VIENNA—Tensions in the nuclear talks between Iran and six powers have boiled over in recent days, producing heated exchanges among foreign ministers as Washington and Tehran struggled to overcome remaining hurdles to a final agreement, according to people involved in the talks.
The German and British foreign ministers returned to the Austrian capital Wednesday evening as Western diplomats insisted a deal was still possible in coming days. However, time was running out for the agreement to be sealed before a deadline this week which would give the U.S. Congress an extra month to review a deadline.
People close to the talks have warned that the longer Congress and opponents of the diplomacy get to pick over an agreement and galvanize opposition, the greater the political risks for supporters of the process, which aims to block Iran’s path to nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting tight international sanctions.
U.S. officials have insisted this week they don’t feel under pressure to get a deal by the congressional deadline, which arrives at midnight Thursday (6 a.m. Friday in Vienna.)
Over the past day, Western officials and Iranian media have outlined tense exchanges between the negotiating teams that took place Monday evening, at a point where the talks appeared close to stalling. At the time, negotiators were working toward a Tuesday deadline for a deal.
Later today, the U.S. Air Force Secretary had this to say:
Russia is the biggest threat to US national security and America must boost its military presence throughout Europe even as NATO allies face budget challenges and scale back spending, US Air Force Secretary Deborah James said on Wednesday.
“I do consider Russia to be the biggest threat,” James told Reuters in an interview after a series of visits and meetings with US allies across Europe, including Poland.
James said Washington was responding to Russia’s recent “worrisome” actions by boosting its presence across Europe, and would continue rotational assignments of F-16 fighter squadrons. Deeper details are here.
Meanwhile, Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, said the United States is practically a bystander in the region.
“We sit here on the sidelines as the only nation that has not ratified the Law of the Sea Convention,” Zukunft told a gathering Tuesday at the Navy League’s annual Sea Air Space exposition and conference at National Harbor, Maryland. “Our nation has two ocean-going icebreakers … We’re the most prosperous nation on Earth. Our GDP is eight times that of Russia. Russia has 27 ocean-going icebreakers.”
The U.S. has only two, he said, practically conceding the Arctic to foreign nations, Zukunft said.
“What happened when Sputnik went up? Did we say ‘good for you but we’re not playing in that game?’” he asked. “Well, we’re not playing in this game at all.”
Beneath the Arctic is about 13 percent of the world’s oil and nearly 30 percent of its natural gas. And on the seabed is about a trillion dollars’ worth of minerals, Zukunft said. Coast Guard mapping indicates that an area about twice the size of California would be considered America’s extended continental under the U.N. sea convention not signed by the U.S.
‘This test marks a major milestone for the B61-12 Life Extension Program, demonstrating end-to-end system performance under representative delivery conditions,’ said NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Dr. Don Cook.
‘Achieving the first complete B61-12 flight test provides clear evidence of the nation’s continued commitment to maintain the B61 and provides assurance to our allies.’
The B61, known before 1968 as the TX-61, was designed in 1963 by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
The B61-12 LEP entered Development Engineering in February 2012 after approval from the Nuclear Weapons Council, a joint Department of Defense and Department of Energy/NNSA organization established to facilitate cooperation and coordination between the two departments as they fulfill their complementary agency responsibilities for U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile management. More details here.
Donald Trump may be the most politically incorrect candidate on the Republican side. He openly mocks the news media and addresses the problem of illegal immigration. But even more importantly, he attacks the trade policies that benefit our enemies and adversaries. By doing so, he challenges what radio talk show host Jeffrey T. Kuhner calls the bipartisan “ruling establishment,” whose dominance “is based on the complicity of the mainstream media.”
With regard to the media, Trump’s attack on NBC after the network cut ties with him demonstrates his understanding of what appeals to the conservatives who vote in the Republican Party.
“If NBC is so weak and so foolish to not understand the serious illegal immigration problem in the United States, coupled with the horrendous and unfair trade deals we are making with Mexico, then their contract-violating closure of Miss Universe/Miss USA will be determined in court,” he said. “Furthermore, they will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won’t stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be.”
Williams is the serial liar who, despite being exposed for numerous fraudulent claims about his own career, has been kept on the payroll of NBC News.
The response to Trump, who is rising in the polls, demonstrates that conservatives like a candidate who exposes the liberals in the media as the hypocrites they are.
But it’s not just standing up to the media—or his criticism of criminals coming into the country through Mexico—that has made him into a hero. As analyst Nevin Gussack notes, “Trump’s economics and aspects of his national security strategy challenge the Washington Consensus of globalism, free trade, and other internationalist policies.” This may be the sleeper issue of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Gussack is the author of the book, Sowing the Seeds of Our Destruction: Useful Idiots on the ‘Right,’ which contends that trade policies under both Democrats and Republicans have served the interests of countries hostile to the United States, most especially China.
In his voluminous writings on the topic, Gussack is particularly critical of current and former Republican governors, some of them running for president, noting that they have “colluded to hasten Red Chinese economic colonization of the United States under the guise of foreign investment.” He faults them for traveling “hat in hand” to the Chinese “to negotiate for the outright takeover of U.S.-owned assets.”
He cites the case of 25 wealthy Communist Chinese investors visiting Orlando, Florida for a “US-China Investment Week” in 2012 that was attended by Florida Governor Rick Scott, then-Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
In 2010, Gussack notes, Governor Rick Perry helped the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies open a headquarters in Plano, Texas. A 2012 report from the House Intelligence Committee called Huawei a threat to U.S. national security interests because of its connections to the Chinese government, including the People’s Liberation Army.
Accuracy in Media disclosed in a 2014 investigative report that the firm had been linked to the murder of an American citizen, Dr. Shane Truman Todd, who had been working on a project in Singapore involving Huawei.
Governor Walker opened something called the Wisconsin Center China in Madison, Wisconsin, to facilitate trade with the communist regime. At the time, Walker said, “This trade center strengthens our relationship with China and provides Wisconsin businesses the resources and assistance to pursue export opportunities in this growing market. Through the years, Wisconsin has built a strong trade relationship with China, and the opening of the Wisconsin Center China will help Wisconsin businesses continue to strengthen our trade relationships and grow export opportunities.”
Walker embarked on a trade mission to Red China in 2013, Gussack points out, where he met Communist Party officials and Chinese President/General Secretary Xi Jinping. The Communists then hosted a reception for Governor Walker and his delegation, which was made up of 300 Wisconsin businessmen and officials.
“Tragically,” Gussack goes on, “it appeared that Governor Walker and a majority of state Republicans sought to liberalize foreign ownership laws over Wisconsin land. Specifically, Governor Walker sought to overturn the law that prohibited the foreign ownership of more than 640 acres of land in Wisconsin.” Republican State Senator Dale Schultz acknowledged that repeal “would allow the Chinese government to buy a big chunk of land in northwest Wisconsin if it wanted to.”
However, outrage over the provision caused Walker to drop it from a budget plan.
In 2011, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush visited the Chinese province of Hainan, where he talked about stronger economic ties, and in January 2012 met with the former Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, now the President of China. Xi Jinping said the Bush family had made great contributions to promoting relations between China and the United States, “which the two nations and the two peoples will not forget.”
Gussack comments, “Naturally, Bush was following in his father’s and brother’s footsteps in the promotion of the economic and political interests of a communist enemy of the United States. The Bush family was another case of a family rooted in transnational capital which promoted Beijing’s interests, rather than solely the advancement of American national interests.”
In a piece entitled, “Is the U.S. Being Colonized By Red China?,” Tom Deweese, president of the American Policy Center, wrote that “The genius of the Chinese system is that they are using its growing industrial might to create wealth the Soviets could never have dreamed of possessing. China is using its vast wealth (trillions of dollars) compiled from the glut of Chinese goods sold in American stores, to buy its power. It’s buying American debt and wielding heavy influence on the American economy.”
DeWeese argued that through the so-called Immigrant Investor Regional Centers of the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service, countries like China are investing in American communities with federal help. “While the program is open to immigrants from around world, the main interest appears to be from Communist China,” he said, adding that “the waning American economy and a U.S. government that no longer sees communism as a threat, makes us vulnerable to a power that knows exactly what it seeks.”
Trump has challenged this kind of pandering to Beijing and other foreign interests, leading radio talk show host Jeffrey T. Kuhner to comment that Trump “is a Teddy Roosevelt-style nationalist, who seeks to break the stranglehold of Big Business, Big Media and Big Government. Moreover, his vast wealth means that he cannot be bought and paid for.”
Kuhner added, “Economic nationalism has been a cardinal principle of conservatism dating back to our Founding Fathers. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams—all supported protective tariffs and a trade policy that guaranteed America’s economic independence.”
While his comments on criminal aliens have garnered the attention, Trump’s criticism of the trade practices of foreign countries may be what ultimately sets him apart from the other Republican contenders. It could be his path to the Republican nomination and victory in 2016.
Matthew Kidd of the Foundation for Moral Law discusses how Justices Kagan and Ginsburg violated the law and judicial ethics by officiating at gay weddings and then ruling in favor of a so-called constitutional right to gay marriage. Kidd agrees with Cliff Kincaid of America’s Survival that we are in a constitutional crisis. The Foundation for Moral Law had called for Kagan and Ginsburg to recuse themselves, or withdraw from the case, but they refused to do so. That means the Congress can open hearings into their impeachment. Dissenting Justice Antonin Scalia said the 5-4 majority in the case was guilty of a “judicial Putsch,” or secret power grab, and that the ruling was a threat to democracy. Urge Congress to impeach by calling 202-224-3121.
The coverage of the economic disaster in Greece, a strategic NATO country, has mostly ignored the role of Vladimir Putin’s Russia in the growing global turmoil.
Reports continue to circulate that a new European Union (EU) bailout deal with Greece is possible, as Yanis Varoufakis, a self-described “erratic Marxist,” has resigned as finance minister. But these developments appear to be for the purpose of diverting attention away from the fact that Greece has already become, in effect, a satellite of Moscow.
The Greek regime is a Moscow-backed left-right coalition led by Alexis Tsipras, the pro-Marxist and pro-Russia head of Greece’s “Coalition of the Radical Left.” Tsipras, who presented himself as a moderate when he spoke at the Brookings Institution on January 22, 2013, was a member of the youth wing of the Greek Communist Party, the KKE.
The political party known as ANEL (The Independent Greeks) is supposed to be a “conservative” party in the ruling government and yet it is pro-Russian. This reflects Putin’s cultivation of right-wing forces throughout Europe and even in America.
Back from a recent visit to Russia, Tsipras is now counting on cheaper gas and increased Russian investment from Moscow. The prospect of Russian military bases in NATO territory—Greece—cannot be ruled out at this point.
Tsipras previously signed a memorandum that is designed to make 2016 into the “Year of Greece-Russia relations.”
After his coalition won the elections in January, Tsipras received a congratulatory call from President Obama. The two leaders “reviewed close cooperation between Greece and the United States on issues of European security and counterterrorism,” the White House reported.
That alleged “close cooperation” has been replaced by a Greek deal with Moscow.
It seems like just another foreign policy disaster under President Obama, except in this case the stakes are huge. NATO notes that “Greece is strategically located in the Southern region of the Alliance, in close vicinity to South Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa.”
But other than expressing a vague hope that European leaders would devise a plan to allow Greece “to return to growth and debt sustainability within the Eurozone,” Obama has been AWOL on the crisis, leaving it mostly in the hands of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The subject of reports and even a book suggesting she is a Russian agent, Merkel knows full well that Tsipras and Putin have been undermining the NATO alliance at a time when the West fears a Russian invasion of another former Soviet republic.
For example, in the report, “Stop Putin’s Next Invasion Before It Starts,” Terrence K. Kelly of the Rand Corporation argues that “The United States needs to seriously consider stationing forces in Eastern Europe to support the nation’s commitment to protect the independence of the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—NATO members all—against the specter of Russian aggression.”
Some news organizations have alluded to Russia’s role in the current crisis. “Russian President Vladimir Putin feted Tsipras in St. Petersburg last month as bailout negotiations took place in Brussels,” noted Michael Birnbaum and Griff Witte in The Washington Post.
During that meeting Tsipras discussed energy and the “Greek Stream” gas pipeline project with Russian Gazprom chief Alexei Miller during a meeting in St. Petersburg. In fact, Russia and Greece signed a deal to construct a Turkish pipeline across Greek territory. Tsipras also met with representatives of the new development bank for BRICS countries, referring to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, “who expressed their intense interest in cooperating with Greece,” one report noted.
“Russia has its eye on Athens, trying to break European unity to put an end to economic sanctions imposed over its actions in Ukraine,” Birnbaum and Witte noted in the Post.
But the situation is far more serious than the Post lets on. Syriza’s 40-point program includes undermining NATO, the global battle against Islamic terrorism, and Israel:
Closure of all foreign bases in Greece and withdrawal from NATO.
Withdrawal of Greek troops from Afghanistan and the Balkans. No Greek soldiers beyond our own borders.
Drastically cut military expenditures.
Abolition of military cooperation with Israel. Support for creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
Syriza, a Greek political party, is a member of The European Left (EL). Member Parties of the EL are described as “socialist, communist, red-green and other democratic left parties of the member states and associated states of the European Union (EU) that work together and establish various forms of co-operation at all levels of political activity in Europe, based on the agreements, basic principles and political aims laid down in the EL Manifesto.” The chairperson of EL is Pierre Laurent of the French Communist Party. Tsipras is the Vice-Chairperson.
In addition to the support from these international Marxist political parties and groups, Tsipras met with the leftist Pope Francis on September 19, 2014. Tsipras said, “We pleaded with him to continue struggling against poverty and to speak in behalf of the dignity of humans as well as the structural causes behind poverty which are the inequality in the distribution of wealth and the rampant behavior of the financial markets. …we agreed that the dialogue between the Left and the Christian Church must go on. We may have different ideological starting points; however, we converge on common values, like solidarity, love for the fellow human being, social justice, and our concern regarding world peace.”
“For the first time ever the head of the Catholic Church will meet a leader of the radical Left,” is how Tsipras described the meeting with the pope at his “Change Europe” website.
In their book, EUSSR, Vladimir Bukovsky and Pavel Stroilov argued that the European Union was itself a project of the old Soviet Union, and that the EU has always been subject to manipulation by Moscow and its agents. Based on this analysis, what’s happening in Greece is part of a process of pulling Europe as a whole to the left and away from the United States.
The eventual goal, some observers say, is the removal of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, a development that would strike a mortal blow to the global capitalist system.
[Editor’s Note: Dr. Lyle Rapacki operates Sentinel Intelligence Services and is a personal friend, patriot, and member of Oath Keepers. I met him in 2011 when Oath Keepers marched at Quartzsite, Arizona. Lyle handled security for the Arizona legislators who drove out from Phoenix to join our march and rally at town hall in support of eight whistle-blower police officers. Lyle is a friend of Pastor Manning, chief pastor of the ATLAH World Missionary Church and organizer of the now-annual Gettysburg program, Racial Reconciliation of the Races, for uniting all races as Americans. Lyle has sent the text of his presentation for our reading pleasure. Thank you Lyle.
Salute!
Elias Alias, editor]
Presentation by Lyle Rapacki
The following is the text of the message I delivered on the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg, during the second consecutive yearly call for “Healing and Restoration between the Races” sponsored by Pastor James David Manning of the Atlah Ministries in Harlem, New York. Pastor Manning led this call for restoration and healing a year ago on July 4th, and I was privileged to have spoken at that time as well. Pastor Manning deserves recognition for organizing a mammoth undertaking these past two years, as he called out across the country developing the healing dialogue very much needed in our communities today. This second year of bringing people together on the grounds of Gettysburg, from across America, is no small task. Hundreds responded last year to Pastor Manning’s invitation, and found their way to these grounds where President Lincoln gave a most simple but eloquent speech that became known as the Gettysburg Address. This year’s event is even a larger undertaking and response.
Standing on a risen platform before hundreds of people from many states; overlooking the rolling hills and valleys of these sacred grounds is a rather daunting exercise, and I am most humbled to have been a small part these two years of extraordinary events hosted by Pastor James David Manning of Atlah Ministries. I sincerely pray my words reflect my heartfelt appreciation for being allowed to participate in a great move of ministry, as well as my deep longing to witness healing and restoration of hearts knowing that we are all part of one race established by God Himself!
The Lord God created only ONE HUMAN RACE, whether some may like that truth or not, or want to believe that truth or not, that a black person or yellow person, is a part of the exact “race” that the white person is; THE HUMAN RACE. Since the Lord God created mankind upon the earth, then no person or people is “inferior” or “superior” based on their skin color, their language, or their geographical location on earth. Therefore all men and nations “progress” or “regress” based on their knowledge of the truth of God and Christ, or their lack of such knowledge. While it is true there is a division by skin color, language, and geographical location, these divisions were set in place by the Lord Himself; and yet, God’s Word explicitly states; we are all “of one blood” (Acts 17:26). -LJR
One year ago today, Pastor James David Manning brought many of us to these hallowed grounds to begin a dialogue promoting healing and restoration between people of all color but of only one race – the Human Race! Pastor Manning asked us to come and start the process for reconciliation. Little did he know the riots of Ferguson, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; New York City were waiting to ignite! Little did he know exploitation of race would be employed as a political means to excite disruption to this country already under the diabolical schemes of transformation and change into a country divorced from God and the principles written in His Word that helped shaped the foundation of this nation!
Today, others have come forward and joined in response to Pastor Manning’s call to service, and we welcome you!
My work of providing intelligence to elected and law enforcement officials, as well as to church leaders, affords me the perspective of looking into the hidden; to shed light on the works of darkness and deception; to uncover the plans of the enemies who detest this nation under God, and those of us who profess Jesus Christ as Lord.
Next week I have the privilege of coordinating an intelligence briefing before elected and law enforcement officials from seven states. Those attending acknowledge that events appear to be spiraling out-of-control in our country with no end in sight. These professionals are becoming quite worried. They share with me that conventional means and methods no longer seem to hold the answers they had hoped; that an evil looks to have been let loose across the land that hardly responds to traditional ways and means. These officials, and others like them, quietly are beginning to worry they may not have the answers to stem the rising tide of hatred and evil, the growing unrest, uncertainty, anger and fear popping up quickly and unexpectedly. In hushed tones, behind closed doors, some who have been chosen to lead and protect the citizens and institutions of this country wonder if there are answers to be found; methods that can be adopted and employed to stem the rising tide of confusion and chaos.
International and tragedies closer to home make our world seem a fearful place, overflowing with Evil and seemingly out of control. Riots and terrorism of all types and in unthinkable places, increased natural disasters, economic uncertainty cause people to think that God is absent or impotent. “Where is God?” many cry, as they silently become engulfed with fear and sorrow. Look around your neighborhood and see for yourself the growing fear and silent tears.
Twenty-five centuries ago, the prophet Daniel could have despaired and languished in fear and sorrow. He and thousands of his fellow countrymen had been uprooted and deported from their home land. Daniel faced an egocentric dictatorial ruler, was surrounded by thousands of people ensnared in idol worship to the max, and engaged in unspeakable sins and cruelty of various kinds. Forbidden to pray by Order of the Ego-manic King, threatened with death, and spied upon by many, the prophet Daniel could easily have surrendered to paralyzing fear.
Despite these circumstances, Daniel knew God was sovereign and was working out His plan for nations and individuals. The book of Daniel in the Old Testament of God’s Word centers on this profound truth – the sovereignty of God! God is sovereign. He still sits on His Throne, and nothing, but nothing escapes His attention. He was in control in Babylon, where Daniel was, and He is in America where you and I are. He is here now on these hallowed grass fields of endeavor, loss and valor.
Like in Daniel’s day, the Lord God is waiting for His people to walk close with Him, call out and press into Him; to Appeal to Heaven for forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, and direction. The Lord is waiting for those whom He has called as His own to acknowledge the tasks before us are much too large, much too scary, much too complicated and without seeming answers. The Lord is waiting for us to sincerely Appeal to Heaven.
The first flag of our country was ordered by General George Washington. You may think it was the “Betsy Ross Flag;” the flag with the stars in a circle we all learned about as kids. But the first flag, the first standard carried into the War for our Revolution from tyranny was something General Washington knew was greatly needed if we were to have success in becoming a free people. He ordered this flag to be flown on our first navy – seven schooner ships he bought with his personal funds. He ordered this flag to be flown on all the forts up and down the Hudson River, and was carried into the first clashes with the British by our Continental Soldiers and Minutemen.
General Washington knew that without this country appealing to Heaven for guidance, for wisdom, for strength our mission to become a free people would be a sense in futility, and doomed to certain failure. On his knees before the King of kings and Lord of lords, Washington sought forgiveness and reconciliation for the colonies and the people of this land. On his knees before the Throne of God, General of the Continental Army, George Washington Appealed to Heaven, and as a sign of this covenant, Washington ordered the first flag of this young country to boldly.
The Appeal to Heaven Flag was shown to the audience:
Whether some like this truth or not, or want to believe or not, the Lord God created mankind upon the earth, and a black person or yellow person, is a part of the exact “race” that the white person is; THE HUMAN RACE. Since the Lord God created mankind, no person or people is “inferior” or “superior” based on their skin color, their language, or their geographical location on the earth. While it is true there is a division by skin color, language, and geographical location, these divisions were set into place by the Lord Himself. God’s Word explicitly states; we are all “of one blood” (Acts 17:26).
Therefore, I beseech you to earnestly begin to Appeal to Heaven for healing and reconciliation of man to God; this Nation of America to God; and if necessary, you to God.
As in the Days of the Prophet Daniel, God is still on His Throne; He is still sovereign, and He is waiting to bring you and His people through the storms now here and still to come.
