Puppet Masters

Failed coup in Turkey has thrown a wrench in Washington's "pivot" plan

Mike Whitney
Counterpunch
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC

A failed coup in Turkey has changed the geopolitical landscape overnight realigning Ankara with Moscow while shattering Washington's plan to redraw the map of the Middle East. Whether Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan staged the coup or not is of little importance in the bigger scheme of things. The fact is, the incident has consolidated his power domestically while derailing Washington's plan to control critical resources and pipeline corridors from Qatar to Europe. The Obama administrations disregard for the national security interests of its allies, has pushed the Turkish president into Moscow's camp, removing the crucial landbridge between Europe and Asia that Washington needs to maintain its global hegemony into the new century. Washington's plan to pivot to Asia, surround and break up Russia, control China's growth and maintain its iron grip on global power is now in a shambles. The events of the last few days have changed everything.

This is from the Daily Sahbah:

"Turkey's changing rhetoric toward Russia is also a direct consequence of Ankara's unmet expectations regarding the Syria conflict. Turkey's disappointment with the United States' policy in Syria has increased with time, especially considering Washington's continued support for the Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. Ankara sees this group as an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization (Daily Sabah, 12 June).
(A Change in Turkish-Russian Relations: What Sort of Rapprochement?, The Jamestown Foundation)

Comment: The one thing this article is missing is that Erdogan knows that CIA asset and former ally Fethullah Gulen - with the US - helped mount the coup. That, more than anything, tells him who his true enemies are.

See also: Erdogan benefits from Turkish coup attempt because it failed, not because he engineered it

Obama makes war in Europe a priority over the war on blacks at home

Eric Draitser
Counterpunch
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC

Obamanation

President Obama's true priorities were on full display this past week as he attended the NATO Summit in Poland's capital of Warsaw. For while Obama met with other NATO heads of state to discuss raising troop levels, bringing more military hardware into Eastern Europe and to the doorstep of Russia, and generally heightening tensions with a nuclear power, America found itself in crisis.

After the horrific, criminal murders of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, and the sniper attack in Dallas, racial tensions were running high; millions of black, brown, and white people, mostly young, poured into the streets of cities across the country to express their indignation at the ceaseless murder of innocent citizens at the hands of the police. And, predictably, the police forcibly suppressed the protests, demonstrating before the world what militarized law enforcement looks like, and what it can do.

So, with state-sanctioned paramilitary storm-troopers roaming the streets and attacking protesters, the First Black President^TMcouldn't be bothered to come home and use the power of his position to calm the tensions and speak to issues of mass incarceration and police violence. No, instead Obama remained in Poland where he did everything in his power to heighten international tensions. Such is the reality of the Obama presidency: shed crocodile tears for political expediency while pursuing a belligerent foreign policy that has the potential to escalate out of control.

The troubling links between Killary and influential Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen

Chuck Ross
The Daily Caller
Wed, 13 Jul 2016 01:52 UTC

A newly-released email and lobbying documents filed with Congress reveals new ties between Clintonworld and members of a network operated by a mysterious Islamic cleric from Turkey.

Connections between Clinton and acolytes of the imam, Fethullah Gulen, could muddle the complex relationship between the U.S. and Turkey, a key NATO ally, if the former secretary of state wins the White House.

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has mounted an aggressive crackdown against Gulen and his followers, known as Gulenists. Erdoğan, who was once allied with Gulen, has even personally asked President Obama to extradite the 74-year-old guru, who has lived in self-exile in Pennsylvania's Pocono mountains since 1999.

Erdoğan has accused Gulen of attempting to undermine the Turkish government. Gulen's followers control many Turkish institutions, including the media, courts, and police force.

In addition to muddying that complex geopolitical dynamic, a 2009 email recently released by Judicial Watch provides yet another example of access being provided to a Clinton campaign and Clinton Foundation donor.

In the April 1, 2009 message, a Gulen follower named Gokhan Ozkok asked Clinton deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin for help in connecting one of his allies to President Obama.

Ozkok is founding board member of the Turkish Cultural Center and part of a network of businesses and non-profits affiliated with the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet.

Syria: Beheading of Palestinian child prompts US to disassociate from its proxy psychopaths

Vanessa Beeley
21st Century Wire
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC

Horrifying scenes of the beheading of a very young Palestinian boy by the US and UK backed terrorist faction in Syria, Nour-Al-Din Al-Zenki, flooded social media feeds yesterday.

The US is scrambling to both disassociate themselves and their proxy murderers from this abhorrent crime. 21WIRE will not post the videos in the report below as they may be too distressing, but they are available in the link to the article. We stress that this footage is graphic and horrific.

The Daily Mail report indicates that the child had quite possibly been tortured prior to his crude beheading at the hands of one of the thugs bullying and beating him on film.

"Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki is an Islamist rebel group in Syria formed in late 2011 during the Syrian Civil War.

Named for Emir of Aleppo Nur ad-Din, the movement was formed in Aleppo to fight against the Syrian Arab Army, and it joined the Army of Mujahideen in the war against the Islamic State.

The United States supplied the group with money and BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles during its war against ISIS and the government.

In December 2014, it joined the Levant Front and also the Fatah Halab operations room."
~Daily Mail

The last published article of Ukrainian journalist assassinated today

Kristina Kharlova
Fort Russ
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 01:30 UTC

assassinated Ukraine journalist Sheremet

RIP Pavel Sheremet

Ukraine is still managing to balance between the two centers of power: the current government prompted by CIA-supported SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] (according to many reports the CIA takes up an entire floor in the SBU building, and the American ambassador in Ukraine is the de-facto president, approving laws and calling the shots) and the Russophobic radical Nazi battalions, which where the muscle responsible for the violent overthrow of Yanukovich government on Maidan and in the aggression of the new Kiev government against the separatist Donbass.

As a guarantor of order in Ukraine, the SBU must appear to defend the population from gangs and crime, while after plundering the mostly Russian population of separatist Donbass in the name of patriotism, members of volunteer battalions who know no other means to make a living, are constantly in Ukrainian criminal news reports.

The nationalist volunteer battalions have always been a source of the greatest threat to the new Ukrainian government, which over the last two years continues to successfully balance on the edge of a third Maidan, constantly accused by the far right of not being patriotic or Russophobic enough. This is the reason why remaining Ukrainian career politicians and oligarchs had to abandon decency and paint themselves in nationalist colors in order to hold on to their power.

Only the future will tell how long can the fragile balance be maintained. Meanwhile we bring to your attention the last article of Pavel Sheremet, a Ukrainian journalist describing the internal squabbles between the two Ukrainian power poles. As common for current Ukrainian journalists, who are still permitted to be published in the mainstream Ukrainian media, he is supporting the Nazi Ukrainian commander Andre Biletsky and explains why he could be a threat to the government.

However, even his assessment confirms that the nationalist battalions were a magnet for the disadvantaged troubled youth who found a meaning, a community and a boost to self-esteem in nationalist ideals, who when not occupied by combat resort to crime, so well documented in the war zone of Donbass.

British nuclear sub collides with merchant vessel off Gibraltar

RT
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 01:24 UTC

One of Britain's newest Astute-class submarines has docked at Gibraltar after suffering a "glancing collision" with a merchant vessel, the UK Royal Navy announced, emphasizing that the HMS Ambush suffered "absolutely no damage" to her nuclear reactor.

The incident happened at around 1:30pm local time on Wednesday, when HMS Ambush was "submerged and conducting a training exercise" off Gibraltar, the Royal Navy said in a statement.

The Astute class nuclear submarine suffered "some external damage", with the Royal Navy reassuring the public that "absolutely no damage" had been inflicted on its nuclear reactor.

The Navy also added that no one suffered in the incident, but the submarine had been forced to dock. "There are no safety concerns associated with HMS Ambush being alongside," the Royal Navy stated.

The vessel ship that the submarine collided with suffered no damage, according to initial assessment. An investigation is now underway.

Global Coalition: Britain to deploy 250 more troops to Iraq in alleged fight against Daesh

PressTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 01:04 UTC

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon

Britain is doubling its deployment of troops to Iraq, says Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon, citing fight on Daesh terrorists.

The additional 250 troops will put the total number of the British military at more than 500, Fallon told reporters on Wednesday in his first visit to the US since the forming of the new British government, AFP reported.

"We will be sending an additional 250 troops into the theater over the next few weeks," Fallon said. "Other countries are being asked to look for their contribution to see what more they can do."

Fallon was in the United States to take part at a meeting of the so-called Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.

Raising the tension: India moves nearly one hundred tanks and troops to Chinese border

Sputnik
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 00:57 UTC

With tensions rising between China and India, New Delhi has deployed nearly 100 tanks to its eastern border.

The mountainous region of Ladakh, in northern India, lies in a tense location between disputed Kashmir and Tibet. In an effort to boost its military presence in the area, the Indian military has sent Russian-made T-72 tanks to Ladakh's Chinese border

"The vast flat valleys along the mountain ranges allow for armored movement; besides, there has been an increase in the force levels across the border," an unnamed military official told NDTV.

The tanks have undergone significant upgrades to be better outfitted for the region's climate.

"We have procured special additives and lubricants for high-altitude terrain such as winter-grade diesel and additives for the lubrication system, which prevents it from freezing in the tank," Colonel Vijay Dalal told The Hindu.

This marks the third regiment placed in Ladakh by India since 2014.

SOTT Exclusive: Is Washington serious about partnership with Moscow in Syria?

Paul Mansfield
Sott.net
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:33 UTC

Meetings between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over a US proposal for military cooperation in Syria appear destined to fail. As they say, the path to ruin is paved with good intentions. In this instance, Russia has maintained good intentions throughout the war in Syria, while the US threatens to lead all participants on a path to ruin.

The details of the proposal were apparently hammered out over two days, which would see joint US-Russian airstrikes against Al-Nusra and ISIS; the grounding of Syrian air force planes in designated areas occupied by 'other rebel groups'; and agreement that Russia continue conducting airstrikes against Al-Nusra and ISIS in defence of Syrian forces. While it is curious indeed to see the US engaged in dialogue rather than unilaterally conducting its own airstrikes, this proposal reads suspiciously like a plea: "please, Mr Putin, don't bomb our 'moderate' terrorists."

Aside from the dubious idea of grounding Syria's air force from striking terrorist groups, the proposal would give the US a degree of control in subjecting Russian strikes against Nusra targets to American approval, according to the Washington Post, which broke the story last Thursday. Moscow, from the outset of its Syria campaign, has called for a truly international coalition in fighting all terrorists. Clearly this proposal would not achieve that. Moreover, with respect to policy in Syria, disunity among US diplomatic, military and intelligence circles (Hawkish generals, Ash Carter, Victoria Nuland, and the 51 State Department officials angling for a job under Hillary Clinton spring to mind) continues to grow, and this proposal is unlikely to reverse the trend.

Bank of England ponders issuing its own digital money

RT
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 21:12 UTC

England (BoE) have suggested central banks introduce their own cryptocurrency, claiming it could create a sizeable and long-term jolt for national economies.

According to a BoE report, a new digital currency could boost economic output by around three percent "due to reductions in real interest rates, discretionary taxes, and monetary transaction costs." It could also help maintain financial stability and provide policy makers with more effective tools to smooth financial booms and busts.

Central banks across the developed world, including the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada, are studying the potential of introducing a digital currency. If they decide to issue digital cash and make it available to the general public, money would exist electronically outside of bank accounts in digital wallets, like physical banknotes. That could radically reshape the present financial system.

A central bank issued 'bitcoin' would help policy makers control the amount of money in the economy which is not possible at the moment as commercial banks create money by using deposits as loans thus increasing the money supply.

Comment: When a central bank is touting a digital currency, the trap is closing. Wealth can be created with a few keystrokes and taken away in the same fashion.

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Puppet Masters

Failed coup in Turkey has thrown a wrench in Washington's "pivot" plan

Obama makes war in Europe a priority over the war on blacks at home

The troubling links between Killary and influential Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen

Syria: Beheading of Palestinian child prompts US to disassociate from its proxy psychopaths

The last published article of Ukrainian journalist assassinated today

British nuclear sub collides with merchant vessel off Gibraltar

Global Coalition: Britain to deploy 250 more troops to Iraq in alleged fight against Daesh

Raising the tension: India moves nearly one hundred tanks and troops to Chinese border

SOTT Exclusive: Is Washington serious about partnership with Moscow in Syria?

Bank of England ponders issuing its own digital money

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