Category Archives: United States

Britain, France, Government, Russia, Syria, United States

Lord Hague: We must act now to stop chemical warfare

SYRIA

Intro: Lord Hague, the former foreign secretary, says we must hold Assad to account with force to prevent future suffering

CHEMICAL weapons will become “legitimised” and used in future wars if the West fails to take military action against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. That’s the view of Lord Hague, the former foreign secretary, who says that he is in “little doubt” that if he were still in office today, he would recommend military intervention in Syria.

He also adds: “The world has succeeded for nearly a century in preventing the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield. Once we accept that it is just another aspect of war that is what it will become in the conflicts of coming decades, with an arms race in chemical agents steadily expanded and legitimised.”

Theresa May has suggested that Britain was prepared to join any action by the US and France, warning that the Syrian government “must be held to account” for the “barbaric” attack on eastern Ghouta.

It is understood that Cabinet ministers are urging the Prime Minister to avoid the potential “fiasco” of a Commons defeat on military action, such as that suffered by David Cameron in 2013, and instead take direct measures.

Mrs May has been warned that failure to join a coalition with the US and France could diminish Britain’s international standing.

President Donald Trump has said that he would come to a decision on the American response to the chemical weapons attacks within the “next 24 to 48 hours”. Mr Trump who has liaised with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has pledged a “strong, joint response”.

Potential British action could involve cruise missiles being launched from the Mediterranean or sorties flown by RAF Tornado fighter jets.

Lord (William) Hague was foreign secretary when the government lost its vote for action in Syria, which is widely considered to have emboldened the Assad regime. Recalling the aftermath of the defeat, Lord Hague says the UK became “enfeebled spectators of one of the most destructive conflagrations of our time.”

“We were left with only words, and compared to other nations financing armies or sending forces, words count for very little… We should have learnt from the fiasco of 2013 that abdication of the responsibility and right to act doesn’t make war go away.”

 

AT LEAST 70 people were killed in the attack on the rebel-held town of Douma. A US navy destroyer appeared to be getting into position to attack in the eastern Mediterranean yesterday in what is being viewed as a sign of potential cruise missile strikes. Tensions have been further heightened by a reported Israeli attack on a Syrian air base.

UK ministers are particularly concerned that Jeremy Corbyn is likely to oppose any direct military intervention in a Commons vote. The Labour leader has been criticised by his MPs for failing to single out the Assad regime, instead condemning “all violence” and “all killings”.

Many on the Conservative benches will hold the view as to why would we want to open that Pandora’s box again? They will suggest, rightly, that there’s no need to go there, and that the Prime Minister should take direct action then go to Parliament afterwards. The Government has no obligation to call a Commons vote on military action, but in recent years it has become more of a convention in doing so.

One government minister said that the chemical weapons attack was “another consequence of blinking” in the 2013 vote, and warned: “We must stand up to Syria”.

In a warning to Syria and Russia, Mrs May said: “This is about the brutal actions of Assad and his regime, but it is also about the backers of that regime.”

 

Standard
Britain, Government, NBC Warfare, Russia, Society, United Nations, United States

Britain expels 23 Russian spies in biggest reprisal since Cold War

BRITAIN

MOSCOW has vowed revenge against Britain after Theresa May ordered the biggest purge of Russian spies since the Cold War.

In a barely-veiled threat, the Kremlin said its response to what it described as a “hostile” package of measures announced by the Prime Minister “would not be long in coming”.

The United States has vowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the UK in its response to Russian involvement in the Salisbury chemical attack.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said: “If we don’t take immediate concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used. They could be used here in New York, or in cities of any country that sits on this council. This is a defining moment.”

Britain’s deputy UN ambassador Jonathan Allen accused Russia of deploying “a weapon so horrific it is banned from use in war”.

In a forceful statement to MPs, Mrs May said the Kremlin would be made to pay for its role in the Salisbury attack.

She confirmed that Moscow had failed to meet a deadline to explain how the Russian-produced military nerve agent Novichok came to be used in the attempt to murder former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

She said Russia had “treated the use of a military-grade nerve agent in Europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance”. She added: “There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder.”

The PM outlined a series of tough sanctions, including the expulsion of 23 suspected spies posing as diplomats as well as the threat of financial sanctions against Russian oligarchs and cronies of President Putin with assets in London.

The expulsion of diplomats is the biggest since 1985 and is designed to “fundamentally degrade Russian intelligence capability in the UK for years to come”.

High-level diplomatic relations will be scrapped, with an invitation to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to visit the UK revoked.

Mrs May also suggested that covert reprisals would be undertaken – in an apparent hint at cyber attacks aimed at damaging the Russian state’s propaganda machine.

British sources said Mrs May was willing to unveil even tougher sanctions if the Kremlin hit back.

A senior government official said: “We are responding in a way that is robust, it gives us the ability to respond if the Russians escalate but it is also in line with the rule of law, all of which is in stark contrast to the way the Russian state has behaved both in this instance and wider areas of policy. Further options remain on the table.” The official said that if the measures fail to produce a change in behaviour from the Kremlin… “we will look again.”

But Moscow has warned that the UK would face reprisals for the “groundless anti-Russian campaign.” The Prime Minister told MPs that the UK “does not stand alone in confronting Russian aggression”, with messages of support already received from key allies such as the US, France, Germany and NATO.

She added: “This was not just an act of attempted murder in Salisbury, nor just an act against the UK. It is an affront to the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, and it is an affront to the rules-based system on which we and our international partners depend.”

Veteran Conservative MP Kenneth Clarke said the “bizarre and dreadful” use of a nerve agent appeared to be “a deliberate choice by the Russian government to put their signature on a particular killing so that other defectors are left in no doubt that it is the Russian government”.

Mrs May confirmed that Prince William and Prince Harry will join ministers in boycotting this summers football World Cup in Russia, but Government sources say that, although she called on the FA “to consider their position”, she will not order the England team to withdraw as there is no sign that other countries would join a walkout.

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said: “The Russia World Cup risks vindicating the Putin regime. We should look at postponing the World Cup and hosting it in another country.”

Revised Foreign Office travel advice for Russia has warned of an upsurge in “anti-British sentiment or harassment” in a country plagued by violent football hooliganism. A Whitehall source said the estimated 2,000 fans who have bought tickets were likely to be issued with “very robust” travel advice.

 

Standard
Arts, History, Science, United States

Quantum Leaps: Benjamin Franklin

1706 – 1790

Benjamin Franklin was one of the five men who drafted the Declaration of Independence of 1776. He was also a prolific scientist.

Benjamin Franklin had a rare genius. Unlike most of the scientists chronicled on this site who were known for their outstanding talents and contributions to science, the American Franklin was brilliant in a wide range of arenas. In a five-year period between 1747 and 1752, he contributed more to science than most scientists would achieve in a lifetime of dedicated study. Yet, during other periods of his life, he operated in, and conquered, completely different fields. He was a master printer and publisher, a successful journalist and satirist, an inventor, a world-famous ambassador and, probably most notably of all, a politician at a vital time in American history. Indeed, Franklin was one of the five separate signatories of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776 and was a key participant in the later drafting of the American Constitution.

. Studying Electricity

Franklin does, however, merit an entirely separate entry for his achievements in physics alone – he was a pioneer in understanding the properties and potential benefits of electricity. Although the phenomenon of electricity had been noted since the time of the ancients, very little was known about it from a scientific perspective, and many considered the extent of its usefulness to be limited to ‘magic’ tricks. At around the age of forty, Franklin became fascinated by electricity and began to experiment with it, quickly realising it was a subject worthy of scientific study and research in its own right. So, he sold his printing interests and dedicated himself for the next five years to understanding it.

. Flying a Kite

Although Franklin wrongly believed electricity was a single ‘fluid’ (this was an advance on earlier theories which posited the idea of two different fluids), he perceived this fluid to somehow consist of moving particles, now understood to be electrons. More importantly, he undertook important studies involving electrical charge and introduced the terms ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ in explaining the way substances could be attracted to or repelled by each other according to the nature of their charge. He also believed these charges ultimately cancelled each other out so that if something lost electrical charge, another substance would instantly gain the amount being cast away. His work on electricity reached its peak in his now famous kite experiment of 1752. Believing lightning to be a form of electricity, and in order to prove it, Franklin launched a kite into a thunderstorm on a long piece of conducting string. Tying the end of the string to a capacitor, he was vindicated when lightning did indeed charge it, proving the existence of its electrical properties. From these results and realising the potential of a device that could deflect the harmful effects of lightning strikes away from buildings and property, he developed the lightning conductor.

Franklin had also published his text Experiments and Observations on Electricity, made at Philadelphia in America in 1751, which went on to inspire future scientists in the study and development of the uses of electricity.

. A Prolific Inventor

From 1753 the time Franklin dedicated to science reduced dramatically due to his taking up a new post as deputy postmaster general and, later, political and ambassadorial roles. He did, however, leave a legacy of other inventions from the wide range of experiments conducted throughout his life, including: an iron furnace ‘Franklin’ stove (still in use today), bifocal spectacles, the street lamp, the rocking chair, the harmonica, an odometer and watertight bulkheads for ships. Franklin also came up with the idea of Daylight Saving Time and was the first to charter the Gulf Stream from observations made by sailors.

A man of many talents, Benjamin Franklin was a successful inventor, politician, printer, oceanographer, ambassador, journalist and, of course, scientist.

. The Legacy of Benjamin Franklin

Franklin’s legacy, in addition to the many inventions such as lightning conductors, bifocal lenses and street lamps, was one of learning. He established one of the first public libraries, as well as one of the first universities: Pennsylvania, in America.

On a broader societal level, he established the modern postal system, set up police and fire fighting departments and established the Democratic Party.

He certainly lived up to his own quotation, ‘If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.’

Standard