Puppet MastersS


Attention

Spotlight on Iran and Donald Trump: Is war coming?

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
Foot in face
© unknownHistory repeats? Another step mistaken?
The conflict between the US and Iran is not rooted in any grand plan for Iranian control of the Middle East. It is the result of US concern about the system of alliances Iran has built up to prevent a repeat of the disaster of the Iran-Iraq war.

If since coming to office the new Trump administration has been making tentative moves towards repairing the US's fraught relations with Russia, towards Iran it has been acting with heightened hostility. It has blamed Iran for a missile attack on a Saudi frigate carried out by Yemeni forces, criticised Iran for its missile tests, and slapped more sanctions on the country. President Trump has made no secret of his strong disagreement with the Iranian nuclear agreement Iran agreed with the Obama administration, and he has also called Iran "the number one terrorist state".

What are the reasons for this hostility?

I should say first of all that I do not agree with the criticisms of Iran which are commonly made. Many of these assume an Iranian grand strategic plan to take over or dominate the Middle East by supposedly manipulating Palestinian and Shia Muslim grievances, and by waging war on Israel. There is in fact extraordinarily little evidence of such a plan, and I don't believe it exists.

As anyone who has had any dealings with Iranians knows, the central event in defining Iranian attitudes on foreign policy was the long and terrible war waged against Iran in the 1980s by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Comment: If Donald Trump has any sense and any doubt regarding the outlandish and unproven statements made in the past few days regarding Iran, he had best rectify the situation immediately. He has not only jeopardized fledgling relations with Russia, he has placed himself out on a very thin limb and the whole nation as well. Hillary couldn't have done it any faster! Disengage from being Israel's puppet and walk it back while you still can.

See also:

Read More...
Chess

Russia condemns US sanctions on Iran


PressTV
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 19:52 UTC
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov
© Sergey Fadeichev/TASSDeputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has expressed his regret over the new United States' sanctions against the Islamic Republic, saying bans are not an appropriate means to resolve issues.

"We regret this happened. We have always expressed our stance that sanctions are not an acceptable and suitable tool for resolving certain issues," TASS new agency quoted Ryabkov as saying on Monday.

The US Treasury Department said on February 3 that Washington had imposed sanctions on 13 individuals and 12 entities as part of bids to ratchet up pressure on Iran chiefly over Tehran's missile program.

The move against Iran is the first by the US government since President Donald Trump took office on January 20.

In a statement on the same day, the Iranian Foreign Ministry slammed as illegal the US anti-Iran sanctions and said the Islamic Republic would deliver a "proportionate and reciprocal" response to the move.

Comment: Further reading:

Read More...
Attention

World leaders duped by manipulated global warming data

David Rose
Daily Mail
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 19:28 UTC
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the world climate change conference
© AFP/Getty ImagesCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the world climate change conference
The Mail on Sunday today reveals astonishing evidence that the organisation that is the world's leading source of climate data rushed to publish a landmark paper that exaggerated global warming and was timed to influence the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.

A high-level whistleblower has told this newspaper that America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) breached its own rules on scientific integrity when it published the sensational but flawed report, aimed at making the maximum possible impact on world leaders including Barack Obama and David Cameron at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015.

The report claimed that the 'pause' or 'slowdown' in global warming in the period since 1998 - revealed by UN scientists in 2013 - never existed, and that world temperatures had been rising faster than scientists expected. Launched by NOAA with a public relations fanfare, it was splashed across the world's media, and cited repeatedly by politicians and policy makers.

But the whistleblower, Dr John Bates, a top NOAA scientist with an impeccable reputation, has shown The Mail on Sunday irrefutable evidence that the paper was based on misleading, 'unverified' data.
Read More...
Red Flag

Ultimatum? The coming clash with Iran

Pat Buchanan
The Unz Review
Fri, 03 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
WH and vultures
© Iran LobbyShredding Peace
When Gen. Michael Flynn marched into the White House Briefing Room to declare that "we are officially putting Iran on notice," he drew a red line for President Trump. In tweeting the threat, Trump agreed. His credibility is now on the line. And what triggered this virtual ultimatum?
Iran-backed Houthi rebels, said Flynn, attacked a Saudi warship and Tehran tested a missile, undermining "security, prosperity, and stability throughout the Middle East," placing "American lives at risk."
But how so? The Saudis have been bombing the Houthi rebels and ravaging their country, Yemen, for two years. Are the Saudis entitled to immunity from retaliation in wars that they start? Where is the evidence Iran had a role in the Red Sea attack on the Saudi ship? And why would President Trump make this war his war?


Comment: Iran does not train, nor back Houthi rebels.


As for the Iranian missile test, a 2015 U.N. resolution "called upon" Iran not to test nuclear-capable missiles. It did not forbid Iran from testing conventional missiles, which Tehran insists this was.

Is the United States making new demands on Iran not written into the nuclear treaty or international law — to provoke a confrontation? Did Flynn coordinate with our allies about this warning of possible military action against Iran? Is NATO obligated to join any action we might take? Or are we going to carry out any retaliation alone, as our NATO allies observe, while the Israelis, Gulf Arabs, Saudis and the Beltway War Party, which wishes to be rid of Trump, cheer him on?

Bibi Netanyahu hailed Flynn's statement, calling Iran's missile test a flagrant violation of the U.N. resolution and declaring, "Iranian aggression must not go unanswered." By whom, besides us? The Saudi king spoke with Trump Sunday. Did he persuade the president to get America more engaged against Iran?

Comment: Lots of questions, very few answers so far. Those answers had best be exemplary to risk peace at a time when all nations should be pulling back the rhetoric and animosity towards each other and concentrating on elimination of extremists and radical terrorists. Priorities, gentlemen! War is an irreversible trap.

See also:

Read More...
Target

Russia differs on Trump's labeling Iran 'number one terrorist state'


RT
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 14:08 UTC
tehran
© Sputnik/Andrey Stenin
Russia disagrees with a remark recently made by US President Donald Trump's that branded Iran as "the number one terrorist state," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, citing partnership between Moscow and Tehran. "We do not agree with the definition," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. "All of you know that Russia enjoys warm relations with Iran, we do cooperate on a range of issues, and we do appreciate our economic ties which, we hope, will go further," he added.

Trump lambasted the landmark nuclear deal reached in 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States, plus Germany), and the European Union.

In the first part of the interview with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, which was published on Sunday, Trump said "they [Iran] have total disregard for our country, they're the number one terrorist state, they're sending money all over the place and weapons." Earlier in February, one day after the White House imposed new sanctions on Iran in response to a ballistic missile test, US Defense Secretary James Mattis called Tehran the world's "biggest state sponsor of terrorism."


Comment: Trump and Mattis must have misspoken! Surely they meant the US, SA and Israel! These accusatory edicts will not impress Russia, nor cement any kind of trusting relationship.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif: "We will never use our weapons against anyone, except in self-defense. Let us see if any of those who complain can make the same statement."


"It's no secret for anyone that Moscow and Washington hold diametrically-opposed views on many international and regional policy issues," said Peskov. "Meanwhile, it can't be and should not be an obstacle when it comes to forging normal communication and pragmatic mutually-beneficial relations between Russia and the US."

Comment: Trump and Mattis may be victims of their own country's propaganda and culpability. It is hard to comprehend the blindsides appearing in statements and actions by this administration, such as concerning Iran, when it displays startling clarity in other controversial situations...unless you factor in Israel's influence and self-serving benefits. The American people want peaceful resolution. That means, from Trump on down, accuracy in judgement matters -- and actions, from the top, should follow that lead. All else is a step off the path.

Read More...
Eye 2

War of Terror continues: US-led coalition bombs civilian infrastructure in Raqqa, creating more refugees

Jamila Assi
Jamila Eyes
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 18:12 UTC
Syria bridge infrastructure Raqqa
Before
Once again, US-led coalition targets local infrastructure in Syria causing damage to civil life instead of eliminating terrorism. Yet, marches worldwide continue to support redundant causes that ignore lives of millions besieged in their own homes because of terrorism.

The city under the terrorist colonization of DAESH for over three years now is disconnected from the entire country living under the mercy of the radical group.
Read More...
Propaganda

Editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel defends 'beheading' cover, says Germany should 'build an alliance against Trump'


RT
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 18:12 UTC
Der Spiegel Trump cover
© Spiegel / Reuters
The editor-in-chief of German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel has defended a highly controversial cover depicting US President Donald Trump beheading the Statue of Liberty. He also called on Germany "to build an alliance" against the US leader.

"Der Spiegel does not want to provoke anybody," Klaus Brinkbaumer, Der Spiegel editor-in-chief and the executive editor of Der Spiegel Online, told Reuters, adding that the media outlet is actually "defending democracy" in "serious times."

"We want to show what this is about, it's about democracy, it's about freedom, it's about freedom of the press, freedom of justice and all that is seriously endangered," he said, referring to the cover published on Saturday's magazine.

Comment: Where were the crocodile tears when Obama was racking up his kill list across the Middle East? Where are they as Israeli forces shoot, cripple, and detain Palestinian children on a regular basis?

Read More...
Star of David

Israel hits Palestinian minors detained in January with thousands of dollars in "fines"


Ma'an
Fri, 03 Feb 2017 20:47 UTC
Israel arrest children
© Salih Zeki Fazlioglu/Anadolu
Over the course of the month of January alone, at least 64 Palestinian minors were detained and incarcerated in Israel's Ofer detention center, while the minors were imposed with a collective 52,000 shekels (approximately $14,000) in fines, the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners' Affairs said in a statement Monday.

The committee said that eight of the minors were detained after Israeli forces shot them.

Of the minors detained in January and held in Ofer, 28 were detained from their homes, 27 from the street, six at Israeli military checkpoints, and two after they were summoned for interrogation. One 16-year-old detainee was transferred to administrative detention, Israel's widely condemned policy of internment without trial or charge under undisclosed evidence.

Comment: "The only democracy in the Middle East . . . . ."

Read More...
Cult

Bringing America down as groups funded by George Soros are litigating to keep ports-of-entry wide open to terrorists

Fred Lucas
LifeZette
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 18:45 UTC
George Soros
More than a dozen lawsuits and counting have been filed against President Donald Trump's executive order that temporarily blocks visas from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. Looking beyond the handful of emotional personal stories that are gaining the media's sympathy, there is a more predictable political power dynamic at play. The lawsuits largely stem from organizations bankrolled by billionaire leftist George Soros and Democratic state attorneys general.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has carried out a political vendetta against Trump, led 15 other state attorneys general in a joint statement condemning what they called an "unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful executive order." The Democratic AGs also said, "Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country and no president can change that truth," a curious statement from the party that targeted the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Last August, George Soros' son, Alex Soros, posted a picture of himself with Schneiderman on Instagram, and wrote, "Great to meet with #newyork attorney general @ericschneiderman who recognized that @realdonaldtrump was a fraud way before many and has courageously taken him on!"

Schneiderman, as well as Democratic attorneys general in Virginia and Massachusetts, intervened in existing lawsuits. The lawsuit brought by Washington State Attorney General Robert Ferguson has achieved the most success, bringing the case that blocked the order nationwide.
Read More...
Dollar

Greece heading for Grexit (again)?

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 17:44 UTC
grexit greece debt crisis EU
Back in November I wrote a bleak account of the situation in Greece as I witnessed it following a brief visit there.

More recently I have written pointing out how the IMF has itself concluded that the situation in Greece is unsustainable.
Read More...