Puppet Masters

Columnist Tom Friedman condemns Iran for shooting protesters; but 'easy' to defend Israel for the same

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC

In a New York Times column three days ago, Tom Friedman embraced the protesters across the Middle East as a sign of democratization. He slams the "bad guys" in Iran for shooting protesters. He writes:

"These movements are authentic and inspiring, but their chances of taking power remain remote, largely because their biggest opponent — the Islamic republic of Iran — is ready to arrest and kill as many democracy demonstrators as needed to retain its grip on Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, not to mention at home. Iran's clerical regime has emerged as arguably the biggest enemy of pluralistic democracy in the region today...

"Iran has used its Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Syria and its Popular Mobilization Forces militia in Iraq to try to snuff out all their bottom-up secular democratic movements — while also crushing the biggest secular-democracy uprising in Iran itself in 40 years."

Amnesty International says that Iran has killed at least 208 demonstrators since it began cracking down November 15.

The numbers are not much better from Israel's violent response to the Gaza protests over the last 20 months. Human rights agencies have characterized Israel's live-fire policy as a violation of humanitarian law. The United Nations found last March that Israel killed 183 civilians who posed no threat to Israel and wounded another 6000 people. Amnesty International said Israel was pursuing a deliberate policy of maiming civilians, causing untold physical and psychological damage, and called for a world-wide arms embargo on Israel. The casualties have included journalists and paramedics.

Comment: As in the case with Iran, there are no 'bottom-up democratic movements' without the ways, means and impetus from certain Western governments, NGOs and affiliated meddlers to instigate conflict benefitting their own political and geopolitical interests.

'Nuke aimed at Iran'? Tehran raises alarm after Israel test-fires mystery rocket in broad daylight

RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 19:00 UTC

As the world is abuzz with speculation over Israel's shadowy "rocket propulsion system" test, Tehran bluntly claimed that the projectile it fired from a base south of Tel Aviv was actually a nuclear-capable missile aimed at Iran.

"Israel today tested a nuke-missile, aimed at Iran," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested in a tweet posted on Friday evening. He lamented that the West never complains "about the only nuclear arsenal in West Asia," but "has fits of apoplexy over our conventional defensive [rockets]."

Comment: He's right. Israel is an illegal, undeclared nuclear-armed state. But as God's Chosen People, they're exempt from international law, apparently.

The mysterious missile in question was launched earlier in the day, with Israel's military remaining conspicuously tight-lipped about it.

"The defense establishment conducted a test of a rocket propulsion system, from a base in central Israel," read a carefully worded tweet that caused much speculation among informed pundits and the media.

Further muddying the water, the Defense Ministry didn't even disclose the location of the "pre-determined" test, but videos and photos that popped up on social media showed a single, long trail of smoke rising from the Palmachim airbase situated south of Tel Aviv.

Same old, same old: Reddit says US-UK trade deal leaks may be tied to Russia, citing speculation from... the Atlantic Council

RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 19:40 UTC

A trove of secret papers cited by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in attacking the Tories may have links to Moscow, Reddit has announced. The proof? The US-UK-NATO-funded Atlantic Council says it isn't sure but it might be true.

The leaked documents, which were shared on the discussion site several weeks ago, point to evidence that the United States would demand a market share in the UK's National Health Service in any trade talks after Brexit. In a statement, Reddit said that it believed that the accounts that had shared the documents were "part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from Russia."

Comment: Indeed, Ben Nimmo is one of the vanguard in punting the Atlantic Council's neocon propaganda:

And a bit on the amusingly-named Integrity Initiative, mis-begotten child of the Institute for Statecraft:

Iraqi leader al-Sadr's Najaf home hit by drone strike - no claim of responsibility

Sputnik
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 18:52 UTC

© Reuters / Thaier al-Sudani
An Iraqi demonstrator throws fireworks towards Iraqi security forces during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq 23 November 2019

Muqtada Al-Sadr's popularity has been coming under strain in recent days among both protestors and Iran-backed forces. The latter has been frustrated by his continued declarations of support for the ongoing anti-government protests that have brought the country to a near total political and economic standstill.

The Najaf home of the Iraqi Shiite nationalist leader, Muqtada Al-Sadr, has been struck by a drone of unknown origin, according to an announcement by his Sadarist organisation.

Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi, an official of the Sadarist organisation who is said to be close to Mr Sadr, issued a statement on social media that garnered tens of thousands of likes on Facebook and which said that the leader's house had been struck by a drone. Mr Sadr was out of the country at the time of the attack.

Comment: Masked militants? Unknown gunman? Sounds just like the U.S. coup tactics in Ukraine during the Maiden, and now in Hong Kong.

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked Trump's bid to restart federal executions

Kevin Daley
Daily Caller
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 07:45 UTC

The Supreme Court dealt a temporary setback Friday to the Trump administration's bid to revive the death penalty after a 17-year hiatus, refusing the government's request to clear the way for four federal executions a lower court judge put on hold.

The high court did not disclose the vote count or its reasoning, as is typical of orders of this nature. However, the justices did instruct the lower courts to speedily process the dispute.

"We expect that the Court of Appeals will render its decision with appropriate dispatch," Friday's order reads. Justice Samuel Alito put a finer point on that directive in a statement accompanying the decision, which Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined.

"The Court has expressed the hope that the Court of Appeals will proceed with 'appropriate dispatch,' and I see no reason why the Court of Appeals should not be able to decide this case, one way or the other, within the next 60 days," Alito's opinion reads. "The question, though important, is straightforward and has already been very ably briefed in considerable detail by both the Solicitor General and by the prisoners' 17-attorney legal team."

The Trump administration resumed executions after a near-20 year reprieve in July. Attorney General William Barr directed the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to use a single-drug pentobarbital lethal injection protocol for capital punishment, which was at issue in the case before the high court.

Comment: See also: DOJ would take halted executions to high court

Corbyn v. Johnson leaders' debate is won by... Labour's Barry Gardiner?

Neil Clark
RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 18:10 UTC

Both Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson performed satisfactorily at Friday night's UK pre-election leaders' debate, but arguably the winner of the evening was someone who didn't take part.

As leaders' debates go (and I'm not a big fan of this particular US import), it wasn't too bad. The BBC's Nick Robinson chaired it quite fairly and allowed both the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader to finish off their points. It was a far cry from the abysmal ITV 'debate' a few weeks earlier, which had one reaching for the mute button after a few minutes.

As was expected, Boris Johnson kept it simple, very simple in fact, focusing on what he (rightly) regards as Corbyn's and Labour's electoral Achilles heel: namely their support for a second EU referendum, with Remain as an option. One lost count of how many times the Prime Minister said "Get Brexit done" in the programme, or the times he said he still didn't know what Corbyn's position was. If the Tories do win the election, and they're currently very short-priced favourites to do so, then a major reason will be Labour's shift away from their 2017 "we will respect the referendum result" position to their adoption of a second referendum policy. Arguably it wouldn't be so bad if Corbyn had said his party would campaign for the Leave deal - that he said they'd get from the EU - but he didn't. You don't have to be a Tory to ask yourself: How can Labour get a better deal from the EU, if those negotiating it don't want to leave the EU in the first place?

China imposes reciprocal restrictions on US diplomats, waives some tariffs on food

Strait Times
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 16:30 UTC

China said on Friday (Dec 6) it had taken "reciprocal" measures against US diplomats in the country, who will have to notify the Foreign Ministry before meeting local officials.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said China had notified the US embassy of the new measures on Wednesday (Dec 4), which she said were a "countermeasure" to Washington's decision in October to restrict Chinese diplomats.

"We once again urge the US side to correct its mistakes and revoke the relevant rules," she told reporters at a press briefing.

Comment: At the same time China is choosing to waive some trade tariffs including soybeans and sorely needed pork:

Beijing is working to exclude some soybean and pork shipments from its retaliatory tariffs on Washington, China's Finance Ministry has said, citing a decision by the tariff commission.

Chinese firms can file applications to get tariff waivers for US soybean and pork imports, the ministry said in a statement on Friday without elaborating on the quantities. It added that the companies are expected to purchase the goods on the basis of independent negotiations, import as they see fit, and bear the related profits or losses.

Some Chinese companies import a certain amount of goods from the US to cover domestic needs. China is currently facing a big shortage of pork as African swine fever wiped out a huge part of the country's pig livestock.

The simmering trade row between Washington and Beijing has already resulted in import taxes on billions of dollars' worth of goods. China hit US soybean and pork imports with 25-percent tariffs in July 2018 in response to US levies on its goods over alleged unfair trade practices by Beijing.

The two sides are currently working on a 'phase one' or interim deal to ease tensions, and lifting tariffs on each other's goods is one of the key issues at the talks.

President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions earlier this week when he said that the trade deal with China may have to wait until after next year's presidential election in the US.

Establishment would 'never accept' Russia in NATO, but why would Russia join anyway, even if invited?

RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:15 UTC

What if Russia became part of NATO upon Trump's invite? Sounds unthinkable given the Western elites' mentality, but that's how a German paper sees warming up ties with Moscow - and sends "a signal of despair," analysts told RT.

Never free of discord, relations between Moscow and the North Atlantic bloc are now at their lowest point in decades. Since the 2014 Ukrainian crisis, NATO has singled out Russia as one of its official adversaries, and not a single month passes without reports on NATO making power moves in Eastern Europe - to which Russia responds in kind.

It seems that the animosity will persist for quite a long time - despite some recent attempts by France to defuse tensions and get back on good terms with Russia again.

Turkey opted for Russia's S-400 as NATO allies weren't selling similar systems - FM Cavusoglu

RT
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:16 UTC

Turkey turned to the Russian-made S-400s as it didn't succeed in getting air-defense systems from its closest NATO allies including the US, France and Italy, its foreign minister explained.

Procuring the S-400s from Moscow has been more of an urgent necessity than a political choice, Turkey's chief diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday at a security conference in Italy.

"Does Turkey need air defense systems?" he asked, receiving an affirmative answer from the panel meeting. "Do we have our own? No. Thank God we've been producing more than 70 percent of [what the military] needs in Turkey and we will continue to that end, but we're still not a self-sufficient country in defense industry, not yet," he continued.

Comment: See also:

Oil prices struggle as Saudi Aramco plans $25.6 billion share sale in biggest ever IPO

Aya Batrawyd
AP
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 12:05 UTC

© AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File
FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2019, file photo, a man walks past a compound for Saudi Aramco in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco on Thursday, Dec. 5, set a share price for its IPO, that puts the value of the company at $1.7 trillion, more than Apple or Microsoft.

Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco on Thursday set a share price for its IPO — expected to be the biggest ever — that puts the value of the company at $1.7 trillion, more than Apple or Microsoft.

The company said it will sell its shares at 32 riyals ($8.53) each, putting the overall value of the stake being sold at $25.6 billion. That surpasses IPO record holder Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese conglomerate and e-commerce company that raised about $25 billion in 2014.

Aramco, which pumps and produces Saudi Arabia's crude oil to the world, is floating a 1.5% stake in the company, or 3 billion shares. Trading is expected to happen on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange by mid-December.

Comment: See also:

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Puppet Masters

Columnist Tom Friedman condemns Iran for shooting protesters; but 'easy' to defend Israel for the same

'Nuke aimed at Iran'? Tehran raises alarm after Israel test-fires mystery rocket in broad daylight

Same old, same old: Reddit says US-UK trade deal leaks may be tied to Russia, citing speculation from... the Atlantic Council

Iraqi leader al-Sadr's Najaf home hit by drone strike - no claim of responsibility

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked Trump's bid to restart federal executions

Corbyn v. Johnson leaders' debate is won by... Labour's Barry Gardiner?

China imposes reciprocal restrictions on US diplomats, waives some tariffs on food

Establishment would 'never accept' Russia in NATO, but why would Russia join anyway, even if invited?

Turkey opted for Russia's S-400 as NATO allies weren't selling similar systems - FM Cavusoglu

Oil prices struggle as Saudi Aramco plans $25.6 billion share sale in biggest ever IPO

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