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Pepe Escobar: The Dragon lays out its road map

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Sat, 27 Jul 2019 12:00 UTC
Chinese soldiers
© AFP
Chinese soldiers in the PLA Hong Kong Garrison take part in a drill during an open day on June 30 to mark the 22nd anniversary of the return of the city from Britain to China.
The key merit of China's National Defense in the New Era, a white paper released by the State Council in Beijing, is to clear any remaining doubts about where the Middle Kingdom is coming from, and where it's going to by 2049, the mythical date to, theoretically, be restored as the foremost global power.

Although not ultra-heavy on specifics, the white paper certainly should be read as the Chinese counterpoint to the US National Security Strategy, as well as the National Defense Strategy.

It goes without saying that every sentence is being carefully scrutinized by the Pentagon, which regards China as a "malign actor" and "a threat" - the terminology associated with its "Chinese aggression" mantra.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Former CIA spook: "Deep State wants Epstein gone"

Greg Hunter
USAWatchdog.com
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 21:29 UTC
kevin shipp
Former CIA Officer and whistleblower Kevin Shipp says there are big stories with big implications for America that are unfolding now.

One of the biggest earthquakes that is going off will be the high ranking Deep State elite surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein. Shipp says,
"Oh my goodness gracious, the Deep State is darn well scared, and some of its political top participants, I guarantee you, they want Epstein gone. There is no doubt about that. I don't know why the Bureau of Prisons put Epstein in a jail cell with a cop that killed four people and buried them in his back yard. Epstein should have been in solitary confinement under watch. So, whoever made that decision, it was a complete error in judgment, if not intentional. That should not have happened in the first place."
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Sherlock

The End of Russiagate and Mueller's Outright Lies

Aaron Maté
Le Monde Diplomatique
Tue, 23 Jul 2019 18:11 UTC
mueller testify report

Robert Mueller testifies on the contents of his report
The former special counsel still has a lot he can clarify.

"For two years, Democrats have waited on Robert Mueller to deliver a death blow to the Trump presidency," The New York Times observed on July 20. "On Wednesday, in back-to-back hearings with the former special counsel, that wish could face its final make-or-break moment." The very fact that Democrats had to subpoena Mueller in order to create this final moment should in fact be the final reminder of what a mistake it was for Democrats to have waited on him. If Mueller had incriminating information yet to share, or had been stymied from doing his work, or if Attorney General William Barr had somehow misrepresented his findings, then it stands to reason that Mueller would be welcoming the opportunity to appear before Congress, not resisting it. The reality is that Mueller's investigation did not indict anyone on the Trump campaign for collusion with Russia, or even for anything related to the 2016 election. Mueller's report found no evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, and even undermined the case for it.
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Attention

The threat to the global economy from resurgent imperialism - are tanker seizures the first symptom?

Craig Murray
craigmurray.org.uk
Sat, 27 Jul 2019 20:51 UTC
Naftni supertanker, Grace 1 u blizini Gibraltara.

The oil supertanker Grace 1, near Gibraltar
The British seizure of the Iranian tanker off Gibraltar was illegal. There is no doubt of that whatsoever. The Iranian response to the seizure of its tanker in the Strait of Gibraltar, by the seizure of a British Tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, was also illegal, though more understandable as a reaction. The implications for the global economy of the collapse of the crucial international law on passage through straits would be devastating.

It may seem improbable that the UK and or France would ever seek to close the Dover Strait, but in the current crazed climate it is no longer quite impossible to imagine the UK seeking to mess up access to Rotterdam and Hamburg. It is still easier to imagine them seeking to close the Dover Strait against the Russian Navy. Yet the essential freedom of navigation through the Kerch strait, respected by Russia which controls it, is necessary to the survival of Ukraine as a country. For Turkey to close the Bosphorus would be catastrophic and is a historically recurring possibility. Malaysia and Indonesia would cause severe dislocation to Australia and China by disrupting the strait of Malacca and the Suharto government certainly viewed that as an advantage from which it should have the right to seek to benefit, and was a continued nuisance in UN Law of the Sea discussions. These are just a few examples. The US Navy frequently sails through the Taiwan Strait to assert the right of passage though straits.
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Better Earth

'We Are The Vaccine Against The Cancer of Unilateralism' - Delegates From 120 Nations Meet in Venezuela to Plot Escape From U$ Hegemony

Anya Parampil
The Gray Zone
Sun, 28 Jul 2019 19:37 UTC
The Gray Zone reports from the 2019 Non-Aligned Movement, where delegates from over 120 nations offered a crucial endorsement of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and strategized on countering US financial hegemony
NAM caracas

The actual international community meets in Caracas
Late in the evening on July 19, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif stepped out of a plane and met his Venezuelan counterpart, Jorge Arreaza, on the tarmac outside Caracas with an enthusiastic embrace. Zarif was in town to participate in the ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

"Today in the Middle East and the regions of South America and Latin America, the US is creating instability and insecurity," Zarif declared to reporters gathered for his arrival. "The resistance of the people of Venezuela against the United States is very important for all the countries of the world."


A day later, the two embattled foreign ministers appeared alongside an assortment of high-level delegates from around the world, from Africa to Latin America to Asia. Zarif and Arreaza's position at the front and center of the group sent an undeniable message about the Non-Aligned Movement's purpose in 2019.

Officially founded in 1961 by post-colonial icons like Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, and Yugoslavian leader Josef Tito, NAM was originally conceived as an alliance between countries seeking independence from both the US and Soviet power blocs during the height of the Cold War.
non aligned movement

The Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War: Nehru of India, Nasser of Egypt, and Tito of Yugoslavia
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Attention

Ray McGovern: A non-hack raises Hillary's hackles

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Mon, 22 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
WIKILEAKS and news
© Wikileaks
On the third anniversary of the release by WikiLeaks of the DNC emails, Ray McGovern looks back at how the DNC diverted the damaging contents into a trumped up conspiracy blaming Russia with no evidence at all.

Three years ago Monday WikiLeaks published a trove of highly embarrassing emails that had been leaked from inside the Democratic National Committee. As has been the case with every leak revealed by WikiLeaks, the emails were authentic. These particular ones, however, could not have come at a worse time for top Democratic Party officials.

The emails made it unmistakably clear that the DNC had tipped the scales sharply against Democratic insurgent Bernie Sanders, giving him a snowball's chance in hell for the nomination. The posting of the DNC emails is also widely seen as having harmed the the electoral prospects of Hillary Clinton, who could not escape responsibility completely, while a handful of the very top DNC officials were forced to immediately resign.

Relatively few Americans read the actual emails, their attention diverted to the incessant media-fostered question: Why Did the Russians Hack the DNC to Hurt Hillary? For the millions of once enthusiastic Democrats who favored Sanders, however, the disclosure that the nomination process had been fixed came as a bitter pill, leaving a sour taste in their mouths and a passive-aggressive reluctance to promote the candidacy of one they considered a usurper. Having had a huge stake in Bernie's candidacy, they had little trouble seeing through the diversion of attention from the content of the emails.
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Bullseye

The failure of impeachment regime change - what was its success?

Jacob G. Hornberger
The Future of Freedom Foundation
Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
Trump/Capital
© Jonathan Ernst
With what most everyone is calling a stunningly disjointed and extremely disappointing presentation before Congress by Special Counsel and former FBI Director Robert Mueller, it is becoming increasingly clear that the effort to achieve regime change through impeachment is going to fail. Democrats are going to have to rely on the traditional electoral means to remove President Trump from office in 2020.

This is the way it should be. Achieving regime change through impeachment would have converted the United States into a standard banana republic.

Ever since Trump became the GOP nominee for president, Democrats, the national-security establishment, and the liberal elements of the mainstream press did everything they could to ensure that his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, was elected president. Once Trump became president, however, his opponents refused to accept the electoral outcome and began trying to remove him from office through impeachment. That's where the anti-Russia brouhaha came into play.

During the campaign, it was increasingly clear that Trump and Clinton were on opposite sides of the Russia controversy. Trump desired to establish friendly relations with Russia, which was exactly what Russia wanted. But that's not what the national-security establishment wanted.

Comment: Let's not forget the MIC's importance in this scenario as well!

See also:

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Cell Phone

Barr's Russiagate origin probe turns its focus to 'smoking gun' tapes with exculpatory evidence

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 26 Jul 2019 17:05 UTC
Papadopoulos
© BBC
George Papadopoulos
A DOJ internal review of the Russia investigation is now focusing on transcripts of (not-so) covertly recorded conversations between former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos and 'at least one government source' during an overseas conversation in 2016.

In particular, DOJ investigators are focusing on why certain exculpatory (or exonerating) evidence from the transcripts was not included in subsequent FBI surveillance warrant applications, according to Fox News, citing two sources familiar with the review.

"A source told Fox News that the "exculpatory evidence" included in the transcripts is Papadopoulos denying having any contact with the Russians to obtain the supposed "dirt" on Clinton," according to the report. And while Fox doesn't name the 'government source,' it's undoubtedly Australian diplomat and Clinton ally Alexander Downer, who was "idiotic enough" to spy on Papadopoulos with his phone, according to the former Trump aide.


Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Greenberg interview: Mueller's testimony lacked evidence to impeach Trump - a bad result for Dems


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Jul 2019 15:57 UTC
Robert Mueller
© Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Former SC Robert Mueller testifying before House Judiciary Committee hearing July 24, 2019
Former US Special Counsel Robert Mueller has yet again reiterated during testimony to Congress that his Russia investigation did not uncover evidence of any conspiracy between President Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government. Reacting to Mueller's testimony, US President Donald Trump blasted "the phoney cloud" created by the Russia probe and said, "there was no defence to this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt". Richie Greenberg, a delegate on the San Francisco GOP Central Committee and the California GOP, has commented on the impact of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's testimony in Congress.

Sputnik: What do you think of Mueller's testimony in the House of Representatives? Was it a last-ditch attempt to draw attention to the collusion narrative and begin impeachment proceedings?

Richie Greenberg: It was a very bad result for the Democrats and those who expected some different outcome or different information to be presented, which could give evidence to impeach Trump. But of course, this didn't happen, there is no additional information nor smoking gun to lead to impeachment. Mueller's testimony was terrible, scattered, he was a mess and clearly, he had problems understanding the questions he was being asked, or he did not know the information which was in the report/dossier he presented.

Sputnik: Just last week, 332 congressmen voted against an attempt to commence impeachment proceedings. Why is this move still popular among some in the Democratic Party?

Richie Greenberg: For one thing, there will always be politicians and the media who will refuse to admit they were wrong, and instead blame Trump for everything, and insist there is some behind-the-scenes deal to avoid impeachment.

Also, many of the presidential candidates are looking for a way to get attention to their campaigns, and those candidates who are lowest in the polls (and the most desperate) will make the loudest and most severe accusations.
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Footprints

Trump's Mexican border troop deployments: Are they breaking a 140-year-old law?

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 26 Jul 2019 12:10 UTC
Immigrant facility
© Loren Elliott/Reuters
Donna, Texas immigrant facility
Most Americans probably haven't heard of the Posse Comitatus Act. But the federal law, passed in 1878, bars active duty troops from being used as police within the borders of the US. And some Democrats believe that the 5,000+ troops station along the southern border are in violation of the law, despite the Trump Administration's claims that they're only there to "support" the CBP personnel.

But in recent weeks, troops have been stationed inside a migrant detention facility in Donna, Texas. They were initially deployed there to perform welfare checks - the troops are allowed to perform emergency medical care - but their duties have 'evolved' to include acting as de facto prison guards, something that would be a clear violation of Posse Comitatus, NBC reports:
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., who chairs the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Readiness, says having active duty troops monitor migrants is "teetering on the edge of the posse comitatus law."

"It's not the role of the U.S. military to be a prison guard," he said. "This is certainly mission creep" and could put U.S. military service members "in a precarious legal situation."
One former defense official told NBC that monitoring migrants is probably "a bridge too far." If soldiers tried to break up a fight, they'd be in clear violation of the law.

Comment: See also: White House approves use of force, some law enforcement roles for troops at the border

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