USA military in Niger to establish control over uranium resources
Obama’s Military Presence in Niger: US Control over Uranium under the Disguise of Counter-terrorism Global Research, By Wayne Madsen, 3 Mar 13, President Obama’s military incursion into Niger, ostensibly to establish a drone base to counter «Al Qaeda» and other Islamist guerrilla activity in neighboring Mali, has little to do with counter-insurgency and everything to do with establishing U.S. control over Niger’s uranium and other natural resources output and suppressing its native Tuareg population from seeking autonomy with their kin in northern Mali and Algeria. Continue reading
Park Geun-hye , South Korea’s new President’s challenge to negotiate with North korea
Park warned after the test that North Korea faces international isolation, economic difficulties and, eventually, a collapse if it continues to build its atomic program. She also pressed Pyongyang to respond to her overtures.
“We can’t achieve trust with only one side’s efforts. Isn’t there a saying that ‘We need both hands to make a clapping sound?”‘ she said.
South Korea’s 1st female president faces nuclear crisis CBC News, Park Geun-hye takes office Monday after election vow to soften approach to North Korea The Associated Press Feb 24, 2013 Even before she takes office Monday as South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-hye’s campaign vow to soften Seoul’s current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang’s recent underground nuclear detonation. Continue reading
Obama CAN make progress in negotiations with Iran, despite Congress
So, what can Mr. Obama do in order to maximize diplomacy’s chance of success despite structural congressional strictures? The answer is clear: Explore and exercise those foreign-policy options that cannot be easily hindered by Congress.
the president can also – without the hindrance of Congress – reactivate the United Nations’ dormant capacities and use them in favor of the upcoming negotiations.
Can Obama forge nuclear deal with Iran? http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/can-obama-forge-nuclear-deal-iran Reza Nasri, The Christian Science Monitor
February 20, 2013
Pressuring Iran is no longer just a matter of tactical policy for Congress. It’s a deeply institutionalized ritual that every member is expected to partake in.
This is a sad reality that Tehran is fully aware of – one that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, tacitly acknowledged last week after the Obama administration implemented new congressional sanctions: He said that Iran would not be negotiating with America simply “for the sake of negotiating.” Iran wants a negotiating partner that can actually deliver on a promise to normalize relations and reciprocate concessions with mutual concessions.
As Congress has made this implausible for now, bilateral talks between Tehran and Washington are not likely to take place any time soon. On the other hand, the United States and Iran will inevitably meet to negotiate the latter’s nuclear program in the context of the multilateral “P5+1” talks scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan on Feb. 26. Continue reading
Iran is using its enriched uranium for peaceful purposes
UN Report: Iran is Diverting Uranium for Peaceful Purposes http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/20/un-report-iran-is-diverting-uranium-for-peaceful-purposes/
But the US still stubbornly insists Iran stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, despite proving good on its promises by John Glaser, February 20, 2013 A United Nations report due this week is expected to detail a decrease in the growth of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium because it is diverting much of the material to make fuel, as it has promised, Reuters reports. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and even Israeli intelligence admitted publicly last October that Iran was diverting much of its enriched uranium for peaceful scientific research and medical isotopes.
This information clashes with what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to warn about. On Monday, heissued another stern warning of Iran’s determination to become a nuclear state, insisting that a “robust, credible, military threat” is the only thing that can stop it.
Some reports claim Iran has installed new uranium enrichment, increasing its overall capacity. But this upcoming UN report is expected to conclude that the rate of growth of Iran’s capabilities is slowing, primarily because the material is being used for fuel and other peaceful purposes.
Iran has repeatedly announced its 20 percent enriched uranium is for peaceful purposes like fuel, scientific research, and medical isotopes. Iran has followed through on this promise.
Still, negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 are essentially stagnant because of Washington’s insistence that Iran give up its 20 percent enrichment.
Obama now has a chance to start cutting nuclear weapons
The search for a nuclear legacy Why Barack Obama may now be able to start cutting nuclear weapons The Economist, Feb
23rd 2013.……..Bruce Blair, co-founder of the Global Zero movement which campaigns for reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear weapons, believes that Mr Obama could set in train a process which would in time also lead to big cuts in the stockpiles of non-strategic and non-deployed nukes. Neither has any military usefulness, but nobody pretends getting there would be easy, particularly as tactical weapons remain more important to Russia—with its comparatively weak conventional forces—than to America.
But the prize for reducing stockpiles would be the chance to draw other nuclear states with much smaller arsenals, such as China, into a multilateral negotiation. That “holy grail”, as Mr Blair calls it, will not be reached, if ever, until well after Mr Obama has gone. But if he could claim to have started the quest, it might be just the legacy he yearns for. http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21572195-why-barack-obama-may-now-be-able-start-cutting-nuclear-weapons-search-nuclear
In the secrecy of North Korea, it is now immune from attack
North Korea now immune from attack BY:GREG SHERIDAN, FOREIGN EDITOR The Australian February 16, 2013 “……..The truth is, Western intelligence knows very little about what goes on inside North Korea, especially inside the head of Pyongyang’s bombastic young dictator, Kim Jong-un.
No one watches North Korea more closely than Seoul. But in the 1980s and 90s Seoul was famous for producing faulty intelligence on the North.
I have interviewed the past four South Korean presidents. The only one I found convincing on North Korea was Lee Myung-bak, who leaves office on February 25. He said that on critical North Korea issues: “We don’t have accurate information.”……..
The North Koreans claim their new nuclear device is miniaturised, which implies they could put it on their missiles. This is probably untrue. US intelligence believes Pyongyang is still a few years away from this, but Washington is aware of the limitations of its intelligence….. A decade ago I broke a story about the Pentagon’s contingency plans to strike North Korea militarily to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons. The arguments against such a strike were always very strong and prudence governed Washington’s decision not to act.
That may have been the right decision. But now North Korea possesses at least several nuclear devices and is immune from attack. …. Kim is capricious, self-indulgent and probably suffers a serious personality disorder, but so far he is making three vastly more powerful nations dance to his tune. In a strategy paradoxically born of weakness, it is the power of the bomb, ruthlessly applied.
Unreasonable threats made, about Iran’s uranium enrichment
Despite Scaremongering Iran’s Uranium Stockpile Not Growing http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/10/despite-scaremongering-irans-uranium-stockpile-not-growing/ Civilian-Enriched Uranium Fueling Civilian Nuclear Program by Jason Ditz, February 10, 2013This already happened once, with the “red line” supposed to be reached in October of last year, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barakeventually admitting the use of uranium had pushed it back until this summer. The continued use is pushing it back even more.
The reality of the situation is that these red lines are constantly predicated on Iran inexplicably stopping the use of uranium for civilian purposes, meaning there is always a “red line” looming in the next several months based on having any enrichment capability, an excuse to make threats against Iran without having the line ever actually get crossed.
France’s President Hollande greeted with anti nuclear protest in India
Anti-nuclear protesters burn French national flag http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anti-nuclear-protesters-burn-French-national-flag/articleshow/18508167.cms Feb 15, 2013 TIRUNELVELI: Anti-nuclear protesters in Idinthakarai burnt the French national flag on Thursday condemning the visit of France’s president Francois Hollande to India.
A large number of men and women, who are staging a prolonged protest against the nuclear plant at Kudankulam, took out a march from Idinthakarai village in Tirunelveli district and burnt the French national flag.
A statement from People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) said the French flag was burnt to condemn the visit of Hollande to India, to sign a contract pertaining to Jaitapurnuclear project at a time when hundreds of villagers were jailed for staging a protest against the project. The Jaitapur nuclear plant is being built with technological support from France.
This is the first visit of Hollande to India. His two-day visit is expected to end in signing of contracts worth several billions.
Uranium mining companies might not be able to rip off African countries any more
it’s not acceptable” that Niger’s most
valuable export only contributes about 5 percent to the nation’s
annual budget.
Increased revenue for Niger may come in the form of more mining
taxes, royalties or even a stake in AREVA; any of those options would
lower returns for investors and discourage future investment
Investment analysts are advising those with resource investments in
Mali to get out while they can
Mali, Niger Unrest Highlights Need for Uranium Asset Diversification
February 14, 2013, By Melissa Pistilli Uranium Investing News
France’s military intervention in Mali, its former West African
colony, highlights industrialized nations’ supreme need to secure
access to economically strategic assets — in France’s case, uranium.
That theme will increasingly be seen playing out on the world stage
over the coming years. Continue reading
USA- Iran talks “futile” says Iran
Iran says nuclear talks with US futile 9MSN News, February 8, 2013
American proposals for direct talks with Iran are pointless while
Washington is “holding a gun” to the country through sanctions, Iran’s
supreme leader says, quashing a possible breakthrough in contacts with
the West over the nuclear standoff.
The message from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all
major decisions in Iran, has been reiterated by Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a news conference in Cairo.
Their dismissal of one-on-one dialogue raises the stakes when wider
negotiations between Iran and world powers, including the United
States, resume this
month…..http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/02/08/06/01/iran-says-nuclear-talks-with-us-futile
Niger gets a poor deal from AREVA’s uranium mining
In Niger, New Disputes Over French Uranium Extraction International Business Times, 6 Feb 13, “....no wonder Paris sent its own special security forces to Niger this week to protect a French-operated uranium mine there.
But mineral resources have long been a touchy subject in Niger, and the extra security has generated some controversy as to whether foreign investors have dealt a fair hand to the country’s 16 million people.
“Uranium is really a crucial point of contention,” said Leonardo A. Villalón, an associate professor at the University of Florida and expert on the Sahel, the band of semi-arid land just south of the Sahara Desert. “The notion of exactly who benefits from the resource is the central question of political economy in Niger.”….. President Mahamadou Issoufou suggested on Sunday that Nigeriens are getting the short end of the stick…..
The exact details regarding Areva’s current dealings with Niger are murky. …. Areva did not respond to requests for comment regarding its current agreement with the Nigerien administration….. http://www.ibtimes.com/niger-new-disputes-over-french-uranium-extraction-1064546
Even Australia might fight for its uranium companies Paladin and Rio Tinto
What have interested Australian companies, or the Australian government, done to address these concerns?…….
what should we make of Australian Defence Force chief General David Hurley’s alarming indication that there might be a role for the ADF in protecting “Australian interests” in Africa?
Multinational miners: magnanimous or malevolent? Kellie Tranter – lawyer and Humna Rights Activist, FEBRUARY 1, 2013 BY KELLIE TRANTER “……..Malawi “…….Minister Carr praised the work of Australian mining company Paladin, referring to its strong corporate social responsibility. Paladin operates Malawi’s biggest uranium mine, the Kayelekera.
In June 2008, The Bench Marks Foundation released a report ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and the Mining Sector in Southern Africa’ which suggested that when Paladin struck its deal with the Malawi government to mine uranium, it was agreed that it would get a 100% capital write off, a reduction in corporate tax from 30% to 27.5% and a scrapping of the 10% resource rent tax. Paladin was also to be exempt from the standard 17.5% import VAT or duty and a royalty rate reduced from 5% to 1.5% in the first three years and 3% thereafter.
Now Malawi’s opposition party, the People’s Transformation Movement (PETRA), have given the Malawi Government a 14 day ultimatum to explain why the Kayelekera deal cannot be renegotiated. However, there are reports that the agreement with the previous government (of late President Mutharika, a former World Bank economist) includes a clause that the government will not take any action that will seriously change the financial aspects of the project for the period of 10 years. Residents are also concerned that the Malawi Government retains only a 15% equity in Paladin (Africa) Limited (PAL) a subsidiary of Paladin and has given “breathing space” on taxes for 10 years. Continue reading
Sweden in no hurry to press charges against Julian Assange
With Assange in Diplomatic Limbo, Sweden in No Rush to Press Rape Charges , 01 February 2013 By Alissa Bohling, Truthout | News Analysis With Julian Assange remaining in diplomatic limbo in London, Sweden refuses his offer for an interview, leading some to suspect they are not anxious to pursue allegations of rape that have been lodged against him……
In an October 2012 letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder, they asked the Department of Justice to give its word that Assange will not be extradited, subject to indefinite detention or prosecution under the Espionage Act for the activities of WikiLeaks, but with no response, he and his Swedish accusers remain in legal limbo, calling into question whether Assange’s civil liberties and the women’s right to take their accusations through the criminal justice process can both be upheld. Continue reading
Urgent need for USA to adopt a new strategy with Iran, as Nixon did with China
The U.S. needs a completely different approach to Iran By Flynt and Hillary Leveret Reuters, JANUARY 31, 2013 As Washington and its great power partners prepare for more nuclear negotiations with Iran, the Obama administration and policy elites across the political spectrum talk as if America is basically in control of the situation. Sanctions, we are told, are inflicting ever-rising hardship on Iran’s economy. Either Tehran will surrender to U.S. demands that it stop enriching uranium or, at some point, the American military will destroy Iranian nuclear installations.
This is a dangerous delusion, grounded in persistent American illusions about Middle Eastern reality. Because of failed wars-cum-occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan; a war on terror that has turned Muslim societies ever more firmly against U.S. policy; and de facto support for open-ended Israeli occupation of Arab populations, America’s position in the region is in free fall.
Increasingly mobilized publics will not tolerate continuation of such policies. If, in this climate, the United States launches another war to disarm yet another Middle Eastern country of weapons of mass destruction it does not have, the blowback against American interests will be disastrous. Nonetheless, that is where our current strategy – negotiating on terms that could not possibly interest Iran while escalating covert operations, cyber-attacks, and economic warfare against it – leads. Continue reading
France wants to hang on to control of uranium resources in Mali
beneath
the deserts in Northern Mali and Eastern Niger, territory now
exclusively claimed by the nomadic Tuareg tribes, exists the world’s
third largest uranium reserves as well as substantial oil reserves.
“Paris has cultivated the dependency
of their former colonies by hand-picking weak regimes that gave them
access to resources,”
Is the French Invasion of Mali tied to a Colonial War for Uranium? By
Saeed Shabazz Global Research, January 30, 2013 There is still
confusion in UN corridors concerning France’s military intervention in
Northern Mali, which began on Jan. 11 with air strikes against the
so-called Islamist camps moving closer to the capital city of Bamako. Continue reading
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