“Goodbye Europe!” Der Spiegel Depicts Trump as Middle Finger Flipping Off EU Amidst Iran Deal Tensions

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German magazine Der Spiegel released its latest issue, with a cover featuring Donald Trump on a middle finger, flipping the bird. It comes just days after the USA angered Europe by walking away from the Iran nuclear deal. Reaction from EU officials is still pouring in since Trump announced his decision earlier this week, so it didn’t take long before the cover was retweeted by French Ambassador to the US Gerard Araud. On Friday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also had a few words to say to Der Spiegel about Washington pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, saying:

The USA has shown very little willingness to take the arguments of its allies seriously. The decision has already taken hold of transatlantic ties.

Der Spiegel’s tone on the cover was matched inside the magazine, with an editorial titled “Time for Europe to Join the Resistance”. The article said that US President Donald Trump is “only proficient in destruction”, referencing his pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate agreement. The self-explanatory cover came just one day after German Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel said that Europe can no longer count on the USA, and must take matters into its own hands. French President Emmanuel Macron, who agreed with Merkel, echoed that sentiment, “Something should be done”.

Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal despite America’s three biggest allies (the UK, Germany, and France) putting forth their best efforts to convince him to stick with the landmark agreement signed in 2015. However, the US President walked away from what he deems the “worst deal ever negotiated” on Tuesday. Much like Merkel and Macron, the decision also left EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to say that the USA must be replaced as a leader on the international stage because it has “lost vigour”. As for Merkel, it seems that Trump’s Iran decision didn’t entirely fuel her statement. Last year, she made a similar statement following a G7 summit, when attendees of the meeting were unable to convince the US President to stay with the Paris Climate Agreement. She said at the time:

The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days.

12 March 2018

RT

https://www.rt.com/news/426550-spiegel-trump-cover-iran/

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Iran Deal Crisis Leaves Transatlantic Alliance in Tatters

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The prospect of German, French, and British companies being hit with US sanctions in the wake of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran Deal carries with it an element of poetic justice. Over the past few years, each of the aforementioned governments were slavish in their support for sanctions against Russia; therefore, now that they face being on the receiving end of sanctions themselves, well, let’s just say the opportunity to luxuriate in Schadenfreude is hard to resist. However, this being said, under the circumstances… what with the Middle East perched on the precipice of a full-blown regional war, what with an administration in Washington more redolent in its actions of a mafia crime family than a government, and what with instability and escalation the new normal… Schadenfreude at this juncture is an indulgence too far.

For if this enveloping crisis confirms anything, it’s that the time has come for Europe to wake up to the reality of its transatlantic alliance with Washington… an alliance in which they invested so much political capital and which is now exposed as a sham, a masquerade that allowed dandified popinjays, such as Emmanuel Macron, to indulge their imperial pretensions… much like that snivelling boy you met in the playground when you were at school, who by dint of sucking up to the school bully was able to prance around as if his you-know-what didn’t stink. In truth, the relationship between the USA and Europe was never a relationship of equals. In truth, it always was a relationship between an imperial hegemon and its various satellites; one that tethered Europe to the deadweight of unipolarity since the USSR’s demise. The only difference now is that the Trump Administration removed the mask of propriety, civility, and democracy to reveal the snarling beast of hegemony that really drives US foreign policy, and always has. A tweet posted by the new US Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, laid bare Washington’s disdain for Europe. Ambassador Grenell tweeted:

As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.

This diktat, issued by a latter-day Roman proconsul to a European satellite, marks the nadir of an alliance that impeded European unity and development and not enabled it. Indeed, the destabilising factor in Europe isn’t and has never been Moscow; the destabilising factor is and has always been Washington. Thus, Europe now has a very clear decision to make. Does it continue to tether itself to the mast of US hegemony, at the mercy of the caprice of a US president in Washington? Alternatively, does it join Russia and China in seeking an anti-hegemonic alternative, one rooted in the principles set out in the UN Charter… i.e. respect for national sovereignty, self-determination, and the universal application of international law.

In fact, it’s arguable that this decision was just made for Europe, with the only thing left to find out is whether those in power have the requisite integrity to act accordingly and start the process of decoupling from Washington’s coattails. If they don’t… if France, Germany, and the UK continue to champion this failed husk of a transatlantic alliance… then, there can no longer be any equivocation… they govern contrary to the interests of their own people. Therefore, yes, that Europe arrived at a key juncture in its history isn’t in doubt. It’s why resisting the temptation to ascribe this crisis to the machinations of one bad or vulgar president in the shape of Trump in the Oval Office is non-negotiable. Despite the claims of his liberal detractors in Washington and across Europe, Trump isn’t a departure from the status quo in Washington. Instead, Trump is merely its most crude and brazen exemplar. Moreover, too, in talking about US hegemony, we’re dealing with its economic manifestation in the shape of neoliberalism, its cultural manifestation, and (of course) its military component, most emphatically reflected in NATO… a military alliance that now exists to deal with the crises that very existence creates.

The monstrous injustice involved in the Trump Administration’s démarche over the Iran Deal, driven by a transparently geostrategic agenda in conjunction with Riyadh and Tel Aviv, moves the region, as mentioned, to the brink of a devastating conflict. In response, it must also produce a sea change in European thinking when it comes to its relations with the USA… and by definition, with Russia. Although you can describe operating as a de facto colony of Washington as many things, honourable and strong are not among them. France’s most famous leader of modern times, Charles De Gaulle, said it best:

You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.

Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran Deal is the very epitome of “stupidity beyond imagination”, leaving no hiding place for those who continue to believe in the verities that posit America as that shining city on the hill. Since the end of World War II, US involvement in Europe had a corrosive effect on the continent’s political, economic, and cultural life. Thus, it’s high time that Europe declared its independence and forged its own path as part of a multipolar world.

11 May 2018

John Wight

Sputnik International

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201805111064373593-iran-deal-transatlantic-alliance-crisis/

Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński: Death of an Anti-Russian Terrorist

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Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński is dead at the age of 89. The former US National Security Advisor put the feuds of his homeland above the interests of his adopted USA. Richard Nixon had more foreign policy achievements that just about any modern American President. However, Nixon’s scandal-plagued White House generally overshadowed these achievements. Amongst his most important achievements was engaging in détente with the USSR. Nixon’s de-escalation of tensions with Moscow ultimately led to the signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, wherein America and its allies and non-aligned states of Europe agreed to respect the borders and sovereignty of existing states, including that of the USSR and her allies. The Helsinki Accords affirmed renouncing violence as a means of settling disputes and forced signatories to respect the right of self-determination among peoples. This was a rare moment; the USA admitted that it couldn’t win the Cold War and that engagement and peaceful dialogue were preferable to threats against the Soviet superpower.

In 1976, Jimmy Carter became the President of the United States after Nixon’s former Vice-President Gerald Ford failed to win over an America hungry for change on the domestic front. While many remember Jimmy Carter as a man of peace, his Presidency was anything but peaceful. The reason for this was the power behind the throne, Carter’s National Security Advisor, Brzeziński. The Polish-born Brzeziński put the historic blood-feud of his mother country ahead of American interests. He openly opposed Nixon and Ford’s policy of détente and orchestrated the use of American power to arm and fund all those who sought to undermine the USSR.

This became most apparent when he decided to use the USA’s resources to fund, arm, and train the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Among the fighters Brzeziński’s policy helped to arm was Osama bin Laden, the founder of the Salafist terrorist group al-Qaeda. The USA later blamed that group for orchestrating and executing the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA. Brzeziński was happy to ally with blood-soaked jihadists to topple the secular modern government of Afghanistan, for the simple reason that it was a Soviet ally. Brzeziński’s jihadists took over the country in the 1990s; they famously executed and then mutilated the corpse of Afghanistan’s pro-Soviet President Dr Mohammad Najibullah in 1996. Many blame the Brzeziński-authored policies in Afghanistan for unleashing the plague of jihadist terrorism throughout the wider world.

Brzeziński’s formal time in the White House was only for Jimmy Carter’s single term, but many of his policies lived on long after his formal period in power. Throughout the rest of his life, Brzeziński continued to vocally advocate policies designed to cripple Russia, including NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe. He was a strong supporter of the 2014 coup against the legitimate Ukrainian government and more recently said that the Russian Federation would break up. Furthermore, he said that the USA must help those wanting to break it up, irrespective of who they are. He continued to advocate sanctions against Russia until his dying day, in spite of the fact that the sanctions ended up hurting his native Poland more than the Russian Federation he sought to destroy.

Brzeziński was a deeply violent and hateful man. He was also dishonest; he told the last Shah of Iran that the USA would give him full backing, knowing well that there was division in the White House on the issue. He was a man who brought ancient hatreds, hatreds which long pre-dated the USA’s existence, into the heart of American policy making. At the age of 89, Brzeziński is dead. Even if he lived another hundred years, he’d never see his dream, the death of Russia. Russia remains alive and well, and in this sense, perhaps, he died knowing that his entire reason for being was a failure.

26 May 2017

Adam Garrie

The Duran

http://theduran.com/zbigniew-brzezinski-death-anti-russian-terrorists/

Ten Countries that Threaten World Peace More than the DPRK Does

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The DPRK doesn’t pose a critical threat to the world. However, these countries have done so and still very much do. Often, people portray the DPRK portrayed as a rogue state that endangers its region and according to some, the world. Nevertheless, the DPRK hasn’t engaged in a hot conflict since the ceasefire that ended the Korean War in 1953. There’s little evidence that the DPRK is actually as menacing as it often pretends to be, let alone as menacing as others claim it is.

READ MORE: The US should accept China’s proposal and talk to North Korea. Here’s why.

You can’t say the same for the following ten countries:

1. The USA

Since 1998 alone, the USA conducted unprovoked illegal aggressive attacks on the following countries:

• Iraq
• Yugoslavia
• Afghanistan
• Iraq (again)
• Libya
• Sudan
• Somalia
• Yemen
• Syria

During this time, the USA also funded and provoked an illegal coup in the Ukraine. If invading and overthrowing governments in countries that haven’t even attempted to invade the USA isn’t a danger to world peace, I don’t know what is.

2. The Ukraine

Since 2014, the Ukrainian régime has fought a genocidal war against ethnic Russians in the Donbass. The war hasn’t ceased and the Kiev régime constantly violates the Minsk II ceasefire agreement. The war has seen the use of chemical weapons on civilian targets as well as the deprivation of food, medical supplies, and electricity to the Donbass. The DNR and LNR never sought to attack Kiev, merely to defend their democratic socialist republics against aggression that hasn’t ceased since 2014. This is an attempt at ethnic cleansing that the world should’ve condemned and put a stop to a long time ago.

READ MORE: When the Ukraine dropped chemical weapons on the Donbass, the West didn’t care (VIDEO)

3. Israel 

Israel has continually occupied lands recognised by the UN as Palestinian territory since 1948. Israel has illegally occupied Syrian territory since 1967. In 1982, Israel invaded and occupied Lebanon and only left in 2000. Combined Lebanese forces, primary those of Hizbullah, stopped an attempt to invade Lebanon in 2006. Israel continues to illegally invade and bomb Syrian territory, thus exacerbating the current crisis in that country. Israel’s Yinon Plan is a long-term strategy that many in Israel’s government and deep state plan to execute in order to annex further land among Israel’s neighbours.

4. Turkey 

Turkey illegally occupied Northern Cyprus since 1974. Under President Erdoğan, this will almost certainly not change. Erdoğan’s forces continue to occupy parts of Syria and Iraq. The Turkish jihadist proxy militia FSA is guilty of numerous atrocities against civilians in Syria. In the most populous regions of Syria, the FSA is an even bigger throat-cutting and car-bombing menace than ISIS or al-Qaeda.

READ MORE: Turkey poses a bigger threat to Syria than ISIS

5. The UK

British Prime Minister Tony Blair made NATO’s illegal invasion of Yugoslavia something of a personal crusade, where for Bill Clinton it was to a great extent, merely an opportunity to get Monica Lewinsky out of the headlines. Blair was the only major leader apart from George W Bush to make passionate pleas for Iraq’s invasion. Since then, Britain has followed the USA into every major illegal conflict in the Arab world and beyond.

READ MORE: Why Tony Blair isn’t wanted back in Britain

6. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) 

The KSA is the world’s leading sponsor of Wahhabist terrorism. A long time sponsor of al-Qaeda, now the KSA supports ISIS covertly too. The KSA’s aims for the Arab world are nefarious to, say the least. With oil prices plummeting, the KSA turned to imperialism, fought not with a regular army, but conducted by infusing money into extremist causes including and especially, violent terrorism.

READ MORE: Wahhabi terrorism: the Saudi route to conquest

7. Qatar 

Qatar is guilty of many of the same crimes as its larger neighbour, the KSA. In particular, part of Qatar’s motivation for funding jihadist killers in Syria is a desire to build a gas pipeline from Qatar to Turkey. In order to do this, the pipeline would need to go through Syria. Qatar’s war is there for gas war in the guise of blood-soaked jihad.

8. France 

The most profound trail of blood left by France in the Arab world was in Algeria, where the French murdered and tortured Algerian freedom fighters between 1954 and 1962. France’s footprint on its former mandate/colony Syria is also widely hated by all Syrians. Under Nicholas Sarkozy, France led the public charge for war on Libya and under President Hollande, France committed war crimes in Syria, its former colony. The audacity is incredibly insulting to Syria. France’s intervention in Mali in 2013-14 also received wide criticism as a duplicitous post-colonial exercise.

9. Germany 

As the de-facto leader of the EU, Germany was essential in helping to foment the illegal fascist coup in the Ukraine. In 2014, along with Poland and France, Germany authored an agreement that was supposed to ease tensions in Kiev. In reality, the agreement bought time for the extremists who finalised their coup against the legitimate Ukrainian President, V F Yanukovich, on the following day. Germany also illegally bombed Syria as part of the US coalition in the region. One could legitimately describe Germany’s actions towards Greece and Cyprus in particular as economic warfare.

READ MORE: EU action in Kiev and Donbass has been paid in blood

10. Albania 

Although one of NATO’s smallest and poorest members, Albania is a swamp, from which a constant threat of war in the Balkans looms. Since the late 1990s, Albania transformed itself into a hotbed of regional imperialism as well as radical political Sunni Islam. Albanian leaders seek to create a so-called Greater Albania by annexing parts of Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and even Greece. Recently, the Albanian Prime Minister threatened to annex part of Serbia if the EU didn’t fulfil Albanian demands. Likewise, the infamous Tirana Platform is essentially a blueprint for an Albanian-led breakup of the Republic of Macedonia. In spite of its name, the original draft of the Tirana Platform was drafted in English, written in the West, and then passed to Albanian authorities in Tirana, who themselves then passed it onto extremist Albanian insurgents in the Republic of Macedonia (they can’t read a word of English). Nevertheless, they’re already slowly executing the plan.

READ MORE: Serbia responds to Albanian threats to annex its territory

Each of these states threatens the world far more than the DPRK ever has or likely ever could. However, these countries all share something that the DPRK doesn’t. They either are all NATO members or otherwise, very close US allies.

30 April 2017

Adam Garrie

The Duran

http://theduran.com/10-countries-that-threaten-world-peace-more-than-north-korea/