Iran

"Give me liberty, or give me death!" – Partrick Henry, American Founding Father, 1775

"They value their civil liberties more than they value life. I disagree with that. You want to be free and dead? I’d rather be not free and alive" – Billionaire Hillary Clinton donor Haim Saban, 2015

The global economic order is shifting beneath the feet of Washington and Tokyo as Xi marches ahead with "One Belt, One Road" and prepares to extend the first loans from the China-led development bank that embarrassed the Obama administration earlier this year. 

“George W. Bush may think that a war against Iraq is the solution to our problems, but the reality is, it will only serve to create far more,” read a 2003 article on The Onion a week after then-President George Bush launched the Iraq War. While a wide variety of organizations and individuals also rebuked that invasion, the satirical newspaper offered one of the most accurate assessments to date. So accurate, in fact, it all but predicted the rise of the Islamic State.

"Daesh has a mother: the invasion of Iraq. But it also has a father: Saudi Arabia and its religious-industrial complex. Until that point is understood, battles may be won, but the war will be lost. Jihadists will be killed, only to be reborn again in future generations and raised on the same books. The attacks in Paris have exposed this contradiction again, but as happened after 9/11, it risks being erased from our analyses and our consciences."

It may be all about ISIS these days, but just because al-Qaeda has been relegated to terrorist also-ran status doesn't mean they're not still operating and indeed, AQAP is still considered the group's most active and powerful branch. New footage uploaded today depicts a massive explosion at a checkpoint near Shibam, Yemen (the "Manhattan of the desert") as al-Qaeda battles both the Iran-backed Houthis and government forces for control of the country.

• Soothing Fed sounds send shares, emerging markets higher (Reuters)
• Belgian Police Conduct Raids in Connection With Paris Attacks (WSJ)
• The Paris Attacks Can’t Lead to a Closed Europe (BBG)
• Alleged Mastermind of Paris Attacks Was ‘Emir of War’ (WSJ)
• U.S. Eyes Russia-Iran Split in Bid to End Syria Conflict (WSJ)
• Despite tensions, Asia-Pacific nations close ranks against terrorism (Reuters)

“Apparently, it’s a kind of a ‘honey is sweet, but the bee stings’ situation: they want IS to weaken Assad as soon as possible to make him leave somehow, but at the same time they don’t want to overly strengthen IS, which may then seize power."

The 9 Ways to Stop Terrorism

Editors Note: GoldCore believe that blockchain technology will revolutionise the world of finance, payments and money and may have an impact on the world on a scale of that of the internet. If you thought the “internet” was disruptive, well you ain't seen nothing yet ... the blockchain cometh!

"There is no such thing as ISIS. ISIS is a creation of the US, we know that from official sources in the US military themselves and declassified documents. The mass media derides those who question the war on terror as 'conspiracy theorists.'" 

Bombing wont stop them; it will just make more of them. Ironically, what can stop them is the Assad government and the ground forces of its Hezbollah and the Iranian Republican Guard allies. Its time to let them settle an ancient quarrel that has never been any of America’s business anyway. But Imperial Washington is so caught up in its myths, lies and hegemonic stupidity that it can not see the obvious. And that is why a quarter century after the cold war ended peace still hasn’t been given a chance and the reason that horrific events like last week’s barbarism in Paris still keep happening.

America’s leading Sunni ally is proving how easily hubris, delusion, and old-fashioned ineptitude can trump even bottomless wealth.

Walker Texas Ranger has a history lesson for you: The murder sprees in Paris may go down in history like the Nazis’ invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, as the spark that lit the fuse for a wider European involvement in World War II. The impact of ISIS in Syria and Iraq is comparable to Hitler’s annexation of Czechoslovakia and Austria, which caused great concern and condemnation but not greater European revolt." 

The Islamic State’s horrific attacks in Paris provide a stark reminder that Western powers cannot contain – let alone insulate themselves from – the unintended consequences of their interventions in the Middle East. The unraveling of Syria, Iraq, and Libya, together with the civil war that is tearing Yemen apart, have created vast killing fields, generated waves of refugees, and spawned Islamist militants who will remain a threat to international security for years to come. And the West has had more than a little to do with it.