Even the neo-con warmongers’ house journal The Guardian, furious at Trump’s attempts to pull US troops out of Syria, in producing a map to illustrate its point, could only produce one single, uncertain, very short pen stroke to describe the minute strip of territory it claims ISIS still control on the Iraqi border.
Of course, the Guardian produces the argument that continued US military presence is necessary to ensure that ISIS does not spring back to life in Syria. The fallacy of that argument can be easily demonstrated. In Afghanistan, the USA has managed to drag out the long process of humiliating defeat in war even further than it did in Vietnam. It is plain as a pikestaff that the presence of US occupation troops is itself the best recruiting sergeant for resistance. In Sikunder Burnes I trace how the battle lines of tribal alliances there today are precisely the same ones the British faced in 1841. We just attach labels like Taliban to hide the fact that invaders face national resistance.
The secret to ending the strength of ISIS in Syria is not the continued presence of American troops. It is for America’s ever closer allies in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf to cut off the major artery of money and arms, which we should never forget in origin and for a long time had a strong US component. The US/Saudi/Israeli alliance against Iran is the most important geo-political factor in the region today. It is high time this alliance stopped both funding ISIS and pretending to fight it; schizophrenia is not a foreign policy stance.
There has been no significant Shia Islamic terrorist or other threat against the West in recent years. 9/11 was carried out by Saudi Sunni militants. Al Qaida, ISIS, Al Nusra, Boko Haram, these are all Sunni groups, and all Saudi sponsored. It is a matter of lunacy that the West has adopted the posture that it is Iran – which has sponsored not one attack on the West in recent memory – which is the threat in the Middle East.
The origin of this stance appears to lie in the fact that the Shia group Hezbollah proved to have the only military force among Israel’s neighbours capable of halting an Israeli invasion. After the disastrous invasion of Iraq resulted in an Iran friendly regime in Baghdad, the US decided for balance of power reasons to back Saudi regional power plays, only for Saudi Arabia to fall into the hands of the psychopathic warmonger Mohammed Bin Salman who escalated an already flawed policy to breaking point.
The chaos of this incoherent and counterproductive strategy is, peculiarly enough, what the neocons actually want. Perpetual war and destabilisation in the Middle East is their goal. One of the findings I had not expected to discover in writing Sikunder Burnes was that the British had been deliberately exploiting and exacerbating the Shia/Sunni divide as early as 1836 to the Imperial purpose. Today, by keeping Arab populations poor and politically divided, the neo-cons believe that they enhance the security of Israel, and they certainly do facilitate the access of western companies to the oil and gas of the region, as we see in destabilised Iraq and Libya.
The Clintons and Blair were the apotheosis of the capture of the mainstream “left” political parties by this neo-con Imperialist agenda in the Middle East. Sanders, Trump and Corbyn were the first politicians with any chance of power for many decades who did not pay lip-service to the neo-con agenda. Trump’s lack of enthusiasm for Cold War politics has been neutralised from any possible action on his part by the ludicrous lie that Russia hacked his election. Furthermore his greed has led to deals with Saudi Arabia which have largely undercut his declared preference for non-interventionism. And now in Syria, the very hint that Trump may not be fully committed to the pursuit of perpetual war has the entire neo-con establishment, political media and NGO, screaming in unison, both sides of the Atlantic.
I have written before that Trump may be a rotten President for Americans, but at least he has not initiated a major war; and I am quite sure Hillary would have done by now. For a non-American, the choice between Hillary and Trump ended up in balancing on one side of the scale the evil of millions more killed and maimed in the Middle East and the launching of a full on, unreserved new Cold War, against on the other side of the scale poorer Americans having very bad healthcare and social provision and America adopting racist immigration policies. I do hope that the neo-con barrage today arguing for more American troops in the Middle East, will help people remember just how very unattractive also is the Hillary side of the equation.
It is also very helpful in revealing the startling unanimity of our bought and paid for political, media and NGO class here in the UK.
Very sound points re Clinton vs Trump.
They were both poor candidates for several reasons, but on balance Clinton was clearly the more dangerous. This is a fact that a lot of the “liberal left” seem to have forgotten, or more likely didn’t want to accept in the first place.
Personally, I was glad when Trump won – though I was disappointed he didn’t follow through on a lot of his foreign policy stuff – and if he really means it when he says the US will pull out of Syria then that is all to the good.
No one invited them in to start with.
“Hillary as Prez…”
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0c3c0c45c930cf2dbc3ab968891122d021a0604fc8571da5f03295a11571039.jpg
‘E’s gorn. Ivan Lewis MP Lab Bury from the Labour party. He has been conflating criticism of Israel with anti-semitism. Good riddance. He should have been given the order of the boot way back.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/news/100740/former-minister-quits-labour-and-accuses-jeremy
‘Ivan Lewis (born 4 March 1967) is a British politician, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury South since 1997.
Lewis served in various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 2001 to 2010.
[Under Ed Miiband,] Lewis was Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport until October 2011, when he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. In the October 2013 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, he became Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, but did not retain the post in the reshuffle after Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader on 13 September 2015. On 23 November 2017, he was suspended from the Labour Party due to allegations of sexually harassing a 19-year old. On 20 December 2018 he resigned as a Labour MP, and consequently now sits an Independent.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Lewis
His register of interests reveal several paid for trips to Israel with the LFoI, several very large donations from the likes of Sir Trevor Chinn and Sir David Garrard*. The latter also financed a LFoI trip to Israel for Labour MPs including Ellman and Jim Murphy!
There is also a long list of paid for foreign trips from other sources for Lewis – Bangladesh, Burma, Tunisia, DRC and on and on.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=10357
Labour suspends ex-minister Ivan Lewis over sexual harassment claim
Party suspends MP for Bury South after woman alleged he touched her leg and invited her to his house in 2010, when she was 19
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/23/labour-suspends-ex-minister-ivan-lewis-over-sexual-harassment-claim
*Garrard – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Garrard_(property_developer)
Could this story be why Drones, resigning Labour sex pests and ‘Allo ‘Allo insults are taking up the days new?
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2018/12/20/institute-for-statecraft-slams-door-in-labour-mps-face/
This is explosive stuff and an MP is involved in uncovering it rather than be a part of it.
Preparing us for war it seems
On the last point about the bought and paid for political, media and NGO class in the UK, it is worth recalling the recently launched effort to influence the media and political agenda by the Integrity Institute, paid for by the FCO and other agencies (a bit like the White Helmets). For the latest report on this see:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/inside-the-temple-of-covert-propaganda-the-integrity-initiative-and-the-uks-scandalous-information-war/5663465
See my above reply to Sharp Ears to see the latest on that
Trump might not be committed to further war in Syria because the US is planning to concentrate on keeping Petro Poroshenko at the head of this failed state with Syrian-type chemical attacks.
https://johnplatinumgoss.wordpress.com/2018/12/20/planned-false-flag-in-donbas/
Actually, if the West doesn’t involve Russia in war with Ukraine, so they will lose a lot of money invested.
Look, what we have by this moment:
International Monetary Fund supposed to credit Ukraine with US 17.5 billion during 4 years beginning on March 2015. In fact they gave 5 billion in 2015, 1 billion in 2016 and another 1 in 2017. Because Ukraine has no money.
Now IMF approves a new programm instead, less than 4 billions for 14 month in ‘stand-by’ mode. It means, for payments on sovereign debt.
If Russia is pictured as agressor, so Russia will be obligated to pay. Neither Russia wants war, nor it wants to pay 🙂
We say “вы эту кашу заварили, вам ее и расхлебывать”
European Comission reports on mass violations in the agreement on visa-free regime and threatened to freeze it. Pavel Klimkin said that about a hundred thousand citizens leave the country every month.
*I predicted it in the spring, arguing with ukrainian people in Quora. Many of them are super-duper-ukrainian-patriots, but surprise surprise! are living in Canada or EU 🙂
Because you can live on welfare there, instead of working in your native country!
You can throw your rotten tomatoes at me, but I can’t resist 🙂 I’ll tell you more about russian folklore, proverbs and sayings this time.
Germans are belived to be good engineers, Estonians – very slow thinking, Americans – patriotic beyond everything, Jews – profit above all.
Ukrainians are believed to be *I’m sorry!* greedy and selfish. The proverb is:
“Когда хохол родился, еврей перекрестился.”
Literally:
“When an Ukrainian was born, a Jew crossed himself with Holy Cross blessing.”
Re. Christians cross themselves with fingers when scared.
No rotten tomatoes left in my garden.
Do you know any Russian jokes about idiots?
Do russians also call idiots, an idiot?
Дурак!
‘In folklore, a simpleton is a person whose foolish actions are the subject of often-repeated stories. Simpletons are also known as noodles, fools, and gothamites. Folklore often holds, with no basis in fact, that certain towns or countries are thought to be home to large numbers of simpletons’
‘Дурак’ refers to a person with limited knowlege, uneducated, stupid but kind-hearted. Knowlege can be gained. We rather love ‘durak’.
Idiot is a medicine term, it refers to innate low intellect abilities and is offensive.
We use ‘дебил’ (slight degree of idiocy) more often 🙂 it is offensive too, but connotation of the word is “I’m not happy with your annoying and improper action” instead of “you are idiot”
https://youtu.be/WdnEx13C904
дебил
Got any more?
I would teach you more, Dungroanin, if I were sure you’re kind-hearted and ask with sincere interest to russian folklore, mentality or linguistics 🙂
I don’t give weapons thoughtlessly
https://youtu.be/GhxqIITtTtU
Well aren’t you the canny one with your ability to give weapons – your english is a lot better already, you learn nearly as fast as that chimp with an AK-47. I look forward to your own blog where we can gather and chat.
I can’t wait for all the rest of your russian ‘jew’ jokes – which region of Russia are they the ethnic people of by the way? Can’t seem to see it on my old map. Hasbara?
Not a дебил
I think Tatyana “вы эту кашу заварили, вам ее и расхлебывать” more or less equates with our saying “You’ve made your bed, you can lie in it.”
I was intrigued by the use of “хохол” for a Ukrainian. It is not given in my old Smirnitsky Russian/English dictionary. That only gives the topknot meaning. But the Shlyakov/Adler Dictionary of Russian Slang explains the word derives from the Cossack hairstyle. We learn something every day. And at my age forget a few things.
John, ‘khokhol’ is a word exactly referring to the national hairstyle
https://www.meme-arsenal.com/memes/e3ab1373f939019331f80323bab1c920.jpg
It is metonymy, came in use very long ago.
My city was founded by Katerine II the Great, who had a treaty with ukrainian (zaporozhie) kossaks. My far ancestors, highly likely, were zaporozhie kossaks also.
You can find the hairstyle in world famouse paintings
https://muzei-mira.com/templates/museum/images/paint/repin-zaporozhcy+.jpg
I love that last link, the painting by Repin, who in my opinion was one of the most talented Russian painters. Like Tolstoy, whose portrait he painted, he was a vegetarian.
“Like Tolstoy, whose portrait he painted, he was a vegetarian”
haha random! Well nobody’s perfect.
John, I love Vasnetsov and Kramskoy 🙂
—
By the way, Hitler was vegetarian and good at painting
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/HitlerMaryWithJesus.jpg
“…by the way, Hitler was vegetarian and good at painting…”
Oh y.a.w.n.n.n. The utter inane boredom of having to refute this fatuous myth that has been debunked so many times, it is ridiculous. Yet, like any good zombie, it keeps coming back again and again and again, thanks to laziness (or no doubt in some cases an agenda of some sort or another).
https://michaelbluejay.com/veg/hitler.html
Hitler was not a vegetarian
…Before we see the evidence that Hitler wasn’t a vegetarian, it’s important to look at where the argument that he was comes from, because it’s an argument that’s rarely made honestly. People who insist that Hitler was a vegetarian usually just “heard it” somewhere, and immediately assumed it was true. And yet, if you tell them that Hitler wasn’t actually a vegetarian, these same people who instantly believed in Hitler’s vegetarianism without question, will suddenly demand all manner of proof that he was not….
…Why do they require such a high standard of evidence that Hitler was not a vegetarian, when they require no evidence at all that he was? Apparently many people want to believe that Hitler was a vegetarian. Perhaps they’re threatened by vegetarianism because it implies that they’re doing something wrong. But armed with the (mistaken) idea that the infamous Hitler himself was a veggie, that allows them to easily dismiss the whole concept of vegetarianism in one fell swoop….
https://foodrevolution.org/askjohn/hitler-a-vegetarian/
Hitler a Vegetarian?
Robert Payne is widely considered to be Hitler’s definitive biographer. In his book, Hitler: The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler, Payne says that Hitler’s “vegetarianism” was a “legend” and a “fiction” invented by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda. According to Payne:
“Hitler’s asceticism played an important part in the image he projected over Germany. …His asceticism was fiction invented by Goebbels to emphasize his total dedication, his self-control, the distance that separated him from other men. By this outward show of asceticism, he could claim that he was dedicated to the service of his people. In fact he was remarkably self-indulgent and possessed none of the instincts of the ascetic.” …
https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2017/12/13/why-hitler-wasnt-vegetarian-and-aryan-vegan-diet-isnt-what-it-seems
etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
Apologies for straying a little off topic in this refutation.
yes but he did have just one ball.
Thank you, Mistress Pliddy
I didn’t know, just ‘heard of’, exactly.
Oh my, flatulence! Who could be interested in this kind of information?
🙂
Heads up — Extremely interesting article here:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/inside-the-temple-of-covert-propaganda-the-integrity-initiative-and-the-uks-scandalous-information-war/5663465
bury that bitches.
Try this from the canary
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2018/12/20/institute-for-statecraft-slams-door-in-labour-mps-face/
Thanks!
“The Military’s Role in Building a Healthy Society”
“… challenging activities such as assault courses, night navigation exercises and camping ”
The Hitler Jugend, western branch.
With all this information one could almost think that our leaders last G20 meeting was to discuss the next war and from their POV a long overdue population cull.
The last two World Wars did a very fine job of of stopping the “red Menace” from taking hold of the western world.
This is an excellent take on the Middle East and the characteristics and relative danger of yankee imperial factions.
The army has gone into Gatwick today.
So a nuclear power can’t keep a major civilian airport serving its capital city operational when a drone hobbyist or two are having a laugh? Bullshit!
Look out for more such stories. It’s called managing expectations.
I predicted Heathrow, which is Spanish owned, might go bust. Perhaps Gatwick will too. Gatwick is owned by a “fund” registered in New York with a Nigerian CEO.
It’s not a kid playing around. The guy is too persistent for that. I think he’s getting into risky territory where a police gun might accidentally go off when they catch him.
Let’s hope he shouts “I am not resisting arrest” as loud as Lee Harvey Oswald did in the cinema.
But it’s not just one person.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn, by and by, that our brilliant hardworking intelligence services have “linked” the Gatwick drone(s) to Russia.
Bit by bit, they are working up the false flags towards a level at which war is not entirely out of the question. If a drone were to crash an airliner at Gatwick… and examination of its electronics were to find that all the code comments were in Cyrillic…
Ukrainian is written in Cyrillic.
Talking of which in this report by Patrick Lancaster it is quite clear that Ukraine is using drones, not just for reconnaissance, but to attack the people of Gorlovka and other Novorossiya cities. 20,000 troops have amassed round the city in recent days. Be prepared for a gross violation from Kiev of Minsk 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEmt-oH1waY&t=12s
John, I’m glad you spelt it as that, and not Horlivka.
Daily sitreps from the Donbass Defenders: http://armiyadnr.su
In Russian, of course, but you can use the Yandex browser set to auto translate if you want.
The BBC News press preview y’day said this “could be Putin playing games”, I then switched over to Sky News press preview where I was immediately ‘informed’ that “possibly Russia is behind it”.
The media, political class and security services in the UK are conditioning the population of the UK for a conflict with Russia to such an extent that ridiculous, fact-free, prejudiced assertions get floated out in a matter-of-fact manner and everyone just nods solemnly in agreement like a herd of brainwashed zombies.
“So a nuclear power can’t keep a major civilian airport serving its capital city operational when a drone hobbyist or two are having a laugh?”
But ….. but…. this story is suspect as heck, how come they airport staff or army/navy/air force cannot triangulate the signal that is guiding the drone? The damn place is bristling with electronics and yet a couple of good old boys have shut down the airport, so much for our perpetrations for any potential conflict with all this; Russia did this and that.
Triangulate! I doubt this term is somewhat familiar to ordinary people.
Do you have life safety fundamentals classes? Initial military training? Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Aviation and Navy? May be Physics, Radio sgnals, is mandatory course in your schools?
Triangulate!
It’s a simple concept. Take bearings to two church spires to find your location on a map.
Now when they adopt western style of education in russian schools, I’m afraid our children will never know triangulation 🙁
My son is in his 6th school grade, 12 years, big boy, taller then me. When I help him with Math I’m horrified. Modern textbooks sucks.
Yet they added religion basics, but threw away astronomy!
I too have been watching this story with a bemused sense of disbelief.
1.) the radio signal used by the drone has a rather limited range.
2.) the radio signal will be within a known frequency bandwidth.
3.) it is very easy to detect the source of the signals.
4.) drones have a limited battery life so have to return frequently to the operator for battery swaps/recharging, if the media can film the drone then a well trained spotter will be able to keep an eye on it and see the area from where it is being operated.
Given the above and the fact that the technology to detect the radio signal of the drone operator has been in wide use since WW2 one can only conclude that the story is complete and utter bollocks, or the UK is a nation of complete idiots with retards in control.
End to “Freedom of Movement” !
Re the Gatwick Drone:
The register lists some of the technical problems linked with shooting the drone down or jamming the signal etc:
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/12/20/gatwick_drone_non_shootdown_reasons/
That Register article is ridiculous in places.
“The next thing you could do is jam the command signals controlling the drones. Is that doable? Doable? Yes. Practical? Not really. Fraught with danger? Oh yes. It’s also illegal. (…) (T)he permission the plod need to jam the drones is something they simply don’t have right now, as far as we’re aware. You need to have authority under the Wireless Telegraphy Act to start broadcasting any kind of signal – even one intended to bring down a fleet of naughty drones.”
“ Cut off the GPS so it lands! (…) Do you want to be the one who signs off on the use of something that potentially screws over nearby GPS receivers in phones, tablets, and satnavs, and aboard dozens of airliners? No, thought not.”
Good job the drones aren’t spreading bubonic plague bacteria. At least I hope they aren’t.
My source says they could be shot down with an Apache helicopter with little risk but the main priority isn’t stopping them but identifying who’s controlling them.
They could probably be shot down with an air rifle. People used to make radio controlled model aircraft and laws were put in place to regulate that. Is a drone you can buy in the shops a radio controlled model aircraft?
@TroutMaskReplica,
At last a sensible suggestion. Any reasonably capable field target expert could take one of these drones down. My other question would be – how is it that these drones can be flying for a day? They are going to need their batteries changed – regularly.
A high end drone can fly 20 to 30 minutes before it needs batteries changing, so that is 48 times minimum during a day. That is 48 chances to get the person controlling it.
http://www.dronesglobe.com/guide/long-flight-time/
I simply do not believe this story about drones.
This is a job for a shotgun, not an air rifle etc, don’t care how good you are. I can hit a penny at 100m, but even if I could hit a moving drone (unlikely) it’s going to go straight through and then take a kids eye out half a mile away, or worse.
Shotgun fairly safe though since moving target no problem and the shot slows down so much. Been showered with that before, just made me angry and the shooter upset when I rammed his beautiful shotgun up his arse.
off topic.. thanks for reminding me of the cranky old Captain. Sometimes I think he invented everything.
Here’s one of the best videos on the whole frigging internet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CBDfY7zJlQ
Ahhh, Cannes in the 60s, white dresses, elegant cabriolets, Electric Truth and Ry on the slide..
Jamming GPS, blocking radio signals, using firearms? Anyone that has seen competitive drone racing will know that there are some very skilled drone operators who could knock the thing out of the sky in the bat of an eyelid.
Did you see the grinning idiot, Failing Grayling, aka the Transport Minister, quite unable to contribute anything to the discussion?
Those living in Britain should be on the lookout for suspicious packages etc. especially on the Saturday before Christmas and also at shows such as pantomimes in the days after, because these are times for maximum impact for murderous terrorist attacks. When I lived in London I always used to avoid going to the centre of town on the Saturday before Christmas for this reason. Now the risk is much greater. Many now view the government as a pack of incompetent fools who don’t know where their arseholes are, who only realise Dover is important when a civil servant waggles a cue card at them, and who may go all Frank Spencer on Brexit day. (“Ooh Betty! The seaports, airports and motorways don’t work, and the electricity has gone off!”) Current circumstances create psychological warfare needs and opportunities for any “marauders” or bigger-time actors who are unconnected with the state, for those who are under the influence of state actors, and for state actors and their big business masters. You have been warned.
“those living in Britain should be on the lookout for suspicious packages etc. especially on the Saturday before Christmas”
And especially the ones covered in brightly coloured shiny paper, usually placed underneath fake trees by a heavily disguised individual.
As usual, critics of withdrawal insist the US is there in the interests of the American public, “the Syrian people”, “the Kurdish people”. An old refrain the world knows well.
The BBC would have us all think Someone saying ” stupid People ” under his breath was the most serious Crime ever.. The BBC have been Manic in their efforts to Hammer it Home ..
Well, This Is Serious –
“The danger of such developments coming true is being blurred or is going away, it is deemed impossible or unimportant,” Putin said. “Meanwhile, if, God forbid, something like that happens, it would see an entire civilization – or even the planet – perish.” – Putin
https://www.rt.com/news/446946-lowering-arms-control-nuclear-catastrophe/
Good article in The Times by Anthony Loyd on the deaths caused in Raqqa by allied bombing. The allies destroyed 80% of the city. The Americans fired 30000 pieces into the city more than at anywhere else since Vietnam . Of course the Brits did not kill any civilians.
Well worth reading.
Mattis to retire at end of February.
I’ve seen it today in russian news with the photo
https://cdn22.img.ria.ru/images/151948/57/1519485753_0:0:5472:3648_1440x900_80_0_1_0479f367b8c2db690fb612bd3e13864c.jpg
Poore man must be very tired!
Tired of the killing and destruction he has carried out over four decades for his masters.
He can rot in hell with the myriad others.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Mattis
.
Mattis qualifies on all counts.
“The harpies in Dante’s version feed. . . . . . .in the seventh circle of Hell, where the violent are punished, alongside murderers, tyrants, blasphemers, sodomites and usurers.”
.
I heard it on this morning’s Today programme. At first I could understand who this “Jim Mattis” person was they were discussing, until finally the penny dropped: Oh, they mean Mad Dog Mattis! The guy who said that it’s a pleasure to shoot some people. (Recursive!)
The BBC people were practically in tears of frustrated fury at the prospect of not killing lots of Syrians any more.
“The BBC is recognised by audiences in the UK and around the world as a provider of news that you can trust. Our website, like our TV and radio services, strives for journalism that is accurate, impartial, independent and fair”.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/help-41670342
Is this a spoof?
.
Yes.
.
“Is this a spoof?”
It’s certainly ironic – and untrue.
Gatwick, a hellhole at the best of times, is owned by Global Infrastructure Partners.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Infrastructure_Partners
Tell me who really owns it.
‘On 17 September 2008, BAA announced it would sell Gatwick after the Competition Commission published a report about BAA’s market dominance in London and the South East. On 21 October 2009 it was announced that an agreement had been reached to sell Gatwick to a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), who also have a controlling interest in Edinburgh[nb 3] airport, for £1.51 billion. The sale was completed on 3 December. In February 2010, GIP sold minority stakes in the airport of 12% and 15% to the South Korean National Pension Service and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for £100 million and £125 million, respectively. The sales were part of GIP’s strategy to syndicate the equity portion of the original acquisition by issuing bonds to refinance bank debt. Although this entails bringing additional investors into the airport, GIP aims to retain management control. The Californian state pension fund CalPERS acquired a 12.7% stake in Gatwick Airport for about $155 million (£104.8 million) in June 2010. On 21 December 2010, the A$69 billion (£44 billion) Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund established by the Australian government in 2006, agreed to purchase a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP for £145 million. This transaction completed GIP’s syndication process for the airport, reducing its stake to 42% (although the firm’s extra voting rights mean it still controls the airport’s board).’ Gatwick Airport Wikipedia.
But, after all of that long screed, it says:
‘The airport is owned and operated by Gatwick Airport Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ivy Holdco Limited.’
Nationalize it and all the other parts of the UK’s transport systems.
Totally agreed with your last line.
Ivy Holdco Ltd *is* what the 42% stake is owned in by GIP, etc. (Source.)
But who owns the drones?
A good article Craig Murray. This is a must watch Jimmy Dore show, Professor Jeffrey Sachs stuns the TV panel with some home truths about the war in Syria and how the CIA and Saudi Arabia set up regime change, Sachs has said for 7 years this US intervention was a huge mistake and the only thing to do now is get out. Dore is brilliant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O2TRzA2ezk
Second that – Jimmy Dore is brilliant.
Indeed Harry, And Beth.
That was a real good one.. Jimmy n Co in great form…Cheers.
you will no doubt have seen some of Lee Camp too
Also, This –
Washington and Penatagon Insider Larry Wilkerson, confesses to his part in the mass deception and pleads for an end to 17 years of war on fake pretexts, from Iraq, through Libya. and Syria, to Iran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FSHIQPwrIA
The terrorist attack on Gatwick which has lasted 24 hours is quite a diversion from brexit innit?
All these poor people who have lost everything they hoped for at xmas time, with many having to sleep rough on cold hard airport floors.
I mean how hard is it to track a flying object? especially at short range?
I thought ever since Amazon planned to make deliveries by drones (non-human) that pedestrian danger would take on a whole new dimension. Look left, right and UP before crossing the road!
Alhough I’m sure a whole new activity of ‘salvage’ would develop fairly quickly. No doubt overtaking phone, bike and bag theft combined. I bet our ever inventive scamps would soon develop ‘wrecking’ tech to bring down the booty from the sky – which could also be the quickest route to defence systems around airports and like sites!
Anyway there does seem to be more to this then some mischievous behaviour.
Why would drones even be allowed to be flown in the country, other than by state agencies, if the state doesn’t have the wherewithal to bring them down and identify who is controlling them without firing ordnance uncontrollably over residential areas? And what is the point in the regulations that govern where they can be flown if they can’t be enforced? This is a curious story.
The BBC is reporting drone operator Carys Kaiser’s opinion that these drones must have been modified. Gatwick has now been shut to air traffic for more than 30 hours.
@N_,
My other question would be – how is it that these drones can be flying for a day? They are going to need their batteries changed – regularly.
A high end drone can fly 20 to 30 minutes before it needs batteries changing, so that is 48 times minimum during a day. That is 48 chances to get the person controlling it.
http://www.dronesglobe.com/guide/long-flight-time/
I simply do not believe this story about drones.
I could think of more than one reasons to save a few tons of fuel, changing the surrounding airquality massively, making a stark point that changes have to be drastic and that some pain will be involved.
Re: thismust have been well organised, with multiple batteries fully loaded for a quick exchange, possibly in more than one place, covering the whole airport.
I’m somewhat surprised that there are no jammers available scanning very likely to be used bandwidth and engaging the offending frequency/ies. They should have.been developed inparalell to the proliferation of drones.
@ Tatyana. Thanks for that view into your sons woes, math being important, and asronomy beats religions handsdown, no contest. The interest of young people are stifled almost, and there are major changes in curriculae today. Its almost as if they want to dumb us down in anticipation of robot labour and AI.
@Andyoldlabour
“I simply do not believe this story about drones”.
Nor me. The police must have been able to locate both the operator and the battery recharging point so they are obviously not telling us the whole story. I think it’s a deep state operation to prepare us for a hard Brexit.
I heard a senior policewoman being interviewed about drones on the radio this morning. She said the police have been studying them for 2 years. The interviewer said, “OK, you’ve been studying them but what have you actually done?” The reply was unclear but I think the gist of it was “Nothing”.
No mention of the extra judicial killing by drone that is carried out by the US. Obama and Shillary used to meet together to decide who was going to be killed. The operatives are in several locations.
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php/features/covert-drone-war/7447-americas-secret-empire-of-drone-bases
Their drones are based all round the globe. We are allowed to know the current extent of the operation here –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_drone_bases
One in Niger is still being constructed.
Our drone killers are based at RAF Waddington.
Inside Britain’s military drone base at RAF Waddington
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25425711
I believe many end up needing psychiatric treatment.
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Yes, SE. . . . “I believe many end up needing psychiatric treatment.”
Deliberately ignored, unheeded disregarded, by yer local maker of killing machines.
Time to call out the psychopathic vermin who get paid to create death.
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“I believe many end up needing psychiatric treatment”.
I sincerely hope so. If only there were some kind of treatment capable of instilling basic morality. But I fear there isn’t.
Yes drones are globally menacing people, causing casualties in civilian populations, imho fuelling terror here at home and elsewhere.
But if you would want to deliver personalised leaflets, via drone, by flying it into the House of Commons that would not be ok I fear….?
I was moved to tears by the tragic tale shown on the news, with very serious and solemn voice-over, of the family who were supposed to be traveling to Lapland to see father Christmas and play in the snow. Have these drone operators no heart?
Baaa humbug
I _hope_ Clinton and Blair were the apotheosis of the neocon reach into the mainstream left.
Mattis has to be more upset with Trump withdrawing 7,000 troops, half its firces,. from Afghanistan while many NAO allies still have forces there.
mattis wrote. ‘the us remains the indispensable nation’. perfect expression of the american sickness: other nations can be dispensed with.
As did Obama – a pig in a poke sold to the gullible by the Chicago based Rahm Emmanuel. Who he?
‘Emanuel’s grandfather was a Moldovan Jew who emigrated from Bessarabia.[9] The surname Emanuel (Hebrew: עמנואל), which means “God with us”, was adopted by their family in honor of his father’s brother Emanuel Auerbach, who was killed in 1933 in an altercation with Arabs in Jerusalem.[10][11]
Emanuel’s father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a Jerusalem-born[12] pediatrician at Michael Reese Hospital[13] who was once a member of the Irgun, a Jewish paramilitary organization that operated in British Mandate Palestine.[14] His mother, Marsha (née Smulevitz), is the daughter of a West Side Chicago union organizer …
Emanuel was born on November 29, 1959, in Chicago, Illinois. His first name, Rahm (רם) means high or lofty in Hebrew.’ – wiki.
He was Clintons puppet master from way back…
In plain sight! The warmongering global robber barons don’t hide – they are proud of their power and puppet mastery.
The comment boards seem to be bereft of the regular chindits yesterday – wonder if they are taking a religious seasonal break or a re-programming?
Poke! Poke!
“The comment boards seem to be bereft of the regular chindits yesterday…”
Maybe it was a religious holiday of some kind.
No, Orange Man Bad. Accepting this – Orange Man Bad – is the only way anyone can ever get an MSM gig. I suppose the odd person might perhaps say, ‘well, Orange Man is …slightly less bad, at the moment’, and this will be deemed ‘balance’ and ‘reporting’. But, this same person will be back on the plantation soon enough, when they understand that, well, Orange Man Bad. And their media profile and coffers will benefit accordingly.
Craig doesn’t get on the MSM anyway, so can say what he likes. So can I. And this ‘startling unanimity’ can’t be an accident. I mean, there has to be practical steps taken. So, we’re talking social media distribution lists, PR companies, etc, all getting up early – 4 am – day after day, every day, to shape the Trump narrative of the day.
And what is this narrative?
Orange Man Bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9U_qTJ1UZ0
I begin to think a free press is over-rated.
the only thing burning their gut is that he is making the empire look ridiculous.
@Hieroglyph:
Listening to the BBC discussion of Mattis’ impending departure, I thought it was very striking that the BBC people never once referred to Mr Trump as “President Trump” or “the President” – still less did they concede a single time that he is the commander in chief and it is not only his right but his duty to make difficult high-level strategic decisions. “War is much too important to be left to the generals”.
One of the BBC people made what seemed to me a quite non-existent distinction. He complained that it was wrong to say that Mattis had resigned – rather, “he quit”.
Time was when a BBC employee would not choose such an American word instead of a normal British one. But he seemed to think there was a difference between resigning and “quitting” – I don’t see any at all.
I must admit I struggle to keep up with the politics of the Middle East.
Anyone care to outline for me the current situation in Syria? What is current Russian involvement in Syria? Which other countries are backing Assad? Which countries are backing opposition?
Separately, how much backing does Iran give Hezbollah? Is Hezbollah currently active in Lebanon? Or in Syria? Where is ISiS still in charge? Which Middle Eastern states are leading backers of ISIS?
New York, SANA- Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said Thursday that Syria is open to any initiatives that help it come out of the crisis, affirming that the constitution is an absolute Syrian sovereign issue.
Al-Jaafari, speaking at a UNSC session on the state in the Middle East, added that Syria is ready to actively participate in any genuine effort to reach a political solution through which the Syrians alone decide their future without any foreign intervention.
He affirmed that the international community has to help Syria end the terrorist war and eliminate the remnants of the terrorist organizations, adding that Syria is writing the last chapter of its fight against terrorism.
https://www.sana.sy/en/?p=153981
Marypaul,
Syria was on of the most successful countries of the Middle East, after they kicked the French out, they quickly lost some land to Turkey and Israel.
I think technically, they like Lebanon are still at war with Israel.
Israel took out their nascent nuclear industry.
Since the build-up to that event
there has been a countdown to break Syria apart.
Israel admits bombing suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-syria-nuclear/israel-admits-bombing-suspected-syrian-nuclear-reactor-in-2007-warns-iran-idUSKBN1GX09K
Oh poor ignorant Mary … i’ll direct you in a helpful direction if you really really want?
Or maybe not. Maybe you can go spend a few hours with a handy sitrep
https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/patrick-armstrong/
MaryPau!
Generally,
*Peaceful protests from circa 2012 turned to violence in Syria early on. Protests were directed at the gov.
*Rebels and ISIS and alot of affiliated and similar groups are now the strongest, and keep syrian territories under control
*Hardly any real peaceful movement any longer
*The war have devasted alot of Syria and its not really obvious who will win in my opinion. Remember Nato in Libya? That regime change type of attack by west could occur again.
*Russia help Syria fight ^these groups along with the impoverished Syrian Army
*Some additional help is given by Iran and Hezbollah
*US, Nato, EU countries have repeatedly bombed Syrian army and financially and politically aid these rebel terrorist groups.
*Israel also have given support to the same rebel terrorists groups and Israel have also bombed Syrian army many times
Trump puling out is basically: US do not want to be stuck in another war that costs billions (trillions?) of money and have no real value for America to begin with. (Vietnam war again)
It was said, about two years ago that Syria had asked to join the C.I.S. economic area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States_Free_Trade_Area
Syria will need, Electricity, Communications, Methane, Oil, water, agricultural land and Concrete.
Most of these assets are in Eastern Syria under the control of “Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve” (CJTF–OIR)
Syria wants/knows its medium future lies with the C.I.S.
what Syria has to offer is fresh Mediterranean fruit and vegetables and a Mediterranean coast.
Syria has already agreed to let Russia have a Naval base/future port and an airbase.
Syria will need the agricultural land and the fresh water and the hydroelectric plants on the Euphrates, it will need its cement plants and its Methane and its oil. Either the Kurds roll over or it will be taken back.
On the Sky News paper review just now, two harpies have been wearing away on Corbyn’s stupid woman’ comment in the HoC. How many days ago did that happen by the way?
One of them, Liz Kershaw, seized the opportunity to criticize Corbyn in the form of an ad hominem. He isn’t the cuddly chap as portrayed by the media according to her but a calculating nasty piece of work, etc etc. How dare this airhead make such a comment.
She is a somewhat faded BBC radio disc jockey who has done the rounds on various BBC stations, where various falsifications have taken place.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Kershaw
So much for her opinion and that of Julie Bindel, her fellow paper reviewer.
Here is Corbyn. They do not like the fact that he is retaliating against the media.
They are stupid people – Corbyn
http://news.sky.com/video/share-11587438
I thought something was off about Liz Kershaw when I noticed her moonlighing at the Daily Express to deliver a confused, scattershot defense of her tax-evading colleagues at the BBC.
https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1046862/taxmen-bbc-presenters-national-audit-office-budget
Her bizzare, meandering column runs from ‘it’s not our fault, we were only following orders’ / ‘we didn’t even do anything wrong anyway’ / ‘if you tolerate this your children will be next’, arguing with itself at every turn. But she seems to have carved out a brand at the BBC as a ‘canny northern lass’ who can speak truth to power by dint of the fact that she doesn’t have a cut glass accent.
Kershaw? Bindel?
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Jesus wept.
Neil Clark calls out the whining liberals in the US who are devastated about the so called pull out from Syria. He names Bette Midler and Mia Farrow for instance. Cher too of course and Browder is there too.
Trump orders Syria troop pull-out & Hollywood ‘liberals’ go bananas
The announcement by President Trump that US troops would be leaving Syria has been met with anger not just by neocons, but by Hollywood ‘liberals’ too. Aren’t progressives supposed to oppose wars and illegal occupations?
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/447067-hollywood-syria-liberals-withdrawal/
SE
It would be worth while to know how much Hollywood as a whole invests in the defense industry. Of course Holywood is also part of the propaganda arm of the US military industrial propaganda complex selling us the American dream and American exceptionalism so what do you expect. Here is a piece from Fair talking about military expenditure in US.
https://fair.org/home/our-poor-defenseless-military-industrial-complex/
Yes indeed. We will never know the full extent of the support.
John Pilger wrote about his experience of the propaganda machine there in 2009.
http://johnpilger.com/articles/hollywood-s-new-censors
I dread the day when Pilger’s voice is no more. He is 79 now. I hope he goes on for many more years.
His twitter https://twitter.com/johnpilger and his website’s articles and videos http://johnpilger.com/search
On the anniversary of the Lockerbie disaster, ‘a Palestinian terror group’ employed by Iran, is being put in the frame by the Mirror.
https://news.sky.com/story/fridays-national-newspaper-front-pages-11587454
Lockerbie terrorist’s daughter says Iran not Libya was behind bomb
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: The daughter of a former terrorist says she can finally prove Iran was behind the outrage that killed 270 people 30 years ago today
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lockerbie-confession-terrorists-daughter-says-13761289
Fact or fiction?
Not a new theory – here’s a piece from 2014
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10688067/Lockerbie-bombing-was-work-of-Iran-not-Libya-says-former-spy.html
After ‘doing’ Libya they are now after Iran. In time it will also be Russia.
Never mind the undisputed fact that the US shot down an Iranian airliner in cold blood and not even an apology.
Without looking SE – it is not inconceivable.
The clear motive being the deliberate shooting down of the Iranian airliner over the gulf by a gung-ho Admiral that year. Gadaffi like the Don Corleone would have been a means of an eye for an eye vengence appeal against the powerful transgressors, by s grieving father.
@Sharp Ears:
It may well be true that Iran was behind the Lockerbie bomb.
But how many people have mentioned the “outrage” of USS Vincennes deliberately shooting down the Iranian Airbus – a plane quite similar to that destroyed over Lockerbie, with almost exactly the same number of people on board? Or the captain being decorated despite his flagrant breach of orders, or Vice President Bush saying he would never apologize for America, regardless of the facts?
At worst, it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And I say that having many times sat in airliners flying exactly that route over Lockerbie on the way to the USA.
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Морон. Провокатор. Зло. Розбіжності. Расистських. Візьміть сірий лайно Top де-небудь ще. Ви не дурень нікого тут.
You know who you are.
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Слава Україні!
Which is about the only phrase I know in that language 🙂
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Ha ha, yes, Alex!! Two Tubby Blokes in Landies. . . . . Sieg Heil.
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Tubby Blokes:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gj3DFNoy-Ys
.
“…it is Iran – which has sponsored not one attack on the West in recent memory.”
—–
This very day living relatives remember the victims of PA103.
Whoops- that was Libya, wasn’t it?
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The Red, Red, Grubby Hand of the Usual Suspects.
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I note Craig has amended “recent memory” to “recent years.”
The percentage of Syrian population that is Kurdish is about 9%,
yet the Kurds, with the help of U.S.A., France, U.K., Canada, Australia, Jordan, Israel and others hold about 35% of the land.
80 % or there about of the population of Syria, now live in Syrian Government controlled areas.
It seems quite obvious that when the Americans pull out, the rest of Syria will be keen to move in and retake the reservoirs, the Methane, the Oil, the Cement plants and the good agricultural land.
Tabqa Dam and Lake Assad on the Euphrates.
Lake Assad was made to provide Syria with the bulk of its electricity and fresh water.
The land to the East of the Euphrates was known as Mesopotamia, it is the good agricultural land of Syria.
All this is controlled by the Americans.
“The percentage of Syrian population that is Kurdish is about 9%…”
It’s the American imperial way: divide and conquer. They always seek out every little seam that can be used to pry people apart and set them at one another’s throats.
Unluckily for them, Syria has always been an exceptionally tolerant, generous nation. Unlike the thousands of vicious terrorist swine injected by the West.
The British government sneaks out £85 million pounds worth of NHS cuts, at the very last minute before parliament goes into recess, so no one can debate on it.
Merry Christmas NHS from Scrooge, I mean the PM.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/government-sneaks-out-ps85m-cut-to-public-health-on-last-day-before-parliamentary-recess_uk_5c1bc9bee4b0407e90785176?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly93aW5nc292ZXJzY290bGFuZC5jb20vZW1iYXJyYXNzbWVudC1vZi10aGUteWVhci9jb21tZW50LXBhZ2UtMS8&guce_referrer_cs=yV7S1FD9IDtUnn2vdtDoOg
Syria is a big producer of phosphates, as is the U.K.
phosphates are mainly used for fertilizer but also for explosives. Guess what, it has also got Uranium!
Deposit No. 1188, or the Khneifiss mines, opened in 1971 with an initial output of 300,000 tons per year. It is now Syria’s largest phosphate mine, producing approximately 1.1 million tons of phosphate ore per year. [5] Phosphate rock from the Khneifiss mines is used to produce phosphoric acid at the Homs fertilizer plant.
https://www.nti.org/learn/facilities/454/
Of proliferation concern, the Khneifiss phosphate rock contains approximately 60 to 140 parts per million of uranium. At its micro-pilot Uranium Recovery Plant at Homs, Syria is attempting to separate the uranium from the phosphoric acid.
Favourable uranium–phosphate exploration trends in Syrian desert
https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jess/125/01/0203-0216
An airborne gamma-ray spectrometric survey was
undertaken in Syria during a project conducted in
1987 in cooperation with the International Atomic
Energy Agency.
So Syria, as a by-product of Phosphate excavation, also has Uranium deposits.
Syria started to develop a Nuclear Industry
perhaps this was the downfall of Syria?
It could also be why the FRENCH are so keen to remain in Syria, the French love Uranium,
they can not get enough of the yellow cake.
The FRENCH were the overlords of Syria from the end of the First World War untill 1947ish, when they were thrown out.
I expect the Syrians detest the French.
But if America does pull out of Syria, has beleaguered Emmanuel Macron got the nerve to stay in Syria, when his days as President of France are surely numbered?
Israel bombs Syrian Copper plant
http://www.voltairenet.org/article198833.html
At 2125 hours on the evening of Wednesday, 1 November 2017, Israeli occupation warplanes launched a new treacherous attack against a private copper plant in the civilian industrial zone in the Hisya area of Homs governorate. The plant was targeted by four missiles fired by Israeli aircraft from Lebanese airspace.
The Israeli occupation authorities’ continued attacks against the Syrian Arab Republic are nothing more than a response to the major victories scored by the Syrian Arab Army against terrorist organizations that are Israel’s proxies, that is to say, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Nusrah Front organizations. These Israeli attacks have become standard behaviour for the occupation forces. They are intended to protect Nusrah Front and ISIL terrorists, and to raise their morale now that they have been defeated in most parts of Syria.
This Israeli attack coincides with the one hundredth anniversary of the infamous Balfour Declaration
Game Over In Rojava?
https://lobelog.com/game-over-in-rojava/
Israel has repeatedly said it will bomb whoever it wants and just because America is abandoning Rojava,
Israel will take military actions as it sees fit.
President Trump is keen to honour America’s promises as part of making America loved.
Obama has promise land, distributed land, to the joint enterprise of 1/ Greater Israel in Syria and 2/ Daesh/ Al Qaida inc. That’s what 30 years of continuous war against Muslim countries has been all about.
That’s why David Cameron changed the rules about UK Foreign aid to include peacekeeping. The easiest way to collect the spoils of war is to pretend to be keeping the peace. Trump needs to keep Israel and daesh happy because they are the only policy that exists.
Israel = the Western Zionists including NATO, and Daesh = NATO’s Muslim Brotherhood Erdogan and his Islamists. In the end-game of Syria NATO’s Erdogan can control Daesh because he is Daesh, Obama’s proxy Western Islamists. All that is missing now is for the pustulating carbuncle that Israel has created in Palestine to miraculously get a break, and suddenly Israel is the Julie Andrews of world peace.
Mattis has done his job, of wiping out the footsoldiers of Daesh, but the gaffers, who hob-nob with the Chancellor Merkel and Brett McGurk want delivery of their side of the bargain in carving up the Middle East.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article199451.html
Trump needs one good swipe at Russia to reverse the Russia’s dominance in Syria, hence Skripal, Ukraine and the Brexit Withdrawal Clause which states that with regard to Foreign policy matters Brexit changes nothing. The UK and the EU will carry on trashing the world hand in hand.
Therefore in my opinion so long as the satellite of projected power in the Middle East, Israel, exists, it is totally pointless to regard a change of tactic by the POTUS as a let up in the USUKIS hegemony plan. 30 years of softening up will be followed by USUKIS demanding that Syria concedes power to the Zionists in exchange for Pax Crusada, total control over Jordan Lebanon Syria Kurdistan by the Western controlled Muslim Brotherhood puppeted by USUKISEUNATO trash.
as I have said many times before ‘ Na Be ‘ Ain’t goin to happen. Na kerr. The cream of Islam live in these countries, the best minds , hearts, and closest to the ways of the prophets, peace be upon all of them. They are not going to give in to pressure from a bunch of chicken-heads like May, Trump, Erdogan, or Merkron.
If Trump thinks he can sweet-talk these people into being led by his Muslim brotherhood cockroaches, he needs anew toilet seat for his head.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2018/dec/20/steve-bells-if-zombie-may-and-her-pauper-eating-gang
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Mw71ssre&id=73357BF35A17E56D1B7547A4D5662E31F8A2E076&thid=OIP.Mw71ssre-s1F5ujbho7mAQAAAA&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.guim.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fmedia%2Fcb24c1a9c37f34094ccd645937cdb88a35c41953%2F1261_184_1024_615%2Fmaster%2F1024.jpg%3Fw%3D300%26amp%3Bq%3D55%26amp%3Bauto%3Dformat%26amp%3Busm%3D12%26amp%3Bfit%3Dmax%26amp%3Bs%3Dc8abbbe2a6f0c29e0f078bc64549d048&exph=180&expw=300&q=steve+bell+trump+cartoon&simid=608023885623919565&selectedindex=173&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6