Friday, May 20, 2016
Saturday Politics : Iran, Banks, ICBMs, and Ted Cruz
Saturday Politics this week is about weaknesses already evident in the Iran nuclear deal. Iran complains it's not getting agreed economic benefits, so Secretary of State John Kerry met in London last week with EU bankers to clarify rules for doing business with Iran : "We want to make it clear that legitimate business, which is clear under the definition of the agreement, is available to banks. As long as they do their normal due diligence and know who they're dealing with, they're not going to be held to some undefined and inappropriate standard..." Kerry met with British foreign minister Philip Hammond and leaders of Europe’s largest banks, including Deutsche Bank, Barclays, and HSBC. Hammond called the meeting "important." But, Stuart Levey, HSBC chief legal officer, said HSBC will not do business in Iran, despite Kerry reassurances, because Iran remains a violator of too many financial and legal norms. Levey -- US Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama -- said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed : "HSBC has no intention of doing any new business involving Iran. Governments can lift sanctions, but the private sector is still responsible for managing its own risk and no doubt will be held accountable if it falls short." The deal was supposed to release tens of billions of Iranian dollars frozen in foreign banks, but it didn't end US sanctions for other Iranian activities -- supporting terrorism, developing ICBMs and human rights violations. The US Supreme Court has ruled that victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism can collect reparations from $2 billion in Iranian assets frozen in US banks. And, the US recently placed new sanctions on Iran over ICBM tests it says violate the nuclear deal. US sanctions and seizures of Iranian assets make world banks fear violating US laws, because they all use the US financial system. ~~~~~ USA TODAY reported last week that Iran's defense minister denied an Iranian media report about the military's recent test of an ICBM with pinpoint accuracy at 1,250 miles -- that would include Israel and some Middle East nations. Defense Minister Brigadier General Dehqan denied his deputy chief of staff's published statement that Iran's missile test two weeks ago was accurate to within 25 feet, which he described as zero error. Dehqan denied a missile test of that distance had occurred, saying the US and Saudi Arabia are using propaganda to make the world believe Iran's missiles are not defensive. ~~~~~ But, two months ago, Iran tested two ICBMs, one with "Israel should be wiped off the Earth" written on it in Hebrew. Iran also conducted a missile test in November. But, it rejects claims that missile tests violate the nuclear deal or a UN resolution, saying its missiles are conventional, for "legitimate defense," and not designed for nuclear warheads. Apparently, Obama agreed with Iran not to address missiles in the deal itself. The UN Security Council lifted its ban on missile tests when the deal was final, but passed a resolution that "calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles...including launches using such ballistic missile technology." The Security Council Panel of Experts on Iran later said in a confidential paper, reported by Reuters, that the March launches did violate the UN resolution. ~~~~~ Dear readers, before it was agreed, President Obama said the alternative to the Iran deal was war. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disagreed : "The alternative to this bad deal is not war, but rather going back to the negotiating table and getting a better deal.” But, it was Senator Ted Cruz, at a September 2015 rally, who nailed the dilemma of those following Obama down the Iran rabbit hole : "Any bank that listens to this President and releases billions to an international terrorist like Ayatollah Khamenei will face billions in damages in civil liability and litigation. And there will come a President who is not Barack Obama." Amen, Senator Cruz, Amen.
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Wouldn't you think if this deal with Iran (put together by Obama at the behest of Iran) was exactly what Obama and Kerry are trying to sell would be gobbled up by the various financial institutions that would stand to make possibly Billions? Instead it seems that the unwillingness of the citizens of the United States and a combine of banking institution world wide to buy into what Obama and Kerry are selling.
ReplyDeleteWhat the people want is their government back from the Internationalist that want to profit.
I include those in the U.S. As well as Europe. We are tired of being Pawns on their Chess Board.
AWe worry about other nations, and international leaders of all sorts not dealing in the truth, not telling the truth, as well we should.
ReplyDeleteBut what about our own representative to the world stage. Obama lies to us and everyone else. Probably even his own family and friends.Jihn Kerry wouldn't know the truth if it ran up and bit him on his leg. His entire public life (including his military service) has been a basket full of lies.
Now we get to the 'primo' liar of outr most recent Fireign Servuce representatives- Hillary Clinton who lies because she doesn't know the truth. She wares blinders so all she sees is streight down the path he has created for herself, family, and friends.
We didn't elect or endorse these people, no we have learned about them the hard way - experience. And to throw them out would for some admit we made the wrong choice.
But that us exactly what we need to do. As Ted Cruze said ..."there will come a Presudent who is not Barrack Obama." But that will only happen if we are strong enough to do the right thing and elected him.
Under Clinton's leadership, the State Department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to 20 nations whose governments have given money to the Clinton Foundation, according to an IBTimes analysis of State Department and foundation data. That figure -- derived from the three full fiscal years of Clinton’s term as Secretary of State (from October 2010 to September 2012) -- represented nearly double the value of American arms sales made to the those countries and approved by the State Department during the same period of President George W. Bush’s second term.
ReplyDeleteThe Clinton-led State Department also authorized $151 billion of separate Pentagon-brokered deals for 16 of the countries that donated to the Clinton Foundation, resulting in a 143 percent increase in completed sales to those nations over the same time frame during the Bush administration. These extra sales were part of a broad increase in American military exports that accompanied Obama’s arrival in the White House. The 143 percent increase in U.S. arms sales to Clinton Foundation donors compares to an 80 percent increase in such sales to all countries over the same time period.
American defense contractors also donated to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and in some cases made personal payments to Bill Clinton for speaking engagements. Such firms and their subsidiaries were listed as contractors in $163 billion worth of Pentagon-negotiated deals that were authorized by the Clinton State Department between 2009 and 2012.
The State Department formally approved these arms sales even as many of the deals enhanced the military power of countries ruled by authoritarian regimes whose human rights abuses had been criticized by the department. Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar all donated to the Clinton Foundation and also gained State Department clearance to buy caches of American-made weapons even as the department singled them out for a range of alleged ills, from corruption to restrictions on civil liberties to violent crackdowns against political opponents.
With Obama in office, Hillary will never be investigated and prosecuted for what she’s done. But these few deals list goes to prove the absolute NO-LIMITS to selling our country for their own wealth. Be assured that some of this kick-back monies found their way to Obama.
What create terrorists are the imams in the mosques in places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Trump's not creating terrorists. George W. Bush did not create terrorists. These people on the left like Hillary Clinton are out there trying to say that Guantanamo Bay and the pictures at Abu Ghraib from Iraq, they just make these young Muslim men so angry that they joined up and they want to become terrorists and so forth.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who is willing to strap on a vest loaded with explosives and kill themselves and possibly hundreds of innocent by-standers is hatred driven from long before Donald Trump or George W. Bush.
Other than the fact that the United nations, etc. cannot really do anything (positive). We need to strangle the life out of these Mosques and their Imams that preach and incite the murderous activities of these no account individuals living in the adobe type homes on dirt streets that are willing to die not for the cause, no, no, no; they die for the money.
Blowing themselves and others up is the only craft, profession, talent they have available to them. They and their religious leaders need to be separated from all societies and allowed to slowly dwindle in numbers until none exists. Wall don’t always have to be used to keep people out – keeping them in is another use.
If you find this to be stupid and simplistic how about real strategic bombing strikes - not Photo Op stuff?
ReplyDeleteI love a good "conspiracy theory" so here is mine.
I think that there is a Triad at work in the Middle East, and has been for a very long time. The names have changed over the years but the goal has been the same - Oil and Money
On one side is naturally the oil rich nations in the Middle East region -OPEC for simplicity.
Another side has been profiteers in oil. Oil families whose business is strong handed control of oil on the worldwide open market.
The third side is the political neocons who seek control if anything possible.
Presently it is hard to place Obama in this Triad or is he simply a pawn representing someone like a George Soros ( who paid his way into the White House twice) or is he firmly on the side of the Muslim oil Barron's ,or is he a arbiter for wealthy American and European families ?