US military base deal blocked in Colombia

A DEAL that would US troops above the law in Colombia has been blocked by the South American country's courts.

Reports antiwar.com: "Colombia’s Constitutional Court has announced that it is suspending a deal to provide US troops with increased access to the nation’s military bases as part of 'anti-drug' operations, insisting that such a deal could not be done unilaterally by the president.

"Instead, President Juan Manuel Santos must seek congressional approval for the deal, and even then the court will almost certainly be challenged on the constitutionality of the deal. The court declined to even consider that aspect yet, insisting that it couldn’t do so until the deal was legally made in the first place.

"The deal was reached last year by then-President Uribe, and gave the US not only increased access, but gave US troops blanket immunity from criminal prosecution in Colombia. The deal was harshly criticized by Colombia’s neighbors as giving the US an unacceptable foothold in South America.

"Particularly irked was Venezuela, which has been increasingly at odds with Colombia over Marxist rebels along their mutual border. The deal means that any war between the two nations would inevitably draw the US in. "

US military confirms oil theory

THE US military has warned that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact, The Guardian has reported.

The energy crisis outlined in a Joint Operating Environment report from the US Joint Forces Command, comes as the price of petrol in Britain reaches record levels and the cost of crude is predicted to soon top $100 a barrel.

"By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day," says the report, which has a foreword by a senior commander, General James N Mattis.

It adds: "While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India."

The Guardian fails to record whether the US military noted any connection between the oil crisis and the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Turkish military plot linked to USA

A SINISTER military conspiracy, probably covertly backed by the USA, is being confronted by the Turkish government.

Reports the BBC: "Seven senior military officers have been formally charged in Turkey with attempting to overthrow the government.

"They include four admirals, a general and two colonels, some of them retired.

"The seven were among more than 40 officers arrested on Monday over an alleged 2003 plot to stir up chaos in Turkey and justify a military coup. "

Says Al Jazeera: "The arrests are believed to be linked to a purported 2003 plot to discredit the AKP government, a plan revealed by the Taraf newspaper in January.

"The plan, codenamed Sledgehammer, involved bombing two Istanbul mosques and escalating tensions with Greece by forcing Greek jets to down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea.

"The act would have been an attempt to show the Turkish government as inept, according to documents obtained by Taraf."

Adds the BBC: "The alleged plot is similar, and possibly linked, to the reported Ergenekon conspiracy, in which military figures and staunch secularists allegedly planned to foment unrest, leading to a coup.

"Scores of people, including military officers, journalists and academics, are on trial in connection with that case."

However, the BBC does not report on links with the Europe-wide Gladio conspiracy, in which a secret network of 'stay-behind' guerrillas/terrorists was set up by the USA and UK to ensure control of governments remained in 'friendly' hands.

Explains Wikipedia: "As one of the nations that prompted the Truman Doctrine, Turkey is one of the first countries to participate in Operation Gladio and, some say, the only country where it has not been purged.

"According to Italian magistrate Felice Casson, the Turkish stay-behind forces are two-pronged: the military "Counter-Guerrilla", and the civilian "Ergenekon". An offshoot of the latter organization is currently the subject of a major investigation. Casson says Turkey is home to the most powerful branch of Operation Gladio."

NATO forces rocked by scandal

SCANDALS relating to the war in Afghanistan are rocking key NATO countries.

The current situation, with morale spiralling down to disastrous levels, was usefully summarised by the Canadian blog RedBedHead on November 27.

It wrote: "Canada's role in facilitating the torture of suspects - many of them likely innocent - has become a central public issue here. In Britain the revelation that MI6 supported torture against British citizens in Pakistan has become a major issue. And, now in Germany, where anti-war sentiment is very high, the prosecution of the war is causing deep political damage.

"Today the Labour Minister, formerly Defense Minister, Franz Josef Jung was forced to sign his own walking papers after it was revealed by the tabloid Bild that he knew about the killing of numerous civilians resulting from a Kunduz airstrike in September.

"The German army called in NATO fighters to bomb two fuel tankers that had been seized by the Taliban, even though there were numerous civilians taking advantage of the free fuel being provided to them.

"Jung had originally stated that he didn't know there were civilians killed but it has since been discovered that he was told on the day that the bombing took place and that he received a top secret video showing that the carnage included children.

"The German military's chief of staff in Afghanistan has also been a casualty of this cover-up, resigning earlier this week.

"Germany, which has 4,250 troops in Afghanistan has faced significant opposition at home to the deployment. This will, hopefully, further weaken the hand of the government to keep its troops there.

"All of these scandals are simply proof that the occupation of Afghanistan is a criminal operation that involves dehumanizing the locals to the point that bombing civilians, including children, is seen as nothing more than potential bad press that needs to be covered up. Same for torture, as we're seeing so vividly here in Canada. It's time to stop the killing by bringing the troops home."

Morale crisis in US army

AN AMERICAN military source has confirmed that morale in the US/UK military machine has plunged to crisis levels.

In an article entitled Mass Shooting Indicates Breakdown of Military, the US website truthout spoke with an army specialist who is an active-duty Iraq war veteran currently stationed at the
Fort Hood base, scene of this week's shooting (see previous blog).

The soldier is quoted as saying that the mood on the base is “very grim,” and that even before this incident, troop morale has been very low.

“I’d say it’s at an all-time low - mostly because of Afghanistan now,” he explained. “Nobody knows why we are at either place, and I believe the troops need to know why they are there, or we should pull out, and this is a unanimous feeling, even for folks who are pro-war.”

Fort Hood, located in central Texas, is the largest US military base in the world and contains up to 50,000 soldiers. It is one of the most heavily deployed bases to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

War machine imploding

WESTERN imperialism in central Asia looks closer to imploding today after two extremely serious incidents over the last few days.

First of all, on Tuesday, there was the Afghan policeman who shot dead five British soldiers at a military base.

And then on Thursday there was the US army psychiatrist, about to be deployed to Iraq, who allegedly shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 when he went on a rampage at Fort Hood military base in Texas.

It is not known whether there was any connection between the two, in that the US soldier may have been inspired by hearing of the Afghan policeman's actions.

But in any case there is obviously a severe risk from the point of view of the US/UK war machine that the situation will spiral further out of control.

On the one hand, the incidents will have created momentum for a fresh wave of desperate resistance to their military machine that may well lead to further attacks and, at the very least, renewed optimism for their opponents.

On the other, morale amongst US/UK forces, already seemingly at a low ebb, will be plunged into still greater depths, with untold consequences for military efficacity.