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July 2019

An English Misunderstanding of Iran by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14585/the-english-job-jack-straw

Jack Straw’s misunderstanding, perhaps caused by his “absolute infatuation” with his imaginary Iran, has three aspects.

The first is that he thinks that because Iran is an ancient civilization — and has produced great poets, weaves exquisite carpets and offers one of the world’s hautes cuisines — it deserves indulgence for its weird activities in other domains such as hostage-taking, hate-mongering, human rights violations and the export of terror in the name of revolution. It is like granting Stalin indulgence because one appreciates Pushkin and Tchaikovsky and enjoys a dish of borscht with a glass of “little water” on the side.

The trouble is that Straw is unable to cite a single reform proposed, let alone carried out, by his “reformist” faction in Tehran. Worse still, he forgets that there have been more executions and political arrests under Khatami and Rouhani than during the presidency of the supposedly “hardline” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Straw offers no evidence than any deal made with the Islamic Republic in the past 40 years has had a long-lasting impact on the Khomeinist strategy and behavior. The Khomeinist rulers of Iran have perfected the art of diplomatic cheat-retreat-advance. Whenever their bones began to creak, they offered some concessions, which were subsequently withdrawn once the crushing of the bones ceased. More importantly, perhaps, Straw fails to realize that his “moderates” including Rouhani and Khatami, lack the popular support base needed to marginalize Khamenei let alone get rid of him.

The English Job
Understanding Iran and Why It Distrusts Britain
By Jack Straw
390 pages; published by Biteback Books, London 2019.

The subtitle of Jack Straw’s new book promises to help the reader in “understanding Iran”.

However, what one gets in 390 pages may best be described as a misunderstanding of Iran today — a misunderstanding that has prevented Britain, along with other Western powers, from developing a realistic Iran policy and has helped prolong the crisis caused by the Islamic Republic’s unorthodox behavior in the international arena.

Straw’s misunderstanding, perhaps caused by his “absolute infatuation” with his imaginary Iran, has three aspects.

What Mueller Was Trying to Hide His investigation was about protecting the actual miscreants in the collusion hoax. Kimberley Strassel

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-mueller-was-trying-to-hide-11564094510

Special counsel Robert Mueller testified before two House committees Wednesday, and his performance requires us to look at his investigation and report in a new light. We’ve been told it was solely about Russian electoral interference and obstruction of justice. It’s now clear it was equally about protecting the actual miscreants behind the Russia-collusion hoax.

The most notable aspect of the Mueller report was always what it omitted: the origins of this mess. Christopher Steele’s dossier was central to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe, the basis of many of the claims of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. Yet the Mueller authors studiously wrote around the dossier, mentioning it only in perfunctory terms. The report ignored Mr. Steele’s paymaster, Fusion GPS, and its own ties to Russians. It also ignored Fusion’s paymaster, the Clinton campaign, and the ugly politics behind the dossier hit job.

Mr. Mueller’s testimony this week put to rest any doubt that this sheltering was deliberate. In his opening statement he declared that he would not “address questions about the opening of the FBI’s Russia investigation, which occurred months before my appointment, or matters related to the so-called Steele Dossier.” The purpose of those omissions was obvious, as those two areas go to the heart of why the nation has been forced to endure years of collusion fantasy.

Mr. Mueller claimed he couldn’t answer questions about the dossier because it “predated” his tenure and is the subject of a Justice Department investigation. These excuses are disingenuous. Nearly everything Mr. Mueller investigated predated his tenure, and there’s no reason the Justice Department probe bars Mr. Mueller from providing a straightforward, factual account of his team’s handling of the dossier. CONTINUE AT SITE

Beyond Mueller’s ‘Purview’ The Justice Department will have to examine the rest of the Russia story.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/beyond-muellers-purview-11564097665

Having failed to prove collusion and obstruction of justice, the cheerleaders of the Robert Mueller investigation are now highlighting his claim this week that Russia is still trying to interfere in U.S. elections. No doubt the Russians are. Which makes it all the more important that the Justice Department finish the half of the Russian-meddling probe that Mr. Mueller didn’t.

We’re referring to the areas that Mr. Mueller said this week were not in his “purview.” We counted nine times the former special counsel resorted to that answer, all in response to questions about the origin story of the FBI counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign.

Was Mr. Mueller familiar with Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that Democrats used to flog dirt about Donald Trump and Russia? “This is outside my purview,” he said.

Did he know that Fusion GPS was also representing a Russian-based company known as Prevezon while it was flogging that dirt? “It’s outside my purview,” Mr. Mueller said.

Tulsi Gabbard Files $50M Lawsuit Against Google for Post-Debate Ad Ban By Tyler O’Neil

https://pjmedia.com/trending/tulsi-gabbard-files-50m-lawsuit-against-google-for-post-debate-ad-ban/

On Thursday, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii)’s campaign announced a $50 million lawsuit against Google, alleging that the Big Tech company violated Gabbard’s free speech by temporarily suspending her campaign’s Google ads account for six hours after the first Democratic debate last month.

“Google’s discriminatory actions against my campaign are reflective of how dangerous their complete dominance over internet search is, and how the increasing dominance of big tech companies over our public discourse threatens our core American values,” Gabbard told The New York Times in a statement on the lawsuit. “This is a threat to free speech, fair elections and to our democracy, and I intend to fight back on behalf of all Americans.”

“In the hours following the 1st debate, while millions of Americans searched for info about Tulsi, Google suspended her search ad account w/o explanation. It is vital to our democracy that big tech companies can’t affect the outcome of elections,” Gabbard tweeted. “Google controls 88% of internet search in the US — giving it control over our access to information. Google’s arbitrary suspension of the account of a presidential candidate should be of concern to all Americans.”

“They threaten our democracy and Tulsi will fight back on behalf of all Americans,” she concluded.

Maccabi Haifa Fans Beaten in Strasbourg as Police Bans Israeli Flags from Tonight’s Game By David Israel 

https://www.jewishpress.com/news/global/europe/france/maccabi-haifa-fans-beaten-in-strasbourg-as-police-bans-israeli-flags-from-tonights-game/2019/07/25/

Three Maccabi Haifa soccer club fans who arrived in Strasbourg, France, ahead of a the Europa League match Thursday night between Haifa and the local club, were attacked by six or seven locals late Wednesday night, Israel Hayom reported. The Haifa fans did not sustain serious injuries, but a member of their team’s security filed a complaint with the police.

One of the three Israelis, who were not wearing their team’s shirts or paraphernalia at the time of the attack, told Israel Hayom the assailants demanded to see their passports and their phones, to check out their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“Then they shouted that we were Maccabi Haifa. We told them we were just tourists, but really quickly they started slapping us, throwing chairs and hitting, and punching us in the face. Some of the locals got up to get them off us and they ran away. We’re really worried about what will happen next, and we don’t know if we’ll be at the game.”

Strasbourg hosts Maccabi Haifa for the second round of the Europa League, which starts today, Thursday, at 8:45 PM local time. Even before the Wednesday attack, Strasbourg police issued extremely restrictive instructions to the fans of Maccabi Haifa, warning them not to bring Israeli flags into the Mino des Champions de France stadium in Strasbourg. Police also limited the number of Israeli fans permitted to enter the stadium to 600.

Israeli Ambassador Aliza Ben Nun condemned the orders, calling them unacceptable.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz instructed the Israeli embassy in France to take immediate steps to remove the restrictions imposed on the fans, and said he expected to see “many fans waving many flags tonight at the stadium.”

In a Fox News interview with Mark Levin in March 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defined the three greatest threats to his country as “Iran, Iran and Iran.” By Ruthie Blum

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Right-from-Wrong-Iran-Iran-Iran-and-Netanyahu-596824

This was by no means the first time that Netanyahu had pointed to the perils posed by Tehran’s race to acquire nuclear weapons, nor would it be his last.

Indeed, Netanyahu has been warning the world about Tehran’s global terrorist reach for so long that his speeches on the issue, both at home and abroad, have become a source of ridicule. Accusing him of fear-mongering as a ploy to stay in power, his detractors berate him for comparing the mullah-led regime’s evil hegemonic aspirations to those of the Nazis.

Yes, the very enemies who think nothing of comparing Netanyahu and his ally in the White House to Hitler have been downplaying the concrete danger that has been emanating from the Islamic Republic since its establishment 40 years ago – a menace that has escalated to alarming levels. Thanks to the “appeasement deal of the century,” otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, pushed forth by a coalition of ostriches, led by former US president Barack Obama and his criminally negligent, if not outright criminal, administration.

Netanyahu’s repeated appeals to the so-called “international community” not to enter into a nuclear agreement favorable to Iran initially fell on deaf ears. But it did not deter him from his two-pronged approach: gathering and exposing intelligence about Tehran’s spinning centrifuges on one hand while launching limited military strikes against Iranian and proxy Hezbollah targets in Syria on the other.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – A Review By Marilyn Penn

http://politicalmavens.com/

For moviegoers old enough to remember the sickeningly grotesque details of the Manson family’s massacre of Sharon Tate, her unborn child and the other victims in her house, it will be hard to believe that the alternate massacre in Quentin Tarantino’s latest film is greeted with gales of laughter throughout that sequence. The theater was full at the 4pm weekday screening, and I was shocked to see how many of the viewers were at least middle aged and could be expected to have at least read about this shocking mass murder that took place in 1969.

At two hours and 40 minutes, notwithstanding constant background music from the sixties, fast moving cars and two excellent performances by Brad Pitt and Leonard DeCaprio, the movie lacks directorial pace. The scene where Brad Pitt as a movie stuntman comes to the Manson community populated by strung-out young hippies, lingers far too long on pointless dialogue before descending into extreme violence in Tarantino’s signature style. The scene with Sharon Tate kvelling at her own performance in a movie is similarly too protracted and frankly, one inducing a queasy feeling of disrespect for a young pregnant actress who was butchered by what can only be called monsters, some of whom have been released from jail.