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Western aggression: Pentagon plans to start testing missiles that have been banned for 30 years

Robert Burns
Associated Press
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 16:49 UTC
trump
© AP Photo/ Evan Vucci
The Pentagon plans to begin flight tests this year of two types of missiles that have been banned for more than 30 years by a treaty from which both the United States and Russia are expected to withdraw in August, defense officials said Wednesday.

By moving forward with these missile projects, the Pentagon is not excluding the possibility that the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty could still survive, although it likely will be terminated in August. At that point, Washington and Moscow would no longer face legal constraints on deploying land-based cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). The INF treaty has been in effect since 1987.

The INF treaty was an arms control landmark in the final years of the Cold War, but it began unraveling several years ago when Washington accused Russia of developing, testing and, more recently, deploying a cruise missile that U.S. officials say violates the treaty. Russia denies the violation and contends the U.S. accusation is a ploy to destroy the treaty.


Comment: Where is the proof that Russia is doing any of these things? The US accuses Russia of something, provides no proof, then announces it's doing the very thing it is accusing Russia of doing. The US is basically the kindergarten version of diplomacy at this stage.


Intermediate-range weapons are regarded as particularly destabilizing because of the short time they take to reach a target.
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Chess

EU Parliament wants to suspend negotiations with Turkey over membership


European Parliament
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 16:22 UTC
European Union Parliament

The European Union Parliament
Following years of severe political and democratic backsliding, the European Parliament recommended suspending EU accession negotiations with Turkey.

The European Parliament remains seriously concerned about Turkey's poor track record in upholding human rights, the rule of law, media freedom and the fight against corruption, as well as its all-powerful presidential system.

In a resolution adopted on Wednesday by 370 votes in favour, 109 against with 143 abstentions, MEPs welcome Turkey's decision, last year, to lift the state of emergency introduced after the failed coup attempt in 2016. However, they regret that many of the powers granted to the President and executive following the coup attempt remain in place, and continue to limit freedom and basic human rights in the country. MEPs express great concern about the shrinking space for civil society in the country, as a large number of activists, journalists and human rights defenders are currently in jail.

Taking into account the human rights situation and the new Turkish constitution, the European Parliament recommends that the current EU accession negotiations with Turkey be formally suspended.

Comment: The possibility of EU membership has been used both as a carrot and a stick to try to control Turkey's behavior. Perhaps the prize is not so valuable any more, as Russia is offering a more equal relationship? The West is having quiet conniption fits over a potential major geopolitical realignment in Asia Minor. Military alliances seem to be on the table too:

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Bad Guys

We are being lied into war again

Lee Camp
truthdig
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 18:08 UTC
Mike Pompeo
© CNN screen shot
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" to give host Jake Tapper the Trump administration's take on Venezuela.
I was 23 when we invaded Iraq, and I wasn't sure it was based on lies, but something deep down in me told me it was based on lies. Kinda like if your blind date shows up and you notice he has a 2004 flip phone.

It seems vaguely worrisome, and no explanation he can haltingly supply will put you at ease. Plus, anyone else who acts like it's normal also becomes suspect.

The invasion of Iraq just felt like it was a lie to me. And it turned out that I was right, that it was a lie, and that the entirety of the mainstream media and our government were either wrong or lying and, most of the time, both.

Now our government and our media are trying their damnedest to lie us into another war, this one with Venezuela. They tell us the Venezuelan people are desperate for necessities like toothpaste, while independent journalists show piles of affordable toothpaste in Caracas.

Comment: WW1 too. The Lusitania was lured into a trap by British and American spooks. "Live bait," Churchill called it.

Check out The American Trajectory: Divine or Demonic by David Ray Griffin for the full history of US false-flag attacks to justify America's aggressive wars.

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Question

Will Trudeau follow Washington's lead on Cuba?

Pablo Vivanco
RT
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:48 UTC
trudeau
© AFP / POOL / ENRIQUE DE LA OSA
The Liberal government's hostility toward Venezuela is leading to tensions between Canada and its primary tourist destination.

"Viva Prime Minister Fidel Castro! Viva the Cuban-Canadian friendship," Trudeau belted to applause and enthusiastic retorts of 'viva!' from the thousands of Cubans that came to hear him speak on his first visit to the island.

This was of course Pierre Elliott Trudeau, father of current Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, on his 1976 tour.

Trudeau Sr. charted a foreign policy for Canada that earned him few fans in Washington, establishing relations with Mao's China but also bolstering ties with Cuba.

After his visit, the first by a Western leader to revolutionary Cuba, the late Canadian politician maintained a close friendship with Fidel Castro, and the iconic Cuban leader even travelled to Ottawa in 2000 to be one of Trudeau's pallbearers.
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Snakes in Suits

Report: Mueller may be wrapping up as "Pitbull" Weissmann to step down

Sara Carter
SaraACarter.com
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:41 UTC
Andrew Weissmann

Andrew Weissmann
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's top prosecutor Andrew Weissmann will by leaving his role at the special counsel's office and Justice Department soon, to the Special Counsel's office.

Special Counsel spokesman Peter Carr told SaraACarter.com that "Andrew Weissmann will be concluding his detail to the Special Counsel's Office in the near future." Carr did not elaborate on whether or not Mueller's Special Counsel will be wrapping up.

Weissmann, described by The New York Times as Mueller's "Pitbull" for his style and tactics of prosecuting cases. In 2015 Weissmann was selected to run the Department of Justice's criminal fraud section and was later handpicked by Mueller to join the ongoing Special Counsel's Office investigation into the alleged obstruction and alleged collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

Comment: So far the Mueller prosecutions have yielded weak-sauce results. It has only managed to convict minor players of process crimes that had nothing to do with "Russian collusion". Weismann may have a fearsome reputation as a prosecutor, but his methods are almost certainly unethical. So are his political affiliations considering the position he held.

From American Thinker:
  • In 1997 Andrew Weissmann was officially reprimanded by a judge in the Eastern District of New York for withholding evidence.
  • Weissmann was reported to the Department of Justice Inspector General and Senate Judiciary Committee for alleged "corrupt legal practices."
  • A formal letter from U.S. Attorney Eastern District of New York Zachary Carter requested the judge to remove Weissman's name, according to documents.
  • Civil rights and Criminal Defense Attorney David Schoen said Weissmann needs to be investigated for alleged past misconduct in court cases.
Weissmann has this history of not turning over exculpatory evidence to the extent that he has been blasted by other judges, even though the law tells him to do so. There's also Weissmann's willing to take down whole companies to get a collar as well. And according to the Daily Beast, there is Weissmann's crony closeness to Obama's lieutenants such as Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch from his Brooklyn prosecutor days. Does this sound like someone who's fit for his job as dispassionate prosecutor in the nominally non-partisan Special Counsel's office?


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Star of David

More Bibi bluster: Netanyahu warns Hezbollah cell exposed in Syria 'just tip of iceberg'


Source
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:31 UTC
netanyahu
© Reuters/Atef Safadi
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
The IDF has found that the so-called "Golan File," a Hezbollah plot, comprises collecting intel and recruiting agents, as well includes weaponry, namely explosives, light arms, etc.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran and Hezbollah that Israel is fully aware of "what you're doing," adding " Israel knows where you're doing it," hours after Israel announced it had revealed a terror cell in the Syrian Golan Heights.

Netahyahu, who serves both as the country's prime minister and as Israel's defence chief, stated that the Hezbollah cell is "just the tip of the iceberg."

In a video statement aired Wednesday, he announced that Israel had "exposed a Hezbollah terror network on the Golan Heights," going on to reiterate that "Hezbollah is a terror organization and a proxy of Iran."

Comment: Bibi's grasping at straws to justify Israel's illegal 40-year occupation of the Golan Heights, which is recognized internationally as Syrian territory. Both Iran and Hezbollah are operating in Syria at the invitation of the legitimate government. Whatever their activities may be in the Golan, by international law, it's legal. Israel has other reasons besides its illusory "security" to fight so hard against giving up the Golan.

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Eye 1

Inquiry reveals MI5 did not tell police of pedophile UK MP Peter Morrsion's "penchant for small boys"

Owen Bowcott
The Guardian
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 11:10 UTC
Peter Morrison
© Bill Cross/ANL/REX/Shutterstock
Peter Morrison, the former MP for Chester, at Downing Street.
MI5 warned the cabinet secretary in the 1980s about rumours that a minister had a "penchant for small boys" but did not inform the police or launch an investigation into the allegations, according to a member of the security services.

Giving evidence anonymously to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), a lawyer with the security service apologised for it having taken a "narrow, security-related view" of the accusations against Sir Peter Morrison.

"With hindsight," the lawyer, whose voice was heard via remote video link, said "it was a matter of deep regret" that MI5 had not cooperated with police or made inquiries into the activities of the former MP for Chester, who died in 1995.

Comment: This report came just before MP for the Conservative party Boris Johnson claimed that investigating the numerous instances of child rape by people in the establishment, spanning decades, was "spaffing money up the wall".

For more on the endemic child sex crimes by those in power, see:

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Bad Guys

WSJ conjures specter of nuclear war, says we need 'second strike' against Moscow for RT's Skripal reporting

Simon Rite
RT
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 09:47 UTC
UK Russia flag
When an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal conjures the language of nuclear war and calls for a "second strike" option against alleged Russian disinformation, at least you know where you stand.

Analysis of Russia comes as standard with a sprinkle of Cold War vernacular and an aversion to seeing an issue from both sides. It sells papers and gets grants, but who is it helping?

The Wall Street Journal piece in question carries the headline 'The Kremlin loves using disinformation to sow chaos. Deterrence requires a plan for a second strike'. It's written by Elisabeth Braw, an analyst at think-tank, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Braw runs its 'Deterrence' project, a role which has shaped her analysis surrounding the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
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Russian Flag

Russian UN rep in Geneva: 'Truth about White Helmets is gradually emerging'

Drago Victorien
Fort Russ
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 09:47 UTC
white helmets
© Associated Press / Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets
Fake aid group White Helmets
The White Helmets have not escaped any radar, far from it, as Russian and Syrian diplomats presented a report containing more than 100 eyewitness interviews with ex-militants and residents of WH-operated areas, and their testimonies of the White Helmets being more in line with what Mr. Gatilov described as "pseudo-humanitarianists".

Revelations about the connection to terrorist activity was not only confirmed, but links to human organ-selling was also substantial. The Permanent Representative to the UN office in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov gives insight behind-the-scenes about the lobbying involved and Western nations promoting a very different line. We can only guess as to the nature of that line.

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Jet5

Pakistan tests new 'smart missiles' amid tensions with India


RT
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 09:47 UTC
Pakistani Air Force JF-17 Thunder fighter jet
© Reuters / Mian Khursheed
A Pakistani Air Force JF-17 Thunder fighter jet painted with the national flag.
The Pakistan Air Force has successfully tested a new domestically-built extended-range missile, said to be a "smart weapon." It also vowed to respond "with full force" if subjected to any foreign aggression.

The weapon, which is apparently an air-to-surface missile, has been deployed by a JF-17 Thunder - a Chinese-Pakistani multirole fighter jet - the Air Force said on Tuesday. No characteristics of the new missile have been made publicly available, yet it is described as a "smart weapon" which has an "extended" range.

A short and grainy video of the test has been released, showing a fighter jet deploying the missile which then hits the designated area at a proving ground. Footage ends with a still showing the crater made by the missile.

Comment: India has responded by showing off its own weapon tests. RT reports:
The Indian arms developer DRDO has test-fired the guided version of India's indigenous rocket artillery system, Pinaka, just as its rival Pakistan successfully tested new air-to-surface munitions.

Pinaka was originally developed by India as a domestic replacement for Russian multiple rocket launchers. Pinaka Mark II, or Guided Pinaka, is a different kind of weapon meant to deliver precise strikes at a long distance thanks to a guidance system installed on its rocket.

On Monday, India's Defense Research and Defense Organization (DRDO) conducted its latest test of the guided projectile at the Pokhran test range in the western state of Rajasthan, firing two projectiles. A third test took place on Tuesday.



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