2020-01-04: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these ‘POSTEES’ on social media!

A Major Conventional War Against Iran Is an Impossibility. Crisis within the US Command Structure
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-04
What both the media and military analysts fail to acknowledge is that US CENTCOM’s forward Middle East headquarters at the al-Udeid military base close to Doha de facto “lies in enemy territory”. Since the May 2017 split of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Qatar has become a staunch ally of Iran…
globalresearch.ca/a-major-conventional-w…

An Eyewitness to the Horrors of the US “Forever Wars” speaks out
Kathy Kelly | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-01-04
Kathy Kelly and Maya Evans walk with children at the Chamin-E-Babrak refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, January 2014. (Abdulhai Darya) The 2003 “shock and awe” bombing of Iraq had finally stopped. From the balcony of my room in Baghdad’s Al Fanar Hotel, I watched U.S. Marines moving between their jeeps, armored personnel carriers, and Humvees. …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/01/an-eyewitness…

Trump’s march to war on Iran aided by Democrats’ weakness on sanctions, nuclear deal
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-01-04
The US assassination of Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander, is the culmination of three years of Trump administration…
thegrayzone.com/2020/01/04/trumps-march-…

US escalates war on Iran and Iraq — Discussion with Rania Khalek, Max Blumenthal, Ben Norton, Aaron Mate
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-01-04
The Grayzone held a live discussion of the US escalation of war on Iran and Iraq, with Trump’s assassination of…
thegrayzone.com/2020/01/03/us-war-iran-i…

’35 Vital US Posts Are Within Reach of Iran’, Iranian Commander
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commander Gholamali Abuhamzeh Friday warned that his country will punish the United States anywhere within the reach of the Islamic Republic in retaliation for the murder of General Qassem Soleimani. | RELATED: | US Deploys 3,000 Troops to the Middle East as War Concern Grows | Abuhamzeh, who stressed that Tehran has identified vital U.S. goals in the Middle East for a long time, mentioned a series of possible targets for reprisals including the Gulf…
telesurenglish.net/news/35-Vital-US-Post…

Donald Trump Threatens to Attack Iran’s Cultural Sites
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a grave threat to Iran on Saturday over the Islamic Republic’s vow to retaliate for the assassination of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. | Trump began his three-tweet-long response by addressing Iran’s threat to target the U.S.’ assets in the Middle East, especially after Washington accused Soleimani of planning the December 27, 2019 attack on the K-1 Base in Iraq’s Kirkuk province. | “Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just…
telesurenglish.net/news/Donald-Trump-Thr…

Brazilians Ask Bolsonaro Not to Comment on US Attack in Iraq
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
The U.S. attack in Baghdad, which has ended the life of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani and other Iraqi military figures, represent a new escalade of tensions between Washington and Persian Gulf nations and have caused a whole series of speculations on social networks about the consequences it will have. | RELATED: | A 1st Year to Forget: 80% Distrust Brazil’s Bolsonaro | While the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Hoseiní Khameneí, promised revenge, the U.S. president, Donald T…
telesurenglish.net/news/brazilians-ask-b…

Trump Paints Himself as Defender of Faith for Evangelicals
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
U.S. President Donald Trump turned a mega-church revival gathering into a campaign rally on Friday, referring to a group of evangelical supporters on issues that include claims of Democratic Party anti-Semitism, the promise to take the prayer to public schools and even dared to mention the recent assassination of an Iranian Major-General. | RELATED: | Pentagon Confirms It Killed Iran’s Soleimani on Trump’s Orders | Trump spoke on the outskirts of Miami at the King Jesus Internati…
telesurenglish.net/news/Trump-Portrays-H…

The murder of Qassem Soleimani and assassination as state policy
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
In a reckless and criminal act, the Trump administration has effectively declared war on Iran, threatening to drag the whole world into a catastrophic conflict.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/pers…

Trump Unites Iran and Iraq… Against the United States
Juan Cole | commondreams.org | 2020-01-04
People gather to stage a protest against the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani by a U.S. airstrike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, after Friday prayer in Tehran, Iran on January 3, 2020. (Photo: Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/01/04/trump-…

Rockets Fired After Day of Mourning for Slain Iranian Leader
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-04
Rocket falls near U.S. Embassy in Iraq hours after funeral for Qassem Soleimani at which crowd chants “Death to America, death to Israel.”
truthdig.com/articles/thousands-mourn-ir…

Ex-Australian foreign minister calls for release of Julian Assange to halt damage to US alliance
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
Carr’s statement is, first of all, a symptom of the alarm within the ruling class about the mounting popular demand for the freedom of the WikiLeaks founder.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/assa…

Mexican president calls for Julian Assange’s freedom
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
In response to a question from a reporter, Lopez Obrador said the WikiLeaks founder should be pardoned and his torture should be ended.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/amlo…

Bernie Sanders Touts Antiwar Record as Trump Barrels Toward War With Iran
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
As Democratic presidential hopefuls scrambled to respond after President Trump ordered the assassination on Thursday of a top Iranian military commander, Sen. Bernie Sanders touted his antiwar voting record on the campaign trail and laid out a vague but bold vision for removing U.S. troops from the Middle East while redirecting overseas military spending to programs that improve life for people back home. | The United States and Iran appear to be at the brink of war, or at least a proxy war, whi…
truthout.org/articles/bernie-sanders-tou…

Thousands Take to Streets Across US to Protest Trump’s March to War Against Iran
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
Thousands of people in dozens of cities across the United States on Saturday took to the streets to condemn the Trump administration’s ” reckless acts of war” against Iran and demand that the U.S. withdraw its troops from the Middle East. | From New York City to Chicago to Arkansas and more than 70 other locations around the U.S., demonstrators rallied against the assassina…
truthout.org/articles/thousands-take-to-…

Mexico City Goes Back to the Future With Plastic Bag Ban
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
Mexico City’s new ban on plastic bags has inspired visions of a journey back in time even as local makers of the packaging worry they could become obsolete. | The city’s government this week banned single-use plastic bags to complement worldwide efforts to protect the environment, sparking protests from companies that produce them. | RELATED: | Mexico Ratifies Asylum to Bolivian Refugees in Its Embassy | “We have to take plastic out of circulation,” said Andree Lilian Guigue, the o…
telesurenglish.net/news/Mexico-City-Goes…

Coup regime in Bolivia incites diplomatic conflict with Mexico and Spain
Tanya Wadhwa | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-04
The de-facto government in Bolivia ordered the expulsion of the Mexican ambassador to Bolivia and two Spanish diplomats from the country on December 30. The self-proclaimed president, Jeanine àÅñez, at a press conference, called the Mexican ambassador, María Teresa Mercado, the business manager of the Spanish embassy, ‚Äã‚ÄãCristina Borreguero, and the Spanish consul, àÅlvaro Fernández, “persona non grata” and asked them to leave the country within 72 hours. | àÅñez said that “this group of representatives from the governments of Mexico and Spain have seriousl…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/04/coup-regi…

Ruling class bereft of answers while catastrophic fires escalate across Australia
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
The criminal indifference of the Australian ruling elite to the threat of climate change has its parallels around the world.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/fire…

Australia: Climate change and the bushfire crisis
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
“Long-term climate change in Australia is an undeniable reality.”
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/clim…

Members of Congress Own Up to $93 Million in Fossil Fuel Stocks
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
This article was produced by Sludge, an independent, ad-free investigative news site covering money in politics. Click here to support Sludge. | Climate scientists predict climate change will have catastrophic effects in the coming decades if drastic action to reverse it is not taken immediately. Some members of Congress, including Green New Deal re…
truthout.org/articles/members-of-congres…

Peace in Darfur seems unlikely until dissolution of militias complicit in genocide
Pavan Kulkarni | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-04
The latest bout of violence in Darfur, which is believed to have cost 48 lives, has halted peace negotiations. A sustainable peace process seems unlikely till the militias involved in mass killings are dissolved and those in power who supported them are overthrown…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/04/peace-in-…

The spooks’ choice: Coup plotters and CIA agents fill Pete Buttigieg’s list of national security endorsers
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-01-04
Why are so many intelligence veterans throwing their weight behind a young Indiana mayor with such a thin foreign policy resume? | Source…
mronline.org/2020/01/04/the-spooks-choic…

Neoliberalism and the Killing for Profit in Iraq
Bulent Gokay | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-04
On January 2, 2020, a US airstrike killed a high-profile commander of Iran’s secretive Quds Force, Qassim Suleimani, a commander of Iran’s military forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East. Another man, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis…
globalresearch.ca/neoliberalism-and-the-…

An Eyewitness to the Horrors of the US “Forever Wars” Speaks Out
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
This article was originally published by National Catholic Reporter. | The 2003 “shock and awe” bombing of Iraq had finally stopped. From the balcony of my room in Baghdad’s Al Fanar Hotel, I watched U.S. Marines moving between their jeeps, armored personnel carriers, and Humvees. They had occupied the street immediately in front of the small, family-owned hotel where our Iraq Peace Team had been living for the past six months. Looking upward, a U.S. Mari…
truthout.org/articles/an-eyewitness-to-t…

Australia Deploys 3,000 Reservists to Combat Bushfire Crisis
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
Australia deployed three thousand reservists to fight forest fires on Saturday at the southeast of the country, where 21 people have died so far. | RELATED: | Australia: Wildfires Paint the Sky Red, Create Lightning Storms | “It is costing us a high price,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said and mentioned that at least 1,500 homes have been burned across the country since September. | The Australian PM also announced the deployment of the Adelaide ship to help evacuate people,…
telesurenglish.net/news/Australia-Deploy…

Gene-Editing. New Genetic Engineering Techniques, Yes or No? “Who’s Thinking Outside the Box?”
Angela Lieber | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-04
The following article from the German weekly newspaper Der Freitag is a vanishingly rare example of both sides of the debate about new GM techniques getting coverage in the mainstream media. | All too often journalists allow GM promoters to determine …
globalresearch.ca/award-winning-article-…

International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli war crimes
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
Human rights groups have told the UN Human Rights Council, which is investigating Israel’s use of lethal fire against protestors, that no evidence exists of a single protester killed in Gaza border protests being armed.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/isra…

Russia, Ukraine reach last minute gas transit deal
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
The EU pushed for the Ukraine and Russia to accept a deal following the US announcement of sanctions against the Russian-German pipeline Nord Stream 2.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/ukra…

Venezuela requests extradition of defectors involved in attacks on military bases
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-04
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced on January 2 that the government has filed a formal request to Brazil to extradite the five defectors of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) detained in Brazil, who were involved in the attack on military bases in the Gran Sabana municipality. | “We have sent our counterpart of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Augusto Aras, a communication informing him of the proceedings for the extradition of 5 former FANB officers involved in the attacks on two military bases in the municipality of Gran Sabana. In this communication we formally request that the…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/04/venezuela…

Why a Shadowy Tech Firm With Ties to Israeli Intelligence Is Running Doomsday Election Simulations
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-04
A shadowy tech firm with deep ties to Israeli intelligence and newly inked contracts to protect Pentagon computers is partnering with Lockheed Martin to gain unprecedented access to the heart of America’s democracy.
mintpressnews.com/cybereason-israel-tech…

Rail Strike Becomes Longest in France’s History Since May 1968
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
The ongoing train strike in France in opposition to pension reforms proposed by the government has become the largest continuous period of industrial action in the history of the country’s state rail company. | RELATED: | ‘New Strikes Against Pension Reform Are Ready’, French Workers | Entering its 29th consecutive day, the current strike by SNCF workers against President Emmanuel Macron’s bid to overhaul France’s pensions has surpassed the previous record of 28 days, which was se…
telesurenglish.net/news/Rail-Strike-Beco…

Spain: Electoral Authority Disqualifies Catalonia’s President
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-04
Spain’s Electoral Board (JEC) Friday dismissed Catalonia’s Autonomous Government President Quim Torra from his position as a regional lawmaker. This decision implies his cessation as president since the Statute of Catalonia obliges the head of the Catalan Executive to be a lawmaker. | RELATED: | EU Parliament President Lifts Ban on Top Catalan Politicians | Approved with…
telesurenglish.net/news/Spain-Electoral-…

‘Not Safe to Move’: Fire Threats Intensify in Australia
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-04
The death toll in the worst wildfire season in the country’s history rises to 23 as residents are warned that the worst may be yet to come.
truthdig.com/articles/not-safe-to-move-f…

US Immigration (ICE) Accelerates Violent Arrests of (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) DACA Holders
Danica Jorden | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-04
“You are not from the castle. You are not from the village. You are nothing.” Franz Kafka, “The Castle” | “If there were right laws, if there were a pathway, we would stand in line…. Because this country has a broken, …
globalresearch.ca/us-immigration-ice-acc…

Eric Davin’s “Strike Pageant” Chronicles the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
The saga of the Paterson, New Jersey, silk strike of 1913 was a glittering item of lore in American labor history — even before the actual strike of thousands of hard-pressed textile workers, across five months, ended in defeat. | Most uniquely, the strike had been fought not to resist a wage cut; rather, Paterson workers demanded more control over production. The highly skilled broad silk weavers resisted the increase in loom assignments; that is to say, the intensification of work from stan…
truthout.org/articles/eric-davins-strike…

Thanks to Trump, Workers Pay Higher Tax Rates Than World’s Largest Corporations
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
Workers at some of the biggest corporations in the world are paying higher tax rates than their employers, according to a new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. | The Republican-passed tax cuts signed by President Trump in 2017 permanently lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent but many companies are paying nowhere near that figur…
truthout.org/articles/thanks-to-trump-wo…

Lawmakers Take on Senior Care-Home Operators for Wage Theft and Worker Abuse
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
Revelations about wage theft and abusive treatment of caregivers in America’s senior care-home industry have prompted tougher enforcement, a congressional hearing and plans for new state legislation in 2020. | Responding to a series of stories by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said he intends to hold an oversight hearing early this year in which he will press Labor Department officials to cr…
truthout.org/articles/lawmakers-take-on-…

Geopolitical puzzle: What is behind Pompeo’s visit to Kazakhstan?
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Kazakhstan is one of the stops on US State Secretary Mike Pompeo’s whirlwind trip shortly after the New Year, with hopes that Washington can make inroads with a government in the key region between Russia, China and Afghanistan. | Washington has chosen to start 2020 by bringing its already strained relations with Iran to a whole new level of confrontation, as it ordered the killing of one of Tehran’s top generals, Qassem Soleimani. The high-profile assassination is bound to make things difficult for the State Department. | And that’s not to mention that it is far from being the only problem Pompeo and his staf…
rt.com/news/477028-pompeo-visit-kazakhst…

China on Soleimani killing: US should not abuse military power, we are watching
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Washington’s Iran policy is counterproductive and the killing of Qassem Soleimani is an abuse of US military force, a senior Chinese diplomat said in a call with Tehran, adding Beijing will play a “constructive” role in the Gulf. | Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that his nation opposes the use of military force after hearing from his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, who condemned the US’ targeted assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani on Friday. Wang stressed that the US operation was a breach of international norms and threatened to significantly increase turbulence in the region. | The Tr…
rt.com/news/477468-china-us-abuse-force-…

35 ‘vital US & Israeli targets’ within Iran’s reach for potential REVENGE for General Soleimani’s death — senior IRGC commander
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Iran reserves the right to avenge the US’ killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani, with dozens of potential targets already on the list, a senior commander within the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says. | “Vital American targets in the region have been identified by Iran a long time ago,” General Gholamali Abuhamzeh, who leads the IRGC in Iran’s southern Kerman Province, said on Friday evening, as quoted by Tasnim News Agency. | 35 US targets in the region as well as Tel Aviv are within our reach. | The commander did not name any specific targets but mentioned that US warships have been ope…
rt.com/news/477463-iran-us-targets-reven…

Iran reserves right to self-defense, ‘harsh revenge’ for Soleimani coming — Tehran’s envoy to UN
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Calling the US killing of General Qassem Soleimani “criminal” and an act of terrorism, the Iranian envoy to the UN said his country reserves the right to act in self-defense and threatened vengeance in US media interviews. | The killing of Soleimani “by any measure, is an obvious example of State terrorism and, as a criminal act, constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law, including, in particular, those stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations,” Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi wrote in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council on Fr…
rt.com/news/477434-iran-envoy-revenge-so…

Thousands mourn top Iranian General Soleimani and Iraqi PMF militia Deputy Commander al-Muhandis in Baghdad (PHOTOS)
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Massive crowds have gathered in Baghdad for a funeral procession for Iran’s elite Quds Force leader, Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and others people killed in a US drone strike on Friday. | Mourners and supporters of Major General Soleimani and al-Muhandis, who was the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), are holding photos of both men along with Iraqi flags and flags of the Shia group Hezbollah. Many are dressed in black and are heard chanting “death to America.” | | © Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP | Iraq’s prime minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, is also attendin…
rt.com/news/477447-funeral-procession-qa…

‘Supermani’: CNN contributor falls for obvious Iran satire as US journos struggle to understand who Soleimani really was
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Neoconservative mainstream media favorite Michael Weiss appears to have fallen for a satirical piece on Qassem Soleimani that claimed the man did not cast a shadow and was nicknamed “Supermani.” | Daily Beast senior editor and frequent CNN guest Michael Weiss is earning plenty of mockery on social media following him appearing to fall for a clearly satirical story on the legend of Qassem Soleimani, the late Iranian general recently assassinated by the US military. | “It was a well cultivated (and mythologized) aura, which the…
rt.com/usa/477487-soleimani-supermani-mi…

British Navy to escort UK-flagged ships though Strait of Hormuz after Soleimani killing
rt.com | 2020-01-04
The UK Defense Ministry has ordered its Navy vessels to provide “protection” to all British-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf following the death of Iran’s top general in a US drone attack. | The ministry has ordered the Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose frigate and HMS Defender destroyer to prepare for accompanying all vessels sailing under the British flag through the Hormuz Strait — the only passage from the Persian Gulf to the ocean that lies between the Iranian and UAE coasts. | “The government will take all necessary steps to protect our ships and citizens at this time,” Defens…
rt.com/uk/477486-uk-navy-escort-hormuz-s…

US-led coalition members suspend Iraq operations as region submerged in outrage over Iranian general’s killing
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Members of the international coalition gathered to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) have suspended operations in Iraq after the targeted assassination of a top Iranian general by the US. | Germany’s Bundeswehr will put on pause all military missions in Iraq, it announced late on Friday night. That includes both operations aimed against IS and training of Kurdish troops. There are around 130 German soldiers deployed in Iraq at the m…
rt.com/news/477469-coalition-troops-iraq…

The $20 TRILLION threat that could trigger the next financial meltdown
rt.com | 2020-01-04
A number of recent reports suggest that the financial risk from climate change could be much greater than previously anticipated, and that entire asset classes could come under fire as temperatures continue to rise. | Trillions of dollars of market value could go up in smoke due to climate change. | The damage hits the global economy in multiple ways. The first is the most obvious. Physical damage from more powerful natural disasters is on the rise. 2017 and 2018 were the costliest back-to-back years for economic losses related to natural disasters, according to risk and reinsurance firm Aon. | Also on rt.com
rt.com/business/475559-next-financial-me…

‘End #TrumpsWar now’, US congresswoman & presidential candidate Gabbard tweets after drone strike killed Iranian general
rt.com | 2020-01-04
US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, one of the Democratic Party contenders in the 2020 presidential race, said American armed forces must leave Iraq and Syria, instead of pushing towards war. | “End #TrumpsWar now. Remove our troops from Iraq and Syria,” the politician from Hawaii tweeted on Saturday. | End #TrumpsWar now. Remove our troops from Iraq and Syria.– Tulsi Gabbard üå∫ (@TulsiGabbard) January 4, 2020…
rt.com/usa/477465-gabbard-iraq-troops-co…

US-led coalition DENIES conducting airstrikes north of Baghdad amid reports of medics killed in US raid
rt.com | 2020-01-04
The US-led coalition spokesman said the forces did not hit targets near Camp Taji north of Baghdad, after Iran-backed Iraqi militia reportedly claimed that medics were hit in a recent air raid on a convoy late Friday. | The US-led forces “did NOT conduct airstrikes” in the area in recent days, the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, Colonel Myles Caggins, tweeted. | @CJTFOIR did NOT conduct airstrikes near Camp Taji (north of Baghdad) in recent days.– OIR Spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III (@OIRSpox) Januar…
rt.com/news/477441-us-coalition-denies-a…

Complete U-turn: Iraqi PMF militias retract claims of medics being targeted by US airstrike
rt.com | 2020-01-04
The Iranian-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have dropped their claims that a medical convoy was destroyed in a US air raid along Taji road, north of Baghdad. | In a new press release cited by several news agencies, the PMF leadership retracted their statement in which the group said their medics were hit by a US airstrike. | This happened after Reuters cited Iraqi Army sources who said that six people were killed in a raid near Taji. | The Iraqi Army, however, later denied that an airstrike took place there. In a statement quoted by local media, the military urged everyone to be “careful” about…
rt.com/news/477444-iraq-militia-us-strik…

Trump says US to strike 52 Iranian sites ‘VERY FAST and VERY HARD’ if Tehran moves to avenge general’s death
rt.com | 2020-01-04
US President Donald Trump has said the US military have identified 52 sites important to Iran and its culture which its ready to rain hellfire upon if Teheran targets US citizens or assets to avenge the killing of its top general. | …
rt.com/news/477489-trump-iran-strike-tar…

Finally got the ‘Witcher’ song out of your head? This Russian folk chorus will make you sing it again (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-01-04
Netflix’s new fantasy epic may have met with a mixed response from critics, but the song ‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher’ proved to be a real earworm, and the Russian-language version has inspired an unusual cover. | In case you’ve missed the meme, the TV series ‘The Witcher’ stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a mutant monster hunter with weird looks, a bad attitude and all the publicity problems they bring. Coming to his rescue is Joey Batey’s Jaskier, a bard ever ready to spin Geralt’s misadventures with a song or two. Deviating from the reality of Geralt’s deeds, Jaskier’s tunes convince the common folk th…
rt.com/russia/477448-witcher-song-russia…

French anti-terror prosecutor now probing Paris suburb knife attack
rt.com | 2020-01-04
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor has taken over the investigation into Friday’s fatal knife attack near Paris. The incident left two people, including the suspect, dead and two more injured. | The 22-year-old suspect, identified only as Nathan C, went on a rampage at a park to the south of the French capital. The attacker managed to kill a 56-year-old man and injure two more people before the police gunned him down. | It apparently took over a day for the French authorities to attribute a terrorist motive to the stabbing, as the case was referred to the country’s anti-terrorism prosecutor late on Saturday. T…
rt.com/news/477483-paris-suburb-knife-at…

Haftar-backing Libyan parliament votes to cut ties with Turkey over military deal, accuses PM of treason
rt.com | 2020-01-04
The parliament of Libya, which opposes the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, has rejected the ratification of a military agreement with Turkey and voted to cut diplomatic ties with Ankara instead. | The Tripoli-based government of Al-Sarraj struck a military agreement with Turkey, which prompted Ankara to send its troops to Libya. Their aim is to confront Khalifa Haftar, the powerful Libyan military commander based in the eastern port of Tobruk. | The Libyan parliament, which backs Haftar, said on Saturday it refused to ratify the Turkey deal and called for pressing high treason charges against Fayez Al-Sar…
rt.com/news/477460-libya-parliament-turk…

Huge stock market bubble forming with an inevitable 60% plunge, strategist warns
rt.com | 2020-01-04
The “everything rally” that has engulfed Wall Street is a classic asset bubble just waiting to burst sometime in 2020, CEO of AdvisorShares Noah Hamman told Yahoo Finance. | “It will continue on for a while for as long as we see we have an indication that we could have lower rates ahead, though possibly with a pause, but with an increasing Fed balance sheet,” he said. | The “everything rally” refers to assets of all kinds that have been in major rally mode. Hype has risen among investors, thanks to the US Federal Reserve’s rate cuts throughout 2019 and the signing of a phase one trade deal between the US and C…
rt.com/business/476957-stock-market-bubb…

An eyewitness to the horrors of the US ‘forever wars’ speaks out
Kathy Kelly | zcomm.org | 2020-01-04
Images of battered and destroyed hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of hospital personnel trying nevertheless to heal people and save lives, help me retain a basic truth about U.S. wars of choice: We don’t have to be this way.
zcomm.org/znetarticle/an-eyewitness-to-t…

Trump Is Doing the Bidding of Washington’s Most Vile Cabal
Jeremy Scahill | zcomm.org | 2020-01-04
While the media focus for three years of the Trump presidency has centered around “Russia collusion” and impeachment, the most dangerous collusion of all was happening right out in the open — the Trump/Saudi/Israel/UAE drive to war with Iran…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/trump-is-doing-the…

Why Trump is escalating the US-Israeli war on Iran
Ali Abunimah | zcomm.org | 2020-01-04
Understanding this perverted logic is essential to seeing why the US and Israel appear so determined to pursue conflict with Iran no matter the human cost…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/why-trump-is-escal…

Fossil Fuel Industry Has Enough Political Power to Destroy the Planet
Dean Baker | zcomm.org | 2020-01-04
Charles Lane used his Washington Post column to brag about the fact that the fossil fuel industry and climate denialists have had enough political power to prevent more widespread use of electrical cars…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/fossil-fuel-indust…

Trump’s New Year Fireworks this time were Chaos in Iraq
Peter Crowley | zcomm.org | 2020-01-04
Such unhinged behavior of a superpower is only one instance among many that feeds the mountain of why “they hate us,”
zcomm.org/znetarticle/trumps-new-year-fi…

The consequences of Turkish boots on the ground in Libya
Mustafa Fetouri | zcomm.org | 2020-01-04
Having Turkish boots on the ground in Libya is likely to intensify the proxy war in the country…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-consequences-o…

Trump’s Illegal, Impeachable Act of War
Maj. Danny Sjursen | truthdig.com | 2020-01-04
Violence begets violence; revenge engenders cycles of vengeance. This is exactly why war, or acts of war, must not be taken lightly. It also explains why America’s recent adventurism in the Middle East has only increased Islamic terrorism, killed hundreds of thousands worldwide, and ultimately left the U.S. no better off than when it began its crusade after the 9/11 attacks. Instead, this cycle of violence and revenge has produced nothing but “blowback” in the form of global anti-Americanism. | Which brings me to President Donald Trump’s worst decision yet, one f…
truthdig.com/articles/trumps-illegal-imp…

“Invisible Balance of Power”. The Phenomenon of Terrorism, The “War on Terrorism”
Ian Greenhalgh | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-04
The world underwent a seismic change on September 11th, 2001 when the biggest, most blatant false flag terror even yet seen took place–the attack on the World Trade Centre in NYC and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The official narrative …
globalresearch.ca/invisible-balance-powe…

To Survive Climate Catastrophe, Look to Queer and Disabled Folks
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-04
This piece comes from a rich conversation between Patty Berne and Vanessa Raditz for the Fire & Flood Film. In a practice of mixed-ability organizing, Raditz has typed and crafted this piece from Berne’s own words, ideas, and frameworks. | Communities around the world are grappling with the growing number and intensity of climate-related disasters because of climate change. Immediately after one of these disasters in the U.S., federal, state, and nonprofit agencies frequently pour financial resources into…
truthout.org/articles/to-survive-climate…

McConnell and Pelosi Give No Signs of Budging on Impeachment
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-04
WASHINGTON — Congress opened the new year with the Senate deadlocked over President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, leaving the proceedings deeply in flux as Republicans refuse to bend to Democratic demands for new witnesses. | Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell showed no signs Friday of negotiating with the Democrats as he aims for Trump’s swift acquittal. At the same time, the Republican leader acknowledged the Senate cannot begin the historic undertaking until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivers the articles of impeachment — which she i…
truthdig.com/articles/mcconnell-and-pelo…

Turkish, Iranian FMs talk over Soleimani’s killing
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Turkey’s Mevlut Cavusoglu and Iran’s Javad Zarif discussed the killing of senior Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, the sources said on condition of anonymity.Soleimani’s death marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have often been at a fever pitch since President Donald Trump chose in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw Washington from a 2015 nuclear pact world powers struck with Tehran.Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who gave Soleimani the country’s highest honor last year, vowed “severe retaliation” in response to his killing.Soleimani was the long…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkish-iranian-fm…

‘Iran will punish Americans wherever they are within its reach’
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Iran will punish Americans wherever they are within reach of the Islamic Republic in retaliation for the killing of miliary commander Qassem Soleimani, Tasnim news agency quoted a senior Revolutionary Guards commander as saying.General Gholamali Abuhamzeh, the commander of the Guards in the southern province of Kerman, raised the prospect of possible attacks on ships in the Gulf.Iran reserved the right to take revenge against the United States for the death of Soleimani, he said in comments made late on Friday and reported on Saturday by Tasnim.”The Strait of Hormuz is a vital point for the West and a large numb…
yenisafak.com/en/news/iran-will-punish-a…

Iraq: US military presence in country could be ended
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Iraq’s National Security Council suggested that Baghdad could ask the Washington to withdraw troops from the country on the heels of a U.S. airstrike in the capital Baghdad that killed a senior commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and another from the Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi group.The council in a meeting on Friday chaired by Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi discussed a U.S. airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC Quds Forces, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, vice head of Hashd al-Shaabi group, or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).Condemning the killing, the council declar…
yenisafak.com/en/world/iraq-us-military-…

US resumes Pakistan military training program
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Washington has resumed a military training program with Pakistan, U.S. officials said.The announcement on Friday said that the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET) came just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Pakistani Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss the killing of senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.”To strengthen mil2mil [military to military] cooperation on shared priorities advance US national security, @POTUS [President of The United States] authorized the resumption of International Military Education and Training #IMET for Pak…
yenisafak.com/en/news/us-resumes-pakista…

US killing of Iranian top general way out of proportion: Expert
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Nobody expected “such a drastic response” from the U.S., a global affairs expert said about the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad.”The U.S.’s response to the embassy attack in Bagdad was inevitable given that the act itself was in diplomatic terms outrageous but nobody, not even the most seasoned observer of the region, expected such a drastic response. This was way out of proportion,” Mehmet Ali Tugtan, International Relations professor at Istanbul Bilgi University told Anadolu Agency.Tugtan said Iraq, in the ongoing conflict, would “inevitably be ground zero” and the…
yenisafak.com/en/news/us-killing-of-iran…

Thousands mourn Soleimani at Baghdad funeral
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Thousands of mourners gathered in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Saturday at the start of a funeral procession for top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone airstrike a day earlier.Iranian and Iraqi officials were present at the procession, which is being held amid tight security conditions, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, was killed when a U.S. drone struck his convoy outside Baghdad’s airport on Friday.The Iranian general’s slaying marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have of…
yenisafak.com/en/world/thousands-mourn-s…

Iran’s top security body vows ‘revenge’ for Soleimani
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Iran’s top security body has vowed “harsh retaliation” to the killing of military commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. drone airstrike in Iraq.”The regime of the United States will be responsible for all the consequences of this criminal adventurism,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said in a statement following an emergency meeting late Friday.”The U.S. should know that the criminal attack against Gen. Soleimani was its biggest strategic mistake in West Asia and it will not easily get away with the consequences of this miscalculation,” it said.Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’…
yenisafak.com/en/news/irans-top-security…

Past decade UK’s second hottest in last century
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
The past decade saw the second warmest temperatures in the last century in the U.K., as the country’s climate is getting warmer, the U.K.’s Met Office announced Friday.”The 2010s have been the second warmest and second wettest of the ‘cardinal’ decades (those spanning years ending 0-9) over the last 100 years of UK weather records,” the agency said in a statement.The last decade currently holds eight high temperature records, it said.”Witnessing the highest U.K. temperature for the months of February, July, and provisionally December, 2019 was a year of multiple records, concluding a record-breaking decade,” it a…
yenisafak.com/en/world/past-decade-uks-s…

Pakistan rejects Indian claim of attack on Sikh site
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Pakistan rejected Friday an Indian Foreign Ministry’s claim of an attack on a Sikh community sacred site in the northeast.Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement the altercation occurred between two Muslim groups and rejected reports of an attack on Gurdwara, a place of worship for the Sikh community.The statement came after India’s Ministry of External Affairs claimed vandalism was carried out at the revered Nankana Sahib Gurdwara site Friday and members of the minority Sikh community were subjected to such acts.”The provincial authorities in the Punjab province have informed that there was a scuffle in t…
yenisafak.com/en/world/pakistan-rejects-…

Turkish, Russian foreign ministers speak over phone
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with his Russian counterpart over the phone on Saturday.According to diplomatic sources, Cavusoglu and Sergey Lavrov discussed the situation Syria, Libya and Iraq, as well as other recent developments in the region.Cavusoglu also spoke with his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, over the phone without disclosing further information about the discussion, the sources added.*Writing by Sena Guler…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkish-russian-fo…

Turkey neutralizes 2 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Turkish fighter jets neutralized two PKK terrorists in an operation in northern Iraq, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said Saturday.The ministry said on Twitter that the terrorists were plotting an attack and were neutralized in the Avasin-Basyan region. | It added that operations would continue undeterred. | Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.PKK terrorists often use northern Iraq to plan cross-border terrorist attacks in Turkey.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkey-neutralizes…

ANALYSIS: Libyan crisis transforms geopolitics in Mediterranean
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
The crisis in Libya and disputes over the eastern Mediterranean’s energy resources have been at the top of the international agenda since two agreements were reached between Turkey and Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).The Maritime Boundary Delimitation Agreement and Military Cooperation Agreement were signed at a meeting in Istanbul on Nov. 27 between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya’s Tripoli-based government.Following this, it was announced that Turkey might send troops to Libya to support the GNA in defending the capital against an offensive…
yenisafak.com/en/news/analysis-libyan-cr…

Tripoli awaits Turkish soldiers amid Haftar attacks
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Living under the nearly year-long assault of forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, residents of the Libyan capital Tripoli said they are “relieved” that a motion authorizing the deployment of Turkish troops was ratified in Turkey’s parliament. The Turkish parliament ratified on Thursday a motion authorizing the government to send troops to Libya following deals on military cooperation and maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean that were struck between Ankara and Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) on Nov. 27. | Calling the recent deals “a historic step”, Libya…
yenisafak.com/en/news/tripoli-awaits-tur…

Total inflow to Turkish gas system down 6.33% in 2019
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Natural gas inflow to Turkey’s gas network saw a year-on-year decrease of around 6.33% to 46.83 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2019, according to data from the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) on Saturday.In 2018, around 50 bcm of natural gas entered the Turkish natural gas system, the majority of which, at around 49.33 bcm, was consumed.As Turkey’s natural gas export volume is very low, the total consumption is expected to be close to the amount of inflow.In 2017, Turkey saw the highest inflow level in the country’s history at 53.86 bcm.According to the Twitter account of Turkey’s Energy and Natural…
yenisafak.com/en/economy/total-inflow-to…

Over 77 kg heroin seized in eastern Turkey
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-04
Turkish security forces seized around 77.5 kilograms (170.8 pounds) of heroin in the eastern province of Van, local police announced Saturday.Anti-narcotics police and a sniffer dog searched a suspicious van on a motorway between Van and the southeastern Hakkari provinces, uncovering three bags containing 150 packages of heroin in the trunk of the vehicle, said the statement.One suspect was arrested for alleged drug smuggling.Efforts continue in the area against illicit drug trafficking, transport and storage, it added.
yenisafak.com/en/news/over-77-kg-heroin-…

Sri Lankan police arrest two former government ministers
wsws.org | 2020-01-04
The Rajapakse government’s attacks on political opponents is a warning to the working class.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/04/sril…

Sacramento Protest: U.S. Troops Out of Iraq! No War on Iran!
ANSWER Coalition & others | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Intersection of 9th Street and K Street, Downtown Sacramento…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/03/1882941…

Native People urge peace and friendship with Iran, demand U.S. get out of Iraq
Brenda Norrell | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Native Americans spoke out today, urging peace and friendship with the people of Iraq and Iran, and called out Trump for assassinations and provocations to escalate war.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882943…

CA District 13 Senate Race: Candidates Forum on Climate & Environment
Citizens Climate Lobby and others | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Menlo-Atherton High School Theatre, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton, CA 94027…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882942…

Is California’s Climate Progress Going Up in Smoke?
Climate One | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
The Commonwealth Club, 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco 94105…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882943…

US Out of Iraq! (San Jose)
CODEPINK.org and many others | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
200 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/03/1882941…

Protest in Davis: No War on Iran! U.S. Troops Out of Iraq!
Yolo Grassroots Collective | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
B Street and 5th Street, Davis, CA…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/03/1882942…

No War On Iran
Palestine Justice Coalition | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Town Clock, Pacific Avenue and Water Street, Santa Cruz…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882942…

No War with Iran! (San Mateo)
San Mateo Peace Action | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
corner 3rd Ave and El Camino | 300 So El Camino Real | San Mateo, CA 94402…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882942…

Urgent Call For Action Against A U.S. War On Iran
Democratic Socialists of America | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) emphatically opposes a U.S. war with Iran. In light of the U.S.’s act of war against Iran, putting the two nations close to the brink of war, DSA calls on all members and chapters to mobilize against yet another U.S. war in the Middle East.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882943…

Monterey Protest: No War on Iran! U.S. Out of Iraq!
Monterey Peace & Justice Center | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Window On The Bay / Monterey Waterfront Park, Del Monte Ave, Monterey, California 93940…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/03/1882942…

No War with Iran!
San Mateo Peace Action | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
corner 3rd Ave and El Camino | 300 So El Camino Real | San Mateo, CA 94402…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882942…

No War On Iran (Santa Cruz)
Palestine Justice Coalition | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Town Clock, Pacific Avenue and Water Street, Santa Cruz…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882942…

the new hitler : donald trump !
ALETH | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
The bilderbergs now want war on Iran – and they are trying to gather western consensus for it by the usual means : lies and wanton murder.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/03/1882941…

U.S. Troops Out of Iraq! (San Francisco and nationwide)
ANSWER | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Powell and Market, San Francisco, Powell St BART Station.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/01/1882938…

Forum “Deepening Crisis in Iraq – The People Rise Up!”
Party for Socialism and Liberation | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
2969 Mission St., near 26th St.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/02/1882939…

20th Anniversary of Rosa Parks Day in California
Khubaka, Michael Harris | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
We are proud to continue the work this 20th Anniversary of Rosa Parks Day in California. Her birthday celebration is a special opportunity to recognize the profound changes throughout our society and reflect upon unfinished work toward forming a more perfect union, by ensuring her courage and her activism lives on.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/02/1882939…

Holiday Appeal for Class-War Prisoners
Partisan Defense Committee | indybay.org | 2020-01-04
Oakstop, 1721 Broadway, Oakland near 19th St. BART stop…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/01/04/1882943…

America’s War for Global Domination
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-03
How to reverse the tide of war? Forcefully undermine the media propaganda apparatus which seeks to justify “humanitarian wars” under the banner of responsibility to protect (R2P). Impeach all criminals in high office including POTUS as well the entire Congressional apparatus which pays lip service to US led wars.
globalresearch.ca/america-war-global-dom…

Major General Soleimani’s Assassination Isn’t Going to Start World War III
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-03
The US carried out a de-facto act of war against Iran after assassinating Major General Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force in Baghdad last night, but despite the doomsday scenarios that many in Alt-Media are speculating …
globalresearch.ca/major-general-soleiman…

No, a War with Iran Won’t Help Trump Win Re-Election
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-03
One of the most common opinions circulating around the Alt-Media Community after Major General Soleimani’s assassination is that Trump is provoking a war with Iran in order to help win re-election, but this isn’t the case since he first of …
globalresearch.ca/no-war-iran-wont-help-…