Puppet MastersS


Eye 2

Israel on Gaza: Let them eat dirt

eating dirt
The final stage of Israel's genocide in Gaza, an orchestrated mass starvation, has begun. The international community does not intend to stop it.

There was never any possibility that the Israeli government would agree to a pause in the fighting proposed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, much less a ceasefire. Israel is on the verge of delivering the coup de grâce in its war on Palestinians in Gaza - mass starvation. When Israeli leaders use the term "absolute victory," they mean total decimation, total elimination. The Nazis in 1942 systematically starved the 500,000 men, women and children in the Warsaw Ghetto. This is a number Israel intends to exceed.

Israel, and its chief patron the United States, by attempting to shut down the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides food and aid to Gaza, is not only committing a war crime, but is in flagrant defiance of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The court found the charges of genocide brought by South Africa, which included statements and facts gathered by UNWRA, plausible. It ordered Israel to abide by six provisional measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe. The fourth provisional measure calls on Israel to secure immediate and effective steps to provide humanitarian assistance and essential services in Gaza.

Bad Guys

Israel's Gaza war 'reminiscent of the Nazis' - Erdogan

Israeli attack in Rafah, Gaza
© Getty Images / Abed Zagout / Anadolu / Getty ImagesThe aftermath of an Israeli attack in Rafah, Gaza, February 9, 2024.
Israel's war in Gaza is comparable to the massacres committed by Nazi Germany during World War II, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. This comes as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ramp up their ground assault against Hamas militants in the southern part of the densely populated Palestinian enclave.

"In front of the eyes of the whole world, Israel's occupying forces brutally martyred 28,000 of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, most of them children and women," Erdogan said at the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum. The IDF's strikes on schools, hospitals, mosques, and other civilian sites are "attacks reminiscent of the Nazis," he added.

A vocal critic of Israel, the Turkish leader has repeatedly compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and condemned the military operation in Gaza.

Dig

'Terror tunnel' found under UN agency HQ - Israel

tunnel, IDF, terror tunnel
© Israel Defense Forces / XA screenshot from a video released by the Israel Defense Forces.
The Israeli military says it has discovered a Hamas tunnel and a secret data center underneath the evacuated headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a shaft leading to the underground "terror tunnel" was located near a UN-sponsored school. The tunnel was half a mile long and 60 feet deep, passing "under the building that serves as UNRWA's main headquarters in the Gaza Strip," the IDF said in a statement on Saturday.

The underground compound served as "a significant asset of Hamas' military intelligence," the IDF said, adding that "UNRWA's facilities supplied the tunnel with electricity."

The Israeli army also claimed that "large quantities" of weapons, including rifles and grenades, were found at the agency's main office.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini responded to the claims by saying the agency "did not know what is under its headquarters in Gaza." He added that the UN staff was evacuated on October 12, and that he is "unable to confirm or otherwise comment" on the allegations made by Israel.

Comment: Once again the Israeli's provide flimsy evidence to support yet another baseless claim that a building intended and used for humanitarian purposes was actually a secret headquarters for terrorism.


Mr. Potato

Ex-UK PM Boris Johnson slams Tucker Carlson as 'traitor' for Putin interview

boris johnson
© GettyFormer UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Texas State Capitol on May 23, 2023, in Austin, Texas.
Boris Johnson has invoked Hitler in denouncing the journalist's sit-down with the Russian leader as an "unholy charade"

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denounced journalist Tucker Carlson as a "traitor" for failing to antagonize President Vladimir Putin during his interview with the Russian leader in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

"We must not fall for this tissue of lies, above all the notion that Putin is somehow fated to succeed in Ukraine," Johnson said. "On the contrary, he is doomed to fail."

The British politician, who resigned in disgrace in 2022 amid mounting scandals regarding his government's flouting of its own Covid-19 rules, implored his followers to read the lengthy condemnation of Carlson's sit-down with the Russian leader he penned for the Daily Mail.

Comment: More from RT on Germany joining in the reality denial:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of grossly misrepresenting the situation in Ukraine, claiming he told an "absurd story" about the origin of the conflict during his sit-down with Tucker Carlson.

Speaking during a visit to Washington, DC on Friday, Scholz weighed in on Putin's recent interview with the former Fox host, arguing it only "mocks what real actions have been done by Russia in Ukraine" and presented a "completely absurd story about the cause of this war."

"There is a very clear cause, that is the desire of the president of Russia to annex part of Ukraine. And all the stories that are told about it do not change the fact that that is exactly the purpose of his imperialist efforts," the chancellor added.

Scholz went on to say that the fighting could "end at any time," but not "by Ukraine capitulating," and that "conditions for a peaceful solution" must be created as soon as possible.
One of several parties to the Istanbul talks which would have ended the bloody slaughter in Ukraine a year ago was Naftali Bennett. He explicitly names the US, the UK and NATO as responsible for scuttling the agreement


Bad Guys

Ukraine's top general fired for disobeying US - Politico

Valery Zaluzhny
© Genya SAVILOV / AFPFile photo: General Valery Zaluzhny at a press conference in Kiev, December 26, 2023.
General Valery Zaluzhny was dismissed as the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces partly because he had clashed with the Pentagon about how to conduct the counteroffensive against Russia last summer, Politico EU reported on Friday.

President Vladimir Zelensky sacked Zaluzhny on Thursday, even as the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) warned the move could trigger riots or a mutiny. General Aleksandr Syrsky has since been announced as Zaluzhny's replacement.

Officially, the US has neither supported nor opposed Zaluzhny's firing, with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan telling the media last weekend that "we're just not going to get embroiled in that particular decision."

Unofficially, Zaluzhny was blamed for the Ukrainian disagreements with the Pentagon during the 2023 counteroffensive, a source who has "advised the White House on military matters" told Politico.

British and American generals helped plan and wargame Ukraine's big offensive push to the Azov Sea, but Zaluzhny "tossed aside" the plan after just four days of brutal fighting and opted for tactics the Ukrainians were more familiar with, according to a Washington Post postmortem published in December.

Comment: Given that it was most likely a Washington directed decision to replace Zaluzhny and what has been said about the new commander-in-chief being a deeply unpopular butcher, it seems possible that the reason Zaluzhny didn't go along with the Pentagon's plans was because he realized what would happen to his men if he kept following the Pentagon's directives. Therefor, he needed to be replaced with someone who wouldn't care what would happen to the men or how many would die as a result of doing as the Pentagon commands. Whether there will be a mutiny, a coup, or riots is still up in the air. But it's unlikely that the Ukrainians will allow their men to be sent into a meat grinder indefinitely without more push back.


Whistle

UK steps up war on whistleblower journalism with new National Security Act

UK police
Under a repressive new act, British nationals could face prison for undermining London's national security line. Intended to destroy WikiLeaks and others exposing war crimes, the law is a direct threat to critical national security journalism.

It was the afternoon of May 17 2023 and I had just arrived at London's Luton Airport. I was on my way to the city of my birth to visit my family. Before landing, the pilot instructed all passengers to have their passports ready for inspection immediately upon disembarking the plane. Just then, I noticed a six-strong squad of stone-faced plainclothes British counter-terror officers waited on the tarmac, intensely studying the identification documents of all travelers.

As soon as the cops identified me, I was ordered to accompany them into the airport terminal without explanation. There, I was introduced to two officials whose names I could not learn, who subsequently referred to each other using nondescript callsigns. I was invited to be digitally strip searched, and subjected to an interrogation in which I had no right to silence, no right to refuse to answer questions, and no right to withhold pin numbers for my digital devices or sim cards. If I asserted any rights to privacy, I faced arrest and up to 48 hours in police custody.

I chose to comply. And so it was that over the next five hours, I sat with a couple of anonymous counter-terror cops in an airless, windowless, excruciatingly hot back room. They fingerprinted me, took invasive DNA swabs, and probed every conceivable aspect of my private and professional life, friend and family connections, and educational background. They wanted to know why I write, say and think the things I do, the specifics of how I'm paid for my investigative journalism, and to which bank account.

Footprints

North Korea must be ready to 'occupy' South - Kim

KimJ
© STR/KCNA via KNS/AFPFILE: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivering a speech at the Ministry of National Defense in Pyongyang
Pyongyang considers Seoul to be its "most harmful and unchangeable enemy..."

Pyongyang must be prepared to seize South Korean territory in the event of an "emergency," North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said.

In a speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Army on Friday, Kim praised the military for "firmly protecting the sovereignty and dignity of the country" from "imperialist military threats, blackmail, and the risk of war."

Commenting on the increasingly tense relations with Seoul, the North Korean leader said his country has "summarized the history of our people's division and confrontation and defined [South] Korean puppets as the most harmful and unchangeable enemy" of Pyongyang. Against this backdrop, Kim stated that in the event of an "emergency," North Korean policymakers had "made a national decision to occupy and pacify [South Korean] territory."

The warning comes after the North Korean leader ruled out reunification between Pyongyang and Seoul in late December, arguing that the two neighbors adhere to diametrically opposed principles. Last month, Kim also called on the national parliament to label South Korea the "number one hostile country."

Light Sabers

Dark undercurrents: Even as tensions ease, the US is still preparing for war with China over Taiwan

mural
© Greg Baker/AFPMilitary-themed mural at a public park on Pingtan Island, the closest point in China to Taiwan’s main island.
While overt belligerence no longer dominates the discourse over the island, Washington is very much gearing up for a confrontation...

The year 2024 has been muted when it comes to tensions between the US and China so far. Despite the looming unpredictability of the US election, high politics in Washington has been overwhelmingly focused on Israel and Ukraine, and since Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in San Francisco, things have been relatively calm between Washington and Beijing.

But that does not mean there is nothing going on underneath the surface. While the US has avoided high level antagonism with China for the time being, Washington's ambition to contain Beijing, as well as preparing for a potential war over Taiwan, remains as steadfast as ever. Recently, it was reported that the US has permanently placed special forces in the Taiwan-governed island of Kinmen, where they are said to be training local soldiers.

Kinmen is essentially the last territory that can be considered 'part of the mainland' still ruled by Taiwan, officially known as 'the Republic of China'. Located just 20 miles or so off the coast of Fujian province, it is isolated from the island of Taiwan itself and has subsequently become a target of Chinese retaliation against Taipei over the years, especially during the Mao era. In an invasion scenario, it is expected that Beijing would seize Kinmen Island first, making it a stepping stone and therefore the first line of defense.

Pocket Knife

Ukraine's new commander-in-chief is an unpopular 'butcher' - Politico

Syrsky
© Efrem Lukatsky/APGeneral Aleksandr Syrsky (R) looks at a map with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky
Kharkov Region, Ukraine • November 30, 2023
Troops are wary of General Aleksandr Syrsky, and reportedly fear that he will throw them into "fruitless assaults"...

Ukraine's new armed forces chief, General Aleksandr Syrsky, is deeply unpopular among the rank and file of the Ukrainian military, who view him as a "butcher" willing to sacrifice waves of troops, Politico reported on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky named Syrsky as the new head of the armed forces on Thursday, after firing General Valery Zaluzhny from the post. The switch had been the subject of media rumors for several weeks, and Zelensky hinted in an interview last week that it would form part of a wider "reset" of the country's military and civilian leadership.

Syrsky is a controversial choice, best known for "leading forces into a meat grinder in Bakhmut [called Artyomovsk in Russia], sending wave after wave of troops to face opposition fire," Politico said.

The unsuccessful defense of Artyomovsk/Bakhmut last year cost Ukraine dearly, and earned Syrsky the nickname 'butcher', an anonymous source within the Ukrainian military told the news site. A captain told the outlet that Syrsky's appointment is a "very bad decision," adding that soldiers refer to him as 'General200', a nickname that Politico said refers to 200 of his men dying, but could also refer to 'Cargo 200', a Soviet and Russian military code used to describe corpses being removed from the battlefield.

Bullseye

US strike kills senior Kataib Hezbollah commander in Baghdad

funeral
© Ahmed al-Rubaye/AFPMembers of the group Kataib Hezbollah carry the body of fallen comrade Hassan Hannadi al-Amiri during his funeral 26 December 2023
The US military said it killed a high-ranking commander in Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, on Wednesday night in Baghdad in retaliation for a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US soldiers.

The strike killed at least three people, including senior Kataib Hezbollah commanders Abu Baqir al-Saadi and Arkan al-Alaywi. Video footage of the strike site in eastern Baghdad showed an SUV engulfed in flames.

US Central Command said it conducted a "unilateral strike" in retaliation to a drone attack last week at a remote desert outpost in Jordan that killed three US soldiers.

The US said the Kataib Hezbollah commander killed in Wednesday's strike was "responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region".

The strike on Tower 22 in a remote sliver of northeast Jordan sent a shockwave through Washington, as it marked the first public deaths of US soldiers since attacks on US troops began, following the outbreak of war in Gaza in October. The attack came just as US officials had assessed that Iran was looking to rein in its proxies to prevent attacks on US forces that could lead to the outbreak of a wider war.

On Friday, the US launched strikes on 85 targets in Syria and Iraq that it said were affiliated with Iran and its allies. But Wednesday's strike marks the most powerful response yet. A former senior US defence official previously told MEE that Washington was weighing strikes on senior Iran-backed commanders in Iraq.