Rusia akan Membalas Sanksi Ompong AS
Islam
Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdccm1q1o2bqei8.5fa2.html
"Dari perspektif pasar, risiko terbesar adalah, referendum akan
memicu sanksi keras terhadap Rusia yang dapat menyebabkan perang dingin
lain," kata Kathleen Brooks, direktur research Forex kepada AP.
John Kerry Menlu AS dan Sergey Lavrov, Menlu Rusia
Rusia menolak sanksi "ompong" pimpinan AS yang dikenakan terhadap para pejabat Rusia dan Ukraina setelah referendum Crimea dan bersumpah untuk membalas sanksi tersebut.
Pasar Rusia juga menolak sanksi AS, dan nilai Rubel di pasar global tetap stabil.
"Sejauh ini sanksi tampak ompong dan efeknya tidak seperti yang diperkirakan pekan lalu.
"Dari perspektif pasar, risiko terbesar adalah, referendum akan memicu sanksi keras terhadap Rusia yang dapat menyebabkan perang dingin," kata Kathleen Brooks, direktur research Forex kepada AP.
Pada Senin kemarin, pejabat senior Uni Eropa memperingatkan blok negara-28 dan Ukraina akan menderita kekurangan gas pada akhir Oktober jika Rusia memainkan politik energi dan memotong pasokannya dalam perang diplomatik atas nama masa depan Crimea.
Pada waktu yang sama, para menteri luar negeri Uni Eropa (UE) juga, menyetujui sanksi terhadap 21 pejabat Rusia dan Ukraina yang dianggap bertanggung jawab atas pemisahan Crimea dari ukraina melalui referendum pada Ahad kemarin.
Pernyataan itu diutarakan oleh Menteri Luar Negeri Lithuania, Linas Linkevicius kepada AFP, dan menyebut bahwa, 21 pejabat kedua negara akan menjadi sasaran larangan perjalanan dan pembekuan aset-aset mereka.[IT/r]
Analis: AS Menumpuk Pasukan di Perbatasan Rusia
Islam
Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcaaenee49nim1.h8k4.html
Penggulingan Presiden Ukraina, Viktor Yanukovych adalah kudeta
yang didukung-Barat, dan Barat membiayai kudeta itu, tambahnya lagi.
AS, Rusia dan Gejolak Ukrainia.jpg
Amerika Serikat dan Uni Eropa telah membengkokan semua hukum internasional di Ukraina dan Washington tengah menumpuk pasukannya di perbatasan Rusia, kata seorang analis.
"Saya pikir isu-isu hukum internasional di sini (Ukraina, red), tidak dapat dilihat hanya dengan satu sisi pandang. Realiasnya, bahaya terbesar adalah ada penumpukan pasukan AS di negara-negara garis depan NATO di Baltik dan di Polandia, tepat di perbatasan Rusia," kata Jeff Steinberg, editor senior di Executive Intelligence Review, kepada Press TV pada hari Selasa, 18/3/14.
Menurutnya, pembicaraan sedang berlangsung dan akan mempercepat keanggotaan Ukraina dalam anggota blok-28 Eropa.
"Ada upaya untuk mendorong perbatasan NATO tepat di perbatasan Rusia," tambahnya.
"Jadi semua hukum internasional dan aturan tengah dibengkokkan oleh Uni Eropa dan Amerika Serikat untuk menyembunyikan fakta bahwa mereka telah melakukan kudeta secara efektif terhadap sebuah negara berdaulat sebelumnya. Barat telah melanggar perjanjian Ukraina sebelum terjadi tindakan di Crimea," jelasnya.
Penggulingan Presiden Ukraina, Viktor Yanukovych adalah kudeta yang didukung-Barat, dan Barat membiayai kudeta itu, tambahnya lagi.
Steinberg lebih lant mencatat, organisasi neo-Nazi adalah salah satu kekuatan yang paling signifikan yang digunakan dalam kudeta itu, dan badan-badan ini sebelumnya dikecam oleh Uni Eropa, bahkan Parlemen Eropa dan pejabat pemerintah AS menyatakan kelompok neo-Nazi ini sangat berbahaya.[IT/r]
Russians reportedly attack two Ukrainian naval units in Crimea
MOSCOW -- Ukrainian forces at two naval facilities in Crimea
reported Wednesday that they were attacked by gunmen linked to Russia
in violation of an earlier agreement to give them until Friday to leave
the breakaway region.
“So-called pro-Russian
self-defense forces of Crimea aided by Russian gunmen in unmarked
uniforms stormed and gained control of our navy chief’s headquarters in
Sevastopol,” Alexei Mazepa, regional spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense
Ministry, said in a phone interview. The headquarters building was
under Russian control by midday, he said.
Ukrainian forces on the peninsula have largely been surrounded and barricaded by Russian troops and pro-Russian militia who seized control of Crimea late last month. On Tuesday, following a controversial referendum among Crimeans, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Ukrainian region would become part of Russia.
A Russian journalist who witnessed the assault on the headquarters said it was launched by about 200 armed pro-Russian militia in Russian army uniforms and masks and by Russian Cossacks. The attackers broke down the gates of the base and surrounded the main building.
Ukrainian naval officers barricaded themselves in the building and the assault subsided when Vice Adm. Alexander Vitko, commander of Russia’s Crimean-based Black Sea fleet, arrive to negotiate, said journalist Oleg Klimov by telephone from the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
“As soon as Vitko was gone, the storm continued as the Cossacks and militiamen broke down the door and threw at least one stun grenade inside,” he said.
The defenders were overwhelmed without a shot fired, Klimov said.
“When the entire base was in the hands of the attackers, Russian gunmen in unmarked uniforms arrived on the scene in great numbers and took positions everywhere inside the base,” Klimov said. “As Ukrainian officers, looking demoralized, started leaving the base one captain … stopped for a minute, looking around the base as if saying goodbye.” He carried framed photographs of naval vessels he had served on.
A similar scene unfolded miles away at Donuzlav Lake, where armed pro-Russian militia broke down the gate of a Ukrainian naval base with a tractor, according to Mazepa, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman.
“The unit’s armed officers and sailors barricaded themselves inside the command building of the base, threatened to open fire on the attackers and those retreated,” Mazepa said over the phone.
On Tuesday night one Ukrainian officer was killed and at least two were injured as Russian gunmen reportedly opened fire at a Ukrainian army cartographic unit in the center of Simferopol.
Russia is trying to rid the peninsula of Ukrainian servicemen as quickly as possible to gain full control over Crimea, Ukrainian defense expert Dmitry Tymchuk said.
“Our army and navy units in Crimea are the only element of Ukraine's presence in this region the Kremlin has annexed by force,” Tymchuk, the head of the Kiev-based Center for Military and Political research, said in a phone interview. The Ukrainian troops “are in a very desperate situation now as the political and military leadership of Ukraine still refrains from issuing concrete instructions for their conduct in these dire circumstances.”
Ukraine had managed to save at least half of its navy fleet, including its flag ship Hetman Sahaidachny, which relocated to the ports of Odessa and Mariupol. The seven vessels trapped at Donuzlav Lake may soon fall into Russian hands as the waterway’s access to the Black Sea has been blockaded by the Black Sea Fleet. The Russians sank at least three old vessels there early this month to prevent the Ukrainian ships from leaving, Mazepa said.
Rear Adm. Sergei Gayduk, commander of the Ukrainian navy, was temporarily detained by Russian investigators in Sevastopol on suspicion that he ordered his forces “to open fire against peaceful civilians,” Russian ITAR-TASS new agency reported.
[Updated 10:55 a.m. PDT March 19: Ukraine's acting president, Olexandr Turchinov, was later quoted by the UNIAN news agency as saying that Gayduk was still being held and demanding the release of the admiral and other "hostages."]
A Ukraine marine battalion stationed in the Crimean port of Feodosia demanded instructions from Kiev, UNIAN news agency reported. The marines also demanded guarantees that they would be able to continue their military service in Ukraine proper and in the same unit.
“If this is not done, the consequences may be unpredictable,” the battalion commander’s statement said, suggesting their possible defection.
ALSO:
Navy SEALs seize tanker in illegal sale of Libyan oil
Malaysia flight search expands to 2.2 million square miles
Ukraine's surrounded soldiers in Crimea await their orders
sergei.loiko@latimes.com
Ukrainian forces on the peninsula have largely been surrounded and barricaded by Russian troops and pro-Russian militia who seized control of Crimea late last month. On Tuesday, following a controversial referendum among Crimeans, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Ukrainian region would become part of Russia.
A Russian journalist who witnessed the assault on the headquarters said it was launched by about 200 armed pro-Russian militia in Russian army uniforms and masks and by Russian Cossacks. The attackers broke down the gates of the base and surrounded the main building.
Ukrainian naval officers barricaded themselves in the building and the assault subsided when Vice Adm. Alexander Vitko, commander of Russia’s Crimean-based Black Sea fleet, arrive to negotiate, said journalist Oleg Klimov by telephone from the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
“As soon as Vitko was gone, the storm continued as the Cossacks and militiamen broke down the door and threw at least one stun grenade inside,” he said.
The defenders were overwhelmed without a shot fired, Klimov said.
“When the entire base was in the hands of the attackers, Russian gunmen in unmarked uniforms arrived on the scene in great numbers and took positions everywhere inside the base,” Klimov said. “As Ukrainian officers, looking demoralized, started leaving the base one captain … stopped for a minute, looking around the base as if saying goodbye.” He carried framed photographs of naval vessels he had served on.
A similar scene unfolded miles away at Donuzlav Lake, where armed pro-Russian militia broke down the gate of a Ukrainian naval base with a tractor, according to Mazepa, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman.
“The unit’s armed officers and sailors barricaded themselves inside the command building of the base, threatened to open fire on the attackers and those retreated,” Mazepa said over the phone.
On Tuesday night one Ukrainian officer was killed and at least two were injured as Russian gunmen reportedly opened fire at a Ukrainian army cartographic unit in the center of Simferopol.
Russia is trying to rid the peninsula of Ukrainian servicemen as quickly as possible to gain full control over Crimea, Ukrainian defense expert Dmitry Tymchuk said.
“Our army and navy units in Crimea are the only element of Ukraine's presence in this region the Kremlin has annexed by force,” Tymchuk, the head of the Kiev-based Center for Military and Political research, said in a phone interview. The Ukrainian troops “are in a very desperate situation now as the political and military leadership of Ukraine still refrains from issuing concrete instructions for their conduct in these dire circumstances.”
Ukraine had managed to save at least half of its navy fleet, including its flag ship Hetman Sahaidachny, which relocated to the ports of Odessa and Mariupol. The seven vessels trapped at Donuzlav Lake may soon fall into Russian hands as the waterway’s access to the Black Sea has been blockaded by the Black Sea Fleet. The Russians sank at least three old vessels there early this month to prevent the Ukrainian ships from leaving, Mazepa said.
Rear Adm. Sergei Gayduk, commander of the Ukrainian navy, was temporarily detained by Russian investigators in Sevastopol on suspicion that he ordered his forces “to open fire against peaceful civilians,” Russian ITAR-TASS new agency reported.
[Updated 10:55 a.m. PDT March 19: Ukraine's acting president, Olexandr Turchinov, was later quoted by the UNIAN news agency as saying that Gayduk was still being held and demanding the release of the admiral and other "hostages."]
A Ukraine marine battalion stationed in the Crimean port of Feodosia demanded instructions from Kiev, UNIAN news agency reported. The marines also demanded guarantees that they would be able to continue their military service in Ukraine proper and in the same unit.
“If this is not done, the consequences may be unpredictable,” the battalion commander’s statement said, suggesting their possible defection.
ALSO:
Navy SEALs seize tanker in illegal sale of Libyan oil
Malaysia flight search expands to 2.2 million square miles
Ukraine's surrounded soldiers in Crimea await their orders
sergei.loiko@latimes.com
Ukraina Kerahkan Militer, Siap Perang Melawan Rusia
Islam
Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcevx8x7jh8pwi.rabj.html
Garda Nasional ini akan bertugas melindungi "tempat-tempat
strategis" dan membantu memadamkan protes sporadis di kota-kota timur
Kharkiv dan Donetsk.
Tentara Ukrainia.jpg
Pemerintah Ukraina tengah menggelar militer darurat dan memanggil tentara cadangan sebagai bagian dari persiapan untuk perang melawan Rusia.
Persiapan itu dilakukan satu hari setelah Crimea memilih untuk memisahkan diri dari Ukraina dan bergabung dengan Rusia.
Parlemen Ukraina pada Selasa, 18/03/14, sepakat untuk mengalokasikan anggaran negara sebesar USD 600 juta untuk membeli senjata, reparasi perangkat keras militer dan meningkatkan latihan dalam tiga bulan mendatang.
Selain itu, Ukraina juga memanggil 40.000 tentara cadangan.
Sejumlah tentara cadangan akan dikerahkan menjadi Garda Nasional baru dalam beberapa hari kedepan dan minggu mendatang.
Garda Nasional ini akan bertugas melindungi "tempat-tempat strategis" dan membantu memadamkan protes sporadis di kota-kota timur Kharkiv dan Donetsk.
Seorang mantan menteri pertahanan Ukraina menyatakan penyesalannya, negaranya kehilangan Crimea.
"Saya dapat memberitahu Anda, kami memiliki mereka, Rusia semestinya tidak memasuki Crimea," kata Anatoliy Hrytsenko mantan Menteri Pertahanan Ukraina dari 2005 sampai 2007.
Anatoliy Hrytsenk juga meminta Amerika Serikat dan pemerintah Eropa untuk mengirimkan kapal perang dan pesawat ke wilayah tersebut.[IT/r]
Iran: Harga Minyak akan Meroket Jika AS Jatuhkan Sanksi pada Rusia
Islam Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcefx8xzjh8pwi.rabj.html
"Hal ini tidak mungkin terjadi, karena pasar Minyak dunia tidak bisa bertahan tanpa minyak Rusia, tegasnya.
Menteri Perminyakan Iran, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh memperingatkan meroketnya harga minyak global jika Amerika Serikat menjatuhkan sanksi pada sektor minyak Rusia sebagai reaksi terhadap pemisahan Crimea dari Ukraina.
"Jika peristiwa dan kasus Rusia semakin serius, harga minyak akan melambung naik, " ujar Zanganeh, Selasa (18/3/14).
Pada hari Senin (17/3), Presiden AS Barack Obama mengeluarkan perintah eksekutif yang memberlakukan sanksi pada 11 individu Rusia-Crimea dan Ukraina yang terlibat dalam Referendum dan situasi di Ukraina.
Obama memerintahkan pembekuan aset para pejabat tersebut atau yang akan memiliki aset di Amerika Serikat. Selain itu, perintah dan sanksi itu juga melarang individu tersebut bepergian ke negaranya.
Namun menurut Zanganeh, AS akan berfikir panjang jika menjatuhkan sanksi terhadap minyak Rusia.
"Hal ini tidak mungkin terjadi, karena pasar Minyak dunia tidak bisa bertahan tanpa minyak Rusia, tegasnya.
Rusia adalah produsen minyak terbesar di dunia. Pada 2012, Rusia menghasilkan $ 160 miliar dari ekspor minyak mentah, BBM serta bahan baku industri ke AS dan seluruh Eropa.
Oleh karena itu AS akan berfikir ulang hilangnya sebagian besar minyak produksi Rusia dari pasar global, ungkapnya.(IT/TGM)
The end of the Qalamoun mini-state
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/end-qalamoun-mini-state
A
handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
on March 17, 2014, shows Syrian pro-government forces and supporters of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hoisting their national flag in the
western town of Yabrud.(Photo: AFP-SANA/ HO)
The outcome of the war in Qalamoun has now been settled.
Though not all battles there have been won, the capture of Yabrud by the
Syrian army and Hezbollah on Sunday has dealt a fatal blow to the
project for a Qalamoun mini-state.
In terms of geography, the Qalamoun region acts as a link between
Damascus and Homs. Qalamoun is also Syria’s foremost gateway to Lebanon.
Simultaneously, the Qalamoun mountain range opens up to the boundless Badia,
the desert bordering Hama, Aleppo, Raqqa, and Deir al-Zour in the
north, Iraq in the east, and the Damascus countryside in the south.
The Syrian opposition’s plan was to extend its control over the
Qalamoun Mountains, including both the area east of the Damascus-Homs
highway, from northern Dmeir in the Damascus countryside to the southern
Homs countryside, and the area west of the highway, from northern
Zabadani in the Damascus countryside to south of Qusayr in the Homs
countryside.
The opposition envisioned establishing a mini-state in the form of a
horizontal bar extending from Lebanon to Iraq, dividing Syria into two
parts: Damascus and south Syria; and Homs and northern/western Syria.
Practically, this would have led to Syria falling to the opposition
without much trouble. Compared to the effort to control Qalamoun,
operations that were previously touted to separate Damascus from Homs,
and the Syrian coast from the capital, would have then been a fait
accompli.
But the Syrian army and its allies stood their ground in the Ghouta region of Damascus’s countryside, the agricultural belt surrounding the capital, before the decisive battle in Qusayr. The opposition’s plot and the project for the Qalamoun mini-state began to reel, until it was dealt a deadly blow in Yabrud on Sunday. This, according to field commanders, will lead to “positive aftershocks” throughout the Homs and Damascus regions in the coming months.
But Yabrud and Qalamoun border another area: Lebanon. The first
consignments of weapons and fighters sent to the Damascus countryside
had come via Lebanon through Qalamoun. The first batch of weapons and
fighters to arrive in Homs had crossed Qusayr and Tal Kalakh, coming
from the Bekaa and Wadi Khaled.
But this is only a small part of the story. The success of the
mini-state project would have forced the Lebanese to coexist with an
emirate stretching from the borders of Akkar in the north to the borders
of the Shebaa Farms in the south, under the control of al-Qaeda-linked
al-Nusra Front, the most formidable faction operating in Qalamoun.
Al-Nusra Front is rivaled only by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) and the Islamic Front – which has been engaging in dreadful
one-upmanship with al-Nusra Front both in its sectarian conduct and
discourse.
The top exports of that emirate to Lebanon were car bombs, the vast
majority of which came from Yabrud, prepared by al-Nusra Front, ISIS,
and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. But does the end of the battle of
Yabrud mean that no more car bombs will be detonated in Lebanon?
No doubt, according to Lebanese security officials, the battle of
Yabrud, the dismantling of several terrorist networks in Lebanon, and
the security measures enforced in the eastern wilderness regions near
Baalbek and Hermel have all helped reduce the ability of terrorist
groups to carry out attacks in Lebanon. However, the suicide bombing in
Nabi Othman on Sunday proves that the threat remains and will not go
away soon.
True, the outcome of the war in Qalamoun has been settled, but
battles are ongoing. Rankous, Assal al-Ward, Flita, Ras al-Maara, and
Ras al-Ayn in Qalamoun will all see battles or ceasefires in the coming
period. Many expect the fighting in Rankous to be very fierce, but that
the battles to come will only serve to further weaken the armed
opposition.
As a result, the strongholds these factions used to plan and stage
attacks in Lebanon will shrink more and more. This will force terrorist
groups to find areas inside Lebanon that they can use to prepare car
bombs, which would change the nature of their battle with Lebanese law
enforcement agencies.
What happened in Yabrud on Sunday brought shellshocks for the
opposition. A near complete silence prevailed in the ranks of the
opposition and its supporters. Only the spokesman for al-Nusra Front in
Qalamoun, Abdullah Azzam al-Shami, broke the silence, blaming “traitors”
for the defeat, as well as the Syrian army’s firepower and Hezbollah’s
capabilities.
Meanwhile, an opposition source told Al-Akhbar that the
opposition groupings based abroad convened a meeting in Istanbul on
Sunday, to discuss the outcome of the battle of Yabrud. The meeting was
stormy, according to the source, marked by harsh self-criticism,
focusing on the dispersion of the fighters, but also the blurry military
vision of their political leadership, which distracted the fighters on
the ground.
What may be deduced from the chatter coming from the opposition is
that they are now convinced that Damascus’s walls are becoming more and
more unassailable.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Iran nuclear deal draws Israeli criticism of US again
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister
of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on
April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
Israel's war minister has accused the United States of
projecting weakness internationally and said Israel could not rely on
its main ally to take the lead in confronting Iran over its nuclear
program.
Moshe Yaalon, whose remarks were reported in the Haaretz daily on
Tuesday, caused friction with the United States only two months ago when
he described Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for
Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.
His latest comments, confirmed by an Israeli official who was present
at lecture Yaalon delivered at Tel Aviv University on Monday, displayed
deep disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama's handling of
current world issues.
"We had thought it would be the United States that would lead the
campaign against Iran," said Yaalon, who pointed to the Ukraine crisis
as an example of Washington "showing weakness".
It was unclear from Yaalon's reported remarks where he believed the United States had gone wrong on Ukraine.
Iran and six world powers will try to make headway on the nuclear
dispute in talks that started in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western
officials hoping to find final agreement over the case.
Angry with the massive progress over Iran’s negotiations with the
Western countries over its peaceful nuclear issue, Yaalon said
"Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody
to look out for us but ourselves."
"Unfortunately, when it comes to negotiating at a Persian bazaar, the Iranians are better," claimed Yaalon.
In the Middle East, Yaalon also said, he had heard "voices of
disappointment" over a lack of U.S. support for the foreign backed
terrorist groups in the three-year-old conflict in Syria.
And on a recent visit in Asia, he added, he found "disappointment about China getting stronger and the U.S. getting weaker".
He has demanded that any final accord dismantle Tehran's uranium
enrichment centrifuges, a position at odds with Obama's suggestion that
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, could be allowed to
enrich on a limited basis for civilian purposes.
"Comfortable Westerners prefer to put off confrontation, if possible to
next year or the next leadership term. But in the end, it will blow
up," Yaalon said, referring to probable final nuclear deal of the West
with Iran.
Corn-eating worm evolves to feed on GMO corn designed to kill it
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A voracious crop-destroying pest has evolved to feed upon the very GMO product that was designed to eliminate it. Wired.com reported that the triumph over corn rootworms was one of biotech’s great success stories, saving billions of dollars in crops each year.
So-called Bt corn — named for the Bacillus thuringiensis gene, which killed rootworms, corn borers and other pests — currently makes up more than three quarters of the total corn grown in the U.S., a lack of crop diversity that could spell disaster if the resistant cornworms spread.
The crop itself is not to blame, say scientists, but rather
mismanagement by farmers, corporations and lawmakers that has led to the
squandering of whatever benefits had been gained by the use of the
genetically modified crop.
Aaron
Gassman, Iowa State University scientists and lead author of the study
“Field-evolved resistance by western corn rootworm to multiple Bacillus thuringiensis toxins in transgenic maize,” which was published in the March 17 PNAS journal, told Wired,
“Unless management practices change, it’s only going to get worse.
There needs to be a fundamental change in how the technology is used.”
Bt corn was first introduced to the market in 1996. Since then it has
proven to be enormously popular and populations of corn rootworms and
borers have plummeted in the Midwest where the Bt corn is grown.
However, scientists were warning more than a decade ago that problems were looming.
In order to keep the rootworms from developing a resistance to the Bt
corn toxin, farmers were told to keep “refuges” of non-Bt corn so that
rootworms could grow there unaffected. Those worms were meant to be
mated with worms in Bt fields in order to keep the worms from developing
an immunity to the GMO corn.
Scientists proposed to the EPA that farms should consist of at least
half non-Bt corn, but these regulations were opposed by the seed
companies peddling the GMO corn. Eventually, the EPA set voluntary
guidelines of 5 to 10 percent of land left for non-Bt corn.
Many farmers didn’t even follow that recommendation.
Now, rootworms are back, returning in 2009 to cornfields in
northeastern Iowa. Those worms had become resistant to one species of
the three available Bt corn types. More reports followed from Illinois,
Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Farmers are going to have to return to the pesticides they abandoned
in order to fight the rootworms. They will most likely to continue to
use the Bt corn because it repels other pests, but the reintroduction of
pesticides promises to undo the environmental benefits that GMO crops
were supposed to produce.
Scientists wrote to the EPA in 2012
about this problem, saying, “When insecticides overlay transgenic
technology, the economic and environmental advantages of
rootworm-protected corn quickly disappear.”
[Image: "Girl Eating Corn" via Shutterstock]
Iran nuclear deal draws Israeli criticism of US again
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister
of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on
April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
Israel's war minister has accused the United States of
projecting weakness internationally and said Israel could not rely on
its main ally to take the lead in confronting Iran over its nuclear
program.
Moshe Yaalon, whose remarks were reported in the Haaretz daily on
Tuesday, caused friction with the United States only two months ago when
he described Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for
Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.
His latest comments, confirmed by an Israeli official who was present
at lecture Yaalon delivered at Tel Aviv University on Monday, displayed
deep disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama's handling of
current world issues.
"We had thought it would be the United States that would lead the
campaign against Iran," said Yaalon, who pointed to the Ukraine crisis
as an example of Washington "showing weakness".
It was unclear from Yaalon's reported remarks where he believed the United States had gone wrong on Ukraine.
Iran and six world powers will try to make headway on the nuclear
dispute in talks that started in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western
officials hoping to find final agreement over the case.
Angry with the massive progress over Iran’s negotiations with the
Western countries over its peaceful nuclear issue, Yaalon said
"Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody
to look out for us but ourselves."
"Unfortunately, when it comes to negotiating at a Persian bazaar, the Iranians are better," claimed Yaalon.
In the Middle East, Yaalon also said, he had heard "voices of
disappointment" over a lack of U.S. support for the foreign backed
terrorist groups in the three-year-old conflict in Syria.
And on a recent visit in Asia, he added, he found "disappointment about China getting stronger and the U.S. getting weaker".
He has demanded that any final accord dismantle Tehran's uranium
enrichment centrifuges, a position at odds with Obama's suggestion that
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, could be allowed to
enrich on a limited basis for civilian purposes.
"Comfortable Westerners prefer to put off confrontation, if possible to
next year or the next leadership term. But in the end, it will blow
up," Yaalon said, referring to probable final nuclear deal of the West
with Iran.
Iran nuclear deal draws Israeli criticism of US again
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to Israeli Minister
of War Moshe Yaalon (R) speaking during a joint press conference on
April 22, 2013 in Tel Aviv.
Israel's war minister has accused the United States of
projecting weakness internationally and said Israel could not rely on
its main ally to take the lead in confronting Iran over its nuclear
program.
Moshe Yaalon, whose remarks were reported in the Haaretz daily on
Tuesday, caused friction with the United States only two months ago when
he described Secretary of State John Kerry's quest for
Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.
His latest comments, confirmed by an Israeli official who was present
at lecture Yaalon delivered at Tel Aviv University on Monday, displayed
deep disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama's handling of
current world issues.
"We had thought it would be the United States that would lead the
campaign against Iran," said Yaalon, who pointed to the Ukraine crisis
as an example of Washington "showing weakness".
It was unclear from Yaalon's reported remarks where he believed the United States had gone wrong on Ukraine.
Iran and six world powers will try to make headway on the nuclear
dispute in talks that started in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western
officials hoping to find final agreement over the case.
Angry with the massive progress over Iran’s negotiations with the
Western countries over its peaceful nuclear issue, Yaalon said
"Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody
to look out for us but ourselves."
"Unfortunately, when it comes to negotiating at a Persian bazaar, the Iranians are better," claimed Yaalon.
In the Middle East, Yaalon also said, he had heard "voices of
disappointment" over a lack of U.S. support for the foreign backed
terrorist groups in the three-year-old conflict in Syria.
And on a recent visit in Asia, he added, he found "disappointment about China getting stronger and the U.S. getting weaker".
He has demanded that any final accord dismantle Tehran's uranium
enrichment centrifuges, a position at odds with Obama's suggestion that
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, could be allowed to
enrich on a limited basis for civilian purposes.
"Comfortable Westerners prefer to put off confrontation, if possible to
next year or the next leadership term. But in the end, it will blow
up," Yaalon said, referring to probable final nuclear deal of the West
with Iran.
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