Yes, you read that right. Sheesh.
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‘Guards Refer to the Children as ‘Bodies”
This is what happens when you hire the Gestapo to keep the migrants out.
White House: Drone May Have Crossed Into Iranian Airspace
An important paragraph buried down in the middle of this one in the Times:
But a senior Trump administration official said there was concern inside the United States government about whether the drone, or another American surveillance aircraft, or even the P-8A manned aircraft flown by a military aircrew, actually did violate Iranian airspace at some point. The official said the doubt was one of the reasons Mr. Trump called off the strike.
Close enough for government work.
The Iran Part of Tucker Tonight
John Bolton: bureaucratic tapeworm
Then the Greenwald interview.
Elijah J. Magnier: Iran And Trump On The Edge Of Abyss
Elijah J. Magnier reports that the Iranians have sent Trump a clear message.
The first message is that Iran is ready for an all-out war, no matter what the consequences. The second message is that Iran is aware that the US President has cornered himself; the embarrassing attack came a week after Trump launched his electoral campaign.
This is unbelievable if true.
According to well-informed sources, Iran rejected a proposal by US intelligence – made via a third party – that Trump be allowed to bomb one, two or three clear objectives, to be chosen by Iran, so that both countries could appear to come out as winners and Trump could save face. Iran categorically rejected the offer and sent its reply: even an attack against an empty sandy beach in Iran would trigger a missile launch against US objectives in the Gulf.
Moon Of Alabama responded:
And Elijah recommends:
Iran and the US are already at war economically. A way out of this crisis would be for Trump to close his eyes while allowing Europe to work to lift the economic pressure on Iran, without sanctioning the European companies concerned. Otherwise, there may be no escape from a regional and global catastrophe.
Daniel McAdams also mentioned on The Liberty Report that Trump could ease tensions by lifting oil sanctions on a few select countries.
The Libertarian Presidential Candidate We Need
Keith Preston at Attack The System wants a candidate that might actually be a libertarian. He argues they need to run on a platform of ending the federal government for real.
Not “enforcing the Tenth Amendment, ” not “going back to the Constitution,” not “reducing the size and scope of the federal government,” not “tax cuts and deregulation” or any other mainstream conservative/neoliberal-libertarian bullshit.
He likes what Adam Kokesh has to say but doesn’t think he is the right guy. He is thinking strategically.
The ideal revolutionary leader would have a clean image and one that exhibits uber-competence, and not have a personal history of instability.
Anybody come to mind?
USA Almost Attacked Iran Tonight
I had a tip at 8 eastern that they were going to attack in one hour. Then the Tucker show started. Then the attack was called off. I’m willing to bet it was Tucker and Macgregor who stopped a war tonight.
The New York Times says Trump had authorized the strike and planes were in the air before he changed his mind and called it off.
Pompeo, Bolton and Bloody Gina Haspel were pushing him to do it.
Senate Votes to Block Trump’s ‘Emergency’ Saudi Arms Sales
Resolutions blocked $8.1 billion in sales
In a 53-45 vote, Senators approved the first of multiple resolutions of disapproval aimed at blocking US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, sales which President Trump had been trying to push through circumventing Congress with an emergency declaration. A second resolution passed with the exact same numbers. A final resolution encompassing the other 20 objections passed 51-45.
Trump declared the emergency in late May, intended to bypass a 30-day review period by Congress. There was no sign that any of the arms would actually be shipped within 30 days, but rather Trump just wanted to avoid Congressional votes, which had been leaning toward opposing the sales.
Debate on the floor heavily focused on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia, and the large number of civilians being killed in the Saudi bombing of Yemen. Opponents argued that the Saudi kingdom needs these arms because of hostility toward Iran, and also argued that the new arms are so good they’d likely reduce civilian deaths.
The passage of the resolutions to block the sales are likely to set up a battle with the White House, as President Trump will almost certainly veto them. Though the votes at this point do not appear to support an override in the Senate, opposition to the Saudi arms sales seem to be growing by the day, and a successful override cannot be ruled out.
In addition to blocking sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the resolutions also mentioned related transfers to Italy, Spain, Britain, and Northern Ireland. Jordan was also mentioned, by way of the UAE intending to buy 500 missiles to give to Jordan as a gift as part of this emergency.
Talk of blocking Saudi arms sales over the Khashoggi murder has been under discussion since the October killing. The use of an emergency to try to bypass Congress seems to have given particular impetus to this round of resolutions, however, and blocking arms sales to the Saudis after today may well be the new normal, instead of the rare outlier.
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