Showing posts with label Impeachment of Trump. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Impeachment of Trump. Show all posts

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Iran Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump Over Assassinating Martyr Soleimani

Source


Iran Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump Over Assassinating Martyr Soleimani

Iran issued an arrest warrant and asked the Interpol for help in detaining US President Donald Trump and dozens of others involved in carrying out the drone strike that assassinated the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps [IRGC] Quds Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani while on an official visit to the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad.
Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on Monday that Trump, along with more than 30 others Iran accuses of involvement in the January 3 attack that killed General Soleimani, face “murder and terrorism charges”, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends.
The Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alqasimehr was also quoted as saying that Iran had requested a “red notice” be put out for Trump and the others, the highest-level notice issued by Interpol, requesting that seeks the location and arrest of the individual named.
Under a red notice, local authorities make the arrests on behalf of the country that requested it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects’ travel.
After receiving a request, Interpol meets by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public, though some do get published on its website.
It is unlikely the Interpol would grant Iran’s request as its guideline for notices forbids it from “undertaking any intervention or activities of a political” nature.
The US killed General Soleimani along with the Iraqi paramilitary group Hashd al-Shaabi second-in-command Hajj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their companions in the January attack near Baghdad International Airport.
Trump confessed at the time of crime that the airstrike was carried out upon his direct order.
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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Sunday, 5 January 2020

US starts the Raging Twenties declaring war on Iran



Protesters shout slogans against the United States following a US airstrike that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq on January 3, 2020. Photo: Aamir Qureshi / AFP

January 04, 2020


US starts the Raging Twenties declaring war on Iranby Pepe Escobar – posted with permission and x-posted with Consortium News
There cannot be a more startling provocation against Iran than what happened in Baghdad.
It does not matter where the green light came from for the US targeted assassination of Quds Force commander Major General Qasem Soleimani and the Hashd al-Shaabi second in command Abu Madhi al-Muhandis.
This is an act of war. Unilateral, unprovoked and illegal.
President Trump may have issued the order. Or the US Deep State may have ordered him to issue the order.
According to my best Southwest Asia intel sources,
“Israel gave the US the coordinates for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani as they wanted to avoid the repercussions of taking the assassination upon themselves.”
It does not matter that Trump and the Deep State are at war.
One of the very few geopolitical obsessions that unite them is non-stop confrontation with Iran – qualified by the Pentagon as one of the five top threats against the US, almost at the level of Russia and China.
And there cannot be a more startling provocation against Iran – in a long list of sanctions and provocations – than what happened in Baghdad. Iraq is now the preferred battleground of a proxy war against Iran that may now metastasize into a hot war, with devastating consequences.
We knew it was coming. There were plenty of rumbles in Israeli media by former Defense and Mossad officials. There were explicit threats by the Pentagon. I discussed it in detail in Umbria last week with sterling analyst Alastair Crooke – who was extremely worried. I received worried messages from Iran. The inevitable escalation by Washington was being discussed until late Thursday night here in Palermo, actually a few hours before the strike. Sicily, by the way, in the terminology of US generals, is AMGOT: American Government Occupied Territory.
Once again, the Exceptionalist hands at work show how predictable they are. Trump is cornered by impeachment. Netanyahu has been indicted. Nothing like an external “threat” to rally the internal troops. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei knows about these complex variables as much as he knows of this responsibility as the power who issued Iran’s own red lines. Not surprisingly he already announced, on the record, there will be blowback:
“A forceful revenge awaits the criminals who have his blood and the blood of other martyrs last night on their hands.” 
Expect it to be very painful.

Blowback by a thousand cuts

I met Muhandis in Baghdad two years ago – as well as many Hashd al-Shaabi members. Here is my full report. The Deep State is absolutely terrified Hashd al-Shaabi, a grassroots organization, are on the way to becoming a new Hezbollah, and as powerful as Hezbollah. Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the supreme religious authority in Iraq, universally respected, fully supports them.
So the American strike also targets Sistani – not to mention the fact that Hashd al-Shaabi operates under guidelines issued by the Iraqi Prime Minister Abdel Mahdi. That’s a major strategic blunder that can only be pulled off by amateurs.
Major General Soleimani, of course, humiliated the whole of the Deep State over and over again – and could eat all of them for breakfast, lunch and dinner as a military strategist. It was Soleimani who defeated ISIS/Daesh in Iraq – not the Americans bombing Raqqa to rubble. Soleimani is a superhero of almost mythical status for legions of young Hezbollah supporters, Houthis in Yemen, all strands of resistance fighters in both Iraq and Syria, Islamic Jihad in Palestine, and all across Global South latitudes in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
There’s absolutely no way the US will be able to maintain troops in Iraq, unless the nation is re-occupied en masse via a bloodbath. And forget about “security”: no imperial official or imperial military force is now safe anywhere, from the Levant to Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf.
The only redeeming quality out of this major strategic blunder cum declaration of war may be the final nail in the coffin of the Southwest Asia chapter of the US Empire of Bases. Iranian Prime Minister Javad Zarif came out with an appropriate metaphor:
The “tree of resistance” will continue to grow. 
The empire might as well say goodbye to Southwest Asia.
In the short term, Tehran will be extremely careful in its response. A hint of – harrowing – things to come: it will be blowback by a thousand cuts. As in hitting the Exceptionalist framework – and mindset – where it really hurts. This is how the Roaring, Raging Twenties begin: not with a bang, but with the release of whimpering dogs of war.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Wednesday, 4 December 2019

House Intel Democrats Releases Trump Impeachment Report



Profile picture for user Tyler Durden

After months of public and private testimony, the House Intelligence Committee chaired by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has released their impeachment report  accusing President Trump of misconduct by withholding military aid to Ukraine unless various demands were met.
Trump is also accused of obstructing the impeachment inquiry by instructing witnesses and agencies to ignore subpoenas for documents and testimony, as well as intimidating and tampering with witnesses.
Jon Ward
✔@jonward11
262 pages and another 38 pages of endnotes https://twitter.com/jonward11/status/1201937204886614016 
Jon Ward
✔@jonward11
full House Intel report is here: https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20191203_-_full_report___hpsci_impeachment_inquiry_-_20191203.pdf 
Prebuttal bullet points (Via Axios):
  • They claim there is “nothing inherently wrong” with the Trump administration’s actions toward Ukraine and justify each of them in detail, including Rudy Giuliani’s direct involvement in U.S. diplomacy.
  • They say any references to a quid pro quo are conjecture and hearsay — including EU Ambassador and Trump donor Gordon Sondland’s testimony.
  • They question the origins of the impeachment inquiry and Democrats’ motives, and they allege that Democrats have wanted to undo the 2016 election since Trump won.
  • They mock Democrats for calling the impeachment inquiry a serious process, and they characterize the speedy nature of the inquiry as proof that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is motivated by politics rather than substance.
  • They use Trump’s well-known skepticism about U.S. spending on foreign aid as justification for his hesitation to give money to Ukraine.
  • They say there was “nothing wrong” with asking questions about Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian company, or renewing unfounded allegations about who interfered in the 2016 elections.
Developing…

“The decision to move forward with an impeachment inquiry is not one we took lightly.  Under the best of circumstances, impeachment is a wrenching process for the nation.  I resisted calls to undertake an impeachment investigation for many months on that basis, notwithstanding the existence of presidential misconduct that I believed to be deeply unethical and damaging to our democracy.  The alarming events and actions detailed in this report, however, left us with no choice but to proceed.”
On Tuesday night, the committee will meet in a 6 p.m. ET closed-door session to formally adopt the report. Members of the committee began reviewing the majority report Monday evening.
The report comes one day after Republicans on the House Intel committee released their own “prebuttal” claiming Trump committed “no quid pro quo, bribery, extortion, or abuse of power. The Democrats’ report will be combined with the ‘prebuttal’ and sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which will draft articles of impeachment following their own inquiry.

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Friday, 11 October 2019

The Turkish Military Incursion in N Syria: «Peace Spring» Operation



Trump Ally Graham: Syria Pullout Would Be Nightmare for «Israel»
US President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to pull back US troops from northern Syria drew quick, strong criticism Monday from some of his closest allies in Congress, among them South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who warned that the move would ultimately be “a nightmare” for the “Israeli” entity.
“By abandoning the Kurds we have sent the most dangerous signal possible,” Graham said on Twitter.
“America is an unreliable ally and it’s just a matter of time before China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea act out in dangerous ways. The US now has no leverage and Syria will eventually become a nightmare for ‘Israel’,” the normally close ally of the president said.
It was condemned, too, by Kurdish fighters who would be abandoned to face a likely Turkish assault after fighting alongside Americans for years against the Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic acronym for “ISIS” / “ISIL”].
The announcement threw the military situation in Syria into fresh chaos and injected deeper uncertainty into US relations with European allies.
Syria’s Kurds accused the US of turning its back on allies and risking gains made in the years-long fight against Daesh.
Trump defended his decision, acknowledging in tweets that “the Kurds fought with us” but adding that they “were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so.”
“I held off this fight for almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home,” he wrote.
If the Turks go too far, he tweeted later, “I in my great and unmatched wisdom” will destroy their economy.
Hours after the White House announcement, two senior State Department officials minimized the effects of the US action, telling reporters that only about two dozen American troops would be removed from the Turkey-Syria border, not all the US forces in the northeast of the country. They also said Turkey may not go through with a large-scale invasion and the US was still trying to discourage it.
Both officials spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss what led to the internal White House decision.
Both Republicans and Democrats in the US have warned that allowing the Turkish attack could lead to a massacre of the Kurds and send a troubling message to American allies across the globe.
US troops “will not support or be involved in the operation” and “will no longer be in the immediate area,” in northern Syria, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in an unusual late-Sunday statement that was silent on the fate of the Kurds.
There are about 1,000 US troops in northern Syria, and a senior US official said they will pull back from the area – and could depart the country entirely should widespread fighting break out between Turkish and Kurdish forces.
For the moment, the US troops are not leaving Syria, officials said.
A US official confirmed that American troops were already moving out of the security zone area, which includes the Syrian towns of Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad. That official was not authorized to speak for the record and was granted anonymity to comment.
Sunday’s announcement followed a call between Trump and Erdogan, the White House said Sunday.
The decision is an illustration of Trump’s focus on ending American overseas entanglements – one of his key campaign promises. His goals of swift withdrawals in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan have been stymied.
As he faces the impeachment inquiry at home, Trump has appeared more focused on making good on his political pledges, even at the risk of sending a troubling signal to American allies abroad.
The Turkish Military Incursion in N Syria: «Peace Spring» Operation
An infographic detailing Turkey’s 3rd military incursion into northern Syria dubbed Operation “Peace Spring”.
The Turkish Military Incursion in N Syria: «Peace Spring» Operation
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Debunking the Putin and Netanyahu/Israel work together


Debunking the Putin and Netanyahu/Israel work together canard (final installment)
OCTOBER 10, 2019
This will not be an analysis or even a commentary.  Neither am I siding with, or expressing support for, the Turkish military operation in norther Syria.  Finally, I am not discussing the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of the Kurdish Independence movement.  All I propose to do here, is to draw your attention to a series of facts and logical imperatives which, in my opinion debunk and falsify the disinformation campaign aimed at convincing us that Putin and Netanyahu are working hand in glove or, even better, that Putin is a puppet of the Israelis.  So, with that in mind, here we go:
  1. Fact1: The creation of some kind of independent Kurdistan has been both an Israeli dream for decades and a crucial element of the Israeli plans to “reconfigure” the region.
  2. Fact2: The Turks could *never* execute that attack without Russia’s agreement.  Not only does Russia have some of her top-of-the-line integrated air defenses in northern Syria (the Khmeimin Aerospace Forces base and the Tartus naval base), she also has very powerful EW and SIGNIT capabilities.  The only way for Turkey to try to force their way through that air defense “cupola” would be to attack the Russian forces in Syria which would result in a war with Russia which Turkey has no chance in hell of winning.
  3. Fact3: The Russians also have a lot of weight with the Syrian government who also had to agree to let the Turks operate in their skies.  Remember that while the Syrians don’t have air defense systems as sophisticated and powerful as the Russians, they now have a pretty decent and effective integrated air defense system (as shown by how easily it defeated US cruise missile attack).  If the Russians really wanted to do Israel’s bidding, they could have also convinced the Syrian to defend their airspace.  Finally, the Syrians could move forces in an oppose the Turkish invasion.  None of that happened.
Instead, Erdogan gave the Russians (and, via them, the Syrians) assurances that this operation will be limited in scope and nature and that this is not an attack on Syria’s sovereignty.  Since the Syrians ALSO have a problem with the Kurds, what that meant in plain English is “no worries, we will disrupt and suppress the Kurdish attempt to built some kind of Kurdish independent state and then we will limit ourselves to limited, punctual, operations if and when needed.  This is all in your interests too.”  Which is quite true!
Now the Russians are telling the Kurds:
you need to make a deal with Syria, because if you do not, the Turks will smash you“.
To the Turks, the Russians are probably saying:
If the Kurds agree to some autonomy under a unitary Syrian state, then Damascus will be responsible for law and order in northern Syria, which is the best you can hope for“.
I believe that this is exactly what will happen next.  That is also, in my opinion, the only viable solution for the Kurds.
Bottom line:
A lot of folks are saying that
the US has back-stabbed the Kurds“.
That is quite true, of course.
But if Russia was defending Israeli interests, why is nobody saying that
Russia back-stabbed Israel“?
Because this hypothesis is based on a false premise, that’s all!
As for those who promoted it, I leave you to decide whether they were sincerely wrong or whether they were trying to acquire some public visibility by voicing these imbecilic rumors.
Finally, I already see that a lot of news sources are now saying that Erdogan is planning an annexation of northern Syria.  This is what I make of this hypothesis:
  1. Even if true, this still means that the Israeli dream of some kind of independent Kurdistan will never happen.
  2. Whatever Ergodan did or did not promise the Russians and the Syrians, he fully realizes that Turkey cannot afford to let an anti-Kurdish operation turn into a shooting war with Russia and/or Syria.  Thus whatever solution Ankara would want to impose on northern Syria, it would have to be agree upon with Russia, Syria and, I would argue, Iran.  Israel is basically irrelevant now, especially since the US forces have left.
  3. Finally, see for yourself what the Chinese write (as opposed to the AngloZionist legacy media) about this (emphasis added):
    Both sides noted the importance of ensuring the unity and territorial integrity of Syria and respect for its sovereignty.
    MOSCOW, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed Ankara’s military operation in northern Syria over the phone, the Kremlin said Wednesday.”Putin called on Turkish partners to carefully weigh the situation so as not to damage the overall efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis,” the Kremlin said in a press release.”Both sides noted the importance of ensuring the unity and territorial integrity of Syria and respect for its sovereignty” it read. Earlier in the day, Erdogan announced that his country had launched a military operation in northern Syria against the Kurdish forces that Ankara considers terrorists and separatists.
QED.
The truth is simple: while Israel does have an effective 5th column inside Russia, and while it is sufficient to carefully “massage” the public discourse inside Russia about Israel (most Russians have no idea about the real nature and policies of the last openly and proudly racist state on the planet, at least those who get most of their info from the very philosemitic Russian public media), that 5th column has failed to affect major Russian foreign policy decisions.
Yes, the Russians are all happy to smile and say good things about the Israelis, but that sure does not mean that they don’t understand whom they are dealing with.  Likewise, those who need to know do know about the hatred most Israeli decision makers have for Russians, Christianity or even all non-Jews.
Maybe one day the prediction that Russia will become an Israeli/Zionist puppet will come true.  Maybe. But “maybe in the future” does not mean that it already has.  Besides, even an infinitesimal chance qualifies as “maybe”, but that hardly means that we can be confident, or even hopeful, that it will happen.  If I play the lottery tomorrow, I might win.  But that is not a reason to say that I have already won or that I will win tomorrow.
Conclusion: the hypothesis that Putin/Russia are working with, or for, the Israelis cannot be sustained.  Facts have conclusively falsified it (in fact, any honest and competent analysis of past facts would already also have done so too).
As for myself, I consider that the task is done, I have now conclusively debunked that toxic canard and I won’t waste any more of my time with this nonsense.
Here is my concluding advice: I recommend you carefully take down the names of the individuals and media sources who spread that toxic nonsense and remember that they lied to you this time when, the next time around, they come up with the next form of sensationalism, click-baiting and disinformation (which they will, trust me, that is all they can really do).
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Thursday, 10 October 2019

Prof. William O. Beeman: Impeachment of Trump for Democrats is A Gamble

Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:19
TEHRAN (FNA)- Prof. William O. Beeman, chair of the anthropology department at the State University of Minnesota, says some Democrats point out that Trump really has committed a crime, and if they don’t impeach him, they will be supporting his criminal action.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with FNA, Professor Beeman said, “These people fear that their own Democratic voters will punish them for not impeaching.”
He also said “for Democrats this process is a gamble”.
William Orman Beeman is an American scholar whose specialty is the Middle East;[1] he is a professor of anthropology at The University of Minnesota, where he is Chair of the Department of Anthropology. For many years he was Professor of Anthropology; Theatre, Speech and Dance; and East Asian Studies at Brown University.
Below is the full text of the interview:
Q: Following Trump’s phone conversation with Ukrainian President, the impeachment of Trump has come under serious scrutiny. Trump’s impeachment was to be postponed until after the 2020 US presidential election. Why did the Democrats activate Trump’s impeachment plan?
A: The House of Representatives has not voted to hold impeachment hearings yet. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has opened “impeachment investigations” through six House of Representatives committees. They have purposely not voted to open formal impeachment hearings to protect Democrats who were elected from districts that voted for President Trump, and who might be in danger in the 2020 elections from voters who favor Trump. However, many people expect that the impeachment hearings will be voted on soon, and that the President might be impeached before the end of November (the Thanksgiving Holiday)
Q: US Senate is said to be unlikely to get Trump removed from office. What could be the price of an unsuccessful impeachment of President Trump for the Democrats?
A: The House of Representatives impeaches a president or other government officials with a simple majority vote. The impeachment does not lead to removal. It is just a formal accusation. The Senate then tries the official, like a court, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court trying to hearings. After this trial, the Senate can remove him or her from office with a 2/3 majority vote. Impeachment of Trump (the formal accusation) is likely to succeed in the House of Representatives The removal of the president is likely to fail in the Senate, because Republicans are the majority in the Senate, and reaching a 2/3 majority (67 Senators) voting to remove the president is likely impossible.
Many Democrats feel that impeaching the President but not removing him from office is dangerous for them. They feel that if the Senate does not remove him, he will claim that he has been exonerated, and that the impeachment itself was a partisan effort on the part of Democrats and had no merit. Democrats feel that this will result in Trump being re-elected in 2020, and the loss of Democratic seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Other Democrats point out that Trump really has committed a crime, and if they don’t impeach him, they will be supporting his criminal action. These people fear that their own Democratic voters will punish them for not impeaching.
So you see, this is a difficult political decision for Democrats. At present there is no clear outcome for the impeachment process.
Q: What are the odds for Trump’s removal. Will his impeachment lead to his dismissal?
A: No, the impeachment is just a formal accusation–an indictment. The president can only be removed by a 2/3 vote in the Senate after the impeachment is approved.
Q: How will Trump’s impeachment and its consequences affect the 2020 US presidential election?
A: Trump thinks that if he is impeached and not removed, it will help him with voters. Some Democrats agree. Other Democrats feel that the impeachment investigation itself will expose his crimes and make him less attractive to voters. So for Democrats this process is a gamble. Personally, I feel that Trump will not be removed from office, and may even be re-elected. A great deal will depend on which candidate Democrats choose to run against Trump.

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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!