[Cross-posted from European Tribune – where dissent is NOT troll rated!]

Very much the theme of the AngloSaxon conservatives joined by the alt-right across the Western world … once again warmongering coming out of the Pentagon, White House and the National Security Council under leadership of neocon John Bolton.

US vows ‘strongest sanctions in history’ on Iran, will ‘crush’ terror proxies | Times of Israel |

‘This is just the beginning’: Laying out strategy after exiting nuke deal, Pompeo says Iran must come clean about nuclear program, stop threatening Israel, leave Syria, halt terror.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration is preparing to impose “the strongest sanctions in history” on Tehran after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this month, and laid out a laundry list of demands for a new treaty, in his first major speech outlining Washington’s strategy for curtailing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions and its `malign’ regional behavior.

“We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime,” Pompeo told a crowd gathered at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in the nation’s capital.

Continued below the fold …

Trump’s newly installed top diplomat also hinted at the possibility of military action should Iranian leaders reconstitute their nuclear program.

“If they restart their nuclear program, they will have big problems, bigger problems than they’ve ever had before,” he said.

Pompeo also threatened to “crush” Iran’s terrorist proxies around the world.”

“We will ensure freedom of navigation on the waters in the region. We will work to prevent and counteract any Iranian malign cyber activity. We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world and crush them,” said the secretary. “Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East.”

Iran, he said, must also remove all its forces from Syria.

The IRGC “has flown an armed drone into Israeli airspace and launched salvos of rockets into the Golan Heights from Syria,” he said. “Our steadfast ally Israel has asserted its sovereign right of self-defense in response, a stance the US will continue to unequivocally support.”

U.S. Army military convoy of thousands of vehicles will cross Europe from Antwerp harbor into Poland, Baltic States and the border with Russia … sold deadly weapons to NATO’s frontier state Ukraine.

The US tank brigade arrives in Europe | UA News Wire |

The first American armored brigade units arrived at the Belgian Antwerp port and started to unload for further transportation to Eastern Europe, the press-service of Belgian Ministry of Defense stated on Saturday, May 19.  

“Military equipment of the U.S.A was delivered to the port of Antwerp for further deployment in Eastern Europe as part of operation Atlantic Resolve,” the Ministry stated on its Twitter account.

The U.S. Embassy in Belgium stated that 85 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, 18 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, hundreds vehicles and 3.3 thousand personnel will transit through the port of Antwerp as part of rotation.  

The final destination of this transfer is Poland. 800 vehicles are currently unloading in the port, and two additional vessels carrying military equipment are expected to arrive.

On May 2, it was announced that the 1st Armored Brigade (Combat Team Ironhorse) at the place of permanent deployment in Fort Hood, Texas, was transferred to Europe. It will replace the second armored brigade of the 1st Infantry Division in Poland.

Tie Lethal Aid for Ukraine to an Admission that NATO Made a Mistake

The Trump administration has decided to authorize the sale of lethal military assistance to Ukraine, including sniper rifles. There are significant downsides to arming Ukraine in this way, particularly fracturing consensus within NATO and provoking escalation by Russia. To reduce the risk of these negative repercussions and take the sting out of this major policy shift, the United States ought to lead NATO in admitting it made a mistake when it prematurely declared in 2008 that Ukraine (and Georgia) would become members of the alliance.

Thanks at least in part to NATO’s premature membership commitment to Ukraine and Georgia — and knowing that NATO is very reluctant to admit new members that have unresolved territorial issues with neighboring countries –the Kremlin has been strongly incentivized to create frozen conflicts in those countries. The Russian invasions of Georgia and Ukraine — and its subsequent occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia and Crimea and the Donbas in Ukraine — have been the logical result. By creating and now maintaining open-ended territorial conflicts with both Georgia and Ukraine, the Kremlin has cast a de facto veto over any attempt on the part of Tbilisi or Kyiv to join NATO.

Now, the West ought to admit it made a mistake and hence eliminate the inevitability of alliance membership for Georgia and Ukraine, while acknowledging that NATO’s door remains open. By declaring that these countries — or any other country — will inevitably become a member of the alliance, NATO has incentivized Moscow’s destabilizing behavior. Admitting that the 2008 declaration was premature won’t make Russia immediately withdraw its forces from Georgia and Ukraine, but it will achieve several other important objectives. By creating and now maintaining open-ended territorial conflicts with both Georgia and Ukraine, the Kremlin has cast a de facto veto over any attempt on the part of Tbilisi or Kyiv to join NATO.

So Trump has given the Pentagon Generals a free-hand to do as they wish across the globe … it’s too complex for a straight-forward business mind like the Apprentice. Leave it to John Bolton, he’s well educated in bluster and pompous decision making to create all the right opportunities for the next war far away from the Homeland USA.

Pentagon, Citing Russian Patrols, Bolsters U.S., NATO Presence In North Atlantic | RFERL – May 2018 |

Russia has increased its patrols in the Baltic Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Arctic, NATO officials say, although the size of its navy is smaller now than during the Cold War era.

Despite evidence that Russia’s weak economy forced Moscow to slash military spending by 20 percent last year, Czech Army General Petr Pavel, the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, told RFE/RL in an interview that NATO still must build up its defenses.

“Russian military capabilities, both conventional and nuclear, are significant,” he said. “And we simply cannot be blind to an increase of defense capabilities in all services, all domains. That’s why we have to react.”

Under the new plan, the United States will set up NATO’s new Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, where the Pentagon is also offering to host a proposed NATO Joint Force Command.

○ Donald Trump predicts breakup of EU | The Guardian – June 27, 2016 |
○ The harsh reality: Donald Trump does mean Europe harm | The Guardian – Opinion |

Further reading my previous diary …

○ NY Times: Collusion Trump Transition Team with UAE/Israel

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