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US-Turkey crisis: NATO alliance forged in 1949 is today largely irrelevant

Philip Giraldi
American Herald Tribune
Mon, 13 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
TrumpErdogan
© UnknownPresident Donald Trump • President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
There has been some reporting in the United States mass media about the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Ankara and what it might mean. Such a falling out between NATO members has not been seen since France left the alliance in 1966 and observers note that the hostility emanating from both sides suggests that far worse is to come as neither party appears prepared to moderate its current position while diplomatic exchanges have been half-hearted and designed to lead nowhere.

The immediate cause of the breakdown is ostensibly President Donald Trump's demand that an American Protestant minister who has lived in Turkey for twenty-three years be released from detention. Andrew Brunson was arrested 21 months ago and charged with being a supporter of the alleged conspiracy behind the military coup in 2016 that sought to kill or replace President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan has asserted that the coup was directed by former political associate Fetullah Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, but has produced little credible evidence to support that claim. In the aftermath of the coup attempt, Erdogan has had himself voted extraordinary special powers to maintain public order and has arrested 160,000 people, including 20 Americans, who have been imprisoned. More than 170,000 civil servants, teachers, and military personnel have lost their jobs, the judiciary has been hobbled, and senior army officers have been replaced by loyalists.
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Attention

Western powers' warning to Syria: Do not use chemical weapons again


RFE/RL
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 03:53 UTC
Assad/Flag
© Atridim News Journal/WordPress.comSyrian President Bashar al-Assad
The United States, France, and Britain are warning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to use chemical weapons as he launches a campaign to retake the last remaining rebel-held province in Syria.

In a joint statement issued late on August 21, the three Western powers said "we remain resolved to act if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons again" as it embarks on a military offensive in Idlib Province after reasserting control over most other rebel-held areas of the country since last year.


Comment: Another setup? Mandated by Syria to leave, the Western coalition is running out of reasons to remain.


Assad's forces have started heavily bombing and shelling Idlib, which lies next to the border with Turkey and where holdout rebels from all over the country were transported in recent months under Russian-brokered deals offering them safe passage to Idlib if they surrendered territory they once held around Damascus and other areas.

Assad's assaults against major rebel strongholds in the country's seven-year civil war have followed a pattern, with initial heavy bombing and artillery attacks followed by the alleged use of chemical weapons in an apparent attempt to intimidate rebels and force civilians to flee the area under siege.

In light of this pattern, the three Western powers stressed their "concern at the potential for further -- and illegal -- use of chemical weapons."

Comment: Who will be the 'verifiers' should yet another false flag event commence? Supposedly White Helmets, the fake report unit, has left the country.

See also: Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and the truth about chemical weapons and who may or may not have them

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Star of David

Israel's abettor Trump now wants fair play in ME, promises 'something very good' for Palestinians


RT
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 10:49 UTC
Palestinian wall art
© jfjfp.comPalestinian refugees 'Right of Return'
After sparking fury by moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, President Donald Trump has now dangled a carrot in front of Palestinians by promising that they "will get something very good" in future negotiations.

"It's their turn next," was Trump's reasoning for signaling that his administration is going to throw Palestinians a bone.

Speaking at a rally in Charleston, West Virginia, on Tuesday night, the president defended his decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem, telling supporters that Israel will pay "a higher price" in future peace talks.

"If there's ever going to be peace with the Palestinians, then this was a good thing to have done," Trump said of the embassy move, according to The Times of Israel. "We took it off the table. In past negotiations, they never got past Jerusalem. Now Israel will have to pay a higher price, because it's off the table."

Trump has long cited the principle of 'quid pro quo' in future peace talks, telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in January that Israel "won one point" with the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital but said they will have to "give up some other points later on in the negotiation - if it ever takes place."

Comment: Trump may want fair play, or what he thinks is fair play, but Israel has proven over and over it will never agree nor abide. Kushner's actions of late also speak otherwise. See also:

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Dollars

Swift turn: German FM states Europe needs bank transactions system independent of US


RT
Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:41 UTC
Money
© Dado Ruvic/Reuters
The European Union should set up a system that would allow Brussels to be independent in its financial operations from Washington, according to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
"It is indispensable that we strengthen European autonomy by creating payment channels that are independent of the United States, a European Monetary Fund and an independent SWIFT system," Maas wrote in the Handelsblatt business daily.
SWIFT is a network that enables financial institutions worldwide to send and receive information about financial transactions based in Belgium. The system's management claims SWIFT remains politically neutral and independent.

There have been reports that despite such claims, the United States has enough power to block transactions through SWIFT. In 2012, the Danish newspaper Berlingske wrote that US authorities managed to seize money being transferred from a Danish businessman to a German bank for a batch of US-sanctioned Cuban cigars. The transaction was made in US dollars, which allowed Washington to block it.

The German Foreign Minister's words come as the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, and re-imposed sanctions against Tehran. The EU remains committed to the deal despite Washington's political pressure. "Every day the deal is alive is better than the highly explosive crisis that would otherwise threaten the Middle East," Mass wrote.

The EU has enforced the so-called Blocking Statute to protect its firms operating in Iran from US sanctions against the country. However, European companies like Total, Maersk and others quit Iran for fear of US sanctions. These firms are dependent on the US-dominated international banking system and international financial markets.

Comment: US mandates and trade upheavals are pushing the EU impetus to initiate an independent financial network, create its own transaction mechanisms and eliminate dependency.

See also: Total to leave Iran despite Brussels' protection pledge against US sanctions

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Briefcase

Michael Cohen, former Trump personal lawyer, makes plea deal with prosecutors


RT
Tue, 21 Aug 2018 20:54 UTC
Michael Cohen
© Shannon Stapleton/ReutersMichael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Trump leaving federal court, April 16, 2018.
Michael Cohen, former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on charges including campaign finance violations, bank fraud and tax evasion. Cohen appeared in a federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon to offer a guilty plea on several charges filed by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts in total, including five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to financial institution, one count of willful cause of unlawful corporate campaign contribution, and one count of excessive campaign contribution.

Cohen said that he made the campaign contribution "at the direction of a candidate for federal office," meaning Trump. The payments were made "for principal purpose of influencing [the 2016 presidential] election," according to Reuters.
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Attention

Trump accuses Cohen of 'making up stories' to get a 'deal'


RT
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 13:37 UTC
CohenTRump
© Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call; Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesFormer Trump lawyer Michael Cohen • President Donald Trump
Donald Trump accused his former attorney Michael Cohen of "making up stories to get a deal," after the lawyer pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and promised to give evidence against the President.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Trump blasted Cohen and praised his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was found guilty on eight out of 18 counts of tax and bank fraud on Tuesday.

"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family," Trump tweeted. "'Justice' took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to 'break' - make up stories in order to get a 'deal.' Such respect for a brave man!"

Cohen, who once said that he would take a bullet for the President, reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on campaign finance, bank fraud, and tax evasion charges on Tuesday. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges in total, including five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to financial institution, one count of willful cause of unlawful corporate campaign contribution, and one count of excessive campaign contribution.

Comment: See also:

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Stock Up

Theresa May's husband's company owns shares in firm that made the Yemen school-bus bomb


RT
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 11:03 UTC
Yemeni child
© Mohammed Mohammed/Global Look PressAug. 12, 2018 Children injured in an airstrike receive medical treatment in a hospital in Saada.
Capital Group, the company that employs Theresa May's husband, owns a large number of shares in the company that produced a bomb which killed 40 Yemeni children in a Saudi Arabian attack on a school bus.

A Saudi military jet fired a laser-guided missile at a stationary school bus on August 9. A total of 51 people were killed, including 40 children aged between six and 11. Some 79 others were injured, including 56 children.

The children were returning from a school trip to celebrate their graduation from summer school. Videos, filmed by the children, emerged after the attack and showed them playing with each other minutes before they were killed.


Comment: Profiting from the deliberate and targeted deaths of children and then excusing the Saudis because 'they keep the streets of Britain safe'? That is the excuse? How twisted is this? And, the Prime Minister's husband benefits from financial ties to arms suppliers to the Yemeni War? No great influence there...

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Target

Cohen bombshell renews calls for Trump impeachment - what happened to Russia collusion?


RT
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 11:58 UTC
trumpcohen
© Jonathan Ernst/ReutersFormer Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and President Donald Trump
Michael Cohen's testimony that Donald Trump told him to violate campaign finance laws is sparking fresh calls for impeachment, with #Resistors curiously silent on how 'Russia collusion' became 'giving women hush money.'

The conviction of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, on tax and bank fraud charges, coupled with news that the president's former attorney Cohen, pleaded guilty to a range of charges on the same day, sent social media and news outlets into a frenzy, with many calling for - or speculating about - Trump's removal from office.

But the latest calls for impeachment were not sparked by evidence provided by Manafort or Cohen pointing to Trump's collusion with Moscow. Instead, Cohen's testimony that then-candidate Trump ordered him to pay off two women ahead of the 2016 presidential election, in violation of campaign finance laws, is now seen as the smoking (but not very Russian) gun.


Comment: The fizzle on Russiagate leaves the 'left' full of vengeance with nowhere to go except to latch onto a new non-starter and try to make it fly before the elections.
See also:

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Gold Bar

Russia stockpiling gold while Washington preps new sanctions


RT
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 12:53 UTC
Gold stocks
© Ilya Naymushin/Reuters
The Central Bank of Russia bought 26.1 tons of gold in July, bringing its holdings to 2,170 tons, according to International Monetary Fund data compiled by Bloomberg. It's the largest single monthly purchase since late 2017.

The stockpile was valued at $77.4 billion at the end of last month, according to the Russian central bank's website. At current prices, the reserves are worth around $83.6 billion.

Russian bullion holdings are approaching the Soviet peak of 2,800 tons, which were seen in 1941. Over the last decade, the country's share of gold in reserves has soared tenfold. Russia has also continued reducing its holdings of US treasuries. It has lowered its holdings of US debt from $96.1 billion in March to just $14.9 billion in May.

The increased gold purchases come as the Trump administration gets ready to impose new sanctions on Moscow. The central bank's First Deputy Governor Dmitry Tulin said that Moscow sees gold as a "100-percent guarantee from legal and political risks." The central bank also explained the strategy as part of diversifying the country's reserves away from the US dollar.
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Smoking

New York governor signs fascist bill to ban smoking where child services are provided, including homes


WRBG
Mon, 20 Aug 2018 19:37 UTC
Man smoking a cigarette
© Pixabay
On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation designed to protect children from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

The bill prohibits smoking in facilities that provide child care services, including private homes that provide child services, such as a day care.

"The dangers of secondhand smoke are indisputable and we must do everything in our power to protect children from this public health hazard and the life-long misery that comes with it," Cuomo said. "This measure will bring us one step closer to a strong, healthier New York for all."

This adds to existing legislation that prohibits smoking near schools and where after-school programs are held, as well as a ban on electronic cigarettes on all public and private school grounds across the state.

Comment: The 'dangers of secondhand smoke' is a myth based on junk science. See:

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