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Lay person's guide to top anti-Russia think tanks in US & who funds them

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 15:39 UTC
Kremlin
© Alexander Novikov / Global Look Press
Countering Russia has become a lucrative industry in Washington. In recent years, the think tank business has exploded. But who funds these organizations, who works for them and what are the real agendas at play?

From the start, let's be clear, the term 'think tank' essentially amounts to a more polite way of saying 'lobby group.' Bar a few exceptions, they exist to serve - and promote - the agendas of their funders.

However, particularly in the United States, the field has become increasingly shady and disingenuous, with lobbyists being given faux academic titles like 'Senior Non-Resident Fellow' and 'Junior Adjunct Fellow' and the like. And this smokescreen usually serves to cloud the real goals of these operations.
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USA

Trump on countries refusing deported nationals: 'They'll take them back in two seconds after we sanction them and tariff their goods'


Breitbart
Sun, 04 Feb 2018 16:11 UTC
Trump
© Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Donald Trump says he is committed to sanctioning and placing tariffs on foreign countries who refuse to take back their nationals after being deported from the United States.

In a meeting with State Department, Defense Department, and Homeland Security officials, Trump promised to put tariffs on the goods of countries and sanction others that refused their nationals in an "America First" initiative that past administrations under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama failed to implement.
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Wreath

Days after nationalists hold independence rally, Macron visits Corsica to mark 20 years since assassination of France's top island official (VIDEOS)


France 24
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 15:38 UTC
macron corsica
© Ludovic Marin/AFP
Emmanuel Macron inaugurates 'Place Claude Erignac' with the widow and children of the assassinated prefect, February 6, 2018.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Corsica on Tuesday for the start of a delicate two-day visit rich in symbolism, just days after thousands of Corsican nationalists staged a rally demanding greater freedom for the island.

Macron's visit coincides with the 20th anniversary of the assassination of France's top official in Corsica, Prefect Claude Erignac, who was shot dead by a pro-independence militant on February 6, 1998.

The French president was due to attend a ceremony honouring the slain prefect, before holding highly sensitive talks with the leaders of the island's regional administration.

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USA

Trump gives Pentagon chiefs their marching orders: 'I want a July 4th military parade like the one I saw in France'


France 24
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 15:26 UTC
us troops bastille day marching

US troops participating in the 2017 Bastille Day parade
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered Pentagon and White House officials to begin planning a military parade in Washington similar to the Bastille Day parade he witnessed in Paris in July, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

At a meeting at the Pentagon on Jan. 18 that included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford, Trump said he wanted a military parade, the Post reported, citing a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France," the military official said, according to the Post. "This is being worked at the highest levels of the military," the official added.

After the Post published its story, the White House issued a statement that said Trump "has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation."
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Palette

Mainstream media has a new Russiagate theory: It was about undermining the Democrats


Russia Insider
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 12:05 UTC
putin 7d chess

What can you do when Putin plays 7-dimensional chess?
US invaded Iraq in 2003 because Iraq had "weapons of mass destruction". Except Iraq didn't have them. Once the lie had served its purpose the US admitted as much, but dodged responsibility by redacting the story: Iraq had been pretending it had WMDs! No way was the US smearing and invading the country based on that smear actually America's fault.

Well neither is falsely accusing Russia of getting its Manchurian candidate into the White House. Because while KGB doesn't actually have tons of blackmail material on him Russia pretended it did. Take it over Wall Street Journal:
There is a third possibility, namely that the dossier was part of a Russian espionage disinformation plot targeting both parties and America's political process. This is what seems most likely to me, having spent much of my 30-year government career, including with the CIA, observing Soviet and then Russian intelligence operations. If there is one thing I have learned, it's that Vladimir Putin continues in the Soviet tradition of using disinformation and espionage as foreign-policy tools.

...

The pattern of such Russian operations is to sprinkle false information, designed to degrade the enemy's social and political infrastructure, among true statements that enhance the veracity of the overall report.

Comment: Just when you think it's almost over, the media still manages to find some way to twist things to keep the narrative alive. All the while, sounding more and more ridiculous along the way. See also: Lookout! Russiagate scandal approaches its implosion point

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Mr. Potato

Democratic Senator Schiff trolled by Russian pranksters, who tell him Putin has nude blackmail pics of Trump

Alana Goodman
Daily Mail
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 22:31 UTC
adam schiff

Spoofed: Adam Schiff, the ranking Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, had a seven-minute conversation with Russian comedians who offered him fake 'kompromat' including naked pictures of the president, which he said he would report to the FBI
The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee was the victim of a prank phone call by Russian comedians who offered to give him 'compromising' dirt on Donald Trump - including nude photos of the president and a Russian reality show star.

DailyMail.com can disclose that after the prank, his staff engaged in correspondence with what they thought was a Ukrainian politician to try to obtain the 'classified' material promised on the call.

On an audio recording of the prank call posted online, Adam Schiff can be heard discussing the committee's Russia investigation and increasingly bizarre allegations about Trump with a man who claimed to be Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament.

The call, made a year ago, was actually from two Russian comedians nicknamed 'Vovan' and 'Lexus' who have become notorious for their phony calls to high-ranking American officials and celebrities, including UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Elton John.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Netanyahu pays rare visit to Golan Heights, issues warning against 'testing' Israel's resolve


RT
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 11:27 UTC
netanyahu
© Facebook
Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top security officials have toured the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, warning the enemies of Israel against "testing" the country's resolve.

On his tour of the Israeli-occupied territories on Tuesday, Netanyahu said Israel has the means to fend off any of its "enemies." The prime minister also praised the efforts of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) stationed in the occupied territories for their efforts in protecting Israel's "borders."

"We seek peace but are prepared for any scenario and I wouldn't suggest to anyone that they test us," Netanyahu said."I'm impressed with the immense efforts of the IDF here to protect both our borders and our country."

Comment: Further reading:

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Wolf

Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump and boost Clinton backfired

Kenneth P. Vogel and David Stern
Politico
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 10:13 UTC
poroshenko
© Christian Hartmann / Reuters
Kiev officials are scrambling to make amends with the president-elect after quietly working to boost Clinton.

Donald Trump wasn't the only presidential candidate whose campaign was boosted by officials of a former Soviet bloc country.


Comment: Why is this article assuming that Trump received aid from the Russian government? How many times do we have to remind people there is no evidence?


Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton's allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.

A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.

The Ukrainian efforts had an impact in the race, helping to force Manafort's resignation and advancing the narrative that Trump's campaign was deeply connected to Ukraine's foe to the east, Russia. But they were far less concerted or centrally directed than Russia's alleged hacking and dissemination of Democratic emails.

Comment: Lately the Poroshenko regime's standing with Trump has not been that dire:

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Radar

Just in case? China sends 300,000 soldiers to North Korean border in 'preparation for potential war'

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 18:50 UTC
Chinese army
While the specter of a nuclear war with North Korea has faded in recent weeks, China is not taking chances, and ahead of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the Chinese government has deployed 300,000 troops and multiple mobile strike groups to its highly-guarded border with North Korea, a move which signals that Beijing is quietly gearing for a potential crisis between Kim Jong Un and the United States in the coming months.

According to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo news, "China is preparing for a potential war on the Korean Peninsula by reinforcing missile defenses near the border with North Korea" citing a report from Radio Free Asia. "Military units in Yanbian were relocated from Heilongjiang Province, thus adding 300,000 troops along the border."
RFA quoted a North Korean source in China that the Chinese military late last year deployed another missile defense battery at an armored division in Helong, west of Longjing in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Now it is deploying missile defense batteries near North Korean reservoirs by the Apnok and Duman rivers.

Comment: Is war with North Korea still on the radar (if it ever was), or was Trump's bluster just a negotiating tactic?

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Bullseye

Understanding Russia and setting the record straight on Putin

Sharon Tennison
Consortiumnews
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 11:02 UTC
Since Vladimir Putin became president of Russia in 2000, there has been a steady barrage of negative press and hostility from the West. With Putin up for reelection this year, Sharon Tennison tries to separate fact from fiction.
Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin obviously has his faults and has made his share of mistakes. Yet, my experiences with him, as well as what I have heard over the years from people I trust -- including U.S. officials who have worked with him worked closely -- indicate that Putin is essentially a straightforward, reliable and exceptionally inventive man.

The Russian president is clearly a long-term thinker and planner and has proven to be an excellent analyst and strategist. He is a leader who can quietly work toward his goals under mounds of accusations and myths that have been steadily leveled at him since he became the Russian Federation's second president.
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