The Senate on Thursday delivered a rebuke to the Saudis by voting to block Trump’s Saudi arms deal and setting up a potential veto from the White House.
The 22 arms sales, estimated to be worth more than $8 billion, would provide weapons to Saudi Arabia, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
In fact, as former Secretary of State John Kerry told me, “Iran has helped in the war against the ISIS,” another Sunni terrorist group.
The aim of the Bolton-Pompeo Iran-equals-Al-Qaeda maneuver has been obvious: to bring a war with Iran within the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force that was passed by Congress in response to Sept. 11, whose perpetrators were overwhelmingly Saudi. Shameless is the only word for such contempt for truth in pursuit of a casus belli.
At a congressional event, Pelosi, second in line to the presidency, was asked if she had been notified by the White House, and she replied, “No.”
“Sadly, I believe direct military conflict with Iran is the only suitable response for the heartbreaking deaths of our troops in that upcoming military conflict,” said the national security advisor, noting that only by launching a ground invasion of the Islamic Republic could he ensure the thousands of U.S. troops who will perish in that ground invasion will not perish in vain.
The House voted Wednesday to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which was passed in the days after 9/11, and gave President George W. Bush the authority to go to war with al-Qaeda and any related organization. For the past 18 years, presidents of both parties have used this same 2001 congressional war authorization as justification for wars all over the Middle East.
(15.04.2018)
Der ranghöchste Funktionär seiner staatlichen Hierarchie ist nicht einmal mit Russland verbündet, geschweige denn mit Syrien, dem Iran oder irgendeinem anderen aus der U.S.-Hegemonie seit Jahrzehnten attackierten oder direkt angegriffenen Land. In Wirklichkeit dient Wladimir Putin dem von uns bereits mehrfach beschriebenen imperialen Komplex und einer seit bald siebzehn Jahren den weltweiten Terrorkrieg führenden großen Koalition des Krieges und internationalen Kriegslobby und strebt deren noch effektivere Kollaboration an.
Putins Rolle dabei ist ähnlich dem eines der vielen Monarchen vor und im Ersten Weltkrieg. Und seine Funktion, wie der „prorussischen“, also der pro-regierungs-russischen Lobby insgesamt, ist es, in verdeckter Dialektik mit ihren spiegelbildlichen „proamerikanischen“ bzw „proeuropäischen“ Pendants in der U.S.-Hegemonie die jeweilige innere Opposition, gerade die fortschrittliche und pazifistische, in Verbindung mit dem jeweils anderen Blockgegner zu bringen, sie von diesem absorbieren zu lassen und so im Inneren erst zu diskreditieren und letztlich neutralisieren zu können.
„Das ist keine Scherzfrage, und es ist gar nicht so einfach, darüber vor einem Millionen-Auditorium zu sprechen. Ja, natürlich – wie, so hoffe ich, jeder normale Mensch“, antwortete Putin.
„Ich habe diese Situation schon einmal öffentlich angesprochen. Ehrlich gesagt ist es sogar jetzt noch schwierig, darüber zu reden, aber nichtsdestotrotz. Das war Anfang der 2000-Jahre, (…)
(01.06.2019)
Reports from Russia also picked up by media in Iran‘s neighbour Turkey say Putin has rejected the request over concerns about rising tensions in the Persian Gulf region where several Arab leaders voiced their concern about Iran‘s military ambitions.
This comes while according to Hurriet daily newspaper, the delivery of S-400 missile defense systems to Turkey is going ahead according to schedule,
At the early hours of Thursday, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) air force shot down an American spy drone, identified as RQ-4 Global Hawk, that had violated Iranian airspace in the Kuh Mubarak (Mubarak Mountain) region located at Hormuzgan province, south of the country, the IRGC’s public relations department said in a statement.
RQ-4 typically flies at a high altitude to conduct reconnaissance missions.
IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said “the Americans ignored our warnings in addition to the fact that at the moment that the UAV was intercepted, another US military stealth aircraft dubbed P-8 was flying next to it with 35 personnel on board. We could have targeted that too, but we refrained from doing that“.
….proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!
Donald Trump hat einen Militärschlag gegen Iran nach eigenen Angaben kurzfristig abgesagt. Die Zahl der Todesopfer wäre im Vergleich zum Drohnen-Abschuss „unverhältnismäßig“ gewesen, sagte der US-Präsident.
(today)
Craig Erlam of City firm OANDA explains:
Oil prices are steady again on Friday, following another spike on Thursday which accompanied a broader rally in the stock market.
Rising tensions in the middle east after Iran shot down a US drone over the Strait of Hormuz will likely have also contributed to the large gains, given that a fifth of all oil production passes through there on a daily basis.
A former chief of the Israeli espionage agency Mossad, Shabtai Shavit, called Israeli voters who support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu „mindless people who understand nothing.“
Shavit made the remark in an interview with Israeli daily Maariv, which was published Thursday. He also said that the premier‘s political base is made up of people „whose threshold for normality is at the level of grass.“
(20.06.2019)
(20.06.2019)
(20.06.2019)
The White House invited House and Senate leaders and Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence and Armed Services committees to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday.
(20.06.2019)
17h ago 21:22
Wall Street closes at record high
Boom! Hopes that US interest rates will be cut next month have sent Wall Street to a new all-time closing high.
It was not clear whether Mr. Trump simply changed his mind on the strikes or whether the administration altered course because of logistics or strategy. It was also not clear whether the attacks might still go forward.
Asked about the plans for a strike and the decision to hold back, the White House declined to comment, as did Pentagon officials. No government officials asked The New York Times to withhold the article.
U.S. President Donald Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation for downing of American global hawk drone but pulled back after planes were in the air and ships were in position, according to a report by the New York Times citing administration officials.
The report claimed the order to halt attacks on Iranian radar and missile batteries came after intense debate at the White House among top security officials and congressional leaders.
Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, the Senate voted to rein in President Trump‘s powers, passing three bipartisan resolutions on Thursday blocking the administration from selling billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Seven Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, joined all Democrats in voting for the measures blocking against sales to Saudi Arabia, each passing 53-45.
From the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898 to the U.S.S. Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, maritime incidents, shrouded in the fog of uncertainty, have lured the United States into wars on foreign shoals. Which is why cooler heads must prevail — and Congress must be consulted — as American and Iranian forces inch closer to open conflict in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
(19.06.2019)
Pompeo, who arrived in Tampa on Monday, met with Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. and Army Gen. Richard Clarke, commanders of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command respectively, to align the Government‘s efforts in the Middle East, according to Central Command.
The meeting focused on deterrence plans against Iran after U.S. officials blamed the country for two recent oil tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman.
Den USA ist dieser Punkt besonders wichtig: Washington widerspricht dem Vorwurf, das Militär habe die iranischen Grenzen verletzt. Es habe vor dem Abschuss keine Provokation von US-Seite gegeben, erklärte Navy Captain Bill Urban vom Central Command.
Die Medien hätten die Verstärkung der Polizeipräsenz in verschiedenen Urlaubsregionen, die in Spanien seit Jahren in den Sommermonaten routinemäßig durchgeführt werde, mit einer erhöhten Terrorgefahr verwechselt, hieß es. Es habe „mehr als 45 tendenziöse Artikel gegeben“, die auf Mallorca „für Unruhe“ und „Alarm“ gesorgt hätten, schrieb das „Mallorca Magazin“.
Trump assured that the situation is „all going to work out.“ And with the 2020 elections looming, he picked up a refrain from his first campaign, telling reporters: „I want to get out of these endless wars, I campaign on that.“
President Donald Trump did not escalate Iran‘s shooting down of an American drone, saying that it might have been a mistake executed by ‚a general or somebody‘ being ‚loose and stupid‘.
A new public awareness must include politicians, journalists and members of different occupations, who have so far ducked for cover and stayed silent. I appeal to such Australians to find the courage to endorse universal human rights, support Julian personally and resist this US “Culture of Revenge,” which seeks to punish anyone who dares to defy them.
The Chilean teachers, who have been on strike for three weeks say they want Piñera to respond to their requests they made two years ago. Among these are back wage payments and more resources for public education.
Protests are taking place in the southern city of Arequipa, in Loreto, Huancayo, Ayacucho and Apurimac. Strikers have shut down highways leading into and out of the capital of Lima.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) announced orders to the Honduran military Thursday to deploy to all parts of the country to stamp down the ever-widening protests against the neoliberal policies of his administration. This follows an overnight emergency session with his National Defense and Security Council after a violent night of protests turned deadly.
Entsprechend der jüngsten Drohungen aus dem Weißen Haus, die Wirtschaftsblockade gegen Kuba weiter zu verschärfen, wurden nun in den USA drei Reiseunternehmen hohe Strafzahlungen an das Finanzministerium auferlegt.
Die jüngsten Enthüllungen blieben auch der deutschen Bundesregierung nicht verborgen. Doch auch nach Kenntnisnahme der Berichterstattung bleibe „die Position Deutschlands gegenüber Brasilien unverändert“, teilte das Auswärtige Amt auf Anfrage von amerika21 mit. Die Bundesregierung argumentiert, dass es „der brasilianischen Justiz obliegt, über die Rechtmäßigkeit des Verfahrens gegen den ehemaligen Staatspräsidenten Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva zu befinden.“
This month I got two of the most distressing pieces of news I could imagine. The first was a headline: US to use Galápagos island as a military airfield. The second came from my grandmother: two of our family friends are in the end stages of Agent Orange poisoning.
I’m from Guam; one of the countless islands of the Pacific used by the United States military as a base. At just 8 miles wide and 30 miles long, about a third of our island is covered by military installations with more build-up expected. My family and my community know all too well what being used as an airfield means. 52,000 veterans have organized into the group Agent Orange Survivors of Guam to lobby for benefits related to their exposure to the infamous herbicide while serving in the Pacific.
John Bolton* hasst die Regierungen Venezuelas, Kubas und Nicaraguas und nennt sie die „Troika der Tyrannei“ und die „drei Handlanger des Sozialismus“ – und ist entschlossen, seine Zeit als nationaler Sicherheitsberater zu nutzen, um die Überreste des Sozialismus in unserer Hemisphäre zu beseitigen. Er hat offen erklärt, dass die Monroe Doctrine von 1823 „noch immer am Leben und gut“ ist, was bedeutet, dass die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika die Bedingungen der Regierungsführung in der westlichen Hemisphäre diktieren werden, wenn nötig mit militärischer Gewalt. Bolton ist wütend darüber, dass er nicht in der Lage war, einen Putsch in Venezuela erfolgreich zu inszenieren, und schlägt jetzt gegen Kuba aus und bestraft das Land ausdrücklich für seine Unterstützung des venezolanischen Präsidenten Maduro. Die am 4. Juni angekündigten Reisebeschränkungen stellen eine weitere Seite aus Boltons „Regime Change“-Drehbuch dar.