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Australian police: DSB still haven't determined weapon that brought down MH17

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:26 UTC
mh17 final report
The Australian Federal Police and Dutch police and prosecutors investigating the cause of the crash of Malaysian Airlines MH17 believe the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) has failed to provide "conclusive evidence" of what type of munition destroyed the aircraft, causing the deaths of 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

Testifying for the first time in an international court, Detective Superintendent Andrew Donoghoe, the senior Australian policeman in the international MH17 investigation, said a "tougher standard than the DSB report" is required before the criminal investigation can identify the weapon which brought the aircraft down, or pinpoint the perpetrators. Their criminal investigation will continue into 2016, Donoghoe told the Victorian Coroners Court on Tuesday morning. He and other international investigators are unconvinced by reports from the US and Ukrainian governments, and by the DSB, of a Buk missile firing. "Dutch prosecutors require conclusive evidence on other types of missile," Donoghoe said, intimating that "initial information that the aircraft was shot down by a [Buk] surface to air missile" did not meet the Australian or international standard of evidence.

Comment: Some surprisingly good sense from these Australian investigators! If only this level of professionalism could find its way into the DSB...

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Bomb

Russian warplanes destroy six terrorists' oil production facilities in Syria


ITAR-TASS
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 21:30 UTC
Russian bomber
© Russian Defense Ministry's press service/TASS
Russian warplanes have destroyed six illegal oil production facilities and seven truck convoys with oil and oil products in Syria in the past three days, Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff, told journalists on Tuesday.

"Over several past weeks, the intensity of air strikes at Islamic State and other terrorist targets has been increased. Russian warplanes focus on exterminating terrorists' income sources in Syria," he said.

Comment: Here is some apparent video footage of a Russian strike:



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Rocket

Russian General: Prospective new weapons will be capable of neutralizing any missile defenses


Associated Press
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 21:18 UTC
missile defense
Russia's strategic nuclear forces chief says its new weapons will be capable of "neutralizing" any potential missile defenses.

Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev, the Strategic Missile Forces' commander, said Wednesday in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that the nation's military planners have taken into account the emerging potential of NATO's U.S.-led missile defenses.

The Kremlin long has described the U.S. missile shield as a top threat to Russia, dismissing Washington's claim that it is intended to fend off an Iranian missile threat.

Karakayev said that while the existing U.S. missile defense isn't capable of deflecting a missile attack Russia is capable of launching, the American missile shield will become more advanced in the future.

He added that Russia already has taken steps that would "guarantee neutralizing" any prospective missile defense.

Comment: Between Russia's advanced electronic jamming system and the prospect of neutralizing any missile defense systems, the US ought to be quaking in their boots over a possible confrontation with Russia any time soon.

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Whistle

Turkish MP faces treason charges after revealing Turkey's funnelling of chemical weapons to ISIS


RT
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 20:49 UTC
erdem

Truth-telling is illegal in Turkey. Just ask Eren Erdem.
A treason investigation has been launched against a Turkish MP who alleged in an exclusive interview with RT that Islamic State jihadists delivered deadly sarin gas to Syria through Turkey.

Ankara's Chief Prosecutor's Office opened the case against Istanbul MP Eren Erdem of Republican People's Party (CHP) after his interview about sarin was aired on RT on Monday.

"Chemical weapon materials were brought to Turkey and put together in ISIS camps in Syria, which was known as the Iraqi Al-Qaeda at that time."

Erdem noted that the chemicals used for the production of weapons did not originate from Turkey. "All basic materials are purchased from Europe. Western institutions should question themselves about these relations. Western sources know very well who carried out the sarin gas attack in Syria," Erdem told RT.


Comment: For more on the Ghouta attack, see Tim Anderson's excellent analysis. This video report from Spiro goes into some of the background to the story, well worth watching:



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Jet5

Washington pulling the 12 fighter jets from Turkish base after one month of service


Sputnik
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 20:54 UTC
US jet
© Flickr/ U.S. Department of Defense
In the latest sign of Turkey's increasing isolation, the United States has announced plans to remove 12 fighter jets from Incirlik air base.

According to Reuters, a spokesman with the US military's European Command has confirmed that the US will withdraw 12 F-15 Eagles and Strike Eagle fighters from Turkey. The spokesman said that the aircraft had completed temporary deployment, despite having only been moved to Incirlik air base one month ago.

According to a news release, the aircraft will be returning to RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom, beginning December 16.
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Stock Up

Federal Reserve raises key interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade

Ylan Q. Mui
The Washington Post
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 20:23 UTC
Yellen
The Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to raise interest rates and begin pulling back its unprecedented support for the American economy, ending an era of easy money that helped save the nation from another Great Depression but has yet to produce a full-throttled recovery.


Comment: It wouldn't appear the Federal Reserve saved the US from a depression based on the low performance of the economy and the real low employment rate. It did help the top richest people.


The unanimous decision will nudge the central bank's benchmark interest rate up from near zero by a quarter of one percent to a range of 0.25 to 0.5 percent. The move is small, but it amounts to a vote of confidence that the American economy -- dogged by volatile oil prices, a slowdown in China and weak global growth -- will stand resilient. But the Fed also pledged to wean the nation off its stimulus slowly, an acknowledgement that further progress is not guaranteed and that the central bank is operating in uncharted territory.

"With gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity will continue to expand at a moderate pace and labor market indicators will continue to strengthen," the Fed said in its official policy statement.

Comment: So far the stock markets have reacted positively to the rate hike news but this is what happened in 1937 under similar circumstances:

This Is What Happened The Last Time The Fed Hiked While The U.S. Was In Recession

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Vader

Obama headed back to Hawaii for another Christmas vacation, costing taxpayers millions

Leada Gore
AL.com
Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:37 UTC
Obama

Obama enjoys a luxurious vacation in Hawaii while the rest of the nation struggles to pay their bills
Aloha, President Obama.

The White House said President Obama and his family will spend their eighth straight Christmas in Hawaii. The first family will be leaving Dec. 18 and coming back after the New Year.

Events could delay the president's trip, however, according to White House spokesperson Josh Earnest. The White House did not confirm if the Obamas would be staying at the so-called "Magnum P.I." house, a $8.7 million beachside retreat once used in the '80s television show. The estate on the east side of Oahu was purchased earlier this year by attorney Matt Nesbitt, chair of the Barack Obama Foundation, which is planning the president's future library.

The president usually enjoys golf, snorkeling and family trips during his vacations. The president began the yearly tradition in 2008, before he took the oath of office. He generally meet with service members in Hawaii as well.

Local media reported Secret Service was already in the area and residents had received security information related to Kailua Bay. The Federal Aviation Administration has also issued temporary flight restrictions for the area from Dec. 19-Jan. 4.

Comment: Obama is another elite who doesn't care about the fact that the American taxpayers have to foot the bill for his extravagant vacations. The average American can barely make ends meet and isn't even guaranteed paid vacation and holidays, yet here Obama is, rubbing his nose in the rest of the country's face, cavorting around the Hawaiian Islands on the taxpayer's dime. If he had an ounce of sympathy and awareness he wouldn't dare take a two-week vacation, but like all the American elites he lacks both of those traits and thus has no compunction about using millions in taxpayer money to give him and his family another Christmas vacation.

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Cut

Russia suspends free trade agreement with Ukraine starting Jan 1


Press TV
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 18:57 UTC
Putin!
© AFP
Russia has suspended an agreement on a free trade zone with Ukraine starting from the New Year amid strained relations between Moscow and Kiev.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that orders a "halt" to the treaty as of January 1 "due to exceptional circumstances which impact the interests and economic security of the Russian Federation."

The decree, however, did not mention how long the free trade regime between the two neighbors would be suspended.

The free trade zone was set up between the former Soviet Union countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States -- comprising all ex-Soviet republics except the Baltic states and Georgia -- in October 2011.

Last month, Russian Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukaev warned that Moscow will impose a food embargo on Ukraine from 2016 to protect the Russian market from the effects of the Association Agreement between Kiev and the European Union (EU).

Russia argues that the Kiev-EU deal, which is set to go into effect on January 1, could result in a flood of European imports across its borders and damage the competitiveness of Russian exports to Ukraine.

Comment: See also:

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Question

Over 70 Turkish troops reported missing following massive ISIS attack in northern Iraq


RT
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 18:17 UTC
Turkey
© Unknown
More than 70 Turkish servicemen have been reported missing after an Islamic State artillery attack in northern Iraq, according to Iraqi Kurdish media.

The Slemani Times reports that Islamic State (IS, former ISIS/ISIL) fired over 300 120mm mortar shells at the Turkish camp in Bashiqa area about 23 kilometers from the city of Mosul occupied by IS.


Earlier there were reports that four Turkish servicemen received light injuries in a rocket attack on the Turkish military base in northern Iraq. The Turkish installation came under fire as part of a larger offensive of ISIS militants on Kurdish positions north of Mosul.

Islamists have been staging a number of attacks along the frontline with Kurdish Peshmerga militia, Reuters cited Kurdish military sources as saying.

Six or seven rockets landed inside the military compound situated in the Bashiqa area. The Turkish military claims the base is being used to train Iraqi militia to fight Islamic State.

The head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Foreign Relations Office, Hemin Hawrami, said that Kurdish forces had repelled multiple IS attacks on Wednesday, adding that two peshmerga commanders had been killed.

The Turkish military installation in northern Iraq has become a major stumbling block in relations between Ankara and Baghdad. While Turkey claimed the troops had been deployed at the invitation of the Iraqi government, Baghdad denied the claims and filed a complaint with the UN Security Council, dubbing Ankara's actions an incursion.

On Saturday, December 12, thousands of Iraqis throughout the country took to the streets to protest the unwelcome deployment of Turkey's troops. Protesters chanted anti-Turkish slogans and burned and trampled Turkish flags.

"We consider any military presence on Iraqi soil foreign aggression which we should stand against, using all possible means," Hadi al-Amiri, an Iraqi lawmaker, told a rally in Baghdad, Reuters reported.
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Whistle

Russian lawmaker: Without Iran and Iraq, Saudi-led coalition against ISIS will not be feasible or effective


RT
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 17:47 UTC
Riyadh
© Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters
The Riyadh skyline
The Islamic counterterrorist coalition launched by Saudi Arabia will not be effective, or even feasible, without Iraq and Iran, the head of the Federation Council's International Relations Committee maintains.

"Not only Sunni but some Shia nations have been invited into this coalition, such as Yemen, Lebanon and Bahrein. But it still lacks Iraq and Iran and without them we anyway cannot say that this coalition is feasible and effective," Konstantin Kosachev wrote in his Facebook account on Tuesday.

Kosachev added that Iraq and Iran were actively cooperating with Russia in the counterterrorist sphere.

"Our joint actions were definitely more effective than those of yet another coalition - led by the United States," he wrote.

The Russian senator admitted that the new Saudi initiative had some chance of success, but only on condition that all its participants would put aside all their political rows, largely caused by ideological differences.
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