The United Kingdom and Israel significantly upgraded relations in 2021 to "strategic partnership" status.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United Kingdom will deploy additional military personnel in the Middle East amid tensions in the region after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, the country's government said.

"Military personnel are also in the process of deploying to the region to provide Embassies with operational support to help British nationals," read a statement from Whitehall.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said it had received a report of a distress signal from a vessel proceeding 170 nautical miles (195 miles) southwest of the Yemeni port of Aden.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed military cooperation with his UK counterpart John Healey Friday as Western countries seek to protect Israel as it escalates tensions in the Middle East. Iran enjoys the right under international law to launch a retaliatory strike against Tel Aviv after the Zionist state launched an attack on sovereign Iranian territory earlier this week.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240803/uk-joins-us-in-deploying-military-forces-to-middle-east-after-israeli-escalation-1119628376.html

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FROM LARRY JOHNSON

There is a lot of chatter and garbage floating on the internet regarding Iran’s vow to strike back at Israel for killing the Ismail Haniyeh, the Chief Hamas negotiator, in Tehran this week. Airlines are cancelling flights in and out of Israel, Lebanon and Iran. The US is moving a 12 ship navy flotilla to the Med and ferrying combat jets to friendly airfields. I am sure there are some frantic behind the scenes attempts to get negotiations going or to persuade Iran to back down. I do not think that Iran and Hezbollah are bluffing. I think they fully intend to deliver a serious blow to Israel’s military and infrastructure. The big unknown is whether Israel, with the backing of the US and Europe, can de-fang the attack.

News broke tonight that the Commander of CENTCOM — who normally is based in Tampa, Florida at MacDill Air Force Base — arrived at the Headquarters of the Fifth fleet in Bahrain. This is just one more indicator that something ugly is in the works.

As the violence and rhetoric was escalating in the Middle East, there was a large swap of persons, most suspected or openly identified as intelligence assets. I was fascinated in particular by Mr. Paul Whelan. He was portrayed in the US media as just some poor former member of the US Marine Corps who was arrested for no good reason while attending a wedding in Russia in 2018. But then I looked into his story. Here are the uncomfortable facts courtesy of Wikipedia:

After a court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts “related to larceny“, he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a bad conduct discharge.[9][10] The specific charges against him included “attempted larceny, three specifications of dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, wrongfully using another’s social security number, and ten specifications of making and uttering[a]checks without having sufficient funds in his account for payment.”[12]

From 2010 to 2016 Whelan was Kelly Services’ senior manager of global security and operations.

When arrested in Russia, Whelan was director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan.[8][13][14] His work with Kelly Services and BorgWarner gave Whelan contacts with the U.S. intelligence community, federal agents and foreign embassies.

Why would a company with international operations hire a guy who got booted from the Marine Corps with a dishonorable discharge for bad conduct (e.g., attempted larceny and check kiting) and put him in charge of “global security and investigations?” Does that make sense to anyone?

The Russians allege that he was caught receiving classified material from a Russian intelligence officer. I don’t know if he was operating under the direction of the CIA or just trying to put together a new grift, given his prior record. While it is unlikely that the CIA would have hired him as a case officer or even a non-official cover officer, that does not rule out the possibility that the CIA had a “business” relationship with him. It is not unusual for the Agency to “make friends” with American businessman who are traveling to areas like Russia and request their help in getting information. I suspect there is a lot more to this story.

When it comes to spying, most Americans get way too emotionally involved and are unable to step back and try to do an objective assessment of what is really transpiring. Most of the Western media portrayed the Russians released as incorrigible criminals while praising the American prisoners as glistening patriots and heroes. You needed a pair of hip-high waders to tread through all the bullshit that was flowing over the airways. Trading spies-for-spies is not new. I guess the only twist in this current release is that the Biden Administration proudly insisted — Biden in particular — that no American talked to Putin.

Americans need to dispense with the nonsense that we only arrest bad guys who are doing bad things. Tell that to all of the January 6 prisoners who stand accused of insurrection for daring to walk into the U.S. Capitol after being invited inside by Capitol Hill police. Based on my own experience, the Russian security services are not going to hunt you down and grab you if you are behaving like a normal guest — i.e., visiting tourist sites and having friendly conversations with the locals.

We did have one mystery cleared up with the prisoner release. I was wondering if Biden was going to use the event as a springboard to build Kamala’s foreign policy cred by giving her credit for helping negotiate the release. Nope, true to form, Biden took full credit even though he had nothing to do with the actual negotiations. That reportedly was handled by CIA Director Bill Burns.

I had a chat yesterday (Friday) with Danny Ayoubi who hosts the podcast, Capital Cosm. Here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKRICh5Fb4I

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The Madness of Lindsey Graham
It is tempting to dismiss Graham's rhetoric as nonsense and leave it at that, but there is a strong and worrying likelihood that the president shares Graham's demented views and may be willing to act on them.

For some mysterious reason, Lindsey Graham is taken seriously when he talks about foreign policy, and yet everything he has to say about these issues is either nonsense or maniacal. Here he is rambling about why the U.S. should be willing to attack North Korea despite the massive loss of life that would follow:

Well, you know, so let’s understand what we’re saying here. We’re saying that as a last resort, we’ll use military force to destroy the regime’s nuclear program, which basically means destroying the regime. Now yes, that will be, that will be difficult. It will be devastating to the region. But 20 years from now, if they keep building nuclear weapons and missiles, they’re going to sell it to somebody who will use it. Iran is different. They have a religious mission. They’re religious zealots. They’re religious Nazis. If they get a nuclear weapon, they’ll use it for religious purposes, to purify the Sunni faith, destroy Israel and come after us. So where does a terrorist get a weapon, a nuclear weapon, that they would actually use? From a regime like North Korea or Iran. So the President has calculated for the good of the world, for the good of the United States, I’m going to take off the table North Korea having nuclear capability to threaten the homeland and the world at large. And if it takes a war to end that nuclear threat, so be it. And the war will be over there. The people dying will be over there, and he doesn’t want to do that. But he’s going to pick regional conflict to secure the homeland [bold mine-DL]. I hope people understand that.

Graham has shrugged off the likely deaths of millions several times before by asserting that they will be “over there.” Never mind that hundreds of thousands of Americans live in South Korea and would suffer along with the rest of the population there, and never mind that North Korea likely already has the ability to strike U.S. targets with nuclear-tipped ICBMs. Graham is enough of a warmonger that these things wouldn’t make him think twice anyway. Just consider the monstrous inhumanity required to talk up the virtues of starting a war that would devastate multiple countries and claim millions of lives and then shrug it off because it supposedly won’t affect us. Add to this the nonsensical raving about Iran’s supposed zealotry that would lead its government to commit national suicide, and you have a very clear window into the warped and disturbed thinking of one of our country’s leading pro-war fanatics.

It is tempting to dismiss Graham’s rhetoric as nonsense and leave it at that, but there is a strong and worrying likelihood that the president shares Graham’s demented views and may be willing to act on them. Now that Bolton is advising Trump, the president will have another equally fanatical voice in his ear telling him to do just that.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-madness-of-lindsey-graham/

STILL MAD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpubIhM0oig

Scott Ritter SOUNDS OFF on Senator Lindsay Graham's assertion on Face the Nation back in June that the US and NATO are waging war in Ukraine over resources. The former UN Weapons Inspector dives deep into the real reasons behind the US's hostile Russia policy and provides a stark update on the battlefield in Ukraine that should give anyone pause who supports this West's basis for the conflict. Don't miss this critical information!

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Russian [former] Defense Minister Shoigu hand-delivered to Iranian leaders Putin's personal letter offering to mediate in the conflict with Israel... This is the announcement just made by this article from Asia Times generally well informed. Despite the dangers, we can hope that the situation is such, with a balance of forces favorable to the peace camp – which is that of China and its strategic partners, first and foremost Russia – that the planets tend to align in the right direction or at least by making it difficult for the warmongers to act, as [...] Macron is more or less blocked. Which is the only good side of the electoral imbroglio that he himself caused... 

Danielle Bleitrach

View James Davis 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a personal letter to Iranian leaders asking them to refrain from military action against Israel while he attempts to mediate between the two countries, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The letter was hand-delivered by Russian [former] Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who arrived in Tehran on Monday.

Shoigu is scheduled to meet with Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, and Chief of General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri.

He will also meet the new Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian, reported the news agency Interfax.

Iran has said it will retaliate against Israel for the July 31 assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, widely attributed to the Jewish state's intelligence services. Israel has made no official comment on the killing.

Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards died in the explosion at a secure guest house for foreign dignitaries, in circumstances that remain unexplained. Haniyeh attended the inauguration of President Pezeshkian.

Hours earlier, an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shoukr, a close ally of Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would inflict "severe punishment» to Israel «at the appropriate time, place and manner».

According to New York Times, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Iranian armed forces to attack Israel in retaliation for Haniyeh's assassination.

Speculation is rife about possible Iranian actions as well as Israel's potential response. On April 13, Iran launched more than 300 projectiles at Israel. Almost all were shot down by a combination of Israeli and American air defenses.

Russia's possible role in an Israeli-Iranian conflict remains an open question. Reuters reported on August 6 that Putin had asked Iran to avoid civilian casualties in any potential military action against Israel.

The news agency said Shoigu delivered the message to Tehran. He also reported that Iran had asked Russia to sell it Su-35 fighters, one of Russia's most advanced aircraft. There are no reports of a Russian response to the request.

Le New York Times reported on August 5 that Russia was sending air defense systems to Iran, without specifying the systems in question. According to Russian sources, Russia has no weapons to spare in its operations in Ukraine, and is unlikely to provide its best air defense equipment to Iran.

According to sources familiar with Shoigu's discussions in Tehran, Iran considered Putin's proposal but requested high-tech Russian weapons as part of the deal - in particular, the Russian S air defense system. -400, which has a range of up to 400 kilometers and the ability to track multiple targets.

Iran has had an older Russian system, the S-300, since 2016, although it is unclear whether it has the newer version.

Some analysts believe the S-400 can track American stealth planes like the F-22 and F-35. This is unlikely, given that Russia has delayed shipments of S-400 systems previously contracted to India – its best weapons customer – due to the demands of the Ukrainian conflict.

Israel has maintained close communications with Russia, advising Russian forces in Syria on thousands of strikes against Iran-allied militias. Russia ended its air defense and allowed Israel to operate unhindered.

The war in Ukraine has put Israel in a bind: it does not want to get on Russia's bad side by providing military support to Ukraine.

The United States has asked Israel to sell up to eight Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, and the question would remain under negotiation.

The Patriot is particularly important to Ukraine because it is the only available defense against Russian aircraft that drop glide bombs at a range of about 60 kilometers.

If Putin helps Israel by defusing a possible firefight with Iran, he will want some favors in return.

source: Asia Times via History and Society

https://en.reseauinternational.net/poutine-demande-a-liran-de-reporter-sa-frappe-contre-israel-et-propose-une-mediation/

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Pentagon Chief Orders Nuclear Submarine Deployment to Middle East

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS Georgia nuclear submarine to be deployed to the Middle East and the deployment of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the region to be accelerated, the Pentagon said on Sunday following Austin’s conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

"Secretary Austin has ordered the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Central Command area of responsibility, adding to the capabilities already provided by the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group. Additionally, the Secretary has ordered the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) guided missile submarine to the Central Command region," the Pentagon said.

During the phone call, the parties discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and measures to protect Israel. In particular, Austin emphasized the US readiness to take all necessary steps to protect its Middle Eastern ally.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240812/pentagon-chief-orders-nuclear-submarine-deployment-to-middle-east-1119729367.html

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.