You can't make this stuff up. Just when you were thinking that, at least for a while, maybe we've avoided a hot war with Iran, the lunatics in charge turn up the heat on the Korean peninsula. It seems that someone, somewhere is dead-set on breaking the final straw on the camel's back that is our fragile world economy.
Go ahead and try it, big guy!
It seems that Kim Jong Il's son, Kim Jong Un, might be just as crazy as his old man... Or, we've just decided to goad and push him as much as we did with did with his father at this time for some strange reason...
ABC News (Australia) reports a bunch of bad news in S. Korea Hunts for North's Missing Subs that sounds like a script for a bad war flick where one stupid move by someone could spark an all-out war in Asia... A war over what exactly is kind of hard to figure out wince no one could possibly benefit from a war, excepting, of course, the Military-Industrial Complex of the United States. The report reads:
South Korea is reportedly searching for four North Korean submarines that disappeared after leaving their bases on the tense peninsula.
A military source quoted in a South Korean newspaper says up to four North Korean submarines slipped out of port in recent days and have so far avoided detection.
The source was also quoted as saying that Pyongyang has stepped up submarine infiltration drills as the weather has warmed.
Seoul is now on alert for a possible strike against a South Korean naval ship.
The South accuses the North of using a midget submarine to sink the corvette the Cheonan two years ago, which left 46 South Korean sailors dead.
But there's more bad news! North Korea has said it will test launch a missile sometime next week to which Japan has said its response will be "nothing unusual" but will shoot the missile down! The North Koreans have said that will be an act of war. TheWall Street Journal reports in Japan Readies Response to Pyongyang's Launch:
On Friday, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka told reporters that nothing unusual should be read into the southern deployment. "It's not related to a strengthening of our defense structure," he said. "It's just in case."
Late last month he ordered troops to destroy the rocket if it threatens to hit Japanese territory, although this is considered highly unlikely unless it goes off course.
Japan is preparing for any eventuality with the planned launch, with missiles situated on ships and on islands. It is mobilizing three Aegis-equipped ships, which carry SM-3 missiles, and is deploying eight land-based Patriot missile batteries: four on Okinawan islands, and four in Tokyo and surrounding areas.
Well, this doesn't sound good! But wait! There's more! The USA (always sticking its nose in everyone's business) says that if North Korea launches the missile, it will cancel food aid to which North Korea says that if that happens, they will resume nuclear weapons testing... So what does the USA do? They cut off food aid before the missile launch! How does North Korea react? They become more obstinate so they are forced to go ahead with the missile launch!
The State Department spokeswoman says in typical Orwellian fashion, "We don't link news with the nuclear issue! But we do have to have confidence in the commitments that the government is making to us with regards to the monitoring situation before one can go forward!" Wait a minute! Is she speaking for North Korea or the USA? Or is that interchangeable?
To see how well USA foreign policy fits with double-talk and incredible hypocrisy, watch this short video:
Great news. Just great. Thank you USA...
I winder when, oh when, South Korea and japan can get the US troops off their shores so that we can sit down and talk with our neighbors as equals rather than having the 900-lb gorilla in the room always sticking his grubby paws into everything?
If the start of spring and the blossoming of the cherry blossoms wasn't enough to give you an excuse to drink, then this news certainly is enough of an excuse for any man to raise a glass.... Cheers!
In an article yesterday, I pointed out that the exemption from the trade embargo with Iran that included Japan and ten European countries (and power house Germany) is just another sign of the collapse of the US dollar and with it, US hegemony - in spite of how the US government spins it. Please refer to: US Oil Embargo on Iran Collapses - Japan and Ten Other Countries Given Exemptions:
How is it possible that the #3 economy in the world (Japan) and the #2 economy in the world (China) not being following rank and file with US imperialist policies could be deemed, "success"? The other countries that are exempted are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Britain.
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The US oil embargo against Iran failing is just another piece of evidence of the collapse of the US economy and the US dollar.
Don't forget to throw South Korea into the mix. Even though they are not mentioned, you know that there is no way the South Korean government will sit idly by and be penalized when Japan gets a pass. There's no reason, now, why they should be excluded either!
Sick US Dollar equals end to US hegemony
A regular reader has now written and asked how is it that this news is proof of a dollar collapse (and with it further evidence of a loss of US power)? Well, instead of me explaining it to you. let go to the expert, Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge... (Uh, Tyler is just about always right! It's uncanny!)
Two weeks ago we wrote a post that should have made it all too clear that while the US and Europe continue to pretend that all is well, and they are, somehow, solvent, Asia has been smelling the coffee. To wit: "For anyone wondering how the abandonment of the dollar reserve status would look like we have a Hollow Men reference: not with a bang, but a whimper... Or in this case a whole series of bilateral agreements that quietly seeks to remove the US currency as an intermediate. Such as these: "World's Second (China) And Third Largest (Japan) Economies To Bypass Dollar, Engage In Direct Currency Trade", "China, Russia Drop Dollar In Bilateral Trade", "China And Iran To Bypass Dollar, Plan Oil Barter System", "India and Japan sign new $15bn currency swap agreement", and now this: "Iran, Russia Replace Dollar With Rial, Ruble in Trade, Fars Says."" Today we add the latest country to join the Asian dollar exclusion zone: "India and Iran have agreed to settle some of their $12 billion annual oil trade in rupees, a government source said on Friday, resorting to the restricted currency after more than a year of payment problems in the face of fresh, tougher U.S. sanctions." To summarize: Japan, China, Russia, India and Iran: the countries which together account for the bulk of the world's productivity and combined are among the biggest explorers and producers of energy. And now they all have partial bilateral arrangements, and all of which will very likely expand their bilateral arrangements to multilateral, courtesy of Obama's foreign relations stance which by pushing the countries into a corner has forced them to find alternative, USD-exclusive, arrangements. But yes, aside from all of the above, the dollar still is the reserve currency... if only in which to make calculations of how many imaginary money one pays in exchange for imaginary 'developed world' collateral.
....
Who's this India country anyway?
India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, relies on Iran for about 12 percent of its imports or 350,000-400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is Tehran's second-biggest oil client after China. But Washington has snapped tighter financial sanctions on Iran and wants Asia, Tehran's biggest oil market, to cut imports in a bid to pressure the Islamic nation to rein in its nuclear ambitions, which it suspects are aimed at making weapons.
The dollar is collapsing and with it, more than a century and a half of US dominance, imperialism and hegemony is coming to an end... Proof that so many countries can snub the US with this current embargo and get away with it shows that everyone smells the coffee too in spite of US government posturing.
All along the way, though, the US government (and Europe) does everything it can to shoot itself in the foot.
Great news! As I wrote in a post on Jan. 10 of this year, Japan is out of the oil embargo against Iran. In spite of US government bluster and threats, this news has just been confirmed... Signed, sealed and delivered.
Japan pledges to buy "less" oil from Iran... Please define what "less" means?
The Obama administration on Tuesday exempted Japan and 10 European nations from the prospect of biting sanctions intended to punish countries that continue to buy oil from Iran, but it left open the fate of other major importers, including China, India and South Korea. The sanctions, ordered by Congress late last year to intensify diplomatic and economic pressure over Iran's nuclear activities, have put the administration in the difficult position of threatening to punish some of the United States' closest allies while it seeks to squeeze Iran's main source of hard currency.
The part where it states, "...but it left open the fate of other major importers, including China, India and South Korea" is complete nonsense. The last country that can afford a trade war with China is the United States.
The article continues with the often used Orwellian spin by the US government over the failure of US policy in the next paragraph:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who announced the exemptions in a statement, cast them as evidence of the success of the new sanctions because the countries had cut imports. The United States, she said, was making progress in “shrinking Iran’s oil export markets and isolating its Central Bank from the world financial system.”
How is it possible that the #3 economy in the world (Japan) and the #2 economy in the world (China) not being following rank and file with US imperialist policies could be deemed, "success"? The other countries that are exempted are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Britain.
Yeah. That's a really successful policy by the US government when the biggest economies of the world don't participate. Who is Hillary Clinton kidding?
Good News! Centuries of American hegemony and imperialism have just been given a black eye. Japan, following China's and South Korea's announcement, has stated that it will not abide by an oil embargo against Iran. It is the right choice.
I think that Japan would know a thing or two about how oil embargoes lead to war. The USA under Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted an oil embargo against Japan that lead to the moderate Japanese government of the time being ousted for a more hard line militarist government that soon lead Japan into total war.
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Think about it. Of course Japan has to say "No!" Not only do embargoes start wars, Japan just suffered through the nightmare of March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami and then Fukushima nuclear disasters leading to half of all of Japan's electrical needs being stopped due to nuclear power plant's termination of service. Throw on top of that reconstruction costs and you have a Japan that cannot afford to pay higher bills for oil!
The US oil embargo against Iran failing is just another piece of evidence of the collapse of the US economy and the US dollar.
Hopefully, cool heads will prevail and we can start having peace break out and, instead of threats and bluster, sitting at tables and talking in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
Good News! Centuries of American hegemony and imperialism have just been given a black eye. Japan, following China's and South Korea's announcement, has stated that it will not abide by an oil embargo against Iran. It is the right choice.
I think that Japan would know a thing or two about how oil embargoes lead to war. The USA under Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted an oil embargo against Japan that lead to the moderate Japanese government of the time being ousted for a more hard line militarist government that soon lead Japan into total war.
We have US presidential candidate Ron Paul repeatedly stating that embargoes lead to war and we have history as proof that embargoes lead to war too. Japan was the victim of a US led embargo in July 1941 which lead to the ouster of the then moderate Japanese government of Fumimaro Konoe to the hard core right wing nationalist government of Hideki Tojo that lead Japan to war with the United States and England. The militarists insisted, with good evidence, that the Americans were unreasonable and impossible to be dealt with. They came to power and the rest is, as they say, history.
Here is what Ron Paul says about embargoes:
Embargoes and blockades are acts of war under international law. Americans should know this. That's why, in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy did not call the blockade of Cuba a "blockade" but called it a "Quarantine."
Considering embargoes, the following information came out at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials - the defense of Japan by court appointed US lawyers - and meetings with lawyers in Washington. These transcripts and points were covered up by subsequent US governments for decades.
On December 7, 1928, a group of distinguished Senators gathered in the Capital Building at Washington D.C. to discuss ratification of the Briand-Kellogg Peace Pact, an instrument whose purpose was to “abolish aggressive war”.
Among those present was the author of the Pact, Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg.
During the course of the recorded discussions, the following exchange took place:
“Q: Suppose a country is not attacked - suppose there is an economic blockade...?
A: There is no such thing as a blockade [unless] you are in war.
Q: It is an act of war?
A: An act of war absolutely... as I have stated before, nobody on earth, probably, could writean article defining 'self defense' or 'aggressor' that some country could not get around; and I made up my mind that the only safe thing for any country to do was to judge for itself within its sovereign rights whether it was unjustly attacked and had a right to defend itself and it must answer to the opinion of the world.”
The above was quoted during the Tokyo Trial by American defense council to show that Japan's War of the Pacific, according to the very terms of the Brian-Kellogg Pact itself, did not and could not constitute "aggression".
Like I mentioned Japan has seen with her own eyes (China and Korea too) what happens when a nation is backed into a corner with an embargo. That's probably the biggest reason they want no part of it.
Japan’s War of the Pacific was a war of self-defense for the following reasons:
- blockade is an act of war (p. 43,051);
- every nation is the judge of what constitutes self-defense (ibid);
- self-defense is not limited to defense of the national territory (p. 42,239);
- Japan was provoked into a war of self-defense (pp. 43,050-175);
The Americans froze Japanese assets (in violation of a treaty) and began to embargo oil. It was demanded, as a condition to restoring normal relations, that Japan sign an agreement with various other nations who had never before been party to the negotiations, including Thailand and Soviet Russia (pp. 43,678-98).
To obtain agreement with the other nations in accordance with this demand could have taken months or years; and might never have been possible. Japan had enough oil for a few months only. A conference was held at which it was decided that if there was to be war, it must come now; by spring Japan would be too weak to fight. In any case, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an act of utter desperation. The oil embargo meant the destruction of Japan’s independence and perhaps survival as a nation.(emphasis mine)
(Through an oil embargo) Japan faced immediate military defeat in China; total industrial collapse at home; and destruction through coastal shelling of all the major cities by any one of five traditional enemies (America, Britain, China, the Netherlands, and particularly the Soviets).
Oil had been supplied to Japan for two years in the teeth of hostile public opinion. It was believed essential to keep war out of the Far East;
When this did not work, Japan was forced into war, crushed with atomic bombs, and her leaders hanged for “aggression”. (Read more here).
Could anyone in the world be so naive to think that the USA isn't just itching for a war with Iran and is hoping that, with sanctions and illegal embargoes, that they can trick Iran into firing the first shot - like the USA did to Japan - even if it would be legally justified as "self-defense" under international law? Law or no law, you know the USA (a government who has ignored international law for years) would try to claim the moral high ground by saying, "But they fired first!"
One guess which is the US navy? How dare the Iranians
threaten us with their mighty dreadnoughts off the shores of their own country?
This information needs to become common knowledge for people, especially Americans (who will never be taught the truth in school or on American mass media), to realize that these sorts of actions, namely economic war in the form of things like oil embargoes, by the US government are acts of war and we the people must rise up and stop this madness. It seems that the USA is just waiting for an excuse to turn Tehran into a gravel parking lot. This must be stopped.
That China, Japan and Korea have put their collective foot down and said, "No!" is a great sign that the US empire is finally deflating; especially when you realize that, since 1945, Japan and South Korea have been the staunchest of American allies. This rejection of US will is a total embarrassment for the US government.
It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of folks.
Japan's foreign minister said Monday that his country would not stop imports of Iranian oil, striking a rare note of divergence with the United States during a visit to Washington.
After talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (war-mongerer) that focused mostly on North Korea, Japan's Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba highlighted Japan's sanctions imposed on Iranian institutions due to concerns over its nuclear program.
But Gemba said: "I conveyed my view that there is a danger of causing damage to the entire global economy if the imports of Iranian crude oil stop."
Think about it. Of course Japan has to say "No!" Not only do embargoes start wars, Japan just suffered through the nightmare of March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami and then Fukushima nuclear disasters leading to half of all of Japan's electrical needs being stopped due to nuclear power plant's termination of service. Throw on top of that reconstruction costs and you have a Japan that cannot afford to pay higher bills for oil!
Oil is already over $102 dollars a barrel today! What will happen to Japan's economy if oil hits $250 a barrel as some analysts have predicted?
This is the kind of propaganda Americans are fed. What? How dare the Iranians taunt US warships off the coast of Iran! I wonder how Americans would feel if Chinese warships were buzzing the coastline of California?
Thank god that, like I said, Japan finally has the guts to stand up the the USA. Or, as Americans would say, finally Japan has, "Grown some balls!" I wonder if Obama will make ridiculous statements like Bush did with his "Coalition of the Willing" that included about 8 minor countries that were paid off to support the invasion of Iraq?
UPDATE: What timing! Zerohedge confirms my thesis on the USA pushing Iran towards war with this report on Iran this morning in Hyperinflation Comes to Iran:
Hyperinflation has struck again, this time at ground zero of the most sensitive geopolitical conflict in ages: Iran. EA WorldView reports:
An EA source reports that a relative in Tehran ordered a washing machine for 400,000 Toman (about $240) this week. When he went to the shop the next day, he was told that --- amidst the currency crisis and rising import costs --- the price was now 800,000 Toman (about $480). Another EA source says that the price of an item of software for a laptop computer has tripled from 50,000 Toman to 150,000 Toman within days.
, and gave America the green light to enter the war.
And so the opportunity cost for the Ahmedinejad regime to preserve its status quo gradually grinds to zero, as the entire economy implodes (courtesy of a few strategic financially isolating decisions) making further escalation virtually inevitable, in a 100% replica of the US-planned Japanese escalation that led to the Pearl Harbor attack.
...Need I say more? The military industrial complex (and criminal government) of the United States must be stopped from constantly destabilizing regions and causing wars. The true terrorists of our times are easy to identify... And they don't live in caves in Afghanistan... Washington D.C. is their mailing address.
