Putin Should Take Control of the Iranian Situation Out of Israel’s Hands

At this time, it is up to Israel whether or not war occurs between the US and Iran. Israel very much wants this war as a means of putting Iran and Syria into chaos, thus leaving Hezbollah isolated and unsupplied. Then Israel can succeed in occupying southern Lebanon.

The American neoconservatives want Iran in chaos, because then the chaos can be exported into the Muslim regions of the Russian Federation with the purpose of causing sufficient internal turmoil to remove Russia as a constraint on US unilateralism.

Israel and the Neocons have Trump where they want him. Trump’s outrageous and reckless murder of Qasem Soleimani has provoked serious Iranian threats against the US to which Trump has replied with threats. Although there is some indication that Trump has realized his mistake and is trying to calm the situation, a calmed situation is not what Israel and the neoconservatives want.

Polls of the American public indicate that anti-Iranian propaganda has succeeced. All Israel or the neoconservatives, who are well placed, need to do is to conduct a false flag attack on some American entity, military base, personnel or ship, and blame it on Iran. The American press will demand Iranian blood and so will most of Trump’s constituency. As Trump has already committed himself to a response, he will have to deliver.

All wars have unknown and unintended consequences. As a result of Putin’s caution, Iran lacks sufficient air defense to prevent saturation bombing of the country. Washington would send in jihadists rather than its own soldiers, and the jihadist assignment would be to carry turmoil into Russia.

If it looked like Iran was prevailing in the conflict with the US, Trump would save the day for himself by nuking Iran. Indeed, some of the American rightwing are already calling for nuking Iran.

Rather than speculate on the consequences, I ask, “why risk them?”

A defensive alliance between Russia, Iran, and China, and any others inclined to join, would tie Israel’s hands and prevent the outbreak of war. Neither Trump nor Natanyahu are going to go to war with Russia, China, and Iran.

The reason US and Israeli aggression continue unabated is that no defense alliance has formed against them.

As an attack on Iran is an attack on Russia, forming a defensive alliance is a way to prevent the attack, perhaps the only way. An alliance would simply be a formalization of the implied, de facto alliance that already exists. It would actually reduce the threat against Iran and Russia and is the surest way of stabilizing the dangerous situation.

https://russia-insider.com/en/putin-should-take-control-iranian-situation-out-israels-hands/ri28132

Chelsea Clinton's 'Burisma' Looks Worse Than Hunter Biden's

While Hunter Biden has been in the news lately over questions revolving around his board position at Burisma that earned him as much as $960,000 annually, according to a new report from Barron's, Chelsea Clinton has made a boatload of money the past nine years by serving on the board of IAC/InterActiveCorp, a media and internet investment company. The company owns many well-known brands, including Vimeo, Tinder, Angie’s List and Home Advisor.

According to the report, Chelsea has served on their board since 2011, and receives an annual $50,000 retainer and $250,000 worth in restricted IAC stock units. "As of Dec. 31, she owned the equivalent of 35,242 IAC shares, consisting of 29,843 shares and 5,399 share units under a deferred-compensation plan," Barron's reports. As of Friday's close of the stock market, her shares were valued at $8.95 million.

Chelsia also had an annual salary of $600,000 for two years as a special correspondent for NBC News, and was also put on the board of Expedia Group in 2017, a position which reportedly earned more than $250,000.

How did Chelsea get such lucrative positions? It turns out that both IAC and Expedia are controlled by business and television mogul Barry Diller, who is a friend of Chelsea's mother, Hillary Clinton.

In case you were wondering.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/chelsea-clintons-burisma-looks-worse-than-hunter-bidens/

US Trade Deficit Hits 3-Year Low: ‘Trump’s China Hard Line Is Working,’ Expert Says

The country’s November trade deficit fell to its lowest point in over three years, suggesting the Trump administration’s agenda to recalibrate international flows of goods and services is having an impact.

The trade deficit fell 8.2 percent to $43.1 billion, the lowest since October 2016, the Commerce Department said Tuesday (pdf).

“As of this morning’s figures, the total U.S. trade deficit is heading for its first year-over-year decline since 2013, when U.S. growth was a good deal lower than what’s likely for this year,” trade expert Alan Tonelson told The Epoch Times.

The goods trade deficit with China, the focus of the White House’s “America First” agenda, tumbled 15.7 percent to $26.4 billion, with imports dropping 9.2 percent and exports jumping 13.7 percent.

Tonelson argued that today’s trade figures, which pertain to November flows of goods and services, “show that Trump’s China hard line is working.” He urged the administration to maintain its pressure in the trade dispute and take further steps to decouple the two countries’ economies.

More

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-trade-deficit-hits-3-year-low-trumps-china-hard-line-is-working-expert-says_3196222.html

ICC Should Not Delay Investigating Israeli War Crimes

Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has established an unnecessary condition that slows down the process, writes Marjorie Cohn.

In a significant development for Israeli accountability, Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), seeks to launch an investigation into war crimes committed in Palestine. But she has established an unnecessary and politically suspect condition to slow down the process.

Following a five-year preliminary examination, Bensouda found a reasonable basis to mount an investigation of “the situation in Palestine.” She is “satisfied that (i) war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip . . . (ii) potential cases arising from the situation would be admissible; and (iii) there are no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve the interests of justice.”

Bensouda began the preliminary examination six months after Israel’s July 2014 “Operation Protective Edge,” during which Israeli military forces killed 2,200 Palestinians, nearly one-quarter of them children and more than 80 percent civilians.

In a preliminary examination, the Office of the Prosecutor decides whether: the crimes fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC; there are genuine national proceedings; and beginning an investigation would further the interests of justice and the victims.

In an investigation, the prosecutor develops evidence, identifies suspects, and applies for arrest warrants and summons to appear before the court.

More

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/01/07/icc-should-not-delay-investigating-israeli-war-crimes/

How Was Pentagon 'Withdrawal Letter" Leaked To Iraq? Anatomy Of A Propaganda Coup

The inside account of how the now infamous "phony" letter announcing complete US troop withdrawal from Iraq after seventeen years details astoundingly how the "posting of the letter online unleashed a mad, behind-the-scenes scramble at the Pentagon, the White House, and on Capitol Hill, as elected officials, policymakers, military advisers and journalists sought to understand whether the letter intended to communicate what its plain language suggested."

As different departments and levels within the Pentagon bureaucracy attempted to account for it, the story changed multiple times. In a matter of a couple hours it went from "authentic" to "phony" to part of an effort to sow "active disinformation" — and finally according to a confused press briefing by Gen. Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper an "unauthorized draft" and "an honest mistake".

This after The Washington Post and a host of other major outlets "confirmed" it as "authentic" — in the words of WaPo's Beirut Bureau chief Liz Sly.

At Monday's Pentagon briefing itself which attempted to assess the origins of the mysterious draft letter, The Dispatch summarized the atmosphere: "Was the United States really moving to remove its remaining troops from Iraq? Nobody seemed to know."

And ultimately no definitive answers came, other than the Pentagon and administration denying than an Iraq pullout is happening, as to just how a "draft letter" which had been making the rounds at CENTCOM came to be in the hands of the Iraqis, after which it was posted online.

As The Dispatch notes, the letter wasn't merely announced by some Iraqi politician in Baghdad, but was released via America's enemies:

The news was a propaganda coup for the Iranians and those in Iraq who support them. The story broke on the television channel of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), after it was leaked by the Iraqi prime minister’s office, according to Liz Sly, Beirut bureau chief for the Washington Post, who noted that the leader of AAH is a U.S.-designated terrorist and his militia is responsible for the deaths of dozens of Americans.

The letter soon made its way into the American media.

Initially, there was this statement out of the Pentagon policy office in conjunction with Operation Inherent Resolve: “OIR has confirmed with us at the working level that this is active disinformation.” The Pentagon was “fairly certain that this is a fake” according to that early media statement.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/anatomy-iraq-exit-letter-authentic-active-disinformation-unauthorized-draft

Flashback: Corrupt DOJ and Mueller Attorney Van Grack Committed Many False and Fraudulent Activities in His Efforts to Indict General Flynn

On Monday the Justice Department reversed its prior recommendation and asked that General Flynn be incarcerated for up to 6 months!

This was after the DOJ previously said Flynn had assisted them in their investigation.

Far left DOJ Attorney is the lead attorney who made the recommendations today.

As reported earlier by Joe Hoft — Van Grack has a very corrupt background.

Corrupt DOJ Attorney Brandon Van Grack was involved in numerous corrupt and fraudulent activities in efforts to indict General Michael Flynn.

In May 2018 we reported on the 13 Angry Democrats on Robert Mueller’s investigative team including Obama donor Brandon Van Grack. CNN had heralded Van Grack as follows –

Brandon Van Grack served in the Justice Department’s National Security Division. He prosecuted counter-espionage cases in the department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

His Role on Mueller team:

Van Grack was one of the lawyers on Mueller’s team that handled the Flynn investigation, set-up and guilty plea.

He is overseeing Flynn’s case in court.

Notable cases:

Van Grack was involved in several high-profile cyber and counter-terrorism cases, including the prosecution of a Kosovo hacker who gave personal information of US service members to ISIS. The hacker, Ardit Ferizi, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to a DOJ press release.

Van Grack also helped prosecute a US government employee who took home classified documents that contained national defense information. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency employee Mohan L. Nirala was found guilty after federal agents made a forced entry into his home and discovered over 500 pages of classified documents in his basement, according to a DOJ press release.

What CNN Left Out in their report on Van Grack– He led a grand jury inquiry in Northern Virginia scrutinizing former Trump associate Michael Flynn’s foreign lobbying. And Van Grack donated to the Obama campaign.

Following the corrupt Mueller investigation, Van Grack was promoted to head the DOJ’s FARA Unit. Van Grack should not be leading any unit in the DOJ, he should be in prison.

The following Twitter thread outlines many of corrupt DOJ attorney Van Grack’s crimes when working for the Mueller gang.

Van Grack is a crooked cop and Deep State attorney. He simply is a crook and must be held accountable. It’s time that the DOJ give itself an enema. Van Grack must go.

More

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/flashback-corrupt-doj-and-mueller-attorney-van-grack-committed-many-false-and-fraudulent-activities-in-his-efforts-to-indict-general-flynn/

Chaos In Pentagon: Defense Secretary Denounces Statement On Troop Withdrawal From Iraq

On January 6th, an unsigned letter from Brig. Gen. William Seely III, the Marine Corps officer who commands the U.S. coalition against ISIS began circulating media, purportedly announcing that the US-led coalition in Iraq would withdraw.

In a very polite manner, the letter explains that Operation Inherent Resolve respects the Iraqi government’s decision and would start preparing to leave the country within the next few days.

Immediately after the letter began circulating media, the US Department of Defense organized a press briefing with US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in attendance.

The two officials said that they were not aware of it and that its contents didn’t reflect the Trump administration’s policy, saying that there were no plans for US forces to withdraw from Iraq.

The letter was legitimate but was never meant to be sent or made public, Gen. Milley said.

“This was a mistake, an honest mistake,” he told reporters. “We understand U.S. government policy. Nobody’s leaving.”

He said Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, US CENTCOM commander, called his subordinates in Iraq to find out what was going on there. He also concluded the letter was sent in error.

“He used other words that were a little more colorful than ‘mistake,’” Gen. Milley said. “… The bottom line is, it should never have happened.”

The Department of Defense’s Press Secretary Alyssa Farah rejected that there was any change of policy for the US.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire will brief the House of Representatives on the situation in Iraq in a closed-door session on January 8th.

Despite that, the situation with the letter shows the state of chaos in the US-led coalition, which is further substantiated by the report that NATO was suspending all training of Iraqi forces to ensure the safety of its mission members.

“The safety of our personnel in Iraq is paramount,” acting NATO spokesman Dylan White said in a statement. “We continue to take all precautions necessary. NATO’s mission is continuing, but training activities are temporarily suspended.”

He said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had spoken by phone with U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and coordinated the actions.

On January 6th, NATO held a meeting on the Middle East tensions, and Jens Stoltenberg gave a press conference after it.

https://southfront.org/chaos-in-pentagon-defense-secretary-denounces-statement-on-troop-withdrawal-from-iraq/

Iraqi Prime Minister Was Forced To Resign After Trump Threatened His Life: Report

On January 5th, the Iraqi parliament voted on a resolution to expel US troops from the country. In attendance was, caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who, according to reports provided insight into why specifically Iraq was in this situation, and predominantly spoke about threats that came his way from US President Donald Trump and the US policy towards the country.

The following is the summary of reports regarding Abdul-Mehdi’s comments during the January 5 vote of the Iraqi Parliament. These reports have been nor officially confirmed nor denied by the Prime Minister office.

Abdul-Mehdi adressed the US hostile actions against the country. For example, the politician reportedly said that the US refused to complete the infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless it is promised 50% of oil revenues. The Prime Minister refused to make the concession.

Then, when the Prime Minister visited China and reached an important agreement to undertake construction of the projects instead of the US, President Donald Trump allegedly called him, telling him to rescind the agreement with China, otherwise there would be massive demonstrations against him, that would force him out of his seat.

HINT: A 50-person Iraqi delegation visited China in 2019 and that protests began on October 1st, observed a religious holiday, and then ramped up once again on October 25th. The flames of the protests were further fanned by mainstream media outlets.

https://southfront.org/iraqi-prime-minister-was-forced-to-resign-after-trump-threatened-his-life/

Major U.S. Military Contractors Stand to Reap Huge Windfalls from Escalation of Conflict with Iran

Meet the CEOs Raking It in from Trump’s Aggression toward Iran

CEOs of major U.S. military contractors stand to reap huge windfalls from the escalation of conflict with Iran. This was evident in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian military official last week. As soon as the news reached financial markets, these companies’ share prices spiked, inflating the value of their executives’ stock-based pay.

I took a look at how the CEOs at the top five Pentagon contractors were affected by this surge, using the most recent SEC information on their stock holdings.

Northrop Grumman executives saw the biggest increase in the value of their stocks after the U.S. airstrike that killed Qasem Suleimani on January 2. Shares in the B-2 bomber maker rose 5.43 percent by the end of trading the following day.

Wesley Bush, who turned Northrop Grumman’s reins over to Kathy Warden last year, held 251,947 shares of company stock in various trusts as of his final SEC Form 4 filing in May 2019. (Companies must submit these reports when top executives and directors buy and sell company stock.) Assuming Bush is still sitting on that stockpile, he saw the value grow by $4.9 million to a total of $94.5 million last Friday.

New Northrop Grumman CEO Warden saw the 92,894 shares she’d accumulated as the firm’s COO expand in value by more than $2.7 million in just one day of post-assassination trading.

Lockheed Martin, whose Hellfire missiles were reportedly used in the attack at the Baghdad airport, saw a 3.6 percent increase in price per share on January 3. Marillyn Hewson, CEO of the world’s largest weapon maker, may be kicking herself for selling off a considerable chunk of stock last year when it was trading at around $307. Nevertheless, by the time Lockheed shares reached $413 at the closing bell, her remaining stash had increased in value by about $646,000.

What about the manufacturer of the MQ-9 Reaper that carried the Hellfire missiles? That would be General Atomics. Despite raking in $2.8 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts in 2018, the drone maker is not required to disclose executive compensation information because it is a privately held corporation.

We do know General Atomics CEO Neal Blue is worth an estimated $4.1 billion—and he’s a major investor in oil production, a sector that also stands to profit from conflict with a major oil-producing country like Iran.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/major-u-s-military-contractors-stand-to-reap-huge-windfalls-from-escalation-of-conflict-with-iran/5699945

Elon Musk Dances for China, Promises ‘Super Cool’ Tesla Designed in Country

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently stated during an event in Shanghai, China, that the electric car manufacturer plans to design its next vehicle in China for the global market, an idea Musk called “super cool.” Musk also drew attention at the event by showcasing his bizarre dance moves.

CNBC reports that during an event in Shanghai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that the electric car manufacturer would soon open a design and engineering center in China where it would design and produce a vehicle for the global market. Musk also stated that Tesla will soon start work on a production program for the embattled Model Y vehicle in its Shanghai factory.

Musk seems to be in an increasingly cozy relationship with China at a time when many American companies are shifting business away from the communist country. Musk’s businesses have received billions in American taxpayer money, including at least $4.9 billion for Tesla and its solar subsidiary. The State of New York has taken a $900 million write-down on more than $1 billion it invested in bringing Tesla’s solar unit to Buffalo, which has not produced the economic activity the state had hoped for.

The announcements were made by Musk as he delivered the first Model 3 vehicle out of the Shanghai factory to the public. Musk told the audience in Shanghai: “We intend to continue making a significant investment and increasing the investment in China, making the Model 3 and the Model Y and future models also in China.”

“Something that would be super cool … So we’re going to do it … is to try to create a China design and engineering center to actually design an original car in China for worldwide consumption. I think this will be very exciting,” he added.

Musk also took his time on stage to perform a dance for the crowd, which Bloomberg correspondent Selina Wang mused might be part of a “charm offensive” aimed at officials of China’s communist government:

Analysts believe that China is a critical market for Tesla as the company faces a number of challenges such as slowing vehicle sales and increasing competition from major auto manufacturers. Tesla did, however, report a profitable third quarter of 2019 and company share prices hit a record high of $454 last week.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/01/07/elon-musk-dances-for-china-promises-super-cool-tesla-designed-in-country/

WORK OF THE DEVIL Four girls as young THREE sexually abused by Satanic cult leader after gran offered them as sacrifices for lotto win

FOUR girls were sexually abused in black magic rituals by a cult leader who promised their grandmother a lottery jackpot if she turned them over to him, police in Brazil said.

The victims, three sisters aged three, seven and 10, and their 13-year-old cousin, were allegedly assaulted by sect leader, Nilson Alves, 42, during satanic ceremonies at a rural campsite in Caiapônia, central west Brazil.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10680615/cult-leader-girls-abuse-brazil/