Free Republic

... Water Cannon On Anti-Japan Protesters Yesterday we described that anti-Japan sentiment across China was spreading like wildfire with some even suggesting it is time to declare war on Japan (see picture) in retaliation for the unprecedented shift in Japan's status quo vis-a-vis the Senkaku Islands. Today it has gotten even worse. From Reuters: "Chinese police used pepper spray, tear gas and water cannon to break up an anti-Japan protest in southern China on Sunday as demonstrators took to the streets in scores of cities across the country in a long-running row over a group of disputed islands. The protests...

March 1981, and inside 10 Downing Street, Margaret Thatcher is confronting the most terrible dilemma any British Prime Minister has ever faced. The news could hardly be worse. Across Britain, tens of thousands of terrified people are streaming out of the major cities. Looting is widespread, while every day brings bomb attacks at railway stations and RAF bases. Abroad, the Red Army has sliced through the West’s defences, using chemical weapons to punch through Nato’s front lines. Yugoslavia has fallen, and West Germany and Norway are on the verge of succumbing. After four days of Russian air raids, killing hundreds...

n less than sixty minutes, the tiny nation of Iran could easily defeat two of the mightiest military powers in the world if they are allowed to engage in a first strike opportunity against both of those nations. This is not some far-fetched idea as U.S. and Israeli military planners are keenly aware of the implications of an Iranian attack which catches both nations off guard. The problem is not one of strategy or ability by either nation. The military units of both nations could easily defeat the Iranians in a nuclear or conventional war. However, Iran is not a...

As the US completes its final withdrawal from Iraq, American special forces troops have been diverted to positions in Jordan opposite a Syrian tank concentration building up across the kingdom’s northern border, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report. As of last Thursday, as of last Thursday Dec. 8, military convoys, air transports and helicopters have been lifting US troops across the border from Iraq. They have been deployed in position to ward off a possible Syrian invasion in the light of President Bashar Assad’s warning that he would set the entire Middle East on fire if the pressure on his...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-3xeP7NFRE&feature=share&fb_source=message

UPDATE: December 1, 2011; 10:00AM Amid the tensions in Iran and the destruction of a second nuclear facility (which is detailed in the original story below), we find it necessary to present our readers with an update made available via The Daily Crux and Zero Hedge, in which Major General Zhang Zhaozhong, a professor from the Chinese National Defense University, said China “will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third World War.” Trillions of dollars in debt and regional energy resources are at play here. Perhaps this is the reason Iran is publicly downplaying the threat and the...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have enough money to last until the end of the week, raising the possibility that Congress could avert a government shutdown by end of the day on Friday, according to Senate officials familiar with the matter. FEMA officials have not yet commented on the matter, but three Senate officials told POLITICO that the agency signaled to Congress that its depleted funds could last through Thursday, and possibly Friday, which coincides with the end of the current fiscal year. FEMA was initially projected to run out of money as early as Tuesday.

An American credit downgrade. Europe in turmoil. Israel menaced by an Iran with nuclear ambitions. Mexican drug cartels run amok. Chinese ghost cities. With each passing day the news gets worse. To my amateur historian's eye, we seem to be drowning under the greatest flood of crisis, both international and domestic, since the 1930s. We all know how that ended. Will it be possible, in terrible 2010s, to resolve the world's problems without war? I'm not so certain. About a decade ago, The National Review's John Derbyshire wrote that the odds of us, or our children, dying in a "genuine...

China has warned in unequivocal terms that any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China. Beijing has advised Washington to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and solidarity and this was formally conveyed to the United States at last week’s China-US strategic dialogue and economic talks.

CAIRO (AP) — Iran‘s first attempt in decades to send warships through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Europe’s — and NATO’s — southern flank could further destabilize the Middle East, a region already reeling from an unprecedented wave of anti-government rebellions.

If you "want to be hedged for complete disaster – World War III… you are better off in commodity-related investments", says Marc Faber in the latest issue of US financial paper Barron's. That might seem drastic. But Faber is convinced that China's rise, and its diminishing dependence on America, means that "eventually, we will have a war, big time".

The US has finally reached the breaking point to go to war with North Korea. The planning of war with North Korea is already in the works. After the most recent outburst from North Korea, China has asked to resume the 6 party talks. The US has refused to resume these talk, but is instead planning 3 party talks between the US, Japan, and South Korea in Washington. The news reports that these discussions are to be about how to diplomatically handle North Korea, but I wouldn't trust this after the most recent Wikileaks publishing.

BRITISH singer James Blunt said his refusal to obey orders from an American general helped avert an international incident, and a potential Third World War. The You’re Beautiful singer, a former captain in the Life Guards - the senior regiment of the British Army - said in an interview today he risked a court martial by countermanding an order from General Wesley Clark to attack Russian forces. Blunt, then 25, was in command of British troops ordered to take control of Pristina Airfield in Kosovo in June 1999, during the Balkan conflict. However, 200 Russian soldiers got there first, and...

WOULD APPRECIATE INPUTS WHICH DO NOT COMPROMISE OUR TROOPS OR PATRIOTIC CONCERNS . . . HOWEVER . . . . Many of us have relationships with folks who have occasion to observe fairly public indications of impending grand events. Given John Bolton's warnings . . . Given Russia's warnings . . . Given Cliff High's recently published new edition of his webbot pattern tracking software . . . Given a list of other such warnings . . . WWIII appears to be as close as 6 days or so from getting kicked off up to into November as a starting...

China Freaks Out The World By Announcing Restrictions On Export Of Metals Crucial For National Defense Joe Weisenthal Jun. 2, 2010, 10:11 PM China appears to be making moves that several folks had been fearing for some time: It is considering stricter limits on the export of so-called rare-earth metals. The metals, which are most abundant in China, are used in a range of high tech industries including green energy and defense, which is what most concerns the US government. Claiming that the mining of rare earths has been bad for the environment, the government is moving to restrict unauthorized...

The Impending War by Ari Bussel I can feel the war with my fingertips. Quite how bad will it be I do not know; only time will tell. The approaching day of reckoning is upon us; the build-up is almost complete. Following, there will be peace that will last many generations. To achieve such peace however, a fatal blow must be dealt. The players will align themselves; preliminary moves have already begun. Iran, Russia and China may be one block, although this may change in time. Israel, the USA and Europe will inevitably be the other, although not as much...

USUALLY, there is a familiar cycle to Korea crises. Like a street gang showing off its power to run amok in a well-heeled neighborhood, the North Koreans launch a missile over Japan or set off a nuclear test or stage an attack — as strong evidence indicates they did in March, when a South Korean warship was torpedoed. Expressions of outrage follow. So do vows that this time, the North Koreans will pay a steep price. SNIP The White House betting is that the latest crisis, stemming from the March attack, will also abate without much escalation. But there is...

This is a link to the original Japanese story just now.Rather sketchy and breaking, but will synopsize main points into English as thus:There is the large Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea for manufacturing products, which is just across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the truce village of Panmunjom, jointly run by North and South Korea. You can clearly see this development from overlook vantage points on hills located around Panmunjom. There are a number of South Korean managers and employers there on-site as we speak. At this time, they are apparantly not free to leave.N. Korea is threatening to...

Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline. The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers. The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels. The flotilla’s commander, identified only as “Colonel O”,...

German historians are divided over the significance of a massive Communist-era bunker in the former East Germany. Was it to be used as a command post in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe? Researchers now believe Europe was closer to the nuclear abyss than was previously believed. snip . . . During the first 90 minutes, this ground assault would have been accompanied by a hail of conventional and nuclear warheads aimed at thousands of predetermined targets.