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Another French success: France bombs 120 civilians in Syria - 'retaliation' for Nice?

Daniel McAdams
Ron Paul Institute
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:57 UTC
syria airstrike
Just days after Tunisian-born French resident Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a truck into a crowded Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, killing at least 84, a French-led bombing attack on the Syrian villages of Tokhar and Hoshariyeh today has reportedly killed more than 120 civilians.

Mainstream media and even the rebel-friendly Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have confirmed the killings and the civilian victims.

Shortly after the Nice attack, French president Hollande vowed to retaliate by stepping up bombing in Iraq and Syria.

True to his word, Hollande has today killed more than 120 civilians in Syria (warning graphic photos) in retaliation for the actions of a French resident of Tunisian origin (who is said to not even have been a practicing Muslim).

We may be left asking the obvious couple of questions. Why do 120 innocent Syrian civilians deserve to die because 84 innocent French civilians were killed in a terrorist attack? And how does France expect to avoid further blowback for its aggressive Middle East policy if it continues to provide endless recruiting narratives?

Comment: This comes at the same time that the same mainstream sources are reporting on U.S. airstrikes killing 56 civilians in Manbij. SOHR (the British anti-Assad 'observatory', i.e., one guy on his computer) is even reporting 11 dead children.
In a statement, rights watchdog Amnesty International said the U.S.-led coalition must do more to prevent civilian deaths. "Anyone responsible for violations of international humanitarian law must be brought to justice and victims and their families should receive full reparation," Amnesty's interim Middle East director Magdalena Mughrabi said.
...
The Observatory said at least 104 civilians have died from air strikes since the start of the Manbij offensive in late May.

Syria's main opposition body, the High Negotiations Committee [i.e. the Saudis], criticized both the SDF and the coalition, which it blamed for what it said were hundreds of civilian deaths around Manbij.
...
Between Sept. 10, 2015 and Feb. 2, 2016, coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria probably killed 20 civilians and injured 11 others, the U.S. Central Command said in April.

On Tuesday, the coalition said the SAC captured an IS command center in western Manbij on Sunday that was concealed in a hospital and was also being used as a logistics hub.
The coalition admits that Daesh takes over hospitals and uses them as command centers. Kinda puts reports that Syria and Russia 'bomb hospitals' into perspective, doesn't it (disregarding the obvious fake reporting designed to smear Assad and Putin)?

What's up with this uptick in reporting on American atrocities in Syria?

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Info

Poroshenko thinks journalist's murder aimed at destabilizing situation


ITAR-TASS
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 15:03 UTC
Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko
© AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
The aim of famed journalist Pavel Sheremet's murder was to destabilized the situation in Ukraine, President Pyotr Poroshenko said on Wednesday.

"I think this was done with one aim - to destabilize the situation in the country, possible ahead of some other events. I demand to establish an operational group and ask (Chief of Ukrainian National Police) Khatia Dekanoidze to head it," Proshenko said at the meeting with heads of law enforcement agencies. The Ukrainian president did not rule out foreign interests in Sheremet's murder.

He also demanded that Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko and head of Security Service Vasily Gritsak "send their best specialists and do everything possible to resolve this crime as soon as possible." Lutsenko noted two main possible motives behind Sheremet's murder - his professional activities and destabilization of the situation in the country.

It was earlier reported that Pavel Sheremet, a renowned journalist, had been killed in downtown Kiev.

Comment: High profile Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sheremet dies in car explosion

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Snakes in Suits

God help us all: Trump earns enough delegate votes to be the Republican presidential nominee at GOP convention


RT
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:56 UTC
trump
© Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
It's no longer presumptive. Despite some opposition, Donald Trump surpassed the required 1,237 delegate votes for the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Now, the first internet reactions are pouring in.

In alphabetical order, states and territories and the District of Columbia all officially cast their delegate votes for the presidential nomination. With some states passing on their turn, it was New York's delegation that put Trump over the 1,237 delegate threshold.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas trailed with just over 200 delegates, and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson claimed even fewer. Their names garnered some boos from the convention floor when announced during delegate vote counts.

Comment: It's worth noting that Nigel Farage decided to attend the GOP convention to "hear Trump's speech." Farage seemingly jumped off the UK ship and now wants to get on Trump's bandwagon.

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Dominoes

A liberated Manbij will join the autonomous federation of N. Syria


Sputnik
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 10:06 UTC
Manbij fighters
© www.kurdishinfo.com
"We will liberate Manbij."
Amid the intensive fighting for the liberation of the northern Syrian city of Manbij from Daesh jihadists, Rojava-Northern Syria Democratic Federal System Constituent Assembly Co-President Hediye Yusuf tells Sputnik Turkiye that when fully liberated, the city will join the autonomous Rojava - Northern Syria Democratic Federal System. "Manbij will be liberated in a short while. After the liberation it will be integrated into the Rojava — Northern Syria Democratic Federal System," Hediye Yusuf told Sputnik Turkiye.

"Several members of the city Mejlis (city council) have already joined the Constituent Assembly of the Federation. Many Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds from Manbij are already members of our Mejlis. It is for the people of Manbij to decide when to join the Federation. The city Mejlis will apply to join the Federal System based on the decision of the people of Manbij," she added.
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Take 2

Barack Obama's 2008 Speeches: Plagiarized or 'inspired'?

Alex Christoforu
The Duran
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:52 UTC
Obama
© nationalreview.com
Melania Trump, plagiarized. Barack Obama was inspired.

While the US news cycle has completely turned into a Melania Trump, 'did she' or 'did she not' plagiarize Michelle Obama's 2008 speech, PhD debate, it was around the same 2008 time frame, that Michelle's, then Senator husband, was doing a bit of plagiarizing during his stump speeches...or as White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest so eloquently puts it (and I paraphrase), 'Obama never plagiarized, he was inspired.'

Comment: Please! Notice how both Deval Patrick and Barack Obama plagiarize Dr. King repeatedly. The article really begs the question does any politician have an original thought?

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Light Sabers

The US is politicizing the Olympics again in trying to ban Russia from Rio

Paul Craig Roberts
paulcraigroberts.org
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 14:41 UTC
ioc russia
Washington and its Canadian vassal are trying to use a Western media-created Russian athletic doping scandal to ban Russian participation in the Olympic games in Brazil. Washington and Canada are pressuring other countries to get on board with Washington's vendetta against Russia. The vendetta is conducted under the cover of "protecting clean athletics."

You can bet your life that Washington is not motivated by a respect for fairness in sports. Washington is busy at home destroying fairness to the poor, and Washington, which disregards the sovereignty of countries and international law against naked aggression, is busy abroad destroying millions of lives for hegemonic purposes.

We could conclude that Washington wants hegemony in sports just as it does in foreign affairs and wants Russian athletes out of the way so that Americans can win more medals. But this would be to miss the real point of Washington's campaign against Russia. The "doping scandal" is part of Washington's ongoing effort to isolate Russia and to build opposition to Putin inside Russia.

There is a minority known as "Atlanticist Integrationists" inside the Russian government and in the business sector that believes that it is more important for Russia to be integrated into the West than to be sovereign. This minority of Russians is willing to trade off Russian independence for Western acceptance. Essentially they are traitors who Putin tolerates.
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Eiffel Tower

French national assembly votes for 6-month state of emergency extension


RT
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:57 UTC
eiffel tower military
© Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
In the wake of the gruesome terrorist attack in Nice last week, which left 84 people dead, the National Assembly has voted to extend the ongoing state of emergency in France for another six months until the end of January 2017.

Following lengthy debate, French lawmakers voted to extend government powers for the fourth time at around 2:00am Wednesday night. The extension now needs to be approved by the Senate.

President Francois Hollande declared the state of emergency last year, a day after coordinated attacks on November 13 were carried out by teams of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) gunmen, killing 130 people.

The powers deriving from a law adopted in 1955 offer the government a number of exceptional powers in the event of a threat to national security. Under the new extension, French authorities have been given the power to make house arrests without a court order, as well as conduct searches without a court authorization.

Comment: France is following in the footsteps of Big Brother America, which has been under a state of emergency ever since 9/11. As Hollande said just days before the Nice attacks, France can never be a republic while such a state of emergency is in effect. Guess that's the point. Further reading:

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Info

The history and politics of the IMF

Zain Raza
TVI
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:23 UTC
IMF money pills
In this video we interview journalist and author Ernst Wolff. Wolff's latest book is called Pillaging the World: The History and Politics of the IMF which is also available in German and Arabic. This video series aims to provide context behind the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the role it has played in world affairs since its formation up until the current period.

The following questions are addressed in the following video:
  • What motivated Ernst Wolff to write the book Pillaging the World: The History and Politics of the IMF?
  • Under what context was the International Monetary Fund (IMF) founded?
  • Why was the International Monetary Fund founded? What role has it played in the past?
  • What effects do the IMF's policies have on the social and cultural fabric of a country?
  • What terminology does the IMF employ and is there Orwellianism at play which cloaks its actual practices?

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

IMF predicts negative economic fallout from Brexit


RT
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:45 UTC
british
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
A performer playing the role of Britain's Queen Elizabeth parachutes from a helicopter
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its global growth outlook for the next two years due to the uncertainty caused by Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

The Washington-based institution now expects the world economy to grow by 3.1 percent in 2016 and by 3.4 percent in 2017 - 0.1 percent down compared to the figures posted in April.

The UK's 2017 growth forecast has been slashed by 0.9 percentage points, to 1.3 percent with the current year outlook changed by 0.2 percentage points to 1.7 percent.

The IMF projects insignificant impact on the US economy. The fund raised its forecast for the euro area 0.1 points this year, to 1.6 percent, and lowered it by 0.2 points in 2017, to 1.4 percent.

The UK's Brexit vote may cause a "substantial increase in economic, political and institutional uncertainty" having a huge impact on investment, market and consumer confidence, according to the IMF.
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Attention

Chinese military vice chairman urges troops to get ready for combat to 'win the war'

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:26 UTC
Chinese Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Fan Changlong
© Reeuters
While it is unclear how much of it is populist bluster, how much is posturing, and how much an actual, objective caution, Bloomberg points out an article by China's news agency Xingua posted on the website of the Ministry of National Defense, in which Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (which is chaired by Xi Jinping himself) "urges Chinese troops to get prepared for combat by improving planning, equipment and logistical support in order" to be ready to "win the war."

Bloomberg adds that Fan made the comments in recent inspection tour of China's Southern Theater Command. The warning comes days after China officially warned the US that its patrols in the South China Sea - which despite last week's decision by the Hague tribunal - deems as its own, could end in "disaster."
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