Puppet Masters

FM spokeswoman Zakharova: Russia is not increasing its military presence in Azov Sea

Sputnik
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 16:59 UTC

Russia is not increasing its military presence in the Sea of Azov, its forces there are guarding the Crimean Bridge, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

"Russia is not increasing its military presence in the Sea of Azov, there are no Russian naval bases there, the forces that are there are used to guard the Crimean Bridge. I will remind you that from the very beginning of statements about this infrastructure facility's construction plans, we have heard direct calls by Ukrainian officials - politicians and security officials, who obey the Kiev regime - to destroy it. These forces are also used to ensure the safety of navigation," Zakharova said at a briefing.

Commenting on the UN General Assembly's resolution drafted by Kiev on the militarization of Crimea, Maria Zakharova said that such initiatives were a cover for the failed domestic policy of the Ukrainian authorities and did not contribute to solving the crisis in the country. According to the spokeswoman,

"Kiev's counterproductive anti-Russian initiatives at the UN General Assembly and other structures and bodies of the global organization unfortunately only serve as a cover for the failed domestic policy of the country's leadership and do not contribute to resolving the internal Ukrainian crisis."

The remarks come after the UN General Assembly passed the resolution on the Azov Sea calling on Russia to stop restricting navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Comment: Desperate for political gain in the upcoming election, Poroshenko may not be done provoking Russia on this issue. See also:

US intel chief Dan Coats: Russia, China, Iran tried to sway midterm elections

Sputnik
Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:06 UTC

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats revealed in a Friday press release that Russia, and other countries such as Iran and China "conducted influence activities" to promote their interests.

"At this time, the Intelligence Community does not have intelligence reporting that indicates any compromise of our nation's election infrastructure that would have prevented voting, changed vote counts, or disrupted the ability to tally votes," the statement reads, before diving into activities that were allegedly done by Russia, China and Iran.

Per Coats, said countries "conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests." However, as the release notes, the agency's assessment did not examine "the impact that these activities had on the outcome of the 2018 election."

Comment: More from RT:

Reports in US media outlets presented Coats's letter as confirmation of Russian election meddling, while Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) - one of the chief advocates of the 'Russiagate' conspiracy theory - quickly piped up with calls to increase regulation of social media.

US aircraft carrier enters Persian Gulf, shadowed by Iranian boats

RFE/RL
Fri, 21 Dec 2018 20:40 UTC

A U.S. aircraft carrier has sailed into the Persian Gulf, becoming the first in the region since President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this year.

The December 21 arrival of the USS John C. Stennis came amid repeated threats by Iranian officials to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the gulf and the only outlet through which all ship traffic passes.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels followed the carrier and its strike group as it arrived. There were also sightings of a drone, as well as rockets being test-fired away from the U.S. ships.

Iranian sailors on the accompanying ships could be seen photographing and videotaping the U.S. ships.

Comment: Instances of testing maritime boundaries, appropriating sea passages, provocations and flaring passage rights disputes have been rising in the news. The Straits of Hormuz, as a potential flashpoint, is just one of them.

See also:

Going high? NBC talking head says if we can't indict Trump, let's go after his kids

John Nolte
Breitbart News
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:55 UTC

NBC News legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks is publicly floating the idea of indicting President Trump's children if no way can be found to indict him.

"I firmly believe the Constit[ution] permits indicting a sitting president, but if DOJ disagrees, indicting his children, the Trump Org & Foundation for their roles in wrongdoing is a great alternative-or addition[,]" she tweeted on Thursday:

Comment: Bad enough Wine-Banks is encouraging spurious legal action. The attitude oozing from the MSM swamp just further inflames unstable people into personal attacks.

Was ultra-sketchy MI5 spook-shop, 'Institute for Statecraft', behind Ofcom's targeting of RT? Clues point that way

RT
Sat, 22 Dec 2018 03:36 UTC

Documents that show the shadowy UK outfit 'Institute for Statecraft' previously filed complaints to Ofcom about RT raise the question if the impetus for the regulator's most recent actions against RT came from the same source.

On Thursday, Ofcom announced it had found RT in breach of UK impartiality rules in seven instances, going back to March and April this year.

"RT is extremely disappointed by Ofcom's conclusions in what were almost all self-initiated investigations into RT by the regulator," the network said in response.

Ofcom makes it public when a broadcast receives ten or more more complaints. Yet the purported complaints about RT shows are nowhere to be seen on its website, as former Scotland Yard detective Charles Shoebridge points out.

Comment: RT had expressed its disappointment with Ofcom's finding of an 'impartiality breach' with typical grace but also a promise to investigate further:

In a bulletin issued December 20, Ofcom stated that a total of seven programmes or segments, including Sputnik, Crosstalk and various items of news coverage were found to be in breach of UK regulator rules. Most of these investigations were sparked by Ofcom itself, without viewer complaints.

When initiating the first set of investigations, Ofcom connected them to events in Salisbury, UK, which had no ostensible connection to the news broadcaster. Of a total of 10 investigations launched in spring 2018, 7 resulted in "breach" findings, while 3 broadcasts were found not to be in breach of the code.
"RT is extremely disappointed by Ofcom's conclusions in what were almost all self-initiated investigations into RT by the regulator."

"We operate under rules outlined by the regulator, and always strive to abide by them. It appears Ofcom has failed to fully take on board what we said in response to its investigations and, in particular, has not paid due regard to the rights of a broadcaster and the audience."

"We are reviewing the findings Ofcom has put forward and will decide shortly the nature of our next steps."

In the meantime, Russia continues its policy of matching action for action by launching its own investigation into the BBC's activities, including not only its Russian-language broadcasts, but its website:

The Russian media regulator will probe the programming of BBC World News, which is available in the country, in response to a decision of its British counterpart, which found RT in breach of its rules in seven cases.

In addition to the TV broadcast, the Roskomnadzor (RKN) will check the content of BBC websites to see if it breaches the Russian regulations, the watchdog said in a statement on Friday.
© BBC
Commenting on the development, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the probe was "long overdue."

"I sincerely sympathize with the correspondents of BBC, many of whom are real professionals who honestly do their journalistic duty. But the rude interference of the British government with the work of the Russian media (the propaganda targeting RT, attempts to smear journalists etc.) leave us no choice but to respond in equal," Maria Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page. "Russia warned them. Repeatedly."

The BBC responded to the news, saying it was abiding by the laws of every nation, in which it provides its service.

RT's Editor-in-Chief, Margarita Simonyan, said the decision left little doubt that in RT's case Ofcom simply acts as a tool of political persecution on behalf of the British government.

"[British Prime Minister] Theresa May said her government wants to oust 'Russian propaganda' after the Skripal case started. Ofcom immediately started its probe. Six months later it declared us guilty."

The episodes that Ofcom ruled as breaching journalistic rules, were aired between March 17 and April 26. Two of them were about the March poisoning case in Salisbury and were critical of London's handling of the case, which Ofcom ruled to be lacking impartiality.

More on the "Institute for Statecraft" and their "Integrity Initiative" project:

Erdogan vows to 'remove' Kurdish YPG, ISIS from Syria after US withdrawal

RFE/RL
Fri, 21 Dec 2018 22:43 UTC

© Delil Souleiman / AFP
Syrian Democratic Forces fighters attend the funeral of four fellow fighters in the northeastern city of Qamishli in September.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will clear Syria both of a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia and Islamic State (IS) militants after the U.S. decision to pull troops out.

"In the following months we will see an operational style aimed at removing YPG [Kurdish People's Protection Units] and Daesh [IS] elements on the ground in Syria," Erdogan said in Istanbul on December 21.

On December 12, Erdogan announced that Turkey will launch a new military offensive against Kurdish militants east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.

Comment: And yet Trump's announcement has prompted the Turks to delay their planned op against the Kurds in Syria:

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday that a military advance against Kurdish YPG forces in northeastern Syria would be delayed until the US pullout is over.

"We [chose to] delay our operation to avoid friendly fire after the US announced troop withdrawal from Syria", Cavusoglu said during a visit to Malta, as quoted by the TRT channel.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he had decided to put off the onslaught after a phone call last Friday with his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Trump has essentially signalled that the Kurds will get no more US support in their territorial ambitions, thus lightening the threat they pose to Turkey. So despite Erdogan's bluster, there may not be any great need for such an operation now, especially if the Kurds engage in negotiations with Damascus and promise not to antagonize the Turks any further.

Meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish forces involved in the battle against IS remnants said they could withdraw from the front lines and redeploy to the Turkish border if the region they control is attacked by Turkey.

Ilham Ahmad, a leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the political wing of the Kurdish-led forces, warned that a Turkish attack could bring the battle against IS in Syria to a halt.

Comment: Big deal. The Syrian Army could clear the remaining territory occupied by ISIS in a matter of weeks.

Documents Expose British Government Covert Anti-Russian Propaganda and Truth Behind Skripal Case

Craig Murray
Craigmurray.org.uk
Fri, 21 Dec 2018 22:24 UTC

It is worth starting by noting that a high percentage of the Integrity Initiative archive has been authenticated. The scheme has been admitted by the FCO and defended as legitimate government activity. Individual items like the minutes of the meeting with David Leask are authenticated. Not one of the documents has so far been disproven, or even denied.

Which tends to obscure some of the difficulties with the material. There is no metadata showing when each document was created, as opposed to when Anonymous made it into a PDF. Anonymous have released it in tranches and made plain there is more to come. The reason for this methodology is left obscure.

Most frustratingly, Anonymous' comments on the releases indicate that they have vital information which is not, so far, revealed. The most important document of all appears to be a simple contact list, of a particular group within the hundreds of contacts revealed in the papers overall. This is it in full:

Insanity: Russiagate cheerleaders prefer to impeach Trump rather than avoid war with Russia

Stephen F. Cohen
The Nation
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 20:34 UTC

The year 2018 in the history of the new Cold War.

The new Cold War is not a mere replica of its 40-year predecessor, which the world survived. In vital ways, it is more dangerous, more fraught with actual war, as illustrated by events in 2018, among them:

The militarization of the new Cold War intensified, with direct or proxy US-Russian military confrontations in the Baltic region, Ukraine, and Syria; the onset of another nuclear arms race with both sides in quest of more "usable" weapons; mounting, but entirely unsubstantiated, claims by influential Cold War lobbies, such as the Atlantic Council, that Moscow is contemplating an invasion of Europe; and the growing influence of Moscow's own "hawks." The previous Cold War was also highly militarized, but never directly on Russia's own borders, as is this one, from the small nations of Eastern Europe to Ukraine, a process that continued to unfold in 2018.

Comment: Putin has done his best to warn of the danger.

Analysts report one-third of UK arms sales go to states on human rights watchlist

Karen McVeigh
The Guardian
Fri, 21 Dec 2018 18:43 UTC

Figures show that since 2008 Britain has sold weaponry worth £12bn to countries about which government has serious concerns

Nearly a third of arms exports authorised by Britain over the past decade were to nations identified by the government as among the worst for human rights, new figures reveal.

Military arms deals worth an estimated £39bn were approved between 2008 and 2017, £12bn of which went to states included on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights "priority countries" list, according to analysis by Action on Armed Violence.

Over that period, the only country on the 30-strong watchlist to which Britain did not approve arms export deals was North Korea.

Comment: Bottom line, war is good for business, human rights be damned.

Russia briefly deployed to Venezuela - White House got the message

M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Indian Punchline
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 19:45 UTC

The brief deployment of two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 'Blackjack' strategic bombers to Venezuela last week became a sensational event. Indeed, it is a display of the growing Russian military prowess that has been restored under President Vladimir Putin's watch. Blackjack has appeared on the Syrian skies more than once and lately flew past Alaska. Now it crosses the Pacific.

The two nuclear-capable bombers landed in Venezuela on December 10. The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theatres of operation. In a manner of speaking, Moscow gave Washington a "preview" of the world of tomorrow if the US proceeds to tear up arms control pacts and tries to shift the global strategic balance in its favor.

To be sure, the scrapping of the INF Treaty by the US opens the door to American deployments of intermediate range missiles targeting Russia from the European part as well as the Far East. Putin has said that Russia will respond adequately to meet the American challenge.

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Puppet Masters

FM spokeswoman Zakharova: Russia is not increasing its military presence in Azov Sea

US intel chief Dan Coats: Russia, China, Iran tried to sway midterm elections

US aircraft carrier enters Persian Gulf, shadowed by Iranian boats

Going high? NBC talking head says if we can't indict Trump, let's go after his kids

Was ultra-sketchy MI5 spook-shop, 'Institute for Statecraft', behind Ofcom's targeting of RT? Clues point that way

Erdogan vows to 'remove' Kurdish YPG, ISIS from Syria after US withdrawal

Documents Expose British Government Covert Anti-Russian Propaganda and Truth Behind Skripal Case

Insanity: Russiagate cheerleaders prefer to impeach Trump rather than avoid war with Russia

Analysts report one-third of UK arms sales go to states on human rights watchlist

Russia briefly deployed to Venezuela - White House got the message

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