Tag Archives: Syria

Nov 9 2017

Turkey & USA Relations Turn Bad


Armstrong Economic Blog/Turkey

Re-Posted Nov 8, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The relations between the USA and Turkey have turned for the worst. The USA has now restored the need for a visa after audio recordings have surfaced indicating that the evasion of Iran sanctions was approved by the Turkish President Erdogan. The US arrested Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab in the case of money laundering when he was acting as a middleman between the Turkish government and Iran for years. Since there is now a possibility of the involvement of Turkey in helping Iran circumvent the sanctions, relations have taken a turn for the worse.

The New York prosecutors also charged a representative of the semi-state Turkish Halkbank when he was flying through John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. They have charged him with conspiracy acting with Zarrab. It is alleged that both were doing business on behalf of the Turkish government and directly on behalf of Erdogan with Iran

Nov 9 2017

Iran & War


Armstrong Economics Blog/Middle East

Re-Posted Nov 9, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Iran has a very rich history that lends itself to tremendous insight into the long-term future of the Middle East. It was Cyrus the Great who conquered Lydia which was the birthplace of money issued by the state. The Persians adopted the practice and then continued to produce coins with the same design as the Lydians until they were changed in 510BC and the image of Darius I appears as an archer.

If we begin with the Medes, there have been 17 major overturning events of great importance. The Persians were responsible for the collapse of the Roman monetary system during the 3rd century when they captured the Roman Emperor Valerian I. Then there was the fall of Iran to the Muslim conquest. This latest revolution in 1979 has been one of rising confrontation with the west.

 

The last Iranian Revolution took place in 1979. The cycle bottomed in 2016. Here we are starting a new cycle of rising tension. Keep in mind that Persia has been a major player throughout the centuries. They have not vanished into the sunset. They are moving toward war once again.

Categories: Middle East
Nov 5 2017

Rewriting History Continues


Armstrong Economics Blog/History

Re-Posted Nov 5, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

A historic Episcopal church in Alexandria, Va., has made the decision to move a pair of plaques that paid tribute to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and President George Washington. Both were former parishioners and the plaques were displayed on either side of the altar at Christ Church in Alexandria.

General Robert E. Lee had written to the New York Times and said he would free all his slaves and that was before the war.  It just seems as if this drive to rewrite history is going too far. I had gone into East Germany through CheckPoint-Charlie before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. To my shock, almost nothing is left. The wooden walkway I had to walk on because there were mines on either side of me is gone. Granted, it was a symbol of oppression. But destroying it means the generations that follow will never see what it was.

If you remove all the monuments to the American Civil War, you will also forget the history. This is also what the Taliban did in Afghanistan and what ISIS has done in Iraq. If history offends, it is not right to try to eliminate it and pretend it never happened. That is a sure-fire way to make sure history repeats if nobody remembers past mistakes.

Nov 4 2017

Crimea & Carving up the World


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Nov 4, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

ukraine-ethnic-divide-data

COMMENT: Dear Marty
You mention that Crimea was taken by Russia. However, this is just the MSM view. The West is accused of fermenting the problem in Ukraine which precipitated this. The people voted in a referendum with 31 international observers, 95% to reunify with Russia where they had belonged since 1783. Why does the West not recognize the referendum??

Ukraine had passed a law making Russian not the first language after the coup. The people of Crimea have voted in overwhelming numbers and by an overwhelming margin to leave Ukraine and to federate with Russia. The majority population in Crimea speaks Russian, identifies with Russia and was formally a part of Russia until the region was transferred to Ukraine as a largely administrative measure in 1954 when Ukraine and Russia were full republics united in one country: the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.

REPLY: From the outset, my position was that Ukraine should have been split according to language. Borders have been drawn by politicians, and this policy has given us so many problems over the years. It is language and culture that should define a national border. It is also wrong for the refugees to enter Sweden and then refuse to adopt the culture of that nation demanding their own laws will apply in specific regions. This is not like colonizing the Moon.

Yanukovych_Viktor

What I would disagree with you on is that the West instigated the revolution. I personally have friends who were in Maidan and they were not puppets of the CIA. The revolution was over the corruption in the Yanakovich administration and the extortion of small businesses as his sons were running a protection operation.

The West did instigate the civil war in Syria. That was to help Qatar get a pipeline through Syria to Europe in order to compete with Russia. That was the whole issue and Obama’s agenda.

The vast majority of people in Crimea were Russian with Tartars as well. Crimea was Russian and was given to Ukraine to manage by the Soviet Union. It is Russian by culture and the sanctions against Russia are political for economic reasons and are not based upon the desire of the people of Crimea. The people should decide the same as they should decide in Catalonia, Scotland, Northern Ireland, etc., etc..

Nov 2 2017

Discussion with Dr Bill Warner on NYC jihad attack


Nov 2 2017

Germany Also Engages in Political Prosecution


Armstrong Economics Blog/Germany

Re-Posted Nov 2, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in Germany has asked the Federal Government to file a lawsuit against all decisions of European Central Bank (ECB) regarding the purchase of government bonds and corporate bonds as well as derivatives since 2015. They are petitioning to file in the European Court of Justice asserting that the policies of the European Treaties and by the Federal Constitutional Court were being violated.

Effectively, the ECB “stimulus” policy (QE) has completely failed and instead has become a life-support system subsidizing the debt of Eurozone member states. Even reducing the amount bought per month is an attempt to see if the marketplace takes up the debt. But the Eurozone governments never cut back spending or reformed. They never had to. The QE program was merely targeting to support the government – not the average person in the economy.

Meanwhile, the former leader of the nationalist AfD, Frauke Petry, was formally charged with perjury and was accused of lying under oath about the party’s finances. If found guilty she would face a minimum sentence of six months in jail, but it would be the end of her political career. This seems to be another political-prosecution.

Frauke Petry resigned from the AfD and has plans to form a new political group in the German parliament that will be distant from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). For this reason, she is a threat politically.

Why are all politicians not prosecuted for lying to the public to win an election and then do the opposite? The charges against Petry are intended to stop her political career.

Nov 1 2017

Trump Convenes Late Night National Security Briefing – NYC Terrorist Pledged Allegiance to ISIS Prior To Attack


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on October 31, 2017 by

Statement from the President on the Terrorist Attack in New York City:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of todays terrorist attack in New York City and their families. My Administration will provide its full support to the New York City Police Department, including through a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We offer our thanks to the first responders who stopped the suspect and rendered immediate aid to the victims of this cowardly attack. These brave men and women embody the true American spirit of resilience and courage. I will continue to follow developments closely.”  – WH Link

Against the backdrop of the terrorist attack in New York City, a rather deliberate looking President Donald Trump convenes a late night national security meeting:

(LINK)

Immediately following the meeting/briefing, President Trump Tweeted: “I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already extreme vetting program.  Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!”    POTUS appears pissed.

Additional reporting on the terrorist:

The New York Post is reporting the driver who plowed into a group of people on Tuesday, killing 8, left behind handwritten notes pledging loyalty to ISIS along with an image of an ISIS flag inside his vehicle.

Sayfullo Saipov, 29, had the notes written in Arabic inside his Home Depot rental truck along with a picture of the ISIS flag, according to law enforcement sources.  The handwritten notes indicated that he had pledged allegiance to the terror group, the sources said.  (read more)

VIA FOX NEWS –  The man suspected of plowing a truck through a crowded bike lane in New York on Tuesday is 29 years old, from Uzbekistan with a green card, Fox News has confirmed.

Police have identified Sayfullo Saipov as the driver of the rented pickup truck who killed eight people and injured at least 11 more in the attack in near the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.

Saipov drove a rented pickup truck from Home Depot through a crowded bike path for several blocks before finally crashing into a yellow school bus near Chambers and West Street, police said.

After exiting the vehicle, Saipov yelled “Allahu Akbar” and waived around some type of weapon, which authorities believe to be an airsoft gun or a B.B. gun. The suspect was shot twice by police and taken into custody. He remains in the hospital and is expected to survive his wounds.

[…]  According to the Associated Press, the suspect is believed to have rented the truck about an hour before the attack.

Authorities discovered that Saipov had a Florida license and he’s been connected to an address in the Tampa area. But he was living in New Jersey as recently as this summer and working as an Uber driver, a friend of Saipov told Fox News.  (read more)

 

Nov 1 2017

The Rising Separatist Movements in Europe-Eastern Europe


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Nov 1, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

There are many in Spain who just outright disagree with any right of Catalonia to be independent. History, culture, language, nothing really matters. Some have said it is the Spanish Constitution and all of Spain should vote to let Catalonia leave or stay. All of that said if Madrid had just allowed a fair referendum then whatever the vote was should have stood.

This is all about saving the EU and not Spain. It was the oppression that probably made others vote to leave. All of Spain cannot vote against one region. London did not vote on Scotland and neither did Toronto against Quebec. California has people pushing to separate and that is not a right to be decided by me in Florida.
Separatist movements are now rising throughout Europe. We see Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the UK all have separatist movements. There is even talk in Bavaria among friends I have there and Prussia wants more autonomy. Then there is Normandy and Brittany in France. There is a long list starting with Moravia, Lombardy, Insubria, South Tyrol, Carinthis, Friule-Venezia, Hungarian minorities, Savoy, Liguria, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Rijeka Istria, Veneto, Padania, Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, Sandzak, Serbian Republic, Vojvodina, Szekely Land, Gagauzia, Transnistria, Donbass, Crimea. Latgale, Ingria, Skameland, Samogita, Bornolm, and don’t forget Northen Cyprus. Some of these are asking for full independence and other more autonomy.
It is the economic issues intermixed with the refugee crisis that is sparking these movements today.
Nov 1 2017

Spain Invades Catalonia – Nullifies the Democratic Vote


Armstrong Economics Blog/SPAIN

Re-Posted Nov 1, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The Spanish Police have invaded Catalonia and the rigged high court of Spain nullifies its independence. It really is astonishing when you compare these actions to Russia and Crimea. At least Crimea the population were Russian speaking and not Ukrainian. Here we have Catalonia has had its own language from before the existence of Spain and have always regarded itself as separate and autonomous.

The action of Madrid are hailed and the constitution is the entire basis for the denial of human rights in Catalonia. Politicians have been carving the world and declaring borders for power. They have ignored language, race, religion and everything else for political power. Nobody ever says that is somehow wrong.

This is what is going on in Europe. Brussels is determined to eliminate borders, federalize Europe, and they hope in one or two generations, they will surrender language and culture to a central power.

Nov 1 2017

The Politics of Change – Iceland – New Zealand – Czech Republic


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Nov 1, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson’s Independence Party won the most votes in the Iceland election but he saw his party’s support eroded as voters turned to smaller parties in protest. This leaves the country in a position of uncertainty as the election has opened the door to power for the nation’s charismatic and very attractive left-wing leader, Katrin Jakobsdottir. Now Jakobsdottir has the chance to form together a narrow majority for a center-left coalition. She is a 41-year-old who is very popular on her own with pre-election polls that showed one in two voters wanted her as the premier.

Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic’s general election, the Populist billionaire candidate Andrej Babis and his party have won the largest cache of votes about 30%, which was three times that of anyone else. He ran on a Eurosceptic platform. He has said that he would not bring the Czech Republic into the Eurozone but he wants the country to stay in the EU. He also wants changes to the European Council on issues like food quality and a “solution to migration”.

The new Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, has declared that capitalism is a blatant failure. She has banned foreign investment in property in the country.

What we are witnessing is 1933. That is when Roosevelt, Mao, and Hitler all came to power. It was not a particular political philosophy, but whoever was in power was being thrown out.