Mattis Rejects Viral Australian Report On Impending US Iran Strikes

Fri, 07/27/2018 - 12:00

A day after an Australian ABC report went viral with the claim that the White House has drawn up plans to strike Iran's alleged nuclear facilities as early as next month, Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Friday morning it's a "complete fiction".

The Australian Broadcast Corporation report cited high level defense and intelligence figures: "Senior figures in the Australia's Turnbull government have told the ABC they believe the US is prepared to bomb Iran's nuclear capability," and perhaps most alarmingly added, "The bombing could be as early as next month."

Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin questioned Mattis about the report on Friday:

I asked Mattis about report US preparing strikes against Iran.

MATTIS: "I have no idea where the Australian news people got that information. I am confident it is not something that is being considered right now. I think it is a complete, frankly, it's fiction."

The ABC report, based on statements from senior Australian officials privy to the "Five Eyes" intelligence sharing program that also includes the US, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand, included the following:

Senior Government figures have told the ABC they believe the Trump administration is prepared to bomb Iran

They say Australian defence facilities would likely play a role in identifying possible targets

But another senior source, in security, emphasizes there is a difference between providing intelligence and "active targeting"

ABC further noted that secretive Australian defense and intelligence facilities would likely cooperate with the United States and Britain in identifying targets in a strike on Iran, based on unnamed sources.

However, officials were also quoted as distinguishing "a big difference between providing accurate intelligence and analysis on Iran's facilities and being part of a 'kinetic' mission. The intelligence source said further, "Developing a picture is very different to actually participating in a strike."

The report came the same day that Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite IRGC Quds force, personally threatened President Donald Trump, saying "Come. We are ready. If you begin the war, we will end the war," and as a White House policy meeting on Iran was convened by national security adviser John Bolton.

Previously, on Wednesday Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement through official sources, saying the US should forget about any and all negotiations so long as Iran remains under threat, which is a refrain of Iran's consistent position since the US began pressuring European allies to not deal with the regime since the US pulled out of the 2015 JCPOA. Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said that "one-way negotiations" in the current political climate are impossible.

https:// www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-27/mattis-rejects-viral-australian-report-possible-us-iran-strike

CBS Crushed As Sexual Misconduct Expose Targets CEO Moonves

CBS shares are down over 6% following reports CEO Les Moonves will be accused of unwanted kissing and touching in a New Yorker magazine article set to be published Friday.

Bloomberg reports that the allegations in the article by Ronan Farrow involve incidents that go back, in part, more than 20 years, the Hollywood Reporter said, citing sources with knowledge of the matter who it didn’t identify. Farrow was among the reporters who first broke news on the sexual-misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein last year.

CBS directors said in a statement, "All allegations of personal misconduct are to be taken seriously."

Here's the full statement:

"All allegations of personal misconduct are to be taken seriously.

The Independent Directors of CBS have committed to investigating claims that violate the Company's clear policies in that regard. Upon the conclusion of that investigation, which involves recently reported allegations that go back several decades, the Board will promptly review the findings and take appropriate action. The timing of this report comes in the midst of the Company's very public legal dispute.

While that litigation process continues, the CBS management team has the full support of the independent board members. Along with that team, we will continue to focus on creating value for our shareowners."

Notably, the allegations, some decades-old, are surfacing as Moonves and CBS are embroiled in a legal battle with parent company National Amusements Inc. for control of the company.

https:/ /www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-27/cbs-crushed-sexual-misconduct-expose-targets-ceo-moonves

Putin: The US Is Making A Big Mistake By Weaponizing The Dollar

Fri, 07/27/2018 - 10:07

After the liquidation of its US Treasury holdings, surging gold reserves, and switching to a non-SWIFT payment system, Russian President Putin attempted to quell general concerns noting that “Russia isn’t abandoning the dollar."

In a press conference this morning, the Russian president said his country doesn’t plan to abandon holding reserves in U.S. dollars though he said that the risk of sanctions is prompting Russia to diversify its foreign currency assets.

”As for our American partners and the restrictions they impose involving the dollar,” he added,

“I think that is a major strategic mistake because they’re undermining confidence in the dollar as a reserve currency.”

https:/ /www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-27/putin-plays-down-russias-dollar-liquidation-we-need-minimize-risks

>>2311495

Natalie…not a chat room. Dont post for now. lurk more and learn. For your own good and your computers

Rand Paul Rages: John Brennan's Security Clearance Is A Danger

07/27/2018 - 08:59

Authored by Rand Paul, op-ed via Breitbart.com,

Clear evidence concerning the bias of multiple, high-ranking current and former intelligence community officials should make us think twice about letting retired intelligence officials keep access to classified information, especially if they become talking heads on television after leaving public service.

There is a great danger that vital, secret details may be revealed on television, even inadvertently.

John Brennan is no stranger to this problem.

In 2012, John Brennan leaked information to former counter-terrorism officials, who retained a security clearance, about an underwear bomb-making plot in Yemen.

Brennan revealed to these former officials - turned talking heads - that the underwear bomb plot never threatened the U.S. “because Washington had ‘inside control’ over it,” according to Reuters.

After Brennan’s briefing, one of the call’s participants, Richard Clarke, went on ABC and broadcast the government implying that there was a Western spy inside the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula bomb-making group.

John Brennan’s careless leak to former intelligence officials turned television commentators helped compromise an operation and risk the life of a double agent, and who knows what other objectives it also hindered or outright prevented. This is exactly why former intelligence officials who are now talking heads on television should not continue to have a security clearance.

Allowing people like John Brennan and other retired intelligence agents to have a security clearance and appear on television presents a danger to operatives in the field, and it’s a danger we can avoid.

https:/ /www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-27/and-paul-rages-john-brennans-security-clearance-danger

No 'smoking gun' of campaign finance violations by Trump in Michael Cohen tape, experts say

by Melissa Quinn

| July 27, 2018 12:00 AM

The release of a secretly recorded conversation between President Trump and his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen has given rise to questions as to whether the president ran afoul of federal campaign finance laws during his attempts to quiet allegations of extramarital affairs.

But election law experts caution the tape falls short of providing a “smoking gun” such violations were committed.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/no-smoking-gun-of-campaign-finance-violations-by-trump-in-michael-cohen-tape-experts-say