Gun Restrictions and Ammo Bans!: US Congress Facilitates Shady Moves Against the American People

ACTION: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Orrin Hatch may soon give the President authority to write gun control restrictions into a “trade agreement.” So click here to contact your Senators –- whether they are liberal or conservative. Urge them to vote against the anti-gun “fast track” bill (S. 995).

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Will UN-style gun control be rammed down our throats?

""Gun import bans ... Microstamping of firearms ... Ammunition bans ... The full implementation of the anti-gun UN Arms Trade Treaty ... Illegal amnesty which locks in millions of new, anti-gun voters.

This anti-gun wish list could be part of the secret trade agreement that President Obama is getting ready to spring on the Congress.

This trade pact is called “fast track,” and what it means is that Obama can write any form of gun control he chooses into a trade agreement -- import bans, amnesty, etc.

And this agreement DOESN’T need two-thirds vote in the Senate, as a treaty would. When completed, the agreement is merely subject to a majority vote in both Houses ... it can't be filibustered ... it can't be amended ... and the GOP can't refuse to consider it.

Top Secret TPP means you won’t know what’s in the bill

Reports have already surfaced that the TOP SECRET draft contains a whole chapter with a European Union-style provision allowing unlimited migration from Mexico into the United States. This would fulfill Obama’s dream -- which he begun with Executive Amnesty -- to import millions of new anti-gun (liberal) voters into the country.

Of course, we can't quote for you any of the language in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement because the document is TOP SECRET. Obama won't reveal it, even to most congressmen, until Congress has given it its imprimatur by allowing it to pass under fast track procedures.

On Monday, Politico reported:

If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door.

If you’re a [congressional] member who wants to read the text, you’ve got to go to a room in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Center and be handed it one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving.

And no matter what, you can’t discuss the details of what you’ve read.

Truly, even more than with ObamaCare, this is a case of "You have to pass it to find out what's in it."

Some Republicans are being duped

But that's not all: The fast track authority being granted to Obama and his successor for the next six years applies to whatever type of trade negotiation Obama chooses to enter into.

So, if he can write the UN Arms Trade Treaty into a trade agreement, then it can't be filibustered or amended or prevented from consideration.""

http://www.gunowners.org/alert5072015.htm

Chinese-Russian-Iranian Coalition Heads Assemble in Moscow Opposing NATO Debut

""Talk about joint efforts between China, India, Russia and Iran against NATO expansion was augmented with plans for tripartite military talks between Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran.

Defense ministers and military officials from all over the world gathered on April 16 at the landmark Radisson Royal or Hotel Ukraina, one of the best pieces of Soviet architecture in Moscow, which is known as one of the “Seven Sisters” that were constructed during Joseph Stalin’s time. The two-day event hosted by the Russian Defense Ministry was the fourth annual Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS).

Civilian and military officials from over seventy countries, including NATO members, attended. Fifteen defense ministers took part in the event. However, aside from Greece, defense ministers of NATO countries did not participate in the conference.

Unlike previous years, the MCIS organizers did not send Ukraine an invitation for 2015’s confab. According to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, “At this stage of the brutal information antagonism in regard to the crisis in southeastern Ukraine, we decided not to inflame the situation at the conference and at this stage made the decision not to invite our Ukrainian colleagues to the event.”

On a personal note, as a matter of interest I have followed these types of conferences for years, because important statements about foreign and security policies tend to come out of them. This year I was keen for the inauguration of this particular security conference. Aside from it taking place at a time where the geopolitical landscape of the globe is rapidly shifting, I was interested to see what the conference would produce since I was asked in 2014 through the Russian Embassy in Canada if I was interested in attending the IV MCIS.

The rest of the world speaks: Hearing non-Euro-Atlantic security concerns

The Moscow conference is the Russian equivalent to the Munich Security Conference held at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Germany. There, however, are critical differences between the two events.

While the Munich Security Conference is established around Euro-Atlantic security and views global security from the ‘Atlanticist’ standpoint of NATO, the MCIS represents a much broader and diverse global perspective. It represents the rest of the non-Euro-Atlantic world’s security concerns, particularly the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Ranging from Argentina, India, and Vietnam to Egypt and South Africa, the conference at the Hotel Ukraina brought a variety of big and small players to the table whose voices and security interests, in one way or another, are otherwise undermined and ignored in Munich by US and NATO leaders.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who holds the rank of a flag officer that is equal to that of a four-star general in most NATO countries, opened the conference. Also speaking and seated next to Shoigu were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other high-ranking officials. All of them addressed Washington’s multispectral warfare that has utilized color revolutions, like EuroMaidan in Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia, for regime change. Shoigu cited Venezuela and China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as failed color revolutions.

Foreign Minister Lavrov reminded the attendees that the possibilities of a dangerous world conflict were increasing due to the lack of concern by the US and NATO for the security of others and a lack of constructive dialogue. When making his argument, Lavrov cited US President Franklin Roosevelt by saying, “There can be no middle ground here. We shall have to take the responsibility for world collaboration, or we shall have to bear the responsibility for another world conflict.” “I believe that they formulated one of the main lessons of the most devastating global conflict in history: it is only possible to meet common challenges and preserve the peace through collective, joint efforts based on respect for the legitimate interests of all partners,” he explained about what world leaders learned from the Second World War.

Shoigu had over ten bilateral meetings with the different defense ministers and chiefs who arrived in Moscow for the MCIS. During a meeting with the Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic, Shoigu said that Moscow considers Belgrade a reliable partner in military cooperation.

Chinese-Russian-Iranian coalition: Washington’s nightmare

The myth that Russia is internationally isolated was shot down again during the conference, which has also resulted in some important announcements.

Kazakhstani Defense Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov and Shoigu announced that the implementation for a joint Kazakhstani-Russian air defense system had begun. This is not only indicative of the integration of the air space of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, but part of a trend. It heralded other announcements against NATO’s missile defense shield.

The most vigorous statement though was that of Iranian Defense Minister Hussein Dehghan. Brigadier-General Deghan said that Iran wanted China, India, and Russia to stand together in jointly opposing the eastward expansion of NATO and the threat posed by the alliance’s missile shield project to their collective security.

During a meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan, Shoigu emphasized that Moscow’s military ties with Beijing are its “overriding priority.” In another bilateral meeting the defense honchos of Iran and Russia confirmed that their cooperation will be part of the cornerstones of a new multipolar order and that Moscow and Tehran were in harmony in their strategic approach to the US.

After Dehghan and the Iranian delegation met with Shoigu and their Russian counterparts, it was announced that a tripartite summit may take place between Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran. The idea was later endorsed by the Chinese delegation.

The geopolitical environment is changing and it is not sympathetic to US interests. Not only has a Eurasian Economic Union been formed by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia in the post-Soviet heart of Eurasia, but Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran — the Eurasian Triple Entente — have been in a long process of coming together politically, strategically, economically, diplomatically, and militarily.

Eurasian harmony and integration challenges the US position in its “Western perch” and bridgehead in Europe and even orients US allies to act more independently. This is one of the central themes explored by my book The Globalization of NATO.

Former US security bigwig Zbigniew Brzezinski warned US elites against the formation of a Eurasian “coalition that could eventually seek to challenge America’s primacy.” According to Brzezinski such a Eurasian alliance would arise as a “Chinese-Russian-Iranian coalition” with Beijing as its focal point.

“For Chinese strategists, confronting the trilateral coalition of America and Europe and Japan, the most effective geopolitical counter might well be to try and fashion a triple alliance of its own, linking China with Iran in the Persian Gulf/Middle East region and with Russia in the area of the former Soviet Union,” Brzezinski warns.

“In assessing China’s future options, one has to consider also the possibility that an economically successful and politically self-confident China — but one which feels excluded from the global system and which decides to become both the advocate and the leader of the deprived states of the world — may decide to pose not only an articulate doctrinal but also a powerful geopolitical challenge to the dominant trilateral world,” he explains.

More or less, this is the track that the Chinese are following. Minister Wanquan flatly told the MCIS that a fair world order was needed.

The threat for the US is that a Chinese-Russian-Iranian coalition could, in Brzezinski’s own words, “be a potent magnet for other states dissatisfied with the status quo.""

http://www.globalresearch.ca/did-a-chinese-russian-iranian-coalition-opposing-nato-debut-in-moscow/5445273

NATO War Games Underway as Arsenals Rally to Strategic Military Points on the Map to Unleash Hell on a Future War with Russia

""We have highlighted relevant sections. What this review confirms is that the US and its NATO allies are on an active war footing. US-NATO military exercises, training and planning are being regularly conducted on Russia’s doorstep in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea basins and the Baltic states.

Whereas Russia is not mentioned, these various military initiatives and “defensive” war games threaten the Russian Federation.

They involve the participation of troops from several NATO and NATO partner countries.

What these articles and reports suggest is that Washington is anxious to mobilize military forces within NATO and NATO partner countries without the need to deploy a large number of US  troops. 

(M. Ch. GR Editor)  

Iran Calls On China, India, Russia To Oppose NATO Expansion, Missiles

Sputnik International
April 16, 2015

Iran Ready to Cooperate With Russia, China, India to Oppose NATO in Europe

MOSCOW: Iran calls for cooperation with Russia, India and China to oppose NATO’s plans for military expansion in Europe, the country’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said Thursday at a press conference in Moscow.

“We would like to support the idea of developing a multifaceted cooperation between China, Iran, Russia, and India to oppose the purposeful expansion of NATO to the east and placing a missile shield in Europe.”

He emphasized that Iran was ready to begin consultations on the issue to secure stability in the region.

NATO has been boosting its presence in Eastern Europe which has caused concerns from Russian authorities. The process is taking place amid tensions between the alliance and Moscow, following NATO’s accusations that Russia was providing Ukraine’s southeastern militias with military assistance.

Moscow has denied the allegations, while Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov called the alliance’s activity in Eastern Europe “unjustified.”

In February, NATO announced the increase of its Rapid Response Force from 13,000 to 30,000 military personnel, and the establishment of six new command posts in European states close to the Russian borders.

Copyright Sputnik

NATO Expands Air Command and Control System Throughout Eastern Europe

Xinhua News Agency 
April 16, 2015

Bulgaria to participate in expansion of NATO Air Command, Control Systemr

SOFIA: The Bulgarian government on Wednesday approved a memorandum for the country’s participation in the expansion of the NATO Air Command and Control System (ACCS), officials said.

According to the memorandum, which was signed in January by NATO, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, the particular ACCS projects would be determined by the relevant committees of the Alliance, the government said in a press release.

The ACCS projects were expected to be implemented in Bulgaria in the period of 2015-2018, with the total value of around 12 million euros (some 12.68 million U.S. dollars), the government said.

Bulgaria, a NATO member since 2004, has been defending the Alliance’s airspace [sic] by performing NATO air policing duties with its Soviet-made MiG-29 and MiG-21 fighters.

Copyright Xinhua

Ukrainian Crisis: NATO’s Pretext To Contain And Besiege Russia

RT
April 15, 2015

‘Ukrainian crisis – NATO pretext to contain and besiege Russia’

NATO exercises in Europe and its eastward expansion have nothing to do with the Ukrainian crisis, which is used as a pretext to move closer to Russia’s borders in order to contain and besiege it, says international analyst Rick Rozoff.

RT: NATO continues to increase its military personnel in Eastern Europe, carrying out large-scale military exercises with 17 countries taking part. It’s the latest stage of Operation Atlantic Resolve – a series of over 30 war games in Europe throughout this year. What do you think NATO is preparing for?

Rick Rozoff: They are preparing for a direct military confrontation with Russia. I think that’s an inescapable conclusion. Let’s recollect first of all, we have some not even short memory-influenced thinking about what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is. It was founded 66 years ago this month to be exact, in 1949, with the express intention of containing, confronting, and as need might arise engaging in a military conflict with Russia. Pure and simple. There is no other purpose for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Now in the post-Cold War period with the demise of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, and of the Eastern Bloc as a whole, far from having dissolved itself, which would have been logical if its intent had been in any way or form of a defensive nature, it instead increased its membership by 12 new countries, by 75 percent. All 12 of those countries are in Eastern Europe, several of them border Russia. And it has always been the express intent of NATO to move up to Russia’s western and to large part of its southern borders and to contain Russia.That’s a purpose for it. So the fact that the Ukrainian crisis has been exploited as the pretense for an acceleration of plans long under way – years, decades under way – for NATO expansion to contain and besiege Russia. There is something we need to be aware of. The NATO expansion in the Baltics, in the Black Sea has nothing to do with the Ukrainian crisis except as a pretext. It has everything to do with plans that were under way for at least a decade or two…

Copyright RT

Lessons Of Afghanistan, Iraq: U.S. Army Europe, NATO Drill For New War

U.S. Army Europe
April 15, 2015

Army Europe senior leaders visit Saber Junction 15
By Sgt. Daniel Cole, U.S. Army Europe Public Affairs

HOHENFELS, Germany: Saber Junction 15 welcomed approximately 20 multinational senior leaders, including Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of Army Europe, here, April 15, as part of a distinguished visitor event to showcase the multinational training event.

Saber Junction 15, which includes more than 4,700 participants from 17 countries, prepares NATO and partner-nation armies for offensive, defensive and stability operations.

“Our Soldiers [U.S.] prefer training with partners because we know that is how we are going to fight,” Hodges said…

Saber Junction originally began in 2011 drawing from the lessons learned from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Saber Junction 15 runs April 1-30, 2015…

Copyright U.S. Army Europe

Ukraine: NATO’s Proxy War Enters Second Year

Interfax-Ukraine
April 15, 2015

One Ukrainian soldier killed, two injured in Donbas in past 24 hours

One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed in the anti-terrorist operation [sic] area in the south-east of Ukraine over the past 24 hours, ATO headquarters spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a press briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.

“One of our soldiers has been killed and another two have been injured in the past 24 hours,” he said.

“The situation remains unstable…The adversary has been actively using small arms, grenade launchers and mortars. It has fired tanks twice against Ukrainian armed forces’ positions near the village of Peski,” Lysenko said.

No cannon artillery fire has been registered in the past 24 hours, he said.

The region’s flashpoints are the villages of Shyrokyne and Chermalyk near Mariupol, the Donetsk airport and villages along the Bakhmutka road in the Luhansk region, Lysenko said…

Copyright Interfax-Ukraine

Interfax-Ukraine
April 15, 2015

Poroshenko welcomes Canada’s decision to send military instructors to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has welcomed the Canadian government’s decision to send Canadian instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen.

“Up to 200 members of the Canadian armed forces together with military servicemen of other of our international partners will help strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces and the National Guard,” the presidential website reported on Tuesday evening.

Poroshenko described the decision as “another important step by Canada…”

“I am convinced that the strengthening of Ukraine’s defense capability would promote not only peace in our country but also global security in the Euro-Atlantic area,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and National Defense Minister Jason Kenney had announced their decision to send a group of 200 military instructors to Ukraine. The Canadian servicemen are expected to join U.S. and British military instructors in western Ukraine in early summer 2015 to work there until March 31, 2017.

Most of the Canadian instructors would stay in the town of Yavoriv, Lviv region.

Copyright Interfax-Ukraine

Defense Chief In Estonia: More German Troops In Eastern Europe

Deutsche Welle
April 15, 2015

Germany assures Estonia of NATO backing

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen kicked off a two-day visit to the Baltic states on Tuesday.

In the Estonian capital, Tallinn, she pledged her government’s continued support as the region faces possible military aggression from Russia.

“Your concerns are also our concerns,” von der Leyen told reporters and her Estonian counterpart, Sven Mikser.

All three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – belong to NATO…

The EU has repeatedly levied sanctions on Russia in a bid to force it to halt all cooperation with eastern Ukrainian separatists. However, despite a ceasefire agreement, a lasting peace in eastern Ukraine remains tenuous amid reports of continued fighting…

Copyright Deutsche Welle

Afghanistan: Georgian Troops Serve Under U.S. Marines In NATO War

Ministry of Defence of Georgia
April 14, 2015

The 43rd Battalion completely Transferred Authority

The 43rd Battalion of IV Mechanized Brigade of the Georgian Armed Forces officially transferred authority from the 51st battalion of the V Infantry Brigade.

The ceremony was held at Bagram Air Base. Chief of General Staff of the GAF, Major General Vakhtang Kapanadze attended the event together with the leadership of the Coalition Forces. Major General Kapanadze awarded 10 representatives of Georgian Liaison Team from the U.S. Marine Corps with the MoD service medal “General Kvinitadze” for their role in improving Georgia-U.S. military cooperation.

The leadership of Bagram Air Base, Tactical Group “Solid” and “Georgian Liaison Team” successfully evaluated the mission carried out by the 51st Battalion. Under the official data, the 51st Battalion maximally limited activities form insurgents and promoted to set up more stable and security environment on the ground. The 51st Battalion completed the mission without casualties and is returning to homeland stage by stage…""

http://www.globalresearch.ca/preparing-for-war-with-russia-nato-war-games-joint-warrior-in-scotland-13000-troops-54-warships-70-planes-submarines/5443229