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Fed up with delays, Feinstein demands Pelosi send Articles of Impeachment to Senate

Cristina Laila
The Gateway Pundit
Wed, 08 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Feinstein
© UnknownSenator Diane Feinstein (D-CA)
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is demanding Nancy Pelosi deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate, but the Speaker is digging in her heels and won't let go.

Fox News reported that Pelosi told colleagues in a letter that she will not give the articles of impeachment to the Senate unless McConnell 'immediately publishes' his resolution and accused the Senate Majority Leader of making "misleading claims" about the Clinton impeachment to justify his strategy. Pelosi wrote:
"Sadly, Leader McConnell has made clear that his loyalty is to the President and not the Constitution. Leader McConnell has insisted that the approach under consideration is identical to those of the Clinton trial and that 'fair is fair.' This is simply not true."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that the Senate has the votes to move forward with phase one of the impeachment trial.

Comment: See also:

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Sherlock

Best of the Web: America escalates its "democratic" oil war in the Near East

Michael Hudson
Counter Punch
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 12:00 UTC
oil rig
© CC BY-SA 3.0 / www.dragonoil.com
The mainstream media are carefully sidestepping the method behind America's seeming madness in assassinating Islamic Revolutionary Guard general Qassim Suleimani to start the New Year. The logic behind the assassination was a long-standing application of U.S. global policy, not just a personality quirk of Donald Trump's impulsive action. His assassination of Iranian military leader Suleimani was indeed a unilateral act of war in violation of international law, but it was a logical step in a long-standing U.S. strategy. It was explicitly authorized by the Senate in the funding bill for the Pentagon that it passed last year.

The assassination was intended to escalate America's presence in Iraq to keep control of the region's oil reserves, and to back Saudi Arabia's Wahabi troops (Isis, Al Quaeda in Iraq, Al Nusra and other divisions of what are actually America's foreign legion) to support U.S. control of Near Eastern oil as a buttress of the U.S. dollar. That remains the key to understanding this policy, and why it is in the process of escalating, not dying down.

Comment: See also: What War Was Trump Trying to Stop by Killing Iranian General Soleimani?

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Padlock

DOJ wants Flynn in jail for refusing to lie for prosecution in Rafiekian case

Sara Carter
saraacarter.com
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Michael Flynn
© Getty ImagesArmy Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
Justice Department prosecutors have recommended up to six months of prison time for former national security adviser Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and it is a recommendation that sends a chilling message to defendants who don't comply - regardless of truth - with the government, according to defense attorney Sidney Powell.

It was a stunning reversal from recommendations made by prosecutors last year and it is outrageous. "if you don't do what government prosecutors want, even if they want you to lie, you're going to do prison time," said Sidney Powell.
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Black Cat

Johnson dodges legal question of US assassination of Soleimani: 'Not for UK to determine'


RT
Wed, 08 Jan 2020 18:04 UTC
boris johnson house commons
© AFP / PRU / HOBritain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister's Question time (PMQs) in the House of Commons
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that questions surrounding the legality of the US killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani is "not for the UK to determine."

Responding to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during the first PMQs of the year in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Johnson said that "most reasonable people" would accept that the US is well within its rights to "protect its bases and its personnel."
The strict issue of legality is not for the UK to determine since it was not our operation.

Comment: Netanyahu has no such scruples. Soleimani was a thorn in Israel's side for decades. Bibi's positively giddy over Israel's accomplishing his murder by its U.S.proxy. Sputnik reports:
Reiterating his earlier support for Washington's actions in Iraq, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that the US should be thanked for acting "swiftly, boldly, and resolutely", when it decided to kill Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general and commander of the Quds Forces, Qasem Soleimani. Netanyahu further stated that the Jewish State "stands completely" beside the US regarding this episode.

"America has no better friend than Israel, and Israel has no better friend than the United States", the prime minister said.

The Israeli prime minister previously stated on 5 January that US President Donald Trump was "worthy of all appreciation" for ordering the assassination of Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani. He argued that the man was allegedly responsible for planning and carrying out "many terror attacks" in the Middle East and beyond.


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Question

What's next? Will the US-Iran conflict spiral out of control in a series of tit-for-tat 'retaliations'?


RT
Wed, 08 Jan 2020 15:07 UTC
RouhaniTrump
© UnknownIranian President Hassan Rouhani • US President Donald Trump
Iran fired a slew of missiles at US bases in Iraq, fulfilling its promise to avenge the death of its top general. Will both sides stop where they are, or are we witnessing the calm before an all-out storm?

Two waves of Iranian missiles rained down overnight on two military installations housing US and coalition troops, one in Al-Asad and one in Erbil. The strikes were heavy on symbolism, with Iranian leadership making sure that the US gets the message right.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the attack - codenamed 'Martyr Soleimani' after the slain commander of Iran's clandestine Quds Force - was "a slap in the face" for the US. Echoing his words, President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran's "final answer" to Soleimani's killing would be to "kick all US forces out of the region."

Washington has been conspicuously mute in the aftermath of the missile attack. While Donald Trump optimistically wrote that all was "well" by Wednesday morning, there was no mutual exchange of threats, unlike earlier this week.

Comment: May both sides of this conflict choose wisely.

See also:

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Stop

'No lives lost' says Trump as he holds fire on 'big missiles', talks peace after Iranian strikes in Iraq


RT
Wed, 08 Jan 2020 16:26 UTC
Trump
© Reuters/Kevin LamarqueUS President Donald Trump flanked by Sec. of Defense Mark Esper and VP Mike Pence and military
US President Donald Trump is delivering an eagerly-awaited address to America, as the country stands on the brink of war with Iran. Trump's speech comes hours after Iranian missiles struck two US bases in Iraq.

Speaking from the White House, Trump backed away from threatening further strikes against Iran, describing Tehran's stand-down as "a good thing for all parties concerned."
"Our missiles are big, powerful, accurate, lethal and fast...The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean that we have to use it."
Trump did, however, vow to impose new economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, in addition to the thousand or so imposed since the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal) in 2018. "These powerful sanctions will remain," he said, "until Iran changes its behavior."
"Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions and end its support for terrorism. Time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to recognize this reality. They must now break away from the remnants of the JCPOA."
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Stop

Pentagon and State Department: Trump wants US troops out of Iraq, but not just yet


RT
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 21:20 UTC
Trump
© Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting/San Diego Union-TribuneUS President Donald Trump
While he'd like to bring US troops home at some point, President Donald Trump has ruled out leaving Iraq at this time, claiming most Iraqis support the ongoing US presence and that pulling out would lead to an Iranian takeover.

"It's something ultimately that I want to see, we can't be there forever," Trump said Tuesday, asked if he would pull out troops from Iraq. "Eventually, we want to be able to let Iraq run its own affairs... but this isn't the right point," he quickly added. "If we leave, that means Iran would have a much bigger foothold."

The president's words echoed the rhetoric coming from the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters earlier in the day that there were no plans to pull out of Iraq, regardless of the unsigned draft letter sent to the government in Baghdad on Monday suggesting otherwise.

Trump did contradict Esper's stated justification for staying in Iraq - the need to maintain a presence against the resurgence of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists - by saying that the US "got rid of the Caliphate, a hundred percent of the Caliphate is gone."

Comment: The argument for Iraq running its own affairs is a good one. The US is no shining model, nor has its 'wisdom' and 'presence' been particularly beneficial.

See also: Russia offers Iraq S-400 air defense system to protect airspace

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Camera

The lands of the surveilled and tracked

mapi
Mass Private Blogspot
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 17:27 UTC
Biodata Collection by Countries
© Comparitech
Does anyone really believe America is still the land of the free?

Since 9/11, DHS, the FBI, the CIA, and countless other alphabet soup agencies have turned the United States into a public surveillance monstrosity.

In 19 years, one terrorist attack has done what no one else could have dreamed of: turn America's freedoms into a distant memory.
Abusing citizen's rights and privacy used to be the hallmark of dictatorships and police states like the CCCP or North Korea.

A recent study conducted by Comparitech, rated 50 countries from best to worst at protecting citizen's biometric data.
The study found that America is one of the world's worst abusers of citizen's biometric privacy.
"While China topping the list perhaps doesn't come as too much of a surprise, residents of (and travelers to) other countries may be surprised and concerned at the extent of biometric information that is being collected on them and what is happening to it afterward."
This really should not come as a surprise, because last year Comparitech revealed that American and Chinese cities lead the world in spying on their citizens. Last week, I wrote an article explaining how 2019 would go down as the year that facial recognition and corporate surveillance became commonplace in America.
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Eye 2

Reports says Iraqi prime minister forced to resign, alleges Trump threatened his life


SouthFront
Wed, 08 Jan 2020 17:16 UTC
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi
On January 5th, the Iraqi parliament voted on a resolution to expel US troops from the country. In attendance was, caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who, according to reports provided insight into why specifically Iraq was in this situation, and predominantly spoke about threats that came his way from US President Donald Trump and the US policy towards the country.

The following is the summary of reports regarding Abdul-Mehdi's comments during the January 5 vote of the Iraqi Parliament. These reports have been nor officially confirmed nor denied by the Prime Minister office.

Abdul-Mehdi adressed the US hostile actions against the country. For example, the politician reportedly said that the US refused to complete the infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless it is promised 50% of oil revenues. The Prime Minister refused to make the concession.
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Bulb

France wants to push reset button in economic relations with Russia


RT
Wed, 08 Jan 2020 16:57 UTC
reset button
© Reuters / Fabrice Coffrini
Paris is looking for ways to avoid US sanctions in order to relaunch and deepen economic cooperation with Moscow, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has reportedly said.

"We want to restart our economic exchanges with Moscow, complying with international law and not being constrained by extraterritorial financial sanctions," the minister said, as quoted by Sputnik. He added that the restrictions are the main obstacle for economic relations between the two countries and vowed to find solutions to skirt the consequences within six months.

Le Maire was apparently referring to recent US measures targeting companies involved in the construction of the underwater Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is set to deliver Russian gas to Germany and other European customers. The launch of the project was recently postponed as Swiss-Dutch firm Allseas decided to stop the works in the Baltic Sea, where the last kilometers of pipes were set to be laid.

France has its own interest in the multi-billion-dollar project, as its energy provider ENGIE holds a nine-percent stake in it, along with other foreign investors.

In December, Le Maire and his Russian counterpart, Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin, signed a "roadmap" to further boost economic ties between the two nations. The agreement covers some joint projects in the energy, nuclear and space sectors, among others.
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