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The simple truth about the Yemen catastrophe

Phil Butler
New Eastern Outlook
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 20:38 UTC
yemen
Yemen, Saudi Arabia's southern neighbor, is a human catastrophe that will go down in history as one of America's biggest policy mistakes. This poor Middle East country is the perfect reflection of failing U.S. strategies that will only balloon as the years draw on. Here is a candid look at another proxy war to perpetuate a misshapen dream.

The civil war in Yemen is about three things. Saudi/Israeli geostrategy, oil markets, and the geography of energy. Whatever else you hear about this most inhumane conflict, rest assured crude oil and natural gas are at the core of the conflict. With Saudi Arabia having already exhausted most of her oil reserves, only new finds in the region can prop up that ridiculous regime. I won't get into the term "peak oil" here, I've already covered this many times. The point is, the world's oil has to run out sooner or later, and places like Yemen are now becoming the battlegrounds for energy-dependent nations.

The Big Energy Grab

Comment: See also:

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Light Saber

Pepe Escobar: How Yemen's Houthis are bringing down a Goliath

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 19:35 UTC
Yemeni
© AFP/ Al-Houthi Group Media Office
An image taken from a video made available on July 7, 2019 by the press office of the Yemeni Shiite Houthi group shows ballistic missiles, labeled ‘Made in Yemen,’ at a recent exhibition of missiles and drones at an undisclosed location in Yemen. Footage showed models of at least 15 unmanned drones and missiles of different sizes and ranges.
"It is clear to us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack. There is no other plausible explanation. We support ongoing investigations to establish further details."

The statement above was not written by Franz Kafka. In fact, it was written by a Kafka derivative: Brussels-based European bureaucracy. The Merkel-Macron-Johnson trio, representing Germany, France and the UK, seems to know what no "ongoing investigation" has unearthed: that Tehran was definitively responsible for the twin aerial strikes on Saudi oil installations.

"There is no other plausible explanation" translates as the occultation of Yemen. Yemen only features as the pounding ground of a vicious Saudi war, de facto supported by Washington and London and conducted with US and UK weapons, which has generated a horrendous humanitarian crisis.

Comment: See also:

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Hourglass

Revelations of WikiLeaks #5: The myth it never published damaging material on Russia

Patrick Lawrence
Consortium News
Mon, 23 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
WikiLeaksspyfiles
© WikiLeaks/KJN
A month before Hillary Clinton spread the widely-believed myth that WikiLeaks had never revealed anything on Russia, the publication had already released more than a million files on the country.

This is the fifth article in a series that is looking back on the major works of the publication that has altered the world since its founding in 2006. The series is an effort to counter mainstream media coverage, which is ignoring WikiLeaks' work, and is instead focusing on Julian Assange's personality. It is WikiLeaks' uncovering of governments' crimes and corruption that set the U.S. after Assange, ultimately leading to his arrest on April 11 and indictment under the U.S. Espionage Act.

Among the many myths fostered by critics of WikiLeaks is that the publication has repeatedly shown political bias in favor of nations the U.S. treats as enemies and suppresses documents damaging to them. High on this list were Russia and Syria.

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Arrow Down

The baseless call for Trump impeachment over Ukrainegate will affect America long and badly

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Wed, 25 Sep 2019 22:07 UTC
Trump
© Michael Reynolds/EPA
US President Donald Trump
The transcript of President Donald Trump's phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart shows no pressure or threats to withhold aid. So why are Democrats and media still reading it that way, and invoking it as impeachment grounds?

For over two years, the Democrats pinned their hopes on Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was investigating the claims of "Russian collusion" and obstruction of justice in relation to it - only to come up empty-handed back in May.

Undeterred, the party pushed impeachment anyway, arguing that the report somehow showed obstruction of justice somewhere between the lines, and proved something it explicitly said it did not. Even that rationale was abandoned this week, when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi finally announced the impeachment proceedings.

Instead, the entire case was hung on the claim that Trump somehow "engaged in behavior that undermines the integrity of our elections, the dignity of the office he holds and our national security," in a telephone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine that took place on July 25, as Pelosi phrased it.

Comment: See also:
Pelosi: Impeachment inquiry over Ukraine call; Trump: It will help him win the election

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Dollars

Former Ukrainian Secret Service official: Ukraine funded Clinton's campaign with stolen IMF money

Collin McMahon
Gateway Pundit
Sun, 22 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
Vasily Prozorov
© Unknown
Vasily Prozorov
Vasily Prozorov is a former employee of the Ukrainian security service SBU. On his blog Ukraine Leaks, he reveals how former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and Oligarch Victor Pinchuk may have helped divert IMF funds to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Vasily Prozorov was an Ukrainian security service (SBU) staffer from 1999 to 2018. Since 2014, he was an expert consultant in the SBU's main anti-terror unit. In 2018, he fled to Russia. The Ukrainians now call him a traitor. Writing on his blog Ukraine Leaks, he says that in 2016, the Ukrainian government openly supported Hillary Clinton and tried to help her defeat Donald Trump.
"Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko was terribly afraid of a Republican victory, believing Donald Trump would change Russia policy and lift sanctions, reducing support for Ukraine and robbing Poroshenko of his Western power base. Ukrainegate is a criminal conspiracy of representatives of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the leadership of Ukraine in the person of Poroshenko, aimed at preventing Donald Trump from winning.

"At that time, I worked at SBU HQ in Kiev. I remember the panic that gripped the power structures in Ukraine after Donald Trump's victory. They expected immediate retaliation from Washington for Ukraine's participation in the attacks on Trump. Many politicians deleted their social media posts criticizing Trump. However, as it turned out, the phony Russiagate witch hunt kept the Trump campaign from doing anything that could look like "collusion" or "obstruction" abroad. Now, however, the Ukrainegate conspiracy is starting to unravel."

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Rouhani warns world leaders the Gulf region is 'on the edge of collapse'


RT
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 20:28 UTC
Rouhani
© Reuters/Carlo Allegri
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses UN General Assembly
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has told world leaders that the Gulf region is "on the edge of collapse, as a single blunder can fuel a big fire." His warning comes amid tensions with Washington and Riyadh.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Rouhani urged western nations against not to meddle in Iranian affairs.
"We shall not tolerate the provocative intervention of foreigners," he said, adding "we shall respond decisively and strongly to any sort of transgression and violation of our security and territorial integrity."
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Oil Well

Pompeo: US to take action on any 'sanctionable Iranian oil transaction'


Sputnik
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 03:19 UTC
PompeoMnuchin
© Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
US Sec. of State Mike Pompeo • US Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin
Earlier in the day, the US Treasury Department said that Washington had designated five Chinese nationals and six entities over alleged roles in helping Iran to circumvent US sanctions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed that Washington would "take action on any sanctionable Iranian oil transaction," following an announcement of new sanctions targeting Chinese companies "that transported Iranian oil contrary to US sanctions."
According to a notice issued by the Treasury Department on Wednesday, the new sanctions target the China Concord Petroleum Company, along with shipping vessels and companies that allegedly helped export Iranian petroleum, in violation of US sanctions.
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Arrow Down

Supreme Leader Khamenei: It's time for Iran to give up hope that Europe defies US sanctions


RT
Thu, 26 Sep 2019 15:48 UTC
Khamenei
© AP/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran should abandon the belief that Europe will spurn Washington's hardline policy towards Tehran, Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has argued, adding that those who wish to harm the Islamic Republic should not be trusted.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Khamenei said that despite pledging to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal, European nations have adhered to practically all aspects of US sanctions against Tehran, which were unilaterally imposed on the country after Washington withdrew from the accord last year.
"[They] have not taken any action and are unlikely to do anything for the Islamic Republic in the future. So, one should give up all hope on Europeans.

"There should be no trust in countries that have held the banner of hostility to [Iran's] Islamic system, led by the United States and some European countries, because they are openly hostile to the Iranian people."

Comment: Sputnik, 26/9/2019: Supreme Leader Khameini slams Europe and US
On 20 September, Washington introduced new economic sanctions against Iran over the Islamic Republic's alleged attacks on Saudi Aramco oil facilities, accusations that Tehran has vehemently denied. Despite the incident having been claimed by the Yemen-based Houthis movement, European leaders have also held Iran responsible for the attacks.

Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has slammed the "satanic" US and "hostile" European governments that have aligned against Tehran and thus should not be trusted, Islamic Republic News Agency reports:
"In the Quran, God introduces the way to overcome disbelievers and Satan as relying on Him. Today, too, when one sees that the enemy, Satan, the US government and the vicious European governments have lined up together against Iran, it increases our faith in our rightfulness.

"After signing JCPOA, a few European officials visited Iran. They met with me, too. I told them, 'These visits alone are useless. You should prove your honesty in action'. They didn't act upon it and declared adherence to the US's cruel secondary sanctions. There's no hope in them".
The comments came following Washington's imposition of a new round of economic sanctions against the Iranian Central Bank and sovereign wealth funds on 20 September, with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arguing that the move is aimed at cutting off "all sources of funds to Iran".


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Target

Sound and fury: PM Johnson labels parliament 'paralyzed', taunts uproar demanding he resign


RT
Wed, 25 Sep 2019 17:35 UTC
Boris Johnson
© Reuters/UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the House of Commons
UK PM Boris Johnson said he believes the Supreme Court was "wrong" to rule his decision to prorogue a "paralyzed parliament" and accused the opposition of "sabotaging" Brexit, as shouts and boos rocked the House of Commons.

In a raucous statement to the Commons on Wednesday, a day after the UK's highest court ruled his suspension of parliament "unlawful, void and of no effect," Johnson spent minutes haranguing the opposition before addressing the court decision, defying calls to resign and daring MPs to call a no-confidence vote and general election.

Johnson slammed opposition politicians for "three years of dither and delay" and said they wanted the country to be "locked forever in the orbit of the EU." The PM reiterated that he wanted to strike a deal with Brussels before the October 31 deadline, but that he was willing to leave "without [a deal] if necessary."

Comment: Just like the Democrats taunt Trump with impeachment in the US - but won't actually go there because they know they have no case and it will backfire spectacularly in the next election - BoJo's opponents taunt him to resign but keep blocking him from calling a snap election because they know it will backfire on them...

It's pretty incredible how synchronized the political crises are in the US and UK!

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Attention

Is Sanders' wealth tax too extreme? 'Billionaires should not exist!'


RT
Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:41 UTC
Bernie Sanders
© AP/Mark Humphrey
Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders
Democrat 2020 contender Bernie Sanders has unveiled an ambitious wealth tax proposal, promising to slash the fortunes of America's uber-rich. Is his plan an existential threat to the wealthy or mere election bluster?

The Vermont senator unveiled his plan on Tuesday, declaring on Twitter afterwards that "billionaires should not exist." If implemented, his 'Tax on Extreme Wealth' would see a progressive tax applied to couples with a net worth of $32 million, or singles with a worth of at least $16 million. These groups would give the government a one-percent cut of their fortune annually, while those with assets of $10 billion or more would face an 8 percent tax bill.

All in all, the proposal would see the fortunes of the wealthiest Americans halved over 15 years, and would generate $4.35 trillion over a decade, according to Sanders' campaign website.
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