A grim Ministry of Finance report prepared for Prime Minister Putin is warning today that the decision by Iran to cease taking US Dollars for its oil could verybe the “first shot” fired in World War III, and one which Russia will be blamed for by the Obama regime.

According to this report, Iran swiftly countered planed US sanctions against its Central Bank yesterday by announcing that it will no longer accept the US Dollar as payment for its oil shipments to India, Japan and China, and further announced that bilateral trade between itself and Russia will, also, break from the US Dollar for settlement in favor of the Iranian Rial and Russian Rubles.

Sure to enrage the Obama regime, this report continues, was that the proposal to switch to the Ruble and the Rial was raised by President Medvedev at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Astana, Kazakhstan, of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Though Iran had previously announced in 2008 that it had stopped trading its oil for US Dollars (Ahmadinejad called the depreciating US Dollar a “worthless piece of paper”) India, Japan and China were made exempt due to their large holdings of American currency and fears of wreaking further chaos on the global economic collapse that had just begun.

Important to note, this report reminds us, is that a similar move by Iraq’s former leader Saddam Hussein in not accepting US Dollars for oil in 2000 brought about the invasion of his country by the Americans and their European allies resulting in his eventual execution and causing the vast wealth of Iraqi oil and gas fields to be turned over to the Western oil giants.

Likewise, this report says, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi earned the same fate as Hussein after he, in the months leading up to the US-NATO military attack on his country, called on African and Muslim nations to join together to create a new currency that would rival the US Dollar and Euro and saying that Libya would only sell oil and other resources around the world only for gold dinars.

Most oil sales throughout the world are denominated in US Dollars, and according to proponents of the petrodollar warfare hypothesis, because most countries rely on oil imports, they are forced to maintain large stockpiles of Dollars in order to continue imports.

This creates a consistent demand for US Dollars and upwards pressure on its value, regardless of economic conditions in the United States. This in turn allows the US government to gain revenues through seignorage and by issuing bonds at lower interest rates than they otherwise would be able to. As a result the USgovernment can run higher budget deficits at a more sustainable level than can most other countries.

But, this report reminds us, the current budget deficit of the US has now reached the staggering amount of $15.23 trillion which is the size of its entire economy, and with the Federal Reserve preparing to being another round of massive printing this coming summer the loss of Iran’s oil customers needing US Dollars could very well signal the collapse of the entire American economy.

Though the Obama regime has sent its Treasury Secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, to China and Japan today in an effort to persuade them to cut back on Iranian oil this effort appears doomed from start as the Chinese have outright rejected this move and Japan has, likewise, expressed its concerns.

As is always the case in these type of dire matters, reports from the US show its mainstream propaganda media organs are not reporting on this potentially catastrophic turn of events leading to yet another circumstance where the American people will be taken by complete surprise when this cold war suddenly turns hot.

In order to prepare itself for what is to come, however, a vast Russian naval fleet arrived in Syria yesterday in an attempt to forestall US-NATO action against its Middle East ally currently under attack by the CIA-backed terrorist group known as al-Qaida.

Most shocking in this report are some Russian economists stating that the Obama regime is actually anticipating the collapse of the US Dollar as a “solution”to their being able to implement drastic socialistic change such as was done during the Great Depression under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and which the grim statistics being reported from the US show they are, indeed, nearing total economic collapse and include:

1. A staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be “low income” or are living in poverty.

2. Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be “low income” or impoverished.

3. If the number of Americans that “wanted jobs” was the same today as it was back in 2007, the “official” unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent.

4. The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the United States is now over 40 weeks.

5. One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.

6. There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.

7. Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8 percent once you account for inflation.

8. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million.

9. A Gallup poll from earlier this year found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed.

10. According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.

As the buildup for war between the US and Iran continues to escalate, UN Chief Ban ki Moon’s call for the easing of tensions has gone unheeded as the Obama regimes call for the “dogs of war” to be unleashed on the Iranian people shows no sign of abatement.

To what the final outcome may be in all of these events was detailed by Professor Igor Panarin of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has long warned the United States is in a state of economic collapse which will see America being divided up into 6 regions due to a “vulnerable political setup,” “lack of unified national laws,” and “divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions.”

Interesting to note about Professor Panarin’s prediction of the United States splintering into different regions are new reports coming from the United States showing that the Obama regime has recently called for the staffing of what are called FEMA Concentration Camps in not just 6, but 10 different regions of their country.

Professor Panarin further warned that “a secret agreement was reached between Canada, Mexico and the US on a common Amero currency as a new monetary unit” and said that “this could signal preparations to replace the dollar.”

When asked how Russia should react to his vision of the future, Professor Panarin said: “Develop the ruble as a regional currency. Create a fully functioning oil exchange, trading in rubles… We must break the strings tying us to the financial Titanic, which in my view will soon sink.”

January 10, 2012 © 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.

Russia and China along with their three partners in the BRICS group of emerging economies have warned against foreign intervention in Syria without UN approval.

In a statement issued after consultations on Thursday in Moscow, the five nations called for immediate talks between the government and opposition in Syria, Reuters reported.

The Russian representative at the meeting said Moscow rejects pressure from the Syrian opposition groups and accuses Western nations of trying to set the stage for armed intervention.

“Any external intervention that does not correspond with the United Nations Charter must be ruled out,” the Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.

The Russian statement added that, “The only acceptable scenario for resolving the internal crisis in Syria is the immediate start of peaceful talks with the participation of all sides,”

The BRICS final communiqué said nations “placed a special accent on the role of (the UN Security Council), which holds primary responsibility for the support of international peace and security.”

Referring to the recent events in the Middle East and North Africa, BRICS nations noted “the need for the complete adherence to human rights by all sides, in particular the authorities, in regard to protecting unarmed civilians.”

The consultations of the BRICS countries brought together deputy foreign ministers of Russia and China as well as Brazil, India and South Africa.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations held both in favor and against President Bashar al-Assad.

France became the first country to call for international intervention in Syria this week citing humanitarian grounds.

Syria insists that the unrest in the country has been largely promoted by foreign-linked armed elements that have been trying to incite violence by targeting security forces as well as ordinary protesters and blaming the government for their armed efforts.

Countless Syrian civilians and military personnel have lost their lives in the unrest.

Source.

Gerald Celente on Greece, the IMF, financial criminals, austerity measures, Christine Lagarde, Jean-Claude Trichet, bailouts and other economic predators.

Celente describes how we are living the beginning of the first world war of the 21st century. The Great Depression, currency wars, trade wars… The break down of the global economic system. One big ponzy scheme.

Gerald Celente’s famous statement: “When all else fails, go to war”. With the latest news on Iran-Israel the next big war is on the horizon: The big World War III.

Recent developments on the eastern border have alarmed Pakistani policymakers and military officials, who are keenly observing India’s preparations for a conventional war with Pakistan in the context of the Cold Start war doctrine, a Pakistani newspaper has said.

There has been a chain of developments, all tied to the overall scheme of things, which aims at destabilising its neighbour and building a formidable war machine to strike within the Pakistani borders, The News reports.

First, in the context of current events, is Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s recent visit to New Delhi and the signing of a strategic accord with India at the heels of High Peace Council leader Burhanuddin Rabbani’s assassination.

“While one side of the equation that has been brought into the spotlight shows that the accord will pave the way for India to train the Afghan armed forces and police, the other side that remains veiled could contain clauses that may affect Pakistan’s internal and external security,” the paper said.

“According to policymakers here in Islamabad, the accord requires careful thought at all levels. The critical point to remember is that India has no role whatsoever in Afghanistan yet Indian interference and policies are at the root of many of the problems that Pakistan is facing today,” it added.

Secondly, the Indian army is holding a massive two-month long winter exercise- involving battle tanks and artillery guns besides Indian Air Force assets- at the Pakistan border, bringing a potent strike corps, the Bhopal based 21 Corps, in the Rajasthan desert, the paper said.

“Intriguingly, ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ Corps will be aiming to build its capacities for “breaching the hostile army’s defences and capturing important strategic assets deep inside enemy territory.” The exercise is the third of its kind this year… The question is: why is India holding three massive war games in a year at the Pakistan border that aim at capturing important strategic assets deep inside the enemy territory?” it added.

Third, a key development across the border has been the deployment of Su-30 fighter aircraft near the Pakistan border, the paper said, adding that the significance of the fact that the aircraft is the most sophisticated in the region and that it has been deployed along the Pakistan border at this crucial juncture is not lost on policymakers in Islamabad.

Two other related but under-reported events have been the extension of the runway at Kargil by India and its decision to acquire six more C-130J aircraft, the latest version of the intractable workhorse, reinforcing fears in Islamabad that New Delhi is preparing for a war that may engulf the whole region, the paper said.

Source.

History Is About To Repeat Itself. – Stockmarket Crash’s Into World War.

India finally plans to test its most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V, with near ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities, this December after some delay.

With high road mobility, fast-reaction ability and a strike range over 5,000 km, Agni-V would even bring China’s northernmost regions within its nuclear strike envelope if it is ever required.

The armed forces are already inducting the two-stage 3,500-km Agni-III after completion of its developmental and pre-induction trials last year, having earlier operationalised the Pakistan-specific Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (over 2,000-km) missiles.

The Agni-V, in turn, is meant to add some much-needed credible deterrence muscle against China, which has a massive nuclear arsenal with missiles like the 11,200-km Dong Feng-31A capable of hitting any Indian city.

For one, it will be quite easy to store and swiftly transport the 17.5-metre tall Agni-V by road since it’s a canister-launch missile system, unlike the earlier Agni missiles. If fired from the North-East, for instance, it would be able to hit China’s northernmost city of Habin.

For another, Agni-V would also carry MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) payloads being concurrently developed. A single MIRVed missile can deliver multiple warheads at different targets even if they are separated by long distances.

“We have tested the three (solid-propellant composite rocket motor) stages of Agni-V independently…all ground tests are now over. The integration process is now in progress. We want to test the missile in December, not let it spill over to 2012,” DRDO chief V K Saraswat told TOI on Friday.

This came after defence minister A K Antony, addressing the annual DRDO awards ceremony, asked defence scientists to “demonstrate” the 5,000-km missile’s capability “at the earliest”.

With a “launch mass” of around 50 tonne and a development cost of over Rs 2,500 crore, Agni-V will incorporate advanced technologies involving ring laser gyroscope and accelerator for navigation and guidance. It takes its first stage from Agni-III, with a modified second stage and a miniaturized third stage to ensure it can fly to distances beyond 5,000 km.

An ICBM, incidentally, usually denotes a missile capable of hitting targets over 5,500 km away, and has largely been the preserve of the Big-5 countries till now.

DRDO is also gearing up for another test of its two-tier BMD (ballistic missile defence) system, designed to track and destroy hostile missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth’s atmosphere, around this August with a new interceptor missile called PDV to add to the existing ones.

Antony, on his part, said, “The interceptor missile development programme has taken India into an elite club of nations that possess the capability to demonstrate and deploy missile defence. DRDO should now also work towards developing a credible BMD for our country.”

Source.

Mumbai: Explosions took place at Khau Gali in Kabutarkana in Dadar and Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House in Charni road on Wednesday. At least 12 people have been killed.

The police, the fire brigade and home guards are at the site of the blasts.

The first explosion took place in south Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar, near the famous Mumbadevi temple, in which some people were injured, said Mumbai police spokesperson Nisar Tamboli.

The bustling market also has a number of jewellery shops. An eyewitness said that the fire at the Zaveri Bazaar blast site was brought under control.

Over 100 were injured in the blasts.

The home ministry has refrained from calling the explosions bomb blasts.

The police is probing a tiffin box found at the blast site.

The second explosion was reported in a taxi in Dadar area, he said.

At least 8 to 10 people are injured at Prashant Chamber in Opera Hose blasts.

The home ministry has said that it’s a terrorist attack.

All states have been put on high alert following this.

Teams of Maharashtra ATS have been rushed to the spots.

NIA teams have been asked to join investigations in the Mumbai blasts.

Source.

Fox News – Two Muslim mothers in a northern Indian town have been arrested on accusations they killed their daughters for dishonoring the family by eloping with Hindu men, police said Sunday.

Newlyweds Zahida, 19, and Husna, 26, were strangled when they returned home after getting married to men of their choice, said Anil Kumar Kusan, a police officer.

Marriages between Hindus and Muslims are not common in India and are frowned upon by both communities, although there are more instances of inter-religious marriages among the educated urban population.

Across India, many marriages are still arranged by families. But with the booming economy and more women entering the work force, such traditions are slowly giving way to love marriages.

However, centuries-old caste and community barriers still come into play, and there has been a spurt in “honor killings” in recent years across northern India.

Zahida and Husna were neighbors in Baghpat, a town in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, when they fell in love with two construction workers. They eloped and got married last week before returning home to make peace with their families, Kusan said.

The women belonged to Muslim families and their mothers, both widows, were furious, Kusan said.

Initial investigations showed that the mothers helped each other to strangle their daughters.

“We killed them because they brought shame to our community. How could they elope with Hindus? They deserved to die. We have no remorse,” Khatun, one of the mothers, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper after her arrest Friday. Khatun uses only one name.

Earlier this week, India’s Supreme Court recommended the death penalty for honor killings, calling the practice barbaric and feudal.

Most victims of such killings are young adults who fall in love or marry against their families’ wishes. In some cases, village councils order couples killed who marry outside their caste or religion.

While there are no official figures, an independent study found around 900 people are killed each year in India for defying their elders.

Reuters – Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged sustained cross-border fire on Sunday, security officials said, a day after an Indian soldier was killed by Pakistani troops while patrolling one of the world’s most heavily guarded borders.

The two sides exchanged small arms fire for 30 minutes early on Sunday at a border post 30 km (18 miles) from Jammu, the winter capital of the disputed Kashmir region in north India.

“Pakistani soldiers opened unprovoked firing on our Umra Wali post,” said a spokesman for the paramilitary Indian Border Security Force. “We responded to their fire effectively.”

A Pakistani border security official confirmed the clash, but denied starting it. Three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were wounded, he said.

An Indian soldier died in hospital late on Saturday from bullet wounds sustained after Pakistani soldiers opened fire on a routine patrol in the same area, the Indian side said.

He was the first Indian soldier killed by Pakistani troops in a year.

The two nuclear-armed rivals agreed a ceasefire in Kashmir in 2003 and while it has largely held, short exchanges of fire occur almost every month.

The neighbors have fought three wars since 1947, but have been making tentative moves to revive a sluggish peace process that was broken off by India after the 2008 militant assault on the city of Mumbai.

India says Pakistani-backed militants were responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

India accuses its neighbor of funding militant attacks in Kashmir, which both sides claim in full, and has looked to use the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan this month to ratchet up pressure on Pakistan to do more to tackle militancy.

The Hindu - A General of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) called on the Chinese government to take a more aggressive line in its foreign policy as well as recover territory “looted by neighbours,” in an essay that was published in the official media only two days before Premier Wen Jiabao’s arrival in India.

“The neighbouring area is not peaceful, and we have outside threats,” wrote Major General Luo Yuan, who is also the deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, in an essay published in the officialGlobal Times, a Chinese newspaper known for its nationalistic views.

China, he said, could not call itself “a strong nation” unless it “recovered the land looted by neighbours.”

While the essay did not name India or specific territorial disputes and only issued a general call for Chinese society to become more militaristic, the Communist Party-run Global Times agreeing to publish the general’s comments on neighbouring countries only days ahead of Mr. Wen’s arrival in New Delhi could not be ignored, diplomatic sources and analysts said.

His view, according to them, signalled the marked difference between the PLA’s views and the stated “peaceful rise” position often publicly articulated by Chinese diplomats and officials. While PLA officers usually do not issue public statements on foreign policy, the PLA, unlike other militaries, has a significant influence on formulating foreign policy, analysts say.

Major General Luo’s essay is thought to have reflected views within the military that China’s military modernisation, as well as its influence, had not kept pace with the country’s economic progress.

‘UNSOLVED ISSUE’

“China’s gross domestic product is close to the second in the world, but we have not even solved the issue of national unification,” Major General Luo said, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. “We have not recovered the land looted by our neighbours.”

The past three decades of peaceful development, he said, had led to “some army personnel becoming slack” and “too accustomed to this comfortable pacifism.” Chinese policy needed to be more aggressive.

“But aggression does not mean that one likes war,” he said. “It is a means of deterrence.”

Major General Luo is regarded as a particularly nationalistic and divisive figure, even calling on China to sell its holding of United States treasury bonds to protest arms sales to Taiwan — a suggestion dismissed by the government.

He is, nevertheless, seen as reflecting views widely held within the military.

‘POTENTIAL DANGERS’

Obliquely questioning China’s official “peaceful rise” policy mantra, Major General Luo wrote: “It seems some people like to resort to peaceful means to all questions. [But] We have to think of potential dangers in times of peace. Our neighbouring situation is not good. We have threats from foreign countries, and our country is still not unified.”

Ties between the Indian military and the PLA are particularly strained. At present, India has no contact with the PLA, with defence exchanges being suspended after the PLA voiced objections in July to hosting the head of the Indian Army’s Northern Command, saying he was in charge of the “sensitive” region of Kashmir.

The joint communiqué issued after Mr. Wen’s recent visit to India, for the first time in several years, had no mention of military-to-military ties or defence exchanges, as is the usual practice.