‘Man-made crisis’: Venezuelan hell destabilizes region

Venezuelan refugees line up for food donations at Simon Bolivar Square in Boa Vista, Brazil. / Andre Coelho / Bloomberg

 

UNITED NATIONS — It didn’t have to be this way. An oil rich, economically prosperous middle class country, once a stable Latin American democracy, is disintegrating into a socialist dystopia plagued by hunger, corruption, hyper-inflation and churning political unrest.

While petroleum remains Venezuela’s major export, now tragically it’s the people too who are fleeing this twice California sized country.

U.S. withdraws from ‘self-serving’ UN Human Rights Council

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley

 

The United States on June 19 said it withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council after an unsuccessful effort to reform the council.

“When a so-called Human Rights Council cannot bring itself to address the massive abuses in Venezuela and Iran, and it welcomes the Democratic Republic of Congo as a new member, the council ceases to be worthy of its name,” U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said.

Haley said the “self-serving” council “in fact, damages the cause of human rights.”

Russia Really Is America’s No. 1 Enemy – Depending on Who ‘America’ Is

 

US-Russia enmity is here to stay. Cold War II is a fact of life for the foreseeable future. The only questions are where, when, and how it might turn hot. That didn’t happen in Syria this past Friday the Thirteenth, for reasons yet to be explained. But the danger is by no means gone.

Rather, the threat of a major war will continue to intensify as President Donald Trump continues to stack his team with GOP retards who diametrically oppose his oft-repeated desire to improve ties with Moscow. Whether or not his desire is genuine is irrelevant. With each new appointment to the National Security Council and the State Department the Russophobic critical mass grows.

Personnel is policy. The door to rapprochement is being nailed ever more firmly shut

Russian reinforcements head for Syria: Warships laden with tanks, military trucks and armoured patrol boats sail towards the Middle East as the world awaits Putin’s response to airstrikes

On its fourth deployment of Russian military equipment to Syria the ship was seen laden with tanks, trucks, ambulances and a bomb radar

 

• Project 117 Alligator-class landing ship was spotted at Bosphorus, Turkey en-route to Syria on Sunday
• The Russian vessel was laden with tanks, ambulances and IED radar after Friday’s US-led Syrian air strikes
• A RoRo Alexandr Tkachenko was also seen carrying high-speed patrol boats, temporary bridge and trucks
• US, UK and French forces backed strikes that obliterated three targets in response to chemical weapon attack
• Vladimir Putin warned there would be ‘consequences’ to military action against him and Bashar al-Assad

Two Russian warships laden with military vehicles have been spotted en route to Syria after Friday’s US-led airstrikes obliterated three suspected chemical weapons sites.

An Alligator-landing ship was pictured cruising down The Bosphorus on Sunday as the world awaits Vladimir Putin’s response to this week’s co-ordinated military action against Syria.

The vessel was spotted on its way to the Russian naval base at Tartus on the north Syrian coast.

On The Threshold of War

“The Russian view is simple: the West is ruled by a gang of thugs supported by an infinitely lying and hypocritical media while the general public in the West has been hopelessly zombified.” — The Saker

https://russia-insider.com/en/russia-ready-war-mood-prime-time-tv-grim/ri23019

“The US generals, unlike the US politicians and media and US administration, are risk-averse if the outcome may be catastrophic.” — Gilbert Doctorow

https://russia-insider.com/en/were-not-going-war-not-yet-last-nights-russian-tv-analysis/ri23024

Above are two of the three most intelligent and reliable Russian experts. The third is Professor Stephen Cohen, who worries, as I do, that an arrogant Washington drowning in hubris is provoking Russia to war.

The Saker has concluded that the Russians have concluded that it has been a mistake to put up with Washington’s lies, insults, and orchestrated events and have decided that if the dumbshit Americans attack Syria, Russia is going to take out the US forces involved.

Netanyahu: Iran nuclear deal paved way for nuclearization of entire Mideast

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington on March 6. / Reuters

 

The signing of the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 opened the floodgates for all Mideast regional powers to pursue their own nuclear programs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Iran Building New Syria Base

TruNews

 

Analysts Report The Facility Likely Houses Short- And Medium-Range Missiles That Can Strike Israel.

According to analysts looking at commercial satellite imagery obtained by FOX News, Iran is quickly building a new missile base capable of striking Israel to replace one recently destroyed by airstrikes.

US Threatens To Cut Off China From SWIFT If It Violates North Korea Sanctions

While this sounds like a step that needed to be taken, and it is, it’s too little too late. China (and Russia) have created an alternative to SWIFT. Thus, cutting China off only means it will switch to its own and abandon the U.S. Dollar system — with Russia likely to join. In effect, it will end up hurting the United States more than the intended target(s).

Over the last decade China and Russia have feverishly worked around America’s global influence. Russia and China no longer need GPS, as they have their own indigenous satellite navigation systems — Europe, too. You’ll only do their militaries a favor if you cut that off. Control over the internet has been ceded by America, so there’s also no method or means of punishment there. The IMF has been undermined by the AIIB, so it’s also hard to do anything there as well.

America’s choices are limited and not as effective as they used to be. The joke may be on the U.S. should push come to shove. The alternatives set up only mean America will likely isolate itself should it choose punitive measures.

 

In an unexpectedly strong diplomatic escalation, one day after China agreed to vote alongside the US (and Russia) during Monday’s United National Security Council vote in passing the watered down North Korea sanctions, the US warned that if China were to violate or fail to comply with the newly imposed sanctions against Kim’s regime, it could cut off Beijing’s access to both the US financial system as well as the “international dollar system.”

Speaking at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference on Tuesday, Steven Mnuchin said that China had agreed to “historic” North Korean sanctions during Monday’s United Nations vote. “We worked very closely with the U.N.  I’m very pleased with the resolution that was just passed.  This is some of the strongest items.  We now have more tools in our toolbox, and we will continue to use them and put additional sanctions on North Korea until they stop this behavior.”

Putin Rejects More Korea Sactions, Warns US Risks “Global Catastrophe, Huge Loss Of Human Life”

 

After UN Ambassador Nikki Haley asked the security council to pass the “strongest possible” sanctions against North Korea which was “begging for war” following the isolated nation’s sixth nuclear test which took place over the weekend, Russia President Vladimir Putin has hinted that Russia may – and most likely will – use its Security Council veto power to stop any further sanctions from being implemented.

Putin, who is in China for a meeting of leaders from the BRICS countries, said that sanctions at this point would be “counter-productive” and that US threats of military action could trigger “a global catastrophe and a huge loss of human life,” according to Reuters. Some US diplomats have quietly agreed with the Russian leader, noting that if the barrage of already imposed sanctions on Pyongyang hasn’t changed the country’s behavior, then any incremental actions would likely have no impact either.

If North Korea Has Nuclear ICBM, China WILL Invade by 9/11

Chinese President Xi Jinping uses a hammer during a plenary session of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit, in Xiamen, China September 4, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

 

The U.S. and China reportedly have a long standing arrangement that Beijing will physically invade North Korea if they believe Kim Jong-un has developed a miniaturized nuclear warhead 

(VERO BEACH, FL)  According to a DIA official assigned specifically to monitor North Korea, the secret “working” agreement was negotiated as an unofficial understanding between the two superpowers, and could result in a Chinese invasion of the Korean Peninsula between now and September 11th.

The source, who spoke to TruNews Correspondent Edward Szall through a proxy on Sunday night, and must remain unnamed due to his official capacity as a veteran member of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), said both the U.S. and China are actively investigating the claims made by North Korea on Sunday, that they have successfully tested a miniaturized nuclear device and possess the technology to effectively mount it on a ballistic missile.

Iran/Hizballah noose tightens around Israel

Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the UN, challenged the international community to hold Iran to account on Thursday, Aug. 31, after the Islamic Republic showed its “true colors” by restoring its ties with the Palestinian extremist Hamas. In her statement, she described as “stunning” the Hamas leader’s boast that Tehran is again the biggest provider of money and arms. The breach between them followed the terrorist group’s refusal to side with Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war.

“Iran must decide whether it wants to be a member of the community of nations that can be expected to take its international obligations seriously, or whether it wants to be the leader of a jihadist terrorist movement. It cannot be both,” Haley said in her statement.

Iranian president threatens to revitalize nuclear program

 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president warned Tuesday that it could ramp up its nuclear program and quickly achieve a more advanced level if the U.S. continues “threats and sanctions” against his country, which signed a landmark nuclear accord with world powers in 2015.

Hassan Rouhani’s remarks to lawmakers were his most direct warning that the deal could fall apart and risked ratcheting up tensions with the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to scuttle the accord, which limited Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon while ending most sanctions against it.

Rickards: “War Is Almost Inevitable”

 

All three major stock indexes were deep in the red yesterday, and volatility spiked for the first time in months as the war clouds gather over the Korean Peninsula.

Here’s the latest tweet from President Trump: (See source)

Mattis Warns North Korea to Avoid Actions That Would Lead to the ‘Destruction of Its People’

James Mattis / Getty

 

Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Wednesday called on North Korea to stand down in its pursuit of nuclear weapons or risk taking actions that would “lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.”

“The United States and our allies have the demonstrated capabilities and unquestionable commitment to defend ourselves from an attack,” Mattis said in a statement. “Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council’s unified voice, and statements from governments the world over, who agree the DPRK poses a threat to global security and stability.”

Trump administration ‘not playing around’ on North Korea

U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley praised new sanctions against North Korea as a sign that the international community is seriously addressing the threat of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

“It is time for North Korea to realize, we are not playing anymore,” Haley said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”

The sanctions largely target North Korea’s major exports such as coal, iron and seafood, Haley said.