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Turkish media reveals half of French bases in Syria will have gaps in defenses once US troops withdraw


RT
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 17:21 UTC
French soldiers stationed in the Middle East as part of Operation Chammal
© French Ministry of Armed Forces
French soldiers stationed in the Middle East as part of Operation Chammal.
US troops pulling out of Syria have been manning several of France's bases there, Turkish state media reported, while exposing locations of 9 French-occupied sites. It implied that Paris soon won't be able to defend Syrian Kurds.

There are at least nine French bases scattered across northern Syria, according to the investigation carried out by Anadolu Agency. France apparently expanded its presence since March, when the media counted only five French military facilities.

At least four of the French bases in northern Syria are also manned by the withdrawing US troops, the report says. The other five would also be left more vulnerable since France can only "ensure their continued mobility by relying on" US troops or YPG militia for support.

"Under current circumstances, France does not seem to be able to provide a similar level of support to the YPG / PKK by filling the gap that will arise from the withdrawal of the US from Syria," it adds.

Comment: The French have been quietly moving in to territory abandoned by the US for a while now. They have a long history of interference in the area, starting right after WW1, with the creation of both Syria and Lebanon from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. It seems they still feel entitled to interfere with their former colonies. Andalou Agency reported in March, 2018:
According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency from local sources, more than 70 French special forces under the international coalition against Daesh are stationed at the Lafarge Cement factory near the strategic Mistanur Hill and Harab-Isk village in southern Ayn al-Arab province (Kobani).
french bases syria
© Andalou Agency
French forces in Syria
The French forces are working with YPG/PKK in field operations.

When the U.S. army built a military air base in Harab-Isk village, the nearby cement factory was incorporated. The base is controlled by U.S. troops operating under the coalition and French troops are also stationed there.

More than 30 French soldiers are also operating with the YPG/PKK terrorist organization in Raqqah, northern Syria.

Apart from French special forces who have been cooperating with the terrorist organization in the field, the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment and the 10th Parachute Commando forces operate in the region.

French construction company Lafarge opened the cement factory in northern Syria in 2010.

It was revealed that since the second year of the Syrian civil war, the company had been bribing the Daesh terrorist organization for 16 months in order to continue its activities.

The U.S.-funded YPG/PKK seized the factory, which had previously been seized by Daesh, to use as its base.


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Blackbox

Sputnik reports smoke from Rukban refugee camp in Syria - rebels hiding evidence of crimes?


Sputnik
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:09 UTC
rukban
© AP
The camp is located near the Al-Tanf base, where US troops are currently stationed and from where they are expected to leave in a matter of months. Russia has accused the US on multiple occasions of harbouring militants and terrorists in the areas adjacent to the Al-Tanf base.

A military-diplomatic source has told Sputnik that heavy smoke has recently been seen near the Rukban refugee camp situated near the Al-Tanf US military base. According to the source, it could be a sign that militants, "harboured by the US military" have intensified their activities following the announcement of the impending US pull-out.

The source believes that these militants could be burning bodies of the diseased camp inhabitants, who died of illnesses and famine because they failed to receive humanitarian aid shipments. He also suggested that international humanitarian and human right organisations will be spending years, sorting out the "legacy" of the US stay in Syria.

Comment: The US military command must be fuming. They have had no legitimate reason to hold on to al-Tanf. The area is surrounded by liberated territory. The only reasons have been to block the border crossing between Syria and Iraq, starving Syria of much-needed trade with her neighbor, and the added bonus of providing a staging ground for 'rebels' and a hiding place for ISIS terrorists. With Trump's announcement of a withdrawal, the U.S. military will lose all those 'advantages'.

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Eye 2

Cui bono? David Leask, Ben Nimmo leading the attack on ordinary Scottish nationalists

Craig Murray
craigmurray.org
Sat, 22 Dec 2018 16:44 UTC
We know for certain that the Integrity Initiative targets Scottish Nationalists, because two of its luminaries, otherwise unconnected to each other, David Leask and Ben Nimmo, collaborated on a massive attack piece in the Herald identifying individual SNP supporters as "Russian Bots".
scottish voters russian bots herals leask
© The Scotland Herald
David Leask's hit piece in the Scotland Herald
Ben Nimmo works for the Atlantic Council, funded inter alia by NATO. He is also on a retainer of £2,500 per month from the Integrity Initiative, in addition to payments for individual pieces of work. For his attack on Scottish Nationalists Nimmo was therefore paid by the Atlantic Council (your taxes through NATO), by the Integrity Initiative (your taxes) and by the Herald (thankfully shortly going bankrupt). Leask claims to have received nothing but a cheese sandwich from the Integrity Initiative, but has briefed them in detail on Scottish nationalism, attended their seminars, and they have included Leask's output in their "outcomes" reports to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (on which more in a few days' time).

Comment: Ben Nimmo is Atlantic Council anti-Russian, warmongering slime David Leask a fellow-traveler: Documents Expose British Government Covert Anti-Russian Propaganda and Truth Behind Skripal Case

On the swamp they crawled out of: Many of the above articles are long and involved, but they give an idea of the scope of the UK intelligence department's propaganda efforts to smear Russia and anyone potentially connected to them. For example:

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Bad Guys

Kamala Harris and Mazie Hirono support barring observant Catholics from public office - they're just being sneaky about it

Becket Adams
The Washington Examiner
Fri, 28 Dec 2018 16:35 UTC
Diane Feinstein
© Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite
The bigger question isn't whether this distinguished professor doesn't understand what her judicial oath requires, but rather whether Feinstein understands, as Nebraska's Sen. Ben Sasse noted, that it is unlawful to impose a religious test on public officials.
In September 2017, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., suggested Judge Amy Coney Barrett is too Catholic to serve on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

More than a year later, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., have renewed Feinstein's line of attack, suggesting this month that attorney Brian Buescher may also be unfit to serve as a federal judge on account of his Catholic faith. The only difference between now and September 2017 is that Hirono and Harris are not so explicit in their bigotry.
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Star of David

Palestine's Sharpeville massacre: 'Cast Lead' ten years on

Haidar Eid
Mondoweiss
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 16:05 UTC
Cast lead Gaza bombings
© Apaimages/Naaman Omar
Palestinian inspects a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air strike on Gaza City on December 27, 2008. On that day, Israel hammered Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 210 people to mark the beginning of Operation Cast Lead.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the horror inflicted on the people of the Gaza Strip when Israeli war planes launched massive airstrikes on the besieged strip. Nothing has changed! To add insult to injury, and because the so-called "International Community" did absolutely nothing to put an end to Israel's war crimes, the latter repeated the attacks in 2012 and in 2014 killing more than 4,000 civilians and injuring tens of thousands. During the 2008 massacre, an Israeli soldier was reported to have said in an interview: "That's what is so nice, supposedly, about Gaza: You see a person on a road, walking along a path. He doesn't have to be with a weapon, you don't have to identify him with anything and you can just shoot him." This is an expression of the mainstream ideology ruling Israel.

And now Gaza has returned to its state of siege, confronted with the same international apathy. Ten years after the Israeli assault that lasted 22 long days and dark nights, during which its brave people were left alone to face one of the strongest armies in the world, Gaza no longer makes the news. Its people die slowly, its children are malnourished, its water contaminated, and yet it is deprived even of a word of sympathy from the leaders of the "civilized world." In fact, the dehumanization of the Palestinians of Gaza continues unabated. Almost 300 civilians have been killed by Israeli snipers stationed in ditches at the eastern fence on the strip since the eruption of a series of non-violent demonstrations as part of the Great March of Return in March 2018. And the international community is still blind and deaf.

Comment: The Sharpeville massacre, (March 21, 1960), incident in the black township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, South Africa, in which police fired on a crowd of blacks, killing or wounding some 250 of them. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa.

Palestine has endured as much, and maybe more than South Africa in its struggle for human rights. It has been 70 long years.

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Question

Like Hitler, like Macron? Twitterstorm after Le Monde publishes controversial magazine cover


RT
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 10:39 UTC
macron le monde hitler
© Le Monde
Le Monde has issued an apology over its cover after facing a barrage of accusations of 'comparing' President Emmanuel Macron to Adolf Hitler. The magazine insisted that it "obviously" had no such parallel in mind.


Comment: As a whole, the media is on the side of the establishment, that much is true: 'Macron... WHAT?' French TV channel France3 caught censoring photo of Yellow Vest protester's placard


The controversial image featured on the cover of the M le magazine du Monde, issued on Saturday. It contains a photo collage of Macron and the Yellow Vest protesters on the Champs Elysees.

The image and its art style have definitely caught the eye of readers, with the President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand suggesting that they might have invoked certain parallels.

Comment: It may just be that it came to mind more readily because the comparison is becoming much clearer to some people: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Sherlock

Swiss-Spanish 'instructor' arrested in IS-inspired slaughter of Scandinavian tourists in Morocco


RT
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 03:56 UTC
morocco murder scandinavian tourist
© Ritzau Scanpix / Thomas Sjoerup / via Reuters
Moroccan authorities have detained a dual Swiss-Spanish national in connection with the brutal murder of two Scandinavian tourists. The suspect, authorities believe, was a local terrorist recruiter.

The man, whose name was not released to the public, was arrested in the city of Marrakech on Saturday, over his alleged links to a group of men linked to the horrific murder of the two young hikers. Earlier, the country's authorities detained 18 people in connection with the killings, including four suspects believed to be inspired by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

The dual national is suspected of teaching some of those arrested "about communication tools involving new technology and training them in marksmanship," the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) said Saturday. The extremist, authorities believe, was also involved in the "recruitment of Moroccans and sub-Saharans to carry out terrorist plans in Morocco."

Comment: One wonders why a European national would be involved in such nefarious operations, even if it is well known that the Western establishment has deep connections with terrorist networks. However it remains to be seen whether this is yet another one of those situations: Moroccan gang that murdered Scandinavian women spent 2 days 'hunting for targets'

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Arrow Up

Arab nations acknowledge Syria's victory in war: Bahrain joins UAE in reopening embassy in Damascus


RT
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 15:46 UTC
Bahrain's FM Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain reopens embassy Damascus

“Syria is a major Arab country in the region, we did not cut ties and it did not do so ... We stand with it in protecting its sovereignty and its territory from any violation,” tweeted later Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
The Bahraini embassy in Damascus is open again, the Gulf nation announced on Friday, a day after a similar move by the UAE. It seems Saudi Arabia and its allies are ready to acknowledge Syria's victory in the war.

Early in the multifaceted Syrian conflict, which involved hostilities between various domestic forces and a strong influx of foreign fighters, several Gulf Arab states shut down their diplomatic missions in Syria. The country was also expelled from the Arab League in 2011, as Riyadh and Doha backed anti-government Sunni forces trying to topple the Alawite-dominated government in Damascus. Now the diplomatic ties are being restored.

On Friday, Bahrain's Foreign Ministry released a statement, which stressed the importance of continued relations with Syria and the "the Arab role" in preserving Syria's independence.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Nancy Pelosi is so 'concerned' about government shutdown, she's on holiday at luxury Hawaiian resort

Brent Scher
The Free Beacon
Fri, 28 Dec 2018 10:00 UTC
nancy pelosi govt shutdown hawaii resort

While Pelosi is vacationing in Hawaii, Trump canceled his Christmas trip to Florida and traveled to Iraq and meet with American troops stationed overseas.
Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi is spending the government shutdown at a luxury resort in Hawaii, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Pelosi, who has put blame squarely on President Donald Trump for the current government shutdown, was spotted Thursday vacationing in Hawaii at the Fairmont Orchid resort, where room accommodations range from $899-a-night for a standard room to $4,899-a-night for the presidential suite.

The resort, on Hawaii's Big Island, features a golf course, six restaurants, and a 10,000-square-foot oceanfront pool. It also features a "Spa Without Walls," where the 110-minute Ali'i Royal Experience is available for $369 and a 50-minute couples massage runs $549, according to the spa menu. While at the spa, guests can snack on a gluten-free grilled prawn summer roll for $19.

Trump canceled his Christmas trip to Florida and remained in the White House, saying on Christmas Eve that he was "waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal." The president left the White House on Christmas to travel to Iraq and meet with American troops stationed overseas.

Comment: More on the government shutdown:

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Star of David

Facebook's secret censorship rulebook exposed after platform removes video calling Palestine 'Israel's weapons-testing lab'

Jessica Corbett
Common Dreams
Fri, 28 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
Journalist Rania Khalek, whose video was restored after public outcry, says the ability of social media giants "to disappear content as they please" is "creepy and alarming and should be loudly opposed."
Facebook censorship Israel
© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The New York Times on Thursday published a report on Facebook's censorship policies.
After the New York Times on Thursday published an exposé of Facebook's global censorship rulebook, journalist Rania Khalek called out the social media giant for taking down a video in which she explains how, "on top of being occupied, colonized territory, Palestine is Israel's personal laboratory for testing, refining, and showcasing methods and weapons of domination and control."

Tweeting out the Times report-and noting that while, according to the newspaper, "moderators were told to hunt down and remove rumors wrongly accusing an Israeli soldier of killing a Palestinian medic," Israeli soldiers did fatally shoot an unarmed 21-year-old female paramedic earlier this year-she announced Friday morning that Facebook had "just removed" her video.


Comment: Facebook has never been reticent about showing its allegiance to Israel:

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