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A humanitarian intervention? Situation in Libya created by Western regime change is 'catastrophic', says ex-foreign minister


RT
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 17:28 UTC
libyan fighters
© Reuters / Goran Tomasevic
NATO's bombing of Libya has set the North African nation back decades, the country's ex-foreign minister has told RT, challenging the notion that the West had launched its military campaign there for humanitarian reasons.

Washington invoked a flashy new doctrine, R2P ("Right to Protect"), in order to justify the 2011 military intervention in Libya. Instead of protecting civilians, the campaign has led to massive instability which has destroyed the fabric of Libyan society, Dr. Mustafa El Zaidi, the country's former health minister and former minister of foreign affairs, told Afshin Rattansi on RT's Going Underground.

Describing the humanitarian situation there as "catastrophic," El Zaidi said that Tripoli suffers from daily power shortages, while the southern part of Libya is gripped by fuel shortages.

"There is no health service at all. Libyans are now going back to life in the early 40s and 50s."
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Bulb

Forbes: There's no real reason to sanction Russia anymore

Kenneth Rapoza
Forbes
Mon, 29 Jul 2019 17:12 UTC
moscow view
© Sputnik / Eugene Biyatov
Other than just hating Russia because it's, well, run by super Bond villain Vlad Putin, there is no reason to sanction Russia anymore.


Comment: Even when American commentators make a sane point, it's surrounded by juvenile nonsense. Bond villain? Grow up.


Market rumors of Senate hawks like Marco Rubio hitting Russian government and quasi-sovereign bonds with sanctions have been around ever since Trump took the oath of office. But now that the Special Counsel investigation is over and the only thing Robert Mueller could find involving Russians that was worth punishing were these 13 "troll farms" that had no impact on the election outcome, and whose participants will never see a U.S. court or prison, Russia, for Wall Street anyway, has been exonerated.

The Mueller testimony was — as one hedge fund manger put it — a total face plant for the Democrats and anyone looking to link Trump to a villainous Russia. This story is officially over as a market mover.

On the day Mueller testified before Congress about his 400-plus page report about the Trump campaign and the Russians, the VanEck Russia (RSX) exchange-traded fund had already been dumped the night before — going from a trading volume of over 6 million shares to 4.2 million on Wednesday. By Friday, RSX volume rose to 5.5 million shares, hitting $23.64 per share.

Year-to-date, Russia is the hottest-performing emerging market. The VanEck ETF is up 26% while No. 2 Brazil is up 18.9% and the MSCI Emerging Markets benchmark is up 9.3%.
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Arrow Down

Pompeo says Trump wants to reduce foreign forces in Afghanistan by Nov. 2020


RFE/RL
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 16:57 UTC
Pompeo
© U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says President Donald Trump wants combat forces of the United States and its allies reduced in Afghanistan before the next U.S. presidential election in November 2020.

Pompeo made the remarks on July 29 during a talk on foreign policy hosted by the economic Club of Washington, D.C. -- a nonprofit organization based in the U.S. capital.

Asked whether he expects the United States to reduce troops in Afghanistan before the next U.S. presidential election, Pompeo said: "That's my directive from the president of the United States."

"He's been unambiguous: end the endless wars, draw down, reduce. It won't just be us," Pompeo said about Trump's directive. "We hope that overall the need for combat forces in the region is reduced."

Trump's South Asia strategy, unveiled in August 2017, calls for an open-ended deployment of U.S. forces with the goal of compelling the Taliban to negotiate a peace deal with Afghanistan's internationally backed government.

Pompeo said there had been "real progress" at peace talks with the Taliban.

Comment: This comes just as two more American servicemen were killed in Afghanistan in another insider attack.

See also:

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Sherlock

How to fail upwards in the German Bundeswehr: Story of the general who ordered airstrike killing hundreds of Afghan civilians


RT
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 16:41 UTC
Bundeswehr
© Reuters / Fabrizio Bensch
A German general who was behind arguably the nation's bloodiest operation since WWII recently took charge of the Bundeswehr's military training department — and reports say he may have medical issues to boot.

Readers hoping to hew out a career with NATO and the European military, meet Brigadier General Georg Klein, the man who was promoted this year to lead the department overseeing the training of young Germans joining the military.

Fruitful career

Klein rose from tank platoon commander to a member of the German High Command, racking up a range of fancy army titles and accolades - all before reaching his 60s. He has served on the German General Staff, was part of the nation's permanent mission to NATO and joined the Alliance-led force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as SFOR. Klein has also served in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force and led a provincial reconstruction team in the northern province of Kunduz.

Klein's exploits paid off with his appointment to lead the Bundeswehr rank and file personnel management department in 2012, before eventually being tipped for the training department in March.
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Dominoes

'Don't walk into Trump and his poodle Johnson's trap': German govt split over sending navy to Gulf


RT
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 19:40 UTC
german frigate
© REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
A prospect of German warships being sent to patrol the troubled waters of the Strait of Hormuz has ignited a debate in Berlin. Critics are warning against joining a potential US- and UK-led mission.

Proponents of the London-proposed mission say Germany should take part just because it is an inherent part of global trade. "Hardly any other country is as dependent on the freedom of international shipping as export champion Germany," former envoy to the US Wolfgang Ischinger told Die Welt. That said, Germans should not just "watch from the sidelines," he argued.

His words were echoed by the influential Association of German Industries, whose president told the paper that such a mission would be "a question of solidarity among us Europeans."
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Handcuffs

India's CBI officially charges politician Kuldeep Singh Sengar over Unnao rape case


India Today
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 10:04 UTC
Kuldeep Singh Sengar
© Reuters
BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar
The CBI filed its first chargesheet on Wednesday against Unnao BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao rape case. Sengar is currently lodged in Sitapur jail.

The chargesheet names Sengar and his alleged associate Sashi Singh as accused in the case, according to sources. Sengar has been charged with criminal conspiracy, abduction of minor, rape and threat.

In April 2018, a case against Sengar was registered by the Uttar Pradesh police where he was booked under IPC Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abduction of woman), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and also under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Comment: Also see: Teen who accused Indian legislator of rape seriously injured in 'suspicious' crash

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Chess

Modi: India will not succumb to 'international pressure' on national security


ANI News
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 10:04 UTC
Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that India will not succumb to any international pressure on the issue of national security and ensure modernisation of defence forces, while noting that the Vajpayee government had given "an effective answer" to Pakistan's 'deceit' on Kashmir in 1999 Kargil war.

Addressing a commemorative function here at Indira Gandhi Indoor (IGI) Stadium on 20th anniversary of Kargil victory that is celebrated every year as "Kargil Vijay Diwas", Modi spoke of the need of "jointness" of the three wings of armed forces, saying it was the need of the time.

Without naming Pakistan, he said the people defeated in wars were resorting to proxy war for their political objectives and were giving encouragement to terrorism.
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Eye 2

Israeli warplanes bomb Iraq twice in ten days claiming they're Iranian military targets


Sputnik
Tue, 30 Jul 2019 12:01 UTC
fly Jet
© CC0
The alleged airstrikes come as the Islamic Republic continues to deny the Jewish state's right to exist; Israel, in turn, blames Iran for supporting what Tel Aviv describes as "terrorist" groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

Israeli Air Force planes have launched a series of strikes on Iranian targets in Iraq, which they bombed twice in ten days, the Times of Israel reported, citing Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arabic-language newspaper published in London, which in turn cited unnamed Western diplomatic sources as saying.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have not commented on the reports yet.

Comment: Israel is now actively bombing Syria, Iraq and Palestine, and it's 'intelligence' is partly responsible for the tensions with Iran, and so is it any wonder they're a pariah of the Middle East? Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Israeli-French Deception Downs Russian Spy Plane Off Syria, US Escalates 'Regime Change' Against Iran

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Arrow Up

Talks with US possible if they led to tangible results - Iranian FM spokesman


Reuters
Mon, 29 Jul 2019 09:00 UTC
Major General Seyyed Abdolrahim Mousavi
© Press TV
Major General Seyyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief commander Iran's Army
Talks between Iran and the United States would be possible if based on an agenda that could lead to tangible results, but Washington is not seeking dialogue, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would be willing to hold talks with the Islamic Republic.

"Dialogue and negotiation can be held when we have a certain agenda in place and when we could get some tangible and practical results out of it," Mousavi said in a news conference broadcast live on Press TV.

He added: "They are not for talks. They are not seeking dialogue."

Comment: Iran has made it very clear they are willing to work toward a peaceful resolution, but those controlling the US have also made it clear that they are unwilling to revise their plans for world domination. However, it may be that the US, eventually, won't have much choice but to concede: 'We Are The Vaccine Against The Cancer of Unilateralism' - Delegates From 120 Nations Meet in Venezuela to Plot Escape From U$ Hegemony

See also:

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Chalkboard

What progressives hopefully learned from Russiagate

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Mon, 29 Jul 2019 06:01 UTC
bernie sanders
The Robert Mueller hearing on Tuesday was widely regarded as a humiliating disaster, not just by critics of the establishment Russia narrative, but by mainstream Democratic pundits. We haven't seen a US official look so befuddled and disorganized during a congressional hearing since that time John McCain started babbling gibberish at James Comey, and he had a tumor eating his brain.

"A frail old man, unable to remember things, stumbling, refusing to answer basic questions," tweeted liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore after the circus had ended. "I said it in 2017 and Mueller confirmed it today — All you pundits and moderates and lame Dems who told the public to put their faith in the esteemed Robert Mueller — just STFU from now on."

"Much as I hate to say it, this morning's hearing was a disaster," tweeted virulent Russiagater Laurence Tribe. "Far from breathing life into his damning report, the tired Robert Mueller sucked the life out of it. The effort to save democracy and the rule of law from this lawless president has been set back, not advanced."

"On the optics, this was a disaster," summarized NBC's Chuck Todd.

As you'd expect, this widespread sentiment is shared by Trump himself, who told reporters after the hearing that "We had a very good day today."

Comment: See also:

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