AGI News - ANTIMISSILE SHIELD: RUSSIA TO AIM AT POLISH AND CZECH SITES

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ANTIMISSILE SHIELD: RUSSIA TO AIM AT POLISH AND CZECH SITES

Russia might be pointing missiles at US strategic objectives in Central Europe, such as the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic set aside for the enlargement to Eastern Europe of the US anti-missile system for national defence, the “shield” that Moscow considers a direct threat to its own security. The warning, which has come in a period of high tension between the Kremlin and the West over the conflict in Georgia, was given by General Nikolai Solovtsov, RVSN (the Russian Strategic Missile Forces) commander and quoted by the independent news service Interfax.

National Post: 'New Europe' shows resolve'- "or are they just plain wrong like they were on Iraq?" - by Peter Goodspeed

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'New Europe' shows resolve' - "or are they just plain wrong like they were on Iraq?" - by Peter Goodspeed

The Five Day War has revealed deep new divisions between Old and New Europe.

There is an obvious rift within the EU's 27 member states and between former Soviet satellite states who want to take tough action against Moscow and the Western European powers who cautiously warn against antagonizing a resurgent Russia.Ironically, the divisions almost mirror the splits that surfaced in Europe over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when Donald Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, dismissed invasion critics, saying, "You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe." His comments raised a furor, with Europeans accusing him of being both wrong and undiplomatic. Today, European tensions between the ageing West and the impatient, still insecure newcomers from the East are increasingly evident.

More immediately, New Europe's fears of being the next potential target of Russian aggression spurred Poland to conclude an agreement with Washington yesterday, establishing a controversial anti-missile defense shield on Polish soil. After 18 months of inconclusive bargaining, they signed a deal in which Washington will set up its new anti-missile shield in exchange for a promise to base 10 Patriot anti-missile batteries permanently in Poland. Washington also agreed to a mutual defense pact that commits each country to come to the others aid in a crisis.

Note EU-Digest "Some of the former European east block countries which are now members of the EU and who have enormously benefited from the economic aid provided to them by the EU seem to be unwilling to be part of a common European policy. They rather prefer to be part of the US sphere of influence. This should not be acceptable and they must be made to understand by the majority of the EU members that this behaviour is not conducive to the unity of the European Union.".

M&C: US, France clash over G8 expansion

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US, France clash over G8 expansion

The United States and France clashed Monday over plans to accommodate India, China and other large developing countries into the Group of Eight (G8) of industrialized countries, according to Japanese media reports quoting officials from both sides.In an interview given to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper prior to his departure for Japan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said G8 annual summits should also include China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.

Alternative Health News: U.S. Ranks Dead Last Among 19 Nations In Preventive Medicine

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The U.S. Ranks Dead Last Among 19 Nations In Preventive Medicine

The United States ranks worst among developed nations in the number of preventable deaths, according to a study conducted by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and published in the journal.

AFP: Russia, US considering shared anti-missile shield with Europe

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Russia, US considering shared anti-missile shield with Europe

Russia and the United States said in a joint declaration Sunday that they are considering a shared anti-missile defence system with Europe.

DW: Europe Splits Russian, US Presidents at Final Meeting

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Europe Splits Russian, US Presidents at Final Meeting

Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush's final meeting was a commemoration of their personal ties but couldn't paper over entrenched differences on US missile defense plans for central Europe and the role of NATO. President Vladimir Putin said Sunday, April 6, that Russia was not prepared to drop its objections to US plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe despite recent US concessions, news agency Interfax reported. "Our fundamental attitudes to the American plan have not changed," Putin said in a press conference after his last tete-a-tete meeting with his US counterpart George W. Bush. Putin, however, acknowledged US efforts to "resolve the issues" and "offer a set of confidence-building measures."

EU-Digest: Cow dung can smell sweet when it cuts your energy costs

A methane gas powered generator producing electricity

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Rick Morren, president of Morren Mondial Associates, Inc., (MMA), an International Business Development Corporation with offices in Maine and Florida has been tirelessly promoting the use of alternative energy resources around the US, the Caribbean and Turkey. Most recently his focus has been on methods which collect methane gas and keep it out of the atmosphere, by using the gas to produce energy. Morren who is a Dutch citizen says, "Cow dung mixed with other organic materials,like logging trims, agricultural or fish industry leftovers can be turned into energy at a relative low cost. It is being done in many areas of Europe and there is no reason why it can not be done elsewhere. "An added benefit to producing this energy", he says,"is that it also stops the methane created by decaying waste from escaping into the atmosphere and warming the planet.

"A single farm with an average number of live-stock could supply electricity to about 15 to 20 homes throughout the year. On a large scale this might seem like a drop in the bucket", said Morren, "but on a small scale, it does make a difference."

MMA has several exclusive turn-key agreements with alternative energy technology companies in Europe including; Germany (this agreement in partnership with Euro Trust Investments, USA, Inc.); Austria (MMA agreement); Netherlands (MMA agreement) and Switzerland (MMA agreement). "All these companies", says Morren, "can provide MMA clients with the technology and expertise to implement bio-mass generating capabilities anywhere in the world. This technology cuts the cost on the use of energy, reduces green-house gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Cow dung can smell sweet when it cuts your energy costs."
For additional information contact: mma@europehouse.com

EU-Digest: Iraq Coalition Casualties: IRAQ - December 2007 - 4204 total of which 3897 US soldiers

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IRAQ - December 2007 - 4204 total of which 3897 US soldiers

During the above period there have also been been 38,876 wounded and 132 suicides. Twenty percent of the U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan come from the Army National Guard. Many are from small towns, and go to war alongside family and friends.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the strain of the war in Iraq is increasingly forcing senior Pentagon leaders to be blunter about the military's inability to sustain war operations indefinitely, a shift in tone that may mean more troops come home sooner.The Army is expected to grow to 547,000 soldiers by 2010, and Casey has left the door open for an even bigger increase beyond that. But time is running short for the Army now, Mr. McCaffrey says. "We can probably sustain a force in Iraq indefinitely (given adequate funding) of some 10-plus brigades," McCaffrey wrote in a post-trip report. "However, the US Army is starting to unravel."

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday painted a bleak picture of the situation of children in Iraq, where an estimated 2 million boys and girls continue suffer from poor nutrition, disease and interrupted education. Thousands of families have been obliged to leave their homes because of violence or threats, and hundreds of children have lost their lives in the violence, UNICEF said in a press release. Iraq Body Count’s research shows that 27,000 civilian deaths from violence were reported in 2006. This represents a huge increase compared to preceding years: 14,000 killed in 2005, 10,500 in 2004 and just under 12,000 in 2003 (7,000 during the actual war/invasion, and another 5,000 during the ‘peace’ that followed). Early indications are that roughly 20,000 violent civilian deaths will be recorded for the first 9 months of 2007. By year’s end, 2007 looks to be the second-worst calendar year for violence in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, trailing only behind 2006, and still almost twice as deadly for civilians as the first year.

DefenseNews.com - Russia Criticizes U.S. Missile Plans, Talks Up Alternatives - by NICK COLEMAN

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Russia Criticizes U.S. Missile Plans, Talks Up Alternatives - by NICK COLEMAN

Russian officials criticized the United States Dec. 5 for what one called an “unconstructive” approach to missile defense, while voicing hopes for cooperation on Moscow’s own missile proposals.
The criticism came after a U.S. intelligence report undercut U.S. allegations about Iran’s atomic goals, which have been a pillar of U.S. arguments for building new missile defense facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland.At a news conference, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained that Washington had gone back on an offer to allow full-time Russian monitors to be based at the Czech and Polish sites. Lavrov said Russia was “disappointed at how ideas that appeared to be moving in a reasonable direction turned out on paper.” Interviewed by the Interfax news agency, a defense ministry advisor, Ilshat Baichurin, said that the United States had demonstrated an “unconstructive approach on a matter concerning the security of millions of European residents.”