Sec State Kerry: Proud Of Undermining The Nuclear Deal With Iran
When in January the deal about Iran's nuclear program (JCPOA) went into its implementation phase we asked When And How Will The U.S. Infringe On The Iran Deal?
I predicted:
[T]he U.S. is never short of some subterfuge to to break agreements. Some reason will be found that then will be used to infringe on the nuclear agreement and to implement new measures to hinder Iran's development.
That seems to have been correct and the answers to the "When" and "How" of U.S. infringement are now in.
On January 16, the implementation day, Secretary of State Kerry said:
To get to this point, ladies and gentlemen, Iran has undertaken significant steps that many – and I do mean many – people doubted would ever come to pass. And that should be recognized, even though the full measure of this achievement can only be realized by assuring continued full compliance in the coming years. In return for the steps that Iran has taken, the United States and the EU will immediately lift nuclear-related sanctions, expanding the horizon of opportunity for the Iranian people. And I have even tonight, before coming over here, signed a number of documents over those sanctions that the State Department has jurisdiction over in order to effect that lifting.
But four month later Iran can still not access its money that was frozen under sanctions. It can not buy anything significant with it. The U.S. is blackmailing the banks not to release one penny of Iran's money. It did not drain the sanction morass added to it.
Indeed the very next day after Kerry's announcement the U.S. raised new sanctions against Iran
The White House immediately announced a new set of sanctions against 11 Iranian companies, institutions and individual people because Iran had tested a ballistic missile the previous autumn.Last month came more of the same. This time the Iranians conducted several missile tests over a period of two days. And on March 25 the administration announced another round of sanctions, these once again imposed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The U.S. claims that Iran, by testing ballistic missiles, somehow infringes on UN Security Council Resolution 2231. But that resolution only "calls upon Iran", i.e. politely asks, to not test missiles designed to be nuclear capable.
There is also a deep logical flaw in the U.S. argumentation:
Iran has certifiably dismantled all aspects of its nuclear program that would have made it capable of weaponizing enriched uranium. Nonetheless, say the Americans, we will impose sanctions on Iran for developing missile technology that would make it capable of firing one of the nuclear weapons we have just made certain it cannot build.
Besides those new sanction over ballistic missiles the U.S. is doing everything to block any real relief from the old sanctions.
As soon as the sanctions over the nuclear program were formally lifted, the U.S. send its bureaucrats out to warn off any bank from doing business with Iran:
US Treasury officials, since ‘implementation’ day, have been doing the rounds, warning European banks that the US sanctions on Iran remain in place, and that European banks should not think, even for a second, of tapping the dollar or euro bond markets in order to finance trade with Iran, or to become involved with financing infrastructure projects in Iran. Banks well understand the message: touch Iranian commerce and you will be whacked with a billion dollar fine – against which there is no appeal, no clear legal framework – and no argument countenanced. The banks (understandably) are shying off. Not a single bank or financial lending institution tuned up when President Rouhani visited Paris, to hold meetings with the local business élite.
There are some $50-100 billion in Iran owned accounts in banks all over the world. These were frozen under UN sanction against Iran. People opposed to the Iran deal claimed that Iran, should the money be unblocked, would use it for "terrorism" or other nefarious stuff. That is nonsense. "Terrorism" does not cost any significant amount of money. The Twin Towers were blown up for less than a million. Indeed the Obama administration publicly defended the release of the Iranian money. But as soon as the deal was done it started to sabotaged it.
The same man that defended the unfreezing of Iran's money against opponents of the deal and who promised the lifting of sanctions, Secretary of State Kerry, is now boasting that this did indeed not happen in any practical way:
“Do you remember the debate over how much money Iran was going to get?” Kerry asked the crowd. “Sometimes you heard some of the presidential candidates putting a mistaken figure out of $155 billion. We never thought it would be that. Others thought it would be about a $100 billion because there was supposedly $100 billion that was owed and so forth. We calculated it to be about $55 billion when you really take a hard look at the economy and what is happening. Guess what, folks. You know how much they have received to date as I stand here tonight?”“About three billion,” he told the J Street supporters who lobbied to cement the deal when it went through the Congress, shortly after its contours were agreed upon between the P5+1 world powers in July.
Shorter Kerry: "Look, we screwed Iran mightily and we are very proud of it!"
The U.S. government expected that the nuclear deal would unfreeze $55 billion of Iranian money. It then sabotaged the deal and is now proud to announce that only $3 billion were actually unfrozen.
The New York Times editors want to make you believe that its is Iran's fault that the money is not really unfrozen:
The agreement promised an end to sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the European Union in return for a freeze on Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has fulfilled its part; so have the major powers, and businesses are flocking to Iran in search of deals. Technically, Iran is free to export crude oil and access about $50 billion in foreign exchange reserves in foreign banks.
..
Before the nuclear deal, Iran was largely isolated from the international banking system. It has not kept up with strict new rules to prevent money-laundering and terrorist financing. Experts say Iranian banks are badly run, politicized and lack transparency — warning signs for risk-averse foreign banks.
But this has nothing to do with Iranian banks which are likely much less prone to rob their customers than the big U.S. banks are. Too-big-to-fail U.S. banks, not Iranian banks, crashed the world economy. This has nothing to do with Iranian banks but has all to do with the U.S. blocking any significant money transfer out of and into Iranian accounts. Indeed later on the NYT admits that U.S. restrictions are making any big deals with Iran impossible:
There are no restrictions on foreign banks that want to do deals with Iran in euros or other non-dollar currencies. Foreign banks can also do trades in dollars if they can cover the transaction with the dollars they have on hand. In practice, that means smaller deals, because for larger ones, like oil contracts, they would have to access the American financial system, which is off limits.
The U.S. officially lifted the sanctions, the $55 billion or so are now officially unfrozen, but only $3 billion of them could be moved because the U.S. blocks any significant money transfer and other commercial deals with Iran.
The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today that North Korea should learn from the Iran deal and do a similar one. We can be sure that North Korea watches and learns from the Iran deal. There will be no such deal with North Korea as the U.S. is obviously not ever a trustworthy party.
Others are watching too.
The people of Iran will (again) learn that the more liberal "reformers", like the current President Rouhani, are losers who fall for U.S. trickery each and every time. They will go back to vote for those conservatives who warned of the nuclear deal. Welcome back President Ahmadinejad. Is that what the U.S. really wants? To keep Iran hostile as an ever available "enemy"?
The Europeans want to get into business with Iran, so do the Russians and the Chinese. The U.S. is trying to block them all. But this will only create more inducement to shun the U.S. dollar as reserve currency and to move all businesses to financial frameworks that are not under U.S. whim and control That will take some time. But I am sure that this childish flim-flam the Obama administration and the Secretary of State are now so proud of, will come back to bite and will in future impede the role of the U.S. in the world's financial system.
Posted by b on April 19, 2016 at 17:52 UTC | Permalink
Posted by: bridger | Apr 19, 2016 2:27:47 PM | 1
I've already said the Iranians were crazy to sign the document I read (and I'm not even an effing lawyer).
So I hope you're right. And you certainly could be.
(The Times They Are A-Changin')
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 19 2016 19:16 utc | 2
In the same line of thoughts
Does the US Really Want Iran to Moderate Its Policies?
Published on April 18th, 2016 | by Shireen HunterOnly three months after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the success of the nuclear deal with Iran already appears in doubt.
Posted by: virgile | Apr 19 2016 19:18 utc | 3
This USA stupidity was not unforeseen by the Iranian leadership.
http://thesaker.is/iran-nuclear-deal-the-islamic-republic-sticks-to-its-guns/
"Iran nuclear deal: the Islamic Republic sticks to its guns
July 30, 2015
By Sayed Hasan
Translated from French by Jenny Bright
Attached is the translation of the speech of Sayed Khamenei following the nuclear deal.
On July 18th, 2015, in his first speech after Iran’s nuclear agreement signed four days ago, Sayed Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, sent a resounding message to the West, especially the United States and Israel, debunking the propaganda that endeavours to transform Iran’s outstanding victory into a success for Western diplomacy. And to further underline the determination of the Islamic Republic and its fundamental hostility to American imperialism, which will always remain the “ Great Satan ” in Iran’s eyes (as Israel remains the “ cancerous tumour that must disappear from existence ”), Sayed Khamenei gave his speech while clutching nothing less than an assault rifle : this is exceptional and almost unprecedented , especially for such a religious authority, in a mosque and on the occasion of a speech commemorating the end of Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr, a feast day throughout the Muslim world..."
Posted by: Dean | Apr 19 2016 19:18 utc | 4
b: “Others are watching too”
[..]{The Europeans want to get into business with Iran, so do the Russians and the Chinese. The U.S. is trying to block them all. But this will only create more inducement to shun the U.S. dollar as reserve currency and to move all businesses to financial frameworks that are not under U.S. whim and control That will take some time.[..].
b. Thank you for all your intrepid investigative reports found nowhere else, MSM and Internet.
After the U.S. used SWIFT as a sanction weapon against Iran, an exceptional stupid act, others went to work. Shunning the USD is already happening.
Kerry and his masters are known to deal in bad faith. ~VERY Unfortunate for the U.S. The Iranians, Indians, Russians and Chinese observe and have taken policy measures to protect. Iranians, with great certainty, know the U.S. will come begging because KSA oil reserves are in fact depleted as the wells are pumping 95% water.
The USD for the pricing of and in conducting international trade is dead; all but the burial. Finance is moving to the East and the USD is being avoided like the plague.
See
1.After the deal was signed, Iran’s first announcement: - All payments for Oil including previous frozen payments are to be made in euros. Also, they have signed aircraft deals with Airbus
2. Trade between China and other majors are in RMB - the Yuan. See RMB swaps and RMB international hubs now operational in all major countries (hubs in UK, Germany, Canada, US). I watched with interest the competition by various cities for their selection.
3. CIPS has been launched – CIPS is the acronym for China’s International Payment System, the Alternative to SWIFT. In fact, it is felt the first action steps for China’s takeover of SWIFT is in-play; not just a cooperation.
The “future China take-over” of the SWIFT org was spun by SWIFT here: https://www.swift.com/insights/press-releases/swift-and-cips-co_sign-memorandum-of-understanding-on-cross-border-interbank-payment-system-cooperation
4. This is an historic event. SGE was launched today, April 19 – the Shanghai Gold Exchange. We observe an immediate impact on the price fixing (manipulation in `London and `New `York). Silver surged to USD$17.11. In the near future take your popcorn and observe the gold move at a clip of USD$120 per day.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-19/china-launches-yuan-gold-fix-exert-more-control-over-price-gold
These are interesting times…near term the next few weeks.
Posted by: likklemore | Apr 19 2016 19:32 utc | 5
And this was supposed to be Obama's big foreign policy achievement! Well, I guess to the AngloZionists it is. Rest of the world, please take heed. Lying scum is the order of the day for the USA. And next Hillary??!
Posted by: kafkananda | Apr 19 2016 19:33 utc | 6
..and for ukraine they undermine the democracy too,
Dutch MPs reject proposal to give up ratification of EU-Ukraine deal
The Dutch parliament has rejected a motion calling on the government to immediately withdraw a law ratifying the EU-Ukraine association agreement. The 71-75 vote on Tuesday means the government can continue with its preferred option of taking more time to talk to EU partners about next steps. At the request of the Dutch Socialist Party, the vote took place by name instead of the usual party principle, TASS reported. The Socialist Party deputy, Harry van Bommel, said that “the will expressed by the people has been relegated to the background.” Dutch voters on April 6 rejected the Ukraine-EU treaty by a large margin in a non-binding referendum. Around 4.1 million voters cast ballots, with 61 percent saying ‘no’ to the treaty.
Posted by: REbel2 | Apr 19 2016 19:39 utc | 7
this deal was always for the suckers, and it's amazing how many suckers out there were propagandising for it all along. And not only Rouhani - Who is not the decisionmaker in Iran for this deal.
Posted by: tom | Apr 19 2016 20:11 utc | 8
thanks b...
the world can only handle so much lying and subterfuge.. most people see right thru kerry, but one has to admit he is the perfect ambassador for the usa - a liar thru and thru.. when kerry is gone, i suppose he will be replaced with the witch samantha powers... something about being an out and out liar appeals to the powers running the usa at this point in time..
Posted by: james | Apr 19 2016 20:21 utc | 9
The United States is like a panel of shrinks in mental hospitals who insisted patients acknowledge they had a problem and agree to a treatment plan. As soon as the patients agree, the shrinks say they're just pretending so they can get out of the hospital. The shrinks then cite that as proof the patient is even sicker than before. Or, another example is the parole board in "Shawshank Redemption".
The United States did the same with with the Koreans some years back and they are saying: Thanks, but no thanks. Soon they'll have the capacity to destroy LA which is all the bloody nose this country could take.
Posted by: Casowary Gentry | Apr 19 2016 20:24 utc | 10
"To keep Iran hostile as an ever available "enemy"?"
It's what my Amerika does best, the never ending war machine needs all the enemies it can get. Profit first and only profit.
Posted by: jo6pac | Apr 19 2016 20:39 utc | 11
And there was the US court that awarded against Iran for involvement in 9/11 but at the same time we have the 28 pages. Surely people are going to wake up.
Posted by: Nobody | Apr 19 2016 21:08 utc | 12
Just wait. the reason the Us has lost every single war it has barged into was because it didn't really care about any issues facing the groups in a given area only its own DC centric ones. this is still an issue because the US is still a superpower with global reach and now there are 3 candidates in us elections with sizable voting blocs that aren't going away that are opposed to what the dc apparatchiks are doing (to a greater or lesser degree0
will impact what happens.
Posted by: heath | Apr 19 2016 21:19 utc | 13
No one should be surprised by this US bad faith, the wily Ayatollah Khamenei certainly was not and expected it. The 'arc' of resistance Iran,Syria and Hezbollah and to a lesser extent Iraq all backed by Russia are under attack both economically and militarily. Fortunately this combination is impossible for the US and allies to beat militarily so they are arming their proxy head choppers to do the job, all are also under economic sanctions, of course the US cannot win, but the US hopes the 'arc' will sustain so much economic damage it will cease to be an effective resistance block. Big stakes indeed for all those involved, including Russia and China, that is why they must all stick together, any show of weakness and the empire will destroy them.
Posted by: harrylaw | Apr 19 2016 21:26 utc | 14
b, 'The Europeans want to get into business with Iran, so do the Russians and the Chinese. The U.S. is trying to block them all. But this will only create more inducement to shun the U.S. dollar as reserve currency and to move all businesses to financial frameworks that are not under U.S. whim and control That will take some time. But I am sure that this childish flim-flam the Obama administration and the Secretary of State are now so proud of, will come back to bite and will in future impede the role of the U.S. in the world's financial system.'
Yeah. The USA is trying to erect a permanent fence around Iran ... and Russia, and China, and ... but that fence needs to be pushed back to its limits, to enclose the US ... and Israel, perhaps, although they'll desert the US in a heartbeat if they can ... and not the rest of the world, as the fools in Washington and Israel think they can. It's gotta be BDS the US, BDS Israel ... not BDS the world.
'Is that what the U.S. really wants? To keep Iran hostile as an ever available "enemy"?'
Yup. Not only Iran. Obama doesn't care about the consequences of all the disastrous decisions he's made and failed to make. Two hundred seventy-six days to pay day. And his pay will be among the last docked. The three 'F's need to keep the politicians as pets.
@1 bridger, 'Iran is now free to engage its future partners. It also makes clear to its future partners the fact that intensely painful and difficult labour will be required for the birth of a new multi polar world - but their is no alternative for them.'
The immediate problem is the inherent spinelessness of the Europeans ...
First they came for the Iranians, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not an Iranian.
People are fond of WWI analogies, it's WWII all over again. We know how that ended up ...
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.
@4 lm, 'The USD for the pricing of and in conducting international trade is dead; all but the burial. Finance is moving to the East and the USD is being avoided like the plague.'
Thanks for the 'good' news.
@6 REb2, '“the will expressed by the people has been relegated to the background.” '
I was afraid that was exactly what was going to happen : BFS US, BDS Israel, BDS EU ...
@7 t, 'this deal was always for the suckers'
I disagree. I agree with bridger @1, likklemore @4, kafkananda @5, nobody @11, harrylaw @13, and of course, with b.
@13 hl 'Big stakes indeed for all those involved, including Russia and China, that is why they must all stick together, any show of weakness and the empire will destroy them. '
I agree. Europe may insist on going down with the US, but together they are about 10% of humanity. And, truthfully, the least helpful 10% in terms not only of humanity, but of the whole world.
Posted by: jfl | Apr 19 2016 21:43 utc | 15
Iran wins again.
The US has already shown the world it has no military edge left against its big opponents. There remained its economic heft - now visibly devaluing as the days roll by, from multiple causes already shown here, up-thread.
The theater of the US being largely for domestic consumption and only effective within its borders, its only real weapon left was treachery, and the world's credulity is hardening against even this. Iran is playing a major role in this shift of paradigm.
All the allies of the freedom-loving world do their part against the old colonial world.
But I confess I was hoping to be able to buy some gold before the price went up ;)
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 19 2016 22:07 utc | 16
No matter who, or what you are, nation or individual, the Empire will attempt to crush any competition to their hegemony. Period. The list over the last hundred years, is proof of that.
Overthrowing other people’s governments: The Master List
http://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list
Posted by: ben | Apr 19 2016 23:25 utc | 17
Well, when so-called nuclear deal with Iran was announced everybody sane knew that it was phony.
For Iranians who gave up nuclear program they did not have and for US pretending that they want peace and normalization in the ME while they pushed for war.
Nothing for nothing. Now the US plan is to ooze some Iranian money as a leverage for extortion racket US is famous for, namely to push Iran away from Russia and China.
US good cop and Saudi bad cop team are working up the Iranians and sadly Russia. They both seem to fall for it like children or things are much worse that we think they are. Where is Vlad's manhood and leadership? Where is eastern political block to counterweight the US imperial aggression on all fronts in MENA, in Europe and in S.E. Asia? Is this an appeasement of a bully we see? I hope not since it won't work.
Even in Doha Russia was not in a block with Iran, trying naively to reach the oil production freezing deal while ignoring absent 800 lb Iranian gorilla in the state of war with Saudis who broke agreement on behalf of the US.
Since other angles of the conflict, fought not only on battlefields but in diplomatic chambers, are covered elsewhere it is instructive to read what actually is going on with the another propaganda construct peddled by Russia and Iran called ceasefire in Syria, namely it is dead as pointed out at :
https://syrianwarupdate.wordpress.com/
Posted by: Kalen | Apr 20 2016 0:47 utc | 18
You cant forget that Iran was officially labelled responsible for 9/11 after the deal was done. That said enough.
Some free market this, the one we know, the status quo.
Divide the Muslims, conquer them. In no way will it be easy for Iran. The last thing the empire wants to see is the rise of a powerhouse islamic state who could unite the Islamic peoples...a nation that voted no with their fists decades ago, showing how its done, proud of it.
Imagine that...a united arab nation. The Empire has done well to pick at the seams of an ancient religious split.
Maybe the Empire does want perpetual war. It certainly wears the war economy badge with open pride. But other nations are just as technologically advanced at a fraction of the cost - as Grieved points out at 15 - and these more efficient nations do not borrow from 100% private banks in order to back their war machines. Efficiency born from necessity, innovation and NOT being the owner of the reserve currency.
Too much easy cash will cause laziness no doubt.
Empire simply cant sustain a rule with total fear in this age... certainly not under the guise of 'free markets' which they monopolise. Everyone can discover this if they choose, but its understanable that they dont when life is made just bearable enough for the masses not to complain on behalf of others in this global village.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Apr 20 2016 1:27 utc | 19
jo6pac@10 As a Wall Street investment banker said to me many decades ago, "Profit without honor is still money in the bank." On another occasion he told me the bankers' motto: "If they've got a lot, take a lot. If they've got a little, take it all." It appears now that he wasn't joking.
Posted by: Macon Richardson | Apr 20 2016 2:10 utc | 20
@18 mm2
Yes, it's amazing how upfront North Americans, Europeans and the downunders in Oceania are now about being the beneficiaries of the smash and grab of the 'free market'. No one of us here of course. Back when this round began in 2000 the claim that Iraq was all about oil was met with an insulted sniff, of course not! Not this decade. It's strictly zero-sum now, been so officially, at least since Libya - Yugoslavia in retrospect, and all we "westerners' are web-footed ducks in a row, paddling like hell to keep up. Even the 'liberals', or 'progressives' - the Bernie supporters - are quite content to hear nothing about imperialism and its accompanying death, devastation, destruction and deceit. Hey, ya gotta make a buck, right? This is a dog eat dog world!
The world is what you make of it, and yes, with the US in the lead the west has undeniably loosed a ravenous pack of curs, feasting on the hindmost; and soon, biting one another, tearing out hunks of flesh, as well. Double-dealing and betrayal are marks of the up and coming cur in the pack.
Posted by: jfl | Apr 20 2016 2:57 utc | 21
@11 -- "Surely people are going to wake up."
WTF4? Virtually everyone below the 1% has taken the 'debt pill' and are sleeping like pacified zombies.
The criminals are in charge, the inmates run the control rooms and there are no 'facts' (that can't be manipulated).
Welcome to the virtual nightmare: you can book out anytime, but you can never leave!
Posted by: x | Apr 20 2016 5:22 utc | 23
Thanks, likklemore, for reminding us that the multifarious coalescing East is building its own institutions to support global trade, out of the dollar. It can't happen soon enough.
Posted by: AriusArmenian | Apr 20 2016 6:13 utc | 24
- It only confirms that The White House & the State Department (read: John Kerry) are not "on the same page" when it comes to foreign policy regarding the Middle East.
I assume the arms manufacturers are pushing hard to let Kerry do what's good for them and NOT for the USA.
- This reminds me of something Susan Rice said before the "Libya desaster". She told the French ambassador that she didn't want to get involved "in your shitty wars". But after some time (weeks ??, months ??) she was given a different set of marching orders. Those orders were the beginning of the US support for the French and the ensueing "Libya disaster". The question then becomes: Who gave her those new marching orders ? This article clearly points the finger at Hillary Clinton.
Posted by: Willy2 | Apr 20 2016 8:07 utc | 25
While Kerry may boast to a Jewish audience about limited sanctions relief, it is the Treasury Dept., not State, that is the lead dog here. As Alastair Crooke points out :
US Treasury officials, since ‘implementation’ day, have been doing the rounds, warning European banks that the US sanctions on Iran remain in place,
More specifically it is Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) and its Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (OTFI.) whose job is to keep up sanctions pressure on Iran through the international banking system.
And who is the counter-terrorism czar in charge here - a certain Adam Szubin who just happens to be Jewish and coincidentally is the third straight tribesman to hold this position since it was created in 2004.
Resume requirement for counter-terrorism job appears to include: Jewish
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/07/requirement-treasury-appears/
The two other men to hold this job before Szubin were Stuart Levey– who … wrote his college dissertation about saving the Zionist “dream” …– and Levey’s deputy David Cohen, who had the blessing of Alan Dershowitz. “He is very consciously Jewish,” …
The reality is that the position of counter-terrorism czar is an Israel lobby job.
( note: David Cohen has since been appointed as the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency)
Here’s just a partial list of “leadership” and top apparatchiks in the OFAC and OTFI over the past decade-plus:
David S. Cohen
Stuart Levey
Daniel L. Glaser
Adam J. Szubin
Matthew Epstein
Howard Mendelsohn
Jonathan Schanzer
Matthew Levitt
Robert Werner
And just as coincidentally the top two people at the Treasury Dept. happen to be Jacob Lew, Secretary and Sarah Bloom Raskin, Deputy Secretary.
Is there perhaps some recognizable commonality here?
By ignoring the likelihood that a certain faction within the government is responsible for the maintenance of sanctions is to deny the existence of the kosher elephant in the room. Did anyone seriously think that Israel would just quietly accept the terms of the nuclear agreement and not do everything in its power to sabotage it?
Posted by: pantaraxia | Apr 20 2016 11:20 utc | 26
President Obama has been very busy giving away nukes - find out why and to whom he has given them to. .....Pray they fail at these evil plans and everything they do fails as well. Be ready folks. ......
https://youtu.be/MFwnhZlnq_c
https://youtu.be/OTE_Eshm2xw
https://youtu.be/I4BWk4_lpDA
https://youtu.be/4pI2Liqn7oY
Posted by: ALAN | Apr 20 2016 12:11 utc | 27
It seems we’ve unknowingly fallen through a wormhole and emerged in an alternative universe - a Bizarro World where everything is upside-down.
Iran ordered to pay $10.5 billion for 9/11 by US judge
https://www.rt.com/usa/335174-iran-damages-september-911-victims/
A US judge ordered Iran to pay over $10 billion in damages to families of victims who died on September 11, 2001 – even though there is no evidence of Tehran’s direct connection to the attack. The same judge earlier cleared Saudi Arabia from culpability.
and
US jury orders Palestinian govt to pay $218 mn for terror attacks
https://www.rt.com/usa/234915-us-jury-palestinians-terror/
A federal jury has ruled that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority supported terror attacks which killed dozens of people in Israel a decade ago, and must now pay $218.5 million in damages. (the damages are automatically tripled to $655.5 million )
(In contravention of the UN Charter enshrining the “legitimacy of the people’s struggle for liberation from colonial and foreign domination...by all available means.)
and now:
Family of journalist Steven Sotloff sues Syria in US court over Isis beheading
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/19/family-journalist-steven-sotloff-sues-syria-isis-beheading
Lawsuit seeks $90m in damages from government of Bashar al-Assad for providing support to Isis militants who killed American journalist in 2014
In keeping with blatant absurdity of these claims, it would not be surprising to see some Israeli front organization sue the Palestinians for non-payment of back-rent covering the past 2000 years - and win.
Posted by: pantaraxia | Apr 20 2016 13:05 utc | 28
@25 pa
Thanks for the confirmation of the direct Israeli role at US Treasury. It makes sense that only an outsider could initiate a policy that will financially destroy the USA. The TNCs are safe, of course. Only the people with just a US Passport will Feel The Burn.
@26 alan
I cannot take the first video too seriously. My first thought on the others is that they are showing thermo-baric weapon detonations. If they were nuclear the radiation would have been detected and we'd KNOW.
The state with US thermonuclear weapons that scares me the most is Turkey. I think that if the Saudis have nukes, they're Pakistani.
But what do I know? Still, these are just assertions. Zero substantiation.
Posted by: jfl | Apr 20 2016 13:17 utc | 29
April 20, 2016 - You can't make this stuff up ...
On the evening of April 19, 2016 during the Charlie Rose Show Community organizer > Illinois State Senator > US Senator from Illinois > President of the United States, Obama, amidst an hour of circle talking about the same failed Department of State ideology stated that "we have the duty to protect others."
So now the women of the United States can exercise their 'duty.' The privilege of being killed in combat defending "the others."
Just my opinion.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/03/politics/u-s-military-women-combat-positions/
Posted by: ALberto | Apr 20 2016 13:22 utc | 30
25 not just the Treasury; the last 3 FED chairman were Jews as are many of the top honchos at the big banks.
Posted by: Vollin | Apr 20 2016 14:00 utc | 31
Bad faith;The American way.We have absolutely no spirituality anymore and our relations with the world are shite.
The Iraq War(and all the others);If I had believed that the USA had the interests of the Iraqi people at heart I would have supported it,but I knew we didn't,and that our hearts are black.Voila.
Yes 27,the Jews know Trump is their Waterloo in America,hence their total opposition.Can anyone find a nation in history controlled by citizens of another state?
And don't count out Sanders despite the hell bitches win in NY.It was built on black,Latino and Asian minority support.Sanders won almost the whole of upstate NY,and it will be the hinterlands that decide Americas future.
Posted by: dahoit | Apr 20 2016 14:09 utc | 32
@pantaraxia, 27 sed:
"It seems we’ve unknowingly fallen through a wormhole and emerged in an alternative universe - a Bizarro World where everything is upside-down."more like a talmudian world
Posted by: rint | Apr 20 2016 14:21 utc | 33
rint wrote: more like a talmudian world
If only Issac Asimov was around to write the sci-fi version of that.......grin. It would drive the Zionists crazy.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 20 2016 15:00 utc | 34
Top US, Iranian Diplomats Confer on Sanctions Relief for Tehran
Source: VOAU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks Tuesday in New York with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, aimed at ensuring that Iran gets the sanctions relief promised in the landmark nuclear deal reached in January.
Posted by: virgile | Apr 20 2016 16:29 utc | 35
@ jfl14; AriusArmenian | 23;
Watch this Bloomberg innterview via ZH
"China Yuan Gold Fix Is Part Of A Planned Shift From Dollar": China's Bocom
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-20/china-yuan-gold-fix-part-planned-shift-dollar-chinas-bocom
China's shift to an official local-currency-based gold fixing is "the culmination of a two-year plan to move away from a US-centric monetary system," according to Bocom strategist Hao Hong. In an insightfully honest Bloomberg TV interview, Hong admits that "by trading physical gold in renminbi, China is slowly chipping away at the dominance of US dollars." Gold, silver, and petroleum "are the three USD-based commodites that China wants most control of" according to Hong but "gold in particular is one of the commodities that China is hoarding very hard."
~ ~ ~ ~
BRICS FMs discuss launch of bank institute, ratings agency.
http://thebricspost.com/brics-fms-discuss-launch-of-bank-institute-rating-agency/#.Vxe7vumoXFK
BRICS countries on Friday discussed the efficacy of “establishing” a bank institute and a rating agency of their own following the New Development Bank (NDB) becoming fully operational.
= = = = =
@ pantaraxia 27
Add to this the US Supreme court has sustained a court order – that Iran must pay US$2 billion from their frozen funds to the relatives of the 241 marines who died in the 1983 Beirut attack.
https://www.rt.com/usa/340387-us-iran-pay-victims/
Interesting times ahead. Try and Collect!
Saudi Arabia and Israel are protected.
The US is being selective in the implementation of Diplomatic Convention Treaties on Sovereign Immunity. Good evidence from US Officials to be found in various media.
Countries will just take this to the ICJ and invoke the Obama Charlie Rose and the Graham CBS 60 Minute interviews. Iran will cite the 28 pages and Ben Rhodes’ statement regarding KSA in those classified 9/11 report pages
Watch
Obama: ‘If we let Americans sue Saudis for 9/11, foreigners will begin suing US non-stop’
https://www.rt.com/usa/340313-obama-saudi-pages-classified/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/340175-september-eleven-saudi-us/
https://www.rt.com/usa/340109-obama-911-report-saudi-arabia/
“There are a lot of rocks out there that have been purposefully tamped down, that if were they turned over, would give us a more expansive view of the Saudi role,” Bob Graham, former chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said to CBS.
“The Saudis know what they did. We know what they did,” Graham said.
Posted by: likklemore | Apr 20 2016 18:05 utc | 36
On the domestic political front, at least half of all tv news viewing "politically astute" Americans perceive the Iran Deal as a bad one for America.
Remarks such as, "You can't trust the Iranians to uphold their end of the deal. Obama, Kerry and the Dimmocrats are stupid and weak".
How does that perception among common rednecks further the cause of global hegemony for the one percent? Does the media induced manipulation of public opinion which yields this simple-minded conclusion serve another purpose?
Obviously it is both a smoke screen and encouragement for war down the road.
Posted by: fastfreddy | Apr 20 2016 18:05 utc | 37
@jfl 21
Yeah mate, the neolibs couldn't fkn help themselves. They already had it won. Everyone had already bought in to it, up to their eyeballs in debt in order to live the American Dream aka Australian Dream aka UK Dream etc.
Then they went too far, the banking sector turning into a casino branch of retail, but still with the magical power of creating money from nothing...creating money on the back of debt that the masses couldn't afford.
Punushing the people with crushing austerity in order to keep their profits, something Keynes himself once preached to be used in time of surplus...and niw what...? Unseated by right wing nationalists...? The neolibs abused their position.
And so the Orwellian nightmare of big brother, eternal war and lost personal liberty at the wrong end of punishing socialism looks to me very similar to the wrong end of the crony capitalism - though Bradbury's Farenheit 451 might be better parallel to current forces bent on buying up historical literature and locking it away from humankind (bookburning) and western man's indifference to war in favour of being fully entertained by shite that doesn't really matter...the mass dumbing down.
So the neolibs number is nearly up. Failure to get even halfway close to economic alchemy, where the nature of money works alongside nature itself, something that makes human capital a core value. We live and die with the flora and fauna...though, we are forsaken for what are just numbers on a screen...at some central bank...one system in an infinite number possible, that benefit just a few.
We are better than debt slaves.
2008 was a great opportunity to admit defeat and remain a part of the game going forward...but no, the neolibs fucked up Royale, blackmailed the guvna and pulled another swindle to keep the ponzi scheme afloat.
The next crash is inevitable, and the longer the neolibs get away with it, the bigger the backlash...and the more a part of history the neoliberal experiment will be. Fark off and tell your story walking.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Apr 21 2016 2:42 utc | 38
@ pantaraxia 27
Your post made me laugh so hard . It shows how much people lost it. Those judges with all their knowledge and skills in the field of law lack any common sense.Those suing cases are so ridiculous you can only laugh about it although, they reveal the less laughable tragedy we are now in.The USA is rolling on the slop leading to the graveyard of empires and destruction of nations but its hubris is so big it is unable to notice it.Does The USA know what happened to those with an unstoppable hubris??.. Yeah !that is right my friends, they cannot escape Nemesis.The ancient Greek knew that far better than anyone.
Posted by: lebretteurfredonnant | Apr 21 2016 6:50 utc | 39
Iran FM Javad Zarif responds to a reporter's question regarding Ballistic Missiles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7wiroruAKo
Posted by: A-B | Apr 21 2016 8:45 utc | 40
@pantaraxia (Apr 20, 2016 7:20:59 AM | 26):
Why is this just not surprising at all?
Posted by: Seamus Padraig | Apr 21 2016 11:04 utc | 41
Europe Says U.S. Regulations Keeping It From Trade With Iran
“Europe is being taken hostage by American policy,” said Marietje Schaake, the vice president of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations With the United States. “We negotiated the nuclear deal together, but now the U.S. is obstructing its execution.”
@42 b - it is all about destroying europe, not to mention keeping financial sanctions on iran...amazing how europe is just a tool for the usa.. i guess the way world finance is set up, they can do this..
Posted by: james | Apr 22 2016 16:24 utc | 43
@42 b
Typical yank marketing formula. Spraypsinting a piece of dog shit and calling it furniture.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Apr 22 2016 23:51 utc | 44
According to Russia Today Kerry is saying that this was just a misunderstanding. Kerry said: "“We’ve lifted our nuclear-related sanctions as we committed to do and there are now opportunities for foreign banks to do business with Iran. Unfortunately, there seems to be some confusion among foreign banks and we want to try to clarify that as much as we can.”
Perhaps another about face to save face by the very oily but flexible SoS. In any case this is good news and I suspect there was some very angry EU ministers that were complaining that made Kerry see the error of his ways.
Posted by: ToivoS | Apr 23 2016 4:58 utc | 45
EU Officials: US Keeping Europeans From Trading With Iran
Iranian officials have been complaining for weeks that the US policy means they are complying with the nuclear deal “on paper only,” and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with John Kerry earlier this week, pressing him to do something to get the US policy in line with their obligations under the deal.State Department officials seem largely on board with that, in theory, but Treasury Department officials continue to brag to Congress about their efforts to keep Iran out of international commerce, including barring Iran from any US dollar denominated transactions anywhere on the planet.
State is where the mushrooms live. Kept in the dark and fed manure. The CIA, the Pentagon, and Treasury take care of 'diplomacy' under the new dispensation. State is a vestigial organ. Where mushrooms like Kerry and Hillary go to end their careers.
The comments to this entry are closed.
My reading of this is that Iran was under no illusions about negotiating a deal involving the usa. The target of the deal was the rest of the world - the people Iran really wants to do business with. They effectively had to show that they were a rational actor (by biting their lip, and brushing off all provocations) in order to get the deal signed. Having done so, and having exposed subsequently (through articles such as this) what the USA does rather than what it says (proving the usa not to be a single rational actor)Iran is now free to engage its future partners. It also makes clear to its future partners the fact that intensely painful and difficult labour will be required for the birth of a new multi polar world - but their is no alternative for them.
Posted by: bridger | Apr 19 2016 18:27 utc | 1