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EU head Juncker: Europe needs to replace US as world leader, Washington no longer fit for the role


RT
Fri, 11 May 2018 08:18 UTC
eu and us flag
© Francois Lenoir / Reuters
Europe needs to replace the US as the world leader as Washington is no longer fits this role, the EU Commission head said following Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. Whether the EU can do it is another matter.

"At this point, we have to replace the United States which as an international actor has lost vigor, and because of it, in the long-term, influence," President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said while speaking to Belgium's Flemish regional parliament on Wednesday. He went on to say that Washington had been turning away from constructive international relations "with a ferocity that can only surprise us."

The top European official accused the US of being unwilling "to cooperate with other parts in the world." His words came just days after the US President Donald Trump announced that he would pull the US out of the Iranian nuclear agreement, which he repeatedly denounced as the "worst deal ever negotiated." Despite facing criticism from other parties to the deal, as well as some other members of the international community, the US leader seems to be sticking to his decision.
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Chess

Putin and Erdogan reportedly agree that US withdrawal from Iranian nuclear deal was a 'mistake'


RT
Fri, 11 May 2018 08:10 UTC
putin erdogan
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, discussed the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal on the phone, agreeing that Donald Trump's decision was wrong, a Turkish source said.

The two leaders discussed the US move on the phone on Thursday and "pointed out that it was a mistake," a source in the Turkish president's administration told RIA-Novosti. Erdogan and Putin also shared the opinion that "the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a diplomatic success, which must be preserved," it added. The official release on the Kremlin website says the two leaders discussed the American exit from the deal and the deal's importance, but it does not specifically mention any condemnation.

According to the source, the Turkish and Russian leaders also expressed concern over the recent escalation of tensions in Syria, as Israel carried out a massive airstrike against Iranian targets in the country early on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Erdogan told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the phone that he thought that the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal was wrong, and stressed that the accord must be maintained.

Comment: A Russian MP commented further on the ramifications of canceling the JCPOA deal, saying that the US withdrawal will only "incite action" from Iran to develop nuclear weapons and that the US is acting as an instigator.

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Bulb

Hungarian prime minister Orban declares end to "liberal democracy" in Hungary, promises to fight for Christian values


RT
Thu, 10 May 2018 11:08 UTC
hungary protest orban
© Lisi Niesner / Reuters
Policemen stand guard during a protest against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary May 8, 2018
Viktor Orban has declared the end of "liberal democracy" in Hungary, saying it has failed to defend freedoms and Christian culture in wake of the migrant crisis. He vowed to build a "Christian democracy" defying EU dictates.

In a Thursday address given after Hungary's new parliament handed him his third straight term, the Prime Minister said that Hungarians have defied the "old world order" in favor of Christian democracy, allowing Hungary to "survive and grow"as a nation.

"The era of liberal democracy has come to an end. It is unsuitable to protect human dignity, inadmissible to give freedom, cannot guarantee physical security, and can no longer maintain Christian culture," Orban said.

Hungary has built a "twenty-first century Christian democracy that guarantees human dignity, freedom and security" as well as "protects the traditional family model," the PM said. He added: "We are Christian Democrats and we want Christian Democracy."
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Attention

Judicial Watch finds evidence fmr FBI Director Comey coordinated with Mueller on Russia testimony

Sara Carter
saraacarter.com
Fri, 11 May 2018 01:30 UTC
james comey
Judicial Watch discovers emails revealing coordination

A government watchdog group revealed Thursday that former FBI Director James Comey was advised by senior FBI officials to seek Special Counsel Robert Mueller's advice prior to testifying before "any congressional committee" about President Donald Trump's campaign and its alleged collusion with Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to new emails obtained by Judicial Watch.

Comey was also advised to seek Mueller's counsel on the circumstances surrounding his firing by Trump before providing testimony to Congress, the Department of Justice emails obtained by Judicial Watch reveal. It is the first time evidence reveals there was coordination between the Special Counsel and Comey in the long drawn out controversial Mueller investigation.
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Jet4

The Real Story Behind Israel's Attack on "Iranian" Targets in Syria and Trump's Abandonment of the Iran Deal

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Thu, 10 May 2018 23:59 UTC
Israeli flag golan
The Israeli government maintains that it attacked dozens of "Iranian military sites" in Syria late Wednesday night in response to the alleged firing of 20 rockets by Iran at Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights. There is, however, no evidence that Iran or anyone else in Syria launched any "rockets" at Israeli targets in the Golan, although that claim served as a useful justification for the Israeli attack on Syrian air defense positions, which did occur.

According to the IDF, "50 Iranian targets" in Syria were hit. Five Syrian SA-22 (Pantsir S1) systems were also struck due to the fact that these systems targeted the Israeli planes, or so the IDF stated. This claim is, however, dubious given that the SA-22 is chiefly designed to target low flying aircraft and, more specifically, cruise and other missiles that fly at extremely low altitude. It was these systems, in conjunction with older Soviet-era Syrian air defense systems - updated in recent years by the Russian military - that shot down about 70% of the cruise missiles fired at Syria last month by the US, UK and French militaries.

Learning from a previous attack that resulted in at least one Israeli jet being shot down, last night's attack involved the use of mostly air-to-surface missiles fired from high altitude, well beyond the range of the SA-22 and other Syrian systems. So it's unlikely that Israeli jets fired on these positions in response to any 'barrage' from Syria. It is much more likely that these targets were pre-defined by Israel, largely via satellite imagery.
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USA

Global dictatorship - US tyranny unmasked

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik News
Thu, 10 May 2018 22:36 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© Reuters/Joshua Roberts
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting Republican Congressional leaders about tax reform at the White House in Washington, US, September 5, 2017.

US President Donald Trump has torn up yet another international treaty this week and pushed the world to the brink of more war in the Middle East - all on the back of absurd anti-Iran claims.

What do you call it when one country appoints itself to unilaterally violate international consensus and law in order to recklessly pursue illegal interests? A global dictatorship seems not exaggerated.

Let's relieve ourselves of illusions about "American democracy" and "freedom loving, law-abiding beacon of hope"; rather we need to call Washington out for what it is.

Make no mistake, the US government is acting like a rogue regime that is out on its own, holding a blow torch to the face of global peace. To have the support of just two other client regimes - Israel and Saudi Arabia - in violating the Iran nuclear deal this week only emphasizes Washington's wayward tyranny.

Russia, China, the European Union and the United Nations - signatories to the landmark 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - have all deplored Trump's move to blow up that accord.

Just like the Paris Accord on climate change and various trade treaties, Trump has shown a brazen disdain for any multilateral diplomacy. His high-handed, maximalist attitude reveals that his policy is not so much "America First" as "American Fist".
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Arrow Down

Tucker Carlson dumbfounded after Democratic Rep insists Republicans are the party pushing Russian collusion narrative

Amber Athey
The Daily Caller
Tue, 08 May 2018 21:10 UTC
Carlson Ciciline
© Fox News: May 8, 2018
Screen Shot Tucker Carlson and David Cicilline
Fox News' Tucker Carlson burst out laughing Tuesday when Democratic Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline insisted his party is not pushing the Russian collusion narrative.

Cicilline claimed that Democrats are hyper-focused on the economy and that it is actually Republicans who won't stop talking about Russia because they are trying to hide their alleged lack of accomplishments.

" On the one hand you're sort of right, that it does help Republicans, but this is being driven 100 percent by the left and to say otherwise is dishonest," Carlson, a co-founder of The Daily Caller, replied. "Part of you must feel shame for saying things that you know are not true."


Comment: This just goes to show how little grasp America's leaders have on reality. It's entirely probable that such people are flat out lying, but it is important to understand that a good deal of them believe the lies they tell in pursuit of their manufactured reality monster.

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Bad Guys

Syria and Iran establish new rules of engagement with Israel: Golan Heights no longer off limits

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Thu, 10 May 2018 22:03 UTC
syria israel air defense
Israel hits Syrian and Iranian objectives and weapons warehouses again (evacuated weeks before) for the fourth time in a month. 28 Israeli jets participated in the biggest attack since 1974. Tel Aviv informed the Russian leadership of its intentions without succeeding in stopping the Syrian leadership from responding. Actually, what is new is the location where Damascus decided to hit back: the occupied Golan Heights (20 rockets were fired at Israeli military positions).

Syria, in coordination with its Iranian allies (without taking into consideration Russian wishes) took a very audacious decision to fire back against Israeli targets in the Golan. This indicates that Damascus and its allies are ready to widen the battle, in response to continual Israeli provocations.

But what is the reason why new Rules of Engagement (ROE) were imposed in Syria recently?

For decades there was a non-declared ROE between Hezbollah and Israel, where both sides were aware of the consequences. Usually, Israel prepares a bank of target objectives with Hezbollah offices, military objectives and warehouses and also specific commanders with key positions within the organisation. Israel hits these targets (updated) in every war. However, the Israelis react immediately against Hezbollah commanders, who have the task of supporting, instructing and financing Palestinians in Palestine, and above all the Palestinians of 1948 living in Israel. This has happened on many occasions where Hezbollah commanders related to the Palestinian dossier were assassinated in Lebanon.

Last month, Israel discovered that Iran was sending advanced low observable drones dropping electronic and special warfare equipment to Palestinians. The Israeli radars didn't see these drones going backward and forward with their traditional radars, but were finally able to identify one drone using thermal detection and acoustic deterrence, to down it on its last journey.

Comment: The Shia axis of resistance has been steadily upping the ante in their responses to Israeli aggression. While Syria has historically not been provoked into retaliation, this is the second big response, the first being the downing of an Israeli fighter jet back in February. Now, they have shelled Golan. The Israelis must be very offended that Syria had the audacity to fight back. If they can get their backsides handed to them on a platter by Hezbollah, they don't stand a chance against the Syrian Army, plus Hezbollah, plus the Iranians. No wonder Lieberman declared "mission accomplished, all Iranian targets destroyed, nothing more to worry about!"

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Vader

Insane John McCain promotes all out war with Russia in new book

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Thu, 10 May 2018 00:00 UTC
evil john mccain
The United States should attack Russia in retaliation for all its electoral interference, John McCain argued in a new book. The Republican senator has an "excellent" track record when it comes to reselling pre-emptive attacks based on dubious allegations.

McCain, a veteran US politician who represents Arizona, wrote a new book, The Restless Wave, which is due out on May 22. In it, the Tomahawk missile lover calls for a tougher approach for Russia, and for the US to embrace its role as the world's cop.

In his book, McCain writes that he is anxious to "make [Russian President Vladimir] Putin deeply lament his attack on the founding of our democracy," while hiding quotes or footnotes with much regard to his incendiary claim.

"We also have cybernetic capabilities," says McCain in his book. "They should be used to expose the epic scale of their regime's corruption or to embarrass [Putin] in other ways."

Comment: The following 'must read' article pretty much sums up how we feel about this cretin of cretins:

Celebrate Loud, Long And Unapologetically When Psychopath McCain Finally Dies

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Dollar Gold

Follow the money...How three billionaires paved the way for Trump to withdraw from the JCPOA

Eli Clifton
Lobe Log
Tue, 08 May 2018 00:00 UTC
SingerMarcusAdelson
© unknown
Paul Singer • Bernard Marcus • Sheldon Adelson
President Donald Trump has just fulfilled a campaign pledge to tear up the Obama administration's signature foreign policy achievement, a multilateral agreement constraining Iran's nuclear enrichment (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA). In doing so, the president went against the advice of, among many others, his secretary of defense, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), Washington's three most important European allies, and almost-two thirds of Americans who believe that the U.S. should not withdraw from the deal, according to a CNN poll released on Tuesday morning.

Trump appears absolutely determined to undo as much of what Barack Obama accomplished as possible. In addition, the sheer perversity of his personality may well explain today's action. But it may also be useful to follow the apocryphal advice that Watergate's famous "Deep Throat" offered to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in All the President's Men, particularly in the unbelievably corrupt swamp of the Trump era.

Indeed, today's unpopular announcement may have been exactly what two of Trump's biggest donors, Sheldon Adelson and Bernard Marcus, and what one of his biggest inaugural supporters, Paul Singer, paid for when they threw their financial weight behind Trump. Marcus and Adelson, who are also board members of the Likudist Republican Jewish Coalition, have already received substantial returns on their investment: total alignment by the U.S. behind Israel, next week's move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and the official dropping of "occupied territories" to describe the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Comment: Signed, sealed, delivered...he's theirs.

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