The Jerusalem Post reports today that Israel’s military has ordered its Southern Command to prepare for a “large scale” invasion of the Gaza Strip, likely to begin within the next few months.

The revelation is hardly a surprise, as Israeli Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz has repeatedly pressed for an invasion of the Gaza Strip over the past few months, while trumpeting the late 2008 invasion as a “great success.”

Officials today indicated that the next invasion would be very much on the same model as 2008, which saw massive Palestinian civilian casualties and destruction of considerable civilian infrastructure, much of which remains unrepaired as an Israeli blockade has prevented construction materials from being imported.

Israeli officials cited “increased weaponry” in the Gaza Strip as the reason for the upcoming invasion, particularly anti-tank weapons. Other than getting some of their tanks blown up, it isn’t clear why they consider this a good reason to invade, as weapons have been flooding much of the region since the Libyan regime fell and their weapons warehouses were looted.

The exact timing of the invasion will also be tricky, as Israel will of course rely on the US to run interference in the UN when the ugliest aspects of the war begin to trickle out. The last invasion came after the 2008 US Presidential election but was virtually wrapped up before President Obama took office. It may be that Israel will try a similar strategy of starting the war after the vote in an effort to keep it from being a political issue in the US.

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A number of Iranian officials have released the details of the letter that U.S. President Barack Obama recently sent to Tehran.

The New York Times, citing U.S. government officials, wrote on January 12 that the Obama administration had sent a message to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warning that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke a response by the United States.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said on January 15 that U.S. officials had sent a message on the Strait of Hormuz to the Islamic Republic through three officials, noting, “Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, delivered a letter to Mohammad Khazaii, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ambassador (to the UN). The Swiss ambassador to Tehran (Livia Leu Agosti) also conveyed the message, and Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, conveyed the message to officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well.”

Obama has called for negotiations

MP Ali Motahhari said on Wednesday, “In the letter, it has been stated that ‘closing the Strait of Hormuz is our red line’ and they have requested direct negotiations.”

“In the letter, Obama has announced readiness for negotiation and the resolution of mutual disagreements,” he added.

He went on to say that Obama uttered threats in the first part of the letter and talked about friendship and negotiation in the second part.

Obama says U.S. will not take hostile action against Iran

MP Hojjatoleslam Hossein Ebrahimi said on Wednesday, “Obama’s letter has several parts. Part of it is about this, (namely) that using international waterways is the right of all countries and all should benefit from them. And in this letter, he has described it as the United States’ red line.”

“In the letter, Obama has mentioned cooperation and negotiation based on the interests of the two countries,” Ebrahimi, who is the deputy chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the Nasimonline news website.

“He has stated in the letter that they will not take any hostile action against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.

Ebrahimi also said, “This is not the first time that Obama has sent a message and letter to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He has repeatedly spoken in a soft tone about the Islamic Republic of Iran, but, in practice, he has not acted accordingly.”

“Obama’s letter indicates that the United States has become afraid of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s might and has realized the point that an arrogant spirit is of no use, and therefore, he has softened his tone when speaking about the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he stated.

He added, “The important issue is that without the Islamic Republic of Iran’s permission, no country can benefit from the Persian Gulf.”

Iran responsible for maintaining security of Persian Gulf

Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaii also commented on the letter on Wednesday, saying, “Mr. Obama has written a cunning letter and intended to claim that the U.S. is responsible for maintaining the security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran itself is responsible for maintaining the security of this region.”

“We maintain the security of the region with the help of regional countries,” he said, adding, “There is no need for the presence of extra-regional forces to maintain the security of this region, and we believe that the presence of the United States and Britain mostly creates insecurity.”

If they “feel compassion” for regional countries and want to help them enhance security in the region, “I advise them to leave the region,” Rezaii stated.

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Revelations have surfaced about the presence of British spies in Syria as the UK government draws secret plans for a NATO-backed no-fly zone over the country.

A British security official has revealed that Britain’s Ministry of Defence has been drawing up secret plots to secure a NATO-sponsored no-fly zone over Syria as intelligence agents from MI6 and the CIA are examining the situation on the ground in the country, reported the Daily Star.

“MI6 and the CIA are in Syria to infiltrate,” revealed the newspaper.

The revelations come as the Western media has launched a campaign to criticise the presence of the Arab League observers in Syria calling on them to return so that their governments would be able to draw up plots for military intervention based on fabricated evidence.

However, independent analysts have seriously questioned the West’s media hype over the usefulness of the Arab League observers’ presence in Syria, as they assert the West is using the Arab League as an NGO.

“[The Arab League] has been one of the most pathetic organizations in the Arab World for a long, long time, doing nothing on Palestine, doing nothing to prevent the war on Iraq. And, now it’s being used as an NGO by the West,” said Tariq Ali, editor of London-based New Left Review.

Furthermore, Ali warned against the Western intervention in Syria saying “we need a negotiated settlement in Syria.”

“We do not want a Western intervention as in Libya which with each passing day the information coming out of Libya shows the disaster,” said Ali in an interview with Russia’s English news channel Russia Today.

The Daily Star also reported that the Western intervention in Syria “is all going like Libya but this will be bigger and bloodier.”

Furthermore, the British newspaper revealed that the British government’s “highest priority” while drawing up its secret plots would be Israel’s security saying “Syria supports Hezbollah. That threatens Israel.”

Pointing out that Western intervention in Syria has already started, Ali said: “I don’t know why they [foreign nations] seem reluctant to [acknowledging armed opposition extremists operating in Syria] because most the nations which seem reluctant to notice that are the ones who’re supplying the weaponry.”

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Syrian forces were accused of firing nail bombs on Friday to disperse protesters as tens of thousands of people flooded streets across the country to make their voices heard to Arab monitors.

Protesters called for the ouster and prosecution of President Bashar al-Assad, whose autocratic regime has been blamed for the deaths of more than 5,000 people since pro-reform protests erupted in March.

Activists urged monitors, who started this week a mission to implement an Arab League peace plan, to protect civilians from the regime’s wrath.

“We urge you to make a clear distinction between the assassin and the victim,” activists of the Syrian Revolution 2011 said in a statement posted on their Facebook page.

“Our revolution which was launched nine months ago is peaceful,” they said.

The death toll rose again Friday, with at least five civilians killed by gunfire as Syrian forces dispersed crowds of protesters around the country, while four people died in an ambush by government troops, a watchdog said.

Huge demonstrations rocked northwestern Idlib province and Douma, a Damascus suburb where protesters clashed with security forces who fired “nail bombs” to disperse them, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

At least 24 protesters were hurt when security forces fired “nail bombs to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators in Douma,” the watchdog said, adding that the protesters “hurled stones” in retaliation.

“An activist in the city told the Observatory that he was hurt by shrapnel from those bombs,” the Britain-based group said in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia.

The reported use of nail bombs could not be independently verified.

In Douma, security forces also fired “stun grenades and tear gas” at protesters as 60,000-70,000 demonstrators headed to city hall, where Arab League observers visited the previous day.

It was the “biggest ever demonstration” in the restive suburb since March, it added.

Further north in Idlib province, which borders Turkey, more than 250,000 protesters took the streets in various locations, the Observatory reported.

In the southern province of Daraa, cradle of the pro-democracy protests, five civilians were shot dead when security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters.

Several people were shot and wounded in the Daraa town of Inkhil where, bracing for protests, authorities deployed security forces and posted snipers on high grounds from early in the morning, it said.

Protests also took place in Homs, which activists have dubbed the “martyr” city as hundreds have died there in a government crackdown on dissent over the past few months.

In the Damascus neighbourhood of Al-Kadam, security forces fired live rounds of ammunition at worshippers who emerged from midday prayers apparently to prevent them from joining the protests, said the Observatory.

Protests in Aleppo, Syria’s second city in the north and economic hub, was “brutally” crushed by regime loyalists, it added.

Two civilians and two mutinous soldiers were also killed Friday in the Homs province town of Tal Kalakh in an ambush by regular army troops, said the watchdog.

Internet activists had urged Syrians to “march to the squares of freedom, bare-chested” on Friday, saying they were ready to confront the regime’s “artillery and machinegun fire.”

The Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP activists are determined to make their voices heard to the monitors despite the bloody crackdown which activists say has killed more than 100 people since monitors arrived Monday.

“The Arab League’s initiative is the only ray of light that we now see,” said Abdel Rahman.

The mission has been tainted by some controversy, with some opposition members unhappy with the head of the observers General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi — a veteran Sudanese military intelligence officer.

Dabi this week ruffled feathers by saying Syrian authorities were so far cooperating with the mission and by describing his visit to Homs as “good.”

For some, Dabi is a controversial figure because he served under Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes committed in Darfur region.

“The observers must remain in the cities they visit to protect civilians,” said prominent human rights lawyer Haytham Maleh who is also a member of the main opposition Syrian National Council.

Speaking to Arab news channels, Maleh said the Arab League must increase the number of monitors to ensure they can verify Assad’s regime is implementing all the terms of the plan to end the violence.

Around 66 monitors are currently in Syria but there are plans to deploy between 150 and 200 observers.

“The presence of the observers in Homs broke the barrier of fear,” Abdel Rahman said in reference to some 70,000 demonstrators who flooded the streets of the central city Tuesday when the monitors kicked off their mission.

Western powers have urged Syrian to give them full access and Britain’s minister for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt echoed those concern on Thursday.

Damascus must “meet fully its obligations to the Arab League,” including withdrawing security forces from cities, he said.

But Syria’s key ally Russia — which has resisted Western efforts to push through the UN Security Council tough resolutions against Damascus — said Friday it was happy with the mission so far.

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The Syrian regime, which has endured nine months of civil unrest spurred by the Arab Spring as it swept across the Middle East, has armed its medium-range missile arsenal with chemical warheads.

According to a report published by the Sabah daily Sunday, Damascus armed 600 one-ton chemical warheads to use in the event of a foreign military intervention. Furthermore, President Bashar al-Assad ordered the deployment of 21 missile launchers along its border with Turkey. Syria’s medium-range missiles that can be equipped with chemical warheads have a range of up to 1,300 kilometers and would include the southern and central provinces of Turkey.

According to the daily, the Syrian military keeps its stockpile of chemical warheads in secret facilities in and around the capital city of Damascus. In mid-November, President Assad held a special meeting with top commanders of the Syrian army and argued over how to respond to a possible military intervention by the international community. Additionally, Russia, which stood by the Assad regime’s defiance of international pressure on Damascus, sent 3 million gas masks to the troubled country. Most of those masks will be distributed to the regime’s loyalists, the families of soldiers and Baath supporters. The distribution of the masks is set to be completed by the end of December, according to the daily.

Syria is believed to have had a chemical weapons arsenal for more than three decades. Following heavy defeats against Israel in conventional warfare, international defense sources believe that following the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Hafez al-Assad, the former general of the Syrian Air Force, decided to bolster Syria’s strategic position through the development of ballistic missiles to counter Israel’s superiority in conventional warfare. The unchallenged superiority Israeli air forces led Syrian generals to push for other means to protect the regime. From then on, Syria has launched clandestine efforts to develop chemical warheads with ballistic missile delivery systems.

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Families say goodbye to sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson Wednesday morning, which departs for the Middle East from Coronado.

The ship was scheduled to leave in the morning, but encountered a mechanical issue and may have to wait until high tide returns to depart. At 11 a.m., the captain told sailors to stand down, as fog was obstructing visibility.

By 1 p.m., the ship had departed.

The USS Carl Vinson returned to San Diego from the Middle East in June will deploy for several more months.

In addition to the USS Carl Vinson’s departure, guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and guided-missile destroyer left in the morning, and the USS Halsey will depart at 2 p.m.

Before its return to San Diego, the carrier conducted Osama Bin Laden’s burial at sea after a Navy SEAL team killed him in Pakistan in May.

The ship made its mark while in San Diego. It hosted the Carrier Classic basketball game, which was the first basketball game played on a carrier. President Barack Obama attended the game on Veterans Day earlier this month.

About 50 sailors aboard the USS Carl Vinson were investigated for using the synthetic drug Spice in October. Two sailors allegedly distributed the drug with one middleman and 46 users. Of the 49 suspects on the USS Carl Vinson, eight have been administratively separated for prior drug use and three have been separated for other reasons.

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Unknown armed groups have blown up a pipeline carrying oil from eastern Syria to a refinery in the western city of Homs, Press TV reports.

On Thursday, Syrian sources told Press TV that the attack was carried out by armed gangs that operate in and around the city.

Homs has been the major scene of recent unrest in Syria that originated in mid-March.

The Syrian government blames “outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

Confessions by a number of Syrian rebels about foreign-sponsored plans to carry out armed operations and killing ordinary people as well as security forces prove that recent developments in the country are part of an attempt to incite a revolt in the strategic country neighboring the Israeli regime, aiming to overthrow the current government and replace it with a US-backed regime.

However, a resolution adopted by the Arab League against Syria has enhanced the unity of Syrian people. Figures show that during the past weeks, nearly 12 million people have demonstrated in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

On November 27, the Arab League approved unprecedented sanctions against Syria, including a freeze on assets possessed by the Syrian government and an embargo on investments for projects in the country.

The Syrian government has also accused the Arab League of seeking to “internationalize” the situation in the country.

The Arab League action against Syria has raised major controversies in the Arab world, as the organization is mostly made up of notoriously authoritarian regimes that are heavily under the influence of the US and major Western European governments, despite their widely publicized claims of supporting democracy and human rights.

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A grim Ministry of Defense bulletin issued to Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev today states that President Hu has “agreed in principal” that the only way to stop the West’s aggression led by the United States is through “direct and immediate military action” and that the Chinese leader has ordered his Naval Forces to “prepare for warfare.”

Hu’s call for war joins Chinese Rear Admiral and prominent military commentator Zhang Zhaozhong who, likewise, warned this past week that “China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a Third World War,” and Russian General Nikolai Makarov who grimly stated last week, “I do not rule out local and regional armed conflicts developing into a large-scale war, including using nuclear weapons.”

The raising of global tensions between the East and West was exploded this past fortnight when Russian Ambassador Vladimir Titorenko and two of his aides retuning from Syria were brutally assaulted and put in hospital by Qatar security forces aided by CIA and British MI6 agents attempting to gain access to diplomatic pouches containing information from Syrian intelligence that the United States was flooding Syria and Iran with the same US-backed al Qaida mercenaries who toppled the Libyan government.

Further evidence in these diplomatic pouches, this bulletin says, reveals that the United States is preparing an “ultimate solution” to the Middle East Crisis should nuclear war break out by attacking Syria and Iran with lethal biological agents intended to kill tens of millions of innocent civilians.

The discovery of the biological agent to be used by the West was revealed a fortnight ago by Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands who lead a team of scientists that discovered that a mere five mutations to the avian flu virus was sufficient to make it spread far more easily and would make it the most lethal killer of mankind ever invented.

Should the US begin an attack utilizing this deadly virus, this bulletin continues, its most likely method of delivery would be via its RQ-170 Sentinel Drone which is operated by the CIA.

These frightening assessments of future US actions against its enemies were revealed in this bulletin based upon Russian intelligence analysts examination of the RQ-170 Sentinel Drone brought down over Iranian territory last week by the Russian made Avtobaza ground-based electronic intelligence and jamming system used against this unmanned aerial vehicle with little damage and that showed it be equipped with a sophisticated aerosol delivery system.

Important to note is that the Western powers first use of a deadly flu virus to destroy their enemies and overthrow the established global order was first used less than a century ago in 1918 when the Spanish Flu variant was unleashed at the ending of World War I and killed an estimated 500 million people which represented fully 3% of the world’s entire population.

Archived KGB files on the Spanish Flu pandemic have always stated that this deadly virus was “bio-engineered” by US military scientists who used as their“guinea pigs” American Soldiers who were the first recorded victims and were stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas.

To fully understand the underlying reasons behind the United States and its Western allies push for Total Global War was recently detailed by the top American investigative journalist Greg Hunter whose shocking in depth report titled “Is the World Spinning Out of Control?” revealed that the entire edifice of the Western economic systems is crumbling under the weight of over $100 Trillion in debt no one is able to pay and wherein he warned: “Never in history has the world been this close to total financial chaos and nuclear war at the same time.”

Sadly, but as always, the American people are not being allowed to know the horrific future their elite leaders are planning for them, a situation made even worse this past week when the US Senate passed a new law by a 93-7 vote that is warned will destroy America for all time by giving total control of this once free nation over to its military forces and destroy their Constitution.

As we noted in our previous report, it is worth mentioning again the words of the American Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, who warned his fellow citizens over 200 years ago about what is happening today by saying:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

December 7, 2011 © EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com.

From Zero Hedge: Even more mysterious update #2:

• IRANIAN CENTRAL TV CONFIRMS THAT EIGHT UK EMBASSY STAFF TAKEN HOSTAGE

Mysterious update confirming that something very fishy is going on here:

• IRAN’S MEHR NEWS AGENCY REMOVES REPORT OF HOSTAGE TAKING FROM ITS WEBSITE – NO EXPLANATION GIVEN

Today’s developments are rapidly turning into a repeat of Iran-Contra:

• SIX UK EMBASSY STAFF TAKEN HOSTAGE BY PROTESTERS IN NORTHERN COMPOUND OF TEHRAN EMBASSY – MEHR NEWS AGENCY

Expect a very formal, and very forceful UK response imminently.

Once again – got Brent?

Iranian protesters stormed the British embassy in Tehran today, tossing firebombs and burning documents. There are unbconfirmed reports that 6 staff members have been taken hostage.

Update at 9:07 a.m. ET: Reuters quotes an unidentified Iranian official as saying the storming of two British embassy compounds in Tehran was not planned by the government: “It was not an organized measure. The establishment had no role in it … It was not planned.”

Update at 9 a.m. ET: Reuters quotes the Iranian Mehr News agency as saying six members of the British embassy staff have been taken hostage by protesters in the northern compound. This has not been confirmed by other sources or British official sources. The Mehr News AGency is owned by the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization.

Update at 8:45 a.m. ET: There is no immediate word on casualties or how many embassy employees were inside at the time of the assault, although it occurred after business hours had ended, the Associated Press reports. More protesters poured into the compound as police tried to clear the site.

Update at 8:35 a.m. ET: The Telegraph reports that the British Foreign Office issued a statement condemning the attack on the British embassy in Tehran:

There has been a incursion by a significant number of demonstrators into our Embassy premises, including vandalism to our property. This is a fluid situation and details are still emerging. We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it. Under international law, including the Vienna Convention, the Iranian Government have a clear duty to protect diplomats and Embassies in their country and we expect them to act urgently to bring the situation under control and ensure the safety of our staff and security of our property.

Update at 8:30 a.m. ET: The official IRNA news agency reports that the embassy has been locked in “a symbolic gesture by a group of Iranian students.” It also reports that the students are still there.

Update at 8:25 a.m. ET: Damien McElroy, foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper The Telegraph, reportsthat a group calling itself The Muslim Students Followers of the Supreme Leader claim responsibility for the attack on the embassy and have issued a statement reportedly in blood.

The statement, according to The Telegraph, says:

Our people are not prepared to be humiliated any more under any circumstances and prefer a red death to a condemned life of misery. We are ready to be killed for our aims.

In a throwback to the language used by students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, the statement referred to the British embassy as “another nest of spies that must be shown our wrath and hatred towards it.”

Update at 8:18 a.m. ET: The British newspaper The Telegraph  reports that gasoline bombs are being thrown inside the compound and that protesters are burning documents seized from offices.

Update at 8:02 a.m. ET: The official Iranian news agency IRNA sent out this urgent report: “”The UK Embassy in Tehran has been stormed by a group of Iranian students.

Update at 7:44 a.m. ET: The BBC reports that demonstrators were shown live on Iranian state TV throwing stones at embassy windows and breaking them.

Update at 7:39 a.m. ET: IRNA, the official Iranian news agency reported in advance of the protest that Iranian university students were gathering “to express their wrath at the hostile UK policies towards Iran.” It said the meeting was taking place on the anniversary of the assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari.

Here’s IRNA’s report:

The students have organized the gathering to voice their support for a recent parliament bill which obliges Iranian Foreign Ministry to lower level of ties with the UK. According to the bill, ties with Britain will be reduced to the level of charge d’affaires and thus the UK ambassador has to leave Iran within two weeks.

Update at 7:35 a.m. ET: Dozens of hard-line Iranian students stormed the British Embassy in Tehran today, bringing down the British flag and throwing documents from windows, the AP reports. The students clashed with anti-riot police and chanted “the Embassy of Britain should be taken over” and “death to England.”

Original post: The attack came after a crowd of about 1,000 people gathered in front of the building for an anti-British demonstration, CNN reports.

On Sunday, the Iranian Parliament voted to expel the British ambassador and reduce diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in retaliation for new Western sanctions, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency, CNN reports. The vote must go to the Guardian Council for approval.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office called parliament’s vote “regrettable.”

“This unwarranted move will do nothing to help the regime address their growing isolation or international concerns about their nuclear program and human rights record,” the office said in a statement, CNN reports. “If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners.”

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