RT News - January 29 2023 - The Weekly

Iran drone attack, Isfahan: There have been reports of multiple explosions in Iran. The country's defence ministry has confirmed it managed to thwart a drone attack on an ammunition depot. Three drones were successfully intercepted. The strike happened about 11:30 pm local time. Unconfirmed reports say a strike may have happened in Tehran. No group has taken responsibility for the attack (QS comment/opinion: which comes during the long running weirdest contrived filthy war between Iran and Israel and is used as an excuse for all conflict, political and otherwise, in the region). Yousef Jalali reports.
- Press "see more" below for expanded news and articles
-
A major fire has broken out in Azarshahr, North Iran at an oil refinery. The cause of the fire is as yet unknown but it happened at roughly the same time as an earthquake 5.9 R.s was recorded that killed two people and injured hundreds of others
-
Russia's foreign minister condemns Western countries for what he calls their attempts to re-colonize Africa and pressure it to sever the continent's relations with Moscow.
-
RT follows Russian troops in their fierce battle for a Ukrainian military stronghold in a suburb of Donetsk.
-
In Uganda, drilling for oil has commenced with first output expected within two years. Part of the project is an "exporting" pipeline. Revenue can be used to develop the country, money for education and health and infrastructure being priorities.
-
Battle for Donbass: recap of the advances of the week.
-
"Heavy weapons to Ukraine by US, NATO and allied countries will bring the world closer to a massive global war" recap and commentary on the agreements to send US Abrams and German leopard tanks to Ukraine. See below as the truth about US Abrams promises come out
-
Viktor Medvedchuk (former leader of Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)) spoke to RT for his first interview after the prisoner swap in September 2022. He says the war isn't really about Ukraine's democracy or people but only for the benefit of the collective west. (the western media say "he's pro-Russia" - so what? Before this collective west's created proxy war Russia was Ukraine's biggest trading partner, had masses of collaborative deals, almost gave away energy which Ukraine never paid for even though it was cheap. A piece of trivia: in 1991 when Ukraine got it's independence from Russia every single external debt of Ukraine's was cleared and Ukraine had THE most vibrant industry mix and just about everything going for it. It SHOULD have become the powerhouse of neutral Europe - instead it was taken over by the corrupt, driven and empowered by "the collective west" and now look at it)
-
Brazil and Argentina are talking about a common currency for trade. It will reduce reliance on the U.S. Dollar. Multipolar world.
-
Uruguay needs to open it's economy to the world and discuss trade arrangements outside of Latin America, including China, the African Union, India and the Caribbean. (QS Venezuela may also be in touch with Brazil, after two years of "incommunicado" - probably at the behest of USA)
================================================

Show more

Below, via RT website 1) --- US provided ‘cover’ for Scholz on tanks – Washington Post
1a) --- Pentagon lobbied for F-16s to Ukraine – Politico
2) --- Explosions reported in Iran
3) --- Energy giant warns of tight market in 2023
4) --- Mozart Group training Ukrainians to ‘kill Russians’ – founder (links to video report)
5) --- Norway reveals massive mineral discovery
5a) --- Norway makes fascinating discovery
6) --- UK military spied on lockdown critics – media
7) --- U.S. to pressure partners into enforcing anti-Russia sanctions – Reuters
8) --- Controversial Ukrainian diplomat has ‘another creative idea’ for Germany
*
************ 9) --- US warned of financial ‘catastrophe’ *****
*
10) --- ‘If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning’: How a landmark speech paved the way for the US to unleash death and destruction (long read, feature)

=================================================
29 Jan, 2023 08:57

1) --- US provided ‘cover’ for Scholz on tanks – WaPo

The White House reportedly agreed to deliver the Abrams to Ukraine to shield the German chancellor

The US devised a plan to commit M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in order to provide “cover” for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was reluctant to send the country’s own tanks to help Kiev, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing more than a dozen people familiar with the matter.

Relying on sources “on both sides of the Atlantic,” the report details how the White House struggled to win over Scholz who initially resisted delivering the Leopard 2 tanks to fight Russian forces in Ukraine unless the US agreed to commit the Abrams. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Pentagon reportedly were against sending American main battle tanks that they believed would be too difficult for Ukrainians to operate and maintain.

According to the Post, it was Secretary of State Antony Blinken who proposed announcing a commitment to supply the tanks to Kiev, but at some point in the future, as part of “‘long term’ needs in a war that might go on for years.”

It could provide Scholz with the cover he sought to allow the Leopards to move right away. At the same time, it would give the Pentagon…time to address concerns about training Ukrainian forces on how to use them and setting up the necessary logistics.

Germany said on Wednesday it would provide 14 tanks directly from its army stocks. Scholz announced later that Berlin and other European countries would together send 112 Leopards to fight in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the 31 US Abrams tanks slated for Kiev need to be assembled first. According to Politico, since Washington is procuring the tanks from the manufacturer, it could take “many months, or potentially years” for them to roll onto the battlefield.

Russia has maintained that foreign weapons, including heavy tanks such as the Abrams, will not change the course of the conflict. “As we said in the past, these tanks will burn just like the rest. They just cost a lot [to make],” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
https://www.rt.com/news/570644-us-cover-scholz-tanks/
================================================

29 Jan, 2023 07:23

1a) --- Pentagon lobbied for F-16s to Ukraine – Politico

The campaign to support Kiev with modern fighter jets is reportedly “gaining momentum”

US military officials are “quietly pushing” the Department of Defense to greenlight the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help in the fight against Russia, Politico reported on Saturday, citing sources. So far, no countries have provided Kiev with modern Western-made warplanes, despite repeated requests.

According to one Pentagon official and two other sources familiar with the matter interviewed by the outlet, the campaign inside the Department of Defense to send the aircraft to Ukraine is “gaining momentum.” Optimism has been partly spurred by the recent decision to send M1 Abrams tanks and Patriot air defense systems to Kiev, the report says.

Referring to potential F-16 deliveries, a senior DOD official told the outlet: “I don’t think we are opposed,” while noting that a final decision has not been made. Kiev has yet to insist that fighter jets are the top priority, the official added, explaining that the US is focused on helping Ukraine meet its more immediate needs.

One Politico source said that it could take the US “weeks” to make a decision on either sending its own jets to Ukraine, or approving the re-export of F-16s from other countries
After the US and Germany agreed to provide Ukraine with 31 Abrams and 14 Leopard 2 tanks respectively, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky doubled down on his requests for long-range missiles and fighter jets.

While Germany signaled that it would not supply Ukraine with warplanes, on Wednesday, when asked about fighter jets, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated that Washington is “in constant discussions” with Kiev about its military capabilities.

“Can’t blame the Ukrainians for wanting more and more systems. It’s not the first time that they’ve talked about fighter jets. But I don’t have any announcements to make on that front,” he said.

Russia has repeatedly warned the West against supplying Ukraine with weapons, arguing that it would only prolong the conflict. On Thursday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that the arms deliveries serve as further proof that Western countries are directly involved in the stand-off between Moscow and Kiev.

https://www.rt.com/news/570631-pentagon-push-f16-ukraine/

(** QS: recall on the 25th January 2022 Pres. Zelensky "demanded" F-16's in a video address to U.S.A. and German presidents. Mikhail Podolyak, Zelensky's aide also told the Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday that he expects Ukraine’s backers to provide long-range missiles eventually, claiming they would be “part of the negotiation process” for the next weapons delivery to Kiev.** )
=================================================

29 Jan, 2023 01:41

2) --- Explosions reported in Iran

The Defense Ministry says a drone attack was thwarted

Iran was attacked with drones, the Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday. One device was shot down by an air defense system, while the other two “fell into defensive traps and exploded.”

“This unsuccessful attack did not cause any loss of life and caused minor damage to the workshop’s roof,” the ministry said in a statement, as cited by state media outlet IRNA.

“[The attack] has not affected our installations and mission... and such blind measures will not have an impact on the continuation of the country’s progress,” it added, without providing details on who Tehran considers responsible for the attack.

The deputy governor of Isfahan province reported, prior to the military’s statement, that the explosion occurred “in one of the centers” of the Defense Ministry. The local authorities said that no one was hurt.

Earlier, Iranian social media reported loud blasts across the country.

The news comes amid heightened tensions with Israel over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran denies Israeli allegations that it is planning to develop nuclear weapons. While multiple Middle Eastern media outlets have reported that Israel launched a military operation against Iran, the Israeli government and military have yet to make an official statement.

On January 28, there was also an explosion in northwestern Iran at an oil production plant in the city of Azarshahr in the province of East Azerbaijan.
https://www.rt.com/news/570630-explosions-reported-in-iran/
================================================

29 Jan, 2023 09:12

3) --- Energy giant warns of tight market in 2023

The shortage of Russian gas flows to the EU has already led to supply constraints in the LNG market, the TotalEnergies CEO says

Supply issues will continue to affect the European gas market this year, due to the need to refill storages, as supplies from Russia are severely diminished, TotalEnergies СEO Patrick Pouyanne told Belgian news outlet L’Echo on Saturday.

According to Pouyanne, the current downward trend in energy prices will not last long.

“The winter is quite mild, the storages are full, Europe needs to import less liquefied natural gas (LNG). But the fundamentals remain there: in 2023, Europe will receive less Russian gas than it received in 2022. It will again have to massively re-import LNG, even though it has not yet settled its re-gasification capacity problems… And as Europe will need to import more than in 2022 when it received Russian gas for about half the year, the situation will become tense again,” he warned.

The global LNG market already experienced a “violent shock” last year, as one eighth of it, nearly 50 million tons, had to be diverted to Europe to make up for the lost Russian supplies, Pouyanne said.

“It’s a shock, Europe did it, but it paid more. The entire LNG market is now constrained by supply. And it will not loosen up before 2025-2026, because when you look at the new projects announced, in the United States and in Qatar, they will only go into production in a few years,” the TotalEnergies СEO said, adding that in order to replace all the gas that the EU once received from Russia (100 million tons per year), it needs to double the amount of LNG it imported last year.

This may prove difficult not only due to existing supply constraints, but also due to the reopening of the Chinese economy, a major consumer of LNG, which will also boost LNG demand.
https://www.rt.com/business/570640-energy-giant-tight-gas-market/
=================================================

28 Jan, 2023 15:09

4) --- Mozart Group training Ukrainians to ‘kill Russians’ – founder (links to video report)

While claiming the group’s purpose is “humanitarian,” Andrew Milburn told RT that killing is a part of the mission

Despite its professed humanitarian mission in Ukraine, the Mozart Group is a private military company training Ukrainian soldiers to kill Russians, its founder and CEO told RT’s Afshin Rattansi on Saturday’s episode of ‘Going Underground.’

Founded by US citizens Andrew Milburn and Andrew Bain last March, the Mozart Group has been described as the Western answer to the Wagner Group – the Russian private military company currently fighting Kiev's forces for control of the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine).

Speaking to Rattansi, Milburn was keen to dispel any comparison between Mozart and Wagner. He told the RT host that his group’s mission is “purely humanitarian,” and that Mozart’s members primarily work to supply and evacuate civilians living near the front lines.

However, the group’s other mission is the training of Ukrainian soldiers, which often takes place “very close to the front line,” Milburn, a former US Marine Corps commander, said.

“Sadly in this war – in any war actually – the more of the adversary you take off the playing field, or kill, the less the danger is to your own guys,” he said. “Why do we train guys? It isn’t simply to defend themselves, it’s to kill the enemy.”

“Everything we’re doing is exactly within the parameters of NATO policy,” he continued. “The West is providing Ukraine with lethal weapons that kill Russians. Why are they doing that? It’s to kill Russians.”

“When we train soldiers that is their goal. It’s why we teach them how to operate their weapons.”

While Mozart survives on private donations, Milburn has previously called for “funding from Western governments,” asking Newsweek last month, “What the hell is stopping the US, or UK, or European Union governments from reaching out and saying 'Let us help you?'"

Milburn is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with Bain, who accused the retired commander of violating US arms trafficking regulations and seeking to expand Mozart’s training operations into Armenia. The suit also accused Milburn of embezzling money donated to the organization, orchestrating the burglary of humanitarian supplies in Ukraine, sexually harassing a female co-worker, and bribing Ukrainian military leaders.

Milburn in turn accused Bain of seeking money from the Mozart Group, and claimed that Bain is “heavily invested in Russia,” which he denies.

Interview with Afshin Rattansi, Going Underground https://rumble.com/v27e7ri-its-to-kill-russians-going-underground-speaks-to-the-mozart-group-in-ukrain.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=3

DONT FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE - it's an excellent channel and we can watch it here on Rumble anytime we want to without a VPN

https://rumble.com/v27e7ri-its-to-kill-russians-going-underground-speaks-to-the-mozart-group-in-ukrain.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=3
================================================

29 Jan, 2023 05:26

5) --- Norway reveals massive mineral discovery

The Nordic state has reportedly found vast amount of metals and minerals on its continental shelf

A Norwegian research team has discovered large reserves of metals and minerals under the seabed of the country's vast continental shelf, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said in a statement on Friday.

The major discovery reportedly offers one of the world’s biggest oil and gas exporters the prospect of extracting “substantial” amounts of minerals, ranging from copper to rare earth metals.

“Of the metals found on the seabed in the study area, magnesium, niobium, cobalt and rare earth minerals are found on the European Commission's list of critical minerals,” director of technology and analysis at NPD, Kjersti Dahle, said.

According to the preliminary estimates, polymetallic sulphides in remote areas of the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Sea contain 38 million tons of copper, nearly twice the volume mined globally each year, 45 million tons of zinc, 2,317 tons of gold and 85,000 tons of silver.

The manganese crusts grown on bedrock over millions of years are estimated to hide around 24 million tons of magnesium, 3.1 million tons of cobalt and 1.7 million tons of cerium, a rare earth metal used in alloys. They are also assessed to contain 8.4 million tons of titanium, 1.9 million tons of vanadium, as well as other rare earth metals, such as neodymium, yttrium and dysprosium.

“Costly rare minerals such as neodymium and dysprosium are extremely important for magnets in wind turbines and the engines in electric vehicles,” Dahle said.

Norway is currently considering whether to open its offshore areas to deep-sea mining, a process that requires parliament's approval and has sparked environmental concerns. Environmental activists have called on Oslo to postpone the seabed mineral exploration until more studies are carried out to understand the organisms living on the seabed and the impact of mining on them.

18 Jan, 2023 19:58

5a) --- Norway makes fascinating discovery

Archeologists have found a rune stone they say dates back to the times of Jesus Christ

A team of Norwegian archeologists has found what they call the oldest rune stone known to date. The small, brownish rock carved with mysterious inscriptions is said to date back to the time of Jesus Christ and to be some 2,000 years old.

“The up to 2,000-year-old inscriptions are from the very oldest period in the enigmatic history of runic writing,” the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, which was the first to break the news this week, said in a press release.

A small piece of sandstone was found as the team was examining an ancient burial ground near the lake of Tyrifjorden, just northwest of the Norwegian capital of Oslo, in late 2021. According to the Oslo museum, the runes on the stone are “the oldest known writing in Norway.” The author of the runes “spoke an ancient language that is considered the precursor to Old Norse,” the parent language of all Nordic tongues spoken today, the statement added.

The stone has several types of engravings, the museum said, adding that not all of them “make linguistic sense.” Several runes clearly stand out among other inscriptions, forming the word “idiberug,” the statement said. But the scientists have so far failed to confirm its exact meaning, believing it might have stood for the name ‘Idibergu’ or the family name ‘Idiberung’.

Carbon dating of bones and wood discovered in the burial ground near the rune stone suggests that it was inscribed between 1 and 250 AD, when the ancient Roman Empire was on the rise and Christianity was taking its first steps. According to some media reports, the stone is also centuries older than all of the other rune stones previously discovered.

“This find will give us a lot of knowledge about the use of runes in the early iron age. This may be one of the first attempts to use runes in Norway and Scandinavia on stone,” Kristel Zilmer, a professor at the University of Oslo, told AP. She also called the discovery “the most sensational thing that I, as an academic, have had.”

Runic alphabets were in use by the Germanic peoples, including the Scandinavians, before they adopted the Latin alphabet. Some forms of runic writing were still used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages and the Swedish province of Dalarna kept this form of writing up until the 20th century.
https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/570101-norway-world-oldest-rune-stone/
================================================

28 Jan, 2023 22:32

6) --- UK military spied on lockdown critics – media

The Ministry of Defence reportedly targeted public figures who questioned London’s pandemic policies

The UK Ministry of Defence closely monitored the social media accounts of public figures critical of the government’s Covid-19 policies during the pandemic, a whistleblower told the Daily Mail newspaper on Saturday. The claim counters repeated official denials that the government caried out any such surveillance.

The military’s secretive 77th Brigade compiled dossiers on anyone with a sizable following who questioned the lockdowns, mandates, and predictions of doom that characterized London’s response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the source, who worked for the unit during the pandemic.

The unit’s duties included combatting “disinformation” and “harmful narratives… from purported experts,” assisted by raw data scraped from social media by AI and civilian employees. Undesirable narratives were suppressed or removed, while government narratives were promoted.

“I had the impression the Government were more interested in protecting the success of their policies than uncovering foreign interference,” the whistleblower told the Mail, suggesting London’s single-minded focus on suppressing criticism might have led to them overlooking genuine foreign meddling in the form of pro-lockdown campaigns from China.

While the 77th Brigade’s information specialists officially target only foreign entities with “non-lethal engagement and legitimate non-military levers as means to adapt behaviors of adversaries,” the whistleblower explained they cheated their way into surveilling UK citizens by claiming that “unless a profile explicitly stated their real name and nationality they could be a foreign agent and were fair game.” Forbidden from repeatedly looking at a named UK citizen’s account while on the clock, they merely waited until their shift was done to snoop on people they couldn’t pretend were foreign.

Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch (BBW) obtained extensive documentation substantiating the whistleblower’s claims and revealing that the Counter Disinformation Unit of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Rapid Response Unit of the Cabinet Office were also involved in the surveillance of British civilians.

BBW’s director, Silkie Carlo, called for the immediate dissolution of the Counter Disinformation Unit and a full investigation of the materials it had obtained, describing the government’s work on “countering misinformation” as dangerous to democracy.

An anonymous source within 10 Downing Street told the Mail that the disinformation units had wound down much of their work since the end of lockdowns.
https://www.rt.com/news/570629-uk-government-spied-covid-critics/
=================================================

28 Jan, 2023 20:23

7) --- U.S. to pressure partners into enforcing anti-Russia sanctions – Reuters

Türkiye and the UAE will reportedly be punished if they evade restrictions imposed by Washington

The US Treasury Department's top sanctions official will visit Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates next week to warn officials and businesses there that Washington will punish them if they dodge its sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Brian Nelson, the department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will travel to Oman, the UAE, and Türkiye between Sunday and Friday. Meeting with government officials, businesses and financial institutions, Nelson will caution them that they could lose access to US markets “on account of doing business with sanctioned entities,” a Treasury spokesperson told the news agency.

US officials have repeatedly highlighted Türkiye as a potential hub of sanctions evasion, and unnamed Western officials told the Financial Times in August that they were “deeply concerned” about allegations of trade between Turkish firms and sanctioned Russian entities.

Ankara responded that it “would not allow the breaching of sanctions by any institution or person,” following a phone call in which US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo seemingly threatened the “success of the Turkish economy” and “the integrity of its banking sector.”

The UAE has also received warnings from Washington, with Adeyemo urging the Emirates’ financial institutions last summer to be “exceedingly cautious” about doing business with other institutions connected to “the Russian financial system.” The Treasury spokesperson told Reuters that Nelson will condemn the UAE’s “poor sanctions compliance” during his visit.

In the last month, the US has sanctioned a prominent Turkish businessman over allegedly laundering money for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and a UAE-based aviation firm over alleged sales to Russia’s Wagner private military corporation. Multiple Emirati companies have also been penalized for evading US sanctions on Iran.

Both Türkiye and the UAE voted at the UN General Assembly last year to condemn Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, but neither has imposed sanctions of their own on Moscow. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has maintained close contact with his colleagues in both Kiev and Moscow, and said from the outset that his diplomatic handling of the conflict would be “balanced.”

With Türkiye and the US also at loggerheads over Ankara’s refusal to sign off on Finland’s and Sweden’s bids for NATO membership, Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week affirmed their intent to “develop comprehensive cooperation,” including by increasing the supply of Russian gas to Türkiye
https://www.rt.com/news/570625-turkiye-uae-sanctions-evasion/
================================================

28 Jan, 2023 20:41

8) --- Controversial Ukrainian diplomat has ‘another creative idea’ for Germany

Fresh from demanding tanks, jets, and missiles from Berlin, Andrey Melnik now wants the Bundeswehr’s submarines

Ukraine’s former ambassador to Germany, Andrey Melnik, has suggested that Berlin should hand over one of its submarines for use against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Throughout the conflict in Ukraine, Melnik belittled and insulted his then-hosts until they agreed to donate increasingly heavier weapons to his country.

“I know I’m gonna get a new s**t storm, but I have another creative idea,” Melnik tweeted on Saturday. Explaining that the ThyssenKrupp-manufactured HDW Class 212A is considered “one of the world’s best submarines,” the German military (Bundeswehr) should donate one of its six 212As to Ukraine, where it would “kick the Russian fleet out of the Black Sea.”

In a series of responses to comments, Melnik called on his supporters to “champion this idea all together and push Germany and other allies” into handing over the sub.

see tweets

https://twitter.com/MelnykAndrij/status/1619386522868006912
https://twitter.com/MelnykAndrij/status/1619404810788409346

If Germany would agree to such a deal, transporting the sub to the Black Sea would be complicated by Türkiye’s closure of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to military vessels, meaning only nations bordering the sea – such as Russia and Ukraine – can launch warships and submarines there.

Melnik explained in a comment that the submarine could be transported over land “no problemo,” a tall order for a 56-meter (184-foot) vessel displacing 1,500 tons. Ukrainian sailors would also have to be trained to operate it. The vessel would then have to face the seven submarines and numerous anti-submarine ships and helicopters in Russia’s Crimea-based Black Sea Fleet.

Melnik is no stranger to insulting the Germans until they give Ukraine what it wants, calling the country’s hesitancy to provide tanks “unf**kingbelievable,” and German politicians opposed to the transfer of heavy armor “Russian assets.” When Berlin eventually authorized the donation of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine earlier this week, he posted a celebratory tweet, before issuing fresh demands for fighter jets and long-range missiles.

Melnik served as Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany from 2014 until last July, when he was recalled to Kiev after he publicly professed his admiration for Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator considered a hero by Ukrainian nationalists.

Russia has repeatedly warned that the continued supply of arms to Ukraine will prolong the conflict and make Western countries de-facto participants. The Kremlin has also stated that heavy weapons such as the Leopard tanks will not bring victory to Ukraine, and “will burn” like every piece of equipment donated beforehand.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570627-melnik-germany-submarines-ukraine/
================================================

29 Jan, 2023 11:33

9) --- US warned of financial ‘catastrophe’

The country faces a recession if it defaults on its debt, the Treasury Secretary has said

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Saturday warned of dire consequences the country may be facing if it doesn’t hike its statutory debt ceiling in the coming months. According to the senior official, the US could default on its debt by summer, which would lead to a financial crisis.

“It makes me nervous…It would be devastating. It's a catastrophe,” Yellen told Axios news outlet, adding that “we’ll have a financial crisis and I believe we would have recession in the United States.”

“Spending would have to decline to match the tax revenues,” Yellen said, which would strip the government of the ability to support the economy with stimulus. Furthermore, “psychological consequences” like people fearing to spend money could then “further impact spending and deepen a recession.”

She noted that a full-blown US debt default would also send ripple-effects across the global economy.

“Americans would face higher borrowing costs, and it would cause a good deal of turmoil globally as well,” Yellen said.

The secretary began to raise the alarm on potential US debt default earlier this month, notifying the US Congress that the Treasury had started to invoke emergency measures to prevent the country from reaching the national debt ceiling, now set at $31.4 trillion. The measures largely involve temporarily suspending payments that are not immediately necessary to keep the government running. Yellen noted at the time, however, that the measures only go as far as to give the Congress time to negotiate and pass a debt limit hike, most likely until early June. Without the hike, default would be imminent, she said.

“The president and the leadership of Congress are responsible to find a way to get the debt ceiling raised,” she told Axios.

The debt ceiling, which was first enacted by the Congress in 1917, prevents the US Treasury from issuing new government bonds to fund government operations after the debt ceiling is reached. Exceeding the limit means that the federal government's ability to make routine budget payments, including paying for various social expenditures, is at risk. Moreover, the government's ability to pay debts and interest on obligations already incurred could be seriously undermined.
https://www.rt.com/business/570641-us-warning-financial-catastrophe/
=============================================

28 Jan, 2023 09:15

10) --- ‘If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning’: How a landmark speech paved the way for the US to unleash death and destruction

In January 2003, the then American leader gave a speech to Congress which signaled his intention to attack Iraq

“If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. And tonight, I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country, your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation” – this promise was made exactly 20 years ago, on January 28, 2003, by then US President George W. Bush in his annual message to Congress. This speech concerning Iraqi President Saddam Hussein became a prologue to the beginning of a large-scale and protracted military conflict, whose consequences the region is still dealing with today.

Unfounded accusations that Iraq might be developing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) became the main pretext for the invasion which started on March 20. Less than a year later, Washington admitted that it had been a false threat, but there was no turning back — Hussein was deposed and then executed. And the US occupied Iraq, plunging the country into chaos it is still struggling to overcome to this day.

"So, what’s the difference?”

– was how Bush reacted in December of 2003 to a remark that pointed out that WMDs had not been found in Iraq.

According to Pentagon data from 2019, total losses of American servicemen during the entire Iraqi war amounted to 4,487 people. While the exact number of civilian deaths is incalculable, it is definitely measured in the hundreds of thousands.

“This war has dealt a huge reputational blow to the United States. All their opponents now use this as an example of how it’s possible to bypass international law to carry out interventions in other countries without reason or pretext. It has also complicated the United States’ relations with its European allies and damaged Washington’s reputation in many non-Western countries around the world,” Malek Dudakov,a political scientist specializing in the US, said, explaining the consequences of the decision taken in March of 2003.

My Enemy’s Enemy is My Friend
America’s accusations against Hussein fell on fertile ground – and by the beginning of 2003, the Iraqi leader’s reputation had already been hopelessly damaged by his behavior in previous conflicts. During the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, a gas attack carried out by the Iraqi army in the city of Halabja killed up to 5,000 people, mainly Kurds. During the eight years of the war, Iran’s direct losses from chemical weapons alone amounted to at least 20,000 people. That number increased significantly after the hostilities ended, as the long-term effects of the chemical reagent took their toll.

However, at that time, the United States turned a blind eye to Hussein’s atrocities, to put it mildly, since Washington recognized Iran, where the Islamic Revolution had taken place in 1979, as a much more dangerous enemy. Therefore, fully aware that the attack had been carried out by Iraq, the United States chose to lay blame on the Iranians for the tragedy in Halabja, as Joost Hilterman pointed out in an article for the New York Times.

In the early years of that war, Washington generally acted as a full-fledged ally of Baghdad. Citing intelligence officials and the State Department, the New York Times reported that Ronald Reagan’s administration had secretly provided Iraq with highly classified intelligence data in the spring of 1982, and had also allowed US allies to sell American weapons to help Hussein.

Washington’s attitude towards the Iraqi dictator changed because of the Gulf War, which began with Iraq’s invasion of oil-rich Kuwait in August of 1990. On November 29 of that year, after numerous attempts failed to persuade Baghdad to settle the crisis peacefully, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution No. 678, which gave Hussein’s government a month and a half to end the occupation. When he refused to do so, the US-led Multinational Forces Coalition (MNF) conducted Operation Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait after a long air offensive. It is noteworthy that this conflict was the first after the end of the Cold War in which the Soviet Union diplomatically supported the United States.

Interestingly, in 1991, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, argued with the head of the Pentagon, Dick Cheney, whose associates were already calling for the overthrow of Hussein. However, President George H.W. Bush did not dare embark on such an adventure at that time.

After the conclusion of Desert Storm, the UN demanded that Iraq destroy its stocks of weapons of mass destruction, as well as their production programs, and provide proof that it had done so to its inspectors. Though Baghdad accepted these resolutions, it did not fulfill all of their requirements in practice. In 1998, Saddam Hussein completely closed inspectors’ access to the country, accusing them of ‘espionage’.

However, in 2002, under pressure from the UN and Western countries, the President of Iraq unexpectedly agreed to an inspection. The report from the head of the IAEA, Mohammed ElBaradei, concluded that no signs of prohibited activities or any evidence of Baghdad’s resumption of a nuclear weapons program had been found during inspections at Iraqi facilities. The head of the commission, Hans Blix, expressed less confidence in this findings, but could provide no proof to contradict it. In fact, the only infraction was noted in a document on the Iraqi Air Force, which stated that Iraq had failed to destroy about 6,000 chemical rockets.

The conclusions of international inspections did not matter much to the United States, led by President George W. Bush.

-- The US Operates According to Its Own Agenda

The first alarm bell sounded for Iraq in the state of the union address to Congress on January 28, 2002, when the American president branded it as part of an “axis of evil,” along with Iran and North Korea. However, at that time, the American leader devoted only one paragraph to Iraq.

“Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens – leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections – then kicked out the inspectors,” Bush said.

In October of 2002, Congress gave the president the green light to use armed forces in Iraq. Here, in addition to arguments concerning biological weapons, accounts of the Iraqi regime’s crackdowns came in very handy. Allegations that Hussein allegedly maintained close ties with Al-Qaeda also came into play, though the latest data from US authorities found no proof of this.

As Malek Dudakov noted in a conversation with RT, by that time, the American establishment viewed Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government as an absolute evil. The Iraqi leader was repeatedly compared to Hitler, and there were multiple leaks to the press alleging that he had weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.

“The presidential administration actively promoted all these fears, trying to maintain Bush’s approval ratings, as well as the patriotic fervor that had been prevalent since September 11. After those terrorist attacks, America needed some obvious opponent, as the concept of “international terrorism” seemed somehow abstract and incomprehensible. Plus, the early successes in the Afghan operation may have gone to the White House’s head. It seemed to them that they could quickly and bloodlessly carry out the Iraqi campaign, overthrow Hussein, and reformat the Middle East for themselves. This would weaken Iran’s position, while simultaneously giving them control over oil reserves that were of no small importance to the United States. Taken together, all these reasons compelled Washington to get involved in this adventure,” Dudakov says.

The aforementioned Dick Cheney, who served as vice president in the administration of President G.W. Bush, is believed to have been one of the main shadow architects of the war in Iraq. In between working in government positions, he had served as Chief Executive Officer of the Halliburton oilfield services company, which later received the first contract for restoring and developing oil fields in occupied Iraq.

-- He’s Got Something to Hide

In January 2003, the US President made it clear in an address to Congress that he was going to use the power it had granted to him to invade:

“We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.”

The White House probably still expected to receive UN approval at that time, since one of its arguments was that Hussein had demonstrated “utter contempt for the United Nations and for the opinion of the world,” and therefore must answer for that.

Bush claimed that Saddam Hussein was engaged in developing chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, even as international inspectors were working in his country. Allusions to the UN were spun to fit the American administration’s agenda – the emphasis was put on the doubts that Blix had voiced, and, in essence, Hussein was already presumed guilty. “He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it [weapons of mass destruction],” Bush said several times.

The president cited US intelligence data, according to which Saddam Hussein had up to 30,000 munitions capable of using chemical reagents. Shortly before that, experts had only discovered 16, and Bush claimed, Iraq “has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions.”

In making his accusations, the American leader also referred to the British government, according to which Iraq was searching for uranium in Africa, as well as three Iraqi defectors who alleged that the government had several mobile biological weapons in the late 1990s.

Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.”

Bush also referred to UN Security Council Resolution 1441 of 2002, which he said had provided Iraq with “the last opportunity to fulfill its disarmament obligations.” Though this document specified no automatic consequences for its non-fulfillment, the White House nevertheless had high hopes for the UN Security Council meeting that Bush announced, at which Secretary of State Colin Powell was set to speak. Subsequently, it was learned that, five days earlier, Bush had held a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, where he said that the US was ready to “twist the UN’s arm” to get a resolution approved to launch an invasion.

--Powell’s Test Tube

At a special meeting of the UN Security Council on February 5, Secretary of State Powell spent an hour and a half presenting “irrefutable evidence” of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Baghdad. This included satellite images, as well as information from radio intercepts and interrogations of Iraqi defectors. However, the main thing Powell focused on was not the current situation, but namely Hussein’s bad reputation.

The US Secretary of State pointed out that Iraq had acknowledged that it had biological weapons only four years after the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) had begun to carry out inspections. And, according to Powell, the 8,500 liters of anthrax that Baghdad had admitted to possessing in 1995 was a gross underestimate.

To hammer home the danger posed by Hussein’s regime, Powell showed his colleagues a test tube containing a white powder. While he didn’t claim that this substance was dangerous, he said that he wanted to show the quantity of anthrax spores mailed to two senators in 2001, which had been enough to shut down Congress.

“The Iraqis have never accounted for all of the biological weapons they admitted they had, and we know they had... In fact, they can produce enough dry biological agent in a single month to kill thousands upon thousands of people. And dry agent of this type is the most lethal form for human beings,” the head of the State Department stated, trying his best to scare all those present.

As it turned out after the invasion, the CIA’s intelligence on the presence of mobile manufacturing labs for biological weapons in pre-war Iraq was false. After this was made public, Powell said several times that he regretted that speech, but did not feel guilty.

"I didn’t lie. I didn’t know it was not true.”

“I was secretary of state, not the director of intelligence,” he explained in an interview in 2005, a few months after he was asked to leave the administration of George W. Bush.

Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the USA at Moscow State University, noted in a comment to RT that the false assurances given by Americans regarding the state of affairs in Iraq was far from the first such case in history.

“I wouldn’t consider this speech a milestone moment. For example, there was the invented second incident in the Gulf of Tonkin, after which the Vietnam War began, and the United States has invaded Panama, Grenada, and other countries under various pretexts. The only thing that was unique in the run up to the invasion of Iraq was the accusations about weapons of mass destruction. The fact that the US made a unilateral decision on Iraq was hugely significant for the world order in many respects. Although Congress gave its permission, there was strong opposition even inside the United States. The UN had not granted the US permission to invade Iraq. Even America’s closest NATO allies, Germany and France, opposed. But the United States took this step anyway, openly demonstrating that they were ready to do as they saw fit, regardless of other opinions,” Rogulev concluded.

--Last Attempt

On the eve of the UN Security Council meeting on March 10, it became clear that the majority of its members still opposed any resolution leading to war. But this could not stop Washington. Russia nevertheless made one last desperate attempt to prevent the war.

On March 18, 2003, State Duma deputy and former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov urgently flew to Baghdad by order of President Vladimir Putin. He offered Hussein the opportunity to voluntarily resign from the post of president, explaining that, otherwise, a catastrophe was inevitable.

“I told him [Hussein] the following: ‘If you love your country and your people, if you want to protect your people from becoming inevitable victims, you must resign as president of Iraq,’” Primakov told journalists. In response, the Iraqi leader said that he’d also been persuaded to resign during the first Gulf War, but the war turned out to be inevitable anyway. “After that, he patted me on the shoulder and left,” Primakov said. Russia’s representative also stressed that Iraq “needs to do everything to facilitate the work of international inspectors.” According to Primakov, after this conversation, Iraq really began to destroy the banned missiles that it had previously refused to eliminate.

But on March 20, without the sanction of the UN Security Council, the Americans began, as Bush put it, “a military operation to disarm Iraq, liberate the Iraqi people, and protect the whole world from serious danger.” The operation began with air strikes on Baghdad. The fate of the country was sealed: the Iraqi army was defeated in three weeks, Hussein was overthrown, but there were no real winners.

By Maxim Hvatkov, a Russian journalist focusing on international security, China's politics and soft-power tools.
https://www.rt.com/news/570557-iraq-and-big-american-lie/
===============================================

Show less