US Deploys 'Mini-Nukes' in Deplorable Threat to World Peace
Strategic Culture | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-08
These so-called "mini-nukes" represent–despite the diminutive-sounding name–an increased risk of nuclear war.
U.S. uneasy as Iraq gets new prime minister
M.K. Bhadrakumar | mronline.org | 2020-02-08
The protest movement in Iraq, which is now entering its fourth month, has come to be the principal instrument for Washington to surreptitiously advance the broader geopolitical confrontation with Iran that is being played out within the country. | Source…
mronline.org/2020/02/07/u-s-uneasy-as-iraq-gets-new-prime-minister/
'We turned their pressure into opportunity': Supreme Leader hails Iranian Air Force built up despite US sanctions
rt.com | 2020-02-08
The US's "criminal" sanctions didn't stop Iran from strengthening its own air power and even "building planes," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said, as the nation marks the anniversary of 1979's Islamic Revolution. | The Iranian military industry, Khamenei proclaimed in front of Air Force commanders and other military officials, has become so viable because it didn't rely on foreign support, instead developing domestic capabilities. This approach could be extended into other industries as well, he said, according to local media. | … Despite sanctions being a criminal act, such an approach can create a lot of opp…
rt.com/news/480389-khamenei-sanctions-pressure-opportunities/
Pentagon Says New Sub-Based Low-Yield Nukes Could Help US 'Fight and Win' Wars
sputniknews.com | 2020-02-08
Late last month, the Federation of American Scientists reported that a new type of nuclear warhead with a yield about one-third the size of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had been fitted aboard at least one Ohio-Class ballistic missile submarine.
sputniknews.com/military/202002081078262517-pentagon-says-new-sub-based-low-yield-nukes-could-help-us-fight-and-win-wars/
Libya is Being Torn Apart By Outsiders
Vijay Prashad | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-07
With the United States walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)–more commonly known as the Iran accord–we all enter into a heightened zone of danger. Trump is threatening a war on Iran through his statements and tweets, and now by his actions, assassinating serving Iranian and Iraqi generals on Iraqi soil. Assassinations…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/07/libya-is-being-torn-apart-by-outsiders/
CBP Lied About Iranian-American Detentions, Leaked Memo Suggests
Scarlet Kim | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-07
Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection adamantly denied that it was detaining U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents of Iranian descent and interrogating them about their religion and political views. The agency also assured the public that it had …
globalresearch.ca/cbp-lied-about-iranian-american-detentions-leaked-memo-suggests/5703043
Russia and Iran's Clashing Visions for Syria's future
Agha Hussain | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-07
Rivals of the West in their own right, Iran and Russia today are major power players in the Syrian imbroglio. Their convergence of interests in helping eradicate extremist terrorist proxies utilized by an array of rival states against their mutual Syrian ally has allowed them both a significant degree of say in Syrian affairs and how that country's future will pan out | However, their cooperation against the terrorist threat has often been the pivot of inaccurate portrayals of Russia-Iran ties and the extent of their shared interests versus their many highly divergent objectives in Syria, many of which are rooted…
mintpressnews.com/syria-energy-dominance-russia-aligning-with-israel-against-iran/264661/
Iraq Is on the Brink of an Energy Crisis
Simon Watkins | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-07
As the deadline for the U.S. to renew its waiver on Iraq importing gas and electricity from Iran approaches later this month, the three key players in this ongoing geopolitical saga have been preparing for all possible outcomes. As always …
globalresearch.ca/iraq-brink-energy-crisis/5703024
China, Iran and North Korea Are Almost Encircled by 500 US Military Bases
Shane Quinn | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-07
China is ringed by at least 400 of these bases stretching from northern Australia, up through the Pacific, across eastern and central Asia. This encirclement of China involving warships, submarines and bombers, was implemented by president Obama following his announcement in late 2011 of a "pivot" towards Asia.
globalresearch.ca/china-iran-north-korea-almost-encircled-500-us-military-bases/5702990
Expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Tehran Wants to Build "the Golden Ring"
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-07
BRI-led Eurasian integration processes are one of the defining characteristics of contemporary International Relations, and the Golden Ring could eventually become the centerpiece of these efforts if Ambassador Hosseini's W-CPEC+ proposal succeeds, especially if it's done in parallel with N-CPEC+….
globalresearch.ca/iranian-ambassador-pakistan-wants-build-golden-ring/5703034
Risk of Nuclear War Rises as U.S. Deploys a New Nuclear Weapon for the First Time Since the Cold War
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-07
The Federation of American Scientists revealed in late January that the U.S. Navy had deployed for the first time a submarine armed with a low-yield Trident nuclear warhead. The USS Tennessee deployed from Kings Bay Submarine Base in Georgia in late 2019. The W76-2 warhead, which is facing criticism at home and abroad, is estimated to have about a third of the explosive power of the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) called the news "an alarming development that heightens the risk of nuclear war." We're joined by William Arkin, longtime reporter…
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/7/us_new_low_yield_nuclear_weapons
Trump Says War With Iran Was "Closer Than You Thought" Last Month
Jason Ditz | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-05
Trump told reporters that the U.S. came "closer than you thought" to war with Iran last month.
Trump Says War With Iran Was "Closer Than You Thought" Last Month
US Space Force conducts first ICBM launch after Moscow warned of threat of renewed arms race (PHOTOS)
rt.com | 2020-02-05
The newly-created US Space Force has test-fired a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time as Russia blasted it for "lowering the bar" on using nuclear weapons. | The unarmed land-based missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California shortly after midnight on Wednesday. It was the first such development test since the facility became part of the US Space Force, which was established as an independent military branch in late December. The US previously test-fired a missile of this type in October. | The Minuteman missiles are the key component of the US' land-…
rt.com/usa/480132-us-minuteman-icbm-test/
ACLU: Trump Is Expanding His Racist Travel Ban, This Time Targeting Africans
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-03
The Trump administration has expanded its contested travel ban to six additional countries
War with Iran Is at Stake–and Democrats' High Jumps Over Low Standards Aren't Helping
Norman Solomon | zcomm.org | 2020-02-02
The huge crisis with Iran is more dangerous because so many Democrats have been talking out of both sides of their mouths…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/war-with-iran-is-at-stake-and-democrats-high-jumps-over-low-standards-arent-helping/
War Crimes Against Iran
Marjorie Cohn | zcomm.org | 2020-02-02
Trump has already committed the crime of aggression against Iran…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/war-crimes-against-iran/
Israel has played a key role in US aggression towards Iran
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-01
Before the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Israel played a key and overlooked role in the Trump administration's aggression campaign against…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/01/israel-has-played-a-key-role-in-us-aggression-towards-iran/
Headlines for January 31, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-01-31
Senate Poised to Acquit President Trump in Impeachment Trial, World Health Organization Declares International Public Health Emergency, U.S. Special Envoy Warns of International Crisis in Idlib, Syria, Britain Formally Withdrawing from European Union Tonight, Pentagon Deploys 1st Low-Yield Nuclear Warhead-Armed Submarine, Trump Admin Poised to Loosen Restrictions on Use of Landmines, Human Rights Groups Condemn Mexico for Crackdown on Central American Migrants, Mexican Butterfly Conservationist Found Dead, Bolivia's Movement for Socialism Candidate Luis Arce Returns to Bolivia, U.S. Pushes EU to End Ban on Chemic…
www.democracynow.org/2020/1/31/headlines
House Votes to Rein in Trump's Iran War Powers While Ending Endless Wars
Jon Rainwater | peaceaction.org | 2020-01-31
Washington, D.C.
US government censorship? Social media giants disappear accounts of Iranian and Venezuelan academics, journalists
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2020-01-30
Red Lines host Anya Parampil talks with Professor Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran. Professor Marandi's Facebook and Instagram…
thegrayzone.com/2020/01/30/social-media-giants-disappear-popular-iranian-venezuelan-accounts/
Gregory Shupak on Iran Assassination, Brett Hartl on Biodiversity Loss
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2020-01-10
Media…
fair.org/home/gregory-shupak-on-iran-assassination-brett-hartl-on-biodiversity-loss/
In the ongoing crisis, Congress must rein in Trump's war powers
Jon Rainwater | peaceaction.org | 2020-01-08
As we feared, President Trump's reckless assassination of Iran's Gen. Soleimani resulted in escalation