According to a State Department leak to the New York Times, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when he was in Riyadh on Saturday, pressured the Saudi government to wind up the war in Yemen. If this report is true, it is puzzling. In contrast, Secretary of Defense James Mattis has urged President Trump to stay […]
Pompeo to Saudi Arabia: Mobilize against Iran and end Yemen War, Qatar Blockade
Newly minted secretary of state Mike Pompeo held consultations Saturday in Riyadh with Saudi officials, according to ABC. Pompeo’s program, like the foreign policy of Trump in general, was full of unlikely projects and ideologically driven impracticalities. An obsession with Iran drove most of these unlikely plans. Pompeo pressured the Saudi government to stop boycotting […]
Pompeo, Trump’s new Enforcer, Talks tough against Russia, Iran
Immediately on being narrowly confirmed as Secretary of State by the Senate, former CIA director Mike Pompeo flew off to Brussels. Pompeo appears to have had three main messages for NATO. The first is that Germany and other members have to pay a bigger share of its costs, a constant refrain of his boss, President […]
If the Leaders of the two Koreas can meet, why can’t those of Saudi Arabia and Iran?
The remarkable face to face meeting of the leaders of North and South Korea is being watched with hope by many observers, given the long decades of enmity between the two and the recent nuclear sabre-rattling of President Trump. At least in my circles, I see virtually no one condemning the meeting, though many are […]
Russia and China slam Trump-Macron Push to Renegotiate Iran Deal
Russia and China are both putting their feet down about the talk in the US and France about renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement on freezing and curtailing Iran’s nuclear enrichment program by the UN Security Council and Germany in return for lifting international sanctions. US President Trump is threatening […]
Macron and Trump talk new Iran Deal, but is it Pie in the Sky?
Gilles Paris and Marc Semo at Le Monde report on President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to President Trump in Washington and their discussions regarding the Iran deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA). They say that Macron repeated his four points regarding Iran policy: 1. Maintain the 2015 Iran deal, which freezes the Iranian […]
Is Mike Pompeo Soft on White Terrorism Against Muslim Immigrants?
The Senate Foreign Relations committee narrowly voted in favor of former CIA director Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State on Monday, after President Trump called up Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and convinced him to change his negative view to a positive one. Those pundits who expressed confidence that GOP Libertarians and traditionalists would foil Trump’s […]
Could Saudi Plans for $100/ Barrel Oil Hugely Expand Electric Car Market and Save Tesla?
Nick Cunningham at Oilprice.com points to the dilemmas implicit in the rumored Saudi plan to engineer a return to $100 a barrel oil. That price level translates into an average gasoline price in the US of $3.57, though in California, with a population of about 40 million. that price would be over $4.00 per gallon […]
Calls for stripping Natalie Portman of Israel Citizenship for criticizing Shooting Palestinian Protesters
“Annihilation” star Natalie Portman replied to the controversy stirred by her declining to attend the Genesis Foundation awards ceremony in Jerusalem in June because of her distress at “recent events” (the shooting down of unarmed protesters in Gaza by Israeli snipers at the order of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu). She wrote at Instagram: “Let me […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved