Ahmadinejad to Chavez: ‘We’re going to be together until the end’

“We feel at home here and among our brothers … we’re going to be together until the end,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez during a visit to Latin America on Wednesday.”

Both leaders roundly denounced US “imperialism,” and Chavez also called Israel “a murderous arm of the Yankee empire.”

Chavez said he had just returned from an unannounced visit to Cuba, where he met with his mentor Fidel Castro as well as President Raul Castro. “They asked me to give you a hug for them,” he told Ahmadinejad.

Also during Ahmadinejad’s visit, the two leaders agreed on the inception of a direct flight route between Teheran and Caracas, according to a report by AFP.

From the Jereusalem Post:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259010985964&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Chavez and Ahmadinejad Sign Agreements, Rip U.S.

CARACAS – The presidents of Venezuela and Iran, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, respectively, continued consolidating a relationship that the former called “exemplary,” signing new accords and giving speeches defending their cooperation and criticizing the United States.

In a signing ceremony for several joint projects at Miraflores Palace, the two leaders agreed that “accusations of violence” against them were a “joke” before confirming that their cooperation was designed to “build (a good) life” for their people and denouncing Washington’s responsibility in conflicts and crisis situations around the world.

“In truth, it seems like a joke that they are accusing us of violence,” asserted Chavez, echoing the words spoken shortly before that by his Iranian counterpart.

The two men responded to U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, who had said that he hoped that Caracas would emphasize to Ahmadinejad “the concerns that the international community has regarding his nuclear program, his presumed support for terrorism and the situation of human rights.”

The Iranian leader said that the true concern lies in “the nuclear and chemical arsenals,” as well as the repeated “threats of military invasion,” referring to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On numerous occasions during the more than three hours that the ceremony lasted, both men denounced those who “are attacking” them, a clear allusion to the United States, which they called the “Yankee empire,” and they confirmed that the cooperation of their two countries is being pursued in the “service of the people.”

At the ceremony at Miraflores, which ended about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Chavez and Ahmadinejad presided at the signing of 12 cooperation agreements in the areas of energy, transportation and housing, among others, after holding a meeting behind closed doors for more than three hours.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=348071&CategoryId=10717

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told the military and civil militias today to prepare for war as a deterrent to a U.S.-led attack after American troops gained access to military bases in neighboring Colombia.

Chavez said a recently signed agreement that gives American troops access to seven Colombian bases is a direct threat to his oil-exporting country. Colombia has handed over its sovereignty to the U.S. with the deal, he said.

“Generals of the armed forces, the best way to avoid a war is to prepare for one,” Chavez said in comments on state television during his weekly “Alo Presidente” program. “Colombia handed over their country and is now another state of the union. Don’t make the mistake of attacking: Venezuela is willing to do anything.”

The U.S. agreement with Colombia is part of an effort to “strengthen and increase ties with countries in the region,” Robin Holzhauer, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, said by telephone. “We’ve done that with governments who want to have partnerships with us.” Colombia has said the agreement would help combat drug trafficking.

Ties between Venezuela and Colombia have deteriorated this year after President Alvaro Uribe accused Chavez of financing leftist Colombian rebels. Chavez, a self-proclaimed socialist revolutionary, said he would stop importing goods from Colombia due to the U.S. military pact. The two countries are each other’s second-largest trading partners after the U.S.

Colombian Exports

Colombian exports to Venezuela plunged 45.7 percent in August from a year earlier, according to data from the Colombian statistics institute.

Uribe’s office said Colombia hasn’t taken any steps toward a war and that it will take Chavez’s threats to the Organization of American States and the United Nations Security Council.

“Colombia hasn’t and won’t make a single gesture of war to the international community, and even less so, to a brother country,” it said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s Web site. “The only interest that moves us is overcoming the narco-terrorism that has mistreated Colombians for so many years.”

Chavez ordered an increase of troops along the more than 2,000-kilometer border between Venezuela and Colombia last week and said he may declare a state of emergency after two officials from the National Guard were shot and killed by supposed Colombian rebels.

Tank Battalions

In March 2008, Chavez sent 10 tank battalions to the border with Colombia after the Colombian military attacked leftist rebels in Ecuadorian territory, killing Raul Reyes, a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Chavez later called the tanks back from the border and helped dissipate tensions between Uribe and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

Venezuela has purchased billions of dollars of weapons, tanks, fighter jets and helicopters from Russia since 2003. Chavez says the purchases are necessary to modernize the Armed Forces and to protect the country’s natural resources from a possible invasion from the U.S.

Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister Tarek El-Aissami said last month officers from Colombia’s domestic intelligence agency are operating clandestinely in his country to destabilize the government.

Accused of Spying

Venezuela is also holding three Colombian citizens accused of spying as agents of the Colombian intelligence agency, known as DAS. Colombia says two of the individuals don’t belong to the agency, Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, and that the other was on vacation in Venezuela when arrested.

Please go here for the rest of the story:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aZuAU4StKAQY

Face Forward Comments:

One of the defining elements of any cult is the  “us versus them mentality”.  While there are many other signs around his presidency that give indication of a cult leader, certainly using the US as a constant threat to his people certainly sounds like one.  Based on what we have learned about our own cult leader, Obama, and his military experitse, I am pretty sure Chavez has nothing to worry about.

CARACAS – Venezuela moved to seize the Hilton resort on the Caribbean island of Margarita, a swanky beach-side hotel which recently housed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

President Hugo Chavez ordered the nationalization of the resort, which is owned by local firms facing troubles with the government’s financial oversight body. The resort, which is managed by Hilton Worldwide, has 280 rooms and 154 time-share suites, according to the presidential decree ordering the takeover.

Chavez recently held court at the hotel as he welcomed more than 30 leaders from South America and Africa for a summit. Among the visitors was Gadhafi, who set up his emblematic and heavily guarded tent at the hotel’s private beach. Mugabe walked through the hotel’s halls surrounded by a ring of bodyguards.

During the summit, Chavez joked that the government could nationalize the hotel. A few years ago, the government seized a Hilton in Caracas, which it rebranded Hotel Alba. Since then, the hotel has become a meeting point for Chavez sympathizers from around the globe.

Karla Visconti, a spokeswoman for Hilton Worldwide, said the company “is evaluating how the Venezuelan government’s action affects its interest in this hotel.” She noted that Hilton manages the hotel on Margarita, but doesn’t own it. The hotel, which includes a casino, a marina and five restaurants, will help in the development of tourism projects in “a socialist framework,” according to the decree signed by Chavez. The decree didn’t specify any compensation for the seizure or when the nationalization will be executed.

Chavez has set his eyes on the tourism industry for some time. A law was approved in 2008

The two Great Socalistic leaders of the Americas - Obama and Chavez

labeling the tourism industry as “public interest,” essentially allowing for the government to quickly nationalize any companies operating in the sector.

For the rest of the story:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091013-714336.html

The banks that are lost should not be a surprise to anyone. We lost those in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve. In our time we saw the coffin lid close on private ownership in the banking industry with the TARP funds and the forced bankruptcy of our large private banks.

We saw the once mighty automobile industry start to fail in the 70′s and again crumble as they were held hostage by Unions empowered with government back laws.  Again, in our time, we saw the lid close on private ownership in the automobile manufacturing by taking tax payers money (or money borrowed from Chinese) and giving it to unions.  Welcome to GM or government motors and President Goodwrench.

Health care is next.  Unless something dramatic happens you can be assured that we will have a government health care system.  They already have the votes.  The only thing I can assume is that they want to give the people a sense that they have had influence in the debate.  Don’t get me wrong, I am going to continue to stand up against our governments drive to socialism, not matter the discipline.  However, we are already starting to see the so called “conservative block” start to crumble.

Unless the current administration gets reined in, I see the following business disciplines in danger of being next in line: (in no particular order)

Energy (not just oil and gas but power to your home)

Airlines (if they can control crowd movement they can control the crowd)

Radio/Television (the attack on Talk radio and Fox news have already begun) 

Internet service Providers

There are others like mining, aircraft manufacturing, and K-12 education, they already have increasing influence in that will also fall.

Everyone reads articles and sees news bulletins about these Chavez socialistic takeovers and says it could never happen here.  Probably 2 years ago those same people would have said, “the government will never own a car company and dictate who gets to sell the cars”.   My, my, my how times have changed.

UK Guardian – Barack Obama has demanded the Pentagon conduct a radical review of US nuclear weapons doctrine to prepare the way for deep cuts in the country’s arsenal, the Guardian can reveal.

Obama has rejected the Pentagon’s first draft of the “nuclear posture review” as being too timid, and has called for a range of more far-reaching options consistent with his goal of eventually abolishing nuclear weapons altogether, according to European officials.

Those options include:

• Reconfiguring the US nuclear force to allow for an arsenal measured in hundreds rather than thousands of deployed strategic warheads.

• Redrafting nuclear doctrine to narrow the range of conditions under which the US would use nuclear weapons.

• Exploring ways of guaranteeing the future reliability of nuclear weapons without testing or producing a new generation of warheads.

The review is due to be completed by the end of this year, and European officials say the outcome is not yet clear. But one official said: “Obama is now driving this process. He is saying these are the president’s weapons, and he wants to look again at the doctrine and their role.”

For the rest of the Article please go here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/20/barack-obama-us-nuclear-weapons

Face Fwd Comments:

So, Obama considers the Nuclear Weapons, presidential weapons.  Holy crap….you don’t think he would use them on us, do you?

Everyone knows that we do have too many nukes.  I include Russian and the rest of the world in that “we”, as well.  So, I am all about reducing the number of them.  Heck, they scare me to death and I wish they were all gone……..but they aren’t.  In fact, there are are a surprising number of nukes spread out around the world. Israel alone has an estimated 150+ warheads.  Most of the weapons remain in the Northern Hemisphere.  Below is a list of counties and their status

Currently Nuclear Powers

United States

Russia

United Kingdom

France

China

India

Pakistan

North Korea

Israel

States that already or will soon have

Iran

Syria

Myanmar

States that formerly had weapons but are now supposed to be “Nuke Free”

South Africa

Belarus

Kazakhstan

Ukraine

Again, I wish they were all gone but I don’t see how cutting ours back makes the world a safer place.  I really do believe it is the determent of the weapons that has held Russia and the old Soviet block in place.  Let’s not go giving our security away, before we see what the other guys are going to do.  When he said transparent I did not know he was talking about our security.

One last item.  Had the the following headline, “Obama denies Russia dictated missile decision”. Not just been in the headlines the last week.  I’d feel a little better about him playing with our safety.  We already knows he is not supporting our traditional allies.  His every action says he is going to do the same with us.