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Economic Sanctions Against Russia Flop: The first comprehensive study of anti-Russia sanctions shows they hit EU much more than Russia.
Eric Zuesse
Did U.S. President Barack Obama create the anti-Russia sanctions in order to weaken the EU in its competition against America? If so, the policy has been a huge success — it has enormously damaged the EU’s economy. But, if Russia was the actual target — as Obama claimed — then it’s been a total flop: It has produced $100 billion loss to the EU, thus far — almost twice as much as the $55 billion total hit to Russia, and the hit to Russia might be even less than that, maybe even zero, because the harms to Russia included the harms from the plunging oil-prices, which weren’t at all due to the sanctions. Furthermore, the sanctions strongly helped Russia’s economy, in ways that don’t yet show up in the economic data but that constitute long-delayed reforms whose pay-offs will start only during the years to come. Washington’s economic sanctions against Russia could thus end up producing a net plus for Russia, on a long-term basis.
The deal that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry culminated with King Saud on 11 September 2014 (after his having started those negotiations on 27 June 2014) to flood the market with oil to bring the oil price down and so harm Russia, which is a giant oil&gas-exporter, has hit Russia very hard, costing the Russian economy perhaps all of the $55 billion hit to Russia’s economy, measured thus far.
Jimmy Carter Blasts US Domestic and Foreign Policies
Stephen Lendman
As president, the Carter Doctrine pledged Middle East military intervention if US interests were threatened. His administration considered invading Iran and seizing its oil fields. He encouraged Saddam Hussein to attack Iran.
He supported Salvadoran and Nicaraguan fascists, Iran’s ruthless Shah until he fell out of favor, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, despotic South Korean leadership, Indonesia’s ruthless regime, CIA recruitment of mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan against Soviet Russia, including Osama bin Laden, and other disturbing policies tarnishing his presidency.
At the same time, his post-tenure is America’s best in modern memory, vastly different from the deplorable Clintons, Bush/Cheney and Obama, cashing in on their prominence, continuing to back horrors they pursued in office.
Not Carter! He’s an outspoken critic of Israeli apartheid, calls conditions in Gaza intolerable, a worsening humanitarian crisis.
He hoped his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” would “stimulate a debate, which has not existed in this country.”
“There’s never been any debate on this issue of any significance,” he explained - not in Israel or America.
Trump Set to Ease Restrictions on Terror-Bombing by Drones
Stephen Lendman
US terror-bombing by drones, warplanes and attack helicopters largely massacres civilians - on the phony pretext of combating ISIS and other jihadists America supports.
Obama’s drone war was lawless and despicable by any standard, picking up where Bush/Cheney left off, increasing the carnage they caused.
Rarely were so-called high-value targets hit, most often defenseless civilian men, women and children in harm’s way - massacred indiscriminately. Trump intends authorizing greater carnage in all US war theaters, supporting terrorists, not combating them, field commanders given greater latitude to attack targets at their discretion.
The CIA reportedly intends expanding its own drone warfare, unacknowledged covert operations.
Netanyahu’s UN Demagoguery
Stephen Lendman
He’s Trump’s alter ego, two despicable rogue actors, threatening world peace, belonging in prison, not high office.
Their deplorable UN General Assembly addresses made painful listening, remarks responsible leaders wouldn’t touch, disgraceful hate-filled demagoguery.
Netanyahu failed attempting to portray rogue state Israel as a responsible nation. The whole world knows otherwise, terrorizing Palestinians for decades, threatening neighboring states, at war with Syria without declaring it. As long as its ruthless policies continue, no one is safe regionally or anywhere else. Israel is nuclear armed and dangerous.
It maintains stockpiles of banned chemical and biological weapons. Its ICBM capability can strike nations far distant from its undeclared borders, kept that way to expand them.
Netanyahu’s claim about the world “embracing Israel” rang hollow. Over 30 nations have no diplomatic relations with its regime - Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Syria, Venezuela, and most Arab League ones among them.
How America’s Corrupt Government Wastes Its Taxpayers’ Money
Eric Zuesse
First, just look at these billions of dollars of U.S.-taxpayer-purchased weapons being exploded — simply wasted — in Ukraine, instead of killing people there, as America’s aristocracy had intended when it got its President and Congress to donate, to Ukraine, these U.S.-manufactured weapons that had been produced and sold to the U.S. Government by those aristocrats’ weapons-making firms:
27 September 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWRQr3eNqp8.
27 July 2017 http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a27511/russia-drone-thermite-grenade-ukraine-ammo/.
24 March 2017 http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a25803/ukrainian-munitions-dump-explosion/.
Trump Ups the Stakes in Syria
Stephen Lendman
Trump is a businessman, a geopolitical no-nothing. Delegating warmaking to hawkish generals was a reckless act.
He doesn’t immerse himself in details, largely stays disengaged from policymaking complexities, lets others handle them.
Generals love wars, how they advance in rank and find lucrative post-military careers as corporate board members, TV commentators, and other ways to get rich.
It’s unclear what Trump knows about daily US operations in multiple war theaters, conducted by generals in command, led by administration ones and joint chiefs of staff.
Syria is different from other US war theaters, Russia and America actively involved, communicating but not cooperating with each other. Their agendas are world’s apart, seeds of possible conflict between them.
Iran’s New Ballistic Missile
Stephen Lendman
Iran’s ballistic missile program is entirely legitimate, solely for defense, designed to carry conventional warheads, not nuclear ones as US and Israeli hawks falsely claim, vilifying the country disgracefully.
On Friday, its new Khorramshahr ballistic missile was displayed during a Tehran military parade - hours later, video footage showed a successful test launch.
It’s Iran’s third intermediate-range ballistic missile, Qadr-F and Sejjil the other two, capable of carrying multiple conventional warheads, their range around 2,000 km.
On Saturday, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said “(a)s long as some speak in the language of threats, the strengthening of the country’s defense capabilities will continue and Iran will not seek permission from any country for producing various kinds of missile.”
Police State Repression in Catalonia
Stephen Lendman
Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain’s northeast, bordering France and the Mediterranean Sea, Barcelona its capital and largest city.
In November 2015, Catalan lawmakers approved a secession plan from Spain by 2017. October 1 is the moment of truth, Catalans to vote by referendum on whether to remain part of Spain or secede, establishing an independent state.
Self-determination is a universal right. It’s a core principle of international law, enshrined in various treaties, affirmed in the UN Charter and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Bernie Sanders on Israel and Iran
Stephen Lendman
He’s a longstanding con man. His deplorable voting record belies his lofty rhetoric, consistently supporting undemocratic Dem party politics.
His support for war goddess/racketeer Hillary after she virtually stole her nomination alone exposed his duplicity - saying one thing, doing another, like most everyone else in Washington, a rogue’s gallery of miscreants. He defended the undemocratic Dem party platform, supporting dirty business as usual.
He supports America’s imperial agenda, its phony war on terror, raping and destroying nations. He wrongfully blames Hamas for Israeli high crimes.
Satellite Images Show US-Supported Forces With ISIS in Syria
Stephen Lendman
This and other incriminating evidence clearly reveal US support for ISIS - the scourge it pretends to combat, arming its fighters, providing other material support.
Silence by media scoundrels makes them complicit with US high crimes, a longstanding unholy alliance, a disgrace to legitimate journalism.
On Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry released satellite video images showing US-supported troops together with terrorists comprising the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), moving freely in ISIS-controlled parts of Deir Ezzor governorate.
“Without resistance from ISIS militants, (these forces) are moving along the left bank of the Euphrates river towards the town of Deir Ezzor,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said, adding:
“Despite strongholds of the US armed forces…located where ISIS troops are currently deployed, there are not even signs of organization of a battle outpost.”
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