Puppet Masters

Max Blumenthal: 'Israel lobby now calling the shots in Trump's rollback policy on Iran'

RT
Wed, 09 May 2018 01:23 UTC

President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal is a result of a lobbying effort by American Jewish billionaires and recycled, cooked-up intelligence touted by the Israeli PM, journalist Max Blumenthal told RT.

Trump's decision to pull the US out of the deal, which capped Iran's uranium enrichment in return for economic sanctions relief, has drawn widespread criticism from Washington's European allies and Moscow, but it was lauded in Israel, which has long pushed for dismantling of the 2015 accord.

If this doesn't speak for itself, Blumenthal told RT that the roots of Trump's decision to scrap the deal can be easily traced back to Israel.

"Israeli influence is absolutely key here. At least, Trump sided [cited] Netanyahu's kind of used car salesman style of presentation in order to justify withdrawing from the Iran deal and his new policy of rollback," the journalist said.

Taking aim at the bizarre PowerPoint presentation delivered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month, Blumenthal pointed out the Israeli leader essentially "introduced nothing new in his presentation," adding that "much of the intelligence" appears to be "cooked" and stem from the early 2000s.

Comment: Do we see the play potential? Israeli lobbies buy US politicians. Israel maneuvers a willing Trump to nix the Iran nuclear deal. Blowback from everywhere isolates the US. Israel completes 'hands-on' control of the US, including the long sought-after war with Iran.

What does the US want in Iran? Iraqi-style regime change

RT
Tue, 08 May 2018 21:32 UTC

The US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran on Tuesday is the first step in the American plan for a regime change in Iran carried out in accordance with the Iraqi scenario, Middle East expert Sami Ramadani told RT.

"If one listens carefully to what Trump was saying, really, the US is not only withdrawing from this multilateral international agreement unilaterally - scrapping it, but it's also, actually, threatening a regime change in Iran," Ramadani said. "The tone of his [Trump's] speech; the words he used are reminiscent of George Bush Jr's speech" before the US-led the invasion in 2003 when "lies were used to launch a genocidal war against the people of Iraq," he said.

The expert noted that not only was the Iraqi regime overthrown due to the US' military involvement, but the whole country was "destroyed." The US has been trying to destabilize Iran for decades, he said.

Comment: Connect the dots from 9/11 to Iran regime change. The pattern and complexity becomes 'unsurprisingly' clear.

One trick pony: US sanctions on Venezuela are to overthrow the government, not bring democracy

RT
Tue, 08 May 2018 17:40 UTC

New US sanctions on Venezuela are part of a campaign aimed at overthrowing the government and have nothing to do with drug trafficking, democracy or electoral fraud, professor of Latin American studies William Robinson told RT.

US Vice President Mike Pence in his speech to the Organization of American States on Monday called for other nations to increase pressure on Venezuela, slamming the country's upcoming election as illegitimate. He called on Venezuela to suspend its presidential election scheduled for May 20.

The US also announced sanctions on three Venezuelans and 20 companies with ties to socialist President Nicolas Maduro for alleged narcotics trafficking.

Robinson, professor of sociology and global and Latin American Studies at the University of California, told RT the new sanctions are a blatant form of election meddling intended to bring about regime change.

RT: Apart from imposing new sanctions on Venezuela, Mike Pence has called on Nicolas Maduro to suspend presidential elections scheduled for May 20. What do you think of this demand from the US Vice President?

Comment: In US terms, an election is fair and square only if the winning party is willing to be a dutiful US puppet. If not, strangle it with sanctions. As Venezuela moves to cryptocurrency, increases trade with BRICS and pays commercial expenditures with its vast oil reserves, it defies the intended choke-hold of US sanctions. Adding 'fuel' to fire: Venezuela's Palestinian Authority oil deal.

See also:

Haley rant: UN is 'abusive' and 'bullying' Israel

RT
Wed, 09 May 2018 00:32 UTC

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley says she "just started yelling at everybody" when she saw how UN members were constantly "bullying" Israel for things like its settlement push into Palestine and crackdown on Gaza protesters.

"It was abusive, how bad the international community was to Israel. It reminded me of a kid being bullied in the playground," Haley told the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) annual conference, which was held on Tuesday at the State Department.

"I just wasn't going to have it. It was just so upsetting to see, that I just started yelling at everybody," she added. Haley told everyone at the UN that "we had the back of Israel, and if they were going to mess with Israel they had to mess with the US."

Comment: Mesmerizing? Stupefying? Defying logic and good sense? Israel's grip on the US has literally locked American politicians into mind-numbing service. Thank goodness for stooges like Haley to exemplify the insane devotion to this fakery -- a wake-up call to thinking people all over the world.

Iran as crucial pivot for the multipolar world

Daahireeto Mohamud
Katehon
Tue, 08 May 2018 20:05 UTC

Iran has proven to be one of the staunchest anti-US hegemony states in the world. Since the 1979 revolution Tehran has fought bitter US/Isreali-induced wars in Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Syria, Lebanon and occupied Palestine, either directly or indirectly, while also facing harsh economic sanctions from the West. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a capable and shrewd regional power that will always affect the fate of the Middle east as history has shown for centuries past. The country occupies a geostrategic position that straddles the Middle east, the Persian Gulf region/Arabian sea, Central Asia, South Asia and the Caucus/Caspian region. Those key regions will be a crucial ''pivot'' for the 21st century great power geopolitical competition.

The Unipolar US will try to isolate the Eurasian great powers, Russia and China, by controlling "the rimlands'' of Eurasia and by destabilizing the above mentioned regions with its preferred hybrid wars. Iran will be a key node that the US will need to connect its NATO/Turkey military bases with its Iraq/GCC/Afghanistan/Pakistan military presence through potential actual military presence in India, and all the way to Mynamar and into its Asia Pacific military hubs. If Washington gets its way in having military presence in Iran and as it seems in India, then "the Great Geopolitical Wall" against Eurasian great powers will be completed from the European/NATO theater, through the Middle east and South Asia and all the way to the Asia Pacific theater. Only Iran and a potential Pakistani strategic re-alignment with Multipolarity could be the obstacle of such a "Great Geopolitical Wall". The US defense secretary Ash Cater's terming of ''strategic handshake" between the US's Asia pivot and India's act east policy is another name of this Wall.

Geopolitically

Iran is key for the multipolar world: Tehran's influence in Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Syria, Lebanon and potentially in Yemen and its geographic location in the Persian Gulf region and the Arabian sea/Indian ocean, will help the Multipolar leading states to break free into the rimlands of the Mediterranean sea and Indian ocean. In deed, the country is on the crossroads between the Eurasian heartland and the Middle eastern rimlands.

Iran's strategic thinking

Imposing the 'highest level' of sanctions on Iran: What it means for Tehran and others

RT
Tue, 08 May 2018 17:40 UTC

© Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
Empty and disused Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL Group) containers are seen at Malta Freeport in the Port of Marsaxlokk outside Valletta February 10, 2012.

US President Donald Trump said he will renew sanctions on Iran, bringing them to the "highest level," following his announcement that the US will leave the Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration in 2015.

In his announcement, Trump promised to create "bigger problems than it has ever had before" for Iran if the country develops nuclear weapons. But what are the sanctions and how do they affect other countries?

Comment: Things may not go as smoothly as Washington hopes: Europe ready to defy US economic sanctions on Iran

Russian parliament approves nomination of Medvedev as prime minister

RT
Tue, 08 May 2018 17:20 UTC

The Russian Lower House has approved Vladimir Putin's longtime ally Dmitry Medvedev as cabinet chairman for a new term, despite opposition from leftist parliamentary caucuses.

Of 433 lawmakers, present at the Tuesday session of the State Duma, 374 voted in favor of Medvedev's candidacy and 56 voted against. There were no abstentions. Earlier, representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the center-left party Fair Russia said they would not support Medvedev's nomination for the post as they considered the cabinet's performance over the past years as 'extremely poor'.

Less than an hour after the Duma vote, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that appointed Dmitry Medvedev as the head of the government.

In accordance with Russian law, Medvedev's government was dismissed after Vladimir Putin was sworn in as president on Monday, but all of its members continue to work until the new cabinet is formed. Also on Monday, Putin nominated Medvedev as prime minister, and the State Duma set the vote for Tuesday.

Dmitry Medvedev, 52, chaired the Russian government for the duration of Putin's previous presidential term, from 2012. Before that, he served as Russian president for four years while Putin headed the government.

Comment: Putin's approval ratings: 82% (17% disapproval). Medvedev's approval ratings: 42% (57% disapproval).

John Pilger special: Beyond the headlines on Syria, Salisbury, Yemen and North Korea

RT
Wed, 09 May 2018 18:58 UTC

We speak to the legendary journalist and filmmaker John Pilger about the events behind the mainstream media headlines on Syria, Salisbury, Yemen and the Korean peninsula.

Comment: See also:

Is Trump's real objective to enter a NEW Iran nuclear agreement? Loopholes suggest so

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 08 May 2018 16:45 UTC

One of the growing concerns resulting from Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Iran deal, is that oil - and gasoline - prices will jump so much, now that anywhere between 200kb/d and 700kb/d in Iran exports is taken out of the market, they will offset most benefits to US consumers from the Trump tax cuts. We covered this topic three weeks ago in "Rising Gas Prices Threaten To Wipe Out Trump's Tax Cut Benefits."

Incidentally, that's just one of the less severe complications that could emerge over the next 6 months as the full extent of the new Iran sanctions is rolled out. As we reported earlier, Trump said the U.S. would levy the "highest level" of sanctions against Iran - including the punishment of Western companies and banks if they continue to do business with the country - as Washington pulled out of the Iranian nuclear accord.

And while new contracts are banned, companies and banks will have 90 days or 180 days to wind down their ties before risking penalties.

"Any nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States," Trump said, envisioning a complete paralysis of the Iranian economy. As the WSJ summarizes, financial or business activities outlawed by Aug. 6, Treasury said, include exports of airplanes and parts, dollar transactions, trade in gold and other metals, sovereign debt and auto-industry deals. By Nov. 4, sanctions ban oil purchases, dealings with Iran's ports and shipping industry, any ties to its insurance sector and dealings with the central bank.

But is the president really willing to alienate any of the countless European and global states that will continue trading with Iran, especially since the latest sanctions cover every major aspect of Iran's economy, most importantly banning oil exports from the country, but also hitting the financial sector and the automotive and aviation industries?

That's the big question.

Comment: If this is Trump's plan, Iran would actually benefit by giving Trump his PR win - as Kim has done in North Korea. A new deal would have the effect of simply confirming what everyone with a brain already knows: Iran has no nuclear weapons program and no plans to develop one. If anything, that would put a major roadblock in the way of Israeli propaganda, and that's always a good thing. But this depends on Iran, and they're perfectly justified in telling Trump to take a hike.

Mueller teams up with NY AG Schneiderman in Manafort probe

Josh Dawsey
Politico
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 16:27 UTC

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The cooperation is the latest indication that the federal probe into President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman is intensifying. It also could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump's campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes.

The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller's and Schneiderman's teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering.

No decision has been made on where or whether to file charges. "Nothing is imminent," said one of the people familiar with the case.

Manafort has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has previously denied it. A spokesman for Manafort didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

Comment: Look what just happened to Schneiderman: Him too? NYC attorney general Schneiderman who sued Harvey Weinstein resigns after abuse allegations. As for Manafort, Mueller ended up pressing charges, but it might not go the way he wants. The judge questioned why the case was brought in the first place - it has nothing to do with Russians:

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Puppet Masters

Max Blumenthal: 'Israel lobby now calling the shots in Trump's rollback policy on Iran'

What does the US want in Iran? Iraqi-style regime change

One trick pony: US sanctions on Venezuela are to overthrow the government, not bring democracy

Haley rant: UN is 'abusive' and 'bullying' Israel

Iran as crucial pivot for the multipolar world

Imposing the 'highest level' of sanctions on Iran: What it means for Tehran and others

Russian parliament approves nomination of Medvedev as prime minister

John Pilger special: Beyond the headlines on Syria, Salisbury, Yemen and North Korea

Is Trump's real objective to enter a NEW Iran nuclear agreement? Loopholes suggest so

Mueller teams up with NY AG Schneiderman in Manafort probe

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