Obama: Britain Should Stay in the EU Because Of Iran, Climate Change, TTIP, And Because Sovereignty Is Outdated

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by RAHEEM KASSAM21 Apr 20161,468

U.S. President Barack Obama has penned an opinion columnin Britain’s Daily Telegraphnewspaper outlining why he believes Britain should remain in the European Union (EU). The core of his arguments are: that Britain’s voice would be lost without Brussels bureaucrats; his failing deal with the largest state sponsor of terrorism; the pro-mass-privatisation TTIP deal; and the fact that dead American servicemen are buried in Europe.

One might argue that he has failed to read the room.

Just as President Obama parodied himself in his multitude of snubs to Britain during his tenure, he has, probably unknowingly, lampooned himself again – which hasn’t gone unnoticed by staff at the Telegraphthemselves, when tweeting out his column tonight.

President Obama begins by talking up the United Nations and NATO: institutions that are increasingly being called into question not just in Britain, but across Europe and further afield. And he acknowledges the timing of his visit is poor to say the least, jesting:

“I realise that there’s been considerable speculation – and some controversy – about the timing of my visit. And I confess: I do want to wish Her Majesty a happy birthday in person.”

But his op-ed column takes a turn for the bizarre when he mentions the U.S. servicemen who died defending sovereignty and freedom in Europe. This is perhaps especially concerning when he is effectively backing a new German takeover of the continent. He writes:

“The tens of thousands of Americans who rest in Europe’s cemeteries are a silent testament to just how intertwined our prosperity and security truly are. And the path you choose now will echo in the prospects of today’s generation of Americans as well.”

And then comes the attack on the idea of sovereign nations themselves. President Obama insists that “collective action” is more pressing than the idea of independent countries: a notion that those same American servicemen died fighting against:

“And in today’s world, even as we all cherish our sovereignty, the nations who wield their influence most effectively are the nations that do it through the collective action that today’s challenges demand.”

President Obama then goes on to cite the nuclear deal with Iran that has emboldened the country – the globe’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, and enemy of the Western world and its allies:

“When we negotiated the historic deal to verifiably prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, it was collective action, working together with the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, that got the job done. And the EU’s seat at the table magnified the United Kingdom’s voice.

“When the climate agreement in Paris needed a push, it was the European Union, fortified by the United Kingdom, that ultimately helped make that agreement possible.”

Finally, President Obama discusses theTrans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal – now widely knownto be a corporate lobbyist effort to privatise Britain’s National Health Service en masse and give corporations the right to sue governments. It is massively unpopular with the socialist left and the nationalist right, yet he says:

“When it comes to creating jobs, trade, and economic growth in line with our values, the UK has benefited from its membership in the EU – inside a single market that provides enormous opportunities for the British people. And the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the EU will advance our values and our interests, and establish the high-standard, pro-worker rules for trade and commerce in the 21st century economy.”

Just this week France threatened to derail the entire deal.

Conclusively, one might argue that President Obama’s op-ed is a litany of unpopular, establishment narratives. The most worrying thing about it? Most people aren’t likely to have a clue what he’s talking about.

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Iran Pledges to Defy U.S. Sanctions, Build up Ballistic Missile Program

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by JORDAN SCHACHTEL18 Jan 2016Washington, DC1,431

Iran will ignore recently-passed U.S. sanctions against its ballistic missile program, the regime’s defense minister pledged on Monday, promising to unveil new homemade weapons systems in the near future.

“[Any] attempt to impose new sanctions [against Iran] under irrelevant pretexts is indicative of the continued US hostile policy and acrimony toward the Iranian nation, and a futile effort to undermine Iran’s defense might,” said Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan on Monday.

U.S. sanctions enacted over the weekend will have minimal effect on Iran’s missile development programs, he added.

“Hence, sanctions against [certain] people and companies will have no impact on the development of the industry, and we will actually demonstrate [their ineffectiveness] by displaying new missiles,” Dehqan said, in comments reported by state-run PressTv.

The Defense Minister’s comments follow a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry statement pledging to thwart the United States’ “destructive” sanctions against Iran’s weapons program.

“We will respond to such propaganda stunts and disruptive measures by more robustly pursuing our lawful missile program and promoting our defense capabilities and national security,” read a statement from Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

On Sunday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it would impose sanctions against a number of individuals and organizations over Iran’s ballistic missile program.

“Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat to regional and global security, and it will continue to be subject to international sanctions,” read a statementfrom Adam Szubin, acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “We have consistently made clear that the United States will vigorously press sanctions against Iranian activities outside of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – including those related to Iran’s support for terrorism, regional destabilization, human rights abuses, and ballistic missile program.”

The new sanctions come as Iran is expected to receive tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets in accordance with the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), agreed upon by the regime in Tehran and the P5+1 world powers.

On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerryannounced the U.S. had granted Iran $1.7 billion dollars, repaying the Ayatollah’s theocracy a $400 million dollar debt plus $1.3 billion in interest. Kerry called the payment a “fair settlement.” President Obama agreed, claiming “the settlement could save us billions of dollars that could have been pursued by Iran.”

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ANALYSIS: Iran Hardliners Generated Crisis with ‘Willing Dupe’ Obama to Solidify Domestic Power

by AARON KLEIN13 Jan 2016348

TEL AVIV – Less than one week before the international community is set to unlock a decade of sanctions imposed on Iran, the country’s Islamic hardliners deliberately generated a crisis with the US for pure domestic consumption with the aim of ensuring the ayatollahs’s continued grip on power.

Once the International Atomic Energy Agency announces on Friday as expected that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the US-brokered nuclear accord, the billions of dollars in unfrozen accounts and the massive flow of oil exports will usher in historic changes to Iran’s long-isolated economy.

Iran’s hardliners are backed by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, the IRGC, which ultimately answers to the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This nexus of power fears that  the sanctions relief – and renewed ties with the West, primarily the US – will shift the center of gravity toward the Iranian internationalists, largely represented by Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani.

Khamenei’s revolution requires that the West be viewed by Iranians as the enemy; indeed, this is the very raison d’être for the Guards’ continued existence. The hardliners cannot afford to be upstaged by any progress on the economic and political fronts following next week’s sanctions relief.

The BBC last year noticed this trend and accurately reported that “the Guards appear to be pursuing a new doctrine: in order to protect the Islamic Republic at home, Iran must confront threats abroad.”

And so the Guards, knowing they will face few consequences from the Obama administration, seized the opportunity to capture ten sailors after two US Navy patrol boards were accused of crossing into the country’s territorial waters.

The Guards said in a statement that the US military personnel were set free after an investigation had determined they had entered by mistake – but not beforemaximizing the humiliation of the US at home and abroad.

The Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, boastedto Iranian media that Tuesday’s capture and subsequent release of the sailors “proved how vulnerable the U.S. is in front of powerful Iranian forces.”

Iran’s Tasnim news agency furtherquoted Firouzabadi stating, “This incident in the Persian Gulf, which probably will not be the American forces’ last mistake in the region, should be a lesson to troublemakers in the US Congress.”

On Wednesday, Tasnim released video purporting to show a US sailor apologizing for invading Iranian territory. “It was a mistake, it was our fault, and we apologize for our mistake,” an unidentified sailor told the Iranian interviewer, who then asked him if his GPS system penetrated Iran. “I believe so,” he responded.

Of course, the latest events must also be seen through the lens of the wider Shiite-Sunni divide, and the need for the Iranians to regain the narrative and upstage the Saudi axis after the Kingdom’s provocativekilling earlier this month of the prominent Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr.

It is stunning that the Iranians believe they can get away with these provocations while they use the Obama administration as willing dupes for their internal Soviet-esque propaganda efforts.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer rightlynoted:

In October, Iran test-fires a nuclear-capable ballistic missile in brazen violation of a Security Council resolution explicitly prohibiting such launches. President Obama does nothing. One month later, Iran does it again. The administration makes a few gestures at the UN. Then nothing. Then finally, on Dec. 30, the White House announces a few sanctions.

They are weak, aimed mostly at individuals and designed essentially for show. Amazingly, even that proves too much. By 10 P.M. that night, the administration caves. The White House sends out an email saying that sanctions are off — and the Iranian president orders the military to expedite the missile program.

. . . Just two weeks ago, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards conducted live-fire exercises near the Strait of Hormuz. It gave nearby US vessels exactly 23 seconds of warning. One rocket was launched 1,500 yards from the USS Harry S. Truman.

Obama’s response? None.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.”  Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.

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Iran Seizes Two U.S. Navy Vessels, 10 American Sailors

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by ADELLE NAZARIAN & JORDAN SCHACHTEL12 Jan 2016381

The Islamic Republic of Iran seized two U.S. Navy vessels while they were navigating the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, detaining the ships and ten American sailors near Iran’s Farsi Island, the Pentagon said.

Farsi Island is home to an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) military base.

It has been confirmed that the boats were captured by the IRGC, whose leaders are aligned with the regime’s hardliners and have expressed staunch opposition to the now-historic nuclear deal.

Key here: Iran’s Fars News agency says US sailors picked up by Revolutionary Guard Corps, from hardline camp & v. opposed to nuclear deal

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 12, 2016

Iran’s state-controlled Fars New Agencyreported that one of the 10 sailors who have been detained is a woman. They also noted in their article that each of the boats is equipped with three 50 caliber machine guns. The IRGC has also confiscated GPS equipment from the vessels.

Iran media says Revolutionary Guard navy confiscated GPS equipment belonging to 10 US sailors it has arrested, “our border was crossed.”

— Thomas Erdbrink (@ThomasErdbrink) January 12, 2016

Senior U.S. officials told news outlets it is unclear if the ships strayed into Iranian waters before Tehran’s navy captured the vessels. Iran claims the U.S. ships illegally entered Iranian territory.

Secretary of State John Kerry has called Tehran hoping to secure the sailors’ immediate release, according to reports, which state Iran has agreed to let them go “within hours.”

At the same time Kerry was said to be on the phone with Iranian officials, his Twitter account posted the following:

.@HHigginbottom and @ABlinken take part in @WhiteHouse’s#BigBlockOfCheeseDay tomorrow. Send them your toughest #foreignpolicyquestions.

— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) January 12, 2016

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told AP Tuesday that the U.S. Navy ships were in transit between Kuwait and Bahrain when they lost contact with their base of communications.

“We have been in contact with Iran and have received assurances that the crew and vessels will be returned promptly,” Cookstated.

Iran has assured the U.S. of the sailors’ “safety and well-being” and “will promptly continue their journey,” a senior White House official told Fox News.

However, a report by the Tasnim News Agency only makes reference to release of the ships’ crew. In fact, the report twice makes a point to suggest that the boat’s occupants would be released, indicating a divergence from statements issued by the White House. Furthermore, the article in the Fars News Agency does not indicate the crew’s imminent release and even makes reference to repeated calls from U.S. officials for the release of prisoners that are currently being held in Iranian prisons.

Officials also indicated that, contrary to suggestions of an imminent release, the crew could be spending the night in captivity.

Official tells @barbarastarrcnn the U.S. sailors may be spending the night in Iran https://t.co/DudzVAnlrOhttps://t.co/4hoJGjSrH3

— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom)January 12, 2016

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) appeared on MSNBC Tuesday afternoon, telling the far-left news network she hopes the issue will be resolved before the President’s State of the Union address.

“Hopefully this will be resolved, and it won’t be an issue that we’re talking about in a couple of hours,” she said.

Separately, U.S. Representatives Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) have invited the sister and brother-in-law of Amir Hekmati, an American who is being held hostage in an Iranian prison, as their guests for President Obama’s State of the Union Address.

They said in a bipartisan press release:

Today marks the 1,596th day of Amir Hekmati’s unjust imprisonment in Iran on charges fabricated out of whole cloth.

The House of Representatives has been adamant that we must secure his release.  To draw attention to Amir’s plight, his sister Sarah Hekmati (guest of Rep. Dan Kildee) and her husband Dr. Ramy Kurdi (guest of Rep. Matt Salmon) will be, by agreement of the whole house, seated together tonight at the President’s State of the Union address to Congress.

“It is our hope that bringing renewed national attention to Amir’s imprisonment will not only keep him in the nation’s prayers, but renew our diplomatic efforts to secure his release.

Update 5:45 PM ET: The U.S. sailors will be held hostage “through Wednesday,” senior defense officials tell The Daily Beast.

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