Puppet MastersS


Bullseye

Iran is ready to down more drones: 'We can do it again' claims Navy chief


RT
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 09:40 UTC
RQ-4A Global Hawk
© Reuters/U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Reynaldo RamonUS unmanned surveillance drone The RQ-4A Global Hawk
Iran is prepared to take down more US spy drones, should they violate its airspace, the Iranian Navy chief said. A similar claim earlier came from a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard.

"The enemy sent its smartest and most sophisticated patrol aircraft into the forbidden zone and everybody saw that the drone was stopped," Adm. Hossein Khanzadi said as cited by the Tasnim News Agency. "We say we can do it again and again."

The remarks made by Khanzadi during a visit of a military facility in Fars province agree with what was said by Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force. The general said Iran was ready to add more exhibits to its collection of US drones destroyed after straying into its airspace. The regular Iranian military and IRGC are two parallel defence structures, each with its own chain of command, troops and responsibilities.

Last week Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk surveillance drone. The aircraft was reportedly a BAMS-D experimental model, which is used to test technologies for the Navy's MQ-4C Triton version.

Comment: See also:

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Red Flag

Vetting the Swamp? Trump transition team docs revealed 'opposition to torture' as a red flag


RT
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 18:59 UTC
Capitol,Trump,Swamp
© Unknown
Former CIA director David Petraeus was considered for secretary of state, but there were "red flags": he was against "torture" and a "military solution in Syria," according to leaked vetting documents from Trump's transition team.

A trove of internal vetting documents, compiled by the Republican National Committee (RNC) at the behest of then-president-elect Donald Trump's team, were leaked to Axios, which reported the scoop on Sunday.

While there is nothing unusual in a vetting process during which candidates' histories are checked for potential problems, the documents give a glimpse into Washington's "swamp," and have been picked apart for eye-catching quotes by commentators and Twitter 'pundits.' Some were dumbfounded by the RNC choice of that particular concern.
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Stormtrooper

US vassal Australia eyes developing new South China Sea port for American marines amid Washington-Beijing row


Sputnik
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 18:48 UTC
new us base australia glyde point
© Reuters/ImageSat International N.V. 2016Woody Island, a island in the South China Sea occupied by China and claimed by several other countries, is shown in satellite images taken on February 14, 2016 and February 3, 2016.
Of late, the Western Pacific has seen both the US and Australia boost their military presence in a bid to prevent China from gaining greater influence in the South China Sea, a strategic, extraordinarily rich in natural resources passageway that has had local territory claimants face off.

Australia is planning to construct a new deep-water port in its north that would be able to accommodate US marines in a bid to help address China's ambitions in the region, ABC reported Monday citing a number of defence and government officials as saying.

According to the sources, the facility would lie roughly 40 kilometres from Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, which controversially leased its own port to a Chinese operator four years ago. Apart from being a base for military activities, the new Glyde Point would also host joint commercial and industrial operations.

Comment: The ABC article referenced also included a few remarks on the vehement local opposition to the plan. The citizens of Australia object to what they see as painting a target on their backs:
Days prior to the revelation that a new port which could be used by the US Marines was being planned on the edge of Darwin, a placard popped up on one of the city's main commuter arteries.

"No USA war base" blared the letters of the sign hanging off the Bagot Road pedestrian bridge, which neighbours land owned by Australia's Defence Department.
australia protest us base
© ABC News/Matt GarrickProtest signs appeared in Darwin before the news of the planned port was released.
Other similarly slapdash cardboard banners were also erected along the street.


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Dollar

Trump questions why US protects oil shipping lanes for 'zero compensation'

Mark Moore
New York Post
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 18:55 UTC
trump
President Trump questioned why the United States is protecting oil shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and suggested other countries should be picking up the tab for securing their vessels.​

​"China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight, Japan 62%, & many other countries likewise. So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation​," Trump said in two tweets about the matter on Monday, misspelling strait. "All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been​ a dangerous journey.​"


​In the other posting, he reiterated his demand that Iran not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

​"We don't even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world! The U.S. request for Iran is very simple - No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror!" Trump said.


Comment: No worries there (Don't fall for the ruse - The truth about Iran's nuclear program). And it's the U.S. who should stop sponsoring terrorists. The love affair with al-Qaeda has to end, for instance:


In the past month, the Trump administration has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, B-52 bombers, jet fighters and Patriot anti-missile batteries to Qatar to counter Iran's aggressive behavior in the region.
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Bizarro Earth

US deploying missiles along Russia's borders could lead to 'new Cuban missile crisis' - Russia's deputy FM


RT
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 12:36 UTC
Cuba Soviet ships
© Global Look Press / Schulman-SachsSoviet ships en route to Cuba, 1962.
Washington will provoke explosive tensions, reminiscent of the darkest moments of the Cold War, if it sends missiles close to Russia's border after suspending the INF Treaty, a senior diplomat in Moscow warned.

If Washington deploys short or mid-range ground-based missiles along Russia's borders, the situation "will not only become complicated, it will escalate to the maximum level," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told lawmakers on Monday.

"We can end up in a missile crisis not just similar to the one we had in the 1980s, but to the Cuban Missile Crisis [in 1962]."

Comment: See also: Far from quiet on the US vs Russia-China front

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Gold Bar

China buying gold & dumping dollar assets as trade war with US intensifies


RT
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 09:40 UTC
gold bar road
© pexels.com
Gold prices rallied to six-year highs last week and continued posting gains on Monday at $1,403 per ounce. China boosting its gold stockpile, to shift away from the US dollar, has added to the precious metal's resurgence.

The People's Bank of China has purchased more than 70 tons of gold since December, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). Before that, the Chinese central bank had not reported an increase in gold reserves for more than two years, and the official figures remained unchanged from October 2016 to November 2018.

The increased gold purchasing by Asia's top economy comes at a time when global central banks are accumulating the precious metal in record numbers. Russia has been the top buyer of gold, adding about 274 tons to its reserves last year. In the first 5 months of 2019, Russia added 78 tons of gold to its coffers, increasing the metal's share in its international reserves by 3.7 percent.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Lavrov says US developing 'secret ideas' for settling Middle East crisis that contradict existing int'l agreements


Sputnik
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 18:29 UTC
Al Aqsa Mosque Jerusalem old city
© Associated Press/Mahmoud IlleanPalestinian worshipers pray during the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's old city
The White House published the economic section of its peace plan for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dubbed the "deal of the century". The teased plan suggests investing $50 billion over 10 years to boost the Palestinian Authority's economy, but gives no hints about political solutions to the conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has slammed the US for planning to use unilaterally-developed ideas to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ignoring the existing international agreements.

"We [...] expressed concern about the US attempts to promote secretly-developed ideas that imply a rejection of the principles of a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, and a departure from the international legal framework in settlement, including UN resolutions, the Madrid Principles and the Arab Peace Initiative", Lavrov said.

Comment: Israel has made its position clear:

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Quenelle - Golden

'They tried hard, but failed': Iran foiled all US cyber-attack attempts


RT
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 06:23 UTC
wires
© REUTERS / Heinz-Peter BaderFILE PHOTO.
Iran successfully prevented US cyber-attacks that targeted its infrastructure, the country's information minister said after Washington was reported to have crippled Tehran's missile control sites with a retaliatory cyber-strike.

Minister for Information and Communication Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi appeared to deny reports in the US media that a massive cyber-offensive had disabled Iranian computer systems that control rocket and missile launches on Thursday

Neither the Pentagon nor the White House commented on the reports, which claimed that the strike had been carried out by US Cyber Command in cooperation with US Central Command to avenge the downing of an unmanned US Navy drone by Iran on Thursday morning.

Comment: Iran's claims have merit - because it's not the only country that's has been and is being targeted: Russian intel chief: Venezuela the latest victim of West's 'virus-like' black ops

See also:

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Bullseye

Washington lives in 'perverse state' of self-induced panic - China on Huawei scare


RT
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 18:26 UTC
huawei
© Global Look Press / ZUMA Press / Andre M. Chang
US officials demonstrate an obscene level of paranoia while trying to ban Huawei and other Chinese telecom companies from the US, Beijing said, blasting American security policies as a "fool's dream."

"In response to the US officials, I want to say that they have been living in self-induced panic, and reached a perverse state, in which they see a threat in every sound," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters on Monday.

The diplomat was commenting on the recent report that the White House is considering stepping up its crackdown on Chinese telecommunications technology. On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal wrote, citing sources, that President Donald Trump is mulling the idea of requiring US companies to use only 5G cellular equipment designed and made outside of China. According to the publication, the talks on the matter are in "early and informal stages," with US officials asking the companies whether they can produce the gear elsewhere.


Comment: Better idea: ditch 5G completely. See: Objective:Health #15 - The Dangers of 5G & WiFi - With Scott Ogrin of Scottie's Tech.Info


US officials have been accusing Chinese tech giant Huawei of spying on behalf of Beijing and undermining America's security. In May, Trump gave the government 150 days to devise a plan to limit the use of telecommunication technology made by the firms, tied to "foreign adversaries."
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Question

The US has isolated itself on Iran: May have factored into Trump's 'pullback'

Steve Brown
The Duran
Mon, 24 Jun 2019 17:39 UTC
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
© Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS/FilesIran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
It was the duplicity of the former United States that caused it to withdraw from the JCPOA agreement - not any violation of that agreement by Iran. And it is the United States that provoked Iran to the verge of war. It is the United States Treasury too, that presses crippling economic sanctions on Iran - not the other way around.

Indeed, the United States has been on a collision course with Iran since 1979... forty years in the making. Yet despite having forty years to get it right, in typical fashion, the bumbling actions of the current Trump regime prove that America never had any cogent Iran Policy at all.

This time, there is no "coalition of the willing" to posture and pretend that the US has many and varied allies engaged in some just cause to rid the world of evil, as it proclaimed in 1994 versus North Korea, and 2003 versus Iraq. Apparently, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Solomon Islands have no real grievance versus Iran right now.

Comment: It's healthy to keep in mind the worst possible interpretation of a politician's actions, Trump may have felt retaliating with Iranian deaths was "disproportionate", but many factors were at play. Even if it was with a coming election in mind, and the fact that he campaigned on not starting new wars, he should be commended for resisting the pressure of the neocon cabal surrounding him. Firing Bolton and Pompeo would be a good next step.

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