A barrage of at least 50 rockets from the occupied Gaza Strip struck southern Israel, Israeli police have said, a day after Israeli forces killed three Palestinian fighters in the enclave.
There were no immediate reports of casualties after the rockets hit on Wednesday, mainly around Sderot. "It's a barrage such as we haven't seen for two years," a local official said on Army Radio.
The Palestinian armed group, Islamic Jihad, claimed it carried out the attack. "The al-Quds Brigades responded to aggression with a volley of rockets," the group said in a statement.
It called the operation "Breaking the Silence" and vowed more attacks.
In response, Israeli artillery was reported to have hit launch sites inside Gaza. Residents of Beit Hanoun said they saw Israeli fire hit one site nearby.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday vowed to continue striking Gaza rocket launcher squads.
"We will continue to thwart and hit those that want to harm us, and we will act against them with great force,'' he said.
The Hamas group, which controls Gaza, said it would hold Israel responsible for any escalation.
"We hold the occupation responsible, we warn of the consequences of any escalation and we reiterate that resistance is the right of the Palestinian people to defend itself," said Ihab al-Ghassin, a spokesman for Hamas
The rocket salvos come a day after an Israeli air strike killed three Islamic Jihad members who the group said had fired mortar bombs at Israeli troops had entered the Gaza Strip through Israel's border fence.
Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the now-Hamas-run territory in 2005. But it maintains a naval and air blockade and severely restricts the overland movement of people and goods across the volatile border.
March 12th, 2014, 18:11
American Patriot
Re: World War Three Thread....
Barrage of rockets from Gaza hits southern Israeli cities
JERUSALEM (JTA) — More than 30 rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at communities in southern Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces responded to the rocket attacks about an hour later, hitting what it called two “terror locations” in the northern and southern Gaza Strip with artillery fire.
Eight of the rocket fired from Gaza landed in residential neighborhoods in the Wednesday evening attack, according to the IDF.
Most of the rockets were fired at Sderot and Netivot. The Iron Dome anti-missile system shot down at least three of the rockets, the IDF spokesman said on Twitter.
The Code Red siren was sounded in several southern Israeli communities. Residents were instructed by the IDF to remain in bomb shelters.
The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad terror organization, claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying: “The response has begun to the crimes of the occupation, the latest of which was the killing of three members” of the organization on Tuesday, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported. Islamic Jihad claimed to have launched 90 rockets at Israel, according to Ma’an.
On Tuesday, a retaliatory strike on a terror cell in Gaza, that had fired mortars at Israeli troops performing routine work in the border area, killed three members of Islamic Jihad.
A rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel overnight on Tuesday.
“We will continue stopping attacks and hitting those who wish to harm us, and will act against them with full force,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that also was posted on Facebook, shortly after the attack.
Since the beginning of 2014, more than 60 rockets have been fired at southern Israel from Gaza, according to the IDF. Tuesday’s attack was the largest on Israel since the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense, the IDF said.
March 12th, 2014, 18:15
American Patriot
Re: World War Three Thread....
IDF will respond to 'biggest rocket attack on Israel since 2012,' says army source
Evaluation meeting held by senior IDF commanders; Islamic Jihad launched simultaneous rocket barrages from northern and southern Gaza, says army source.
The IDF will respond to the largest rocket attack on Israel since 2012, an army source warned on Wednesday, following heavy rocket barrages from Gaza on the Western Negev.
An evaluation meeting was held in the evening by senior IDF commanders, including Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, the head of the air force, Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel, Military Intelligence head Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, and OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Sami Turgeman.
A senior army source said Islamic Jihad launched simultaneous rocket barrages from northern and southern Gaza, calling it the most large-scale rocket attack on Israel since the eight-day conflict with Gazan terror groups in 2012.
More than 30 rockets exploded in southern Israel, including eight in built-up areas, the IDF said. An Iron Dome anti-rocket battery intercepted three projectiles over Sderot.
"This began yesterday, when an Islamic Jihad cell fired on our force that was operating on the security fence with Gaza," the source said.
In the coming hours, officials from the Home Front Command and IDF Southern Command will meet with local government representatives in the South to discuss safety instructions. For now, residents of the Gaza-border were advised to remain close to safe zones, the military said.
IDf Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, who is in the US, was being briefed on all developments.
Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz rushed back to Israel from the U.S. on Wednesday as Israeli tanks fired at targets in the Gaza Strip after a massive barrage of rockets hit Southern Israel on Wednesday evening, Israeli Army radio reported.
The IDF responded to the rocket strikes by targeting two terror locations in the northern and southern Gaza Strip, the IDF posted on Twitter.
Terrorists in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip launched at least 60 rockets at Israeli population centers around 5 p.m. local time in the single biggest such attack since Israel’s 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense. Most of the rockets struck open fields, one hit a southern Israeli town near Gaza and one landed in Sderot.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, saying it was in response to the death of three of its operatives, who were killed Tuesday in an Israeli Air Force strike, after firing mortar shells at IDF positions.
A video posted Wednesday on Facebook shows multiple rockets being fired from a populated area in Gaza into Israel.
Gantz’s official visit in the U.S. began on Sunday. The trip included several work meetings and a keynote address at the annual Friends of the IDF Gala Dinner in New York Tuesday night. It is not clear if his trip was cut short.
March 12th, 2014, 18:19
American Patriot
Re: World War Three Thread....
As rockets rain down, Liberman calls for IDF to recapture Gaza
Amid largest Palestinian attack since 2012, FM says government must ensure security even at the cost of terminating peace talks
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday evening said the IDF should reoccupy the Gaza Strip in response to an ongoing, massive rocket bombardment of southern Israel, and said that the Israeli government must defend its citizens even if it jeopardized peace talks with the Palestinians.
Liberman told Channel 2 that Israel could not abide the firing of dozens of rockets at civilian targets in a single day, and added that the IDF was prepared to take immediate action in order to eradicate the threat of rocket fire from the Strip.
“There is no way to avert a full occupation of the Gaza Strip; only then can we ensure that these images do not recur,” the foreign minister said. “We cannot ignore such an attack, a barrage of 50 rockets and mortar shells.”
Islamic Jihad, which took responsibility for the attacks, put the number at 90 rockets.
Liberman insisted that only a full-scale military invasion of Gaza could sufficiently counter the threat, and stressed that he would not accept a more minor operation across the border.
“I will vote against any limited operation,” he said. “They have [arms] caches, stashes for thousands of missiles, and every day they intensify their efforts,” the foreign minister said, referring to Gaza-based terror groups.
He said the IDF should immediately retake the Strip, which Israel left unilaterally in 2005, dismantling its settlements there and forcibly evacuating some 7,000 settlers. Hamas violently seized power there in 2007, forcing out Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority. Liberman said once Israel had reined in and disarmed Gaza’s extremist elements, it should coordinate with Egypt on the future control of the area.
The foreign minister said he viewed the rocket barrage as a case of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad signaling to British Prime Minister David Cameron, who spoke in the Knesset shortly before the attack, that “we’re on the map” and “we’ll prevent any agreement” between Israel and the Palestinians.
Asked whether he would push for military action even at the expense of peace talks with the Palestinians in the West Bank, Liberman said that the security of Israel’s citizens outweighed concerns over the success of the diplomatic process.
“No sovereign state can accept a situation wherein its citizens are not secure,” the foreign minister stated. “There is no price too high to pay in ensuring that the citizens of Israel stay protected… Without security for the people of Israel, no agreement has any value.”
No Israeli casualties were initially reported in what has been the largest rocket barrage from the Strip since Operation Pillar of Defense in late 2012.
Most of the rockets were reported to have fallen in open areas, though at least one rocket landed in a residential neighborhood. Damage was reported in two impact sites.
IAF jets were reportedly flying over the Strip, apparently in an effort to thwart further rocket launches, and tanks fired shells at several targets in the coastal territory.
An Israeli civilian stands next to a hole caused by a rocket launched from the Gaza strip, in the Israeli city of Sderot in the western Negev on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 (photo credit: AFP/David Buimovitch)
Officers in the southern command convened Wednesday evening to discuss possible responses to the attack.
Meanwhile, security agencies in the Strip evacuated their headquarters for fear of Israeli reprisal, Sky News reported.
Islamic Jihad indicated that the attack was in retaliation for the Tuesday killing at the hands of the IDF of three Islamic Jihad operatives as they prepared to fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip.
“The Al-Quds Brigades responded to (Israeli) aggression with a volley of rockets,” the group said in a statement Wednesday, minutes after the rocket attack.
Following the rocket attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would forcefully respond to any threat on its citizens.
“It seems that the rocket fire came in response to our counter-terrorism operations yesterday,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to thwart and harm those who wish to harm us, and we will act against them with great intensity.
“Last year, the number of rockets fired from Gaza was the lowest in a decade, but we will not settle for that. We will continue to ensure the security of Israeli citizens in the south and throughout the country.”
Last week, Israel intercepted what it said was an Iranian shipment of rockets intended for terror groups in Gaza. Israeli military sources said the arms, including 409 rockets, were destined for Islamic Jihad.
March 12th, 2014, 18:24
American Patriot
Re: World War Three Thread....
Looks like a lot is going on in the South China Seas today....
US hits 'provocative' China move on Philippine ships
by Agence France-Presse
Posted on 03/13/2014 1:38 AM | Updated 03/13/2014 1:38 AM
WASHINGTON DC, USA – The United States on Wednesday, March 12, accused China of raising tensions by blocking two Philippines vessels as it urged freedom of navigation in the tense South China Sea.
The United States, a treaty-bound ally of Manila, said it was "troubled" by Sunday's incident in which China prevented movement of two ships contracted by the Philippine navy to deliver supplies and troops to the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
"This is a provocative move that raises tensions. Pending resolution of competing claims in the South China Sea, there should be no interference with the efforts of claimants to maintain the status quo," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
The Philippines on Tuesday, March 11, summoned China's charge d'affaires, accusing Beijing of a "clear and urgent threat" to Manila's interests. Beijing countered that the ships "infringed China's territorial sovereignty" and violated a 2002 declaration of conduct in the South China Sea. (READ: PH faces major hurdle in China case)
The United States rejected China's stance, saying that countries had the right to "regular resupply and rotation of personnel" to locations before the 2002 declaration.
The Second Thomas Shoal, which sits around 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, is claimed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan. Beijing calls it Ren'ai Reef.
Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam claim other parts of the Spratly islands, which lie near vital sea lanes and rich fishing grounds and are also believe to sit on vast mineral resources.
The United States, while saying it takes no position on the sovereignty of disputed territories, has been increasingly robust in its criticism of China. Last month, the United States challenged the legal basis for China's claims over a vast area across the South China Sea.
The United States has been seeking to prevent China from taking more drastic action in the South China Sea. In November, China declared an Air Defense Identification Zone – requiring planes to report to Beijing – over a vast area in the East China Sea where it has a separate but intense feud over Japanese-administered islands. (READ: US presses Beijing on South China Sea claims)
Japan and the Philippines have accused China of making growing incursions to challenge their control over territories. US President Barack Obama will visit both Japan and the Philippines next month. – Rappler.com
March 12th, 2014, 18:25
American Patriot
Re: World War Three Thread....
China preps military for 'short, sharp war' with Japan, US Navy analyst says
China is practicing for a "short, sharp war" with Japan.
That is the assessment of a top U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, who told colleagues that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is currently conducting training exercises in a practice scenario in which the military takes the Senkaku Islands, near Taiwan.
“We witnessed the massive amphibious and cross-military region enterprise,” Capt. James Fannell, deputy chief of staff intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLEET) said at the West 2014 conference on Feb. 13 in San Diego.
“[We] concluded that the PLA has been given the new task to be able to conduct a short, sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea following with what can only be expected a seizure of the Senkakus or even a southern Ryukyu [islands] — as some of their academics say.”
It’s alleged that in the past year, China has increased its military activity, including high-profile actions in the South China Sea as well as combat drills in the south Philippine Sea.
“[We] concluded that the PLA has been given the new task to be able to conduct a short, sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea ..."
“There is growing concern that China’s pattern of behavior in the South China Sea reflects an incremental effort by China to assert control of the area contained in the so-called 9-dash line despite the objections of its neighbors, and despite the lack of any explanation or apparent basis under international law,” Fannell also said.
Japan has in recent months accused a Chinese warship of locking its missile-targeting radar onto one of its warships, Fannell noted. China first denied the claim, but later admitted it while downplaying any danger the incident posed.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters said China has a habit of bullying its neighbors with intimidating military drills, though exercises aimed at Japan are a new and worrisome wrinkle.
“The Chinese have conducted training exercises aimed at Taiwan for decades--but haven't invaded,” Peters, also a Fox News military analyst, told FoxNews.com. “The latest Chinese exercises that appear to rehearse an invasion of the Senkaku Islands are probably in that vein: Military exercises as a show of strength, a closed-fist tool of diplomacy, and, yes, a threat, but not one on which Beijing really desires to act.”
Peters adds that the exercises are likely China’s attempt at posturing.
“At present, China would have a great deal to lose by attacking or otherwise provoking a confrontation with Japan,” he said. “At the same time, the Chinese feel they're the regional (and global) rising power and they rather enjoy flexing their muscles. You might say they're proud of their physique, but don't really want a fight. In that sense, these exercises are a strategic ‘selfie.’”
The PLA is not the only one with seemingly aggressive moves as of late. Fannell also mentioned at the West conference that the Chinese coast guard is engaged in “quasi-military actions.”
“Tensions in the South and East China Seas have deteriorated with the Chinese coast guard playing the role of antagonist, harassing China’s neighbors while PLA Navy ships, their protectors, (make) port calls throughout the region promising friendship and cooperation,” he said, adding that China has spent $1.6 million on improvements to outposts in the South China Sea including development of ports, airfields, water purification and surveillance systems.
The assessments made at the conference are in stark contrasts to recent US efforts to tighten military-to military ties with China.
The Navy’s head of operations, plans and strategy, Rear Adm. James Foggo said while on the same conference panel that there was a recent successful meeting between U.S. Navy officials and the head of the PLA’s naval forces.
A U.S. delegation also toured PLAN ships and submarines and is working out plans for the Chinese navy to participate in the Rim of the Pacific 2014 (RIMPAC) exercise later this year.
March 12th, 2014, 18:32
American Patriot
Re: World War Three Thread....
Russian wants Ukraine back.
Israel wants Gaza back.
LaRaza wants America back...
LOL
What a fucked up world
March 12th, 2014, 18:36
American Patriot
Re: World War Three Thread....
Opps, another escalation...
Israeli air strikes on Gaza after dozens of rockets launched
Three intercepted by Iron Dome anti-missile system
12 March, 17:14
(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MARCH 12 - Israel was carrying out air strikes on Gaza on Wednesday in response to numerous rockets launched at its cities near the border, reports the Israeli television station Channel 2. An estimated 30 rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. Local media have called it a ''massive attack''.
The army has said that three of the rockets had been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. Alarms have gone off in the area. (ANSAmed).
Ramallah - An Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip has killed three Palestinians who were associated with Islamic Jihad, the group said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on Tuesday's attack, which Islamic Jihad said in a statement targeted its members as they "resisted an Israeli military incursion" into Rafah, a town bordering Egypt.
The latest Israeli escalation can lead to the situation spiralling out of control
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Palestinian Authority spokesperson
The attack comes after a Palestinian man died following a car chase with Israeli police near Tulkarem in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian sources said on Tuesday.
Another Palestinian, a 20-year-old student, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near Ramallah on Monday night, the Israeli military confirmed.
Fida Majadleh was killed after his car veered off the road near Jbara checkpoint, south of Tulkarem, during the chase, according to[Arabic] Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kamil.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army, but the police described the incident as a traffic accident, and said Majadleh's car, which was stolen from Israel, hit another vehicle.
Late on Monday night, 20-year-old Saji Darwish, a second year student at Birzeit University, was shot near Ramallah. Clashes following his death left five Palestinians wounded.
The Israeli army said he was part of a group of Palestinians throwing stones at settler cars between the villages of Beiten and Deir Debwan, just outside of Ramallah.
'Dangerous provocation'
A Palestinian Authority spokesperson said the "latest Israeli escalation can lead to the situation spiralling out of control".
In a statement [Ar] to the media, Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the deaths constituted "a dangerous provocation that will torpedo what's left of the peace process".
He urged the US or the Quartet (made up of the UN, the US, the EU, and Russia) to intervene.
Protests erupted near the Israeli embassy in the capital of Jordan on Tuesday in response to the killing of a Jordanian-Palestinian judge at the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on Monday. After a preliminary investigation, Israel said he had tried to snatch a weapon from a soldier and strangle him.
Last month, Amnesty International published a report which said Israeli forces were using excessive violence in the occupied West Bank, killing dozens of Palestinians over the past three years in what the rights group said might constitute a war crime.
The West Bank-focused study said more Palestinians were killed in 2013 than the two previous years combined. It also said the Palestinians did not appear to be posing any imminent threat to life in the cases that were reviewed.
The Israeli army dismissed the criticism, saying security forces had responded to an increase in Palestinian violence.
A nightmare scenario from the Cold War finally unfolds. Year 2015. Russia invades the United States, decimating cities, seizing soft targets and critical infrastructure. Think you're safe out in the countryside? Not if you live near one of these "10 soft targets of strategic importance" that may be crucial to a Russian take-over.
Yes, it's a nightmare headline that most Americans probably think would make more of a "Mad Max" movie than something that would ever actually happen, but what if it did happen?
What if Russia has it's eyes on America?
Fears Have Long Abounded of an Attack by Russia
Fears have long abounded in certain U.S. circles dating back to the Cold War of ominous threats coming from the U.S.S.R., and some of those circles include the Pentagon, more familiar with extensive KGB spying in the U.S. than the average American who probably thinks that the spy-threat is only a real threat in a James Bond movie.
Yet KGB spies were here during the Cold War. After the Soviet Union fell in the early 90s, probably a number of these spies remained, even if they're no longer thought of as "KGB".
Today we can bet that Russia has a healthy and vital network of spies in the United States, including more than a few "double agents" -- meaning U.S. citizens who work in federal government like CIA and national defense who, like many Americans, can be persuaded to pass on intel when enough dollar bills are offered.
A Russian Invasion
Only after knocking out U.S. defenses and critical infrastructure, could a Russian plan to invade and occupy parts of America unfold with the potential for success. Of course to take things to that level Russia would have to be willing to do a few things that would put them on par with Hitler.
We're talking Russia would have to be willing to nuke a few million Americans preemptively (Cold War suitcase nukes, anyone?), or perhaps use a highly lethal virus concocted deep in a Russian laboratory, and then spread across U.S. cities like a plot from the television series "24" -- or perhaps a combination of both suitcase nukes and lethal virus.
Is Putin on that "Hitler" level?
We can't quite tell yet. He's invaded two countries to date, the first being Georgia in 2008, and the second and most recent, the Ukraine, currently making world headlines.
Commercial Airlines
The plot from the original Red Dawn (1984) was that Russian forces invade the U.S. using commercial airlines on international routes to disguise the first wave of the invasion -- a modern day Trojan horse.
Could commercial airlines really be used to help get a Russian first wave into American airspace and parachuting into American communities?
Maybe.
Then of course there are container ships -- the U.S. has dozens of cargo ships entering U.S. ports every day of the year. Just one cargo ship can carry troops, house missile systems, and possibly even be outfitted to offer Russian fighter jets a place to take off from and return to land and refuel. Essentially, an aircraft carrier and battleship disguised to look like a cargo ship.
How many of these could the Russians move into place, just off shore or even land and then launch attacks from U.S. ports?
Ace in Russia's Sleeve
Russia we can bet would have it's "ace in the sleeve" -- meaning, one or more clever ways that they could get people here, and weapons, that the Pentagon may not quite see coming yet, or have a scenario for.
That ace may be "American based" manufacturing plants, where instead of just cars or airplanes being built, maybe weapons and weapon delivery systems are being built right here on U.S. soil, in industrial areas of major U.S. cities, with access to trucking fleets, helicopters, and heavy equipment that can be used to lay siege to several "soft targets" essential to putting America into a strangle hold and forcing a surrender.
In those U.S. based Russian manufacturing plants... how about Russian drones and -- right on the forefront of science and technology -- Russian robots?
In World War II, against Japan, America's secret "ace" was the first working atomic bombs, shortly later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing Japan to a quick surrender. Japan at first didn't know what hit them.
Looking at Japan, history has seen the ace card played before with disastrous consequences.
Does Russia have an "ace" card?
Surviving a Russian occupation
Small town airports seized. FEMA camps and U.S. prisons turned into Russian concentration camps for U.S. citizens. Maybe we should have feared those "FEMA camps" after all. However, instead of an American flag flying overhead in those FEMA Camps, in this case it's a Russian flag.
On day one of the attack, Russian suitcase nukes detonated in dozens of strategic places, including just outside several U.S. military bases; U.S. military bases wiped completely off the map -- one more ace up the Russian military's sleeve.
Localized EMP attacks that shut down power systems to critical infrastructure.
Russian forces come to power in your community. And now you have to swear allegiance or face execution.
Or there's one more option to consider...
American resistance to foreign invaders
So, we've laid out a scenario how a Russian occupation could take place, and how a Russian leader like Vladmir Putin could turn into history's next Hitler, or maybe the long awaited "Anti-Christ" from the Book of Revelation (for our Christian readers out there counting down the days to the return of Christ -- yes I hear you).
Whatever happens, will you live or die if a scenario like this one ever plays out?
Would you have a plan if something so far fetched as a Russian invasion ever brings parachuting troops into your community?
Do you have a back-up plan for the day you have to abandon your preps and make a hasty evacuation into the countryside, like World War II Jews fleeing Nazis as tanks and troops roll into town?
How the Jews survived
A lot of Jews died in Nazi concentration camps. Many though were able to escape, sometimes on "underground railroads", and other times by being hidden by "law abiding" non-Jews (sometimes in secret rooms hidden in average-looking homes) until these Jews could sneak out of the area, often under the cover of darkness.
Tips for Surviving a Russian Invasion
One way to prep for a possible invasion is to outfit your home with a secret room, placed in such a way that even if someone were to look for a "secret room", they wouldn't find yours.
Outfit your secret room with ventilation, food, water, power, and communications equipment, so that if you and your family suddenly had to hide out, you could stay hidden for several hours, and then make your escape finally under the cover of darkness.
Where do you go?
Your community may be under Russian control, and the same thing may be said about any community down the highway you may have the impulse to flee toward. Control that impulse and realize you should probably take to the countryside and forests, and get away from cities and towns, and instead travel by trail, staying close to cover (like tall trees overhead).
If there's no cover, put together something that will help camouflage you from the air above, where helicopters maybe patrolling, looking out for people down on the ground below fleeing the area.
That could be something as simple as a small tarp and a 2 - 3 cans of spray paint, with colors that look like the colors of the area you're likely to travel through. For example, a desert environment, typical in Southern California, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. If you hear chopper blades in the distance, drop to the ground next to a rock or ditch or whatever object happens to be nearby, and use your painted tarp to disguise yourself from eyes in the sky.
Escape through forests
As much as possible though, plot a route that is going to take you through the trees. A large number of Jews made their escape through European forests (sometimes getting help from sympathetic locals along the way, but always having to be wary that one of these sympathetic locals would turn them over to the Nazis).
Use the forests because you need to have cover, and you also want to be in an area no one is likely to parachute troops into, if you happen to be fleeing an area under a wide scale attack. Remember, parachuting troops need a clearing to land.
Staying deep under the trees both blocks you from eyes in the sky, and keeps troops from landing near your location should you (or any number of people you're traveling with) be spotted. I can't recommend it enough, but a handy water filter will provide you with several weeks of water filtration from streams and lakes you'll come across as you travel).
Dirt roads
On your maps look for gravel roads and dirt roads -- these are secondary road systems typical in wilderness areas of the U.S. that are not likely to see invaders in the early days or weeks of an invasion. Most of an invaders' attention (and somewhat limited resources) will be focused on populated areas and securing major roads, before in time moving on to less populated areas and lesser used roads.
Consider heading for areas that have small farming operations -- not wide scale agriculture because again these may be targeted by an invasion force -- and / or small towns in or near the mountains that don't have an airport. Airports make it easy to fly in troops, and we can bet that the Russians have every airport and even many smaller airstrips marked down on maps. A rural airstrip's proximity to a crucial "soft target" (keep reading) makes it more likely to be targeted in the early days (or even the first day) of a wide scale invasion.
Don't enter town from the main road
Don't enter town from the main road. Hard-pressed locals may not be too kind to new comers fleeing cities. Instead, one strategy may be to circle around town and come in from the far side and attempt to connect with a local family first. If that local family feels sympathetic for you, their friendship can be a doorway to being accepted by the local population and not just another mouth to feed. Now some towns may be welcoming to survivors fleeing cities. Survey any town you hope to enter from a distance (you'll want a good set of binoculars) before entering town. Who knows what you might be walking into. Better safe than sorry. What if that town is all Russian military?
Bug Out Bag
Of course, if you've been following news in the prepper and survivalist community, you already know to have a Bug Out Bag packed with several days of food (consider bulk MRES for survival food rations if there's a chance you'll need to share some food with others) and a water filter system for procuring clean drinking water along the way (see link a few paragraphs up), as well as maps, weapon(s) for self defense, and everything else (even fish antibiotics) that make a great survival pack for surviving a time of war (no guarantees on those fish antibiotics but it seems that they can work for some.
Most likely, if you've made it to the forest far away from a populated area, don't expect a pursuit from invading forces. Not yet anyway. They're going to be busy seizing communities, and then going house to house.
Only as the days and weeks pass, are invading forces finally likely to make it out to distant rural towns and homes out in the countryside. That is of course except for towns and communities that lie in the path of prevailing winds that may carry dangerous levels of radiation from any major cities or military installations that have suffered a nuclear blast.
One way to add a layer of protection includes potassium iodate tablets, which can help protect you from the effects of radiation. (The U.S. government is reported by some to be stockpiling on these tablets.)
10 Rural areas of strategic importance to the Russians
That is unless you live in an area of strategic importance. What is an area of strategic importance? How about:
1) Oil refineries and oil wells
2) Natural gas plants
3) Gas refineries
4) Airports (even small ones)
5) Mining operations
6) Nuclear power plants and hydroelectric dams
7) Media outlets (newspaper, radio, television)
8) Gas refineries
9) Manufacturing
10) Commercial agriculture (not all agricultural areas, just those considered essential to feeding Russian forces while also helping win over a conquered population by providing citizens with basic food needs)
Just about anything that keeps America powered and fed is likely to be a soft target, and not necessarily something that an invading force may want to simply destroy. Depending on how thorough their plans are for occupation, they may want to get these systems back online shortly after any have powered down, or even before one of these systems has powered down. (These 10 areas may not include all areas of importance to Russian invaders, but are some common areas to consider avoiding in your evacuation plans.)
What does this mean?
That even if you live miles away from a populated area, you may still be in danger early on in an invasion simply due to your proximity to a soft target.
And if you're considered essential personnel employed at one of these soft targets, there's a chance that invading forces already know a lot about you -- your name, where you live, and -- a scary thing to consider -- perhaps they even have your family named and numbered and on a list.
Your family held hostage
You see, if day one of a Russian invasion includes going after several soft targets, a great way to keep personnel running these systems would be to take their families hostage, or simply lay siege to each soft target in question.
Russia (and its allies) have had a long time to put some thought into something like this.
If it ever happens, its because they believe its going to succeed.
A grave report prepared by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) circulating in the Kremlin today says that President Putin has “immediately activated” the combat-hardened 98th Guards Airborne Division for “potential action” throughout the Middle Eastern nation of Iraq after Saudi Arabia’s threat of war against the Gulf Monarchy State of Qatar.
The 98th Guards Airborne Division, this report states, were put into their pre-war stance yesterday by Putin who ordered this massive deployment that will involve four thousand troops, 36 military transport aircraft and an unspecified number of combat vehicles and will include a massive simultaneous paradrop involving 3,500 servicemen.
These elite airborne troops, this report notes, were last deployed into combat during the Russo-Georgian War when during the night of 7 to 8 August 2008, Georgia launched a large-scale military offensive against South Ossetia, in an attempt to reclaim the territory from its majority Russian-speaking population.
Spurring these latest war fears, this report continues, was Saudi Arabia’s threat yesterday to blockade neighboring Qatar by air, land and sea unless Doha immediately cuts ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, closes the global television news channel al-Jazeera, and expels local branches of the US Brookings Institution and Rand Corporation think tanks.
Important to note, this report says, and as we had reported on yesterday, Saudi Arabia this past week joined Russia, Egypt and Syria in branding the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist organization,” and who claims as one of its leaders US President Barack Obama, and whose international finances are controlled by Obama’s Kenyan half-brother, Malik Obama.
Saudi Arabia’s reason for ordering Qatar to immediately expel the Brookings Institution and Rand Corporation from their territory, this report notes, is due to these US-based think tanks “master plan” to divide up the entire Middle East, a war-project that was begun by the President George W. Bush administration and continued by the Obama regime.
Though not widely known to the American people, this “master plan” to destroy the Middle East was revealed by US General Wesley Clark [see video HERE] who stated he was “stunned” when just 10 days after the 11 September 2011 attacks he was given the Brookings-Rand documents detailing how the United States was going to invade at least 7 nations to destroy their governments.
Most concerning to Putin about the Saudi threats against Qatar, this report says, relate to the House of Saud’s machinations in Ukraine where they seem to be “immensely interested in what’s going on.”
As the Tatars in the newly established independent nation of Crimea are Muslims, this report continues, and as they are about to “celebrate” the 70th anniversary of their mass deportation by Stalin, they could provide a “destabilizing element” within the country as they now number roughly 250,000, which is 13% of a largely Russian population, but with an unemployment rate of at least 50 percent.
Critical to note, this report continues, is that Russia had previously been threatened by Saudi Arabia when Putin was told by the then head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, this past August, “I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics next year. The Chechen [Islamic terror] groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us.”
This Putin-Bandar meeting was stormy, replete with warnings of a “dramatic turn” in Syria, and Putin was unmoved by the Saudi “offer,” though western pressure has escalated since then and now includes the Ukraine.
Putin further stated to the Saudis, it should be noted, that: “Our stance on Assad will never change. We believe that the Syrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and not those liver eaters,”he said, referring to footage showing a Jihadist rebel eating the heart and liver of a Syrian soldier.
As Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have now all withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar, this report continues, Russian intelligence experts greatest fear are the thousands of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles the UN is reporting are flowing out of Libya into terrorist groups worldwide, and which Saudi Arabia is now saying it will provide to “vetted” rebels, well aware that these most dangerous of weapons could fall into al-Qaeda hands.
With Russia and Iraq now squeezing all of the other oil producing exporting nations out of the highly lucrative Chinese energy market, this report also notes, not just Saudi Arabia, but also the Obama regime are now threatening Russian national interests.
And with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki accusing both Qatar and Saudi Arabia of waging war on Iraq this past week, this report warns, Russia has no other choice but to act.
As to the “main mission,” of the elite paratroopers now being deployed to their airbases for a “rapid assault,” this report says, it will be to deploy to Iraq where they will meet up with the over $4.3 billion in Russian armaments that have begun arriving in Iraq under a deal struck with that government and Moscow in 2012.
As to which will “explode” first in the coming weeks, the Middle East or Ukraine, this report doesn’t say. However, with hundreds of thousands of troops, both East and West, now being deployed throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia, one can clearly see that just the smallest of sparks is all that is needed to ignite World War III.
Just a heads up Avvakum, Sorcha Faal/David Booth is NOT a reliable source.
It is HIGHLY recommended to verify anything you see posted by her/him with known reliable sources.
March 24th, 2014, 23:24
Avvakum
Re: World War Three Thread....
Saudi Arabia threatens to blockade Qatar over terrorism Riyadh wants to contain radical groups and media at odds with foreign jihad policy
http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_f..._330/image.jpg Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal attends an Arab foreign ministers emergency meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo yesterday. Photograph: Reuters
Saudi Arabia has threatened to blockade neighbouring Qatar by air, land and sea unless Doha cuts ties with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, closes global channel al-Jazeera, and expels local branches of the US Brookings Institution and Rand Corporation think tanks.
The threat was issued by Riyadh before it withdrew its ambassador to Doha and branded as “terrorist organisations” the brotherhood, Lebanon’s Hizbullah and al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Jabhat al-Nusra.
Although the kingdom has long been the font of Sunni ultra-orthodox Salafism and jihadism, it now seeks to contain radical movements and media and other organisations giving them publicity.
King Abdullah has decreed that any Saudi who fights abroad could be jailed for 20-30 years, and those who join, endorse or provide moral or material support to groups classified as “terrorist” or “extremist” will risk prison sentences of five to 30 years.
The decree followed the gazetting of a sweeping new anti- terrorism law prohibiting acts that disturb public order, promote insecurity, undermine national unity or harm the reputation of the kingdom.
Contradiction
While the law and decree are meant to curb jihadi operations on Saudi soil as well as counter non-jihadi dissidence, these legal instruments appear to contradict government policy on foreign jihad.
While 400 Saudis have returned home from Syrian battlefields, another 1,000-2,000 are believed to be fighting with jihadi groups funded by the government as well as wealthy Saudis, Kuwaitis and Qataris.
An informed source speculated the decree sends a message to Saudis: “Don’t come home. Fight unto death or victory.”
For half a century Saudi Arabia used its oil wealth to promote Muslim fundamentalists, notably the brotherhood and its offshoots, to counter the secular pan-Arab nationalism preached by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Syrian and Iraqi Baath parties.
The kingdom provided refuge for brotherhood officials and activists from Egypt and other countries where governments were battling the movement. However, in recent years, Riyadh fell out with the brotherhood because it did not follow Saudi dictation.
After Shia clerics overthrew the shah of Iran in 1979 and tried to export their “Islamic revolution” to the wider Muslim world, which is 85 per cent Sunni, Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the guardian of Sunni orthodoxy, turned to evangelism.
The object has been to convert Muslims to “Wahhabism,” the Saudi puritanical interpretation of Islam. The Saudi campaign in Syria is against Damascus’s ally Shia Iran as well as godless, secular Baathism.
The rise in the price of oil since the 1970s has enabled the Saudis to train clerics and build schools, Islamic centres, universities and mosques around the world.
Traditionally gentle, tolerant, mystic Sufis, who had served as Islam’s missionaries, have been replaced by narrow, harsh Wahhabi preachers and imams. Over the past 30 years the kingdom has spent more than $100 billion (€72 billion) on promoting Wahhabism.
Even before the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia – partnered by the US Central Intelligence Agency – trained and armed mujahideen (holy warriors) from Afghanistan and across the Muslim world to fight the Soviet Afghan republic. After the war ended with the Soviet withdrawal from that country in 1989, veterans of this conflict fanned out to fight in Bosnia, Algeria, Libya, the Caucasus and elsewhere.
Blowback Fearing blowback from Saudi jihadis engaged in the Syrian war, Riyadh has recently given the Syrian file to the interior minister Prince Mohamed bin Nayef, who has been in charge of an anti-terrorism campaign in the kingdom and Yemen, replacing intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan.
The Wall Street Journal has quoted a key Saudi source who said the shift suggests that Riyadh could rely more on diplomatic than military means by exerting pressure on Russia, Iran and Hizbullah, Damascus’s chief supporters, to resolve the conflict by removing President Bashar al-Assad.
Nevertheless, Riyadh also favours providing shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to “vetted” rebels, well aware these weapons could fall into al-Qaeda hands.
http://img.rt.com/files/opinion/8a/00/00/00/21.bn.jpg Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT and TomDispatch, and a frequent contributor to websites and radio shows ranging from the US to East Asia.
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Published time: March 11, 2014 08:40 http://img.rt.com/files/opinionpost/.../crimea.si.jpgForeground, from left: Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Refat Chubarov, and leader of the Russian Unity public organization and deputy of autonomous Crimea region's parliament Sergei Aksyonov (RIA Novosti / Taras Litvinenko)
The House of Saud may be up to something in Crimea. Let’s pivot back to the desert to see how that could possibly be accomplished.
A week ago, Minister of Information and Culture Abdelaziz Khoja proclaimed that the House of Saud “renews its firm position condemning terrorism in all its forms.” That was the preamble to ask all Saudi nationals, jihadists or otherwise, to abandon Syria. They were committing a crime, Saudi King Abdullah, ever closer to meeting his maker, decreed.
Then, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain all called their ambassadors from Qatar, under the pretext that Doha continues to support “hostile media,” as in Al Jazeera.
Finally Saudi Arabia officially declared the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda’s official Syrian branch) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - the rogue jihadists fighting both the Assad government in Syria and the Maliki government in Iraq - as terrorist organizations. Any Saudi member of any of these outfits not back to the Kingdom in 15 days would be thrown in jail for up to 30 years.
By decree, the Saudi Interior Ministry (just in case) also branded as terrorists the Shiite Huthi rebels in northern Yemen, as well as an obscure, Saudi-based outfit called ‘Hezbollah Inside the Kingdom’. None of the above can so much as have a Facebook account. Petromonarchy implosion
It’s easy to laugh this off as the epic implosion of that prime collection of what the West calls ‘our’ bastards – the petromonarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), also known as Gulf Counter-Revolution Cub.
And yes, soon the whole thing degenerated into a trademark, vicious inter-Arab catfight. For Qataris, for instance - accused by the Saudis of “meddling” - the meddlers are in fact the Saudis, who supported the August 2013 military coup in Egypt and are responsible for the giant mess among fighting outfits in Syria. Predictably, reams of Saudi and Emirati journalists quit assorted Qatari media jobs, many following a ‘polite’ request by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information.
Yet it's more complicated. The Saudi royal decree follows an ultra-hardline counterterrorism law which targets any sort of criticism of the House of Saud. So this is not only about the House of Saud being terrified of blowback from assorted hardcore jihadists, after they hone their skills in the Levant. They are terrified of anything that moves in and around Saudi Arabia. Imagine their feelings about the world at large.
They are terrified of young, Westernized Saudis with ‘revolutionary’ ideas. They are terrified of jihad freelancers. They are terrified of Muslim Brothers supported by their cousins in Qatar – which the West, laughably, praises as practicing a ‘more moderate’ brand of medieval Wahhabism. The old Emir Hamad al Thani – who recently deposed himself to the benefit of his son Tamim – had skillfully manipulated the Brotherhood as the key lever of Doha’s wide Middle-Eastern ambitions.
To spice up the Saudi-Qatari melee, there was only one Saudi prince among the royals who was in favor of some accommodation, following the orders of his American exceptionalist masters. Yet Saudi heir apparent Prince Nayef, a perennial Minister of Interior from 1975 to 2012, is now dead.
And now it’s wide in the open that Riyadh and Doha virtually come to blows on about everything – from Palestine and Egypt to Syria. After all, every grain of sand in Southwest Asian deserts always knew that the House of Saud is in favor of Salafis while Doha’s state policy was always to support the Ikhwan.
Now it’s easy; you’re either with us or you’re a terrorist. Well, the Bush-Cheney regime in the US had thought about this one first. The difference is that with so many freelancers, Jihad Inc. was handed a monster PR problem, and the usual Gulf financiers, mostly Saudi and Emirati, lost control of the pack.
Now, following the new order, any commando, mercenary, suicide bomber or beheader must abide by the strict American-Saudi playbook; otherwise he won’t be fully weaponized, or worse, will become a candidate for incineration by one of Obama’s choice Hellfire missiles. The Empire needs you, boys, but you gotta behave. A shuttle to Simferopol?
And that brings us, not accidentally, to Crimea. I was told by a very good Saudi source to keep a close eye on the House of Saud’s machinations in Ukraine; they seem to be immensely interested in what’s going on. This follows the destitution of too volatile Bandar bin Sultan, aka Bandar Bush, from his perch as top intelligence commander of the war on Syria (US Secretary of State John Kerry was crucial in his downfall); Bandar’s replacement by Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is quite popular in Washington; and the ‘recall’ of Saudi fighters in the Levant.
The Tatars in Crimea are Muslims. They are about to ‘celebrate’ the 70th anniversary of their mass deportation by Stalin. They were back to Crimea by the end of the 1980s, and now number roughly 250,000 in Crimea; 13 percent of a largely Russian population, with an unemployment rate of at least 50 percent.
Refat Chubarov, the president of the Majlis, the National Assembly of Crimean Tatars, considers the Crimean referendum on March 16 a “threat” to the Ukraine. He is not promoting a jihad, but as many Tatar representatives, already forecasts “serious consequences” if Crimea’s statute is changed. There is certified Tatar backing to the neo-Nazis/fascists of the Svoboda and Right Sector kind in Kiev. From this ‘alliance’ to jihad, it’s just a suicide bombing away.
Whatever happens in Crimea, the House of Saud is up to something. Bandar Bush had boasted to President Putin that he controlled Caucasus jihadists and could turn them on and off at will. His successor might as well be tempted to turn them on not in the Caucasus, but in establishing a shuttle from the Syrian desert to Simferopol. What a spectacular favor to his American masters. The emperor, after all, is soon to visit Riyadh.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of declaring war on Iraq and supporting global terrorism. The Iraqi leader blamed the two countries for orchestrating the latest wave of bloody violence to hit Iraq this year.
In a heated attack on Iraq’s Sunni Gulf neighbors, Prime Minister Maliki leveled a number of accusations at Qatar and Saudi Arabia in an interview with France 24. He said both countries are supporting extreme sectarian groups within Iraq, with a view to destabilizing the country and are “attacking” Iraq through Syria.
“I accuse them of inciting and encouraging the terrorist movements. I accuse them of supporting them politically and in the media, of supporting them with money and by buying weapons for them,” Maliki told FRANCE 24. “I accuse them of leading an open war against the Iraqi government,” said Maliki, adding that Saudi Arabia and Qatar not only supported terrorism in Iraq, but also sponsor terrorism worldwide.
He went on to warn the Gulf States that their support of global terrorism “will turn against them” and Iraq does not intend to retaliate because it does not wish to “widen the arena of confrontation.”
Addressing allegations he is marginalizing Iraq’s Sunni population, Maliki said such accusations come from sectarians with foreign agendas spurred on by Saudi and Qatari support. Both countries are “buying weapons for the benefit of these terrorist organizations,” he said.
Iraq has been hit by a wave of bloodshed over the past year, with January registering as the most deadly month in the country since April 2008. Suicide bombings and sectarian conflicts across the country claimed the lives of over 1,000 people in January and over 700 in February.
On Saturday violence left 15 people dead, including a parliamentary election candidate and four children, security and medical sources report. Iraq will hold elections this year on April 30 and Maliki has been pushing security forces to bring violence in the country to heel in the run-up.
One of the main conflict areas in the country is the province of Anbar where anti-government militants seized control of the city of Fallujah in December. Since then government forces have been unable to get the city back from the rebel fighters.
In connection with its ongoing fight against insurgency, Iraq will hold an international counter-terrorism conference this Wednesday in Baghdad. Attendees will discuss issues of arming, supporting, funding terrorist groups and training camps in some countries.
DUBAI, December 15 (RIA Novosti) – The second consignment of Russian weapons and military equipment, to be delivered to Iraq under the deal signed in 2012, will arrive later than previously announced, a senior Iraqi lawmaker said on Sunday.
Last year, Iraq signed a $4.3 billion deal with Moscow to buy Russian weapons and military equipment, including around 40 Mi-35 and Mi-28NE attack helicopters. Iraq took collection of the first four Mi-35 helicopter gunships this fall.
Iraqi officials said in November that the second shipment is expected by the end of the year.
“The second batch of Russian weapons will arrive in Iraq in January,” said Muhammed al-Aqili, a deputy head of the ruling faction in the Iraqi parliament.
He did not specify what types of arms and equipment were due to arrive.
The reason for the delay is unknown.
Iraq is looking to use the newly bought military materiel to bolster its borders and for use in antiterrorist operations.
The 2012 contract also envisages the purchase of 48 Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile gun systems and Ka-52 single-seat attack helicopters.
MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – An airborne division based in central Russia began large-scale exercises Tuesday against the backdrop of an ongoing political and security crisis in Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said units of the 98th Guards Airborne Division, based in Ivanovo, a city east of Moscow, were put on high alert and moved to unspecified locations to “check readiness” in simulated combat conditions.
Four thousand troops, 36 military transport aircraft and an unspecified number of combat vehicles are taking part in the exercises, which will run until March 14.
The drills will include a massive simultaneous paradrop involving 3,500 servicemen, the ministry said.
The drills come in the wake of a number of military exercises in Russia’s western regions in the past days, including air defense drills, combat readiness snap checks and a launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Russia says the exercises are not linked to the development in Crimea.
The turbulent political crisis gripping Ukraine has led to a standoff between Russia and the West over the fate of Crimea, an autonomous Ukrainian region with a narrow ethnic Russian majority.
Crimean authorities have refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new central government in Kiev, which was installed after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in late February.
Local officials announced last week that they intended for the peninsula to become part of Russia.
A referendum on the issue has been set for March 16. Authorities in Kiev and international leaders have condemned the referendum as illegitimate.
Ukraine has lost control over Crimea in recent days as thousands of heavily armed troops without insignia and traveling in military vehicles with Russian plates swarmed the area, taking control of administration buildings and taking over military bases.
The Kremlin has denied the troops are Russian and has instead described them as “local militias.”
March 24th, 2014, 23:37
Avvakum
Re: World War Three Thread....
REFILE-Russia, Iraq squeeze other oil suppliers out of slow-growth China
(Corrects dateline)
* Russia, Iraq oil sales rise more than projected China import growth
* Producers in Latin America, Africa offering discounts to Asian buyers
* Latin America, Africa volumes to China dropping this year
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
SINGAPORE, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Russia and Iraq are boosting crude shipments to a Chinese market where oil demand is growing at its slowest in more than 20 years, forcing rival suppliers to divert cargoes elsewhere.
The redirected shipments from Latin America, Africa and some Middle Eastern producers that were originally expected to go to Chinese refineries will drag on benchmark prices this year, and state oil companies have already started cutting official selling prices in their search for buyers.
Russia's Rosneft, backed by its government to push East Siberian oil to Asia, and Iraq, armed with big discounts and easy terms, have landed contracts that will raise their combined shipments nearly 50 percent more than China's import demand is forecast to grow in 2014.
With state refiner PetroChina and oil major BP Plc also delaying or dropping refinery projects in China due to worries about demand growth, sellers will be scrambling for shares in a market smaller than they had anticipated.
"Lots of people all around the world want to sell crude to Asia, and there may not be enough demand for everyone," said Andrew Reed at Energy Security Analysis, Inc.
China's oil demand rose just 1.6 percent last year, its slowest pace since 1992. Its crude imports grew 4 percent, their slowest since at least 2007, according to Reuters data, and down from a rise of more than 17 percent in 2010.
Although top China oil company China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has said the nation's crude imports will rise 7.1 percent this year, or about 370,000 barrels per day (bpd), the bumps in Russian and Iraqi supplies would more than match that increase.
Russia's biggest oil producer Rosneft, which supplied over 300,000 bpd to China in 2013, will ship an additional 180,000 bpd this year, with China-bound exports eventually to rise to more than 900,000 bpd.
"It's a logical move. Russia is simply trying to secure a long-term offtaker of its crude," Reed said.
As Iraq pushes hard to raise its market share in China and Asia, it is set to become China's second-largest crude supplier this year by increasing shipments by 68 percent to 882,000 bpd.
Last year, Iraq passed Iran to become China's fifth-largest supplier after cutting its official selling prices for its main crude Basra Light.
FIGHT FOR SHARE
China's increased imports from Russia and Iraq only intensifies the fight for Asian market share among other oil exporters.
Producers in Latin America and Africa are already offering steeper discounts to Asian buyers as import needs in their traditional U.S. and European markets drop. BFO-QUA
"As the Atlantic basin needs less and less oil, crude from Latin America, Africa and Russia will have to find a new home," said Jeff Brown of FG Energy.
"Naturally they're looking to Asia."
This prospect of oversupply and ongoing slow growth in China prompted investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Barclays in December to lower their oil price forecasts for 2014.
Dutch bank ABN AMRO in January cut its average Brent price for this year to $95 a barrel from $100.
"Oil oversupply is here to stay, at least in the next few years, outpacing the rise in demand and thus keeping oil prices under pressure," it said in a research note.
This month, however, the International Energy Agency (IEA) became the third major forecaster to say that global oil use would be higher than expected this year due to economic growth in the United States and Europe.
Oil inventories are also at their lowest since 2008 because of stronger-than-expected demand and supply problems in a number of OPEC countries, the IEA said.
Still, the bump in supplies to China from Russia and Iraq look especially bad for Latin American exporters, who had been looking to Asia as surging U.S. shale oil output robs them of decades-old customers.
By the end of the first quarter, shipments of Latin American crude to China are likely to have fallen by 10 percent from a year earlier to around 504,300 bpd, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Compared with the first quarter of 2012, that volume would mark a fall of about 25 percent.
Latin American producers deliver a set volume of crude and products to China under annual deals, and Chinese companies sometimes launch tenders to resell a portion of them, after factoring in domestic requirements.
"If China's oil demand slows down, resales of Venezuelan and Ecuadorian crude and products will increase," said a trader working in a private firm and involved in PetroChina's sales.
All Ecuadorian fuel oil being delivered by Petroecuador to PetroChina, some 100,000 bpd, is currently being resold by PetroChina, and it also frequently resells crude and different Venezuelan refined products, the trader said.
Shipments of West African grades to China are also likely to fall in January and February versus a record in November, although it is too early to say if the drop reflects a decline in China's appetite for the crudes. (Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga in HOUSTON and Simon Falush in LONDON; Editing by Manash Goswami and Tom Hogue)