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Trump warns Antifa had better hope the 'other side' doesn't mobilize: They are 'tougher, smarter & angrier'

Saagar Enjeti and Benny Johnson
The Daily Caller
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:16 UTC
antifa charlottesville
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Anti-fascist counter-protesters wait outside Emancipation Park to hurl insluts as white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the “alt-right” are forced out after the “Unite the Right” rally was declared an unlawful gathering August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
President Donald Trump warned violent leftists and Antifa members that an opposition to them may "mobilize," and it would mean "big trouble" for the leftist group.

"They better hope that the opposition to Antifa decides not to mobilize," the president told The Daily Caller in an exclusive Oval Office interview Wednesday.

"These people, like the Antifa - they better hope that the opposition to Antifa decides not to mobilize. Because if they do, they're much tougher. Much stronger. Potentially much more violent. And Antifa's going to be in big trouble. But so far they haven't done that and that's a good thing," he continued.
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Star of David

Russia sidelines Netanyahu in its anteroom

M.K. Bhadrakumar
Indian Punchline
Sun, 11 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
Netanyahu
© NBC News
Netanyahu put 'on hold'.
It is over a month since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced that he was going to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin with a view to open a new page in the relations between the two countries following the incident over Syrian skies on September 17 when a Russian reconnaissance plane was shot down killing 15 personnel.

However, Moscow has not scheduled Netanyahu's visit so far. Netanyahu hoped that on the sidelines of the ceremony marking the centenary of the World War 1 armistice in Paris to tomorrow there might be an opportunity for a meeting with Putin. The Israelis sought a meeting. But Moscow apparently hasn't confirmed Putin's convenience.

Clearly, Moscow is keeping Netanyahu in the anteroom to cool his heels, signaling that it cannot be 'business as usual'. In a hard-hitting interview with Times of Israel, the Russian ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov made it clear in the weekend that the September 17 incident rankled. He said Russian defence establishment is "extremely disappointed" with the Israeli military's response to the incident.

Ambassador Viktorov also rubbed it in that the Israeli demand for the removal of all Iranian troops on Syrian soil is both "unrealistic" and unnecessary since Iran has no plans to attack Israel and it is Israelis, after all, who are killing Iranians and not vice versa!

Comment: Russia watches and waits. Honor or dishonor exhibited by its 'friends' determines Moscow's reactions.

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Snakes in Suits

Macron: Being America's ally doesn't mean becoming its vassal state


RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 19:33 UTC
TrumpMacron
© Reuters/Vincent Kessler
Presidents Trump and Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he wasn't offended by a slew of angry tweets directed at him earlier this week by Donald Trump, saying that he understood the US president was just playing to a domestic audience.

Macron, who was speaking to reporters on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, said that respect was due between the US and France, two long-time allies, recalling that France was at America's side during its fight for independence - something which many on Twitter also tried to remind Trump after he mocked French losses during both world wars.

"At every moment of our history, we were allies, so between allies, respect is due," Macron said. Asked about Trump's tweets, the French president said: "I think he's playing politics, and I let him play politics."

Macron also said that being an American ally does not mean being a "vassal" state.
"The United States are our historic ally and will continue to be. It's the ally with which we take all the risks, with which we carry out the most complicated operations. But being an ally doesn't mean being a vassal state," he said.

Comment: Macron and Trump: a battle of conceits. Is France a vassal state, given its most domineering factor is Macron?
See also:
Post-bromance spat: Trump taunts Macron for country's losses to Germany in both World Wars, low approval ratings and wine policy

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Stock Up

What's the damage? About to top $6T, the war on terror's price tag tally has only begun


RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 05:08 UTC
War ruins
© Reuters / Alaa al-Marjwani
With the longest war in US history now dragging into its 17th year, Americans are looking at a massive bill. Total costs of the War on Terror now approach $6 trillion, according to a new report - to say nothing of the human costs.

To arrive at this mind-boggling sum, Brown University's Cost of War report included not only Defense Department spending in Iraq and Afghanistan, which at $1.9 trillion is already nothing to sneeze at, but associated expenses from the State and Homeland Security Departments, an increase in the Department of Defense budget, and - perhaps the most significant hidden cost of the war - long-term healthcare costs for veterans. All told, the "check" comes to $5.9 trillion.

And will that be cash, or credit? The US has been financing these wars through deficit spending and borrowing, meaning there are hefty interest payments to be made. A 2011 calculation that capped total war appropriations at a fraction of their current level yielded a cumulative interest figure of $7.9 trillion. Given that the Trump administration has shown no sign of winding down the fighting - indeed, his cabinet has expanded its saber-rattling beyond Iran and Venezuela into outer space - there is no telling how long we will continue to borrow against the inevitable to fund our war habit.


Comment: Cost of War: If you feed it, it grows.

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Eye 1

Google sparks privacy concerns after absorbing subsidiary with access to NHS patient data


RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 16:59 UTC
A nurse hands out methadone to addicts in Lisbon.
© Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images
A nurse hands out methadone to addicts in Lisbon.
Google will integrate a UK-based health company into its main organization, igniting concerns that the tech giant will misuse NHS patient data that the health company had been given access to.

DeepMind, a company that develops artificial intelligence (AI), was purchased by Google in 2014 and will merge its health division with Google Health, a new venture focused on consolidating the tech giant's health-related projects.

The partnership aims to turn DeepMind's 'Streams' app into a fully-fledged "AI-powered assistant for nurses and doctors."

The news has caught the eye of privacy advocates and even government watchdogs.
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Bad Guys

After a string of failures, the West's goal is still to stoke sectarian war in Middle East

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 16:36 UTC
nato saudi
All wars initiated or supported by the US establishment - from the occupation of Iraq in 2003, the second Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, the regime-change in Syria in 2011 and the occupation of a third of Iraq in 2014 - have failed in their goal of stoking the fire of sectarian war between Sunni and Shia in the Middle East. The failure of this strategy has pushed the US establishment towards two new options: the first, of using media to reveal Saudi Arabia's intention to harm the Iranian economy and assassinate its military commanders. The second is to promote and advertise for an "Arab (Sunni) NATO Army". The goal is to keep the possibility of sectarian war alive.

The struggle for dominance between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been going on since the fall of the Shah and the victory of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Nevertheless, today's level of direct confrontation in various parts of the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrein and Yemen) is unprecedented. This is partly the result of US efforts to throw gasoline on the fire of hate and competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

It is against the interests of the US establishment to see the Iran-Saudi struggle wane because that would damage the US economy. Trump said clearly that he needs Arab money in exchange for the protection he is offering, otherwise "the Arab regimes won't last for one week". Accordingly, a state of non-war or non-competition between Tehran and Riyadh would significantly reduce the billions of dollars in US arms sales to Saudi.
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Light Sabers

Sec. of State Pompeo lashes out at Newsweek Magazine, claiming it 'spread lies' about US sanctions on food imported into Iran


Sputnik
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 16:43 UTC
pompeo
© AFP 2018 / Saul Loeb
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Newsweek had helped Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif spread "lies" about possible US sanctions on food imported into Iran.

In a tweet, Pompeo called the magazine "#FakeNewsweek," saying that the US "does not, and never did, sanction food and medicine," nor monetary transactions related to humanitarian needs.

Pompeo's comments came after Newsweek published an article last week with a headline suggesting Pompeo said Iranians would not eat if they did not follow the US' will. The story quoted an interview Pompeo gave to BBC Persian, in which he said that the Iranian leadership should make decisions that would address their people's needs.
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Arrow Up

Prosecutor to seek death penalty for Khashoggi's accused killers - US sanctions 17 Saudis in connection with murder


RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 10:53 UTC
Khashoggi
© Erdem Sahin/EPA-EFE
Slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor says he will seek the death penalty for five individuals accused of murdering Jamal Khashoggi. He said the crown prince was not implicated in the crime.

"The public prosecutor has requested the death penalty for 5 individuals who are charged with ordering and committing the crime," deputy public prosecutor and spokesman Shaalan al-Shaalan told reporters. He, however, didn't name those five people.

Eleven people have been charged and 21 are being held for Khashoggi's murder, the prosecutor said. The journalist and Washington Post columnist was allegedly strangled at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

The plans to retrieve Khashoggi "were in place on September 29," three days before his murder, the statement from the prosecutor said. A team was sent by the former deputy intelligence chief to retrieve the journalist and persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia.

The commander of the mission allegedly decided to murder the prominent journalist if the persuasion failed. "The body of the victim was dissected after the murder and removed from the consulate by five of the team members. One of them then gave the remains to a local handler", the prosecution claimed.


Comment: 17 Saudis have been sanctioned for their alleged involvement in Khashoggi's murder.

Among the sanctioned individuals is Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, who Turkish authorities believe led a 15-man 'kill team' to Istanbul to murder Khashoggi.

The New York Times reported that Mutreb had told a superior by phone to "tell your boss" that Khashoggi had been killed. The "boss" is suspected to be Crown Prince bin Salman, although Saudi authorities deny his involvement.

For details on the latest definition of Khashoggi's murder and remains, see: Turkey reveals Khashoggi 'murder kit' x-ray photos

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Cross

Poroshenko signs pact with Constantinople against Ukrainian Orthodox Church - but there's still hope to avoid a schism

Dmiry Babich
Strategic Culture Foundation
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 16:08 UTC
poroshenko patriarch
Increasingly tragic and violent events are taking their toll on the plight of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Ukraine. After several fights over control of the church's property, prohibitions and blacklists are starting to spread, affecting respected church figures coming from Russia to Ukraine. The latest news is that the head of the Moscow Theological Academy, Archbishop Amvrosyi Yermakov, was deported from Ukraine back to Russia. Amvrosyi's name popped up on the black list of Russian citizens who are not deemed "eligible to visit" Ukraine. Obviously, this happened right before his plane landed in Zhulyany, Kiev's international airport. After a brief arrest, Amvrosyi was put on a plane and sent back to Moscow. This is not the first such humiliation of the Orthodox Church and its priests that has taken place since the new pro-Western regime came to power in Kiev in 2014. Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church has been declared persona non grata throughout Ukraine since 2014. That decision was made by humiliatingly low-level officials. A department within the Ukrainian ministry of culture published a ruling stating that Kirill's visit to Ukraine's capital of Kiev "would not be desirable."

Since the ancestors of modern Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians were first baptized in 988 in Kiev, the Patriarchs of the Russian Church have never had problems visiting Kiev, the birthplace of their church. Not even under the Bolsheviks did such prohibitions exist. So, for Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church to be denied permission to visit Kiev can only be compared to a possible prohibition against the pope visiting Rome. Since 2014, there have also been several criminal cases filed against the priests of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC MP) because they have called the hostilities in eastern Ukraine a "civil war" and have discouraged the faithful from supporting that war. This has been interpreted by the Ukrainian state authorities as a call for soldiers to desert the army.

Comment: See also:

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Rocket

Pepe Escobar: Decoding the hypersonic Putin on a day of remembrance

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 15:29 UTC
Trump Merkel macron cosgrave putin
© AFP
US President Donald Trump peers across from German Chancellor Angela Merkel toward French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Governor General Peter Cosgrove at a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary in Paris of the end of World War I.
The Elysee Palace protocol was implacable. Nobody in Paris would be allowed to steal the spotlight away from the host, President Emmanuel Macron, during the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day marking the end of World War I.

After all, Macron was investing all his political capital as he visited multiple World War I battlefields while warning against the rise of nationalism and a surge in right-wing populism across the West. He was careful to always place the emphasis on praising "patriotism."

A battle of ideas now rages across Europe, epitomized by the clash between the globalist Macron and populism icon Matteo Salvini, the Italian interior minister. Salvini abhors the Brussels system. Macron is stepping up his defense of a "sovereign Europe."

And much to the horror of the US establishment, Macron proposes a real "European army" capable of autonomous self-defense side by side with a "real security dialogue with Russia."

Yet all these "strategic autonomy" ideals collapse when you must share the stage, live, with the undisputed stars of the global show: President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin.
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