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USA

American Politics: A civil war by other means

James George Jatras
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
civilwarscape
© Unknown
In the wake of the sending of bomb-like devices of uncertain capability to prominent critics of US President Donald Trump and of a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue (both Trump's fault, of course) - plus a migrant invasion approaching the US through Mexico - there have been widespread calls for toning down harsh and "divisive" political rhetoric. Of course given the nature of the American media and other establishment voices, these demands predictably have been aimed almost entirely against Trump and his Deplorable supporters, almost never against the same establishment that unceasingly vilifies Trump and Middle American radicals as literally Hitler, all backed up by the evil White-Nationalist-in-Chief, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Those appealing for more civility and a return to polite discourse can save their breath. It's much, much too late for that.

When Trump calls the establishment media the enemies of the people, that's because they - together with their passive NPC drones and active Antifa enforcers - are enemies, if by "the people" we mean the historic American nation. Trump's sin is that he calls them out for what they are.

Trump didn't cause today's polarization, he only exacerbates it because he punches back. Good, may he continue to do so. Pining for a more well-mannered time in a country that belongs to another, long-gone era is futile.

Comment: This article suggests the choices for an effective Trump administration are limited to winning both the House and the Senate in the election. Not doing so is opening a Pandora's box with severe ramifications for the president, his party and the American constituency. Do you agree?

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Cross

Killed in Kabul, Utah mayor the latest victim of ongoing US presence in Afghanistan


RT
Sun, 04 Nov 2018 20:16 UTC
Brent Taylor
© Facebook/Brent TaylorSlain Utah mayor Brent Taylor on deployment in Afghanistan
The US serviceman killed in an insider attack in Kabul is identified as Brent Taylor, a mayor from Utah. While shocking to some back at home, this is only the latest such incident in a war that even top brass now call unwinnable.

North Ogden city mayor Major Brent Taylor was deployed to Afghanistan with the Utah National Guard at the beginning of this year. Taylor's trip to Afghanistan was the fourth such deployment for the father of seven and was due to last one year.

Instead, Taylor was gunned down in an "apparent insider attack" in Kabul on Saturday. The gunman was reportedly a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces - whom Taylor was deployed to train and advise. The gunman managed to wound another US service member, before other Afghan forces killed him.

Taylor's death was mourned by Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox, who wrote that the Afghan war "has once again cost us the best blood of a generation."

Comment: See also:

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Bomb

Trump condemns Yemen school bus strike, lamely saying 'Saudis don't know how to use US bombs'


RT
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 03:57 UTC
Saudi /F-15
© AFP/Fayez NureldineSaudi pilot walks past an F-15 fighter jet.
It wasn't the US-made bomb, but rather the Saudi military's inability to properly use the munition - despite all the American training - that led to the "horror show" bombing of a Yemeni school bus in August, Donald Trump has said.

A Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a school bus, that killed 40 children and maimed dozens of others in the busy market town of Dhahyan in northern Yemen on August 9, is not Washington's fault, Donald Trump stated in an interview with Axios on Sunday.

Despite the fact that pieces of a 500-pound (227 kilogram) laser-guided MK 82 bomb made by Lockheed Martin were found at the site of the explosion, Trump shifted the blame for the tragedy to the coalition's inability to use the US-supplied weapons properly.

"That was basically people that didn't know how to use the weapon, which is horrible," Trump said, calling the widely circulated footage from the bombing a "horror show."

"I think it's a terrible situation. I hated seeing what happened with the bus and the children cause that's pure - that's a horror show when you see a thing like that, you saw the bus," he said, stressing that "bother's not a strong enough" word to describe the disgust he felt watching the tragedy.

Comment: Nothing like election fervor to bring out recessive moral compasses.

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X

US is confident Tehran will not resume a nuclear program amid sanctions, says Pompeo


Sputnik
Sun, 04 Nov 2018 22:02 UTC
newsanctionsiran
© WNCT
US authorities are confident that Tehran will not restart its nuclear program after the remaining sanctions against Tehran come into force next week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.

"We're confident that Iranians will not make that decision," Pompeo said on CBS News's Face the Nation, asked what the US authorities would do if Tehran restarted their nuclear program.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Pompeo said he was sure the sanctions will "have the intended effect" to change Tehran's "maligned" behavior.

On November 5, the United States will reimpose sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector. As part of this action, the US Department of the Treasury will add more than 700 names to its list of blocked Iranian entities.

The first round of renewed US sanctions on Iran entered into effect in August.

Comment: Predictions are the first thing to go, once they are made. Confidence is a close second.

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Oil Well

Rouhani: Iran will break US sanctions, continue to sell its oil


RT
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 06:22 UTC
Rouhani
© UnknownIranian President Hassan Rouhani
Iran will continue to export its oil and will "break" the sanctions reinstated by the US on Monday, the nation's leader Hassan Rouhani said in a TV address.

"America wanted to cut to zero Iran's oil sales," but the Islamic Republic "will continue to sell" its oil "to break sanctions," Rouhani warned during a meeting with the economists, which was broadcast on TV. The Iranian president said that the country will undercut Washington's plan for sanctions on its energy and banking sectors.

The US began re-imposing sanctions on Tehran after President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program in May, branding the deal "defective at its core."

In the months leading up to the re-imposition of restrictions on buying Iranian oil, officials in Washington made it clear that their goal was to virtually eliminate the nation's oil exports.

Comment: See also:

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Rocket

Pompeo dismisses N. Korean nuke threat, calling it stray voltage ahead of meeting with Kim's #2


RT
Sun, 04 Nov 2018 21:22 UTC
Pompeo/Kim Yong-choi
© ReutersUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo • Vice chair Kim Yong-choi
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the US has no plans to offer concessions to Pyongyang in the wake of threats to revive its nuclear program, as he prepares to host Kim Jong-un's second-in-command in New York.

Pompeo said the visit of Kim Yong-chol, the vice chairman of North Korea's ruling party, and its frequent representative abroad, in the coming week is a sign that relations between the two states have only grown since the summit between Donald Trump and the North Korean leadership in June.

"I expect we'll make some real progress including an effort to make sure that the [next] summit between our two leaders can take place where we can make substantial steps towards denuclearization," said the US diplomat, during an interview with CBS Face the Nation on Sunday.
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X

'75K Russian informants': UK think tank report is mocked having conducted only 16 interviews


Reuters
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 12:49 UTC
Putin Medvedev
© Reuters/Sergei KarpukhinPutin and an informant? Looks just like Medvedev!
A neo-conservative think tank was widely mocked after it claimed that half of Russian immigrants could be "informants," the unfounded conclusions were then parroted by sections of Britain's right-wing press.

The Times article cites a report, titled: 'Putin Sees and Hears It All: How Russia's Intelligence Agencies Menace The UK,' by the Henry Jackson Society, which argues that "Interviewees... suggested that anywhere between a quarter and a half of Russian expats were, or have been, informants."

The think-tank also tweeted the report's claim that there were "75,000 informants." It was estimated that in 2014 there were 150,000 Russians in London alone.

To draw such striking conclusions, the report's author Dr. Andrew Foxall, held 16 "on-and off-the-record conversations" with "individuals who currently occupy, or previously occupied, positions of influence and power, particularly those who are consequential to Russian affairs."

Foxall said that there has been an "increasing paranoia" among Russian immigrants, following the Salisbury poisoning and the subsequent deterioration in UK-Russia relations.

The Times even found their own unnamed "dissident" who told them "that the proportion of informants was about half."

Comment: Necessity is the mother of invention. A skill honed by the media.

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Arrow Up

Le Pen's Eurosceptic party wins over Macron's in an EU parliamentary election poll


RT
Sun, 04 Nov 2018 21:21 UTC
LePenMacron
© Reuters/Christian Hartmann/Maxim ShipenkovMarine Le Pen • President Emmanuel Macron
The landslide success of Emmanuel Macron's party seems to be fading away as the party of his presidential rival, Marine Le Pen, is overtaking his ruling alliance six months ahead of European parliamentary elections, a poll shows.

With his ratings rapidly plummeting, the centrist leader who was once the rising star of French politics is losing his position. According to the Ifop poll on Sunday, the centrist's La Republique En Marche (LREM) party scored second when people were asked on their voting intentions for May 2019 European Parliament election.


Comment: Macron won't remain in the international arena if he further alienates his countrymen. They are already looking elsewhere for his replacement.

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Oil Well

India may use rupees to pay for Iranian oil amid US sanctions on Tehran


Sputnik
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 09:05 UTC
Rupee
© Thomas White/ReutersThe Rupee
India and Iran are reportedly finalizing the steps New Delhi will take to pay for Iranian oil using India's national currency in order to continue transactions in the event that the Islamic Republic is cut-off from SWIFT, the international network used for bank transactions.

India will revive a previous arrangement of making payments via an account in UCO bank in India, which does not have international exposure and is not connected to SWIFT, The Times of India reported. Before the US sanctions, Indian oil payments were divided: 45% of them were made in rupees from the UCO account and 55% were paid in Euros. However, India and Tehran are reportedly working on a new mechanism allowing Iran to take the full amount in India's national currency. The funds are expected to be used for importing items from India.

The mechanism would allow India to continue purchasing oil from Iran, even after the current 180-day US grace period on Iran's sale of oil abroad expires and if the Iranian banks are banned from using SWIFT payment systems.

US Special Representative for Iran and Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State Brian Hook told journalists on Sunday that countries which continue to import oil from Iran would set up escrow accounts, which would "deny Iran hard currency and denies Iran any revenue on oil sales," as the money stays within the importing nation's account.

Comment: If one road is blocked, another is taken. In essence, US demands have pushed transactions into alternative payment schemes, relieving or thwarting dependency on the dollar.

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Jet3

US Navy: Russian fighter jet's 'unsafe' intercept of US spy plane over the Black Sea caught on video


RT
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 16:43 UTC
Spy plane
© YouTube/US NavySpy plane caught on video
A Russian Su-27 aircraft has intercepted a US EP-3 spy plane in "unsafe" fashion over the Black Sea, the US Navy said. It posted video, on Twitter, showing an armed Russian fighter jet flying within meters of the spy plane.

The video, which the Navy posted on Twitter, shows a Su-27 flying close to the US spy plane, showing its underbelly before blasting away. The fighter jet appears to be armed, carrying missiles on its wing pylons.

The Russian plane stayed around the EP-3 for about 25 minutes, according to the US Navy, which insisted that its aircraft was "operating in accordance with international law."

"This interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the Su-27 conducting a high speed pass directly in front of the mission aircraft, putting at risk the pilots and crew," the US Navy statement read. The Russian Defense ministry acknowledged the incident, insisting, however, that the Su-27 kept a safe distance from the EP-3.

"The fighter's crew reported identifying the US electronic surveillance plane and escorted it to prevent a violation of Russia's border, while following all the safety guidelines," the Ministry stated.


Comment: The US has a history of Black Sea spy plane snoopings:

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