Who gets the new clapp?

Russia has a Naval Port in Syria. Russias only access to the Mediterranean.

To believe that the US n UK are the good guys here, that they are intervening for the good & freedom of the oppressed? u really need to get ur head checked.

They r disappointed Russia n China vetoed but they will get their war, by hook or crook they want it.

I just read disgraceful remarks about Vitaly's foreign policy views made by one of the British persona-view members and decided that I need to express how much I support what Vitaly is doing here when he touches upon global affairs and promotes fair discussion of the hot burning issues. 90% of the world are fed up with the US and British policy of neocolonialism. One needs to be totally brainwashed and blind to ignore it. One needs to be a heartless moron to applaud NATO killings in Libya or Iraq or the bombings of Yugoslavia. Again, thank you Vitaly and keep doing what you do. Personally I don't believe that this giant machine will be stopped until it finally reaches Russia or China (which is actually its ultimate goal). But when that happens it will be already too late to complain.

A NATO naval group, SNMCMG2, will dock at the harbor of La Goulette, the northern suburb of Tunis from February 9-13, 2012.

The flagship "Mehmetpasa", will be accompanied by four minesweepers coming from various NATO member-nations:

• ITS Alghero - a minesweeper affiliated with the Italian Navy

• ESPS Turia - a minesweeper affiliated with the Spanish Navy

• TCG Akcakoca - a minesweeper affiliated with the Turkish Navy

• HMS Ledbury - a minesweeper affiliated with the British Navy

Via: http://allafrica.com/stories/201202080183.html

Now that the U.S.A. and Israel are making more of a presence they are going to be far less likely to back down at the risk of losing face. It would not surprise me if a US or Israeli ship were the Gavrilo Princip as it were, causing a knee jerk reaction that would set a much larger war in motion.

Since I do not speak Russian, my daughter (who does) kindly translated the original chart and photoshopped the translated text. Here is the result.

@kicap

I sent tmcan link from CNPC site describing situation, Yep, he is right, but his 37% number is wrong, as it is indeed just formal share in one filed. But they take part in almost all big projects. And do not publish how actual oil is distributed.

I was 18 and worked for a telecoms company on a US military installation, one that provided commercial service to troops.

Twisting facts is a bad thing, yes. If you read the article I linked you to you would have noticed that it mentions that this is just one of China's interests in Iraq, not the ONLY one. I can devote research to it if you want. I never vouched for business week, just shared the article.

am not critical of china's interest in Iraqi oil, they've been ongoing since 1997. That they control, 'most of the oil in Iraq is a hyperbole.' In fact, China doesn't even control a majority of it. The CNPC has 37%; BP has 38% and Iraq has 25%. I believe though, that the reason why China has so much control is due to US and other foreign debt to china, and not so much about chinese interests in Iraq. I know this because I spent a lot of time in Iraq in 2010 and it was a hot topic of debate, but here is an article that reflects it.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_05/b4165044386657.htm

Yes, you can't start a war with Iran without Syria, 'under control,' but Syria is absolutely not under control now.

Syria is shaping up to be kind of like vietnam in reverse, with Russia and China supporting ngo dinh diem's gov (assad) and the West backing revolutionaries. The US in the meantime, owes so much to China that they had to give the oil reserves in Iraq to them; so now, the CNPC controls most of the oil in iraq. There is little oil in syria so I don't think it is about that. I equate it to being like Vietnam cause all I really see are ideals as the cause, along with (maybe) Israeli security. Israel can be the most stubborn nation in the entire world. Their foreign policy is seemingly devoted to inspiring hatred and fear of themselves, and being so schizophrenic, they could easily drop the bomb.

@Chaos123 Paul is a racist moron with the worst foreign policy of any candidate. Plus he's way too old to win. I want Jimmy Ca- i mean Obama, to win. Any of the other candidates literally guarantee world war, plus the annihilation of Israel, in my opinion. I lived in Israel for a year, Lebanon for seven, and Iraq for one. I was in the middle east for both the Iraq wars, and even though I am an american, it is the greatest object of obsession and sympathy to me.

@bitcrusher

:-) I have strong suspicions that if we'll see such crater we'll also see much bigger ones in other areas of the world :-)