Communist Bloc Military Updates: CSTO No. 2 praises Lukashenko’s initiative to transform post-Soviet military alliance into UN peacekeeping force; Collective Rapid Reaction Force to hold Interaction 2013 drill in Belarus; militaries of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to simulate combat in “Eastern European collective security region”

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WW4 File: London-based Arab newspaper cites Western diplomats: IAF F-16s used guided missiles, bunker-buster bomb to destroy Jamraya chemical-biological warhead factory near Damascus; facility staffed by Russian “experts,” secured by 3,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards, many killed; embattled Assad regime vows “surprise retaliation” against Jewish state

Taking into account the fog of war . . .

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Bolivarian Revolution File: Chavez continues recovery in Havana, while Maduro fetes Rosneft boss in Caracas, clinches US$10 billion petroleum deal with Russia’s National Oil Consortium; Igor “Darth Vader” Sechin widely viewed as KGB/FSB’s unofficial pointman over Russian energy sector; Venezuelan VP praises Moscow investment, foundation for country’s “socialist project”

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MSM bio on Sechin

Management bios at the Rosneft website unwittingly reveal the ideological continuity of the Russian leadership both before and after the managed “collapse” of the Soviet Union. The official bio for Igor Sechin, for example, omits the entire period between 1984 and 2000, during which Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev implemented perestroika (“socialist restructuring”). If there was a genuine democratization of Russia after 1991 and if Sechin has no need to hide any aspect of his career, then why this 16-year gap in his official bio? Conversely, Rosneft makes no attempt to hide the Chekist roots of its deputy chairman, Sergei Shishin, who worked for the KGB/FSB between 1980 and 2007.

Red Dawn Alert: Kremlin’s network of “humanitarian crisis management centers” to be based at United Nations’ Geneva HQ and in Serbia, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Asia Pacific region; facilities already under construction in Caracas and Managua; Russia’s new CD czar Puchkov “ex”-communist; Pentagon should consider military potential of network

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WW4 File: Syria, Iran vow retaliation against Israel for airstrike over Syria; Ba’athist regime insists Israeli warplanes hit “scientific research facility” near Damascus, US officials say IAF took out Hezbollah-bound weapons convoy, MK close to PM Netanyahu cagey on Israel’s involvement; Syria feared Israeli nuclear counterstrike after 2007 IAF operation

News Highlights

– Syria, Iran Vow Retaliation against Israel after IAF Strikes Military Target in Syria (source)

– Hezbollah Denounces “Barbaric Aggression,” Russia Condemns “Unprovoked Attacks” (source)

OUTW: Debate swirls in the news media and blogosphere concerning reasons for large Russian warship presence in Syrian waters: 1) evacuate Russian citizens, 2) deliver munitions to embattled Ba’athist regime in Damascus, 3) provide secure floating base for President Assad, and/or 4) deter NATO ground invasion of Syria.

– Russian Warships Transporting Munitions to Syrian Port of Tartus, Identity of Recipients Unclear (source)

– Excerpts from London’s Asharq Al-Awsat (source):

“A Russian naval task force is reportedly sailing into the Mediterranean this weekend for exercises with a mix of political and strategic aims linked to the crisis in Syria. Consisting of five battleships, the force could be used to evacuate Russian citizens in Syria in case Damascus falls.”

“According to sources in Moscow, Russia has already seized effective control of the Syrian port of Tartus.”

“Reports of an Iranian naval participation in the exercise have not been confirmed, although Iran maintains a token presence in Tartus. This consists of around 400 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) naval combat units armed with small assault boats.”

– Russian Foreign Ministry Denies Assad and Family Living on Russian Warship in Mediterranean Sea (source)

– Russia Begins Evacuation of Citizens from Syria, 80 Expatriates Airlifted from Beirut to Moscow after Bus Trip from Syria (source)

– Washington Quietly Requests Turkey and Jordan to Monitor and, if Necessary, “Manage” Syria’s Chemical Arsenal Should Assad Regime Fall (source)

– Flashback: IAF Destroys Syrian Nuclear Reactor in September 2007, Damascus Eschews Military Response, Fearing Israeli Nuclear Counterstrike (source)

Red Cocaine File: Cyprus’ communist president announces Russian bailout likely to follow EU’s €17 billion rescue package; Moscow-educated Christofias denies dirty money ties between Russian mafia and Cypriot banks; Cyprus’ anti-laundering unit links disappearance of Russian tax revenue under KGB/FSB supervision to death of Russian whistleblower in 2009

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background article

Red Cocaine File: Moscow scraps 2002 counter-narcotics agreement with Washington; KGB/FSB backed “ascension” of Russian mafia’s Kurdish kingpin, Kremlin ideologist met with Usoyan at don’s restaurant HQ, discussed 2014 Sochi Olympics; “Grandpa Khasan” “whacked” by sniper on Jan. 16; FARC narco-guerrillas resume armed attacks amidst “peace talks” in Havana

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related post

EU File: Czechs elect “ex”-communist, former PM as country’s third post-Velvet Revolution president; Zeman, interior minister aided Moscow’s conspiracy of misdirection, alleged 911 hijacker Atta met with Iraqi intel officer in Prague in April 2001, 911 commission later rejected allegation; Russians build new gas pipeline to Czech Republic

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Mohamed Atta’s supposed Prague connection

USSR2 File: Pro-Kremlin lawmakers, Orthodox Church unite to reverse Russia’s moral decline, demographic crisis, draft bill to effectively re-criminalize sodomy by outlawing “homosexual propaganda,” imposing heavy fines; meanwhile USA’s socialist president trumpets “gay rights” during second inaugural speech

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Useful Idiots Bin: UK’s Hope Not Hate campaign urges MEPs to cut funding for far-right Alliance of European National Movements, British National Party, no complaints about neo-communist Party of European Left; European Parliament awarded €289,266 grant to neo-fascists in 2012, Eurocommunists netted €835,049

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WW4 File: Red Chinese general threatens return fire should Japanese ASDF pilots use tracer rounds against PLAAF; Russia sells 36 Tu-22M3 strategic/maritime strike bombers to Beijing, production line for Soviet-era supersonic aircraft, possibly throw AS-4 “Kitchen” long-range anti-ship missiles into package

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Profile of Tupolev Tu-22M3 (“Backfire”) strategic/maritime strike bomber

WW4 File: Tokyo asserts right to fire warning shots at foreign planes violating airspace as Beijing escalates quarrel over E. China Sea islets; Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15s meet PLAAF J-10 fighters first time as Red Chinese pilots scramble to protect intercepted spy plane; PRC’s F16-type combat jets joined live-fire drill with PLAN this past week

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Profile of Chengdu J-10 (“Vigorous Dragon”) multirole combat plane

Red World Order File: Russia’s Kaspersky Labs uncovers “Red October” computer virus, malware unobtrusively stealing confidential government and scientific research files from around E. Europe, C. Asia, elsewhere since 2007; Russia suspected as source of still-active cyber attack

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EU File: Pro-Moscow former Czech PM (1998-2002) to face FM/Prince Schwarzenberg in presidential run-off vote on Jan. 25-26; Communists, Social Democrats back “ex”-red Zeman for important constitutional post; Milos’ right-hand man Slouf brokered deal for Lukoil to supply Prague airport, bagman Nejedly denies working for Russian firm

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Useful Idiots Bin: Russia grants honorary citizenship to Gerard Depardieu for promoting Paris-Moscow relations, Putin personally hands passport to French actor, who declares self “citizen of Europe”; Communist Party offers membership to Depardieu, notes actor’s dad was a red, observes Russia still basically “leftist country”

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Event Convergence Alert: UPI, Saudi newspaper: Assad living on “Russian-guarded” warship with family in Mediterranean Sea, flies by helicopter to Syria for official meetings; Russian Navy, under command of Moskva missile cruiser, arrives off Syrian coast, completes preps for evacuation of Russian expats, ASW drills, night operations

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Moscow’s exit strategy for Assad

Bolivarian Revolution File: Ortega, Morales, Mujica arrive in Caracas, attend Chavez swearing-in farce, Venezuelan president unseen since Dec. 10; leaders of 22 Petrocaribe, ALBA, other Latin American and Caribbean states release “Declaration of Caracas,” pledge support for VP Maduro’s illegal government, reject attempts to “destabilize democratic institutions”

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USSR2 File: Russian Communist Party boss: Mass protests against austerity, sovereign debt crisis in Eurozone, sky-high unemployment, leftward electoral shift in France prove “socialism is the future”; Russians, like their Soviet predecessors, will once again support “social state,” reject “transnational corporations,” “financial scalpers”

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previous Zyuganov rant

Bolivarian Revolution File: Chavez no-show at own Caracas re-inauguration, recovering in Havana hospital; National Assembly, dominated by dictator’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela, indefinitely postpones ceremony; main rival Capriles questions constitutionality of delay, opposition demands new election

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Asia File: Japan scrambles fighter jets to intercept maritime reconnaissance plane from Red China, Y-12 twin turboprop flew near disputed Senkaku Islands in E. China Sea; first-ever such provocation occurred last month; ex-commander of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces: West “dramatically” underestimates Beijing’s nuclear arsenal

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EU File: Czechs ramp up for first direct presidential election, two “ex”-red former PMs running; anti-austerity measures, unemployment, corruption, anger over prison inmate amnesty push electors into arms of Communist-Social Democrat coalition; leftists prepare no-confidence motion in parliament, allege pardon will release “white-collar criminals”

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Communist Bloc Military Updates: Vietnam welcomes air force commanders of Russia and Red China, Generals Nhikolaevich and Wang promote improved mil-mil relations with Hanoi; follows Medvedev’s Nov. trip, Russian PM discussed S.E. Asian state’s FTA with Moscow-led Customs Union, reactivation of Soviet-era port at Cam Ranh; Rosatom builds Hanoi’s first NPP

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Russia’s strategy in southeast Asia

EU/USSR2 Files: Fascism resurgent amidst Eurocrisis: Cult of Mussolini grows among Italians, former PM Berlusconi rehabilitated Il Duce, invited post-fascists into government in 1994, 2001, absorbed Fini’s party into People of Freedom in 2009; neo-Stalinism alive and well in Russia, “Uncle Joe’s” homeland Georgia; Mussolini once described Stalin as “Slavic fascist”

2010s: 1930s redux

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Red fascism

Communist Bloc Military Updates: Moscow announces four-fleet naval exercises in Black and Mediterranean Seas in late Jan., follows arrival of Russian warships at Tartus, Syria; Putin reshuffles military leadership: long-time CD czar Shoigu bumps Serdyukov as DM amidst stagnant army reforms, Gerasimov replaces Makarov as chief of general staff

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related post

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Bolivarian Revolution File: Chavez’s health worsens after Dec. 11 cancer treatment in Havana, VP Maduro from hospital bedside: President’s condition “delicate”; Ecuador’s Correa, Bolivia’s Morales scurry to Cuba, boost morale of Red Axis leader; Venezuelan diplomats in Moscow attend Catholic mass for Chavez, priest praises “21st-century socialism”; Hugo’s Jesuit “spiritual advisor” lauded red dictator in 2005

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For those who believe in Jesuit-inspired Catholic-Marxist conspiracies:

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