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Critics of Trump's Syrian Withdrawal Fueled The Rise of ISIS

Max Blumenthal
Consortium News
Thu, 27 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
IS terroristsSyria
© AFP
Islamic State in Syria
Too many of those protesting the removal of U.S. forces are authors of the catastrophe that tore Syria to pieces.

President Donald Trump's announcement of an imminent withdrawal of US troops from northeastern Syria summoned a predictable paroxysm of outrage from Washington's foreign policy establishment. Former secretary of state and self-described "hair icon" Hillary Clinton perfectly distilled the bipartisan freakout into a single tweet, accusing Trump of "isolationism" and "playing into Russia and Iran's hands."

Michelle Flournoy, the DC apparatchik who would have been Hillary's secretary of defense, slammed the pull-out as "foreign policy malpractice," while Hillary's successor at the State Department, John Kerry, threw bits of red meat to the Russiagate-crazed Democratic base by branding Trump's decision "a Christmas gift to Putin." From the halls of Congress to the K Street corridors of Gulf-funded think tanks, a chorus of protest proclaimed that removing U.S. troops from Syria would simultaneously abet Iran and bring ISIS back from the grave.

Comment: Ergo, by and large, support Trump.

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Document

White House says Trump hasn't yet ordered Afghan troop withdrawal

Shannon Pettypiece and Bill Faries
Bloomberg
Fri, 28 Dec 2018 18:41 UTC
us troops afghanistan
© Wakil Kohsar / AFP / Getty Images
Donald Trump hasn't ordered the Pentagon to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, a White House spokesman said, contradicting reports last week that he's directed the military to pull 7,000 soldiers out of a conflict he's long criticized.

"The president has not made a determination to drawdown U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and he has not directed the Department of Defense to begin the process of withdrawing U.S. personnel from Afghanistan," Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in an emailed statement on Friday.

The statement came more than a week after a U.S. defense official, who asked not to be identified discussing the troop plans, said the Pentagon will withdraw 7,000 of about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan. That decision was widely reported in media outlets, including by Bloomberg News.

But the U.S. commander of international forces in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, said Sunday he hadn't received any orders to change troop levels in the country, according to Voice of America -- a statement the NSC appeared to belatedly confirm on Friday.

Comment: Gareth Porter's latest on Trump's decision is a must-read: Trump scores one for independent thinking, breaks generals' 50-year war record

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Eagle

Syrian Army enters Manbij as Trump follows through on Syria withdrawal - Iraq next?

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Fri, 28 Dec 2018 18:19 UTC
manbij map
The US presidential plane landed in the darkness of the Iraqi military base of Ayn al-Assad in west Anbar with Donald Trump onboard. But by the time his plane took off three hours later, Trump left behind a protocol-political-parliamentary storm in Mesopotamia as Iraqi members of parliament requested the departure of the 5200 US forces from the country. None of the three Iraqi leaders (Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, Speaker Mohammad al-Halbusi, President Barham Salih) came to receive Trump as all three rejected US conditions for such a meeting. Trump seems determined to leave Syria without interfering with who will control the territory behind him: this morning the Syrian Army entered the outskirt of the city of Manbij following a deal between Kurdish leaders and the government of Damascus. Will he also end up leaving Iraq before the end of his term in January 2021?

In preparation for Trump's visit, Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi was asked to meet the US president. He agreed to meet Trump either in Baghdad, on Iraqi soil, or at the Ayn al-Assad military base, on the Iraqi side of the base; Iraqi national security forces and army units are present at the same base where US forces are deployed, in a separate part of the base. To have met on the US-controlled part of the Iraqi-US base would have made Abdel Mahdi appear as an invited guest in his own country.

A few hours before Trump's arrival, US Ambassador Douglas Silliman told Abdel Mahdi that Trump would receive him in the US part of the base. Trump refused to visit Baghdad for a quick reception; neither would he even cross over to the Iraqi side of Ayn al-Assad, for security reasons. Abdel Mahdi refused the US invitation, as did the Iraqi president and speaker. All three politicians have risen in public esteem for having refused the US invitation.

Comment: Russian and Turkish officials have met in Moscow to discuss the recent developments. It appears Turkey is on board with the Russians, despite initial boasts and threats, and at least for the time being:
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the high-profile talks were "very useful," adding that both sides had "paid special attention to the new circumstances" in Syria after the announcement of the US troop withdrawal.

Lavrov's Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also stressed the need for Ankara and Moscow to coordinate its activities in view of Trump's decision.

Both Tukey and Russia expressed their commitment to the "territorial integrity and unity of Syria and are ready to counter any actions aimed at disrupting those principles", Cavusoglu assured.

The Turkish FM said that the creation of a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib Province and humanitarian issues were also on the agenda.

The Russo-Turkish discussions were meant to "ensure absolute clarity and synchronize expectations" about how events should unfold in that part of Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists earlier on Friday.

The talks have taken place on the heels of a Kurdish plea for help yesterday, as militias asked Damascus to take over the area around Manbij. The Kurds were effectively caught off-guard by the US withdrawal from Syria, leaving them vulnerable to a potential Turkish offensive.
Despite claims (from Erdogan, for instance) that the Syrian presence in Manbij was just a 'psychological operation', the Kremlin has confirmed Syrian control of the city.

But all is not quiet and certain yet. After Damascus's announcement, Turkish APCs crossed into Syria and US helicopters were filmed in the air. It's unclear if the situation remains the same now that the Russians have spoken with the Turks:
Later in the day [Friday], the Turkish military crossed into Syrian territory at the border town of Jarablus in the province of Aleppo. Footage by RT's Ruptly video agency showed several convoys of Ankara's armored personnel carriers making their way through streets.


In another video two aircraft - believed to be US Army attack helicopters - are seen patrolling the area close to an outpost flying an American flag near Manbij. The footage is a reminder that while US President Donald Trump said he will withdraw the American troops from Syria, the actual pullout is yet to materialize, and may take months to complete.


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Arrow Down

Look at the percentage of these federal departments considered 'nonessential'

Daniel Horowitz
The Conservative Review
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 18:10 UTC
business closed sign
© ajfletch | Getty Images
The eight-year run of GOP control of the House of Representatives is coming to an end. The partial government shutdown in the eleventh hour of Republicans' control is mainly centered around their failure to push border security when they had control, particularly over the past two years. But the fact that so much of government is shut down this week and nobody noticed should demonstrate that Republicans have also failed to cut elements of government that are evidently invisible to all but those who work at those agencies. If Republicans were smart, they would use this imperceptible shutdown to lay the groundwork for a spending fight during the debt ceiling deadline next year.

Now that Pelosi is slated to take over the House, we can post the full tally of GOP debt accumulation over the past eight years since Republicans were ushered into power in the year of the Tea Party. Since John Boehner was put into the speaker's chair and handed the gavel on January 3, 2011, the debt has increased from $14 trillion to $21.86 trillion, a tab of almost $8 trillion. Just this past year alone, Republicans have increased the debt by almost $1.4 trillion. And in the first two months of fiscal year 2019, the deficit has increased by $305 billion, despite record revenue.
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Oscar

Democratic operative issues lame denial of launching false-flag anti-Russian op on Roy Moore


RT
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:45 UTC
russia twitter matrix
© Jaap Arriens / Global Look Press
The Democratic operative who boasted about orchestrating a "false flag" operation that used fake Russian bots to swing a US Senate race has issued a farcical denial in which he backpedals on his own publicly available statements.

Jonathon Morgan, CEO, and co-founder of "Democratic-leaning" private intelligence firm New Knowledge, was reportedly part of a secretive campaign to discredit Republican candidate, Roy Moore, during the Alabama election. According to an internal report obtained by the New York Times, Morgan and his accomplices boasted about how they had "orchestrated an elaborate 'false flag' operation that planted the idea that the Moore campaign was amplified on social media by a Russian botnet." Moore ended up losing the race by a hair to his Democratic opponent Doug Jones - who became the first Democrat in 25 years to serve Alabama in the Senate.


Comment: See:

Morgan adamantly denied these accusations in a statement posted on New Knowledge's blog, insisting that his company used the election to conduct "research" and "did not engage or operate a botnet." In fact, according to Morgan, New Knowledge believed from the beginning that the "Russian bots" purportedly aligned with Moore were fake. The hundreds of Cyrillic-sporting accounts that followed Moore on Twitter "seemed to us to be the work of internet trolls, not Russian activity," Morgan wrote. He acknowledged that the media presented the bots as a genuine Russian influence campaign, but asserted that "to this day, we have no idea where these followers came from or what their purpose was."

Morgan, it appears, felt differently during the actual election. Citing his much-admired "Russian bot" dashboard, Hamilton 68, Morgan tweeted in November 2017 that Moore was conspicuously popular among "Russian trolls."
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Eiffel Tower

France discovers 'Jupiter' Macron isn't a leader but a petulant boy-king

Gavin Mortimer
The Spectator
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:30 UTC
Macron throne
© Alain Jocard/Agence France-Presse
President Emmanuel Macron, at the Royal Palace in Rabat.
Twelve months ago Le Journal du Dimanche published an opinion poll in which Emmanuel Macron had an approval rating of 52 per cent. A fortnight ago the same paper ran a poll in which the president's popularity stood at 23 per cent.

Where has it gone so wrong for the man once likened among sections of the French press to a cross between Jupiter and Christ? More to the point how could The Spectator get it so wrong in running a piece last December entitled 'Macron is becoming the darling of the Deplorables'?

I can only assume that when I wrote that article, in particular the line about Macron having 'a wise head on those young political shoulders', I had come from a long Christmas lunch.
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Bizarro Earth

US commanders admit they've lost track of weapons given to Kurdish militants in Syria, so they should just keep them

Idrees Ali
Reuters
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:07 UTC
Kurds flag SDF
U.S. commanders planning for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria are recommending that Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State be allowed to keep U.S.-supplied weapons, four U.S. officials said, a move that would likely anger NATO ally Turkey.

Three of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the recommendations were part of discussions on a draft plan by the U.S. military. It is unclear what the Pentagon will ultimately recommend to the White House.

Discussions are still at an early stage inside the Pentagon and no decision has yet been made, the officials said. The plan will then be presented to the White House in the coming days with U.S. President Donald Trump making the final decision.

Comment: The only really surprising thing about this article is that they're actually choosing to admit that they're arming militants. But then one could assume that there's benefit in doing that; could this press release be intended to help scupper talks with Turkey? And possibly ensure continued US presence as well as chaos in the region?

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Magnify

"Uncertain regional security": Japan unleashes $243bn defense spending plan


RT
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 14:47 UTC
soldier of Japanese
© Reuters / Issei Kato
A soldier of Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF)'s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB)
Japan is set to abandon its pacifist past and begin a long and dangerous road to militarization and potential confrontation with its neighbors, according to recently published defense spending documents.

Following the end of World War II, the United States military occupied Japan and imposed on the country a unique constitution which on the face of it, renounced war for good. Article 9 of the Constitution disallows Japan from maintaining a military force and outlaws the use of force in settling international disputes.

Much in the same way that Japan is party to an international convention which disallows whaling all the while it stillcontinues to take part in the globally banned activity (and will now reportedly be rapidly accelerating its whaling activities), Japan has never really adhered to the principles of its so-called Peace Constitution.

For example, Japan is one of the world's largest spenders on national defense with one of the world's best-equipped militaries, known as the Self Defence Forces (SDF), which are intended to empower the force to defend Japan in the instance of an attack. The nation also plays host to the US military and its bases, empowering the United States to attack many defenseless nations. In fact, the population of Okinawa, burdened with the task of hosting these military bases (despite vehement and endless amounts of protesting) reportedly feels guilty for their land's complicity in the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan as Okinawa has played an integral role through the deployment of troops and naval craft.

Comment: It's not necessarily a bad thing for a country to have a standing army, and Abe does appear to be making moves toward a constructive relationship in the emerging world order in his works with Putin, so the outcome of Japan's apparent new moves for independence from America's grip remains to be seen: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Ditches Europe, Europe Bluffs, Russia and China Carry on With Eurasian Integration

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Black Magic

"Israel is the promised land and Brazil a land of promise" - Netanyahu meets Bolsonaro


Naaju
Fri, 28 Dec 2018 11:36 UTC
netanyahu bolsonaro
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, a friend at a meeting held this Friday in Rio de Janeiro. Bolsonaro, for his part, said that Netanyahu was an "example for every good citizen".

The two men participated together in two agendas in Rio: first, a meeting at Fort Copacabana, south of Rio, an event in a synagogue in the same neighborhood. "Israel is the Promised Land, and Brazil is the land of promise, the future," Netanyahu said in his address after the meeting.

"Israel is the promised land and Brazil is the land of promise, the future". He is the first Israeli prime minister in Brazil to visit Brazil since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.

He came to the country to take possession of Bolsonaro, who flirts with Israel from the countryside, when he had promised to follow the United States. and to change the Brazilian Embassy in this country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a disputed city between Israelis and Palestinians.


Comment: It seems Bolsonaro is being rather blatant in his allegiance to criminality.


Comment: So will the apparent friendship lead to them being partners in crime?

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Clipboard

Canadian govt. plans to ask 'gender' questions in 'pilot' census - Answers are MANDATORY

Dean Beeby
CBC News
Fri, 21 Dec 2018 15:11 UTC
StatsCan census
© Statistics Canada/Youtube
Some 250,000 Canadian households are targeted for a mini-census next May and June - a dress-rehearsal for the full-scale census slated for 2021. Canadians who fail to answer the questions honestly face fines.
Next year, Statistics Canada is going to be asking 250,000 Canadian households some personal questions it has never asked before - and answering them honestly is mandatory.

The agency is conducting what it calls a "pilot" census next May and June to road-test questionnaires and procedures for the next full-scale census, set for 2021.

After more than a year of consultations with data users, Statistics Canada has decided to add detailed personal questions - and needs to be sure they are properly answered to ensure the test is valid.

Comment: We can only hope for an eventual end to the madness. But it won't be pretty.

The Transgender revolution will fail - here's 7 reasons why

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