Mainstream Media Faults Trump for Not Following Through on Iran Attack

Not blundering into a war with Iran seen as a sign of weakness

Mainstream media outlets were of a lot of different minds on the Iran question earlier this week, counseling different approaches for US-Iran tensions. Friday, those outlets were broadly united, upset by the lack of a new war they thought sure was coming.

To be sure, Thursday was meant to be the start of the US-Iran War which hawks have been trying to piece together for generations. Trump ordered the attack, but ultimately, called it off a mere 10 minutes from a strike.

What had been a subject of debate was now USA Today accusing Trump of “not following through.” As concerning as blundering into a huge war in the Middle East had been, the new talking point was Trump showing weakness, and per Kori Schake of the Atlantic, damaging “America’s credibility.”

America can, after all, usually be counted on to react hastily, and stumble into what are in retrospect unfortunate wars. That Trump managed to just barely avoid the siren’s song of war was outside the expectation of American allies, and now they don’t know what to think. NBC News was quick to accuse Trump of “indecision” and declared it would “embolden Iran.”

CNN’s Samantha Vinograd accused Trump of not being able to “make up his mind,” and suggested that he’s “blown America’s credibility” by not attacking Iran.

Allies are nervous, lawmakers are on edge. The situation is “more perilous,” to hear some NBC reporters tell it, showing a lack of thoughtfulness of the issue. Surely, the most perilous state of affairs for Friday would be the first full day of a US-Iran War.

NBC News is rarely friendly to Trump, but in this case they are echoing the Wall Street Journal’s own editorial, which accused him of not being able to follow through on his “maximum pressure” campaign when that pressure was going to involve starting a war. They warned Trump’s lack of war looked “misguided and weak.”

Trump was not following the consistent calls for war from John Bolton, noted Australia’s ABC News, who noted instead that he was “siding with his electioneers,” and even suggested the talk of an earlier order to strike may have been made up.

Trump talked of proportionality, and his reluctance to kill 150 Iranians, now even Fox and Friends are crying weakness. It’s not surprising the media wasn’t thinking of killing 150 people as a problem. After all, historically death tolls in US attacks are grossly underreported, and they were on board not just for the deaths here, but those in the years of war to come.

Starting the war, after all, was supposed to be the easy part, particularly with Trump often given to bellicosity in statements. Now reporters are questioning if he has the stomach to be the sort of thoughtless war-monger everyone assumed he was going to be.

https://news.antiwar.com/2019/06/21/mainstream-media-faults-trump-for-not-following-through-on-iran-attack/

The Guardian’s direct collusion with media censorship by secret services exposed

Minutes of Ministry of Defence (MoD) meetings have confirmed the role of Britain’s Guardian newspaper as a mouthpiece for the intelligence agencies.

Last week, independent journalist Matt Kennard revealed that the paper’s deputy editor, Paul Johnson, was personally thanked by the Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice (or D-Notice) committee for integrating the Guardian into the operations of the security services.

Minutes of a meeting in 2018 read: “The Chairman thanked Paul Johnson for his service to the Committee. Paul had joined the Committee in the wake of the Snowden affair and had been instrumental in re-establishing links with the Guardian.”

D-Notices are used by the British state to veto the publication of news damaging to its interests. The slavish collusion of the mainstream media ensures that such notices function as gag orders.

Johnson joined the committee in 2014 and evidently excelled in his performance. A separate set of minutes from the first meeting attended by Johnson records the Guardian’s close collaboration with military officials.

Under a section detailing “advice” given by the intelligence agencies to the media, the document reads “most of the occurrences and requests for advice were related to further publications by The Guardian of extracts from the Snowden documents. The Secretary reported that the engagement of DPBAC [Defence Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee] Secretariat with The Guardian had continued to strengthen during the last six months, with regular dialogues between the Secretary and Deputy Secretaries and Guardian journalists.”

The secretary and deputy secretaries were Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Vallance CB OBE, Air Commodore David Adams and Brigadier Geoffrey Dodds OBE. The chairman was Peter Watkins CBE, the MoD’s director general of Strategy, Security and Policy Operations.

Under the direction of these military intelligence handlers, the Guardian played a role in bringing other newspapers internationally to heel. The minutes note, “because of an agreement between The Guardian and allied publications overseas to coordinate their respective disclosures of Snowden material, advice given to the Guardian has been passed on to the New York Times and others, helping guide the disclosures of these outlets.”

In September 2014, the Guardian allowed the former head of GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) Sir David Omand to publish an article titled, “Edward Snowden’s leaks are misguided—they risk exposing us to cyber-attacks.”

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/06/22/guar-j22.html

Progressive Church Indoctrinates ‘Youngest Disciples’ with Drag Queen Storytime During Service

Sometimes it seems as if there is nothing sacred left in America.

On June 16, during what would normally be a routine Sunday morning worship service for churches around the country, Cincinnati’s Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church decided Pride month was a valid enough excuse to have one member dress in full drag and teach children LGBT history.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, church caretaker Dan Davidson taught children about Harvey Milk — California’s first openly gay elected official — using his bizarre guise of “Sparkle Leigh.”

As “Sparkle Leigh,” Davidson sported a pink dress, wore an inordinate amount of makeup and donned green curls.

He greeted parishioners who walked through the church doors, many of whom made positive comments on his gaudy attire and kissed him on the cheek.

“I don’t think I could walk in those,” one woman reportedly said in reference to Davidson’s high heels.

The “service” eventually began, starting with the song “God Welcomes All” performed by the church choir.

Davidson continued his drag queen persona during the service’s “moment with youngest disciples” and read a book about Milk’s time fighting those who discriminated against LGBT individuals in California.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2019/06/progressive-church-indoctrinates.html

Insider Blows Whistle & Exec Reveals Google Plan to Prevent "Trump situation" in 2020 on Hidden Cam

Project Veritas

Published on 24 Jun 2019

UK approved £14m in arms sales to Israel during Gaza protests

British government continued to sign off on licences for weapons despite concerns raised by prime minister and MPs

The British government licensed arms deals worth over £14m ($17.8m) to Israel last year even as Israeli soldiers were accused of intentionally firing on Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border in what the UN says may be potential war crimes.

If shooting on the border didn't stop the arms sales, if the bombardment in 2014 and 2008 didn't stop them, what more will it take?

- Andrew Smith, Campaign Against the Arms Trade

Weapons approved for sale included ammunition, components for assault rifles, and other types of arms which could be used for repression, according to newly released details from the Department of International Trade (DIT), compiled by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT).

Revelations of the sales to Israel come after a UK court ordered the British government last week to stop approving arms sales to Saudi Arabia because it failed to fully assess whether the equipment might be used in breach of international humanitarian law in the war in Yemen.

One sale for more than $125,000-worth of military training equipment was approved on 18 May last year, four days after 68 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops on the most deadly day in Gaza since the 2014 Israeli offensive.

The DIT declined to give MEE more details about the equipment and how it could be used.

The sale was approved the same week Prime Minister Theresa May called the Palestinian killings "extremely concerning," and said there was an urgent need to find out why Israeli forces had used live fire.

"While we do not question the right of Israel to defend its borders, the use of live fire and the resulting loss of life is deeply troubling," May said in a 15 May press conference. "We urge Israel to show restraint."

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/revealed-uk-approved-ps14mn-arm-sales-israel-during-gaza-protests

Prague crowds demand PM Andrej Babis step down

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is fending off corruption charges, trouble in parliament, and a countrywide protest movement against his government. Hundreds of thousands have rallied against him in Prague.

Hundreds of thousands of anti-Babis activists flooded the center of Prague on Sunday in the culmination of anti-government protests.

"Judging from the aerial photos, it looks like we're about 250,000," said Mikulas Minar, head of Million Moments for Democracy, the NGO organizing the protest, as crowds were filling Prague's central Letna square earlier on Sunday.

Carolina, a flight attendant from the south of the country, told DW she had traveled to Prague to take part in the protests because it "has simply become too much."

"That's why people from all across the country came here today, to show that it isn't simply the people in the capital that are angry."

https://www.dw.com/en/prague-crowds-demand-pm-andrej-babis-step-down/a-49319130

Patriots rising WW

UK arms deals gave Egypt the legitimacy it needed to kill Morsi

In 2018 a cross-party group of British MPs asked the Egyptian government for access to Mohamed Morsi amid fears that the former President’s death was imminent.

The answer that came back was a firm “no.” Authorities insisted he was receiving adequate treatment, though no evidence was given to quell growing anxiety he was being denied access to urgent medical care.

The problem was not issuing the visas or granting the permission the MPs needed to enter the jail. For several years Egyptian authorities have waved aside bureaucracy to welcome the UK’s politicians to Cairo where they have signed off on ludicrous trade deals on anything from gas exploration to telecommunications.

Two years after Morsi was overthrown the British government resumed multimillion pound arms sales to Egypt as part of a drive by then Prime Minister David Cameron to boost financial ties with the country. Egypt has emerged with little profit on contracts with BP and Vodafone and expensive weaponry it can’t really afford. But for a regime with a bad reputation it has bought something far more valuable. Legitimacy on the world stage.

This legitimacy has given Egypt’s government cover for the numerous human rights abuses that have been diligently documented by human rights organisations and ignored by Western governments, such as the incarceration of 60,000 political prisoners and the forcible disappearance of minors.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190624-uk-arms-deals-gave-egypt-the-legitimacy-it-needed-to-kill-morsi/

In Israel the Push to Destroy Jerusalem’s Iconic Al-Aqsa Mosque Goes Mainstream

This ancient site that dates back to the year 705 C.E. is being targeted for destruction by extremist groups that seek to erase Jerusalem’s Muslim heritage in pursuit of colonial ambitions and the fulfillment of end-times prophecy.

The iconic golden dome of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque, located on the Temple Mount or Haram el-Sharif, is the third holiest site in Islam and is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of the city of Jerusalem. Yet, this ancient site that dates back to the year 705 C.E. is being targeted for destruction by increasingly influential extremist groups that seek to erase Jerusalem’s Muslim heritage in pursuit of colonial ambitions and the fulfillment of end-times prophecy.

Some observers may have noticed the growing effort by some Israeli government and religious officials to remove the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque from the Jerusalem skyline, not only erasing the holy site in official posters, banners and educational material but also physically removing the building itself. For instance, current Knesset member of the ruling Likud Party, American-born Yehuda Glick, was also the director of the government-funded Temple Institute, which has created relics and detailed architectural plans for a temple that they hope will soon replace Al-Aqsa. Glick is also close friends with Yehuda Etzion, who was part of a failed plot in 1984 to blow up Al-Aqsa mosque and served prison time as a result.

“In the end we’ll build the temple and it will be a house of prayer for all nations,” Glick told Israeli newspaper Maariv in 2012. A year later, Israel’s Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel stated that “[w]e’ve built many little, little temples…but we need to build a real Temple on the Temple Mount.” Ariel stated that the new Jewish Temple must be built on the site where Al-Aqsa currently sits “as it is at the forefront of Jewish salvation.” Since then, prominent Israeli politicians have become more and more overt in their support for the end of Jordanian-Palestinian sovereignty over the mosque compound, leading many prominent Palestinians to warn in recent years of plans to destroy the mosque.

In recent years, a centuries-old effort by what was once a small group of extremists has gone increasingly mainstream in Israel, with prominent politicians, religious figures and political parties advocating for the destruction of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque in order to fulfill a specific interpretation of an end-times prophecy that was once considered fringe among practitioners of Judaism.

As Miko Peled, Israeli author and human-rights activist, told MintPress, the movement to destroy Al-Aqsa and replace it with a reimagined Temple “became notable after the 1967 war,” and has since grown into “a massive colonial project that uses religious, biblical mythology and symbols to justify its actions” — a project now garnering support from both religious and secular Israelis.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/israel-jerusalem-al-aqsa-third-temple/259926/

Part 1

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Rabbi Weiss asserted that the conflict regarding Al-Aqsa mosque started only with the advent of Zionism and the associated neo-colonial ambition to fundamentally alter the status quo and structures present at the site as a means of erasing key parts (i.e., Palestinian parts) of its heritage. “This [the use of religion to justify ascending to and taking control of the Temple Mount] is a trap for conning other people into supporting them,” concluded the Rabbi.

Nonetheless, Kalisher’s impact can be seen in today’s Israel more than ever, thanks to the rise and mainstream acceptance within Israel of once-fringe elements of religious Zionism, which were deeply influenced by the ideas of rabbis like Kalisher and have served in recent decades as an incubator for some of Israel’s most radical political elements.

Meanwhile, as the debate within Judaism over the Temple Mount has changed dramatically since the 19th century, its significance in Islam has remained steadfast. According to Imam Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini, “Al-Aqsa is the third holiest mosque in Islam…it is considered to be the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and has been mentioned in the Qoran, which glorifies that mosque and identifies it as a blessed mosque. All Muslims, whether they are Sunni or Shia, revere that mosque” — a fact that has remained unchanged for over a millennium and continues to today.

Religious Zionism gains political force

The modern rise of the religious Zionist movements that promote the destruction of Al-Aqsa mosque and its replacement with a Third Jewish Temple is most often traced back to the Six Day War of 1967. According to Miko Peled, who recently wrote a piece for MintPress News regarding the threats facing Al-Aqsa, “religious Zionism” as a political force became more noticeable following the 1967 war. Peled told MintPress:

After the ‘heartland’ of Biblical Israel came under Israeli control, the religious Zionists, who before then were marginalized, saw it as their mission to settle those newly conquered lands, and to be the new pioneers, so to speak. They took on the job that the socialist Zionist ideologues had in settling Palestine and ridding it of its native Arab population in the years leading up to Israel’s establishment and up to the early 1950s. They saw the “return” of Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, or Shchem and, of course, the Old City of Jerusalem as divine intervention and now it was their turn to make their mark.

It began with a small group of Messianic fanatics who forced the government – who at that point, after 1967, was still secular Zionist – to accept their existence in the highly populated areas within the West Bank. That was how the city of Kiryat Arba [illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank] was established. The government, it is worth noting, was happy to be forced into this. From a small group that people thought were fringe lunatics to a Jewish city in the heart of Hebron region.”

Part 2

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Upon his release from prison, Etzion founded the Chai Vekayam (Alive and Existing) movement, a group that Al Jazeera’s Mersiha Gadzo described as aimed at “shaping public opinion as a prerequisite for building a Third Temple in the religious complex in Jerusalem’s Old City where Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located.” Gadzo also notes that “according to messianic belief, building the Third Temple at the Al Aqsa compound — where the First and Second Temples stood some 2,000 years ago — would usher the coming of the Messiah.”

Six years later, another group called the Temple Mount Faithful, which is dedicated to building the Third Temple, provoked what became known as the Al-Aqsa massacre in 1990 after its members attempted to place a cornerstone for the Third Temple on the Temple Mount / Haram El-Sharif, leading to riots that saw Israeli police shoot and kill over 20 Palestinians and wound an estimated 150 more.

This was followed by the riots in 1996 after Israel opened up a series of tunnels that had been dug under Al-Aqsa mosque that many Palestinians worried would be used to damage or destroy the mosque. Those concerns may have been well-founded, given the involvement of then- and current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Third Temple activist groups in creating the tunnels and in subsequent excavations near the holy site, which were and continue to be officially described as “archaeological” in nature. During the 1996 incident, 80 Palestinians and 14 Israeli police officers were killed.

Some Israeli archaeologists have argued that these tunnels have not been built for archaeological or scientific purposes and are highly unlikely to result in any new discoveries. One such Israeli archaeologist, Yoram Tseverir, told Middle East Monitor in 2014 that “the claims that these excavations aim at finding scientific information are marginal” and called the still-ongoing government-sponsored excavations under Al-Aqsa “wrong.” When those “archaeological” excavations at Al-Aqsa resulted in damage to the Western Wall near Al-Aqsa last year, a chorus of prominent Palestinians, including the spokesman for the Fatah Party, claimed that Israel’s government had devised a plan to destroy the mosque.

Since 2000, Al-Aqsa mosque has been the site of incidents that have resulted in new state crackdowns by Israel against Palestinians both within and well outside of Jerusalem. Indeed, the Second Intifada was largely provoked by the visit of the then-Likud candidate for prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who entered Al-Aqsa mosque under heavy guard. Then-spokesman for Likud, Ofir Akounis, was later quoted by CNN as saying that the reason for Sharon’s visit was “to show that under a Likud government it [the Temple Mount] will remain under Israeli sovereignty.”

That single visit by Sharon led to five years of heightened tensions, more than three thousand dead Palestinians and an estimated thousand dead Israelis, as well as a massive and still continuing crackdown on Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud told MintPress that Sharon’s provocation in particular, and subsequent provocations, are often planned and used by Israeli politicians in order to justify crackdowns and restrictions on Palestinians. He argued:

Part 3

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Saudis are not qualified as they are not even capable of running the holy sites in Saudi Arabia itself. Every year, there has been a tragedy and many pilgrims have died during hajj time [annual Islamic pilgrimage].”

Once fringe, now approaching consensus

The threat to Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock compound, the third holiest site in Islam and of key importance to three major world religions, is the result of the dramatic growth of what was once a fringe movement of extremists. After the Six Day War, these fringe elements have fought to become more mainstream within Israel and have sought to gain international support for their religious-colonialist vision, particularly in the United States. As this article has shown, the threats to Al-Aqsa have grown significantly in the past decades, spiking in just the past few weeks.

As former Jewish Underground member Yehuda Etzion had called for decades ago, an educational and social movement aimed at gaining influence with Israeli government leadership has been hugely successful in its goal of engineering consent for a Third Temple among many religious and secular Israelis. So successful has this movement been that numerous powerful and influential Israeli politicians, particularly since the 1990s, have not only openly promoted these beliefs, and the destruction of Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, but have also diverted significant amounts of government funding to organizations dedicated to replacing the historic mosque with a new temple.

As the second and final installment of this series will show, this movement has gained powerful allies, not just in Israel’s government, but among many evangelical Christians in the United States, including top figures in the Trump administration who also feel that the destruction of Al-Aqsa and the reconstruction of a Jewish Temple are prerequisites for the fulfillment of prophecy, albeit a different one. Furthermore, given the influence of such movements on the Israeli and U.S. governments, these beliefs of active Messianism are also informing key policies of these same governments and, in doing so, are pushing the world towards a dangerous war.

Part 4

UN Security Council Holds Meeting to Discuss Iran at Request of US

Over the last year, the relationship between the United States and Iran has suffered numerous blows. It started when US authorities withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal and imposed tough sanctions against key sectors of the Iranian economy in order to "change the behaviour" of the Islamic republic.

The UN Security Council is holding a closed-door meeting at its headquarters in New York City to discuss the attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and Iran’s downing of a US Navy surveillance drone, following the request made by the US mission.

The meeting comes after the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that they shot down a US surveillance drone because it violated Iran’s airspace, an assertion that was categorically denied by Washington. The US President responded to the incident, slapping new US sanctions on Iran to hold Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates responsible for the country's "hostile conduct".

Last week, two oil tankers, Kokuka Courageous and Front Altair, were attacked in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. While the causes of the incident remain unknown, the United States claims Iran sabotaged the vessels.

https://sputniknews.com/world/201906241076037316-un-security-council-holds-meeting-to-discuss-iran/

General Mike Flynn Spotted Leaving DC Court – Sentencing Delayed Again

General Mike Flynn was spotted leaving a DC court Monday afternoon after a 2-hour closed-door meeting with his new legal counsel.

Flynn’s sentencing was delayed again at the request of his new lawyers so they can get caught up on his case.

A couple weeks ago Flynn abruptly fired his lawyers ahead of his sentencing and brought on lead defense lawyer Sidney Powell, a harsh critic of Mueller and his “pit bull” Weissmann.

Flynn’s new lead lawyer, Sidney Powell replied “no comment” when asked by Josh Gerstein, a legal reporter for Politico about the reason for the shift in lawyers.

UPDATE: Flynn just left DC court after nearly 2-hour closed door meeting with his new attorneys. When I asked Flynn about reason for the shift, his new lead lawyer Sydney Powell replied: 'No comments.' Earlier: https://t.co/PbnB1K5aWW pic.twitter.com/xjKqajwd6m

— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) June 24, 2019

According to Politico, Flynn’s sentencing has been delayed again so Flynn’s lawyers can study up on his case.

At a hearing Monday, Powell said she needs at least another 90 days to get up to speed on the case before Flynn receives his punishment for pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with a top Russian official.

Judge Emmett Sullivan gave Sidney Powell 2 months to catch up on Flynn’s case and ordered a status report at the end of August.

“And there’s still more to come,” Sidney Powell said Monday morning in court for a separate hearing.

Flynn was hunted down by Obama’s corrupt intel agencies for ruin because he dared speak the truth about Obama. President Trump should issue General Mike Flynn a full pardon.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/new-general-mike-flynn-spotted-leaving-dc-court-sentencing-delayed-again/

Pompeo: Iran-Orchestrated Attack on Saudi Airport Threatens Americans

Iranian forces launch second drone attack in two weeks

An Iran-orchestrated attack conducted Sunday against Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport directly threatens Americans living in the country and marks the second time in less than two weeks that Tehran’s terror forces have used drones to attack American allies, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

At least one person was killed and more than 20 wounded in the strike, which the United States has determined was carried out by Iranian-armed Houthi rebel forces operating from Yemen.

The strike is just another flashpoint in an increasingly violent standoff between the Trump administration and Iran, which announced on Monday that it would sue the United States in international court in response to a series of cyber attacks carried out by the Trump administration as payback for the recent downing of an unmanned American drone.

The situation in Yemen, where Iran has armed and trained Houthi rebels, represents just another front in the proxy war between the Islamic Republic and U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia. Top U.S officials, including Pompeo, said the Trump administration would not hesitate to defend its interests and American citizens stationed abroad.

"These Iranian-backed attacks are unacceptable, and all the more reprehensible given that they targeted innocent civilians," Pompeo said on Monday. "They also put Americans living, working, and transiting through Saudi Arabia at risk."

"We call on the Iran-backed Houthis to end these reckless and provocative attacks on behalf of the Iranian regime," Pompeo said. "The Houthis should engage constructively in the U.N.-led political process to end the conflict and adhere to the commitments they made in Sweden."

Pompeo emphasized that these attacks are directly authorized by Iran and are being conducted as part of the Islamic Republic’s campaign to foment unrest in the region.

"Some want to portray the Yemen conflict as an isolated civil war, without a clear aggressor," Pompeo said. "It is neither. It is spreading conflict and humanitarian disaster that was conceived of and perpetuated by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The regime has spent years funneling cash, weapons, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps support to the Houthis. With every attack conducted by an Iranian proxy, the regime tacks another day onto its 40-year track record of spreading death and chaos in the region, and beyond."

The Trump administration, Pompeo added, "will continue our pressure campaign until Iran stops its torrent of violence and meets diplomacy with diplomacy."

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/pompeo-iran-orchestrated-attack-on-saudi-airport-threatens-americans/

“Greater Israel”: The Zionist Plan for the Middle East

The Infamous "Oded Yinon Plan". Introduction by Michel Chossudovsky

Introduction

The following document pertaining to the formation of “Greater Israel” constitutes the cornerstone of powerful Zionist factions within the current Netanyahu government, the Likud party, as well as within the Israeli military and intelligence establishment. (article first published by Global Research on April 29, 2013).

President Donald Trump has confirmed in no uncertain terms, his support of Israel’s illegal settlements (including his opposition to UN Security Council Resolution 2334, pertaining to the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank). In recent developments, the Trump administration has expressed its recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Trump’s “Deal of the Century” is supportive of the “Greater Israel” project. It consists in the derogation of Palestinian of “the right of return” by “naturalizing them as citizens of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere regionally where they reside”.

Bear in mind: The Greater Israel design is not strictly a Zionist Project for the Middle East, it is an integral part of US foreign policy, its strategic objective is extend US hegemony as well as fracture and balkanize the Middle East.

Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is intended to trigger political instability throughout the region.

According to the founding father of Zionism Theodore Herzl, “the area of the Jewish State stretches: “From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates.” According to Rabbi Fischmann, “The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon.”

When viewed in the current context, including the siege on Gaza, the Zionist Plan for the Middle East bears an intimate relationship to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the 2006 war on Lebanon, the 2011 war on Libya, the ongoing wars on Syria, Iraq and Yemen, not to mention the political crisis in Saudi Arabia.

The “Greater Israel” project consists in weakening and eventually fracturing neighboring Arab states as part of a US-Israeli expansionist project, with the support of NATO and Saudi Arabia. In this regard, the Saudi-Israeli rapprochement is from Netanyahu’s viewpoint a means to expanding Israel’s spheres of influence in the Middle East as well as confronting Iran. Needless to day, the “Greater Israel” project is consistent with America’s imperial design.

“Greater Israel” consists in an area extending from the Nile Valley to the Euphrates. According to Stephen Lendman, “A near-century ago, the World Zionist Organization’s plan for a Jewish state included:

• historic Palestine;

• South Lebanon up to Sidon and the Litani River;

• Syria’s Golan Heights, Hauran Plain and Deraa; and

• control of the Hijaz Railway from Deraa to Amman, Jordan as well as the Gulf of Aqaba.

Some Zionists wanted more – land from the Nile in the West to the Euphrates in the East, comprising Palestine, Lebanon, Western Syria and Southern Turkey.”

The Zionist project supports the Jewish settlement movement. More broadly it involves a policy of excluding Palestinians from Palestine leading to the eventual annexation of both the West Bank and Gaza to the State of Israel.

Greater Israel would create a number of proxy States. It would include parts of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the Sinai, as well as parts of Iraq and Saudi Arabia. (See map).

More

https://www.globalresearch.ca/greater-israel-the-zionist-plan-for-the-middle-east/5324815

War-Hungry US Officials Claim: Crafty, Evil Iranians Bullying America Into Unwanted Confrontation

The drama of attacks on oil and tanker assets in the Middle East can’t seem to get any more tense. The danger of war breaking out between the US and Iran is reaching a crescendo. However, if this goes down, it is a war scripted by Washington.

Nearly a week after the Trump administration blamed Iranian forces for bombing two cargo ships in the Gulf of Oman, now the US’ biggest oil company, Exxon, has reportedly come under rocket attack in southern Iraq. That could be easily construed as a major threat to US interests. A “cause” for military “response”.

No group claimed responsibility for the latest rocket assault on Exxon’s facilities near the southern city of Basra. But it won’t be long before US officials accuse “Iranian-backed” Shia militia based in Iraq.

Set against the apprehension of war, President Donald Trump, in an exclusive interview this week with TIME magazine, reiterated that he doesn’t want a military confrontation with Iran. He downplayed he was considering a military option, which seems to contradict more belligerent recent comments by his hawkish Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

It also contradicts reports in Israeli media that the US is in the throes of planning a “tactical assault” on Iranian sites.

Despite Trump’s seeming assurances of not wanting war, the spate of violent incidents implicating Iran is occurring like a flurry of sparks at a powder keg. It hardly matters what Trump says because the fuse for war has been laid down, and it was Trump who helped lay that fuse with his trashing of the international nuclear accord last year and re-imposition of economic sanctions.

He may not have any control over the chain reaction that could unfold, but he is complicit in at least creating the circumstances.

Iran has vehemently denied any involvement in the recent attacks on oil and shipping in the Persian Gulf region. It has even pointed to “mischievous conspiracies” by way of alerting against being set up by other malign actors. But, sooner or later, one of the relentless sparks may lead to an explosion of conflict.

Iran was similarly implicated by the Trump administration for an attack near the American embassy in Baghdad last month, as well as for allegedly sabotaging four oil tankers transiting the Gulf of Oman.

https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/war-hungry-us-officials-claim-crafty-evil-iranians-bullying-america-unwanted-confrontation

Memo to the President: Is Pompeo’s Iran Agenda the Same as Yours?

VIPS says its direct experience with Mike Pompeo leaves them with strong doubt regarding his trustworthiness on issues of consequence to the President and the nation.

DATE: June 21, 2019

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President.

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: Is Pompeo’s Iran Agenda the Same As Yours?

After the close call yesterday when you called off the planned military strike on Iran, we remain concerned that you are about to be mousetrapped into war with Iran. You have said you do not want such a war (no sane person would), and our comments below are based on that premise. There are troubling signs that Secretary Pompeo is not likely to jettison his more warlike approach, More importantly, we know from personal experience with Pompeo’s dismissive attitude to instructions from you that his agenda can deviate from yours on issues of major consequence.

Pompeo’s behavior betrays a strong desire to resort to military action — perhaps even without your approval — to Iranian provocations (real or imagined), with no discernible strategic goal other than to advance the interests of Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He is a neophyte compared to his anti-Iran partner John Bolton, whose dilettante approach to interpreting intelligence, strong advocacy of the misbegotten war on Iraq (and continued pride in his role in promoting it), and fierce pursuit of his own aggressive agenda are a matter of a decades-long record. You may not be fully aware of our experience with Pompeo, who has now taken the lead on Iran.

That experience leaves us with strong doubt regarding his trustworthiness on issues of consequence to you and the country, including the contentious issue of alleged Russian hacking into the DNC. The sketchy “evidence” behind that story has now crumbled, thanks to some unusual candor from the Department of Justice. We refer to the extraordinary revelation in a recent Department of Justice court filing that former FBI Director James Comey never required a final forensic report from the DNC-hired cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike.

Comey, of course, has admitted to the fact that, amid accusations from the late Sen. John McCain and others that the Russians had committed “an act of war,” the FBI did not follow best practices and insist on direct access to the DNC computers, preferring to rely on CrowdStrike reporting. What was not known until the DOJ revelation is that CrowdStrike never gave Comey a final report on its forensic findings regarding alleged “Russian hacking.” Mainstream media have suppressed this story so far; we reported it several days ago.

The point here is that Pompeo could have exposed the lies about Russian hacking of the DNC, had he done what you asked him to do almost two years ago when he was director of the CIA.

In our Memorandum to you of July 24, 2017 entitled “Was the ‘Russian Hack’ an Inside Job?,” we suggested:

“You may wish to ask CIA Director Mike Pompeo what he knows about this.[“This” being the evidence-deprived allegation that “a shadowy entity with the moniker ‘Guccifer 2.0’ hacked the DNC on behalf of Russian intelligence and gave DNC emails to WikiLeaks.”] Our own lengthy intelligence community experience suggests that it is possible that neither former CIA Director John Brennan, nor the cyber-warriors who worked for him, have been completely candid with their new director regarding how this all went down.”

Three months later, Director Pompeo invited William Binney, one of VIPS’ two former NSA technical directors (and a co-author of our July 24, 2017 Memorandum), to CIA headquarters to discuss our findings. Pompeo began an hour-long meeting with Binney on October 24, 2017 by explaining the genesis of the unusual invitation: “You are here because the President told me that if I really wanted to know about Russian hacking I needed to talk to you.”

But Did Pompeo ‘Really Want to Know’?

Apparently not. Binney, a widely respected, plain-spoken scientist with more than three decades of experience at NSA, began by telling Pompeo that his (CIA) people were lying to him about Russian hacking and that he (Binney) could prove it. As we explained in our most recent Memorandum to you, Pompeo reacted with disbelief and — now get this — tried to put the burden on Binney to pursue the matter with the FBI and NSA.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/vips-memo-president-pompeos-iran-agenda-same-yours/5681521

Tom Fitton: New Smoking Gun Emails Expose FBI-Media Collusion against Trump

June 24, 2019- JW President Tom Fitton appeared on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on the Fox Business Network to discuss AG Bill Barr’s review of the origin of the Russia Probe, the FBI feeding the New York Times a story on Jared Kushner, Rep. Nunes’s letter to the FBI about an additional Russia investigation scope memos, and more!

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/in-the-news/tom-fitton-new-smoking-gun-emails-expose-fbi-media-collusion-against-trump/

Beijing Slams Pompeo As Trade Talks Loom: "He Can No Longer Play Role Of Top US Diplomat"

With US stocks back in the red for the day, Global Times editor Hu Xijin, one of Beijing's favorite English-language mouthpieces and perhaps the most obvious candidate for 'anti-Trump' Twitter foil, has offered a stern warning to keep the market's frothy enthusiasm in check.

One day before leaders of each side's trade delegation are expected to begin meeting in Osaka ahead of this week's G-20 summit (and long-anticipated meeting, Hu warned that the "current atmosphere" between Washington and Beijing is "not good".

According to Hu, China's attitude going into the summit is "positive", but "fully preparing for its failure and an escalation" of the trade war.

Furthermore, Hu had some particularly harsh words for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, labeling the Secretary of State a "troublesome" figure in US-China relations and insisting that Pompeo "can no longer play the role of a top US diplomat between the two countries."

Beijing's attacks on the secretary of state come as Pompeo wrapped up a string of meetings in the Middle East with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince. This isn't the first time Pompeo has earned the ire of Beijing. Last October, Pompeo became embroiled in a public confrontation with top Chinese official during what was supposed to be an amicable press conference in Beijing.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-24/beijing-slams-pompeo-trade-talks-loom-he-can-no-longer-play-role-top-us-diplomat

Trump Seeks 'Coalition Of The Willing' Against Iran

After a somewhat quiet weekend the Trump administration today engaged in another push against Iran.

Today the Treasury Department sanctioned the leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It also sanctioned Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his office! There will be no more Disney Land visits for them.

There is more to come:

Josh Rogin - @joshrogin - 16:18 utc - 24 Jun 2019

Mnuchin: "The president has instructed me that we will be designating [Iran's foreign minister Javad] Zarif later this week." cc: @JZarif

The Treasury Secretary will designate Javad Zarif as what? A terrorist? Zarif is quite effective in communicating the Iranian standpoint on Twitter and other social media. Those accounts will now be shut down.

The Trump administration's special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, said today that Iran should respond to U.S. diplomacy with diplomacy. Sanctioning Iran's chief diplomat is probably not the way to get there.

All those who get sanctioned by the U.S. will gain in popularity in Iran. These U.S. measures will only unite the people of Iran and strengthen their resolve.

Iran will respond to this new onslaught by asymmetric means of which it has plenty.

On Saturday Trump said that all he wants is that Iran never gets nuclear weapons. But the State Department wants much more. Hook today said that the U.S. would only lift sanctions if a comprehensive deal is made that includes ballistic missile and human rights issues. Iran can not agree to that. But this is not the first time that Pompeo demanded more than Trump himself. Is it Pompeo, not Trump, who is pressing this expanded version to make any deal impossible?

Brian Hook is by the way a loon who does not even understand the meaning of what he himself says:

laurence norman @laurnorman - 10:53 utc - 24 Jun 2019

US Hook says Iran knew what getting into when struck deal with president who had 1 1/2 yr left in office. "They knew what they were getting into…They knew that there was a great possibility that the next president could come in & leave the deal." Note: US elections 17 months away

Those are two good arguments for Iran to never again agree to any deal with the 'non-agreement-capable' United States.

It seems obvious from the above that the Trump administration has no real interest in reasonable negotiations with Iran:

“The administration is not really interested in negotiations now,” said Robert Einhorn, a former senior State Department official who was involved in negotiations with Iranian officials during the Obama administration. “It wants to give sanctions more time to make the Iranians truly desperate, at which point it hopes the negotiations will be about the terms of surrender.”

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/06/trump-seeks-coalition-of-the-willing-against-iran.html

‘We Build the Wall’ Launches Wall-A-Thon Donations Drive Following Successful Completion of First Border Wall Project

Following the successful completion of their first major border wall project the heroes at We Build The Wall are under attack from powerful enemies.

On Monday ‘We Build the Wall, Inc. launched a major fundraising drive.

Democrats and establishment Republicans want to remake America through illegal immigration. They want cheap labor and cheap votes. Who will suffer from the Democrat and establishment Republican plan? Everyday Americans.

Private donations continue to stream in for the “We Build the Wall” non-profit organization by the minute.

Go to Gofundme.com/buildthewall to track how frequently donations are coming in.

The money has already been used to construct a wall near Sunland Park, New Mexico.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/we-build-the-wall-launches-wall-a-thon-donations-drive-following-successful-completion-of-first-border-wall-project/

France becomes first country in Europe to ban all five pesticides killing bees

France will take a radical step towards protecting its dwindling bee population on Saturday by becoming the first country in Europe to ban all five pesticides researchers believe are killing off the insects.

The move to ban the five so-called neonicotinoids has been hailed by beekeepers and environmentalists, but cereal and sugar beet farmers warn it could leave them all but defenceless in protecting valuable crops against other harmful insects.

By enforcing the blanket ban, France is going further than the European Union, which voted to outlaw the use of three neonicotinoids - clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam - in crop fields starting on December 19.

France has banned these three, along with thiacloprid and acetamiprid, not only outdoors but in greenhouses too.

Initially opposed, Britain now backs the less comprehensive EU ban due to evidence supporting claims the chemicals contribute to “colony collapse disorder”, a mysterious phenomenon that has seen bee populations plummet by up to 90 per cent in some cases. Other potential causes are mites, viruses and fungi.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/31/france-first-ban-five-pesticides-killing-bees/

WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Washingtons_Farewell_Address.pdf

A must read for any patriot regardless of location WW

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