veteranstoday--2020-08-03--Blockbuster: Trump Faces Arrest for Fraud according to Manhattan DA (criminal charges pending)

A new filing from the Manhattan district attorney ’ s office suggests that the office is investigating President Donald Trump and his company for potential bank and insurance fraud .
Daily Beast : The filing argues that Trump should be required to submit eight years of corporate and personal tax returns in compliance with the office ’ s subpoena , despite objections by Trump claiming the subpoena should be declared invalid .
The office only broadly referred to the reason for their investigation , stating “ undisputed ” news reports regarding Trump ’ s business practices gave them reason to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the president may have given lenders and insurers false information , artificially inflating his net worth and his properties ’ values .
Trump ’ s lawyers insist he has done nothing wrong .
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Trump is officially under criminal investigation and Sheldon Adelson's millions bribing the senate can't help him
A new filing from the Manhattan district attorney’s office suggests that the office is investigating President Donald Trump and his company for potential bank and insurance fraud.
Breaking News: The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested for the first time that it’s investigating President Trump and his company for possible fraud https://t.co/7GUYrvVnIu — The New York Times (@nytimes) August 3, 2020
Daily Beast: The filing argues that Trump should be required to submit eight years of corporate and personal tax returns in compliance with the office’s subpoena, despite objections by Trump claiming the subpoena should be declared invalid.
https://twitter.com/CNBCPolitics/status/1290340493788942338?s=20
The office only broadly referred to the reason for their investigation, stating “undisputed” news reports regarding Trump’s business practices gave them reason to issue the subpoena. Trump is in deep trouble with the Manhattan DA Grand Jury investigation. “Protracted criminal conduct.” Tax fraud, Bank fraud. No William Barr & no pardons. This is moving bigger and faster than the Trump legal team’s stall strategy can hold off. https://t.co/pjNevBOahn — Tom Joseph (@TomJChicago) August 3, 2020 Reports have indicated that the president may have given lenders and insurers false information, artificially inflating his net worth and his properties’ values. Trump’s lawyers insist he has done nothing wrong. Manhattan DA Vance's new filing says investigation of Trump is broader than hush money – includes bank and insurance fraud. And he has hired former DOJ AAG Walter Dellinger to appear in subpoena case. Filing fee is best $200 Vance will ever spend. pic.twitter.com/9743k7WH5r — Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) August 3, 2020 New: Manhattan DA Cy Vance in a new filing pointed to reporting by @Fahrenthold that Trump inflated his wealth to potential lenders and business partners as a justification for subpoenaing his tax returns, signaling a possible fraud investigation. https://t.co/94bw4q3Fuo — Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) August 3, 2020 *


veteranstoday--2020-08-03--Time for Indo-Pakistan Talks

Time for Indo-Pakistan Talks

Praveen Swami in his apparently innocent and well-meaning article titled ‘ The Time might have come for India and Pakistan to talk ’ has made designed distortions in the recent past history of the two archrivals .
Messages have been conveyed in a subtle way under the guise of revival of talks and friendship .
The motivation behind writing this article is the floating rumors in India about the possible Indo-Pakistan talks that were abruptly stalled by India after the attacks in Mumbai on 26 Nov 2008 .
He says that for weeks rumors have proliferated in New Delhi ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ existence of a secret India-Pakistan diplomatic channel on Kashmir .
The rumor mill adds color to the story by asserting that India ’ s NSA Ajit Doval visited Islamabad secretly .
Another version talk of a meeting held between high officials in London and Washington .
Topics for discussion ranged from the fate of Kashmir , to the future of Afghanistan , and to the trial of Kulbushan Jadhav , incarcerated in Pakistan on espionage charges .
He shrewdly omitted terrorism charges .
He erroneously claims that after the Sept 18 , 2016 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Uri , when Modi directed the Indian military to adopt an aggressive posture by striking across the LoC whenever any attack took place in Indian Occupied Kashmir ( IOK ) , accordingly a surgical strike was conducted on so-called launch pads of militants in AJK on 29 Sept 2016 .
He claims that since then , there has not been a single Jihadi attack in India .
In other words , the so-called surgical strike deterred Pakistan .
This is an absolute false claim and travesty of truth since no Jihadi attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Pakistani soil under state sponsorship and no surgical strike has ever been launched by IAF other than the one on 24 February 2019 in reaction to the Pulwama terror attack on 14 February 2019 for which Jaish-e-Muhammad ( JeM ) and Pakistan were wrongly accused by India .
Pakistan effectively gave a hard blow to India on 26th and 27th February .
The world press has covered all the events in copious details .
It is now an established fact that Pakistan was blamed by India for all the terror attacks which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2008 .
JeM , Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI were held responsible .
This was done under a well-calculated plan to get Pakistan declared a terror abetting state .
These included the attack on Indian Parliament in Dec 2001 , Samjhota Express train in 2007 in which 60 Pakistanis were burnt to death , Malegaon and Hyderabad Mecca mosque and Mumbai attacks .
In each attack , Muslims were the victims .
Indian investigator chief inspector Hemant Karkare investigating Malegaon terror attack arrested a gang and proved before the law court that all the attacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Abhinov outfit which was headed by a serving Lt Col Srikant Purohit .
The accused confessed their crimes .
Fake Hindu saint Aseemanand also reconfirmed it and so did the authors of 4 books written by Indian and German authors .
India ’ s Home Ministry officials like Sushil and Atish Sharma submitted affidavits in the Supreme Court asserting that the Mumbai attacks were an in-house affair and masterminded by RAW-Mossad-CIA to demonize Pakistan and Kashmiri Mujahideen .
It is unfortunate that Pakistan tied to its policy of appeasement didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after India failed to furnish an iota of evidence to substantiate its charges .
After Mumbai attacks , India cut off diplomatic relations with Pakistan , stalled composite dialogue , stopped Samjhota train service and declared terrorism as an inexcusable sin more important than the Kashmir issue .
Like in 2002 , India deployed its strike formations against Pakistan and threatened to launch an offensive under its Cold Start Doctrine .
The US and the West fully supported India ’ s version and pressed Pakistan to allow IAF to conduct surgical strikes on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Indian jets took off to strike the intended targets but had to fly back when Pak F-16s confronted them .
The whole drama was drummed up and sensationalized on concocted charges .
Since then , Pakistan has been bending over backwards to resume talks but India has continually spurned it .
Encouraged by Pakistan ’ s muteness , India continued to build a narrative to paint Pakistan as a terror abetting country and India a victim of terrorism .
To strengthen its narrative , India continued to stage false flag operations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Udhampur , Pathankot , Uri and Pulwama .
On each occasion , Pakistan sought evidence and extended full cooperation to India but the latter couldn ’ t furnish shred of evidence since those were stage-managed .
Pakistan on the other hand has tons of evidence to prove that India is the biggest terrorist state in the region and has shared it with all concerned .
Above all , Pakistan has a serving Navy Commander Kulbushan in its custody who confessed his acts of subversion in Baluchistan , Mekran Coast and Karachi and has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sought mercy but sticks to his original stance that he is guilty .
Praveen repeated the oft-parroted narrative that IAF successfully destroyed the sanctuary of JeM at Balakot , which had been blamed for the Pulwama attacks .
Factually the air intrusion on February 22 , 2019 was a complete fiasco .
3 Israeli supplied precision guided Spike missiles were hurriedly dropped on a hilltop by Mirage 2000s , which felled few pine trees .
Diplomatic community was escorted by the then DG ISPR Maj Gen Ghafoor to the site and the true @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media .
It was a huge embarrassment for IAF and India .
In order to hide RAW-NDS massive cross-border terrorism against Pakistan from Afghan soil from 2002 till to-date , Praveen cleverly quoted Afghanistan intelligence ( NDS ) claiming that the ISI was running a cell in Nangarhar , led by Kashmiri Jihad commander Abdul Gani Dar , to train Indian jihadists .
It is a well-established fact that the two agencies have provided safe havens to several banned runaway militant groups and had established 70 training camps/centres to train and equip proxies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ISIS elements from Iraq and Syria in 2014 and were married with Jamaat al Ahrar , an offshoot of TTP .
Nangarhar became a bastion of ISIS ( Khurasan ) which was eventually cleared by the Taliban in 2019 .
Praveen brings out another revelation that at a May 27 , 2014 meeting , outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave Prime Minister Modi a set of unsigned notes , containing records of secret negotiations to seal a Kashmir deal with Pakistan ’ s former military ruler , Gen Pervez Musharraf .
In essence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — in return for the Line of Control becoming a permanent border .
This could be nearer to truth since Musharraf had offered out-of-box solution to India .
But for the lawyers ’ movement which sprang in March 2007 and led to ouster of Musharraf , the shady deal on Kashmir with LoC as an international border would have materialized .
Praveen says that New Delhi might not be willing to countenance autonomy for Kashmir today — but it is possible that Pakistan ’ s army chief , Gen Qamar Bajwa , might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ideas floated during these negotiations was hiving off Gilgit — a region Islamabad has long claimed sovereignty over , arguing it seceded from undivided Kashmir prior to independence — from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir .
India , in turn , was to closely integrate Ladakh .
He added , events in both countries have resulted in exactly that outcome : Ladakh became a Union Territory last year , and Gilgit is in the midst of a political process that could lead it to become the fifth province of Pakistan .
What he infers is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be traded for Ladakh the control of which is now in the hands of China .
It is customary for India that whenever it finds itself cornered it becomes soft and offers resumption of talks which Pakistan gladly accepts and boastfully claim it a diplomatic breakthrough/victory .
The moment the heat is off , India removes the mask of friendship and shows its true colors .
India has never missed any opportunity coming its way to harm Pakistan and of late has been threatening to break Pakistan into four parts and to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in three rivers .
Contrary to India ’ s hawkishness , Pakistan ’ s successive regimes have behaved mawkishly .
They never availed opportunities to settle the Kashmir dispute , or to avenge the 1971 humiliation .
Pakistan has suffered on account of traditional defensive and apologetic stance of leaders and and their never ending quest to befriend India .
For the Pakistanis , Kashmir cause is very near to their hearts and they think differently .
Currently India finds itself stuck in most precarious situation since it has failed to muffle the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has struck India at a highly sensitive spot in the Himalaya region , which has deprived India of control over Ladakh and its offensive option against GB , and rendered its 3 Corps at Leh and Siachin vulnerable .
Above all , Iran has ditched India and befriended China .
Afghanistan has slipped out of India ’ s hands .
Lowering GDP , rising corona pandemic and mounting anger of Indian minorities against Modi regime , together with dozens of separatist movements including Khalistan movement have made India vulnerable and combustible .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events which has forced stubborn Modi regime to knock at Pakistan ’ s door and find a way out of the impasse .
Most critical is Ladakh , the loss of which will have grave ramifications for India .
To regain control over Ladakh , which is a disputed territory , the tutored writer is suggesting granting GB to Pakistan as a quid pro quo for reverting Ladakh to India where it plans to establish Indo-US-Israel military bases .
Praveen misses the point that China is now 4th stake holder to the dispute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blessing no headway can be made .
It would also demand a quid pro quo .
Praveen subtly casts aspersions on Gen Qamar Bajwa by insinuating that in meetings with British diplomats , the General is believed to have asserted his commitment to peace , noting that Islamabad had not escalated support to jihadists after India rolled-back Kashmir ’ s special status last year .
What he implies is that Pak military has all along been supporting Jihadists in IOK .
Secondly , what he assumes is that Pak military has abandoned the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope of peace with India alive .
Instead of Pakistan feeling skeptical in the backdrop of India ’ s evasive and anti-peace tactics , Praveen says that New Delhi is entitled to be skeptical of the promises made by current civil-military leadership since similar promises were made just before the Kargil war and 26/11 .
In order to undermine the heroics of the Kashmiris in the face of extreme odds , he goes on to say that Kashmiri jihadists are under-trained and grossly under-equipped .
He ignores the hard fact that after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LoC in 2005 duly fortified by Israeli supplied radars and fortified posts together with three layered defence in depth , even a sparrow can not go across undetected .
Freedom movement in IOK is completely indigenous and the freedom fighters learnt the tactics to fight and survive the hard way .
The armed uprising started in 1989 and currently the 3rd generation born amidst the rattle tattle of guns is resisting the occupying forces with stones in their tiny hands .
They neither need training nor motivation since their sole slogan is Azadi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pakistan .
His second part of being ill-equipped is factual .
What he should have mentioned is that Indian Army and paramilitary forces despite being well-equipped , need lot of extensive training and motivational courses .
Praveen slyly tries to link ISI with terrorism by suggesting that it has gone at least some way in turning-off the terror pipeline .
He forgets that the seeds of cross border terrorism were sown by India for the first time in in this region in 1971 , and RAW has been using terrorism as a choicest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States .
He reveals that 200 hours of discussions in the 30 meetings on the draft agreement on Kashmir took place at Dubai and Kathmandu between the interlocutors of Gen Musharraf ( Ambassador Riaz , Tariq Aziz ) and of Manmohan ( Ambassador Satinder Lambah ) .
These meetings took place secretly .
If true , it was abhorrent since neither the Pakistani public , nor civil society or the intellectual class or the main stake holders Kashmiris were taken into confidence .
Kashmir was being divided over their heads .
Similar exercise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nawaz Sharif ( NS ) and Vajpayee to agree upon Chenab formula .
Both proudly claim that Kashmir resolution was within grasping reach .
NS in his 3rd tenure pursued the same old path and was termed as Modi ka yar .
The incumbent regime under Imran Khan has also been wishing to establish friendly relations with fascist Modi regime , which is anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan .
While Praveen mentions about violence which in his view persists since 2014 , he makes no mention of record breaking atrocities committed by over 700,000 Indian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , kidnap , torture , maim , destroy and rape without fear of accountability .
The surge took place after the martyrdom of Burhan Wani in July 2016 and kept intensifying with every passing day .
Use of pellet guns to blind the teenagers and gory practice of killing the youth in fake encounters , and gang raping of girls/women were not deemed fit to make a mention of .
Praveen draws satisfaction over his supposition that the level of violence is not intense enough to threaten India seriously , but adequate to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He hides his discomfiture and doesn ’ t pick up courage to ask as to how come such a huge force deployed in a narrow valley has been unable to subdue few hundred Mujahideen ( terrorists in Indian language ) after employing excessive force for the last three decades .
Over 100,000 Kashmiris have been martyred .
There are thousands of widows and half widows who do not know whether their husbands are alive or dead .
Praveen once again twists facts by making a false claim that troops along the Line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a near-daily basis .
In his view , it is an expensive exercise which history demonstrates has done little to deter cross-border terrorism .
He adds , neither New Delhi nor Islamabad is any closer , today , to a decisive victory in Kashmir , than they were in 2014 .
What he fails to mention is that after the peace treaty signed in August 2003 , which was honored till Mumbai attacks in Nov 2008 , thereon Indian military has been continuously breaching the agreement by resorting to unprovoked firing across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Modi took over power in June 2014 .
Innocent civilians living near the LoC are the main victims of senseless firings .
Heavy artillery/mortars and even cluster bombs have been fired on civilian localities .
International media , Human Rights Watch and diplomatic community based in Islamabad have physically seen the extent of human losses , and damage done to the villages .
India has nothing to show because the counter action by Pak Army is confined to Indian military posts only ; the civilians living across the LoC are also Muslims .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this is a one-sided view and kite flying at best , particularly at a time when China and India are confronting each other .
There is no way Pakistan can afford to be seen negotiating with India behind China ’ s back .
People of Pakistan are otherwise suspecting that Kashmir has been bartered away .
They are feeling upset over non-action of the rulers to provide relief to the Kashmiris in distress .
In any case , what has India to offer ?
Nothing , except platitudes and false promises .
More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meaningful , it has to include the people of Kashmir .
It also requires Modi to give Pakistan grounds for trust and prepare public opinion inside India .
There are no signs of it nor can he afford to go down that route having done what he has lately done .
The suggestion has either not been thought through properly or is intended to secure India ’ s flank in any possible struggle with China .
The writer is a retired Brig , war veteran , defence & security analyst , international columnist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thinkers Forum Pakistan , Director Measac Research Centre , Member CWC PESS & Veterans Think Tank .
[ email protected ]

Rejoinder to Praveen Swami
Asif Haroon Raja
Praveen Swami in his apparently innocent and well-meaning article titled ‘The Time might have come for India and Pakistan to talk’ has made designed distortions in the recent past history of the two archrivals. Messages have been conveyed in a subtle way under the guise of revival of talks and friendship. The motivation behind writing this article is the floating rumors in India about the possible Indo-Pakistan talks that were abruptly stalled by India after the attacks in Mumbai on 26 Nov 2008.
He says that for weeks rumors have proliferated in New Delhi’s diplomatic and policy communities on the existence of a secret India-Pakistan diplomatic channel on Kashmir. The rumor mill adds color to the story by asserting that India’s NSA Ajit Doval visited Islamabad secretly. Another version talk of a meeting held between high officials in London and Washington. Topics for discussion ranged from the fate of Kashmir, to the future of Afghanistan, and to the trial of Kulbushan Jadhav, incarcerated in Pakistan on espionage charges. He shrewdly omitted terrorism charges.
He erroneously claims that after the Sept 18, 2016 terror attack on an Indian army camp at Uri, when Modi directed the Indian military to adopt an aggressive posture by striking across the LoC whenever any attack took place in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), accordingly a surgical strike was conducted on so-called launch pads of militants in AJK on 29 Sept 2016. He claims that since then, there has not been a single Jihadi attack in India. In other words, the so-called surgical strike deterred Pakistan.
This is an absolute false claim and travesty of truth since no Jihadi attack was ever launched in India or IOK from Pakistani soil under state sponsorship and no surgical strike has ever been launched by IAF other than the one on 24 February 2019 in reaction to the Pulwama terror attack on 14 February 2019 for which Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Pakistan were wrongly accused by India. Pakistan effectively gave a hard blow to India on 26th and 27th February. The world press has covered all the events in copious details.
It is now an established fact that Pakistan was blamed by India for all the terror attacks which took place in India between 2001 and 2008. JeM, Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI were held responsible. This was done under a well-calculated plan to get Pakistan declared a terror abetting state. These included the attack on Indian Parliament in Dec 2001, Samjhota Express train in 2007 in which 60 Pakistanis were burnt to death, Malegaon and Hyderabad Mecca mosque and Mumbai attacks. In each attack, Muslims were the victims.
Indian investigator chief inspector Hemant Karkare investigating Malegaon terror attack arrested a gang and proved before the law court that all the attacks were conducted by local Hindu extremists belonging to Abhinov outfit which was headed by a serving Lt Col Srikant Purohit. The accused confessed their crimes. Fake Hindu saint Aseemanand also reconfirmed it and so did the authors of 4 books written by Indian and German authors. India’s Home Ministry officials like Sushil and Atish Sharma submitted affidavits in the Supreme Court asserting that the Mumbai attacks were an in-house affair and masterminded by RAW-Mossad-CIA to demonize Pakistan and Kashmiri Mujahideen.
It is unfortunate that Pakistan tied to its policy of appeasement didn’t put India on the mat, particularly after India failed to furnish an iota of evidence to substantiate its charges. After Mumbai attacks, India cut off diplomatic relations with Pakistan, stalled composite dialogue, stopped Samjhota train service and declared terrorism as an inexcusable sin more important than the Kashmir issue. Like in 2002, India deployed its strike formations against Pakistan and threatened to launch an offensive under its Cold Start Doctrine. The US and the West fully supported India’s version and pressed Pakistan to allow IAF to conduct surgical strikes on Muredke and so-called militant camps in AJK. The Indian jets took off to strike the intended targets but had to fly back when Pak F-16s confronted them. The whole drama was drummed up and sensationalized on concocted charges. Since then, Pakistan has been bending over backwards to resume talks but India has continually spurned it.
Encouraged by Pakistan’s muteness, India continued to build a narrative to paint Pakistan as a terror abetting country and India a victim of terrorism. To strengthen its narrative, India continued to stage false flag operations in IOK which included engineered attacks in Udhampur, Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama. On each occasion, Pakistan sought evidence and extended full cooperation to India but the latter couldn’t furnish shred of evidence since those were stage-managed. Pakistan on the other hand has tons of evidence to prove that India is the biggest terrorist state in the region and has shared it with all concerned. Above all, Pakistan has a serving Navy Commander Kulbushan in its custody who confessed his acts of subversion in Baluchistan, Mekran Coast and Karachi and has been awarded death sentence. He has sought mercy but sticks to his original stance that he is guilty.
Praveen repeated the oft-parroted narrative that IAF successfully destroyed the sanctuary of JeM at Balakot, which had been blamed for the Pulwama attacks. Factually the air intrusion on February 22, 2019 was a complete fiasco. 3 Israeli supplied precision guided Spike missiles were hurriedly dropped on a hilltop by Mirage 2000s, which felled few pine trees. Diplomatic community was escorted by the then DG ISPR Maj Gen Ghafoor to the site and the true picture was widely commented by the world media. It was a huge embarrassment for IAF and India.
In order to hide RAW-NDS massive cross-border terrorism against Pakistan from Afghan soil from 2002 till to-date, Praveen cleverly quoted Afghanistan intelligence (NDS) claiming that the ISI was running a cell in Nangarhar, led by Kashmiri Jihad commander Abdul Gani Dar, to train Indian jihadists. It is a well-established fact that the two agencies have provided safe havens to several banned runaway militant groups and had established 70 training camps/centres to train and equip proxies. At Nangarhar, Ajit Doval brought ISIS elements from Iraq and Syria in 2014 and were married with Jamaat al Ahrar, an offshoot of TTP. Nangarhar became a bastion of ISIS (Khurasan) which was eventually cleared by the Taliban in 2019.
Praveen brings out another revelation that at a May 27, 2014 meeting, outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave Prime Minister Modi a set of unsigned notes, containing records of secret negotiations to seal a Kashmir deal with Pakistan’s former military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf. In essence, the deal involved autonomy for Kashmir — in return for the Line of Control becoming a permanent border. This could be nearer to truth since Musharraf had offered out-of-box solution to India. But for the lawyers’ movement which sprang in March 2007 and led to ouster of Musharraf, the shady deal on Kashmir with LoC as an international border would have materialized.
Praveen says that New Delhi might not be willing to countenance autonomy for Kashmir today — but it is possible that Pakistan’s army chief, Gen Qamar Bajwa, might be willing to discuss options. Among the ideas floated during these negotiations was hiving off Gilgit — a region Islamabad has long claimed sovereignty over, arguing it seceded from undivided Kashmir prior to independence — from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India, in turn, was to closely integrate Ladakh.
He added, events in both countries have resulted in exactly that outcome: Ladakh became a Union Territory last year, and Gilgit is in the midst of a political process that could lead it to become the fifth province of Pakistan. What he infers is that Gilgit- Baltistan (GB) can be traded for Ladakh the control of which is now in the hands of China.
It is customary for India that whenever it finds itself cornered it becomes soft and offers resumption of talks which Pakistan gladly accepts and boastfully claim it a diplomatic breakthrough/victory. The moment the heat is off, India removes the mask of friendship and shows its true colors. India has never missed any opportunity coming its way to harm Pakistan and of late has been threatening to break Pakistan into four parts and to make it water scarce by stopping the water in three rivers. Contrary to India’s hawkishness, Pakistan’s successive regimes have behaved mawkishly. They never availed opportunities to settle the Kashmir dispute, or to avenge the 1971 humiliation. Pakistan has suffered on account of traditional defensive and apologetic stance of leaders and and their never ending quest to befriend India. For the Pakistanis, Kashmir cause is very near to their hearts and they think differently.
Currently India finds itself stuck in most precarious situation since it has failed to muffle the voices of 8 million Kashmiris, China has struck India at a highly sensitive spot in the Himalaya region, which has deprived India of control over Ladakh and its offensive option against GB, and rendered its 3 Corps at Leh and Siachin vulnerable. Above all, Iran has ditched India and befriended China. Afghanistan has slipped out of India’s hands. Lowering GDP, rising corona pandemic and mounting anger of Indian minorities against Modi regime, together with dozens of separatist movements including Khalistan movement have made India vulnerable and combustible. It is in the backdrop of these unpleasant events which has forced stubborn Modi regime to knock at Pakistan’s door and find a way out of the impasse. Most critical is Ladakh, the loss of which will have grave ramifications for India.
To regain control over Ladakh, which is a disputed territory, the tutored writer is suggesting granting GB to Pakistan as a quid pro quo for reverting Ladakh to India where it plans to establish Indo-US-Israel military bases. Praveen misses the point that China is now 4th stake holder to the dispute of J&K and without its blessing no headway can be made. It would also demand a quid pro quo.
Praveen subtly casts aspersions on Gen Qamar Bajwa by insinuating that in meetings with British diplomats, the General is believed to have asserted his commitment to peace, noting that Islamabad had not escalated support to jihadists after India rolled-back Kashmir’s special status last year. What he implies is that Pak military has all along been supporting Jihadists in IOK. Secondly, what he assumes is that Pak military has abandoned the marooned Kashmiris in order to keep the hope of peace with India alive.
Instead of Pakistan feeling skeptical in the backdrop of India’s evasive and anti-peace tactics, Praveen says that New Delhi is entitled to be skeptical of the promises made by current civil-military leadership since similar promises were made just before the Kargil war and 26/11. In order to undermine the heroics of the Kashmiris in the face of extreme odds, he goes on to say that Kashmiri jihadists are under-trained and grossly under-equipped.
He ignores the hard fact that after the installation of electrified fence all along the LoC in 2005 duly fortified by Israeli supplied radars and fortified posts together with three layered defence in depth, even a sparrow cannot go across undetected. Freedom movement in IOK is completely indigenous and the freedom fighters learnt the tactics to fight and survive the hard way. The armed uprising started in 1989 and currently the 3rd generation born amidst the rattle tattle of guns is resisting the occupying forces with stones in their tiny hands. They neither need training nor motivation since their sole slogan is Azadi and making J&K part of Pakistan. His second part of being ill-equipped is factual. What he should have mentioned is that Indian Army and paramilitary forces despite being well-equipped, need lot of extensive training and motivational courses.
Praveen slyly tries to link ISI with terrorism by suggesting that it has gone at least some way in turning-off the terror pipeline. He forgets that the seeds of cross border terrorism were sown by India for the first time in in this region in 1971, and RAW has been using terrorism as a choicest tool against all the seven South Asian States.
He reveals that 200 hours of discussions in the 30 meetings on the draft agreement on Kashmir took place at Dubai and Kathmandu between the interlocutors of Gen Musharraf (Ambassador Riaz, Tariq Aziz) and of Manmohan (Ambassador Satinder Lambah). These meetings took place secretly. If true, it was abhorrent since neither the Pakistani public, nor civil society or the intellectual class or the main stake holders Kashmiris were taken into confidence. Kashmir was being divided over their heads. Similar exercise had taken place between the interlocutors of Nawaz Sharif (NS) and Vajpayee to agree upon Chenab formula. Both proudly claim that Kashmir resolution was within grasping reach. NS in his 3rd tenure pursued the same old path and was termed as Modi ka yar. The incumbent regime under Imran Khan has also been wishing to establish friendly relations with fascist Modi regime, which is anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan.
While Praveen mentions about violence which in his view persists since 2014, he makes no mention of record breaking atrocities committed by over 700,000 Indian occupying forces, given license to kill, kidnap, torture, maim, destroy and rape without fear of accountability. The surge took place after the martyrdom of Burhan Wani in July 2016 and kept intensifying with every passing day. Use of pellet guns to blind the teenagers and gory practice of killing the youth in fake encounters, and gang raping of girls/women were not deemed fit to make a mention of.
Praveen draws satisfaction over his supposition that the level of violence is not intense enough to threaten India seriously, but adequate to bog down the administration and political system. He hides his discomfiture and doesn’t pick up courage to ask as to how come such a huge force deployed in a narrow valley has been unable to subdue few hundred Mujahideen (terrorists in Indian language) after employing excessive force for the last three decades. Over 100,000 Kashmiris have been martyred. There are thousands of widows and half widows who do not know whether their husbands are alive or dead.
Praveen once again twists facts by making a false claim that troops along the Line of Control continue to trade fire on a near-daily basis. In his view, it is an expensive exercise which history demonstrates has done little to deter cross-border terrorism. He adds, neither New Delhi nor Islamabad is any closer, today, to a decisive victory in Kashmir, than they were in 2014. What he fails to mention is that after the peace treaty signed in August 2003, which was honored till Mumbai attacks in Nov 2008, thereon Indian military has been continuously breaching the agreement by resorting to unprovoked firing across the LoC. This unholy practice accelerated after Modi took over power in June 2014. Innocent civilians living near the LoC are the main victims of senseless firings. Heavy artillery/mortars and even cluster bombs have been fired on civilian localities. International media, Human Rights Watch and diplomatic community based in Islamabad have physically seen the extent of human losses, and damage done to the villages. India has nothing to show because the counter action by Pak Army is confined to Indian military posts only; the civilians living across the LoC are also Muslims.
Conclusion
To conclude, one can say that this is a one-sided view and kite flying at best, particularly at a time when China and India are confronting each other. There is no way Pakistan can afford to be seen negotiating with India behind China’s back. People of Pakistan are otherwise suspecting that Kashmir has been bartered away. They are feeling upset over non-action of the rulers to provide relief to the Kashmiris in distress. In any case, what has India to offer? Nothing, except platitudes and false promises.
More importantly, for the move to be meaningful, it has to include the people of Kashmir. It also requires Modi to give Pakistan grounds for trust and prepare public opinion inside India. There are no signs of it nor can he afford to go down that route having done what he has lately done. The suggestion has either not been thought through properly or is intended to secure India’s flank in any possible struggle with China.
The writer is a retired Brig, war veteran, defence & security analyst, international columnist, author of five books, Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Director Measac Research Centre, Member CWC PESS & Veterans Think Tank. asifharoonraja@gmail.com


veteranstoday--2020-08-03--Russians still hope Hagia Sophia will remain Orthodox

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 10 , 2020 , repealed a decree , signed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk .
An Orthodox Christian cathedral built in 537 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I once again has turned into a mosque .
This incident provoked favorable reaction comments among Turkish Muslims , as well as massive disappointment in Christian countries .
Despite the disputes between Constantinople and Moscow Patriarchate regarding Ukraine , Russians and the Russian Orthodox Church were among the first to support the Greeks and advocated for preserving the non-confessional status of Hagia Sophia , following the initiatives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In contrast to most Western states , Russian authorities made real efforts on this issue .
For instance , the Russian President in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart made a promise to preserve the shrine and provide free access for pilgrims and tourists to the cathedral .
Given the serious and universal threat to Orthodoxy , the Russian Church demonstrated compassion for the Greeks and loyalty to the spirit of gospel love .
Ukrainian Orthodox leader Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil shared his sympathy and solidarity with the people of Greece @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same splits in church congregations when schismatics since 2019 have seized more than 500 churches resulted in clashes throughout the country .
Although the Patriarchate of Constantinople opened Pandora ’ s Box , and Patriarch Bartholomew himself never encourages the schismatics recognized by him in Ukraine to renounce violence .
At the same time , the canonical Ukrainian Church under the leadership of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Onufriy is still ready to forgive and sympathize .
On the day of the 1032 th anniversary of the Christianization of Kyiv Rus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the status of Hagia Sophia .
He believes that the Christian Church must belong to the Christians who built it .
Furthermore , most Russians also would like to see Hagia Sophia as an Orthodox Church .
Numerous infamous experts and bloggers are widely transmitting this idea .
Unfortunately , the Orthodox world met the Muslim attack divided and separated , and could not provide a consolidated response , resulting in a change of cathedral status .
It is unclear whether the Turkish leader determined to achieve exactly this , raising the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monument .
But it may be assumed that the globalists , which for an extended period of time tried to undermine the unity of the Orthodox Church , succeeded and also got leverage over the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople yet .
Currently , the Greek officials , the European Union members and the U.S. diplomats express grave concern over the actions of Turkey .
However , the independent Ecumenical Patriarchate represents a disadvantage to the followers of Atlanticism .
The other people are indifferent to the fate of the Orthodox Greeks in Turkey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deterrence of refugees by Ankara ; otherwise , the poor Balkan countries will again be swept by a wave of illegal immigrants .
Orthodox Christians are well aware of Hagia Sophia significance for the faith and are quite worried regarding its transformation into a mosque .
Local Churches are also disturbed by the position of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the international stage .
The long silence , as well as indecisiveness of Patriarch Bartholomew on the problem of Hagia Sophia , disappointed the representatives of the Local Churches .
No wonder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and globalists are trying to blame Russia and the Russian Church for the Patriarchate of Constantinople ’ s reputation loss .
The Greek media call Russia a traitor .
Some experts say Russia ’ s preferred to be a partner with Turkey rather than support the Orthodox .
As we know the Turkish leader has recently opened the restored Greek Orthodox Panagia Soumela Monastery and Patriarch Bartholomew thanked him for this .
According to the other sources , Hagia Sophia turned into a mosque as Moscow failed to protect the interests of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that Moscow does not have enough reputation in Ankara and political influence in the Middle East .
If it is true , why Putin and Erdogan have repeatedly met these days ?
Nevertheless , people who value the religion rather than the politics suppose that Patriarch Bartholomew has done nothing to prevent from converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque .
For a long time , the Ecumenical Patriarch did not comment on the intentions of the Turkish authorities to change Hagia Sophia .
The rhetoric of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even supports the Turkish leader .
For the Christians and the Turkish Orthodox community , the Panagia Soumela Monastery in Trabzon and Hagia Sophia mean different things .
One can say that the Greeks in Turkey and their Byzantine heritage are becoming the ancient exhibit for tourists .
Patriarch Bartholomew is supposed to be the leader of the whole Orthodox world having a dialogue with the representative of other confessions , particularly with the Vatican .
Criticizing Bartholomew , some people wonder if he can protect the interests of the Orthodox when he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up for one of the leading Christian sanctuaries .
According to the more passionate protectors of the Orthodox traditions , the first fall of Constantinople was the punishment for the church union .
Today ’ s fall of Hagia Sophia is the responsibility for ecumenism , friendship with Rome , the backing of the church division in Ukraine , and undermining of the Orthodox unity .
Patriarch Bartholomew has put the political interests of the North-American-European cooperation above the Church and welfare of the religious people .
Dividing the Orthodox world , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facilitating role of the Orthodoxy in resolving the international conflicts during talks with Ankara .
As to the Russian authorities , Putin sympathizes with the Greeks , but he thinks it is not right to take the protection of Hagia Sophia a PR-campaign to improve Bartholomew ’ s image .
However , Kremlin can not ignore the expectations of the Russian people who do not hold grudges and are always ready to help each other .
Moreover , the Russian President accused Bartholomew of getting money from the recognition of division .
Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understands that the Orthodox world should not suffer from the weakness and mistakes of Patriarch Bartholomew .

By Nadia Bazuk for VT Ukraine
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 10, 2020, repealed a decree, signed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. An Orthodox Christian cathedral built in 537 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I once again has turned into a mosque. This incident provoked favorable reaction comments among Turkish Muslims, as well as massive disappointment in Christian countries.
Despite the disputes between Constantinople and Moscow Patriarchate regarding Ukraine, Russians and the Russian Orthodox Church were among the first to support the Greeks and advocated for preserving the non-confessional status of Hagia Sophia, following the initiatives on changing status of this UNESCO monument.
In contrast to most Western states, Russian authorities made real efforts on this issue. For instance, the Russian President in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart made a promise to preserve the shrine and provide free access for pilgrims and tourists to the cathedral.
Given the serious and universal threat to Orthodoxy, the Russian Church demonstrated compassion for the Greeks and loyalty to the spirit of gospel love. Ukrainian Orthodox leader Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil shared his sympathy and solidarity with the people of Greece. As the Ukrainian people suffered the same splits in church congregations when schismatics since 2019 have seized more than 500 churches resulted in clashes throughout the country.
Although the Patriarchate of Constantinople opened Pandora’s Box, and Patriarch Bartholomew himself never encourages the schismatics recognized by him in Ukraine to renounce violence. At the same time, the canonical Ukrainian Church under the leadership of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Onufriy is still ready to forgive and sympathize.
On the day of the 1032 th anniversary of the Christianization of Kyiv Rus, Metropolitan Onufriy reacted negatively to the change in the status of Hagia Sophia. He believes that the Christian Church must belong to the Christians who built it.
Furthermore, most Russians also would like to see Hagia Sophia as an Orthodox Church. Numerous infamous experts and bloggers are widely transmitting this idea.
Unfortunately, the Orthodox world met the Muslim attack divided and separated, and could not provide a consolidated response, resulting in a change of cathedral status.
It is unclear whether the Turkish leader determined to achieve exactly this, raising the issue of changing the status of UNESCO monument. But it may be assumed that the globalists, which for an extended period of time tried to undermine the unity of the Orthodox Church, succeeded and also got leverage over the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople yet.
Currently, the Greek officials, the European Union members and the U.S. diplomats express grave concern over the actions of Turkey. However, the independent Ecumenical Patriarchate represents a disadvantage to the followers of Atlanticism. The other people are indifferent to the fate of the Orthodox Greeks in Turkey. They are much more concerned regarding the deterrence of refugees by Ankara; otherwise, the poor Balkan countries will again be swept by a wave of illegal immigrants.
Orthodox Christians are well aware of Hagia Sophia significance for the faith and are quite worried regarding its transformation into a mosque. Local Churches are also disturbed by the position of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the international stage. The long silence, as well as indecisiveness of Patriarch Bartholomew on the problem of Hagia Sophia, disappointed the representatives of the Local Churches.
No wonder Fanar (the Patriarchate of Constantinople) and globalists are trying to blame Russia and the Russian Church for the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s reputation loss. The Greek media call Russia a traitor. Some experts say Russia’s preferred to be a partner with Turkey rather than support the Orthodox. As we know the Turkish leader has recently opened the restored Greek Orthodox Panagia Soumela Monastery and Patriarch Bartholomew thanked him for this.
According to the other sources, Hagia Sophia turned into a mosque as Moscow failed to protect the interests of the Greek Orthodoxy. The reason for this is that Moscow does not have enough reputation in Ankara and political influence in the Middle East. If it is true, why Putin and Erdogan have repeatedly met these days?
Nevertheless, people who value the religion rather than the politics suppose that Patriarch Bartholomew has done nothing to prevent from converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
For a long time, the Ecumenical Patriarch did not comment on the intentions of the Turkish authorities to change Hagia Sophia. The rhetoric of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is tougher. Moreover, Bartholomew even supports the Turkish leader. For the Christians and the Turkish Orthodox community, the Panagia Soumela Monastery in Trabzon and Hagia Sophia mean different things. One can say that the Greeks in Turkey and their Byzantine heritage are becoming the ancient exhibit for tourists.
Patriarch Bartholomew is supposed to be the leader of the whole Orthodox world having a dialogue with the representative of other confessions, particularly with the Vatican. Criticizing Bartholomew, some people wonder if he can protect the interests of the Orthodox when he does not have enough courage to stand up for one of the leading Christian sanctuaries. According to the more passionate protectors of the Orthodox traditions, the first fall of Constantinople was the punishment for the church union. Today’s fall of Hagia Sophia is the responsibility for ecumenism, friendship with Rome, the backing of the church division in Ukraine, and undermining of the Orthodox unity.
Patriarch Bartholomew has put the political interests of the North-American-European cooperation above the Church and welfare of the religious people. Dividing the Orthodox world, he lost the opportunity to appeal to the facilitating role of the Orthodoxy in resolving the international conflicts during talks with Ankara.
As to the Russian authorities, Putin sympathizes with the Greeks, but he thinks it is not right to take the protection of Hagia Sophia a PR-campaign to improve Bartholomew’s image. However, Kremlin cannot ignore the expectations of the Russian people who do not hold grudges and are always ready to help each other.
Moreover, the Russian President accused Bartholomew of getting money from the recognition of division. Washington guides Fanar. That is why Putin understands that the Orthodox world should not suffer from the weakness and mistakes of Patriarch Bartholomew.


veteranstoday--2020-08-03--Hear a Real COVID Expert: A War Against Coronavirus and Stupidity

Joseph Varon is a real expert on COVID 19 .
He has no website , he doesn ’ t sell ‘ magic water ’ or piss and moan about computer chips in vaccines .
This is a trip to the wood shed for COVID Trumptards .
The featured photo is one of our kids , an ICU nurse in a COVID ward .
‘ I ’ m fighting a war against COVID-19 and a war against stupidity , ’ says CMO of Houston hospital After two hours of sleep a night for four months and seeing a member of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , MD , is growing exasperated .
“ I ’ m pretty much fighting two wars : A war against COVID and a war against stupidity , ” Dr. Varon , MD , CMO and chief of critical care at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston , told NBC News .
“ And the problem is the first one , I have some hope about winning .
But the second one is becoming more and more difficult.
” Dr. Varon noted that whether it ’ s information backed by science or common sense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listening .
“ The thing that annoys me the most is that we keep on doing our best to save all these people , and then you get another batch of people that are doing exactly the opposite of what you ’ re telling them to do.
” In an interview with NPR , Dr. Varon said he has woken up at dawn every day for the past four months and has headed to the hospital .
There , he spends six to 12 hours on rounds before seeing new admissions .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at most .
He said his staff is physically and emotionally drained .

Joseph Varon is a real expert on COVID 19. He has no website, he doesn’t sell ‘magic water’ or piss and moan about computer chips in vaccines.
This is a trip to the wood shed for COVID Trumptards.
The featured photo is one of our kids, an ICU nurse in a COVID ward.
‘I’m fighting a war against COVID-19 and a war against stupidity,’ says CMO of Houston hospital
Molly Gamble (Twitter) After two hours of sleep a night for four months and seeing a member of his team contract the virus, Joseph Varon, MD, is growing exasperated. Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer of United Memorial Medical Center, Texas, says he's fighting a war on two fronts – ‘against COVID and stupidity' https://t.co/1P16Vtn1Xk pic.twitter.com/3q7qxgWjte — Reuters (@Reuters) July 30, 2020 A Houston Doctor On His Hospital's 'Deadliest Week' So Far https://t.co/iQgamUkAYB — NPR Health News (@NPRHealth) July 31, 2020 “I’m pretty much fighting two wars: A war against COVID and a war against stupidity,” Dr. Varon, MD, CMO and chief of critical care at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, told NBC News. “And the problem is the first one, I have some hope about winning. But the second one is becoming more and more difficult.” 1,500 Americans died of Covid today. And republicans are still having tantrums about the one way we have to slow the spread – masks. This country is doomed because of stupidity. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) July 30, 2020 Dr. Varon noted that whether it’s information backed by science or common sense, people throughout the U.S. are not listening. “The thing that annoys me the most is that we keep on doing our best to save all these people, and then you get another batch of people that are doing exactly the opposite of what you’re telling them to do.” "I'm pretty much fighting two wars," Dr. Joseph Varon told NBC News in Houston. "A war against COVID and a war against stupidity. https://t.co/T1KCRIiBge — USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 2, 2020 In an interview with NPR, Dr. Varon said he has woken up at dawn every day for the past four months and has headed to the hospital. There, he spends six to 12 hours on rounds before seeing new admissions. He then returns home to sleep two hours, at most. He said his staff is physically and emotionally drained. Read More:
Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator. She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues. Carol’s Archives 2009-2013


veteranstoday--2020-08-03--The Debate – U.S. Iran Policy

The Debate – U.S. Iran Policy

[ Editor ’ s Note : The US sanctions war continues .
Instead of Teddy Roosevelt ’ s motto to “ walk softly and carry a big stick ” , we have “ promote unipolarism by sanctioning often and cutting off access to international banking and electronic settlement networks.
” Somewhere in that is supposed to be a line about “ defender of the free world ” , but I am having trouble locating that part .
It seems to have been swept under the rug somewhere .
Pompeo and Trump have hunkered down against any objections to the current @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we taught our children about America .
Their attitude seems to be , “ Hey , we have the power in our hands , why not use it to do what we want , as after all , it is the voting public that gave the power to us.
” And , they might have a point there .
We have a point , too , and that is to throw their asses out and also prosecute them for anything they did that was against the law , regardless of their being ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has said in his ex-prosecutor video blog , perjury and obstruction of justice are not items that even high ex-officials have immunity from .
In January , if the winds of freedom blow our way , we have to fix the loopholes that allowed a president to turn the Justice Department into his own personal law firm .
We also have the recent disclosures of how he had used interim appointments to put his cronies inside the Department of Homeland Security , so they could help out with his attempts to deal with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ All elections are critical , but we are now faced with defending ourselves from an attack from inside .
I will not call it ‘ friendly fire ’ .
Americans have to clean up the mess , and that will involve more than just rotating who sits in the seats of power .
We will need some serious accountability , structural reforms hardwired into the system … JD ] Jim 's Editor ’ s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal Jim 's work includes research , field trips , Heritage TV Legacy archiving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Click to donate > > Leader of Iran ’ s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali khamenei has denounced US sanctions as a major crime against the Iranian nation .
Ayatollah Khamenei said the US , by imposing sanctions against the Islamic Republic , seeks to achieve an array of goals such as halting Iran ’ s scientific progress and wrecking its economy .
But has Washington ’ s maximum pressure campaign failed ?
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo believes his country ’ s strategy towards Iran has not achieved its ultimate objective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end what it calls Iran ’ s malign activity in the region .
Tehran has strongly dismissed the accusation and says the US is the real source of instability in the region .
Has the US reached its objectives or has Iran taken advantage of the sanctions and strengthened its indigenous production capabilities to an unprecedented level ?
Find out what our guests think on tonight ’ s debate .

by Jim W. Dean, …with Press TV, Tehran
Feature image – Imam Reza Shrine, photo Jim W. Dean, 2018
[ Editor’s Note: The US sanctions war continues. Instead of Teddy Roosevelt’s motto to “walk softly and carry a big stick”, we have “promote unipolarism by sanctioning often and cutting off access to international banking and electronic settlement networks.”
Somewhere in that is supposed to be a line about “defender of the free world”, but I am having trouble locating that part. It seems to have been swept under the rug somewhere.
Pompeo and Trump have hunkered down against any objections to the current US policy being in conflict with what we taught our children about America.
Their attitude seems to be, “Hey, we have the power in our hands, why not use it to do what we want, as after all, it is the voting public that gave the power to us.” And, they might have a point there.
We have a point, too, and that is to throw their asses out and also prosecute them for anything they did that was against the law, regardless of their being ‘in charge’.
As Glenn Kirschner has said in his ex-prosecutor video blog, perjury and obstruction of justice are not items that even high ex-officials have immunity from.
In January, if the winds of freedom blow our way, we have to fix the loopholes that allowed a president to turn the Justice Department into his own personal law firm.
We also have the recent disclosures of how he had used interim appointments to put his cronies inside the Department of Homeland Security, so they could help out with his attempts to deal with his sinking in the election polls.
All elections are critical, but we are now faced with defending ourselves from an attack from inside. I will not call it ‘friendly fire’. Americans have to clean up the mess, and that will involve more than just rotating who sits in the seats of power. We will need some serious accountability, structural reforms hardwired into the system … JD ]
Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal
Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >>
– First aired … August 01, 2020 –
Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali khamenei has denounced US sanctions as a major crime against the Iranian nation. Ayatollah Khamenei said the US, by imposing sanctions against the Islamic Republic, seeks to achieve an array of goals such as halting Iran’s scientific progress and wrecking its economy.
But has Washington’s maximum pressure campaign failed? US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo believes his country’s strategy towards Iran has not achieved its ultimate objective. Washington says the campaign aims to end what it calls Iran’s malign activity in the region.
Tehran has strongly dismissed the accusation and says the US is the real source of instability in the region. Has the US reached its objectives or has Iran taken advantage of the sanctions and strengthened its indigenous production capabilities to an unprecedented level? Find out what our guests think on tonight’s debate.


veteranstoday--2020-08-04--Complete/Amazing: The Trump HBO/Axios Interview/Fight (must watch/warning/unbelievable)

Axios : President Trump said in an interview with “ Axios on HBO ” that he thinks the coronavirus is as well-controlled in the U.S. as it can be , despite dramatic surges in new infections over the course of the summer and more than 150,000 American deaths .
• “ They are dying , that ’ s true .
And you have — it is what it is .
But that doesn ’ t mean we aren ’ t doing everything we can .
It ’ s under control as much as you can control it .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Axios ’ Jonathan Swan .
Reality check : The U.S. is averaging roughly 65,000 new cases and 1,000 deaths per day .
The virus has already killed nearly 150,000 Americans , and it spread largely unchecked through almost the entire country throughout June and July .
The big picture : In the interview , which took place last Tuesday , Trump returned to familiar themes and areas where the U.S. really has made significant progress .
He cited the dramatic increase in ventilator production , the ramp-up in testing and treatment that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus .
• Yes , but : He painted a far rosier picture of the pandemic than most data would support .
On testing , Trump said , “ You know there are those that say you can test too much ” — a view that no experts have advocated .
• The U.S. is experiencing long turnaround times for coronavirus testing , as Trump acknowledged , because of the high demand for testing .
But that is largely a function of the country ’ s high caseload and the number of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ returned to his mantra that “ because we ’ ve done more tests , we have more cases.
” • The cases the U.S. has , we would have had with or without testing .
We know we have them because of testing , but the massive outbreak here would be a massive outbreak whether we chose to know about it ( through testing ) or ignore it by not testing .
Trump also seemed to suggest that he did not trust South Korea ’ s coronavirus data , when pressed on that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
• There have been no serious allegations , from experts , international authorities or the U.S. , that South Korea ’ s numbers are inaccurate .

He also returned to his mantra that “because we’ve done more tests, we have more cases.”
The cases the U.S. has, we would have had with or without testing. We know we have them because of testing, but the massive outbreak here would be a massive outbreak whether we chose to know about it (through testing) or ignore it by not testing.
Trump also seemed to suggest that he did not trust South Korea’s coronavirus data, when pressed on that country’s more successful coronavirus response.
There have been no serious allegations, from experts, international authorities or the U.S., that South Korea’s numbers are inaccurate.
Daily Beast: It’s sometimes hard to determine whether President Trump is being willfully misleading or if he truly believes what he’s saying. But an astonishing interview clip from Axios appears to show that Trump has genuinely managed to convince himself that his response to the coronavirus pandemic has been effective—because he only considers partial and deceptively flattering statistics to be true.
Brandishing childishly simplistic, brightly colored COVID-19 graphs presumably provided to him by aides trying to keep him happy, Trump proudly tells Axios’ Jonathan Swan that the U.S. is “lower than the world,” without elaborating.
When Swan looks at the chart, it becomes clear Trump is only considering death as a proportion of coronavirus cases—not as a proportion of population, which shows the U.S. is faring very badly. Trump snaps back: “You can’t do that.” Holding out his charts, he goes on: “You have to go by where… look, here is the United States… You have to go by the cases.” Asked why South Korea has lower deaths by population, Trump hints that he believes the country is faking its stats, without providing any evidence to support himself.
*


veteranstoday--2020-08-04--Australia Fines Infected Morons Heavily For Breaking Lockdown Restrictions

Hundreds of coronavirus-infected people in Australia ’ s worst-hit state have been caught flouting stay-at-home orders , authorities said Tuesday , prompting tougher fines .
The southern state of Victoria has endured a second wave of infections over recent weeks that the government has partly blamed on people breaking rules that restrict travel .
Residents of Melbourne , Australia ’ s second biggest city and the capital of Victoria , are now enduring an overnight curfew , closure of non-essential businesses and mandatory mask-wearing as hundreds of new cases are recorded daily .
But 800 infected people – more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – were not at home when authorities knocked on their doors – a figure that state Premier Daniel Andrews called “ completely unacceptable.
” Andrews said infected people in Victoria can now be slapped with on-the-spot fines of almost Aus $ 5,000 ( $ 3,558 ) – up from Aus $ 1,652 – if they are caught leaving home a second time .
Forgiveness will be only for those seeking emergency medical care .
Previously , outdoor exercise was allowed .
Police can also take serious rule-breakers to court , where fines of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 14,233 ) can be applied .
An additional 500 troops will also be deployed in Melbourne to help health officials do the door-to-door checking on people who should be staying at home , Andrews said .
Victoria police commissioner Shane Patton said hundreds of officers were also on the streets to enforce the curfew and the orders to wear masks and stay at home .
Patton said police had observed a small but emerging trend of so-called “ sovereign citizens , ” who , believing that the laws do not apply to them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ’ ve seen them at checkpoints baiting police , not providing a name and address , ” Patton said .
“ On at least four occasions in the last week , we ’ ve had to smash the windows of cars and pull people out to provide details.
” Just over 160 fines were handed out in Victoria in the past 24 hours , including to a woman who was charged over allegedly smashing a police officer ’ s head into concrete after being questioned for not wearing a mask .
Victoria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19,000 total coronavirus cases across Australia , as well as 147 fatalities of the country ’ s total of 232 .

_________
Asia Times
Fines triple for infected Victoria state scofflaws
Hundreds of coronavirus-infected people in Australia’s worst-hit state have been caught flouting stay-at-home orders, authorities said Tuesday, prompting tougher fines.
The southern state of Victoria has endured a second wave of infections over recent weeks that the government has partly blamed on people breaking rules that restrict travel.
Residents of Melbourne, Australia’s second biggest city and the capital of Victoria, are now enduring an overnight curfew, closure of non-essential businesses and mandatory mask-wearing as hundreds of new cases are recorded daily.
But 800 infected people – more than 25 percent of those checked aross Victoria – were not at home when authorities knocked on their doors – a figure that state Premier Daniel Andrews called “completely unacceptable.”
Andrews said infected people in Victoria can now be slapped with on-the-spot fines of almost Aus$5,000 ($3,558) – up from Aus$1,652 – if they are caught leaving home a second time.
Forgiveness will be only for those seeking emergency medical care. Previously, outdoor exercise was allowed.
Police can also take serious rule-breakers to court, where fines of up to Aus$20,000 ($14,233) can be applied.
An additional 500 troops will also be deployed in Melbourne to help health officials do the door-to-door checking on people who should be staying at home, Andrews said.
Victoria police commissioner Shane Patton said hundreds of officers were also on the streets to enforce the curfew and the orders to wear masks and stay at home.
Patton said police had observed a small but emerging trend of so-called “sovereign citizens,” who, believing that the laws do not apply to them, consistently flout the rules.
“We’ve seen them at checkpoints baiting police, not providing a name and address,” Patton said.
“On at least four occasions in the last week, we’ve had to smash the windows of cars and pull people out to provide details.”
Just over 160 fines were handed out in Victoria in the past 24 hours, including to a woman who was charged over allegedly smashing a police officer’s head into concrete after being questioned for not wearing a mask.
Victoria has recorded more than 12,000 of almost 19,000 total coronavirus cases across Australia, as well as 147 fatalities of the country’s total of 232.


veteranstoday--2020-08-04--The Spirit of Apollo-Soyuz Is Alive… With the Russia/China Space Alliance

Forty five years ago , Cold Warriors in the Pentagon and CIA shook their fists angrily at the stars- and for good reason .
On July 17 , 1975 the first international handshake was occurring in space between Russian Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and American astronaut Thomas Stafford as the first official act kicking off the historic Apollo-Soyuz cooperative mission .
Taking place during age of nuclear terror on Earth , the Apollo-Soyuz represented a great hope for humankind and was the first ever international space mission leading the way to the MIR-USA cooperation and later International Space Station .
Starting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American capsules launched simultaneously and continuing until July 24th , the Apollo-Soyuz cooperation saw astronauts and cosmonauts conducting joint experiments , exchanged gifts , and tree seeds later planted in each others ’ nations .
As hope for a bright future of cooperation and co-discovery continued for the coming decades with mankind ’ s slow emergence as a space faring species , affairs on earth devolved in disturbing ways .
A new era of regime change operations , Islamic terrorism and oil geopolitics took on new life in the 1980s and as globalization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential , the Soviet Union collapsed by 1991 .
During this dark time , the consolidation of a corporatocracy under NAFTA and the European Maastricht Treaty occurred and transatlantic globalists gloated over the collapse of Russia and the rise of a utopian end-of-history , unipolar order .
In some ways , today ’ s world of 2020 is different from that of 1975 and in other ways it is disturbingly similar .
Today , a new generations of Cold Warriors has come to power in the Trans Atlantic Deep State who are willing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in defense of their utopian visions for world government which they see fast slipping away to the Multipolar alliance led by Russia and China .
The clash of open vs closed system paradigms represented by the NATO/City of London cage on the one hand and the New Silk Road win-win paradigm of constant growth on the other has created a tension which is visceral and pregnant with potential for both good and evil .
This schism has also split American space policy between two opposing paradigms : On the one hand a Deep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is defining Space Force ( America ’ s newest branch of the military created in December 2019 ) .
Run out of the Pentagon and the most regressive neocon ideologues , this program calls for weaponizing space against the Russian Chinese alliance ( and the rest of the world ) .
Another , more sane vision for space is represented by leading NASA officials like Jim Bridenstine who have created NASA ’ s Artemis Accords calling for a framework for peaceful international cooperation in space .
Bridenstine and other NASA officials have worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into cooperative alliances on matters of space mining , asteroid defense and deep space exploration ever since President Trump ’ s 2017 directive to put mankind back on the moon for the first time since 1972 with plans to go to Mars following soon thereafter .
While U.S.-Russia space collaboration has moved at a snails pace even losing ground won in 1975 , the Apollo-Soyuz spirit has expressed itself in another part of the world brilliantly , with the Russian-Chinese pact to jointly build a lunar base announced on July 23 by Roscosmos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we have agreed that we will probably research the Moon and build a lunar research base together – Russia and China.
” This pact follows hot off the heals of the September 2019 agreement between both nations to jointly collaborate on Lunar activities over the coming decade which would begin with the Chang ’ e 7 lander and Luna 26 orbiter searching for lunar water in 2022 .
The Russia-China agreement also announced “ creating and operating a joint Data Center for Lunar and Deep Space Research.
” On the same day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , China ’ s Tianwen-1 ( “ Quest for Heavenly Truth ” ) launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from Hainan carrying an orbiter and rover scheduled to arrive in Mars ’ orbit in February 2021 .
Once the rover lands on the surface of the red planet on May 2021 , China will become the second nation to complete a successful soft landing after America ( which has made 8 such landings since 1976 , two of which are still operational ) .
China ’ s orbiter will join the three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ orbiters currently circling Mars .
Due to the fact that the Earth-Mars proximity is at it ’ s closest phase , several other important Mars launches have also occurred , with the United Arab Emirates launching the Arab world ’ s first interplanetary mission in history from Japan on Monday .
This will be followed in short order by America ’ s Perseverance Mars Rover which will be launched from Cape Canaveral and will join the Curiosity rover that landed in 2012 .
NASA has stated that Perseverance ’ s mission will involve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life and subsurface water as well as “ testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere , identifying other resources ( such as subsurface water ) , improving landing techniques , and characterizing weather , dust , and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars.
” What makes this Russia-China pact space pact additionally important is that it creates a potential flank in the anti-China space cooperation ban signed into law with the 2011 Wolf Act .
By integrating into China ’ s advanced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suffers from no similar bans to cooperation from western powers ) may provide a lateral pathway for cooperation with China needed to bypass the ban .
Russian-USA plans to cooperate on such programs as the Lunar Gateway station orbiting the moon still exists as well as other Soyuz-U.S. collaborative launches that have been planned through 2021 so hope on this level is not without foundation .
Even though America has regained the capability to launch manned space craft with the Crew Dragon launch of this year , Bridenstine has said : “ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ launch on American rockets , and American astronauts can launch on Russian rockets .
Remember , half of the International Space Station is Russian , and if we ’ re going to make sure that we have continual access to it , and that they have continual access to it , then we ’ re going to need to be willing to launch on each other ’ s vehicles.
” We also know that since President Trump ’ s April 6 , 2020 executive order making lunar and mars mining a priority of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Putin have held four discussions in which space cooperation has arisen .
While neocon war haws in the Pentagon and British military intelligence scream of Russian/Chinese aggression and accuse Russia of testing anti-satellite ballistic weapons , the first bilateral U.S.-Russia space security talks have restarted since 2013 .
Four days after Trump ’ s executive order , Putin addressed American and Russian astronauts on board the ISS and said : “ We are pleased that our specialists are successfully working under the ISS program with their colleagues from the United States of America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is a clear example of an effective partnership between our countries in the interests of all mankind.
” Putin went on to say : “ I believe that even now , when the world is confronted with challenges , space activities will continue , including our cooperation with foreign partners , because mankind can not stand still but will always try to move forward and join forces to advance the boundaries of knowledge… despite difficulties , people sought to make their dream of space travel come true , fearlessly entered the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic collapse has forced certain uncomfortable truths to the surface : 1 ) we will get a new global economic and security system soon , 2 ) that system will be of a closed system/unipolar nature or it will be an open system/multipolar character .
If it is an open system then humanity will have learned that in order to successfully exist within a creative , evolving universe , we must tie our fates to becoming a self-consciously creative , evolving species locking our economic , cultural and political realities into this discoverable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system is of a closed/entropic order as certain advocates of the World Economic Forum ’ s Great Reset are proclaiming , then a much unhappier fate awaits our children and grandchildren which would make World War II look like a cake walk .
Matthew Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Patriot Review , a BRI Expert on Tactical talk , and has authored 3 volumes of ‘ Untold History of Canada ’ book series .
In 2019 he co-founded the Montreal-based Rising Tide Foundation .
He can be reached at [ email @ @

Forty five years ago, Cold Warriors in the Pentagon and CIA shook their fists angrily at the stars- and for good reason.
On July 17, 1975 the first international handshake was occurring in space between Russian Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and American astronaut Thomas Stafford as the first official act kicking off the historic Apollo-Soyuz cooperative mission. Taking place during age of nuclear terror on Earth, the Apollo-Soyuz represented a great hope for humankind and was the first ever international space mission leading the way to the MIR-USA cooperation and later International Space Station. Starting on July 15 as both Russian and American capsules launched simultaneously and continuing until July 24th, the Apollo-Soyuz cooperation saw astronauts and cosmonauts conducting joint experiments, exchanged gifts, and tree seeds later planted in each others’ nations.
As hope for a bright future of cooperation and co-discovery continued for the coming decades with mankind’s slow emergence as a space faring species, affairs on earth devolved in disturbing ways. A new era of regime change operations, Islamic terrorism and oil geopolitics took on new life in the 1980s and as globalization stripped formerly productive nations of their industrial/scientific potential, the Soviet Union collapsed by 1991. During this dark time, the consolidation of a corporatocracy under NAFTA and the European Maastricht Treaty occurred and transatlantic globalists gloated over the collapse of Russia and the rise of a utopian end-of-history, unipolar order.
In some ways, today’s world of 2020 is different from that of 1975 and in other ways it is disturbingly similar.
Today, a new generations of Cold Warriors has come to power in the Trans Atlantic Deep State who are willing to burn the earth under nuclear fire in defense of their utopian visions for world government which they see fast slipping away to the Multipolar alliance led by Russia and China. The clash of open vs closed system paradigms represented by the NATO/City of London cage on the one hand and the New Silk Road win-win paradigm of constant growth on the other has created a tension which is visceral and pregnant with potential for both good and evil.
This schism has also split American space policy between two opposing paradigms:
On the one hand a Deep State space vision for full spectrum dominance is defining Space Force (America’s newest branch of the military created in December 2019). Run out of the Pentagon and the most regressive neocon ideologues, this program calls for weaponizing space against the Russian Chinese alliance (and the rest of the world). Another, more sane vision for space is represented by leading NASA officials like Jim Bridenstine who have created NASA’s Artemis Accords calling for a framework for peaceful international cooperation in space. Bridenstine and other NASA officials have worked tirelessly to bring Russia and the USA into cooperative alliances on matters of space mining, asteroid defense and deep space exploration ever since President Trump’s 2017 directive to put mankind back on the moon for the first time since 1972 with plans to go to Mars following soon thereafter.
While U.S.-Russia space collaboration has moved at a snails pace even losing ground won in 1975, the Apollo-Soyuz spirit has expressed itself in another part of the world brilliantly, with the Russian-Chinese pact to jointly build a lunar base announced on July 23 by Roscosmos chief Dimitry Rogozin saying: “Recently, we have agreed that we will probably research the Moon and build a lunar research base together – Russia and China.”
This pact follows hot off the heals of the September 2019 agreement between both nations to jointly collaborate on Lunar activities over the coming decade which would begin with the Chang’e 7 lander and Luna 26 orbiter searching for lunar water in 2022. The Russia-China agreement also announced “creating and operating a joint Data Center for Lunar and Deep Space Research.”
On the same day that Rogozin announced the lunar research base, China’s Tianwen-1 (“Quest for Heavenly Truth”) launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from Hainan carrying an orbiter and rover scheduled to arrive in Mars’ orbit in February 2021. Once the rover lands on the surface of the red planet on May 2021, China will become the second nation to complete a successful soft landing after America (which has made 8 such landings since 1976, two of which are still operational). China’s orbiter will join the three American, two European and one Indian orbiters currently circling Mars.
Due to the fact that the Earth-Mars proximity is at it’s closest phase, several other important Mars launches have also occurred, with the United Arab Emirates launching the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission in history from Japan on Monday. This will be followed in short order by America’s Perseverance Mars Rover which will be launched from Cape Canaveral and will join the Curiosity rover that landed in 2012.
NASA has stated that Perseverance’s mission will involve seeking signs of microbial life, ancient life and subsurface water as well as “testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources (such as subsurface water), improving landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars.”
What makes this Russia-China pact space pact additionally important is that it creates a potential flank in the anti-China space cooperation ban signed into law with the 2011 Wolf Act. By integrating into China’s advanced space program, Russia (which currently suffers from no similar bans to cooperation from western powers) may provide a lateral pathway for cooperation with China needed to bypass the ban. Russian-USA plans to cooperate on such programs as the Lunar Gateway station orbiting the moon still exists as well as other Soyuz-U.S. collaborative launches that have been planned through 2021 so hope on this level is not without foundation. Even though America has regained the capability to launch manned space craft with the Crew Dragon launch of this year, Bridenstine has said:
“We see a day when Russian cosmonauts can launch on American rockets, and American astronauts can launch on Russian rockets. Remember, half of the International Space Station is Russian, and if we’re going to make sure that we have continual access to it, and that they have continual access to it, then we’re going to need to be willing to launch on each other’s vehicles.”
Putin’s Strategic Open System Vision
We also know that since President Trump’s April 6, 2020 executive order making lunar and mars mining a priority of American space policy, he and President Putin have held four discussions in which space cooperation has arisen. While neocon war haws in the Pentagon and British military intelligence scream of Russian/Chinese aggression and accuse Russia of testing anti-satellite ballistic weapons, the first bilateral U.S.-Russia space security talks have restarted since 2013.
Four days after Trump’s executive order, Putin addressed American and Russian astronauts on board the ISS and said:
“We are pleased that our specialists are successfully working under the ISS program with their colleagues from the United States of America, one of the leading space powers. This is a clear example of an effective partnership between our countries in the interests of all mankind.”
Putin went on to say:
“I believe that even now, when the world is confronted with challenges, space activities will continue, including our cooperation with foreign partners, because mankind cannot stand still but will always try to move forward and join forces to advance the boundaries of knowledge… despite difficulties, people sought to make their dream of space travel come true, fearlessly entered the unknown and achieved success.”
The impending economic collapse has forced certain uncomfortable truths to the surface: 1) we will get a new global economic and security system soon, 2) that system will be of a closed system/unipolar nature or it will be an open system/multipolar character. If it is an open system then humanity will have learned that in order to successfully exist within a creative, evolving universe, we must tie our fates to becoming a self-consciously creative, evolving species locking our economic, cultural and political realities into this discoverable character of reality.
If the new system is of a closed/entropic order as certain advocates of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset are proclaiming, then a much unhappier fate awaits our children and grandchildren which would make World War II look like a cake walk.
Matthew Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Patriot Review , a BRI Expert on Tactical talk, and has authored 3 volumes of ‘Untold History of Canada’ book series. In 2019 he co-founded the Montreal-based Rising Tide Foundation. He can be reached at matt.ehret@tutamail.com


veteranstoday--2020-08-04--UN Report: North Korea has mini-nukes for missiles or???

North Korea boasts of mini nukes : `` US wo n't attack us now '' says Kim Jong-un https : //t.co/3RnwN5bzuC via @ PressTV pic.twitter.com/Hqp24gsqNK A new report submitted on Monday by an independent , 15-member panel of experts on the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea claims that the Democratic People ’ s Republic of Korea ( DPRK ) is violating sanctions and is likely developing miniature nuclear devices that attach to ballistic missile warheads .
“ The Democratic People ’ s Republic of Korea is continuing its nuclear program , including the production of highly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ light water reactor .
A Member State assessed that the Democratic People ’ s Republic of Korea is continuing production of nuclear weapons , ” the confidential report observed by Reuters reportedly read .
Furthermore , the document reportedly revealed that many unnamed countries in the UN believe that North Korea ’ s past six nuclear tests have been tied to an effort to develop those miniature nuclear devices .
One country , which also went unnamed in the report , assessed that the DPRK “ may seek to further develop miniaturization in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as penetration aid packages or , potentially , to develop multiple warhead systems.
” However , the UN report detailed that North Korea is not stopping at nuclear development and has continued to violate sanctions “ through illicit maritime exports of coal , though it suspended these temporarily between late January and early March 2020.
” The UN experts went on to accuse Pyongyang of continued cyberattacks and online criminal initiatives .
“ The Panel continues to assess that virtual asset service providers and virtual assets will continue to remain lucrative targets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Korea to generate revenue , as well as mining cryptocurrencies , ” the report read .
The white paper detailed that the DPRK has been making strides in its ballistic missile technology at “ an extremely rapid pace ” and could use a low-trajectory ballistic missile to deliver a nuclear weapon to Japan .

A new report submitted on Monday by an independent, 15-member panel of experts on the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea claims that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is violating sanctions and is likely developing miniature nuclear devices that attach to ballistic missile warheads.
North Korea boasts of mini nukes: "US won't attack us now" says Kim Jong-un https://t.co/3RnwN5bzuC via @PressTV pic.twitter.com/Hqp24gsqNK
“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is continuing its nuclear program, including the production of highly enriched uranium and construction of an experimental light water reactor. A Member State assessed that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is continuing production of nuclear weapons,” the confidential report observed by Reuters reportedly read.
Well, duh. Though one pet peeve of mine: it’s not “miniaturized” warheads, which implies eg mini-nukes for backpacks or battlefield systems, but “compact” warheads which implies an appropriate design for ballistic missiles. (via @johnsonrc01) https://t.co/8XYCp3p7Hr — Vipin Narang (@NarangVipin) August 3, 2020
The interim report also detailed that several countries believe Pyongyang has “probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles.”
Furthermore, the document reportedly revealed that many unnamed countries in the UN believe that North Korea’s past six nuclear tests have been tied to an effort to develop those miniature nuclear devices.
One country, which also went unnamed in the report, assessed that the DPRK “may seek to further develop miniaturization in order to allow incorporation of technological improvements such as penetration aid packages or, potentially, to develop multiple warhead systems.”
Just last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un asserted that nuclear weapons function as a “reliable, effective” deterrent against “high-intensity pressure and military threats and blackmailing by imperialistic reactionaries and hostile forces.”
However, the UN report detailed that North Korea is not stopping at nuclear development and has continued to violate sanctions “through illicit maritime exports of coal, though it suspended these temporarily between late January and early March 2020.”
The UN experts went on to accuse Pyongyang of continued cyberattacks and online criminal initiatives.
“The Panel continues to assess that virtual asset service providers and virtual assets will continue to remain lucrative targets for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to generate revenue, as well as mining cryptocurrencies,” the report read.
The experts’ report comes a few weeks after Japan released its annual defense white paper, which not only expressed that Beijing was a continued threat to the island nation, but also that Pyongyang poses “a grave and imminent threat to the security of Japan.”
The white paper detailed that the DPRK has been making strides in its ballistic missile technology at “an extremely rapid pace” and could use a low-trajectory ballistic missile to deliver a nuclear weapon to Japan.


veteranstoday--2020-08-04--COVID 19 is Practice for future BioWar – Top Russian Doctor

RT/Moscow : The Covid-19 pandemic has functioned as a “ rehearsal for biological warfare , ” says a leading Russian pediatrician , who believes that the rapidly-spreading virus was a test for the world ’ s healthcare systems .
In an interview with Forbes , Professor Leonid Roshal , President of the Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery and Traumatology , explained that not all nations were ready for a mass influx of patients , and their lack of preparation has been exposed by the pandemic .
“ When I analyze the current situation , I understand that this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he explained .
“ I am not saying that this virus was created by humans… but this is a test of the health system ’ s strength , including the country ’ s biological defense.
” The doctor was also quick to praise the Russian people , and the government , for their roles in the battle against coronavirus , commending the public for supporting the country ’ s “ correct and timely ” decision to impose entry restrictions and other measures .
As things currently stand , Russia has 856,264 confirmed cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diagnoses every day .
Compared to the rest of the world , Russia has the fourth largest number of cases , behind the US , Brazil , and India .
Professor Leonid Roshal , President of the Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery and Traumatology , points out that the virus knows no borders and that it is impossible to predict the spread of the epidemic , because people from different countries behave differently , despite all the restrictions .
According to Roshal , everyone in Russia has joined the fight against the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government .
The Russian doctor believes that the low mortality rate in the country is connected with the timely introduction of restrictions on entry into the country and internal control measures .
Rosal says that it is necessary to continue wearing masks and gloves , that sick children should not be sent to kindergartens , that sanitary measures in companies should be respected , that workers who do not feel well should be banned from coming to work and that they should be tested for the coronavirus .
“ The coronavirus tests humanity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ withstand a serious biological catastrophe , ” the doctor concludes .

RT/Moscow: The Covid-19 pandemic has functioned as a “rehearsal for biological warfare,” says a leading Russian pediatrician, who believes that the rapidly-spreading virus was a test for the world’s healthcare systems.
In an interview with Forbes, Professor Leonid Roshal, President of the Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery and Traumatology, explained that not all nations were ready for a mass influx of patients, and their lack of preparation has been exposed by the pandemic.
Today Leonid Roshal,🇷🇺pediatrician, WHO expert, chair of intl Charity Fund to Help Children in Disasters & Wars, turns 87! He took part in saving children who suffered from earthquakes in Armenia, Japan, Egypt, Afganistan, Turkey & India, wars in Iraq, Yugoslavia. Happy birthday! pic.twitter.com/hh99KFvp5d
“When I analyze the current situation, I understand that this is a rehearsal for biological warfare,” he explained. “I am not saying that this virus was created by humans… but this is a test of the health system’s strength, including the country’s biological defense.”
The doctor was also quick to praise the Russian people, and the government, for their roles in the battle against coronavirus, commending the public for supporting the country’s “correct and timely” decision to impose entry restrictions and other measures.
As things currently stand, Russia has 856,264 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with over 5,000 new diagnoses every day. Compared to the rest of the world, Russia has the fourth largest number of cases, behind the US, Brazil, and India.
Russian surgeon and paediatrician Leonid Roshal calls the coronavirus outbreak a rehearsal for biological warfare. https://t.co/ZmxcVHah4B — X Soviet (@XSovietNews) March 23, 2020
Professor Leonid Roshal, President of the Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery and Traumatology, points out that the virus knows no borders and that it is impossible to predict the spread of the epidemic, because people from different countries behave differently, despite all the restrictions.
According to Roshal, everyone in Russia has joined the fight against the coronavirus, including the president and the government.
The Russian doctor believes that the low mortality rate in the country is connected with the timely introduction of restrictions on entry into the country and internal control measures.
Rosal says that it is necessary to continue wearing masks and gloves, that sick children should not be sent to kindergartens, that sanitary measures in companies should be respected, that workers who do not feel well should be banned from coming to work and that they should be tested for the coronavirus.
“The coronavirus tests humanity’s resilience and how we can withstand a serious biological catastrophe,” the doctor concludes.
A top Russian doctor says the Covid-19 pandemic is a dry-run for World War III, offering practice for future biological warfare. Professor Leonid Roshal believes that many nations lack of crisis preparation has been exposed by the pandemic. https://t.co/4S8TW93eEg — Bryan MacDonald (@27khv) August 3, 2020
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