NYT’s

In recent years, Todd Blanche has been the lawyer President Trump has turned to, over and over, in his times of need.

It was Mr. Blanche who defended Mr. Trump in three of the four criminal cases he was facing, losing one to the Manhattan district attorney’s office but effectively winning two against the special counsel Jack Smith.

It was Mr. Blanche who took the No. 2 position at the Justice Department, stepping in as deputy attorney general to run the agency day to day, when Mr. Trump was re-elected.

And now it is Mr. Blanche whom the president has called upon again — this time in another moment of turmoil to serve as the interim attorney general after the abrupt firing of his predecessor, Pam Bondi.

It was Todd Blanche who famously interrogated Ghislaine Maxwell

The US has just made this declaration- State Department Announcement

Marco Rubio

February 27, 2026

Today, I am designating Iran as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. When the Iranian regime seized power 47 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini consolidated his control of power by endorsing the hostage taking of U.S. embassy staff. For decades, Iran has continued to cruelly detain innocent Americans, as well as citizens of other nations, to use as political leverage against other states. This abhorrent practice must end.

President Trump issued an Executive Order to Protect U.S. Nationals from Wrongful Detention Abroad last fall and Congress subsequently enacted the Countering Wrongful Detention Act of 2025, authorizing the Department to designate Iran as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. If Iran does not stop, we will be forced to consider additional measures, including a potential geographic travel restriction on the use of U.S. passports to, through, or from Iran.

The Iranian regime must stop taking hostages and release all Americans unjustly detained in Iran, steps that could end this designation and associated actions. We encourage it to do so. No American should travel to Iran for any reason. We reiterate our call for Americans who are currently in Iran to leave immediately.

From earlier today

The Trump administration is deranged.

*Pandemic as unique opportunity to test propaganda techniques

*Recall? War of the World’s alien invasion was also a mass psyop

*Looks to me as if the Alberta separatist movement is a psyop- working on multiple levels and infiltrated by outsiders

The reality is we are manipulated every day. From what goods to buy through to selling war.
The push to attack Iran is chock full of psyops/propaganda intended to get us on board with this action.

Valour Canada- “If” Day

At 0700 hours the siren cried into the early morning sky of February 19, 1942, and before long the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was plunged into a blackout. The supposed enemy was inching closer and despite the 3,500 Canadian soldiers and reservists making up the defensive army, it crumbled to the Nazi invaders. Winnipeg surrendered at 0930 hours.

But there was nothing real about this invasion – it was all an elaborate ploy to bolster interest and donations to the Victory Bond campaign. “If” Day was meant show Canadians what would happen if Nazis were not sufficiently kept at bay.

For the duration of the day, Winnipeg turned into Himmlerstadt (after high-ranking Nazi officer and head of the SS Henrich Himmler), Portage Avenue became Adolfhitlerstrasse, and Canadian dollars were replaced by Reichmarks.

Mock events aimed to instill a sense of fear and show the extent to which rights and freedoms would be curtailed by an oppressive Nazi regime. Priests and politicians were arrested, churches and other places of worship were forcibly closed, books were incinerated on the front steps of Carnegie Library, brusque identification inspections were conducted on street cars, homes were vandalized, all while Nazi-approved music and speeches reverberated on the radio.

“Everywhere the force of the great and valiant Nazi army are bringing the New Order to the Provinz of Greater Germany. The great and valiant Nazi army is also bringing to the Provinz German Kultur and the blessings of German civilization,” celebrated the newly minted Das Winnipeger Lugenblatt (“formerly” The Winnipeg Tribune).

To create the ultimate illusion, volunteers with the Young Men’s Section of the Winnipeg Board of Trade paraded in Nazi uniforms specially rented from Hollywood. Their behavior towards locals was intentionally brash and rough – though unlike their veritable counterparts, the Winnipeg “Nazis” did not exert any physical violence.

The deception was very convincing for many. “A lot of people were very uneasy and quite intimidated about this thing. Maybe it made them think that it could happen here. They didn’t know how far these Nazis would go,” recalled George Hoffman who played a fake Nazi.

Although the true Nazis had no immediate interest in conquering Canada, “If” Day did give Manitobans a small taste of what life under Nazi occupation would be like in a bid to drive support for the second Victory Bond campaign and propel donations into high gear. Through this first-hand experience, Winnipeggers appreciated how crucial it was to fight in Europe so Canada would not be vulnerable to a real invasion. The original goal of $45 million was surpassed for a total of $47 million (or approximately $658 million in 2017 dollars) – if the “Nazi” invasion was not successful because it was all staged, the Victory Bond campaign definitely was successful.

It’s an amazement to realize just how far a government, any government, will got to manipulate the populace to advance it’s own ends/agenda

Manitoba History- “If” Day Feb 19/1942

Epstein and the Treasury Files- Because more is being covered up then just the contents of the DoJ files

The release of the treasury files would shed a whole lot of light on who Epstein’s co- conspirators are.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, pushed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to the Senate Finance Committee.

Epstein, who was a wealthy financier, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to request the release of Treasury files related to Jeffrey Epstein to the Senate Finance Committee.

The Oregon senator, who has been investigating Epstein for years, specifically requested in his letter — which was sent on Tuesday — “all files related to transactions with Epstein and any co-conspirators,” including “suspicious activity reports” (SARs) issued by financial institutions.

The reports flagged concerning payments made to or from Epstein, his convicted co-conspirator Ghislane Maxwell and 58 other people and groups, according to Wyden

As Trump Sits on Key Epstein Files, Wyden lays out the “Follow the Money” investigation! Always the wisest move.

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Democrat Ron Wyden, D-Ore., slammed the Trump administration’s failure to properly investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network and financing in a new letter sent today to Attorney General Pam Bondi, and he laid out seven leads for federal prosecutors based on the findings of his own years-long inquiry.

“After reviewing the Epstein memorandum you recently published, it is obvious that the DOJ failed to conduct a real investigation into the funding of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. In fact, I am convinced that the DOJ ignored evidence found in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Epstein file, a binder that contains extensive details on the mountains of cash Epstein received from prominent businessmen that Epstein used to finance his criminal network,” Wyden wrote. “Due to the DOJ’s lack of thoroughness, I would like to offer you a roadmap with a list of ‘follow the money’ leads on Jeffrey Epstein that you must follow up on immediately.”

The seven lines of investigation Wyden laid out in his letter are as follows:

1. Direct DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents to immediately investigate the evidence contained in the Treasury Department records on Epstein. The Treasury Department’s Epstein file contains actionable information on thousands of wire transfers and more than $1 billion dollars flowing in and out of Epstein’s accounts, all of which merit further investigation.
2. Direct DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents to investigate why several ultra-wealthy Wall Street financiers paid Jeffrey Epstein hundreds of millions of dollars. For example, billionaire Leon Black paid Epstein $170 million for purported tax and estate planning advice, far more than other professional attorneys and advisors involved in Black’s estate planning. This is an abnormal amount to pay for tax advice, yet no satisfactory explanation has been provided as to why Black paid Epstein such extraordinary sums without a written contract or agreement.
3. Investigate the role of sanctioned Russian banks in the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking activities. The Treasury Department’s Epstein file contains information indicating that Epstein used several now sanctioned Russian banks for hundreds of millions of dollars in wire transfers. It appears that these wire transfers were correlated to the movement of women or girls around the world.
4. Direct the DOJ to subpoena internal bank records related to Jeffrey Epstein. Some of the biggest banks in the world, including Bank of America, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, processed billions in suspicious transactions that flowed through Epstein’s accounts. The DOJ and FBI must subpoena internal bank records concerning payments to Epstein to better understand whether financial institutions conducted appropriate due diligence of these transactions or whether the banks willingly looked the other way to not upset wealthy clients that were funding Epstein’s operations.
5. Direct the DOJ and FBI to conduct an investigation into banks that failed to properly report large payments to Epstein in a timely manner. Federal anti-money laundering laws require banks to conduct due diligence on large transactions and report suspicious activity to the U.S. Treasury Department in a timely fashion. The Finance Committee investigation found that several major banks likely broke the law by only reporting large payments to Epstein well after Epstein was charged. In one case, a major U.S. bank flagged more than $170 million in payments to Epstein seven years late, only after Epstein had already died in his cell.
6. Conduct depositions with bankers responsible for overseeing large accounts transacting with Jeffrey Epstein, particularly relationship managers and their supervisors. Epstein’s accounts routinely had hundreds of millions of dollars in them. Epstein also received large inflows of cash from some of the wealthiest men in America, typically in large installments in the tens of millions of dollars. Ultra-high net worth persons ($30 million and up) benefit from white glove treatment from private bankers who are compensated on a percentage of the value of the accounts they manage. These bankers are also required to conduct “know your customer” reviews on their clients and conduct enhanced due diligence of large wire transfers. Accordingly, DOJ must immediately conduct transcribed interviews with bankers overseeing Epstein’s accounts as well as the wealthy businessmen who helped finance his operations.
7. Subpoena documents from the USVI Attorney General related to its settlement agreement that gave Leon Black immunity from prosecution in the USVI for Epstein related crimes. As you may be aware, the U.S. Virgin Islands and billionaire Leon Black in 2023 signed a settlement agreement related to Jeffrey Epstein. As part of that settlement, Leon Black paid $62.5 million in order to receive immunity from any criminal prosecution in the USVI related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations. Disturbingly, the settlement includes an assertion that “Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.” This revelation suggests that one of the most powerful figures on Wall Street financed Jeffrey Epstein’s human trafficking operations in the USVI with impunity.

“As you know, my staff have been working to expose the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking for years. I can say with a high degree of confidence that there is a lot the DOJ and the Treasury Department are not telling the public about Jeffrey Epstein. It is clear that more needs to be done and it would be inexcusable for you not to immediately follow up on these common sense, actionable recommendations,” Wyden concluded.

The complete text of Wyden’s letter to Attorney General Bondi is available here.

BBC

Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, refused to answer questions from the US House Oversight Committee on Monday.

Maxwell appeared virtually for a closed-door deposition from the Texas prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

Republican House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said that “as expected”, Maxwell pleaded the Fifth Amendment, invoking her right to remain silent.

Politico

In a copy of Maxwell’s lawyer’s opening statement obtained by POLITICO, David Oscar Markus reiterated that grant of clemency would facilitate her testimony — a power only President Donald Trump can bestow. He has not ruled out issuing a pardon.

“Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters,” according to Markus’ prepared remarks. (Her truth is that Trump and Clinton are both innocent)

Democrats accused Maxwell of using the deposition as part of a campaign for clemency from Trump, while House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters he did not believe Maxwell should be granted clemency.

“Unfortunately, she had an opportunity today to answer questions that every American has — questions that would be very important in this investigation — and she chose to invoke her Fifth Amendment right,” the Kentucky Republican said.

At this point in time, given this woman’s entire history, background and criminality- her testimony is meaningless- She should be removed from her camp prison and go back to actual prison

I don’t think her “testimony” is required.

And lastly Howard Lutnick, unsurprisingly, is way more tied into the Jeffrey Epstein episode than had been claimed- However, he was Mr Epstein’s neighbour for a long time, and they both share an interest in Israel

Howard Lutnick faces bipartisan calls to resign over latest Epstein revelations

Recently disclosed records suggest a closer relationship than the Commerce secretary previously indicated.

Jordain Carney02/09/2026, 11:15am ET

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing bipartisan calls to resign after he appeared in a recent batch of files linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) accused Lutnick in a statement Monday of having “lied” about the extent of his connection to Epstein. Lutnick has sought to downplay their relationship, saying in a podcast appearance last year he vowed in 2005 to never again be in the same room as Epstein.

But files recently released by the Justice Department suggest he continued his interactions with Epstein, including planning a visit several years later to Epstein’s Caribbean island.

“Lutnick’s lies about his business dealings with a convicted child sex offender, raise serious concerns about his judgement and ethics,” Schiff said. “Lutnick has no business being our Commerce Secretary, and he should resign immediately.”

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson previously said that Lutnick had “limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing.”

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who is leading an investigation into Epstein and has already subpoenaed multiple associates, did not rule out issuing one for Lutnick. But he said the panel’s outstanding subpoenas take priority for now.

“It’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been lying about his relationship with Epstein,” the Californian posted on X. “Lutnick must resign or be fired. And he must answer our questions.”

The Independent

Donald Trump claims to have hashed out the “framework” of a future deal on Greenland following weeks of threats to annex the Danish territory.

The US president emerged from talks with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte on Wednesday confident that a deal was in sight and that all parties were happy with it.

In sight? In immediate sight? A distant sight?

Denmark said it was open to dialogue so long as its borders are respected – but have notably not endorsed any aspects of the agreement briefed to the media or discussed publicly by Mr Rutte.

The shape of the arrangement was “a little bit complex”, Mr Trump said, and would have to be explained “down the line”. However, he waived his previous threat of tariffs against European allies in an apparent attempt to defuse tensions.

Mr Rutte said that Denmark would retain its sovereignty and stressed that Nato allies would have to step up on Arctic security “within months” under the framework deal currently being discussed.

Officials close to the negotiations briefed media outlets that a deal could see greater US freedom to build on the island, modelled on Britain’s overseas arrangements. But concrete details of what could form part of the deal remain scarce and there is no guarantee that Mr Trump’s demands will be accepted by Europe.

What is the deal missing?

The framework remains informal and lacks specifics. If the main challenges are, as Nato says, combatting Russian and Chinese investment and interference, the US already has the right to build bases and Denmark has countered Chinese investment in the past.

The development of the island’s mining sector is also wrapped up in red tape and opposition from indigenous people, and it is unclear how Greenland would be compensated if the US tries to extract rare minerals. The extraction of oil and gas is banned for environmental reasons

Sky News

Donald Trump’s team will act like he has achieved something with an apparent “framework of a deal” on Greenland. But be in no doubt, that’s nonsense – and the US president has inflicted serious damage to the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Donald Trump may claim there is, but that’s only because he needed a way to back down from his threats when he realised that he wasn’t going to be able to own Greenland.

“Is this just Trump’s off-ramp? No actual framework of a deal yet?” I asked one diplomat at the heart of it all.

The response: “Exactly.”

Through the “Trump whisperer”, NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, the Danish and Greenlander positions have essentially been reiterated to the American president.

During a face-to-face meeting in Davos, pre-existing commitments in the 1951 US-Denmark treaty were reemphasised and European nations re-committed to increase their own defence of Greenland.

When they did precisely this last week, by literally sending senior military officials to Greenland, Trump interpreted it as a provocation against him and issued the tariff threat.

“I’m so bored of this now…” one European ambassador told me over the weekend, such is the level of weariness over the American president’s antics.

A trio of U-turns

The day in Davos was dizzying even by Trump’s standards.

He first U-turned on the implicit threat of military action, then he U-turned on the tariff threat, and then he U-turned on the insistence that he take sovereignty of Greenland. All in the space of a day.

The penny had dropped in his head, it seems. He realised his Greenland ownership plans were more than just unpopular at home (among his own side too). They were seen as self-defeating, undeliverable and frankly mad.

U-turns and TACO’s

Importantly, though, Trump has pulled back on his proposed European 10% levies set to come into effect on 1 February and noted that the US will not take Greenland by force; both clarifications were meaningful and helped calm markets

After finding the above information- a Glenn Diesen interview came my way

Via Archive.ph

The Tariffs were always a from of economic warfare, to waged against other nations

1: Trump Imposes Tariffs on Countries Supporting Greenland

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday that he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on eight European countries—Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the U.K.—for deploying a small joint force to Greenland to conduct reconnaissance. Trump said the tariffs would take effect on February 1 and increase to 25 percent on June 1, adding they “will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.” The leaders of the eight European nations responded in a joint statement, writing that “tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.” To learn more about Trump’s campaign to acquire Greenland, read Thursday’s TMD.

• Bloomberg reported Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron plans to request that European Union leaders activate the EU’s anti-coercion instrument, a never-before-used mechanism created in 2023 that would implement further trade restrictions on the U.S., while also placing July 2025’s U.S.-EU trade deal in jeopardy. EU ambassadors met in Brussels later that night to discuss a potential response.

• On Friday, a bipartisan group of American lawmakers met with Danish lawmakers in Copenhagen.
• The same day, the chief military leader of Denmark’s Greenland-based Joint Arctic Command, Major General Soren Andersen, said that his priority is preparing against potential threats from Russia. “I don’t see a NATO ally attacking another NATO ally,” he said.

The EU is well positioned to trade with China and Russia and should do so- As they were before

2: Trump Issues More Pardons

Trump keeps right on pardoning criminals

Trump issued 14 pardons and eight commutations on Thursday and Friday. To learn more about Trump’s use of the pardon power, read the December 11 issue ofTMD. Last week’s pardons included:

• Former Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced—who was indicted in August 2022 for allegedly engaging in a bribery scheme to fund her 2020 re-election campaign—along with Garced’s two co-defendants.
• Venezuelan-Italian banker Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, whose daughter donated $3.5 million to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc.
• Adriana Camberos, a California businesswoman who was convicted of wire fraud in October 2024 for making tens of millions of dollars by giving false information to consumer goods and food manufacturers. She received a commutation by Trump in 2021 after being convicted for operating illegal business schemes.

3: More Details on the U.S. Campaign in Venezuela

Reuters reported Saturday that U.S. officials had been communicating with Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello months before the U.S. apprehended Nicolás Maduro in a raid earlier this month. Sources told Reuters that the Trump administration has continued talks with Cabello, including warning him against ordering violence against opposition members. The Associated Press also reported Saturday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has categorized acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez as a “priority target” for several years, with one confidential informant telling the federal agency in 2021 that she was running a money laundering scheme in the Caribbean

4: Ukraine Meetings in Florida

Ukrainian officials met with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and foreign policy adviser, Jared Kushner, in Florida over the weekend for a two-day discussion of prospective security guarantees and post-war reconstruction proposals. On Sunday, Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said that discussions focused on “practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them,” adding that both sides plan to meet again later this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s defense systems were “insufficient” and that some were currently “without missiles.

David Barnea—the director of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad—arrived in Miami on Friday to discuss with U.S. officials prospective responses to Iran’s violent crackdown.
Leaders of an Iraq-based Kurdish separatist group told the Associated Press that they have provided military and financial support to the anti-government protesters.
Reza Pahlavi—the son of the deposed shah of Iran—urged Trump during a press conference on Friday to intervene and support the anti-government protesters in the country, laying out a plan to lead the country through a prospective transition to democratic governance. On Sunday night, hackers broadcast footage supporting Pahlavi on Iranian state television transmissions.

5:Iran Blames Trump for Killings

In a Saturday speech—later reiterated on Twitter—Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei admitted that thousands had died in the country’s protests, but blamed the demonstrations and the deaths on U.S. interference. “We find the U.S. President guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Khamenei’s account posted. Trump had commended the Iranian regime on Friday, posting on Truth Social that he “greatly respect[s] the fact that they canceled” the execution of more than 800 protesters scheduled to take place last week. But when asked about Khamenei’s posts over the weekend, Trump toldPolitico, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.” On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that “any aggression” against Khamenei would be treated as “tantamount to all-out war against” the country.

Reza Pahlavi—the son of the deposed shah of Iran—urged Trump during a press conference on Friday to intervene and support the anti-government protesters in the country, laying out a plan to lead the country through a prospective transition to democratic governance. On Sunday night, hackers broadcast footage supporting Pahlavi on Iranian state television transmissions.

David Barnea—the director of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad—arrived in Miami on Friday to discuss with U.S. officials prospective responses to Iran’s violent crackdown.

Leaders of an Iraq-based Kurdish separatist group told the Associated Press that they have provided military and financial support to the anti-government protesters.

As mentioned in a previous post- This would be the PKK providing guns and money to PJAK in Iran- They are the same

**More on the hacking of Iranian television

To broadcast the so called exiled crown prince (resident of the US)

Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people,” footage online showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country.

***Some Kurdish thugs in Iran were killed according to this group

Since they were given cash and arms from the PKK- I gotta figure they were up to no good!

Hoping everyone here understands that yes the US attempted to assassinate Putin. That’s how I see the drone attack- It happened and Putin was the target.

Let’s get to Iran

penny2says:
January 4, 2026 at 2:42 pm • Edit

My opinion? He’s going for Greenland next
Not sure if it will be before or after he assists Israel in their attack on Iran?

Looks as if he’s going to hit Iran first and soon. Attempt to take out the leadership? I’m going to say definitely! All out warfare if the decapitation strike on Iran’s leadership doesn’t succeed? Quite likely. Whatever the case- it’s extremely dangerous times..
Israel always being the wild card with it’s Sampson Option ideology. Israel is clearly gung ho and I believe Trump is all in with mass strikes on infrastructure and an attempt to kill/overthrow the government

Read the Jerusalem Post article linked, excerpt included below

Until now, Trump had made a variety of statements threatening to intervene if the Iranian regime started killing protesters, but had qualified those statements with other statements suggesting he might only intervene very late in the game, if it looked like he could help push the protesters over the top of the regime, and without taking the risk of intervening without a guaranteed “win.”

Trump’s options in Iran: Massive airstrikes, assassinations, and cyber weapons – analysis

In some ways, it seemed like Trump was experimenting with how much he could impact the world after abducting Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, just by using the shock value of that action but without necessarily taking any concrete further action on other fronts.

In the case of Iran, Israel can do the follow up work if necessary so Trump can have some plausible deniability

But Trump’s latest statement indicates a greater and more sustained commitment.

Now, if he does not intervene in some substantial way, he and the US will lose face and some of their deterrent posture in other parts of the world whenever another conflict arises.

So what might he do?

First of all, the US is still the world’s greatest superpower and, using either airpower, naval long-range strikes, a ground invasion, or all of the above, it has the capability to take down the current regime.

That does not mean it could ensure a friendly new leadership, as the US found out in Iraq and Afghanistan, but doing the toppling itself is doable.

Still, presuming that Trump has not completely changed character and is not ready for a long war that could lead to many Americans dying and expending significant funds on the military campaign, it would be more likely that he will take a more measured approach in using American power.

As stated Israel can do the follow up work, with the US as a silent partner

One example could be targeted strikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and especially its Basij branch, which is at the center of oppressing protesters.

Regarding the airstrikes option, it is notable that CENTCOM made a big announcement about expanding air and missile defense power at its base in Qatar, striking distance from Iran, and also a base that Iran tried to attack in the past.

In the same sentence and around the same time, Qatar posted an unusual warning that “catastrophe” would result if the Iran conflict expanded into a wider war.

Doha is doubtlessly concerned since after Trump bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, Tehran attacked the US base in Qatar, causing fear and shock in the area, even if there were no deaths.

A spin-off of this would be trying to create free zones or no-fly zones in parts of Iran where the minorities are the majority (replay of Iraq and the Kurds) and hate the regime.

This would leave the regime in control of most of the country, but would start a larger process of poking holes in its veneer of invincibility.

Trump ready to use cyber weapons

Trump has also shown he is more ready to publicly use cyber weapons for a massive attack than past US presidents.
He bragged loudly about having turned off all of the lights in Caracas, a city of more than three million.

The US could launch targeted cyberattacks against the IRGC, the Basij, and senior-level commanders of the regime to break down their ability to coordinate their efforts against protesters.

This could also lead to sabotaging some of their weapons.

In fact, America could do worse and send them false information to send IRGC and Basij personnel into traps or to the wrong locations, so that the protesters could proceed wherever they would actually be campaigning

Trump Cancels Iran Talks As Protests Death Toll Surpasses 2,000:

And there’s the flag of the Shah.

To the death toll… the “peaceful protestors” have been attacking and killing all kinds of people- regular persons on buses. Firebombing people in mosques- Attacking law enforcement.

– Fortunately it is still accessible @ Global Research

The fact that an open warmonger heads the Nobel Peace Committee has completely discredited what was once the world’s most prestigious Peace Prize. That honor is now just another weapon in the arsenal of the Great Powers mobilizing to reassert their authority over their former colonial domain. The goal of the West is not democracy and human rights; what its leaders really desire is domination and warfare. The intentions are clear. Thus we must each prepare, in our different ways, for the coming bloodshed.

In its most recent selections of peace laureates Barack Obama and Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has been pushing the strategic agenda of its chairman since 2009. Outside of European policy circles, Thorbjoern Jagland has no celebrity status, yet he is among the most powerful figures influencing the future global order.

The veteran Norwegian Labour Party politician has taken a stance similar to that of Britain’s Tony Blair in support of European Union integration and a strong alliance with Washington to ensure Western leadership in international affairs. He has served as Norway’s prime minister, foreign minister, speaker of the parliament known as the Storting, and current chairman of the Council of Europe, a body that backed the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during the Cold War.

His political career has been defined by his close relationship with NATO. He sat on the Norwegian government’s standing committee on defense and was a key player in NATO parliamentary conferences.

On his home turf, Labour is the party of choice for the Norwegian officer corps. Despite its relatively small size, Norway is a significant military player due to its strategic location near the former Soviet Arctic Fleet base at Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula. Throughout the Cold War, the Norwegians—every male citizen is a soldier and has a rifle—were the front line on the Russian border.

A Military Mentality

That vanguard role continues today, with Norwegian troops on the ground in Afghanistan, its naval vessels curbing piracy off Somalia, Pentagon anti-ballistic missile systems and anti-satellite technology waging the struggle for outer space, and the world’s most advanced anti-submarine technology. Norway has the highest per-capita troop deployment among NATO’s 28-member states.

The challenge for the West has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with a new potential enemy taking shape in an economic coalition known as the BRICs — Brazil, Russia, India and, most feared of all, China. Jagland, as a public voice for NATO strategists, is calling on an enlarged Western alliance to stand down the resurgence of military powers China and Russia and disrupt their ever-closer relationships with Brazil and India.

At a NATO-sponsored conference of European parliamentarians last year, Jagland spoke tough words: “When we are not able to stop tyranny, war starts. This is why NATO is indispensable. NATO is the only multilateral military organization rooted in international law. It is an organization that the U.N. can use when necessary — to stop tyranny, like we did in the Balkans.” His reference was to the NATO bombing campaign, invasion and occupation of the now-terminated Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia in the late 1990s.

To summarize his message: If, anywhere in the world, tyrants cannot be overthrown by peaceful means, war is inevitable — and NATO will wage that war.

These are chilling words coming from the chairman of the Nobel Peace Committee. Jagland later said on announcing the peace prize for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo: “We have to speak when others cannot speak. As China is rising, we should have the right to criticize. We want to advance those forces that want China to become more democratic.”

A term like “advance those forces” is eerily similar to the euphemisms in Japanese textbooks that describe “advances” into foreign territory on continental Asia. It reflects a militaristic mindset.

The New Global Order

At the 2009 NATO conference, Jagland dropped a hint of what was to come: “We must build alliances and adapt to new realities. [We must] understand and debate how democratic rights can be upheld in the 21st century. How freedom can be assured. What kind of alliances we need to that end. And we need a New Strategic Concept.”

Among his political foes in Norway, Jagland is called “our own George Bush Jr.” It’s good joke, but not when considering the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, or while Jagland, with this latest Nobel Peace prize, has just precipitated a damaging diplomatic crisis between the West and China. The controversy will only worsen when the Nobel medallions are given out in December.

The Nobel scandal has already scuttled the Norwegian oil firm Statoil’s plans to sell Beijing the Peregrino oil field offshore of Brazil — the first real blow against the BRIC coalition. Politicians and businessmen who are eager about emerging international trade opportunities are simply naive about geopolitics. Once again, the civilians have been outflanked by the military.

NATO’s Asian Allies

Meanwhile, Jagland’s colleagues among the Norwegian defense forces have recently initiated military-technology deals with South Korea and Japan at a time of regional tensions with China. The conservative government of President Lee Myung-bak is pursuing a crash program to build a new generation of Sejong-class KDX-3 destroyers. In the wake of the past summer’s South Korean ship-sinking crisis, Seoul is putting renewed emphasis on anti-submarine warfare.

Norwegian shipbuilders, including the Kongsberg Group, are the world leader in sonar and electronic warfare systems. The Norwegian Nansen-class of anti-submarine destroyers is top of the line. The Royal Navy of Norway has decades of real-life experience at chasing Soviet, now Russian, U-boats. The military ties between Oslo and Seoul go back to the Korean War, when Norway sent a military medical unit as an ally.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, the Japanese defense industry recently hosted a high-level Norwegian military delegation. Among the topics of discussion was the growing naval threat of China and the need for NATO and the US-Japan security alliance to cooperate to defend the new Arctic Sea passage. As global warming melts the polar ice cap, the waters north of Russia can be navigated.

The emerging connections between NATO and America’s East Asian allies are starting to reveal the New Strategic Concept: the coming naval encirclement of China and Russia. With ground troops on bases in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, the circle is closing. The world is plunging into the Second Cold War.

The Peace Laureate

How does an obscure dissident sitting in a Chinese prison figure into this grand plan for global conflict? Liu Xiaobo’s personal link with Norway started during his days as a visiting scholar to the University of Oslo in 1988. At that moment, the Soviet Union was in a deep crisis of disintegration. NATO strategists were anxious about the prospect of Moscow being saved in the nick of time by its onetime friend and ally, China. Faxes out of the Chinese Embassy in Moscow were of utmost concern, but were indecipherable, being written in Chinese.

Back in those dark days of the Cold War, there weren’t many Chinese in Scandinavia, so Liu was a rare commodity — a scholar from Beijing who loathed Beijing. Whether Liu became a NATO asset is a matter of top-secret classification. Oslo’s repeated inquiries about him through two decades, the Western media’s patronage, and the Nobel selection over other Chinese dissidents indicate some sort of special bond. Whatever the hidden details of his foreign involvements, Liu’s Peace Prize is serving as the bugle call for NATO’s global crusade against so-called “tyranny.”

The fact that an open warmonger heads the Nobel Peace Committee has completely discredited what was once the world’s most prestigious Peace Prize. That honor is now just another weapon in the arsenal of the Great Powers mobilizing to reassert their authority over their former colonial domain. The goal of the West is not democracy and human rights; what its leaders really desire is domination and warfare. The intentions are clear. Thus we must each prepare, in our different ways, for the coming bloodshed.

Written in 2010

U.S. government admits negligence in January helicopter-plane collision near Washington

The U.S. government admitted Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army played a role in causing the collision last January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people in the deadliest crash on American soil in more than two decades.

The official response to the first lawsuit filed by a family of one of the victims said that the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated procedures that night. The filing also said the failure of the Army helicopter pilots “to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid” the airline jet makes the government liable.

The government’s lawyers said in the filing that “the United States admits that it owed a duty of care to plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident.”

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will release its report on the cause of the crash early next year, but investigators have already highlighted a number of factors that contributed, including the helicopter flying 24 metres higher than the 61-metre limit on a route that allowed only scant separation between planes landing on Reagan’s secondary runway and helicopters passing below.

The NTSB also said that the FAA failed to recognize the dangers around the busy airport even after 85 near misses in the three years before the crash.

The government admitted in its filing that the United States “was on notice of certain near-miss events between its Army-operated Black Hawk helicopters and aircraft traffic transiting in and around helicopter Routes 1 and 4” around Washington.