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Distracted Media Fails To Catch Trump Policy Decisions
For two days the media have been busy counting people gathering in Washington DC. 90.3% of the voters in Washington DC had chosen Clinton.
A recent DC gathering of a Republican aligned crowd on a rainy work-day attracted many people. A following gathering of a Democratic aligned crowd on a work-free day without rain attracted more people.
The media watched, counted and was "astonished". Thousands of lines of "political analyses" were written to explain the difference of the crowd size without mentioning the significance of where it happened, what day of the week it happened and the environmental circumstances. The result of such analysis was a lot of bullshit.
The new Trump administration was quite happy about this diversion of attention. It additionally lampooned the media when its new spokesperson condemned the press for not being able to count at all. More lines of bullshit analysis were written about that insult.
Just like during the election campaign the media fell for the cheap stunt and thereby missed the serious processes and the decisions that were taking place behind the curtains.
Today the Trump administration announced the end of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement:
The president’s withdrawal from the Asian-Pacific trade pact amounted to a drastic reversal of decades of economic policy in which presidents of both parties have lowered trade barriers and expanded ties around the world. Although candidates have often criticized trade deals on the campaign trail, those who made it to the White House, including President Barack Obama, ended up extending their reach.
The NYT seems astonished that, unlike Obama, Trump stood by his words. The media had expected different and was distracted. It failed to report the issue until the decision was taken.
The TPP would have imposed "free trade" on more countries and products. The "free" in those trades would have meant that private companies would have been "free" to overrule national governments and their jurisdiction. They could have sued for "compensation" if a country, for public health or environmental reasons, rejected or hindered one of their businesses. Everyone should be happy that this monster died.
In another policy surprise a new coordination between Russian and U.S. intelligence circles in Syria is bearing fruits:
Russia has received coordinates of Daesh targets in Al-Bab, Aleppo Province, from the US via the 'direct line,' the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
The United States has provided coordinates of the terrorists' targets in the city of Al-Bab in Aleppo province for Russian airstrikes. After the reconnaissance check, Russia and two coalition jets have conducted joint airstrikes on the Daesh targets in the region.
The U.S. military seems to deny:
Any involvement or participation of American assets on the ground in country, in support of a series of Russian airstrikes against the northern Syrian town of al-Bab was “100 percent false,” said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway.
The U.S. coalition spokesperson also said it is:
"not coordinating airstrikes with the Russian military in Syria"
Before jumping up and down and claiming that the Russians are lying the media should take a fine comb and reread the statements.
The DoD only denied it coordinated airstrikes or helped with "assets on the ground". It does not deny the transfer of coordinates. The Russians do not claim U.S. airplanes took part in the mission – only "coalition jets". Turkey is part of the U.S. coalition and coordinates airstrikes with the Russian forces in Syria:
Earlier, Russian and Turkish combat planes have carried out a new series of joint airstrikes against Daesh targets in war-torn Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
"The Russian and Turkish planes carried out joint airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in the outskirts of the town of al-Bab in Aleppo province on January 21," the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian statement is likely as correct as the DoD statement.
The political significance here is the transfer of ISIS targeting coordinates from some U.S. agency directly to the Russian forces in Syria. That is something Russia has asked for for over a year and it now suddenly seems to happen.
This is next to the TTP decision a second significant change under Trump the media missed to report on as it developed.
While the blustering against Trump in U.S. media as well as in some countries abroad goes on and on, serious decisions are taken and implemented by the new administration. The media fail in some systematic way. Minor diversions from "political correctness" are blown up into big headlines while big policy decisions pass unnoticed. It is simple: The task with reporting on the Trump administration is the same as with any politician. Do not listen to what they say, watch what they do. It is high time for the media to get back to that basic rule.
Digression:
As a German I am embarrassed on how much my government failed to anticipate Trump and, since he is elected, fails to prepare for the coming onslaught on its export orientated economic model. Wages in Germany were held down by all means (including by importing additional workforce from Syria and elsewhere) and a huge export surplus was created that benefited only a few moneyed pockets. The scheme created a huge imbalance in Europe and the credit crisis in Spain, Greece and elsewhere. Trump's policies will finally blow this model apart.
But neither of the ruling parties in Germany has yet developed an alternative or prepared a way towards one. Germany needs to re-orientate its industry from export to local consumption. That requires higher buying power for the general public via higher wages and lower taxes. A lower degressive VAT compensated by higher progressive taxes on non-work income would be a way to go. If such steps are delayed the economic damage will be serious and further open the way for a demagogic right.
@ Posted by: james | Jan 24, 2017 12:46:34 PM | 112
… just working for the military industrial complex 24/7 and that is it?
Hm, yes. IMV given their obvious allegiances by their actions/deeds/conduct/statements/associations/benefactors …
@ Posted by: Jen | Jan 24, 2017 4:22:51 PM | 115
Pencil ?! Erasable pencils ? Not even biros/ink ? lol. thank you kindly re the insights, marginally familiar with the political ‘infighting’, though appears to serve base ambitions and internal party political domestic conflicts than as a result of external geopolitical interests/motives, from what little one has observed, mostly through UK independent press commentary/coverage. Do not trust/value much of anything Murdoch’s assets spews forth …
Since it’s ‘manual’, documented on hardcopy, tabulated through ‘returns’, would not any attempt to ‘Hack’ the final holistic results re a computers calculations at a tertiary level not be quickly & demonstrably apparent ? What about monitors/exit polls ? Doubt such could occur without being a ‘fixed’/laughable/openly fraudulent system as was the case in the former USSR & Soviet republics, no ?
@ Posted by: lysias | Jan 24, 2017 5:51:54 PM | 117
Re Whitlam government, ’75 (& subsequent AOI, Bob(?) Hawk):
A soft, bloodless, ‘Lawfare‘ coup, by the CIA Station Chief in co-operation with the then US Ambassador, operating out of the US embassy in AUS.
The then Empire did not appreciate the rapid social(Socialist(?)) changes nor close contact and interaction with China, then still ‘out in the cold’, Communists/Reds. Regardless of it enabling ‘Nixon to China’.
Nor especially & most importantly the attempts/intentions to reign in the then DSD (now ASD)(their NSA/GCHQ), nor ASIO/ASIS (MI5/MI6 equivalent), nor the withdrawal in ’72 from the Vietnam conflict as a vassal State providing political cover/support and nominal military forces to the US of A re that conflict.
Nor public/private questions & criticisms of the strategic risks, consequent sovereign threat, of the Strategic listening posts & regional/global surveillance/Monitoring & secure strategic communications facilities absolutely crucial to NSA/Pentagon/CIA/Navy Submarine(Covert Ops & ICBM First/Retaliation strike) operations/forces worldwide, & absolutely crucial to Five-Eyes Supra-National ops, located in Northern, Central & Western AUS.
And, lastly, seeking to establish a more sovereign/independent Foreign policy … pulling too hard on the leash … a Vassal government receives a … coup.
Do not believe any of the above issues have ever been seriously raised/or discussed by any AUS government, whichever party/s, since ? IIRC. AUS, similar to CAN, New Zealand, etc … Limited, constrained, sovereignty … as a vassal, under Five-Eyes. Even more so such as Germany, Netherlands, Norway, etc … YMMV
Posted by: Outraged | Jan 25 2017 0:20 utc | 118
Warning, lengthy post follows …
@ Posted by: dynkyd | Jan 24, 2017 4:42:23 AM | 87
Thank you for the links. So, a modern limited redux of the UK concentration camps re the Boers and the ‘secure’ cantonments during the Malaya Campaign re the designated ‘Others’, the ‘Others’ citizens are directed to hate & loath as a political divide & rule & distraction re bigotry enhanced self-esteem, heh ? How delightful …
@ Posted by: Peter AU | Jan 24, 2017 4:27:39 AM | 82 & Posted by: Peter AU | Jan 24, 2017 4:42:00 AM | 86
If Trump does follow through and drain the swamp in Washington, there will be a mass die off of swamp creatures in the vassal states.
Is a revolt really any serious possibility, given the political parties and country have not been sovereign certainly since ’75, for ~41 years(IMHO) now, let alone Murdoch’s(FOX) total media dominance re their national ‘narrative’/discourse control ?
Re the above will come back to it, a significant possibility, though will take time and much would have to change/occur.
Further to the TPP, something interesting is happening by the majority of the governments that apparently refute the Trump Administration and are determined to proceed with it in some form, it would seem. Now they are discussing redrafting the TPP to substitute China for the US. Globalist(?) faction vassal leaders, indeed.
This would upend over seven decades of military/security alliances with the US, one cannot be directly economically aligned and interdependent in direct conflict with US Trade/economic policies re China and still adhere to and support US Military Policies/Alliances/Commitments with the US, concurrently. NOT Possible!
Something will have to give … and it would seem ‘select’ installed vassal Globalist(?) Leaders are out on a limb and standing in quicksand, screeching incoherently … IMV.
TPP members woo China after US exit – PRESSTV (Iran)(Excellent graphic)
The Pacific Rim nations say they are determined to salvage a major trade pact after US President Donald Trump kept his promise to pull out of the accord.
Australia and New Zealand said on Tuesday they will seek to encourage China and other Asian nations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) while Chile said it will continue to pursue new deals.
…
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order, pulling the United States out of the 2015 agreement and distancing the United States from its Asian allies.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he held discussions with his Japanese, New Zealander and Singaporean counterparts about the possibility of proceeding with the TPP without the US.
“Losing the United States from the TPP is a big loss, there is no question about that. But we are not about to walk away … certainly there is potential for China to join the TPP,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra Tuesday.
China’s counter pact to Obama’s “pivot to Asia” (Continued, even dramatically escalated by Trumpster) is the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) and the Southeast Asian-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English said the region could switch to alternative trade deals, warning the US it was ceding influence to China.
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Malaysia said negotiators from the remaining TPP countries would be in “constant communication” to decide the best way forward.
Across the Pacific, Chile said it has invited ministers from other TPP members as well as China and South Korea to a summit in the South American country in March to pursue new deals and has received positive responses at a high level.
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Another member, Mexico, said it would immediately seek bilateral deals with other countries that signed the TPP.
Non-member the Philippines, which is a key US ally, said it will build closer economic ties with its Asian neighbors, including China.
The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership also includes Brunei, Canada, Peru and Vietnam.
Trump has argued that free trade agreements like TPP were lopsided against the US and harmful to American workers and manufacturing. He has promised to implement more protectionist trade policies as president, sparking alarm even among European allies (yet more Globalists(?)).
A lengthy article, much more content beyond these extracts, including links/further related articles embedded:
China hits back at US over South China Sea ‘takeover’ (UK Guardian)
Beijing warns White House to tread carefully after after Rex Tillerson likens island-building to Russia’s claims taking of Crimea
China has warned the US to “speak and act cautiously” after the White House said it would act to foil Chinese attempts to “take over” the South China Sea, amid growing hints that Donald Trump’s administration intends to challenge Beijing over the strategic waterway.
…
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Spicer vowed the US would “make sure that we protect our interests” in the resource-rich trade route, through which $4.5tn (£3.4tn) in trade passes each year.
His comments came less than a fortnight after Rex Tillerson, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, set the stage for a potentially explosive clash with Beijing by likening its artificial island building campaign in the South China Sea to “Russia’s taking of Crimea”.
Tillerson told his confirmation hearing the White House needed to send China a “clear signal” that such activities had to stop and that its access to such territories was “not going to be allowed”.
“They are taking territory or control or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s,” Tillerson said.
Chinese media responded by warning that any attempt to prevent China accessing its interests in the region risked sparking a “large-scale war”.
At his first question and answer session with the press on Monday, Spicer again hinted Trump’s administration would take a harder line on the South China Sea.
“It’s a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we’re going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country,” he told reporters.
…
However, scholars who have been advising Trump’s team on China policy back a more muscular military approach, primarily through a dramatically strengthened navy in the region.
“We’ve talked a big game on security but haven’t really followed it up all that well with the military muscle that was needed,” Daniel Blumenthal, the director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington-based thinktank, told the Guardian.
… “strong, persistent US naval presence” was required to back up a foreign policy “that at its bottom line says that China’s not going to control the South China Sea … But you can’t do that without military resources.”
…
Critics believe such moves would spark a furious reaction from Beijing and throw US-China ties into turmoil.
“This administration is shaping up to be the most hawkish administration against China in living memory … and this is not a recipe for great power stability, it is a recipe for great power friction …
“A blockade [of China’s artificial islands] would be incredibly provocative and would almost certainly spark a US-China confrontation on the water … If the US is going to blockade China’s access to territories which it – rightly or wrongly – believes are its, then we are in for a confrontation.”
…
A new TPP(China substitute) as described/proposed cannot coexist with existing Military/Security alliances/commitments & opposite Trade/Economic policies … something would have to give … one way or the other … it also raises issues re the continuing, *ahem*, stability of those governments pushing such economic ties in conflict with US Military/Security/Economic objectives re China … especially the Five-Eyes members, CAN, AUS & New Zealand … the 12 cannot have their cake and eat it too 😉
YMMV
Posted by: Outraged | Jan 25 2017 1:14 utc | 119
@ Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 24, 2017 8:34:09 PM | 122
IMO, what happens in the South China Sea is NOT in the national interest of the USA; rather, it’s all about keeping at attaining Full Spectrum Dominance and goes directly against Trump’s seemingly peaceful Inaugural Speech announcements. Russia was simply replaced by China as #1 Existential Threat.
IMV, the Think-Tank advice they are acting on re Administration policy re China, is fundamentally flawed and based on a false belief China is weaker and less kinetically forceful than the Evil Russkies when push comes to shove. IMHO, they could not be more deludely(sic) wrong.
However, such a policy ties in with the stated aim of rebuilding a supposedly depleted navy … which, is, again IMV, futile and pointless.
DF21’s and similar systems & swarm ordnance will take out any picket/support/defense vessels AND Capital ships. The Chinese are turning Naval & Naval Airpower Area denial/destruction into a sophisticated form of military fine art … and even SM3/Aegis will do little re defending against incoming DF21’s, etc … US Naval Intelligence and competent Naval Commanders have known of this new reality for many years now … this is one reason why assets are being slowly, relatively ‘quietly’, re-deployed from Guam to Northern AUS.
Should confrontations occur the Chinese will seek to call the ‘Bluff’ … using tactics that similarly humiliate and ridicule the faux aggressor. See April 1, 2001, Hainan Island incident re the beginning o Bush the younger first term.
The Chinese literally dynamically plan 5-10 years in advance, dynamically, not on an annual budget allocation basis. Further, the ‘Opaque’, and Chinese Nuclear ICBM capabilities may possibly be far more capable and numerous than some think-tanks, chickenhawk warmongers assume …
Anti-ship ballistic missile – Wikipedia
An anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is a military quasiballistic missile system designed to hit a warship at sea. The ASBM’s conventional warhead and kinetic …
Dongfeng-21
The Dong-Feng 21 is a two-stage, solid-fuel rocket, single-warhead medium-range ballistic ….. “DF-21C Missile Deploys to Central China”. fas.org. Federation of American Scientists…
Dongfeng-26
The DF-26 has a range of 3,000–4,000 km (1,900–2,500 mi), and may be used in the nuclear, conventional, and anti-ship strike roles.[1] The DF-26 is China’s first conventionally-armed ballistic missile capable of reaching Guam and the American military installations located there;[2] this has led to the missile being referred to by netizens as the “Guam Express” or “Guam Killer”.[1]
Dongfeng-41
The Dongfeng-41 (DF-41, CSS-X-10) (simplified Chinese: ??-41; traditional Chinese: ??-41; literally: “East Wind-41”), is a Chinese solid-fueled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile in the flight-test stage of development.
It has an operational range between 12,000 km[3] to 15,000 km.[1] This would make the DF-41 the world’s longest range missile, surpassing the range of the US LGM-30 Minuteman which has a reported range of 13,000 km.[4][5] It is believed to have a top speed of Mach 25,[2] and to be capable of MIRV delivery (up to 10).[3] The development of the MIRV technology is reported to be in response to the deployment of the United States national missile defense system which degrades China’s nuclear deterrence capability.
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In August 2014, China Shaanxi Provincial Environmental Monitoring Center website accidentally made a news report about events of setting environmental monitoring site for DF-41 ICBM. This is the first official proof available in public and it also proves the developments of DF-41 is nearing the end. This news report (and the whole website) was taken down shortly after getting public attention.[16]
Richard Fisher, an expert on Asia-Pacific military affairs, says that a typical Second Artillery Corps unit has 6-12 missile launchers and may have an additional 6-12 “reload missiles”, i.e. missiles to be launched after the first missile with which the launcher is equipped are launched, indicating 12-24 DF-41 missiles per one unit and giving a single SAC unit the capability to target the contiguous United States with 120-240 nuclear warheads.[17] …
In August 2015, the missile was flight-tested for the fourth time.[20]
In December 2015, the missile was flight-tested for the fifth time. The latest flight test demonstrated the use of two multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles. The missile launch and dummy warheads were tracked by satellites to an impact range in western China.[21]
On 5 December 2015 China conducted a launcher test of a new rail-mobile version of the DF-41, similar to the Russian RT-23 Molodets.[22][23]
In April 2016 China successfully conducted 7th test of DF-41 with two dummy warheads near the South China Sea amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing about the area.[24]
Posted by: Outraged | Jan 25 2017 2:25 utc | 121
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