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January 4, 2020
The Revenge For The Assassination Of Qassem Soleimani

The Trump administration is telling fairytales about its murder of Major General Qassem Soleimani. He was not planing any "imminent attacks" on the U.S. or its interests in Iraq. Reports which claim that while calling Katyusha rockets "sophisticated weapons" can obviously be ignored. In no way was Soleimani a legitimate target for a U.S. attack. No Orwellian State Department briefing can change that.

Fact is that Trump is following the plan of the Foundation of the Defense of Democracy (FDD) which was originally founded as EMET (Hebrew for "truth"), "to provide education to enhance Israel’s image in North America." Undercover video from Al Jazeerah caught the Israeli ex-intel official Sima Vakhnin-Gil in 2017 saying "We have FDD" when she was asked how Israel lobbies for its interests.

Dan Cohen @dancohen3000 – 5:23 UTC · Jan 4, 2020
FDD is an Israeli government front group. Trump mega donor Bernard “Iran is the devil” Marcus pays 1/3 of its budget. FDD advisor Richard Goldberg was appointed to National Security Council to push for attacking Iran. FDD continued to pay his salary.

FDD was tasked by Israel to instigate a U.S. war on Iran. Following FDD's plans Trump and his advisors are trying to provoke Iran to retaliate in a way that allows them to launch such a war.

There is a historic example of how Iran reacts to such U.S. provocations.

The U.S. attack:

Iran Air Flight 655 was a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas, that was shot down on 3 July 1988 by an SM-2MR surface-to-air missile fired from USS Vincennes, a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy. The aircraft, an Airbus A300, was destroyed and all 290 people on board, including 66 children, were killed.

The Iranian retribution:

Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York. On 21 December 1988, N739PA, the aircraft operating the transatlantic leg of the route was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing.

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) claimed to be responsible for the bombing of the plane. It had used a Palestinian cutout in Lebanon to plant the bomb. But for political reasons the official investigation was manipulated and the blame for the Lockerbie bombing was put on Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi who had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The murder of the passengers and crew of Iran Air Flight 655 and the retribution for it were five and a half month apart. This gives us a hint of how long it might take for Iran to prepare the retribution for the U.S. assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani. There is also the political calender that has to be considered. If an Iranian revenge act is of a kind that could help Trump to get reelected it must wait until after the U.S. election. If the revenge act is of a kind that could hurt Trump's poll numbers it must come during the last few months of the campaign.

We will know that it has happened when this flag comes down:


video – bigger

SIFFAT ZAHRA @SiffatZahra – 10:52 UTC · Jan 4, 2020
First Time In The History, Red Flag Unfurled Over The Holy Dome Of Jamkarān Mosque, Qom Iran.
Red Flag: A Symbol Of Severe Battle To Come.
#Qaseemsulaimani

Barzan Sadiq @BarzanSadiq – 12:32 UTC · Jan 4, 2020
A red flag unfurled above the minarets of a Mosque in the #Qom. in Arabic were the words: "Those who want to avenge the blood of #Hussein." Red flags in Shiite tradition symbolize both blood spilled unjustly and serve as a call to avenge a person who is slain.

Sara_Haj 🇱🇧 @Sara_Haj – 12:45 UTC · Jan 4, 2020
It is a #Shia thing for those who understand our ideology & history, thus our commitment, patience & persistence!
The red flag was raised over Jamkaran mosque in #Qom yesterday & it won't be taken down until revenge is fulfilled. #Soleimani

Iran has to take revenge for the outrageous assassination of Soleimani to prevent future assassinations of a similar kind. The U.S. broke the rules when it killed an active commander of another country outside of a declared war. New rules must now be established to regain a balance.

Iran will likely prepare multiple venues and methods for retribution. It might execute only one or several of those. The targets will be of at least equal size and symbolic importance (slow loading but excellent) as Soleimani. The head of the CIA or Vice President Pence would probably be adequate targets. But they are likely too well protected to be accessible. The sinking of a large U.S. combat ship will also be considered. There are a number of other possibilities for sufficient 'surprises'.

The murder of Soleimani was not the only message Trump sent to Tehran:

Hala Jaber @HalaJaber- 21:13 UTC · Jan 3, 2020
.31/ #Trump’s letter to #Iran, delivered earlier today via the #Swiss embassy in #Tehran (the representative of #US interests in Iran) included a call for calm & non-escalation & offered incentives, a former Iranian diplomat told @AlMayadeenLive

.32/ #Tehran regarded #Trump’s requests as “childish behaviour.” An appropriate written response, to the American message, was sent back via the Swiss embassy.

.33/ #Tehran apparently refused to receive a second letter, also from #Trump & sent with an Arab mediator who arrived to Iran this morning, Musawi told @AlMayadeenLive

.34/ The former Iranian diplomat, Amir Musawi, also told @AlMayadeenLive that the ”surprises” will become apparent in “Iran’s deterrent reprisals.” “Americans should prepare for surprises, in response to the assassination of General #Soleimani & #AlMohandis.”

Trump himself offered up targets:

Elijah J. Magnier @ejmalrai – 14:33 UTC · Jan 4, 2020
#BreakingNews:
#US asked #Iran, according to sources in #Tehran, to limit its response to the assassination of Brigadier General #QassemSoleimani to a "similar response".
This means when confirmed, @realDonaldTrump is offering to Iran the life of a US four-star general.

#US asked #Qatar to mediate w/ #Iran over the retaliation to the assassination of #QassemSoleimani. Deputy PM/ FM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with his counterpart Javad Zarif and offered "nuclear deal" and lifting sanctions in exchange of no response.

For Donald Trump everything is just a deal. But it is obvious that Iran will reject all such offers. It can not ideologically justify abstaining from revenge for its most prominent martyr in exchange for some material benefit. Trump will not get this but for Iran it is simply unthinkable and impossible.

Iran's revenge act can not be done within U.S. borders. That would be interpreted as a direct attack and could be used as a pretext for war. Iran will also want to have some plausible deniability for whatever happens. It must therefore exclude incidents in the Persian Gulf or near its shore. East Asia would be the preferable venue. Like it did in the Lockerbie case Iran is likely to use cutouts to execute its plans.

Soleimani's main task was to build and support external groups that are able to resist their local enemies as well as able to act on behalf of Iran. He excelled in his job for over 20 years. Iran has now many friends who it can ask to execute whatever it decides should be done.

Soleimani was also a commander who could restrict the actions of the groups he supervised through his personal relations with them. That he is no longer able to do so increases the risk that some of those groups and fighters will take their own measures to exact revenge for his death. It could create problems if any such act is falsely attributed to Iran.

The U.S. did not murder only Qassem Soleimani. On December 29 it also killed 31 Iraqi government forces. Five days later it killed Soleimani and the Deputy Commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF/PMU/Hashed al-Shabi) and leader of Kata'ib Hizbollah Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. There were also four IRGC and four Kata'ib Hizbollah men who were killed while accompanying their leaders. The PMU are under direct command of the Iraqi Prime Minister. They are official Iraqi defense forces who defeated ISIS after a bloody war. Their murder demands that their government acts against the perpetrators.

Several of the Shia PMU groups have already declared that they will do whatever they can to evict the U.S. military from Iraqi soil. Some 5,000 U.S. and other NATO forces are in Iraq to train Iraqi government troops. They live on the same bases as Iraqi army troops and PMU groups who their commander in chief calls Iran supported terrorists while he is killing their leaders.

Today they finally recognized that this might be a problem. This morning their U.S. command ordered a halt of all training activities. The Iraqi government also issued an order that, for the time being, no further U.S. operation may take place in Iraq. Tomorrow the Iraqi parliament will meet to consult over a law that would evict all U.S. troops. There is currently some disunity within the Shia majority in the parliament. Should it fail to evict the U.S. the Shia PMU groups will act on their own. Not because of Soleimani or Iran, but because their comrades and leaders were killed. They will attack the U.S. military wherever they can. The situation for the U.S. in Iraq would then soon become untenable. 

Iraq will continue to need capable foreign troops to train its still feeble army. It should ask Russia and China to provide them.

The removal of U.S. forces from Iraq will be the first act of revenge for Qassem Soleimani's death. More will follow in due time and with the appropriate severity.

Posted by b on January 4, 2020 at 17:30 UTC | Permalink
Comments

Already UK and France are worried and distancing themselves entirely (‘we weren’t informed!’). The MSM also seem to be backing away from offering total legitimacy as suggested in the the Guardian here.
What time does the Iraqi parliament convene?

Posted by: Patroklos | Jan 5 2020 6:18 utc | 201

Tom_Cat is based in Iraq and perhaps the best honest English language twitter source there. He reports on the upcoming Parliament debate and vote:
“Parliament is meeting soon but it looks like some MPs have already opted to not show up in order to avoid voting on the retraction of the security agreement.
“This was implied by MP Abdul Luweizi on his personal FB account.”
I’d closely follow his account for similar updates.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 5 2020 6:19 utc | 202

It’s laughable that many claim the CIA blew up the Lockerbie plane to kill CIA rogue agents. That’s the stuff of spy movies. Bump off your own and morale not only sinks but no sane person would join the agency. Agents are extremely well vetted and none, including any bad apples if there are any, are going to air agency dirty laundry. Without killing them the government could not only jail them but make their life a living hell for them and their families.
According to former CIA agent Robert Baer the CIA knew almost immediately Iran was behind it. In the early 2000’s an Iranian intelligence defector admitted Iran was the bomber. Politics does not care who gets blamed, it’s the agenda that counts, no matter the carnage and death so it was hung on Qaddafi because the US needed Iran friend Syria for something, the detail escapes me, and didn’t want to blame Iran and upset Syria. Plus if Iran was blamed the sheep and politicians in the US would call for retaliation and the ME would have exploded. As 185 has pointed out the bomb, with the recovered pieces all having the hallmark of a well known Palestinian bomb maker, was most likely put in the luggage at Heathrow.
People here all think retaliation by Iran would be the death of someone. How about the death of the US economy and stock market crash that could take Trump from a sure winner in 2020 to be an ex president in 2020. The US economy is already sliding toward the abyss. Cause the price of oil to skyrocket and the already teetering world economy, thanks largely to Trumps trade wars and sanctions, goes in the tank huge and the US will follow. In some cases trillions in derivatives, financial instruments of economic destruction, get triggered. Sovereign wealth funds, like the huge Norway fund that at last count was 70% stocks, and pension funds have bet big on stocks. The largest holder of Japanese ETF’s is the Japanese government. This and all the gaming going on in the markets could mean if the markets roll over the rush for the exits as everyone tries to lock in their gains could create the biggest crash in history and not just in the US. Oil goes and up and markets crash people will panic and stop spending and bingo instant depression. Only problem is if the Democrats get the presidency and Congress the warmongering will continue.

Posted by: snedly arkus | Jan 5 2020 6:22 utc | 203

Thank you psychohistorian @ 161. Americans are sick of war! When karlof1 had the immediate reaction on hearing this atrocity that this would finish Trump’s candidacy, and I posted that I thought he, Trump, must be mad, that was and would be the reaction of most Americans! All this negative gobbledegoop about how Americans feel is simply that – and all the pressure to lay this at Trump’s doorstep convinces me that this is more of the same poppycock that fueled Russiagate and Ukrainegate for which we debated herein he was not to blame – it is the same argument only with a real tragedy to base it on, finally, horror that they stoop so low! criminal that they use such a ‘shock and awe’ – but we know that is their tactic, don’t we? Have we forgotten? Oh no, it HAS to be Trump – and there are so many now voicing it!
I don’t say Trump is a hero. I didn’t vote for him and I know well all his faults. One of them could be that he is a coward, a patsy, someone who thinks more of his persona than of his person. But he could also be a man who is scared for his life or for the lives of his family. We know the deep state has gone out boldly in front of him on many occasions, and we have checked on his reactions and found them not to be as gungho as his words sounded. We know he has attempted peaceful encounters with those the deep state wants us to consider our enemies — which we don’t! This is the first time he has, according to all, been ahead of the pack. Surely we need to wonder – are they using this against him because all else has failed? And if so, why? If so, how? We need to have the answers to that, don’t we?
I can only say that I don’t truly know those answers. All I know is that the pattern is there, and like Pepe, I am going to hedge my bets until I do know. There is a difference between a man who is all rhetoric – all hat and no cattle,as Texans say – and one who deliberately kills the cattle. And there is a difference between most Americans and the ones you see on the tv screen – because they don’t let you see us real Americans – not the whistleblowers, not the truthtellers – they really don’t! They lock them up! They put them in solitary! They murder them!!!!
Patrokolus, you said twenty years ago you saw a different America and you asked what has happened to it. I will tell you – it is still there! Only, it is NOT being televised. It even has a hard time getting online. A lot of it is out there among the dispossessed, and in prisons all over the country. None of it is successful because to be successful in this country you have to sell your soul! Some of it is trying to make ends meet at a lowpaying job to feed the kids, but most can’t afford to have any kids! Some have left the country, and you do hear from those, but mostly when they do leave that’s the end of their information about what is happening here. The laws are for the rich,(Clinton and Obama saw to that) and the rest of us they do their best to intimidate and defeat psychologically and they break us, they break our hearts. Just as you do when you call us stupid and not caring and selfish.
We are victims! And we are here; if you look for us, you will find us. We are the ones who couldn’t leave and who don’t want to leave. And we remember what it was like 20 years ago. And we want peace. Most of all, we want peace and we want that America back that talked about peace! It has been stolen from us!
End of my rant.

Posted by: juliania | Jan 5 2020 6:29 utc | 204

If you believe as some of us do, that one of the NYT’s primary tasks is to persuade the petit bourgois to begin acceptance of a course of action that they (the p.b.) would otherwise find unacceptable, I cannot help but wonder what Will There Be a Draft? Young People Worry After Military Strike is really about.
Remember if you do want to read the most deceitful fishwrap going without giving the NYT cucks a cent, all one needs do is flush any cookie that contains NYT in its name from your cookie cache
Anyway here’s the 1st few paras:

“For decades, American men over the age of 18 have gone through the ritual of registering with the government in case of a military draft. In recent years, this action has felt more like going through the motions, simply checking a box.
But on Friday, after a United States drone strike in Iraq killed Iran’s top security and intelligence commander, prompting concerns about the possibility of a new war in the Middle East, that oft-forgotten paperwork became a reason for spiking anxiety among many Americans.
“World War III” started trending on social media. Young men suddenly recalled registering after their 18th birthdays, many having done so while applying for college financial aid. One Twitter user posted that he had blocked the account of the United States Army, with the (faulty) reasoning that: “They can’t draft you if they can’t see you.”
Interest was so high that it apparently crashed the website for the Selective Service System, the independent government agency that maintains a database of Americans eligible for a potential draft. “Due to the spread of misinformation, our website is experiencing high traffic volumes at this time,” the agency said on Twitter, adding, “We appreciate your patience.” “

The article goes on to explain that although 18 y.o. blokes still need to register, drafting them into the military would require congress pass legislation and the orange whip would also need to OK it. They call that meeting of a mob of particularly narrow minds “obtaining broad political support” which is rather droll, albeit unintentionally.
So what is the sh1trag attempting to achieve with this sudden shot across the bows of amerikan youth?
It most likely isn’t aimed at ‘de yoof’ but at their parents and grandparents to reassure them that it won’t be the children of NYT readers likely to come home in body bags. No as long as good bourgois amerikans STFU and support the ‘guvmint’ their kids will be safe, it will be the mugs that other news vectors will indoctrinate who’re gonna be the cannon fodder.
What a totally nasty piece of work the NYT is. Sure they will shed crocodile tears over the stupid arseholes who do get offed by the goodies – when they have to, but mostly amerikan casualties will be glossed over as much as possible, unless the types oldhippie observed at coffee begin to change their tune, say if too many indigent amputees shove a begging cup under their noses on the way to the office. In that case NYT will raise this issue once more encouraging anyone white & comfortable to get behind amerika’s butchery lest their ‘kids’ have to get involved at the pointy end of what will inevitably be a huge humiliation for the amerikan empire.

Posted by: A User | Jan 5 2020 6:32 utc | 205

@RST 58
One may think it humiliating for a superpower to be so led by the nose by what is basically an angry Singapore-with-nukes regional dwarf, but in the end it is up to the American goyim how long they want to put up with that. Meanwhile, one might as well acknowledge that the whole spectacle evinces a determination and cohesion which is sorely lacking on the other side.
For all its rhetoric, the Iranian leadership looks seriously intimidated because nuking Iran or not is a sovereign American decision, while Russia mutters some incoherent noises in the background about partnership and international law. It’s all nice and well to call the Yanks “cowards”, but they’ve acted boldly and swiftly even as their own orcs look precariously exposed in Iraq and Syria. Russia and China seem aware that they should probably do something but oy vey, who’ll go first?

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Jan 5 2020 6:36 utc | 206

Yeah, Right@191 – “There are now numerous reports coming out of Washington…” How convenient for the treasonous dual-citizen chickenhawks that the details of what should be classified national security information suddenly comes to light. “Thank you for the crumbs of knowledge for us feeble commoners, master”. Americans just love that kind of ‘inside dirt’ from… er, Mar a Lago ‘insiders’… I guess.
Doesn’t it seem more like someone suddenly thought it necessary that the unwashed masses ‘understand’ how the president made his decision? Why would they even bother? Sorry, but it smells like the usual ham-fisted after-the-fact damage control to me. They apparently realize that US soldiers will be coming back home in aluminum coffins – the blood sacrifice Israel demanded. You know how inconvenient that’s going to be for politicians. Think of the angry emails!
For years now, we have Trump blurting out his accomplishments or gripes without a second’s notice. But now he’s a little Twitter shy about ordering the assassination of the Iranian general he considered the most evil man on earth?
Option 1: do nothing Oh come on… FFS, look at the people who ‘advised’ him over pancakes. Do they seem remotely rational, passive or patient when it comes to Israeli interests? I’ll go with “nope”.
Option 2: Whack more PMUs (or commanders) Bingo. Business as usual; EPIC screw-up as usual. But… but… we didn’t know they were there to pick up Suleimani. Oops. Bibi is going to be pissed at us when Tel Aviv is in smoking ruins. “It… it.. was YOUR fault, Esper, you Raytheon bitch and Israeli shill!”
Option 3: Whack Suleimani I’m just not seeing any reason for the dual-citizen advisors to suggest such a reckless option to Trump. He seems unable to distinguish reality from wrestling match promotion. This option makes about as much sense as offering him an option suggesting he nuke Tehran. I know these guys have their agendas, but they can’t be oblivious to Trump’s impetuousness. That’s figured in to every act of treason they machinate. Bibi demands as much from his loyal tools or the shekels stop flowing. Worse than that, how can these guys trade on inside information by not controlling the options presented to Trump? That’s American as apple pie and their God-given right, damn it! Get in those coffins, patriotic soldiers, or my portfolio is going to tank.
Sorry – I’m not directing any of this invective at you. I’m just numb from so many assuming a well-reasoned list of options by knowledgeable advisors in the best interests of the USA. That’s preposterous – Trump’s advisors are proud to crowbar any number of ‘other parties’ interests before mine. Why would they give a damn what’s in my (or humanity’s) best interests? There’s no profit in THAT!
I always thought Jesus was suppose to come back and destroy evil Israel. That damn Trump beat him to it. Don’t mess with the World Wrestling Federation, lord. No… seriously. Just walk away…

Posted by: PavewayIV | Jan 5 2020 6:37 utc | 207

Happy New Year, James! Thank you!

Posted by: juliania | Jan 5 2020 6:42 utc | 208

Posted by: powerandpeople | Jan 5 2020 6:01 utc | 203
Yep. It is a demented strategy but once you have accepted the – faulty – assumptions, it makes sense.
Israel – a divided country of 9 million with lots of internal conflict and no internationally accepted borders – tries to maintain military “deterrence” against countries disputing these borders instead of solving the border conflict and accepting the legal rights of Palestinians driven out of their country. The US – instead of helping Israel to solve these issues – uses the country as a military base and testing ground for their military industrial complex.
Maintaining Israel’s instability the whole region has been destabilized.
Israel has military deterrence left, but they have been deterred themselves by Hezbollah and even by Hamas. Saudi has been proven useless. So the US act themselves now and not via Israeli or Saudi proxy.
US military have been in Iraq – and Afghanistan – with Iranian and Russian tacit agreement fighting common enemies. The suspicion is that they have been supporting Iranian and Russian enemies to be able to fight them. Trump – with stupidity provided by Netanyahu – has blundered into this. He now has to go all the way, which will fail, as Russian and Iranian agreement has been withdrawn, or find a way to deter Iran by force as he failed to do that economically. He has made sure there is no way to talk to Iran.
It is quite possible his administration was tricked into this by US Israel supporting donors, as Israel needs the US to reengage in the Middle East if it wants to keep its present – instable – posture. It is self defeating, as US reengagement is happening at the most stupid level. Suleimani’s assassination was an own goal.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 5 2020 6:44 utc | 209

Two hour discussion on the chaos in the Middle East caused by Israel, Qatar, UAE KSA and FUKUS. More detail on how Qasem Soleimani saved Syria and Iraq from ISIS conquest.
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/01/03/us-war-iran-iraq-rania-khalek/

Posted by: krollchem | Jan 5 2020 6:50 utc | 210

And good for you, Jane Fonda. Your dad would be very proud of you.

Posted by: juliania | Jan 5 2020 6:59 utc | 211

I found this article on Global Research that runs counter to everything being discussed here and it sure pours a cold bucket of water on b’s article. It talks about a well calculated operation by team Trump for the assassination and one in the making for a while. And the fact that US isn’t going anywhere and if anything they are digging in for another 1000 years.
Hate to admit the author is right, but it sure has given me a pause. Worth the read.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/major-general-soleimani-assassination-not-going-start-world-war-iii/5699498

Posted by: Alpi | Jan 5 2020 7:00 utc | 212

“Thats another fine mess you have got us in Laurel”
The old punch line from Laurel and Hardy is very fitting in this situation. It is ludicrous that the CIC, is so removed from reality, has been briefed so sloppily on the Iranians, that he is unaware of the “They always pay their debts”.
Iran is more or less impossible to conquer due to its landscape, most of thee war would be an air war and a foot war, a population of 82 million and thousands of missiles, and they have been practising what to do for 40 years.
What is not to like?
oh and :VVPutin’s remark : and attack on Iran is an attack on Russia”

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Jan 5 2020 7:12 utc | 213

Posted by: Alpi | Jan 5 2020 7:00 utc | 216
They may be able to retreat to Kurdistan.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 5 2020 7:27 utc | 214

The tweet today about targeting Iranian cultural sites elevates the Trump phenom from largely simulated to deadly real Mussolinism. I have almost no doubt that in a shooting war with Iran he would deploy nuclear weapons. He’s intimated as much before. Important to remember that the president has unilateral nuclear launch authority. The orders can be conveyed from the nuclear “football,” at his side at all times, to the silos, bombers, and submarines without interruption or any intermediary. Once the codes are confirmed, personnel are trained to act quickly and automatically without thinking. No one can stop him. And if the insider accounts are to be believed about how the assassination went down (although I’m skeptical of any insider accounts leaked to the press, this seems plausible), he acted on impulse and shocked everyone around him. He could do the same with the codes.

Posted by: outerreef | Jan 5 2020 7:38 utc | 215

The unvarnished truth is that America is a war criminal empire from the White House to Main Street, USA.
That is who Americans are. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Serbia, Somalia, Yemen are just some of the nations that America has either bombed, invaded, colonized, dismembered, or sought to destroy in recent times.
It is part of America’s political and cultural DNA to colonize and subjugate others–justified by their Orwellian lies about “defending freedom.”
This is America’s Manifest Destiny, as the Shining Sh*thole on a Hill.
As such, the United States is an existential threat to any nation that refuses to be assimilated into America’s unipolar New World Order.
The only way to neutralize the America Threat is to break the United States apart.
There is already an unacknowledged low-intensity Civil War in the USA.
It would be interesting to see what happens when America’s Ponzi Scheme economy implodes and the Federal Reserve’s desperate money printing schemes can longer prop up the US economy–and Americans are at each other’s throat.

Posted by: ak74 | Jan 5 2020 7:43 utc | 216

Oh my! The depth of thought and clarity that the murder of one man can awaken. I’ve been reading commentary, praise and opinion inspired by the murder, death of Soleimani, amongst them: by Khameini, Nasrallah, Pepe Escobar and others. I promise you that when I put death by a thousand cuts in brackets earlier as the best response by Iran to this barbaric execution in my previous comment on the previous page, I had not yet read Escobar on the murder of Suleimani, but he put it better blowback by a thousand cuts, HA…great minds think alike!…just kidding; I don’t presume my opinion anywhere close. I just feel the truth and put it out there.
Anyway here are statements worth putting out there:
Nasrallah:

As for us who stayed after him, we will continue on his way and work day and night to achieve his goals. We will carry his standard in all arenas, on all battlefields and on all fronts. The Axis of Resistance’s victories will increase with the blessing of his pure blood, just as these victories have grown with his constant presence, persistence and tireless struggle. It will be the responsibility, the duty and the action of all the Resistance fighters and the mujahideen all over the world to take due revenge on his criminal murderers who are the worst men in this world.
With the grace of God, the American murderers will not be able to achieve any of their objectives with this enormous crime. On the contrary, all the objectives of Hajj Qasem will be achieved due to the greatness of his soul and his blood and by the action of his brothers, his children and his disciples within the Resistance, and the fighters of all peoples of our Community who reject humiliation and submission to the imperialists and tyrants.

Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei: Martyr Suleimani is a worldwide Resistance icon, and all Resistance supporters are now his avengers.
Here’s a good dose of integrity from Caitlin Johnstone to all diehard Trump Apologists:
And by the way, both Caitlin and Ron Paul believe we are already at war with Iran and have been so for quite some time. AND I AGREE. I’ve been warning you about Trump since day one and you kept putting me in the corner so you could carry on with your deluded infatuation with him! Yes I cursed up and down to make you see…and now I can’t even post from my Android! Damnit…it’s much easier to comment with my Android, but I will walk on broken glass if necessary to get the truth out.
Here’s Caitlin:

Trump administration officials are claiming without any evidence at all that Soleimani was plotting “imminent attacks on American diplomats and military personnel”, even going so far as trying to marry him to the 9/11 attacks and a host of other unsubstantiated excuses.My social media notifications are currently flooded with Trump supporters assuring me that Soleimani was a “bad guy” and Trump is therefore a “good guy”, and that assassinating the top military official of a sovereign nation is a perfectly sane and acceptable thing for a government to do.
Don’t do this. Don’t advance war propaganda narratives for the US government.
Those who spread war propaganda are participating in that war just as much as those who actually go and fight in it, only they’re playing a far safer, far more cowardly, and far more dishonest role. A man who flies to Iran and murders Iranians with firearms is at least engaging in the war in a way that he will have to grapple with existentially for the rest of his life. A man who regurgitates Fox News propaganda on Twitter will then eat a pizza, have a wank, go to bed and sleep like a baby. But they both facilitated mass murder based on lies and American supremacist imperialism.
The war that Trump has started must be opposed forcefully and aggressively. Do everything you can to wake people up to what’s going on.

That’s what I’ve been doing all this time!!!
Peter Koenig:

But then again, what is ‘international law’ in our times of US impunity and immunity that breaks every international law, even threatens the International Criminal Court (ICC) to destroy it, if it dares prosecuting the US or Israel for crimes against humanity?
Can you imagine? Yes, that’s the world we live in. People wake up! The imaginary clock is reaching High Noon.
Laws are to no avail. The US rules and kills with self-given immunity. The situation is getting worse. State assassinations ordered by Trump and Netanyahu continue lawlessly, unpunished. The world looks on as if it were a normality — bought propaganda and corrupted media keep indoctrinating the western public with the idea that that war is peace and right is wrong…

Let me say this: It’s becoming clear that RESISTANCE by the millions of oppressed to Zionist expansionism is the only authentic way to demolish the Empire, since superpowers like China and Russia are doing very little in that regard! Yes they exercise their veto from time to time…so that’s it? Yes, Russia fought with Syria, for its own interests mind you, but what happened to the big prize for the Empire, Iran? Iranians who fought side by side with Russians are being decimated in Syria and Iraq every week under Russia’s nose!
With staggering lesser means of defense, the resistance is fighting back, dying…and miraculously…gradually, winning! That’s bravery. And isn’t it ironic how they have withstood the Empire for decades repeatedly assailed and dwarfed by the arsenals of the Goliath Anglo/Zionist Empire? Resistance is bred in SUFFERING under severe Oppression in the soul of those who will never surrender, and that’s what makes it authentic…it’s raw primal survival! This was the spirit of Soleimani, a man who rose up from modest means to become a warrior of the Resistance in a country so rich in unexploited resources yet so deprived of the benefits because it’s despised, demonized, outcast, isolated and politically and economically ravaged by the Empire since the 1950’s, and a man who will now be a modern Legend; a driving force for those millions of resisters still occupied, oppressed and beaten into submission. Ironically, it’s not the greater powers Russia and China that are prevailing against the Empire; it’s the lesser: poverty-stricken Yemen and Palestine, a severely sanctioned and economically hobbled Iran and a war ravaged Syria and yes, even a part of Lebanon that went to hell and back more than once and from whose ashes arose the formidable military resistance, Hezbollah, that Israel could not defeat.
Trump is the last chapter in the Zionist Neocon playbook and you succumbed to it hook, line and sinker. He charmed you into surrendering your integrity, your critical thinking and most importantly, the TRUTH. Whhhy???
And stop equating Soleiman’s assassination with Osama’s or resurrecting and speculating on the PanAm issue. Soleiman was targetting the Empire’s military and making such equivalencies only fuels Iran=terrorist state propaganda. Iran = RESISTANCE. Period. Ask Netanyahyu if he didn’t get his terrorist training with Irgun? Oh yeah, THAT, was resistance to the British Empire, not terrorism, but Iran’s resistance to the ZioAmerican Empire is…DON’T FUEL THAT SHET.
I hope I can now write: WELCOME TO THE RESISTANCE. I know, this is not WWII, but keep blindly following the Zionist Pied Piper now in power and you might just wake up to WWIII and ziofascists legislating thought and patriotic duty and outlawing free speech (oh wait…that’s already happening).
Now you may think I’m an alarmist so let me end with Caitlin: Trump’s war with Iran should be front and center for everyone who cares about humanity.
It’s time to get serious and fight back Trump’s Zionist propaganda, right nowwww!

Posted by: Circe | Jan 5 2020 7:49 utc | 217

Thanks to whoever provided the link to the interview that included Scott Ritter.

CN Live! premieres Season 2 with an in-depth look at the crisis with Iran, after the drone assassination of Iranian Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani. Our guests are Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector & former intelligence officer; and Giorgio Cafieri, the CEO of Gulf State Analytics.

Ritter is well spoken and adds context that is useful to the discussion here. I note extracts highlighting Ritter with questions put to him:
8:55 to 14:03
14:23 to 22:24
29:56 to 41:43
49:35 to 55:18
56:27 to 57:58
1:06:50 to 1:13:22

Posted by: pogohere | Jan 5 2020 7:50 utc | 218

i wouldn’t say there is a low intensity civil war, i’d say there is (relatively) low intensity oppression as the u.s. turns into a police state. the pace will pick up, which is when civil war becomes likely.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jan 5 2020 7:51 utc | 219

@powerandpeople:
You wrote the following: “The USA ‘new’ unilateral principle is that any official in any country may now be murdered by the USA government at the whim of the President of the day.”
The USA government under Obama decided they could murder their own citizens at the whim of the President. Even knowing their contempt for their own people, you think perhaps they hold the lives of foreigners in higher regard?
To ask is to answer.

Posted by: Strategic Observer | Jan 5 2020 7:56 utc | 220

@216
The article you linked to doesn’t convince me there won’t be a full-blown war. Iran has lost too much face, and has made too many vows of revenge too loudly, to hold its fire now. When the retaliation comes in whatever form it takes, Trump to will be unable to do anything other than unleash a bombing campaign (possibly involving nuclear weapons) as promised against the entire Iranian government apparatus. At which point Iran will truly have nothing to lose by attacking on all fronts: Hormuz, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, etc., occasioning collapse of the ludicrous stock market bubble, an oil crunch, and generalized international pandemonium.

Posted by: outerreef | Jan 5 2020 8:03 utc | 221

For the Trump administration, for their demented strategy to work, they have to convince Iran that they are crazy enough to go to full out war with them.
But all this is theater for the public. China and Russia can put a stop to this and I think they have done this.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 5 2020 8:18 utc | 222

@211 PavewayIV Am I to understand that you are not aware of the concept of a Hobson’s Choice?
A Hobson’s Choice is entirely dependent upon both vendor and customer understanding that only one of the choices on offer is acceptable (or even possible), hence there is no choice at all.
As a concept it falls down if the customer does not understand the implications of his choices.
It is possible that Pentagon briefers attempted a Hobson’s Choice on Trump under the (mistaken) belief that Trump is a rational and reflective person with the intellectual capacity to control his impulses.
So offer him “options” that are:
1) Too wimpy
2) Juuuuuuust right
3) Way, way too reckless
safe in the knowledge that he has to choose Option (2).
But if Trump (the customer in this scenario) is too dim to understand the full implications of his choice then he could blindside everyone in the room by going with his impulses and choosing Option (3).
And, let’s never forget, he’s the f**king President.
If he orders a hit on someone then that is an order from the CiC, and the military have no avenue to protest that order because it’s actually one of the choices that they offered to him.
That sounds plausible to me.
You don’t agree. Fine.
But I don’t find it any less plausible merely because you disagree with me.

Posted by: Yeah, Right | Jan 5 2020 8:19 utc | 223

outerreef@225
Great points.
A lot rides on today’s Iraqi Parliament consideration of a vote to expel US and other Western troops (e.g. Germany and Sweden). If the vote is against expelling Western troops then a Iraqi civil war is in the cards. If the vote is for expelling the Western troops there will be Iraq war III with the colonial occupiers against the Iraqi people (with the exception of the Barzini Kurds). Would Russia attempt to support the Iraqi government if asked?
Iran will support removal of the Western troops via material support. The Houthis have demonstrated the effectiveness of copper tipped anti-tank missiles, drones and MANPADS. These weapons cannot be stopped by the small number of Western troops in Iraq.
I would agree that Iran will not go all out unless attacked, at which time WWIII would be likely. If Iran just calmly does nothing the Western Powers will have to try to defend everything at great cost and will a Bismark pointed out will defend nothing. World opinion will then shift against the Western powers and Israel. Revenge can always be served up cold at some later date when Iran is more prepared.

Posted by: krollchem | Jan 5 2020 8:24 utc | 224

Why the hell does anybody believe the CIA whether it is on Lockerbie or Trump decisions or anything at all?
Where do they think they are?

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 5 2020 8:24 utc | 225

@212 Alpi “Worth the read.”
No. No, it isn’t.

Posted by: Yeah, Right | Jan 5 2020 8:27 utc | 226

Meanwhile, in 1996:
http://spitfirelist.com/news/us-government-still-on-ropes-over-lockerbie/

Posted by: radhaz | Jan 5 2020 8:29 utc | 227

@outerreef 219
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
323K
4:24 PM – Jul 23, 2018
Twitter Ads info and privacy
219K people are talking about this
Note the date.
The threat is similar to his bluster against Kim.
But consider this: Trump has proved he takes dangerous risks. His major flaw is his need to never be embarrassed or humiliated.
For Trump, there is no humility, no capacity to understand the other persons point of view.
The assassination of an Iranian military man who is owed the gratitude of the people of the Iraqi and Iranian nations shows Trump will stop at nothing.
Given this fact, why wouldn’t he use the USA’s new ‘mini’ nuclear weapon?
Have the Iranians considered that the first USA missile/torpedo/shell may be nuclear armed?
Of course.
What, then is the appropriate Iranian response to the very first missile?
A massive all munitions missile launch at US and allied targets.
Has USA considered this?

Posted by: powerandpeople | Jan 5 2020 8:30 utc | 228

re Alpi | Jan 5 2020 7:00 utc | 212 who lied:
“Hate to admit the author is right, but it sure has given me a pause. Worth the read.”
The classic 10 cents/word propagandist’s line akin to “I’m not a dem but that Hillary makes me bar up.”
Come back when you have a better patter, low-life.

Posted by: A User | Jan 5 2020 8:37 utc | 229

Whilst I think Iran’s response to this issue will be thoughtful and relatively restrained I think the US regime’s couter-response won’t be – locking us into a cycle of belligerence that, thanks to Trump, the Orange Bloated Buffoon, could lead us into WW3. And how will that play out?…
…Within the first 3 minutes of a nuclear conflict, 2600 ‘high alert’ nuclear weapons are launched…By the end of the day 600 million people are dead. They are the lucky ones…
https://richardhennerley.com/2020/01/04/has-trump-started-a-nuclear-war/

Posted by: Richard | Jan 5 2020 8:39 utc | 230

Here’s a picture of Trump that appeared on a U.S. government website a few hours ago that’s really going to piss him off.
Trump’s face gets a makeover

Posted by: Circe | Jan 5 2020 8:44 utc | 231

Alpi-
“Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently….”
——> “who had just killed an American”
A truly pathetic statement from someone called The President to justify the assassination of someone going to a funeral. Mind boggling insanity and a child level excuse.
Now I am more than certain that the only reason Kim of North Korea is alive is that he has the Bomb pointed at South Korea and Japan. Without it he would have been hit in Hanoi.

Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 8:47 utc | 232

@225
You’re absolutely right. The Iraqi parliament meeting is so critical. Shades of Saigon ‘75. Whether there are the votes to evict or not, Sadr and others have made it clear they want the US out, so I think, like you said, a civil war over this is hardly out of the question.
If Iran is smart, its retaliation will be bringing all pressure to bear on Iraq to ensure America’s booted.

Posted by: outerreef | Jan 5 2020 8:50 utc | 233

Whatever action Iran takes has to small enough with plausible deniability, or else they’ll wind up with Tehran in rubble. Iran has limited capacity to compete frontally with the US in a direct military contest. So the response will have to be an act like an assassination or a car bombing of some civilian target.

Posted by: ab initio | Jan 5 2020 8:53 utc | 234

bevin – there is way way too much information available to NOT point the finger at the US/Germany and other players who make it happen. Qaddafi thought that sacrificing his man would make the mess blow away. He was dead wrong and I purposely use the word “dead”. The Libyan guy that took the fall (if memory serves me right) on his deathbed said he did not do it.
He made a grave mistake believing he could make deals with the Devil. Sarko and Blair put him to sleep making him think that he was “welcomed back” into the fold of Rulers. That was the trap that ultimately cost him his life !!!

Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 8:55 utc | 235

@235
I don’t see how Iran retaliates without exposing itself. Anyway there’s no way to eliminate that risk ahead of time. Whether the Middle East goes up in flames comes down to whether Iran retaliates. That’s the only question. Events after that are preprogrammed: a massive American bombing campaign, followed by the unleashing of all Iranian proxy forces in the Middle East and around the world, and all the global economic upheaval that come w that (which is a lot, considering that the Dow is probably 50% froth and everything’s propped up by the Fed’s glue and tape). Moreover, since America has nowhere near the force capacity to occupy and hold Iran, its end game will be annihilating it in a 21st century holocaust.
As much as Iran has to lose, I think it retaliates, betting that Trump is bluffing, which he isn’t.

Posted by: outerreef | Jan 5 2020 9:02 utc | 236

“Mr. Pompeo’s tweet, widely shared, is an example of how misleading information spreads in the age of social media when people are quick to accept and promote information that validates their own worldviews,” the Times wrote. The report claimed that in reality, the group celebrating was “very small” and “the minor demonstration was over in less than two minutes.” [Daily Caller]
Billions are spent on intelligence to produce tweets of Pence, Pompeo etc.
———–
If Democrats had any sense of mission (decent lives for working people etc) and self-preservation, they would add murder to the articles of impeachment. Actually, murder in Iraq + violation of the law and constitution by de facto starting a war seem more weighty, and much easier to explain to the public than the murky Ukrainian story.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jan 5 2020 9:05 utc | 237

So this is the only thing Germany could say? What a puppet regime.
“Germany Calls for De-Escalation of Regional Tensions”
https://sptnkne.ws/AU25
ab initio
Seems like Iran have no alternative but to do nothing especially considering Trump’s latest dangerous threats. If anything happpens Iran will be blamed.
I bet some people plot false-flag attacks now, this is the closest US has been on a full on war with Iran, just like Israel have pushed for.

Posted by: Zanon | Jan 5 2020 9:06 utc | 238

Robert Lindsay | Jan 5 2020 8:09 utc | 226:

The CIA wrote a paper on the crash

ROFL Yeeahhh…

Posted by: Ian2 | Jan 5 2020 9:19 utc | 239

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jan 5 2020 9:05 utc | 238
Obama did it, too. He was more circumspect by not hitting another country’s war hero.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 5 2020 9:23 utc | 240

i don’t know who was responsible for lockerbie, but it wasn’t the guy who got convicted. afaik, we don’t know that it was iran. at any rate, the responsibility ultimately is the empire’s, for provoking all this blowback in the first place.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jan 5 2020 9:27 utc | 241

iran doesn’t have to retaliate immediately, and there is nothing that requires the u.s. to escalate to nukes as a response because they have to worry about more than iran’s retaliation. it’s a realistic danger, and this whole business is unutterably stupid as well as evil, but we aren’t on an irreversible course to nuclear war. there remains the minor problem that both factions of the warmongers in the u.s. remain committed to war.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jan 5 2020 9:30 utc | 242

I am afraid that this is the moment of trial for the US, would it turn into a fascist state. It is interesting that the great journalist Webb just published the involvement of Zionist in election “defense”: https://www.mintpressnews.com/cybereason-israel-tech-firm-doomsday-election-simulations/263886/ , has Trump done a Faustian deal with the Neocons/Zionist or was he threatened by Neocon Republicans before the impeachment. It looks like the former was chosen they not only asked for Soleimani’s head, but the Iran War they have always wanted. What is my reasoning? He is smart enough as a narcissist to know that this ruins his image and would have not upped the war rhetoric and threats. We would know in the coming week where tue die has fallen. My prediction a false flag would start the war probably by Zion’s. May God protect us from this darkness

Posted by: TheConspy | Jan 5 2020 9:37 utc | 243

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jan 5 2020 9:05 utc | 238
“If Democrats had any sense of mission (decent lives for working people etc) and self-preservation, they would add murder to the articles of impeachment. Actually, murder in Iraq + violation of the law and constitution by de facto starting a war seem more weighty, and much easier to explain to the public than the murky Ukrainian story.”
How are they supposed to do that when the vast majority of them are equally guilty?
And it’s certainly not any violation of US law, at least. Indeed with the new version of the NDAA almost all Democrats in congress just voted to expand the presidential power of killing at his own unilateral discretion.
(Democrats voted Yes to that along with the most bloated Pentagon budget yet, a new version of NAFTA etc. The fact that the Dems give Trump all these expanded powers at the exact moment they’re impeaching him is the most incontrovertible proof yet that Dems and Reps, including the Dem view of Trump, have ZERO substantive differences, and that things like impeachment are partisan farce, meant to accomplish nothing but to throw red meat to the retarded partisans of both halves of the One-Party, and to continue fooling anyone stupid enough to take a circus like impeachment seriously, as any kind of “real” thing.)

Posted by: Russ | Jan 5 2020 9:50 utc | 244

re Robert Lindsay | Jan 5 2020 8:09 utc | 222
If I thought for one moment that amerika would do an about face over Lockerbie and try to prove it was Iran, I wouldm’t have posted the truth about Lockerbie.
Your idiotic assertion “That’s fine but the truth is the truth. OTOH, if this gets out, the maniacal Americans will try to get their revenge for it 31 years later.” is f++kin’ laughable. You fork tongued amerikan scumbags painted yerselves into such a corner over Lockerbie that there is no way of slinking out.
So much effort was put into trying to convince the dead passengers’ relatives that it was indeed Libya who did this – including flying victims’ families to the trial and picking up the tab for their hotels charges, that trying to squirm out now to own it was a fit up is impossible.
The lawsuits alone would keep scores of ambulance-chasing mainchancers hock & snout deep in the best trough at least until 2050.
I’m sure right now orange buffoon would love to pin Lockerbie onto Iran, but to do that he would need to make an admission which would cause his race based domestic agenda to collapse. Pointing the finger at Iran means admitting federal investigators & prosecutors had knowingly lied for years.
amerika’s leaders know exactly what happened as do any ‘outsiders’ who possessed half a brain, but Iranian & Syrian assistance was needed for gulf war one so the iranians forced amerika the great /snark into a corner from which they can never escape.
The amerikans told so many blatant lies about Abdel Megrahi, lies told straight faced to all the relatives of the ‘victims’ that they cannot row it back now. I dunno how familiar you are with reality, but if you are you must know that a sizable chunk of relatives questioned and disregarded the ‘Megrahi did it’ meme from the get go. At that point amerika desperate to access Syrian and Iranian air corridors into Iraq, doubled down on the claim it was Libya. One of the chief deceivers? The CIA.
If the truth about Lockerbie is ever accepted, it will be decades after all relatives who knew the dead passengers have died, and then only because amerika is so far in the bask seat that Iran who strongly believe in justice, decides it is time to tell the truth

Posted by: A User | Jan 5 2020 9:55 utc | 245

“ we aren’t on an irreversible course to nuclear war.”
I don’t think so either. But imo everything comes down to whether Iran retaliates at some point. If it does, Trump won’t let that go. Retaliation = U.S.-Iran war.
I think the odds are better than even that Iran does retaliate, and I see no off-ramp from there. But another possibility is that it settles for American troops being kicked out of Iraq — which was Suleimani’s goal anyway. Ironically his assassination might be his victory.

Posted by: Outerreef | Jan 5 2020 9:56 utc | 246

Only “retaliation” by Iran should be to get the Iraq government to demand US close its embassy in Iraq. That is the really only goal and it is achivable.
I think I read somewhere that Iraqi government would meet monday on the issue of the assassinations and decide the next step. Lets see if they are on the side of the shia or with the americans.

Posted by: Zanon | Jan 5 2020 10:18 utc | 247

I think Mike Pompeo will be taken.

Posted by: HossCara | Jan 5 2020 10:28 utc | 248

@247 Outerreef “But another possibility is that it settles for American troops being kicked out of Iraq — which was Suleimani’s goal anyway. Ironically his assassination might be his victory.”
Iran would be mighty pleased by such an outcome, sure, but I doubt that it will see that as a sufficient “settlement” of the blood debt.
America being kicked out of Iraq would be an own-goal, a testimony to US incompetence.
But Soleimani’s assassination requires revenge, so simply taking the opportunity to laugh at an American pratfall is not going to be enough. Iran will insist that it has to inflict pain on the USA.
After all, it is their turn….

Posted by: Yeah, Right | Jan 5 2020 10:34 utc | 249

powerandpeopl #2229 “But consider this: Trump has proved he takes dangerous risks. His major flaw is his need to never be embarrassed or humiliated.”, or put in his place my people with far more intellect and morals than he will ever have. At least Trump is leaving a good paper trail of his crimes against humanity.
Evo Morales embarrassed and humiliated Trump when he gave a speech at the UNGA ripping into the crimes of the US while Trump was in attendance.
Suleimani responded to a Trump tweet sent to Iranian President Rouhanni. “It is not in our president’s dignity to respond to you,” Soleimani said. “If you begin the war, we will end the war. You know that this war will destroy all that you possess.”
One man is dead and the other is in exile with his country now ruled by evangelicals. Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me, unless your name is Donald Trump.
And a massage from the Canadian Regime. “Canada is in contact with our international partners. The safety and well-being of Canadians in Iraq and the region, including our troops and diplomats, is our paramount concern.
“We call on all sides to exercise restraint and pursue de-escalation. Our goal is and remains a united and stable Iraq.
“Canada has long been concerned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods (sic) Force, led by Qasem Soleimani, whose aggressive actions have had a destabilizing effect in the region and beyond.”
The Great Northern Seal has spoken, or barfed up a shit load of kippers.
Might I add another of Trumps flaws, being exposed to the truth. Both men stood up to him, one is dead and the other in exile his country now ruled by evangelicals. Surely there will be an adult in the room if Trump tries to launch nukes at Iran.

Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 10:38 utc | 250

Posted by: A User | Jan 5 2020 9:55 utc | 246
Good point “A User”, if Orange Truffal had the goods on Iran regarding Lockerbie he would have pulled that card out as the “See how inhumane they are” but he can’t. It isn’t there to be had. Hence crickets ….
This was some years ago but some of the best analysis that I read was to be found on “From the Wilderness” webpage by Michael Craig Ruppert. Now there is a great American he paid dearly for telling it like it was. RIP Mike !!!!

Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 10:44 utc | 251

re: Circe | Jan 5 2020 7:49 utc @ 217
Dearest *Circe*.
I read…alot.
The wife & I have close to 2,000 books now in our personal library.
I myself have always been primarily interested in History.
Your short-essay for the willfully nescient & ignorant, is, in my opinion, the best food-for-thought I’ve read in a long time.
You are to commended.
Thank You & Most Gracious Regards, X-
ps.
Saved/Downloaded for future reference. And thought.

Posted by: Veritas X- | Jan 5 2020 11:10 utc | 252

@172 Pjotr Berman
“(…) Trump was given a presentation with a list of options what to do in Iraq, and one option was the murder of Soleymani. And he picked that one. That says that the deep-staters surrounding Trump could easily avoid what happened, but he collectedt them.(…)”
Can’t help thinking even the Daily Mail got it right here:
“Revealed – Warlord’s Trump taunt that signed his own death warrant: How Iran’s Qassem Soleimani called US president a ‘bartender’ and a ‘casino manager’ in 2018 speech
Donald Trump fired off an abrasive tweet directed at Iran in summer, 2018
Days later, Qassem Soleimani responded with a similarly threatening speech
Eighteen months later, he was killed by a US drone strike ordered by Trump (…)”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7850119/Qassem-Soleimanis-Donald-Trump-taunt-signed-death-warrant.html

Posted by: Paleene | Jan 5 2020 11:25 utc | 253

On american society attitudes wrt war with Iran:
https://dailystormer.name/selective-services-website-crashes-after-fears-of-draft/
In other words, anglo still can`t handle any actual conflict with the other guys shooting back.
^_^

Posted by: WHAT | Jan 5 2020 11:43 utc | 254

ref Trump’s suggestion of “targeting Iranian cultural sites ”
at least he puts plainly the fact he is following the same script as his Isr/KSA/Qatar buddies, who have been busy for years now destroying every archaeological and historical vestiges that does not fit the narrative they pretend to offer, from Tumbuktu to Palmyra, from Jerusalem to Gaza and from Syria to Iraq

Posted by: Mina | Jan 5 2020 11:54 utc | 255

The US got the timing badly wrong. Australians will be too busy to come and help them on that one.

Posted by: Mina | Jan 5 2020 11:55 utc | 256

QS Assassination violated Muslims everywhere, some say”
see also
for a map and chart of what this is all about

Posted by: snake | Jan 5 2020 12:09 utc | 257

Hundreds of thousands people mourning right now. Stunning video.
https://twitter.com/amalsaad_lb/status/1213741775430529024?s=21

Posted by: outerreef | Jan 5 2020 12:13 utc | 258

I’m disappointed to see this Lockerbie fake news here…

Posted by: Iara | Jan 5 2020 13:07 utc | 259

#BREAKING Iraqi Parliament votes for withdrawal of the American troops from Iraq.
https://twitter.com/Iran/status/1213809835067600902
Now comes the hard part.

Posted by: Russ | Jan 5 2020 13:38 utc | 260

I hope I am wrong but this is how I see the chips falling.
The Ziocon-Deep State-Kosher Nostra has the disposable President, aka the Orange Man, by the balls. The Mob was going to get its war with Iran anyway – most likely after the re-election of Drumpf. But now Satanyahu desperately needs a war to stay out of prison. So the ZOG neutered Drumpf by impeaching him out of thin air (while ignoring many legitimate grounds). Drumpf now needs every vote in Senate, and the war with Iran is the ticket. With this war Drumpf just lost his practically guaranteed reelection chance. Of course this is the preferred outcome for the Mob anyway. Now the Mob will have its cake and eat it too. It will get its preferred President (another Bush or another Obama or another Clinton – of either gender, etc. ).

Posted by: Nathan Mulcahy | Jan 5 2020 13:39 utc | 261

It is definitely the case that the lies and propaganda that pour forth from this site rival the US State Department. I’m a powerless American with no sympathy for my own government for all the reasons that are routinely discussed here. Nevertheless, I can recognize outright lies when I see them. You have enough legitimate points against US policy without undermining your case by putting forth risible falsehoods such as Suleimani was only in Iraq to attend funerals. Good one!
The man Suleimani wanted war — he got war. The Iranians are not a stupid people. The Iranians know that after Iraq, Afghanistan and everything else there is no appetite for war among the rank-and-file, ordinary American public. The American people — as opposed to the US establishment — do not want war.
The Iranians also have to know that Trump has demonstrated some impulses toward restraint relative to the type of posture that the worst Zionist and Neocon powers in the US establishment have wanted to take toward Iran for years. Last summer, when the US establishment fabricated a reason to attack Iran, Trump called off the air-strike attack.
Mr. Suleimani just couldn’t help himself though. He was, and others in the Iranian leadership appear to be as well, to be out of contact with reality. Instead of just laying down and accepting reality, he had to keep poking away at US establishment interests in the region. Suleimani had a duty to accept for the benefit of the Iranian nation and Iranian people that, fair or not, against the power of the United States at this point in history there can be no victory.
The US establishment is not going to come to regret anything. Getting embroiled in a decades-long battle across the middle east is the US establishment’s idea of victory. It was pretty damn stupid to leave Iranian soil to go stir shit in Iraq when he knew damn well that the US military was gunning for him. Dark times ahead for the world…

Posted by: Powerless American | Jan 5 2020 13:43 utc | 262

Two excellent and informative blogs from Craig Murray.
If you follow Moon you will like this former British Ambassador as well.
Do take a look.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/

Posted by: Emily | Jan 5 2020 13:45 utc | 263

Russ
I think we need a source for that claim,
Iraq should instead demand that US close its embassy, that is realistic,
US troops will stay in IRaq just like they stay in Syria. It is meaningless to demand that, do something instead to physically get them off iraqi soil.

Posted by: Zanon | Jan 5 2020 13:47 utc | 264

Yeah!!!! 170 Iraqi lawmakers sign draft bill to expel US military forces from country
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/01/05/615421/Iraqi-lawmakers-draft-US-forces

Posted by: Nathan Mulcahy | Jan 5 2020 13:50 utc | 265

Iraqi parliament voted to oust foreign troups.
This means European will leave. They may stay in Kurdistan on the ground that Kurdistan did not take part in the vote.
The US can try to remain as an occupying force.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 5 2020 13:51 utc | 266

What calculus is being discussed in Tehran?
Now that the Iraqi lawmakers have voted for US military forces to leave Iraq
does it look like this?
Option 1
Netanyahu out of power and thus in jail
US out of Iraq
US no longer able to support troops in Syria thus they leave Syria
Option 2
Tehran in flames
Netanyahu still in power and with a license to make Deeper war
More US troops in the Mideast
Option 1 happens with patience
Option 2 happens with revenge

Posted by: librul | Jan 5 2020 13:59 utc | 267

@203
Correct. Also Lockerbie was 1988. Everybody and their brother knew the CIA was operating the drug trade and running guns. The notion that there were Good Boy Scout agents about to blow the whistle is beyond fanciful.
Iran had a role to play in Iran/Iraq war. We wanted them for that.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 5 2020 14:04 utc | 268

Alfredo Jalife, Mexican geopolitical expert, journalist and university professor, is offering in his analysis on the past events in Iraq some interesting points…
1.-He points out at the strange fact that the US Congress was not informed previously, but yes Lindsay Graham and Netanyahu. Neither was notifie any other member of the UNSC or NATO, including UK…
2.-He points out at the strange fact that we do not yet know the identity of the supposedly dead US civil contractor, nor we have witnessed any burial ceremony of him so far….suspecting all the initial attack which gave place to all this mayhem could well be a false flag…
3.-He points at the obvious intend of playing the “Christian Zionists versus Islamists” electoral card, pushed by the presence at the WH of Pompeo and corrobored by the fact that Trump run to a meeting with Christian Zionists immediately after ordering the strike on Soleimani…Recall that the polls do not show good numbers for Trump…and the Christian Zionsists of the US South belt are his most important electoral base.
4.-He points out at the strange fact that Soleimani arrived in Baghdad Airport so openly and without any precaution or protection, as if he was coming to a summoned negotiation with the US on the developing events in Iraq, as he was called in the past for the fight on ISIS/AQ, and then was targeted for politically electorally motivated assasination in such a treacherous way…
5.-He points out at the strange fact that they have killed Soleimani allegedly to avoid war, when now the whole ME is on the verge of an all out war.
6.-He points out that Iran is oblied to respond, otherwise it would mean definitely surrendering and the conditions of the US ( which indeed are those of Israel as they are this style of “targeted assasinations” pointing at the possible participation of Mossad ), would be impossed on Iran and the region.
7.-He points out at the total amauterism of Pompeo in diplomacy and International Relations, hence the world is hallucinating.
8.-He discards that Trump would have done this because of the impeachment, since that trouble had already being solved , that Trump just get the calculations wrong in an intend of saving his ally Netanyahu, that Trump is not thinking at these heights in the fate of the US of its people, but in the fate of Netanyahu and Israel through the wishes of his son-in-law, a talmudic fanatic, who is really who is managing the ME agenda.
9.-He points out that Trump in conducing himself more like a Netanyahu clon than like a president of a superpower who has other responsabilities of bigger scope, and this is why he has three nuclear powers of the size of France, Russia, and China perplexed and stunned.
10.-He points at the error of calculations by Esper and Pompeo who thought they will have everything easy in Iraq with this decapitation of IRGC. He deems this one as the worst strategic error the US has commmitted since WWII. Trump and his team, in the sight of past Iraqi demonstrations to overthrow Abdel Mahdi government, never thought that Iraqi society, especially Shia community, would show such unity and cohesion after these events.
11.-He is asked, after being told about the approval of Netanyahu of this attack as “acting fast, strongly and effective”, and about these two characters, Trump and Netanyahu, questioned in their own territories, but still taking these kind of decissions which have worrying the whole International Community, what is to be expected for the rest of humanity, Jalife recalls the figure of El Cid, who continued providing victories even after dead, entering, as it is doing Soleimani in the Shia cosmogony as a saint…
12.-Taking all this into account, he says, from now on, any victory of Iran will have repercussions in the whole Shia world, which is not only the ME, but the Great ME, from Morocco to Cashmere, from Caucasus to Somalia, and there resides the great geoplitical mistake of Trump, since he will never have enough troops to contend the whole Shia in Pakistán, Afghanistán, Iran, Iraq, Bahrein, KSA, Yemen, and so on…He has just offered Iran a geopolitcal victory on a silver plate.
Hence the contradictory statements, intends of negotiation/deescalation, grandilocuent menaces and zig zags of this administration, which he qualifies as “absurd byzantinism”.
13.- Finally, Trump wants to negotiate not in terms that beneffit the US, since that already was made by Obama achieving JCPOA, but in terms that beneffit Israel, asking for impossible goals like that Iran dismantle all its misile defense against Israel and cuts its ties with the rest of Shia in Irak and Lebanon and Sunni in Syria and Palestine. Thus Trump is not governing for the US, but for a maximalist supremacist hebrew sector of Israel represented by Netanyahu, not even for the whole Israel…
Jalife: Trump acted as Israel’s clone by killing Soleimani

Posted by: Sasha | Jan 5 2020 14:21 utc | 269

somebody
Have they voted already? Where are the stats on the result?

Posted by: Zanon | Jan 5 2020 14:21 utc | 270

Juliania
” We know he has attempted peaceful encounters with those the deep state wants us to consider our enemies — which we don’t! This is the first time he has, according to all, been ahead of the pack. Surely we need to wonder – are they using this against him because all else has failed? And if so, why? If so, how? We need to have the answers to that, don’t we?”
I agree, J. This is a valid point of view. Trump’s tweets are despicable and I am not a “Trump supporter.” It should be possible to discuss politics here a MoA and try to figure out what is really going on behind the scenes without constantly fending off this accusation, which IMO just wastes space. Ditto the “I was right and you were wrong!” self trumpeting that goes on here. IMO we are putting our heads together to try to understand a very complex situation that is being actively managed and controlled by unfriendly actors to prevent the public’s gaining insight.
So, back to Trump. To me and to many others Trump is a genuine enigma. Sure, the buck stops with Trump. But he is surely being herded and guided. Even if Trump himself wants to fulfill Adelson’s fondest desire, I wonder whether T’s advisors have warned him of dangers to himself and even his family and certainly his “legacy” with each option presented (if this scenario is true). Or, perhaps they *have* warned him, as Jul. suggests. Whether he has now come to understand that he is obliged to go along with the war agenda; there is no other alternative if he wants to remain president. I wonder whether any “aghast” advisors said in response to his choosing Option 2: I wouldn’t do that. In fact, why would this choice be on the short list at all if they all knew it was a terrible idea?
I think there is a good possibility that Trump is now veering about like a vessel in a hurricane with a broken rudder. Doing anything to stay afloat and flailing about to try to ride out breakers and blasts. He has been subjected to a constant onslaught of crass personal negativity since before his inauguration, harried and hounded by the Deep State and the target of multiple actual conspiracies, which he himself grasped —and for recognizing this fact he was labeled a conspiracy theorist in chief. Even for someone with an extremely thick skin, this ongoing multilevel attack could be affecting his mental stability and ability to reason. Possibly Trump “is no Netanyahu” in the thick skin and ruthlessness department. Add that to an impulsive personality and one might end up with a president who is de fact non compis mentis. Of course that is what some WH “insiders” asserted a couple of years ago as a pretext for going around Trump and undermining him and negating his agenda. It is impossible to assess from the outside to what extent Trump is actually in charge of anything. It is all speculation. But whatever the reality I think we agree that he has to *appear* to be in charge. Every president does. This may be driving him to do stupid things such as choosing “option 2” and then when he sees it is a disaster, trying to both wheedle and threaten his way out of it. Two more bad moves. Getting himself into more hot water.
Every president needs knowledgeable advisors with a steady hand and mind. Like Lavrov. Of course he must recognize that need and then recognize the men and women who are knowledgeable, wise, and steady. Trump does not seem to recognize that need. He does not understand statesmanship nor diplomacy nor anything besides making a “deal.” And the military option is being urged on him at every turn. He has surrounded himself with inexperienced but agenda-driven family members and such as Bolton and Pompeo.
I hope I am not now to be subjected to “sphincter” type comments. All is speculation.

Posted by: Really?? | Jan 5 2020 14:26 utc | 271

First they swooned all over Obama,
Then they swear by Trump the great white hope,
These days, Tulsi is the rising star…..
There will be no second rev.
as long as murkkans keep pining their hope on the next Messiah .
Too many miss their empire watch 101 lesson,
Script never changes, only actors are replaced.
BUsh senior , Bush junior, Clinton, Obama, Trump….
Still the same PNAC manifesto ., running like clockwork.
In case you forget,
PNAC in a nutshell….

refers to key allies such as the UK as ‘the most effective and efficient means of exercising American global leadership’;
describes peace-keeping missions as ‘demanding American political leadership rather than that of the United Nations’;
reveals worries in the administration that Europe could rival the USA;
‘even should Saddam pass from the scene’ bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will remain permanently — despite domestic opposition in the Gulf regimes to the stationing of US troops — as ‘Iran may well prove as large a threat to US interests as Iraq has’;
spotlights China for ‘regime change’ saying ‘it is time to increase the presence of American forces in southeast Asia’.
calls for the creation of ‘US Space Forces’, to dominate space, and the total control of cyberspace to prevent ‘enemies’ using the internet against the US;
hints that, despite threatening war against Iraq for developing weapons of mass destruction, the US may consider developing biological weapons — which the nation has banned — in decades to come. It says: ‘New methods of attack — electronic, ‘non-lethal’, biological — will be more widely available … combat likely will take place in new dimensions, in space, cyberspace, and perhaps the world of microbes … advanced forms of biological warfare that can ‘target’ specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool’;
[SARS is back….even while China is reeling under the Swine flu onslaught.]
pinpoints North Korea, Libya, Syria and Iran as dangerous regimes and says their existence justifies the creation of a ‘world-wide command-and-control system’.

https://www.wanttoknow.info/020907pnacprojectnewamericancentury

Posted by: denk | Jan 5 2020 14:29 utc | 272

Posted by: Zanon | Jan 5 2020 14:21 utc | 269

Have they voted already? Where are the stats on the result?

Elijah J. Magnier @ejmalrai
#BreakingNews:
#Iraq Parliament approved to terminates all presence of foreign forces (#US) in the country and prevent these from using the land and sky if Iraq.
6:32 AM – 5 Jan 2020
https://twitter.com/ejmalrai/status/1213830650786131969

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 5 2020 14:37 utc | 273

FYI
@259 is misleading
Iraq hasn’t voted USA out. They are now simply MEETING TO VOTE.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 5 2020 14:38 utc | 274

This article by b has paragraph 2 beginning with this:

Fact is that Trump is following the plan of the Foundation of the Defense of Democracy (FDD) which was originally founded as EMET (Hebrew for “truth”), “to provide education to enhance Israel’s image in North America.”

Further, b has this as paragraph 3:

FDD was tasked by Israel to instigate a U.S. war on Iran. Following FDD’s plans Trump and his advisors are trying to provoke Iran to retaliate in a way that allows them to launch such a war.

Israel’s image in the US is bound tightly with it’s ability to manipulate the US into making wars for Israel.
What could be more central to Israel’s image, and thus it’s ability to create terrible wars, than it’s connection to the Holocaust?
The emet (Hebrew for “truth”) is that among the earliest leaders of The State of Israel were co-perpetrators of the Holocaust
and The State of Israel, up to and including it’s justice system, protected those co-perpetrators.
I posted as much @1 and b deleted it (and @2 which was a source link).
This is b’s site so he can do as he pleases. But I think an explanation is in order from b as he is inadvertently aiding FDD.

Posted by: librul | Jan 5 2020 14:40 utc | 275

@273
Magnier now reporting, as of minutes ago, that Iraq MPs have voted to demand USA forces leave Iraq.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 5 2020 14:44 utc | 276

IMO This means Civil War in Iraq

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 5 2020 14:45 utc | 277

Jackrabbit
The kurds, sunnis parties will sure block any demand to get americans out, they seems unable to even call out US by name, only talking about “foreign groups”. Not a good sign. THis was a great chance. Perhaps the only.

Posted by: Zanon | Jan 5 2020 14:49 utc | 278

Sasha @268, Jalife: Yes, this just reeks of Kushner now I think of it. Thanks for that link.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 5 2020 14:50 utc | 279

Iraqi Parliament Passes Resolution to End Foreign Troop Presence

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 5 2020 15:03 utc | 280

Trump is just another zio con puppet. No different than Hillary, Bill, Bushes and Obama. All puppets for Bibi. The fake impeachment is run by dual citizens for I$$$rael. When the Christmas tree shows up it is Melania and Baron who are there to greet it not Trump-Kushner. No swamps will be drained. Trump like the rest of Wash DC are no friends of Americans. American needs another 1775. Looks like Q Anon is a phony.

Posted by: Jerry | Jan 5 2020 15:03 utc | 281

@261 if you’re looking for another name, I’d suggest “brainless American”, although that is somewhat redundant, speaking as another American. You’re somewhat right though, seeing as the Iraqi PM has stated that Soleimani was coming to meet HIM as an envoy from Iran carrying a letter discussing rapproachment with the Saudis

Posted by: Yetanotheranon | Jan 5 2020 15:04 utc | 282

Elijah Magnier quotes that caretaker Iraqi PM Abdel Mahdi has confirmed in his adressing to the Parliament that Soleimani has an appointment with him the day after his assasination.
With which gets debunked the WH alibi of any planning of terrorist attack on any US target in Iraq or elsewhere…

Posted by: Sasha | Jan 5 2020 15:04 utc | 283

Iran has retaliated by raising the red flag and making vague threats. US peons are already scared of their own shadows. The new threats have US police departments in heightened “look tough” mode and are deploying many more goons than usual. Any little thing or person out of place causes instant panic, terror alerts, lockdown, and huge disruption, all of which are extremely costly.
I’m sure Dear Leaders were smugly congratulating themselves with their successful imposition of a complete lockdown for the City of Boston after the marathon bombing. In the end it was a good obedience test but it did nothing for capturing the evil doer. What was the economic cost, and how many critically ill people died because they couldn’t get medicine or medical care?
It is a fine line between fear and panic. Once a nervous herd panics and stampedes, no one can stop it or control its direction or destination. If the herd is also well armed…

Posted by: Trailer Trash | Jan 5 2020 15:05 utc | 284

Posted by: denk | Jan 5 2020 14:29 utc | 271
“First they swooned all over Obama,
Then they swear by Trump the great white hope,
These days, Tulsi is the rising star…..
There will be no second rev.
as long as murkkans keep pining their hope on the next Messiah .
Too many miss their empire watch 101 lesson,
Script never changes, only actors are replaced.”
Spot on denk !!! The problem is systemic and there is simply no easy way to fix that. I shutter to even use the word for what is needed to fix the System.

Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 15:10 utc | 285

Maybe I missed it in all the comments. But, remember how the Mossad does things, deception.
This attack came after the attacks on the hiz kataeb earlier, it is very likely that the Mossad informed cia that muhandis will be in airport and can be taken out. The Americans would have felt justified to target him as part of their attacks on the hiz kataeb. But what the Mossad didn’t tell them is that soleimani will be with him.
This would explain the hastily arranged meetings after the news came out that soleimani was killed.
I am convinced that the Americans didn’t know they were killing soleimani, and their target was muhandis was really their target. It explains a lot.

Posted by: Brad | Jan 5 2020 15:15 utc | 286

This was some years ago but some of the best analysis that I read was to be found on “From the Wilderness” webpage by Michael Craig Ruppert. Now there is a great American he paid dearly for telling it like it was. RIP Mike !!!!
Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 10:44 utc | 252
++++++++
I remember Ruppert! His was one of the first “alternative” blogs I became aware of. What happened to him? How did he die?
Sasha, 268
Thanks for this summary. I must say, this reinforces my own speculations as to what is going on in the Trump Tower.” The Donald is being led by the nose by his treasonous daughter and her traitorous consort. It is worthy of Shakespeare/Lear.

Posted by: Really?? | Jan 5 2020 15:17 utc | 287

bevin is absolutely right that this hit on a public and official member of a national government/military, in a 3rd nation, by the US is a precedent setter. It is, however, a direct extension of US anti-terror policy for many years now.
I would also note that it is very conceivable that Soleimani was considered a target because of his very public and direct involvement with Iranian-allied militias throughout Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Let’s not forget that he was in charge of Quds – specifically extra-territorial IRGC work, including clandestine ops.
Of course, the problem is that this same description can be applied to various US government officials: not Pompeo, but types like Victoria Nuland in Ukraine during Maidan.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 5 2020 15:20 utc | 288

@Posted by: Brad | Jan 5 2020 15:15 utc | 285
Your theory fails in front of the fact that Pentagon has already recognized the possibility of assasinating Soleimani was presented to Trump, amongst several others, and he chose it after the embassy events, to fulfill the wishes of his son-in-law, his uncle Netanyahu, raptirst Cheistian Zionist Pompeo representing his electoral base, and neocon Lindsay Graham, sine they were the only aware of the incoming attack.

Posted by: Sasha | Jan 5 2020 15:22 utc | 289

@ librul | Jan 5 2020 14:40 utc | 274
Perhaps less stridency? Yes, it does seem to be “warplan zion” and trumpie is owned by his ignorance and common character, and probably blackmail.
They say the US is pulling out. I expect that may be prelude to disaster. After the fellas are out of harm’s way, maybe, they’ll use missiles on Persia. It’s probably realignment and repositioning, not pullout.
In Jewish History there are numerous schisms. Maccabees being a famous one. The gulf between “zionism” and Judaism is pretty deep. It’s a deep flaw. And terrible for everyone, especially the Jews. But to be brief, the connections between zionists (not all are Jews) and the nazis (in 1940 Berlin there were Jewish nazis) are a public secret. Available for anybody to know. David Irving presents evidence from original letters and documents from the period, and so do many Jews (who disapprove). searchterm> “Nazi-Zionist Collaboration
by Jews Against Zionism and Anti-Semitism” It’s about 100 pages… And the moral character of the behaviors of both? Find me a difference…
Which is why many American Rabbis are “conflicted”. I can’t imagine… I heard an Anglican Sermon that addressed, condemned as unchristian, US militarism back in 1956 and we watched the congregation walk out. Perhaps a dozen parishioners stayed. Reverend Park, John Park, I believe. He spoke true and the people walked away. I expect some Rabbis are having the same experience.

Posted by: Walter | Jan 5 2020 15:23 utc | 290

Posted by: librul | Jan 5 2020 14:40 utc | 274
“The emet (Hebrew for “truth”) is that among the earliest leaders of The State of Israel were co-perpetrators of the Holocaust and The State of Israel, up to and including it’s justice system, protected those co-perpetrators.”
Well lets see if my comment remains here. I am all for “emet”.
“Verdict in Sensational Libel Trial in Israel Provokes Uproar
June 24, 1955”
https://www.jta.org/1955/06/24/archive/verdict-in-sensational-libel-trial-in-israel-provokes-uproar
For those willing to dig (which takes time) there is plenty of information to show that the Jewish World internally is not a happy place. One group was willing to sacrifice another group as means to reaching their desired goals. That will not appear on the History Channel.

Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 15:29 utc | 291

@Posted by: Trailer Trash | Jan 5 2020 15:05 utc | 283
These developments beneffit the US, but also the whole world. Nobody loses.
Just imagine how many money you will save by withdrawing from the ME, which could be destined to cover social necessities..
In the long term you may end being a bit poorer, once the looting is not any more possible, but you will find peace, as well as the rest of humanity. But I even doubt that, since a more cooperative peaceful stance will make you beneffit from the coming trneds in the world.
I am sure Soleimani is smiling and comfortable with this solution which beneffits everybody without shooting a bullet…
Israel will have to learn to negotiate a fair peace with its neighbors….
BTW, US troops are withdrawing from Kuwait…

Posted by: Sasha | Jan 5 2020 15:31 utc | 292

Population of south Gulf coast right now is sh*****g bricks.
Will US voluntarily leave Iraq? I doub’t. But they have no capabilities to safely bring massive ground reinforcements via sea through Iran’s waters.
And if KSA tries with ISIS v2 it may find itself under attack from Houthis again.

Posted by: Abe | Jan 5 2020 15:31 utc | 293

I would also note that a review of the likely outcomes of this action show interesting effects:
1) Oil price goes up. US benefits due to oil self sufficiency and increased revenue for frackers – which directly benefits the US economy.
2) Iraq votes out the US – Trump can say he brought the troops home. But Iran also gets the win of getting the US out of Iraq.
3) Qasim Soleimani is viewed by many as the mastermind behind the Hizbullah, SAA and PMU successes in the Middle East. While it is unlikely Iran will stop its regional activities, it is very likely Iran’s effectiveness in regional ops has been hurt.
4) Even if a shooting war starts – extremely unlikely – see 1)
5) Assassinating Pence or Pompeo? Stupid and suicidal. A Nuland equivalent, though… Ultimately, it isn’t clear to me that such a gesture is beneficial for Iran. There won’t be any lack of such people, the modern international equivalent to the carpetbagger.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 5 2020 15:31 utc | 294

librul 274
I didn’t follow the comments you cite.
So, I don’t know what sources you cited and b took down.
b is in Germany (I think), and Germany/the EU now has a law against Holocaust denial. That can of course take a number of forms. And could be punished in unexpected ways. Perhaps b is being reasonably cautious.
Saying that Zionists actually were “co-perpetrators” in the Jewish and European genocide might be a step too far.
IMO the Zionists were politicians like any others, who used the developing situ in Germany to their advantage, as any group with its own agenda would do. Of course within Germany political agitation was virtually impossible, owing not only to the persecution of Jews within Germany but also the general Gleichschaltung, or “coordination,” whereby as of (I think) 1935 any and all political, administrative, and civil activity was subsumed into the Nazi Party structure. From ca. 1933 to 1938 the Nazi policy was to induce/threaten/coerce Jews to leave Germany. However, many of them didn’t have anyplace to go. AFAIK the best source book of documents showing how Zionists used the evolving situ in Germany to achieve their own dream is Lenni Brenner, ed. “51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis” (Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2002).

Posted by: Really?? | Jan 5 2020 15:33 utc | 295

Tom 284
IN case you miss this,
Andre Vltchek on murkkan election….
STOP POISONING MY BRAIN !
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44170.htm

Posted by: denk | Jan 5 2020 15:33 utc | 296

Posted by: Really?? | Jan 5 2020 15:17 utc | 286
As you can imagine Mike was under EXTREME PRESSURE (what kind ??) which started to effect his health (no surprise). In 2006 he left the US and went to Venezuela for treatment. Short time later he returned but his problem only started to get worst. Have a look on Wiki as it does a good job of explaining this long sad story. Supposedly he shot himself just like Gary Webb of the “Dark Alliance series”.
It was CommonDreams (before updating its look)and Mike’s blog that clued me in to the fact that I was a sleeping American. No Longer but sad to see what is happening with our country. US’s biggest problem is Main Stream Media as that is one of the most powerful drugs in the world.

Posted by: Tom | Jan 5 2020 15:47 utc | 297

clue @293
“Oil price goes up. US benefits due to oil self sufficiency”
The US is still a large net importer of crude oil, so a rise in oil prices is still a problem for the US economy. Higher oil prices would however delay the pending cliff of shale bankruptcies likely to occur in 2020- 2022.
From a Forbes article published last month:
“But what is the situation now with respect to crude oil imports? A year ago, in response to the Bloomberg article, I reported that the U.S. was still a net crude oil importer to the tune of about 4 million BPD. A year later, that number has fallen to about 3 million BPD, and sometimes falls even lower.”
The reference to the US being a net exporter includes gasoline and refined products. Also, a recent study expects fracking production to rise only 400,000 barrels this year and then flatline.

Posted by: Schmoe | Jan 5 2020 15:47 utc | 298

Regarding the view expressed on this thread as to whether the true target was the PMU leader, and that Soleimani’s presence at the airport may have been unknown to US, Magnier states that the Iraqi PM told the parliament before the vote that Soleimani had an appointment with the PM in Baghdad and had come to Iraq for the specific purpose of responding to a request from Trump for Iraqi mediation between US and Iran.
Take your pick – either incompetence of epic proportion or a new low for the US in terms of undermining international diplomacy. If you want to negotiate with the US, you better show up “heavy”, as Tony Soprano would have said.

Posted by: expat | Jan 5 2020 15:50 utc | 299

re: Really?? | Jan 5 2020 15:17 utc @ 286
“I remember Ruppert! His was one of the first “alternative” blogs I became aware of. What happened to him? How did he die?”
___________________________________________
Mike committed suicide(a revolver) according to the police report, and friends .
Mike was, according to himself, ‘hearing strange voices & thoughts’, which he said was unbearable.
How do I know this?
Well, I participated in a live ‘world-wide’ Skype/internet vigil, held by his closest friends a few days after his passing.
This is what Mike’s closet friends said.
You’ve surely heard about…*Voice to Skull Technology* employed by the tptb.
It’s quite old tech infact.
I’m convinced it was that.
“The 99th Monkey lived”.
How do I know this?
Because, I’m the 100th monkey.
RIP Mike.
X-

Posted by: Veritas X- | Jan 5 2020 16:00 utc | 300

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