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Jet5

Israel, US holds aerial drill simulating attack on Iran nuclear sites


Zerohedge
Tue, 29 Nov 2022 05:45 UTC
israeli airforce
israeli airforce file image
The Israeli Air Force has unveiled that this week it will conduct its largest joint aerial drills in years with the US Air Force, which involves a highly provocative mock mission to take out Iranian nuclear sites.

The Jerusalem Post details based on military statements, "The drill will take place from Tuesday until Thursday over the Mediterranean Sea and Israel. It will include long-range flights such as those that Israeli pilots might need to make in order to reach the Islamic Republic."

Aerial refuelers from both sides will also assist, in addition to fighter jets - given the militaries will simulate operations that would theoretically reach all the way across the Middle East into the Islamic Republic.

The US and Israel have meanwhile lately pledged closer military and intelligence cooperation, with Washington vowing to assist the Jewish state with missile defense if it ever came under attack.

Comment: Netanyahu seems like he's neeb preordained, or has a life's mission, to lead Israel into a major war with Iran. And he may have recently gotten closer to such an outcome having just been re-elected to the job of Israel's Prime Minister. See also:

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Arrow Up

US paralyzed by Islamic Republic of Iran's strategic swing

Pepe Escobar
Press TV
Mon, 28 Nov 2022 17:44 UTC
American Hegemony
© Press TV
Iran's parliament has just approved the accession of the Islamic Republic to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), previously enshrined at the Samarkand summit last September, marking the culmination of a process that lasted no less than 15 years.

Iran has already applied to become a member of the expanding BRICS+, which before 2025 will be inevitably configured as the alternative Global South G20 that really matters.

Iran is already part of the Quad that really matters - alongside BRICS members Russia, China and India. Iran is deepening its strategic partnership with both China and Russia and increasing bilateral cooperation with India.

Iran is a key Chinese partner in the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is set to clinch a free trade agreement with the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and is a key node of the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), alongside Russia and India.

All of the above configures the lightning-fast emergence of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a West Asia and Eurasia big power, with vast reach across the Global South.

That has left the whole set of imperial "policies" towards Tehran lying in the dust.

So it's no wonder that previously accumulated strands of Iranophobia - fed by the Empire over four decades -- have recently metastasized into yet another color revolution offensive, fully supported and disseminated by Anglo-American media.

The playbook is always the same. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei actually came up with a concise definition. The problem is not bands of oblivious rioters and/or mercenaries: "the main confrontation", he said, is with "global hegemony."

Ayatollah Khamenei was somewhat echoed by American intellectual and author Noam Chomsky, who has remarked how an array of US sanctions over four decades have severely harmed the Iranian economy and "caused enormous suffering."
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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: NewsReal: USA De-industrializing Europe? EU Insiders Issue Stark Warning


Sott.net
Mon, 28 Nov 2022 23:20 UTC
biden leyen newsreal deindustrialization
© Sott.net
Excess deaths - the numbers of people who die on a weekly basis above the 5-year-average - are up way higher today than they were in 2020, yet the media is not sounding the alarm. Instead it's being calmly reported that the massive jump in energy prices in Europe this year will translate into the additional, preventable deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

This week on NewsReal, Joe and Niall discuss the first semi-official warnings from European leaders that they've been duped into destroying European food and energy supplies in order to transplant much of Europe's industrial base to the USA, warning that "the Continent [is] turning into an industrial wasteland."

And it's all being done under everyone's nose under the guise of 'saving the poor Ukrainian people' and 'saving the planet'...


Running Time: 01:56:52

Download: MP3 — 80.3 MB

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Vader

Over half of Germans oppose boosting military aid for Ukraine - WaPo poll


RT
Sun, 27 Nov 2022 07:45 UTC
Aid sent from the city of Hamburg to Ukraine
© Getty Images / Markus ScholzAid sent from the city of Hamburg to Ukraine
Respondents believe Berlin should adhere to anti-militarism and has given enough aid to Kiev.

Soaring energy prices driven by sanctions on Russian oil and gas are not even the primary factor behind German reluctance to help Ukraine in the ongoing conflict, according to a recent poll conducted by the Washington Post.

Instead, the outlet found that a general aversion to military intervention - which took hold after the country's defeat in World War II is behind the mood.

While the vast majority - 91% - of German respondents expressed sympathy for Ukraine, more than half (54%) said their country was doing either enough (37%) or too much (17%) in terms of military and humanitarian aid, according to the poll.

The news outlet queried Germans on four specific policies, hoping to gauge public support for "increasing sanctions on Russia and Putin, even if these sanctions might lead to a further increase in food and gas prices," sending more missiles and other military aid, welcoming more refugees "even if it placed additional burdens on the economy," and admitting Ukraine to NATO even if this would require defending the country militarily.

Comment: See also:

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Calculator

Biden admin scrambling to track $20B in Ukraine aid as House Republicans warn of audits

Anders Hagstrom
Fox News
Sun, 27 Nov 2022 22:02 UTC
Marjorie Taylor Greene Kevin McCarthy ukraine aid cut off
© GettyRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
Biden's admin reportedly inspected just 10% of weapons going to Ukraine between February and November

President Biden's administration is scrambling to track the nearly $20 billion in military aid it has sent to Ukraine as Republicans warn of impending audits when they take control of the House in January.

Likely future House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said his party will not be giving Ukraine a "blank check" to fend off Russia's invasion. A potential audit would determine how much, if any, of the U.S. aid is ending up in the wrong hands. The Biden administration's previous tracking efforts have inspected only a fraction of the aid provided to the country.

The Republican push to ramp up oversight enjoys some bipartisan support in Congress. Some staunch Ukraine allies fear the party will cut off aid to the country entirely, however.

Comment:

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Light Saber

Retired French Ambassador Gérard Araud skewers the 'rules-based international order'

Noah Carl
Daily Sceptic
Mon, 28 Nov 2022 21:39 UTC
U.S. Navy F/A-18
© ReutersThem that has the guns makes the rules . . . .
The U.S. and its allies claim to uphold something called the 'rules-based international order'. But is this really true?

No - according to Gérard Araud, former French ambassador to the U.S., who gave an unusually frank account of Western foreign policy in a recent debate:
I've always been extremely sceptical of this idea of "rules-based order" ... I was the permanent representative to the United Nations. And actually, when you look at the hierarchy of the United Nations, everyone there is ours ... when you look at the undersecretary generals, all of them are either American, French, British and so on ... this order is reflecting the balance of power in 1945 ... the Security Council, 95% of the time, has a Western-oriented majority.
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Attention

Biden and Burns double act to split Putin and Xi

Finian Cunningham
Dissident Voice
Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:00 UTC
Burns and Biden
© Unknown/KJNFormer US deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns • US President Joe Biden
U.S. President Joe Biden apparently sought to lower tensions with China this week when he promised Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Washington was "not seeking a new Cold War" with Beijing.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia. It was their first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office in January 2021. While Biden was all smiles for a handshake photo-op, Xi looked noticeably reserved, like a guy who was bracing himself as one about to hear loads of bullshit.

After more than three hours of private discussions, the Americans and Western media subsequently tried to spin that both sides had agreed on condemning Russia's alleged threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. This was the Americans taking license. Xi did not specify Russia, according to the White House readout of the meeting. Both leaders condemned nuclear war and said it should never be fought, a rebuke which applies as much to the United States as anyone else. The Western media, however, tried to spin it as joint condemnation of Russia.

The Chinese side had quite a different take on what was conveyed in the meeting. No wonder that Xi had looked reserved when he greeted Biden earlier.
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Dollar

Bye-bye, Kiev, hello Cote d'Azur: As Westerners send aid, here's how Ukraine's corrupt elites are profiting from the conflict

Iain Muir
Scotland Today
Sun, 27 Nov 2022 00:00 UTC
Zelensky
© UnknownUkraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
Officials and oligarchs have diverted much of the financial support sent to Kiev.

Since the beginning of Russia's military offensive in Ukraine, the US, EU, and their allies have provided Kiev with $126 billion worth of aid, a number almost equal to the country's entire GDP.

Moreover, millions of Ukrainians have found refuge in the EU, where they were given housing, food, work permits, and emotional support. The scope is huge, even by Western standards. Considering that the bloc has been funding Kiev while coping with an economic and energy crisis of its own, the assistance is perhaps especially notable.

Kiev bases its endless funding requests on the collapse of its economy, due to the war, and its need to "resist Russian aggression." But is the aid reaching its intended destination?

The Monaco Battalion

While Ukraine has undergone a general mobilisation affecting all men under the age of 60, many former and current high-ranking officials, politicians, businessmen, and oligarchs have moved to safety abroad - mainly to the EU.

Comment: Bilking billions, Ukraine's elite are cashing in on stolen war resources.

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Stop

US-Turkiye brinkmanship won't reach a point of no return

MK Bhadrakumar
The Cradle
Mon, 28 Nov 2022 00:00 UTC
ErdoganAssadBiden
© The CradleTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan • Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
US President Joe Biden
The series of airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Syria by Turkish jets in the past week come amid heightened concerns over Ankara's threat to launch a ground operation. Such actions are not without precedent, yet have thus far achieved little in terms of eradicating the security challenges posed by US-backed Kurdish fighters.

Turkiye is today addressing an existential challenge to its national security and sovereignty, stemming from the United States' quasi-alliance with Kurdish groups in Syria over the past decade - with whom Ankara has been battling for far longer.

However, this issue is playing out within a much broader regional backdrop today. Russia now has a permanent presence in Syria and is itself locked in an existential struggle with the US in Ukraine and the Black Sea. Iran-US tensions are also acute and President Joe Biden has openly called for the overthrow of the Iranian government.
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Cardboard Box

Most NATO members have run out of weapons for Ukraine - NYT


RT
Sun, 27 Nov 2022 08:15 UTC
plane delivery
© AP/Roman Kosarov
Arms transfers to Ukraine have left Western weapon stockpiles strained, making it increasingly difficult for NATO militaries to honor politicians' pledges to supply Kiev, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

"Smaller countries have exhausted their potential," and according to one NATO official, at least 20 of the bloc's 30 members are "pretty tapped out," the newspaper wrote. Only "larger allies," including France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, have enough stockpiles to continue or potentially increase their weapon shipments to Ukraine.

Since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in late February, the US and its Western allies have been providing Kiev with billions of dollars in security assistance, to the tune of nearly $40 billion, now comparable to the entire annual defense budget of France. Moscow has repeatedly warned that the weapon shipments will only prolong the conflict and increase the risk of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.

As Ukraine continues to call for more weapons, EU stockpiles are running low, with Germany already "reaching its limit" as of early September. Meanwhile, Lithuania, which does not have any more weapons to donate, has urged the allies to give Ukraine "everything we have."

Comment: When demand exceeds supply:
Ukraine has sought long-range surface-to-surface missiles known as ATACMS from Washington. However, the White House has rebuffed the request out of concerns the munitions could be used to hit Russian territory.

Part of the cause of the dwindling arms supply is the massive demand for artillery. Currently, Ukrainian forces are firing thousands of rounds daily, but the US can only produce 15,000 rounds per month. Camille Grand, a defense expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told NYT, "[a] day in Ukraine is a month or more in Afghanistan."

The increased demand for weapons has been a significant boon for the Western arms industry. Sebastian Chwalek, CEO of Poland's PGZ, an entity that owns multiple arms manufacturers said:
"Taking into account the realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the visible attitude of many countries aimed at increased spending in the field of defense budgets, there is a real chance to enter new markets and increase export revenues in the coming years."
US arms makers are also profiting off the war. In May, during a visit to a Lockheed Martin plant, President Joe Biden said Washington would increase the number of weapons the US would produce. The President said his plan to ramp up production would not come cheap.

The American arms profiteering has upset some Europeans. According to POLITICO, one European official said:
"the fact is, if you look at it soberly, the country that is most profiting from this war is the US because they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons."
Mark F. Cancian, a former White House weapons strategist and current senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed it would take a multi-year effort to ramp up the production of key weapons.
"If you want to increase the production capability of 155mm shells. It's going to be probably four to five years before you start seeing them come out the other end."


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