Ukraine, Crimea, Syria, Israel, Iran, Turkey, Putin, China, and World War III

[silvanelf]

The last word says it all: ... poof.

Pompeo said earlier that the US was in possession of "intelligence" suggesting Iran is behind the attack...but he neglected to offer any poof.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...rmuz-oil-soars

[ThePythonicCow]

Gregory Mannarino predicts "Now... Expect Imminent US Military Strike On Iran." His forecasting record, especially regarding the Federal Reserve and the New York stock markets, but also related matters, is better than most of us.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=dR1F_WvSSJU

Damn, just damn.

(I also posted this at Explosions hit two large oil tankers in Sea of Oman -- Post #6.)

[silvanelf]

Posted by Hervé (here)
‘Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what happened’: Iran’s FM on tanker ‘attacks’ in Gulf of Oman

RT
Published time: 13 Jun, 2019 10:41
Edited time: 13 Jun, 2019 11:33
Get short URL

Image reportedly showing smoke coming from one of the tankers said to have been attacked, May 13, 2019 © AFP PHOTO / HO / IRIB

Iran’s foreign minister has labeled the reported attack on two “Japan-related” oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman as “suspicious,” occurring just as Japanese Prime Minister Abe came to Tehran for major talks.

[...]

There are serious doubts regarding the alleged torpedo attacks. On the web users are debating several possibilities:

• torpedos
• anti-ship missiles
• mines
• drones equipped with an explosive payload

All quotes below are reader comments from the "Moon of Alabama" article, see link at the bottom.

First of all, even a single torpedo will cause tremendous damage -- in other words the hole would be very large. Nevertheless, there are some disagreements about this question on the web, see the second quote:

You honestly believe that a supertanker can take three torpedoes and still stay afloat? Really?

In general, sinking a large tanker ship is hard, it is divided lengthwise into multiple compartments, I guess there are parallel tanks too, so even if you create a large hole, or several, the ship is floating.

But here is the crucial point:

If it took a torpedo hit then the damage will be below the waterline and the hull plates will be bent inwards.

The key will be where the damage is: above the waterline, or below the waterline.
[...]
Damage below the waterline could be Iran, or a competent false-flag.
Damage above the waterline suggests an incompetent false-flag.

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/0...rest.html#more

[silvanelf]

Breaking news from reuters -- a few minutes ago:

'Flying objects' damaged Japanese tanker during attack in Gulf of Oman

TOKYO (Reuters) - Two “flying objects” damaged a Japanese tanker owned by Kokuka Sangyo Co in an attack on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, but there was no damage to the cargo of methanol, the company president said on Friday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-m...-idUSKCN1TF0M9

Wait a moment -- yesterday the US claimed to know that these were torpedo attacks, now they are talking about mines:

Gulf of Oman tanker attacks: US says video shows Iran removing mine

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48633016

edit: they say the tanker was struck above the waterline ...

The Kokuka Courageous was damaged in a suspected attack that breached the hull above the waterline while en route from Saudi Arabia to Singapore, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said. “The ship is safely afloat,” it added.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...f-oman-us-navy

[Tintin]

Echoing my sentiments entirely, in lieu of viewing the above shared video commentaries, the one and only Craig Murray (and posted from here)

——————————————

The Gulf of Credibility
14 Jun, 2019 by Craig Murray

I really cannot begin to fathom how stupid you would have to be to believe that Iran would attack a Japanese oil tanker at the very moment that the Japanese Prime Minister was sitting down to friendly, US-disapproved talks in Tehran on economic cooperation that can help Iran survive the effects of US economic sanctions.

The Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous was holed above the water line. That rules out a torpedo attack, which is the explanation being touted by the neo-cons.

The second vessel, the Front Altair, is Norwegian owned and 50% Russian crewed (the others being Filipinos). It is owned by Frontline, a massive tanker leasing company that also has a specific record of being helpful to Iran in continuing to ship oil despite sanctions.

It was Iran that rescued the crews and helped bring the damaged vessels under control.

That Iran would target a Japanese ship and a friendly Russian crewed ship is a ludicrous allegation. They are however very much the targets that the USA allies in the region – the Saudis, their Gulf Cooperation Council colleagues, and Israel – would target for a false flag. It is worth noting that John Bolton was meeting with United Arab Emirates ministers two weeks ago – both ships had just left the UAE.

The USA and their UK stooges have both immediately leapt in to blame Iran. The media is amplifying this with almost none of the scepticism which is required. I cannot think of a single reason why anybody would believe this particular false flag. It is notable that neither Norway nor Japan has joined in with this ridiculous assertion.

——————————————

[Hervé]

...

... anyone NOT confused yet?

From Jim Stone:

Something is SERIOUSLY AMISS with the oil tanker reports from ALL sources

There are TONS of inconsistencies. Some sources are saying one of the ships (the one I showed yesterday) sank, yet the ship's operator says it is floating fine, but on fire.

Some sources say the Iranians saved the crews of both ships, other sources are saying The Americans saved the crew of at least one of the ships and the Koreans rescued the crew of the other ship, which begs the question: Why then are both crews sitting in Iran?

Lots of reports are claiming torpedoes. Other reports are claiming Limpet mines. And other reports are claiming "flying objects" hit the ships while Iran is now claiming that upon investigation, it looks like technical issues caused the fires. That's not a done deal yet, and HIGHLY suspicious.

Some reports have both tankers carrying crude oil. Some reports have one carrying gasoline and the other one alcohol. And other reports are claiming one was carrying naptha.

It is very difficult to assess what is going on with all the conflicting crap out there.

The only thing consistent so far is that there are no crews on these ships, Iranian investigators are on at least one of the ships, and it appears everything happened above the water line which means yesterday America's MSM was posting bull**** photos of damaged hulls.

I think Iran's claims that both tankers had "technical issues" are LUDICROUS. They are not done yet, we'll have to see where these stories go.

[silvanelf]

The neocons drove the Iranians into a corner, that's a dangerous escalation. Trump has no plan B, he seems to be sure that the Iranians will cave in. But all evidence indicates the opposite -- Iran is ready to "go all in."

Russia and China have a strong interest to avoid a Middle East escalation. It will be interesting to see how they try do defuse the situation.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo conveyed a message from US President Donald Trump to the Iranian leadership, asking the release of 5 US prisoners and inviting Iran to sit around a negotiation table, adding “he [Donald Trump] would be ready to suspend all sanctions only during the negotiations”. No guarantee was offered to freeze or revoke the sanctions. Sayyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the revolution, rejected the message and any dialogue with the US President and told his guest that he considers Trump unworthy to “to exchange a message with”.

Informed sources close to Iranian decision makers repeated the words of President Hassan Rouhani and the Iranian advisor to Sayyed Khamenei for international affairs, Ali Akbar Velayati, namely that “if Iran can’t export oil through the Persian Gulf, no-one in the Middle East will be able do this”. The source “expects further attacks in the future, given the US decision to stop the flow of oil by all means at all costs. Thus, oil will stop being delivered to the world if Iran can’t export its two million barrels per day”.

-- snip --

https://ejmagnier.com/2019/06/15/tru...acks-expected/

[Hervé]

The Broader View Reveals the Ugliest of Prospects

by craig
17 Jun, 2019

Standing back a little and surveying the events of the last couple of weeks, gives a bleak view of the current state of western democracy.

We have seen what appears to be the most unconvincing of false flags in the Gulf. I pointed out why it was improbable Iran would attack these particular ships. Since then we have had American military sources pointing to video evidence of a packed small Iranian boat allegedly removing a limpet mine from the ship the Iranians helped to rescue, which was somehow supposed to prove it was the Iranians who planted the alleged device. We also have had the Japanese owner specifically contradict the American account and say that the ship was hit by flying objects.

The Iranians certainly have a strange method of bomb disposal if they carry it out using unarmoured personnel, with as many as possible crammed into a small boat in immediate contact with the “mine”. It is also hard to understand why the alleged “limpet mines” would be four feet above the waterline.

Limpet mines are placed below the waterline. There are numerous reasons for this. Firstly, holes above the waterline will not sink a ship. Secondly, the weight of the water helps contain the blast against the ship. Thirdly, it is obviously harder to detect both the diver placing the mine and the mine once placed if it is below the water. In fact it would be very difficult for a diver to place a limpet mine four feet above the waterline, even if they wanted to.

There seems to be a remarkable disconnect between the widespread popular disdain at yet another fake western power casus belli in the Middle East, and the near universal complicity of the UK political and media class in promoting this transparent lie. It is as though even pretending to have any respect for truth and fact has simply been discarded within the UK’s governmental system. Which ought to worry us a lot.
The second development ought to have been the biggest media story of the decade in the UK, if we had anything like a free and honest media. Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, made plain the Trump administration’s intent to prevent the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister. Pompeo told a meeting of Jewish leaders:

It could be that Mr. Corbyn manages to run the gantlet and get elected. It’s possible. You should know, we won’t wait for him to do those things to begin to push back.

This blatant interference by a foreign power in the UK’s democracy is an absolute scandal. Compare the lack of media outrage at Pompeo’s intervention with the ludicrous claims made about much less high profile Russian attempts at influence. This incident provides incontrovertible proof that the world does indeed operate in the way that I have been explaining here for a decade. It is not a “conspiracy theory” that democracy is manipulated by hidden powers, it is fact. Pompeo’s description of Corbyn’s route to election as “running the gauntlet” is particularly revealing. Even more so is the cursory coverage this story was given, and I have seen no evidence to date of any MSM “journalist” attempting any follow-up investigation on the methods the US are planning to employ – or more likely already employing – against Corbyn.

Everybody should be incandescent at this, no matter who they vote for.

Something else which revealed the truth of the way the political world now operates, and which again did not get nearly the media attention it deserves, was Matt Kennard’s stunning revelation of the way the Guardian has been taken over by the security services. I have been explaining for years that the Guardian has become the security services’ news outlet of choice, and it is very helpful to have documentation to prove it.

It is worth noting that the Guardian obeyed completely the DSMA committee ban on mentioning Pablo Miller in reporting the security service fantasy version of the Skripal story. As Kennard points out, it is also very interesting indeed that the Guardian published Luke Harding’s front page fabrication of Manafort/Assange meetings two weeks after MOD Director Dominic Wilson congratulated Guardian deputy editor Paul Johnson on “re-establishing links” with the security services. The Guardian is, like other British newspapers, as controlled by the military and security services just like in any other decent autocracy.

Incidentally, I cannot find Matt Kennard’s excellent work set out anywhere, except in that twitter stream. Surely there is an article on a website somewhere? I cannot find anything on Google, but as it is exactly the kind of information Google routinely suppresses, that does not mean it is not out there. Anyone seen it?

Finally, we have of course seen Sajid Javid sign the extradition warrant for Julian Assange to be sent to the United States for the “crime” of publishing truthful information about US government illegalities. Julian’s extradition hearing was, contrary to normal practice, held despite the fact he was too sick to attend in person. And it was presided over by Judge Arbuthnot, despite the fact that her husband is a former Tory defence minister who started a “security consultancy” in partnership with a former head of MI6, the war criminal John Scarlett who oversaw the fabrication of the dossier of lies about Iraqi WMD, in order to launch an illegal war of aggression that killed and maimed millions. The Assange team had asked her to recuse herself on that pretty obvious basis, but she had refused. At an earlier hearing she taunted Assange with the observation that he could get adequate exercise in the Embassy on a 1.5 meter Juliet balcony.

Just as the Guardian has never apologised for, nor withdrawn, the utter lie of the Assange/Manafort story, so the identity politics promoting, false “left” has never apologised for its pursuit of Assange over sexual allegations in Sweden, which were obvious on the slightest scrutiny to be only a fit-up designed to get him into custody. Those figures like David Allen Green, Joan Smith and David Aaronovitch, among scores of other pustulous hacks, who mocked and scorned those of us who always said that Assange faced not extradition to Sweden but to the United States for publishing, have been shown up as, at the very best, stupid naive and unwitting tools of the state, and more likely, insincere and vicious propagandists.

This brief review of current issues reveal that not only do western governments lie and fake, they have really given up on trying to pretend that they do not. The abuse of power is naked and the propaganda is revealed by the lightest effort to brush away the veneer of democracy.

I find it hard to believe that I live in times where Assange suffers as he does for telling the truth, where a dedicated anti-racist like Corbyn is subjected to daily false accusations of racism and to US and security service backed efforts to thwart his democratic prospects, where the most laughable false flag is paraded to move us towards war with Iran, and where there is no semblance of a genuinely independent media. But, starkly, that is where we are. This is not unrelated to the massive and fast growing inequality of wealth; the erosion of freedom is the necessary precondition that allows the ultra-wealthy to loot the rest of us. It remains my hope there will eventually come a public reaction against the political classes as strong as the situation demands.

[Ba-ba-Ra]

This angle on the Iranian incident which many of us may not have been aware of. From Joseph Farrell
(always layers, eh)

A brief report from AntiWar.com's Eric Garris suggests Thursday's tanker attack incident in the Gulf of Oman which the United States promptly blamed on Iran has directly impacted bills placed before the Senate which would ban US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar.

Garris wrote of the vote which came hours after the Gulf tankers incident: "Both votes were considered highly likely to pass up until they were rushed to the floor today. The timing appears almost certainly to have been related to Thursday tanker bombings in the Gulf of Oman, and shifted a number of Senators’ votes in favor of continuing the arms sales." He noted that "some senators switched sides to kill the bills" following news of the tanker attacks.

https://gizadeathstar.com/2019/06/a-...-gulf-attacks/

[Hervé]

Downed US drone turned off ‘all identifying equipment’ in violation of intl rules, Tehran says

RT
Published time: 20 Jun, 2019 12:17
Get short URL

FILE PHOTO: A US RQ-4 Global Hawk © Reuters / US Navy / Erik Hildebrandt / Northrop Grumman / Handout

A US spy drone downed by Iran had its tracking equipment turned off, contravening aviation rules, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said.

“The drone took off from a US base in the southern Persian Gulf,” according to a statement by the elite unit. While in the air, the US allegedly attempted to make the drone appear invisible to radar.

It had turned off all its identifying equipment in violation of aviation rules and was moving in full secrecy.

Earlier, Tehran said its air defenses had shot down a US RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone overnight, after it illegally entered Iranian airspace over southern Iran.

The US confirmed the incident but insisted the UAV did not cross into Iran. The IRGC commander-in-chief, Hossein Salami, for his part said the aircraft violated the Iranian airspace. He stressed that the response was meant to send “a clear message” to Washington that Tehran was prepared to respond to any further attacks on its soil.

The incident comes as US-Iran tensions continue to simmer with Washington sending additional military resources such as an aircraft carrier fleet, Patriot air defenses, and 1,000 additional troops to the Gulf region.


Related:

• US claims Iran downed drone in ‘unprovoked’ act as Tehran warns against crossing ‘red lines’

• Downing of US drone a ‘clear message’ to Washington — Iran’s IRGC commander

===========================================

It had turned off all its identifying equipment in violation of aviation rules and was moving in full secrecy.

Isn't that full stealth mode?

I bet the US didn't expect it to be detected... much less shot down.


Addendum:
According to Jim Stone:

If Iran shot down a global hawk, it means they can shoot down an F-35 or any other American stealth aircraft. The global hawk is designed to be a max stealth aircraft and the one shot down was the most current model, entering service in 2015. The United States had only 11 of this $250,000,000 model, now 10. It cost a LOT more than an F-35.

This lends credence to Iran's claim:
Iran unveils homebuilt air defense missile system to destroy ‘stealth targets’

[silvanelf]

Posted by Hervé (here)
I bet the US didn't expect it to be detected... much less shot down.

Addendum:
According to Jim Stone:

If Iran shot down a global hawk, it means they can shoot down an F-35 or any other American stealth aircraft. The global hawk is designed to be a max stealth aircraft and the one shot down was the most current model, entering service in 2015. The United States had only 11 of this $250,000,000 model, now 10. It cost a LOT more than an F-35.

This lends credence to Iran's claim:
Iran unveils homebuilt air defense missile system to destroy ‘stealth targets’

According to some sources on the web, the drone was flying at an altitude of 60,000 ft.

The loss of the Global Hawk drone is significant. These huge birds, with a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737, are considered strategic assets. They were built as replacements for the infamous U-2 spy planes. They carry highly classified sensors and cost more than $120 million a piece.

Size comparison: Global Hawk (white) vs Boeing 737 (grey) -- left bottom, smaller plane (white): Predator drone

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/0...ump-.html#more

[Hervé]

Iran Refrained From Attacking US Plane Accompanying Downed Drone, IRGC Claims

Sputnik Middle East
14:49 21.06.2019
(updated 15:28 21.06.2019)

© AFP 2019 / Greg WOOD

Earlier, the Iranian foreign ministry said Tehran had "indisputable" proof that the US shot down by an Iranian SAM had violated Iranian airspace. Washington challenged the claim, saying the incident took place over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz.

A US reconnaisance plane was flying not far from the drone which was shot down in the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian missile and could have been destroyed as well, but Iran's air defence troops refrained from doing so, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said.

"At the moment when the US spy drone was shot down, another American reconnaisance aircraft was near it, which we did not shoot down," Hajizadeh said, speaking to reporters on Friday, according to Fars.

The commander said the plane accompanying the drone was a Boeing P-8 Poseidon with 35 airmen onboard. "This aircraft also violated our air borders. We could have shot it down, but did not do so, because, having shot down the drone, we sent a warning to the American terrorist forces," he said, as quoted by Tasnim.

The US has yet to comment on the IRGC commander's claims.

Hajizadeh also told reporters that Iran had provided the US military with two warnings before shooting down the drone itself. "Unfortunately, when they failed to reply...and the aircraft made no change to its trajectory...we were obliged to shoot it down," the commander said, as cited by AFP.

The IRGC aerospace chief appeared at a media event on Friday, inspecting what appeared to be the remnants of the downed a Northrop Grumman Global Hawk drone, an advanced $130 million surveillance system that's packed with advanced sensors and larger than some small planes.

On Friday, The New York Times reported, citing a senior Trump administration official, that the president initially approved attacks against a series of Iranian targets in response to the drone shoot down, but backed down just as aircraft and ships set to be involved in the strikes were moved into position to fire.

The two countries have issued disputing claims about where the drone was when it was hit, with Iran saying it has "indisputable" evidence that the aircraft violated Iranian airspace, and the Pentagon releasing an alleged map of the plane's flight path showing it skimming the Iranian maritime border in the Strait of Hormuz.

The drone incident is just the latest ramping up of tensions between Tehran and Washington. Last month, the US substantially ramped up its presence in the Middle East, deploying a carrier group, fighters, bombers, air defence systems, and thousands of additional troops to the region amid claims of an 'imminent' Iranian threat against US interests. On Thursday, Iran's defence chief accused the US of ramping up tensions in a bid to force Tehran into talks on US terms.

=====================================

That would explain Trump's cryptic comment to the effect of: "There was no one in the drone." (unmanned UAV)

It also underlines another of Iran's targeting missile capabilities: The specific selective detection of the drone in stealth mode as compared to the accompanying Boeing P-8 Poseidon with 35 airmen onboard. Indeed, that's a serious warning!

[silvanelf]

The meaning of the word "obliteration" seems obvious: "obliteration like you've never seen before" means a massive nuclear strike. Is it just saber rattling? I don't know what to make of it.

Trump says he doesn't want war with Iran, but there will be 'obliteration' if it comes

President Donald Trump said Friday that he doesn't want war with Iran, but if it comes there will be "obliteration like you've never seen before."

"But I'm not looking to do that," the president added in and exclusive interview with NBC's Chuck Todd for "Meet the Press."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...rikes-n1020386

[Hervé]

Don't Assume Tanker Attacks are False Flags

by Brabantian
(henrymakow.com)
June 25, 2019

The tanker attacks and the shootdown of the drone may be analogous to Pearl Harbor where the US goaded Japan into attacking.


Russia and China are notably standoffish. Iran may call Trump's bluff.


The Illuminati may be setting the stage for a major war or even World War Three.

Trump's re-election may be expandable to the Greater Cause, Israeli domination of the Middle East and culling more goyim.

"The 'false flag' discussion is distracting us from the bigger moral point, that the USA massively blockading Iran's oil sales and economy. This is itself an act of war and in this case an aggressive war crime."

--------------------------------------------------

by Brabantian
(henrymakow.com)

As we approach a US-Iran conflict, dissident thinkers have jumped on the idea that the attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf are 'false flags' run by US-Israel & allies in order to wrongly accuse Iran.

Given the long record of USA false flags going back to the 1800s, now adding the 'Greater Israel' agenda etc., the 'false flag blaming Iran' idea makes sense.

But we need to take a broader perspective here, of what the satanic forces are scheming ... the Iran situation may be different than most have yet realised.

Iran has been pushed to the wall by the years of sanctions that are starving and mauling Iran's people. What we may have here, is something more parallel to USA-Japan in 1941, where the USA and Britain blockaded Japan's oil acquisition, pushing Japan into the attack on Pearl Harbor, and start what the Japanese saw as a war of sheer survival. https://www.henrymakow.com/2018/12/p...tart-wars.html

The 'false flag' discussion is distracting us from the bigger moral point, that the USA massively blockading Iran's oil sales and economy. This is itself an act of war and in this case an aggressive war crime.

Iran now is in a corner where it must fight back just to survive. Indeed, in both legal and moral senses, Iran has a right to fight back, and maybe they are doing so - as any of us might do.

In fact, Iran has been warning of this since 2018:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-o...-idUSKBN1O30MI

Early 2018 - "If Iran can't export oil no-one in Middle East will" Tehran warned Dec 2018. Iran's President Rouhani repeated: "If one day they want to prevent the export of Iran's oil, then no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf."

April 2019 - Iran's Major General Mohammed Hossein Bagheri said, "If our oil fails to go through the Strait, others' crude will not either."

Iran's warnings were ignored ... that is, until the 'mysterious' attacks by 'unknown parties', began, in May 2019 against tankers anchored near Fjairah UAE, and in June against the Norwegian & Japanese tankers in the Gulf of Oman ... and in between an attack on Saudi oil pipeline pumping stations.

Now the world is noticing, at last, as Iran perhaps plays out the most dangerous game of all.

Iran fully realises the consequences, the risk of all-out regional war, and of millions of Iranians being killed.

But Iran needs to stop those sanctions strangling its people and killing its children. Millions of Iranians are ready to die as martyrs if it comes down to that.

WORKING THROUGH PROXIES
According to sources inside Iran cultivated by senior mid-east journalist Elijah Magnier - associated with Kuwait's Al Rai media - this is precisely what is happening, with Iran acting through proxies, seeking to make the shipping attacks 'deniable':
https://ejmagnier.com/2019/06/21/ira...-of-the-abyss/

Magnier is supported here by Bernd Neuner of Moon of Alabama
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/0...ill-do-it.html

What is the reason for USA neo-cons to push for destructive war on Iran? There are several:

- The Greater Israel project, the Oded Yinon plan, the desire to demolish the most powerful of Israel's neighbours - Iran

- Iran's support for Palestinians and the military groups who have been most successful against Israel, Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as generally against US-Saudi-Israeli forces ... this is the basis of the accusations that 'Iran supports terrorism'

- The fragile state of the global economic machine, saddled with $250 trillion of debt, most of which can never be repaid, a debt house of cards destined for collapse not long from now ... a big war is the best cover for the economic crisis, and also allows the Satanists to pick a more precise time of the collapse, so they can profit from higher oil prices etc. Iran here is the 'right enemy at the right time'.

Also significant here is that with Iran being ravaged by the sanctions of the USA economic war ... the EU, Russia, and China are not doing much to help Iran, despite the Iran 'deal' they all approved in 2015.

The EU made a 'vehicle' to transfer funds with Iran ... but refused to protect EU companies and executives who would be attacked by the US government, so the 'vehicle' was worthless.

Russia & China don't step up here either ... when really, China should buy all of Iran's oil, and Russian ships should protect the transit ... Instead of banding together against the US bully, the East is letting this sanctions-and-war drama continue ... letting Iran be starved and pushed into war ... Russia & China allowing this satanic drama to play out whilst Iran suffers.

BIZARRE GOVERNMENT

Iran's government is itself a bizarre creation, arguably a somewhat satanic government imposed on a deeply-cultured people. Iran's parliament meeting in a Masonic pyramid. Iranian society - with many practices of Islamic torture, stoning, flogging, amputations, slow-torture short-rope hangings by the hundreds each year - is hugely dysfunctional.

Iran's Shia Islam, with modern technology, has created a strange kind of satanic experiment in family life, in large part due to the Shia practice of 'temporary marriage' for the weekend etc., followed by instant divorce ... a kind of mosque-authorised prostitution for poor Muslim women.

The consequence is that Iran's fertility rate is as bad as the worst of Europe. Iran's millions of military-age men are not being replaced, and soon it will be too late for any fight ... For Iran, it is now or never, and they must risk everything to even have a future.

Many Iranians are wonderful people, and good things in their culture go back millennia ... May God help them, and help us all.

You can find this article permanently at https://www.henrymakow.com/2019/06/D...se-Flags .html

[Hervé]

...

Pepe Escobar expanding on a similar theme as in the above post:

Escobar: One Quadrillion Reasons Why Washington Fears Iran's "Maximum Counter-Pressure"

by Tyler Durden
Sun, 06/23/2019 - 23:30

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Sooner or later the US “maximum pressure” on Iran would inevitably be met by “maximum counter-pressure”. Sparks are ominously bound to fly...

For the past few days, intelligence circles across Eurasia had been prodding Tehran to consider a quite straightforward scenario. There would be no need to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if Quds Force commander, General Qasem Soleimani, the ultimate Pentagon bête noire, explained in detail, on global media, that Washington simply does not have the military capacity to keep the Strait open.

As I previously reported, shutting down the Strait of Hormuz would destroy the American economy by detonating the $1.2 quadrillion derivatives market; and that would collapse the world banking system, crushing the world’s $80 trillion GDP and causing an unprecedented depression.

Soleimani should also state bluntly that Iran may in fact shut down the Strait of Hormuz if the nation is prevented from exporting essential two million barrels of oil a day, mostly to Asia. Exports, which before illegal US sanctions and de facto blockade would normally reach 2.5 million barrels a day, now may be down to only 400,000.

Soleimani’s intervention would align with consistent signs already coming from the IRGC. The Persian Gulf is being described as an imminent “shooting gallery.” Brigadier General Hossein Salami stressed that Iran’s ballistic missiles are capable of hitting “carriers in the sea” with pinpoint precision. The whole northern border of the Persian Gulf, on Iranian territory, is lined up with anti-ship missiles – as I confirmed with IRGC-related sources.

We’ll let you know when it’s closed
Then, it happened.

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, went straight to the point; “If the Islamic Republic of Iran were determined to prevent export of oil from the Persian Gulf, that determination would be realized in full and announced in public, in view of the power of the country and its Armed Forces.”

The facts are stark. Tehran simply won’t accept all-out economic war lying down – prevented to export the oil that protects its economic survival. The Strait of Hormuz question has been officially addressed. Now it’s time for the derivatives.

Presenting detailed derivatives analysis plus military analysis to global media would force the media pack, mostly Western, to go to Warren Buffett to see if it is true. And it is true. Soleimani, according to this scenario, should say as much and recommend that the media go talk to Warren Buffett.

The extent of a possible derivatives crisis is an uber-taboo theme for the Washington consensus institutions. According to one of my American banking sources, the most accurate figure – $1.2 quadrillion – comes from a Swiss banker, off the record. He should know; the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) – the central bank of central banks – is in Basle.

The key point is it doesn’t matter how the Strait of Hormuz is blocked.

It could be a false flag. Or it could be because the Iranian government feels it’s going to be attacked and then sinks a cargo ship or two. What matters is the final result; any blocking of the energy flow will lead the price of oil to reach $200 a barrel, $500 or even, according to some Goldman Sachs projections, $1,000.

Another US banking source explains:

“The key in the analysis is what is called notional. They are so far out of the money that they are said to mean nothing. But in a crisis the notional can become real. For example, if I buy a call for a million barrels of oil at $300 a barrel, my cost will not be very great as it is thought to be inconceivable that the price will go that high. That is notional. But if the Strait is closed, that can become a stupendous figure.”

BIS will only commit, officially, to indicate the total notional amount outstanding for contracts in derivatives markers is an estimated $542.4 trillion. But this is just an estimate.

The banking source adds,

“Even here it is the notional that has meaning. Huge amounts are interest rate derivatives. Most are notional but if oil goes to a thousand dollars a barrel, then this will affect interest rates if 45% of the world’s GDP is oil. This is what is called in business a contingent liability.”

Goldman Sachs has projected a feasible, possible $1,000 a barrel a few weeks after the Strait of Hormuz being shut down. This figure, times 100 million barrels of oil produced per day, leads us to 45% of the $80 trillion global GDP. It’s self-evident the world economy would collapse based on just that alone.

War dogs barking mad
As much as 30% of the world’s oil supply transits the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Wily Persian Gulf traders – who know better – are virtually unanimous; if Tehran was really responsible for the Gulf of Oman tanker incident, oil prices would be going through the roof by now. They aren’t.

Iran’s territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz amount to 12 nautical miles (22 km). Since 1959, Iran recognizes only non-military naval transit.

Since 1972, Oman’s territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz also amount to 12 nautical miles. At its narrowest, the width of the Strait is 21 nautical miles (39 km). That means, crucially, that half of the Strait of Hormuz is in Iranian territorial waters, and the other half in Oman’s. There are no “international waters”.

And that adds to Tehran now openly saying that Iran may decide to close the Strait of Hormuz publicly – and not by stealth.

Iran’s indirect, asymmetric warfare response to any US adventure will be very painful. Prof. Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran once again reconfirmed, “even a limited strike will be met by a major and disproportionate response.” And that means gloves off, big time; anything from really blowing up tankers to, in Marandi’s words, “Saudi and UAE oil facilities in flames”.

Hezbollah will launch tens of thousands of missiles against Israel. As Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hasan Nasrallah has been stressing in his speeches, “war on Iran will not remain within that country’s borders, rather it will mean that the entire [Middle East] region will be set ablaze. All of the American forces and interests in the region will be wiped out, and with them the conspirators, first among them Israel and the Saudi ruling family.”

It’s quite enlightening to pay close attention to what this Israel intel op is saying. The dogs of war though are barking mad.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo jetted to CENTCOM in Tampa to discuss “regional security concerns and ongoing operations” with – skeptical – generals, a euphemism for “maxim pressure” eventually leading to war on Iran.

Iranian diplomacy, discreetly, has already informed the EU – and the Swiss – about their ability to crash the entire world economy. But still that was not enough to remove US sanctions.

War zone in effect
As it stands in Trumpland, former CIA Mike “We lied, We cheated, We stole” Pompeo – America’s “top diplomat” – is virtually running the Pentagon. “Acting” secretary Shanahan performed self-immolation. Pompeo continues to actively sell the notion the “intelligence community is convinced” Iran is responsible for the Gulf of Oman tanker incident. Washington is ablaze with rumors of an ominous double bill in the near future; Pompeo as head of the Pentagon and Psycho John Bolton as Secretary of State. That would spell out War.

Yet even before sparks start to fly, Iran could declare that the Persian Gulf is in a state of war; declare that the Strait of Hormuz is a war zone; and then ban all “hostile” military and civilian traffic in its half of the Strait. Without firing a single shot, no shipping company on the planet would have oil tankers transiting the Persian Gulf.

========================================

I vaguely recall Bill Deagle mentioning that WW III will start in the Straight of Ormuz with some US aircraft carrier being sunk and the straight being closed to maritime traffic... not a pretty vision.

[Hervé]

Israeli airstrikes on Syria kills 4 civilians, including toddler - As fourth and final S-300 became operational

RT
Sun, 30 Jun 2019 21:53 UTC

FILE PHOTO: © Reuters / Ammar Awad

Syrian air defenses have responded to apparent missile attacks in the vicinity of Damascus and Homs, SANA reports, with its military source claiming that a number of 'hostile targets' have been intercepted.

At least 4 people, including a baby, were killed in the strikes on the Damascus countryside, while 21 others suffered injuries, according to state TV. One of those injured is a month-old baby girl, who suffered burns and facial wounds. Besides the casualties, a number of houses on the outskirts of Damascus suffered "material damage."

The missiles were launched from Lebanese airspace, where Israeli aircraft were spotted making low-altitude flights around the time of the incident, according to TV channel Al-Mayadeen, Al-Masdar News, and other regional sources.

Eva J. Koulouriotis - إيفا كولوريوتي‏ @evacool_

#BREAKING #NOW A number of explosions rocked the Syrian capital #Damascus. #Syria #Israel #IDF #IAF #Iran #IRGC #Russia #USA

2:39 PM - 30 Jun 2019

4 replies 66 retweets 62 likes

The targets allegedly included Mezzeh military airport near Damascus, as well as the nearby towns of Jamraya, Sahnaya, and Daraya. Another site was also targeted in Homs Governorate, near the Lebanese border.

Israel has repeatedly carried out cross-border raids into Syria in the past, but has rarely admitted this. It has yet to comment on the latest incident. However, in recent weeks, Tel Aviv confirmed striking multiple Syrian Army installations in retaliation for cross-border tensions surrounding the occupied Golan Heights.

Damascus has urged the UN to put an end to these blatant sovereignty violations by Israel on several occasions. The Syrian government believes that Israeli strikes only bolster the fighting spirit of the remaining terrorists in the country.

H.K Verified account @Ibra_Joudeh 15h15 hours ago

Some missiles landed in residential areas.

8 replies 118 retweets 88 likes

H.K Verified account @Ibra_Joudeh

More pics, some missiles hit Mazzeh airbase in Damascus city.

3:02 PM - 30 Jun 2019
5 replies 50 retweets 39 likes

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qp9aXUUu2O0

Related:
Fort Russ provides more details:

At midnight, the Israeli aviation and fleet carried out a combined attack on Syrian territory of great proportions with dozens of missiles launched, of which it is part of cruisers from ships. The missiles were flying from Lebanon.

In the video below, Syrian air defense systems can be seen shooting down eleven (11) missiles.

You can watch the video here.

The rampage above the Syrian sky lasted more than an hour. The Syrian PVO (air defense) has intercepted more than 50% of the rockets. Locations that are battered are found in the provinces of Damascus, Homs and Hama. Several rockets hit the base Mezeh south of Damascus, a warehouse near the Syrian-Lebanese border. The Syrian army operated the S-200 large-scale systems from the province of Homs in the direction of Lebanon.

Syria is using the S-200's for a number of reasons. The S-300 Favorite of the PMU is in Hama but has a 200km range. The cruise missiles are coming from a bigger range than that. But this attacks with curse missiles are not effective. Therefore they can not attack with reasonable accuracy from the distance that Israel is firing from. Still, Syria has managed to down more than 60% of the Israeli missiles. The Syrian army unfortunately can not attack Israel planes in Lebanon air space, even though Lebanon has either allowed Israel to use its Airspace, or while Lebanon is in no position to counter Israeli presence in its airspace.Still Israel is frustrated that they can not penetrate the A2-ad zone to start a more serious air raid at a closer range, that is within 200 km, because their planes would be decimated.

Sputnik:

A correspondent from the scene also reported that a series of powerful blasts had rocked the skies over Damascus.

According to a Syrian military source, the missile attacks were carried out by the Israeli Air Force. There was no immediate confirmation on that matter from Israel.

"The Syrian Air Defence Force repelled the attack of missiles launched by Israeli military aircraft from Lebanese airspace in the direction of our military positions in Homs and near Damascus", the source said.

The attack resulted in four people being killed, while 21 more were wounded, local media reported on Monday.

Lebanese TV-channel Al-Mayadeen, meanwhile, has reported that explosions also heard on the Syria-Lebanon border, correspond in time with Israeli aviation's low-altitude flights in the south of Lebanon.

Later, a source at Beirut International Airport also said that the attack had been conducted by the Israeli military from Lebanon.

"We observed that before the attack on Syria ten or more Israeli military aircraft entered the airspace", the source said.

Tel Aviv has previously admitted to carrying out "hundreds" of air attacks against Syria in recent years, and said that the strikes are aimed at countering an alleged Iranian and Iranian-linked presence in the war-torn country. Damascus has condemned the attacks as a blatant violation of international law. Iran has said that its presence in Syria has been limited to helping Damascus fight Daesh (ISIS)*, al-Qaeda,* and other terrorist groups.

Zero Hedge notes these attacks occurred just as the S-300s became operational:

Syrian state media published footage showing missile intercepts of inbound projectiles.

It is also as yet unknown if the S-300s were active during the air strikes, however, Israeli media reports suggested that newly installed S-300s at several sites as well as Iranian troop presence was a prime cause behind the Israeli action, despite the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) neither confirming nor denying the strikes:

The reported strikes came just hours after an Israeli satellite imagery analysis company said Syria's entire S-300 air defense system appeared to be operational, indicating a greater threat to Israel's ability to conduct airstrikes against Iranian and pro-Iranian forces in the country.

Until now, only three of the country's four surface-to-air missile launchers had been seen fully erected at the Masyaf base in northwestern Syria.

Israel has threatened to destroy the S-300 system if it is used against its fighter jets, regardless of the potential blowback from Russia.

Journalist Danny Makki called the overnight air strikes "certainly one of the biggest Israeli attacks on Syria this year" - given that two provinces were targeted, as well as multiple installations and a civilian neighborhood being hit.

Also:

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

[Akasha]

Youtube channel If Americans Knew's video How Israel Censors the Internet was recently removed from Youtube amid allegations of hate speech. In fact it is nothing of the sort, instead accurately documenting Israel's own comments and statements on the subject of social media influence and information control, and so, under appeal the video was reinstated but with an age restriction which was also appealed leading to Youtube dropping that restriction too.

Kudos to If Americans Knew for their perseverance. Many would have just buckled under the pressure of this media giant.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Hq0Jg0ZyS4k

It should also be noted that just in case Youtube renege again and remove the video a third time, it has been backed up on what is rapidly becoming, due to their draconian content policies, their nemesis in the arena of uncensored reportage, namely 153news.net:

If Americans Knew - How Israel Censors the Internet

[Hervé]

Pepe Escobar interviews Brazil's Lula: The Iran deal

Pepe Escobar Asia Times
Fri, 06 Sep 2019 19:47 UTC

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, and Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrate the signing of a nuclear fuel swap deal in Tehran in May 2010. © AFP / Wilson Pedrosa / Agenciia Estado

As we advanced past the first hour of a historic interview - see here and here - at a Federal Police building in Curitiba, southern Brazil, where Lula has been incarcerated for over 500 days as part of the lawfare endgame in a complex coup, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was on a roll.

"Let me tell you about Iran."

He felt relaxed enough to start telling stories of political negotiation at the highest level. He had already set the context. Nuggets abounded - especially focusing on the sometimes rocky relationship between Brasilia and Washington. Here are only three examples:

1) On the overall relationship with the US: "People think that I'm angry at the Americans. On the contrary, we had a very healthy political relationship with the US, and that should be the case for Brazil. But to be subservient, never."

Fights with Hillary
2) On dealing with George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: "Bush accepted ideas with more fluidity than Obama. Obama was much tougher with Brazil. I'm certain that Hillary Clinton does not like Latin America, and she didn't like Brazil. I had two big fights with her, one in a meeting in Trinidad-Tobago and another in Copenhagen [at the climate conference COP-15]. She arrived late, bossing everyone around. I said, 'Lady, hang on. Wait for your turn. I've been here for three days.' The petulance and arrogance of the Americans disturbs me, even if I think that the United States is always an important nation, and we should always maintain a good relationship."

3) On hybrid war: "We tried to organize intelligence in the Air Force, the Navy, along with Federal Police intel, but among them there were some pretty serious fights. Whoever has intel has power, so no one wants to relay information to the competitor.... I imagined that after it was clear [from Edward Snowden's revelations about National Security Agency surveillance] that ... the United States was investigating Brazil ... I imagined we would have a tougher position, maybe talking to the Russians and the Chinese, to create another system of protection. Our main political gesture was Dilma [Rousseff, then the Brazilian president] traveling to the US, but Obama, it seems to me, had very little influence.

Obama 'too young'
"It was fantastic, Obama's capacity to deliver beautiful speeches, but the next day nothing happened, nothing, nothing. I think the United States was too big for Obama, he was too young, too inexperienced. And you know that the US State Department is very powerful.... I think Obama was a good man. When I went to visit him the first time ... I left with a lingering doubt: there was no one remotely similar to him in the meeting. I said to myself, 'This guy has no one matching him here.' And in our conversation, I said, 'Obama, you may be the President of the United States who has the greatest possibility to effect change in this country. Because you only need to have the audacity that black people had to vote for you. The people have already granted you the audacity. Make the best of it.'... But then, nothing much happened."

And that would set the scene for the inside story of the first Iran nuclear deal, clinched in Tehran in 2010 by Iran, Brazil and Turkey, and centered on a nuclear fuel swap, years before the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached in Vienna in 2015 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.

History will register that as Donald Trump smashed the JCPOA, Hillary Clinton scotched the original deal less than 24 hours after it was clinched, calling instead for a new round of sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council.

This is how I reported it for Asia Times. Lula, in early 2010, had already told Hillary in person it was not "prudent to push Iran against the wall."

So what really happened in Tehran?

Meeting Khamenei, Ahmadinejad
"I was in New York. And [then Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad didn't like me. He showed respect, but his preferential relationship here in the continent was with [Bolivian President] Evo Morales and my friend [Venezuela's Hugo] Chavez... Then one day in New York, I decided to talk to Ahmadinejad, because he had said it was a lie that six million Jews had died. And then I said, 'Look, Ahmadinejad, I came here because I wanted to know if it's true that you said that the Jews want to be heroes because they died in the war. I wanna tell you something: The Jews did not die in the war. The Jews were victims of a genocide. They were not soldiers fighting. They were free men, women and children who were taken to concentration camps and killed, that's different.'

"He said, 'I know,' and I said, 'If you know, tell it to everyone, it's not possible to deny that six million people were killed.' ... Well, during this conversation I said, 'I'd like to go to Tehran to talk to you about the nuclear bomb. What do I want from you? I want you to have the same right that Brazil has. Brazil enriches uranium for scientific and peaceful purposes. I want you to do enrichment the same way as Brazil. But if there's an atomic bomb, I'm against it.'

Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in Tehran on February 2019.© AFP / Anadolu / Religious Leader's Press Office

"Then I sent [Foreign Minister] Celso Amorim ahead, a few times. We cultivated a relationship with Turkey. It was something very funny. I met the great Ayatollah Khamenei, I had a meeting with him, I think he fell in love with me because I told him my life story. When I told him that I ate bread for the first time when I was seven years old, I thought, 'I think I won this guy.' He lavished extraordinary attention on us. We talked for over two hours. Then I left Khamenei and went to talk to the president of their congress; he looked like a czar. Then I went to dinner with Ahmadinejad, while Celso Amorim was negotiating with their prime minister.

"Ahmadinejad was not getting to the point, and I said, 'Let me tell you something.' And we had two interpreters: one who translated him into English, and Celso, who translated from English to me. I said, 'You know that I'm here being bashed by the Americans. Hillary Clinton called the Emir of Qatar to tell me that I could not come, to tell me that I would be fooled. When I arrived in Moscow, [then-president Dmitri Medvedev said, 'Hillary called, asking me to tell you not to go [because] the Iranians are liars.' There was even a media joke: They were asking about the chance of a deal. Medvedev said '10%,' and I said '99% - we are going there and we are going to do it.'

Obama nervous
"Then I arrived, I was sitting down with Ahmadinejad, and I said, 'Hey, little guy [laughs], you know that I'm here, I'm losing my friends. Obama is nervous with me - Obama was the most nervous among them all, Angela Merkel does not want me to be here. The only one more or less favorable was [then-French president Nicholas] Sarkozy, and I came here because I think Iran is a very important country, not only from the point of view of your population but from the point of view of your culture. And I want Iran not to suffer the consequences of an embargo because an embargo is worse than war. In war, you kill soldiers. With an embargo you kill children, you kill people with serious illnesses.'

"It was already 10pm at night and I said, 'I'm not leaving here without a deal.' Up to this moment, there was no chance of a deal. Around midnight I was discussing things with my aides at the hotel. I was even imagining the headlines in Brazil, against my trip. Then Celso arrived at one in the morning and said, 'There'll be a deal.'

"Then we went there the next day, lots of talking, there was this guy who was an aide to Ahmadinejad and was always whispering in his ear, and Ahmadinejad demanded to change a word. So I told him, 'Damn, get this guy outta here. Every time he comes here you change your mind.' Then he said, 'Lula, can we make a deal without signing it?' And I said, 'Nah.... Do you know what Sarkozy thinks about you? Do you know what Obama thinks about you? Do you know what Angela Merkel thinks about you? They all think Iranians are liars. So, in Brazil, we've got a thing called 'black on white'. You gotta sign.' So he agreed. We signed, Brazil, him [Iran] and Turkey.

Lula and US President Barack Obama, on left, meet with other leaders in Copenhagen in December 2009 at the COP15 Climate Conference. © AFP

No talk, no deal
"I imagined I would be invited to the White House, or to Berlin by Angela Merkel.... So imagine my surprise when they were so nervous. You know that kid that goes to school, gets an 'A,' tells his mother and the mother thinks it's a bad thing? I think they were pissed because Brazil could not possibly have achieved what they did not. They started to diss us, so what did I do? I took a letter that comrade Obama had sent, saying what would be good for the United States. And the Reuters news agency released Obama's letter. And the letter was the same thing as the deal we clinched.

"It happened that Mrs. Hillary didn't know about Obama's letter.... Later, I was at a G-20 meeting, I approached Angela Merkel and said, 'Have you talked to Ahmadinejad?' I talked to Sarzoky, said, 'Have you talked to Ahmadinejad?' No. Approached Obama, said, 'Have you talked to Ahmadinejad?' 'No.' 'Damn, how come you want a deal, but you don't talk? You subcontract the negotiation? Then I understood that the world in the past had had leadership much, much more competent, left and right, people who knew how to discuss foreign policy."

After hearing this story I asked Lula - the ultimate instinctive politician - if he felt Obama had stabbed him in the back: "No," he replied. "I think, have you ever received a gift you didn't know how to put it together?"

This is the last of a three-part series from a world exclusive interview with Lula, the former Brazilian president, who remains in jail.

Related:

• The economic entrails at the heart of the 'deal of the century'

• EU and China oppose and will ignore US sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister

• 'Ghosting': Iran delivers 1 million barrels of oil to fuel starved Syria in defiance of sanctions

[Hervé]

To understand what’s going on now, see the British struggle to overthrow Gamel Abdel Nasser

By Tom Winter

Last updated Sep 9, 2019

PM Eden had to work for his war

A motto for Fort Russ readers: “Prudens est, qui futura ex preteritis providere posit” One is prudent, who can foresee oncoming things from past ones.
Again and again, we see that in the western MSM, a “fascist dictator” is a leader who desires 1) to throw off the yoke of colonialism, and 2) to have the resources of his own country benefit his own country, not your country.

Now, when the US is attempting economic war on Venezuela and Iran, and economic and shooting war on Syria, it clarifies matters to see, as this documentary reveals, the economic and then shooting war on Egypt, as Egypt attempted to modernize and upgrade the life of its citizens.

When the West’s economic war against Egypt led Gamel Abdel Nasser to acquire the transit fees from the canal that transited his country, push came to shove. He nationalized the Suez Canal. And what was the reaction of the British Prime Minister? “We all know this is how fascist dictators behave.”

When the BBC was still the BBC

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ETOUALw2EIs

Watch this old BBC documentary and see how the still-colonial powers behave. It gives a better understanding of what is going on today. In modern terms, if you’ve already seen this movie, you know how it’s going to wind up. Prudence is the skill of seeing forward. A contraction of pro “forward” and seeing “videre.” No better definition of prudence exists than given by Pliny the Younger. Here is the defining passage:

“but, as I often say, I’m waiting for Mauritius. The guy is heavy, prudent, learned from living through so much and who can foresee [providere] future things from past events.”

[Verum, ut idem saepius dicam, exspecto Mauricum. Vir est gravis prudens, multis experimentis eruditus et qui futura possit ex praeteritis providere.]

[Hervé]

NEO – The Strange Case of the Burning Saudi Refineries

By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor -
September 16, 2019 1969

[ Editor’s Note: VT has pinged all if its sources and the concensus is a question. How could a swarm missile/drone attack get through the air defenses of the Saudis who spent big money for them?

If the incoming missiles were tracked, why were not they printed out like the Iranians did in their shoot down of the US drone over the Gulf, something that most American have never seen or heard because US media blacked it out?

The Houthis were quick this morning for claiming full credit for the attack, and even warning foreigners to stay away from ARAMCO facilities, as they have promised more attacks, stating that Saudi Arabia has no way of stopping them.

There is also the possibility that the Houthis did launch an attack and someone else took advantage to attack as well to make sure the damages was huge and blame on Iran to stimulate a US retaliation response.

Gosh, what part in the Mideast would do something like that? On Gordon’s list is the Israelis, not because he is mean, but because they have the F-35 and they might be using their stealth capabilities to have them called drone attacks.

As Gordon has published before, the F-35 cannot carry a large weapons load, but can do fine for example of taking out the four Iran warehouses in the al-Bakumal border crossing area. Who stands to gain the most by stirring the war pot now, just before the Israeli elections?… Jim W. Dean ]

ARAMCO burns

First published … September 16, 2019 –

The September 2019 attack that cut Saudi Arabia’s oil production by up to 60% and has thrown the world into chaos was not a surprise. The claim by US Secretary of State that “Iran did it” is no surprise as well.

That Yemen did it, destroyed the world’s largest oil refinery that has the world’s best air defenses, almost, is a surprise. It is also quite possible that some other “player” is responsible. Let’s postulate about that a bit, perhaps even delving into the kind of conspiracy theories that, of late, have turned out to be correct over and over.

First of all, Saudi Arabia had recently asked Russia for the S400 air defense system. Saudi Arabia has spent endless billions on air defenses and, periodically, drones and missiles from Yemen get through.

The same thing happens to Israel as well, which has led that nation to making “under the table” deals with Hamas over and over while the Likudists play out their “goosestepping” militarist roles for Israel’s misled population, one subject to military censorship over everything they read and see.

You see, the S400 is for defense against lots of things, but for Saudi Arabia with highly robust defenses already, the S400 would be used to stave off attacks from stealth aircraft, its specialty. Of regional players, only Israel has such aircraft.

But then, aren’t Saudi Arabia and Israel good friends, after all, each secretly aided ISIS and al Qaeda for years. But are they really friends or was this a “marriage of convenience? For those who read MSM, even those questions will be unfamiliar as the terror pact between those nations has been censored widely.

What might drive things to get to the point where Israel might bomb Saudi Arabia? Well, Israel is facing an election and a key part of that election is the meltdown Israel is having over its “first couple,” the Netanyahus.

Money dictates politics there as everywhere else and the Adelson family, richest Israelis, have been picking up the political bills for the Netanyahus for years. That’s over. The Adelsons now say the Netanyahus are crazy and Miriam Adelson is a psychologist. This is no small problem as the Adelsons are the biggest political contributors in the US as well.

To get past this, Netanyahu promised to declare most if not all the West Bank as part of Israel, a deal breaker for nations that had, temporarily at least, begun looking at rebuilding relations with Israel, that being Turkey, Saudi Arabia and maybe even Iraq. That’s all done now.

Then the issue of random and continual bombing of Syria by Israel, bombing attacks supposedly on Iranian troops but too often killing civilians or clearly intended to aid operations of terror groups.

Let us add, by terror groups, we mean groups officially banned in Russia as terror groups, a list you don’t casually get on as in the US. Russia really hunts down terrorists.

According to reports from the Jerusalem Post, Russia has expressed extreme “concern” of not only Israel’s attacks on Syria but their move to seize the ad hoc Palestinian State on the West Bank and “ethnically cleanse” its Palestinian population, causing an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.

Netanyahu returned from his September 2019 visit to Moscow with his tail between his legs, all reports indicating that he was deeply chastised by Putin.

Then there’s the loss of John Bolton, former presidential advisor who, for the past few decades, has been on the payroll of one Israeli run special interest group or the other, a man many if not most Americans consider the worst presidential advisor ever, one that keeps coming back to life like a zombie.

The answer was simple. Israel is at the end of the road with Saudi Arabia. ISIS is defeated and their cooperation in backing ISIS against Syria and Iraq is now an embarrassment. Saudi Arabia is now seeking peace with Yemen, a disaster for Israel’s regional policy of “keep all wars going.”

Worst still, the UAE and Iran are now openly cooperating in Persian Gulf security. Thus, when a huge Saudi oil complex was hit over and over in a 9/11 style attack, figuring out who might well have done this is relatively easy.

It doesn’t benefit Iran. This would be a direct attack on Saudi Arabia and Iran has been winning the political war, not just with the UAE but Russia and the EU as well along with continued support from China. Iran had no reason to attack.

Yemen is at war with Saudi Arabia and has some capabilities but not these capabilities, not to obliterate the biggest cash producer Saudi Arabia has. Only one nation in the region has the F35, a plane designed to take out oil facilities.

You see, along with stealth, the F35 has limitations. If it operates without other aircraft along, like the F15E bomber, the limited bomb load of the F35 is only useful against targets that are vulnerable to smaller weapons, targets like oil refineries.

This proves capability. I think we have more than proven Israel’s motivation and timing. We can still claim Yemen did it and Yemen would be happy to take credit except no military expert remotely accepts that Yemen did this.

We do know that, for Iran, there would have been no reason. Iran was already winning. We could also look for recent analogues. Why did Syria turn to poison gas whenever they were in the last stages of crushing areas controlled by terrorists closely tied to Israel?

What are we saying or perhaps not saying here?

Thus, when Russia took 40 members of the White Helmets organization to The Hague to testify to their complicity in staging fake gas attacks on behalf of unnamed Western powers and Israel, when dozens of witnesses, parents of children kidnapped by the White Helmets or doctors threatened by them testified, the press blacked it out.

In the long run, the now two-decade war that involves fake terror events, staged color revolutions and endless political misdeeds, at the center of it all we find Israel and their political allies who hold power in the US, Britain and France due to financial support from sectors tied to Israel, not just lobbyists but criminal groups as well.

Keeping the lid on this is the army of fake think tanks, bribed and blackmailed politicians, press operatives, wholly owned media groups and politicized social media monoliths.

Still, in the end, Israel seems to be circling the drain, more hated than ever, more Isolated and, oddly enough, less and less of a “Jewish state” and more of a “criminal state.”

Proving this point, we need only refer to the statements by Donald Trump of the betrayal of Israel by American Jews, people who put ethics above politics, who put America before a brutal Israeli regime.

Trump calls American Jews “traitors.” Some simply call them Americans like others. At one time, Israel was defended by its ability to draw on the holocaust and smears of anti-Semitism when their brutality against their own people was exposed.

Time is now closing in. Did Israel bomb Saudi Arabia? Will Israel’s remaining “man in Washington,” Mike Pompeo get the war Israel is asking for, a war where Israel will be destroyed as well?

Wait, who would want Israel destroyed to save himself? Are the Netanyahus as “crazy” as Shelly and Miriam Adelson claim?

Would they “burn Israel to the ground” to save themselves from prison for corruption charges? Who benefits if even Israel is destroyed in a war seemingly begun to advance Israel’s interests?

Do understand this, it is necessary to think of the world as being in a “post-nation-state” phase. When one does that, conspiracies are easier to understand and accept.


Related:

• Israel stages F35 Saudi attack after Putin’s smackdown of Netanyahu over Syria