Skip to main content

Posts

US STATE DEPARTMENT GETS $100 MLN FROM SAUDI ARABIA ON SAME DAY WHEN POPMEO ARRIVES TO DISCUSS KHASHOGGI DISAPPEARANCE

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Oct. 16, 2018. (Leah Millis/AP) The controversy around the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues to develop. In summer 2018, Saudi Arabia promised the Trump administration $100 million for the stabilization of areas in Syria liberated from ISIS. Coincidentally, that money was wired to the US State Department on October 16 th , just as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Riyadh for discussions regarding the missing journalist with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “The timing of this is no coincidence,” said an unnamed American official involved in Syria policy, cited by NYT. On the same day, US President Donald Trump in an interview said: “Here we go again with you’re guilty until proven innocent.” Furthermore, ABC reported that according to an unnamed Turkish official, Mike Pompeo heard an alleged audio recording of Khashoggi’s murder inside

IRAN SELLS RECORD-HIGH AMOUNT OF OIL TO CHINA DESPITE LOOMING US SANCTIONS

Illustrative image: Reuters Iran sent a record amount of crude oil to China. Tankers carrying approximately 22 million barrels of Iranian oil are en route to the Chinese port of Dalian, according to an unnamed Iranian shipping source and data on Refinitiv Eikon cited by Reuters. This comes ahead of the US sanctions that are due to hit the Iranian energy sector and oil exports on November 4 th . Reuters cited an unnamed source in the National Iranian Tanker Company who claimed that the country is shipping the record amount. “As our leaders have said it will be impossible to stop Iran from selling its oil. We have various ways of selling our oil and when the tankers reach Dalian, we will decide whether to sell it to other buyers or to China,” the source said, without providing any more details. According to data that dates back to January 2015, Dalian usually receives 1 to 3 million barrels monthly from the National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC). However, the amount of approximatel

PENTAGON ADMINTS THAT PERSONAL DATA OF OVER 30,000 EMPLOYEES LEAKED THROUGH CONTRACTOR

The US Department of Defense is dealing with a breach of its travel records that exposed at least 30,000 military and civilian personnel, according to a Pentagon spokesman on the October 12 th . The breach resulted in some of their personal information and payment card data being compromised. “On Oct. 4, the Department of Defense identified a breach of personally identifiable information of DoD personnel that requires congressional notification,” Lt. Col. Joseph Buccino said. “The department is continuing to gather additional information about the incident, which involves the potential compromise of personally identifiable information of DoD personnel maintained by a single commercial vendor that provided travel management services to the department,” he says. “This vendor was performing a small percentage of the overall travel management services of DOD.” The vendor will not be identified due to security reasons, according to Buccino. However, the department “has taken ste

US TRAINING FOR WAR AGAINST RUSSIA UNDER UKRAINIAN FLAG GOES WRONG: US AND UKRAINIAN PILOTS DIE IN SU-27 CRASH

Illustrative image: REUTERS On October 15, a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet crashed during a simulated combat flight in the framework of Clear Sky 2018 military drills. The crash resulted in the death of two pilots a Ukrainain serviceman and a US serviceman. “We regret to inform that according to the rescue team, the bodies of two pilots have been discovered: one is a serviceman of the Ukrainian Air Force, the other is a member of the US National Guard,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement via Facebook. Clear Sky 2018 is a joint military exercise involving Ukraine and NATO member states. It is taking place from October 8 to October 19. According to the Ukrainian leadership, the goal of the drill is to defend Ukrainian airspace from “Russian agression”.

VIDEO: COLD WAR TACTICS – ZERO LENGTH LAUNCH

SAUDI ARABIA VOWS TO RETALIATE IN MULTIPLE WAYS IF ANY ECONOMIC SANCTIONS UNDERTAKEN BY OTHER STATES OVER SUSPECTED MURDER OF JOURNALIST

Illustrative image On October 14 th , Saudi Arabia vowed to retaliate to any possible economic sanctions undertaken by other countries, after US President Donald Trump warned of “severe punishment” over the disappearance and suspected murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Preceding the Saudi response, Trump spoke in an interview saying that the Arabic country faces strong consequences if they are involved in the disappearance and murder. “There’s something really terrible and disgusting about that, if that was the case, so we’re going to have to see,” Trump said. “We’re going to get to the bottom of it, and there will be severe punishment.” He did, however, also say that  the US would be “punishing” itself if any arms sales deals are cancelled with Saudi Arabia . He said that the weapons deals are a “tremendous order” for US companies and that the Saudis would get it elsewhere if not from the US. In a statement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the kingdom w

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND ITS ‘CHINESE THREAT’: ELECTION MEDDLING, HACKING, ECONOMIC WAR

Soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China arrive on their armoured vehicles at Tiananmen Square during the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Beijing, China, September 3, 2015 (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) US President Donald Trump once again threatened to impose another round of tariffs on China. He also claimed that alleged Chinese meddling in US politics is “a bigger problem” than 2016 alleged Russian election meddling. In an interview with CBS he was asked if he wants to push China’s economy in a depression, he said “no.” “I want them to negotiate a fair deal with us. I want them to open their markets like our markets are open,” he said. He also added that more tariffs might be possible. So far, the U.S. has imposed three rounds of tariffs on Chinese imports totaling $250 billion, prompting China to retaliate against U.S. products. The president previously has threatened to hit virtually all Chinese imports with duties.

AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP USS AMERICA (LHA-6) – INFOGRAPHICS

The  USS America  LHA-6 successfully completed combat systems ship qualification trials (CSSQT) on February 3 rd , in preparation for its first overseas deployment at the head of the 15 th  Marine Expeditionary Unit/Amphibious Ready Group (MEU/ARG). The vessel went to sea several times in January to conduct training exercises in the run-up to its future deployment, testing different mixes of aviation assets to be fielded on the new class of ship. The  USS America  is classified as a Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA), and lacks a well deck to launch and recover LCACs or AAVs. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps have to determine exactly how to best utilize the new vessel as an integrated component of an MEU/ARG. USS America LHA-6 as seen from the rear ramp of a V-22 Osprey. There was no small amount of controversy over the new vessel when it was first proposed. Many senior officers in the USMC argued that an amphibious assault ship meant to head an MEU/ARG must have amphibious a