Puppet MastersS


USA

US-Israel is predictably behind Turkish aggression in Syria

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
US soldier
Turkey's ongoing fighting in northern Syria's Idlib governorate was - from the beginning of recent escalations - clearly a continuation of Washington's wider now 9 year-long proxy war against Damascus.

Whatever gains Turkey had made in terms of reducing its role in Washington's proxy war and repairing ties with Syria's allies Russia and Iran - were clearly less important to Ankara amid these recent weeks of renewed aggression than whatever Washington has either promised Anakara or threatened it with.

And precisely because Turkey's aggression in Idlib is merely one part of the much wider proxy war Washington continues to wage against Damascus - it was predicted that others involved in the proxy war would coordinate with Turkey elsewhere in Syria.

Israeli Airstrikes

In recent weeks Israel has continued carrying out attacks in Syrian territory.

Recent news has covered Israeli attacks on military targets in Homs - right at the edge of where Turkey's aggression trails off.

Chinese news site Xinhua in its March 5, 2020 article, "Syrian air defenses intercept Israeli missiles in central, southern regions," would report:
Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles in the central province of Homs and the southern Quneitra province after midnight Thursday, state news agency SANA reported.

The missiles were fired from Israeli warplanes over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and from Lebanese airspace, said the report, without providing details on the targets.

The attack is the latest in a string of missile strikes carried out by Israel.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Eagle

The Federal Reserve's irresponsible rate cut accelerated panic

Daniel Lacalle
dlacalle.com
Sun, 08 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
stone eagle
The monumental mistake of the Federal Reserve cutting rates this week can only be understood in the context of the rising God's complex of central planners. An overwhelming combination of ignorance and arrogance.

Less than a week ago, several members of the Federal Reserve board reminded - rightly so - that cutting rates would not have a significant impact in a supply shock like the current one. We must also remember that the Federal Reserve already cut rates in 2019 and inflated its balance sheet by 14% to almost all-time highs in recent months, completely reversing the virtually nonexistent prior normalization. Only a few days after making calls for prudence, the Fed launched an unnecessary and panic-inducing emergency rate cut and caused the opposite effect to what they desired. Instead of calming markets, the Federal Reserve 50 basis points cut sent a message of panic to market participants. If the jobs and manufacturing figures were better than expected, and the economy is solid with low unemployment, what message does the Fed transmit with an emergency cut? It tells market participants that the situation is much worse than it seems and that the Fed knows more than the rest of us about how dire everything can be. A communication and policy mistake driven by an incorrect diagnosis: The idea that the market crash would be solved with easy monetary policy instead of understanding the impact on stocks and growth of an evident supply shock from the coronavirus epidemic.
Read More...
Bad Guys

By tagging Trump's Biden video as 'manipulated' Twitter actually manipulates US electorate

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 23:24 UTC
social media giants
© REUTERS/File Photo
Imagine thinking so little of Americans' intelligence to label a factual video clip 'manipulated' because it's being used as a meme in the presidential election campaign. Twitter just did that, following in Facebook's footsteps.

For the first time ever, Twitter applied a 'manipulated' tag to a video retweeted by President Donald Trump and shared by his social media director Dan Scavino. Mainstream media critics of the president were really excited at the news, calling the video "deceptively edited."

"We cannot get re-elect [sic]....we cannot win this re-election... excuse me, we can only re-elect Donald Trump," the video shows Democrat front-runner Joe Biden telling a crowd. According to Twitter and the mainstream media, this is deceptive because the clip leaves out the ending: "...if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here."

The full video of Biden's remarks makes it clear that he didn't really endorse Trump. Of course, no actual person out there would think he did, merely that the 78-year-old establishment Democrat is having trouble stringing a coherent sentence together, even with the help of a teleprompter.

Comment: The Trump campaign blasted the actions of Twitter, saying the company is engaged in applying double standards in order to protect the Biden campaign, in a letter sent to top Twitter officials:
"The Biden campaign has a strategic interest in intimidating social media companies into suppressing true and embarrassing video evidence of Joe Biden's continued inability to communicate coherently.

"Still, it appears that many people employed by Big Tech corporations in Silicon Valley are assisting the Biden campaign" by enforcing a rule that effectively censors any speech which "Biden's campaign and its supporters do not like," the letter continues.

[...]

The Trump team also countered with its own examples of deceptive or manipulated videos put out by the Biden campaign, singling out three clips it said used selective editing to "mislead Americans and give a false impression" of President Trump - including one video edited to make it appear that Trump had described neo-Nazis as "very fine people."

Though at the time the president immediately clarified "I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists," who he said should be "condemned totally," that did not stop the Biden campaign from circulating the edited footage without consequence.

Another clip from a recent campaign rally was modified to suggest Trump had dismissed the coronavirus as a "hoax." While the president did use the two words in the same sentence, he had actually accused his Democratic opponents of committing the 'hoax' by exploiting the lethal illness to score political points. That video also failed to earn a disclaimer from the social media giant or its allies in the corporate press.

Having taken no action against those videos and others, the campaign demanded the company prove that it is "not seeking to protect Joe Biden" and finally start applying its standards "equally across the board."


Read More...
Chess

Afghan president Ghani orders release of Taliban prisoners, important point of deal with US


RT
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 23:16 UTC
Afghan security force
© AFP / Noorullah ShirzadaAfghan security force escort detained Taliban members
President Ashraf Ghani has signed a decree pardoning Taliban fighters held in Afghan prisons. The move was part of the peace deal Washington made with the group, but official Kabul hesitated to act on it, demanding guarantees.

The Afghan president "has signed the decree that would facilitate the release of the Taliban prisoners in accordance with an accepted framework for the start of negotiation between the Taliban and the Afghan government," Ghani's spokesman Sediq Sediqqi tweeted on Tuesday, announcing the measure.

The decree will see around 1,500 Taliban militants freed from prisons across Afghanistan, starting within the next four days. Each of them will have to provide a written guarantee that they won't be returning to the battlefield.
Read More...
Putin

'Western ideologists will go crazy': Putin leaves door open to run for president again


RT
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 23:11 UTC
putin
© Reuters / Umit Bektas
Putin's speech to the Russian parliament Tuesday seemed to be one of his most sincere: he argued that stable leadership is good for a country in turbulent times but does it mean we'll really see him in power beyond 2024.

Putin said Tuesday that he will seek a new term when his current one is up "only if it's approved by the Constitutional Court and if citizens support such a proposal" when they vote for constitutional amendments on April 22.

He addressed the issue during a speech in parliament after MP and the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, called for his tenure to be reset so that he would be eligible for two more runs before being subject to the new restrictions, envisaged by the amendments.

The changes to Russia's principal law, among other things, include redistributing some powers away from the president to the parliament, banning state officials from having foreign citizenship and setting the minimum wage above the basic cost of living.
Read More...
Eye 1

Hunter Biden says coronavirus is keeping him from attending child support deposition

Andrew Kerr
Daily Caller
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 16:22 UTC
hunter joe biden
© REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Hunter Biden's lawyers told an Arkansas judge on Tuesday that he is unable to attend a child support deposition scheduled for this week due to coronavirus and his pregnant wife's imminent due date.

"It is unsafe for the Defendant to travel, as travel restrictions have been implemented both domestically and internationally, particularly on airlines, due to the Coronavirus," Hunter Biden's lawyer wrote in a court filing. "Setting aside personal endangerment, Defendant reasonably believes that such travel unnecessarily exposes his wife and unborn child to this virus."

Hunter Biden's wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, is due to deliver his unborn child in two and a half weeks or less, according to the court filing. The couple is renting a $3.9 million home in Los Angeles at $12,000 per month.

Comment: What a scumbag.

Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US bringing missile defense systems to Iraq in bid to protect troops against 'potential Iranian attack' - CENTCOM


RT
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 16:12 UTC
Patriot
© AFP / BULENT KILICFILE PHOTO A Patriot missile launcher system
Pulling out the 'Iran threat' card, the head of the US Central Command has announced that Washington is in the process of installing "air defense systems" and "ballistic missile defense systems" in Iraq.

US Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie revealed his country's latest military maneuver in the Middle East during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday.

"We are also in the process of bringing air defense systems, ballistic missile defense systems, into Iraq in particular, to protect ourselves against another potential Iranian attack."

Comment: And the Pentagon insists its presence in Iraq is a 'force for good'...

See also:

Read More...
Star of David

Not off the hook: Court rejects Israeli PM Netanyahu's bid to delay corruption trial


Sputnik
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 19:07 UTC
Netanyahu
© Lasha DarkmoonIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
The prime minister's lawyers had asked for a delay, saying that more time was needed to study evidence.

An Israeli court has rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to delay the beginning of his corruption trial, paving the way for it to begin next week as it was planned.

According to the presiding judge, there is no need for a delay since the first session that will take place on 17 March is a procedural reading of the charges, which means that Mr Netanyahu's response is not required.

Comment: This may be Netanyahu's last gambit. His immunity request has already been denied.

Read More...
Arrow Up

Hezbollah learned important lessons in recent Idlib attacks, for if Israel ever attacks

Elijah Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 19:05 UTC
hezbollah
For the first time in its official existence in 1985, Lebanon's Hezbollah has now clashed on the battlefield with the Turkish army, one of NATO's strongest. The face-to-face clash between Hezbollah and the Turkish military took place in the rural area of Idlib where dozens of Turkish service members lost their lives while fighting side-by-side with jihadists and foreign fighters of different nationalities, including al-Qaeda members. The Turkish-NATO army used similar weapons and tactics to Israel. They surprised Hezbollah by using armed drones and precision bombing behind the frontline, killing nine militants and wounding 65 in one single attack. So many Hezbollah militants were killed in one place due to the collapse of the entire building they gathered under, located behind the main battlefield line.

Another factor was the unexpected withdrawal of Russian air coverage at the moment Turkey was sending its Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs) (or Unmanned Aerial System (UAV) better known as armed drones) deep inland, bombing Iran and its allies for the first time. This confrontation has introduced a new military doctrine to Hezbollah militants and has taught them new lessons based on experiences Hezbollah has never been confronted with in the past. Turkey used its UCAVs, TRG-122 satellite-guided rockets, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and ground attacks by the Turkish army fighting alongside jihadists. It is most likely what Israel has been threatening Hezbollah with, in the event of war.

Moreover, Israel's concern about the outstanding Hezbollah night assault capability on Saraqed has a double edge, pinpointing ability and a procedure Hezbollah can successfully carry out against Israel in case of war - thus triggering concern in Israel. Indeed, Israel is increasingly voicing concern about the level of threat posed by Hezbollah's 'al-Radwan' Elite force spread along the borders of Lebanon. Could Israel be planning a similar quick attack against Hezbollah's forces?
Read More...
Oil Well

Jumping the gun on oil production cuts is a Saudi problem, not a Russian one

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 18:25 UTC
Bin Salman Alexander Novak russia OPEC oil
© Reuters/Leonhard FoegerSaudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud and Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak at the Opec and Opec+ meeting in Vienna, Austria, on December 6 2019.
Russia is not the initiator of the war on the oil front which is now under way. Not Russian Energy Minister, Alexander Novak, but Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince and chief executive of the sheikhdom.

This is war propaganda from the Financial Times : " 'There was a consensus among Opec [to cut production]. Russia objected and has said that from April 1 everyone can produce whatever they like. So the kingdom too is exercising its right,' said one person familiar with Saudi oil policy."

This is more lying from the New York Times: "Moscow refused to accept production cuts to offset the effect of the coronavirus outbreak"
Read More...