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Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity issue memorandum to Trump on war with Iran


MintPress News
Mon, 26 Feb 2018 21:11 UTC
William Binney

William Binney, member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
As President Donald Trump prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week, a group of U.S. intelligence veterans offers corrections to a number of false accusations that have been leveled against Iran.

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: War With Iran

Introduction

In our December 21st Memorandum to you, we cautioned that the claim that Iran is currently the world's top sponsor of terrorism is unsupported by hard evidence. Meanwhile, other false accusations against Iran have intensified. Thus, we feel obliged to alert you to the virtually inevitable consequences of war with Iran, just as we warned President George W. Bush six weeks before the U.S. attack on Iraq 15 years ago.

In our first Memorandum in this genre we told then-President Bush that we saw "no compelling reason" to attack Iraq, and warned "the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic." The consequences will be far worse, should the U.S. become drawn into war with Iran. We fear that you are not getting the straight story on this from your intelligence and national security officials.

After choosing "War With Iran" for the subject line of this Memo, we were reminded that we had used it before, namely, for a Memorandum to President Obama on August 3, 2010 in similar circumstances. You may wish to ask your staff to give you that one to read and ponder. It included a startling quote from then-Chairman of President Bush Jr.'s Intelligence Advisory Board (and former national security adviser to Bush Sr.) Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who told the Financial Times on October 14, 2004 that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had George W. Bush "mesmerized;" that "Sharon just has him wrapped around his little finger." We wanted to remind you of that history, as you prepare to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week.
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Handcuffs

Five Stockton, California teens arrested at anti-gun protest


KCRA 3
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:31 UTC
Stockton anti gun rally
At least five students were arrested Friday as hundreds of others from several Stockton high schools walked out of classes in protest of gun violence after last week's deadly shooting at a Florida high school.

Students at Stagg, Edison, Chavez, Lincoln and Village Oak high schools were walking along streets, creating traffic problems in the area as streets were blocked off.

Stockton police said some students threw rocks and damaged both police and citizen vehicles.

Five arrests were made, including charges of battery on an officer, resisting arrest, taking an officer's baton and vandalizing vehicles, including patrol vehicles, Stockton police said.
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Pirates

Unhinged transgender model who stated 'all white people are racist' selected as Labour's new equality adviser


RT
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 20:45 UTC
Munroe Bergdorf
© Munroe Bergdorf / Facebook
Munroe Bergdorf has been selected to advise Labour
A transgender model who branded white people "racist" has been chosen as Labour's new equalities adviser. The party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, has selected Munroe Bergdorf to work with its LGBT+ advisory group.

The 30-year-old model, from east London, revealed the news on Twitter. Posing next to Corbyn, she wrote: "Thrilled to announce that I've been asked to be part of an LGBT+ advisory board for The Labour Party - To advise Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, Dawn Butler MP, on issues affecting the LGBT+ community, to help form and push through fairer and more effective policy change."


Bergdorf came to prominence when she became L'Oréal's first trans model. Her stint for the cosmetics company was short lived, however, as she was fired only days after joining when critics unearthed comments she made in response to the far-right march in Charlottesville, US.
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Snakes in Suits

US State Dept. allocates $40M of military funds for 'info wars'


RT
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 09:24 UTC
twitbullseye
© Twitter/KJN
The Pentagon will pump millions into a State Department center created to fight propaganda and disinformation campaigns waged by foreign nations, as it wants to be "on the offensive" and respond "aggressively" to attacks.

The State Department announced on Monday that it had signed a memorandum with the US Department of Defense to transfer $40 million to the State's Global Engagement Center (GEC), so it could up its game in countering malicious content online.

Part of these funds will be distributed between various civil rights groups, creators of media content, non-governmental organizations, as well as state-funded and private research entities.

The grants would be awarded to those presenting the best ways to combat propaganda and disinformation. An Information Access Fund, to be set up for this purpose, will "support public and private partners working to expose and counter propaganda and disinformation from foreign nations."

Comment: Currently aimed internationally, how the State Department defines 'propaganda' and 'disinformation' may eventually jeopardize Alt-News sources as targets for differing with MSM in truth of reporting and factual information. Enticed by Pentagon/DOD money up for grabs and State Dept. backing, we can bet there will be a frenzy of accusations as the designated groups, NGOs, and eventually citizenry turn on unaffiliated media (and itself) to justify reportable infractions. Remind you of something?

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Footprints

Turkey deploys special forces to Afrin, prep for new fight


RT
Mon, 26 Feb 2018 17:58 UTC
Turk Convoy
© Dha/Global Look Press
Turkish army vehicles move to city of Reyhani, border between Turkey and Syria.
Ankara has sent police special forces units to the northern Syrian region of Afrin in anticipation of a new phase of its campaign against the Kurdish militias. It also says the UN-backed ceasefire does not affect its operation.

The special forces units crossed into Syrian territory from the southern Turkish provinces of Kilis and Hatay, local media reported. The new forces are expected to hold villages taken by Turkish troops from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as well as to take part in urban combat as Turkey's Operation Olive Branch apparently moves from the countryside to the major settlements.

"Deploying special forces is part of the preparation for a new fight that is approaching," Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag told Turkish NTV. "The fight will shift to places where there are civilians, as the area (of fighting) narrows," he said, adding that the special forces units have experience in fighting militants in residential areas.

Even though the Turkish operation has entered its sixth week, most of the larger towns in the Kurdish-held enclave, including the city of Afrin itself, remain in the hands of the YPG. Still, Turkish forces drove the Kurdish militias from all areas bordering Turkey, local media report. On February 20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the troops would lay siege to Afrin "in the coming days."

Comment: Ankara has remained fixated on this particular arena as a means to eliminate Syrian Kurds viewed as an extension of the PKK. Turkey has garnered no favor for this military operation. It will be opposed by the Syrian army and pro-Syria fighters, and could as well be opposed by the US and Israel.

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Arrow Up

UNSC passes Russia-sponsored resolution on Yemen, UK's Iran-bashing draft fails


RT
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 01:17 UTC
Yemen
© Stringer/Reuters
Yemeni inspect air strike damage by Saudi-led coalition in Saada, Yemen.
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a Russia-tabled draft that will see a technical extension of sanctions against Yemen. It comes after Russia vetoed a rival resolution that blamed Iran for fueling the conflict there.

All 15 UNSC members voted in favor of the draft resolution on Yemen, put forward by Russia as a compromise after it vetoed a rival, "antagonizing" draft submitted by the UK, that also drew criticism from China. The UK had proposed to include a provision that would call out Iran for allegedly violating an arms embargo on Yemen, imposed at the onset of its civil war in 2015. However, that draft gained only 11 votes in support, with Russia and Bolivia voting against and China and Kazakhstan abstaining.

Having said that Russia "fully endorses the majority of the provisions" set forth in the UK-sponsored resolution, Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia noted ahead of the vote that Moscow "cannot concur with uncorroborated conclusions and evidence which requires verification and discussions within the Sanctions Committee."

Comment: Haley is pure 'dog and pony'...without the dog and without the pony.
See also:

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Pistol

Florida gun show draws record number of attendees amid gun control debate

Shannon Valladolid
10 News
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 16:43 UTC
gun show
Thousands of gun enthusiasts -- more so than ever -- flocked to the Florida State Fairgrounds for the Florida Gun Show event.

Organizers say they had a record number of people attend the event on Saturday, Feb. 24, almost 7,000, and expected more Sunday.

The manager for the Florida Gun Show, George Fernandez, says they've never seen such a big crowd.

The company canceled the show in Fort Lauderdale next month after the mayor asked them to show respect to the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting earlier this month.

Comment: We see this same dynamic play out every time anti-gun activists go on their anti-gun crusade. Time and time again we see how liberal activism achieves the very opposite of their stated intentions. Maybe they're more interested in instigating drama and finger pointing than finding actual solutions that work. On that topic, it's clear the Broward County Public Schools' policy toward 'racial equity' didn't help.

See: Did progressive 'racial equity' disciplinary policies play a part in the Florida school shooting?

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Cloud Grey

German court rules individual cities may ban older diesel cars to reduce air pollution

Justin Huggler
The Telegraph
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 11:44 UTC
Diesel car ban germany
© AP
In a decision that is thought could inspire similar moves across Europe, Germany’s highest administrative court ruled that individual municipalities can ban older diesel cars from their streets in order to bring pollution levels down.
Diesel cars could be banned from German cities within weeks to cut air pollution following a landmark court ruling on Tuesday.

In a decision that is thought could inspire similar moves across Europe, Germany's highest administrative court ruled that individual municipalities can ban older diesel cars from their streets in order to bring pollution levels down.

The ruling sent shares in German carmakers tumbling and caused widespread concern among diesel car owners that their vehicles could lose almost all their second hand value if they are banned from city streets.

Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city, said it would impose a ban on some of its most polluted streets "within a few weeks", and other major cities including Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, the home of Mercedes and Porsche, are expected to follow.

Comment: France plans to end sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040

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Chart Bar

Big surprise: CNN's approval rating for Trump is 15 points lower than Rasmussen's

Robert Donachie
The Daily Caller
Tue, 27 Feb 2018 01:09 UTC
CNN versus Rasmussen polling Trump

CNN claims 35 percent of American adults approve of how Trump is performing while
Rasmussen Reports found 49 percent of respondents approve of the president
CNN is skewing polling data to show the majority of Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling the presidency.

The network published a poll Sunday that claims 35 percent of American adults approve of how Trump is performing as president. Those results are in stark contrast to a Monday Rasmussen Reports poll that found 49 percent of respondents approved of how the president is managing the White House.

Comment: As CNN appears to have an official mandate to denigrate Trump, it makes sense the polling methodology used would insure results consistent with that agenda.

Winning bigly: Trump's approval rating tops Obama's at same point during his term as president

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Attention

Oakland mayor tips off illegal immigrants before ICE raid - One citizen wants DOJ to charge mayor with obstruction of justice

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sun, 25 Feb 2018 21:03 UTC
arrest
Last week, President Trump suggested the idea of pulling federal immigration officers and Border Patrol agents out of California over the states "lousy management" in providing adequate support to federal agents in enforcing immigration policy.

As a "sanctuary state," California has snubbed the Trump administration and refused to comply with federal immigration laws, which ignited a fascinating struggle between state and federal officials.

Some officials within California have publicly expressed their efforts to develop sanctuary jurisdictions to harbor illegal aliens; such a move would be a direct violation of federal law and a dangerous step towards obstruction of justice.

While a constitutional crisis is brewing over federal immigration laws in California, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf just undermined the Trump administration by broadcasting a warning to all Bay Area residents Saturday night of a possible U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids starting "within the next 24 hours."


Comment: Update (Feb. 27): The father of a man killed by an illegal immigrant wants the DOJ to file obstruction of justice charges against Mayor Schaaf for her alerting immigrants to the ICE raid:
"I'd like to see the DOJ go after her, along with other people," Rosenberg told Fox and Friends Monday morning. "They should be going after her right now."

"I think she needs to be charged with obstruction of justice, a violation of (8 USC) 1324 of the U.S. Code, and harboring and shielding illegal aliens from detection," he explained. "She can say she didn't get it through official channels. You're not allowed to obstruct justice whether you got it through official channels or not."

"She has her priorities a little screwed up," Rosenberg continued. "Her priorities are to the citizens of Oakland and to the legal residents not to criminals."


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