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'Kill first!' Netanyahu boasts unprovoked strikes on Syria thwarted imminent 'Iranian aggression'


RT
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 21:08 UTC
Netanyahu
© Lasha Darkmoon
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Defense Forces have struck multiple 'Iranian targets' outside Damascus, claiming it helped prevent a deadly attack with 'killer drones'. Syrian state TV said the country's air defenses intercepted most of the missiles.

There have been multiple reports of explosions in the sky over Damascus on Saturday evening before midnight, as Syrian air defense forces engaged "hostile targets" coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In a rare admission, the IDF confirmed the raid, claiming the it targeted Iranian Quds Force operatives and Shiite militias who were allegedly planning a "large scale attack of multiple killer drones."

The raid reportedly focused around Aqraba village, southeast of Damascus, but the majority of the missiles were intercepted before they could reach their targets, Syrian military sources claimed. There was no immediate confirmation of any death or injuries, even though Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said there might be casualties among the 'militia.'

Comment:

UPDATE: And more from RT, 25/8/2019: No Iranian targets hit by Israeli airstrikes in Syria
Tel Aviv's assertion that it attacked Iranian forces stationed near Damascus is untrue, the former head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has said, warning that the airstrikes would be answered by Syria's "defenders."

Major General Mohsen Rezaei dismissed allegations that the cross-border strikes had targeted Iranian military personnel who were planning to launch drone attacks aimed at targets inside Israel.

"This is a lie and not true. Israel and the United States do not have the power to attack Iran's various centers, and our (military) advisory centers have not been harmed," Rezaei told the semi-official ILNA news agency.

Earlier this week, Israeli airstrikes targeted an alleged Iranian weapons depot in Iraq - a move which was also strongly condemned by Rezaei.

"The actions carried out jointly by Israel and the United States in Syria and Iraq are in breach of international law and will soon be answered by Syria and Iraq's defenders," he said.
UPDATE: Sputnik reports 25/8/2019 Iran 'not safe anywhere' Israeli Ministers warn
"We are taking responsibility for the attack in Syria and are saying that Iran should feel it is not safe anywhere. Iran is working day and night all over the Middle East in order to build an empire that has set for itself the goal of destroying Israel", Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Ze'ev Elkin told Channel 13 TV news.

Likewise, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Kan public radio that Israel publicly acknowledged the airstrike to demonstrate that Iran "has no immunity anywhere": "The [Syria] action was intended to cut the head off the snake".

The remarks by the two ministers echoed a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also defence minister, issued just minutes after the Israeli military announced the attack.

"Iran has no immunity anywhere. Our forces operate in every sector against the Iranian aggression. I have directed that our forces be prepared for any scenario. We will continue to take determined and responsible action against Iran and its proxies for the security of Israel", he said.

In the aftermath of the strikes, IDF spokesperson Lt. Gen. Jonathan Conricus said forces had been put on high alert near the Syrian border.

"The IDF is prepared to continue defending the State of Israel against any attempts to harm it and holds Iran and the Syrian regime directly responsible for the thwarted attack", he said.
See also:

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Brick Wall

Trump to Johnson: A US trade deal for UK when it is finally rid of that 'hindering EU obstacle'


RT
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 08:01 UTC
JohnsonTrump
© irannewsdaily.com
UK PM Boris Johnson • US President Donald Trump
A "big" trade deal between the US and the UK will be possible once Britain leaves the European Union, Donald Trump has promised, describing the bloc as an obstacle that has hindered London's economic prospects.

The US president attended a working breakfast with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the G7 summit in France on Sunday, where he sounded confident that a comprehensive trade agreement between the US and Britain could be swiftly delivered. It will go much smoother once Brussels is cut out of the equation, Trump predicted.
"We're going to do a very big trade deal, bigger than we've ever had with the UK and now at some point they won't have the obstacle, they won't have the anchor around their ankle because that's what they have" Trump said, referencing Britain's looming breakaway from the EU.
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Attention

New Hampshire? Vermont? Joe Biden doesn't know where he is!


RT
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 10:13 UTC
Joe Biden
© Global Look Press
Presidential candidate Joe Biden in New Hampshire
The presidential campaign trail hasn't been kind to Joe Biden with the Democrat frontrunner frequently bumbling himself into controversies great and small. His latest gaffe saw him forget what state he's in.

The 76-year-old is spending most of his weekend meeting voters in Keene, New Hampshire. When asked by reporters about his impressions of the New England town, Biden offered a eulogy about a different state.

"What's not to like about Vermont in terms of the beauty of it?" he said. "And what a neat town. I mean this is sort of a scenic, beautiful town... everybody has been really friendly. I like Keene a lot."


Comment: See also:

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House

Trump now plans to open a US consulate in Greenland, after offer to buy the country was soundly rejected


The Guardian
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 11:30 UTC
Frederiksen/Trump
© picture-alliance.dpa
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen • US President Donald Trump
The Trump administration is planning to open a US consulate in Greenland for the first time in decades, amid increased strategic and economic interest in the Danish territory. The state department said in a letter to Congress that re-establishing a consulate in Nuuk is part of a broader plan to increase the US presence in the arctic. A copy of the letter was obtained by the Associated Press.

The US has a "strategic interest in enhancing political, economic, and commercial relationships across the Arctic region", said the letter to the Senate foreign relations committee.

Donald Trump sparked a diplomatic dispute with US-ally Denmark this week after he proposed that the US buy Greenland and the Danish government rejected the idea. Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen called it an "absurd discussion". Trump fired back that her comments were "nasty" and canceled a planned trip to Denmark.

On Friday, Trump said he had spoken with Frederiksen and called her "a wonderful woman. We had a great conversation," he told reporters before leaving the White House for the G7 summit in France. "We have a very good relationship with Denmark ... Very nice. She put a call in and I appreciated it very much."


Comment:


See also:

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Blackbox

Who's behind the ammo warehouse explosions in Iraq?

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 16:58 UTC
iraq targets
An explosion occurred Tuesday at an ammunition storage warehouse used by Iraqi security forces operating under the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) close to the US air and military base in Balad, Salahuddin province, 64 km north of Baghdad. Over a week before, a warehouse at Camp-Sakr used by the Federal Police and PMF in Baghdad city blew up, causing casualties. The vice commander of the PMF Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes accused Israel of being behind the explosions, claiming "four Israeli drones were stationed at the US military base in Iraq, responsible for both explosions". Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu hinted at the responsibility of Israel for the attacks saying "Iran has no immunity anywhere... In Iran itself, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen." Why is Iran the target and what could be the consequences?

There is no doubt that the war between the "Axis of the Resistance" (i.e. Iraqi PMF, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen and Palestinians in Gaza) and the "US-Israel Axis" and their Middle Eastern allies (Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrein) is at a new peak - since 2006 and the "large and serious failure" of Israel's third war on Lebanon. Moreover, in 2003, when the US declared itself an occupation force in Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Syria and delivered President Bashar al-Assad a warning to stop supporting Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, paving the road for a "New Middle East". Assad had the choice to join the "Axis of Resistance" or join the "US new World Order". When Assad's decision was made, the war started in Syria in earnest in 2011, to cut off the link with the "Axis of Resistance" and stop the flow of weapons to Lebanon (one of many reasons for the war in Syria). But again, the war failed to achieve its objectives and Damascus cemented its partnership with the "Axis of Resistance".

Iraq was next on the list of wars: the US watched ISIS, the "Islamic State" terror group, transferring its jihadists from Iraq into Syria and observed - without interfering for two months - how ISIS was occupying a third of Iraq in 2014. It was judged suitable for the US-Israel Axis and their Middle Eastern allies to watch idly the partition of Iraq, obviously in the hope it might disrupt the "Axis of Resistance". A sectarian war would have lasted decades in the Middle East, keeping all the countries concerned "very busy".
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Video

Steve Bannon promoting pathetic anti-China propaganda movie to Trump & Americans

Helen Buyniski
RT
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 16:37 UTC
scene anti chinese movie claws red dragon

A scene from "Claws of the Red Dragon"
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has faced the "China threat" head-on with a lukewarm propaganda film dramatizing the Huawei case in Canada, hoping to galvanize the American people (and president) for a second Cold War.

Claws of the Red Dragon - "inspired by real life events" - tells the tale of a stand-in for Huawei's Meng Wanzhou, her arrest in Vancouver on US orders, the retaliatory arrest of two Canadians for definitely not spying in China, and the Huawei-standin's totally real collusion with an especially evil Chinese government. Characters include a plucky Chinese-Canadian journalist hot on the trail of those dastardly Reds, so determined to get the story that even a decapitated cat left on her car can't intimidate her - and for a twist, she's dating an employee of the Chinese company! Will his loyalty to his girl outweigh his loyalty to his employer?!

Comment: Steve Bannon has always been a political loose cannon, but now it seems he could do some real damage. Perhaps Bannon's animus towards China may stem from his affiliation with the Chinese oligarch Miles Kwok aka Guo Wengui, who funded Breitbart after Rebecca Mercer withdrew her support?

Drudge outs Bannon and Breitbart's new benefactor
So, who is Miles Kwok aka Guo Wengui?

According to a 2017 New York Times article covering Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit with Trump in Mar-a-Lago, FL:
He is a billionaire who made his fortune in real estate. He has been called a narcissist. He posts to Twitter - incessantly - about politics and his battles against the media. Lately, he has been spending time at a Florida resort named Mar-a-Lago.
More:
He built a fortune in the Darwinian world of Chinese real estate, and people who crossed him soon rued the day. In 2006, he handed to the police a sex tape of a Beijing deputy mayor who had disputed one of his land deals. The official was imprisoned and Mr. Guo got the property, building the torch-shaped Pangu Plaza next to Beijing's Olympic Green, a landmark during the 2008 Summer Games.

He kept his extensive car collection in a vast underground parking lot, arranging the dozens of Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Bugattis in petal shapes to show to visitors, said one person who knows him.

He is in a long-running public battle with China's most prominent journalist, Hu Shuli, whose newsmagazine, Caixin, reported in 2015 that Mr. Guo used his ties to Ma Jian, a former vice minister in the country's spy agency, to further his business interests. Mr. Ma was expelled from the Communist Party and is being prosecuted on graft charges. Mr. Guo accused Ms. Hu of being corrupt and working for a "behind the scenes" power broker. Caixin sued Mr. Guo, saying he defamed Ms. Hu.
Little is known about Guo's connection with Bannon, but presumable the two could have met at Mar-a-Lago during the time Bannon was a staffer in Trump's White House. Just one month after Trump fired Bannon he made a high-profile trip to Asia including a stop in Hong Kong.


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Boat

US aircraft carrier deployed to 'deter' Iran stays 600 miles away from Strait of Hormuz

Zara Muradyan
Sputnik
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 15:59 UTC
uss abraham lincoln
© Sputnik / Brian M. Wilbur
The United States sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East in May in a "clear message" to Iran that any attack on American interests or those of its allies would be met with "unrelenting force" in response to what Washington described as a "number of troubling and escalatory indications".

Since being deployed to the Middle East in May, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has steered clear of both the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway linking Mideast crude producers to key world markets, The New York Times reported.

The USS Abraham Lincoln remains in the North Arabian Sea - over 600 nautical miles from the Strait of Hormuz, and the supposed reason for this, per the NYT, is the concern that if it goes through the oil passageway, the already existing tensions with Iran could escalate further.


Comment: Someone alert Captain Obvious. The Americans are all bluff and bluster. They know Iran is serious and that the American show of force is laughably impotent. See:

"We recognise that tensions are high, and we don't want to go to war. We don't want to escalate things with Iran", Capt. William Reed, a fighter pilot who commands the vessel's air wing, was cited as saying.

Navy officials, however, claimed that they could "reach Iran" as easily from where they were positioned as they could from the Persian Gulf, but the important thing is that, "they can reach us when we're there. When we're here, they can't".
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Attention

Gabbard was right all along: We're listening to the wrong voices on Syria

Maj. Danny Sjursen
TruthDig
Thu, 22 Aug 2019 15:28 UTC
Syrian army
© SANA via AP
Syrian army soldiers flash the victory sign after government forces capture five villages in the country’s northwest.
Once upon a time, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard traveled to Syria and met with the strongman President Bashar Assad. She considered her willingness to engage all sides of the country's bloody civil war to be an important step toward peace. For this bold action, she was widely pilloried at the time and considered by some an authoritarian apologist or outright traitor. The claim was repeated again recently by the ever-so-mainstream California Sen. Kamala Harris, a fellow Democratic presidential hopeful. The attacks on Gabbard's Syria record have been quite regular among Washington insiders, who considered the congresswoman foolish. But was she? More than two years later, given events in Syria, one must conclude that she certainly was not. Indeed, Gabbard was right all along.

Recently, Assad's Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has squeezed the anti-regime rebels in their last major stronghold of Idlib, in the country's northwest. Thus, the latest phase of Syria's civil war is nearly over. And Assad, along with his Russian and Iranian backers, have won. Perhaps that's not such a bad thing. Un-American blasphemy, right? Hardly.
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Red Flag

Joe Walsh announces Republican primary challenge against President Trump

Will Steakin
ABC News
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 09:47 UTC
Former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh

Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh
Conservative firebrand former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh announced Sunday with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" that he's launching a long-shot Republican presidential primary challenge against President Donald Trump.

"I'm going to run for president," Walsh told Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview.

When Stephanopoulos pointed out the massive uphill climb Walsh has in front of him in the primary thanks to Trump's overwhelmingly high approval rating within the party, the controversial former congressman argued that conservatives don't have an alternative to the president.

"I'm running because he's unfit; somebody needs to step up and there needs to be an alternative. The country is sick of this guy's tantrum -- he's a child," Walsh said.

Comment: See also: Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Who Is America?' takes aim at Republicans

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Chess

Iranian FM makes surprise visit to Biarritz where G7 leaders discuss fate of nuclear deal


RT
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 14:28 UTC
Javad Zarif
© AFP / Geoffrey Van Der Hasselt
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif pictured in Paris on Friday.
Iranain Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has touched down in Biarritz, France, where G7 leaders are discussing a plan to restart the floundering nuclear deal. His surprise visit came at the invitation of his French counterpart.

The unscheduled visit at the invitation of Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian comes after Zarif met President Emmanuel Marcon earlier this week to discuss the fate of the agreement. The spokesman said Zarif would not be meeting US President Donald Trump or any of his delegation while in France.

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran Deal) all but collapsed after the US withdrew unilaterally last May, leaving Washington's European allies struggling to maintain trade with Tehran in the face of multiple rounds of US sanctions, and with military tensions between Iran and the US flaring in the Persian Gulf.

Comment: See also:

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