Interested Parties,
Remember how Reagan's "Star Wars" was designed to bankrupt the USSR as it tried to keep pace? Kupperman said what many thought.
President Donald Trump’s acting national security adviser, former Reagan administration official Charles Kupperman, made an extraordinary and controversial claim in the early 1980s: nuclear conflict with the USSR was winnable and that “nuclear war is a destructive thing but still in large part a physics problem.” Kupperman, appointed to his new post on Tuesday after Trump fired his John Bolton from the job, argued it was possible to win a nuclear war “in the classical sense,” and that the notion of total destruction stemming from such a superpower conflict was inaccurate. He said that in a scenario in which 20 million people died in the U.S. as opposed to 150 million, the nation could then emerge as the stronger side and prevail in its objectives.
His argument was that with enough planning and civil defense measures, such as “a certain layer of dirt and some reinforced construction materials,” the effects of a nuclear war could be limited and that U.S. would be able to fairly quickly rebuild itself after an all-out conflict with the then-Soviet Union.
At the time, Kupperman was executive director of President Ronald Reagan’s General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament. He made the comments during an interview with Robert Scheer for the journalist’s 1982 book, “With Enough Shovels: Reagan, Bush, and Nuclear War.”
Eleni sent this. Tuesday's vote in Israel determines if Bibi stays in power or goes to prison.
He's in a tight spot. Putin and Trump have more leverage than usual.
Israeli Attacks On Syria Halted After Russia Threatened To Shoot Down Jets
Eleni also sent this, about how Sheldon Adelson (and Bibi Netanyahu) need Trump right now. (Adelson looks like a zombie.)
Sheldon Adelson needs Donald Trump more than Trump needs Adelson (no kidding!)
Donald Trump fired the fire-breathing national security adviser John Bolton. Bolton was gifted to the Trump administration in 2018 by Sheldon Adelson, Trump's biggest donor, and Trump duly ended the Iran deal once Bolton came aboard.
Now Trump has fired Bolton, thereby signaling that he is open to renegotiating the Iran deal. And Trump's Defense Department has all but criticized Israel for its drone war in Iraq and Syria that is threatening Americans and American proxies.
Trump is showing more independence of the rightwing Israel lobby than he has his entire administration - after three years of doing everything for Israel that the rightwing lobby wanted, from Jerusalem to the Golan to UNRWA.
The simple explanation for Trump's conduct is that he at last has the upper hand in his relationship with Netanyahu and Sheldon Adelson.
Now Trump has fired Bolton, thereby signaling that he is open to renegotiating the Iran deal. And Trump's Defense Department has all but criticized Israel for its drone war in Iraq and Syria that is threatening Americans and American proxies.
Trump is showing more independence of the rightwing Israel lobby than he has his entire administration - after three years of doing everything for Israel that the rightwing lobby wanted, from Jerusalem to the Golan to UNRWA.
The simple explanation for Trump's conduct is that he at last has the upper hand in his relationship with Netanyahu and Sheldon Adelson.
Netanyahu advertises that only he can "recruit Trump" for further illegal land grab. Israeli political perspective piece.
Netanyahu’s Last Minute “Sovereignty Extension” Gambit Unlikely To Succeed
Netanyahu, feeling the increasing unpopularity of his alliance with the religious parties, dangles the carrot of sovereignty extension only possible in the Trump era
Immediately after the last election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined to members of his inner circle a plan to extract him from facing trial. The plan was based on obtaining immunity from the Knesset and passing legislation to prevent the High Court of Justice from removing that immunity. If his bloc wins 61 Knesset seats next week, Netanyahu will presumably resort to this rescue plan. For him it will be the Day of Judgment. “Stop being frightened. It’s time for them to be frightened,” Netanyahu told his confidants, referring to justice officials, headed by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan, who have decided to indict him in three cases, subject to a hearing.
Netanyahu told his confidants why he insisted on his destructive plan, telling them he had lost all confidence in the legal system on all levels – the attorney general’s office, the state prosecutor and the court system. “They want me in prison,” he told one of his cronies, noting that if he were indicted that would indeed be the result – not because he had crossed a red line, but merely due to the jurists’ collective hostility toward him and his ideology.
In a follow up tweet, Pompeo said that he calls "on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran’s attacks" which is odd as not even Saudi Arabia accused Iran of today's aggression (which many speculated could have been a Saudi false flag in hopes of sending the price of oil soaring ahead of the Aramco IPO). Pompeo concluded that "the United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and Iran is held accountable for its aggression."
An attack on Saudi oil facilities on Saturday is believed to have disrupted half the country’s production capacity, making the United States the only real holder of the global supply cushion via its ability to raise own output or to soften sanctions against other major oil producers.
Netanyahu told his confidants why he insisted on his destructive plan, telling them he had lost all confidence in the legal system on all levels – the attorney general’s office, the state prosecutor and the court system. “They want me in prison,” he told one of his cronies, noting that if he were indicted that would indeed be the result – not because he had crossed a red line, but merely due to the jurists’ collective hostility toward him and his ideology.
This looks like the perfunctory slap-and-spit-in-your-face of Trump beginning negotiations with another country...
In a sharp, if perhaps not unexpected, escalation, US Secretary of State - now without John Bolton by his side - tweeted at 4pm on Saturday, that contrary to earlier reports, "there is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen" and instead accused Iran of launching today's "unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply" which has now indefinitely taken offline as much as 5mmb/d in Saudi crude production. In a follow up tweet, Pompeo said that he calls "on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran’s attacks" which is odd as not even Saudi Arabia accused Iran of today's aggression (which many speculated could have been a Saudi false flag in hopes of sending the price of oil soaring ahead of the Aramco IPO). Pompeo concluded that "the United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and Iran is held accountable for its aggression."
The Trump administration is prepared to tap U.S. emergency oil reserves if necessary after drone attacks shut oil output in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, a Department of Energy spokeswoman said.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry “stands ready to deploy resources from the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves if necessary to offset any disruptions to oil markets as a result of this act of aggression,” spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry “stands ready to deploy resources from the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves if necessary to offset any disruptions to oil markets as a result of this act of aggression,” spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-aramco-fire-spr-idUSKBN1VZ0O7
China gave Britain a stern warning this week that any naval maneuvers conducted with the US near its declared territories in the South China Sea will be met with a military response.
Beijing rapped London further, telling it to dump its “colonial attitude” with regard to Hong Kong. However, the ultimate leverage, was the caustic reminder to Britain that if it wants to trade with China in the future, then it better mind its manners.
The United States has gotten the green light to impose billions of euros in punitive tariffs on EU products in retaliation for illegal subsidies granted to European aerospace giant Airbus. Four EU officials told POLITICO that the World Trade Organization ruled in favor of the U.S. in the long-running transatlantic dispute and sent its confidential decision to Brussels and Washington on Friday. The decision means that U.S. President Donald Trump will almost certainly soon announce tariffs on European products ranging from cheeses to Airbus planes. One official said Trump had won the right to collect a total of between €5 billion and €8 billion. Another said the maximum sum was close to $10 billion. Beijing rapped London further, telling it to dump its “colonial attitude” with regard to Hong Kong. However, the ultimate leverage, was the caustic reminder to Britain that if it wants to trade with China in the future, then it better mind its manners.
Trade-warrior-in-chief gets more ammo to use against "friends".
The Spy Who Failed:
Scott Ritter probes Oleg Smolenkov’s role as a CIA asset and the use of his data by the director of the CIA to cast doubt over the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Secret agent Man
