69

Trumps War by Tirade: Art of the Spiel or, How to Get Stitched?

by Dan Mallon


Anyone fortunate enough to have been living under a rock for the past 16 months, would have been astounded by Trump’s Indiana speech/address/rally? Whatever it was.
For the rest of us however, this has become what is called ‘business as usual’. What I assume was meant to be a celebration for Mike Braun’s victory in the Indiana Senate race, very quickly ended up being hi-jacked by the Jaffa Cake in Chief. It wasn’t a complete cringe fest however, he did allow Mike ‘interrupt’ his speech, for a second. Right before he snubbed him. Twice.
Whether this was intentional or not, it was pretty funny. God forbid anyone rains on Trump’s parade. His hour long streams of consciousness were as usual, quite enlightening. However, seeing the fine people of Indiana whooping and cheering for further militarisation of their police force was truly a sight worth seeing. Who knew turkeys had such fondness for Christmas after all.
Aside from Trump’s usual American flag waving – like boasting about being the only nation to have won two World Wars (as if they they picked up two gold medals at the Olympics); there were some very concerning and not so humorous statements made. Least of which was Trump’s concern for the construction costs of a new embassy in Jerusalem. No mention of the legality or potential human costs involved in such a reckless and brazen move.
Iran is top of the agenda. This isn’t news, per se. Neither is the intention of pulling out of the internationally agreed JCPOA agreement with Iran. After all this was a regular gripe of his during the election campaign. But the context surrounding this decision is where it gets interesting.
Not even the combined efforts of the three stooges; May, Merkel and Macron could dissuade The Donald from his course of destruction. Macron got led by the hand, Merkel looked thoroughly traumatised and May, for fear of crawling inside herself; sent Boris to do so instead. Fair is foul.
Boris, ironically, was obviously meant to be the trump card. The last stand. Instead however, his bubble was burst by way of FOX or Twitter, or some combination of both. So little is Trump’s regard for the former European Empires, and so assured of his own; he just lazily swatted them away, like flies to a cow’s tail. Foul is fair.
Iran’s response was ridiculous and certainly doesn’t help matters, burning an American flag in parliament, on the heels of dropping the dollar was a little tactless. Although they did seem to be enjoying themselves and you can hardly blame them, they held up their end of the bargain. Not for long though, as the Iranian foreign minister has just tasked Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation with “pursuing industrial-scale enrichment”. Hover through the fog and filthy air.
Iran of course, according to Trump and friends, is the “leading state-sponser of terrorism”. No mention of Saudi Arabia and their satellite Gulf states, Israel or Turkey. No mention of France, Britain or the USA. The Middle East and ‘terrorism’ isn’t some thousand piece jigsaw of a white brick wall. It is actually quite easy to put together, although perhaps not so easy to look at.
Saudi Arabia and their Wahhabi/Salafist ideology, no matter how many women they LET drive – created the accolade and look after its upkeep. Not to worry though, the UK and US are helping them bomb weddings and funerals in Yemen. Apparently this is down to precision issues, and after all, if you supply someone with the finest military equipment in the world, you had better make sure they know how to use it: properly.
As for Israel – apart from Bibi licking his lips and letting off rockets like it is Hanukkah 67′ all over again; Israel has an estimated, undeclared, 400 warheads: all pointed at Iran. They won’t even sign up to the goddamned Non-Proliferation treaty, let alone the Chemical Weapons Convention; so what chance does Iran have?
It is a blatant double standard that absolutely should not be accepted, under any circumstances. Perhaps in this context Trump has a point about the JCPOA, albeit a diametrically opposite one. Maybe it is bad deal, a fudge; after all that seems to be the favoured international flavour. Much like the Paris Climate Accord, the political will to actually get to the roots of such issues and deal with them fairly and effectively seems to be absent. It is high time the UN stops fannying about with its meek-y mouse stance on such issues. Unfortunately it appears rhetoric trumps substance. C’est la vie.
And then there is the kicker, just in case things weren’t funky enough already. All of this is happening on the tail end of last weeks triumphant news about potential North Korean (NK) denuclearisation talks, scheduled for 12th June in Singapore. On the back of which, Trump has already been put forward for the Nobel Peace Prize by 18 Republican law-makers.
I’m not sure which I find funnier, the idea that NK will denuclearise considering recent history and what is happening with Iran; or Trump winning a Peace prize. Let’s be honest, the bar isn’t very high. Obama received his (from as far as I can tell) based on the colour of his skin #GetOut. While Kissinger scooped up his to more effectively drink the blood of his victims with.
Anyway, if anyone deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, surely it will be the two Korean leaders? That is if we ever get there, without Trump stealing their thunder and replacing it with Fire & Fury. Unlikely. I reckon Kim Jong-Un is giving Donny boy a schooling in international politics and brinkmanship. Not the other way around. NK knows full well the US regardless of what personality is seated in the Oval Office, will never meet him half way. They will never compromise and his only defence will be non-negotiable. Kim is going to have some fun on the international stage and will most likely hope to up-end the “dotard” as he does.
Anyone who thinks the 3 American citizens released from NK and brought back to America was “a substantial win for Trump” need their heads examined. Same goes for the fact Kim has decided to come to the table. Kim & Co. know the score and they have smelt blood. No doubt they are feeling the sting of the sanctions, but these guys are no Sunday drivers.
I think Trump in particular, and America in general are going to get stitched. They’re long standing favoured method of diplomacy by sanction, smear and subterfuge has its limits, and those limits are reaching breaking point. The steel and aluminum tariffs, the further sanctioning of Russia, the resumption of sanctions on Iran are all leading to huge pressure on European economies, not to mention heightening tensions to a fever pitch. Even just the prospect of them is leading European countries and their allies to reconsider where their interests lie, and how best to protect them going forward.
All that being said, and as dismal a situation as it appears; there is, as far as I am concerned, a silver lining. Trump has exposed America for what it is, by so bullishly scrapping international agreements which were never anything more than paper wadding shoved into the cracks of a sinking ship. It exposes not just American foreign policy, but also its vassal European states as well. Faced by the glaringly obvious and with the shades kicked firmly across the room, perhaps it is time for European countries to finally take the appropriate moral stance they have been so reluctant to do until now. Perhaps substance will finally trump rhetoric.
Either that, or we may all, burn, burn, burn… in a ring of fire.


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reinertorheit
reinertorheit
May 18, 2018 9:00 PM

In the latest farcical Trumpery used in the form of sanctions against Russia…
… America’s knuckledragging Ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, has cancelled his much-publicised speech at The St Petersburg Economic Forum – Russia’s pre-eminent economic and business event.
https://themoscowtimes.com/news/us-ambassador-to-russia-cancels-speech-at-st-petersburg-economic-forum-61488
Presumably he felt his homespun financial wisdom, delivered in English, would look out of place amid the presentations given by people who actually know something about economics.

reinertorheit
reinertorheit
May 17, 2018 7:45 PM

At the risk of actually posting something on topic about Trump’s tariff wars…
… in Paris, Teacher’s Pet finally grew a spine today, and spoke out against Trump’s punitive taxes on steel. Even Mutti Merkel pitched in to criticise Orange Toddler.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/emmanuel-macron-angela-merkel-trump-steel-tariffs-eu-us-president-sofia-a8356141.html

bevin
bevin
May 15, 2018 3:03 PM

This article in Asia Pacific Journal, by Jae-Jung Suh, explains the changing nature of the government of north korea.
https://apjjf.org/2018/10/Suh.html
Abstract: Kim Jong Un’s meeting with Moon Jae-In and the coming summit with Donald Trump do not constitute a volte-face by the North Korean leader. He has consistently sought meetings to find a solution to the nuclear problem, but equally consistently responded with nuclear or missile tests when his diplomatic initiatives are rejected. The recent virtuous cycle began when Moon seized the opportunity of the Winter Olympics in South Korea to create an opening for inter-Korean meetings and Kim reciprocated. Kim has also been consistent in his quest for engagement with the world economy as a strategy of economic development, and steadily taken steps away from his father’s Military First policy toward his Economy First policy. His consistency creates an opening, which Moon effectively used to engage the North to propose a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons and end the state of war. The United States will have a historic choice to make in June when Trump meets Kim in Singapore

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 16, 2018 11:59 PM
Reply to  bevin

The psychopaths who rule in Thanatopolis DC do NOT want peace in Korea. Not now, not ever. They are doing their filthy worst, the diabolical excrescence of pure Evil, Bolton to the fore, with his gloating, and blatant, reference to the setting up of Libya, to sabotage the peace maneuvering of the Koreans. With the usual full complicity of the lying, disinforming, scum of the Western fakestream media sewer.

BigB
BigB
May 15, 2018 10:44 AM

Admin: could you please retweet the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign call for protest outside Downing St tonight (from 5.30pm).?

Admin
Admin
May 15, 2018 12:01 PM
Reply to  BigB

If you give us details – yes. I haven’t seen anything about it thus far.

BigB
BigB
May 15, 2018 2:08 PM
Reply to  Admin

https://www.palestinecampaign.org
Sorry, should have posted it earlier.

Admin
Admin
May 15, 2018 3:13 PM
Reply to  BigB

don’t see any protest scheduled for today – there was one on May 11, is that it?

vexarb
vexarb
May 15, 2018 9:22 AM

Trump, trump this:

vexarb
vexarb
May 15, 2018 9:26 AM
Reply to  vexarb

Personally, I prefer this:

Any car fans to identify the models?

Google Talpiot Program
Google Talpiot Program
May 15, 2018 12:36 PM
Reply to  vexarb

This is weird fetishisation really.

vexarb
vexarb
May 15, 2018 1:31 PM

Obviously not a car fan.

Google Talpiot Program
Google Talpiot Program
May 15, 2018 1:34 PM
Reply to  vexarb

Do you even know anything about the history of the Assad family?
Role in Lebanon’s war?
Role in Iran-Contra (really Iran-Israel-Contra)?
You can see them as a lesser evil but to worship them like this is just bizarre.

vexarb
vexarb
May 15, 2018 3:55 PM

Syrian President Dr.Bashar al Assad and First Lady Asme are the only hope for a secular, socialist, democracy in the ME. Together with Islamic socialist Iran and pragmatic Muslim / Christian Hezb’Allah, they form a constructive counter force to the destruction wrought by a century of rapacious Anglo Capitalism and relentlessly expansive Zionazism in the ME.

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 15, 2018 6:03 PM

I would tend to agree with you, to the point I would state it is unwise to trust anybody in power. However there are a handful of leaders such as Chavez, Maduro and yes, Bashar Assad who are all demonised in the western press but whos statetments and genuine love from the peoples of their countries cannot be dismissed. I have listened at length to a good number of interviews with Assad, with ordinary Syrian citizens and my feeling is that he is absolutely genuine in his resolve to lead a secular country with a strong sense of social equality and justice. Indeed this is in part why the Zionist hegemony hate him so.
The obligatory, “Assad is a monster”, trope from those both for and against the Syrian ‘intervention’ actually bares no scrutiny. Can you name one event for which he can credibly be called a monster or butcher as he so often is? I cant, and i have tried to find something, anything that warrants the labels put on him without qualification. There is nothing, zilch, nada.

USAma Bin Laden
USAma Bin Laden
May 15, 2018 3:08 AM

Here is an abridged version of Trump’s speech for those not inclined to sit through the whole thing:
“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
Rapturous applause erupts, followed by chants of USA! USA! USA!
And America continues its descent into the Idiocracy….

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 14, 2018 9:52 PM

As others note and rtj puts well the source of all this madness is the Zionist mafia, a class of psycopathic criminals unparalleled in the history of psycopathic criminals. We need a few champions to publish a declaration that these criminals will be held to account, a declaration to be signed by the people of the world, the 99.9999% who’s lives are everything from lost to degraded by the criminal enterprise. In the wording of such a declaration the utterance of falsely claiming an anti-Zionist is an antisemitic should be treated as a criminal offence in its own right. And the stenographer liars of the corrupt 4th estate should equally be held criminaly responsible for publishing lies as news. Collusion with these people should carry harsh penalties including lengthy jail time and total asset strip. Such penalties would be applied to every collaborator major and minor retrospective to the day of the declaration being published and all those that withhold, destroy or in any other respect hinder justice should face additional sanctions. Amnesty would be guaranteed for whistleblowers, those being blackmailed or otherwise coerced if they cooperate with bringing their blackmailers to justice. Military and Police force personnel should be in no doubt that “Following orders” will not protect them from justice.
I am not a lawyer but surely there are lawyers with humanity who could draft such a text. And surely there are champions ready to do what has to be done to take us back from the precipice. Our political, judiciary, law enforcement and 4th estate do not serve us. They must be declared imposters, removed and replaced with individuals who will serve the people.
Well I can still dream it seems.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 14, 2018 10:54 PM

I agree that the Zionist elite in Israel and the Diaspora represent particularly deep, intractable and malignant Evil, but there is NOTHING that the ‘people of the world’ can do about it. They control the West, through its morally corrupt political, business and fakestream media ‘elites’, who have been bought, pure and simple. The Zionists in Israel will ‘fulfill their destiny’ come what may.

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 14, 2018 11:21 PM

The thing is time is about to run out. Within 5 years AI robots and drones will entirely replace humans. Then we, those that ever voiced a dissenting word, will be the targets. Do we fight now or wait for remote execution then?

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 15, 2018 8:10 AM

Fight now-execution now. Wait, execution later, but with LOTS of company. The whole filthy, dirty, Evil, rotten system is about to blow wide open, and that will cause a cataclysmic psychic shock to the proles. By then I’ll be hiding out in my bunker on one of the Kerguelen Islands.

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 15, 2018 6:12 PM

You are right! I shall just sit here supping on my single origin Ugandan coffee from the fertile slopes of the Moon Mountains. Savour the delicately roasted hazelnuts in my praline waffle and contemplate should my wolfhounds dine on chicken or salmon tonight.
The gas canisters raining on the Palestinians on the TV look almost pretty don’t they?

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 15, 2018 9:45 PM

I find the ‘Mountains of the Moon’ more romantic.

Tony M
Tony M
May 15, 2018 3:26 AM

Know ye that they of whom you thus spake are as gods amongst us, alchemical prodigies whom having drunk of the smoke of the lamp till ye cock croweth did turn paper and ink with coloured shields and all sorts of ornament marked thereon into gold which though essentially worthless in itself and quite inedible nevertheless doth not perish like cheese or buns or meat doth and lo is quite shiny that all were bedazzled. These keepers of ye big secret for only their special paper and ink worked ye magick in those parts soon had great piles of the golden stuff, far more than they could carry around and needing much watching over for many others coveted it who did not knoweth the secret and some came to steal it, for though again it was essentially worthless in itself and quite inedible nevertheless doth not perish like cheese or buns or meat doth and lo is quite shiny that all were bedazzled … and they hired many warriors and great cannon to protect them, their secret and their gold and still many more gave them their gold and that they found on their travels afar and all they could steal from those without so many warriors and fewer or no guns, which they called war, and many gave of it in return for ye special paper and ink with shields of red and green and all sorts of ornament marked thereon with which they could buy cheese, buns or meat, which while not as shiny or essentially worthless as gold do be quite usefully edible but doth perish unlike gold. Ere it came to pass that a great war erupted between the alchemical dynasties, the war brought great sorrow and waste, a depression, famine, many hungry people but by the end far fewer alchemists houses apprised of ye great secret of the paper and ink with the coloured shields and all sort of ornament marked thereon, than there ever were before but still too many for one of these houses and, the optimum they felt being just one …

vexarb
vexarb
May 14, 2018 6:17 PM

Meanwhile, back in the real word, President Putin issues his first decree. Saker Vineyard:
[Western experts] have, suddenly, shut up. .. They don’t express any illusions and joy. Taking control over the army is always a major undertaking before the battle. Trump can only dream of such control over his government as Putin has achieved. We will see the results soon.
Новый состав правительства: Путин из обороны переходит в атаку

Admin
Admin
May 14, 2018 7:23 PM
Reply to  vexarb

Source? Last we saw from Saker he was despairing about the reappointment of Dima Medvedev and predicting the worst.

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 14, 2018 10:06 PM
Reply to  Admin

It seems to be an opinion piece here:
http://www.iarex.ru/articles/57624.html

vexarb
vexarb
May 15, 2018 5:17 AM
Reply to  Admin

In Saker Vineyard but not by the Saker who, as you say, does not like to see the old faces in the new cabinet. By Alexander Khaldey, translated by Scott Humor.
https://thesaker.is/with-russias-new-government-putin-transitions-from-defense-to-offense/
Scott is well known as a humorist, and Russians are well known for irony; so the piece may be satiric. However, I take it at face value because it places a competent person in charge of a government — like Russia under Catherine the Great.
“For forms of government let fools contest / Whatever’s best administered is best”.

Betrayed Planet
Betrayed Planet
May 14, 2018 4:20 PM

Today lets talk about the Trump and Netanyahu regimes celebrating the opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem. Amidst the bloody slaughter of the Palestinians close by, the worlds richest most ignorant celebrate to false gods while the peoples Palestine is torn asunder. We are reaching a tipping point on this now insane asylum of a planet as the so called rulers have completely lost control of themselves. They no longer have any restrictions placed on themselves as the sycophantic and equally corrupt media no longer hold these lunatics to account.
Sometimes there are no words for this is truly end times madness.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 14, 2018 10:57 PM

Murdering defenceless civilians is a mitzvah,or good deed, according to Talmudic Judaism. The Israelis are just celebrating in traditional fashion.

vexarb
vexarb
May 15, 2018 5:45 AM

BTL in today’s Indie, re Trump’s Tirades:
factgasm 4 hours ago
‘In Jerusalem, an embassy opens. In Gaza, at least 58 die”
And there was me thinking the point of an embassy was diplomacy.

Google Talpiot Program
Google Talpiot Program
May 15, 2018 12:41 PM

Remember as well that this is backed by Putin’s Russia since he loves Israel so much.

rtj1211
rtj1211
May 14, 2018 4:18 PM

Jared Kushner shows he is still a little boy, utterly lacking in basic adult understanding:
‘The US has moved its embassy to Jerusalem. The US has shown it can once again be trusted.’
Has baby Jared not let learned that is an accolade only ever bestowed by others. The AuS can trust itself, rightly or wrongly. But to BE TRUSTED can only be given by others.
Netanyahu could say: the US is once again trusted BY ME AND ISRAELI ZIONISTS. He cannot say the US is trusted by anyone else.
So Mr baby faced son-in-law of POTUS: I suggest you learn to distinguish between your own ego and the thoughts of others, notably those of Syrians, Iraqis, Europeans, Russians and Koreans. Usually it is the key lesson and achievement of the first year of life. For you, maybe it will happen in your 37th year, maybe never, who knows.
I do not consider the US to be trustworthy and I will not have you telling me I do, I ought to or if I do not, you will make my life hell. You will learn to behave like a multipolarworld leader, not a bullying little apparatchik serving Israel. Then I MIGHT consider trusting you in some way or other…..

Dan Mallon
Dan Mallon
May 14, 2018 4:30 PM
Reply to  rtj1211

I’d say that might be a very purposeful plug for Bibí. America has regained Israels trust, after Obamas tepid posturing.
Considering congress is under the Israeli boot, I would imagine this was a dog whistle to them.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 14, 2018 11:00 PM
Reply to  rtj1211

Kushner is an Orthodox Judaic, so sees goyim, particularly ‘enemies’ like the Palestinians and anybody who dares support them, as inferior, to say the very least.

Google Talpiot Program
Google Talpiot Program
May 15, 2018 12:43 PM

He’s Chabad. Just like many of the Russian oligarchs backing Putin who he is buddying with.
Both Trump and Putin have deep Chabad connections.

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 15, 2018 6:19 PM

Which Zionist oligarchs is Putin buddies to? References please.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 15, 2018 9:52 PM

I saw a Chabad Rabbi, a few years ago, abusing other Judaics for their lack of enthusiasm for the destruction of the Palestinians. He actually criticised them because he predicted that they would be less than properly enthusiastic when the time came to move the Palestinians to ‘the camps’. Of course, Scheerson, the late, unlamented, Lubavitcher Rebbe, was a vicious, antigoyite, racist, but we’d better not mention that, should we.

tomiejones
tomiejones
May 14, 2018 3:10 PM

Reblogged this on circusbuoy.

bevin
bevin
May 14, 2018 1:33 PM

Dan Mallon obviously sees himself as a bit of a humourist. Vut these are serious matters:
“I’m not sure which I find funnier, the idea that NK will denuclearise considering recent history and what is happening with Iran;…”
Dan doesn’t explain why he doesn’t believe that North Korea will ‘de-nuclearise’. I find the promise quite credible. Here Dan is just rehearsing a tired old Yankee stereotype for a cheap laugh. One of those cheap laughs that enable warmongers to kill millions.
Here is another cheap jibe, which is a complete misrepresentation of Iran’s actual response:
“Iran’s response was ridiculous and certainly doesn’t help matters, burning an American flag in parliament, on the heels of dropping the dollar was a little tactless. Although they did seem to be enjoying themselves and you can hardly blame them, they held up their end of the bargain. Not for long though, as the Iranian foreign minister has just tasked Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation with “pursuing industrial-scale enrichment”.
Exactly what Netanyahu would want to be said.
It is a pity because most of the article is good. It is just unfortunate that whenever a true picture begins to emerge Dan feels compelled to put on his Mark Twain at Chautauqua hat and curry favour with the neo-cons in the peanut gallery.

reinertorheit
reinertorheit
May 14, 2018 3:36 PM
Reply to  bevin

[[ Here Dan is just rehearsing a tired old Yankee stereotype for a cheap laugh ]]
Perhaps because Donald Dump is a tired old Yankee stereotype? A half-senile old fool, who relishes the anger and disgust his hateful tomfoolery, racist bigotry and imbecilic jibes provoke whenever he tweets them. He has stacked his administration with numskulls (Pence), pig-ignorant brutes (Pumpass), known murderers and torturers (Hasp&Stapel), and psychopathic loudmouth crazies he’s had released from the Ol’ Folks Home (Bolton). He revels in being the Lord of Misrule, aping every outrage and depravity committed by the Roman Emperor Caligula – we can confidently expect that he’ll make his horse a Senator at the next opportunity.
But worse is to come.
The obese, Capone-clone basilisk Pumpass is clearly being groomed and positioned as his successor. And then god help us all. A pitiliess, witless, hatemongering sadist with an insatiable appetite for murder and mayhem,

Dan Mallon
Dan Mallon
May 14, 2018 4:13 PM
Reply to  bevin

Thank you Bevin, this gave me a good laugh. It’s been a while since I could wear my true Neo-con colours. You are quite the humourist yourself.
I didn’t explain my reasoning as I thought it was self evident and assumed people capable of reading between the lines.
It is not so much a belief, rather a prediction. Watch the long game, time will tell. I will be more than happy to swallow my words if I’m wrong.
Apologies Bevin, but I can’t help myself. I’m not sure what I find funnier, NK’s ‘promise’ or Americas. Promises between countries are fanciful at best. It has nothing to do with stereotypes and everything to do with realpolitik.
Injecting a bit of humour, into what I concur are very serious matters may come across as a bit glib and the words are mine, but the surreality of the situation is not.
They were the words of Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, not what I thought Bibí wanted to hear. It was a stupid move burning the flag, as it exactly the response Bibí would want and could capitalise on.
They should have taken the high ground and let Trump & Bibí lynch themselves. Instead they gave it away and took the reactionary route. With the power of an international agreement behind them versus the most despised reactionary president, they chose to meet fire with fury.
No point blaming my words for Iran’s stupidity.

Dan Mallon
Dan Mallon
May 14, 2018 4:17 PM
Reply to  Dan Mallon

Reverse the order, they chose to meet fury with fire!

bevin
bevin
May 14, 2018 6:48 PM
Reply to  Dan Mallon

Two quick points
1/ There is every reason to trust North Korea’s word on this matter. It made the same promise before to Clinton and kept its side of the bargain. The USA reneged. In this case it is obvious that north Korea wishes to collect some sort of a peace dividend by removing the irritants which have forced it into enormously disproportionate expenditures on the military. North Korea has been treated very badly since 1950, its people have suffered terribly at the hands of US imperialism. It is tiresome to have to read rehashes of the “North Koreans are irrational subhuman’ meme which is nothing more than CIA propaganda, regurgitated. North Korea, like Haiti, Iraq or Yemen is a country Americans ought not to joke about.
2/ Our information on Iran obviously differs. The impression that I got was that Iran’s response to Trump’s treachery was measured and obviously aimed at impressing European public opinion with the government’s readiness to compromise. The flag burning seemed irrelevant and unimportant.
Have you read Scott Ritter’s article on the bi-partisan origins of Trump’s move? It is very good.
Keep up the good work.

Dan Mallon
Dan Mallon
May 14, 2018 8:06 PM
Reply to  bevin

Why?
The ‘Agreed Framework’ was a very light-sized agreement that didn’t call for denuclearisation and essentially wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.
There was no binding stipulations, it wasn’t an official treaty and didn’t have to be ratified by US Congress. It fell apart thanks to the Yanks. So why would NK trust them, again? Would you?
I never said NK were irrational. In fact, I think if they were to believe America and their ‘promises’ then they would be irrational. I don’t think they are, and I don’t think they will. Also I am not American.
I have zero information on Iran. I am purely eorji g off my impressions, and as for trying to impress Europe; I wouldn’t call it a measured or intelligent response. I deem it infantile.
I haven’t read it, but I will. Cheers!

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 16, 2018 8:46 AM
Reply to  bevin

Yes-when agreements break down between the DPRK and Thanatopia, it is invariably the Exceptionals who renege, but the Western fakestream media scum-bags reverse the responsibility, with practised racist viciousness.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 15, 2018 12:21 PM
Reply to  Dan Mallon

I agree. The Iranians should have crawled on their bellies, kissed Trump and Bibi’s jack-boots and begged for mercy. Perhaps renouncing Islam and converting to Judaism might help, too.

Dan Mallon
Dan Mallon
May 15, 2018 4:31 PM

Don’t be so bloody flippant, is that really how you interpreted what I said?
Iran should have maintained its composure and made a fool of Trump & Co. rather than reinforcing their enemies narrative, playing perfectly into their hands.
They were handed the nuts and squandered it. It was a real chance to isolate the US, instead they made it that much harder for the other signatory countries to wholly stand behind them.
Seems like basic common sense to me.

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 15, 2018 6:26 PM
Reply to  Dan Mallon

You are right. It was juvenile and a gift to soundbite reframing on western tv. The enemies of the West need to learn from Putin or Lavrov and act above reproach in a calm and dignified manner.
I would ignore the “flippant” comments from those two, they comment a lot and get carried away. Does not diminish their salience 95% of the time tho!

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 15, 2018 9:55 PM
Reply to  Dan Mallon

Nope-they have been brutalised by the Real Evil Empire for forty years, and are still threatened with military aggression and genocide, even nuclear attack. Burning the banner of the greatest force for Evil in human history is their business.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 14, 2018 11:03 PM
Reply to  bevin

If the DPRK de-nuclearises, they WILL get the Libyan treatment. No doubt about it. And the DPRK should NEVER de-nuclearise until the USA, the greatest mass murderers in history and the only state ever to use them against defenceless civilians, does so, and honours its NPT obligations.

candideschmyles
candideschmyles
May 15, 2018 6:30 PM

“the greatest mass murderers in history” I wonder what the tally really is?

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 15, 2018 9:59 PM

Gideon Polya, a demographer, has calculated the ‘excess deaths’ ie the difference in mortality in countries targeted by the USA, with ALL their arsenal of killing including economic warfare waged by the economic hit-men of the Washington Consensus of the IMF, WTO, World Banks etc, and other similar counties not assailed by the USA, at that time, or ever since WW2 (there aren’t many of those). I believe he puts the number in the high hundreds of millions.

flamingo
flamingo
May 14, 2018 10:21 AM

The yankees can never keep a deal. Any deal a yankee offers is just like the stars and stripes, fluttering about in a breeze, never in the same place twice and about as upstanding as the flag on a calm day. Have the yankees ever stuck to a deal recently? They simply can’t and they now appear to have joined the ranks of a failed state that can’t even ventriloquist for ziorael. Just as China discovered a century ago, the whole world now knows for sure that they are lying cheating swindlers. Like London banksters.

Fair dinkum.
Fair dinkum.
May 14, 2018 10:03 AM

Trump doesn’t give speeches.
He puts on a performance.
He attempts to act like a human being in charge.
He fails on both counts.

rtj1211
rtj1211
May 14, 2018 9:32 AM

Herein lies the problem, you cannot be a member of either Labour or Conservative hierarchies whilst demsnding that Israel joins NPT, OPCW etc or FOREVER RENOUNCES THE RIGHT TO COMMENT ON THE POLICIES OF STATES WHO HAVE.
I would destroy Netanyahu on global television with this argument. I would ask him if he thinks Jews are superior humans, not required to abide by normal standards. If he says, no, I would ask if the Jews are organised criminals who hold internationals laws in contempt. If he said no, I would ask him what other explanation exists. I would not treat him with dignity or respect, I would treat him like a racist mafiosi.
There is no acceptable explanation for Israel not abiding by international normd.
Therefore there is no justification for treating any Israeli or any Zionist with any measure of dignity.
So the Mossad makes threats. Expose the threats and call the Mossad Israel’s Waffen SS. They will be outraged, but that it what the Mossad is. A death squad.
Then we will talk about Israeli false flag murdering. If Netanyahu denies it, ask him to state he will eat his severed sexual genitals if he is lying. There cannot be any question of giving him wiggle room. No Israeli will ever tell the truth if you give them a way out. If he deflects onto Iran, declare his admission of guilt. He is solely to answer for Israel, Iran will be charged for answering Iran’s dodgy deeds.
When it has been declared that Israel runs death squads, has nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, refuses to dubmit to international treaties and runs false flag murdering, what possible reason is there to spend one second deferring to them, submitting to them, allowing them to even maintain diplomatic missions? Israel must be a pariah state….
They will not be the sole state singled out. Saudi, Iran, Turkey, the Gulf States have plenty to answer for.
But until Israel is put on the Stand as a criminal State, no progress in the Middle East is possible……
Now go demolish Shami Chakrabarty’s faux principles about Israel…..

BigB
BigB
May 14, 2018 8:31 AM

Today the US completes its provocation and inflammation agenda, moving its Embassy to straddle the demarcation line between West and East Quds …specifically timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the declaration of the Israeli state …and Nakba day (May 15th). Snipers are massing along the apartheid fence, ready to indiscriminately fire explosive rounds and other lethal and “non-lethal ” munitions against unarmed civilians. They want another Intifada to justify another Cast Lead or Protective Edge population cull. Is there any war crime the Orange Fatberg won’t commit for Bibi? Probably not.

bevin
bevin
May 14, 2018 1:24 PM
Reply to  BigB

Today’s score (so far) 25 shot dead in Gaza.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 14, 2018 11:06 PM
Reply to  BigB

Nutty yahoo was ecstatic that on this glorious day, the ‘brave’ killers of the Israeli Death Force had offered up 55 more Palestinian mitzvot to Bibi’s psychopathic ‘God’- his ego projection. With hundreds more to come in a orgy of ‘moral purity’. Hosanna!!!

BigB
BigB
May 15, 2018 9:02 AM

The whole ceremony was stomach churning, a black day in the statist race to the bottom. Kushner, Ivanka, the Nutjob, and his wife, Sarah (with whom the Kushjob is on protocol busting first name terms ) sang hymns of peace for all …as nearby state executioners claim the lives of 14 children, amongst 57 deaths and up to 2,800 (including 10 journalists) wounded. America blame the Palestinians and Hamas for their own deaths. The international community make ambiguous and palliative murmurings, but refuse to condemn or act. And if Assad or Maduro had wielded such force, the cruise missiles would already have extracted the first wave of humanitarian revenge. The whole international community is de-legitimated by their failure to act, whether they condemn with hollow words or not. The only solution is BDS (especially an arms boycott, though it seems they’ve got plenty to spare), before BDS is outlawed by lawfare and racism manifest as anti-racism … aka antisemitism. Which shouldn’t be long now.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 15, 2018 12:27 PM
Reply to  BigB

Yes-nauseating. The glorying in cold-blooded murder is particularly chilling, but the groveling sycophancy of our local fakestream presstitutes, abasing themselves before some repellent Israeli or Zionist thug, snarlingly blaming the Gazans for their murder by creatures who see them as insects, is truly nauseating. But any other attitude would be career ending, so it’s just to be expected. Israel is steadily digging its own grave, accompanied by obsequious adulation from the worst of humanity-the type that dominates all the Western kakastocracies.

Mulga Mumblebrain
Mulga Mumblebrain
May 14, 2018 8:13 AM

The creature most responsible (along with the DNC, Obama and forty years of Democratic betrayal of the suckers) for the deranged carnie huckster being in the Offal Orifice, Hillary Clinton, is slithering, or perhaps galumphing might be better (or slithering like an anaconda that just swallowed a corpulent capybara)around Austfailure at present. The local Identity Politics feminazis are gushing uncontrollably over her, as she spends much of her time hissing and spitting venom at China, and urging us loyal Imperial henchmen to stand up to them. As the Chinese have done us NO harm, give us fifty billion in surpluses every year, send us over one million tourists every year and tens of thousands of fee-paying students, this seems unduly ungrateful, even for Western supremacists, but that’s the price of being a loyal Imperial stooge.

reinertorheit
reinertorheit
May 14, 2018 7:08 AM

Welcome to London, Donald! See you on June 13th. You’ll get a roasting such as no American visitor, including GWB, could even possibly imagine. I doubt you will make it out of the airport terminal.

Betrayed Planet
Betrayed Planet
May 14, 2018 5:15 PM
Reply to  reinertorheit

I will be there joining in the stupendous welcome.

eddie
eddie
May 14, 2018 8:15 PM
Reply to  reinertorheit

If you directed your protest to your own non-stop freak show of a regime, how would the regime respond, in todays post-truth climate? They can now say or do anything, with no repercussion.

reinertorheit
reinertorheit
May 14, 2018 8:32 PM
Reply to  eddie

You think I care a shit what an American thinks, Eddie? Blow it out your ass.

Google Talpiot Program
Google Talpiot Program
May 15, 2018 1:03 PM
Reply to  reinertorheit

He’s right. It’s important for us Brits to protest our own government and try to get a truly patriotic government in.

reinertorheit
reinertorheit
May 15, 2018 1:05 PM

Jolly good, and I am a Brit as well, and resent your chum’s typical chav rudeness, frankly. Manners he learned from Nigel Garbage, I would imagine?

intergenerationaltrauma
intergenerationaltrauma
May 14, 2018 6:00 AM

The rest of the world is learning what all Native American tribes have known for well over a 100 years, which is that a treaty signed with the U.S. government isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Denis O'hAichir
Denis O'hAichir
May 14, 2018 5:40 AM

Trump is doing exactly what he set out to do enrich himself by entrenchment in the military industrial machine he’s setting his sprogs up for roles in global affairs after he’s dead to continue his ‘legacy’.