Trump aide sparks fury for tweeting 4yo video from Ukraine & presenting it as СURRENT Hamas strikes

Donald Trump’s senior campaign adviser has been slammed for spreading “misinformation” online, after posting a four-year-old video of military action in Ukraine and claiming it was evidence of Hamas rocket launches against Israel.

“650 Rockets being fired into Israel from Gaza in an attempt to overwhelm Israels Iron Dome: 173 intercepts, 4 people killed, and 28 wounded,” Katrina Pierson wrote in a tweet, with a video showing a barrage of rockets fired into the sky.

While Pierson wanted to attack Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) who defended Palestinians during a recent confrontation with Israel, she was immediately slammed online for spearheading a false narrative. The video she posted, the twiteratti pointed out, actually came from Ukraine and was recorded in 2015 at the height of the conflict in Donbass.

People were quick to point to the original video titled “Ukraine War in Donbass Launch BM 21 Grad Rocket System.”

More

https://www.rt.com/usa/458459-ukraine-video-gaza-footage-trump/

Fake News to benefit Israel

Pompeo: ‘Absolutely’ the Case We’ve Seen Escalatory Action from Iran

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday evening that it is “absolutely” the case that the United States has seen “escalatory action” from Iran, prompting the deployment of a carrier strike group and a bomber task force.

“It is absolutely the case that we’ve seen escalatory action from the Iranians. That is equally the case that we will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests,” Pompeo told reporters from Breitbart News and other outlets traveling with him to Finland.

“And the fact that if those actions take place if they do by some third party proxy, whether that’s a Shia militia group, the Houthis or Hezbollah, we will hold the Iranians — the Iranian leadership directly accountable for that,” he said.

Asked if he could clarify what the escalatory actions are, he responded, “No I can’t.”

“I don’t want to talk about what underlays it, but make no mistake we have good reason to want to communicate clearly about how the Iranians should understand about how we will respond to actions that they may take,” he added.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the move was in response to “new intelligence that suggests allied interests and American forces could be imperiled,” according to multiple U.S. officials. The outlet reported that the deployment has been “under discussion in recent days.”

The White House announced Sunday evening in a statement that the U.S. was sending the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the “Central Command region” to send a “clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime.”

“Any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force. The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a statement.

Pompeo said the move was “separate” from an escalating situation between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.

“The Iranians understand exactly what our view is of the threat that they’re posing to U.S. interests around the world. I can’t say anything more than that,” Pompeo said.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/05/05/pompeo-absolutely-the-case-weve-seen-escalatory-action-from-iran/

William Astore, Ending the Pentagon's Long Con

Consider it a conundrum. Both parties in Congress and the president simply can’t pour enough money into the Pentagon and the rest of the national security state. As a result, theirs has been a cumulative trillion-dollar budget for years and it's still on the rise. On the other hand, the domestic basics are increasingly being starved. When the president’s long-delayed infrastructure plan finally made it to Congress, two years late, it disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile, the country’s roads, rail networks, dams, schools, and so on are in increasingly poor shape. (In reality, the only infrastructure being built up is the Pentagon’s.) Meanwhile, Medicare is now slated to become insolvent in 2026, three years earlier than previously expected. As for the Social Security system, according to the latest government report, its costs will exceed its income next year and it’s expected to become insolvent in 2035. The result: retirement payments are likely to diminish and healthcare costs for aging Americans rise.

I sometimes imagine bringing back my long-dead parents and trying to explain to them what this country now does and doesn’t invest in. They would, I know, be genuinely shocked and that sense of shock, so appropriate for their time and experience, should be no less appropriate now. After all – and here’s that conundrum I mentioned – Washington is no longer eager to invest in what actually works in this country, while politicians from both parties and the president are filled with enthusiasm for a vast and growing military system that doesn’t work at all. From ridiculous sums going into weaponry that’s superfluous or unlikely to function as advertised to ridiculous sums going into distant wars that never end, the U.S. military has in the twenty-first century been a misfire machine of the first order. And unlike infrastructure, Medicare, or Social Security, the less it all works, the more eager Congress and the president are to dump your tax dollars into it.

Consider it a first-class puzzle, one that, in his own striking fashion, TomDispatch regular William Astore, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and historian, takes on today as he considers how the Pentagon has conned us all. Tom

http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176558/tomgram%3A_william_astore%2C_ending_the_pentagon%27s_long_con/

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>>6426487

What’s stopping us? Mainly our own fears, our own pride, our own readiness to believe lies. So let me list six things Americans could do that would curb our military mania:

1. Our nuclear forces remain the best in the world, which is hardly something to brag about. They need to be downsized, not modernized, with the goal of eliminating them – before they eliminate us.

1. The notion that this country is suddenly engaged in a new cold war with China and Russia needs to be tossed in the trash can of history – and fast.

1. From its first days, the war on terror has been the definition of a forever war. Isn’t it finally time to end that series of conflicts? International terrorism is a threat best met by the determined efforts of international police and intelligence agencies.

1. It's finally time to stop believing that the U.S. military is all about deterrence and democracy, when all too often it’s all about exploitation and dominance.

1. It's finally time to stop funding the Pentagon and the rest of the national security state at levels that outpace most of the other major military powers on this planet put together and instead invest such funds where they might actually count for Americans. With an appropriate change in strategy, notes defense analyst Nicolas Davies, the U.S. could reduce its annual Pentagon budget by 50%.

1. Finally, it's time to stop boasting endlessly of our military strength as the measure of our national strength. What are we, Sparta?

The Pentagon will never be forced to make significant reforms until Americans stop believing in (and consenting to) its comforting lies.

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