Puppet MastersS


Rocket

Iranian military warning: States hosting US bases will be targeted in event of American aggression


Sputnik
Mon, 04 Nov 2019 14:44 UTC
Shekarchi
© tasnimnews.comBrigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi
The US and Iran have repeatedly threatened one another with deadly consequences in the event of hostilities, with the US move to send a carrier strike group to the Middle East and to set up a maritime security coalition to protect shipping in the Persian Gulf leading tensions to spike to dangerous new levels.

Iran has the ability and will to target any and all territories sheltering the US or its allies in the region in the event of aggression against Tehran, Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi has warned.
"Any place and any territorial point sheltering the interests of the United States and its allies would be threatened (in case of any war) and the Islamic Republic has proved that it has the capability to do so. Even if a country does not directly participate in any possible war but its territories host the enemy, we consider that country as a hostile territory and will treat it as an aggressor."
Emphasising that Iran would never be the instigator of a war of aggression, the spokesman also stressed that
"if an aggressor commits a strategic mistake" and starts a war, "that aggression will be confronted with the strongest and most crushing response over a geographic expanse beyond what the ill-wishers of the Islamic Republic could imagine."

Comment: As Iran addresses a potential US military threat by laying out its strategic response to any and all countries that host US forces as complicit and therefore targets, it has not forgotten the sting of the broken JCPOA and the absence of meaningful action by other signatories. In that regard, Iran is moving rapidly on the nuclear enrichment front in defiance of prior restrictions and agreements. From Sputnik, 4/11/2019: Centrifuge prototype to be 50x faster than agreed in nuclear deal
The head of Iran's nuclear program, Ali Akbar Salehi, has announced that the country is now operating 60 IR-6 advanced centrifuges, which is twice the amount that was previously known, and which appears to be a violation of the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA) also known as the Iranian nuclear deal.

He also declared that Iran is now working on a prototype centrifuge which would be 50 times faster as those that are allowed by JCPOA.

Salehi made this reveal to state television on the 40th anniversary of the US embassy takeover in Tehran, adding that the IR-6 centrifuges are capable of producing enriched uranium 10 times as fast as the first generation IR-1 centrifuges that were permitted by the deal which limited Iran to using only 5,060 of the IR-1s.


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Bizarro Earth

Are the Democrats moving left, or returning to their roots?

Joshua Zeitz
Politico
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 02:35 UTC
FDR roosevelt new deal democrats
© Library of Congress/WikimediaRoosevelt Signs The Social Security Act: President Roosevelt signs Social Security Act, at approximately 3:30 pm EST on 14 August 1935.
Be advised: "Democrats are in danger of going too far left in 2018." So warn Republicans like Mitt Romney and ex-Democrats like Joe Lieberman and public personae as diverse as James Comey and Howard Schultz. In recent months, the pundit class has determined that the party's leftward lurch heralds the rise of a "liberal tea party" — a movement that could very well unmoor Democrats from their longstanding center-left traditions, in close imitation of the spiral of events that caused the Republican Party to turn sharply to the right in recent years.

What's fueling this argument? For one, more Democrats have rallied, either noisily or cautiously, around such policy innovations as "Medicare for all," universal college and a universal basic income. That a smattering of Democratic candidates have elected to call themselves "democratic socialists" has only fueled the claim that such programs are "socialist." "The center is Harry Truman and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, not Eugene Debs and Michael Harrington," warned New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens recently. (Debs and Harrington were self-identified socialists.)

Comment: Mr. Zeitz waxes nostalgic for an illusory Democratic party that never was. It was, let it be remembered, the party of slavery and division, not 100 years before FDR's New Deal. The southern Democrats triggered the Civil War in an effort to keep their slave-owning privileges. After their defeat, they enacted the "Jim Crow" laws and organized the Klan to keep the newly-freed slaves in line. Those genes are still with it. Although there may have been some constructive policies put forth by the Dems since then, what the current lunatic progressive members of the Democratic Party propose is far cry from the utopia he imagines the party to be.

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Bullseye

Moscow slams illegal US presence in Syria amid reports of new military bases being built in oil-rich province


RT
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 17:46 UTC
us troops
US actions to bolster its 'illegal presence' in Syria violate international law, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Tuesday.

The statement comes shortly after Turkish media reported that two new American military bases are under construction in the oil-rich Deir ez-Zor province.

The Russian diplomat was asked for the ministry's take on the reported US plans; his response echoes Russia's position on the matter, previously stated by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin.
Any actions whatsoever - we are not talking about anything in particular now - that the United States undertake to keep themselves militarily present in Syria are unacceptable and illegal from our point of view and under international law.
Turkish media reported earlier on Tuesday that the US has started constructing two new military bases in the Deir ez-Zor governorate which is known for its oil reserves. It is claimed that one of the facilities is being built near the former Syrian Air Defense Forces' 113th Brigade base and another in the al-Sur region.

Speaking on Friday, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed US intentions to retain troops in Syria to "keep the oil", and even gained credit from Syria's President Assad for being the "most transparent American President."
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Document

House Intelligence Committee releases first transcripts in Trump impeachment probe


RT
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 17:35 UTC
Schiff
© REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Formerly secret interviews with former US Ambassadors Marie Yovanovitch and State Department adviser Michael McKinley have been made public by the House, as part of the Democrats' impeachment probe of President Donald Trump.

House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff (D-California) released the transcripts of the interviews on Monday, under the rules of House Resolution 660. Adopted by the House last week, over the objections of all the Republicans and two Democrats, the resolution retroactively authorized the impeachment probe three committees had been conducting, and put Schiff in charge of it.

Yovanovitch was the US ambassador to Ukraine until she was recalled by Trump in May. She testified on October 11. McKinley served as adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo until he resigned on October 10, accusing Pompeo of failing to support Yovanovitch and other State employees. He appeared before the impeachment committees six days later.
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Magnify

'You know': Ambassador Yovanovitch's 300-page testimony reveals only assumptions, innuendo and what's in the papers


RT
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 17:29 UTC
Marie Yovanovitch
© REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstFormer U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch smiles as she departs after testifying in the U.S. House of Representatives impeachment inquiry
The highlights of impeachment testimony paint Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as a victim of character assassination by corrupt Ukrainians and US President Donald Trump. We read through all 317 pages to see what's actually inside.

Yovanovitch testified before the House Intelligence Committee last month, and the transcript of the all-day proceedings was among the first made public by Chairman Adam Schiff (D-California) on Monday. Schiff's office also released a nine-page "highlights" reel, which most reporters were all too happy to focus on.

Rather than accept the pre-sliced serving of this particular political sausage, we rolled up our sleeves and got to reading the whole thing ourselves. The final result is far less dramatic. It reveals a diplomat who made a whole lot of assumptions and retrospective conclusions based on media reporting. Her most frequently used phrase was "you know" - but she didn't actually know a whole lot at all.

In the opening remarks that she ended up sharing with the Washington Post - despite the hearing being held behind locked doors - Yovanovitch denied being anti-Trump, favoring Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, or ever suggesting to anyone in Ukraine to refrain from prosecuting corruption.

She described her ouster as "based, as far as I can tell, on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives." (p. 23)
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Vader

China - not Iran - is the real reason US troops will never leave Iraq

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 17:22 UTC
power plant
© Global Look Press / Xinhua
Recent developments suggest that the US and its allies have become increasingly wary of China's expanding influence inside Iraq, even while Washington continuously points out the threat supposedly posed by Iran instead.

Over the past few weeks, Iraq has slowly but surely begun its re-descent into chaos. According to reports, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest Iraq's current state of governance, with over 250 already being killed in clashes with security forces. One protester even died last week, after being hit in the chest by a tear-gas canister in Baghdad. At the time of writing, Iraqi protesters have just stormed Iran's consulate in the holy city of Karbala, resulting in four further deaths and at least 19 injuries.

I can't help but notice that, when Iraq is being ruled as a US client state, clashes with security forces that see hundreds of civilian deaths are no big deal. It's not as if the US can hustle the international community to legitimize another invasion of a country it's invaded twice before. It does therefore ring quite hypocritical when the sole basis of Washington's call for the Syrian government to step down in 2011 seemed to be based on allegations of a similar fact scenario. But that is a topic for a separate article.

Then again, it was the US who plunged Iraq into chaos to begin with. The US, together with the UK, toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, fired close to 500,000 police and military personnel (which to some extent contributed to the rise of ISIS), and facilitated the deaths of over one million Iraqi civilians in the process.
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Heart - Black

'Absolute ghoul': Rees-Mogg slammed online after suggesting Grenfell residents lacked 'common sense' during fire


RT
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 11:11 UTC
Jacob Rees-Mogg
© Reuters / Toby Melville (Top right); Reuters / Hannah McKayFlames and smoke billow out of Grenfell Tower
UK Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg has been denounced for his "vile" and "insensitive" comments after suggesting victims and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire lacked "common sense."

Speaking to LBC radio on Monday to discuss the findings of the Grenfell inquiry report published last week, the posh Etonian made reference to the fire brigade's 'stay put' policy, claiming that "if you just ignore what you're told and leave, you are so much safer."

Those comments alone may have raised a few eyebrows, but Rees-Mogg ploughed on to give a somewhat damning assessment of Grenfell residents' decision-making during the fire in June 2017, which saw 72 people killed.

Rees-Mogg's comments have sparked widespread outrage. Ahmed Chellat, 62, who lost five members of his family in the tragedy, insisted that the Conservative politician needed to be challenged on his views.
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No Entry

Putin dismisses 10 generals for corruption including Melnikov, accused of fraud


TASS
Mon, 04 Nov 2019 12:13 UTC
Putin
© Alexey Nikolsky / TASS

Comment: The following article was translated from the original Russian.


Russian President Vladimir Putin, by his decree, dismissed more than 10 generals of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Emergencies and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

As follows from a presidential decree published on Monday on the official Internet portal of legal information, including Police Major General, First Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for Public Order Protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Alexander Melnikov, who is being held in a pre-trial detention center on charges of fraud.

In total, six Emergencies Ministry generals were dismissed from their posts by decree of the head of state, four by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and one by the IC.

In addition, the president, by his decree, also appointed Lieutenant General of the Internal Service Igor Kobzev as deputy head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry - the chief state fire inspector of the Russian Federation. Police Colonel Dmitry Baranov was appointed Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region - Chief of Police.

Comment: Though short of specifics, the article clearly points to Putin's on-going and successful efforts towards rooting out corruption and incompetence on his own turf. These very instructive efforts have played a crucial part in helping make Russia the viable and robust nation it has become today, and exemplify the crucial process of "draining the swamp" in order to strengthen a country's healthy functioning.

See also:

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Light Sabers

Trump skips meeting as US & China spar at ASEAN

Kiko Rosario
AP
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 11:51 UTC
Le Yucheng
© AP Photo/Johnson LaiChinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng speaks to reporters during ASEAN summit in Nonthaburi, Thailand, Monday, Nov. 4, 2019.
The rivalry between the United States and China over influence in the Asia-Pacific region was on show Monday as the two superpowers traded barbs over freedom of navigation in the region's seas.

The war of words took place at the annual summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, hosted this year by Thailand. The meeting allows Southeast Asian leaders to deal as a bloc with the world's major powers, leveraging their influence in making security and trade arrangements.

At the same time, the meeting serves to highlight the rivalry between the U.S. and China, which both seek to strengthen their clout in the geopolitically important region.

Comment: See also:

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Network

'Deal of the century': Modi rides a tiger in Bangkok with hope China will help tame the beast

Ashish Shukla
RT
Mon, 04 Nov 2019 11:01 UTC
ASEAN
© REUTERS/Athit PerawongmethaIndia's Prime Minister Narendra Modi smiles next to Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha at the ASEAN-India Summit on the sideline of the 35th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand November 3, 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will ride a tiger in Bangkok when he decides if India will join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) involving half of world's population and 40 percent of the global economy.

If India puts ink to paper, Modi could unleash a tsunami of protests at home which could leave him a loner amongst his own men and turn him into a villain in the eyes of farmers, dairy owners, the services industry and the automobile industry, at a minimum.


Comment: As it is, Modi has thus far refused saying he couldn't sign it in good conscience knowing how it will disadvantage farmers and industry.


If India dithers on signing the pact, it could leave Modi with few friends in his neighborhood, spurn Chinese President Xi Jinping's offer of a "100-year plan" between the two countries (as reported by Xinhua) and affect its status in other multilateral pacts, such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral grouping and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization).

Comment: See also:

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