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Ten rockets land at Iraqi air base hosting US forces, no group claims responsibility


Reuters
Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:50 UTC
Iraq Military
© REUTERS/John Davison
FILE PHOTO: Military vehicles of U.S. soldiers are seen at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq January 13, 2020.
Ten rockets landed on Wednesday at Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces, the Iraqi military said.

There were no reports of injuries among U.S. service personnel but an American civilian contractor died after suffering a "cardiac episode" while sheltering from the rockets, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

"We cannot attribute responsibility at this time, and we do not have a complete picture of the extent of the damage," Kirby added. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

French soldiers assassinated Algerian lawyer in war of independence, Macron admits

Kim Willsher
The Guardian
Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:54 UTC
Boumendjel
© Intercontinentale/AFP/Getty Images
Ali Boumendjel 'was arrested by the French army, hidden, tortured then assassinated on 23 March 1957', the Elysée said in a statement.
Emmanuel Macron has admitted French soldiers tortured and killed a well-known Algerian lawyer and activist during the country's independence war.

Ali Boumendjel, 37, died after falling from a sixth-floor window in 1957 during the Battle of Algiers. Until now, his death has been recorded as suicide.

"At the heart of the Battle of Algiers, he was arrested by the French army, hidden, tortured then assassinated on 23 March 1957," the Elysée said in a statement.

Comment: See also: Algeria: Could this be the iceberg that sinks Emmanuel Macron?

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Evil Rays

Eugenics is alive and well: Covid-19 scam is the engine for accomplishing depopulation

Gary D. Barnett
LewRockwell.com
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Eugenics
"I just wonder what it would be like to be reincarnated in an animal whose species had been so reduced in numbers than it was in danger of extinction. What would be its feelings toward the human species whose population explosion had denied it somewhere to exist.... I must confess that I am tempted to ask for reincarnation as a particularly deadly virus." ~ Prince Philip, in his Foreward to "If I Were an Animal" - United Kingdom, Robin Clark Ltd., 1986.
"The world today has 6.8 billion people...that's headed up to about 9 billion. If we do a really great job on vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 to 15 percent." ~ Bill Gates
"Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world, because the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries" ~ Henry A. Kissinger
"A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal." ~ Ted Turner
"The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." ~ Margaret Sanger, Woman and the New Race, Chapter 5, "The Wickedness of Creating Large Families." (1920)
"That it is now far easier to manipulate with precision the human genome within viable embryos means that we are likely to see the advent of designer babies in the future who possess particular traits or who are resistant to a specific disease".

~ Klaus Schwab, Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Guide to Building a Better World
"Eugenics is a social (and 'scientific') movement based on the belief that the genetic quality of the human race can be improved by the use of selective breeding, as well as other often morally criticized means to eliminate groups of people considered genetically inferior, while encouraging the growth of groups judged to be genetically superior."

Comment: While the roll-out of new Covid vaccines are probably not meant for de-population per se, their experimental nature is likely to foster some unforeseen consequences (ie. deadly mutations within the human body) - as we are already getting a hint of in the numbers of individuals either falling ill, or dying, as a result of taking them.

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Bad Guys

Seven years after the Maidan coup divided Ukraine, shelling of Donbass intensifies with a deafening silence from Western media

Eva Bartlett
RT
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 13:32 UTC
donbass
© RIA
While much of the world is focused on Covid-related issues, Ukraine's seven-year war on the people of Donbass continues. In recent weeks, Kiev's shelling of civilians has intensified, met by the predictable Western media silence.

Ostensibly, following the Minsk agreements, there was a ceasefire. In reality, Donbass residents in villages bordering peace lines are incessantly subject to Ukrainian shelling.

Ukraine uses heavy weapons in violation of the agreement, including 82mm and 120mm mortar shells, routinely shelling at night when Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers are not patrolling the area.
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Birthday Cake

Soviet Union's only President Mikhail Gorbachev turns 90: 'I'm bashed for Glasnost, but without it, nothing would have changed.'

Jonny Tickle
RT
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 10:52 UTC
Gorbachev
© Sputnik
Soviet ex-President Mikhail Gorbachev at the presentation of his book "I remain an optimist" in the Moscow House of Books
On his 90th birthday, the Soviet Union's first and last president, Mikhail Gorbachev, has revealed his belief that perestroika is his biggest life achievement and led to the "end to the totalitarian system."

Speaking to Russian news agency TASS, in an interview published on Tuesday, the former Soviet leader also argued that his policy of glasnost was essential for making changes within the country.

Gorbachev headed the USSR from 1985 until it fell apart in 1991 and is considered one of the most significant figures of 20th-century history, having helped to end the Cold War. However, while he has a good reputation outside of the country, inside Russia he is viewed rather differently. Many hold him responsible for the post-Soviet economic crisis which led to a steep decline in living standards, as well as a diminution of Moscow's status on the world stage.

Comment: See also:

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Health

Romney released from hospital after fall over the weekend

John Bowden
The Hill
Wed, 03 Mar 2021 19:16 UTC
mitt romney
© Greg Nash
Sen. Mitt Romney said Monday that he was briefly hospitalized over the weekend after a fall in Boston, receiving a number of stitches as a result.

Speaking to reporters Monday evening, the Utah Republican said that he "had a tough weekend" before briefly joking that he received the injuries because he "went to CPAC," referring to the Conservative Political Action Conference, where former President Trump and a number of his supporters gathered over the weekend.

"I took a fall," Romney clarified, laughing. "I took a fall, knocked me unconscious, but I'm doing better," he added.

Comment: ... hmm... A fall, eh? Romney is not a particularly popular guy in conservative circles at the moment. Just sayin'.

See also:

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Megaphone

Biden and his top officials slammed Trump's lack of action against Saudi Arabia, MBS in years before taking office

Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck
CNN
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 21:00 UTC
Bash to Psaki
In the years prior to taking office, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and many of their administration's top officials harshly criticized President Donald Trump's lack of action against Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden is now facing criticism for not following through on campaign promises to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the killing. The administration last Friday released a declassified intelligence report on Khashoggi's murder that said the crown prince, commonly known as MBS, directly approved the operation that ended with the murder of Khashoggi. He was killed and allegedly dismembered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, having gone into the building to collect documents for his upcoming wedding.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday announced visa restrictions that affected 76 Saudis believed to be involved in harassing activists and journalists, but he did not announce any measures against the crown prince. And while the Biden administration has taken more steps than the Trump administration to punish Saudi actors for their role in Khashoggi's death, the actions of key members of the Biden administration differ from the sharp criticism they offered before they took office.

Comment: Let's see if the Biden administration puts their money where their mouth is and actually takes some sort of concrete punative action against MBS or, more likely, sweeps the whole thing under the rug the same way the Trump administration did.

See also:

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Red Pill

Fool me once: How Tehran views the Iran nuclear deal

Ali Reza Eshraghi
European Council on Foreign Relations
Thu, 25 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Rouhani
© Moritz Hager/swiss-image.ch/CC BY-NC-SA
President of the Islamic State of Iran Hassan Rouhani • 2014 Annual meeting of WEF in Davos
In Tehran, the initial hopes for what the Biden administration could offer Iran - particularly in terms of a revived economy - are fading. Iranian leaders recognise that, although the new president in the White House says he wants to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, there has been little tangible shift away from the Trump-era maximum pressure campaign against Iran. While there is still a possibility that the agreement will be revived, it increasingly appears to Tehran that the process will be a marathon and not a sprint.

It is often difficult to find a consensus between Iranian leaders on the benefits of diplomacy with the West, but there is one point on which they agree: Tehran must end its "strategic patience" in the implementation of the nuclear deal. The rhetoric for public consumption varies between different camps in Iran, who differ on the extent and method of the response. However, political elites now generally agree that Iran should not allow itself to be 'duped' by the United States again - and that Tehran should not reverse any steps to accelerate its nuclear programme until Washington is certain to ease sanctions in return.

Comment: As we now know, the Biden Administration is pulling a bait and switch, reverting to Trump tactics. How this is handled is complicated by the upcoming Iranian elections.

See also:
Biden backslides on Iran

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Cardboard Box

New dynamic ME: Gulf Arab states want to be more independent of US say observers

Ekaterina Blinova
Sputnik
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 09:51 UTC
Middle east prominent leaders
© Andar al-Jaloud
41st Gulf Cooperation Council Summit Meeting in al-Ula, Saudi Arabia
L to R:
Kuwaiti Emir Sheik Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah
Emir of Qatar Tamin bin Hamad Al-Thani
Omani Deputy PM Fahad Bin Mahmad
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa
Dubai ruler & BAE V.P. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum
Nayef al Hajraf, Secretary-General of GCC
The Biden administration has begun reshuffling Washington's foreign policy priorities in the Middle East, but the power dynamic in the region has dramatically changed over the past few years, with Gulf Arab states diversifying their strategic partnerships, seeking more equal relations with the US, according to Middle Eastern observers.

Riyadh has completely rejected the "negative, false, and unacceptable assessment" of the American intelligence report released by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on 26 February 2021. The document alleged that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "approved" the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, something the Saudi royal family has resolutely denied.

"The Kingdom rejects any measure that infringes upon its leadership, sovereignty, and the independence of the judicial system", the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in an official statement, stressing that the monarchy had conducted a thorough investigation into the heinous crime, and tried and convicted the culprits.

Biden's Two-Fold Goal in Pressuring Saudi Crown Prince

In the wake of the Khashoggi report's publication, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the America would change its approach to the Saudi kingdom, specifying that Washington does not seek to "rupture the relationship", but rather to "recalibrate" it.

Comment: Recalibrate it? While it may be Washington's fantasy mission, it is not Washington's job. 'Hands off' says the ME.

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Handcuffs

Biden to sanction Russia over Navalny poisoning, jailing

Morgan Chalfant, Maggie Miller
The Hill
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 09:02 UTC
Navalny, Red SQ
© Instagram/KJN
Alexey Navalny • Red Square, Moscow
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced new sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's poisoning and jailing of Alexei Navalny, accusing Russia's main intelligence agency of attempting to assassinate the opposition leader last year.

The administration is imposing sanctions on seven members of the Russian government and export controls on several business entities involved in biological agent production. The sanctions include Russian officials and a Russian research center that were previously sanctioned by the European Union and United Kingdom in October in connection with Navalny's poisoning.

The sanctions, which are being coordinated with EU partners, come after an intelligence community assessment concluded with "high confidence" that officers of Russia's Federal Security Service used the Novichok nerve agent to poison Navalny in August, Biden administration officials said.

"We're sending a clear signal to Russia that there are consequences for the use of chemical weapons," a senior administration official said. The sanctions are the first to be imposed by the U.S. on Russia over Navalny's poisoning.

Comment: Et tu Brussels?
Brussels has unveiled a list of officials it claims are responsible for the detention of opposition figure Alexey Navalny and "human rights violations" during the policing of subsequent protests, in sanctions announced on Tuesday.

The individuals will now face economic and diplomatic measures from the European Union. The group includes Alexander Kalashnikov, the director of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service, which was responsible for enforcing Navalny's arrest after he lost contact with probation officers while serving a suspended sentence for fraud.

Also on the list is Alexander Bastrykin, the chairman of the national Investigative Committee, which is charged with probing serious crimes. According to Eurocrats, "he is responsible for serious human rights violations in Russia, including arbitrary arrests and detentions."

Igor Krasnov, the country's prosecutor general, will similarly face sanctions for having "supported the request by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service to convert the suspended sentence imposed on Alexey Navalny in a case of alleged fraud to a prison sentence."

The fourth name included on the list is Viktor Zolotov, the director of the National Guard, which was deployed to police pro-Navalny demonstrations that took place in cities across Russia over the course of two consecutive weekends in January. The EU decision cites alleged aggression by authorities against journalists, "including Meduza's correspondent Kristina Safronova, who was hit by [a riot police] officer, and Novaya Gazeta's journalist Yelizaveta Kirpanova, who was hit on the head with a truncheon leaving her bleeding."

Earlier on Tuesday, in response to reports that Brussels and Washington would soon unveil sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Moscow would respond in kind. According to him, the Western measures are:
"illegitimate and unilateral, of the kind our American colleagues, and the EU members who follow their example, almost always resort to without any reason. We will react unequivocally. Nobody has cancelled one of the main rules of diplomacy - reciprocity."
The escalation, Lavrov argued, was because
"there is nothing to show in order to substantiate their claims about Navalny's poisoning, when all those who treated him are carefully hiding facts that would help us to understand what happened to him.

"In parallel, instead of honestly co-operating and working transparently, they begin to punish us... then, in my opinion, this doesn't honor anyone making these decisions."
On Monday, Lavrov's deputy, Alexander Grushko, told journalists that "there will, of course, be a reaction from our side." However, he cautioned that until the content of Western sanctions was made public, there was no point "trying to read the tea leaves."

It is expected that Washington will also release details of its own sanctions package later on Tuesday.


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