Author: peterimrich
Above are the “wonderful people of IRAN that Trump says he respects so much. Far greater numbers than Trump’s inauguration. (ODT)
“Over the past few days, I’ve spoken extensively with career U.S. government officials as they’ve worked around the clock to try and mitigate the damage from Trump’s ineptitude on Iran. With their permission, I’m sharing a small taste from our lengthy conversations. Enjoy.
- “One of Trump’s top Iran advisors got suckered into a honey trap, had their laptop/iPhone stolen and hacked before they woke up, and the White House refused to take precautionary measures regarding their security clearance. Ladies and gents, I give you the Trump administration.”
Trump Administration ‘Woefully Unprepared’ For What’s About To Happen In Iran | Crooks and Liars
Axios reports that US State Department initially attempted to stop the parliamentary vote from taking place (presumably by pressuring its Iraqi political allies). That press failed miserably, given the angry mood of the country after the US attack on an Iraqi military officer. After the resolution passed, State pleaded with the Iraqi parliament to rethink its decision, but somehow I don’t think that is going to happen.
Trump went ballistic on hearing the news and threatened to impose “sanctions like you’ve never seen” on Iraq if it does kick out US troops. He also demanded repayment for the costs of constructing the al-Balad Air Force Base. The US invaded Iraq illegally in 2003 and essentially stole its oil income for years to pay for its military occupation of the country.
It is highly unlikely that the world would cooperate with Trump sanctions on Iraq over this issue, and unlikely that the 4.6 million barrels a day produced by Iraq could or would be made up, so that any Trump sanctions would send petroleum prices skyrocketing. This development would be good for the health of the planet, since people would likely buy electric cars in that case.
Some Iraqi militia leaders suggested that US military training could be replaced with Russian or Chinese such help.
via Iraqi Parliament Resolves to Kick Out US Troops, and Trump Threatens Mother of All Sanctions
The Spreading of bullshit is continuous on Murdoch’s Fox “News for Profit” spin channels (ODT)
The flames from the missile that blew up the car carrying Iranian general Qassem Soleimani were barely extinguished when Ari Fleischer — somehow still a thing, despite his years of peddling the early 2000s’ many Iraq War lies as George W. Bush’s press secretary — showed up on quasi-state-television Fox News to predict “this is going to be a catalyst inside Iran where the people celebrate this killing of Soleimani.” He was the first of a string of neocon pundits like John Bolton and Karl Rove who still get invited into your living room via TV even after their 2003 predictions that Iraqis would greet us with rose petals “as liberators” were vaporized in gunpowder and blood.
Australia and the UK beg Iraq to allow the Coalition of the Killing to stay on to fight ISIS after Trump declared their fight has been put on hold despite Trump’s declaration of victory and news he’s now ready to cut and run. These are the world’s self-declared peacekeepers (ODT)
Boris Johnson pleads with Iraq not to kick out UK and US forces | Daily Mail Online
Trump Administration does what Trump has been doing all his life “Hiding from the Facts” “Refusing to be Judged” (ODT)
The Trump administration blocked Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s top diplomat, from entering the United States, Foreign Policy reported Monday.
Unnamed diplomatic sources who told Foreign Policy about this move by the Trump administration also said it violates a 1947 agreement with the U.N. that the U.S. allow foreign officials into the country for U.N. affairs.
via Trump Admin Bars Top Iranian Diplomat From Entering U.S.: Report | HuffPost Australia
Trump’s foreign policy, from his inaugural address, is “America First”: an aggressive assertion of national self-interest, of nativism and protectionism, of America’s retreat from the commitments and alliances built after World War II, of unilateralism to advance America’s (and Trump’s) priorities above all others. And with respect to the Middle East, to end the “endless wars” that have consumed American troops and treasure for 18 years and counting.
Moreover Morrison could have done a lot more to reduce the magnitude and impact of this disaster. These fires were not impossible to predict. They actually HAVE BEEN PREDICTED by climate scientists with uncanny accuracy in previous years. Even if he wanted to remain dogmatically against renewable energy, the Prime Minister could still have listened to warnings he has been receiving, by providing greater funding and resources to the fire services (as Bill Shorten would have). But he didn’t because he didn’t like the optics. Declaring a national emergency (which seemed a no-brainer at the time), increasing funding for firefighting services or appealing for international aid might have given greater ammunition to critics of his government’s climate policy at home and abroad. So he did nothing. He is such an empty PR-driven fraud that he is more concerned about the damage these fires can do to him politically than about the damage they are doing to real people’s lives.
And that is the true measure of him. Empty. Fraudulent. Useless.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Prime Minister and the party he leads.
via Bushfires and blame – » The Australian Independent Media Network
As studies have shown, this is a mirage of statistical deception, ignoring the obvious point that Australian emissions should count not merely those it produces directly, but those produced by fossil fuel exports that are subsequently used. Arms manufacturers are no less culpable ethically, or tangibly, if their weapons are used by citizens of one country or the other. Such a method is pure Morrison: keep up appearances before the incineration and hope that memories weaken in time.
How the Coalition Government has been ineffective in dealing with our fire crisis
As recently as four days ago, Morrison defended his Government’s climate change stance and refused to consider even the necessity for any review. It’s reasonable to assume that Morrison’s intention is to adapt to catastrophic fires, rather than address the causes, prevention and mitigation. In other words, we will continue to burn and all Morrison will do is call in the ADF earlier — if we’re lucky.
We have no guarantee that when this round of fires is subdued, Morrison will act any more speedily on the next round. Indeed, we can expect his reaction to future conflagrations to be exactly the same as this one. He does not act until he absolutely has to, and unless there’s something in it for him. His game is to get away with as much as he possibly can, before taking action. These are not the characteristics you want in your leader.
Key points:
Small business lobby COSBOA warned many businesses “will close and not reopen” as a result of the fires and loss of summer trade
COSBOA chief executive Peter Strong said climate change deniers in the Federal Government should “shut-up” and “go and sit at the backbench where they belong”
The lobby is urging governments to assist fire-affected regions to put on events once the fires are over to lure visitors back to those areas
Australia, a juniour partner in the Coalition of the Killing, wants senior status it seems. While Trump has declared he’s putting the fight against ISIS on hold in order to deal with IRAN Theresa Payne wants to take over that war on Daesh. Remember when Trump declared that war was won. He relocated troops in Syria to grab the oil and betrayed the Kurds in the process. Now the USA are mercenary force for Exxon It’s always been questioned why we are in Iraq? Why John Howard joined the illegal invasion of a Sovereign State that doesn’t want us there? Now we are ready to partake in yet another escallated war with Iran who signed a peace treaty before Trump came on the scene. A treaty we are now supporting the total shredding of. Payne is proof we are Puppets lapdogs to American politics for profit and its grab for Middle Eastern oil which when said and done we will buy from the US at their price.
More to the point the LNP ready to see the escalation of violence and another unwinnable war offering up Australian lives as we have done time again since WW2. What we are doing is boosting Trump’s desperate efforts in domestic American politics. (ODT)
Foreign Minister Marise Payne will on Tuesday publicly plead for the Iraqi government to let Australian and international partners remain in the country.
“We urge the Iraqi government to ensure the coalition is able to continue its vital work with Iraq’s security forces in countering the shared threat of Daesh,” she said.
“We understand the resolution passed by Iraq’s parliament is non-binding, absent formal approval by the government in Baghdad.”
Lower than a snake’s belly (ODT)
Fox News uses Soleimani strike to attack the Trump impeachment | Media Matters for America
The Murdoch Grift and Grifters (ODT)
Source: How the Fox News Cabinet is responding to Soleimani’s killing | Media Matters for America
Stumbling toward apocalypse: Trump launches re-election campaign with an assassination
At least Qassem Soleimani knew what he was doing in Iraq. The U.S. military has never had a remote f**king clue
Stumbling toward apocalypse: Trump launches re-election campaign with an assassination | Salon.com
America dragging Australia into fighting 2 wars one against Nature and the other Iran. The ADF hasn’t the capacity for both. Will the LNP require the rural unemployed to enlist? Morrison thanks God for an ally like Trump. (ODT)
The neoliberal trickle-down story is a myth. It never shows up. It fails because the wealthy put much of their wealth into unproductive asset speculation and luxuries for themselves, not into productive investment. This keeps the financial markets and housing prices high, but our economy has been hollowed out. We are left with being China’s quarry.
The right-wing neoliberal parties of Margaret Thatcher and John Howard set upon the industrial unions with a vengeance, so it is almost comical now to see the Morrison Government’s continuing obsession with the last feeble vestiges of union power. But Labor and Labour also undermined and defanged the unions, and allowed industries to wither and collapse with little help for displaced workers.
In place of real jobs, people are offered the gig economy, with no security and a likelihood their wages will be stolen as well. Yes, the nature of the economy has changed, but the employed still have a common interest against the owners of capital, as Adam Smith himself well understood in his day.
When the immediate threat of these fires has passed, many bigger questions will remain. The Conversation will continue to bring you the responsible, evidence-based journalism you need to be properly informed. Thank you for your continued support.
“I Told You So” Isn’t That Much Fun in This Heat. But we DID.
It is so tempting to point out the facts, having been part of the small “alternative” and often science- educated chorus warning for 4 decades that if homeowners and businesses don’t convert to renewables, they are partly to blame for global warming.
First Australians have every right to be really, really pissed off. It’s their country we’ve wrecked.
Anyone who drives long distances in cities or invests in coal shares, is certainly culpable.
Big coal miners and campaigners against a “carbon tax” have been especially damaging. They usually hide their hefty profits offshore.
Where are Gina, Twiggy and Clive now? Not on the end of a fricking hose or even a rejected handshake, that’s for sure.
via We told you so … – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The Prime Minister only returned early from a totally ill-timed holiday because his reputation was taking a public battering.
He only developed a policy to support the fire-fighters because he was pressured into doing so.
Initially he only offered financial support to volunteer firies in NSW – his home state – until he was made aware that it had to be a national offer.
Instead of having an experienced Public Service to advise him, he has been relying on advice from political advisers.
Their advice is directed to keeping him in power – not into doing what is right for Australia!
There are so many things on which we could expect our national government to be formulating national policy, while we have a Prime Minister who seems intent on throwing all responsibility to the State governments!
If our accidental PM had a vestige of commonsense, he would be forming a national, non-partisan government, including representatives from all states and political areas, plus experts from the CSIRO and other appropriate scientific and service organisations to deal with the climate emergency, housing those displace by the fires, related employment and food production issues – you could make your own list – it is endless and needs careful prioritising.
Trump Diplomacy Kill Iraqis and blame Iran. Betray the Kurd and Work for ISIS (ODT)
via ‘We will take revenge’: Thousands flood Baghdad streets with grief and anger
DEFINITION OF INSANITY A TWITTER DICTATOR HAS KIDNAPPED THE USA
When an easily manipulated President with short term self -interest in mind rather than any long term common good what else can one expect when in the year of an election Trump needs a War. (ODT)
In orchestrating a “maximum pressure” campaign, Trump made a big mistake. When Mike Pompeo demanded what amounted to almost a complete surrender by the Iranians, Trump thought he could get a new treaty with better terms for the US. Instead, Iran acted like a rational sovereign actor and used available tools to push back. As the 2020 election nears, the time may have been deemed right by Trump to capitalize on Iran’s understandable defiance and commence war, either proxy or direct.
Such unhinged behavior of a superpower is only one instance among many that feeds the mountain of why “they hate us,” and, consequently, much of why Times Square on New Years Eve and America, in general, has become intensely securitized over the past few decades: there is blowback for illegal and immoral US foreign policy.
Yet, still, when the news reads of the US Embassy under attack by Iraqi protesters and the president blames Iran, many Americans’ minds will revert back to the US Embassy in Tehran and the 1979 hostage crisis. Unfortunately, it may not be difficult to convince the American public to support military action against Iran. On the other hand, the “end forever war” mantra has come a long way in recent years and may give Trump pause in escalating a very dangerous situation that would inflame the entire region, which had shown signs of simmering.
USA and the Coalition UK and Australia read it in the Murdoch news (ODT)
The problem Trump has no vision and is totally manipulated by those with short term interests (ODT)
“When Trump comes to power, the Arab spring is turned into an Arab winter. There are bushfires in Syria, in Libya, in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Yemen and elsewhere in the region,” he says.
“America’s interests are endangered, and Iran is seen by America’s allies, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, as the main beneficiary of Arab uprisings.
“And the more Iran is involved in Syria, the more it is involved in Yemen, the more it supports the Shias in Bahrain and inside Arabia and in Iraq, the more fearful and hostile America’s allies in the region get. And while they felt that Obama did not have a listening ear, in Trump they found a willing ally in not just containing Iran but to try and roll back Iran’s influence.
“And so when you get those three, inevitably Trump’s strategy of an aggressive reaction to Iran wins the day.”
“Our problem in the West has been that largely we’ve tended to be very reactive, we haven’t really had the patience to deal with this as a strategic issue, which I have to say the Russians do.
“I mean, the one advantage of Putin, as unpleasant as he is, is that certainly for those rulers in the Middle East is he seems to have a strategy and he sticks to it, whereas the West seems to be at sixes and sevens about what it’s planning to do and doesn’t really have a plan.”
Why America and Iran hate each other – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The world’s greatest miracle was ready to happen 70 years ago when a nation of 700 million saved 1.3 billion people today. History isn’t one made by great men but by the needs of a nation of people. Today China has only 1 military deployment outside it’s borders and a nation of people fed, housed, educated with health, jobs all upwardly mobile and not simply because of Mao alone but necessity. (ODT)
LNP burns it’s CO2 emissions in a week and promotes for more (ODT)
NSW fires: The world has made the link between Australian coal, fires and climate
Andrew Bolt fled the country’s “NORMAL” weather. Meanwhile, Morrison who thinks its normal too is calling in the ADF to fight fires while Trump is preparing for war and wanting Australia to do it’s part for the Coalition of the Killing. Can the ADF do both or will Morrison bring back the draft for those on Newstart? (ODT)
Sydney’s Penrith the hottest place on Earth amid devastating bushfires
Why is it Republicans to win elections start wars? The USA has been losers in all their encounters since WW2 and Trump is no different. A loser he’s yet the biggest war machine on the planet he’s taking the US into yet another war they can’t possibly win. This time it’s illegal yet again. (ODT)
“This strike went forward with no notification or consultation with Congress,” committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Thursday. “Even if this strike was in self-defense, no current congressional authorization covered it and the President needs to notify Congress within 48 hours pursuant to the War Powers Resolution. The law requires notification so the President can’t plunge the United States into ill-considered wars.”
via Democrats Warn Of Massive Consequences After Assassination Of Soleimani | HuffPost Australia
A personal comment in response to the Trump regime’s assassination of redoubtable Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, a national hero now martyred by US imperial rage.
He represented Iranian resilience and resistance against US state-terrorism, its endless wars of aggression, its rage for global control by brute force — responsible for countless millions of deaths, vast destruction, and human misery globally.
The nation I grew up in long ago no longer exists. Never beautiful, it was world’s apart from today’s permanent US state of war on humanity at home and abroad.
via Stupid Is As Stupid Does Defines the Trump Regime’s Foreign Policy – Stephen Lendman
The United States, like Israel, has become a pariah that shreds, violates or absents itself from international law. We launch preemptive wars, which under international law is defined as a “crime of aggression,” based on fabricated evidence. We, as citizens, must hold our government accountable for these crimes.
via War With Iran
With the release by JustSecurity.org of unredacted emails on the Ukraine scandal showing that Trump personally (and illegally) withheld congressionally mandated military aid to an ally, the Republican defense of the president is collapsing. Some GOP senators such as Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski seem to be weakening on calling witnesses and subpoenaing records for the Senate trial, and the Democrats only need four Republican senators to ensure a proper proceeding, which would certainly put Trump’s presidency in peril.
It is extremely suspicious that Trump has abruptly begun trafficking in the sanguinary merchandise of all-out war just at this moment when his throne is on the brink of toppling.
Meanwhile, Morrison is cutting funds to the ABC (ODT)
Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters in US history. It displaced of hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The damage was estimated at $US100 billion, and more than 1,000 people are thought to have died.
“Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to group of members. It refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance—organized control over a human community, particularly a state. … Politics is a multifaceted word.”
Our current Prime Minister needs to read the paragraph above very carefully. His very position and all activities in which he engages are political and both affect and are affected by the policies which he and his cabinet formulate.
via We were once the envy of the world, but look at us now – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Morrison is hell bent on cutting the budget of Public Media to the equivalent of 1984. (ODT)
There have been 670 emergency broadcasting events for the 2019-20 financial year so far, an ABC spokesman said, compared to 371 for the full 2018-19 financial year. In 2017-18 there were 256 events, a figure that had been surpassed by mid-September 2019.
via ABC under ‘growing’ cost pressure as bushfire emergency broadcasts surge
EMPTHY TRAINING 101 BY SCOTT MORRISON
via Scottie And The Art Of Shaking Hands! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
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