Middle East - Iran: The battle for Iran is underway in the US and Israel: Policy or regime change? - by James M. Dorsey

Israel-USA: Iran in the Crosshair

Iran, in the latest of a series of incidents on its western and south-eastern borders, said it had disbanded a Pakistan-based cell of ant-Shiite militants in a clash this week on the Iranian side of the border.

The clash, shrouded in mystery like similar past incidents in the ethnic Baloch province of Sistan and Baluchistan and Kurdish areas in the West, occurred amid mounting speculation that the Trump administration, backed by Saudi Arabia and Israel, is striving for regime change in Tehran.

Iran and Jaish-al-Adl (the Army of Justice), a splinter group that traces its roots to Saudi-backed anti-Shiite groups in Iran, issued contradictory statements about the incident. Iran said three militants and two of its Revolutionary Guards were killed in the incident. Jaish-al-Adl claimed it had killed 11 Guards while suffering no losses.

US and Israeli officials insist that their anti-Iranian moves aim to increase domestic pressure on Iran to change its policies at a time that the country is witnessing multiple protests related to economic policies and water shortages rather than at regime change

US and Israeli officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, have resorted to social media to support the protests.

At the same time, debate within the Trump administration pits proponents of regime change like national security advisor John Bolton, backed by Mr. Netanyahu, against those that believe that domestic pressure is pushing the Iranian regime to the brink and simply needs a degree of encouragement.

In a series of tweets, Mr. Pompeo supported Iranian protesters and charged that “Iran’s corrupt regime is wasting the country’s resources on Assad, Hezbollah, Hamas & Houthis, while Iranians struggle.”

Mr. Pompeo’s comments were echoed in one of several video clips by Mr. Netanyahu, celebrating the brilliance of Iranians and their achievements in technology. “So why is Iran so poor? Why is unemployment so rampant? The answer is in two words: the regime. Iran’s dictators plunder the country’s wealth… The Iranian people are the ones that suffer,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

The messages appeared to be the result of a joint US-Israeli working plan drafted late last year to counter Iran with covert as well as diplomatic actions.

A participant before joining the Trump administration, Mr. Bolton this year stayed away from an annual gathering in Paris of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, a controversial Iranian opposition group that since being dropped from US, Canadian and European terrorism lists has garnered significant support in Western political, military and security circles.

There is widespread doubt that the Mujahedeen, that advocates the armed overthrow of the Iranian regime, commands popular support in Iran

That did not stop President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, and former House of Representatives speaker and Trump ally, Newt Gingrich from attending alongside former US officials, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European politicians. The US State Department said the Americans were not representing the administration.

Read more: The battle for Iran: Policy or regime change?

Britain: Trump's visit to Britain faces mass protest — and a big blimp - by Alastair Jamieson

A 20-foot-tall inflatable orange baby with the face of President Donald Trump will float over Britain’s Parliament next week, one of many acts of protest planned to coincide with Trump's first visit to the U.K. since taking office.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to march in London, Scotland and elsewhere during his trip, which takes place amid a growing transatlantic trade war and global dismay at the treatment of immigrant families at the U.S. border.

Britain is keen to reinforce its special relationship with Washington as it prepares to leave the European Union, a divorce that will shape the country’s standing in the world. But Trump's visit has already been scaled down after months of back-and-forth; the president canceled plans to open the new U.S. Embassy in January and his official state visit — opposed in a petition by at least 1.9 million Brits — appears to be on ice.

Trump will instead pay a working visit on July 13 for bilateral talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May, a meeting with the queen and possibly a round of golf in Scotland where he owns two resorts.

Mass anti-Trump marches have been more than a year in the planning, after May first extended an invitation for Trump to visit the U.K. in early 2017.

The largest are planned in London, where organizers of Together Against Trump estimate up to 100,000 people, including labor unions and rights groups, will march through the center of the city to Trafalgar Square.

The people behind last year’s successful Women’s March are staging a Bring The Noise rally earlier on the same day to end in Parliament Square, opposite the House of Commons. (You can already buy the T-shirt.)

A quieter but eye-catching protest is planned by Leo Murray, 41, who received permission Thursday to fly a helium-filled blimp of Trump as a baby during the visit.

Last month, the president said in a speech to the National Rifle Association that British hospitals were “like a war zone” because of stabbing wounds — an assertion apparently based on the comments of a doctor. "Knives, knives, knives, knives,” Trump said.

He has also been rebuked, twice, by May: in January, for retweeting inflammatory anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant videos originally shared by a far-right U.K. political group, and again on Wednesday when she called the separation of children from their parents at the U.S. border “deeply disturbing” and “wrong.”

“Trump is a disruptor in diplomatic relations just as he is at home,” said Meyer, the former ambassador. “He is deeply controversial overseas and anyone who bothers to read poll figures from the U.K. will see that public opinion of him in Britain is very low.”

Ed Milliband former Leader of the Labour Party as well as Leader of the Opposition between 2010 and 2015 noted in a Tweet about Trump: "He lies about crime in Britain, he lies about crime in Germany, he lies about and defends his cruel, inhumane, barbaric policy of separating babies and children at the border, a new low even for him, and in less than four weeks, @theresa_may will roll out the red carpet. Really?"

Read more: Trump's visit to Britain faces mass protest — and a big blimp

USA - NATO: Trump sends sharply worded letter to NATO leaders to pay more or else

Note EU-Digest: Trump says he is losing his patience with NATO allies, whom he finds should be paying more for the upkeep of NATO. 

Why don't his NATO Allies finally get the guts to tell this narcissist to go to hell, and have the Trump Administration pay for his own disastrous military adventures around the world.  

Fortunately there has been a good counter-move by Europe, which is presently setting up their own united military defense force, combining all the EU Nations military forces into one.

For the complete report click on link below

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-sends-sharply-worded-letters-nato-leaders-says-he-losing-patience-1005779?spMailingID=3670208&spUserID=MTI0NzM2NDgxNDcS1&spJobID=1070120163&spReportId=MTA3MDEyMDE2MwS2

TURKEY - Netherlands Relations: Does the Dutch Government represent EU views on Turkey ?

For the complete report click on:

https://www.dailysabah.com/columns/beril-dedeoglu/2018/07/03/does-the-dutch-government-represent-eus-view-on-turkey

The Netherlands: Trump's Muslim ban casts shadow over Dutch PM's visit to U.S. - by Janene Pieters

Prime Minister Mark Rutte is visiting the United States and meeting with Donald Trump on Monday. Rutte plans to announce that the Netherlands will again negotiate establishing American customs personnel at Schiphol. But the D66 fears that Trump's so-called Muslim ban will mean that American customs officers will deny Muslims access to the U.S. on Dutch soil, AD reports.

Coalition party D66 is therefore calling on Rutte to under no circumstances take steps that could make the Netherlands complicit in this entry ban. D66 parliamentarian Sjoerd Sjoerdsma calls the entry ban discriminatory and against the core values of the Netherlands and the Dutch constitution. "Enforcing the Muslim ban on Dutch soil is too crazy for words", Sjoerdsma said, according to the newspaper. "I now expect the government to reflect again and to not take any irreversible steps in this area."

For BBC report on actual visit click here. 

Read more: Trump's Muslim ban casts shadow over Dutch PM's visit to U.S. | NL Times

Turkey - LGBTI Community : Istanbul police disperse gay pride march

Riot police have used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people at a gay pride march in Istanbul. The city's LGBTI community and their friends had said they were determined to march.

Read more:: Istanbul police disperse gay pride march | News and current affairs from Germany and around the world | DW | 01.07.2018

EU-Turkey Relations: The EU should brace for a more authoritarian Erdogan, who can now be considered a dictator in his own right

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan won his fifth consecutive election victory on Sunday and finally will be able to rule Turkey with an omnipotent/almighty one-man system non-existent in any democratic country.

Most pundits agree he is now in the club of 'strong rulers' like Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China.

He can be potentially in power until 2032 – with the new system, a president can run twice and also for a third time if he calls for early elections - and calling early elections is within the president's authority.
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Read more: EU should brace for a more authoritarian Erdogan