Lord Stirling's News Blog EUROPE

A flotilla of Russian Navy ships set sail Tuesday for the Mediterranean, where Russia maintains a small base at Tartus, Syria. A destroyer and three landing ships left the Arctic port of Severomorsk. A second destroyer left Russia’s base at Sevastopol, Ukraine. And Interfax reported that more warships from the Baltic Fleet, based in St. Petersburg, are preparing to join the flotilla. The warships set sail the day after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin accused the West of “missile bomb democracy.” In a key policy speech to top Russian diplomats gathered in Moscow, he accused the West of using deception to gain political advantage. “This can be seen from the so-called humanitarian operations, from exports of the ‘missile-bomb’ democracy, and intervention in internal conflicts, including those bred by the ‘Arab spring’,” said the president. 

Russia building war armada in Mediterranean ~ link ~ They do NOT intend to allow the West to take over Syria or Iran and are clearly putting ‘their money where their mouth is’ by placing a significant naval force off shore of Syria.  This is a force that has a real punch and any attack on same could begin a global war…World War III…Armageddon!   Stirling       

Pentagon admits lethality and effectiveness of Iran’s missile systems ~ link ~  Over a quarter of a century ago, I outlined to a senior Israeli general, over lunch in Long Beach, how Saddam could have used his Scud type missiles in a then-future war.  I scared the general.  Now it appears that the Iranians are doing what I said, years ago, was possible.  One example: if you use FAE (fuel air explosive) sub-munitions on guided missiles and fire a large number of these missiles at a city or other major target using a grid system, you can lay down a FAE ‘brew’ over a large area and obtain PSI blast levels equal to a tactical nuclear warhead without using any nuclear material.  Further, if you disperse the sub-munitions early in the flight, you make the interdiction of the missile’s war package almost impossible.  You can disperse and store the missiles in secret, build them in secret, and row them out in secret to quickly fire them with only the actual firing being picked up by space sensors.  We actually do not know how many missiles Syria and Iran and their Hezbollah forces really have.  They could have several times what we believe them to have, if they have played a careful game.   Stirling    

The Pentagon has admitted that the “lethality and effectiveness” of Iran’s missile systems has improved and Tehran would present a “formidable force” while defending its territory.

According to a June 29 report by the Pentagon, “Iran has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems by improving accuracy and developing new submunition payloads” that “extend the destructive power over a wider area than a solid warhead,” Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The report, signed by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, was presented to the four US congressional defense committees last week to comply with a 2010 directive to provide an annual classified and unclassified assessment of Iran’s military power.

It noted that improvements in Iran’s missile capability are occurring in parallel with regular ballistic-missile training that “continues throughout the country” and the addition of “new ships and submarines.” 

Early in July, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) test fired domestically-produced missiles during a three-day military drill codenamed The Great Prophet 7.

The tested missiles included Shahab (Meteor) 1, 2, 3, Khalij Fars (Persian Gulf), Tondar (Lightning), Fateh (Victor) and Zelzal (Quake) as well as Qiam (Uprising).  

The miners are angry with a 63 percent cut in subsidies to coal mining companies, major contributors to the Spanish energy market.

Earlier in the day tens of thousands of Spaniards joined miners to express opposition to the austerity measures.