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Syria: Massive battle for Southwest could trigger US-Israeli intervention

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:05 UTC
Syria map
The long awaited battle for Daraa has begun despite repeated warnings issued to the Syrian government from the US not to extend its military campaign to the country's south, where the conflict first began with fierce anti-Assad protests in 2011 and then quickly spiraled into violence.

Fighting began Tuesday night as the army's elite Tiger forces assaulted an air base in northeast Daraa which had been under jihadist control - namely the US-backed FSA "Southern Front" group and allied Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (formerly Nusrah, al-Qaeda). After liberating the base government forces are now pounding opposition controlled towns with artillery fire which have for years been a hotbed of the al-Qaeda and ISIS terror insurgency.

The army and allied forces, including reportedly including Hezbollah special forces units, have penetrated deep into Al-Quneitra and Daraa governorates where a massive campaign is expected to begin at any moment for the final push to take control of the entire southwest. President Bashar al-Assad has vowed in recent interviews to liberate "every inch" of sovereign Syrian territory.

Comment: Kicking out or destroying the US, Israel and Saudi proxy forces from Syria - once and for all - is a long time in coming. But as we've seen a number of times before, the true 'Axis of Evil' is not above staging a false flag attack in order to hinder Syria's progress against the head-choppers.

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Chess

The late Shah's son wants a democratic revolution in Iran

Eli Lake
Bloomberg
Tue, 19 Jun 2018 10:08 UTC
Reza Pahlavi
© Steve Mack/Getty Images
He doesn't want to lead Iran. But he doesn't want the current regime to remain, either.
From exile, Reza Pahlavi supports a movement to retake his homeland. But he says he doesn't want a throne.

In another era, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah of Iran, would be an ideal candidate to lead an Iranian government in exile.

After all, the CIA helped his father retain power in the 1953 coup against the elected prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Now, as Iran is reeling, why wouldn't the U.S. get the old band back together?

There are two reasons. President Donald Trump himself says his goal is not to change Iran's regime, but to change its behavior. The other more important reason is that Pahlavi himself is not interested in the gig.

"My father was king, and I was the crown prince," he told me in an interview this month. "I have always said to my compatriots: It's not the form that matters, it's the content; I believe Iran must be a secular, parliamentary democracy. The final form has to be decided by the people."

In the 1980s, Pahlavi as a young man had a relationship with the CIA, according to reporting at the time from the Washington Post's Bob Woodward. But even then, the Reagan administration was not trying to change the new regime in Iran; it was trying to negotiate with it. As the Iran-Contra affair showed, Reagan's advisers were selling the mullahs Israeli weapons to free hostages in Lebanon.
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Black Cat

Killary and Obama hope no one remembers them saying 'Just because your kid gets to America illegally doesn't mean they get to stay'

Katie Pavlich
Townhall
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 00:02 UTC
hillary
As the outrage over President Trump's enforcement of immigration law continues, leaders in the Democrat party are speaking out in full force.

Twice failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is one of them.



There's just one problem. Back in 2014 when Clinton was gearing up for another presidential run, she argued children of illegal immigrants aren't entitled to stay in the United States.

Comment:

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Radar

NATO and Germany build up forces for war against Russia

Gregor Link
World Socialist Website
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
nato flag
The defence ministers of all NATO member states met in Brussels on June 7 and decided to take all necessary steps over the next two years to be able mobilise a total of 90 military, naval and air force combat units at short notice and at any time.

To this end, two new headquarters will be built, with one of them located in Norfolk, Virginia. According to the US Defence Department, the Norfolk centre will organise the rapid deployment of combat units across the Atlantic, so that the "entire spectrum of transatlantic missions" can be successfully carried out.

"The return of the major powers and a resurgent Russia demand that NATO focus on the Atlantic to ensure a capable and credible deterrent," Pentagon spokesman Johnny Michael declared in early May. The new NATO command will be "the linchpin of transatlantic security."

Comment: These preparations are either designed to scare Russia into capitulating to Western demands to be subjugated - or, are in actual preparation for some kind of military 'intervention' in Russia (or where Russian forces are). All the pathological Pentagon needs to do when it is ready to attack is to come up with some half-baked pretext it thinks Westerners will believe is justifiable.

All of the recent and not-so-recent news about terrorist organization NATO seems to point to this.

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Dollar Gold

China can seriously hurt America in the escalating trade war


RT
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:41 UTC
Sun Yanan
© Reuters
Sun Yanan at 2016 Rio Olympics
The threat of a full-scale trade war between the US and China has dominated the news in recent weeks. The countries have exchanged import tariffs on each other's goods, and are threatening further protective steps.

After numerous threats to tax Chinese imports, US President Donald Trump fired the first shot by approving $50 billion in tariffs that will come into force on July 6. Beijing immediately responded by imposing a 25-percent tariff on American imports worth $34 billion, which will come into effect on the same day.

Trump issued a threat to impose additional 10-percent levies on $200 billion of Chinese goods coming to the US. This prompted a pledge from China's Commerce Ministry to "forcefully fight back" with "qualitative" and "quantitative" measures.

The mutual exchange came two months after the White House slapped China and several other nations, including Russia and India, with an import tax of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. In late May, the measure was extended to the EU, Canada and Mexico.

Now that everyone's cards are on the table, the question is what else China can do to protect itself and minimize damages in this fierce fight between the world's two largest economies. Let's explore the possibilities.
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Eye 1

California is Full of Psychopaths, but Not as Bad as D.C., Study Finds


SFgate.com
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:32 UTC
six percent psychopaths
Ever feel like there's something sinister lurking behind the crunchy granola, yoga-loving, avocado-eating facade of your fellow Californians? Now there's research to back you up.

California is among the two U.S. states with the highest concentration of psychopaths, according to a working study from Southern Methodist University released on the Social Science Research network this week. The study looks at trends in personality traits across areas (the study hasn't yet gone through the full peer review process, so take the findings with a grain of salt).

The only places with more psychopaths? Connecticut (thanks, hedge funds!) and, shocker, the District of Columbia. Other highly psychopathic states include New Jersey, New York and Wyoming, while West Virginia, Vermont and Tennessee are among the least psychopathic states.

'The presence of psychopaths in District of Columbia is consistent with the conjecture found in Murphy (2016) that psychopaths are likely to be effective in the political sphere' the author writes.
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X

Hungary passes 'Stop Soros' law banning NGOs from providing benefits to illegal immigrants


RT
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 19:36 UTC
Soros
© Laszlo Balogh / Reuters
Hungarian government poster saying "Don't let George Soros have the last laugh," seen at a Budapest subway stop last year
Hungary's parliament has passed a law that could see anyone helping illegal immigrants claim asylum in the country imprisoned. The 'Stop Soros' law is named after Hungarian-born billionaire and open-borders advocate, George Soros.

The law was voted on in the Hungarian parliament on Wednesday, where Viktor Orban's right-wing Fidesz party holds a two-thirds majority. Under the law, individuals who aid migrants, informing them about the asylum procedure or "providing financial or property benefit" will be liable for a 12-month prison sentence. NGOs working with migrants will need to seek licenses and will see the scope of their work severely restricted.

The law was criticized by Human Rights Watch, who called it "the latest salvo in the Hungarian government's war on refugees and those who help them."
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Chess

Trump to sign executive order to end separation of illegal immigrant families


Sputnik
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 19:21 UTC
Trump huge
The White House has been harshly criticized for its "zero-tolerance" policy, as it has led to the separation of thousands of children from their families at the border.

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would sign "something pre-emptive" in order to put an end to the separation of immigrant families at the southern borders of the country.

"We're going to be signing an executive order in a little while...We've got to be keeping families together," Trump said as quoted by a pool reporter. "So I'm going to be signing an executive order in a little while before I go to Minnesota but, at the same time, I think you have to understand, we're keeping families together but we have to keep our borders strong. We will be overrun with crime and with people that should not be in our country."
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Windsock

Kiev plays the Crimean Tatar card to drive a wedge between Moscow and Ankara

Martin Berger
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Flag of Crimea
© Unknown
Flags of Crimea wave in street rally.
Previously, Turkey had little to no difficulties in playing two of the opposing geopolitical powers, namely the US and Russia, against each other. When tensions began mounting between bilateral relations with one side, Ankara would typically perform a one-eighty to pursue a rapprochement with the other.

However, these days, while reading the headlines, it might appear that Russia has suddenly become Tayyip Erdogan's most trusted ally. He and his supporters are up in arms against the US, which they have recently branded as Turkey's archenemy. The EU, and especially Germany, has long been on Turkey's bad side. On the other hand, Russia has proven time and time again that it's a trustworthy partner - whether in Syria, in the support it provided Erdogan in his feud against Fethullah Gülen and his movement, or in Turkey's aspirations to become an energy heavyweight.

Yet, it's been noted that appearances can be misleading. Ankara's so-called pivot to Moscow is, in actuality, consistent with a broader trend in Turkish foreign policy of late. It is a bid to assert autonomy in foreign affairs, rather than a step towards a lasting alliance with the Kremlin.

This notion can be proven by the rapidly strengthening ties between Ankara and Kiev, which Ukraine tries to exploit to the best of its abilities to cause harm to Russia, which means that Turkey's interests often diverge from Russia's.

Comment: A complexity of history and opportunity, mixed with bias and the need for leverage in this worthy glimpse at the dynamics and stick points comprising the Turkish-Ukranian-Russian connections.

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Snakes in Suits

IM Seehofer puts Merkel under deadline; Germany to kick out migrants if there is no deal with EU


RT
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:45 UTC
MerkelSeehofer
© Michael Kappeler/Global Look Press
Chancellor Angela Merkel • Interior Minister Horst Seehofer
German police will start unilaterally turning away migrants who applied for asylum in a different state if Chancellor Angela Merkel fails to negotiate an EU-wide solution, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.

Speaking at a Monday briefing, the key Merkel ally and Christian Social Union (CSU) party head said that the chancellor effectively approved almost all provisions of his so-called "master plan." He also wished Merkel "much luck" in her negotiations with other European nations, expected to take place at the European Council on June 28-29, and said his party supports "any European decision" aimed at resolving the migration problem.

However, Seehofer also showed determination to go it alone, saying that if Merkel's talks ultimately fail, then they'll be compelled to "act on a national basis."
"We stick to our position that should the immediate rejection at the border not be possible, I would immediately order the police that people who either have prohibition of entry or prohibition of stay should be immediately turned away at the border," he said.
The new measures would be applied particularly to migrants, who either registered or applied for asylum in another EU country, the interior minister said.

Comment: Seehofer has given Merkel an ultimatum she had to refuse. A power play quickly requited.

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