@Amanda Matthews

I, too, would think the world would be chomping at the bit to finally bring down American domination.

overjoyed to get out from under our thumb. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain from the death of the petrodollar.

@gulfgal98 Perhaps intentional? The serfs in the US are going to be obliterated by the next 'financial debacle' brought on by the greed of the "FED". It is not going to be just a mild inconvenience for the petro / war based dollar to be tossed aside. Pensions lost, bankruptcies galore, hyper inflation, bank runs on cash, lost savings accounts. Japan is already calling in their US debt gambles. Once again, socialism for the banks and tough capitalism for the rest of us. We lose.

this was in the works with China challenging the petro-dollar. It is time to break the stranglehold of the empire. It will be painful for the US, but in the long run, it will be far better for both the citizens of the US and the world.

My sig line, courtesy of Dr. Cornel West: "I don't want to run the empire, I want to bring it down!" I have had this sig line ever since January 2012 when Dr. West spoke to us at Occupy Tallahassee.

@Ellen North giddy after both the gjohnsit's essay and this news?! Yes, I guess wrong as none of us will come out unscathed by damn it is fun to think of those savages having a serious ass hole pucker moment.

If I may add some bits that cheered me?

The US PTB are, at long last, being shrugged off of the shoulders of some of those they've been 'hag-riding' for so long.

Perhaps once they've been weakened and disrupted by the loss of those 'allies' they've been using, finally realizing that going along with and actively supporting these lunatic fascists gains them nothing and that they can stop helping to fund their own eventual corporate/military takeover by these (together with the rest of the entire US PTB-targeted world) and instead function as independent countries, the North American publics will be able to do so as well, and build sustainable and responsible democracies at home instead of being forced to pay to destroy attempts by other people at developing social democracy in their own countries abroad.

https://www.rt.com/business/426856-europe-to-ditch-us-dollar/

Europe to ditch US dollar in payments for Iranian oil – source
Published time: 16 May, 2018 07:38
Edited time: 16 May, 2018 09:40

The European Union is planning to switch payments to the euro for its oil purchases from Iran, eliminating US dollar transactions, a diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.

Brussels has been at odds with Washington over the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which was reached during the administration of Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has pledged to re-impose sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

“I’m privy to the information that the EU is going to shift from dollar to euro to pay for crude from Iran,” the source told the agency.

Earlier this week, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the foreign ministers of the UK, France, Germany, and Iran had agreed to work out practical solutions in response to Washington’s move in the next few weeks. The bloc is reportedly planning to maintain and deepen economic ties with Iran, including in the area of oil and gas supplies.

Mogherini stressed that the sides should jointly work on the lifting of sanctions as an integral part of the historic nuclear deal. “We're not naive and know it will be difficult for all sides.” ...

https://www.rt.com/news/426342-trump-assad-deep-state-syria/?spot_im_scr...

Assad: Why talk to Trump if he doesn’t control the US?
Published time: 10 May, 2018 10:16
Edited time: 11 May, 2018 07:36

Meeting with Donald Trump would be pointless because the deep state – not the president – controls the US, Bashar Assad said in an interview. He noted that the agenda of the deep state is to create conflict aimed against Russia.

In an exclusive interview with Athens daily Kathimerini, Assad said there was no reason to meet face-to-face with Trump, since the US president “says something today, and does the opposite tomorrow,” and is likely not even in control of policy decisions.

“[W]e don’t think the president of that regime is in control,” Assad told the paper, referring to Trump. “We all believe that the deep state, the real state, is in control, or is in control of every president, and that is nothing new. It has always been so in the United States, at least during the last 40 years, at least since Nixon, maybe before, but it’s becoming starker and starker, and the starkest case is Trump.” ...

And it seems that what appears to have been a US PTB attempt to bully the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into lying about Iran's compliance has not succeeded, with the agency standing firm, even though the target resigned, perhaps to avoid having family murdered, no idea.

But the beautifully written article lays it all out quite clearly.

https://www.rt.com/news/426525-iran-iaea-resignation-chief-deal/

UN nuclear watchdog chief inspector suddenly bows out, sets off speculations
Published time: 12 May, 2018 02:31
Edited time: 14 May, 2018 10:29

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief of inspections Tero Varjoranta has announced his resignation three days after the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. The official did not provide any reason for his departure.

Varjoranta was serving as the head of the agency's Department of Safeguards, tasked with determining whether countries that are party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) abide by the agreement.

The Finnish-born official took the job in October 2013 and was also a deputy director general of IAEA, which, during his tenure, repeatedly asserted Iran's compliance with the landmark nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The accord, which was struck between five UN Security Council members plus Germany and Iran, received a huge blow on Tuesday when US President Donald Trump, a long-time critic of the deal, announced the US' withdrawal and the reinstatement of economic sanctions on Iran.

Varjoranta has been temporarily replaced by the acting director of the Agency's Office for Verification in Iran, Massimo Aparo, with the IAEA spokesperson stating that "the agency's safeguards activities will continue to be carried out in a highly professional manner."

Asked about the cause of Varjoranta's abrupt resignation, the official said that "the agency cannot comment on personal matters, which are confidential."

The day after Trump's decision, which has drawn condemnation from the US' European allies and even his own party ranks, the IAEA again reaffirmed that Iran was complying with its nuclear commitments, which has it cap its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Iran, as well as the remaining signatories of the pact, vowed to stick to its provisions pending future talks.

In wake of the US exit, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stressed that the UN nuclear watchdog is "the only impartial, international organization that is in charge of monitoring Iran's nuclear commitments." This includes scrutinizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims that Iran has an active, clandestine nuclear weapons program.

Washington, on the other hand, immediately threw its support behind Netanyahu's PowerPoint presentation. It declared that the show "provides new and compelling details" of Iran's alleged nuclear activities and is "consistent with what the United States has long known."

The IAEA "has done a very good job" with its thorough inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities and a "switch of one or two people" even in its senior leadership is not going to affect its operations, Peter Galbraith, the former US ambassador to Croatia and author of several books on the Middle East, told RT.

The appointment of Aparo is "quite normal" since he was one of most senior subordinates of the resigned official handling an important portfolio, he said. Galbraith also dismissed chances that a new deal could be struck between Iran and the US, arguing that US withdrawal puts Iran "in position to basically ask for better implementation of this original deal" from Europe in particular, since the remaining signatories all want Iran to stay in it.

"The end result is going to be a better deal for Iran," while the "Americans will have no say," he noted.

Kaveh Afrasiabi, the former adviser to Iran's nuclear-negotiating team noted, as he spoke about the reshuffle, that "there's a history of bullying powers trying to influence the IAEA." However, the appointment of Aparo, who has on-site experience in Iran, may turn out for the better.

"The fact that you have an acting deputy director who was on the ground in Iran and now can go to Moscow along with [IAEA chief] mister [Yukiya] Amano who has a meeting with President Putin on Monday to give a full account of Iran's compliance with all necessary details – this is very important."

Afrasiabi said that a new deal is not on the cards, as Trump "burned the bridge with Iran" and has "zero credibility with the Iranian people."

Zero credibility with anyone - only, that's not just a Trump thing, he just makes it more obvious than did his predecessors.

If you lie down with psychopaths, you may never rise again. Best defense, no be there.