CLG News Updates - 26 Feb

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WikiLeaks begins publishing 5 million emails from STRATFOR 26 Feb 2012 Today (27 Feb) WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails date from between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence Agency. Stratfor... emails reveal private intelligence staff who align themselves closely with US government policies and channel tips to the Mossad – including through an information mule in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yossi Melman, who conspired with Guardian journalist David Leigh to secretly, and in violation of WikiLeaks' contract with the Guardian, move WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables to Israel.

'US to announce aerial blockade on Syria' 25 Feb 2012 The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention in Syria, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military official. According to the official, the intervention scenario calls for the establishment of a buffer zone on the Turkish border, in order to receive Syrian refugees. The measure would pave the way for the US to declare an aerial blockade on Syria. The next step in the reported US Department of Defense plan would be to appoint a team of UN observers to monitor the 'humanitarian' military aid, and enter Syria. They would need aerial protection, which would eventually lead to an aerial blockade.

UK prepares for military strike against Iran: The Sun 26 Feb 2012 The United Kingdom has reportedly drawn up plans to send hundreds of troops and an extra nuclear submarine to the Persian Gulf amid escalating war threats against the Islamic Republic. "MoD planners went into overdrive at the start of the year. Conflict is seen as inevitable as long as the regime (Iran) pursue their nuclear ambitions," The Sun quoted a senior Whitehall official as saying on Sunday. "Britain would be sucked in whether we like it or not," the official added. The report said a military attack against Iran is "a matter of when not if... with 18 to 24 months the likely timescale."

ENDS