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Welcome to another Western edition of anti-Assad political theater in Ghouta

Robert Bridge
RT
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 14:41 UTC
Bashar al-Assad
© Reuters

Western media is heaping scorn on Syria for using 'excessive force' in its effort to liberate Ghouta from militant control. But where was that same concern when Mosul was being pulverized by US-led forces?

The Syrian government's liberation efforts in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta have deteriorated into a media circus where truth has taken a back seat in the clown car. As was the case in the liberation of Aleppo, the government of President Bashar Assad - as opposed to the militant groups wreaking havoc in his country - has borne the main brunt of criticism from the Western world.

Due to the conditions on the ground in Ghouta, it is virtually impossible to get a clear picture of the situation there. What we do know, however, is that Damascus is being hit by approximately 70 missiles daily from militant positions inside Ghouta. The Western media would rather ignore that fact, speculating instead that "more than 500 people" have been killed by the Assad "regime" since efforts to retake the city began last month.
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Snakes in Suits

Report: FBI's Andrew McCabe's information leak and misleading DOJ watchdog to be exposed


RT
Fri, 02 Mar 2018 22:13 UTC
McCabe
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Andrew McCabe
Andrew McCabe, the former number two at the FBI, leaked information about Clinton's emails probe to the press and later misled watchdog investigators, according to a Justice Department review due to be released next month.

McCabe authorized the leak to the Wall Street Journal for a story about an ongoing investigation into the Clinton Foundation scandal in 2016, according to The New York Times and the Washington Post, who cited several sources familiar with the upcoming report. McCabe also misled the DOJ watchdog investigators about his improper media disclosure.

McCabe stepped down from his position as the FBI Deputy Director in January, amid concerns over a review by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

The report is part of Horowitz's review on how the FBI and Justice Department handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was serving as secretary of state. The Justice Department is investigating why McCabe took three weeks to act on a request to examine Clinton's emails, which were discovered during the 2016 US presidential election. The Wall Street Journal revealed a dispute between the FBI and the Justice Department over how to address the probe into the financial dealings of the Clinton Foundation.
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Map

Complexities of warfare: Trump and Assad are on the 'same side' in Afrin

Andrew Korybko
Oriental Review
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 13:51 UTC
Turkish intervention in Afrin map
The independent convergence of American and Syrian interests against Turkey's anti-terrorist campaign is coincidental and doesn't imply a "conspiracy", but it's also instructive in the sense that it proves that it's possible for the most unlikely pair of countries to tacitly agree on a subject of shared interest, despite this allegedly being impossible according to the prevailing Alt-Media narrative.

It probably sounds absurd the first time that the average person hears it, but Presidents Trump and Assad are on the same side in Afrin in spite of the legacy of 7 years of Hybrid Warfare that the US has been waging against Syria. As the saying goes, "there are no friends or enemies in international politics, just interests", and nowhere is this more self-evident than Washington and Damascus' similar interpretation of how UNSC Res. 2401 relates to Turkey's anti-terrorist "Operation Olive Branch" against the "federal" Kurds.
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War Whore

Warmonger Lindsey Graham: 'Nuking North Korea would be worth it'


RT
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 13:40 UTC
Korean soldiers
© Toru Hanai / Reuters
The damage caused by a US war with North Korea would be "worth it," Senator Lindsey Graham said. The comments further fuel speculation the US is gearing up for action against Pyongyang.

"All the damage that would come from a war would be worth it in terms of long-term stability and national security," the Republican senator from South Carolina told CNN. "I'm completely convinced that President Trump and his team reject the policy of containment... They've drawn a red line here and it is to never let North Korea build a nuclear-tipped missile to hit America."

Graham's comments come as the US is reportedly considering military action against North Korea, should Pyongyang build a nuclear missile capable of striking the US, according to multiple sources, CNN reports.

Comment: Graham will never let peace have a chance in the Koreas. Got to keep feeding the military-industrial complex.

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Book 2

#MeTooAye! 'Sex scandal' hits Scottish parliament, 200 allegations of sexual harassment in 'confidential survey'


RT
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Sexual Harassment
© Frank May / Global Look Press
A shocking report has revealed more than 200 cases of sexual harassment in the Scottish parliament. Members of parliament are listed among the accused.

In the wake of the Westminster sex scandal, a confidential survey was sent to the entire office in Holyrood. The survey came back with shocking results: 30 percent of women had experienced sexual harassment while working at the parliament.

Of the 137 people who said they had been sexually harassed, 45 percent reported that the perpetrator was a Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP). The majority of incidents happened since the 2016 election.

The findings come only months after MSP Mark McDonald was expelled from the Scottish National Party in November. McDonald resigned as children's minister last November following a series of sexual harassment allegations.
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Bad Guys

UK PM offers rare glimpse of Security Service's illegal activities


RT
Fri, 02 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
MI5
© Vasily Pindyurin / Getty Images
Prime Minister Theresa May has made an extremely rare reference to the clandestine criminal activity carried out by MI5. The UK PM confirmed that the British Security Service are being kept under review by a watchdog.

In a written statement to Parliament, May mentioned a direction which instructed the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to "keep under review the application of the Security Service guidelines on the use of agents who participate in criminality and the authorisations issued in accordance with them." Such comments offer the public a rare glimpse into MI5's potential involvement in crime.

MI5 describes its own agents as "one of the most significant information gathering assets we have." According to MI5's website, agent operations are run by specially trained officers and can continue for long periods - with some missions taking years to complete.

Comment: See also:

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Stop

Federal judge rules Indiana must accept settlement of Syrian refugees

Avery Anapol
The Hill
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 11:45 UTC
Mike Pence

Vice-President Mike Pence
A federal judge ruled that the state of Indiana cannot block Syrian refugees from resettling in the state under an order from then Gov. Mike Pence (R).

In November 2015, Pence was part of a group of 16 governors who announced plans to block Syrian refugees from settling in their states in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris. All but one of the governors were Republicans.

The Indiana policy prevented state agencies from making payments to a nonprofit that helped resettle Syrian refugees.
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Snakes in Suits

Ben Rhodes launches 'shadow National Security Council' with Obama-era officials

Monica Showalter
American Thinker
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 11:45 UTC
ben rhodes
So what's Ben Rhodes been up to these days? His unmaskings and leaks are over, he doesn't have Seb Gorka to lie about, and his failures as a national security official have pretty well been exposed.

I kid you not: he hasn't been idle.

His latest scheme is launching a "shadow" National Security Council, called "National Security Action," co-chairing the operation with Jake Sullivan. Showing that he was always the one running things in the Obama White House, he's herded a whole slew of top Obama-era national security officials, including former national security adviser Susan Rice, former national security adviser Tom Donilon, former United Nations ambassador Samantha Power, and socialist former Defense Department official Rosa Brooks, into his little shadow operation. As if these people somehow had a divine right to control national security and President Trump's current officials are somehow illegitimate. And this, despite his creative writing major, his past career as a failed novelist, and his lack of national security experience, he's now their leader. He's also thrown in Ben Wikler, director of MoveOn.org, which gives a whiff just how political and dirty tricks-oriented this "national security" operation is going to be. Creepy, indeed.
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Chess

Irish border mess shows why a 'clean UK break' is impossible

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 11:45 UTC
Anti-Brexit protest
© Clodagh Kilcoyne / Reuters
Anti-Brexit campaigners, Borders Against Brexit protest outside Irish Government buildings in Dublin, Ireland April 25, 2017
The Battle of the Boyne may have taken place in 1690, but it has cast a long shadow across both Great Britain and Ireland. Now, 328 years later, it threatens to scupper English dreams of leaving the EU.

I think I can tell you the exact moment Brexit died. It was June 26, 2017: the day the British Conservatives made a pathetic little deal with Ulster's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to stay in power.

The very moment Theresa May shook hands with Arlene Foster in Downing Street, 'Little Englanders' dreams were dashed. And, barring a few exceptions, none of them fully understood the stupidity of the Prime Minister's actions at the time. And, over eight months later, very few even get it now.
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Russian Flag

Kremlin: Russia's latest missile systems 'only threaten those who plan to attack us'


Sputnik
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 11:45 UTC
Putin address to the Russian Federal Assembly
© Sputnik/ Michael Klimentyev
Russia's development of new weapons was nothing but a response to the US withdrawal from the ABM treaty, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Putin has stressed that his speech could not be considered a beginning of the arms race as it is a retaliatory response to the US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty), as well as to the process of creating a global system of missile defense, according to the spokesman.

"This is nothing else than Russia's response to the scrapping of the ABM Treaty, the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty and to the highly active process of creating a global missile defense system, which in the long term was able to break strategic parity, nuclear parity and, in fact, neutralize the strategic forces of Russia," Peskov added.

Comment: Further reading: Putin Delivers Landmark 'State of The Union' Speech: Puts The Smack Down on US, Shows Off Latest Russian Nuclear Weapons

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