Puppet MastersS


Attention

Small-scale war scenario in the Gulf - no obvious solution in sight

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 19:53 UTC
oman gulf
© ISNA/Handout / Reuters
The attacks taking place in the Gulf and its waters against harbours, energy supply pipelines and oil tankers have assumed the proportions of a small scale war; however a wider war will happen only if Iran or the USA make future mistakes or incite new frictions. A suspicious move or misinterpretation of events could lead to a broader Middle Eastern war, especially since both armies and their allies are on full alert. The military effectiveness of both sides and their allies - spread to all corners of the Middle Eastern - are substantial and should not be underestimated.

It is not the habit of the US to look for just, substantial and robust pretexts for war once the decision to go to war has been taken. Recent events - the sabotage acts at al-Fujairah (the Emirates), the attack on Aramco pipeline, the attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and the US Central Command video purporting to show Iranian boat personnel removing an unexploded Limpet mine from Kokuka Courageous - have already given the US ample pretexts for war, if the US were looking for war. If this were the case, President Donald Trump would have already ordered his military to conduct precision missile strikes similar to the attack he ordered against Syria or at least a punitive airstrike together with his close European partners. Or perhaps even prepared his army to go to war as George W. Bush did with Iraq in 2003.

The reason Trump has refrained from launching any order for attack is that he is aware that a military operation against Iran will be anything but a walk in the park. The consequences of such an attack are unpredictable and its outcome will certainly not be to his obvious advantage.

Comment: See also:

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Chess

US won't 'stumble into' war with Iran by mistake. Should it happen, it will be by intent and design

Danielle Ryan
RT
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 10:01 UTC
BoltTrumpPomp
© The HillNatl. Security Advisor John Bolton • President Donald Trump • Sec. of State Mike Pompeo
There are men in Washington intent on going to war with Iran - and very few people doubt this fact. Why then, does the media keep warning us that conflict could break out "accidentally"? The US does not go to war by mistake.

Last week, Donald Trump pinned the blame for the attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman squarely on Iran. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been running around provoking Iran in word and deed for months, called the attacks an "unacceptable escalation of tension." The so-called proof came in the form of a grainy video that presented more questions than answers.


Comment: See also:

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Footprints

McGovern: DOJ's bloodhounds on the scent of John Brennan

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Brennan
© The Counter Jihad Report"Russian meddling changed this many votes."
With Justice Department investigators' noses to the ground, it should be just a matter of time before they identify Brennan as fabricator-in-chief of the Russiagate story, says Ray McGovern.

The New York Times Thursday morning has bad news for one of its favorite anonymous sources, former CIA Director John Brennan.

The Times reports that the Justice Department plans to interview senior CIA officers to focus on the allegation that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian intelligence to intervene in the 2016 election to help Donald J. Trump. DOJ investigators will be looking for evidence to support that remarkable claim that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report failed to establish.

Despite the collusion conspiracy theory having been put to rest, many Americans, including members of Congress, right and left, continue to accept the evidence-impoverished, media-cum-"former-intelligence-officer" meme that the Kremlin interfered massively in the 2016 presidential election.

One cannot escape the analogy with the fraudulent evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As in 2002 and 2003, when the mania for the invasion of Iraq mounted, Establishment media have simply regurgitated what intelligence sources like Brennan told them about Russia-gate. No one batted an eye when Brennan told a House committee in May 2017, "I don't do evidence."

Comment: More from Ray McGovern:

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X

Obama deleted hundreds of online speeches on the immigration crisis hours prior Trump entering office

Jason Hopkins
The Daily Caller
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 02:23 UTC
Trumpobama
© cnn.comPresident Donald Trump • Former President Barack Obama
The Obama administration deleted hundreds of speeches and statements on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website just hours before President Donald Trump officially entered office, according to research released Tuesday.

A collection of 190 transcripts of speeches on ICE's website was deleted on Jan. 18 and late in the evening on Jan. 19, 2017, according to research conducted by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for government transparency. Statements made by high-ranking ICE officials regarding controversial immigration topics such as sanctuary cities, E-Verify, treatment of detainees, and other issues were included in the reported deletions.

"With a couple of clicks of a mouse, access to a federal government web resource containing 12 years of primary source materials on ICE's history was lost," the Sunlight Foundation wrote, noting that archived speeches dating back from 2004 were among those deleted.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

Behind Washington's anti-Maduro lobby, corporate forces support a coup in Venezuela

Thomas Hedges
The Gray Zone
Mon, 10 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
US as snake
© Unknown
A video report on the forces behind the Venezuelan regime change lobby in Washington, DC and the campaign of disinformation the opposition and its US backers have waged to gin up support for sanctions and even military intervention.

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Propaganda

Not journalism: Univision warps reality to push US' Venezuelan war agenda

Alexander Rubinstein
MintPress News
Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Jorge Ramos
© APUnivision’s Jorge Ramos shows a video he says his crew shot the previous day showing Venezuelan youth picking food scraps out of the back of a garbage truck in Caracas.
Univision's Jorge Ramos, sometimes called the "Walter Cronkite of Latin America," flagrantly lied about his interview with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in February, the recording, which was leaked to Univision itself, reveals. The network's reporting on other issues surrounding Venezuela is also characterized by unprofessionalism and overreaching, according to an account by one activist.

MintPress News previously reported on the discrepancies in Jorge Ramos' account of what happened during his U.S. government-approved interview with Maduro. Ramos said he was detained after the interview and was unable to release it because his equipment was confiscated. Last week, however, Univision published the full interview.

Analyzing the footage in comparison with Ramos' account of what happened reveals not just discrepancies, but outright lies. Ramos took to the New York Times op-ed section after he returned to the United States, saying that it was a video he took of Venezuelans dumpster diving that "broke" Maduro and caused him to end the interview, confiscate his equipment, and detain him for three hours.

Comment: For the full story of the Ramos-Maduro interview, see also:
The holes in Jorge Ramos' story regarding his clash with Nicolas Maduro

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Snakes in Suits

Ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi dies in prison

Borzou Daragahi
Independent
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi
Former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi
Supporters of the ousted Egyptian president describe his death as 'tantamount to state sponsored murder'

Egypt's only freely elected president, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed in a 2013 military-backed coup d'etat, reportedly died on Monday during a court session, the nation's state television report.

The 67-year-old US-educated civil engineer and political leader of the Muslim Brotherhood was on trial facing espionage charges when he reportedly collapsed.

"The body has been transferred to a hospital and necessary procedures are underway," Nile News television said.

Tightly controlled state television reported Morsi's death by a heart attack without noting his tenure as president. According to the public prosecutor's office, Morsi collapsed in the cage used to house defendants in Egyptian courtrooms at around 4:50 pm local (2.30 pm GMT) and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, according to news agencies, claiming there was no sign of injuries.

Morsi's death while in custody will likely anger Muslim Brotherhood supporters throughout the Middle East and have international repercussions. The organisation is the oldest Islamist political organisation in the world. Morsi and the Brotherhood count Turkey and Qatar as major allies. His supporters accused the Egyptian state of killing Morsi.

Comment: For more on what Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were (and still are) trying to do, see:

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No Entry

Trade war effect: US military companies likely to face restrictions of China rare earth exports


Channel News Asia
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 15:52 UTC
transport soil containing rare earth elements
© REUTERS/StringerWorkers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 31, 2010.
Military equipment firms in the United States will likely have their supply of Chinese rare earths restricted, the Global Times said on Monday (Jun 17), after China's state economic planner confirmed industry experts have proposed export controls.

China is the world's dominant producer of rare earths - a group of 17 prized minerals used in everything from consumer electronics to military equipment such as jet engines, missile guidance systems satellites and lasers.

Numerous reports from state-run Chinese media have raised the prospect that China may limit its supplies of the minerals to gain leverage in its trade dispute with the United States.

The Global Times, a newspaper that is published by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, said on its official Twitter account that US military equipment companies "are likely to face restrictions", citing unidentified Chinese industry insiders.

Comment: See also: China considering cutting exports of rare earths as retaliation in trade war

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Nuke

Iran: Uranium production to surpass 300kg by June 27 says AEOI spokesperson


MEHR News Agency
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Behrouz Kamalvandi
© MNASpokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi
"We have already increased our [uranium] production in Natanz. From today, the countdown has begun, and by June 27, our uranium production will have surpassed 300 kilograms," said Behrouz Kamalvandi during a press conference at Arak heavy water nuclear complex on Monday.

The decision to increase uranium production is part of Iran's measures to reduce commitments to the JCPOA following the US' unilateral withdrawal from the agreement last year, and the EU's failure to safeguard Iran's economic interests in the face of US sanctions.

We are waiting for the officials' decision on starting the second phase of measures to reduce our JCPOA-related commitments, Kamalvandi said, adding "Europeans still have time. We waited a year [for them to save the nuclear deal], which was our 'strategic patience.'"

Stressing that Iran will no longer remain patient in the face of Europeans' hesitance in complying with their commitments, the AEOI spokesman said the Europeans "either do not want to do something, or they just don't have the ability to do it."

Comment: See also:

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MIB

Busted: Arrests made as Iran reportedly breaks up 'large' CIA-run cyber-espionage network


Sputnik
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 16:50 UTC
Iran Flag
© Associated Press / Ronald Zak
The development comes against the backdrop of tensions between the United States and Iran that dramatically escalated last week, when Washington accused Tehran of being behind attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Iran has dismantled a CIA-run "large US cyber-espionage" network, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported, citing the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani.

"Given the cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other countries in creating an 'international organisation to counter American espionage', we provided our partners with information that led to the disclosure and dismantling of a network of CIA officers, as well as detention and punishment of several spies in different countries", the senior official said.
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