Was Tillerson Sacked to Abandon the Iran Nuclear Deal?

[image: AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB]

Tillerson supported Washington remaining on board with the JCPOA nuclear deal – along with other P5+1 countries Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

Trump wants it unacceptably changed or abandoned. On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted:

“Mr Trump has made habit of being unpredictable and thus unreliable for anybody to engage with. Nobody will be interested in reaching any agreement with the White House if US signature only good for 4-8 yrs.”

Replacing Tillerson with militantly anti-Iran hardliner Pompeo smoothes things for Trump to pursue greater hostility toward the Islamic Republic with a key administration official on board with his reckless agenda.

Like the president, secretary of state designee Pompeo opposes the nuclear deal. Tillerson’s sacking likely signals Trump’s intention to abandon the JCPOA ahead.

According to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, “Americans are determined to leave the JCPOA, and changes at the country’s State Department were made in line with this goal, or at least it was one of the reasons,” adding:

“Europeans are walking on the razor’s edge because if they incline towards Trump, they will lose Iran.”

Days earlier, IAEA head Yukiya Amano said “I can state that Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments…If the JCPOA were to fail, it would be a great loss for nuclear verification and for multilateralism.”

Things are heading in this direction, especially with Pompeo succeeding Tillerson at State.

Things pursued by Washington should terrify everyone. Trump escalated rogue policies his predecessors began – notably waging political, economic and hot wars against multiple countries.

Will Iran be his next target for regime change, beginning by abandoning the JCPOA nuclear deal? What took years of negotiations to conclude, he could scrap with a signature taking moments.

Replacing Tillerson with Pompeo signals likely escalated wars of aggression, stepped up hostility toward Russia and China, perhaps scuttling a Trump/Kim Jong-un summit or structuring it to fail, along with abandoning the Iran nuclear deal and targeting the country for regime change.

Trump won’t re-certify the JCPOA in May unless Britain, France and Germany agree to major changes Iran won’t accept.

According to an unnamed White House official, “(i)f the Europeans make it clear that what we are asking for is going too far, then we’ll know, but as soon as they say that, Europe is signing the deal’s death warrant,” adding:

“Tillerson wasn’t faithful to the intent of the president. (He) didn’t agree with breaking the Iran deal.”

“Every time the president’s been persuaded to sign these waivers he’s done so begrudgingly. (I)n January he said, ‘this is absolutely the last time.’ Either we fix it or he won’t sign another waiver. ‘I’m not going to sign it unless Iran agrees.’ ”

Changes he demands Tehran finds unacceptable, including:

• unlimited inspections of Iranian sites, including military ones no countries would tolerate;

• the international community on board, ensuring Iran never develops nuclear weapons it abhors, doesn’t want, and calls for eliminating;

• removing the JCPOA’s sunset clause, effective after 10 years;

• restricting Iranian development and testing of ballistic missiles not part of the JCPOA; and

• reimposing nuclear-related sanctions if Tehran fails to fully comply with the above demands.

Clearly they’re unacceptable. Six countries and Iran spent years negotiating the JCPOA.

Tehran won’t tolerate Trump unilaterally demanding changes during the life of the agreement.

As things now stand, Washington will likely walk away, destroying the deal by illegally reimposing nuclear related sanctions.

Along with other US Middle East policies, abandoning the JCPOA risks greater regional turbulence and instability instead of responsibly stepping back from the brink.

Lunatics infesting Washington threaten everyone. Paul Craig Roberts asked “Will Humanity Survive Crazed Washington?”

We’re all threatened with possible extinction by Washington’s megalomaniacal rage for unchallenged hegemony.

I agree with Roberts, saying “(y)ou can expect the worst” ahead.

Nothing gives me cause for optimism!

The post Was Tillerson Sacked to Abandon the Iran Nuclear Deal? appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

With the CIA’s Mike Pompeo Now in Charge of US Foreign Policy, Anything Is Possible

(MEMO Op-ed) — The appointment of Mike Pompeo as the new US Secretary of State by Donald Trump will not signal a change in Washington’s Middle East policy. It doesn’t mean that America will no longer endorse the alliance between the Saudi and Israeli governments. Nor does it, despite Donald Trump’s admiration, mean that America will switch […]

Rand Paul to Oppose Trump’s CIA and State Department Nominees

(TIM) — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced on Wednesday that he would oppose President Trump’s nominees to head the State Department and CIA, potentially impeding their path to Senate confirmation. “I will oppose both Pompeo’s nomination and Haspel’s nomination,” Paul said. Senator Paul Press Conference on Secretary of State and CIA […]

Democrats: US Should ‘Urgently Engage With Russia’ to Avoid Nuclear Conflict

(ZHE) — During a routine Congressional hearing on Wednesday, US military leaders publicly admonished Russian President Vladimir Putin for unveiling six powerful new weapons during his annual address to lawmakers, including what’s believed to be a modified Iskander ballistic missile capable of defeating US and NATO anti-ballistic missile systems. Using Putin’s escalation as one more justification for asking that all of […]

The Public’s Attention is Diverted from What is Really Happening

The Russian surveillance vessel the Viktor Leonov was reportedly leaving the Caribbean over the weekend bound toward the U.S. East Coast. Florida will be reached by next Friday, and before this, the King’s Bay ballistic missile submarine base in Georgia is also along their projected route. This comes on the heels of what has gone largely unreported by the Mainstream Media. On Friday, 1/19/18, a report from U.S. National News emerged, entitled Submarine off of NJ/DE/MD coasts? US Navy deploys NINE Anti-Submarine Aircraft off East Coast Fearing Sub Missile Launch Against US. Here is an excerpt:

The East Coast of the United States may be subjected to attack by submarine launched missile(s) and the US Navy has scrambled NUMEROUS P-8A POSEIDON anti-submarine aircraft, to repeatedly search coastal waters from New York City to Washington, DC ALL DAY Thursday into Thursday Evening.  According to flight records, at least NINE anti-submarine warfare aircraft were sortied Thursday off the US East Coast, and Flight Records show they were engaged in very active hunting for submarine(s) off the East Coast . . .. well WITHIN the 12-mile territorial limit of the United States.

This article has plenty of photos, and some with the locations of CAP (Civil Air Patrol) enlisted to aid the U.S. Navy with the “shortfall” in radar coverage and area surveillance. The article also gives the disposition of numerous aircraft and shows the locations of monitored Russian submarines. While all of this has been happening, “statesman” Rex Tillerson just came out and declared this at Stanford University on Wed., 1/17/18, as reported by RT News:

The Japanese… have had over a 100 North Korean fishing boats that have drifted into Japanese waters. Two-thirds of the people on those boats have died.”  They [The fishermen] are being sent in the wintertime to fish because there are food shortages. And they are being sent out to fish with inadequate fuel to get back. So, we are getting a lot of evidence that these [sanctions] are really starting to hurt.

Honorable Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pure statesmanship, pure diplomacy. No: pure extortion. This coming from a country (the U.S.) that wanted to depose Assad for the “brutal human rights violations” against civilians…but when it involves the civilians of a country we want to crush…what are a few hundred starving North Korean fisherman’s lives worth? Hey, the sanctions work! We oust leaders for human rights violations, but our policies and sanctions are “humane,” and “altruistic.” Let them join the IMF and World Bank, become a vassal, then they can shop at Costco. Then: let them eat cake!

North Korea has the resolve to see through any paper-tiger sanctions initiated by a country that is a dying empire backed up by a “toothless” UN. China and Russia have the resolve to be positioning their assets now…prior to the conflict…the war that is forthcoming. It has been reported that the Chinese have moved troops and radiation detectors along their border with North Korea. Just about a week ago, the RAF had to scramble Typhoons to escort Russian bombers conducting practice runs along the Cold War routes that cover the UK.

A very in-depth article came out that reports Russia and China to be skeptical concerning the U.S.’s gold supply. Economics is another form of warfare: should they prove the U.S. to not have on hand the gold reserves it claims to have, or (as it states) that the gold is of inferior quality to that traded by the rest of the world? This may very well be the final kicker to persuade nations to distrust the falling Petrodollar and remove the dollar as the World Currency exchange. Such would establish the positions of gold-backed Rubles and Yuan that also have oil to trade, to further bolster that worth on a global economy. For those who still watch television, enjoy your football and the upcoming Olympics.

But keep this in mind: the powers that be will not rest in their inexorable march toward global government. It would not be the first time that bread and circuses were used to keep the mob entertained…and distracted from the sinister actions and purposes of their leaders and governments. In the meantime, other nations are preparing and positioning their forces, as well as conducting intelligence and surveillance on us…prior to the war that may come anytime.

If the politicians are any indicator of how we’ll fare…the prognosis doesn’t look good. All of it can be avoided with diplomacy, but war is a money-maker, and a game changer for an incumbent whose ratings are flagging. War is their solution. Why? Because they live off our labors and our tax dollars ensure they’ll be safe and sound in their bunkers. Their world: opulent feasts, riches, maintaining power, with armies and unlimited resources…it will remain intact. Ours will not.

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Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne).  Mr. Johnson is also a Gunsmith, a Certified Master Herbalist, a Montana Master Food Preserver, and a graduate of the U.S. Army’s SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape).  He lives in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with his wife and three cats. You can follow Jeremiah’s regular writings at SHTFplan.com or contact him here.

This article may be republished or excerpted with proper attribution to the author and a link to www.SHTFplan.com.

Either Negotiate, or We’ll Take Military Action! – U.S. Secretary of State Uses Extortion on North Korea

There was a 20-nation security meeting in Vancouver on Tuesday, 1/15/18, and the nations in attendance agreed to impose stronger sanctions against North Korea in a bid to stop their nuclear weapons buildup and tests. China and Russia did not attend, and stated the meeting was evidence of another Cold War forming. The most alarming rhetoric, however, emanated from the U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson, who flat out stated that if the North Koreans do not negotiate, it will bring about a military response. Here is the video clip and an excerpt heading as released by Reuters on 1/17/18, entitled US Warns Pyongyang on Military Option:

Twenty nations agree to consider tougher sanctions to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warns Pyongyang it could trigger a military response if it does not choose negotiations.”Twenty nations agree to consider tougher sanctions to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warns Pyongyang it could trigger a military response if it does not choose negotiations.

As headlines run, there is nothing that “jumps out” with this one, until you delve into the substance of it. This is very serious, as the U.S. has been narrowing the cone of the funnel toward war, now, for several months…a quiet escalation in the form of movements of military assets into the area, military exercises (designed to provoke North Korea), and steadily-increasing sanctions.

Bottom Line? Tillerson threatens a U.S. military response if North Korea does not negotiate: military action not to counter or prevent military action, mind you…but military action if they do not negotiate.

Akin to an Anglo-Centric schoolyard, the Vancouver Summit was a “closed” meeting of nations with stances determined prior to the meeting. The U.S., Canada, Britain, and Australia…and the “English-speaking kids,” only invited nations that either fought in the Korean War or nations that would abide by the program…nations that would not present dissenting views.

Russia and China were not invited: go figure.

Another headline sums it up most eloquently as released by CBC News. The article is entitled, North Korea Summit in Vancouver to focus on enforcing sanctions ahead of diplomacy.

How do you like that one? “Focus on enforcing sanctions ahead of diplomacy.”

The imposition of sanctions prior to diplomatic discourse is extortion: nothing less.

Here’s another statement from Tillerson on 1/16:

“We cannot and will not accept DPRK as a nuclear state.”

Big news, Rex: North Korea already is a nuclear state. If they were not? Jaime Dimon would be the North Korean “Czar,” heading a round-table discussion group on how many McDonald’s and Wal-Mart’s were to be “emplaced” in North Korea, Un would be dead, and the IMF would be sending in an army of accountants and other vampires under UN protection…to parcel off all North Korea’s natural resources…as “caretakers” for the North Korean people’s benefit.

Bigger news, Rex: Russia and China will not permit it, as any such in-roads at “transforming North Korea into a democratic member of the family of nations” …translation: [making North Korea another IMF and Rothschild vassal enslaved under the guise of democracy] would cut into their sphere of influence.

Some have analyzed this as an attempt by Tillerson to shore up his position in the White House, but that doesn’t hold water, because it benefits the administration to make it seem as if diplomatic options are being offered before an attack by the U.S.  It’s a “CYA” policy by the U.S. administration, and Tillerson still takes the fall if anything goes wrong.

Just within the past week, we have seen one false alarm (intentional or accidental?) missile alert in Hawaii, and another one in Japan. The “predictive programming” paradigm holds, and war is always the answer to bolster a politician’s position. Schachtner just won a state seat in Wisconsin’s senate that had been Republican-held for 17 years, and Doug Jones recently defeated Roy Moore in Alabama. The midterms are not even here yet.

A sitting U.S. Secretary of State…the head diplomat of the U.S., mind you…has just announced that if North Korea does not negotiate, that a military response will occur. Not one attempt has been made by Tillerson (or the State Department, for that matter) to initiate face-to-face dialogue and relegate arrogant imperialistic hubris to where it belongs…in the basement. Millions of lives are at stake that are not considered important. What takes center stage is the pride of a narcissistic handful in the administration. Truly, the Empire is at an end. A sitting U.S. Secretary of State…the head U.S. diplomat…resorts to the pandering of extortion to force diplomats from North Korea to bargain.

Japan’s Warning: North Korea Is ‘Playing For Time’ As Talks With South Korea Proceed

The Japanese are warning the world that Pyongyang may be using the newest talks with South Korea to buy time to pursue its weapons program. United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also warned of complacency at a Tuesday summit in Vancouver, Canada.

South Korea pressed ahead with talks to include its northern neighbor in next month’s Winter Olympics Wednesday, but not without allies expressing concern that North Korea is continuing its nuclear weapons program.  According to CNN,  Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono called on the international community to be clear-eyed about North Korea’s motivations for participating in the talks, which have been hailed by some as the most significant thaw in ties in years. “I believe that North Korea wants to buy some time to continue their nuclear and missile programs,” Kono said at the meeting. “It’s not the time to ease pressure towards North Korea,” he said.

China, a nation which was not invited to the talks in Vancouver, denounced the meeting, and the United Nations Command, under whose framework they are being held as demonstrating “Cold War mentality.” [Such thinking] “will only lead to split in the international community and harm the joint efforts that could properly solve the nuclear issue on Korea peninsula,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Wednesday.

Officials from both sides of the Korean Peninsula met Wednesday for the third round of talks to discuss North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang, South Korea Winter Games next month. The International Olympic Committee is expected to discuss the proposals on Friday.

Discussed in Vancouver, were topics such as the US Air Force’s deployment of six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Guam, and a Japanese national broadcaster who apologized for sending an alert that incorrectly stated North Korea had launched a ballistic missile, just days after Hawaii had a similar scare. North Korea test-fired two missiles last year that overflew northern Japan.

Also while in Vancouver, Tillerson declined an opportunity to clarify whether President Donald Trump has spoken with Kim Jong Un.

There’s been a growing hope that these face-to-face talks could signal the beginning of a broader de-escalation of the global nuclear crisis, but there now appears to be a concern among Seoul’s allies and partners that North Korea might be just playing them for the time needed to make advancements in their nuclear weaponry.

WW3 Alert: US And China Preparing For ‘All Hell To Break Loose’ On Korean Peninsula

The United States and China are preparing for a situation in which all hell breaks loose on the Korean Peninsula.  Both nations are taking unprecedented steps as tensions toward a nuclear war ramp up even more.

The US has stepped up military drills, practiced air raids, and reportedly started preparing to seize North Korea’s nuclear weapons by force, a feat South Korea has declared won’t be all that easy. South Korean officials have been talking up a pause in military drills in hopes that it will lead to a peaceful Winter Olympics in February, but the US has yet to agree to halt said drills.  Instead, the US  brought in a record number of stealth aircraft this month to train up on an air war against North Korea. Immediately after the drill, which featured a marked increase in simulated bomb runs on North Korean targets, the US and South Korea reportedly engaged in drills to infiltrate North Korea and neutralize its weapons of mass destruction.

At a speech at the Atlantic Council last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was preparing plans to seize loose nuclear weapons, should North Korea somehow collapse or become unstable.

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, also flatly rejected the clearest path to peace by saying the US would never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. He recommitted the US to using force if necessary.

“We’re not committed to a peaceful resolution — we’re committed to a resolution,” McMaster told the BBC. “We have to be prepared, if necessary, to compel the denuclearization of North Korea without the cooperation of that regime.” –Business Insider

China is also bracing itself for a potential war. Across North Korea’s border in China’s Jilin province, state-run media ran a full-page instructional package on how to survive a nuclear blast. The page doesn’t mention North Korea, but it doesn’t need to. According to Business Insider, there are also a few notable new additions to Jilin. Five new refugee camps built “because the situation on the China-North Korea border has intensified lately,” a leaked document seen by The New York Times said. The camps could accommodate thousands of North Koreans who might pour across the border in a time of war.

Of course, China’s preparations don’t end there either. They also have an offensive approach to the heightened tensions. China’s air force engaged in exercises along “routes and areas it has never flown before” earlier this month, with surveillance aircraft over the Yellow and East seas near the Korean Peninsula, according to the South China Morning Post. “The timing of this high-profile announcement by the PLA is also a warning to Washington and Seoul not to provoke Pyongyang any further,” Li Jie, a military expert based in Beijing, told the Post, using the abbreviation for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In addition to flexing its military muscle against the US, China has been increasingly assertive in the South China Sea. It has also dispatched military spy planes to encircle Taiwan and provide up-to-date info, which the Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong told the Post was “very unusual.”

All of this is in preparation for an “all hell breaks loose” scenario that’s likely to unfold on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea Says It Is "Ready For Nuclear War" With The US

A Russian lawmaker on Friday said that North Korea doesn’t want nuclear war with the US - but that the country is “morally ready” for war after US threats, and if it"s left with no other option, RIA reported. At the same time, Russia"s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, chimed in, and according to interfax, said there are people in Washington "who wish to provoke Pyongyang to reckless actions" and warned the US that if it "wants to destroy North Korea" then it is playing with fire and making a great mistake.

In this context, some have speculated that should Rex Tillerson leave the Trump admin, once the former Exxon CEO - who has been the most vocal opponent to a North Korea war - departs, then North Korea"s challenge may be promptly answered by the various generals currently inhabiting the White House. 

These remarks followed reports early Friday that North Korea would agree to peace talks with the US if the international community is ready to recognize it as a nuclear power. The news was relayed by a Russian delegation to Pyongyang. The delegation added that the North believes it was forced to be aggressive and that the country won’t give up its nukes under any circumstances.

“[Pyongyang] are ready to talk, however the [North] Korean side has its own condition – it should be recognized as a nuclear power,” Vitaly Pashin, a member of the Russian delegation, told news agencies upon their return. The North is now ready to negotiate with Washington “under parity terms” with the participation of Russia as a third party, he added.

Tensions spiked earlier this week when the North carried out its first missile launch in more than two months, ending the longest period of calm so far this year, when it test fired the country"s first true ICBM. Observers noted that the Hwasong-15 missile reached an unprecedented height of 4,500 kilometers, and flew for more than 50 minutes. Experts have concluded that the North now likely has the capability to strike anywhere in the continental US.

On Thursday, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, warned Wednesday that the North Korean regime "will be utterly destroyed" in a war with the US.

"We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it," ambassador Haley said at a meeting of the UN Security Council. "If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday."

"And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed," Haley said, something which Kim clearly disagrees with.

Russia and China have repeatedly pushed the US and the North to agree to talks. The two powers have proposed a solution whereby the US and South Korea would agree to halt their military drills if the North halts its nuclear program.

Rex Tillerson: Reports Of My Ouster Are "Laughable"

Yesterday, the New York Times appeared to confirm what many in Washington had long suspected: The deteriorating relationship between Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and President Donald Trump had reached the point of no return, and the former ExxonMobil CEO would be leaving the administration "within weeks", to be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

Rumors that Pompeo was in line to replace Tillerson have been circulating since at least September.  The former Indiana Congressman has become one of Trump"s closest foreign policy advisers since taking over the CIA. He"s in charge of delivering Trump"s daily intelligence briefings.

But while the White House issued a cryptic statement saying only that it wasn"t planning any personnel changes "at this time," Tillerson immediately started pushing back against the report.

Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said he spoke with Tillerson and the secretary "doesn"t plan to be ousted."

On Friday, Tillerson doubled down on those denials, telling a group of reporters that the NYT"s story was "laughable." He made the comment during a meeting with Libya"s prime minister at the State Department, accoding to the Hill.

Tillerson has reportedly disagreed with Trump on several key foreign policy issues, including how to de-escalate the standoff with North Korea and how to determine the future of the Iran deal. Two months ago, the relationship between the two men appeared to be irreparably compromised following reports Tillerson called the president "a f---ing moron" during a security breifing at the Pentagon, where Trump reportedly told the generals that he wanted to greatly expand the size of the US nuclear arsenal.

If Tillerson does leave, he"d be the first high-profile departure from the administration since Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned over his use of chartered jets at taxpayer expense. Tillerson would also be one of the most important players to leave the administration so far.

Of course, Tillerson isn"t the only Trump administration official who"s rumored to be on his way out: NEC Chairman Gary Cohn is reportedly planning on leaving the administration after the end of the year.

To be sure, the NYT said Trump had yet to finalize plans for Tillerson"s departure. Also, one would think the White House might want to keep Tillerson happy considering he could easily spill his guts to the press after leaving the administration.

"We"re Not Stupid" - Top US Nuclear Commander Would Disobey "Illegal" Trump Orders

A few short months after Admiral Scott Swift, Commander of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, said he would obey a hypothetical order to launch a nuclear strike against China if the president chose to give it, Air Force Gen. John Hyten - America"s top nuclear commander - said Saturday he would push back against President Trump if the president ordered a nuclear launch the general believed to be "illegal."

When an audience member asked Hyten, who was speaking at a national security conference in Halifax Canada, about the hypothetical scenario, he responded by assuring his interlocutor that military commanders “aren’t stupid.”

Here"s CBS:

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), told an audience at the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday that he has given a lot of thought to what he would say if Mr. Trump ordered a strike he considered unlawful.

 

"I think some people think we"re stupid," Hyten said in response to a question about such a scenario. "We"re not stupid people. We think about these things a lot. When you have this responsibility, how do you not think about it?"

 

Hyten explained the process that would follow such a command. As head of STRATCOM, Hyten is responsible for overseeing the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

 

"I provide advice to the president, he will tell me what to do," Hyten added. "And if it"s illegal, guess what"s going to happen? I"m going to say, "Mr. President, that"s illegal." And guess what he"s going to do? He"s going to say, "What would be legal?" And we"ll come up with options, with a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is, and that"s the way it works. It"s not that complicated."

Hyten said he has been trained every year for decades in the law of armed conflict, which takes into account specific factors to determine legality - necessity, distinction, proportionality, unnecessary suffering and more. Running through scenarios of how to react in the event of an illegal order is standard practice, he said.

And Hyten is not the only one who’s been thinking about how they might react to a hypothetical order to launch a nuclear strike. A few months ago, Vanity Fair reported that Defense Secretary Mattis, Chief of Staff John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had discussed the issue, though it’s unclear, exactly, how they would respond.

Hyten apparently believes that an order from the president could be illegal, under certain unspecified circumstances. And if you execute an illegal order, he said, you could be prosecuted.

John Hyten

"If you execute an unlawful order, you will go to jail. You could go to jail for the rest of your life," Hyten said.

As CBS pointed out, Hyten’s comments come at a time when Congress is reexamining the authorization of the use of military force and power to launch a nuclear strike.

In a hearing earlier this week, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, said Mr. Trump "can launch nuclear codes just as easily as he can use his Twitter account."

Hyten said the military is always ready to respond to the threat of North Korea, even at that very moment. Trump has been embroiled in a war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since shortly after taking office, and has repeatedly threatened to respond with overwhelming force if he the North continues to threaten the US.

"And we are ready every minute of every day to respond to any event that comes out of North Korea. That"s the element of deterrence that has to be clear, and it is clear," Hyten said.

But Hyten also said handling North Korea and its unpredictable leader Kim Jong Un has to be an international effort. Mr. Trump has continued to put pressure on China to help manage its tempestuous neighbor.

"President Trump by himself can"t change the behavior of Kim Jong Un," Hyten said. "But President Trump can create the conditions that the international community can reach out in different ways where we can work with the Republic of Korea, where we can work with our neighbors in the region."

However, Admiral Swift, who has led the Pacific Fleet since 2015, has a very different view of the obligations that come with being a military commander in charge of the US’s nuclear arsenal.

“Every member of the US military has sworn an oath to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as commander and chief appointed over us.”

When it comes to nuclear war, North Korea, for many, is the first adversary that comes to mind. But in the long run, China, which is reportedly developing hypersonic fighter jets that would be able to reach the Continental US within 14 minutes and has been slowly expanding its military footprint in the Pacific, may pose the bigger threat.

Tillerson and Mattis Try Justifying Endless US Wars of Aggression

In Monday testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee members, they urged congressional authorization for unlimited warmaking anywhere worldwide – a shocking indictment of a rogue state threatening humanity’s survival, risking eventual catastrophic nuclear war.

Fact: Security Council members alone may authorize one nation attacking others – only in self-defense, never preemptively.

The September 14, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) flagrantly breached international law. Neither Congress or presidents can legally wage war without SC authorization.

Throughout its post-WW II history, America raped and destroyed one nation after another preemptively and illegally without just cause.

It remains unaccountable for high crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. The Trump administration is conspiring with Congress to continue waging naked US aggression against any designated adversary – extrajudicially.

Tillerson lied saying the AUMF authorizes US force against the Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS and “associated forces,” citing their so-called terrorist threat when none exists.

In the 1980s, America created Afghanistan’s mujahideen fighters, today’s Taliban. It created and supports al-Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist groups, using them as imperial foot soldiers, mostly as pretexts to wage endless wars of aggression against sovereign nations threatening no one.

Tillerson: the Trump administration “should not be time constrained” and “must not be geographically restricted.” Any congressional limitations on warmaking “embolden(s) our enemies” – invented ones because real ones don’t exist, he failed to explain.

No new AUMF is needed, he said, unjustifiably claiming “the President has the power under Article II of the Constitution to use military force in certain circumstances to advance important US national interests, including to defend the United States against terrorist attacks.”

Mattis expressed support for the same endless aggression policy, saying “we must recognize that we are in an era of frequent skirmishing, and we are more likely to end this fight sooner if we don’t tell our adversary the day we intend to stop fighting.”

“Any new congressional expression of unity, whether or not an AUMF, would present a strong statement to the world of America’s determination” – to wage endless wars of aggression, he failed to explain.

The so-called global war on terror is the greatest hoax in modern times – created by Washington to wage endless wars of aggression against sovereign independent nations, wanting pro-Western governance ruling them, their resources looted, their people exploited as serfs.

That’s what America’s geopolitical agenda is all about, the 9/11 mother of all state-sponsored false flags launching war on humanity, enlisting other rogue states as partners to wage it, using ISIS and other terrorist groups to do its fighting and dying.

America’s phony war on terror is being waged covertly worldwide, US special forces infesting most countries, nearly all African ones, Niger the tip of the continent’s iceberg.

Nothing is reported except when incidents like the killing of four US special forces in Niger are revealed. Even then, covert missions abroad aren’t explained, Congress and likely Trump kept uninformed.

Straightaway in office, he was co-opted by America’s military/industrial complex, becoming the latest in a long line of US warrior presidents.

He’s continuing Bush/Cheney/Obama wars, escalating them, threatening new conflicts.

North Korea and Iran are prime targets, perhaps Russia and China later on, eliminating their sovereign independence key to unchallenged US global dominance.

It’s the end goal Washington seeks, no matter the human toll or threat to humanity’s survival.

Despite credible information easily accessed online from reliable sources, the vast majority of Americans are ignorant and/or dismissive about what’s going on – unaware of the grave danger posed by Washington’s permanent war agenda.

If not curbed, the chickens will surely come home to roost, perhaps when one or more US cities are immolated by thermonuclear detonations – when it’s too late to matter.

The post Tillerson and Mattis Try Justifying Endless US Wars of Aggression appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

Tillerson Conceals Rape of Raqqa, Meets with Saudi Monarch

[image: Getty]

Washington pretends to be combating the scourge of ISIS it supports.

Tillerson tried concealing it, hypocritically accusing its fighters of “dramatically undermin(ing) stability in Iraq, Syria and the broader Middle East, and pos(ing) a threat to international peace and security” – failing to explain with active support from Washington, using its fighters as imperial foot soldiers, providing them with weapons, munitions, aerial and other support.

ISIS couldn’t exist without foreign backing, Washington its main ally, pretending otherwise.

Tillerson “congratulate(d) the Syrian people and (terrorist-infested) Syrian Democratic Forces…on the liberation of Raqqa.”

A separate article explained the city’s rape and destruction, not liberation, tens of thousands of civilians massacred, terror-bombing continuing for months, residential areas targeted, most ISIS fighters redeployed to Deir Ezzor, Syrian ground forces and Russian aerial operations smashing them.

Washington’s rape and destruction of Raqqa was a Nuremberg-level high crime, one of many by US forces in the region and elsewhere, millions of casualties caused in multiple theaters, many more daily.

Tillerson: “Over the last seven months, millions of people have been liberated from ISIS’ brutal rule and working with our partners on the ground we are setting the conditions to enable people to return home.”

Fact: Syrian and allied forces, greatly aided by Russian airpower, alone liberated thousands of square miles of territory from terrorists supported by Washington and its rogue allies.

Fact: They want endless war and slaughter continued, not ended, Russia the only major power going all-out for peaceful conflict resolution.

Fact: Tillerson’s job includes suppressing information about US aggression in multiple theaters, pretending America seeks peace and stability – nowhere, including at home.

Trump’s leading diplomat is on a Middle East trip, visiting Gulf States, reportedly seeking to ally Saudi Arabia and Iraq against Iran.

On Saturday, he arrived in Riyadh, Monday his next stop in Qatar. Trying to form a Saudi/Iraqi alliance against Tehran before wasn’t accomplished, Tillerson’s efforts unlikely to be more successful than earlier attempts.

Iran and Iraq are allies, not adversaries, Tillerson and other US officials unlikely to turn them against each other.

Washington spent decades raping and destroying Iraq, infiltrating the country with ISIS terrorists, perhaps more coming to massacre Iraqis in other parts of the country.

Tillerson represents Washington’s imperial agenda, allied with NATO, Israel and other regional rogue states, fundamentally against peace and stability, waging permanent wars.

He’s participating in the inaugural Saudi Arabia-Iraq Coordination Committee meeting in Riyadh, capital of the despotic regime, the most ruthless among Arab states.

Shia-majority Iraq and Sunni-run Saudi Arabia make strange bedfellows, adversaries for decades, suspicious of each other’s intentions, Riyadh a regime no one can trust, Iraq led by US-installed puppet Haider al-Abadi.

Both countries had no formal diplomatic relations from 1990 to 2015, tenuous ones now.

Iran is a reliable ally, Riyadh and Washington regimes to fear, not trust.

The post Tillerson Conceals Rape of Raqqa, Meets with Saudi Monarch appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

The NYTimes Asks Reporters To Stop Being Partisan On Social Media

Days after James O"Keefe released his latest undercover video which took direct aim at the New York Times" Audience Strategy Editor, Nick Dudich, who repeatedly admitted to promoting content that intentionally seeks to, among other things, damage President Trump"s businesses as a means towards forcing his resignation, The New York Times became the latest mainstream media organization to “clarify” its social media policy for journalists, reminding them that “partisan” posts (i.e. posts explicitly bashing President Donald Trump) will no longer be tolerated.

America’s paper of record joined the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post in gently reminding its journalists that abiding by stringent standards of the “unbiased” press, while occasionally uncomfortable when reporters are forced to swallow controversial opinions, is necessary to retain what little credibility the media has left in the eyes of the public.

Interestingly, the paper’s public disclosure of its standards – which Executive Editor Dean Baquet said was done “in the interest of transparency” -  comes amid an escalating feud between President Donald Trump and NBC which began after the latter published an anonymously sourced report claiming Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron, and has most recently expanded to encompass a debate about whether the FCC should revoke television networks’ operating licenses for biased or unfair coverage.

“We’ve always made clear that newsroom employees should avoid publishing anything on social media that damages our reputation for neutrality and fairness. This memo offers more detailed guidelines.

Department heads will be responsible for ensuring that these guidelines are followed by all staff members in their departments. Violations will be noted on performance review.”

Here’s a summary of the new guidelines:

• In social media posts, our journalists must not express partisan opinions, promote political views, endorse candidates, make offensive comments or do anything else that undercuts The Times’s journalistic reputation.


• Our journalists should be especially mindful of appearing to take sides on issues that The Times is seeking to cover objectively.


• These guidelines apply to everyone in every department of the newsroom including those not involved in coverage of government and politics.


• We consider all social media activity by our journalists to come under this policy. While you may think that your Facebook page, Twitter feed, Instagram, Snapchat or other social media accounts are private zones, separate from your role at The Times, in fact everything we post or “like” online is to some degree public. And everything we do in public is likely to be associated with The Times.


• On that same note, we strongly discourage our journalists from making customer service complaints on social media. While you may believe that you have a legitimate gripe, you’ll most likely be given special consideration because of your status as a Times reporter or editor.


• Avoid joining private and “Secret” groups on Facebook and other platforms that may have a partisan orientation. You should also refrain from registering for partisan events on social media. If you are joining these groups for reporting purposes, please take care in what you post.


• Always treat others with respect on social media. If a reader questions or criticizes your work or social media post, and you would like to respond, be thoughtful. Do not imply that the person hasn’t carefully read your work.

And the list goes on (you can read it in full here).

• If a reporter is still unsure about posting, the Times recommends that they first ask themselves:


• Would you express similar views in an article on The Times platforms?


• Would someone who reads your post have grounds for believing that you are biased on a particular issue?


• If readers see your post and notice that you’re a Times journalist, would that affect their view of The Times’s news coverage as fair and impartial?


• Could your post hamper your colleagues’ ability to effectively do their jobs?


• If someone were to look at your entire social media feed, including links and retweets, would they have doubts about your ability to cover news events in a fair and impartial way?

We’re glad the Times cleared that up. Its new guidelines can effectively be summarized as “don’t publish anything on twitter that you wouldn’t publish in the Times.” That said, the standard still allows ample room for the paper"s reporters to pass off partisan rhetoric as "impartial" fact. That is, if it"s enforceed. It"s likely many of the paper"s reporters will continue tweeting partisan attacks - the default subscriber boosting position - despite the new "guidelines."

Russian-US Contacts Continue Against All The Odds

Authored by Peter Korzun via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

"We stand for constructive, predictable and mutually beneficial cooperation," said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony in the Kremlin when Jon Huntsman, the new US ambassador to Russia, presented his diplomatic credentials. "The current level of the ties cannot satisfy us," he added.

The ambassador said in a statement released after the ceremony that he "looks forward to working to rebuild trust between our two countries and to strengthening the bilateral relationship based on cooperation on common."

Huntsman takes office at the time the bilateral relations are on a downward spiral of sanctions and accusations, reaching the lowest ebb since the nadir of the Cold War. The “diplomatic war” is raging, arms control is in doldrums with the future of two remaining major treaties in question. Europe is turning into a hotbed. The fate of the INF Treaty is unknown as the parties exchange accusations of non-compliance. A dispute over the Treaty on Open Skies may lead Washington to announce new restrictions on Russian military flights over US territory in the coming days.

The two powers view the world differently and the gap appears to be too wide to bridge. But a closer look at the recent events gives a glimmer of hope for the complex Russia-US relationship.

It was reported in late September that US officials were seeking ways to improve communication with Moscow and build “some degree of trust.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian Izvestia newspaper that his regular meetings with Under Secretary for Political Affairs Thomas A. Shannon were of great importance and will continue despite of the fact that no tangible progress has been achieved so far. He said there were some certain results. The deputy minister did not elaborate.

It has been reported recently that Russian and US generals held a meeting in September to discuss the situation in Syria. It was the first contact of its kind. Col. Ryan Dillon, the Pentagon’s spokesman, said there would be more such meeting in future. Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met twice at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to talk privately. The situation in the Middle East, and Syria in particular, topped the agenda. US officials are now considering the prospects of reviving military-to-military contacts.

There has been a lot of speculation that Russia might not comply with the New START limits by the February 2018 deadline. On October 2, a US State Department report was published to say that Russia is in compliance with the provisions of the treaty. Last month, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry"s Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control Mikhail Ulyanov said Moscow intends to discuss with the US the possibility of the New START Treaty’s prolongation.

In February, President Trump decried the New START as an agreement favoring Moscow. Now he appears to change his position on the issue. The remarks by the Trump administration officials suggest the treaty will remain in force and the door remains open to pursuing an extension of the accord, which is set to expire in 2021.

Space exploration is one of the few areas where international cooperation between Russia and the US has not been affected by the deterioration of the bilateral ties. On September 27, Russian Roscosmos signed a joint statement with NASA at the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, to collaborate on a future spaceport orbiting the moon called Deep Space Gateway. Igor Komarov, the head of Roscosmos, said the first modules would be built between 2024 and 2026. The facility would serve as a gateway to both deep space and the lunar surface and would be developed, serviced and used in collaboration with commercial and international partners. 

Russia and the United States also discussed using Moscow"s Proton-M and Angara rockets as well as other spacecraft to help create the infrastructure of the lunar spaceport. The main works were slated to begin in the mid-2020s. Russia and the US work side by side on the International Space Station.

The recent flurry of international activity involving Libya makes it expedient for the two powers to explore the ways to cooperate on this problem and bring other Libyan forces to the negotiating table.

Moscow and Washington could discuss the ways to address this acute international issue at the UN Security Council.

The contacts are maintained against all the odds. The sides continue cooperate in some areas. The relationship has nosedived but it’s not all doom and gloom. There is still a chance for better times.

Trump Tells Tillerson To Stop Negotiating With "Little Rocket Man": "We'll Do What Has To Be Done"

One day after Rex Tillerson revealed for the first time that the US has been in direct - if secret - contact with the government of North Korea over its missile and nuclear tests, a stunning revelation considering that administration officials have until this point insisted that there has been only limited, indirect contact between the White House and the Kim regime,  Trump, in his latest Sunday morning tirade, tweeted his Secretary of State to effectively stop negotiating with "Little Rocket Man" and to save his energy as Save your energy as Trump will "do what has to be done."

"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... Save your energy Rex, we"ll do what has to be done!"

I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

...Save your energy Rex, we"ll do what has to be done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

According to a handful of kneejerk reactions by conflict analysts, Trump"s statement is effectively an admission that war appears inevitable as diplomatic negotiations, largely for optical purposes, are doomed to failure. Of course, this could be just Trump"s latest attempt at posturing, coupled with a resumption in bilateral escalations with North Korea. It is also a very troubling, and cavalier way to gamble with millions of people"s lives.

Trump is now basically saying that he wants nuclear war with N. Korea ???? https://t.co/4KqHxwemSG

— Gissur Simonarson (@GissiSim) October 1, 2017

As reported yesterday, during a press conference on Saturday in China, Tillerson said “we are probing, so stay tuned,” when asked about how he might begin a conversation with Kim Jong-un. Following Tillerson"s surprising admission of high level contact with Pyongyang, the NYT compared the secret backchanneling to a strategy used by the Obama administration to help forge what became the Iran deal – a comparison that Tillerson swiftly pushed back against. “We are not going to put a deal together with North Korea that’s as flimsy as the one in Iran,” he said. He added that the situation is different and that the North already has nuclear weapons, while Iran was still years away from obtaining them. 

“We ask, ‘Would you like to talk?’ We have lines of communication to Pyongyang – we’re not in a dark situation, a blackout. We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang,” he added, speaking at the residence of the US ambassador to Beijing after a meeting with China’s top leadership. He would not say if the North Koreans had responded, beyond a heated exchange of threats in recent weeks. Trump has repeatedly threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea, while the North has threatened to conduct a nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean, and to shoot down US aircraft flying in international waters if they come uncomfortably close to North Korean territory. 

When asked whether those channels ran through China, he shook his head. “Directly,” he said. “We have our own channels.”Tillerson added that the most important thing was to lower the tensions between the two countries.

"I think everyone would like for it to calm down." Everyone, except for Trump it appears, who is now - at least based on his public tweeting - attempting to sabotage the diplomatic process and proceed right to the next step. Which merely further underscores why, as the WaPo reported last week, North Korea has been quietly seeking the help of Republican-linked analysts in Washington to "figure out Trump."

Damning Evidence Cuba Launched A Sci-Fi Weapon At US Diplomats

They mostly come at night – the attacks from Cuba. Mostly. And many victims never noticed anything odd while others noticed a strange vibration or sound.

It all started in the fall of 2016. Several of the affected diplomats were recent arrivals at the embassy, which reopened in 2015 as part of Barack Obama’s reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. The Daily Mail reported that one diplomat described being jolted awake in a Havana hotel room by a grinding, blaring cacophony. When he moved a few feet across the room, the noise stopped. When he got back into bed, the agonizing sound hit him again; as if, he told doctors, he had walked through some invisible wall cutting straight down the middle of his room.

Whether they heard anything or not, the consequences have been unmistakable — symptoms ranging from nosebleeds, nausea, dizziness and severe headaches to mild brain damage and permanent hearing or memory loss. Oddly, as soon as some of the victims left Cuba, they stopped hearing noises. – Daily Mail

Or, as some say, maybe it isn’t as odd as we’d expect given the astonishing explanation that has surfaced as to why at least 21 U.S. diplomats, as well as others from Canada, have been brought low while serving in Communist Havana. Although America hasn’t officially pointed any finger at the likely culprit, Washington believes they were victims of a secret sonic weapon blasted their way by the Cuban government.

After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been exposed to an advanced device that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences. It was not immediately clear if the device was a weapon used in a deliberate attack, or had some other purpose.

No one has lost their life because of this “sci-fi sonic weapon,” but the effects have been dramatic. Months later, some of the victims are still struggling to concentrate or even recall common words. This evidence of long-term mental damage has hardened the U.S. attitude against Cuba. Now, the repercussions are being felt in diplomatic shockwaves powering across the Caribbean sea in the direction of the Communist state. It may get real ugly real soon.

This scandal now threatens to derail all efforts made at improving relations with Cuba.

[Over] the weekend, the U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, revealed the Trump administration was taking the controversy so seriously that it was considering closing its embassy in Havana. Some U.S. senators have gone further, demanding that the government also kicks out every Cuban diplomat in America (the U.S. expelled two in May as a protest over the scandal). – Daily Mail

Several other experts are skeptical still as to this type of weapon’s existence. “There isn’t an acoustic phenomenon in the world that would cause those type of symptoms,” Seth Horowitz, a neuroscientist and author of the book “The Universal Sense: How Hearing Shapes the Mind,” told Business Insider via email. It “sounds like a science experiment,” James Carson, former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, told The New York Times.

Toby Heys, the leader of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Future Technology research center is also skeptical.  He told New Scientist that it’s possible for something emitting infrasound (vibrations at a frequency below what humans can hear) to cause hearing loss. But Heys said that would require large subwoofers, making covert deployment unlikely.  Ultrasound devices, which operate above the range of human hearing, exist and could damage the ears, Heys said. But these sonic weapons would need to be directly targeted into the ear. “Overall, I would be pretty circumspect about the claims, to be honest — it is all very Philip K. Dick territory,” Heys said. “That said, we are living in a fairly surreal world right now.”

In the meantime, president Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are taking these allegations of acoustic weapons very seriously.

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Author: Mac Slavo
Views: Read by 154 people
Date: September 21st, 2017
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

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Mattis Contradicts Trump: "We Are Never Out Of Diplomatic Solutions" On North Korea

In the latest public disagreement between President Trump and his top military advisor, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday said that when it comes to North Korea, diplomatic solutions remain on the table after he was asked to respond to a tweet by President Trump that said "talking is not the answer."

"No, we are never out of diplomatic solutions," Mattis said in an exchange with pool reporters before meeting with his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo in the Pentagon. "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations, and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today."

As discussed this morning, in his first tweet discussing the recent North Korean missile launch, Trump tweeted that "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!"

The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2017

The market slumped briefly (the dip was quickly bought) after Trump appeared to be signaling that the administration was shifting tactics a day after a White House statement said "all options are on the table." Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have repeatedly said the top priority should be a diplomatic solution with North Korea. On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called the test "absolutely unacceptable and irresponsible," noting that North Korea has violated "every single security council resolutions have had" and suggesting a hard-line shift in US policy.

As Reuters reports, Mattis made the comment during a media availability before the meeting, in which a reporter is allowed to ask a question on behalf of the press corps, which is then distributed to news outlets. Photographers and videographers are also allowed in.

After initially saying "no" after being asked whether the U.S. was out of diplomatic solutions, the reporter pressed Mattis over what options can still be taken.

"Now you"re testing us here, you know," Mattis joked. "We bring you up here to take pictures."

#SecDef Mattis on #NorthKorea: “We"re never out of diplomatic solutions…" pic.twitter.com/KVtRIqymYh

— CSPAN (@cspan) August 30, 2017

No More Restraint From North Korea; Trio Of Missiles Launched

The cooling of tensions between the United States and North Korea appears to be over as things begin heating up again.  Kim Jong-un’s regime has now launched a trio of missiles in response to joint US and South Korea military drills.

Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, may have spoken too soon. Just last week, Tillerson attempted to dial down tensions even more by noting that there had been no missile tests or “provocative acts” from North Korea since a United Nations Security Council resolution sanctioning Pyongyang was passed earlier this month. Less than one week after Tillerson praised North Korea for showing “restraint” in its weapons program, the rogue regime launched three missiles.  Pyongyang fired three short-range ballistic missiles from the Kangwon province, the US Pacific Command said. US Pacific Command, in its initial assessment of the launch on Saturday, said North Korea’s first and third missiles failed in flight. It later amended its statement to say the missiles flew “approximately 250 kilometers in a northeastern direction.”

The second missile launch appeared to “blow up” immediately after the launch, making it hugely unsuccessful. “We will continue to work with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment of this latest launch and we will provide a public update if warranted,” command spokesman Commander David Benham said in a statement. But officials continue to claim that North Korea’s missiles are not a threat.

Even though North Korea says it now has the ability to send missiles to the United States mainland, US defense officials said these three short-range missiles at least did not pose a threat to North America or Guam.  North Korean state-run media said the country’s military could strike the US at any time and that neither Guam, Hawaii, nor the US mainland could avoid the “merciless strike.”Although these launches were no threat to Guam, it reminds us that we cannot be complacent,” said George Charfauros, the homeland security adviser on the US territory. “We place confidence in our US Department of Defense capabilities and continue open communications with our federal and military partners.”

One day before the joint exercises with the US and South Korea began Monday, Pyongyang warned the US was risking an “uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war.“

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Author: Mac Slavo
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US Urges All Nationals In North Korea To "Depart Immediately", Bans Tourists From Visiting

Dennis Rodman will be disappointed to learn that the US is set to ban all citizens from traveling to North Korea, according to two agencies that operate tours there. Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours said the ban would be announced on 27 July to come into effect 30 days later, the BBC reported. "After the 30-day grace period any US national that travels to North Korea will have their passport invalidated by their government." The ban comes one month after US student Otto Warmbier died following his imprisonment by the Kim regime.

China-based Young Pioneer Tours, which had taken Warmbier to North Korea, and Koryo Tours said the ban will come into force on July 27 - the anniversary of the end of the Korean War - with a 30-day grace period. Koryo Tours added that the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which handles consular affairs for the United States in the North, informed it of the ban, but did not say how long it would last. The U.S. embassy in the South Korean capital, Seoul, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rowan Beard said that the 30-day grace period would "give leeway for any [Americans] currently in the country as tourists or on humanitarian work". Simon Cockerill, of Koryo Tours, said: "It remains to be seen what the exact text is, but the indication is it"s just a straight up ban on Americans going." Mr Cockerill told the BBC the agency would still conduct tours and take Americans until the ban came into effect.

Additionally, Rowan Beard of Young Pioneer Tours, told the BBC the embassy was urging all US nationals to depart immediately. He said the embassy was trying to check on the number of US tourists left in the country.

For now there has been no official confirmation from the US: the state department continues to have an alert dated 9 May strongly warning US citizens not to travel to North Korea.

As the BBC adds, there has been movement towards a ban for a while in the US, which increased with the Warmbier death.

In May, two congressmen introduced the North Korea Travel Control bill to cut off the foreign currency the country earns from American tourists. The House foreign affairs subcommittee is scheduled to take up the draft legislation on 27 July but it would still have to go to the Senate. So there could be an executive order. Last month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: "We have been evaluating whether we should put some type of travel visa restriction to North Korea. We have not come to a final conclusion, but we are considering it." Apart from the treatment of Americans in North Korea, tension has been increasing over Pyongyang"s nuclear programme.

Some are suggesting the US is using the date the ban is set to be announced - 27 July - to cloud North Korea"s Victory Day on the same day. It was not clear if the urge to clear out US citizens from North Korea is a precursor to more "aggressive" (or kinetic) action by the US government.