Nuovo attacco dell’aviazione israeliana ad obiettivi Hezbollah, al confine fra la Siria e il Libano

Questo attacco é stato riferito da una fonte libanese e l’Osservatorio siriano sui diritti umani, vicino agli insorti e con sede a Londra, i quali hanno parlato di “Due raid israeliani che hanno colpito un obiettivo di Hezbollah alla frontiera libanese-siriana”, per la precisione “una base missilistica” del gruppo sciita, in Siria impegnato nel conflitto con circa 4mila militari a fianco di al-Assad.

La televisione al-Manar, vicina al movimento sciita libanese, ha invece smentito la notizia, riportando che “nessun raid israeliano ha avuto luogo sul territorio libanese”, pur ammettendo che vi sono stati “intensi sorvoli dell’aviazione del nemico sulla regione nord della Bekaa”.

Per quanto Israele non abbia ne’ ammesso ne’ smentito l’attacco, fonti hanno informato che ad essere colpita sarebbe stata una base nella valle di Bekaa con un razzo trasportabile Tochka, di fabbricazione russa e in grado di portare una testata nucleare, ed un SS- 21 Scarab, di fabbricazione statunitense, anch’esso montato sopra un camion, capace di portare una testata di 480 kg, con un raggio di 70 km.

Razzi di questo genere con testate convenzionali sarebbero stati sparati di recente contro le brigate degli jihadisti legate ad al-Qaeda nella battaglia per il controllo di Qalamoun, a 80 km dal confine siriano.

Nel gennaio 2013 i caccia israeliani avevano colpito in due attacchi il centro di ricerche militari di Jamaraya e un convoglio che portava armi in Libano, mentre nel maggio successivo avevano centrato un convoglio che trasportava armi, sempre per il gruppo paramilitare degli Hezbollah. A quanto si era appreso da al-Arabiya, si sarebbe trattato di mezzi che trasportavano missili sofisticati.

Preso da: http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/4/9/1647942.jpg

Il conflitto con gli Hezbollah vienne da tanto tempo fá e questo gruppo armato e financiato militarmente da paesi come Iran e Siria, non sarebbe niente stranno che sianno in possedimento di un armamento cosí sofisticato. Quello che per me fa particolarmente difficile il commentare qualsiasi cosa sú questa notizia é la quantitá di versioni della storia: Per un lato, sono quelli che dicono che non c'é stato nessun raid, e per un altro lato quelli che dicono che sono stati due. Con una informazione cosí sparpagliata e impossibilie emitire un giudicamento senza indagare di piú.

La unica cosa che io veramente credo e che nei raid dell' anno scorso veramente si sono trovati armamenti di alta capacitá di destruzione e che veramente si centrarono vari convogli che portavano armi al Libano. Questo sarebbe in funzione di difendere il paese e non considero che sia una cosa cattiva di fare, perció, lo único che posso dire é che se quelli raid sono veri, il governo israelí é in capacitá di smettere quel traffico e di evitare un attaco terrorista a maggiore scala.

Fonte: http://www.notiziegeopolitiche.net/?p=38672

Venezuela: Protesting against it's government

Since a week ago, Venezuela has been facing a series of protests because of Maduro's government. The inflation, the insecurity and the lack of basic products are pretty much the things that has been affecting the people in such a rate that they decided to rebel.

Maduro’s government on Monday gave three US Embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, charging that the Obama administration is siding with opposition protesters, accusation that the U.S. government has denied. The three expelled officials — Breeann Marie McCusker, Jeffrey Gordon Elsen and Kristofer Lee Clark — all enjoyed the rank of second secretary, and two of them were vice consuls.  

In Washington, the State Department said it hadn’t received any formal notification of the expulsions. It also said reports that the U.S. is helping to organise protests are ‘‘baseless and false’’ and called on the Venezuelan government to engage the opposition in ‘‘meaningful dialogue.’’ 

Another problem with this protests is the media blockade made by the government. More than 1,000 students, who have spent the past week on the streets alternating between peaceful protests by day and battles with police at night, marched on Monday to Venezuela’s telecommunications regulator to demand it lift all restrictions on the news media’s coverage of the unfolding political crisis.  

Police repelled the activists with tear gas and rubber bullets but there were no reports of serious injuries. 

Several journalists have been harassed and detained in the past week. Colombia’s news channel NTN24 was taken off cable television while covering protests that ended in a battle between student demonstrators and security forces backed by armed pro-government militias.  

Three people were killed during those clashes last week, two students and a pro-government demonstrator.

Taken from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFS6cP9auDc

I'm not exactly a Maduro's fan, and I may not be Venezuelan but I bet people over there must be really having a hard time living under this kind of government.

If a president can't even guarantee the basic resources of it's people, like sugar, oil, flour, he's definitely doing something VERY wrong. People has their reasons to rebel and to make their voice to be heard, to ply for a solution to a really worrying issue. Even the infrastructure is quite deteriorated, as it is seen in Venezuela's capital, Caracas:

Taken from: http://youtu.be/7MNtp2NAcJY

So, if people's got that right, why should a government be so afraid, so tyrannic that they even decided to take away that right, blocking all the media? Is Maduro so blind that he actually thinks the venezuelan people are opposing because of a U.S. conspiracy? Can't he see it's his own fault by depriving the people he's supposed to help of everything? By destroying the country he's supposed to build?

As I said, I may not be venezuelan, but I certainly can't agree with a president that thinks he can do whatever he wants with his people and assumes there will be no consequences. That being said, I'm kinda glad that venezuelan people are standing up against that kind of mistreat. Even if the constitution says that a referendum to revoke Maduro from power can only be made two years from now, they must not keep quiet all that time. Sometimes, revolution is the only way to make a country snap out of it and start making things right, therefore, I actually wish the best of luck to Venezuela right now.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9734789/Venezuela-tense-ahead-of-dueling-demonstrations

Syria goes to the second round of peace talks

Syria's government and opposition began a second round of UN-mediated talks in Geneva on Monday but failed to meet face to face, as a fragile ceasefire and "humanitarian pause" in the central city of Homs was extended for three days to allow the evacuation of more civilians.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the Algerian diplomat chairing the conference, met each side separately to urge them to focus on the two main issues of stopping the fighting, which has killed an estimated 136,000 people, and working out how to set up a "transitional governing body" to replace the current government in Damascus.
Brahimi appeared to signal a more discreet approach by failing to hold a press conference at UN headquarters after Monday's talks, as he did following every session during the first week at the end of January. On Friday he is to meet senior US and Russian diplomats in the hope that Washington and Moscow will exercise their influence with the warring parties.
Still, while the idea of pacific talks is on, the massacres in Syria have not been less than before. Faisal Mekdad, Syria's deputy foreign minister, said: "We can't achieve a thing until massacres in Syria come to a stop." It would be a waste of time to discuss Assad's departure, he added. The official delegation also presented a document to Brahimi formulating the now familiar demand that "terrorism" – its blanket term for all opposition to the president – must be defeated before political issues can be discussed.
On the other hand the opposition said that the government has killed more than 1,805 people since the start of the Geneva II process on 22 January. It said at least 834 people had been killed in Aleppo alone by more than 130 barrel bombs. It also referred to evidence released by international human rights groups about the large-scale demolition of entire neighborhoods with explosives and bulldozers.

Taken from: http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/51910e14ecad046e01000007/total-devastation-in-one-syrian-city.jpg

My opinion about this is that the syrian peace talks are going about as smooth as the colombian ones. Even if they make truces while they're at it but both parties immediately break them there won't be such thing as "peace", only more and more delusion.

I definitely agree with Faisal Mekdad's point of view: Negotiation cannot be started unless the massacres stop, just like here in Colombia. How do anyone expect to make peace negotiations while they don't have the minimum intention to stop killing people? Especially the innocent civilians who are being slaughtered in the middle of the crossfires? 

The answer I give is a simple "it's impossible". If syrian government and opposition really want to reach an agreement of peace, they shall start by at least diminishing the damage caused by war all over their country.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/10/syria-peace-talks-homs-ceasefire-extended

Elections in Afghanistan: A place for hope or fear?

Election campaigns have officially started in Afghanistan, a country plagued by violence since before anyone can remember, but still, the best hope their citizens have to reach a certain stability.

The posters and the propaganda have already started in many of the afghan cities, but the Al Qaeda already started with violent attacks even before the election, which they call "a waste of time", killing two people.

Because of this, all the eleven candidates were given armored cars and more than 36 policemen for their protection. The campaign ends by April 2 but if none of the candidates obtains at least 50% of the votes, it will be postponed until summer, situation that concerns foreign forces which expect to make (military) deals with Afghanistan.

Taken from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Afghan_elections_2005.jpg

This is indeed a start for the afghan people into the world of democracy. Eleven candidates, each one with the capacity to improve the conditions of a country remember only by terrorism and opium trades ... or at least that's what some people believe, but let's be honest, in a country where there's close to none freedom because of the unstoppable-like armed groups that can kill anyone that oppose them, a notable fame for fraud and a raging poverty there's just no easy exit.

Let's say one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the votes, doesn't face any murders during his campaign and basically has a smooth mandate. How is just one man going to actually face and erase all of the problems I mentioned right before? I'm not going to say future is looking bright there. To be able to solve all of those problems it's needed a long time and who knows what might happen in such an extensive period of time. There's also the international pressure if the internal stuff wasn't enough, and those decisions the president does will affect the normal citizens and the armed groups as well who might not be happy with whatever he decides.

Anyways, right now the only thing I got left to say is ... best of luck to whichever candidate gets the "crown".

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/02/afghanistan-election-campaign-begins

Ukraine repeals anti-protest laws and offers amnesty

After the retirement of ukrainian prime minister Nicolay Azarov and his cabinet, which according to the man himself, abandoned his charge to make a last attempt to peacefully resolve the current problem in Ukraine, the justice minister of the mentioned country Olena Lukash decided to bend on the anti-protest laws that had been going on since January 16 and also said that there will be given an amnesty for those rebels who seized the justice ministry (and then retired after Lukash threatened them to impose a state of emergency)  as long as they cleared out "all seized premiers and roads". 

Taken from: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-protests-generational-divide/25182439.html

To me this isn't really a victory for protesters because they still haven't really got what they've been asking this whole time, but at least the government looks like it's concerned enough about that rebellion that they are trying to avoid extreme measurements such as going into a state of emergency or becoming a dictatorship because that would only lead to massacres for both sides, leaving only death, despair and hatred towards each other. This, to me, is actually something that could give the protesters hope to see their goals fulfilled in a negotiation's table and not in a battlefield, so, I guess they'll just have to keep trying.

Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/27/world/europe/ukraine-protests/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://rt.com/news/ukrainian-minister-azarov-resigns-286/  (this one was only to get a little bit of information about the ukrainian now ex prime minister)