United States

Bernie Sanders has called for a more “balanced” US Middle East policy, describing Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip in 2014 as “disproportionate.” In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, the US Democratic presidential candidate said :“Was Israel’s response disproportionate? I think it was” adding “I think that we will not succeed to ever bring peace into that region unless we also treat the Palestinians with dignity and respect, and that is my view” Press TV reports: In early July 2014, Israel waged a war on the Gaza Strip.

Supporters of destabilizing regime change can’t accept responsibility for the chaos they help create:

Both Obama and then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continue to argue that it wasn’t the removal of Gaddafi that caused the chaos, but rather the failure to prop up a stable government in the days following. An ISIS affiliate has since gained a foothold in the country, and the U.S. has carried out airstrikes against “ISIS camps” as recently as February.

Hot on the heels of Wells Fargo's $1.2 billion settlement, Bloomberg reports that Goldman Sachs will pay $5.1 billion to settle a U.S. probe into its handling of mortgage-backed securities involving allegations that loans weren’t properly vetted before being sold to investors as high-quality bonds.

Over the past year, the US State Department had repeatedly objected to the proposed Russian delivery of S-300 missile defense systems to Iran. One year ago, the issue first came up when as CNN reported then John Kerry raised objections with Moscow over a plan to sell advanced missile defense systems to Iran. The White House said Kerry made the US opposition clear in a phone call to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Submitted by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners,