US military alert level raised in Seoul, 24 stealth fighters jets ready

The US military has raised its alert level for its South Korean troops and has placed 24 stealth fighter jets within easy reach of the Korean Peninsula, according to US military sources.

The sources deny that such actions were taken as a reaction to North Korea's threat of confrontation and an all-out-war, but confirm that the stealth fighter jets may participate in an upcoming joint anti-submarine exercise between US and South Korean military personnel.

The exercise will be conducted close to or in the disputed maritime borders between South and North Korea and may very well be viewed by Pyongyang as an intimidation and threat. Kim Jong-Il, through his spokesperson, has stated on several occasions that ant threat, sanction or punishment, resulting from the march 26 incident during which a South Korean warship was sunk, will be met with outright war.

North Korea has closed its border entry gate with South Korea, leaving hundreds of South Koreans workers stranded on the wrong side of the fence. Both North and South Korea own and operate a manufacturing plant close to the border which employs daily workers from South Korea, who's only entry and exit point has now been temporarily been closed.

A trilateral meeting between South Korea, China and Japan will start on the South Korean Island of Jeju today with the hope to ease the tension and find a solution to a possible escalation on the peninsula.

http://www.huliq.com/9990/93762/us-military-alert-level-raised-seoul-24-stealth-fighters-jets-ready

 

Israel: NPT deal hypocritical

Jerusalem sources wonder why Israel only state mentioned in Non-Proliferation Treaty conference, which called for inspection of its nuclear facilities. Iran pleased with decision, says US must toe line in backing it

AFP

Published:

05.29.10, 12:33 / Israel News

Sources in Jerusalem on Saturday criticized as "hypocritical" the Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference that ended with a declaration placing Israel under obligation to have its nuclear facilities inspected by the UN's watchdog.   Earlier Obama rejects 'singling out' of Israel in NPT deal / Yitzhak Benhorin and AFP US president says agreement reached at Non-Proliferation Treaty conference 'includes balanced, practical steps to advance nuclear disarmament', but opposes 'efforts to single out Israel' by naming it while ignoring Iran Full Story "The conference mentioned only Israel and not other countries that hold nuclear weapons, such as India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Much worse is its silence on Iran, which is trying to obtain such weapons," one official said.   He added that the fact that Iran was not mentioned was suspicious, especially in light of recent findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the Islamic Republic's progress towards acquiring nuclear power.   Meanwhile Iran's representative to the IAEA on Saturday hailed the declaration, and said the US must go along with it.   The accord, reached on Friday at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference and agreed by the NPT's 189 members, commits to holding a regional gathering in 2012 to create a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.   It also calls on Israel to sign the treaty, mentioning "the importance of Israel's accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards."   Iran's IAEA representative Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who attended the conference at the United Nations, welcomed the move. Soltanieh told IRNA that the United States, despite opposing the NPT text on Israel, will have to fall in line with other countries.   "The US reservation is symbolic and it is obliged to go along with the world's request, which is that Israel must join the NPT and open its installations to IAEA inspectors," he said.   Earlier US President Barack Obama welcomed the accord but "strongly" opposed singling Israel out over talks on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East while making no mention of Iran.   "The greatest threat to proliferation in the Middle East, and to the NPT, is Iran's failure to live up to its NPT obligations," Obama said.

But Soltanieh dismissed the US stance. "Of course this was to be expected, since (US Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton made such during the inaugural session (of the NPT meeting) and several times later," he said.

 

"The Americans are isolating themselves since Iran's nuclear file is an (IAEA) agency issue. This conference was about the NPT and its future."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3895655,00.html

New Palestinian National Army

New Palestinian National Army

May 28, 2010 - 11:18 AM | by: Dana Lewis

In a training base in Jenin, the West Bank, the Palestinian National Security Force, has agreed to give us an exclusive look at what amounts to a light army now springing up in the West Bank.

'Light' because all the Israeli's have allowed them to pack are AK-47 rifles, at least so far.

There are already 2500 Palestinian soldiers deployed in 10 Palestinian City's and dozens of smaller towns. By next year there will be double that number and America is largely responsible for their training and equipping.

3 star Lt. General Keith Dayton has quietly been working here, since the take over of the Gaza strip by Hamas extremists in 2007 to build a Palestinian army.   American Special Forces soldiers are helping to whip them into shape in training centers in Jordan and the West Bank, to stop Hamas from taking more territory and to protect the Palestinian authority of Mahmoud Abbas. Many Palestinian soldiers couldn't praise enough what they called the high degree of professional training provided by the American SF team.

General Dayton's spokesman refused our requests for interviews, and said the Palestinians would also not talk.  Odd considering American tax payers have funded most of the force to the tune of more than 500 million dollars.

But in fact the Palestinians agreed to show us their soldiers and talk to us, because they are proud of the army believing it's critical to forming a Palestinian State and to demonstrate to  Israel there will be security for both people's.

Palestinian Colonel Raed Asedeh says "all members of Hamas are screened out" from the army. "Hamas is banned" he adds.

And while Israel has reluctantly agreed to allow the build up of the NSF, Israeli leaders understand the risks not only in having a Palestinian force and also in not having one.

"If the whole thing collapses, who knows what these weapon will be used for" said Israeli Deputy P.M. Dan Meridor in my interview with him in Jerusalem.   But he went on to say he was in favor of the NSF, stating "I am not playing down the risks, but if we don't agree to anything, and leave the situation unresolved terror may erupt".   In the context of security he said a peace agreement has to be reached; "We can't be the South Africa of the past", said Meridor who is also the director of Israeli Intelligence.

The Palestinian soldiers say the drop in terror attacks in Israel is not only due to Israels wall built across the West Bank, but also because of the successes of the NSF.  They meet with Israeli military commanders and both sides say they have shared information with each other, and had some small degree of co-operation.

Still the Palestinians note the Israeli's tie up their requests for critical equipment at the borders for months on end including simple gear like two way radios.    The Israeli's won't allow them enough bullets to conduct target practice for soldiers on training bases or tear gas to deal with crowd control.

And remarkably the Israeli army orders the NSF in Jenin not to patrol the streets from midnight to 6am.

Colonel Asedeh questions "how are we to have the trust of our people if we are only providing order half the time"?  But he predicts it's only a matter of time before his troops patrol all of the West Bank, marching towards a Palestinian State.

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Israeli gunships head to sea to block flotilla

Israeli gunships head to sea to block flotilla

By IAN DEITCH
Associated Press Writer

HAIFA, Israel (AP) -- Israeli gunships headed out to sea Friday to stop a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists from reaching the Gaza Strip, the military said, setting the stage for what could become a dramatic showdown on the high seas.

Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said the country was prepared to stop the flotilla "at any cost." He called the aid mission a provocation and urged the international community to show understanding for the tough response.

"We really have all determination and political will to prevent this provocation against us," he said. "I think that we're ready at any cost ... to prevent this provocation."

Military officials said an initial group of gunships went out to sea Friday to prepare for the flotilla's arrival. But plans to dispatch additional gunships were put on hold late Friday after reports that the flotilla had encountered mechanical problems, military officials said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under military guidelines, said the gunships would remain in port until the flotilla got closer.

The military says it will intercept the ships, escort the vessels to shore and give the activists the choice of deportation or going to jail. Israel says that after a security check, it will transfer the cargo to Gaza through the United Nations.

Officials say they hope the situation will be resolved peacefully, but they are prepared to use force if necessary. Masked naval commandos have been trained for the mission, and Israel has built a large makeshift detention center in a southern port to process the activists.

The activists, among them a Nobel peace laureate, are trying to draw attention to a 3-year-old Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip - imposed after Hamas militants violently seized control of the territory. They say they are carrying tons of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

Greta Berlin, one of the organizers of the effort, said a total of seven ships were headed to Gaza, after an eighth vessel suffered a malfunction and had to turn back.

The organizers' website said the flotilla remained off the southern coast of Cyprus, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Gaza, Friday evening. Berlin said the flotilla would halt under darkness, and resume the journey early Saturday. It was unclear when they would reach Israeli waters, she said.

The ships originally embarked from Turkey, Greece and other European ports.

Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, from rearming.

It rejects claims that a humanitarian crisis is brewing in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the strip. Critics, however, say the blockade has crushed Gaza's economy, eliminated some 100,000 jobs and prevented the territory from repairing the destruction caused by an Israeli military offensive early last year.

Israel has reached out to its Mediterranean neighbors to stop the flotilla from approaching. Turkey, whose president has harshly condemned Israel's Gaza offensive, has rejected the gesture. A Turkish charity is spearheading the aid mission, and Turkish authorities have declined to intervene.

But on Friday, Cyprus said was banning any ship from sailing to Gaza from its shores because organizers of a flotilla trying to break a blockade of the Palestinian territory ignored a government appeal not to involve the island.

Acting government spokesman Titos Christofides condemned the Israeli blockade and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people, but said the appeal was made to protect the island's "vital interests."

This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza Movement, the pro-Palestinian organization behind the effort, has sent a flotilla of supplies to Gaza. Israel permitted five deliveries to reach Gaza, but has not allowed any ships through since its military offensive, which ended in January 2009.

Among the passengers are Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a Holocaust survivor in her 80s, a retired U.S. army colonel and lawmakers from a dozen European countries.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_SHIPS_TO_GAZA?SITE=NMALJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Telepathy has taken a step closer to reality after British scientists developed a computer that can read your thoughts.

Telepathy has taken a step closer to reality after British scientists
developed a computer that can read your thoughts.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7421180/Telepathic-computer-can-read-your-mind.html

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