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Eastern Europe will be US-NATO's "sacrificial victim" in its war on Russia

RIA Novosti
Fort Russ
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
Europe
Translated by J. Arnoldski

NATO structures are increasingly engulfing Europe. The director of the Center for Geopolitical Expertise and member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, Valery Korovin, expressed the opinion live on Sputnik radio that Europe is nothing more than expendable material for American military interests.

On Tuesday, the ministers of defense of the 28 member countries of NATO approved the deployment of one of the alliance's battalions on a rotational basis in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland. As a diplomatic source close to the North Atlantic Alliance told RIA Novosti, the deployment of advanced units in the composition of combined NATO battalions in Poland and the Baltic counties will begin, as expected, in January 2017.

Earlier, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg stated that the battalions in Poland and the Baltic states would be under NATO command while the greatest part of each of the units would be made up of the soldiers of the so-called "leading countries." Three of the four battalions will be composed of US, German, and UK troops. The details are to be worked out before the alliance's summit which will be held in Warsaw from July 8th-9th.
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Jet5

Russian surprise attack near Tanf, Syria blows up Kerry's delaying tactic


Moon of Alabama
Sat, 18 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
Kerry delays
The U.S. is unwilling to stop the war on Syria and to settle the case at the negotiation table. It wants 100% of its demands fulfilled, the dissolution of the Syrian government and state and the inauguration of a U.S. proxy administration in Syria.

After the ceasefire in Syria started in late February Obama broke his pledge to separate the U.S.-supported "moderate rebels" from al-Qaeda. In April U.S.-supported rebels, the Taliban-like Ahrar al Sham and al-Qaeda joined to attack the Syrian government in south Aleppo. The U.S. proxies broke the ceasefire.

Two UN resolutions demand that al-Qaeda in Syria be fought no matter what. But the U.S. has at least twice asked Russia not to bomb al-Qaeda. It insists, falsely, that it cannot separate its "moderates" from al-Qaeda and that al-Qaeda cannot be attacked because that would also hit its "moderate" friends.

The Russian foreign minster Lavrov has talked with Kerry many times about the issue. But the only response he received were requests to further withhold bombing. Meanwhile al-Qaeda and the "moderates" continued to break the ceasefire and to attack the Syrian government forces.

After nearly four months Kerry still insists that the U.S. needs even more time for the requested separation of its proxy forces from al-Qaeda. Foreign Minister Lavrov recently expressed the Russian consternation:

Comment: For the past few weeks all we've been hearing is Kerry try to lay blame on Russia for a stalled political process in Syria. Does Kerry really believe this late in the game that Russia is so stupid as to trust what he says - since it is so seldom backed up with acts of good faith? Once again Russia is responding with action for which the U.S. has no response. Except perhaps to ratchet up NATO's belligerent saber rattling, intimidation and bullying via eastern European military deployments.

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Info

Putin: 'We know when US will get new missiles threatening Russia's nuclear capability'


RT
Sat, 18 Jun 2016 23:54 UTC
President Vladimir Putin
© Sergey Guneev / Sputnik
The US anti-missile defense systems being installed near Russia's borders can be "inconspicuously" transformed into offensive weapons, Vladimir Putin has said, adding that he knows "year by year" how Washington will develop its missile program.

Talking about NATO's ballistic missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, Russia's president said that the Americans are now deploying their missiles at these military complexes.

"The missiles are put into a capsule used for launches of sea-based Tomahawk missiles. Now they are placing their antimissiles there, which are capable of engaging a target at a distance of up to 500 kilometers [310 miles]. But technologies are developing, and we know around what year the Americans will get a new missile, which will have a range not of 500 kilometers, but 1,000, and then even more - and from that moment they will start threatening our nuclear capability," Putin said at a meeting with the heads of international news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday.

"We know year by year what will happen, and they know that we know," he said, adding that Western officials "pull the wool over [their news outlets] eyes," who in turn misinform their audiences.
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Bad Guys

How the neocons took over America, and why 51 U.S. 'diplomats' are now calling for war against the Syrian government

Robert Parry
Consortium News
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 22:00 UTC
assad
More than 50 U.S. State Department "diplomats" sent a "dissent" memo urging President Obama to launch military strikes against the Syrian army, another sign that Foggy Bottom has collectively gone nuts, writes Robert Parry.

Over the past several decades, the U.S. State Department has deteriorated from a reasonably professional home for diplomacy and realism into a den of armchair warriors possessed of imperial delusions, a dangerous phenomenon underscored by the recent mass "dissent" in favor of blowing up more people in Syria.

Some 51 State Department "diplomats" signed a memo distributed through the official "dissent channel," seeking military strikes against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad whose forces have been leading the pushback against Islamist extremists who are seeking control of this important Mideast nation.

The fact that such a large contingent of State Department officials would openly advocate for an expanded aggressive war in line with the neoconservative agenda, which put Syria on a hit list some two decades ago, reveals how crazy the State Department has become.

Comment: See also Moon of Alabama's take on the dissent memo and the NYT's coverage of it: Know-Nothing "Diplomats" Prepare For Hillary's War On Syria
These State Department loons have their ass covered by Secretary of State Kerry. Otherwise they would (and should) be fired for obvious ignorance. What "judicious" military threat against Russian S-400 air defense in Syria is credible? Nukes on Moscow (and New York)? ...
  • "Diplomats" urging military action do nothing but confirm that they do not know their job which is diplomacy, not bombing. They failed.
  • These "diplomats" do not know or do not want to follow international law. On what legal basis would the U.S. bomb the Syrian government and its people? They do not name any. There is none.
  • To what purpose would the Syrian government and the millions of its followers be bombed? Who but al-Qaeda would follow if the Assad-led government falls? The "diplomats" ignore that obvious question.
... The U.S. military continues to reject an escalation against the Syrian government. Its reasonable question "what follows after Assad" has never been seriously answered by the war supporters in the CIA and the State Department. ...

Unexpected support of the U.S. military's position now seems to come from the Turkish side. The Erdogan regime finally acknowledges that a Syria under Assad is more convenient to it than a Kurdish state in north-Syria which the U.S. is currently helping to establish [because Assad rejects a Kurdish state] ... The Turks have suddenly removed their support for their "Turkmen" proxies fighting the Syrian government in Latakia in north west Syria. Over the last few days the "Turkmen" retreated and the Syrian army advanced. It may soon reach the Turkish border. Should the Latakia front calm down the Syrian army will be able to move several thousand troops from Latakia towards other critical sectors. The Turkish government, under the new Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, is now also sending peace signals towards Russia.

The situation in Syria could rapidly change in favor of the Syrian government should Turkey change its bifurcating policies and continue these moves. Without their Turkish bases and support the "moderate rebels" would soon be out of supplies and would lack the ability to continue their fighting. The Russians and their allies should further emphasize the "Kurdish threat" to advance this Turkish change of mind.

The race to preempt a Hillary administration war on Syria, which the "diplomats" memo prepares for, is now on. May the not-warmongering side win.


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Info

Nervous US Army plans to cut 40,000 troops

Tom Vanden Brook
USA Today
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 22:15 UTC
US soldiers
© David Furst, AFP/Getty Images
The Army plans to cut 40,000 soldiers from its ranks over the next two years, a reduction that will affect virtually all of its domestic and foreign posts, the service asserts in a document obtained by USA TODAY.

The potential troop cut comes as the Obama administration is pondering its next moves against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria. President Obama said Monday he and military leaders had not discussed sending additional troops to Iraq to fight the Islamic State. There are about 3,500 troops in Iraq.

"This will not be quick — this is a long-term campaign," Obama said at the Pentagon after meeting top military brass in the wake of setbacks that have prompted critics to call for a more robust U.S. response against the Islamic State.
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Treasure Chest

Russia strikes over $15 billion worth of deals despite sanctions at SPIEF 2016


RT
Sat, 18 Jun 2016 21:59 UTC
20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)
© Sergei Savostyanov / TASS
Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L-R background) look on as Pizzarotti President Paolo Pizzarotti, Gazprombank Management Board Chairman Andrei Akimov, and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriyev.
From multibillion-dollar deals and new projects, including the use of Hyperloop tech in Russia's Far East, to hints that economic sanctions could be lifted - RT looks at the main highlights from the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

SPIEF is an annual international conference and a platform for discussing economic and business trends. This year it took place from June 16 to 18 and attracted more than 12,000 participants from all over the world, including top foreign officials, academics, and business leaders.
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Bug

Gruesome details exposed in CIA torture docs

Dror Ladin
ACLU
Wed, 15 Jun 2016 20:59 UTC
prison
The CIA released 50 new documents yesterday relating to its post-9/11 torture and rendition program. Despite the many disclosures that have come in the course of our decade-long fight to reveal the details of the program, the new revelations still have the capacity to shock.

The documents, released in response to an ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, vividly depict the brutality of torture, and further expose the fiction that this abuse is a scientific method for extracting information from victims. The documents also reveal how hard the CIA worked to bury the evidence of its crimes — including by seeking to silence its victims.

A few of the many new findings include:

CIA pressure to "break" detainees was deadly. A newly released CIA inspector general report about the death of detainee Gul Rahman concluded that he was singled out for especially harsh torture because of "pressure" to "break him." We learned that he was kept nude or in a diaper for most of his detention, "solely for humiliation." When they ran out of diapers, the guards would use "a handcrafted diaper secured by duct tape." CIA torturers kept Rahman naked in "cold conditions with minimal food or sleep" and kept questioning him even when he "appeared incoherent." When they decided he wasn't sufficiently "broken," CIA personnel brutalized, starved, and froze him to death — and then lied about it.

Comment: This is what happens when you let psychopaths take over.

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Blackbox

Is India really turning its back on BRICS and allying with the US? Perhaps not

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Mon, 13 Jun 2016 20:45 UTC
Obama Modi
© www.telegraph.co.uk
India's recent moves do not mean it is breaking with the BRICS or joining a US alliance against China. It is simply a case of India pursuing its traditional policy of positioning itself between the Great Powers to achieve greatest advantage for itself.

Indian Prime Minister Modi's just completed visit to Washington has reinforced fears that India is evolving into a full-fledged ally of the US.

The grounds for thinking this were ably discussed by my colleague Andrew Korybko in two fine pieces he has written for The Duran. For those interested in the details of the moves the US and India have been making towards each other, there is no better place to start than those two articles (here and here).

Is India however really abandoning its traditional policy of non-alignment to forge an alliance with Washington that would in effect bury the BRICS arrangement?
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Bulb

The propaganda is transparent: Omar Mateen a 'terrorist', but Thomas Mair just mentally deranged

Glenn Greenwald
The Intercept
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 20:26 UTC
cameron corbyn
© Rex Features/AP
British Labour MP Jo Cox was brutally murdered yesterday. Although the motive is not yet proven, there is mounting evidence that the detained suspect, 52-year-old white male Thomas Mair, was motivated by political ideology. Cox was an outspoken advocate for refugees. At least two witnesses say Mair, as he carried out the attack, yelled "Britain First," the name of a virulently right-wing anti-immigrant party. He has years of affiliation with neo-Nazi groups: what Southern Poverty Law Center describes as "a long history with white nationalism." The U.K. is in the midst of a bitter and virulent debate about whether to exit the EU — Cox opposed that — and much of the pro-Brexit case centers on fear-mongering over immigrants.


Comment: A bit more background on Mair from RT:
Thomas Mair told Westminster Magistrates Court his name was "death to traitors, freedom for Britain" during his first court appearance after being charged with the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. ... Police confirmed Friday that the violent attack on the Labour MP was "isolated but targeted" and are investigating motives for the attack.

Investigators are prioritizing looking into emerging evidence that links the suspect to far-right extremist groups as well as reports that Mair had used mental health services. West Yorkshire Police also confirmed in a statement that Mair had been determined "fit for detention and fit for interview."

The Crown Prosecution Service special crimes and counter-terrorism unit engaged with police investigating the MP's murder, The Guardian reports, but no terrorism charges have been filed.
...
A number of eyewitnesses reported that the attacker shouted "Britain First" before killing Cox. The far right party of the same name has criticized media coverage of the eyewitness accounts, claiming such reports are "monstrous lies," Britain First has denied any connection to Mair and has condemned the attack.

Mair's connections with neo-Nazi groups have been highlighted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in the US, who claim he was a dedicated supporter for decades of the National Alliance (NA), a neo-Nazi organization which has been calling for a "white homeland" in the United States. The SPLC says it found invoices suggesting Mair spent more than $600 on far-right literature, including a gun-making manual, published by the hate group. It's also being reported that police found "Nazi regalia" at Mair's house during their searches, and that he had subscribed to a pro-apartheid South African magazine.


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Eye 1

Putin thinks West-supported coup in Kiev meant to justify existence of NATO as West escalates conflict


Information Clearing House
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
Kiev riots
© www.knightstemplarinternational.com
Kiev riots, were they necessary?
Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks that the West supported the coup in Ukraine to justify the existence of NATO. "After the 'Arab Spring' they have already moved closer to our borders. Why did they need to support the coup in Ukraine? There is a complicated internal political situation there, and the opposition that is in power today would have most likely come to power by democratic means, through elections, as well. That's it, we would have worked with them just like we worked with the authorities before (former Ukrainian) President (Viktor) Yanukovych," Putin said on Friday at a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"No, they had to take it to the coup with victims, to cause bloodshed, civil war, to intimidate the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine's south-east and in Crimea. What for?" he asked adding that Moscow "just had to take measures to protect certain groups of population," he continued.

The president noted that the West continued to "spin this spiral, to escalate." The Russian leader thinks that such actions were dictated by the necessity "to justify the very existence of the North Atlantic Alliance. They need an external enemy, an external opponent - or why else would this organization be needed?" Putin wondered. "There is no Warsaw Pact anymore, no Soviet Union, whom are they (NATO) against?" Putin wondered.

"If we continue to act in the framework of this logic - escalate and build up efforts to intimidate each other - we will soon come to the Cold War," he said. "We have an absolutely different logic, it is aimed at cooperation and search for compromises," he concluded.
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