countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and India.  The Pentagon says it is “working closely” with India’s elite units, preparing them for showdowns with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan based militant group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks with ties to the ubiquitous and ever resilient forever enemy – Al-Qaeda.  As NATO nations withdraw troops Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta welcomes a larger role for India in Afghanistan.

As this article was being finished Leon Panetta literally took the words right off the title and affirmed everything we suspected.  While virtually all available geography available is covered in the Pacific Rim the most populous nation with nearly the largest economy outside China remains at an arm’s distance.  It is Panetta’s goal to change that vowing today to expand defense ties with India in order to safeguard the “crossroads” of the global economy.

“For this relationship to truly provide security for this region and for the world, we will need to deepen our defense and security cooperation. This is why I have come to India,” Mr. Panetta told an audience at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses.  While analysts see India preferring some prudent breathing room Panetta sees that the relationship “can and should become more strategic, more practical, and more collaborative.”

Considering China has claimed, at least for now, its own strategic keystone in the partnership with Pakistan and the deep port of Gwadar India might be a little more receptive to U.S. overtures.  According to Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policu Research in New Delhi:

"China is trying to undercut the U.S.'s numerous interests in Pakistan…Gwadar was the linchpin of [the] 'string of pearls' strategy and the latest news adds to that.  India faces a unique challenge that no other country does.  Its two nuclear armed neighbors are closely aligned and are stepping up joint military programs. India will have to step up its deterrent capabilities."

As we have outlined the first chain islands nearest to China, with few exceptions, are within the U.S. envelope, however, the subcontinent is essential to full containment.  Panetta said the new U.S. strategy sought to ““expand [U.S.] military partnerships and [U.S.] presence in the arc extending from the Western Pacific and East Asia into the Indian Ocean region and South Asia…Defense cooperation with India is a linchpin in this strategy.”

It surely is.  Expect India to be in the news more and more.

NATO Summit in the Rearview: The Big and Expensive Non-Event

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

The NATO summit held in Chicago, Illinois has been hailed as a success by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and President Barack Obama.  But has America’s police state erased its 1968 “police riot” or did administration media shills merely apply white out?

The lack of incidence was a testament to, among many things, the continued abdication by the American left of their traditional anti-war stance, having since 2008, been demonstrably inoculated by the Obama presidency.  Those who did make it to the protest, an estimated 3,000 souls marching last Friday, were reported to be representing over 100 groups of international origin or part of the Occupy movement at large.

The relative peace enjoyed by the City of Chicago during the protests was also likely due to the last minute decision to move the G8 conference to Camp David.  Had the G8 simultaneously occupied Chicago beside its military arm – NATO – the affair may have been more, well – lively.

In order to secure the City of Chicago the summit was declared a “National Special Security Event” by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and according to reports it sure felt special.  Pepe Escobar of Asia Times opined:

"It’s lockdown time – complete with Iraq-style concrete barriers; battalions sporting upgraded riot gear; “extraction teams” to snatch and grab pinpointed protesters in a “low intensity conflict” environment; and an Orwellian guest star, the LRAD (long-range acoustic device) – a sound cannon bound to “ensure a consistent message is delivered to large crowds”, according to the Chicago Police Department."

Not only was there extensive drilling, planning and canvassing prior to the event NATO appropriately established its patented no-fly zone over Chicago lest an Occupy ultra-light plane a la Mad Max or some crazed anarchist decided to drop any airborne presents.

The scene once again reminded the nation that any U.S. city can transform instantly into highly controlled environment where safety is subordinated to any and all other concerns.  As Bernard Harcourt of the London Guardian reports, “The NATO summit will come and go, but Mayor Emanuel has authorized a ‘new normal’ of militarized social control in Chicago.”

Eight-foot tall, anti-scale security fencing went up all over that perimeter and downtown, including Grant Park; and the Chicago police – as well as myriad other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI and the US secret service – were out in force on riot-geared horses, bikes, and patrols – batons at the ready. Philadelphia Police Department is sending over reinforcements to help out; Chicago has also asked for recruits from police departments in Milwaukee and Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC. Meanwhile, F-16 warplanes “screamed through the skies as part of a pre-summit defense exercise” and helicopters hovered incessantly.

Orchestrating the massive symphony of security from an “undisclosed location” were over 40 federal agencies.

On the ground tactics were also utilized, namely herding protestors in order to “tire them out” and utilizing layered maneuvers with bike or foot patrols passively monitoring protests while heavily armored contingents awaited out of sight.

The most startling of all the strategies used to diminish the possibility of making an international scene was classic gumshoe investigative work – no, not really.

Chicago Police didn’t mob down protestors like they did in 1968 they just pre-emptively raided and arrested “selected protesters considered dangerous.”  It later turned out that the “NATO 3” who were officially charged with terrorism were in fact patsies set up once again by informants under the employ of the U.S. Government’s Terror Factory.  The evidence purportedly discovered has since been claimed to have been “planted” by law enforcement.

In the final analysis the NATO summit was a microcosm.  The U.S. government displayed an overwhelming force posture replete with bells and whistles, its respective agencies and the city spent more than was needed, it trumped up terrorism to malign forces it perceived as a threat, the entire affair received little media coverage and an anemic anti-war movement since the rise of Barack Obama failed to attract any meaningful attention.  Don’t they get it?  Nobody finds “eat the rich” or Robin Hood tax programs newsworthy.  It was a non-event just as the state had hopped it would be.

Perhaps the summit was a non-event precisely because it wasn’t important.  Not one person in Chicago and relatively few in the media drew attention to the fact this “international event” was in fact quite parochial.  NATO is a powerful minority in the world.  The grand military alliance, which represents a crumbling western economic bloc, based on the G8, and comprising 28 other countries is being challenged.

Notice that Vladamir Putin, an ostensible member of the G8 didn’t attend Camp David.  Many of the G8 members have in fact been outpaced economically by the BRICS.  China is obviously bigger than everyone save the U.S.  Brazil is bigger than Canada, Italy and the U.K., according to the IMF.  India is larger than Brazil…

Under this lens is it not understandable that creating a missile ring in defense of Europe might be viewed as just another expensive entitlement program as we have discussed before?  Vladamir Putin seems to understand what it’s meant to delineate and where the missiles are pointing - so do the Chinese.  With the rise of new nations and severe debt crisis riddling western democracies the world is in the throws of an obvious re balancing act, what will emerge is unknown, perhaps a tripolar world?

Where and when do Russia and China have their say?
When and where will a tripolar world assert itself?

The global military industrial entitlement complex is merely another type welfare program similar to domestic liabilities crippling Greece and other nations.  The wildly expensive missile defense shield around Europe furthers the analogy of the microcosm mentioned above.  According to Harcourt:

"...this police state serves, in reality, as our new welfare state. The security mania represents our truly unique way of stimulating the economy, of employing piece labor, of creating government jobs and subsidized contracts. Just think of the amount of overtime pay that we are disbursing with all this policing. Instead of investing in schools and education, in job training, or in re-entry programs, this is how we invest in our future. And we never think of it as government welfare because it falls in that sacred space of security…"

SALVATION! The Oboenher Bill Saves Big Government, Again

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Compromise, the predictable spawn of divided government - hailed as progress and a testament to democracy.  The nation has been held hostage by the debt crisis over the past month amidst a barrage of countervailing sound bytes from both sides of the isle and obnoxious CNN digital countdowns to default, and for what?

          We are being led down a seemingly inevitable path, by our leaders, to credit downgrade, irreversible economic malaise, perpetual political tumult and loss of international leadership.  The 2.4 trillion in "cuts" proposed by Washington should return us to 2004 spending levels, albeit in 2021 and if they were real, but they almost immediately could give us the largest debt-limit increase in US history!  How can Washington be serious about tightening its belt when it apparently plans to create a bigger one?    
     

Like shooting BBs at a battleship, "cutting" 2.4 trillion
over a decade wont take down this Leviathan.
Graph made by usgovernmentspending.com

                    The marathon long "cutting" plan will only succeed at mitigating the avalanche of government spending as it remains obvious "cuts" in Washingtonese means reduction in discretionary lower-than-projected spending not real cuts, you know like the ones you and I use planning our daily lives, which bring spending in line with revenue, balance our budget, and allow us to save.  The "cuts" our fearless leaders propose pair down what they hoped to spend in the next 10 years and they praise it!  This is like a welfare recipient pairing down their hope of buying a new Fendi purse and saying it was a relief they made the right decision.

          The federal government has doubled its expenditures over the last decade and now the president and Capitol Hill want us to believe they'll reduce spending to 2004 levels?  They actually want us to believe that they have flipped the political universe on its head and turned the tide of the past decade.  According to Ron Paul (R-Texas) today:

"Why has our budget doubled in 10 years?  This country doesn't have double the population, or double the land area, or double anything that would require the federal government to grow by such an obscene amount.  In Washington terms, a simple freeze in spending would be a much bigger "cut" than any plan being discussed."

          Conservatives decry the compromise over cutting spending on our worldwide police force and not tackling entitlements, while liberals/progressives lament the lost opportunities to saddle the rich with an even higher proportion of tax burden and to incorporate newer environmental regulations.  


          I'll put it this way, growth in government perpetuated by both parties has led us to this atmosphere of hyper-politicization.  When government usurps the lifeblood of a nation in ever-increasing amounts the people have no choice, but to argue over how it is spent.  This is not a fight over a specific program, but a clash of reality and the ideologies that grew government for the last 100 years.  The palatable national stress is the due to our collective cognitive dissonance!  If taxing, rampant spending, printing money out of thin air, and economic oppression continues our republic will fall.  

          Albeit China has decades of economic and democratic growth to undergo before it can claim real international leadership it will nonetheless overtake the Unites States in GDP around 2015.  The effect it will have on our politics, the radicalization of both parties, cannot be understated.  The far right will attempt to posture and cajole the American public into thinking we are in a new Cold War and the far left’s argument will in some sick way be vindicated, that in fact large government can bread success and growth.  Both as history has shown will exacerbate our insecurity of being second place.




...notice how I didn't mention anything about what to cut?  Just cut, cap and balance like Americans and people all over the world do everyday. 

Goodbye NASA, Hello Space Age! To Infinity and Beyond!

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com


Warp speed to lunar mining, moon bases, heavenly hotels, missions to Mars, leisure, adventure and exploration!

Image Credit: Small Art Works 

The National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) has a very special place in the hearts of many Americans, but its time has ended.  Granted, the end of the space shuttle program is by no means the end of NASA itself, like all government agencies it will find a way to persist regardless of deep budget cuts.  From Apollo 11 to the disasters of Challenger and Columbia NASA has had its ups and downs as will the future of private space exploration, however, unlike under NASA the burden of finance, risk and reward will no longer rest so heavily on the shoulders of the American taxpayer.


NASA by any argument enjoyed its fiscal zenith in 1965 (4.4% of federal budget) during the Space Race between the US and the former Soviet Union.  Amidst the Cold War the two superpowers were in a literal boat race for years until Neil Armstrong in the summer of 1969 set foot on the moon famously proclaiming the feat as: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  NASA at this time was useful above all for one reason, its ability to demonstrate American political, economic, technological, and ideological superiority.


After the stellar success of Apollo 11 and the corresponding prestige it bestowed on America, NASA was relegated to the very unsexy task of hauling space antennas and assembling the constellation of satellites necessary to power our modern economy.  Recently, instead of an elite cadre of space exploring super scientists NASA has been used as a political football as much as ever and has been referred to as a "$18.9 billion self-esteem program" for its awkward foray into scientific ambassadorship rather than serious space travel.  


It has taken decades for the NASA model and the legion of scientists and private contractors it supports to come to grips with the inevitable walk into obsolescense.  NASA may maintain its mission statement to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research", but these are responsibilities which have traditionally found more fruition in the private sector.


While there are compelling arguments to keep NASA as the tip of the spear a la Christopher Columbus who "discovered" the new world for Europe on Queen Isabella's dime, others point to the example set by British and Dutch joint-stock companies of the early 17th century which succeeded in actual colonization and famously advancing commercial interests.  These early models of the modern corporation upon hearing of potential riches in the New World garnered the support of many private citizens through the selling of stock on the promise of potentially large dividends versus merely relying on the fickle largesse of kings and queens.


Today many companies are stepping up to the plate in hopes of providing private persons with the same opportunities provided by the Virginia and Plymouth Companies of the early colonial period.  Albeit, nobody is seriously considering colonizing the moon any time soon some may in the near future find themselves on our first satellite longer than the 21 hours and 31 minutes of Apollo 11.  From $200k low earth orbit adventures envisioned by Virgin Galactic and SpaceShipOne to celestial semi trucks designed by Orbital Sciences Corp. and SpaceX to service the International Space Station (ISS) near space is already if not well on its way to being domesticated.

Image Credit: Reported by Gizmodo.com in '08

There are companies entirely self funded by the fortunes of internet moguls to titans of hospitality as in the case of Bigelow Aerospace of North Las Vegas, Nevada.  Already tasting the success of currently orbiting modules and industry accolades this 1998 stellar startup aims to develop space habitats as well as the vehicles necessary to transport their crews and residents.  For a surprising list of private space companies just look here and see what marvels they are coming up with.


Low Earth orbit is just the beginning!  While there may be some who cover this uncertain period as the abdication of US hegemony in space or that the US will be consigned to heavenly hitchhiking relying on the Russians and Chinese I would submit we are embarking on an unbridled adventure.  For those alarmists out there still beating the benighted drum of "peak oil" and "renewable fuels" look no further than our own solar system laden with hydrocrabons and other sources of abundant fuel.

Image Credit: Richard Kurbis and National Space Society

Take the moon for example, lunar strip mining may not be the stuff of science fiction much longer.  The isotope Helium-3 is an amazing substance able to aid in nuclear fusion which cleanly releases vast amounts of energy.  Helium-3 is not only abundant in the atmosphere of Jupiter, but there is purportedly millions if not hundreds of millions of tons lying on the surface of the moon and companies like Shackelton Energy Co., a subsidiary of Stone Aerospace aims at raising billions of dollars in order to extract and deliver this precious possibility to Earth.  Other fuels such as plutonium-238 while rare on earth are also abundant on the moon and will be able to power everything from space stations to lunar rovers.


According to Jill Stuart, fellow in global politics of the London School of Economics' Department of Government, since 'the international community sort of insists that [space travel] be tied to a state', and given the fact that 'governments control most access to space through their ownership of most launch pads' the US government will continue to be able to assert a measurable authority over its citizens' access to space.  NASA therefore will no doubt be here for posterity, but it will most likely transform into something a kin to the FAA of space, a bureaucracy that will manage, certify, and license America's appetite for the cosmos.


Regardless, let the real Space Race begin!

PAKISTAN UNDER ATTACK, CHINA COULD STEP IN

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com
5/22/11

"Militants" have just attacked a Pakistani naval air base in what the military and government call a "terrorist attack."  PNS Mehran is in the middle of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and financial capital.  Apparently a group of 10 launched a surprise attack from 3 sides of the base with "small bombs" and "sophisticated weapons" successfully destroying a PC-3 maritime long range patrol craft recently delivered by the US government and killing two members of the Pakistani military.  


Story developing...


Pakistan has suffered 4,350 deaths over the past four years ostensibly due to Taliban attacks, however, threats have increased substantially since Operation Neptune's Spear (code name for the Osama Bin Laden raid) allegedly claimed the life of the Trillion Dollar Man, Osama Bin Laden.


Neptune's Spear has come under intense criticism on multiple fronts including the days of contradictory information following the raid, the violation of Pakistani sovereignty, the summary execution of the most important intelligence asset in the War on Terror, the quick disposal of OBL's body, the convenient treasure trove of incriminating and embarrassing information, but most importantly the timing and nature of the raid itself has raised questions of the US' real intentions. 


Today's attack would be of relatively little import given the history of attacks on Pakistan's government and military had the Sunday Express not reported Obama's defensive/antagonistic posture on May 15th:

“US troops will be deployed in Pakistan if the nation’s nuclear installations come under threat from terrorists out to avenge the killing of Osama Bin Laden… The plan, which would be activated without President Zardari’s consent, provoked an angry reaction from Pakistan officials… Barack Obama would order troops to parachute in to protect key nuclear missile sites. These include the air force’s central Sargodha HQ, home base for nuclear-capable F-16 combat aircraft and at least 80 ballistic missiles.”


While thousands of Pakistanis have protested the US-Pakistan War on Terror the US nonetheless maintains its "right" to defend itself against potential aggressors.  More specifically the protests emphasize the scores of attacks from unmanned drone aircraft and fluctuating support from the Pakistani military resulting in countless civilian deaths and exacerbation of the atrocious failed/police state that is Pakistan.  


Under what circumstances Obama is willing to deploy troops in order secure Pakistan's weapons of mass destruction remains to be seen, however, what we do know has been revealed in the recent Neptune's Spear operation.  The means is there, the will has been articulated, all that is left is the right opportunity - contrived or otherwise.


The stealth helicopter "ditched" in Abottobad during the raid has been vetted by expert aviation blogs all over the internet and its technologies have been corroborated to be at least more than possible given evidence from around the world.  The US has the now proven its stealthy ability to pierce far into Pakistani territory and execute major operations.  This operation outside of its official objective of killing OBL has effectively embarrassed the intelligence services of Pakistan as either complicit or negligent in allowing OBL to live right under their military's nose.  The mission resulted in top level resignations and if what I describe next is true Operation Neptune's Spear was alternatively about sending a signal to Pakistan that it was still under US supervision.  


The alternative narrative to what has been proffered by the Obama administration and the mainstream media begins with Prince Bandar's (remember "Bandar Bush") visit to Pakistan in March.  According to geopolitical experts and The Envoy the Saudi national security chief visited Pakistan in a possible effort to establish new alternative security arrangements given the lack of support the US offered Egypt in the ousting of Mubarak, in other words, bring Saudi Arabia under the Pakistani nuclear umbrella or acquire the nukes which the Saudi regime essentially underwrote.  This is very different than what was publicly speculated; that Saudi Arabia wanted Pakistani military support not only for Riyadh, but for other Sunni Gulf allies such as Bahrain.  


While both could be true the former is of prime interest here especially given the recent warnings by China 3 days ago that "warned in unequivocal terms that any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China." 


Will the Obama administration or NATO for that matter continue their bellicosity in the face of Chinese intervention?  This recent attack is exactly what the Obama administration purports to fear - militants successfully commandeering a Pakistani military establishment and either launching or stealing nuclear material.  Will Obama test China's new emboldened position?  Does the support of China now flow through to Saudi Arabia via Pakistan?  What does this mean geopolitically?  


More of the same - global realignment.


UPDATE: 5/26/11


China asked to build naval base at Gwadar, Pakistan thereby extending the "String of Pearls."

From the Alex Jones show 5/24/11 with Dr. Webster Griffen Tarpley.