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Donald Trump warns ally Iraq will be hit with crippling sanctions

 In Response to a vote by the Iraqi Parliament to kick out US troops over the killing of Iranian Major General Soleimani in Baghdad.

  • Trump warned sanctions against Iraq would make those against Iran look ‘tame’
  • Iraqi lawmakers have voted to expel US troops, a move which could spark an ISIS resurgence in the country 
  • Trump said: ‘We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there… We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it’ 
  • The president spoke on Air Force One as he returned to Washington with his wife Melania from a two-week vacation in Florida
  • Trump also threatened ‘major retaliation’ if Iran launched revenge attacks on the U.S. 

Donald Trump last night warned ally Iraq could be hit with crippling economic sanctions if the country kicks out American troops over the killing of an Iranian general by a U.S. air strike in Baghdad. President Trump spoke on Air Force One as he and his family returned to Washington D.C. after a two-week vacation at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.  Trump told reporters that a forced departure of U.S. troops would prompt sanctions on Iraq, adding: ‘It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.’  He said: ‘If they do ask us to leave – if we don´t do it in a very friendly basis – we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before.’ Trump added: ‘We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.’    Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. air strike on Friday shortly after he arrived in Iraq’s Baghdad airport – with the Trump administration insisting he posed an imminent threat and had ordered attacks on Americans in the Middle East. Iraq’s parliament on Sunday voted in favor of a resolution calling for an end of the foreign military presence in their nation, an effort aimed at expelling the 5,000 U.S. troops stationed – a move which could spark an ISIS resurgence.

Iran has vowed ‘severe revenge’ and yesterday abandoned the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal in response to the airstrike. 

Esmail Qaani, who has succeeded Soleimani as commander of the Revolutionary Quards’ powerful Quds Force, also swore revenge in an interview with state TV which was aired today.  ‘God the almighty has promised to get his revenge, and God is the main avenger. Certainly actions will be taken,’ he said.  A former head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also threatened on Sunday to turn the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv ‘to dust’ if the US attacks targets in Iran. American forces are braced for retaliation and the US-led coalition against ISIS said in a statement yesterday that it was pausing its fight against the jihadists to shore up its own defences. Nick Note: This is a colossal FUCK UP….. Trump is driving Syria, Turkey and Iran into forming a power house in The Middle East replicating the US with Russian influence.

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Iran ex-Guards chief vows to turn Tel Aviv ‘to dust’

Tehran (AFP) – A former head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened on Sunday to turn the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv “to dust” if the US attacks targets in Iran. “If America takes any measures after our military response, we will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust,” Mohsen Rezai, who currently heads the Expediency Council, a top state body, said in a Tweet. His warning came after President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that the US would target 52 sites “important to Iran & Iranian culture” and hit them “very fast and very hard” if the Islamic republic attacked American personnel or assets. In a saber-rattling tweet that defended Friday’s US drone strike assassination of top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq, Trump said 52 represents the number of Americans held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran for more than a year starting in late 1979. “Mr Trump, you tweeted that you will attack 52 targets in Iran?” Rezai was also quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency. “You have said that you will attack again if Iran gets revenge? Be sure that Iran will turn Haifa and Israel’s centres to dust in a way that Israel would be erased from the face of the earth,” he warned. Trump’s tweet also drew condemnation from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who responded on Twitter saying “targeting cultural sites is a WAR CRIME”. Soleimani, who spearheaded Iran’s Middle East operations as commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike Friday near Baghdad airport. He was 62. The attack was ordered by Trump, who said the Quds commander had been planning an “imminent” attack on US diplomats and forces in Iraq. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “severe revenge”. Nick Note: I want to assure you of my FIRM belief that Iran is NOT NOT NOT going to cause ANY serious disruptions to the flow of oil. I will put up a Radio Free Wall Street and share the information i have……

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Qasem Soleimani: Iraqi MPs back call to expel US troops

Iraqi MPs have passed a resolution calling for foreign troops to leave the country after the US killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport last week. Parliament also called for a formal complaint to be made at the UN about US “violations” of Iraqi sovereignty. Some 5,000 US soldiers are in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group. The coalition paused operations against IS in Iraq just before Sunday’s vote. It said it was doing so to enable its forces to concentrate on protecting US, UK and other troops at bases in Iraq. Soleimani’s killing marks a major escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran. Under his leadership, Iran had bolstered Hezbollah in Lebanon and other pro-Iranian militant groups, expanded its military presence in Iraq and Syria and orchestrated Syria’s offensive against rebel groups in the country’s long civil war. Iraq finds itself in a difficult position as an ally both of neighbouring Iran, which is demanding revenge for Soleimani’s assassination on Iraqi soil, and of the US. The Baghdad government sees the killing of Soleimani as a violation of the terms of the coalition’s presence. Meanwhile, there are concerns that parts of Iraq’s population sympathetic to Iran have been alienated by the killing, and that pro-Iranian militant groups may seek revenge.

The non-binding resolution was passed by the Iraqi parliament after the caretaker Prime Minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, called for an end to the foreign military presence in a speech to MPs.

The resolution calls on the government to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting IS due to “the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory”. It says “the Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason”. Furthermore, the government must file a formal complaint to the UN against the US “for its serious violations and breaches of Iraqi sovereignty and security”. Nick Note: If Iran plays this smart they will greatly magnify their influence in Syria and Iraq. And its full speed ahead on the nukes. Keep your eye on the big picture. My BET is they will not bomb ships or mine the straights. If they tried that stupid stunt the WORLD would blow away their navy away.

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Boris Johnson gave a ‘four-letter response’ when he was told of the US drone strike on Qassem Soleimani

Boris Johnson exclaimed ‘FUCK’ upon first learning of Donald Trump’s drone strike on the top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, reports say.

 

The Prime Minister is on holiday in Mustique with girlfriend Carrie Symonds and was informed of the killing over the phone on Friday. Britain, unlike Israel, was not given prior warning of the attack which has already threatened to destabilise the Middle East and provoke a retaliation to the West. Mr Johnson had the four-letter outburst after British troops first learned of the airstrike from their US counterparts stationed together in Baghdad, The Mirror reported. He has been criticised for not cutting short his Caribbean break or speaking out about the seismic event but he is now due to fly home on Sunday.  Furious British security officials have now accused No 10 of allowing a ‘political vacuum’ to open up while Mr Johnson was on holiday, during which he failed to make any comment on the incident. Downing Street insisted that Mr Johnson would be briefed in full on the situation once he returns to work, including on the possibility of retaliatory actions Iran might take against the UK.  He will likely be greeted by Sir Mark Sedwill, the National Security Adviser, who has been locked in meetings today with the heads of the UK intelligence agencies on potential risks to ships and citizens in the Middle East.

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 Supreme Leader’s military adviser says Iran’s response will be ‘against military sites’

This is a critical video you much see. IN essence authoritatively Iran will attack Military targets only. As you know this is critical to our understanding of the oil market

Tehran, Iran (CNN)The military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader said Sunday that his country’s response to the killing by the United States of one its most influential commanders will certainly be a military response “against military sites.”

In an exclusive interview with CNN in Tehran, Hossein Dehghan, the military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, said: “The response for sure will be military and against military sites.”

Dehghan, a former defense minister, is the main military adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is very close to the Supreme Leader. “Let me tell you one thing: Our leadership has officially announced that we have never been seeking war and we will not be seeking war,” Dehghan said. “It was America that has started the war. Therefore, they should accept appropriate reactions to their actions. The only thing that can end this period of war is for the Americans to receive a blow that is equal to the blow they have inflicted. Afterward they should not seek a new cycle.” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday the United States committed a “grave mistake” in killing Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and US President Donald Trump responded on Twitter, writing that if Tehran attacks American assets, the US will strike “very hard and very fast.” “[Trump] doesn’t know international law. He doesn’t recognize UN resolutions either. Basically he is a veritable gangster and a gambler. He is no politician he has no mental stability,” Dehghan said. Making reference to United National resolution 2347 which condemns the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage, Dehghan said “if [Trump] wants to imposed rule, logic and rationality over his decision he should accept that he is a war criminal and must be tried in a relevant court.”
Asked what would happen if Trump were to carry out his threat to strike any of Iran’s cultural sites, Dehghan said “for sure no American military staff, no American political center, no American military base, no American vessel will be safe. And they are accessible to us.” Soleimani was the head of Quds Force, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unit in charge of foreign operations, and he became the architect of Tehran’s proxy conflicts in the Middle East. The Pentagon blamed Soleimani for hundreds of deaths of Americans and their allies over the years. Nick Note:  I want to be clear here. I believe the rumored  secret agreement between the Saudi’s and Iran will stand. They agreed t cease all attacks on oil infrastructure……..
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Trump says 52 targets already lined up if Iran retaliates

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Saturday, threatening to hit dozens of targets in the Islamic Republic “very fast and very hard” if it retaliates for the targeted killing of the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. The series of tweets came as the White House sent to Congress a formal notification under the War Powers Act of the drone strike on Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a senior administration official said. U.S. law required notification within 48 hours of the introduction of American forces into an armed conflict or a situation that could lead to war. The notification was classified and it was not known if a public version would be released. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the classified document “suggests Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security.”

In unusually specific language, Trump tweeted that his administration had already targeted 52 Iranian sites, “some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture.” He linked the number of sites to the number of hostages, also 52, held by Iran for nearly 15 months after protesters overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Thousands of Iranians lined Baghdad streets Saturday for the funeral procession for Soleimani. The Islamic Republic has vowed revenge for the Trump-ordered airstrike that killed him and several senior Iraqi militants early Friday Baghdad time. Trump appeared to respond to such threats with tweets justifying Soleimani’s killing and matching the bellicose language from Iran. “Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters,“the president tweeted. “He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years.” Trump also warned: “The USA wants no more threats!” Trump’s reference to targeting sites “important to Iran & the Iranian culture” could raise questions about whether striking such targets would violate international agreements. The American Red Cross notes on its website that the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols, ratified by scores of nations in recent years, states that “cultural objects and places of worship” may not be attacked and outlaws “indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations.” The notification document sent Saturday to congressional leadership, the House speaker and the Senate president pro tempore was entirely classified, according to a senior Democratic aide and a congressional aide. The aides and the senior administration official were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity. Nick Note: My analysis is that Iran will NOT target economic (OIL) assets. But will attack the US military. My sniff is the Leadership in Iran well understands their survival is at steak. These are not stupid people. The recent attacks on shipping, US drones  and Saudi oil infrastructure they denied….. These will turn out to be minor league action in the end. Still deadly but no where close to war…. At this time… Iran is not ready yet!

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U.S. Factory Gauge Unexpectedly Falls to Lowest Since 2009 Wipe OUT!

Fed is not afraid of manufacturing slow down, not afraid of discount window borrowing shooting through the roof. In fact they are not afraid of anything…. But they should be very VERY conserned… It OK they soon will be shitting all over themselves….. AGAIN!

If you want your dick pulled or your titty twisted By Charlie listen to this asshole spin spin spin:

(Bloomberg) — U.S. manufacturing closed out a tumultuous year with the weakest monthly performance since the end of the recession, with orders shrinking and factories continuing to dial back production. Stocks and Treasury yields, already lower after a U.S. airstrike killed one of Iran’s most powerful military leaders, extended declines after the report. The Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.2 in December from 48.1, the fifth straight month of contraction and missing estimates for a rise in a Bloomberg survey of economists, according to a report Friday. It was the worst reading since June 2009 and marked the eighth decline in the last nine months. Readings below 50 indicate activity is shrinking.

The deterioration was driven by the weakest gauges of new orders and production since April 2009. The data show American factories remain plagued by pullbacks in business investment at home, softer demand throughout the world and, until recently, an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China.

“Trade issues remain an issue for supply managers,” Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM’s manufacturing survey committee, said on a call with reporters. “I think that unplanned factory closures and extended holiday periods had a part to play on the production side and likely the employment side.” Fifteen of the 18 manufacturing industries reported contraction in December, led by apparel and wood products. To be sure, the sub-50 ISM reading contrasts with IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index, which eased slightly to 52.4 in December but remained near a seven-month high. The nation’s two most-watched manufacturing surveys pointed in different directions in November as well, underscoring disagreement among economists and investors on which index offers a more accurate picture of the sector.

The ISM index averaged a reading of 51.2 for all of 2019, also the lowest in a decade. That’s down 7.6 points from 2018’s average, the steepest drop since 2001.

Even so, economists expect the record-long U.S. expansion to continue in 2020 despite factories’ malaise. A partial trade deal between the U.S. and China was announced Dec. 13, and President Donald Trump said this week that he will sign it Jan. 15. Uncertainty Overhang While a thawing in trade relations could help, factories still face the repercussions of policy uncertainty, a weak corporate investment climate and a step down in global growth that will have a lingering impact on factory decisions in 2020. One reason the ISM’s gauges of production and new orders may have trouble recovering quickly is Boeing Co.’s struggle with its 737 Max airplane. Boeing told its suppliers to suspend parts shipments starting in mid-January following the grounding of the aircraft. Fiore said Boeing’s problems will probably be a drag on manufacturing for the next four to six months. The ISM’s gauge of factory employment fell in December to the lowest level since January 2016, suggesting further softness in manufacturing hiring even as the rest of the jobs market remains broadly strong. An index of prices paid showed input costs rising for the first time since May as the gauge of supplier deliveries held above 50, suggesting shipments of inputs are slowing. The imports gauge contracted for the eighth time in nine months and the export gauge dipped further below the line between expansion and contraction.

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Tens of thousands march in Baghdad to mourn Soleimani, others killed in U.S. air strike

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people marched in Baghdad on Saturday to mourn Iran’s military chief Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, killed in a U.S. air strike that has raised the spectre of wider conflict in the Middle East.By ordering Friday’s strike on the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s foreign legions, President Donald Trump has taken Washington and its allies, mainly Saudi Arabia and Israel, into uncharted territory in its confrontation with Iran and its proxy militias across the region.  Gholamali Abuhamzeh, a senior commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said Tehran would punish Americans “wherever they are in reach”, and raised the prospect of possible attacks on ships in the Gulf.

Nick Note: We always told you Trump is a colossal Fuck UP. And he would do anything to keep the impeachment out of the news. Within 12 hours of the media finding over 20 emails where Trump Froze aid cut to the Ukraine he ordered the attack. You may not be worried about Trumps impeachment and he probable will not be impeached. BUT he sure as shit is worried about it.

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Permian Natural Gas Flaring Frenzy Breaks New Records

Permian Flaring
The flaring and venting of natural gas in the U.S. continues to soar, reaching new record highs in recent months.
The volume of gas that was burned or simply released into the atmosphere by oil and gas drillers reached 1.28 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2018, according to the EIA, up from 0.772 Bcf/d in 2017. The practice is a disaster on many levels. It is wasteful, it worsens air quality and it exacerbates climate change. Venting gas is much worse than burning it since it releases methane into the atmosphere, a potent greenhouse gas.

The New York Times documented several “super emitters” in the Permian, using infrared cameras to visually capture the epidemic. The NYT even recorded an oil worker walking into an invisible plume of leaking methane.  But shale drillers continue the practice and regulators have shown little interest in regulating them. Even though venting is off limits in North Dakota and restricted in Texas, flaring has largely gone unchecked while methane leaks at virtually every stage of the extraction process. In the third quarter of 2019, the Permian basin alone vented and flared 752 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, up sharply from 661 mcf/d in the first quarter, according to Rystad Energy. “This represents a new all-time high. Oil production in the Permian Basin is growing at an accelerated pace again, and we observe high, sustained levels of flaring and venting of associated gas in the basin,” Artem Abramov, head of shale research at Rystad, said in November. Some oil companies trumpet their reduced rate of flaring, but others have flared at higher rates. “A significant number of operators have exhibited a clear downwards shift in flaring intensity in 2019. Yet there are other examples of a recent increase in flaring intensity, which are primarily represented by some operators active in the Eastern Midland Basin,” Abramov said. Nick Note: Unless your are still under the fantasy that the US has a HA HA HA free economy where the FREE  market decides things bullish. The reality is the refinery industry has stopped Natural gas from becoming a transportation fuel.. WHY because they don’t get to refine NG   since its plug and play. And the big profits in the oil industry are the down stream refinery business. Get this many companies flare natural gas under the excuse their are no pipelines to take the gas to market. BULLSHIT again! the reality is its cheaper to flare NG rather then pay the pipeline transportation costs since NG prices are below the cost of production and transportation for many producers in the bonnies. Reality is Natural GAS (NG) is the equivalent of .25 cents a gallon gasoline. And your engine will run forever polluting less than an electric car whose batteries in most cases is charged by a coal fired generator down the road and out of sight….

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EIA  Weekly Petroleum Data for the week ending December 27, 2019

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 11.5 million barrels from the previous week. At 429.9 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are at the five year average for this time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 17.3 million barrels per day during the week ending December 27, 2019, which was 303,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 94.5% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 10.2 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 5.3 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.4 million barrels per day last week, down by 457,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.7 million barrels per day, 10.8% less than the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 473,000 barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 183,000 barrels per day.  Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3.2 million barrels last week and are about 5% above the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline and blending components inventories both increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 8.8 million barrels last week and are about 6% below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 0.2 million barrels last week and are about 11% above the five year average for this time of year. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased last week by 2.9 million barrels last week. Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.3 million barrels per day, down by 2.7% from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 9.1 million barrels per day, up by 0.9% from the
same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.8 million barrels per day more than the past four weeks, down by 10.0% from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 10.2% compared with the same four-week period last year. Meanwhile, the EIA said earlier this week that U.S. oil production had hit a record 12.66 million barrels daily in October, with weekly estimates suggesting this could have risen further in the months since October to over 13 million bpd.