U.S. Launches Retaliatory Strikes Against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria


Posted originally on the CTH on October 26, 2023 | Sundance

This could be the beginning of World War III, or just another step in the general direction.

According to the Pentagon, the U.S. just launched airstrikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria.

PENTAGON – Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted self-defense strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups. These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17.

As a result of these attacks, one U.S. citizen contractor died from a cardiac incident while sheltering in place; 21 U.S. personnel suffered from minor injuries, but all have since returned to duty. The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.

The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop. Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.

These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict. We continue to urge all state and non-state entities not to take action that would escalate into a broader regional conflict. (link)

(Via CNN) – […] Earlier Thursday, the US announced it is deploying about 900 troops to the Middle East – with the potential for many more. The US has also moved two carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and an amphibious ready group closer to Israel in the waters of the Middle East.

The US strikes follow a growing number of attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria since October 17. As of Thursday afternoon, US forces had come under attack at least 12 separate times in Iraq and four separate times in Syria, resulting in 21 US service members suffering injuries. The Pentagon said the injuries were all minor and that the troops have returned to duty. One US civilian contractor suffered a fatal heart attack as a result of a false alarm at one of the bases in Iraq.

On Wednesday, Biden issued a strong warning to Iran about its proxies attacking US forces in the region. “My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continued to move against those troops, we will respond, and they should be prepared.” Biden also said the presence of US troops in Iraq and Syria is focused on the campaign to defeat ISIS and is not related to the ongoing conflict in Israel.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian did not attempt to tamp down the tensions Thursday at an emergency session of the UN General Assembly, stating that the US “will not be spared from this fire” if the war in Gaza doesn’t end. Earlier this week, the minister had said that Iran had received two messages from the US, though he would not say how or when the messages were delivered. The first message said the US was not interested in a wider expansion of the conflict, he said, while the second urged Iran and its partners to have self-restraint. (read more)

BEWARE – Jack Smith Is Baiting President Trump to Get His Suspended Gag Order Reinstituted for Trump Attacking Witnesses


Posted originally on the CTH on October 26, 2023 | Sundance

At this point, I am writing this for a whole bunch of people, and it’s ridiculous.

(1) – No, Mark Meadows never told Jack Smith that President Trump didn’t declassify records.  That was the Lawfare leak to ABC News in August – intended to dilute the defense of declassification in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.  It was made up by Jack Smith, and leaked to ABC for a specific purpose.

(2) – No, Mark Meadows never told the DC grand jury (under immunity) that he informed President Trump that Joe Biden’s election was legitimate. Again, that was a Lawfare leak to ABC News this week – intended to undermine President Trump’s DC defense (mens rea, know it) that Trump’s state of mind was such that he knew he was violating the law by saying the election was stolen.  This story was made up by Jack Smith and leaked to ABC for a similar specific purpose.

In reality, Meadows was questioned under oath, during the grand jury, and asked if Joe Biden was the legitimate President.  Meadows responded (encapsulated), “Well, he’s president isn’t he”?  The rest is a manufactured narrative.

(3) – No, Mark Meadows never wore a wire as a confidential informant while he was President Trump’s Chief of Staff.  Again, yet another Lawfare fabrication to the alt-right media, via layers of plausible deniability – intended to get President Trump to attack Mark Meadows and provide fuel for Jack Smith to request the reinitiation of a currently suspended gag order against President Trump.  The ABSURD story is pure Lawfare bait.  The absurdity of the story is why even ABC News couldn’t be used.

And right on cue….

(NYP) – Special Counsel Jack Smith has implored a judge to revive the partial gag order in the federal election interference case against Donald Trump — citing the ex-president’s “threatening” social media posts about former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Smith’s team argued in a filing late Wednesday that Trump, 77, is capitalizing on a stay in the gag order “to send an unmistakable message to a foreseeable witness in this case… with knowledge that it would reach him.” (read more)

Learn how the Lawfare game is played…. Every leak has a purpose.

Trust me, even allied idiots do not know when they are getting played as part of a long-term operation.  Allow me to give you a familiar visual aid:

.

In this latest example, Ryan Fournier – a supposed Trump ally – is pushing the outlandish Mark Meadows wearing a wire story, without even thinking about the stupidity of it.

Jack Smith knows Mark Meadows is a weasel, a creepy and pure swamp creature.  Personally, I cannot stand Mark Meadows, and I know his exact character.  Meadows is a fabricator, an exaggerator of his own importance, and a person of weak fortitude when it comes to aggressive attention upon him.  Meadows is a cross between a weasel and a jellyfish.

However, that said, it is the weak nature of Meadows…. and President Trump’s prior knowledge of Meadows’ untrustworthiness and weakness, that makes Meadows of specific value to the Machiavellian Lawfare constructs of Jack Smith.

Lawfare!

Learn it!

Capiche?

…. And in this example, fuel the court to do what the judge already wants to do, Gag Trump!

Senator Chuck Grassley Outlines Details of FBI HQ Running National Coverup Operation to Protect Biden Family from Investigation


Posted originally on the CTH on October 26, 2023 | Sundance 

A few thoughts about the letter itself before getting to the substance.  {pdf link Here}

First, as you are likely aware, the Senators and Committee heads/ranking members do little of the investigative effort themselves. This is where the value of exceptional staff comes into play, along with the background battle between a small group of congressional aides and assistants -vs- an army of Lawfare operatives. The battle to reveal truth takes place deep in the trenches of hidden government, and the only weapon on the side of the righteous is the ultimate weapon – the truth.

Second, again with a familiar approach, this letter is not penned to the recipient FBI Director Christopher Wray, in as much as it is an alarm sounded by Senator Grassley’s office to the larger American audience.  This is essentially Grassley saying to We The People, here’s the evidence of how inherently corrupt and politicized the FBI has become. The motive appears to be providing damaging information the media will avoid mentioning, discussing or outlining.

DC FBI Building, left – Main Justice DOJ Building, right. 

In summary of the 7-page letter, it describes a national effort by the FBI to cover up the activity of Hunter and Joe Biden’s illicit financial dealings.  Because the Biden family essentially operated a network of financial schemes that touched on multiple areas and interests, the activity itself was tracked by the FBI through a series of several dozen Confidential Human Sources (CHS’s) and informants in multiple jurisdictions throughout the U.S.

Because the various field offices and CHS/Informant networks were diverse and widespread, the DC FBI needed a control mechanism that would throw a bag over all the activity coast to coast.  The mechanism they chose was the familiar “Foreign Influence Disinformation” designation.  The FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force was the DC organization -an institutional tool per se’- used to block, impede and eliminate sunlight upon the information that was surfacing from multiple investigations of the Biden family.

Grassley walks through examples of how the central HQ of the FBI deployed the label of “disinformation” in order to get various field offices to discredit their own investigative tools, CHS’s and informants.   The way it worked would be central FBI command would label an investigative lead as “disinformation”, and that would throw a bag over the field office outcome.  The CHS’s and informants were then undermined, discredited and cut loose from the record keeping of the FBI.

Essentially, labeling the findings as foreign disinformation was the protective shield to remove the evidence of the Biden family activity.  This was done from Washington DC through the main FBI headquarters.  The downstream field offices were then shut down by administrative labeling, and the issues they uncovered were eliminated.   This is a familiar process to those who have followed the deep weeds of how the FBI operates.

The importance of the Grassley letter goes beyond Joe and Hunter Biden; it cuts to the heart of a system of corruption within the FBI that many Americans became familiar with in the aftermath of the FBI activity against Donald Trump in the Russiagate storyline.  The FBI is metastatically corrupt, with the origin of the cancer in Washington DC, and the efforts of the Foreign Influence Task Force becoming the method to spread the corrupt infection nationally.

The Grassley letter originates from information provided by whistleblowers inside the FBI who were subjected to having their investigations nulled by Washington DC.  Apparently, some of those who had time, effort and investigative resources dedicated to the honest investigation of the Biden family scheme, did not like seeing their investigations shut down simply because Christopher Wray and other politically active leaders in the DC command center of the FBI did not want the Biden family exposed.

This pattern of activity, the institutional preservation issue, is exactly what was noted in the previous Trump-Russia targeting effort.  Former AG Bill Barr and all of the officers and investigative officials therein, were also in alignment with this institutional preservation approach.  The FBI throwing a bag over the Biden corruption schemes, is yet another example of a decision to preserve a corrupt system rather than allowing the American public to see it, thereby running the risk of collapse.

I would strongly urge everyone to take the time to read the 7-page outline provided by Senator Grassley’s office, along with the investigative staff and resources of Senator Ron Johnson.  While they are unnamed, I am certain that I have personally met some of the people who put this outline together.

[Read Full 7-Page Report]

[…] “It is unclear how many confidential human sources, or how many of their reports, were categorized as disinformation by the Foreign Influence Task Force, but the whistleblower told Grassley that the FBI’s improper branding of the information as “disinformation” “caused investigative activity to cease.”

Margot Cleveland, Federalist 

Beyond the details, granular information, citations and evidence, what becomes crystal clear is that every root and branch of the FBI is now politically corrupt.  It is an institution now more akin to the Russian FSB than it is to a USA national investigative agency.   It simply cannot be reformed.

The U.S. Dept of Justice and FBI are now political institutions that have abandoned their originating mission in order to become the domestic equivalent of the Soviet-era FSB. Their joint targeting mechanisms have been redesigned to support the interests of corrupt DC politicians – specifically the interests of Democrats.  Grassley is giving specifics to what has been visible for years.

This is why and how the Fourth Branch of U.S. Government is now the superseding apparatus above all other branches.  {GO DEEP} This is why and how Barack Obama, John Brennan and Eric Holder created it, cemented it, and made it impervious to any effort to remove it.

The Fourth Branch of Government is evil Sauron, and Washington DC is Mordor. The corrupt media have aligned with it; they are preserving it; and the institutions in/around the DC system are self-aware, acting to support it and fully autonomous.

Additionally, to overlay their ability to monitor every single aspect of every life that might seek to challenge or destroy it, the end game of surveillance outlined by Edward Snowden is active.

Crime in US is an Internal Operation


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Oct 26, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

El Salvador was the murder capital of the world not long ago. The country has gone over 300 days without a homicide after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele implemented a zero-tolerance policy for gang  violence. The nation rounded up over 50,000 suspected gang members, also referred to as terrorists, and the rest likely fled to the US since the border is non-existent. Since the system has been very efficient, videos of Bukele criticizing US politicians for allowing crime to escalate across America are beginning to recirculate.

The demise of America has to come from within,” Bukele told Tucker Carlson. “The enemies have to be inside. No external enemy can cause so much damage as internal. It is an internal operation. You’re watching an internal operation here. You can see them and see these cities that were pristinely beautiful 30 years ago are wastelands now,” he stated. He went on to say that he admits he is from a third-world country but would feel unsafe in any US city due to violent crime.

Now Bukele was harshly criticized for rounding up the criminals but it worked. Crime is on the rise in America but our policies are continually favoring the criminals. “When you look how the cities are eroding so fast, this has to be by design. I mean who would make so many stupid decisions?” Bukele asked Carlson. “They’re literally giving some people drugs in some us cities, or they say we’re going to give you money if you don’t work. They make all these laws that make no sense. If they have high crime, they say okay I have a solution, let’s defund the police.”

I continually point to the Cloward-Piven Strategy of creating civil unrest. Look at what the Open Society Foundation promoted during the last election. They funded protests in all major US cities, violent protests where people were murdered and small business were burned to the ground. They funded the media to report on how the criminals were misunderstood and the police needed to be defunded. Some ask whether people have simply lost their minds after COVID. Perhaps, but the real reason the US is spiraling down internally is INTENTIONAL. Burn it down to BUILD BACK BETTER.

UPDATE – Manhunt Underway – 22 People Killed in Lewiston, Maine, by Mass Shooter Still at Large – 50 to 60 Wounded


Posted originally on the CTH on October 25, 2023 | Sundance 

[NOTEUnconfirmed reports identify the gunman as Robert Card, 40, (DOB 4/4/83) from Bowdoin, Maine; a former sergeant in U.S. Army with 20+ years of military experience. Again, this is not yet confirmed.]

UPDATE 11:30pm ET:  Robert Card (dob 04/04/83) has been officially confirmed as a “person of interest.”

(Fox News) –  At least 22 people are dead following a deadly shooting in a Maine city that spanned three locations on Wednesday night, Fox News has confirmed.

Fox News has confirmed that the active shooter incident occurred at three locations— Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant, a Walmart store and Sparetime Recreation.

Maine State Police said, in a Facebook post, that there is an active shooting situation in Lewiston, a city of 36,000, 35 miles north of Portland.

[…] The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office shared two photos of the suspect, who was wearing a brown sweatshirt, and holding a rifle.

Authorities told residents in Lewiston to “shelter in place” and to “stay inside your home with the doors locked.” (read more)

(NBC NEWS) –  At least 22 people were killed in the shootings, according to a Lewiston police source.

Fifty to 60 people were wounded after a man fired at several locations, including a Lewiston bowling alley, said four law enforcement officials briefed on the matter. The officials said the numbers were preliminary and could change.  There were no initial signs of terrorism. (Read More)

[Reported Image of Robert Card for Comparison]

Crazed NY Judge Claims Trump Violated Gag Order by Criticizing Michael Cohen


Posted originally on the CTH on October 25, 2023 | Sundance

Justice Arthur Engoron is truly one of the most ridiculous judges on the bench.

During a break in the courtroom theatrics, following testimony by Michael Cohen, President Trump told the media, “This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”  President Trump was clearly remarking about Michael Cohen who was on the witness stand.

However, Moonbat Judge Engoron then demanded President Trump take the witness stand so he could ask him who those comments were directed toward.  With Trump on the witness stand, the judge asked: “To whom were you referring?”  “You and Cohen,” Trump replied.

The judge then said he did not believe Trump, “as the trier of fact, I find the witness is not credible“, he decreed from his perch; preferring to believe that President Trump was talking about Judge Engoron’s clerk.    The idiot in a robe then levied another $10,000 sanction based on his wrongful assumption of President Trump’s thinking.

This is all far too ridiculous at this point.

NEW YORK – […] Trump unexpectedly took the witness stand Wednesday to face questioning from the judge about comments Trump made earlier in the day apparently disparaging the judge’s law clerk.

“As the trier of fact, I find the witness is not credible,” Justice Arthur Engoron said after Trump testified.

Trump’s testimony marked a remarkable moment in the trial, eliciting gasps in the room as the former president walked from the defense table to the witness stand.

During a break in the proceedings earlier in the day, Trump told reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom that “this judge is a very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”

With Trump on the witness stand, the judge asked: “To whom were you referring?”

“You and Cohen,” Trump replied, referring to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer who testified about Trump’s business practices on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Engoron, however, indicated he believed Trump was referring to his law clerk, Allison Greenfield, who sits directly to the judge’s right on the bench and whom Trump has already disparaged once before. (more)

Japan and Denmark Collaborate on Floating Wind Turbines


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate Re-Posted Oct 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss offshore wind turbines. Denmark is a leader in wind turbine technology, while Japan has an advantage in shipbuilding technology. Japan has stated that it plans to increase its offshore wind power by 60% by 2030. Biden stated he wants to power 10 million homes in America with offshore wind power by 2030, which is our computer’s 2032. The UK, Denmark, and other nations aligned with the Great Reset are also targeting 2030 and the industry as a whole is growing rapidly.

This fishing industry has warned that this technology will prevent them from yielding the same amount of fish each year. This will impact our overall food supply. But we will have bug protein to supplement us. No one knows the repercussions of placing these massive devices in the ocean. The environmentalists don’t want the energy companies drilling for oil, but they are OK with drilling deep into sea beds.

One study believes that this technology could hurt surface predators such as plankton and disrupt all sea life. The powerful wind structures could change the ocean’s upwelling and impact water temperature, and therefore move nutrient-dense water that those at the bottom of the food chain depend on to survive. “The consequences of these changes in physical upwelling structure on the ecosystem are currently unknown and could potentially form future areas of investigation that could also include an assessment of fisheries and socio-economic effects,” a recent study published on Nature admitted.

Japan and Denmark have a lofty goal of reducing greenhouse has emissions by 2030 before going to net-zero by 2050. “What I’m hoping for is that the effort to increase offshore wind in Japan will produce a ketchup effect, where you try to get the ketchup out of the bottle but nothing much comes out until suddenly it does, after much effort,” a Danish ambassador to Japan told the Japan Times. The Danish Energy Agency discussed the 2020 New Climate Agreement in which there will be a “new era with energy islands.” “An energy island serves as a hub for electricity generation for the surrounding wind farms, by collecting and distributing the electricity between countries connected by an electricity grid,” the report explains. Denmark believes it could power portions of Europe.

The Japan-Denmark partnership could be promising as nations are pledging their support for Agenda 2030 and spending to implement these structures, regardless of their efficiency or actual impact on the ecosystem.

The Unfolding Recession & The Coup


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics Re-Posted Oct 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mrt. Armstrong, Socrates has been a real lifesaver. It is refreshing not to have someone spinning their political views into everything. Socrates called for the high in GDP here in 2023 and that the high took place in May. Here, we have Biden creating money without regard for fiscal responsibility. Socrates has shown the economy peaked in May. This is truly remarkable. Is this strange situation our fate into 2024?

KL

ANSWER: I understand that Socrates has forecast what is the opposite of every economic theory out there. It shows a recession has been unfolding since May, but this is on the aggregate level. On top of that, we have a Panic Cycle next year in 2024 in GDP. When I drill down into its forecasts per state, what becomes painfully apparent is what I have been writing about. There is a massive migration from blue states to red states initiated by COVID-19 but accelerated by tax increases. Thus, real estate is declining in the blue states, and those who didn’t want to move because of the higher mortgage rates will find their houses unsalable regardless of the mortgage rates. This will be particularly true in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seatle, and Los Angeles, to mention a few. They had their chance. With the onslaught of migrants into those areas, those cities are raising taxes to cope with the aliens who pay no taxes.

Add to all of this chaos, Biden’s open border policy has let in terrorist cells, so nobody bothered to check anyone. Geopolitically, starting a war in the Middle East was insane. The Democrats should just admit that the real head of state in Blinkin and his VP is Victoria Nuland. They are the people running the country into the ground. We will see domestic terrorism thanks to the open border, and this time, World War III will be coming to a theater near you.

Then, we have a surge in diseases eradicated in the USA, like TB and malaria. We will also see a rise in diseases, including polio. Even Fed Chairman Powell has broken his silence in criticizing the Biden Administration. He has made it clear that this spending spree is unsustainable.

Climate Change zealots and the Neocons have usurped the Biden Administration. The Democrats are destroying the United States. Politics is so divided and polarized that they refuse to look at and stop the trend. This is not about Democrat v Republican. The United States has undergone a coup, and those in Washington are so caught up in hating each other nobody gives a dam about the country or the people.

The United States has become so divided – it is impossible to survive as one nation. The division is already starting. So, while the Democrats point fingers at the Republicans and they are so desperate to imprison Trump that they will ensure he dies mysteriously like Epstein and so many, there will be nothing left to fight over.

We are facing a recession because the consumer tends to spend less and save whenever there is UNCERTAINTY. Simple as that.

Then, if we end up with wars in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Foreign Capital Will Flee to the US

Hence – we have a Panic Cycle warning about two opposite trends.

Israelis Blame Netanyahu


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Oct 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Netanyahu is another corrupt politician leading the world into ruin. He has faced charges of fraud, bribery, breach of trust, and conspiracy throughout his presidency, but that is peanuts compared to what is currently happening. It is hard to believe that Israeli intelligence was unaware that 1,000 Hamas fighters were amassed at the border. Netanyahu claims that the terrorists simply outsmarted Israeli intelligence and there was nothing he could have done to prevent the attack, but the people of Israel want to hold  Netanyahu responsible for the October 7 invasion.

Most nations believe their leader is corrupt, but the people simply have no say. An opinion poll by Maariv newspaper found that 80% of Israelis want to hold Netanyahu responsible for failing to secure the border and allowing Hamas to enter Israel. Only 8% believe he should not be held responsible. Most Israelis (65%) want a ground offensive in Gaza, with only 21% in opposition. Around 51% say they want a large-scale military operation that expands north to Lebanon, with 30% citing only a limited operation is needed.

Dialog Center poll found that 86% of Israelis believe their government failed to prevent the Hamas attack. Almost everyone (94%) believes that the government needs to take responsibility for what occurred, with 75% believing the government holds the brunt of the burden. Over half (56%) want Netanyahu to resign as well as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (52%).

How did Hamas enter Israel? The government has yet to explain how the Iron Dome failed. They have not explained the extended period of time it took for troops to reach the site where the invasion took place. No one has explained why the US and Israel just so happened to arrange an open visa program shortly before the attack, or why NSA members were trading Northcorp stock ahead of October 7. Again, Palestine does not have an official military. How on Earth could a group of non-professional fighters penetrate one of the tightest borders in the world? Many know the answer.

Lindsey Graham – Read to Declar War on Iran?


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Oct 24, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, Thank you for educating us about the Neocons. Your special report opened my eyes and should be taught in school. Lindsey Graham, on your list of Neocons, seems to be ignorant of anything to do with the Middle East. His Meet the Press was virtually a push to declare war on Iran. That will bring in Russia, which he seems to want, and Turkey will be drawn in, which has the largest arming in the region. Besides that, 20% of the world’s oil supply still passes through the Straits of Hormuz.

His proposal to attack Iran’s oil production to cut off funds for Hamas is idiotic. Iran has thousands of missiles, if not nukes. They are sophisticated in cyber warfare. That will create World War III.

Is there nobody in Washington to push back against the lack of understanding?

GD

Military Strength by Country

ANSWER: These Neocons are living under the false assumption that the United States is overwhelmingly powerful and that the entire world can be brought to its knees in a matter of days. Our active military is only 1.4 million compared to Russia and China, which are at 3.2 million. Even India has 1.5 million. They think because we are a major nuclear power, that nations will tremble when we say boo.  Before this began, Iran had 610,000 active. Israel had just under 170,000. Sources say that Iran has had a flood of people rushing to sign up when they raised the black flag—perhaps 2 million.

If the US attacks Iran – that is World War III. This will take it from a regional war to a global war in a matter of hours. Then we have insane Neocons claiming NATO could defeat Russia in 3 days. This is insane. Then you have those looking at the Bible who have been writing in about Armageddon when those from the North invade into the Middle East. I seriously doubt that any of these Neocons believe in the Bible.

All these people ever preach is war – never peace.