Comment: See also:

• Why the surprise about North Korea's resistance?
• The logic of North Korea's 'madness'
• Trump's brinksmanship towards North Korea - and the real reasons behind it
• North Korea has learned the brutal lessons of US regime change and will not disarm
• Putin clearly explains what forced North Korea to develop nuke program
• Former President Jimmy Carter: US needs to restrain warlike rhetoric, encourage talks between North Korea and other countries

Comment: Edmond Safra, majority owner of Republic National Bank, the primary conduit for this gargantuan scheme to bilk Russia, was arguably the money-laundering man for the Middle East and South America.

In the 1980s, he was implicated in money laundering $800 million in Colombian and Turkish drug money, and as a conduit in the Iran-Contra scandal. His power and influence was such that, as Alex Krainer writes in The Killing of William Browder, "wherever the American deep state ran covert operations, Edmond Safra was among their choice providers of financial logistics."

Among other things, Safra co-founded, with fellow-traveller William Browder, Hermitage Capital, the world's most successful hedge fund from the mid-90s to the mid-2000s, pilfering the Russian state and that country's resources with free abandon until Browder was banned from the country in 2006.

Tried in absentia, Browder was found guilty of defrauding the Russian state, a crime he has since frantically denied by lobbying Western governments to accept his version of events (that the Russian state, he claims, defrauded itself - and that everything wrong in that country is Putin's fault). Browder's successful efforts - and near total, global media coverage in his favor - led to the Magnitsky Act, the first round of unilateral, US-led anti-Russian sanctions in 2012.

Safra, meanwhile, also operated unmolested, successfully fending off every litigation brought against him. His bank was itself eventually 'laundered'. In 1999, Republic was absorbed into the British HSBC banking empire for $10 billion... on the same day as Safra's funeral after he had died in a mysterious fire at his home in Monaco.

In the immediate aftermath of the publication of the above article by Friedman, the US deep state kicked into high gear to limit its fallout, with none other than Senator (then Representative) Chuck Schumer (D, NY) taking to the Congress floor to record testimonies of support for Safra into the Congressional record:

HON. CHARLES E. SCHUMER of New York in the House of Representatives

Tuesday, February 13, 1996

"Mr. Speaker, a weekly magazine recently published a lengthy article raising serious questions about the business activities conducted by Republic National Bank of New York with Russian banks. Republic is a large, well-respected institution serving the New York community and employing thousands of its residents. In the interest of fairness, so that the other side of the story can be heard, I would like to submit for the Record the attached materials. Included among them are several letters from law enforcement agencies and bank regulatory bodies. These letters testify to the bank's record of compliance with the law and cooperation with law enforcement officials and bank regulators."

In the madness of exploiting the 'Wild East' after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, US geopolitical designs to take control of Russian resources, and ultimately dismember that country, led to the raising of ferocious new 'democratic' elites there.

These elites have steadily been checked within Russia since Putin came to power, but to this day 'the Russian mob' is considered 'the most dangerous organized crime group in the world'.

Comment: In some respects, Trump has had to give away whole chunks of his power in order to keep the wolves at bay. His team has dissipated and those left to advise him seem to be those in place with varying and different agendas. Will his personality, quick-to-judgement tendencies, and brashness give way to his forte of keeping them guessing while working behind the scenes, or is he deluding himself that what he can do matters?

His best and only choice may be the support of the people, if he manages to wake them up. Even then, he will not be able to control the deep state, the heavy-handed influence of Israel, nor likely prevent a civil war. We can speculate the last thing the deep state wants is a rejuvenated American public that pays attention to its circumstances and will go all out to keep that from happening.

Pay attention to the upcoming 'debt ceiling deal'; this may very well be the moment the phony leveraging of 'the markets' is suspended and economic hell breaks loose.

Comment:

• A "color revolution" is being fomented in the United States
• The war against ordinary Americans
• The Clintons and Soros launching America's Purple Revolution
• Boomerang effect: US's color revolution formula comes home to roost
• Manipulated Minorities: A 'major threat' to global democracy
• The 'Impeach Trump' Conspiracy: A Coup Against a Constitutionally Elected President

Comment: Coming just a few weeks before Catalonia's referendum, this event will surely be used by Spanish authorities to argue for a 'No' vote. After all, if this kind of attack can happen in the heart of Catalonia, surely Catalonians are safer, and therefore better off, in the bosom of the Spanish state.

Coming just a few days after the 'car attack' in Charlottesville in the US, it is also a 'timely' reminder to the people of Western nations that the world is a very dangerous and threatening place, and all right-thinking people should place their trust and faith in the protective power of their respective states.

Update 1

The first footage of the crash scene has made it online. An eyewitness told RT:

"I saw bunch of people running and screaming," said Sissing, on holiday in Spain from the UK. "The van was speeding through under the trees in the pedestrian area. The van was going - I don't know - at 80 to 100kmh. It was really fast. It was knocking people down - maybe 10 or 15 people. Then the van stopped, and it was pretty badly damaged when I saw it. There were hundreds of people there. Then accelerated again, and kept on going. I saw at least 10 people on the ground, some receiving treatment."

RT journalist Daniel Chalyan was on the scene:

"There was panic. People were running everywhere down the wrong side of the street. No one knew what had actually happened - people said that someone had planted a bomb," Chalyan said. "Police ordered us to hide. I am in a clothing store with two owners, and six customers. The windows are shuttered, we are on lockdown and still can't get out, though the situation outside is getting calmer."

Police reportedly have one suspect in custody in connection with a terrorism charge. Spanish media are circulating a photo and name (Driss Oukabir) alleged to be of a suspect.

And now, on cue: ISIS has claimed responsibility, via its Amaq "news agency".

Update 2

A Spanish news station reports that, surprise surprise, a passport was conveniently found inside the van used in the attack. Also, the CIA reportedly warned the Catalan police of a possible van ramming attack a few months ago. The more news that comes out, the more this begins to look like state-sponsored terror.

Update 3

Driss Oukabir has handed himself in to police, claiming that his identity stolen and that he had nothing to do with the attack.

The driver of the van remains at large. Police just say 'he ran off on foot...'

Update 4

Two men are now in custody, but neither was the driver. One is Moroccan, the other from Melilla, a Spanish enclave. A second van was found north of Barcelona, in the town of Vic; it was reportedly intended to be a getaway vehicle.

At 7:30pm local time, a second attack took place at a police checkpoint on Barcelona's Avinguda Diagonal. Two officers were run over; the driver was shot dead by police. It's not yet clear if this is connected to the van attack.

Another incident - a house explosion last night at a house in Alcanar that killed 1 (a Moroccan) and injured 6 - is believed to be connected with today's attack. Firefighters found about 20 gas cylinders at the scene and documents that police say link the site to today's attack.

Update 5 (Aug. 18)

In another one of those strange coincidences, the mother of a woman who survived the Bataclan Theatre attack in France witnessed the Barcelona attack. See RT's interview with the mother here. 119 were injured in the van ramming, 15 seriously. The death toll is now up to 14. More footage of the aftermath here. And the first CCTV footage of the van itself, briefly visible through the window of a museum:


Two more men have been brought into custody, bringing the total to 4 (3 Moroccans and 1 Spaniard), but the driver is still yet to be identified, according to Catalan regional police official Josep Lluis Trapero.

"None of the four detainees arrested [following] the Cambrils and #Barcelona attacks had a history of terrorism-related offenses," Catalan police tweeted.

The detained suspects were preparing a bigger attack, according to police. "They were preparing one or several attacks in Barcelona and an explosion in Alcanar stopped this as they no longer had the material they needed to commit attacks of an even bigger scope," said Trapero said, as cited by AFP.

Police said they are investigating if the terrorists had been being planning the attacks for some time. "We work with the hypothesis that the suspects were preparing both attacks for some time in this building of Alcanar. It was a group, we do not know the specific number, but we do not rule out having other attacks in mind. They are all identified," he said.
...
At least one of the suspects was arrested in the town of Ripoll, police said earlier. "There could be more people in Ripoll connected to the group,'' regional Interior Ministry chief Joaquim Forn told TV3 television, as cited by AP. He added that "a numerous group" could be behind the attack, in an interview to Onda Cero radio.

Turns out Catalan police allegedly were warned by the CIA of a possible attack on Las Ramblas 2 months ago:

The CIA told Los Mossos, the Catalonian regional police force, that Barcelona was a top target for jihadist terrorists as recently as June this year, El Peridoco, a local paper, reported on Friday.

"Two months ago the Central Intelligence Agency passed a notice to the Catalan autonomous police," the paper said. "It even warned of the risk to Las Ramblas," the pedestrian thoroughfare hit by an attack on Thursday.

The Telegraph could not immediately verify the report.

Update 6

Another attack, this time at Cambrils near Barcelona: At least six injured after car rams pedestrians at Cambrils seafront near Barcelona, five suspected terrorists killed in police shootout

Update 7 (August 19)

In the Cambrils attack, one Spanish police officer reportedly killed 4 of the attackers while protecting his wounded partner. After ramming 4 people on the beach promenade, their car hit a police cruiser and overturned:

The terrorists got out of the vehicle and attempted to stab pedestrians with knives and an axe. They were wearing items resembling suicide vests which turned out to be fake.

Two officers were inside the police car. One of them suffered head and leg injuries in the crash and his partner was forced to confront the attackers on his own.

He shot and killed four of them.

Graphic footage of the confrontation, obtained by La Vanguardia, captured the moment one of the terrorists was being gunned down by the officer with several onlookers watching on in shock.

The perpetrator is seen taunting the officer, shouting: "Allahu akbar," and ignoring commands to surrender and lay down. After the first shots were fired at him, the suspect falls to the ground, but quickly stands up and continues running until more bullets hit him.

The name of the policeman who killed the four terrorists remains undisclosed. La Vanguardia reports that psychologists counseled him after the incident.

The fifth attacker managed to flee while injuring a woman who later died in hospital. He was shot dead by another police unit shortly afterwards.

Police identified all 5 terrorist cell members killed in Cambrils, but are still unsure if one of them was the driver of the van involved in the Barcelona ramming earlier.

Three Moroccans and one Spaniard have been detained in relation to the Catalonia vehicle ramming attacks. Police said the cell of at least 12 members were preparing a bigger bombing attack. Out of 3 remaining identified suspects, two might have been killed in the blast in Alcanar, and at least one - Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22 - is still at large.

All five of those killed are Moroccans: Omar Hychami, 21, born in Morocco; 19-year-old Moroccans Houssaine Abouyaaqoub and Said Aallaa; Mohamed Hychami, 24, born in Morocco and Moussa Oukabir, 17.

Authorities are linking the Cambrils and Barcelona attacks, calling them a 'plan B' after the bomb plot was disrupted by the seemingly accidental explosion in Alcanar.

Update 8 (August 20)

A missing Australian boy has been confirmed dead in the attack. Authorities say the Sagrada Familia was the prime target of the botched bomb plot. No word on how exactly the police have confirmed that, however (perhaps from those in custody?). Here's the latest on the house explosion:

Examining the ruins of the Alcanar explosion site, investigators found an arsenal of explosive material; including dozens of tanks of butane gas and traces of the triacetate triperoxide (TATP) explosive, dubbed the 'Mother of Satan.'

Triacetone triperoxide has been used by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other terrorists before - the 7/7 bombings in London and the November 2015 Paris attacks. TATP which looks like a white powder is highly unstable and difficult to detect; but it can explode with a force that's roughly 80 percent as strong as TNT. Terrorists presumably planned to detonate the gas by using TATP explosives.

Police raided the house of a local imam, Abdelbak Es Satty, believed to be connected with the group.

Officers were reportedly seeking to find DNA samples of the cleric, identified as Abdelbaki Es Satty, which might link him to the terrorist hideout in Alcanar, where an explosion destroyed a house on Wednesday.

The Alcanar house reportedly served as the base from which the terrorists were preparing their attacks. The imam went missing several days ago and was last seen Tuesday, Reuters reported citing Es Satty's landlord.

Investigators believe he might be one of the two dead persons discovered in the rubble of the house in Alcanar.

Authorities did not find the imam in the small apartment. One of the rooms, reports say, was sublet to a Moroccan. In the living room, police discovered a mattress with the sheets on the floor, a five-seater corner sofa and a TV, El Pais reports.

Es Satty has been a practicing imam in Ripoll since 2015 and taught Arabic classes to young children of the congregation. He is believed to be the religious mentor of several of the identified terrorists who lived in the same town, namely: brothers Driss and Moussa Oukabirm as well as Mohammed Hychami and Younes Abouyaaqoub, who is considered the mastermind of the Barcelona attack and currently on the run.
Satty could have also influenced Said Aallaa, another terrorist cell member, who came from the town of Ribes de Freser, 13 kilometers from Ripoll.

The Ripoll imam was allegedly imprisoned at Castellón jail between 2010 and 2012 for drug-related offenses, according to anti-terrorist sources cited by El Confidencial. Neighbors of the cleric, however, note his humble behavior and his ability not to stand out from the crowd.

See also:

• Police find over 120 gas canisters for 'one or more' attacks in Barcelona
• Police still searching for one person after Barcelona attacks, may have fled to France

Update 9 (August 21)

The suspect at large - Younes Abouyaaqoub, believed to have been the driver of the Barcelona attack - was shot and killed (though an earlier report said shot and arrested) today in Subirats, about an hour away from Barcelona. He was reportedly wearing a fake suicide belt.

Local media said police managed to find and shoot him on a road near a sewage treatment plant.

Police have also confirmed that one of those killed in the Alcanar explosion was imam Abdelbaki Es Satty:

"On Tuesday morning, he left saying he was going on vacation to Morocco," said fruit-seller Nordeen El Haji, 45, who four months ago moved into the apartment that Satty occupied in Ripoll.

The decrepit two-room flat rented for 150 euros ($175) a month has a view of the tree-covered Pyrenees and the red roofs of the quaint Catalonian town, 90 kilometres (50 miles) north of Barcelona.
...
"He spoke little, spent time with his computer in his room, and had an old mobile phone with no internet, and few books," said Satty's flatmate.
...
As local media speculated on the influence of the imam on the young attackers, his flatmate said that in the last four months, he had not hosted any youths in the apartment.

"This imam was normal and ordinary in public," said Mohamed Akhayad, a 26-year-old Moroccan electrician-mechanic, who sometimes went to the prayer hall that opened in 2016 where he preached.

"If he ate up the brains of these youths, he must have done it secretly, in a secret place," he said at the main Moroccan cafe in town.
...
Another Moroccan, who did not want to give his name, described the imam as "very solitary, and hung out more with these youths than with people of his age".

The 43-year-old man said he knew the young suspects in the attacks, as he had organised football matches with them.
...
In Sant Pere street where the imam lived, a 64-year-old local, Francesc Gimeno, said the man "had a reputation of being very Islamist".

"He wanted all the Moroccans to think like him, putting religion above all," said Gimeno, saying he also "required Moroccan women in town to cover themselves".

But Hammou Minhaj, 30, a Moroccan and secretary of Ripoll's Muslim community, said: "He doesn't say that here at the mosque. Outside, I don't know."

Satty arrived in Ripoll in 2015, said Minhaj.

- 'Knows the Koran better than us' -

But then "he went to Belgium as imam, at least that's what he said, before returning to Ripoll," added Minhaj.

"He started as an imam in our new mosque in April 2016. What's important is that he knows the Koran better than we do."

But at the end of June, the imam asked for three months' leave to go to Morocco on holiday, Minhaj said.

In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told AFP that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen between January and March 2016.

Brussel's Molenbeek suburb -- on the other side of the city -- has gained notoriety as a hotbed of international jihadists after the March 2016 Brussels attacks and the November 2015 Paris assaults.

In the Moroccan town of M'rirt, relatives of the 22-year-old who police believe drove the van into crowds in Barcelona, Younes Abouyaaqoub, also accused the imam of radicalising the young man as well as his brother Houssein.

"Over the last two years, Younes and Houssein began to radicalise under the influence of this imam," their grandfather told AFP
....
A neighbour close to the Abouyaaquob family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the imam "had recruited Moroccans of Ripoll and planned the attacks".

"He took leave from the mosque saying he had to return to Morocco to deal with inheritance problems. So another imam was found to replace him at the mosque, but a few days before the attacks, he was seen in Ripoll," added the source, who also has family in the small town.

Update 10 (Aug. 22)

Barcelona attack suspect tells court that cell planned bigger attack with explosives