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The Bulletin: June 12-18, 2025

The Bulletin: June 12-18, 2025

This past week’s articles of interest…

CLICK HERE

If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview.


Australia – carbon bomber of the Indo-Pacific

The Gas Industry Is Redefining Methane as “Clean Energy”

The role of aerosol declines in recent warming

By Disaster Or Design

The Renewables Farce

US On High Alert In Anticipation Of Potential Israeli Strike On Iran, WaPo Reports | ZeroHedge

‘All US bases within our reach’: Iran responds to threats from Washington

Remember the Future?

Wealth – by Matt Orsagh – Degrowth is the Answer

Globalization End Game: How Localization Builds Resilient Communities & Economies

Why the Environment Always Loses

Putin Reminds West That Russia Has World’s Most Advanced Nuclear Weapons | ZeroHedge

Futurecasting: How Civilization Will Drive Off a Cliff in 2040 | by Julian Scaff | The Futureplex | May, 2025 | Medium

Trump Needs The Money Printer – by Quoth the Raven

Science Snippets: Human Activities Cause Inland Waters to Become Oxygen Sinks

The Folly of A War With Iran – The Chris Hedges Report

And So It Begins

Oklahoma’s loophole: How Tyson’s water use goes unchecked – Investigate Midwest

Collapse Part 4 / 5: Bargaining–Grasping At Reality

For the Love of God, Stop Recycling Plastic

Green New Steal Meets Drill Baby Drill: Farmland Caught In Crosshairs | ZeroHedge

When the Pentagon Orders Pay Attention

Geopolitical Fallout: China and Russia React to Middle East Conflagration

Trump Hints At ‘Possible’ US Entry Into War Amid Stepped-Up Israeli Daytime Attacks On Tehran | ZeroHedge

The Bull and the Crow

What if the ruling class finally realized that this civilization is over?

Moving Beyond Two Sides-ism – Charles Eisenstein

Cheap oil will come at a cost for the US | Semafor

WHERE TO DIG: Forging a Collapse-Aware Grower Community in the City, Suburb, or Country.

The End Of the Consumer Society and the Militarization of the Economy

Speech and Protest Won’t Work. Here’s What Will.

Chokepoint Watch: GPS Jamming Impacts Tankers Across Strait Of Hormuz | ZeroHedge

Trump Says US Forces ‘Could Get Involved’ as Israel Expands Deadly Assault on Iran | Common Dreams

Mossad spent ‘eight months’ preparing surprise attack against Iran: Report

Scientists looked back in time to find the first signs of human-caused global warming. It’s far earlier than previously thought | CNN

The Hands That Sustain Us: On Skill, Respect, and Gratitude

We Must Oppose War With Iran At The Top Of Our Lungs

After Iraq There’s No Excuse For Buying The War Lies About Iran

Japan Is Broke and Its America’s Problem

Report: How The United States is Months Away from Full Collapse | by HR NEWS | Jun, 2025 | Medium

Trump Demands “Unconditional Surrender” by Iran, Threatens to Enter the War – MishTalk


If you have arrived here and get something out of my writing, please consider ordering the trilogy of my ‘fictional’ novel series, Olduvai (PDF files; only $9.99 Canadian), via my website or the link below — the ‘profits’ of which help me to keep my internet presence alive and first book available in print (and is available via various online retailers).

Attempting a new payment system as I am contemplating shutting down my site in the future (given the ever-increasing costs to keep it running). 

If you are interested in purchasing any of the 3 books individually or the trilogy, please try the link below indicating which book(s) you are purchasing. 

Costs (Canadian dollars):
Book 1: $2.99
Book 2: $3.89
Book 3: $3.89
Trilogy: $9.99

Feel free to throw in a ‘tip’ on top of the base cost if you wish; perhaps by paying in U.S. dollars instead of Canadian. Every few cents/dollars helps… 

https://paypal.me/olduvaitrilogy?country.x=CA&locale.x=en_US 

If you do not hear from me within 48 hours or you are having trouble with the system, please email me: olduvaitrilogy@gmail.com.

You can also find a variety of resources, particularly my summary notes for a handful of texts, especially William Catton’s Overshoot and Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies: see here.

The Bulletin: May 22-28, 2025

The Bulletin: May 22-28, 2025

This past week’s articles of interest…

If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview.


Witness to Collapse

Climate Change: The Crisis Management Model – Ecosophia

Restoring Global Ecology: The Great Green Wall and Large-Scale Permaculture in Action

Building a Mycelial Network of Resistance and Resilience

Gazprom CEO Sounds Alarm on Looming Russian Energy Crisis

New Evidence Links Microplastics with Chronic Disease – Global Research

Homesteading: Gardening, Cognition, and Longevity

The Emergency We Cannot Feel: On the Psychological Unreadiness for American Collapse

Heavy Metal – by Roger Pielke Jr. – The Honest Broker

Why 2025 Is Becoming the Year of Living With Less | Atmos

Iraq Seals Major Oil Deal with Chinese Company | OilPrice.com

The End of Prepping: When Does Collapse Become Impossible to Survive?

‘It’s a critical time’: European farmers struggle through driest spring in a century | Environment | The Guardian

Canada’s PM Mark Carney Revives Online Censorship Agenda

Power Hungry Race: Aluminium Smelters Versus AI Data Centers | ZeroHedge

Living with Uncertainty: Rethinking Truth in a Quantum World | Art Berman

Microplastics are ‘silently spreading from soil to salad to humans’ – Scimex

Climate Illusionists. Addressing Climate Change, will not “Save the Planet.”

Now Comes the Hard Part – Charles Hugh Smith’s Substack 

The Two Achilles Heels of Complex Systems

Shifting Baseline Syndrome – by Matt Orsagh

Food Crisis—The Greatest Threat to Social Stability – Doug Casey’s International Man

Propaganda and Power

“This Is War”: Catherine Austin Fitts On Land Grabs, The Evils Of CBDC, And Fighting ‘The Most Invasive Form Of Tyranny That’s Ever Existed’ | ZeroHedge

Research suggests creating renewable energy might not lower production of fossil fuels

Next Stage of WWIII

Iraq’s water reserves fall to 80-year low, official warns

Fed Quietly Buys $43,600,000,000 in US Treasuries in Alleged ‘Stealth QE’ Operation After China Abruptly Dumps Billions in Bonds – The Daily Hodl

Physics Will Cause the Economy to Shrink; a Look at the Next Ten YearsOur Finite World

WWIII Watch: For the first time, Germany’s Merz authorizes Ukraine to use German weapons against targets on Russia territory

How Much Money Is There In the World? – by Jared A. Brock


If you have arrived here and get something out of my writing, please consider ordering the trilogy of my ‘fictional’ novel series, Olduvai (PDF files; only $9.99 Canadian), via my website or the link below — the ‘profits’ of which help me to keep my internet presence alive and first book available in print (and is available via various online retailers).

Attempting a new payment system as I am contemplating shutting down my site in the future (given the ever-increasing costs to keep it running). 

If you are interested in purchasing any of the 3 books individually or the trilogy, please try the link below indicating which book(s) you are purchasing. 

Costs (Canadian dollars):
Book 1: $2.99
Book 2: $3.89
Book 3: $3.89
Trilogy: $9.99

Feel free to throw in a ‘tip’ on top of the base cost if you wish; perhaps by paying in U.S. dollars instead of Canadian. Every few cents/dollars helps… 

https://paypal.me/olduvaitrilogy?country.x=CA&locale.x=en_US 

If you do not hear from me within 48 hours or you are having trouble with the system, please email me: olduvaitrilogy@gmail.com.

You can also find a variety of resources, particularly my summary notes for a handful of texts, especially William Catton’s Overshoot and Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies: see here.

 

Almost Everything is About Oil in the Middle East

Energy Aware

Perhaps the most extraordinary part of Iran’s April 13 attack on Israel was that it was countered by a coalition that included Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is also noteworthy that this was the first time that the United States engaged militarily in Israel’s defense.

The events of April did not begin with the October 6, 2023 strike on Israel from Gaza but have their origins decades earlier. It is now evident, however, that the catalyst for Hamas’ attack was the impending normalization of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

This would have had significant consequences for Israel’s oil supply, an important aspect of the present crisis that is rarely discussed by the press or politicians. Almost everything is about oil in the Middle East.

The Saudis were ready to join the Abraham Accords that in 2020 established ties between the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco and Israel on regional security and trade.

As a direct consequence, Israel was officially moved under the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility in early 2021, shifting from its decades-long alignment with the U.S. European Command (EUCOM).

The timing of the Gaza incursion into Israel in October was designed to prevent Saudi Arabia from joining the Abraham Accords.

It is hardly a coincidence that Houthi attacks on shipping in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea started in November. Almost 9 million barrels of oil per day (mmb/d) pass through the Canal and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

It’s worth recalling that the Houthis have been in an armed conflict with Saudi Arabia in Yemen since 2015, and were responsible for attacking the main Saudi refinery complex in 2019. Both Hamas and the Houthis, along with Hezbollah in Lebanon, are funded and largely directed by Iran.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Russia Calls Urgent UN Security Council Meeting To Condemn ‘Illegal’ US Strikes

Russia Calls Urgent UN Security Council Meeting To Condemn ‘Illegal’ US Strikes

Russia has condemned the Friday night large-scale US strikes on Syria and Iraq, saying it was an illegal ‘aggression’ and that an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting must be convened to address it.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday of the American operation which killed some 40 people, including civilians, that it “once again demonstrated to the world the aggressive nature of US policy in the Middle East and Washington’s complete disregard for international law.”

AFP via Getty Images

According to TASS, “A UN Security Council meeting in connection with the US strikes is scheduled for February 5”; however, the UN has yet to confirm or publish details of the upcoming emergency session.

Additionally Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said: “We just demanded an urgent sitting of the UN Security Council over the threat to peace and safety created by US strikes on Syria and Iraq.”

The Pentagon said it struck over 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, and there are likely more bombing waves to come in the next days.

In fresh Saturday remarks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said “This is the start of our response.” Some unnamed US officials have even said the operation could continue for days or even weeks, in response to the Sunday drone attack on the Jordanian border base which killed three Americans.

While Russia has over several years repeatedly condemned US operations over Syria, and especially the troop occupation in the northeast, it has never responded with an anti-air intercept, or at least this has never been publicly disclosed.

But this remains a possibility so long as major US aerial operations continue. Russian jets and convoy patrols are present especially in Syria’s northwest, but have also been known to stretch near Deir Ezzor, the other side of which the Pentagon has a presence.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Iraqi parliament calling to ditch US dollar for oil trade

Iraqi parliament calling to ditch US dollar for oil trade

Washington has exercised strict control over Iraqi oil revenues for the past two decades

(Photo credit: INA)

The Finance Committee in the Iraqi parliament made a statement on 31 January calling for the sale of oil in currencies other than the US dollar, aiming to counter US sanctions on the Iraqi banking system. 

“The US Treasury still uses the pretext of money laundering to impose sanctions on Iraqi banks. This requires a national stance to put an end to these arbitrary decisions,” the statement said.

“Imposing sanctions on Iraqi banks undermines and obstructs Central Bank efforts to stabilize the dollar exchange rate and reduce the selling gap between official and parallel rates,” it added.

The Finance Committee affirmed its “rejection of these practices, due to their repercussions on the livelihoods of citizens,” and reiterated its “call on the government and the Central Bank of Iraq to take quick measures against the dominance of the dollar, by diversifying cash reserves from foreign currencies.”

Washington imposed sanctions on Iraqi Al-Huda Bank this week, under claims of laundering money for Iran. Several other banks have been hit with similar sanctions over the past year.

The statement came the same day a senior US Treasury official said Washington expects Baghdad to help identify and disrupt the funds of Iran-backed resistance factions in Iraq.

“These are, as a whole, groups that are actively using and abusing Iraq and its financial systems and structure in order to perpetuate these acts and we have to address that directly. Frankly, I think it is clearly our expectation from Treasury perspective that there is more we can do together to share information and identify exactly how these militias groups are operating here in Iraq,” the official stated. 

…click on the above link to read the rest…

‘Playground of choice’: Iran mobilises to drive US troops out of Iraq

The US has the cudgel of the American dollar to prevent its expulsion from Iraq, but will the Biden administration use it?

When Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani arrived in New York City in September for the UN General Assembly, a delicate truce was in balance between the two foreign powers that loom over Baghdad.

Iraqi paramilitaries, backed by Iran, had frozen their attacks on US troops in the country. Iraq’s new leader arrived in New York City amid the lull. He was feted on a circuit of swanky receptions with western businessmen and diplomats on the sidelines of the General Assembly, as he pitched Iraq’s oil-rich but corruption-riddled economy as an investment destination.

Four months later, the Iraqi leader is condemning Iran and the US for launching deadly strikes in his country and his investment pitch to the global elite at Davos Switzerland is overshadowed by his call for the US military and its coalition partners to leave Iraq.

Since the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October and the war in Gaza, Iranian-backed militias have launched at least 70 attacks on US forces in Iraq.

In early January, the US hit back with its most powerful response yet, launching a drone strike in Baghdad that killed Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, also known as Abu Taqwa, a senior commander in the Popular Mobilisation Units, an umbrella organisation of Iraqi state-funded and Iran-aligned, Shia militias.

Baghdad hit out at the strike as “a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”. But no sooner was Iraq chastising the US for the strike, when Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles into the Iraqi city of Erbil, killing four people, including a prominent Kurdish real estate developer and his one-year-old daughter.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Iraqi central bank to drop dollar for yuan in trade with China

Iraqi central bank to drop dollar for yuan in trade with China

Iraq is the latest nation in the Global South to move away from the US dollar in bilateral trade with China
https://media.thecradle.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Yuan.jpg

(Photo credit: AFP)

The Iraqi central bank announced on 22 February that, for the first time, it plans to allow trade from China to be settled directly in yuan instead of the US dollar to improve access to foreign currency.

“It is the first time imports would be financed from China in yuan, as Iraqi imports from China have been financed in (US) dollars only,” the government’s economic adviser, Mudhir Salih, told Reuters on 22 February.

According to a statement released by the Iraqi central bank, carrying out transactions in the Chinese currency would boost the balances of Iraqi banks with accounts with Chinese banks.

However, this option depends on the size of the central bank’s yuan reserves.

A second option to boost local banks’ yuan balances would involve converting US dollars held in the central bank’s accounts with JP Morgan and the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) to yuan before paying the final beneficiary in China.

The Iraqi central bank has been on a mad dash to compensate for a dollar shortage in local markets. This crisis prompted the cabinet to approve a currency revaluation earlier this month.

Last year, the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York began enforcing stricter controls on international transactions by Iraqi commercial banks, forcing them to comply with specific SWIFT global transfer system criteria to access their foreign reserves.

The move was allegedly meant to “curtail money laundering and the illegal siphoning of dollars to Iran and other heavily sanctioned [West Asian] countries.” However, the sudden rules change for Iraqi banks sent the economy reeling as 80 percent, or more of Iraq’s daily US dollar wire transfers could no longer be completed.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

OPEC Production Fell In November, But 3 Members Actually Boosted Output

OPEC Production Fell In November, But 3 Members Actually Boosted Output

OPEC’s crude oil production fell by an average of 744,000 barrels per day, according to OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report released on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia’s November production fell by the most among its members, by 404,000 bpd, to 10.474 million bpd—Saudi Arabia’s lowest monthly average since May 2022.

Other significant production decreases were realized by the United Arab Emirates, which saw a decrease of 149,000 bpd in November, landing at 3.037 million bpd; Kuwait, which saw a dip of 121,000 bpd to 2.685 million bpd; and Iraq with a loss of 117,000 bpd to 4.465 million bpd.

Overall, OPEC’s average production for November fell to 28.826 million bpd—the lowest average production level since June.

While the overall production was significantly lower for November and largely in line with OPEC’s plan to reduce output in response to market conditions, a handful of members increased their production.

Libya’s production also decreased by 32,000 bpd, to 1.133 million bpd. Earlier this week, Libya’s oil minister said its oil production was 1.2 million bpd. “We hope to return to 2010 levels, which was 1.6 million bpd, within two or three years,” Oil Minister Mohamed Oun told reporters on Monday.

Libya lifted its force majeure on oil and gas last exploration last week in hopes of luring foreign oil companies back into the country that has seen significant unrest in recent years.

Angola, Gabon, and Nigeria went the other way, increasing their production by a collective 132,000 bpd.

While OPEC saw its overall crude production fall, non-OPEC liquids production, according to OPEC’s latest report, increased month on month in November by 800,000 bpd to 72.7 million bpd. This figure is also 2.1 million bpd higher than the same month last year.

This means that OPEC’s share of crude oil in the global production mix slipped by 0.7%, to 28.4% in November from the month prior.

Politics, climate conspire as Tigris and Euphrates dwindle

DAWWAYAH, Iraq and ILISU DAM, Turkey (AP) — Next year, the water will come. The pipes have been laid to Ata Yigit’s sprawling farm in Turkey’s southeast connecting it to a dam on the Euphrates River. A dream, soon to become a reality, he says.

He’s already grown a small corn patch on some of the water. The golden stalks are tall and abundant. “The kernels are big,” he says, proudly. Soon he’ll be able to water all his fields.

Over 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) downstream in southern Iraq, nothing grows anymore in Obeid Hafez’s wheat farm. The water stopped coming a year ago, the 95-year-old said, straining to speak.

“The last time we planted the seed, it went green, then suddenly it died,” he said.

Water levels in the Chibayish marshes of southern Iraq are declining and fishermen say certain water-ways are no longer accessible by boat, in Dhi Qar province, Iraq, Friday Sept. 2, 2022. The Tigris-Euphrates river flows have fallen by 40% the past four decades as the states along its length - Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq pursue rapid, unilateral development of the waters' use. (AP Photo/Anmal Khalil)

Water levels in the Chibayish marshes of southern Iraq are declining and fishermen say certain water-ways are no longer accessible by boat, in Dhi Qar province, Iraq, Sept. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Anmal Khalil)

The starkly different realities are playing out along the length of the Tigris-Euphrates river basin, one of the world’s most vulnerable watersheds. River flows have fallen by 40% in the past four decades as the states along its length — Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq — pursue rapid, unilateral development of the waters’ use.

The drop is projected to worsen as temperatures rise from climate change. Both Turkey and Iraq, the two biggest consumers, acknowledge they must cooperate to preserve the river system that some 60 million people rely on to sustain their lives.

But political failures and intransigence conspire to prevent a deal sharing the rivers.

The Associated Press conducted more than a dozen interviews in both countries, from top water envoys and senior officials to local farmers, and gained exclusive visits to controversial dam projects…

…click on the above link to read the rest…

Oil Spikes To Fresh 7-Year High After Key Iraq-Turkey Pipeline Explosion

Oil Spikes To Fresh 7-Year High After Key Iraq-Turkey Pipeline Explosion

Despite dollar strength today (and more worrisome ZeroCOVID actions from China), oil prices continued to rise but news after-hours that an explosion knocked out a major pipeline sparked more upside.

Little is known about the cause, but the explosion at a pipeline connecting Northern Iraq and the port of Ceyhan in the Mediterranean has taken 450kb/d of supply offline in an already very tight crude oil market.

The pipelines have been halted before: Back in 2012 blasts blamed on saboteurs halted the link for several months.

The headlines sent oil prices spiking with WTI topping $86 for the first time since Oct 2014 (Brent neared $89)…

This news follows a ballistic missile attack over the weekend, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted oil infrastructure in the UAE.

Pipeline operator Botas said the fire has been brought under control and cooling operations were under way.

Botas said the it would reopen once the “necessary measures” had been taken, but gave no indication of timing.

Cash-Strapped Iraq Drastically Devalues Dinar As Fears Of Nationwide Unrest Grow

Cash-Strapped Iraq Drastically Devalues Dinar As Fears Of Nationwide Unrest Grow

According to the latest IMF forecasts, Iraq’s GDP will contract 12% this year, more than that of any other OPEC member under a production quota.

A global pandemic-induced demand slump (among other domestic issues) has pushed Iraq – under its OPEC membership – to slash oil production by over 12% year-over-year (however, Iraq, along with other nations such as Nigeria, has pumped above its quota on several occasions since then).

In the most recent sign of Baghdad’s growing desperation for cash as its economy unravels, Iraq sought an upfront payment of about $2 billion in exchange for a long-term crude-supply contract as state coffers dwindle and school teachers go unpaid.

As Bloomberg reports, the letter from SOMO, the Iraqi state-owned agency in charge of petroleum exports, was first reported by the Iraq Oil Report.

“SOMO, on behalf of the Ministry of Oil, has the interest to propose a long-term crude-supply deal in exchange for prepayment for a fraction of the total allocated quantity,” according to the letter, which was marked strictly confidential.

The anxiety is rising as officials fear a repeat of the upheaval last year that brought down the government and saw hundreds of protesters killed.

All of which has led to the decision to devalue the Dinar… drastically.

As Bloomberg’s Khalid Al-Ansary reports, the central bank reduced the official rate to 1,450 dinar per dollar, the first devaluation since 2003, it said in a statement. That’s from about 1,190 previously. Dollars will be resold to local banks at 1,460 dinar apiece.

Inflation imminent? or hyperinflation?

The embattled nation’s central bank is taking the steps to avoid depleting its foreign-currency reserves…

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who came to power in May, has warned that the government will struggle to pay civil servants without raising more debt.

SCOTT RITTER: Powell & Iraq—Regime Change, Not Disarmament: The Fundamental Lie

SCOTT RITTER: Powell & Iraq—Regime Change, Not Disarmament: The Fundamental Lie

Regime change, not disarmament, was always the driving factor behind U.S. policy towards Saddam Hussein. Powell knew this because he helped craft the original policy.

The New York Times Magazine has published a puff piece soft-peddling former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s role in selling a war on Iraq to the UN Security Council using what turned out to be bad intelligence. “Colin Powell Still Wants Answers” is the title of the article, written by Robert Draper. “The analysts who provided the intelligence,” a sub-header to the article declares, “now say it was doubted inside the CIA at the time.”

Draper’s article is an extract from a book, To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America into Iraq, scheduled for publication later this month. In the interest of full disclosure, I was approached by Draper in 2018 about his interest in writing this book, and I agreed to be interviewed as part of his research. I have not yet read the book, but can note that, based upon the tone and content of his New York Times Magazine article, my words apparently carried little weight.

Regime Change, Not WMD

I spent some time articulating to Draper my contention that the issue with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was never about weapons of mass destruction (WMD), but rather regime change, and that everything had to be viewed in the light of this reality—including Powell’s Feb. 5, 2003 presentation before the UN Security Council. Based upon the content of his article, I might as well have been talking to a brick wall.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Large Scale US Airstrikes Underway Against Iran-Backed Militias In Iraq

Large Scale US Airstrikes Underway Against Iran-Backed Militias In Iraq

After earlier in the day President Trump authorized the Pentagon to “do what we need to do” in terms of a military response against Iran-backed militias believed responsible for Wednesday’s rocket attacks on Camp Taji, which killed one British and two American soldiers, and wounded at least a dozen more, there are widespread reports the US has initiated massive airstrikes over southern Iraq late Thursday night

A BBC correspondent in the region is describing “multiple strikes across Iran-backed groups’ facilities” which include “logistics and drone warehouses.”

Early reports suggest the attack includes “large amounts of munitions” on multiple Iraqi Shia militia targets. Moments after initial reports on social media US defense offcials confirmed that “airstrikes are underway against Iran-backed militia group that hit Iraq base,”according to the Associated Press


Bombing #Iran-backed paramilitary group positions around #Karbala and #Salahaddin is significant. This is the largest amount of force I’ve seen against Hashd (#PMF) so far. These areas are considered “No fly zones” for #Coalition. Jets may have come from #UAE or #Kuwait


As if the Mideast region and the world for that matter needs another crisis to worry about, this could be the start of the kind of tit-for-tat between the US and Iran which paved the way for the US killing by drone of IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani on January 3rd. Since then, the two have been on a war footing. 

Defense Secretary Mark Esper hours ago warned the US would hold the groups behind Wednesday’s attack on Taji base accountable. “You don’t get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it,” he said earlier.

According to Fox News security correspondent Jennifer Griffin:

The US response will be “proportional” targeting multiple locations used by Iranian backed Shia militias across Iraq and along Syrian border.

Will be limited to airstrikes: source. Will degrade Shia militia/ Kata’eb Hezbollah ability to strike: US military source.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Anonymous sources and the guys and gals who made the Iraq war a reality are now claiming that the Kremlin is at it again!

Anonymous sources and the guys and gals who made the Iraq war a reality are now claiming that the Kremlin is at it again!

Those hapless individuals who run the United States are again slipping into a fantasy world where Americans are besieged by imaginary threats coming from both inside and outside the country. Of course, it is particularly convenient to warn of foreign threats, as it makes the people in government seem relevant and needed, but one might recommend that the tune be changed as it is getting a bit boring. After all, there are only so many hours in the day and Russian President Vladimir Putin must pause occasionally to eat or sleep, so the plotting to destroy American democracy must be on hold at least some of the time.

Yes, anonymous sources and the guys and gals who made the Iraq war a reality are now claiming that the Kremlin is at it again! Hints over the past year that Putin might try to replay 2016 in 2020 only do it better this time have now been confirmed! Per one news report the enemy is already at the gates: “U.S. intelligence officials told lawmakers last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election campaign by aiming to cast doubt on the integrity of the vote and boost President Donald Trump’s re-election.”

And there’s more! In a New York Times article headlined “Same Goal, Different Playbook: Why Russia Would Support Trump and Sanders: Vladimir Putin is eager both to take the sheen off U.S. democracy and for a counterpart who is less likely to challenge his territorial and nuclear ambitions,” it was revealed that the Kremlin is intending to also help Bernie Sanders, so whichever way the election goes they win.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Iraq & Russia Look To Boost Military Ties While US Threatens Sanctions

Iraq & Russia Look To Boost Military Ties While US Threatens Sanctions

In more continuing fallout over the Jan.3 assassination by drone of the IRGC’s Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iraq and Russia are preparing for deepening military coordination, reports the AP

Iraq’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday that increased “cooperation and coordination” is being discussed with Moscow amid worsened relations with Washington, which even last month included President Trump issuing brazen threats of “very big” sanctions on Baghdad if American troops are kicked out of the country. 

This week Iraqi army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Othman Al-Ghanimi and Russian Ambassador Maksim Maksimov met to discuss future military cooperation. Crucially, Gen. Ghanimi highlighted Russia’s successful anti-ISIS operations over the past years, especially in Syria where the Russian military has supported Assad since being invited there in 2015.

Iraqi helicopters file image.

On Russia’s role in Iraq, Ghanimi said Moscow had provided “our armed forces with advanced and effective equipment and weapons that had a major role in resolving many battles,” according to the ministry statement.

It’s been long rumored that since late summer Baghdad and Moscow have been in talks to deliver either Russia’s advanced S-400 or S-300 anti-air missile defense systems – a prospect which US officials have condemned. 

Like other areas of the Middle East, as US adventurism heightens pressure for a US withdrawal, Russia appears to be seizing the opportunity to move in. This much was affirmed in AP’s reporting, via at least one anonymous senior official:

A senior Iraqi military intelligence official told The Associated Press that Russia, among other countries, has come forward to offer military support in the wake of fraught US.-Iraq relations following Soleimani’s killing.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Olduvai IV: Courage
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Olduvai II: Exodus
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