Puppet Masters

'I can't breathe': Released transcript shows Jamal Khashoggi's last words before he was killed in Saudi consulate

Nic Robertson
CNN
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 11:47 UTC

A security camera image shows Khashoggi entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

"I can't breathe." These were the final words uttered by Jamal Khashoggi after he was set upon by a Saudi hit squad at the country's consulate in Istanbul, according to a source briefed on the investigation into the killing of the Washington Post columnist.

The source, who has read a translated transcript of an audio recording of Khashoggi's painful last moments, said it was clear that the killing on October 2 was no botched rendition attempt, but the execution of a premeditated plan to murder the journalist.

During the course of the gruesome scene, the source describes Khashoggi struggling against a group of people determined to kill him.

"I can't breathe," Khashoggi says.

"I can't breathe."

"I can't breathe."

The transcript notes the sounds of Khashoggi's body being dismembered by a saw, as the alleged perpetrators are advised to listen to music to block out the sound.

Trust in Western leaders is failing on both sides of the pond - and with good reason

Tom Luongo
Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 07 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC

I've been warning for a while now that we are pushing towards an inflection point in history. With each passing week it feels like events are accelerating as change to the status quo is everywhere.

In Europe, the EU leadership and Theresa May are so desperate to stop Brexit they can't stop lying about everything. In one day we have May's government found in contempt of Parliament for not releasing the full legal advice of her Brexit deal and the European Court of Justice pronounce that the U.K. can unilaterally cancel Brexit if they want to.

They are this desperate because there is a real probability of May's horrific deal not getting the thumbs up from parliament. That said, the arm-twisting behind the scenes is likely epic as one by one May's remaining cabinet members come out in favor of the deal because they see they have no other option.

At the same time France is literally on fire thanks to a good ol' fashioned tax revolt, which reviled, unprepared and arrogant President Emmanuel Macron cannot fathom. Macron's handling of these protests has been abysmal, displaying a level of contempt for the French people so profound he may wind up more hated in the end than Theresa May.

Both of these odious people make no bones about their real loyalties and the more they talk, the more they try to sell their latest betrayal of national interests for Brussels' the more the intensity of the hatred of them increases.

Comment: Unlike France however, the US has, for many years now, been preparing for 'the worst kind of chaos'. And when it finally does hit, it'll make what we're seeing now with the yellow vests look like a Sunday picnic.

France's top military chief Pierre De Villiers quits after public bust-up with Macron

The Local
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:09 UTC

Comment: Gilets Jaunes protesters have appeared on French TV suggesting that Pierre de Villiers become the country's new leader. This military man was commander of the French Army until Macron fired him under acrimonious circumstances last year...

Emmanuel Macron and General Pierre De Villiers

The chief of France's armed forces resigned on Wednesday just days after he was publicly hauled back into line by French president Emmanuel Macron after a public row over cuts to the military's budget.

General Pierre De Villiers, 61, presented his resignation to Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday morning.

In a statement De Villiers, who took over in February 2014, said he no longer felt able to command the sort of army "that I think is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people".

He and Macron were due to meet on Friday in a bid to smooth over what had become a very public row over government cuts to the armed forces.

De Villiers, whose role as head of France's armed forces was prolonged by Macron back in June, had initially publicly complained about the government's plan to cut the military's budget by €850 million, predominantly by saving money on equipment.

Comment: The French protest movement of 1968 was a revolution to remove a general from power.

Is the French protest movement of 2018 a revolution to install a general in power!?

Russia's two most advanced submarines to finish sea trials by next year

RT
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 16:48 UTC

Two state-of-the-art Russian submarines are currently undergoing sea trials and are expected to finish the tests by the year's end, the CEO of the Sevmash shipyards said, adding that they will be handed over to the Navy in 2019.

Named 'Knyaz Vladimir' and 'Kazan', the two submarines, which are currently braving the harsh weather conditions of Russia's polar White Sea, belong to two various vessel classes which are expected to become the backbone of the Russian undersea fleet.

"Everything is going well, right according to the plan," Mikhail Budnichenko, the Sevmash CEO, told a press conference as he confirmed the news about the two submarines' sea trials. He also said that there was "no doubt" that the tests will be successful. The vessels are expected to be back to the port on December 24 and 28.

Both submarines will undergo another round of sea trials starting in May 2019 and will be handed over to the Navy by the end of the same year, Budnichenko said. Earlier, media reports suggested that one of the two submarines, 'Knyaz Vladimir', was deployed for sea trials on November 28.

Comment: As with much of Russia's technological advancements, they're likely to far surpass anything coming out the West, especially if recent news reports are anything to go by, see:

Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Putin The World To Rights: Russia's New Nuclear Weapons And The End of 'Unipolarity'

MI6 spymaster reveals how the UK conducts 'Fourth Generation Espionage'

Andrew Korybko
Oriental Review
Sat, 08 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC

The head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Alex Younger briefed the public about the challenges of so-called "fourth generation espionage".

The UK's top spy spent some of his time blaming Russia for trying to, as he put it, "subvert the UK way of life" by supposedly poisoning the Skripals and through other mischievous but ultimately never verified actions, though moving beyond the infowar aspect of his speech and into its actual professional substance, he nevertheless touched on some interesting themes. According to him, "fourth generation espionage" involves "deepening our partnerships to counter hybrid threats, mastering covert action in the data age, attaching a cost to malign activity by adversaries and innovating to ensure that technology works to our advantage." In other words, it's all about applying what he calls the "Fusion Doctrine" for building the right domestic and international teams across skillsets in order to best leverage new technologies for accomplishing his agency's eternal mission, which is "to understand the motivations, intentions and aspirations of people in other countries."

Comment: Hybrid Threats: The art of camouflage, redirection and diversion to create a false reality for political and geographical gain.

Andrii Telizhenko: The guy who will blow the lid off Mueller's Russian witch hunt

Jim Holt
The Gateway Pundit
Mon, 03 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC

Andrii Telizhenko worked as a political officer in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington DC in 2015-2016. Andrii Telizhenko is speaking out about the DNC-Russia collusion scandal.

In early 2016 Telizhenko was approached by DNC operative Alexandra Chalupa. She is still working at the DNC. She wanted dirt on Trump and his campaign manager Paul Manafort.

The Ukrainian embassy in Washington DC worked VERY CLOSELY with DNC operative and Hillary supporter Alexandra Chalupa.

Chalupa told Andrii she wanted Russian "dirt" on the Trump campaign.

Comment: See also:

'A bully, bigot, liar for Trump' - media says goodbye and good riddance to John Kelly

Mehdi Hasan
The Intercept
Sun, 09 Dec 2018 10:57 UTC

The president's chief of staff is heading for the White House exit. "John Kelly will be leaving," Donald Trump confirmed to reporters on Saturday. "I don't know if I can say 'retiring,' but he's a great guy."

This "great guy" will leave behind an administration mired in scandal, chaos, and corruption; a president perhaps even more reckless and lawless today than he was when Kelly arrived for work at the West Wing on the morning of July 31, 2017.

That was a period in which political pundits and correspondents also believed the retired four-star general to be a "great guy." Remember how his appointment, as replacement for the hapless Republican operative Reince Preibus, was greeted by the liberal press? Kelly, we were told, would be the "adult in the room"; he would rein in a brash and belligerent commander-in-chief.

The New York Times called the former Marine commander a "beacon of discipline" who would be "unafraid to challenge" the president. The Washington Post said he would "bring some plain-spoken discipline to an often chaotic West Wing." Axios listed him as a key member of the "Committee to Save America." Then there was my favorite headline, from Bloomberg News, on August 6, 2017: "New Chief of Staff Kelly Moves Quickly to Tame Trump's Tweets." (How did that work out?)

Comment: A confluence of personalities, beliefs and agendas create an administration personae. Kelly's won't be missed.

Poroshenko terminates the Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty of 1997

Sputnik
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 16:05 UTC

Kiev sent a diplomatic note to Moscow in September saying it would not renew the 1997 treaty.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he signed a law to terminate the Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty, with the law set to step into effect on April 1, 2019.

"Ukrainian law No.206 'On the termination of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership Between Ukraine and the Russian Federation' has been signed," Poroshenko wrote on his official Twitter account.

Ukraine's parliament voted not to prolong the treaty last week, with 277 of 450 lawmakers supporting the decision. Poroshenko submitted the bill to parliament last Monday. Kiev sent sent Moscow a letter indicating it did not plan to renew the treaty in September.

The Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty is one of the most important agreements among the several hundred treaties signed between the two countries following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It promotes the principle of strategic partnership, forbids the countries from declaring war on one another, and recognizes the principle of respect for territorial integrity. Furthermore, the treaty established protections for the citizens of Ukraine in Russia and vice-versa in accordance with the principles of international law.

Comment: Poroshenko is a US tool. His solutions come from Western higher-ups. A setting of the stage, perhaps?

Mogherini: EU to establish alternate payment channel to allow Iran to bypass US sanctions

RT
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 14:57 UTC

Brussels will create an alternative payment channel to facilitate financial transactions between the European Union and Iran in the near future to bypass US sanctions, the EU's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, has announced. "I will expect this instrument to be established in the coming weeks before the end of the year as a way to protect and promote legitimate business," EU's foreign policy chief told reporters on Monday.

The 28-nation bloc has been considering ways to continue doing business with Tehran and bypass US economic restrictions after Washington pulled out from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed economic sanctions.

In November, EU officials proposed creating a clearinghouse, or a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to facilitate financial transactions with Iran. The proposal failed to reach an agreement after not a single EU country agreed to host such a mechanism out of fear of punitive measures that Washington may potentially introduce against them.

So far, France and Germany have ruled themselves out as SPV hosts. At the same time, the EU's major powers are reportedly planning to put more pressure on Luxembourg and Belgium to host the headquarters for the SPV after Austria declined a request to manage the project. Both Belgium and Luxembourg have reportedly dropped a hint of doubt over the issue.

Comment: 'The nail that sticks out shall be hammered down.' -Japanese proverb

Lindsey Graham pledges to 'get to the bottom' of FISA abuse as Senate Judiciary Chair

Chuck Ross
The Daily Caller Foundation
Sat, 08 Dec 2018 03:00 UTC

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Saturday that if he takes over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as is expected, he will "get to the bottom" of whether the FBI misled the federal surveillance court to obtain spy warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

"In my view the process used to obtain a FISA warrant - and its multiple renewals - against Carter Page should disturb every American," Graham tweeted. "I intend to get to the bottom of what happened if I am Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee."

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Puppet Masters

'I can't breathe': Released transcript shows Jamal Khashoggi's last words before he was killed in Saudi consulate

Trust in Western leaders is failing on both sides of the pond - and with good reason

France's top military chief Pierre De Villiers quits after public bust-up with Macron

Russia's two most advanced submarines to finish sea trials by next year

MI6 spymaster reveals how the UK conducts 'Fourth Generation Espionage'

Andrii Telizhenko: The guy who will blow the lid off Mueller's Russian witch hunt

'A bully, bigot, liar for Trump' - media says goodbye and good riddance to John Kelly

Poroshenko terminates the Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty of 1997

Mogherini: EU to establish alternate payment channel to allow Iran to bypass US sanctions

Lindsey Graham pledges to 'get to the bottom' of FISA abuse as Senate Judiciary Chair

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