The Russian military recently held its annual RUBEZH ("Border") maneuver in the Caspian Sea region. The Iranian website Baztab, affiliated with Expediency Council Secretary and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai, presented the maneuver, based on a report in the Central Asian press, as aiming to prepare the Russian army to respond to a possible U.S. military assault on Iran.
The following are excerpts from the Baztab report: [1]
"The maneuver, called 'RUBEZH 2006,' [which included] 2,500 troops from the armed forces of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, was held last week (August 24-29) in the port of Aqtau, [Kazakhstan]... on the basis of the 'Collective Security Treaty' [CST]. [2] Uzbekistan participated as an observer in this exercise; Belarus and Armenia did not take part in it.
"The maneuver was purportedly intended train [the forces] in combating terrorism, but was in fact a kind of military preparation [intended] to provide an answer to America's military threats in the region against Iran... Some believe that the maneuver, which was planned by the Russian military's joint chiefs of staff, was an exercise in preparedness for frontal confrontation in a possible American war against Iran in the region of southern Eurasia and in ...   more »

By Carl Mortished in London and Tim Reid in Washington      
THE American oil companies Chevron and ConocoPhillips could be shut out of a massive Arctic gas project in a sharp chilling of trade relations between Moscow and Washington.
Substantial volumes of liquefied gas from Shtokmanovskoye in the Barents Sea, originally earmarked for export to the United States, could be redirected to Europe, President Putin said.
The shift in policy, revealed by Mr Putin after talks with the French President and the German Chancellor at the weekend, will be a blow to efforts by American energy companies to secure access to one of the world’s largest gasfields.
The apparent snub to American interests is further evidence of increasing tension between Washington and Moscow over trade and the willingness of the Kremlin to use its energy resources as a political lever.
A US State Department official told The Times: “We understand that Gazprom (the Russian oil giant) is still considering the selection of partner companies to develop the Shtokman gasfield in the Barents Sea, and we hope that the Russian Government and Gazprom will choose partner companies in accordance with the technological and commercial goals of the project.”
Anger is mounting ...   more »

By Francis Harris in Washington
China has secretly fired powerful laser weapons designed to disable American spy satellites by "blinding" their sensitive surveillance devices, it was reported yesterday.   
The hitherto unreported attacks have been kept secret by the Bush administration for fear that it would damage attempts to co-opt China in diplomatic offensives against North Korea and Iran.
Sources told the military affairs publication Defense News that there had been a fierce internal battle within Washington over whether to make the attacks public. In the end, the Pentagon's annual assessment of the growing Chinese military build-upbarely mentioned the threat.
"After a contentious debate, the White House directed the Pentagon to limit its concern to one line," Defense News said.
The document said that China could blind American satellites with a ground-based laser firing a beam of light to prevent spy photography as they pass over China.
According to senior American officials: "China not only has the capability, but has exercised it." American satellites like the giant Keyhole craft have come under attack "several times" in recent years.
Although the Chinese tests do not aim to destroy American satellites, the laser attacks could make them useless over Chinese territory.
The ...   more »

Tasked with pinpointing motivation, analysts find
terrorists 'rational actors' following 'holy book'
With suicide bombings spreading from Iraq to Afghanistan, the Pentagon has tasked intelligence analysts to pinpoint what's driving Muslim after Muslim to do the unthinkable.
Their preliminary finding is politically explosive: it's their "holy book" the Quran after all, according to intelligence briefings obtained by WND.
In public, the U.S. government has made an effort to avoid linking the terrorist threat to Islam and the Quran while dismissing suicide terrorists as crazed heretics who pervert Islamic teachings.
"The terrorists distort the idea of jihad into a call for violence and murder," the White House maintains in its recently released "National Strategy for Combating Terrorism" report.
But internal Pentagon briefings show intelligence analysts have reached a wholly different conclusion after studying Islamic scripture and the backgrounds of suicide terrorists. They've found that most Muslim suicide bombers are in fact students of the Quran who are motivated by its violent commands – making them, as strange as it sounds to the West, "rational actors" on the Islamic stage.
Palestinian child pretends he's a suicide bomber
In Islam, it is not how one lives one's life that guarantees spiritual salvation, but ...   more »

Presidential decree offers monetary incentives to citizens returning to ‘occupied’ area; objective: Supporting resilience of our people
A presidential decree published by Syrian President Bashar Assad offers monetary incentives to citizens returning to reside permanently on the "occupied" Golan Heights with the objective of "supporting the resilience of our people on the Golan and encouraging others to return."
Another War Ahead?  
IDF: Syria will try to reclaim Golan  / Attila Somfalvi  IDF Intelligence Chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin tells Knesset committee that in aftermath of Lebanon war Syria will try to reclaim Golan Heights through either diplomatic or military means; adds: Iran using Syria as giant weapons cache for Hizbullah    
The decree published Tuesday addresses all workers, officials, service providers or those on their behalf from among Syria's public institutions who wish to return to the Golan via the International Red Cross. Such persons will be granted approval by all the relevant authorities, the decree notes.  
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Ottri said the presidential decree was aimed at supporting the resilience of the Syrian Arab residents currently residing on the Golan, and such a move would assist them in maintaining their land and their Syrian-Arab identities. This is ...   more »