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Christmas Tree

Netanyahu corruption case reaches new phase: Police ready to charge PM with bribery


Sputnik
Sun, 12 Nov 2017 23:12 UTC
Netanyahy corruption
© AP Photo/Dan Balilty
An ongoing Israeli law enforcement investigation now has enough evidence to bring formal charges of bribery against the country's prime minister, according to reports.

Prosecutors involved with the bribery and money laundering case are currently working out the details to an indictment for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a wealthy businessman whose collaborators have been tied to the notorious Panama Papers that reveal how the rich hide assets from tax collectors, cited by Haaretz.

According to a Friday report by Israel's Channel 10 News, sources involved in the ongoing investigation have revealed that there is now sufficient evidence to charge Netanyahu and his wife with bribery for accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from well-heeled business associates.

Comment: We'd be happier if Netanyahu got charged (and convicted) for perpetuating crimes against humanity. But we'll take what we can get.

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Light Sabers

The US-led war on Yemen: America is worried about legal blow-back for war crimes

Stephen Gowans
Gowans
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 00:00 UTC
In October, 2016, two Reuters' reporters published an exclusive, under the headline: "As Saudis bombed Yemen, U.S. worried about legal blow-back." [1]
US Army General Joseph L. Votel
© ReutersU.S. Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel.
The reporters, Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay, revealed that legal experts at the US State Department had warned the White House that the United States could be charged with war crimes in connection with the Saudi Air Force bombing campaign in Yemen.

So far, the bombing campaign has left tens of thousands dead and many more wounded, as well as over 10 percent of Yemen's population homeless. Accompanied by naval and aerial blockades, the aggression has created near famine conditions for somewhere between 25 to 40 percent of the population and has contributed to a cholera outbreak affecting hundreds of thousands.
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Eye 2

Anatomy of a purge: MBS's actions, Saudi Arabia's crisis, and the coming collapse of the KSA

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sun, 12 Nov 2017 20:48 UTC
Mohammed bin Salman
© Reuters/Charles PlatiauSaudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reacts upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France in this June 24, 2015 file photo. Saudi Arabia plans to set up a $2 trillion megafund for post-oil era, Bloomberg reported on April 1, 2016, citing Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Understanding the man and the reasons behind the Saudi purge

The ongoing purge in Saudi Arabia, together with the kidnapping and extorted "resignation" whilst on a trip to Saudi Arabia of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, is posing a host of questions about the man at the centre of this drama: the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the country's de factor ruler Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

The enigma of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman

Views on Muhammad bin Salman vary between those which see in him a genuine reformer who understands that Saudi Arabia urgently needs to change in order to avoid eventual collapse, and those which see in him a gambler and would-be dictator intent on centralising power in Saudi Arabia in his own person.

These two theories are not mutually exclusive. It is possible that Muhammad bin Salman is both: someone who aims to become Saudi Arabia's dictator in order to carry out the reforms which he believes Saudi Arabia needs to survive, and which he presumably also believes cannot be carried out in any other way.
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Question

"Abdication is unthinkable": Saudi officials deny King Salman will relinquish throne in favor of his son

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sun, 12 Nov 2017 20:03 UTC
Three days ago, we reported that based on various unconfirmed media reports, Saudi King Salman - reeling from a just concluded purge that arrested some of the country's wealthiest and most powerful royals and officials - was set to elevate his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to the throne in as little as 48 hours. Speculation peaked when Al-Arabiya tweeted, then quickly deleted, details of the allegedly imminent ascension ceremony.
deleted tweet Al-Arabiya Bin Salan
© Al-Arabiya
To be sure, though a transfer of power to the crown prince has long been predicted and expected, especially after a lesser known round of mass arrests targeting well-known Saudi clerics took place in September, last week's events pointed to a final "house cleaning" purge in preparation for bin Salman's likely imminent ascent. After the September arrests against clerics who were largely seen as regime insiders, yet who were mildly critical of the new aggressive stance against Qatar, the Wall Street Journal quoted an adviser to the Saudi government as saying,
"Mohammed bin Salman is definitely preparing to become king. He wants to tackle the internal debate about him becoming the king and focus on consolidating his power, rather than doing that while being distracted by dissidents."
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Chess

Iran shuts down Macron: "Defense affairs are not negotiable"

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sun, 12 Nov 2017 16:55 UTC
Macron France Iran
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron flew to the Middle East in an attempt to garner support for amending the JCPOA (aka Iran nuclear deal) to include restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile programme, which falls totally outside the JCPOA as agreed by Iran, the United States, China, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and the EU as a whole in 2015.

France along with Germany, Britain and other EU colleagues, have been strongly supportive of maintaining the successful JCPOA in spite of the US Trump administration's desire to either scrap the deal or amend it beyond recognition.
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Bad Guys

Ducks in a row: Saudis call for emergency meeting of Arab League over 'Iran's interference' in domestic affairs


Sputnik
Sun, 12 Nov 2017 21:21 UTC
Arab League meeting
© AP Photo/Hassan Ammar
The tensions in the Middle East have exacerbated recently, as the Saudi forces intercepted a missile fired from Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday demanded an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab League over Iran's "interference" in domestic affairs of the region's countries, Sky News Arabia reported.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates supported the Saudi request, which was also approved by Djibouti, the current chair of the pan-Arab bloc, said the document shown to AFP by diplomats on Sunday.

Comment: No doubt Saudi Arabia has taken a play from the Americans in "coalition building" handbook so that if or when it decides it wants to attack Iran, some other dupes in the Arab League can take some of the brunt off any possible retaliation... The Saudis are playing with fire as usual.

For more on the developments in head-chopper land, listen in: Behind the Headlines: MBS Saudi Takeover Heralds End of the Petrodollar? Trump Does Asia, Asia Likes It

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TV

Russian TV covers Thierry Meyssan's latest book, Western media ignores him like the plague

Evgeny Baranov
Voltaire Network
Sat, 11 Nov 2017 19:59 UTC
Thierry Meyssan
© voltaire.netAuthor, Thierry Meyssan
Russian's leading TV channel has just dedicated an entire report on Thierry Meyssan's latest book. This report was part of the main news broadcast. While Europe and the United States customarily presents this French author as an unfortunate half wit, the rest of the world does not follow suite. Quite to the contrary, they consider him to be one of the leading thinkers in the field of international politics. This contrast should attract the attention of everyone who finds the Western Press lacking. Thankfully, within the global village news only circulates in one direction; never from the rest of the world to the West.

Following the Arab Spring, the world is going to witness the Latin American Spring, that is, a series of revolutions and coups in Latin America. This is a core premise of a new book by the famous analyst and political scientist Thierry Meysan "Crimes of the Deep State". The deep state is a very influential part of the American elite the members of which used the Middle East for a geopolitical experiment. To destabilize the world. To get economic benefits. This, in fact, is the new format of colonial policy. Robbing weak countries, but in a new way. By the way, Donald Trump is not included in this ignominious group.

Formally, the new policy was launched on September 11, 2001, after the horrific terrorist attack in New York - the destruction of the Twin Towers by airplanes. After this act of terrorism, the so-called "Patriot Act" was adopted, which permits pervasive surveillance of any American citizen.


Comment: What's perhaps more interesting than Meyssan's ideas is the Russian reporting of said ideas. "Our reader is hardly surprised" - says a lot about the relative sanity of Russian media compared to their hysterical echo chamber counterparts in the glorious West.

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Attention

Europe: Totalitarianism now on its doorstep

Julian Rose
Activist Post
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 00:00 UTC
EU stars
© Unknown
Quietly, without most people noticing, the European Commission is moving ahead with a strategy that will arguably make the EU into the first fully operational model of a centralised 'one state' supranational authority: 'A New World Order'; the longstanding neoconservative ambition which lies at the heart of global secret society agendas and US geopolitical hegemony.

The key ingredient of this strategy is the establishment of an 'EU Treasury' which, according to Donald Tusk, President of the EU Council, will come into effect in June 2018, under the official title: European Monetary Fund. This will result in the single point control of all EU member state finances.

The plan will involve a further leveraging of the power of the major banks, to consolidate their controlling influence over EU affairs. By combining an 'EU Treasury' and a consolidation of banking power, a major step will be taken in the 'amalgamation of everything' heist; to be brought under the single umbrella of a Totalitarian Super State. We are talking about individual country's monetary policies; the military; police forces and intelligence services all being run from a central control unit in Brussels. These will be followed by more of the same - covering almost all areas of administrative control, that were once the domain of individual countries.

Comment: Is the EU in full agreement and prepared to relinquish all control of all aspects of its various societies to complete control by the self-privileged few?

See also: Globalization: A 'global' failure

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USA

Overlooked: 'War on terror' has left millions dead in Middle East

Shane Quinn
The Duran
Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:37 UTC
flag/soldiers
© Prophesy News Watch
The mainstream press have repeatedly overlooked potentially deadly issues.

As research reveals of late, "counter-terrorism" operations led by the United States over many years have wrought astonishing devastation. Not to mention, continuing and worsening repercussions. A rough estimate of four million Muslims have died as a result of US-led wars in the Middle East - dating back to the early 1990s Gulf War against Iraq. The Gulf War was waged by the US, with France, Britain and Saudi Arabia providing support.

It was in response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in early August 1990 - the Iraqi dictator having unwisely disobeyed orders from his Western masters. However, it was the Iraqi civilian population who would pay the real price, and not for the last time.

For 42 successive days and nights, US-led coalition forces subjected Iraq to one of the most destructive aerial assaults in military history. Over 88,000 tons of bombs were unloaded on Iraqi soil from mid-January 1991 to the end of February. Much of the bombing was upon civilian areas.

Hussein's attack on Kuwait the previous year had drawn "international condemnation". The above bombardments, infinitely greater in their destruction, were met with approval in some quarters and silence in others.

By this point, Western governments had already placed "genocidal" sanctions on Iraq - an immediate response to Hussein's occupation of Kuwait.

The sanctions lasted a staggering 13 years (1990-2003) and brought unaccountable suffering. The lack of basic needs particularly affected Iraqi children, with those aged under 14 comprising 45% of Iraq's population. Half a million youngsters were said to have died, though some doubts have recently been raised about that figure.

Comment: There are no justifications for the legacy of terror and destruction perpetrated upon the innocent for the benefit of the few.

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Stop

Rep. Ro Khanna: Stop weapons sales to Saudi Arabia now

Alex Emmons
The Intercept
Thu, 09 Nov 2017 10:16 UTC
Ro Khanna
© unknownRepresentative Ro Khanna
For more than two years, Congress has remained quiet as the United States backed a brutal war in Yemen, supporting a coalition that has killed thousands and starved the country into one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century. But a growing number of progressive members of Congress have come forward to challenge the consensus that arming Saudi Arabia is in America's interest. Earlier this year, former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told The Intercept that Saudi Arabia "is not an ally of the United States," and that the United States should rethink its relationship with the Gulf kingdom.

One of these representatives is Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who went a step further in an interview with Jeremy Scahill for the podcast, Intercepted. "I know this would never pass probably either house of Congress, but do you believe that the United States should stop entirely selling weapons to and giving military assistance to Saudi Arabia?" Scahill asked.

"Yes, I do," Khanna said. "I don't think the Saudis' human rights record or their record in military conflicts are consistent with our values. I don't think that we should be engaged in interventionism in the Middle East. ... We have this record of interventionism that has not made us any safer. And I view our pragmatic, or expedient, alliance with Saudi Arabia in the same way." Earlier this year, Khanna introduced a resolution that condemned the war and would have used a provision of the War Powers Act to halt U.S. support for Saudi Arabia.

Listen to the full interview with Khanna here:

Comment: See also:

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