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US claims Iran is behind the killing of hundreds of US troops in Iraq


Sputnik
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 14:22 UTC
C-17 Globemaster
© CC0
C-17 Globemaster at Joint Base Balad, Iraq
Back in February 2019, US President Donald Trump announced that the US was planning to maintain its presence in Iraq in a bid to monitor the country's neighbour and one of its key trade partners - Iran.

US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, has leveled criticism at Iran's alleged actions in the Middle East region, specifically blaming Tehran for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq since the start of the invasion in the Middle East state, citing previously classified information.
"In Iraq, I can announce today, based on declassified US military reports, that Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 608 American service members. This accounts for 17 percent of all deaths of US personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011".
The US special envoy also claimed that "IRGC's proxies" are responsible for killing many more Iraqi citizens. What is more, Hook alleged that Tehran is attempting to bring Iraq "under Iranian control" and that the most recent visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was part of these efforts. Tehran has not commented on the allegations, claimed by Hook.

Comment: The fault for American deaths in Iraq lies squarely with the US for initiating a needless war knowingly based on a false accusation. Deaths of Iraqi soldiers and civilians at the hands of the US? Estimates from 2003-2011 are a whopping half million. How many have died in Syria by US proxies? Estimates are 220,000. There are no comparisons that even begin to justify Hook's statements.

See also:

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Document

Russiagate hysteria alive and well: The DETER election meddling bill has its day in the Senate


RT
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 16:25 UTC
Van Hollen/Rubio
© Carroll County Times/Getty Images
Senators Chris Van Hollen and Marco Rubio
Mueller may have had his day, but the specter of Russian meddling still hangs over Washington. A bill newly introduced in the Senate promises to slap harsh sanctions on Russia should future election interference be discovered.

The 'Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines' (DETER) Act is the latest attempt by US lawmakers to squeeze Russia for a range of perceived election-related offenses. Introduced on Wednesday by Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida), it would require the Director of National Intelligence to determine within 30 days after every federal election whether Russia or any foreign government attempted to interfere.

If the DNI were to find such interference, it would require sanctions to be imposed on a list of Russian banks and energy companies. It would also prohibit US citizens from engaging in business with any entity owned by the Russian government, and freeze the assets of Russian political and business leaders targeted for sanction in the US.

The bill's text, seen by Reuters, appears to be a carbon copy of a bill introduced by Van Hollen and Rubio in January 2018. That iteration of the DETER Act never made it past introduction, and has languished in Congressional limbo ever since.

Comment: A groveling apology to Russia (and to President Trump) would be more appropriate.

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Hourglass

Magnier: Syria won't be able to liberate Golan for decades to come

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 17:48 UTC
druze golan
© JALAA MAREY/AFP/Getty Images
Druze men at the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights flash the V for victory sign as they look out across the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra, visible across the border on July 7, 2018
The Syrian state will not be in a position to liberate the occupied Golan for decades to come. US President Donald Trump made a gift of the territory to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu last month. The move was Trump's support for Netanyahu's domestic election campaign; Netanyahu is facing severe accusations of bribery and corruption. No government in Damascus can regain the occupied Golan in the next decades due to the hefty price the Syrian government would pay for any war with Israel to recover the territory. The only hope for Syria would be to copy the Lebanese experience and delegate power to a Syrian resistance. However, the Lebanese experience is unique and would be difficult to imitate, unless Syria were to regain good ties with the west and with Arab countries allied to the US.

Yes, the Lebanese resistance managed to impose on Israel in the year 2000 a humiliated unconditional unilateral withdrawal of most occupied territories. Ehud Barak, then the Prime Minister, decided to end over two decades of occupation and abandon his allies in the "South Lebanese Army" (SLA), withdrawing from Lebanon following repetitive attacks of the resistance that left over 1000 Israeli officers and soldiers killed.

Moreover, in the second Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006 (the first war was the 1982 invasion), Israel refrained from destroying the capital Beirut, the Ministry of Defence and many official institutions and infrastructure (bombing some official targets and destroying many bridges). The reason Israel held back from using its destructive firepower from these and other targets - even if it failed to achieve its goal of limiting Hezbollah's military capabilities - is also due to the split within the Lebanese government between friends and enemies of the hegemony and dominance of the US and its allies.
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Better Earth

German MP: Time for NATO to retire - 'security risk & lawbreaker'


RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:55 UTC
nato flag
© Reuters / Ints Kalnins
German lawmaker Alexander Neu lambasted NATO for conducting aggressive wars and raking up defense spending, suggesting Germany should quit its military command, and the bloc be dissolved altogether.

NATO's 70th birthday is "not a reason to celebrate, but rather an occasion to finally rethink it, before it's too late," Neu wrote in Die Freiheitsliebe blog on Thursday.

The lawmaker from the opposition Left Party slammed the US-led military bloc as an organization that poses "significant security risk to the world" and "systematically violates international law."

NATO revealed its true colors when it waged an "aggressive war" against Yugoslavia without the UN's approval, and carried out numerous interventions, which claimed the lives of "countless victims," Neu argued.

He pointed out that last year NATO's member states spent more than $1 trillion on defense, which is far more than the defense budgets of its rivals, China and Russia, combined.
The imperialist competition and the fear of losing economic and ideological supremacy drive NATO towards more rearmament and confrontation.
In order to avoid global escalation, the lawmaker proposed that Germany should leave the alliance's "military structures," and then NATO itself should be dissolved and replaced by a new "collective security system," which would include Russia.

Comment: Neu isn't wrong! Which is why countries like Germany, and Turkey, are probably better off out of NATO, threats from the American hegemon notwithstanding:

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Attention

Philippines President Duterte warns China to back off disputed island in South China Sea


The Guardian
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:53 UTC
Thitu Pag-asa island china philippines
© PAO,AFP,GHQ/Handout
Pag-asa island, also known as Thitu.
Philippine military warns that hundreds of Chinese vessels have 'swarmed' the Manila-held Pag-asa island

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned Beijing to back off from a disputed island in the South China Sea, warning of "suicide missions" if China touches it.

Duterte, aiming to attract trade and investment from China, has mostly withheld his early criticism of Beijing's expansive claims to the sea - a point of regional contention because trillions of dollars of goods pass through it.

But as the Philippine military warned this week that hundreds of Chinese coastguard and fishing vessels had "swarmed" the Manila-held Pag-asa island, also known as Thitu, the Philippine president spoke out late on Thursday.

Comment: Bloomberg adds:
The president's comments came hours after his Foreign Affairs Department said the presence of about 275 Chinese vessels near Thitu Island is "illegal" and violates Philippine sovereignty. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said on Wednesday the Philippines had filed a diplomatic protest on the latest incident.

Duterte, who pivoted the nation's foreign policy toward China almost three years ago when he took office, has said the Philippines can't afford to go to war against China, even after a July 2016 arbitral ruling on the sea dispute favored the Philippines. He's been under pressure to make a stronger stance against China's incursions in the South China Sea.

He would never allow China, which has "gobbled up the whole of China Sea" to occupy Thitu -- where the Philippines is constructing a ramp and repairing a runway, Duterte told reporters separately on Thursday. The president said he will tell his soldiers to "prepare for suicide missions" if China moves into Thitu.

Chinese Foreign Ministry officials have said this week the nations should settle disputes peacefully, while asserting their country's claim over the disputed island which it calls Zhongye.


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Che Guevara

Venezuela's pro-Maduro 'colectivos': True grass-roots organizations demonized by the West


RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:26 UTC
colectivos militia venezuela revolution
© Redfish
Ever since the US recognized Venezuela's wannabe coup leader, pro-government activists have been bracing for possible military intervention. Western media have been for years portraying them as thugs of the dictatorship.

So-called 'colectivos' caught the eye of the Western mainstream media around 2011, depicted as government-sanctioned gangs who are allowed to commit crimes in their neighborhoods with impunity as long as they serve as vigilantes against the opposition.

The term comes from much earlier times in the 1960s, when it was used to describe self-organized local political action groups banding together for various causes. An indigenous tribe opposing logging on its ancestral land, a local volunteer radio station going on air to discuss local politics, or an ad hoc labor union negotiating better conditions are all examples of colectivos.


Comment: The War on Venezuela is Built on Lies

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Colosseum

Joe Biden's surprise at Washington weaponizing the #MeToo movement

Robert Bridge
RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 15:34 UTC
Joe Biden
© associated Press
Biden's "affectionate style" isn't always welcome
The nationwide sexual shakedown that first took root in Hollywood has spread cross-country to the US capital, and is now knocking on Joe Biden's door. Is nobody safe anymore from charges of improprieties?

Let's start by saying that any attempt to separate sexual intrigue from the dull political process is about as likely as separating a dog from his bone. It's not really going to happen. Since the times of Cleopatra and Antony up until the contemporary smashup between Bill and Monica, such salacious tales have provided the public some titillating relief from the mundane and monotonous world of politics.

However, with the dawning of the #MeToo age, it seems that the prying public has pushed the envelope too far, and people now see - or really, really want to see - a dirty indiscretion in every innocent gesture. At least that is what Barack Obama's former vice president, Joe Biden, would like everyone to think.

Comment: There is some truth to this argument, but it does not negate the fact that men like Biden, with proven records of inappropriate behavior, have no business running a country.

Biden did not confine his 'affectionate style' to adults. He felt perfectly comfortable imposing himself on defenseless children. There's also the testimony of many Secret Services agents assigned to him over the years, who had to go out of their way to shield their female agents from him:

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Eye 2

More Project Fear: BoE's Carney says risk of calamitous no-deal Brexit is "alarmingly high"

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 13:45 UTC
Mark Carney

UN Special Envoy on Climate Action Mark Carney
As MPs battled to pass a business motion on the Letwin-Cooper bill to try and force Theresa May to request a lengthy Article 50 extension to try and avert a 'no deal' Brexit on April 12, BoE Governor Mark Carney took to Sky News to deliver his latest salvo in the central bank's efforts to stoke hysteria surrounding the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU.

Before revealing that he would "absolutely not" be staying in his role at the central bank past 2020 due to Brexit-related stress, Carney told Sky News that the risk of a no-deal Brexit is "alarmingly high" (even after Jeremy Corbyn said talks with the PM on a potential Brexit deal alternative were making progress), and that Tory demands for a "managed" no-deal Brexit were "absolute nonsense."

He also defended the central bank's gloomy forecasts for a 'no deal' scenario (as a reminder, Carney and the central bank's staff said 'no deal' would lead to an economic crisis in the UK that would be "worse than 2008"), and denied that he was guilty of fearmongering. After all, the central bank didn't simply butt in without reason: a committee of MPs had requested that the bank conduct an analysis, and hundreds of staffers at the central bank participated in the project, including its staff economists.

Comment: Brexit could happen by "accident" - eh?
And check out SOTT radio's:

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Eye 1

US has been using FISA warrant to spy on Huawei & keep evidence secret


RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 10:28 UTC
Huawei
© Reuters / Tyrone Siu
The US government has been spying on Huawei using the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, prosecutors in the case against the firm's CFO Meng Wanzhou revealed, collecting "extremely voluminous" evidence via the secret channel.

While the substance of the evidence - described as "electronic surveillance and physical search pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" - was not disclosed, Assistant US Attorney Alex Solomon said it would require "classified handling" and that the government would require a protective order over whatever it shares with the defense.

FISA warrants can only be obtained in cases where the target is suspected of acting as an agent of a foreign power, meaning US authorities were already treating Huawei as an extension of the Chinese government in order to collect evidence Huawei was acting as an extension of the Chinese government.
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Propaganda

Facebook is paying British Daily Telegraph to publish 'fake news' about how great it is

Rob Price
Business Insider
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 10:28 UTC
facebook daily telegraph

Some of the sponsored content so far. These people are shameless!
Facebook has found a novel solution to the never-ending deluge of negative headlines and news articles criticizing the company: Simply paying a British newspaper to run laudatory stories about it.

Facebook has partnered with The Daily Telegraph, a broadsheet British newspaper, to run a series of features about the company, Business Insider has found - including stories that defend it on hot-button issues it has been criticised over like terrorist content, online safety, cyberbullying, fake accounts, and hate speech.

The series - called "Being human in the information age" - has published 26 stories over the last month, to run in print and online, and is produced by Telegraph Spark, the newspaper's sponsored content unit.
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