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Eye 1

DOJ relents, says it would accept probation for Michael Flynn as he moves to withdraw guilty plea

General Flynn
The Department of Justice backed down from seeking jail time Wednesday and made clear that prosecutors would accept mere probation in the case of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn -- a shift that comes as Flynn moves to withdraw his guilty plea leveraging accusations of government misconduct.

Just weeks ago, the DOJ said it would seek up to six months of prison time for the retired Army lieutenant general who spent just 24 days at his post in the Trump administration. Represented by an aggressive new attorney, Flynn days later had moved to withdraw his guilty plea for making false statements to two FBI agents in 2017 -- statements that eventually wrapped him up in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"In truth, I never lied," Flynn wrote in a new supplemental motion to withdraw his guilty plea filed Wednesday. "My guilty plea has rankled me throughout this process, and while I allowed myself to succumb to the threats from the government to save my family, I believe I was grossly misled about what really happened."

Flynn also blamed his former lawyers for providing him with bad information that led him to plead guilty.

Comment: See also: Retired army war hero urges AG Barr to dismiss charges against Flynn


Star of David

Trump's 'Deal of the Century' won't bring peace - it will pave the way to greater bloodshed

Trump Deal of the Century
Much of Donald Trump's long-trailed "deal of the century" came as no surprise. Over the past 18 months, Israeli officials had leaked many of its details.

The so-called "Vision for Peace" unveiled on Tuesday simply confirmed that the US government has publicly adopted the long-running consensus in Israel: that it is entitled to keep permanently the swaths of territory it seized illegally over the past half-century that deny the Palestinians any hope of a state.

The White House has discarded the traditional US pose as an "honest broker" between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinian leaders were not invited to the ceremony, and would not have come had they been. This was a deal designed in Tel Aviv more than in Washington - and its point was to ensure there would be no Palestinian partner.

Importantly for Israel, it will get Washington's permission to annex all of its illegal settlements, now littered across the West Bank, as well as the vast agricultural basin of the Jordan Valley. Israel will continue to have military control over the entire West Bank.

Comment: Quite a few analysts agree that Trump's 'Vision for Peace' is an unlikely roadmap to peace:


Star of David

Confusion reigns: Kushner contradicts Netanyahu on annexing of chunks of West Bank

Netanyahu
© AP/Gali TibbonIsrael's acting PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, eyes a map projecting 800 new housing units on Palestinian land.
In a recent interview, Trump advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner called on Israel to hold off on applying sovereignty over West Bank settlements until after the March parliamentary elections, with his words contradicting a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Tel Aviv could annex the settlement as soon as this Sunday.

The Israeli government has sent an inquiry to Washington over the planned annexation of the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in the West Bank following Trump Middle East advisor Jared Kushner's remarks to a US media outlet asking Tel Aviv to hold off on the matter, a senior member of Prime Minister Netanyahu's entourage has told Haaretz. An unnamed source said:
"I hope nothing's changed. It wasn't done in bad faith and we're inquiring about the matter. We have been working on this for three years, hundreds of hours, to bring the best agreement in Israel."
The source noted that Trump's move to recognize the application of Israeli law to the Jordan Valley, the Northern Dead Sea, Judea and Samaria was "a huge thing" and an undeniable success for Israel.

Comment: Israel's hope is that the Palestinians 'take it' or 'leave it''. In fact, it is counting on a Palestinian exodus to pave the way for new Israeli settlements and tighter control.

See also:


Arrow Up

Pompeo: Brexit will be 'fantastic' for the USA

Pompeo
© Win McNamee/Getty Images/KJN
Brexit will be "fantastic" for the United States because it will allow the United Kingdom to abandon European trade regulations and standards, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested on Thursday.

Speaking at an event in London, Pompeo said that Britain's exit from the EU on January 31 would reduce barriers to trade between the two countries.

"What I'm optimistic about is that there were things that the United Kingdom was required to do as part of being a member of the EU and they will be able to do them differently now," Pompeo told an event alongside UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

"I think that's fantastic. I think that's fantastic for the United States. I think that's fantastic for the United Kingdom. We will be able to reduce transaction costs and share [goods and services] in ways we could not do when the United Kingdom was part of that and I look forward to working through that."

Star of David

Hidden in Trump-Netanyahu deal is an effort to 'torpedo' ICC war crimes probe

ICC-Hague
© ICC-CPIInternational Criminal Court
The plan announced Tuesday by the White House demands Palestinians "dismiss all pending actions" before the International Criminal Court.

As the International Criminal Court moved forward this week with its investigation into alleged war crimes committed against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, the White House's new so-called "peace" plan includes a largely unreported provision that would end such efforts to hold the Israeli government to account.

The document, released Tuesday, was widely criticized as a "screw the Palestinians over harder non-peace plan" that lets Israel continue its illegal occupation and a "ludicrous" proposal that offers no path towards Palestinian statehood.

The plan's architect, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner, suggested Palestinians "take a cold shower" and accept it lest they "screw up," he said, like with "every other opportunity that they've ever had in their existence."

A portion of the document states that "the parties should conduct themselves in a manner that comports with this vision, and in a way that prepares their respective peoples for peace." For the Palestinians, that means victims of war crimes should keep quiet.

The plan states, in part, that Palestinians must take "no action, and shall dismiss all pending actions, against the State of Israel, the United States, and any of their citizens before the International Criminal Court" and other tribunals.

Comment: 'Hell hath no fury like an Israel scorned' if the ICC pursues accountability and retribution. Israeli power is built on lies, persuasion and entitlement - the unraveling of which will be something to behold.

See also:


Post-It Note

Abbas notifies Netanyahu Palestine is free to end security cooperation with Israel

Abbas/NEti
© ReutersGlinty-eyed Israeli PM Netanyahu • Jaw-clenched Palestinian President Abbas • 2010
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly sent a note to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that Palestine now feels free to stop security cooperation with the regime as part of the Oslo accords, which are "disavowed" by a contentious US-devised Middle East plan.

Israel's Channel 12 TV reported on Wednesday that a Palestinian Authority delegation, led by Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, had met with Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and handed him a handwritten letter in Arabic from Abbas to Netanyahu.

In his note, the report said, Abbas stressed that the plan US President Donald Trump unveiled on Tuesday as a proposed solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict disregards the 1993 Oslo accords that divided the West Bank into areas under Israeli, Palestinian and joint controls.
The report quoted the letter as saying:
"The plan is an American and Israeli disavowal of the Oslo accords, and so the Palestinian Authority now sees itself as free to disregard the agreements with Israel, including security cooperation."

Comment: Trump's attempt failed, as have all previous plans. There can be no concession on lives, land and dignity by Palestinians after decades of unrelenting and punishing compromise to occupier Israel. Good for them to stand 'their ground'.


Camera

2015 photo of whistleblower Eric Ciaramella in meeting with Biden advisor, Ukraine officials

Eric Ciaramella
© The Gateway Pundit/KJN
A 2015 photo of whistleblower Eric Ciaramella taking notes in a meeting with a Biden advisor and Ukrainian officials emerged Wednesday.

Investigative reporter Paul Sperry, who initially broke the story of the identity of the whistleblower tweeted out the photo on Wednesday.

"Eric Ciaramella,the CIA operative believed to be the "whistleblower," is captured in this 2015 photo taking notes b/t Biden adviser Michael Carpenter & NSC's Liz Zentos in WH meeting w Ukrainian officials. Carpenter later appeared w Biden in infamous "son of a bitch" vid" Sperry said in the caption.

Comment: See also:


X

Trump's 'win-win' Israel-Palestine deal is like his '100 percent' defeat of ISIS - not backed by reality

Trump
© Reuters/Leah MillsUS President Donald Trump
During self-congratulatory remarks about his "deal of the century" to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict, Donald Trump threw in another boast; he claimed US forces defeated "100 percent" of the Islamic State caliphate. Have they?

"Thanks to the courage of US forces, the ISIS territorial caliphate — 100 percent — not 95 percent, not 99 or any other percent — 100 percent of their caliphate, ISIS, is destroyed," he said.

The irony is not lost that Trump made the comment while announcing details of what appears to be a dead-on-arrival Middle East peace deal, which he insists amounts to an "historic breakthrough," despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Such dramatic and exaggerated language is, after all, typical of Trump's 'best president ever' brand.

Of course, it makes sense to boast about your deal-making skills only if both sides of a conflict have actually agreed to the deal. Likewise, with a problem like Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), it would seem prudent to hold off on triumphant declarations of success until they can be fully backed up by reality on the ground. While it is true that IS has lost its territorial caliphate, the group, experts say, is still very much active — and regaining strength.

Shopping Bag

Mixed bag: US sanctions AEOI, opens channel for med supplies, renews foreign wavers on reactor sites

Bushehr
© Global Look Press/Ahmad HalabisazBushehr Nuclear Power Plant
The Treasury Department has announced sanctions on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and its head Ali Akbar Salehi as the US continues its pressure campaign on Tehran after ditching the international Iran nuclear deal.

Though the Trump administration has accused Salehi and his organization of striving to produce a nuclear weapon, the AEOI also oversees the civilian nuclear sector in Iran.

The sanctions are the latest in a string of economic penalties applied to Iran since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal) in 2018, after accusing Tehran of noncompliance. Iran has responded by gradually rolling back its own commitments, but it has continued working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran scrapped all of the limitations imposed by the agreement this month, following the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani by the US.

Question

US targeting of Nigeria: Is it really about terrorist problem or is America fearful of Africa's first superpower emerging?

nigerian rebels
© Getty Images / Construction Photography / Avalon / Anadolu Agency
The US is punishing Nigeria amid a current humanitarian crisis where the West African nation is grappling with a violent terrorist problem in the form of Boko Haram; a terrorist entity that the US indirectly helped rise to power.


The Trump administration is considering expanding its travel ban to include five more countries, including Nigeria. While there is opposition to the plan, it is still unclear to what extent this ban will go, as it may only target certain government officials, or certain types of visas.

As the media notes, Nigeria works together with the US in areas such as counter-terrorism and the intention came as a surprise to the Nigerian government, who will have to look for ways its officials can meet with investors.