Opinions about life and culture, A world view of a Woman Artist travelling from The Middle-east to Europe in the 80's, 90's and 2000/2019 ..... Autobiographycal Stories which have been published in the book "A Time For dreamers" (Austin Macauley Publishers) and some self published Stories on Kindle ( "Paris 2015" / "I Believe in You")
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Roberta's comment triggered of thought about this article...From The Guardian ; About The Iran Crisis
My Comment;
I remember Roberta an Italian lady (high up in social status) and presumably on the liberal left (but was she on the far right ? who would knows? ) saying to me (out of the blue) in the midst of our conversation about other unrelated things that "Iran is a delicious morsel that we could enjoy" ... who was the "we" .... this comment made her sound like a giant feeding on people and was too awful to talk about .... it did not sound friendly at all (me being the only one from that country in her presence!).
This conversation came about a year after the young Reggeni had been sacrificed on the alter of political interest" .... who done it ? and what was going on in Eygpt now? Those were a lot of questions which didnt have answers. She said she was travelling to Cairo in the next days .... no connection excepting for what had been on the news.
These days "mischief" has raised it's ugly head again and we read that some cargo ships have been damaged while travelling in the Persian Gulf (nine eleven style ie hush hush who done it ? ) and a drone was shot down because flying in the area without a human pilot in it .....
President Trump has said that he would be Iran friendly if they would only leave off working on the Nuclear project (which seems reasonable enough, because there cant be too many people playing with Nukes ..... other than President Kim) and Iranian politicians are saying that they don't want to go to war with any country .....
why is it that i get worried when i think of Roberta's comment .... she has been working for American universities all her life so what she said might come from that direction.
I remember Saddam was accused of having weapons he didnt have and an honorable English scientist gave his life by saying that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction ...... but Iraq went into the net of the giant ...... for better or for worse and now will the Iraquis enjoy the Belt and Road project in their country?
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David Kelly was at the centre of a claim that the government 'sexed up' an intelligence dossier on Iraq [GALLO/GETTY]
Autopsy reports released by the British government have confirmed that David Kelly, a British scientist at the centre of controversy over weapons intelligence on Iraq, committed suicide in 2003. (very unbelievable story)
In an interview with President Putin a journalist asked him about President Trump and his comments on Iran ..... The Russian President laughed and said something to this effect; "you know that what ever is said about our neighbor is really meant for us Russians. " meaning that the Americans would always have to deal with the Russians for any issues regarding Iran (and Syria)
The big Russian elder brother watching over the area today , is worrying .... other journalists talking to President Putin about Iran have a dodgy smile and unpleasantly "in the know" snigger .... obviously they know "the giant" possessing Iran as a delicious morsel ..... and what to do with a nation which has got a long way to go and has not got a Jappanese or a korean mentality and discipline ?
Personally, I lived in Iran from 2005 to 2010 having to look after my mother and family affairs . Back then the controlling surveillance was very tight . Nevertheless two important nuclear scientists were assasinated in the traffic jam in that period ..... even with control meccanisms which were rigid and relentless ..... as if the army was always on it's toes and waiting for "something" to happen.
My home in northern Tehran was in a nice area and i felt it was safer than the rest of the places i had to go to .... on the whole people living and having to deal with "psycological war fare and game playing" blamed all their troubles on foreign intruders
It made me wonder when some one i knew talked about "our betters in the army" ..... were they the ones who were keeping everyone in poverty (except the builders). Now i look back and think that there is a socialistic "Kill Joy" cloud (Chinese ? or European? ) hanging on the country and making life miserable for many Iranians , so much so that the young people i met where nostalgic about the Shah and the good times when their parents were living in a country that was rich and benefiting from it's resources. That is the reason why a lot of people would run away from the country if they could ....
Now the destiny of the country is in the hands of the Soviets. I hate to think that these are the same "friends" who couldn't or wouldn't defend President Qaddafi and were delighted to see Libya, a wealthy country all through the years the Colonel had been in charge ..... fall into the abyss of Fake "Democracy". That was "Mr You Know Who" , giving the whole of Africa as a gift to the Chinese. I hope Iran won't be such a gift and delicious morsel for one of the giants (as Syria has been). Like the Syrians the Persians have enjoyed "a little" intellectual freedom and commerce for some decades and God willing the hope still lives that there will be a living and "Real Democracy" achieved here ...... some day in the near future.
Donald Trump 'cancelled Iran strikes with planes in the air'
Military operation was called off, New York Times reports, as Democratic leaders warn the US could ‘bumble into a war’ with Iran
Donald Trump is reported to have ordered missiles strikes on Iran after a US Global Hawk drone was down in the Strait of Hormuz. Photograph: HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump reportedly gave initial approval for the US military to launch strikes on Iran in retaliation for Tehran shooting down an American drone, before pulling back at the last minute.
Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down on Thursday night, the New York Times quoted an unnamed official as saying.
US military and diplomatic officials were expecting strikes on a handful of radar and missile sites after the president’s top national security officials and congressional leaders gathered at the White House, the paper said. The military operation was called off around 7.30 pm ET (12.30am BST).
It was not clear if strikes would go ahead at a later date. The White House and Pentagon have not commented on the reports.
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On Friday Reuters reported that Trump had passed a message to Tehran via Oman warning an attack on Iran was imminent.
“In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues,” an anonymous Iranian official told the news agency. “He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran’s immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei to decide about this issue.”
A second Iranian official said: “We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision ... However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences.”
Oman – along with Japan, Iraq and to a lesser extent Switzerland – has acted as an intermediary for messages between Trump and the Iranian leadership.
Khamenei has repeatedly said he will not talk to the US until it lifts economic sanctions, adding he does not trust Trump’s motives.
The reported contact with Oman suggests that the White House might have been involved in brinkmanship with Tehran, but pulled back when Iran did not flinch.
US officials said that Trump is known to want to have talks, but is also a believer in sending mixed messages to keep his adversaries guessing as to his next move.
He is surrounded by some officials – notably national security adviser John Bolton – who are thought to favour an attack.
Timeline
Recent tensions in the Gulf
The Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who had attended a classified White House briefing with other congressional leaders on Thursday, had said the administration should “do everything in our power to de-escalate”, while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he worried the administration “may bumble into a war”.
He said he told the president there must be a “robust, open debate” and Congress should have a real say. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said: “The president certainly listened to what we had to say.”
One of the targets of the planned strikes was the S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missile system, Newsweek quoted a Pentagon official as saying. It reported that the US believed the system was behind the US drone attack, although Tehran said it had used its “3rd Khordad” air defence system, the Iranian equivalent of the Russian Buk system that downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.
The strikes were seemingly set for early in the day to minimize risk to the Iranian military or to civilians.
Trump had earlier appeared keen to calm tensions following the shooting down early on Thursday of the US Global Hawk drone, saying blame might be on a “loose and stupid” Iranian officer acting without authorisation from Tehran.
Many observers fear there is an absence of off ramps if warfare broke out.
Trump’s allies claimed he was intent on listening to all sides of the argument, but his instinct, relayed to the UK, has been to use the economic pressure on Iran to force the Iranians to the bargaining table, and not to press regime change.
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Trump suggests a 'loose and stupid' Iranian officer shot down US drone – video
“We didn’t have a man or woman in the drone. It would have made a big, big difference,” Trump said. Asked how the US would respond, he said: “You’ll find out.”
The downing on Thursday of the unarmed aircraft was the latest of a series of incidents that have raised tensions in the Gulf region, a critical artery for global oil supplies. Earlier, a total of six oil tankers were damaged in two separate attacks.
According to a US official who spoke to the Associated Press, the strikes were recommended by the Pentagon and were among the options presented to senior administration officials.
The report of the swift reversal on US retaliation came as the US Federal Aviation Administration banned all US airlines and aircraft from flying in Iranian airspace close to where the US drone was shot down due to “heightened military activities”, as tensions increase in the region.
There have been reports of an increase in Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps activity in the Strait of Hormuz, increasing the chances of attacks on oil tankers operated by America or its Gulf allies if the US did mount an attack.
The FAA issued an emergency order saying all flight operations over water in the Tehran flight information region of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman were prohibited until further notice because military activities and political tensions “present an inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations and potential for miscalculation or mis-identification”.
The order applies to US aircraft only but since the MH17 disaster all countries rely on airspace risk advice from the US, UK, France and Germany.
On Thursday, Iran’s foreign minister and the US military offered competing graphics showing the drone’s flight path and where it was brought down.
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Javad Zarif said Iran had recovered parts of the drone in its waters and that it had originally taken off from the United Arab Emirates.
At 00:14 US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode & violated Iranian airspace. It was targeted at 04:05 at the coordinates (25°59'43"N 57°02'25"E) near Kouh-e Mobarak.
We've retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down.
The ISR Flight path and grid plots for the RQ-4A shot down by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. “This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset that had not violated Iranian airspace at any time …” – Lt Gen Joseph Guastella, @USAFCENT
Flight tracking data showed commercial aircraft flying close to the Global Hawk drone at the time it was shot down, said OPS Group, which provides safety guidance to air operators.
“The threat of a civil aircraft shootdown in southern Iran is real,” it advised operators on Thursday. “Avoiding the Strait of Hormuz area is recommended – misidentification of aircraft is possible.”
Last month, US regulator the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advised airlines to exercise caution in flying over Iran and nearby areas, due to heightened military activities and increased political tension.
It said: “Although Iran likely has no intention to target civil aircraft, the presence of multiple long-range, advanced anti-aircraft capable weapons in a tense environment poses a possible risk of miscalculation or misidentification, especially during periods of heightened political tension and rhetoric.”
Comment: I once found a bag near a shopping Mall in Paris .... It looked like a girl owned it because it was full of makeup bits and pieces and there were a lot of cards in it , one of which belonged to a buisness school and this had her name on it. The student was from Madagascar and i was sighing to myself when i called the school and the receptionist wasnt helpful in finding the person i was looking for. I went to the consolate or Embassy one morning , spending money on a Taxi in order to give the bag to a safe person working there. The consolate reminded me of consolates or embassies representing very poor countries ... .... where is all the money and wealth going ? SAMBAVA, Madagascar — Bright moonlight reflected off broad banana leaves, but it was still hard to see the blue twine laced through the undergrowth, a tripwire meant to send the unwary tumbling to the ground. “This is the way the thieves come,” sai...
arti visive street & urban art A Verona lo street artist Cibo combatte il fascismo e il razzismo con i murales By Valentina Poli - 31 luglio 2018 QUANDO L’ARTE PUÒ DAVVERO FARE LA DIFFERENZA NELLE NOSTRE CITTÀ: CIBO È UNO STREET ARTIST VERONESE, CLASSE 1982, CHE CON IL SUO LAVORO PROVA A CANCELLARE LE SCRITTE E I SIMBOLI D’ODIO CHE AFFOLLANO I MURI COPRENDOLE CON FRAGOLE, ANGURIE, MUFFIN E ALTRE COSE DA MANGIARE. LA SUA STORIA Lavoro dello street artist Cibo “Non lasciare spazio all’odio” o “No al fascismo. Sì alla cultura” e ancora “Se ci metto la faccia è perché ho la speranza che altri mi seguano nel rendere le città libere dall’odio e dai fascismi, qualsiasi bandiera portino oggi. Scendete in strada e non abbiate paura! La cultura e l’amore vincerà sempre su queste persone insipide!”. Queste sono alcune frasi che si possono leggere sul profilo Facebook di Pier Paolo Spinazzè , in ...
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