Thug World Updates

[RonZeplin]

US Taxpayers On the Hook for Nearly $1 Billion in Saudi Arabia’s Recent Missile Defense Purchase

On Monday, in an all-but-unreported news item, the Pentagon announced that it would be paying $946 million to Lockheed Martin toward the installation of a missile defense system that was purchased — not by the United States government — but by Saudi Arabia. In other words, the Pentagon is paying nearly $1 billion to subsidize a purchase made by a foreign power.

In its announcement, the Pentagon referred to the payment as an “undefinitized contract action” that would be used, in part, to prepare Saudi Arabia’s current missile defense system for the installation of the $15 billion Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system manufactured by Lockheed.

The Pentagon said the payment was intended to prevent major delays in the delivery and production of the THAAD system, suggesting it was likely a hedge against past Saudi interest in the THAAD’s main (and cheaper) competitor, the Russian-made S-400. However, the payment is also authorized for use by Lockheed to pay for materials, tools and engineering development.

The Saudi THAAD purchase was a major component of the “$110 billion” weapons deal much touted by the Trump administration in 2017. However, many of the key purchases within that massive deal were never finalized, an embarrassment for what the administration had advertised as a major foreign policy success that would create jobs in the United States, even though many Lockheed products are actually manufactured abroad.

A better deal for a better product down the block

One likely explanation for the Pentagon’s willingness to pay such a significant amount to subsidize the Saudi THAAD system is the fact that the Saudi government had intended to purchase the cheaper and more effective Russian-made S-400 instead of the THAAD. Indeed, as MintPress News reported last year, the Saudis let the deadline for the THAAD deal pass on September 30 of last year without signing, and instead expressed interest in the S-400. The Saudis also refused US government requests to disavow its interest in the Russian-made system.

[..........]

However, in order to entice the Saudis to “buy American,” more than political pressure appears to have been needed and it is likely that US officials offered to “sweeten the deal.” Given this context, the Pentagon’s $946 million payout to prevent installation delays appears to be one of these concessions, as the US government continues to scrambleto keep its allies from buying the THAAD’s top competitor, the Russian S-400. Unfortunately for them, it’s the US taxpayers who are footing the bill.

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...ense-purchase/

[goldenequity]

US Taxpayers On the Hook for Nearly $1 Billion in Saudi Arabia’s Recent Missile Defense Purchase

anybody interested can research it: Capabilities of the S-400 and the THAAD systems are truly NOT comparable systems.
there is 'some' overlap of course, for instance the THAAD system is effective ONLY against missile detections OUTSIDE a 50 mile radius... anything closer and THAAD can't touch it.
There are other factors and flight characteristics that separate the two systems besides COST as well.
Once again, globalists are socializing the 'cost' and privatizing the gains.
Having to use thug tactics to subsidize sales of yet another un-competitive and under-performing weapon system....
resorting to BRIBERY and INTIMIDATION and political muscle to effect the sale.
I'm reminded of a slogan from 'Occupy Wallstreet' days: 'The Whole World is Watching!!' 'The Whole World is Watching!!'
They are. We all are. It's embarrassing. Laughable.

=========

[goldenequity]

https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/st...84010553049088



Enrico Ivanov ☦️‏ @Russ_Warrior · 3 min.
This is yesterday's "massive rally" for internet freedom in Moscow.
In reality it's against Russia's sovereignty after the govt decided to create a independent internet that will be used only if it's necessary (examples: foreign aggression, embargo, expulsion from SWIFT).



Russians take to streets to protest internet 'iron curtain'
CNET|2 hours ago
Thousands of Russians on Sunday protested the country's tightening grip on its internet. The main rally took place on Moscow's Prospekt Sakharova street, according to Reuters, where people chanted ...

Russia internet freedom: Thousands protest against cyber-security bill
BBC News|23 hours ago
Thousands of people in Russia have protested against plans to introduce tighter restrictions on the internet. A mass rally in Moscow and similar demonstrations in two other cities were called ...

Thousands Rally for Internet Freedom in Moscow: Monitoring Group
Bloomberg|1 day ago
About 15,300 people demonstrated for Internet freedom on Sunday in Moscow, according to White Counter, a group that monitors the number of attendees at rallies. At least 28 people were detained ...

Thousands protest Russia's 'internet isolation'
MSN News|16 hours ago
Thousands of people rallied against Russia's increasingly restrictive internet policies Sunday which some say will eventually lead to "total censorship" and isolate the country from the world ...











Empire News‏ / Corbett
Debunking A Century of War Lies

https://twitter.com/Russ_Warrior/sta...23262311419905

https://twitter.com/Russ_Warrior/sta...21548845924353






►Russia-EU trade turnover up 20% in 2018
http://tass.com/economy/1048116



this. despite sanctions economic terrorism. hahaha.

https://twitter.com/Ozkok_/status/1105115383957204992

[goldenequity]

https://twitter.com/O_Rich_/status/1105186898232905730

https://twitter.com/raedsyrian002/st...95962358730758

[goldenequity]

https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status...40740148461568











======

Update:

Now 'restored'... FB claiming 'error' mixup..

[goldenequity]

Italian PM Giuseppe Conte ignores US warnings and pushes for closer cooperation with China’s belt and road plan
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dipl...ngs-and-pushes

CIA Is Conspiring With ISIS In Northeastern Syria: Turkish Media
https://southfront.org/cia-is-conspi...turkish-media/

SouthFront
EU Parliament Calls To Stop Nord Stream 2, Claims Russia Is No Longer 'Strategic Partner'
https://southfront.org/eu-parliament...tegic-partner/

SouthFront
US Attempts to Instigate Syria-style "Civil War" In Venezuela
https://southfront.org/us-attempts-t...-in-venezuela/

Al-Masdar
Houthi forces claim Saudi Coalition suffered 100+ casualties in failed border offensive
https://aml.ink/PaGHd

[goldenequity]

Megan K. Stack
Wow: Spanish police and intelligence are linking the CIA to 10 gunmen who stormed the North Korean embassy in Madrid last month. They put bags over the heads of embassy staff, then beat and interrogated them for two hours.
https://elpais.com/politica/2019/03/...rno_rsoc=TW_CC

Moon of Alabama
Incredible story but sounds believable. Former DPRK ambo in Spain was Kim Hyok Chol, head of the North Korean delegation in the nuclear negotiations with the US.

CIA implicated in attack on North Korean embassy in Madrid
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/13...96_279320.html


=========

https://twitter.com/Ian56789/status/1105939184454381569

=========

Ali Özkök
Trump Government Replaces “Occupied” Syrian Golan Heights With "Israeli-Controlled".
https://www.thenational.ae/world/men...upied-1.836673

https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1105897797231042566


=========

https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/s...39239097778176


=========


SouthFront
U.S. Officially Started Producing Cruise Missiles Previously Banned Under INF Treaty
https://southfront.org/u-s-officialy...er-inf-treaty/


Kingston Reif
Here we go...
-DoD working on two intermediate-range ground-launched missile systems
-One is GLCM w/range of 1,000 km the other a ballistic missile w/range of 3,000-4,000 km
-Tests to begin in August
-Allies in Euro/Asia yet to be consulted on deployment

https://twitter.com/KingstonAReif/st...32306143956993


=========

[Swordsmyth]

The member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to upgrade their integrated air defense systems, Tass reported March 14.

More at: https://worldview.stratfor.com/situa...efense-systems

[RonZeplin]

Secretary of State Pompeo Calls on the Energy Sector to Weaponize Itself


I don't believe there ever has been a speech quite like the keynote speech delivered on Tuesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Houston, Texas at CERAWeek, the major annual energy conference put together by Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

The conference is a big deal for the energy sector. Sponsoring partners include: Credit Suisse, BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Morgan Stanley, The Carlyle Group, Chevron, Baker Hughes, TOTAL, Occidental Petroleum, MIT Energy Initiative, Petrobras, Schlumberger, Stanford Energy, Shell, The World Energy Council and Google Cloud.

So what did Pompeo talk about to this high-level energy sector crowd?

He used the opportunity to attack, Syria, Iran, Venezuela and Russia. He further pretty much called on the energy sector to enter the neocon battle to change the world.

It isn't enough for the energy sector to be a decent trading partner. According to Pompeo, "We’re not just exporting American energy, we’re exporting our commercial value system to our friends and to our partners. The more we can spread the United States model of free enterprise, of the rule of law, of diversity and stability, of transparency and transactions, the more successful the United States will be and the more successful and secure the American people will be."

This is neocon babble 101.

And, of course, there are also enemies in this world that Pompeo wants to destroy for the benefit of the people who were in the room.

Most troubling was Pompeo's directly naming and putting Russia in the camp with smaller "enemies." It is bizarre to taunt any of these countries but Russia is a serious nuclear player that the Trump administration seems to desperately be driving into the arms of China.

These global Kissingeresque chess matches are bad enough but Trump and his neconettes are playing poorly at the game and it is very scary.

https://www.targetliberty.com/2019/0...-calls-on.html

[RonZeplin]

War Against Venezuela Is War Against Us All

The American war on Venezuela continues to escalate with the sabotage of it’s electricity grid, the most serious action of all so far, which was not only an act of terrorism against the entire civilian population but also an attempt to shut down exports of Venezuelan oil.

This is part of the American hybrid war strategy. Hybrid warfare is warfare that uses all domains of life and society to hurt and damage the targeted nation. It was best defined by Qiao Liang and Wang Xiansui, two senior colonels of the Peoples Liberation Army in their famous book titled, Unrestricted Warfare, published in 1999 which proposed strategies and tactics that could be used by developing countries to compensate for their military inferiority vis a vis the United States during a high tech war.

Published prior to the American cruise missile attack on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia, the book drew a lot of attention in the west for its proposition that a multitude of means, military and non-military could be used to strike at the United States in a conflict; hacking into websites, targeting financial institutions, terrorism, using the media, urban warfare, sabotage, crippling infrastructure, subversion, all the methods of what the Americans term hybrid warfare.

The Chinese colonels stated that the first rule of this type of warfare is that there are no rules, nothing is forbidden. But they made a fundamental error when they also stated that “strong countries would not use the same approach against weak countries because strong countries make the rule while rising one break them” and, though admitting that the US breaks the rules of international law and makes up its own law when it suits their interests stated that it “has to observe its own rules or the world won’t trust it.”

Well, the colonels seem to have ignored the long history of the United States using exactly these types of methods against all its enemies weak or strong, of using unrestricted warfare, without limitations, in effect, total war on nations and peoples they target. They did not seem to understand that the Americans don’t give a damn what anyone else in the world thinks or whether anyone trusts them, which makes them all the more dangerous because peaceful settlement of disputes with them on an equitable basis is next to impossible. They are currently using these methods against Russia, Iran, China, Syria, DPRK, and of course Venezuela.

All these tactics are, of course, elements of a war of aggression, which is the fundamental war crime, and now a crime at the ICC for which they could, in theory, be prosecuted. Yet, the ICC prosecutor sits at her desk, as his her custom, drinking tea while collecting a large salary and instead of stating that the US and its allies are committing crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Venezuelan people entertains a Canadian request on behalf of the Lima Group to investigate the Venezuelan government for “crimes against humanity.” We have to suppose for not giving all its oil to the Americans.

........
On his return to Venezuela on March 4, Guaidò was met at the airport, likely preventing his deserved arrest, by some European ambassadors from Spain, France, and Germany, in particular. The US ambassador was not there.

In any case that action by the foreign ambassadors was a violation of the Vienna Convention and a hostile act. Article 5 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations sets out the permitted normal activities of consuls in a receiving state. But subsection (m) states:

“(m) performing any other functions entrusted to a consular post by the sending State which are not prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving State or to which no objection is taken by the receiving State or which are referred to in the international agreements in force between the sending State and the receiving State.”

This means that supporting the conspirators in an attempted coup against the receiving state, Venezuela is clearly prohibited and is regarded under customary international law as a hostile act and Venezuela has the right to immediately expel the consular officials involved or the entire consulate. The German ambassador who seemed to be most vocal has now been expelled.

Part of the hybrid warfare is the use of propaganda of course and an important element of the US propaganda is the resort to a claim that there exists a legal doctrine of “responsibility to protect” in international law. This doctrine does not exist in international law. It is purely an invention of the United States and its allies to justify their wars of aggression and violations of the UN Charter. Since they cannot obtain the support of the Security Council for their wars, because they are in violation of the obligation to keep the peace, and violations of the rights of every nation to its sovereignty and independence, the right not to be attacked in any way by other nations, they invented this phrase to justify the unjustifiable, It is nothing less than a pretext for wars of aggression and people should put it out of their minds as an argument for these wars. It is a bogus doctrine, a doctrine invented by fascists.

Worse they base the resort to this false doctrine on false facts because the UN Human Rights Council sent a Special Rapporteur to investigate the conditions in Venezuela and the cause of them. The man assigned dutifully went there, investigated and dutifully filed his report which because it did not accord with what they had hoped he would report was suppressed and we only know about it through an interview he gave to the press. Mr. Alfred de Zeyas reported to the UN that it was the illegal economic sanctions imposed by the US, Canada and their other allies that are the principal cause of the hardships being created in Venezuela and that they are illegal and should be ended and that the countries imposing them should be charged for committing crimes against humanity, I could quote him at length but I think the reader deserves to read this interview in full as much as de Zeyas deserves to he heard. We can only hope that the ICC Prosecutor will read his report and act on it. But I won’t hold my breath waiting.

MORE... New Eastern Outlook

[goldenequity]

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status...97676901519363

https://twitter.com/ASJBaloch/status...73214953222144

[AZJoe]

First Venezuela, Now Nicaragua? Bolton Says Ortega’s Days ‘Numbered’ & People ‘Will Soon be Free’

US President Donald Trump’s top foreign policy advisor John Bolton appears dead set on resuming his decades-long stand-off with Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega ... “As President Trump said Monday, Ortega’s days are numbered and the Nicaraguan people will soon be free,” the national security advisor to the US president tweeted on Wednesday.
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...-soon-be-free/

[Swordsmyth]

With the people of Ukraine suffering from the worst living standards among all of Europe, we wonder how they will feel when they discover that, according to the Ukrainian unified register of asset and income declarations, Poroshenko saw a nearly hundredfold surge in his income in 2018.

Poroshenko’s fortune totaled 1.56 billion hryvnia (US$57 million) over 12 months through March 31, which is 95 times as much as he reported in the same period a year ago. In 2017, Poroshenko’s gains reportedly reached 16.3 million hryvnia ($600,000).
Meanwhile, his official paycheck totals $12,400.
However, as RT reports, most of Poroshenko’s income – around $40.4 million – reportedly comes from return on investment in Zurich-based Rothschild Trust Schweiz, a trust subsidiary of Rothschild Bank AG.


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ous-rothschild

[goldenequity]

Fat Mike

Department of State‏@StateDept
.@SecPompeo at @natO ForMin: Vladimir Putin harbors dark dreams of imperialism – this is evident from his invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, and meddling in Syria and now in Venezuela. He wants to split our alliance and weaken our democratic resolve.

https://twitter.com/StateDept/status...71086444142593

A clear example of the precise propaganda tool used by nazis or terrorist groups.
Falsely accuse someone else of the misdeed you are committing.
It's the US who is involved in meddling and invasions around the globe.

This US government is clearly the most shameful and treacherous example in the country's entire short history.




--------

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1113818512286310401




Turkey must choose between remaining NATO partner or buying Russian S-400 – Pence
https://www.rt.com/news/455485-turke...ween-remaining/



Pentagon official tells @trtworld : the US is NOT EVEN CONSIDERING Turkey’s proposal to set up a joint technical team that can assess how Turkey can potentially use F-35 jets AND S-400 systems safely at the same time

On Germany: Pence said that while several countries have increased defense spending in recent years, "too many others have fallen short," with Germany being "chief among them."

He also targeted Germany over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will transport Russian gas to Germany. He said Europe cannot remain united and secure "if our allies become reliant on Russia."

"It is simply unacceptable for Europe’s largest economy to ignore the threat of Russian aggression and continue neglecting its self-defense," he added.

Pence also said the U.S. role in Europe will change as China's rise demands "more of America’s attention and resources."

"And as we meet that challenge," he said, "our European allies must do more to maintain the strength and deterrence of the Transatlantic Alliance."

In the room: Pence’s speech was not warmly received by the audience, made up mainly of security experts and diplomats. There was an awkward silence after Pence said NATO had been rejuvenated by "the resolute American leadership of President Donald Trump."
https://www.axios.com/pence-germany-...6cf518e0c.html

This is too easy, The Empire WANTS Turkey to now leave NATO, why you say; it is because The Empire now knows Turkey will not aggravate its own relations with RuF. and will in-fact accommodate RuF. more than ever for many geo-political-economic reasons. The Atlantacists know that Turkey is gone from them, so Turkey is now a liability in NATO. Don't forget, if one is a NATO member, one can veto new perspective members and Article 5's, as Long as Turkey is NATO member well, there will be NO UKRAINE and NO ISRAEL in NATO. Also, Turkey has a right to NATO intelligence. Pense and his Israeli masters know this, they WANT Turkey to leave. As far as I know, there is no mechanism to kick a NATO member out, LOL hahahahhaha, big Russian laugh to Empire.

Hürriyet Daily News‏@HDNER · 39 min.
US must choose between Turkey, terrorists: Turkish VP
http://hry.yt/I0chU


NATO At 70 - Time For The Zombie To Die -- today on the Liberty Report:




SouthFront
Maduro Places Military On High Alert As Lavrov Declares That 'Venezuela Won’t Become 2nd Syria'
https://southfront.org/maduro-places...ome-2nd-syria/

https://twitter.com/ShoebridgeC/stat...32448778936323




SouthFront
U.S. AFRICOM Nominee Comes With Plan To Counter China, Russia In Africa
https://southfront.org/u-s-africom-n...sia-in-africa/

Enrico Ivanov
NATO is pushing Kiev to carry out another provocation in the Black Sea - @mfa_russia
https://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_m...41214-2dn4.htm









another propaganda pamphlet from the upside down globalist mental asylum:










How Military Spending Decimates The Middle Class - today on the Liberty Report:

[goldenequity]

Ian56 @Ian56789
45 sek.
Rand Paul Presses Mike Pompeo on Iran: ‘You Do Not Have Our Permission To Go to War’
https://reason.com/2019/04/10/rand-p...peo-on-iran-yo …

Peak Irony:
Al-Qaeda supporting Neocon Nutjob Pompeo falsely accuses Iran of being linked to al-Qaeda when its actually the CIA, the US & Saudi Arabia

https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/statu...13807204225025

[goldenequity]

the sheep look up? nah. ... muh notre dame.

Russia Has Ceased 'All' Cooperation With NATO, Foreign Ministry Official Says
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/...al-says-a65238
1 day ago

Russia cuts off contact with NATO over worsening relations
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...2471555340529/
1 day ago

Russia warns NATO it WILL respond to Black Sea military drills
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...ea-shield-2019
2 days ago

Russia to respond in kind to NATO plans in Black Sea — diplomat
http://tass.com/politics/1053577
3 days ago

Russia raises strong objections over the US deployment of THAAD in Romania
http://www.newscast-pratyaksha.com/e...thaad-romania/
1 day ago

Russia is "closely following" THAAD system deployment to Romania, Russian official says
http://tass.com/politics/1053580
https://www.romania-insider.com/inde...system-romania
1 day ago

[goldenequity]

Now it's quite clear what was moved to Syria 2 weeks ago...
Nuclear capable Iskanders in Hmeim airbase, Syria





------------

Alan García: Peru former president has died after shooting himself
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47965867

teleSUR English‏ @telesurenglish
Former Peruvian president Alan Garcia shoots himself trying to avoid preliminary order of capture from the Odebrecht case.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/...0417-0016.html

From last year:

https://twitter.com/mcbenwell/status...97499761713152

=========

Ron Paul‏@RonPaul · 7 min.
Imperial Presidency Wins Again: Trump's Veto Continues Yemen War -- today on the Liberty Report:



Ron Paul‏@RonPaul
Sad, But True --

Jimmy Carter Calls U.S. “the most warlike nation in the history of the world”
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/...y-of-the-world

=========

Syria: Arab oil-producing nation forced into fuel crisis by US occupation of its oil fields, and shipping blockade.
https://www.checkpointasia.net/sitti...o-fuel-crisis/

=======

Russian Media: Deployment to Venezuela Not Just 'Advisors,' but Combat Formations
https://russia-insider.com/en/russia...ations/ri26779

Russian Market @russian_market
Bolton Says U.S. Seeks to Persuade Russia to Drop Maduro Support

=====

Kushner: Mideast Peace Plan Won't Be Unveiled Before June

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-...june-1.7136618



looks like from a freaking horror movie about satan.


=======

Robert Costa @Costareports
AP: In interview, "White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump says her father asked her if she was interested in taking the job of World Bank chief but she passed on it."

[goldenequity]

Economic Terrorism

►About 500 thousand Syrians may flee the country as direct result of Trump's blockade of Syria.

Trump is like king Midas. The difference is only that anything he touches doesn't turn in gold but in shiits...

Lebanon comes to Syria’s aid despite threat of US sanctions
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...-us-sanctions/






►Turkish lira falls to 5.80 against the $US following bombshell FT revelations on Turkey's foreign reserves.

https://twitter.com/YanniKouts/statu...82625785012224


Russian Market
►U.S. officials are scheduling face-to-face trade talks to reach a deal with China by early May, people familiar said.
- Chinese officials deny it.

https://twitter.com/russian_market/s...79664011493378





=======

Fat Mike update

Jonathan Cheng‏@JChengWSJ · 2 hod.
KCNA: "Pompeo was granted audiences with our Chairman of the State Affairs Commission for several times and pleaded for the denuclearization. However…he spouted reckless remarks hurting the dignity of our supreme leadership at Congress hearings…to unveil his mean character."

Guy Elster‏@guyelster · 4 hod.
It escalates quickly: North Korea rejects Pompeo from nuclear dialogue, wants someone more careful and mature in communicating

Guy Elster‏@guyelster · 2 min.
Not this: North Korea leader Kim will meet #Putin in Russia later this month: Kremlin





Russian Market @russian_market
Kim Jong Un Tests `Tactical Weapon' in Signal Over Nuclear Talks

https://twitter.com/RT_russian/statu...56545364238336

Russian Market @russian_market
NORTH KOREA FIRES MISSILE

====



=====

China gets new Su-35 jets as US prepares to deliver F-16s to Taiwan
https://aml.ink/zopP7

========

'Extinction Rebellion' (occupy London) Day 3

https://twitter.com/woodrowmorris/st...69931371622401

https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1118547715028389890

[goldenequity]

https://twitter.com/Ruptly/status/1118852337152475137

https://twitter.com/WithinSyriaBlog/...55174503038978

[goldenequity]

►Bolton threatens to use Monroe Doctrine against Venezuela
https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/arti...nst-venezuela/


Exhaustive Report
►Somalia: Reported US covert actions 2001-2016
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.co...ions-2001-2017


Moon of Alabama
Interview, in English, with the book author @maximeChaix
►"How CIA & allies helped jihadists in Syria"
http://maximechaix.info/?p=3821



Russian Embassy, UK‏@RussianEmbassy
►US & UK took important decisions over Salisbury on the basis of a direct fabrication. British authorities must urgently clarify the matter.
Read our comment: https://www.rusemb.org.uk/fnapr/6806


►Rumors of War: Washington Is Looking for a Fight
https://www.strategic-culture.org/ne...for-fight.html



►France Sends Troops, Tanks to Russian Border …
https://sputniknews.com/military/201...ussian-border/

A unit of 300 soldiers from the French Army and the Foreign Legion is expected to arrive in the Estonian town of Tapa … The troops will stay in Estonia until the end of August as a part of the FRA-EFP LYNX

Their soldiers will replace the Belgian units serving with NATO’s British-led battle group in Tapa,

The UK has 20 Challenger-2 tanks as well as 30 IFVs there. In addition, just recently, the UK also sent five Apache attack helicopters to the Amari Airbase in Estonia


►Russian Navy trails NATO ships in Baltic waters
https://aml.ink/q6hTZ


►IDF general vows to destroy Syrian S-300 systems if used against Israeli warplanes
https://aml.ink/bpoKt


9 Dash Line 九段线‏ @9DashLine
►Japan's F-35A jets in 7 emergency landings prior to Pacific crash
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/006000c

Flying coffins...

[RonZeplin]

Mike Pompeo bragging about being a conniving untrustworthy leader of one of the most powerful organizations on the planet

This is an excerpt from the following video Secretary Pompeo participates in a Q&A discussion at Texas A&M University as part of the Wiley Lecture Series, in College Station, Texas on April 15, 2019.

A transcript is available at
https://www.state.gov/secretary/rema.../04/291144.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6wbfjspVww

[goldenequity]

Mike Pompeo bragging about being a conniving untrustworthy leader of one of the most powerful organizations on the planet

This is an excerpt from the following video Secretary Pompeo participates in a Q&A discussion at Texas A&M University as part of the Wiley Lecture Series, in College Station, Texas on April 15, 2019.

A transcript is available at
https://www.state.gov/secretary/rema.../04/291144.htm

Enrico Ivanov ☦‏ @Russ_Warrior · 16 min.
America's chief diplomat/psychopath to Russia flies himself to a US Navy aircraft carrier drill in the Mediterranean,
hails it as "200,000 tons of diplomacy" arrayed behind him.
Huntsman should be declared as persona non grata after this overt threat.

https://www.checkpointasia.net/us-am...-of-diplomacy/




Idiot. the carrier groups can be turned into 200,000 tons of artificial reef at the flick of a switch. what a moron.

completely off the rails and live in alternative universe, where their orange demigod and his zio-globalist masters represent the world order, ergo globalist NWO. It's really kind of sect imho.

a ‘liberal world order’ which in fact is a sobriquet used to conceal Washington’s relentless plundering of the planet.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...arning-america

Washington’s perverse reliance on force to preserve the liberal world order, after all, it’s not like the US assumed its current dominant role by merely competing more effectively in global markets. Oh, no. Behind the silk glove lies the iron fist, which has been used in over 50 regime change operations since the end of WW2. The US has over 800 military bases scattered across the planet and has laid to waste one country after the other in successive interventions, invasions and occupations for as long as anyone can remember. This penchant for violence has been sharply criticized by other members of the United Nations, but only Russia has had the courage to openly oppose Washington where it really counts, on the battlefield.


Enrico Ivanov ☦️ @Russ_Warrior
4 min.
Russia's Defence Minister during a private conversation: "If one of our soldiers (not PMC) is killed by an American bomb in Syria we are ready to liquidate the entire contingent of #US occupation forces in the matter of 20 minutes"
https://inforuss.info/my-byli-gotovy/?_utl_t=tw


=====================

Tulsi Gabbard calls out the Wahabbi Saudis and Trumps support for them.

https://mobile.twitter.com/TulsiGabb...25866501279744


Tulsi Gabbard‏@TulsiGabbard · 59 min.
Trump/Pence continue to try to hide the truth from their Christian supporters--the terrorist attacks on Christians/Christian churches in Sri Lanka and elsewhere are inspired by the extremist Saudi ideology that Saudi Arabia spends billions propagating worldwide.


Ian56‏ @Ian56789
The Neocons, with their Saudi allies, have been recruiting & funding Wahhabi extremist terrorists to destabilize the Middle East for over 20 years.
They also plan to use them to destabilize Central Asia
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-...hy-it-was.html


===========


US has to ask IRGC to use Strait of Hormuz: Zarif
https://aml.ink/GH2cy



Belarus Stops Oil Exports to Ukraine, Poland And the Baltics Less Than Week After Russian Ban Of Oil Exports To Ukraine
http://dlvr.it/R3MCBr



Ben Norton @BenjaminNorton
3 hod.
US and EU sanctions have created a fuel shortage crisis in Syria, "bringing some major cities to a near standstill."

But Wall Street's Journal whitewashes this collective punishment of Syrians by reducing millions of civilians to just "Assad's loyalists"




https://www.wsj.com/articles/syrian-....co/sIbIkHdVnR

Fuccking scum...


Al-Masdar News @TheArabSource
Iraqi forces claim US preparing operation to capture key border crossing from Syrian Army, IRGC
https://aml.ink/V94HG



========


Ron Paul

Pompeo tells the truth about lies...

Pompeo Finally Tells The Truth: 'We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal'




=========





=======


Elijah J Magnier
Hezbollah Leader: “the possibility of a war with Israel is very high this summer and I may no longer be with you”.
https://ejmagnier.com/2019/04/20/hez...mpression=true





=========

The new proxy war in Syria: Iran and Turkey vs. Saudi Arabia and Russia
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...ia-and-russia/


As if the Syrian Conflict couldn’t get any more complicated, a new proxy war is brewing between several foreign powers in the northern part of the country.

======

Oil surges 3%...

https://www.dailyfx.com/forex/fundam...an-Wavers.html

https://twitter.com/russian_market/s...01118728904704

======

Guy Elster‏@guyelster
Western sources says Malaysia is helping Iran to avoid sanctions: Haaretz

Good.

[goldenequity]

Former WhiteHelmets - a branch of AlQaeda in Syria - are now 'spilling the beans'
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/2...mical-attacks/

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – At least 40 members of the White Helmets organization have admitted during recent interviews that they staged chemical attacks in Syria to provoke retaliation against President Bashar Assad, Foundation for the Study of Democracy Director Maxim Grigoriev said on Thursday as he unveiled the results of a new study at the UN.

"We have interviewed … 40 members of the White Helmets, including those from Douma, who provided a detailed description of their methods commonly used by their organization to fake scenes,” Grigoriev said.

In March, the OPCW issued its final report on the investigation regarding the incident of alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Duma, Syria, in April 2018, which identified chlorine as "most likely" chemical agent used in the attack.

The facts presented in the foundation's investigation "confirm that the OPCW has deliberately failed to conduct an impartial assessment of the incident in Douma and raise doubts as to what else the organization is capable of making… in the future," Grigoriev said.

The Foundation for the Study of Democracy interviewed 15 witnesses at the site of the Douma attack, 40 members of the White Helmets who admitted faking attacks, and more than 25 others who saw the White Helmets stage the attacks.

[goldenequity]

Al-Masdar News‏
Russia begins naval drills off Syrian coast as US aircraft carriers enter Mediterranean
https://aml.ink/H0924

https://twitter.com/M3t4_tr0n/status...89045184008193


Al-Masdar News
FBI files reveal how Hitler allegedly lost his mustache, fled to Argentina
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article...-to-argentina/

https://twitter.com/Ozkok_/status/1121465733471526912

[goldenequity]

Murdering vast numbers with economic siege

MAGA.

https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/s...72431642669056

https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/st...69759068565505

https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/st...68230790008832







shall we add Yemen?????



someday there's gonna be a payback... the fundies like Pence think it's going to be the 2nd coming. It's not.

[RonZeplin]

Trump's Crusaders March To War



The world is still reeling in horror from the deadly Sri Lanka bombings that may have been the work of Islamic State madmen. Poor Sri Lanka has suffered so much after three decades of civil war and communal strife. We weep for this beautiful and once gentle nation.

But behind the horror in Sri Lanka, a huge crisis was building up of which the world has so far taken insufficient notice: renewed tensions in the oil-producing Gulf. This is the latest attempt by the United States to crush Iran’s independent-minded government and return it to American tutelage.

The Trump administration has demanded that the principal importers of 1.2 billion barrels of Iranian oil halt purchases almost immediately. This imperial diktat includes China, South Korea, Turkey, India and Japan. The comprehensive embargo is very close to an all-out act of war. In 1941, America’s cut-off of oil to Japan provoked the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The oil embargo not only violates international law, it sets the US on a collision course with some of its most important allies and vassal states. Brazen threats against Iran by Trump’s two main enforcers, National Security advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have reinforced America’s unfortunate image as an imperial power that threatens war against disobedient satraps and independent-minded nations.

Iran, a proud, ancient nation of 80 million, has become, with Turkey, the most effective opposition to America’s imperial domination of the Mideast and a key supporter of Palestinian rights and statehood. This has put Iran on a collision course with Israel and its influential American supporters, notably the Evangelical hard right which somehow believes that Jesus will only return to earth after Israel expands its border and mankind is destroyed.

Meanwhile, the Trump Administration, which has now become indistinguishable from Israel’s hard-line far right ruling coalition, has declared virtual war against Iran.

To benefit Israel, the White House cancelled a $20 billion order from Iran for Boeing aircraft, embargoed trade with Iran, reneged on the internationally backed nuclear deal with Tehran, cut off all aid to Palestinians, and keeps sustaining the savage Saudi/Emirati war against Yemen that has caused mass starvation and epidemics.

Trump has just unilaterally approved Israel’s illegal seizure of Syria’s Golan Heights, an act worthy of the 1916 Sykes-Picot treaty dividing up the Ottoman Mideast between Britain and France. US threats against Venezuela and Cuba grow louder.

Washington plans to use its naval forces massed around Iran to interdict Tehran’s oil exports. Two US aircraft carriers are now on station within striking range of Iran. I went to sea on one, the "Abraham Lincoln."

China faces dire trade punishments for dealing with Iran. Welcome back to 19th century gunboat diplomacy. Even Washington’s European allies may be scourged for buying Iranian oil.

Iran, which has faced similar threats in the past, is digging in and threatens to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if its oil exports are interdicted. Twenty percent of the world’s oil passes through the Strait. At its narrowest point, this strategic passage is only 21 miles (34 km) wide.

Iran could seriously interfere with oil tankers in the Strait, using armed speedboats, mines and land-based, Chinese-made missiles. Equally important, insurance rates for tankers would skyrocket. Add all this together, and Trump & Co.’s warlike actions will cause the price of gasoline to surge, just as America’s busy summer driving season is getting underway.

America’s satraps Saudi Arabia (which just cut off the heads of 37 of its subjects) and sidekick the Emirates have promised to make up oil shortfalls, but neighbor Iran’s special forces may have very different ideas. Look for missiles and commando attacks on Saudi oil installations.

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...-march-to-war/

[goldenequity]

https://twitter.com/RonPaulInstitut/...77096456048641

[goldenequity]

[goldenequity]

US has more then 7.200 troops stationed in Africa.

[goldenequity]

The Intercept @Theintercept
The picture of Erik Prince that emerges under examination is one of a man desperately trying to avoid U.S. tax and weapons trafficking laws
even as he offers military services, without a license, in no fewer than 15 countries around the world.


THE COMPLETE MERCENARY
https://theintercept.com/2019/05/03/...oject-veritas/
How Erik Prince Used the Rise of Trump to Make an Improbable Comeback