#after A— and M— negotiated for John to have control of a nuke

[mayasaura]

And like. It's also about how John didn't set up the conditions for the end of the world alone. He didn't do jackshit on his own. He had the magic powers, and he pulled the trigger, but they all helped load the gun. The apocalypse was a group project.

Obsessed with that bit where P— told John to be a bad wizard. That they could write the history books later to say he was good, but what he needed to do now was to scare the shit out of people. What he needed was leverage.

Because that's what he did! That's exactly what he did. He got his leverage, he played the bad wizard, he scared the shit out of everyone. And then after the dust settled, when he was the last man standing, he wrote the history books to say he was good.

And like. The thing that gets me is. After all that, he named her Pyrrha.

They won. It wasn't worth it.

[opedguy]

Iran Exposed for Illicit Oil Sales

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 15, 2021.--Accusing the U.S. of oil piracy of the Gulf coast off Houston, Iran was exposed in illicitly transporting for sale its oil through a Liberian-flagged tanker Achillleas AKA a Very Large Crude Carrier [VLCC].  Under U.S. sanctions imposed by 74-year-old former President Donald Trump after he canceled May 8, 2018 the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] AKA “the Iranian Nuke Deal,” Iran is not allowed to sell crude oil on the open market.  Justice Department officials filed suit in U.S. District court in Washington, D.C. alleging Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps camouflaged its Iranian oil, pretending it was from Iraq.  Whatever the reasons, it’s clear that Iran can’t be trusted on any of its obligations under any treaties or international agreements, including the JCPOA, demanding the Iran stay within strict limits on uranium enrichment, now far exceeding the mandated limits.       

      Catching Iran transporting and selling crude oil should come a no surprise since Iran has skirted U.S. sanctions imposed by Trump after canceling U.S. involvement in the JCPOA.  Trump cancelled the agreement due to Iran’s proxy wars against Saudi Arabia and Israeli, funding and supplying arms to Yemen’s Houthi rebels to battle Saudi Arabia.  Iran refused to stop sending cash-and-missiles to Hamas terrorists in Gaza and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.  Biden appointed last week 58-year-old Rob Malley, a former Obama administration official, as Iran envoy, hoping to revive the JCPOA.  Malley was a point man for 77-year-old former Secretary of State John Kerry when he negotiated over two years with Iran’s 60-year-old Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif for the JCPOA.  At the time, Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reluctantly signed the agreement.       

      Iran insisted all along that it never pursued an A-bomb, something Western officials doubted, prompting Obama to summons the P5+1, including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany, to complete the JCPOA applying strict limits on Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities in exchange for $1.6 billion in cold-hard-cash and $150 billion in sanctions relief.  Once Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, Khamenei said all bets were off, with Iran resuming its covert uranium enrichment activity.  Trump didn’t like the fact the JCPOA gave Tehran just enough wiggle room in intrusive inspections to allow Iran to skirt the agreement restrictions.  Vienna-based U.N. weapons inspectors AKA International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] did not have access to Iran’s secret military sites, making verification impossible. Recent illicit oil sales expose why agreements with Iran don’t work.     

        Iran feels entitled to skirt all regulations when it comes to the JCPOA because Trump scuttled the agreement, prompting Ayatollah Khamenei to threaten increasing uranium enrichment from 3.5% to 20%, a step below weapons grade material.  Nuclear experts believe that Iran has plenty of enriched uranium needed to build several warheads.  Dealing with the tanker situation reminds Malley, Biden’s new Iran envoy, that putting the genie back in the bottle won’t be easy, knowing Iran’s tendency to skirt agreements.  When it comes to the recent intercept of Iranian oil in a Liberian-flagged tanker, deception is obvious.  “The shipment belongs to the private sector,” saidForeign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh.  Caught red-handed violating new U.S. sanctions on oil distribution and sales, Iran has plenty of excuses. “It’s unfortunate that it’s happening under Mr. Biden’s administration.”      

       Iran hoped that they could start getting away with murder once Trump left office.  Biden’s State Department despises everything Trump did, including canceling the JCPOA.  Getting any opportunity to reverse Trump’s actions seems like the first order of business for the Biden administration, that’s used executive orders to undo much of Trump domestic and foreign policy.  Re-engaging with Iran was Biden’s top foreign policy priority, since Trump made it his priority to cancel Obama’s JCPOA, thought at the time to be a landmark accomplishment.  Iran’s failure to comply with terms of the agreements, especially when it came to covert uranium enrichment, made verification impossible.  Even with Malley back on Biden’s team, it’s going to be difficult to return the JCPOA right away.  Today’s tanker dispute underlines the problems of any contractual deal with Iran. 

            Since Malley was involved in the JCPOA, much has happened on the Iranian front, especially the Jan. 3, 2020 predator drone strike on 62-year-old Al Qud’s chief Qassem Soleimani, a personal friend of Khamenei.  When Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrixadeh was killed Nov. 30, 2020 by a remove-controlled machine gun in a joint mission with the U.S. and Israel in Baghdad, Khamenei only wants revenge.  Like North Korea, Iran has been involved in oil smuggling operations going on before Trump’s May 8, 2018 cancellation of the JCPOA.  Iran denies anything about breaching uranium enrichment or, more recently, oil smuggling operations with the Greek-owned, Liberian-flagged Achilleas supertanker.  Biden and Malley have their work cut out for them trying to mend fences with Iran, because currently there’s no trust left in the relationship to start any new deals.       

 About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  Reply  Reply All  Forward

[opedguy]

U.S. to Pull Out of Open Skies Treaty

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 21, 2020.--Pulling out of the Jan. 1, 2002 Open Skies Treaty, 73-year-old President Donald Trump cited numerous violations by Russia and China.  President Dwight D. Eisenhower tried with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to sign a treaty in 1955, openly sharing surveillance of skies primarily with the former Soviet Union and the United States, the two main adversaries in the Cold War.  Khrushchev declined Eisenhower’s offer to share intelligence or at least inform the other country about intended surveillance flights.  Five years later, CIA U-2 Spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down May 1, 1960 by a Soviet surface-to-air missile at 70,000 feet.  President George H W. Bush reprieved the idea of an Open Skies Treaty, convincing Russia and 34 nations to sign on to a new treaty sharing surveillance activities to prevent another Francis Gary Powers incident.

           Trump said Russia repeatedly violates the treaty, flying surveillance flights over Alaska U.S. territories, Europe and former Soviet satellites.  “I think we have a very good relationship with Russia.  But Russia didn’t adhere to the treaty.  So until they adhere we will pull out,” Trump said, reminding U.S. adversaries that the U.S. will not longer accept one-sided treaty obligations.  It wasn’t that long ago that China intercepted a Navy EP-3 Aires surveillance plane April 1, 2001 near Hainan Island, taking 10 crew hostage for over 30 days.  China eventually returned the EP-3 parts after it was dismantled piece-by-piece by China’s military.  Surveillance on land, sea and air is an essential part of all nation’s information gathering capability, especially when they have no active on-ground spying program. Ending the 2002 Open Skies Treaty make the world a more dangerous place for ongoing surveillance.

           Trump said he was open to renegotiating the Open Skies Treaty or creating a new accord if Russia is serious about participating.  Trumps said there’s a “very good chance we’ll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together,” serving notice, like the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] AKA Iranian Nuke Deal, that he won’t retain agreements where there is no good faith. Trump cancelled May 8, 2008 U.S. participation in the JCPOA , re-imposing economic sanctions, when it was clear Iran was not abiding by the terms of the agreement.  Responding to Trump’s cancelation of the Open Skies Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Gurshko denied that Russian breached the treaty, saying he’s open to discussing technical issues.  Washington allies, like Ukraine, support the Open Skies Treaty, asking Trump to remain engaged.

            Trump hasn’t been inclined to stay in treaties when there are clear violations by treaty signatories.  “During the course of this review it has become abundantly clear that it is no longer in America’s interests to remain a party to the Open Skies Treaty,” said an unnamed Defense Department official.  That same officials said the U.S. was starting a new round of nuclear arms talks, to “begin crafting the next generation of nuclear arms control measures.”  Trump cancelled U.S. participation in the June 1, 1988 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, negotiated by President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev and signed Dec. 8, 1987 in Vladivostok, Russia. Like other bilateral trade agreements, Trump isn’t inclined to keep things going if signatories violate terms of the agreements.  Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed multiple violations of Open Skies Treaty.

           Russia routine flies surveillance flights over Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Lativia, Serbia and many other former Soviet satellites.  “The United States is committed to arms control,  We are committed to European security.  And we are committed to a future that puts meaningful constraint on nuclear weapons,” said the unnamed DOD official.  No one wants a repeat of the Francis Gary Powers incident but the U.S. intelligence community won’t be deterred when it’s the only party maintaining compliance with a treaty.  Russia’s brazen overflights of Europe from Kaliningrad have tormented European countries for years, especially in Poland and Baltic states where the former Soviet satellites live in fear of a Russian invasion.  Trump’s decision to end the Open Skies Treaty puts Moscow on notice that they must stop their bullying in Europe.

            No one wants to eliminate hard-fought treaties but when serious violations take place there must be consequences.  Tormenting Europe and former Soviet satellites makes you wonder whether the Kremlin takes any agreement it signs seriously.  Agreements for Moscow are a way of handcuffing their adversaries while they routinely violate agreements, giving them a strategic advantage. Calling Trump’s decision on Open Sikes “premature and irresponsible,” Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association, had no shortage of criticism.  Kimball says nothing about how Moscow exploited Open Skies to torment Europe and former Soviet satellites.  Trumps critics see nothing wrong with keeping agreements where the U.S. is the only party in compliance.  Canceling Open Skies sends Mosow a strong message that the U.S. won’t continue one-sided treaties.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Iran’s Foreign Minister Spews Propaganda

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Jan. 7, 2020.-- Banned from entering the U.S. to attend Security Council meetings on Jan. 2 U.S. drone strike killing 62-year-old Al Quds chief Qassem Soleimani and 62-tyear-old Kataib Hezbollah chief Abu Mahid al-Muhandris and three others, 60-year-old Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif threatened the U.S. with revenge.  Zarif cleverly appealed to U.S. journalists looking for any way to attack 73-year-old President Donald Trump.  Calling Soleimani and al-Muhandis killing an “act of war,” Zarif buffaloed ABC News journalist Martha Raddatz and CBS News journalist Elizabeth Palmer, telling the journalists Iran would respond for the drone strike focusing on U.S. military targets.  Whether that happens or not is anyone’s guess.  Neither Raddatz nor Palmer asked Zarif to own the Dec. 28, 2019 attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, clearly orchestrated by Soleimani and al-Muhandris.

            No, Raddatz and Palmer let Zarif control the narrative, rambling on how Iran was the victim of Trump’s aggression.  Zarif said Iran would strike “against legitimate targets,” suggesting that Trump instead went after a top Iranian general, essentially the bodyguard of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  Zarif finds himself threatening revenge against the U.S., without owning any of Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism under Soleimani’s watch.  Soleimani was responsible for paying-and-arming Shiite militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, conducting a proxy war against Saudi Arabia since 2015.  Soleimani was the primary architect of the proxy wars against Israel, supplying arms-and-cash to Hamas terrorists in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.  Soleimani helped thwart the Saudi, U.S. and Turkey proxy war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  

            Zarif told Raddatz and Palmer that Iran was the victim, especially after Trump cancelled the ill-conceived 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] AKA “Iranian Nuke Deal,” where the Obama administration gave Iran billions in cash and sanctions relief in exchange for an unverified nuclear arms deal.  Zarif spent two years with former Secretary of State John Kerry negotiating a reduction in Iran’s uranium enrichment program, even though Iran vehemently denied working on an A-bomb.  Yet once Trump cancelled Obama’s Nuke Deal May 8, 2018, Iran has threatened to ramp up enriched uranium production.  U.N. weapons inspectors were never allowed into Iran’s highly-sensitive military sites to verify Iran’s compliance.  No, Zarif prattled on with Raddatz and Palmer, insisting Trump’s the aggressor, ironically finding eager support in the U.S. media and Democrats presidential candidates.

            When you consider Iran’s malign activities in the Mideast and North Africa, you’d think Raddatz or Palmer would have asked Zarif about last year’s Limpet mine bombing of oil tankers in the Gulf and bombing of Saudi’s Abaiq and Khurais oil refinery attack.  No, Raddatz and Palmer asked nothing about these events.  Nor did they question anything about the June 20, 2019 downing by Iran of a U.S. surveillance drone in the Persian Gulf flying over international waters.  No, to the U.S. media, only Trump’s the aggressor, buying lock-stock-and-barrel Zarif’s fairytale.  “The international law of war is very clear about legitimate targets,” Zarif told Palmer, talking about military infrastructure.  Zarif and others in the Iranian regime were rattled when Trump talked about hitting “52” sites, not taking cultural sites off the list. Zarif was the first to accuse Trump of being a war criminal.

            Trump warned Khamenei that any retaliation against the U.S. or its allies would be met with a devastating strike.  Zarif plays like he’s on a level playing field with the U.S., not admitting that he battled Iraq’s Saddam Hussein [1980 to 1988] to loggerheads for an eight-year war, losing some 150,000-200,000 Iraqi and Iranian soldiers.  It took the U.S. 20 days to topple Saddam Hussein in the 2003 Iraq War.  Zarif plays like he’s in control of the retaliation to follow when he knows any retaliation on Trump’s watch would likely result in the total destruction of Iran’s oil infrastructure.  When Trump talks about “52” targets in Iran, he’s focused mostly on doing as much damage as possible to Iran’s already battered economy.  “We do not have proxies,” Zarif told Raddatz and Palmer, denying the elaborate network of Shiite militias that does Iran’s dirty work, including attacking Saudi’s oil infrastructure.

            Zarif finds himself banned by the U.S. State Department from entering the U.S., directly related Iran’s constant threats against the U.S. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution where Iran seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran taking 52 hostages, holding them for 444 days, U.S. and Iran have had no diplomatic relations, essentially in a state of war.  Zarif likes to blame the U.S. but when you consider Soleimani’s Iraq-based militia Kataib Hezbollah attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, it was clear to Trump it was Iran’s aggression against a sovereign U.S. property.  Soleimani and his surrogate al-Muhandis badly miscalculated Trump’s resolve to keep American properties safe.  “Maximum pressure is dead, as is the U.S. presence in our region,” Zarif told Raddatz and Palmer, talking like he’s calling the shots.  Taking out Soleimanin and al-Munandis sent a loud message to the Ayatollah.

About the Author  

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Trump Meets Kim in DMZ

LOS ANGELES  (OnlineColumnist.com), Nov. 30, 2019.--Trashed by Democrats and the press as a publicity stunt, 73-year-old President Donald Trump met North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in the Demilitarized Zone [DMZ], allowing Kim to walk Trump into North Korea.  No other U.S. president has visited North Korea or, for that matter, had any rapport with Kim’s deceased father Kim Jong-il or his grandfather Kim il-Sung. Less that two years ago, Sept. 23, 2017, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said at the U.N. it was “inevitable” its missiles would hit the U.S. mainland.  Threatening nuclear war against the U.S. two years ago, Democrats and the press won’t acknowledge how far Trump has advanced peace between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [DPRK] and the U.S.  Instead of slamming Trump for cozying up to dictators, Democrats and the press should acknowledge how much Trump has advanced the cause of peace.

            Trump crossed the DMZ into North Korea with Kim without any Secret Service on North Korean security guards present, not knowing what to expect.  “OK, let’s do it,” Trump said to Kim, proceeding to cross the DMZ into North Korea, a place no other U.S. president has been.  But more importantly than the photo-op, there’s a real rapport Trump has developed with Kim, despite the fact that Trump walked out of the Hanoi summit Feb. 28, once he knew that Kim was not prepared to de-nuclearize the Korean Peninsula, as he promised June 12, 2018.  Trump’s been slammed by Democrats and the press for not getting Kim to dismantle his nuke and ballistic missile arsenal.  While that’s certainly Trump’s goal, the most important part of Trump’s summits with Kim was to develop a close personal relationship.  When the two leaders met June 29 in the DMZ, the rapport was there for all to see.

            Walking together to North Korea, then returning to an impromptu mini summit at Panmumjon’s Freedom House, Trump and Kim showed there’s much more to their relationship than only nuclear disarmament. Judging by the extended meeting, it looks more likely that both leaders want to sign a peace treaty in the near future before any attempt to dismantle Kim’s nukes and ballistic missiles. Jetting to meet Kim in the DMZ after finishing the G20, Trump silenced his critics, knowing that the high stakes international diplomacy made him look like a world leader.  Demonized by Democrats and the press, Trump showed beyond any doubt he’s commander-in-chief, asserting mastery of high stakes diplomacy.   Whatever one says about the spectacle, Trump’s relationship with Kim has resulted in no more nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches over Japan in the last 18 months.

            More important than dismantling Kim’s nukes and ballistic missiles, Kim no longer sees the U.S. as its mortal enemy. Trump has reassured Kim that it is not the U.S. or South Korea’s intent to conquer the DPRK, something North Korean feared since the July 27, 1953 end of the Korean War.  Meeting in Freedom House for 50 minutes, Trump and Kim spent more time building an enduring friendship where a peaceful relationship is more important than Kim’s arsenal of nukes and ballistic missiles.  Like other nuclear-armed countries, the danger comes from a belligerent attitude, not the nukes and ballistic missiles per se. “I never expected to meet you at this place,” Kim told Trump shaking hands in the DMZ.  “Would you like me to step across?” Trump asked Kim.  Kim graciously invited Trump to be the first U.S. president to cross the border into North Korea.

            Kim knew that he was making history walking with Trump into North Korea.  “If your excellency would step forward, you will be the first U.S. president to cross the border,” Kim said, knowing the sense of history.  As Trump and Kim walked back to the DMZ, a scuffle broke out with security personnel and reporters, resulting in bruises to Trump’s new Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham   Security personnel for Trump, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in got into the scrum, unable to control hordes of reporters filming the historic encounter. Trump and Kim promptly went for their impromptu meeting in Freedom House, agreeing to continue talks on a wide variety of bilateral issues, including more U.S. trade with North Korea. Kim faces a real dilemma negotiating to reform the DPRK’s totalitarian regime, especially when it comes to dealing with political prisoners.

            Trump proved that there’s no substitute for personal charisma when it comes to breakthroughs in international relations. While advanced diplomacy with teams of bureaucrats has its place, there’s no substitute for one-on-one diplomacy.  Whether Democrats or the media want to recognize it or not, Trump has created a strong personal relationship with Kim where none previously existed.  Pivoting away from demanding Kim dismantle his nukes and ballistic missiles, Trump’s now focusing on getting a peace treaty with the DPRK.  When you consider the dangers of nuclear weapons, it’s preferable to have amicable relations with nuclear powers.  North Korea worked on nuclear technology for the last 40 years, it’s unrealistic to expect them to give it up.  What Trump can expect is a peace treaty that protects the United States against any nuclear threats from North Korea.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  

[opedguy]

Iran Rejects U.S. Sanctions and War

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Aug. 14, 2018.--Rejecting any talks with the U.S. to renegotiate the Iranian Nuke Deal, Iran’s 79-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out war with the United States.  Saying “death to America” since the 1979 Iranian revolution, Khamenei made it clear he wants no part of the U.S. after President Donald Trump cancelled former President Barack Obama’s Iranian Nuke Deal May 8.  Trump cancelled the P5+1 agreement, including the U.K, France, Russia, China and GemraY, to limit Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.  Trump cancelled the agreement because of Iran’s aggressive behavior supplying arms-and-cash to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.  Trump contends that had Obama not given Iran billions of cash, the Iranian regime would not have embarked on an aggressive military path in the Middle East.

            Khamenei said that he will neither renegotiate the Iranian Nuke Deal nor will he pursue war with the United States.  Only last week, Iran was threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest sea-lanes moving oil from Iran and other Gulf States to Europe and beyond.  When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened July 22 to shut the Strait of Hormuz, Trump responded, saying the U.S. would keep the shipping lanes open for commerce.  “Negotiations with the U.S. would definitely harm us and they are forbidden,” Khamenei said.  “Negotiation with the bully and very eager government of the U.S. means giving it an instrument through which it can add to its hostility.”  Khamenei didn’t hesitate to blame Rouhani, not U.S. sanctions, for Iran’s economic woes.  “Management problems unrelated to the sanctions,” said Khamenei, were crippling Iran’s economy.

             Khamenei changed Rouhani’s threat to shut down the Persian Gulf, saying he would not accept war with the U.S. Canceling the Iranian Nuke Deal, Trump hoped to pressure Iran to stop its proxy war in Yemen with Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman slammed Tehran for supplying medium-range ballistic missiles to Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Trump wants Iran to stop its proxy war with Saudi Arabia and to halt supplying rockets to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.  Recent Hamas rocket attacks into Israel threatens to destabilize an already volatile region, teetering on war.  Gaza’s southern neighbor, Egypt, wants no part of any ongoing war with Israel. Like Turkey, Iran likes to blame its economic woes on the U.S., when, in fact, it’s due, as Khamenei says, to poor management.  Ultimately, it’s due to Khaemenei’s authoritarian regime.

            No country with authoritarian rule that doesn’t permit a free press can expect much traction from a free-market economy.  While China seems like an exception, there’s plenty of government control over the economy, putting a damper on Chinese growth.  In Russia, Turkey and Iran, the authoritarian system discourages international businesses from investing in the economies. Since the failed July 15, 2016 coup, no business is safe from Turkey’s secret police, accusing it collaborating with foreign and domestic enemies.  Russia isn’t much different, where President Vladimir Putin thinks that foreign businesses warrant careful FSB [successor to the KGB] scrutiny, despite staying clear of the Kremlin.  Global businesses don’t want to respond to arbitrary and capricious investigations by government entities.  Authoritarian regimes drive most global businesses out.

            Iran’s big problem economically comes from the Supreme Leader’s unwillingness to surrender power for the good of the country.  No matter how much the Ayatollah plunders Iran, there’s little prospect of Iran breaking loose from the Mullahs’ grip anytime soon.  Khamenei wants to blame Iran’s economic problems on Trump but economists know what happens when authoritarian regimes clamp down on the population.  With threats from Rouhani about closing the Persian Gulf, it’s no wonder global businesses want to stay away.  Talking only about new missile systems and more war-making material, Khamenei and Rouhani discourage foreign investors from taking part in the economy. Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami boasted about new surface-to-air missiles but not new businesses investing in Iran.  Watching Saudi Arabia hit by Iranian-made Houthi fired missiles, tells the whole story.

            If Khamenei and Rouhani want the international community to invest in Iran, they need to stop supplying arms-and-cash to Yemen’s Houthi rebels.  Iran can’t supply Hamas and Hezbollah rockets and expect any global business to invest in the Iranian economy.  With Iran increasing the range of its ballistic missiles to 2,000 kilometers [1,250 miles], there’s little out of Iran’s range. While Khamenei and Rouhani like to blame Trump for everything wrong with the Iranian economy, it’s far more related to Iran’s authoritarian state.  Supplying arms and cash to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, sending rockets to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran continues to destabilize the Middle East. With Iran running wild, Trump had no choice but to cancel the Iranian Nuke Deal, re-impose economic sanctions and get leverage over Iran’s proxy war with Saudi Arabia before forcing the U.S. to intervene.

About the Author   .

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.          

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[opedguy]

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Mock Trump

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), July 26, 2018.--Reacting to 72-year-old President Donald Trump’s July 22 Twitter warning to not threaten the United States, Iran’s commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard Al-Quds force Major-Gen. Qassem Solemani returned the threat.  “As a soldier, it its my duty to respond to your threats . . . If you want to use the language of threat . . . talk to me, not the president [Hassan Rouhani].  It is not our president’s dignity to respond to you,” Solemani said to Iran’s semi-official Tasnin news agency.  Solemani forgets that Trump responded to Rouhani’s warning about the “mother of all wars” if Trump goes ahead with his plan to block sales of Iranian oil.  Trump pulled out May 8 of the Iranian Nuke Deal, deciding to re-impose U.S. sanctions to stop Iran from its three-year-old proxy war in Yemen against Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Arabia reported that one of its oil tankers was hit in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

            Saudi Arabia announced today that it will suspend oil shipment through the Red Sea’s  Strait of al-Mandab until Iran-backed Houthi rebels can be neurtralized. Solemani’s threat to Trump won’t pass unnoticed with the U.S. likely to help Saudi Arabia neutralize Houthi missile attacks in the Red Sea.  “We are near you, where you can’t even imagine . . . Come.  We are ready . . . If you begin the war, we will end the war,” said Solemani, knowing that Iran battled Iraq’s Saddam Hussein to loggerheads from 1980 to 1988, without any clear victor.  Solemani’s no fool, knowing that any war with the U.S would result in devastating losses to Iran’s Mullah regime.  Talking tough on the world stage to Trump makes headlines but would present a crushing blow to Iran’s already battered economy.  “You know that this war will destroy all that you possess,” Solemani told the Tasmin news agency.

            Defying Trump’s warnings to not threaten the United States, Solemani walks on thin ice threatening the U.S.  Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steintz said Solemani’s talk was all show, knowing any confrontation with the U.S. would deal a devastating blow to Iran’s military.  Trump responded July 22 to Rouhani when the Iranians president threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane in the Persian Gulf.  “President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before,” said National Security Adviser John Bolton. Solemani crosses the line when he starts threatening Trump, given the Iran’s Yemen proxy war already impacts Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.  Regardless of Solemani’s hype, Trump may be forced to intervene to stop Iran-backed Houthi rebels from attacking Saudi oil tankers.

            Solemani ratcheted up the rhetoric in response to Trump���s warning to Rouhani.  “You [Trump] threaten us with paying a price like few countries have every paid. Trump, this is the language of nigh clubs and gambling halls,” said Solemani, walking a dangerous line escalating the rhetoric.  Iran’s 56-year-old U.S.-educated Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif got into the fray July 22, the day after Trump issued his Tweet.   “Color us unimpressed,” tweeted Zarif July 23, urging Trump to be “cautious” with his threats against Iran.  Javad wasn’t happy May 8 when Trump pulled out of the Iran Nuke Deal he negotiated for two years with former Secretary of State John Kerry.  Trump .called the Nuke Deal the worst deal ever negotiated by the U.S, giving Iran $1.6 billion in cash and $150 billion in sanctions relief, paving the way for Iran’s aggressive actions in the Middle East.

            Iran thinks the Iraq War cured the U.S. from intervening in the Middle East, suffering 4,497 deaths, costing over $1 trillion. But Trump’s idea of military intervention is very different from former President George W. Bush, whose goal was democratizing Iraq and the broader Middle East.  Trump has no such ambitions and would be content to degrade the Iran military to stop its intervention in Syria and Yemen.  More threats and hostile rhetoric from Tehran could result in the U.S. getting more involved helping the Saudis end the Yemen conflict. “This is a war of words.  Neither side wants a military confrontation. But, of course, if America attacks Iran, our response will be crushing,” said an unnamed Iranian official.  More talk won’t discourage Trump from helping the Saudis beat back Houthi attacks on Saudi’s oil tankers.  With crude oil prices near $70 a barrel, the Saudis need U.S. help.

           If Trump decides to intervene to beat back Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t try to get in the way. Putin has tried to get Iran’s al-Quds force to end operations near Israeli-controlled Golan Heights to no avail. With Iran supplying rockets to Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip and arming Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, they’re sowing too much instability in the volatile Middle East.  Conventional wisdom says the U.S. wants to stay out of another confrontation in the Middle East.  But with 54-year-old Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heading a more muscular U.S. foreign policy, it’s more likely the U.S. will intervene to help Saudi Arabia. “The Red Sea which was secure is no longer secure today with the presence of American forces,” said Solemani, saying the opposite of reality.  With Iran supplying arms-and missiles to the Houthis, Red Sea shipping lanes are no longer safe.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Pompeo Works on Denuking Pyongyang

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), July 7, 2018.--Slammed by the U.S. press for not demanding denulearization more quickly, 54-year-old Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met July 5-6 in Pyongyang to discuss post-summit action on disarmament. Called “regrettable” by North Korean authorities, Pompeo came to Pyongyang with a tough message from 72-year-old President Donald Trump to work on denuclearization as promised in the joint communiqué following the June 12 summit.  Before Trump held the summit with Kim, no one in the press believed it was even possible for an American president to meet with the ruthless North Korean dictator.  After the summit, the press ripped Trump for not getting enough from Kim in concrete steps toward disarming North Korea’s nukes and ballistic missiles.  Now the maddening press blames Pompeo for pushing too hard to get results from the North Korean dictatorship..

           U.S. press jumped all over North Korea’s remarks that Pompeo’s actions were “regrettable,” meaning that he asked for too much, too soon. But the press, unable to control its anti-Trump bias, must fabricate any story to prove Trump’s incompetence. Calling Pompeo “robber-like” in his demands, the North Korean News Service [KCNA[ engages in typical hyperbole, feeding the anti-Trump media.  What the U.S. media wants in nothing short than total failure by White House, hoping to convince voters before November’s Midterm elections to toss out Republicans. Pompeo’s high-level meetings with North Korea were designed to follow up on the June 12 promise to disarm Kim’s nukes and ballistic missiles.  Pompeo made clear that the U.S. would provide zero economic support, until North Korea made good on its promise to dismantle their nukes and ballistic missiles.

            North Korean officials told the press that Pompeo pushed too hard, too soon to work on the disarmament promised during the summit. “We expected the U.S. side to come up with constructive measure to help build trust in the spirit of reunion. We’re thinking about doing something corresponding to that,” said North Korea’s Foreign Ministry.  “The attitude and the position of the U.S. during the talks was regrettable,” showing the discrepancy between the U.S. and North Korean position.  But the press used North Korea’s disappointment as proof of White House incompetence, not North Korea’s reluctance to give up their nukes and ballistic missiles.  Calling U.S. demands a “unilateral and strong denuclearization request,” North Korean officials complained about the U.S. not working toward the peace treaty first before making demands to disarm Pyongyang’s nukes and ballistic missiles.

            Unable to figure out how to respond, the anti-Trump press can’t contain its political bias in an election years.  U.S. press can’t have it both ways:  Accusing Trump of not getting Kim to disarm, and, at the same time, blaming the White House for making too many demands.  If the press reported accurately, they’d say that Washington and Pyongyang have put their best foot forward to work toward peace. Less than a year ago, North Korea was threatening to hit the U.S. homeland with a nuclear missile.  Trump was accused by the press of war-mongering when he threatened Kim with “fire-and-fury” nearly a year ago.  One year later and Trump’s working on a peace treaty and nuclear disarmament.  Pompeo went back-and-forth with North Korea’s spy chief Kim Yong-choi, discussing how both countries can meet each other’s demands in the context of peacemaking.

            Despite the U.S. press calling the talks a failure, North Korea liked the talks, despite feeling the heat.  “We did have very serious discussions on very important matters yesterday,” Kim said.  “So thinking about those discussions you might have not slept well last night,” admitting that substantive talks took place.  Trump’s enemies in the press continue to call Pompeo overly aggressive, off-putting for Kim Jong-un’s taste.   Yet, despite the bluster in KCNA’s reporting, both sides are actively involved in serious dialogue, busy working on a peace treaty and all the comes with it.  “We never though it was going to be easy,” said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert,” disputing the press characterization that talks went badly.  Unlike former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Pompeo’s not over his head, well in his elements negotiating the terms for meeting Trump’s North Korea policy.

            U.S. press continues to characterize everything Trump does as bad, whether at home or in foreign policy.  Talking peace with North Korea, once considered unthinkable, is now a reality, despite differences that remain.  Engaging North Korea at the peace table is preferable to talking how either U.S. or North Korean ICBMs are about to fly across the Pacific Ocean. Talking about a peace treaty is exactly what both countries need to deal with trust-building measures important to North Korea.  While there’s no big announcement yet, both sides are working in good faith to forge a peace agreement.  If the U.S. seems overly focused on nuclear disarmament, it’s because the press wants Trump to fulfill his promise of ”complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.”  No one expected that to happen overnight, only to see good-faith efforts to bring it about.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Iran Fears New U.S. Sanctions

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 23, 2018.--After canceling May 8 U.S. involvement in former President Barack Obama’s July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPA] AKA “Iranian Nuke Deal,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced re-imposing punitive sanctions.  Under the 2015 deal Iran agreed to suspend its weapons grade uranium enrichment program in exchange for $150 billion in sanctions relief plus $1.6 billion in cash.  Since the deal, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards [IRGC] al-Qauds force has armed Houthi rabels in Yemen to fight a proxy war against Saudi Arabia, set up offensive military bases in Syria and now threatens to lay waste to Tel Aviv. When Trump decided to cancel U.S. involvement in the JCPA, it was to gain more leverage with Tehran. Left unchecked for the last three years, Iran has run amok in the Middle East, sponsoring revolution and threatening U.S. allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

            When Iran insisted in 2015 to involve the U.N. Security Council, namely, the P5+1, including the U.S., U.K, France, Russia, Germany and China, they hoped to force the U.S. to stay in the agreement.  Only Kerry and Iran’s 56-year-old  Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif negotiated the deal, with all other countries signing on.  Iran claims the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency Agency [IAEA], says its in full compliance with the agreement.  Yet the IAEA admits that they’ve never been granted access to Iran’s sensitive military sites, something needed for real verification..  But more than a nuclear agreement, the JCPA was supposed to bring Iran into compliance with international norms, including restraining its support for Mideast proxy wars and building its ballistic missile program, threatening U.S. allies in the region.

            Trump decided to cancel U.S. involvement in the Nuke Deal to exercise Plan B, implementing new sanctions to contain Iran’s aggression in the region. ”America does not want to get involved in another war in the region.  Iran also cannot afford more economic hardship . . . always there is a way to reach a compromise,” said an unnamed Iranian official, maintaining his anonymity. Once Trump backed out of the deal, Tehran has been busy convincing Russia, China and the European Union to stay in the agreement.  Iran has threatened to leave the deal and restart its weapons grade uranium enrichment program.  Insisting that its enrichment program was only for “peaceful purposes” doesn’t square with threats to ramp up its enrichment program.  Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has shown zero interest in renegotiating the JCPA or adding on any additional conditions.

            Given Iran’s aggressive behavior in the Mideast, Trump determined the Nuke Deal harmed U.S. national security, tying the U.S. hands when it came to Tehran.  “Americans can never be trusted.  We don’t give a damn to their threats and sanctions,” said the nameless Iranian official.  When Trump announced his decision to back out of the agreement May 8, he said he supported the aims of the Iranian people.  Iranian officials took that to mean he supports regime change.  “They [Americans] are lying.  Even if Iran accepts all these demands, the will continue to demand more.  Their aim is changing Iran’s regime,” showing parallels to Kim Jong-un’s North Korea, threatening to cancel his June 8 summit with Trump.  Both regimes have zero respect for the will of the people, doing everything possible to assert total control over the population, regardless of popular sentiment.

            Iran’s anemic economy drove Khamenei to agree to the Iranian Nuke Deal back in 2015.  Pompeo’s May 21 announcement of new economic sanctions if Iran doesn’t change its behavior should come as no surprise.  Iran knows that the EU does more business with Iran, especially with its energy sector, less likely to go along with new U.S. sanctions.  Pompeo has warned U.S. allies that violating U.S. sanctions could result in sanctions against any company doing business with Tehran.  “If Americans push Iran to the corner . . . then Iran will have no other option but to react harshly,” said Tehran-based analyst Saeed Leylaz, not specifying what Iran would do. Given Iran’s struggling economy, it’s unlikely the Mullah regime would risk more deterioration to the Iranian economy.  Iran’s confrontations are usually through asymmetric warfare, supporting proxy conflicts in the region.

            Iran wants to divide U.S. allies into continuing the Nuke Deal, despite the damage done to U.S. national security.  Whatever petroleum products the EU buys from Iran, it’s not enough to threaten the relationship to the United States.  Only Russia and China likes to pick up the business slack when the U.S. gives Moscow an opening.  “Iran has done well in proxy wars, but they cannot confront Israel or the U.S. in a direct war,” said the unnamed Western diplomat.  Iran rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s May 17 call to have all foreign forces leave Syria.  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said May 21 that he has no intention of asking Iran to leave Syria.  With al-Assad and Tehran teaming up against Israeli in the Golan Heights, Trump and Pompeo believe there’s no better time to hit Tehran with more sanctions. When the sanctions bite, Iran will reluctantly return to the bargaining table.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma

.    

[opedguy]

Russia Backs Iranian Nuke Deal

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 4, 2018.--Expecting 71-year-old President Donald Trump to back out the 2017 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPA], AKA the Iranian Nuke Deal, Russia sees an opportunity to triangulate Iran. With Iran nearly at blows with Israel, Russia looks to gain more leverage in the Middle East sucking up to Iran.  Since signing off with the P5+1, U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany, to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment program for 10 years, Russia wants to back Iran’s efforts to resist U.S. foreign policy.  Not since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis has U.S.-Russian relations been so poor, working at cross-purposes in the Middle East.  Russia and Iran joined forces to save the flagging regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from a determined Saudi proxy war to topple his Shiite government.  Joining forces with Syria and Russia, Iran directly confronts U.S. foreign policy.

            Trump sees former President Barack Obama’s Iranian Nuke Deal as a farce since there’s no way to verify Iran’s compliance at its secret military sites.  Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu insists he has proof that Iran has not stopped enriching military grade uranium, something Iran denies.  Yet when Iran denies that it ever had any intention of building an A-bomb, it simultaneously warns Trump of the consequences of backing out the 2015 agreement, namely, ramping up uranium enrichment.  If Iran’s uranium enrichment program isn’t for a bomb, then what’s it for?  Or, threatening to ramp up military grade enrichment, loses all meaning if Iran only enriches uranium for reactor fuel or medical radioactive isotopes. With or without the U.S. vacating the JCPA, Russia and Iran have developed common ground for economic cooperation and shared nuclear and ballistic missile technology.

              Trump’s May 12 decision to either stay in the Iranian Nuke Deal or back out has little to do with Russia’s economic cooperation with Iran. Already buying Russian-made S-300 missile defense systems, Tehran spends billions for Russian technology.  “It might even be easier for us on the economic front, because we won’t have any limits on economic cooperation with Iran.  We would develop bilateral relations in all areas—energy, transport, high tech, medicine,” said Vladimir Yermakov, Director General of the Department of Non-Proliferation and Arms Control at Russian Foreign Ministry. Trump already knows the close economic ties between Moscow and Tehran, something that won’t weigh into his decision to abandon the JCPA.  Trump’s new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agrees that Obama’s Iranian Nuke deal did more for Obama’s resume than U.S. national security.

            Since signing the JCPA July 15, 2015, Iran has actively backed revolution in Yemen, fighting a proxy war with Saudi Arabia, supplying arms-and-cash to Yemen’s Houthi rebels.  Iran actively tries to undermine Israel’s national security setting up permanent air and land bases in Syria.  Flying predator drones into Israeli territory, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ordered air strikes at Iran’s Syrian strongholds. Promising to wipe Tel Aviv off the map, Iran is close to coming to blows with Israel.  When Israel celebrates its 70th anniversary May 14, Iran has warned it may hit Tel Aviv with long-range ballistic missiles.  With Trump considering attending the 70-year-anniversary, Iran’s missile threats directly threaten Israel and the U.S.  Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Trump April 30 that Iran is ready to defend itself against U.S. aggression.

            Iran hopes a security arrangement with Russia would deter the U.S. from acting aggressively militarily.  “If the United States breaks an international agreement backed by U.N. Security Council resolutions, it will be the United States that should suffer the consequences.  Neither Iran nor China nor Russia nor the European states should lose out,” said Yemakov.  Iran has done everything possible to split U.S. allies away, if Trump decides to vacate the Nuke Deal. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said yesterday that Iran will not renegotiate the 2015 agreement, nor add on to it.  Zarif insists that Iran is in compliance with 2015 agreement, despite not permitting the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Inspectors [IAEA] to inspect secret military sites.  Trump’s concluded that without intrusive inspections, the JCPA is worthless, not worth the paper on which it’s written.

            When Trump met April 24 with French President Emmanuel Macron, he laid out his case for vacating the 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal. Macron listened to Trump and came around by the end of their three-day visit.   Macron understood Iran’s role in destabilizing Saudi Arabia and threatening Israel, setting up permanent bases in Syria.  Realizing that Iran had breached the spirit of the Nuke Deal, Macron understood why Trump must back out the deal.  Former Secretary of State John Kerry, when negotiating the deal with Zarif, said some deal was better than no deal.  After watching Iran subverting Yemen and the Middle East over the last three years, something must be done stop Iran’s grand scheme to destabilize the Middle East..  Continuing the Nuke Deal perpetuates the illusion that Iran’s complying with the agreement.  Ending the deal allows Trump more options to rein in Iran before its too late.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

e

[opedguy]

Kim Jong-un Calls for Korean Reunification

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Jan. 25, 2018.--Announcing his desire to reunify North and South Korea, 34-year-old dictator Kim Jong-un hopes to split South Korea from the United States, especially 71-year-old president Donald Trump.  Trump’s warned Kim about “fire-and-fury” August 8, 2017 in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear threats against the United States.  North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said Sept. 13, 2017 that the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [DPRK] would reduce the U.S. to “ashes and darkness,” “sink” Japan and “wipe out” South Korea, making more nuclear threats against the U.S .and its allies.  When Kim talks of “wiping out” South Korean he’s talking about more than nuclear threats: He’s talking about wiping out South Korea’s political power structure and running South Korea from Pyongyang. Km’s overture to reunification today seeks to drive a  wedge between Washington and Seoul.

           Playing pernicious propaganda games is part of totalitarian regimes, speaking in what the British author George Orwell called “doublespeak” in his classic novel “1984.”  When you consider Kim’s brutal totalitarian regime, calling Peoples Republic of Korea “Democratic,” tells the whole story.  Talking about reunification Kim plays to South Korean fears of U.S. military intervention.  South Koran President Moon Jae-in promised during his 2015 election to work toward peaceful relations with Pyongyang.  Moon expressed concern about the belligerent back-and-forth between Trump and Kim, both threatening to attack the other.  North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told the United Nations Sept. 23, 2017 that it was “inevitable” that DPRK ballistic missiles would hit the U.S. Since then, the DPRK has been telling U.S. allies “not to worry” about its nukes and ballistic missiles.

           Telling all Koreans ‘at home and abroad” to make a “breakthrough” to promote trade and travel between the Koreas without foreign involvement, the Kim regime played to the global audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha took the bait, calling for negotiations on Kim’s nukes and ballistic missile program.  Speaking in Davos“[the nuclear issue] has to be solved through diplomatic endeavors. The idea of military solution is unacceptable,” said Kang, speaking to Trump, who drew a red line on Kim’s pursuit of a nuclear-tipped Intercontinental Ballistic Missile [ICBM].  Kim boasted after a Sept. 3 ICBM test of its Kwasong15 ICBM that the DPRK could hit anywhere in the United States.  Kang’s statement panders to the European Union, whose leaders strongly oppose any war on the Korean Peninsula.

             Showing thaat Kang knows she can’t control what the U.S. must do to protect its national security, she admitted she would be briefed on any U.S. military action.  “I’m assured that anything the United States does on this front is done with close consultation with us,” Kang admitted to reporters in Davos.  While saying the military action on the Korean Peninsula is “unacceptable,” Kang knows that it’s not her call.  North Korea made clear Jan. 9 in meeting with South Korea over sending a delegation to the Feb. 8-25 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that there would be no discussion about North Korea’s nukes and ballistic missiles.  Kim has made clear that he considers North Korea a “nuclear state,” and would not under any circumstances disarm its nukes and ballistic missiles.  North Korea has told NATO and South Korean that its nukes and ballistic missiles are intended only for the U.S.

           Pushing its reunification propaganda at Davos, Kim’s faces a dim reality of what happens after the Seoul Winter Olympics Feb. 25.  When the international community clears out of  Seoul, Trump will resume his demand that Kim disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles.  So far, the DPRK has shunned all U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for Kim’s nuclear disarmament.  While Kim likes to blame only the U.S., he knows that his allies China and Russia have signed on to the Security Council resolutions.  Unlike past U.S. administration, Trump has promised that Kim will not get an operational ICBM to threaten the U.S. or its allies.  CIA and other intel sources estimate that Kim is within a year, if not sooner, of a nuclear-tipped ICBM. Trump told South Korea Sept. 3 that he would not tolerate “appeasement” of North Korea’s nukes and ballistic missiles.

           South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang took Kim’s bait hook, line and sinker about reunifying the two Koreas.  Pandering to pacifism in South Korea, Kim tries his best to split Seoul from Washington over Kim’s nukes and ballistic missiles. Telling NATO and South Korea that its ICBMs are intended only for the U.S., Kim reinforces Trump’s determination to disarm the North Korean tyrant.   No one knows how to play propaganda games better than North Korea, trying to seduce South Korea into believing Kim’s lies.  Kim schemes with his nukes and ballistic missiles to reunify the Koreas but only if Pyongyang becomes the controlling legal entity.  With nearly 40,000 U.S. troop defending South Korea since July 27, 1953, Seoul knows whom to trust.  Kim’s call for “reunification” is about South Korea pressuring Trump to appease Pyongyang.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[liesmyth]

#like yes C— gave him very good advice that he should have followed re: vengence and spite#but John is not the only one who brushed her off#A— also waved her off with 'yeah we'll get to that after we've shown the bastards'#after A— and M— negotiated for John to have control of a nuke#John focused on the death side of his powers yeah but who was it thst went out and dug up a graveyard for him?#who framed him as a religious figure and compared him to Jesus?#he didn't come up with that one himself#john said he wiped his friends' minds to absolve them of the guilt for the parts they played in what happened#and while I'm sure he had other motives#it's astounding how well his stated plan worked @mayasaura

I'm always thinking about the implications of the mindwipe. Killing your friends while they're still alive and walking. Taking away their memories their selfhood and their identity but their guilt along with it. Washed clean of the original sin.

Obsessed with that bit where P— told John to be a bad wizard. That they could write the history books later to say he was good, but what he needed to do now was to scare the shit out of people. What he needed was leverage.

Because that's what he did! That's exactly what he did. He got his leverage, he played the bad wizard, he scared the shit out of everyone. And then after the dust settled, when he was the last man standing, he wrote the history books to say he was good.

And like. The thing that gets me is. After all that, he named her Pyrrha.

They won. It wasn't worth it.

[katenepveu]

OP's tags on second post:

#like yes C— gave him very good advice that he should have followed re: vengence and spite #but John is not the only one who brushed her off #A— also waved her off with 'yeah we'll get to that after we've shown the bastards' #after A— and M— negotiated for John to have control of a nuke #John focused on the death side of his powers yeah but who was it thst went out and dug up a graveyard for him? #who framed him as a religious figure and compared him to Jesus? #he didn't come up with that one himself #john said he wiped his friends' minds to absolve them of the guilt for the parts they played in what happened #and while I'm sure he had other motives #it's astounding how well his stated plan worked

Obsessed with that bit where P— told John to be a bad wizard. That they could write the history books later to say he was good, but what he needed to do now was to scare the shit out of people. What he needed was leverage.

Because that's what he did! That's exactly what he did. He got his leverage, he played the bad wizard, he scared the shit out of everyone. And then after the dust settled, when he was the last man standing, he wrote the history books to say he was good.

And like. The thing that gets me is. After all that, he named her Pyrrha.

They won. It wasn't worth it.

[ihasafandom]

#like yes C— gave him very good advice that he should have followed re: vengence and spite but John is not the only one who brushed her off A— also waved her off with 'yeah we'll get to that after we've shown the bastards' after A— and M— negotiated for John to have control of a nuke John focused on the death side of his powers yeah but who was it thst went out and dug up a graveyard for him? who framed him as a religious figure and compared him to Jesus? he didn't come up with that one himself john said he wiped his friends' minds to absolve them of the guilt for the parts they played in what happened and while I'm sure he had other motives it's astounding how well his stated plan worked the locked tomb ntn spoilers emperor john gaius

Obsessed with that bit where P— told John to be a bad wizard. That they could write the history books later to say he was good, but what he needed to do now was to scare the shit out of people. What he needed was leverage.

Because that's what he did! That's exactly what he did. He got his leverage, he played the bad wizard, he scared the shit out of everyone. And then after the dust settled, when he was the last man standing, he wrote the history books to say he was good.

And like. The thing that gets me is. After all that, he named her Pyrrha.

They won. It wasn't worth it.