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The Saudi Paradox
Mohamad Bazzi, The Nation
It’s the last day of the Arab League summit, March 29, and at the New Man barbershop, Ali Trabulsi is keeping one eye on his scissors and the other on a wall-mounted TV tuned to live coverage of the Arab leaders assembled in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
“The Saudis are really challenging the Americans, aren’t they?” Trabulsi says gleefully, shearing the beard from a customer’s face. “They don’t want to listen to Bush anymore. They know that he’s weak and that his people are turning against him.” When one of his assistants turns on a blow-drier, Trabulsi makes him turn it off so he can hear Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal boasting how Arab leaders refused to change any part of their peace offer to Israel.
But what really excited Trabulsi was a speech at the summit’s opening a day earlier by Saudi King Abdullah, in which he denounced, for the first time, the US occupation of Iraq as “illegitimate.” “In beloved Iraq, blood is flowing among brothers, in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and abhorrent sectarianism threatens a civil war,” Abdullah said. Trabulsi normally turns the TV in his shop to soap operas or music videos, but he tuned in to the summit around the clock–even if some customers complained about being bored by the rhetoric. ..
(10 Apr 2007)
Russian trans-Balkan pipeline to skirt Turkey
Staff, Journal of Turkish Weekly
On March 15 in Athens, the heads of state of Russia, Greece and Bulgaria signed an agreement of cooperation in the construction and exploitation of an oil pipeline from Burgas, Bulgaria to Alexandroupolis in Greece. Connecting the Bulgarian port on the Black Sea with the Greek port on the Aegean, it will provide for a transport route for Russian oil to the Mediterranean that would bypass Turkey and the Bosporus Straits, which Turkey controls.
Russia had suggested this plan back in 1994, but it became the signature project of President Vladimir Putin as soon as he assumed power.
What had stalled construction up until now was a disagreement among the three sides as to their respective shares. Russia had been insisting on holding a controlling share, while Greece and Bulgaria were holding out for equal shares for all three sides.
Since last autumn Russia had redoubled its efforts. Putin visited Athens in September of 2006. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov also visited there. As a result, Bulgaria and Greece agreed to Russian conditions, and 51 percent of the capital of the operating company TransBalkan Pipeline will belong to Moscow, which will be represented by Gazprom, Rosneft and Transneft. Athens and Sofia will own 24.5 percent each.
Russians will also control the project’s infrastructure: the pumping stations, warehouses, loading platforms and docks.
(2 Apr 2007)
Journal of Turkish Weekly is published by the Turkish nationalist International Strategic Research Organization.
Russian general says U.S. continues preparations for military action against Iran
Interfax-AVN
The release of the 15 British sailors and marines captured by Iran has robbed the U.S. of a pretext to attack Iran, but the U.S. has not given up plans to attack Iran militarily, said Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems, a Russian think tank.
“Preparations to strike Iran’s strategic facilities continue. Three major groups of U.S. forces are still in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Altogether, they have up to 450 cruise missiles on alert,” the general told Interfax-AVN.
“Military operations against Tehran will begin with the launch of at least two unexpected strikes using Tomahawk cruise missiles and air power in order to disable Iran’s air defense capabilities,” he said.
“According to our data, up to 150 aircraft are to be involved in each strike on Iran. Land-based air defense systems will be disabled in the first place, then mobile short-range systems, which Tehran has (including some 30 new systems),” he said.
Primary targets will include command centers, air defense installations, the navy, airfields, ports and docking facilities, the general said.
“Nuclear facilities may be secondary targets. According to expert assessments, at least 20 such facilities need to be destroyed in order to stop Iran’s nuclear program,” Ivashov said.
Ivashov did not rule out that nuclear weapons may be used against Iran.
“Combat nuclear weapons may be used for bombing. This will result in radioactive contamination of the Iranian territory, which could possibly spread to neighboring countries,” he said.
“If Iran strikes back at Israel with missiles, Tel-Aviv is likely to use nuclear weapons on Iran,” Ivashov said, adding that such a “development of the situation would undermine stability not only in the Middle East, but also in the entire world.” ar md
(8 April 2007)
The latest of several hints of an impending U.S. attack from Russian military and intelligence sources. There were similar reports from Russian sources before the Iraq invasion. -BA
