Best of the Web:

Best of the Web: Crossfire Hurricane in a teacup? IG report exposes gaping chasm between Russiagate inquiry and reality

RT
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 17:32 UTC

The long-awaited report on the origins of Russiagate shows the intelligence community played fast and loose with the truth to build its case against candidate Donald Trump and inflate the specter of Russian election interference.

The report by the Department of Justice's Inspector General (DOJ IG) "makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a US presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken," Attorney General William Barr said in a statement following the report's publication on Monday. Despite the clear efforts by a handful of malicious FBI officials to mislead the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, he continued, the "evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory."

While praising IG Michael Horowitz's work, Barr made it clear he disagrees with its essential conclusion - that all the prerequisites were properly met in order to launch July 2016's counterintelligence inquiry into purported Russian election meddling, dubbed "Crossfire Hurricane."

Best of the Web: The Afghanistan Papers: A secret history of the war

Craig Whitlock
The Washington Post
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 09:02 UTC

A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.

The documents were generated by a federal project examining the root failures of the longest armed conflict in U.S. history. They include more than 2,000 pages of previously unpublished notes of interviews with people who played a direct role in the war, from generals and diplomats to aid workers and Afghan officials.

The U.S. government tried to shield the identities of the vast majority of those interviewed for the project and conceal nearly all of their remarks. The Post won release of the documents under the Freedom of Information Act after a three-year legal battle.

In the interviews, more than 400 insiders offered unrestrained criticism of what went wrong in Afghanistan and how the United States became mired in nearly two decades of warfare.

With a bluntness rarely expressed in public, the interviews lay bare pent-up complaints, frustrations and confessions, along with second-guessing and backbiting.

Comment: For a closer look at the released documents, see here: The Afghanistan Papers

Best of the Web: WADA has the power to cancel entire countries from sports, despite its flawed methods and arbitrary rules

RT
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 20:06 UTC

The World Anti-Doping Agency is regarded as the top sports authority when it comes to rooting out doping. But experts have pointed out glaring holes in WADA's modus operandi, which cast doubt on its judgement.

Established 20 years ago under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, WADA has grown capable of imposing its own will on the world of sports through rulings and recommendations almost universally observed by international sporting bodies. Most recently, it once again turned its attention to Russia, accusing it of manipulating doping test data.

It sounds like a serious accusation, but there have been arguments against taking WADA's word for it - in this case and in others. Irrespective of their views on the Russian "systemic doping" scandal, experts have been pointing out the agency's flaws.

Best of the Web: Saudi terror attack on US soil, or not? Journalists suspended from Twitter just for discussing Pensacola shooter's motivation

Anna Slatz
The Post Millennial
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 05:54 UTC

Comment: It's pretty clear what happened at Pensacola Naval Base the other day: a visiting Saudi military officer shot dead two American officers.

What is completely unclear is what the heck US authorities/media are doing with the narrative about it...

Following the Pensacola Navy Base shooting having been deemed a terror attack, multiple journalists and media personalities have been suspended from Twitter for reporting details on shooter Mohammed Alshamrami.

Filmmaker Mike Cernovich, The Post Millennial editor-at-large Andy Ngo, and Fox host Pete Hegseth are among those who have been suspended from Twitter for utilizing Alshamrami's manifesto or social media excerpts to speculate on his motivation for carrying out the deadly attack.

Comment: The whole thing is nuts. It's outright censorship, no doubt about it, but why? Why tip their hand? What was so important about this shooting incident in Florida to make them do that?

You've got a Saudi soldier 'losing it' and shooting dead American servicemen, then initial media reporting about an 'anti-American and anti-Israel manifesto found online thanks to SITE Intelligence [Mossad]', but then US authorities back down from that position and instead resist the temptation to spin a 'terror attack' out of it...

Instead they now have Twitter and other social media platforms actively 'cleaning up' mentions of the now-dropped terror narrative.

One wonders whether 'Israel' 'offered' the US this 'terror attack gift', but the Americans declined it so as not to offend Saudi Arabia and hurt mutual business arrangements (not least whatever set-up involves training Saudi Air Force pilots at Pensacola).

Then again, the above 'attack-that-was-not-a-terror-attack' may never have been earmarked for 'a terror production' in the first place. It was the second such shooting by a sanctioned officer at a US Navy base inside a week:

Sailor kills 2, wounds 1 before taking own life at Hawaii's Pearl Harbor base

The only thing we can be sure of is that efforts are underway by some in US govt/media to downplay the fact that the 'lone gunman' in Pensacola was a Saudi national.

Best of the Web: China stealing Middle East from under America's nose

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 14:19 UTC

China, the world's second-largest economy, appears to be in the process of carving out a new Middle East plan that will over time erode and chip away at American dominance in the region.

Granted, Washington's influence in the Middle East has been steadily disappearing for some time. It became clear this was the case after the US toppled an anti-Iranian dictator, Saddam Hussein, in Iraq and replaced his government with a pro-Tehran Shia-dominated leadership. However, things really took a turn for the worse some years later in Syria, which saw Russia emerge as a major power whose physical presence could not only prevent a pending US invasion, but could potentially broker lasting peace deals.

It should be no surprise then to see China also willingly filling the void left by a slowly but surely deteriorating superpower. The Middle East Security Forum held in Beijing at the end of November brought together over 200 representatives from both the Middle East and China to discuss Beijing's "new idea" for the Middle East.

Comment: See also:

Best of the Web: France paralyzed by largest general strike in decades - Hundreds of demonstrations take place against Macron's pension reforms

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 10:26 UTC

Comment: Nobody strikes like the French. When they strike, they strike EVERYWHERE!

The last time they went on strike like this, they forced president Chirac to back down from implementing... neo-liberal 'pension reform'.

Will Macron back down this time around though? The unions are threatening to keep it up right through Christmas if they have to...

In what appears to be the biggest disruption to French society since the gilets jaunes demonstrators nearly torched Paris last year, public workers across the country stayed home on Thursday, immobilizing public transit across the country as the first general strike in more than 20 years began.

The walkout was called by unions angry at President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms (not unlike how a planned - then scrapped - gas tax hike sparked the gilets jaunes).

On the fist day of the strike, parts of Paris resembled a ghost town during what are typically busy morning-commute hours. Roads were empty, and train stations were deserted, according to the Times of London.

The biggest industrial action of Macron's tenure is, so far, staggering in scale: 50% of French teachers are off work, nine out of ten trains were cancelled and eleven of the fourteen underground lines in Paris are closed. A total of 245 separate demonstrations have been announced across France as students, firefighters, healthcare workers and others joining in. Strikes at Air France forced a wave of flight cancellations, leaving thousands of travelers scrambling for a workaround. Air France cancelled 30% of its domestic flights and 10% of international short- and medium-haul flights on Thursday, RT reports.

Comment: What a turnout. Here's the workers' march in Toulouse:

The CGT union estimates that 1.5 million people hit the streets nationwide - despite there being no public transport. And French media is reporting that 69% of the country supports the strike.

Things got hot by the day's end however:

The firefighters union's intervention couldn't prevent battles breaking out between police and protesters, or 'casseurs' (vandals), as the French govt refers to both Black Bloc Antifa anarchist types and legitimate protesters...

In the city of Nantes, riot police tear-gassed the workers' march:

But the main action took place in Paris this evening:

It looks like it's going to be another long seething winter in France.

Best of the Web: Why climate alarmism hurts us all

Michael Shellenberger
Forbes
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 01:08 UTC

© Getty ImagesClimate alarmism may be contributing to rising anxiety and depression among teenagers. (From left to right: Girl from Extinction Rebellion ad, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lauren Jeffrey, Emma Thompson, Ellie Goulding).

In July of this year, one of Lauren Jeffrey's science teachers made an off-hand comment about how climate change could be apocalyptic. Jeffrey is 17 years old and attends high school in Milton Keynes, a city of 230,000 people about 50 miles northwest of London.

"I did research on it and spent two months feeling quite anxious," she told me. "I would hear young people around me talk about it and they were convinced that the world was going to end and they were going to die."

In September, British psychologists warned of the impact on children of apocalyptic discussions of climate change. "There is no doubt in my mind that they are being emotionally impacted," one expert said.

Comment: You know the climate alarmists have gone too far when the IPCC is the voice of reason. Despite the fact that the entire anthropogenic global warming narrative is a complete scam, it's good to see that at least some within the movement, like the above author, are calling for cooler heads (pun intended).

See also:

Best of the Web: How Israel became one of the world's worst rogue states

Alain Gabon
Middle East Eye
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 12:40 UTC

Despite propaganda to the contrary, Israel is not a democracy and never has been

As an integral part its ongoing propaganda, Israel, along with its fervent supporters and legions of paid and anonymous agents, zealously repeats and disseminates - in the media, on university campuses, in blogs and comment sections, at conferences and more - the same old, tired Zionist myths.

Propaganda guides and tool kits, such as the "global language dictionary", offer ready-made arguments and counter-arguments to sell Israel to journalists and critics. Such talking points come with tips on what tone and rhetorical tactics to use, what words and formulas "work", and how to discuss "sensitive" issues, such as Israel's illegal colonisation and annexation of Palestinian land, Jewish settlements and the killing of civilians.

All of which are now set to get worse since US President Donald Trump has both rewarded and emboldened Israel by recognising its illegal and brutal colonisation (its "settlements"). By the same token he has offered yet another spectacular demonstration of the complete contempt of the United States for the rule of international law.

Setting such an example will only send the message to all the despots, autocrats and tyrants of various stripes around the globe that not only it is ok to steal, colonise, and brutalise weak and defenceless populations, but that you may even be rewarded by the West for adopting the "law of the jungle".

Best of the Web: Macron tells NATO Russia must come in from the Cold War

Michael Luongo
Guns, Gold 'N Goats
Sat, 30 Nov 2019 00:00 UTC

Last week I went through just some of the highlights as to why Russia is becoming a destination for global capital.

For years it's been a little lonely out here banging on about how well the Russian state headed by Vladimir Putin has navigated an immense campaign by the West to marginalize and/or isolate Russia from the world economy.

But that is changing rapidly. And 2020 will likely be the year the New Cold War begins to end. And it starts with Europe. In recent weeks there have been a number of moves made on both sides to end the economic isolation of Russia by Europe.

As always, however, it begins politically. French President Emmanuel Macron speaking at a press conference before 70th Anniversary NATO Summit in London no less, made it clear that he no longer wants the EU positioning itself as an adversary of Russia or China.

Standing next to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Macron put a further down payment that he is looking to replace German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the person setting the tone for European Foreign Policy.

Comment: See also:

Best of the Web: Britain's Chief Rabbi is helping to stoke antisemitism

Jonathan Cook
Mondoweiss
Mon, 02 Dec 2019 10:47 UTC

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has not only misrepresented the known facts about Labour and its supposed antisemitism crisis. He has not only interfered in an overtly, politically partisan manner in the December 12 election campaign by suggesting that Jeremy Corbyn - against all evidence - is an antisemite.

By speaking out as the voice of British Jews - a false claim he has allowed the UK media to promote - his unprecedented meddling in the election of Britain's next leader has actually made the wider Jewish community in the UK much less safe. Mirvis is contributing to the very antisemitism he says he wants to eradicate.

Mirvis' intervention in the election campaign makes sense only if he believes in one of two highly improbable scenarios.

Comment: The evidence of Israel and its acolytes meddling in UK (and international) affairs abounds:

And check out SOTT radio's:

Exactly; well written article.

ReRan

Only anti-semitic violence is forbidden. All other violence is acceptable, according to the Blob.

ReRan

Jose can you see, my eyes if you can then my hair's too short. Since we know Biden isn't in control of the country, who gives the orders to veto...

Baybars

He has the look of an angry, petty, little man. Perfect WEF employee material.

Baybars

Our volunteer school canteen would probably pass an audit, I’m not sure about this...... The ATACMS were acquired from Lockheed Martin, rather...

Bsotted

Best of the Web:

Best of the Web: Crossfire Hurricane in a teacup? IG report exposes gaping chasm between Russiagate inquiry and reality

Best of the Web: The Afghanistan Papers: A secret history of the war

Best of the Web: WADA has the power to cancel entire countries from sports, despite its flawed methods and arbitrary rules

Best of the Web: Saudi terror attack on US soil, or not? Journalists suspended from Twitter just for discussing Pensacola shooter's motivation

Best of the Web: China stealing Middle East from under America's nose

Best of the Web: France paralyzed by largest general strike in decades - Hundreds of demonstrations take place against Macron's pension reforms

Best of the Web: Why climate alarmism hurts us all

Best of the Web: How Israel became one of the world's worst rogue states

Best of the Web: Macron tells NATO Russia must come in from the Cold War

Best of the Web: Britain's Chief Rabbi is helping to stoke antisemitism

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk