The United States is using “the Turks as de facto mercenaries” in Syria in order to continue Washington’s destabilization effort in the war-torn country, an analyst says. Keith Preston made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Sunday when asked about US President Donald Trump who had defended his decision to pull American forces out of northern Syria.
Category Archives: Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy
Screwing Over the Kurds: An All-American Pastime Reply
By Nicky Reid aka Comrade Hermit
Exile in Happy Valley
I have long been a vocal supporter of the Kurds, even before the Syrian clusterfuck sparked the Rojava Revolution. Part of this comes from my checkered past as a lapsed Tankie-Guevarist. I grew up gorging myself on New Left folk tails of Third World rebellion. The fearsome PKK were one of a dozen or so clans of crimson bearded renegades, fighting like Castro for some post-colonial utopia. I read everything I could find about the Bolshevik adventures of groups like FARC, Hezbollah and the Naxalites. But the thing that set the Kurds apart was their fourth quarter conversion to anarchism which closely mirrored my own.
Abdullah Ocalan discovered the works of Murray Bookchin right around the time I dropped communism for panarchy and syndicalism. And when the wrest of Syria sunk into CIA sponsored Salafi hell, the Ocalan influenced Kurds of the YPG created a successful stateless society that flourished amidst the chaos. It was proof positive that anarchism could work. But it was all over the moment the YPG accepted the poison gift of American military occupation. Anarchism quite simply cannot coexist with the greatest source of imperial tyranny on the fucking planet. The only sick comfort I took in this nauseating arrangement is that I knew it wouldn’t last. That’s because, dearest motherfuckers, screwing over the Kurds is a time-honored American pastime.
The original Kurdish screwjob was the work of that whimsical Bond villain known as Henry Kissinger. During his busy time as Secretary of State and National Security Adviser under Nixon and Ford, respectively, Henry cooked up a devilish little scheme with the help of his flunkies in Israel and the Shah’s Iran. Iraq was becoming suspiciously cozy with the Soviet Union. So they flooded Iraq’s long suffering Kurdish independence movement with Soviet hardware pilfered from the killing fields of Vietnam and the Sinai Peninsula. Mustafa Barzani, the founding father of the modern Peshmerga, didn’t trust the Shah farther than he could squeeze his ham-fist up his pinched little quisling asshole, no sane Mesopotamian did, but he believed in his heart of hearts that America was that shining beacon of freedom on the hill. Mustafa was a sucker. Once Henry and Co. managed to frighten Iraq into playing ball, we quickly drummed up a deal between them and Iran that included handing over the Kurds on a spit. Not only did old Henry, that Nobel pacifist, refuse to even return Mustafa’s frantic calls for help, he cut all humanitarian aide to the region as Helter Skelter came tumbling down. The Kurds were slaughtered and Kissinger summed up America’s Kurdish policy in a nutshell when he told a disgusted congress that “One should not confuse undercover action with social work.” If only the Kurds took his advice.
US military–industrial complex guides American political system Reply
Press TV. Listen here.
The military–industrial complex in the United States has vast influence over the country’s economy and government policy, says an American political analyst.
“The armaments industry is such an important part of the American economy and such a powerful force within the American political system; in many ways it is the American political system,” said Keith Preston, chief editor of AttacktheSystem.com.
“It’s been said that the United States doesn’t just have a military–industrial complex; it is a military–industrial complex,” Preston told Press TV on Tuesday.
“And that’s extended internationally through the fact that the United States has hundreds of military bases spread out all over the world, they’ve got nuclear weapons deployed in different places,” he added.
“The armaments industry guides American policy.”
Russia says it is closely watching the United States’ work on developing new weapon systems, months after Washington abandoned an arms control treaty with Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russian authorities “are actually keeping a close watch on Washington’s actions with regard to the development of new weapon systems.”
Back in early August, US President Donald Trump officially withdrew his country from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which had been concluded in 1987 by then-US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The INF had banned all land-based missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers and covered missiles carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads.
PressTV-US military steps up efforts to counter China’s rising powerThe US Defense Department has been sharply expanding its efforts to counter China’s growing military power.
Trump’s withdrawal from the INF reflect the new momentum his administration has given to the US policy of “strategic rivalry” with China and Russia, two countries seen increasingly as a threat by Washington.
Last month, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned European nations to tackle what he called growing security and economic threats from China and Russia, the latest sign that Washington has shifted its main focus from the US wars in the Middle East to confronting Beijing and Moscow.
Israel responsible for attacks on Popular Mobilization Units: Iraqi PM Reply
US Democrats not sincere in their concern for Yemen war: Analyst 2
RNA – Democratic Party lawmakers only began criticizing the Saudi war against Yemen after the murder of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said Keith Preston, chief editor of AttacktheSystem.com.
“The Democrats have seized on the situation in Yemen and they see this as a weapon that they can use against the Trump administration for political purposes,” Preston told Press TV on Sunday.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump is “turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s continued violence” against innocent Yemenis.
Pelosi, the highest ranking Democrat in Congress, made the remarks in a statement she released on Twitter Saturday a day after Trump approved a plan to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
She described Trump’s decision as an “outrageous attempt” to circumvent the will of the Congress.
“Americans are weary of war, and have no interest in entering another Middle East conflict,” Pelosi reiterated, “particularly on behalf of Saudi Arabia.”
Pointing to Saudi Arabia’s “continued assault on countless men, women and children,” Pelosi slammed the president for “turning a blind eye” to the “continued violence against innocent Yemenis.
Preston rejected Pelosi’s comments as insincere, saying her remarks are a “cynical political ploy” to hurt Trump’s re-election campaign.
“The goal of the Democrats is regrettably not to end the Saudi war in Yemen, the goal is simply to score partisan points when it comes to their own conflicts with the Republicans and the Trump presidency,” he added.
The Pentagon announced Friday it would send reinforcements to the region to bolster Riyadh’s air defenses following a recent drone attack on two major oil facilities owned by Saudi state oil giant Aramco.
The decision was made at the request of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the US Defense Department.
The Pentagon said the deployment would involve a moderate number of troops for what it called primarily “defensive in nature.”
The new decision comes after Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah fighters conducted strikes on the two facilities located in Abqaiq and Khurais on September 14. The attacks led to a halt in about 50 percent of the Arab kingdom’s crude and gas production, causing a surge in oil prices.
Tehran has fiercely rejected any involvement in the retaliatory attack by Yemeni forces against Saudi oil facilities and warned Washington that any military action against it will spell into an “all-out war” with immediate retaliation.
Report: EU warns to start withdrawing from JCPOA Reply
When Drones Come Home to Roost Reply
By Nicky Reid aka Comrade Hermit
Exile in Happy Valley
It was fucking beautiful. There are no more accurate words in the English dictionary to describe the vision I saw. I awoke Sunday afternoon, turned the TV on to CNN and there it was in all its infernal glory like Christmas Morning in hell. Standing six-hundred stories high above the sea of sand in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter, a leaning wall of towering flames shimmering across the night sky like an aurora borealis made of fire. As all the usual yammering skulls off camera spun fantastic tall tales about an Iranian conspiracy to deny the House of Saud their Allah given right to rape and pillage with abandon, only one thing, one message, burned through my frontal lobes like Abqaiq crude, “They did it. The Houthis really did it!” The resounding feeling of karmic justice was downright euphoric. I wanted to cry. I wanted to dance. Fuck, I wanted to masturbate to the sight of those rabid dogs getting exactly what they deserved.
After spending nearly half a decade watching Saudi Arabia’s savage holocaust in Yemen and the dogged Houthi rebels courageous if at times downright suicidal resistance, after pouring over a veritable ocean of pictures and footage of starving and slaughtered Zaydi children, somehow this conflict on the other side of the planet had become very personal to me. In spite of being a decadent pagan faggot, the chaste Houthi rebels had come to symbolize a greater narrative beyond their own struggle for independence. They had come to symbolize a greater resistance to a dying empire of Atlantic supremacy represented by their twisted Arab cartels in the Persian Gulf, the Salafi Goliath to the Shia Davids. But now, the unthinkable. David struck back hard with his RC slingshot, landing a spectacular blow to the vital organ Goliath held most dear, his wallet.
Iran says Aramco attacks were legitimate reciprocal response by Yemeni forces Reply
Bolton Firing Shows Trump’s Foreign Policy Not Consistent: US Analyst 1
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An American political commentator highlighted US President Donald Trump’s inconsistent approach toward foreign affairs, saying the president fired John Bolton to probably develop a “less aggressive stance” than the former US national security adviser.
“Certainly, there is a lack of consistency in the Trump administration when it comes to a variety of matters, including foreign policy,” Keith Preston, the chief editor and director of attackthesystem.com, told Tasnim in an interview.
He added, “Trump likely fired Bolton because the President is inclined toward a less aggressive stance than what Bolton’s supporters would prefer.”
The following is the full text of the interview.
Saudi Arabia ‘such a pariah state on the international level’ Reply
Press TV. Listen here.
Saudi Arabia’s devastating war against Yemen since 2015 has made it “a pariah state” in the world, says an American political analyst in Virginia.
Riyadh’s war as well as its involvement in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi have made Saudi Arabia very unpopular in the United States too, resulting in a new push in Congress to end the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen, Keith Preston, chief editor of AttacktheSystem.com, told Press TV on Tuesday.
Now, “members of the United States Congress are trying to rein in the Trump administration’s policies towards Saudi Arabia.”
“The Trump administration has become extremely supportive of the Saudi government because of the relationship that exists between the two countries in terms of arms sales, in terms of the petroleum industry, in terms of geopolitical interests and other things.”
“Because of the fact that Saudi Arabia has become such a pariah state on the international level, because of what’s going on in Yemen, and because of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in particular,” Riyadh has become “very unpopular in the United States,” he added.
PressTV-US lawmakers launch new bid to end Saudi war on YemenA bipartisan group of lawmakers in the US Congress say they are frustrated with Saudi Arabia’s deadly war against the people of Yemen and want to end it.
A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress are making a new effort to end Saudi Arabia’s deadly war against the people of Yemen, amid international outrage over the Saudi regime’s bombing of a Yemeni prison that killed over 100 people.
The lawmakers are seeking to protect an amendment to the annual US defense policy bill, which prohibits the Pentagon from providing the spare parts that Saudi Arabia needs to keep its warplanes, which are mostly US-made, in operational status.
The measure also ends certain forms of intelligence-sharing between Washington and Riyadh.
The amendment, first presented by Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California, has already been adopted by the House of Representatives in its version of the military authorization bill, and now the bipartisan group, which features members of both chambers of Congress, are trying to prevent the amendment’s omission.
US President Donald Trump has pledged to veto any bills that seek to undermine ties with Saudi Arabia as he did one earlier this year which banned a massive $8 billion arms sale to the kingdom.
Trump and his team have time and again touted Saudi Arabia as an important regional partner, which plays a vital role in keeping Israel secure while being considered a counterweight to Iran.
However, the war on Yemen, which has killed tens of thousands of people and caused near-famine conditions in the impoverished country, is drawing international attention.
A United Nations report released Tuesday said the US, UK and France may be complicit in war crimes in Yemen by arming and providing intelligence and logistics support to the Saudi-led coalition that starves civilians as a war tactic.
The report by a UN panel of experts accused the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of killing Yemeni civilians in air raids and deliberately denying them food in a country facing famine.
Hezbollah says targets Israeli military vehicle, all crews killed, injured 1
US war in Afghanistan has become a ‘political liability’ Reply
Press TV. Listen here.
The 18-year US war in Afghanistan has become a “political liability” for the administration of President Donald Trump and is growing more unpopular in the United States, says an American political analyst in Virginia.
“Americans increasingly are in favor of withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan,” said Keith Preston, chief editor of AttacktheSystem.com.
The US military “is trying to pull out gradually without giving the appearance of having been defeated; American policy makers do not want to view themselves as having lost the war in Afghanistan,” Preston told Press TV on Thursday.
“I suspect that what they want to do is maintain a puppet government in Afghanistan that will most likely continue in the same way that the current government has, which is essentially an American puppet,” he added.
Trump said Thursday that the US plans to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan from 14,000 to 8,600 and then will determine further drawdowns.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said the US will keep a troop presence in Afghanistan even if Washington reaches an agreement with the Taliban.
“We’re going down to 8,600 [troops] and then we make a determination from there,” the US president said. “We’re always going to have a presence.”
PressTV-Trump: Some troops to stay even after Taliban dealPresident Trump says the US will keep 8,600 troops in Afghanistan even if it strikes a peace deal with the Taliban.
Trump has repeatedly advocated for bringing US troops back from Afghanistan, putting him at odds with hawkish Republican lawmakers like Senator Lindsey Graham.
US officials have held several rounds of direct negotiations with the Taliban to pull out American forces in exchange for concessions. The militant group says it does not recognize the government in Kabul.
The Taliban said on Wednesday it was close to a “final agreement” with US officials on a deal that would see American forces withdraw from Afghanistan in exchange for a pledge that the country would not become a haven for other militant groups.
The US invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the ruling Taliban regime. US troops were first sent to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
American forces have since remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now, Donald Trump.
Iran’s Foreign Minister: US serious threat to internation system Reply
American elite divided over US-China economic ties Reply
Trump admin sees China as primary enemy Reply
Press TV. Listen here.
The administration of US President Donald trump views China as the “primary enemy” amid a growing divide between political and business leaders in the United States over how Washington should treat China’s growing military and economic threat, an American political analyst says.
Keith Preston, director of attackthesystem.com, said some in Washington supported Trump’s ongoing military and economic pressure against Beijing while many others called for less tensions in the relationship.
The divide between the elite became clearer on Friday, when Trump implied that the US central bank chief was a greater “enemy” than Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He made the remark after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned the trade war with China is a risk to the US economy.
“We have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed. I will work ‘brilliantly’ with both, and the US will do great,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?”
Preston told Press TV on Sunday that American corporations relied heavily on China because of cheap labor in the country as well as Beijing’s policy of handing out loans to foreign businesses.
This is while some parts of the US establishment believe the growing trade imbalance between the two sides was hurting the US as it allowed China to boost its economy at America’s expense, Preston added.
“China only has about half the economic power of the United States but the Chinese economy has grown exponentially in recent decades and there are some policymakers and some elites in the United States who are concerned about that and they wish to level this trade imbalance somewhat,” Preston argued.
“Another issue is the fact that China is increasingly viewed [by the US] as a geopolitical rival not only militarily but also economically,” he continued.
The United States is also heavily dependent on China for its military technologies, another factor that has split US officials about the correct approach.
“It is clear that the Trump administration represents a vein of the American that do view China as a primary enemy and wish to take a more hawkish position towards China,” the analyst added.
PressTV-Trump says US central bank chief greater ‘enemy’ than ChinaUS President Donald Trump has called Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell a greater “enemy” than Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump lashed out at China on Friday, vowing a quick response to its announcement of new tariffs and ordering US companies to leave the country.
China announced earlier on Friday it would impose new tariffs on US soybeans, lobsters, peanut butter and other imports worth $75 billion in retaliation for Washington’s latest round of punitive duties that take effect in two rounds, September 1 and December 15.
The United States will raise existing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports to 30 percent from 25 percent, beginning on October 1, Trump said on Twitter Friday.
He added that the duties on another $300 billion in Chinese products, set to take effect on September 1, will be increased by 5 percent, reaching 15 percent.
Why I’m a Proud Anti-American 1
By Nicky Reid aka Comrade Hermit
Exile in Happy Valley
Anti-American, that’s the popular slur for any critic of American foreign policy, especially in an election year. If you happen to have enough of a conscience to give a shit about who this country happens to be bombing or starving this week, you’re an anti-American, you hate the troops and you should go back to where you came from. The knee-jerk reaction to this knee-jerk reaction from most peaceniks, left and right, is to designate their opposition to empire as a form of patriotism. And I can respect that, but it’s not really my style. I’ve always been the kind of fat insane faggot who owns her slurs and wears them proudly like gang colors. I call it the Eazy E school of political incorrectness. You can be a patriotic pacifist, or you can be an Anti-American with attitude. My homegirls in the Squad have sheepishly chosen the prior, but I for one am proud to be a flag burning, middle finger waging, Anti-American bitch, and if Trump wants to send me back to the County Cork, I’ll pack my bags if he agrees to kiss my ass on the way out.
The stone cold reality is that my fervent anti-imperialism cannot be divorced from the country I live in. America is not a republic inflicted by empire. America is a glorified corporation defined by empire and it always has been. America has grown from a plucky little European slave colony to the deadliest war machine the world has ever seen. You’ll have to forgive me if I have trouble finding something to love about a rabid ax murderer like Uncle Sam, but for the sake of bitching lets unpack some of the cherished myths even antiwar patriots tend to cling to like exiles to a lifeboat.
Let’s start with an easy one. “People died for your freedom!” Every time I hear some Toby-Keith-love-it-or-leave-it-limp-dick belch that one out, I instinctively start laughing and then feel like a total cunt. People died for our freedom? No they didn’t. When was the last time your “freedom” was personally threatened by some bearded zealot from a shithole country? Did the Vietcong threaten our precious freedom to buy Coke and vote for reality TV rapists? Did the Taliban? The only thing these peasant malcontents threatened was America’s ability to treat the Third World like a broodmare.
“A State within a State”: Hezbollah as a Bulwark against the Atlanticist-Zionist-Gulf State Axis Reply
By Keith Preston
Introduction
Hezbollah is one of the most unique political organizations in the world and has the distinction of having forced the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to withdraw from southern Lebanon on two separate occasions. The first of these was in 2000, ending Israel’s 18-year occupation of the region. The second was during the 2006 Lebanon War following a renewed assault on Lebanon by the IDF. Hezbollah is also considered to be a model “fourth generation warfare” organization by theorists of generational warfare, such as William S. Lind. Fourth generation warfare theory argues that the nature of war has been transformed since the end of World War Two. Because of the invention of nuclear weapons, international warfare between states has largely become cost prohibitive. Consequently, the waging of war has become a matter of conflict between states and non-state actors primarily.
Non-state actors may include any organization that engages in armed conflict outside of the state system, such as guerrillas, insurgents, or terrorists. However, non-state actors also include organizations that provide functions usually considered to be the prerogative of states (such as the provision of social services, education, public infrastructure, or public security), or focal points of public loyalty other than states, such as movements, causes, religions, ideologies, or gangs. Fourth generation warfare theory indicates that many people around the world are transferring their primary loyalties away from traditional national patriotisms toward fourth generation forces of many kinds. For example, rather than considering themselves to be a patriotic citizen of their nation, a person may first consider themselves to be a loyal Muslim, socialist, or devotee of animal welfare. Hezbollah is considered by fourth generation warfare theorists to be the most sophisticated fourth generation model because of its ability to provide traditional state functions on a significant scale, and Hezbollah’s having superseded the Lebanese military as the “national defense” force of Lebanon.
American elite divided over US-China economic ties Reply
Press TV. Listen here.
The American elite are divided over what the economic relationship between the United States and China should be like, says a political analyst.
Keith Preston made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday when asked about President Donald Trump’s furious reaction after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had warned the trade war with China was a risk to the US economy.
In a furious flurry of tweets on Friday, Trump attacked the Powell’s stewardship of the world’s biggest economy.
“As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can ‘speak’ without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
“We have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed. I will work ‘brilliantly’ with both, and the US will do great,” he added.
“My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?”
Preston said, “There is a split within the American elite, within the American economic and political elite over the question of what the economic relationship between the United States and China ought to be.”
“It’s clear that the Trump administration represents a vein of the American elite that do view China as a primary enemy and wish to take a more hawkish position towards China when it comes to things like tariffs and trade and those kinds of issues, economic relationships and also military relationships as well.”
“On the other hand, there are other sections that the American elite that are very concerned about maintaining a trade relationship that currently exists between the United States and China, they do not want anything to disrupt that,” he added.
Trump lashed out at China on Friday, vowing a quick response to China’s announcement of new tariffs and ordering US companies to leave the country.
The attack came after China announced earlier on Friday it would impose new tariffs on US soybeans, lobsters, peanut butter and other imports worth $75 billion in retaliation for Washington’s latest round of punitive duties that take effect in two rounds, September 1 and December 15.
The United States will raise existing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports to 30 percent from 25 percent, beginning on October 1, Trump said on Twitter Friday.
PressTV-US to hike existing, planned tariffs on Chinese importsPresident Trump says the US will hike tariff rates on most imports from China in retaliation for Beijing’s new duties on American goods.
He added that the duties on another $300 billion in Chinese products, set to take effect on September 1, will be increased by 5 percent, reaching 15 percent.
US unveils warrant for seizure of Iran-operated Grace 1 Reply
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has unveiled a warrant for the seizure of the Iran-operated Grace 1 supertanker a day after Gibraltar’s Supreme Court confirmed the release of the vessel.
Who’s Afraid of Tulsi Gabbard? Reply
By Nicky Reid aka Comrade Hermit
Exile in Happy Valley
Elections are different for anarchists. We’ve already made our peace with the basic fact that representative democracy is a sham even when it’s not rigged by moneyed oligarchs. So when we do actually take part in the process, it’s usually for purposes of propaganda and/or Machiavellian strategy. One thing Trump was right about is the influence of the deep state, though it’s hardly the shadowy coalition of dope smoking lesbian Bolsheviks the Alex Jones-set imagines them to be (I wish.) Rather, they’re more of a loose coalition of rich old white men who travel back and forth between unelected positions in the federal government and the numerous industrial complexes of the Fortune 500. At the risk of sounding like a member of the tinfoil hat brigade, these are the people who really run this country. Elections, especially at the presidential level, are largely just theater, a glorified reality TV show designed to feed the masses the illusion of living in a democratic society beneath the steel boot of a rapidly decomposing empire.
I personally subscribe to the Murray Rothbard philosophy on elections, which basically goes that since the state is defined by it’s monopoly on the use of force, the best we the people can do when we’re not loading rifles is to support the most antiwar candidate available. To me, this school of thought is made doubly relevant by the fact that theoretically the only thing the president has direct authority over is the armed forces. To say that this philosophy has brought me to some strange places is an understatement. I have personally changed political parties no fewer than three times and counting. And I’ve found myself openly backing everyone from Jurassic goldbugs like Ron Paul to New Age hippie vaxxers like Jill Stein (who’s 2016 campaign sticker continues to haunt Hillaryites from the bumper of my Ford Taurus.)
The DNC’s bottomless clown car of milquetoast morons doesn’t exactly provide a lot of options for the Rothbardian voter. Most of the candidates seem to come from the Oprah School of social democracy, chumming debt besodden millennials with the promise of an endless procession of free shit, payed through taxing super-villains without offering to cut a single missile. The only solidly antiwar candidate was 89 year old former senator Mike Gravel, but since Mike has called it quits after essentially being banned from Cable TV and screwed out of his rightful place in the latest debates, that only leaves contrarian powder-keg, Tulsi Gabbard.
Israeli Lobby behind Senate Failure to Overturn Saudi Arms Sale Veto 1
My recent interview with Tasnim.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The US Senate failed in its latest bid to block the controversial sale of $8.1bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia due to the influence of the powerful Israeli lobby in the United States, an American political analyst said.
“…Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also allies of Israel, which is extraordinarily powerful in the United States as well. The (US) President has a very close relationship with Israel, and the Israel lobby essentially controls much of the US Congress. The American petroleum industry and other US business interests also maintain massive holdings in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. For these reasons, the President vetoed the resolutions, and the resolutions did not receive enough support in the Senate to override the veto,” Keith Preston, the chief editor and director of attackthesystem.com, told Tasnim.
Pompeo has ‘ulterior motives’ in expressing desire to travel to Iran 2
Press TV. Listen here.
It is clear that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has “ulterior motives” in expressing his desire to travel to Iran and be interviewed by Iranian news media, according to American political analyst Keith Preston.
On Thursday, July 25, Pompeo said he was willing to go to Iran for talks amid tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Asked if he would be willing to go to Tehran, Pompeo said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, “Sure. If that’s the call, I’d happily go there… I would welcome the chance to speak directly to the Iranian people.”
Some independent observers have said that Pompeo is actually not very interested in speaking with the Iranian people, but actually is concerned by the way Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is presenting Iran’s case on the American media to the US public.
They say Pompeo wants to counter Zarif by pushing the idea of travelling to Tehran and speaking to the Iranian media which has suffered several restrictions in the United States. Washington has also pressured social media giants to block Iranian media channels on YouTube and Google.
Preston said that Pompeo “thinks it’s an opportunity to score some propaganda points.”
