Trump, Ukraine, Iran and Israel

Ukraine

As mentioned the other day- Biden okayed long range missile strikes onto Russian territory.

Ukraine Now Allowed To Use Long-Range Missiles Deep Into Russia: Reports

Contrary to what many others say and write I do not see this move by Biden as an attempt to tie Trump’s hands. Instead, I do see this as a move made to free a Trump presidency to carry on the same policy while giving Trump and his supporters a convenient scapegoat. Blaming the Biden administration. Once Trump becomes President he can change this policy. It seems highly unlikely he would.

Today it’s being reported long range missiles were fired into Russia targeting a weapons depot.

The Ukrainian state media agency RBK reported this as being the first use of an ATACMS missile against targets in Russia, citing “an informed source in the Defence Forces.”

“Indeed, for the first time, ATACMS was used for an attack on the territory of the Russian Federation. The attack was carried out on an object in the Bryansk region, it was successfully hit,” the source said.

I’m just not getting that peaceful resolution vibe. Are you?

Iran

Have you noticed the rhetoric against Iran is heating up?

There’s been the absurd claims that Iran was behind the assassination attempt on Trump

Yesterday, the Globe and Mail published the most spurious story about Iran wanting to assassinate “human rights crusader” Irwin Cotler– The article is full of aspersion, qualifying words and innuendo- It can’t be taken seriously other than for it’s intended perception management value. (read at archive.ph). Excerpts below and do notice the language.

Iran allegedly plotted to assassinate Irwin Cotler,

According to a source,

The source said legal authorities had knowledge of two suspects in the plot but it is not known whether they have been arrested or fled the country

The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to discuss national-security issues.

The RCMP did not immediately respond when contacted Sunday by The Globe.

The article turns into a grab bag of unsubstantiated claims– Surely done to impress the impressionable!

FT’s article and yes it’s putting the cart before the horse, but let’s see what is possibly in the works

Trump team aims to bankrupt Iran with new ‘maximum pressure’ plan

The president-elect mounted a campaign of “maximum pressure” in his first term after abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers, and imposing hundreds of sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Trump’s transition team is drawing up executive orders that he could issue on his first day in the Oval Office to target Tehran, including to tighten and add new sanctions on Iranian oil exports, according to the people familiar with the plans. “If they really go whole hog . . . they could knock Iran’s oil exports back to a few hundred thousand barrels per day,” said Bob McNally, president of consultancy Rapidan Energy and a former energy adviser to the George W Bush administration.

These additional sanctions are entirely likely based on Trump’s previous actions.

Israel

Will Israel use window before Trump takes office and ramp up Gaza, Hezbollah conflicts?

WASHINGTON — The foreign leader who has most engaged President-elect Donald Trump is undoubtedly Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli prime minister was quick to congratulate the Republican leader, and the two have chatted by phone repeatedly since the election.

Trump’s message? He reportedly told Netanyahu he wants Israel to wrap up its conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon before the Jan. 20 inauguration. That has led to speculation that Netanyahu will announce cease-fire agreements as Trump takes office, a kind of congratulatory reward.

In the meantime, however, diplomats and analysts worry Israel will ratchet up the bloodshed in both conflicts, operating in the political vacuum as the U.S. changes administrations.

That means Netanyahu has roughly 70 days to inflict as much damage as possible against Hamas militants in Gaza and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Several Israeli officials are also eyeing the Trump victory as an opportunity to annex territory in the occupied West Bank, home to 3 million Palestinians. Such an action would be considered illegal under international law.

“This will be the year” for full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said after the election.

Israeli officials are encouraged by Trump’s early Cabinet and administration nominations. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whom Trump wants as his ambassador to Israel, endorsed the possibility of annexation in an interview with Israel’s Army Radio the day after his nomination. Huckabee is an evangelical Christian who has questioned any Palestinian claim to the land.

Mike Huckabee is an extremist- He holds extremist views-

Mike Huckabee’s old-school Christian Zionism is bad news for anyone who wants Middle East peace

Understanding Huckabee’s theology is crucial to understanding the specific dangers of his vision

Equally as important: Huckabee is an old-school Christian Zionist, with the goal of establishing full Israeli sovereignty over Gaza and the West Bank. To understand just what the implications of that ideology might be, we need to understand the foundation of Huckabee’s particular strain of Christian thought, and its influences.

The goal of the ideology that Huckabee preaches — although the specifics are often left unarticulated — is the removal of Palestinians from the biblically defined land of Israel to facilitate Christ’s return. This extreme position goes farther than that of even the most rightward Israeli settlers, but to Huckabee and those who share his views, it is a matter of preordained fate. And along with their belief that this is God’s long-term plan comes a total removal of any sense of personal or collective guilt for the roughly 43,600 Palestinians who have been killed by Israel’s war in Gaza. What this means: Under Huckabee’s ambassadorship, Israel will become markedly less likely to find a peaceful resolution to this brutal conflict.

So far, so bad.