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Fri, 29 Oct 2021
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Warmonger Netanyahu forced to call off large Gaza offensive after Israeli AG warns he had no authority for it

gaza bombing 2019
© Reuers/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Flame and smoke are seen during an Israeli air strike in the central Gaza Strip September 11, 2019
The Israeli military carried out airstrikes against purported terror targets in Gaza in response to a rocket attack that appeared to target a Netanyahu rally. The prime minister is said to have considered a larger military operation but backed down following legal advice that such a move would require the security cabinet's approval.

A large-scale Israeli retaliatory strike on Gaza has been averted after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was told he would need cabinet approval to make the move, Haaretz reports.

Militants in Gaza fired at least two rockets on Tuesday evening toward the coastal city of Ashdod, situated between the Palestinian enclave and Tel Aviv, and nearby Ashkelon. The projectiles, which were shot down by anti-missile systems, appeared to target a Netanyahu campaign rally; the prime minister, who was speaking to voters at the time, was forced to leave the stage for a bomb shelter.

Comment:


NPC

BBC accused of pushing 'PC agenda' with rainbow flag-waving rendition of 'Rule, Britannia'

rule brittania
The BBC has been accused of spoiling an annual music festival, after a singer swapped the Union Jack for a rainbow flag in a rousing rendition of 'Rule, Britannia'. The stunt sparked a storm of furious tweets.

Television viewers across the UK tuned in to watch the Last Night of the Proms - the climax of the eight-week classical music festival - in what has traditionally been a showcase of British patriotism and culture. But this year's concert featured a provocative twist: The mezzo-soprano who accompanied the orchestra hoisted a rainbow 'pride' flag as she sang the British classic, 'Rule, Britannia.'

Jamie Barton, an American singer and self-professed "queer girl with a nose ring," said that she unfurled the flag during her performance because she wanted to make "a very clear statement of Pride."

Newspaper

Shameful: The Guardian apologizes for claim ex-PM Cameron experienced 'privileged pain' over death of son

david cameron
© Reuters / Jason Lee / Pool; Reuters / Suzanne Plunkett
British newspaper The Guardian has apologized for attacking former Tory prime minister David Cameron for having only felt "privileged pain" over the death of his 6-year-old severely disabled son.

In extracts from his memoirs published on Sunday, Cameron, who was UK prime minister from 2010 to 2016, praises the National Health Service (NHS) care his son, Ivan, received before his death in 2009.

However, the paper in its editorial asked whether he "might have understood the damage his policies have done," if he had sought the care for a parent rather than a child. They ostensibly suggested Cameron was somewhat fortunate in only having to experience the "better funded parts of the [NHS] system."
Mr Cameron has known pain and failure in his life but it has always been limited failure and privileged pain.

Comment: Every person with an ounce of empathy should cancel their Guardian subscriptions after this shameful attack. As the saying goes, get woke and go broke. Hopefully The Guardian finds that out the hard way.


Bad Guys

Saudi Arabia shuts down pipeline to Bahrain after drone strikes, blames Iran

abqaiq oil saudi
© REUTERS / Stringer/ Hamad I Mohammed
Riyadh has reportedly shut down a pipeline to Bahrain after drones targeted two key Saudi Aramco oil plants on Saturday. The closure comes amid supply shortage fears as the kingdom struggles to restore the facilities.

The drone raid, claimed by the Houthi rebels, affected mainly light crude grades resulting in the shutdown of the pipeline from which Bahrain's Bapco receives oil from state oil giant Aramco, Reuters reported citing two trade sources. The pipeline carries 220,000-230,000 barrels per day (bpd) and transfers Arab Light crude.

Now the Bahraini company is looking for other ways to get about 2 million barrels of Saudi crude and may use vessels for transportation. It is unclear when the country will be able to bring in Saudi oil.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top world crude exporter, had to close two facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais after the weekend attack halved the kingdom's daily oil output and reduced global production by 5 percent. The Abqaiq oil refinery is one of the most important facilities in the world for crude supply.

Comment: Predictably, the Saudis claim that 'preliminary findings' suggest Iranian-made weapons were used, which did not originate in Yemen:
Speaking at a press conference in Riyadh on Monday, coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said the investigation was still ongoing, and that investigators were presently looking to figure out "from where" the missiles used in the strikes "were fired."

According to the officer, the drones were not launched from Yemen, as claimed by the Houthis.

"The investigation is continuing and all indications are that weapons used in both attacks came from Iran," al-Maliki said.

Al-Maliki promised that the military would present the results of its investigation to the media when it was completed.


The Houthis, a rag-tag Yemeni militia against which Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mostly Gulf states has been waging war since 2015, claimed responsibility for the Saturday attacks, saying they used ten drones to strike the facilities following careful preparations, and warning that they would make further surprise attacks until Riyadh ended its "aggression and blockade of Yemen."

On Monday, amid US claims that Iran was responsible for the attacks, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis' Supreme Political Council, told Iranian media that attempts to blame the Houthis' strikes on other countries was an act of "cowardice."
It's much easier to blame Iran than to admit that the "rag-tag" Houthis have the capability to evade American-made air defenses and cripple Saudi oil capabilities. China has cautioned against making premature accusations (but when has that ever stopped the U.S. and their allies?):
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urged against jumping to conclusions over the attack, which hit the world's biggest oil-processing facility, stressing that a needless escalation in the region should be avoided.

"Pondering who is to blame in the absence of a conclusive investigation, I think, is in itself not very responsible. China's position is that we oppose any moves that expand or intensify conflict," Hua said on Monday during a press briefing.

She implored all parties concerned to "restrain themselves" in order to "safeguard peace and stability" in the Middle East.
Meanwhile oil prices have skyrocketed 20% in the wake of the attacks.

See previous coverage of the drone attacks here


Nuke

World sleepwalking into total nuclear war as callous elites fear no bloodshed

Mushroom-shaped cloud and water column from the Test Baker
© Global Look Press
Mushroom-shaped cloud and water column from the Test Baker, first-ever underwater nuclear explosion, 194
Limiting nuclear arsenals doesn't make the world safer - not while the elites, who have never seen a big war, complacently believe they never will. This dangerous illusion invites apocalyptic conflict, a renowned scholar believes.

Humankind's history might be a history of wars, but for several decades there was a sort of lull, with no really big armed conflict affecting leading world powers. That is, in part, thanks to nuclear weapons. Fear of their power kept the Cold War from becoming a hot one and restricted the actual fighting to proxy conflicts.

And that, in turn, has led to a situation where many of those currently in power don't take the threat of war with the gravity it deserves, says Sergey Karaganov, a researcher of international relations and a dean at Moscow's Higher School of Economics.

Complacency breeds danger

"The previous generations had a gut fear of war because their fathers or they themselves experienced World War II. But modern generations think of war very lightly," he told RT.

Comment: See also:


Chess

'It's the economy, stupid': Merkel goes to China

Angela Merkel
A 3-day visit to China by Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, who was accompanied by a sizable delegation, began on 6 September. The visit itself and its outcomes are quite telling and indicative of the ever increasing pace of the radical transformation the current world order is undergoing.

This is Angela Merkel's 12th official trip to the PRC during her chancellorship. And the penultimate visit occurred only 15 months ago. It is worth highlighting that the Chancellor is viewed as the most important politician among her European counterparts in Beijing and, hence, she is invariably accorded a great degree of attention.

During each such trip Angela Merkel visits yet another key Chinese city in addition to Beijing. This time around, she travelled to Wuhan, an ancient Chinese city that, at present, serves as one of the centers of education and development of the latest technologies, and of German influence on the PRC's economy.

This latest scheduled visit took place during a period when tensions in the relationship between the leading world power and both China and Germany rose suddenly and at the same time. This has helped put disagreements between Beijing and Berlin on issues in the key economic sphere on the backburner. It is also worth noting that not too long ago these differences in opinion seemed hard to reconcile.

Bad Guys

Iran war imminent? Trump says US is "locked and loaded" in response to attack on Saudi oil supply

Trump and Rouhani
Just as the price of oil was settling down from its record surge, it spiked once again, following a tweet by president Trump which has made war with Iran virtually inevitable.

Just before 7pm, Trump tweeted that "Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!"


Setting aside the implicit admission that US foreign policy in the middle-east is now inexplicably run by Saudi Arabia, what is far more troubling is Trump's statement that the US military is "locked and loaded", and set to attack the country which instigated the attack on Saudi facilities, which according to Mike Pompeo was not Yemen, and its Houthi rebels, but rather Iran.

Comment: The accusations are flying around the attack on Saudi oil. Could this recent event be used as the pretext for war - that so many in the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia have been aching for? Or, is this just another manipulative and ham-fisted attempt by Trump to bring the Persian nation to the negotiating table about the nuclear deal? If its the latter, just like the sanctions that the US has imposed on Iran, it is likely NOT to work.

See also: Who benefits from the drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities? as well as:


Sherlock

Canada arrests intelligence director general who worked on Magnitsky probe, suspected of sharing intel with foreign entity

Magnitsky

Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in a Russian jail in 2009.
A senior intelligence official has been arrested in Canada and charged with disclosing classified information to an unspecified foreign entity.

Cameron Jay Ortis, the director general of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police intelligence unit, appeared in court on September 13 to face charges under three sections of the Security of Information Act and two Criminal Code provisions.

Prosecutors said only that Ortis is accused of obtaining, storing, and processing classified information with the intention of communicating it to a foreign entity.

The Toronto-based Globe And Mail reported on September 14 that one of the many high-profile cases that Ortis was involved in was looking into whether any money from a massive Russian corruption case first uncovered by lawyer Sergei Magnitsky had been funneled through or into Canada.

Comment: For more info on the Magnitsky case and Bill Browder, see: Also check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Bill Browder, the Magnitsky Act, and anti-Russia Sanctions: Interview with Alex Krainer


Alarm Clock

'Fight to the death': Imran Khan warns of nuclear war if Pakistan loses in conventional warfare against India

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan
© AFP
File photo of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at a rally in Muzaffarabad on September 13
Imran Khan warned that Kashmir could become a flashpoint for India-Pak war

In an interview with Al-Jazeera on Sunday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan warned that a war with India over Kashmir was a possibility, highlighting that if Pakistan were to lose in a conventional war, it would fight to the death as a nuclear-armed nation.

"Eight million Muslims in Kashmir are under siege for almost now six weeks. And why this can become a flashpoint between India and Pakistan is because what we already know India is trying to do is divert attention from their illegal annexation and their impending genocide on Kashmir," Khan said.

He said that Pakistan would never start a war against India, that he was anti-war and a pacifist, and that wars do not solve problems. But, he then warned that "When two nuclear-armed countries fight, if they fight a conventional war, there is every possibility that it is going to end up into nuclear war."

Khan added, "If say Pakistan, God forbid, we are fighting a conventional war, we are losing, and if a country is stuck between the choice: either you surrender or you fight till death for your freedom, I know Pakistanis will fight to death for their freedom. So when a nuclear-armed country fights to the end, to the death, it has consequences."

Comment: See also:


Newspaper

Houthis claim intel op coordinated with people inside enabled Saudi Aramco Attack, Iran refutes US accusations

saudi oil field
© AP Photo / Amr Nabil
Two Saudi Aramco plants - in Abqaiq and Khurais - were attacked by drones in the early hours of Saturday, leading to massive fires and a suspension of the production of 5.7 million barrels of crude oil per day. The armed Houthi political opposition faction in Yemen earlier claimed responsibility for the attacks.

According to senior US officials cited by Reuters, the scope and precision of the attacks came from a west-northwest direction, suggesting that the launch was not made by the Houthis.

"There's no doubt that Iran is responsible for this. No matter how you slice it, there's no escaping it. There's no other candidate. Evidence points in no other direction than that Iran was responsible for this", officials now claim, cited by Reuters.

Comment: RFE/RL reports:
Trump Says U.S. 'Locked And Loaded' After Attack On Saudi Oil Fields

Iran has rejected U.S. accusations that it was behind an attack that disabled about half of Saudi Arabia's oil production, the biggest disruption to world crude supplies ever.

"These allegations are condemned as unacceptable and entirely baseless," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi said on September 16 in remarks broadcast by state TV.

U.S. officials have said that evidence from the September 14 attack showed that Iran was behind it, and not the Yemeni Huthi group that had claimed responsibility.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on September 15 that the United States is "locked and loaded" and ready to retaliate in response to the attack on the world's largest oil-processing facility.

"Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked," Trump said on September 15 on Twitter. "There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the [Saudi] kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!"

While Washington was quick to point a finger, other countries urged restraint until the picture surrounding the attack, first reported to possibly having been carried out by drones, was clearer.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the attack "a wanton violation of international law," but he also said that "in terms of who is responsible, the picture is not entirely clear."

Similarly, China said it was not responsible to accuse others "in the absence of a conclusive investigation or verdict."

The weekend attack has rattled world energy markets.

At the start of trading on September 16, Brent crude soared by 19 percent to $71.95 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate rose by 15 percent to $63.34, according to BBC Business.

'Unprecedented Attack'

The September 14 attacks reduced production by 5.7 million barrels a day, state oil giant Saudi Aramco said -- nearly half the kingdom's output. That affects 5 percent of the world's daily oil production, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported.

Saudi officials said a third of crude output will be back online on September 16.

In pointing the finger at Tehran, U.S. officials noted the attacks came from a direction indicating that Iran was behind them and that cruise missiles may have been used, not drones as Iranian-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen had claimed.

Iran rejected U.S. accusations that it was behind the attack and warned that U.S. land and naval forces in the region were within range of its missiles.

Musavi also said that Tehran is ready to take another step in reducing its commitments to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for Iran's nuclear program, which the United States pulled out of last year.

Iran has already announced three stages of reducing its commitments to the accord in response to sanctions the United States reinstated when Washington abandoned the deal between Iran and world powers including China, Britain, France, Germany, and Russia.

"The third stage [of the process to reduce commitments] continues and preparations are under way for a fourth stage," Musavi said.

The September 15 comments by top Iranian officials followed accusations from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who charged that Tehran had launched "an unprecedented attack" on global energy supplies.

"Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while [Iranian President Hassan] Rohani and [Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad] Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy," Pompeo said in the Twitter post.

Despite the rising tensions, the White House left open the door that Trump could meet with Rohani at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which begins on September 17.

Musavi, who said earlier that the U.S. accusations were intended to justify "future actions" against Iran, all but ruled out such a meeting, saying "we have neither planned for this meeting, nor do I think such a thing would happen in New York."

A senior Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander, meanwhile, warned that the country was ready for war.

"Everybody should know that all American bases and their aircraft carriers in a distance of up to 2,000 kilometers around Iran are within the range of our missiles," the semiofficial Tasnim news agency quoted commander Amirali Hajizadeh as saying.

Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Huthi rebels, which are part of a regional network of militant groups aligned with Iran. The Shi'ite insurgent group holds Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and other territory in the Arab world's poorest country.

The conflict has been in military stalemate for years.
See also: