A Window for Peace 1332


There is this morning a chink of light to avoid yet more devastation in the Middle East. Iran’s missile strikes last night were calibrated to satisfy honour while avoiding damage that would trigger automatically the next round. The missiles appear to have been fitted out with very light warhead payloads indeed – their purpose was to look good in the dark going up into the night sky. There is every reason to believe the apparent lack of US casualties was deliberate.

Even more important was the Iraqi statement that “proportionate measures” had been “taken and concluded” and they did not seek “further escalation”.

I agree their response was proportionate and I would say that I regard the Iranian action so far, unlike the assassination of Soleimani by the US, legal in international law.

The entire world should congratulate Iran for its maturity in handling the illegal assassination of its General, who was on a peace mission, travelling as a civilian on a commercial flight, carrying a mediation message the US had been instrumental in instigating. If as seems possible the US actively manipulated the diplomatic process to assassinate someone on a diplomatic mission and traveling on a diplomatic passport, that is a dreadful outrage which will come back to haunt them. Life insurance rates for US diplomats no doubt just went up.

It is also worth noting the 2.8% rise in the Lockheed share price in the 24 hours immediately before the Soleimani assassination, outperforming the Dow about three times. That would bear investigation. Arms manufacturers and oil stocks have soared this last few days – and remember that nowadays the vast bulk of financial transactions are bets on the margins of movement, so vast fortunes will have been made out of all this.

The UK has been, as ever, complicit in US crimes. Our laughingly so-called “defence” industry – when were its products last used in self-defence and not colonial adventure? – is tied in to and dependent on the US military machine. The current build-up of US troops and hardware in the Gulf has Mildenhall as a major staging post. We do not have to do this. Whether officially or on a pretext, French airspace was closed to the US military build-up and the Americans have had to fly from the UK, skirting France, around the Atlantic.

In a huge Boris Johnson slap in the face to international law, extra US bombers to attack Iran have been flown into Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Islands. You will recall that is where the UK committed genocide against the population in the 1970s to clear the way for the US military base. Last year, the UK lost a hearing before the International Court of Justice and was subsequently instructed by the UN to decolonise the islands and give them back to Mauritius by last November. The UK simply persisted in its illegal occupation and now is threatening the use of the islands as the base for yet another illegal and destabilising war.

That the UK is a permanent member of the UN security council is a disgrace which surely cannot endure much longer. What the current crisis has shown us is that under Johnson the UK has no future except as a still more compliant servant of whoever occupies the White House.

Wars are easy to start but hard to stop. Trump appears to have calmed, but we cannot rule out a stupid “last word” attack by the USA. It is to be hoped that Iran now concentrates on using the immense political leverage it has gained to get western troops out of Iraq, which would be a tremendous result for all of us after 17 years. But we cannot rule out hotter heads in the Iranian government insisting on further attacks, or attacks from regional forces whose Tehran authorisation is uncertain. On either side this could yet blow up badly.

I am a sucker for hope, and the best outcome would be for the US and Iran to start talking directly again, and a deal to be made from this break in the logjam that is wider than, and Trump can portray as better than, “Obama’s” nuclear deal and would enable the lifting of sanctions. I am sure Trump will be tempted by the chance to go for this kind of diplomatic coup under the political cover provided him by Soleimani’s assassination. But the US is now so tied in to Saudi Arabia and Israel, and thus tied in to irrational hostility to Iran, that this must be extremely unlikely.

For those of us in Scotland, this is still more reason why Independence must be early. We cannot be tied in to a rogue state. As we march for Independence on Saturday, the potential for war in Iran gives the sharpest reminder why we must leave the UK and form our own, peaceful, law-abiding state.

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1,332 thoughts on “A Window for Peace

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  • Andyoldlabour

    The aircraft took off at 0612 and crashed at 0615. I earlier read that it reached a height of around 4500′ which sounds about right given the 3 minute flight time.
    The area where it crashed was Parand in the South West of Tehran, only around 14km from the airport.
    First this report which shows a straight line flight path. You would have been able to see the runway lights clearly from the crash site and all aircraft taking off would have been visible. I know from experience that area in the South of Tehran is very flat.
    There were at least a dozen departures prior to the flight in question and they would have all used the same runway and initially the same WNW flightpath.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/09/crashed-iran-plane-trying-return-airport-initial-report-says/

    https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4633951,51.0165895,11.75z

    • Andyoldlabour

      Just found out that the climb rate for a Boeing 737 is around 1800 feet per minute which sounds right. That aircraft would have been very visible and would have been lit up and not at all similar to a military aircraft.

  • Doghouse

    Same question that I raised yesterday – cui bono – now being answered.

    For 36 hours Trump’s personally authorised public murder of a foreign general on a diplomatic mission relegated to non event status. Ditto his later very real act of terrorism on the world’s largest social media platform when he threatened to bomb the heck out of innocent Iranian people and their equally innocent heritage sites. Twatter ensuring the maximum wxposure to Iranian civilians.

    Phase two of cui bono. Reducing Iran to a no fly zone for civilian air traffic. Massive sanction.

    I find it inconceivable that the Iranians could mistakenly shoot down a civilian aircraft at such low altitude and only three minutes away from the airport – one flight amidst a string at one of the busiest flight times of day. Really? Seriously. It and its consequences has another’s paw prints all overit imho.

    • Q

      Sad to say these people were sacrificial lambs, if that’s the case.

      The unofficial footage of the plane’s takeoff shows that it was well-lit on a straight path, then started to turn around before bursting into flames and hitting the ground. It happened so fast. All unconfirmed footage for now.

      • Doghouse

        q, so no visible sign of a missile in that footage?

        I’m trying to think of another instance of a plane simply bursting into flames just after take off so critically? First time for everything I suppose – before and after 9/11 tower blocks even those not lined with asbestos would burn for days and not collapse, then three in one day – and one of those not even hit by a plane, or much fire for that matter……

        It’s hard to discuss it like this with all those people killed but it really does stink, too timely, its consequences too predictable. If it was truly an horrific accident then tis a curse on the innocent and a blessing on wickedness.

        • Moine

          Concorde flight from Paris to New York crashed just after take off in July 2000. There was a huge “tail” of flames as one of the fuel tanks ruptured. The investigation concluded that a metal strip had fallen off the plane that had taken off 5 minutes earlier and concorde had suffered a catastrophic puncture when it ran over this debris. Parts of the tyre were thrown into the underside of the wing causing the fuel tank to rupture.

          This awful accident resulted in the deaths of over one hundred people.

    • Gerald Fords Dog

      Another risible attempt to recapture the moral high ground the west hasnt had for 70 years. Article in the guardian really pushing this now, a sure sign that it’s a false flag. Full of “intelligence sources have told us that …” and photos of what looks like a small part of a rocket “captured by an Iranian activist” who just happened across it in a sealed off square mile of wreckage. (the picture could have been taken anywhere in the world, no backgrpund, no perspective.) By god these people haven’t learned anything from Douma have they. If the British press spent as much time on their journalism as they did fulfilling MI6s daily demands we’d all be better informed. The only question worth answering is who done the false flag, Israel, US or the Saudis?

      • sky

        If I recall correctly the Guardian are using the word “believe” in the headline for this….a kid may believe in Father Christmas doesn’t make him real

  • Contrary

    Here is the link for the legal action (testing in court if Scotland can demand a section 30 order) crowdfunder:

    https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/the-scottish-people-vs-the-uk/

    I want this constitutional question answered once and for all. I’ve become tired of all the speculation and who can do what and when. Once this question is answered we will know if the union exists or not, whether we are a colony or not. If the union exists, we get our referendum and the s.30 etc. If we are a colony, we know we have to take other routes and can act accordingly. If the uk government is allowed to trample all over devolution with impunity, we are fooling ourselves, pretending to be in a union but treating ourselves as a brow beaten colony.

  • Wikikettle

    It is interesting that when Trump made his statement after the Iranian ‘show’ of missiles on US bases, with prior warning – that Pompeo and Esber were not standing next to him shoulder to shoulder. I would like to think Trump, while on holiday was ‘maneuvered’. Both Pompeo and Esper were at west point together and according to Colonel Wilkerson, both fundamentalist Christians – so should we not call the US a Theocratic State also ? On top of Rouge State. Trump I hope is now furious at being tricked by the National Security Council choosing the assassination option. It would be interesting to know the other options they had for him ! All worse, I am sure. They really have him by the balls, all of those cretins ; Democrats, MIC, Israel, MSM etc…It was ineresting hearing Nancy Pelosi, she is now ” lets pray foe peace ” what a show. That’s Trumps campaign promise of pulling out of ME up in flames…literally…I hope he sacks Pompeo and Esper…l like Craig…HOPE

    • Dom

      A fine man, an antiwar man, tricked by people he’d appointed in good faith. We must pray for him.

      • Tom Welsh

        “A fine man, an antiwar man, tricked by people he’d appointed in good faith. We must pray for him.”.

        If he appointed those demonic psychopaths in good faith, we certainly should pray for him. Because he must be an imbecile.

        More likely he was informed that, if he didn’t do what he was told and smile while doing it, he would get what the Kennedys got.

    • John Pretty

      ” I would like to think Trump, while on holiday was ‘maneuvered’. ”

      wikikettle, this is exactly what has been suggested by Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris on the Duran.

      • Wikikettle

        John Pretty…After decades of ‘maximum pressure’ and provocations……Iran launched a missile attack on US bases. That was the cue that all the warmongers were waiting for to unleash hell on Iran. And it DID NOT HAPPEN…because of TRUMP. I am NOT a Trump supporter.

        • sky

          Claims of Trump being anti war are kind of silly when he’s increased the pentagon budget and continued basically everything the former administration had started. A true anti war person would be stopping that stuff and scaling it back

    • Wikikettle

      Q..So according to you…the Iranians shot down a civilian airliner with majority Iranians on board, ensuring a ban and sanctions on all civilian flights into and out of Iran. As I see it, the only countries that would want that outcome would be US, Israel and the coalition of the willing followers.

      • Q

        No “facts” yet, remember?

        I can’t comprehend why Iranians or Americans or Israelis or a coalition would want to shoot down a plane full of Canadian professors and students, the brightest of the bright, can you?

        • Doghouse

          Q – “no facts yet”

          So why are you spouting babble as though it were fact and you had some inside track? Give it a rest or think first.

          You have no idea what they are doing. It’s a wreck, looking for bodies, moving wreckage. Whaddya expect them to do it with, a broom??

          • Deb O'Nair

            To ‘Q’ @ 21:12

            You have mentioned missiles and the Iranians destroying evidence and linked to a bit of MSM footage, i.e. you are promoting a narrative that just happens to be the narrative that has emerged in the last 24 hours and before anyone with expertise has had a chance to assess the evidence. Canada’s leader has come out and emphatically stated that Iran shot the plane down and now Canada has been invited onto the “official investigation”, no prizes for guessing who won’t be asked to help in the investigation. People are having the ‘facts’ planted in their minds now and the rest will be left up to endless repetition in the MSM and, no matter what actual evidence emerges, in a week’s time everyone will be in agreement that the Iranians shot the plane down. I will patiently wait and see what evidence is presented but recent history suggests that evidence will be irrelevant with regards to the guilt of Iran.

    • Tatyana

      I see a still picture of a bulldozer with a large large piece of supposedly metal. What’s wrong? Should they leave the piece on the ground and not look what is under? Or should they do this manually?

      • Kempe

        It should be left in place until some independent investigators have had a chance to examine it. Driving heavy machinery across the site could destroy important evidence.

        • Q

          The scene should not be tampered with. Quite correct, Kempe. The scene should be contained pending an aviation investigation.

          • Deb O'Nair

            The plane crashed in a residential area, it is reasonable for first-responders to prioritise looking for victims that may have been in buildings on the ground than preserve ‘evidence’. The overwhelming assumption, albeit with obvious coincidences (Iran firing missiles, the plane being Ukrainian), that a crime has been committed by Iran when the black box data has not even been examined is rather premature. Besides, any physical evidence on the plane of a SAM strike will not be hidden by a bulldozer from expert investigators.

          • Q

            @Deb, so today, all parts of the plane are gone. Link provided to reports from the scene further on in this thread. This is not how airline crash investigations should be handled. Nothing is left to investigate. Personal belongings of the passengers have even been removed by people scavenging the scene. What did Iran have to hide?

        • Johny Conspiranoid

          Iran has independent investigators. If another country sent air crash investigators why would they be more independent than Iran’s? Canada’s don’t inspire confidence after their PM’s outburst.

        • Doghouse

          Would have thought verifying no survivors takes priority over waiting upon chinless wonders.

    • Trowbridge H. Ford

      Still no mention of the US base in Kazakhstan from where the Russian S-300 missile, either brought or stolen . came from. A ‘false flag’ operation to make the mullahs look like a bunch of reckless fumblers. No mention that the majority of passengers were Iranians.

  • Mary

    Sorry this is late.

    Just starting on ITV until 10pm.

    ‘Welcome to HMP Belmarsh’.

    I think ITV have a Catch Up facility.

    • pete

      Re Belmarsh prog.
      I saw this in the listings but presumed that it was a public relations effort, let us know if it says anything of worth.

  • Alyson

    It was stated that the black box was retrieved and that although the plane had recently been serviced, that it had a technical problem which led to the crash. Unverified as yet. Also the Iranian people thinking that a peace deal has ensued from the loss of the respected general and diplomat, in that confiscated Iranian money was returned, and so it appeared that the shells targeting US airbases had no warheads of any kind. The deal brokered by Putin, between Israel and Iran allows proxy wars where US and Iranian forces have been invited by government or official Opposition. However any attack on the sovereign territory of Iran or Israel terminates the agreement. Suleimani was in Iraq. Probably lured there. Our illustrious Boris was on a luxury holiday in the Caribbean, a mere short speedboat ride away from Trump’s golf resort in Florida. Boris will always be a liability and needs to be muzzled at all times. Iranian oil deposits were announced in November. Trump’s skill is in the art of the deal. Can he pull it off? Or will the war hawks crash crazily towards full blown conflict?

  • Tom74

    Sounds as if Johnson is in ‘only plausible explanation’ mode. Things must be bad for the CIA traitors running the British media as there is another conveniently timed Royal story to try to dupe the masses.

  • Wikikettle

    In 2002 the Pentagon ran a war game ‘Millennium Challenge’. The war game was between US and Iran. Leading the Iranian Red team side was Lt General Paul Van Riper. Riper using tactics learned in Vietnam, inflicted a huge simulated defeat on the attacking US forces. He was later in the simulation restricted in his use of tactics to give advantage to the Blue attacking team. Interesting piece on You Tube about the
    Millennium Challenge 235 million dollar war game on South Front titled : ‘United States War with Iran Simulated’ if someone could post the link please.

  • bevin

    The only rational explanation for the aircraft’s loss- for those who discount the most likely explanation, that it was an accident- would be that enemies of Iran with the proven capacity to carry out acts of sabotage and assassinations (nuclear scientists for example).
    This is an act designed to deter trade, tourism and other communications with Iran. In other words to strengthen the sanctions and to squeeze the economy further.
    This is not to say that Mossad, MEK or other agents of the US imperialists including the Saudi and Emirati security services were responsible. Merely that their strategy benefits from this most unfortunate event which will have torn apart hundreds of families and added to the grief of the innocent and greatly abused population of a nation whose only offence has been to refuse to kow tow to criminal imperialism.

    • Q

      There’s the question of what is an accident. Some things, like allowing commercial airliners to take off while automated missile defence systems are engaged, could better be described as negligence or criminal negligence. Not saying that this is what happened. “Facts” are unknown right now.

      • Doghouse

        But you are sewing your passive aggressive seeds are you not Q.

        Your leanings and purpose are quite apparent.

        • Doghouse

          you have no idea what missile systems were or were not armed any more than you know what the dozer is up to.

          • Q

            If you will kindly review my posts, I state quite clearly that there are no “facts” right now, other than the most basic: a plane went up, a plane came down. Some 176 people, including young children, lost their lives.

            I do not sew.

            I do not believe we will ever know the truth about this unfortunate series of events. What will remain is a terrible loss of human potential.

        • fedup

          If you have look at the debris field it is quite compact. In case of a “rocket” hit the aircraft would have broken up to many pieces and the debris field would have been covering a large area. Further the eyewitness account that is not being paid any attention to, state; the aeroplane came and touched down in the football field and then bounced before landing again on its belly and crashing in a fireball* further away in the farmlands.

          *pilot would not have had the time to jettison all the fuel on board

      • pete

        Re “criminal negligence”
        Speaking of criminal negligence, how many people have been locked up for the Grenfell Tower Fire negligence case, or is it still too early to say if anyone was guilty.

    • fedup

      This is a diversion from the missile strike episode, which evidently did not so much as make a pothole contrary to the facts and actualities However, what no one is talking about is the eyewitness accounts that the aircraft touched down in the football field adjacent to the farm lands before getting airborne again and then crashing.

      In other words the aircraft nearly succeeded to land, but it is a good excuse to divert from the seismic geopolitical quake that has taken place.

      Internet is full of doctored clips of the “aircraft in flight” with audio tracks that include dogs barking for authenticity, noting to do with psyops at all.

      • Q

        Well aware of psyops. I live in a place with a government that has a propaganda arm dedicated to “disproving true facts” on social media. Direct quote. They brag about it.

        I do not believe we will ever know the truth, like so many other incidents covered here by Craig Murray. Maybe all we can hope for is no war.

        But in other news, Russia has been testing its hypersonic missile systems near Crimea today with great success.

        • fedup

          “I do not believe we will ever know the truth”

          If you have visited the hyperlink provide here and taking account of the comments in this section. We can safely assume that the little pre-emptive celebration for the yields on the derivative markets on bets for Lockheed Martin share that Craig has already mentioned.

          There was a mood for some more profit taking as well as killing a few hundred thousand Iranians to boot, to bring about an echo system conducive to the liking of the Israelis (wishful thinking). The notion of was killing General Soleimani, and then when Iran retaliated the casus belli was there for a wider war. That is until the accuracy of the targeting of the missiles became apparent as well as the intention that any retaliation would have resulted in 109 targets to be hit around the mid east!

          The ugly realities suddenly dawning on the cowboys changed all the equations.

          It is unbelievable how much data is t be found on the internet from around the world. There should be a law against internet!

    • nevermind

      Did they have an IFF system on this modern plane? whilst flying out of a country which had declared the highest state of emergency and readyness to defend themselve.
      Unless the missile system shot at the aircraft automatically, despite having had the Identification Friend Foe code sent?
      This is all speculation but if international safeguards were adhered to it would have been unusual that this scenario happened.
      Lets see the evidence before joining a spinning whirlpool.

      • fedup

        There is a desperate need for ruling out the technical failures of the aircraft, to avoid killing the next batch of the victims. This narrative forming around accidental shoot down is helping Trump to get off the hook as well as keeping the Boeing shares from sliding, given the turmoil and shortcomings in safety culture of that company.

        We are all travellers and some of us will be flying on one of these aircraft sooner than later, for our own sake we need to rule out any technical failures, and not get carried away in the hysteria.

    • Yarkob

      link dead.
      everyone knew where he was. no spies were needed. he was flying a listed diplomatic mission for Iraq/KSA. the US knew this. He flew on a scheduled flight with a small entourage. he never made any secret of his whereabouts anyway, as no country in their right mind would pull a stunt like this. well, i say no country. there is one who kills people like this often.

  • Willie

    Who knows what caused the downing of this civilian passenger jet.
    It could quite easily have been downed in error by an Iranian surface to air missile. The country was after all under huge military threat with a President Trump threatening to use his big beautiful military to destroy Iran and teach em 52 lessons.

    Or maybe it was CIA operatives trying to further discredit the Iranians.

    No doubt however Trump will be one cold lunatic well impressed by this plane’s downing. And hard luck for the 63 Canadians totalled in the downing, the 3 Brits and all of the rest. Poor sad fodder. Box em up and then we can do it all again. Spin, spin, spin.

    Well we shall see how it all plays out. One day karma will visit the big beautiful USA where the citizens will die in their tens of millions. Nothing was learned in WW1 or WW2, and we on the wheel to do it all again. What goes around comes around. Enjoy!

  • fedup

    I found this clip that may substantiates the contention that the plane touched down.

    As you can see there is a lighting of the dark night with a dither (plane bouncing up) and then a fireball passes the field of view not far above the ground which is then followed by a bigger fire ball (crash)

    Evidently pilot was trying to land but his approach velocity should have been too high. Hence, the bounce and then crash.

    • Fedup

      Ken I would like your full take on the derivatives, we are on the same page.

      Re the crash, pilot has tried to turn back to the airport but couldn’t make it and has decided to land it on the farm lands however because he was coming in too hot he has bounced and then landed harder and broken up the fuselage and the subsequent fire due to the full load of fuel that could not have been jettisoned.

      PS watch the video before replying, you will be test on it 🙂

    • Tom Welsh

      “RT reporting that NYT have footage of missile hitting airline”.

      I am not surprised. Bellingcat are quick workers when there is money to be earned.

      Incidentally, I forgot the name “Bellingcat” (stupid, isn’t it?) so I searched online for “MH17 photo fakery”.

      The very first hit that appeared had the name “Bellingcat” right in the very first line.

      • Fedup

        It is a SIS (secret intelligence service) shopfront, Craig on this blog has time and again outed them for what they are.

  • Wikikettle

    Those pictures of the US base in Iraq, (which were show attacked with prior warning) look HUGE and house US and Coalition of the willing followers, mainly Special Forces. There to fight ISIS and train Iraqi security forces. What utter TOSH. Those bases are there to surround Iran and launch attacks on it. We gave birth to ISIS and sustain it. If the Iraqi Government succeeds in getting rid of US troops, we will simply promote our ISIS proxy to keep the chaos going. We will arm them, KSA will pay and Israel will provide medical treatment for them. In nice new Toyota pick ups…..

  • Wikikettle

    In Craig’s previous article on Bethlehem Principle on 4.1.20 – There is a post by read247 on Jan 8 at 13:40
    Its worth reading to see how and what the US is capable of.

  • Monster

    Less than 24 hours after the incident Bellingcat made his appearance on Twitter with a video sourced from a Telegram channel. This manipulated video, supplied by his masters over at Vauxhall Cross, has now flooded MSM with this laughable story. The intellingence board that governs The Guardian has also supplied a new raft of Iranian specialists to bolster this ludicrous claim, along with a supposed bulldozer poised to erase the evidence. Poor old Luke Harding seems to have been sidelined. As in the Skripal case the guilt has been firmly, quickly and universally established that it is “highly likely” an Iranian missile was responsible. The Times is unequivocal: “An Iranian surface-to-air missile brought down the passenger jet that crashed in Tehran on Wednesday killing all 176 people on board, senior US and British officials have concluded.”

    • Tom Welsh

      “The intellingence board that governs The Guardian has also supplied a new raft of Iranian specialists to bolster this ludicrous claim…”

      I think you may have run out of quotation marks, otherwise surely you would have written “Iranian specialists”.

  • Jack

    The propaganda and lies are right there with the WMD hoax of Iraq war of 2003.
    No evidence is presented, disinformation everywhere in the media for war.

    And on top of that the french have begun another disinformation campaign against Iran:
    French FM Warns Iran Could Have a Nuke Bomb in 1 or 2 Years
    https://sptnkne.ws/AXdG

    Saddam accused of stepping up nuclear weapons programme
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/saddam-accused-of-stepping-up-nuclear-weapons-programme-131474.html

    • Tom Welsh

      I could, if I wished, warn that the French government could detonate a nuclear bomb in Washington within two years.

      I expect they could, if they wanted to.

      So what?

      The Iranians have made it abundantly clear that they regard nuclear weapons as unIslamic, and it is strictly forbidden even to thi nk about acquiring them.

      Washington and its supporters find it impossible to imagine human beings who do not wish to impose their arbitrary wishes on others, so they assume that everyone must want nuclear toys like the USA’s own.

      • OnlyHalfALooney

        Of course the Iranians had a nuclear programme. They want a nuclear bomb because Israel has more than 100. They implicitly (if not explicitly) admitted to having a nuclear programme by signing the Vienna agreement.

        And all those centrifuges that exploded after being hacked by Western intelligence services? What do you think they were for?

        And btw. France could fire an M51 ballistic missile at Washington and 9 other targets within minutes not two years. It’s not exactly a secret. So I don’t know what you mean exactly.

        • Tom Welsh

          “Of course the Iranians had a nuclear programme. They want a nuclear bomb because Israel has more than 100”.

          You shouldn’t judge others by yourself.

    • OnlyHalfALooney

      And on top of that the french have begun another disinformation campaign against Iran:
      French FM Warns Iran Could Have a Nuke Bomb in 1 or 2 Years.

      A radio interview constitutes a “disinformation campaign”?

      Especially as Le Drian says “Today, they (the Iranians) are not in a position to have them (nuclear weapons)”. The whole gist of the interview is exactly opposite to the interpretation given in Sputnik news. Le Drian pleads for diplomacy and continuing with the Vienna agreement.

      Here is the interview:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-7uDflnv-M

      • Jack

        ? I didnt even mention “radio” at all.
        Its a campaign to sow discord about Iran´s intention.

        • OnlyHalfALooney

          Straight from the Sputnik article you link to:

          “If they continue with unravelling the Vienna agreement, then yes, within a fairly short period of time, between one and two years, they could have access to a nuclear weapon, which is not an option”, Le Drian told RTL radio.

          In general Macron has been trying to salvage the Iran nuclear deal. He even tried to arrange a meeting between the Iranian FM and Trump at the last G7 summit in Biarritz .
          https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/world/europe/g7-iran-trump-biarritz.html

          There is no French “disinformation campaign” against Iran.

          • Jack

            ? Again I have not talked about radio!

            Dont you understand that a disinformation campaign could be in radio, tv, press, digital?
            I suspect you are a querulant that comment with multiple names here. So I stop here.

          • OnlyHalfALooney

            Other than the RTL radio interview mentioned by Sputnik in which Le Drian actually proposes diplomacy and continuance of the Vienna agreement, do you have any evidence of a French “disinformation campaign”?

    • Borncynical

      I have to say that I was impressed by Zelensky’s balanced and objective take on the situation, especially considering Ukraine’s interests in the crash. Let’s see if he changes his tune after talking to (or, more accurately, being talked to by) Pompeo.

    • Tom Welsh

      “Zelensky stated, revealing that he will discuss the investigation with the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later in the day”.

      Is that the same Mike Pompeo who boasted, with a smug grin on his face, that when he was director of the CIA “We lied; we cheated; we stole”?

      Good luck with that.

    • joel

      They also told massive whoppers to get Vietnam and Gulf War 1 rolling. The lesson they learned from all of them is that it virtually always works if the entire ‘respectable’ media and most of the phony opposition is on board. (Which they always are.)

      There is cause for hope though in that their most recent best efforts to lie their way into regime change wars failed (Syria and Venezuela.)

      • Fedup

        “They also told massive whoppers to get Vietnam and Gulf War 1 rolling”

        This time around all their efforts to stop a war after this episode unfolding. Make sure you check the before and after Satellite images , and you will see the devastation that has been wreaked on one of the most advanced and heavily defended (patriot batteries included) bases in the mid east. Furthermore the Iranians had prepared enough missiles to hit 109 targets around the mid east; in response to any US retaliation.

        Why do you think the about turn happened from bombing 52 sites in Iran to “no need to use our weapons.”? The aircraft crash is a diversion in a face saving exercise.

    • Tom Welsh

      The practice of lying for America goes back beyond the Spanish-American War of 1898 to the vicious and unprovoked attack on Mexico in 1846-8 that led to Washington stealing more than half of Mexico’s territory.

      And back in the 18th century the Native Americans were learning to their cost that “Great White Father speak with forked tongue”.

      Americans have been lying in their teeth for profit since long before 1776.

  • TFS

    1. The General was a thorn in the side of the US, Israeli, Saudia Arabian proxy ISIS fighters in Syria and other lands.
    2. Wikileaks (as reported by John Pilger) shows the Saudis as one of the funders of ISIS.
    3. Saudis gave Hillary Clinton (now Chancellor of an Irish University), mucho monies and in return she made sure biggest arms deals were concluded with Saudi Arabia.
    4. I’m pretty sure recently some head of the British Armed forces was seen recieving a gift from the Saudi whilst he was visiting them. How nice our Military are fighting ISIS whilst our Military heads are cavorting with their paymasters.

    • Tom Welsh

      “Wikileaks (as reported by John Pilger) shows the Saudis as one of the funders of ISIS”.

      The way I like to express it is that ISIS is just a small leak that allows some “essence of Saudi” to ooze out across other countries.

      Like escaping sewage.

    • Fedup

      There is no money in WWIII!

      A cautious estimate of the derivatives market is reflective of a simple truth; we need another 48 Earths to make good the liabilities of the said market. Yeah the size of the market is 49 times the whole of the planet’s GDP. Any hint of world war will upset the apple cart and this time around regardless of the money printing press of the central banks the nosedive of the markets will continue to crash and burn stage.

      The writing was on the wall when the PNAC tried to realise planet US and as it turns out regardless of the application of kinetic force multipliers end result is dependent on the people who are required to lie down and play dead, and if they don’t the whole jig is up!

      • Tom Welsh

        “There is no money in WWIII!”

        To be ultra-pedantic, there might be plenty of money – but on too short a timescale even for American financial swindlers.

        Like 30 minutes.

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