Obama: Enough oil to ‘get’ Iran

(XINHUA) WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama said on Friday that he believed there was sufficient global oil supply to fill in the gap by reducing exports from Iran, making it possible for more sanctions on Iran’s energy sector and countries buying oil from the Islamic republic. Obama said in a statement that his conclusion was made after carefully considering the current global economic conditions, increased production by some countries, the level of spare capacity, and the available strategic oil reserves, among other factors. He determined that there was a sufficient oil supply from other countries to permit a significant reduction in oil purchased from Iran, said the statement. “I will closely monitor this situation to assure that the market can continue to accommodate a reduction in purchases of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran,” Obama said. According to the National Defense Authorization Act, Obama is required to determine by Friday, and every six months after that, whether the United States can endure the impact of  significant cut of oil output from Iran. The law, passed by the US congress and signed by Obama in December last year, is aimed at choking off Iran’s crucial oil revenue by targeting its central bank and financial sector, a move that allows…

USA Thwarts Israeli Attack on Iran: President Obama slams Ehud Barak

In two carefully coordinated events, the USA put an end to Israel’s plan to attack Iran. On March 28, 2012, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak publicly praised himself and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta: “The decision [to cancel the attack] was the result of contacts between the [Israeli] Defense Ministry and the Pentagon.” At that moment, the poker game between the USA, Israel and Iran came to an abrupt end. There was no winner, but one loser: Israel.About a week ago, I published Obama Bluffs Netanyahu, just after President Obama’s video appeal to the Iranian people on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. He told them that there was “no reason for the United States and Iran to be divided from one another.” This was a sharp deviation from the belligerent Israeli-American discourse in recent months. Moreover, it was a clear end to Netanyahu’s desire to force the USA into attacking Iran (see Netanyahu Wags the Dog). “Netanyahu needs a war with Iran. The only way Netanyahu could prevent a deal between the USA and Iran is by attacking Iran before an agreement is signed, or by performing a false flag attack on American soil. Obama bluffed Netanyahu,” I summarized the event.

The FRB’s “Operation Twist”: Europe and America Grim Economic Prospects

Seven months after the official announcement on 9/21/11 of “Operation Twist” not much progress has been made at the long end of the market to reduce yields.The yield on the 10-year T-note has gone from 1.88% to 2.3% and the 30-year bond went from 3.03% to 3.41%. The episode has been marred by hedge fund and sovereign selling, which has left the short end a little higher, but the long end much higher. The question now is how much did this cost the Fed for such disappointing results? Or in fact was this really their objective? We may never know, because the Fed hides what they do not want anyone to know. These results might not seem important but US Treasury instruments are the foundation of the global monetary system.

Obama’s new threat against North Korea and Iran

US President Obama has used his trip to this week’s nuclear security summit in South Korea to repeat his belligerent threats against Iran and North Korea and reiterate his administration’s determination to play the dominant…

The US’ Habitual Lies Continue: Another Cover-Up in The Massacre of “Afghan 17”

The March 11 Massacre of the 17 Afghan citizens, including at least nine children and four women, raises many fundamental issues about the nature of a colonial war, the practices of a colonial army engaged in a prolonged (eleven-year) occupation and the character of an imperial state as it commits war crimes and increasingly relies on arbitrary dictatorial measures to secure public compliance and suppress dissent.After the cold-blooded murder of the 17 Afghan villagers in Kandahar Province the US military and the ever-complicit Obama regime constructed an elaborate cover-up, exposing the Administration to charges of conspiracy to suppress the essential facts, falsify data and obstruct justice. All are grounds for criminal prosecution and impeachment.This massacre is just one of several hundred committed by US armed forces, according to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. It could ruin the Obama presidency, by putting him on trial for conspiracy to obstruct justice and arguably send him to jail for war crimes.