Unit 131

July 18 2012 SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Israel vowed to strike back at Iran for a brazen daylight bombing Wednesday that killed at least seven people on a bus full of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria.

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"All signs point to Iran," Netanyahu said. The Israeli leader gave no evidence to back his charges.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20120719/DA03L39G1.html

The Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and British-owned targets. The attacks were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Communists, "unspecified malcontents" or "local nationalists" with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to retain its occupying troops in Egypt's Suez Canal zone.

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavon_Affair}

Here Mr. Ostrovsky describes in detail how in mid February 1986 the Mossad planted a radio relay device – the “Trojan” – in a rented apartment in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. However interesting, we cut to the consequences.

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Ultimately, the Americans fell for the Mossad ploy head over heels[,] dragging the British and the Germans somewhat reluctantly in with them. Operation Trojan was one of the Mossad’s greatest successes. It brought about the air strike on Libya that President Reagan had promised – a strike that had three important consequences. First, it derailed a deal for the release of the American hostages in Lebanon, thus preserving the Hizballah (Party of God) as the number one enemy in the eyes of the West. Second, it sent a message to the entire Arab world, telling them exactly where the United States stood regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. Third, it boosted the Mossad’s image of itself, since it was they who, by ingenious sleight of hand, had prodded the United States to do what was right. [More than a hint of sarcasm there.] It was only the French who didn’t buy into the Mossad trick and were determined not to ally themselves with the aggressive American act. The French refused to allow the American bombers to fly over their territory on their way to attack Libya.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/99413-fooled-into-bombing-libya.html

NEW YORK – On the fourth day of the 1967 Arab Israeli War, the intelligence ship 'USS Liberty' was steaming slowly in international waters, 14 miles off the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli armored forces were racing deep into Sinai in hot pursuit of the retreating Egyptian army.

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At 0800 hrs, 8 June, 1967, eight Israeli recon flights flew over 'Liberty,' which was flying a large American flag. At 1400 hrs, waves of low-flying Israeli Mystere and Mirage-III fighter-bombers repeatedly attacked the American vessel with rockets, napalm, and cannon. The air attacks lasted 20 minutes, concentrating on the ship's electronic antennas and dishes. The 'Liberty' was left afire, listing sharply. Eight of her crew lay dead, a hundred seriously wounded, including the captain, Commander William McGonagle.

At 1424 hrs, three Israeli torpedo boats attacked, raking the burning 'Liberty' with 20mm and 40mm shells. At 1431hrs an Israeli torpedo hit the 'Liberty' midship, precisely where the signals intelligence systems were located. Twenty-five more Americans died.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html

There are times when it takes forever for the present to arrive

How much more abuse can the citizens of the global democracies withstand? Unemployment at record levels, falling wages, more living in poverty and needing government assistance for the basics such as food as the wealthy elite thrive and see their net worth at record levels. Post modern democracy has a death rattle deep in its lungs, one that cannot be cured for the damage is done.

Politicians of all parties tell how if you vote for them and get rid of the other party, they will fix everything. We all know they lie. They seek to enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers and act on the behest of their special interest groups, their campaign donors.

One day this charade will end.

 "The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt

History Rhymes

Mr. Bush, at a rare prime-time news conference, portrayed himself as the protector of the country and repeatedly invoked the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, saying Mr. Hussein posed a comparable danger.
He tried anew to link Iraq to terrorists, warning that the country could not afford to wait for Mr. Hussein to unleash his weapons against the United States.
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''I will not leave the American people at the mercy of the Iraqi dictator and his weapons,'' Mr. Bush said, in the first formal East Room news conference in nearly a year and a half. He said Sept. 11 ''should say to the American people that we're now a battlefield.''
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''He's a murderer,'' he said. ''He has trained and financed Al Qaeda type organizations. I take the threat seriously.''
/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/07/world/threats-responses-president-president-readies-us-for-prospect-imminent-war.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

As some in the Bush administration press the case for a pre-emptive strike against Iraq, weapons experts say there is mounting evidence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has amassed large stocks of chemical and biological weapons he is hiding from a possible U.S. military attack.Washington's concern is that Iraq could supply those weapons to terrorist groups, although U.S. officials say that there is no evidence that has happened so far."If we wait for the danger to become clear, it could be too late," said Sen. Joseph Biden
http://articles.cnn.com/2002-09-02/world/iraq.weapons_1_biological-weapons-weapons-inspectors-iraqi-president-saddam-hussein?_s=PM:WORLD

PHNOM PENH — The US said Friday that Syrian officials would be "held accountable" if they failed to safeguard the country's chemical weapons after a report suggested some were being moved out of storage.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iDByw1zdhSVlssmDYThQ2b914ugQ?docId=CNG.9deb90352b40f5a2c047699e3e4f2944.51

BEIRUT, Lebanon — New details emerging Saturday about what local Syrian activists called a massacre of civilians near the central city of Hama indicated that it was more likely an uneven clash between the heavily armed Syrian military and local fighters bearing light weapons.
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Col. Riad al-Assad, based in Turkey as the ostensible leader of the loose coalition of fighters called the Free Syrian Army, told the Arabic television network Al Jazeera on Thursday that there had been no opposition fighters in the town.
Although what actually happened in Tremseh remains murky, the evidence available suggested that events on Thursday more closely followed the Syrian government account.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/world/middleeast/details-of-a-battle-challenge-reports-of-a-syrian-massacre.html

The Two Faces of Hillary Clinton

Though one is cleary enough.

CAIRO — In the days before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived here on Saturday, becoming the highest-ranking American official to meet with Egypt’s newly elected Islamist president, she planned to deliver a forceful public speech about democracy.

 But with the new president still struggling to wrest power from Egypt’s top generals, there were too many questions, too many pitfalls and too little new for Mrs. Clinton to offer, said several people briefed on the process. After rejecting at least three different drafts, the administration called off the speech days before its scheduled delivery, these people said.
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She said she would work with Congress and the Egyptian government on the details of delivering a $1 billion aid package that President Obama promised a year ago and that Egypt desperately needs. [Fatboy: The Congressional Budget Office said that 45 million people in 2011 received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, a 70% increase from 2007. It said the number of people receiving the benefits, commonly known as food stamps, would continue growing until 2014. The US also desperately needs an aid package. The US government borrows $1 billion from China to provide aid to Egypt?]
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But she alluded only lightly to the military’s recent grab for power, or its failure to deliver on its promise hand power to civilians by July 1.
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Officials say that the generals have repeatedly ignored American pressure, including the threat that the United States might end its $1.5 billion a year in economic assistance to Egypt, including $1.3 billion in military aid.
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She said she planned to meet Sunday with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/world/middleeast/clinton-arrives-in-egypt-for-meeting-with-new-president.html


On Friday, thousands took to the streets of Cairo to demonstrate for the demands of the revolution and against the US-backed counter-revolution in Egypt. The military-installed regime of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf passed a law on Wednesday banning all protests and demonstrations, and punishes violations against the legislation with draconian penalties.
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The attempt of the Egyptian bourgeoisie to stabilise the economy through the use of force and thereby reassure foreign investors has the full support of governments in Europe and the US.
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Ahmed, an unemployed journalist interviewed by the WSWS in Tahrir Square, said, “At least by the time Sharaf and the military moved to clear Tahrir Square, it was obvious they are controlled by the old forces. The military leadership, in particular, still stands for the old Mubarak dictatorship. I especially hate Tantawi. He’s an old friend of Mubarak and a close ally of the US”.
Ahmed said that the hypocrisy of the US’s role in events knew no bounds: “Hillary Clinton now tears around Tahrir Square, exhorting the virtues of democracy! I remember very well the weapons and the tear gas ‘made in the US’ that were used against us”.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/egyp-m28.shtml


Nothing Egypt's military council has done in its past suggests it has the capacity or inclination to introduce speedy and radical change. Guaranteed its $1.3bn (£812m) annual grant from the US — a dividend from the Camp David peace accord with Israel – it has gained the reputation as a hidebound institution with little appetite for reform.
The frustration of the military's American benefactors shines through in leaked US cables, where the criticism focuses mostly on the man at the top, 75-year-old Field Marshal Muhammad Tantawi.
In March 2008 cable [146040], the US ambassador to Cairo, Francis Ricciardone, described Tantawi as "aged and change-resistant".
Tantawi and [Hosni] Mubarak are focused on regime stability and maintaining the status quo through the end of their time. They simply do not have the energy, inclination or world view to do anything differently," it reads
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/14/wikileaks-cables-egyptian-military-head

Hélder Câmara

If there is some corner of the world which has remained peaceful, but with a peace based on injustices the peace of a swamp with rotten matter fermenting in its depths - we may be sure that that peace is false. Violence attracts violence. Let us repeat fearlessly and ceaselessly: injustices bring revolt, either from the oppressed or from the young, determined to fight for a more just and more human world.

In the developed countries of the capitalist world, the mass media are beginning to become businesses, and huge businesses at that. The freedom of journalists is now becoming, in most cases, a very relative thing: it ends where the interests of the business begin

Violence builds up at three levels in a society. Primary violence is the everyday effect of structurally ingrained social injustice. This generates secondary violence - the revolt of the oppressed. And that in turn provokes tertiary violence - repression by the powerful to secure their privileged position. And so the spiral of violence tightens.

Russia No Longer on the Sidelines Hillary

"I ask you to reach out to Russia and China and not only ask but demand that they get off the sidelines," said Mrs. Clinton
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-07-06/middleeast/world_meast_syria-unrest_1_syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-syrian-people-syrian-opposition?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST

MOSCOW — Russia, which seems intent on positioning itself as an increasingly decisive broker in the Syrian crisis, announced on Tuesday that a flotilla of navy vessels had sailed to the Mediterranean Sea and some would dock in the Syrian port of Tartus. The naval group includes several landing craft with marines.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/world/middleeast/russia-sends-warships-on-maneuvers-near-syria.html

A. This guys a dumbass B. This guy's a liar or C. This guy's a lying dumbass



Mr Tucker said he could not be sure that abuse of the Libor system is not continuing to this day, telling the committee: “I can't be confident of anything after learning of this cesspit.”
The Libor scandal could be repeated in a number of other “self-certifying” markets where prices are determined, he said.
“Self-certification is clearly open to abuse, so this could occur elsewhere,” he said
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“We thought it was a malfunctioning market, not a dishonest market,” he said.
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“We made a judgement that moving away from the existing method of self-certification was just not feasible during a financial crisis”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9387710/A-cesspit-Libor-scandal-may-be-going-on-elsewhere.html



When Will the US Push for Democracy in Saudi Arabia?

Saudi citizens, who happen to be Shias, march in protest of the killing of two unarmed protestors gunned down by Saudi security forces.

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. One Bad Ass Dude

A recent quote from Olafur:
"[I']m simply saying if the collective decision-making structure of the European Union can take such wrong decisions and follow a misleading course and fundamentally unwise for the healthy future of the European banking system, as I advised before, Arguing that private banks should operate in a way that the profits go to them, but the losses go to ordinary people back home is something that they need to examine.

We have, however, concentrated on our recovery, and paradoxically, what we are seeing in the last two years is that many sectors in Iceland: the energy sector, the tourism sector, the IT sector, the manufacturing sector, and the fishing sector are doing better in the last two years than they did prior to the banking crisis. And you might also find it interesting that the collapse of the banks revealed to us a very interesting aspect of modern banking, which I think has been more or less overlooked in this discussion in Europe and in America in the last two or three years: the Icelandic banks, like all modern big banks in Europe and America and all the other parts of the world, are no longer banks in the old-fashioned way. They have become high-tech companies. High-ranked engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, programmers and so on and so forth. And their success depends largely on how successful they are in hiring people with this education and capability, not necessarily those trained in business schools or finance, but in engineering, mathematics, computer science and so on."



A story from Forbes Magazine from 18 months ago:
[R]efusing to repay the money will do more than just piss off the U.K. and Netherlands which are now taking Iceland to court. It could very well hurt Iceland’s own financial capacity.
Just last week, Moody’s downgraded Iceland’s debt ratings outlook to negative from stable citing concerns about its recovery related to this very repayment dispute. Now that the people have voted to to repayment there is a sense that more credit ratings agencies including Moody’s will further downgrade the country’s rating.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/04/11/icelands-stand-against-bailout-repayment-will-hurt/

WSJ from a week ago:
REYKJAVIK, Iceland— Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who wielded the political power of his traditionally ceremonial office and rejected a deal that would have put taxpayers on the hook for $5 billion to Britain and the Netherlands, has been elected to a fifth term.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304211804577500471830800592.html

NYT's yesterday:
REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- For a country that four years ago plunged into a financial abyss so deep it all but shut down overnight, Iceland seems to be doing surprisingly well.
It has repaid, early, many of the international loans that kept it afloat. Unemployment is hovering around 6 percent, and falling. And while much of Europe is struggling to pull itself out of the recessionary swamp, Iceland's economy is expected to grow by 2.8 percent this year.
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But during the crisis, the country did many things different from its European counterparts. It let its three largest banks fail, instead of bailing them out'
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Some Icelanders say they have been soothed, too, by the country's bold decision to initiate an extensive criminal investigation into the financial debacle. Many members of the old banking elite have been identified as possible suspects, and some of their cases are beginning to come to trial; several people were convicted of financial crimes last month.
Bypass Paywalls and Log-Ins


So, Iceland under the leadership of Olafur, who as the WSJ article stated, overruled Iceland's Parliment and PM by allowing the banks to fail and telling the Brits to bugger off and actually prosecuted the banking elites now has lower unemployment and larger GDP growth then the Eurozone, Great Britian and the U.S. combined. This proves that capitalism works as well as proving that the U.S, Eurozone and Great Britan's style of cronyism, Oliogarchy, captured politicians and allowing the banks to function as an organized crime syndicate doesn't.

Fill up your glass with Vodka, arise and salute the citizens of Iceland and Olafur as you listen to their national anthem.

US Txxpayer Backed Jordanian Government MP Pulls Pistol on Live TV

“You are a spy in the pay of” the Syrian government, Shawabka said.
Murad, in return, accused Shawabka of being a spy in the pay of the Israeli Mossad agency and said the lawmaker was “a thief.”

Many commentators believe that the Western media remain silent toward the demonstrations in Jordan, shifting the public attention to the turmoil in Syria.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/08/249926/jordan-mp-whips-out-gun-in-live-tv-show/

Come Now Hillary. You Fool No One

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lambasted Russia and China on Friday for blocking efforts to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has lost a key general to defection.
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She urged the other 100 or so nations and organizations represented at the summit to "make it clear that Russia and China will pay a price" for that position.
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"I ask you to reach out to Russia and China and not only ask but demand that they get off the sidelines," she said. "I don't think Russia and China believe they are paying any price at all, nothing at all, for standing with (the) Assad regime."
Hillary Carries the Torch of George W. Bush as She Calls for "Democracy" in the Middle East


The relationship means the People's Bank of China buys U.S. debt using a different method than any other central bank in the world.
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China, which holds $1.17 trillion in U.S. Treasuries, still buys some Treasuries through primary dealers, but since June 2011, that route hasn't been necessary.
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China can now participate in auctions without placing bids through primary dealers. If it wants to sell, however, it still has to go through the market.
The change was not announced publicly or in any message to primary dealers
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/21/us-usa-treasuries-china-idUSBRE84K11720120521

The currency holdings, reported by the central bank on its website today, rose by $199 billion to $2.85 trillion,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-11/china-s-currency-reserves-rise-to-record-domestic-lending-exceeds-target.html

Russia – the Union's largest energy resources importer (2009)

• 36% of the EU’s total gas imports originate from Russia
• 31% of the EU's total crude oil imports originate from Russia
• 30% of the EU's coal imports originate from Russia

The EU – Russia's largest trade partner for energy goods

• 80% of all Russian oil exports go to the EU
• 70% of all Russian gas exports go to the EU
• 50% of all Russian coal exports go to the EU

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/international/russia/russia_en.htm

Breaking: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney In Syria to Consult with Assad Regime. Developing.

"Basat al reeh." "Dulab." "Falaqa." They are Arabic names for torture techniques that send chills through the hearts of Syrians, particularly the untold thousands who are believed to have been detained during the uprising of the last 15 months.
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-07-03/middleeast/world_meast_syria-torture-report_1_torture-victims-human-rights-watch-latakia?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST

On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, assured the world that “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.” Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria, was surprised to learn of Bush’s statement. Two and a half years ago, American officials, suspecting Arar of being a terrorist, apprehended him in New York and sent him back to Syria, where he endured months of brutal interrogation, including torture. When Arar described his experience in a phone interview recently, he invoked an Arabic expression. The pain was so unbearable, he said, that “you forget the milk that you have been fed from the breast of your mother.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0208-13.htm

Car Bombs and Kidnapped Mayors Turning Up Dead in Mexico

A car bomb exploded outside the mayor of Nuevo Laredo, killing seven civilians injured, property damage the facade of the building and 11 vehicles with damage, according to the Government of Tamaulipas

Within the limits of the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, was found dead the mayor of Tlacojolpan, Veracruz, Marisol Mora Cuevas, who had been reported kidnapped on the night of June 24 in their home, confirmed Attorney's Office Oaxaca.
The body was found by members of the State Investigation Agency dependent on the Regional Deputy Justice in the road near Bonita Springs - City Island, near the gas plant to plant "Amapa". The body was found handcuffed, plus they showed signs of torture and burns.
NarcoBlog

Fight the Power

This exists to help hide and obscure people's real identity. This is done by seeding the fake data into search engines.
Fake identities on the public internet are not dangerous. Real identities are!
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This is actually a list of 250 million people, indexed by the WRONG address, name, phone, and SSN.
This data is ficticious. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead is purely coincidence.
http://www.xdd.org/faq/faq.html

They are Not Radicals They are Freedom Fighters, Really They Are

Saudi officials are preparing to pay the salaries of the Free Syria Army as a means of encouraging mass defections from the military and increasing pressure on the Assad regime, the Guardian has learned.
[T]urkey has also allowed the establishment of a command centre in Istanbul which is co-ordinating supply lines in consultation with FSA leaders inside Syria
"[S]enator Lieberman also supports the idea of ensuring that the armed opposition fighters receive regular and sufficient pay, although he does not believe it is necessary for the United States to provide this funding itself directly."
[D]iplomatic sources have told the Guardian two US intelligence officers were in Syria's third city of Homs between December and early February, trying to establish command and control within rebel ranks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/22/saudi-arabia-syria-rebel-army

History Rhymes

Turkey Doing the Bidding of the Dying Democracies Within the Antiquated Structure of NATO?

[S]ince the war against Libya was launched by U.S. Africa Command under the codename Operation Odyssey Dawn to the present NATO-run Operation Unified Protector in place since March 31, air operations have been run from NATO’s Air Command Headquarters for Southern Europe in Izmir, Turkey.

[T]urkey hosted a conference of Syrian opposition forces called “Change in Syria” from May 1-June 2 in the city of Antalya. Although held under the sponsorship of the Egyptian-based National Organisation of Human Rights, logistics and security were provided by the host country.

“[T]he West wants to put the region under Turkish control like in the Ottoman days. Turkey is a NATO member and embodies a safe kind of Islam for the West, so they have done a deal to give everything to Ankara.”
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/turkish-actions-designed-to-trigger-nato-confrontation-with-syria/

SHANGHAI: In a statement that may be interpreted as the harshest response yet to the escalating 13-month-old Syrian crisis, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the first time on Wednesday raised the possibility of calling on the NATO military alliance to protect Turkey’s border against incursions by Syrian forces.
http://syria360.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/turkey-can-invoke-natos-article-5-for-syrian-intervention/

Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkey officially considers the shooting down of one of its military fighter jets by Syria to be a hostile act, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/24/world/meast/turkey-syria-plane/index.html

[T]he Turkish warplane shot down by Syria's air defense forces might have violated Syrian airspace, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday.
"It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over [national] borders... when you consider their speed over the sea," Gul told the state-run Anatolia news agency. "These are not ill-intentioned things but happen beyond control due to the jets' speed."
http://en.rian.ru/world/20120623/174202636.html


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Syria's downing of a Turkish fighter yet as "brazen and unacceptable" on Sunday and vowed close U.S. cooperation with Turkey to promote a political transition in Syria.
"The United States condemns this brazen and unacceptable act in the strongest possible terms," Clinton said in a statement following a conversation on Saturday with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-syria-crisis-clintonbre85n0l2-20120624,0,5568280.story


Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space on February 9 2010, Greek daily Kathimeriny reported on February 10.
Reportedly, this was the first such trespassing of sovereign air space at the Aegean Sea perpetrated by the Turks since the turn of the new year, the report said quoting Greek defence officials.
The violation, as on previous occasions, was conducted by four F-16s and four Phantoms F-4s which penetrated Greek airspace at the south-eastern island of Samos, a touching distance from mainland Turkey.
Kathimerini said that the Phantoms peeled off from the initial formation and conducted a low flight over the islet of Farmakonisi. Greek fighter jets chased off the Turkish planes, the report said.
The Greek embassy in Ankara lodged an official complaint.
http://sofiaecho.com/2010/02/10/855589_eight-turkish-planes-violate-greek-airspace-and-are-chased-off-by-greek-fighters


The Associated Press
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish warplanes have bombed Kurdish rebel hideouts deep inside northern Iraq, and Kurdish rebels killed one policeman and wounded three others in a roadside bomb attack inside Turkey on Sunday, authorities said.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/turkey-hits-kurdish-rebels-1463570.html