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Clueless or hypocrite? Defense Secretary Mattis says, with straight face, that US doesn't invade other countries

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 19:34 UTC
mattis indonesia
© Darren Whiteside / Reuters
Ryamizard Ryacudu and Defence Jim Mattis in Jakarta, Indonesia
US Defense Secretary James Mattis is a Marine's Marine and a respected military scholar. Yet his recent remarks to reporters about US conduct around the world smack of either hypocrisy or woeful misinformation.

Mattis is visiting Indonesia and Vietnam this week, as part of a US effort to expand alliances in the Asia-Pacific region. On his way over to Jakarta on Monday, he held a "press gaggle" on board the plane and, according to transcripts provided by the Pentagon, said this:
I think that what we're looking for is a world where we solve problems, and we don't shred trust. We don't militarize features in the middle of international waters. We don't invade other countries, in Russia's case ‒ Georgia, Ukraine. That we settle things by international rule of law, you know, this sort of thing.
Mattis was elaborating on the new US National Defense Strategy, which prioritized "inter-state strategic competition," over terrorism and called out Russia and China as "revisionist powers"threatening the "free and open international order" created by the US and its allies after World War II.
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Sherlock

Rank hypocrisy: While accusing Russia of complicity in chemical attacks in Syria, US stalls on destruction of its own vast chemical weapons stockpile


RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 01:43 UTC
US Chemical weapons
© U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity / Reuters
Mustard gas-filled 155mm projectiles at the Pueblo Chemical Depot
While brazenly accusing Russia of complicity in chemical attacks on Syrian soil, the US is 10 years behind on its pledge to eliminate its own - and world's largest - chemical weapons stockpile, Moscow has reminded Washington.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called out the hypocrisy of the US in its approach to the issue of non-proliferation on Thursday, arguing that the genuine goal of the new Washington-led 'International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons' forum is to undermine the decades-old non-proliferation principles by promoting an anti-Syrian agenda in the UN.

Pointing out that it was Washington that insisted on setting an "unrealistically ambitious timeline for the global elimination of chemical weapons stockpiles" by 2007, the ministry noted that although Russia and later Syria have eventually destroyed their arsenals, the US is lagging behind.

Comment: Russia proposes UN resolution seeking independent investigations and expert visits to sites of chemical attacks

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Info

Trump unveils plan for immigration deal: Citizenship plan for 1.8 mn undocumented immigrants, restrictions on chain migration

Paul Handley
Yahoo News
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 19:08 UTC
trump
© Reuters
US President Donald Trump's administration has unveiled a sweeping new immigration plan to Congress that offers 1.8 million young unauthorized immigrants known as "Dreamers" a path to citizenship over 10-12 years.

In a comprehensive reform that will be formally presented next week, Trump also asked Congress Thursday to eliminate the popular "green card lottery" program and severely restrict family immigration, steps analysts say could cut in half the more than one million foreign-born people moving to the country annually.

And in the name of halting illegal immigration, he has also demanded Congress budget $25 billion for a "trust fund" for constructing a wall on the US-Mexico border -- a major plank of Trump's White House campaign.

"The Department of Homeland Security must have the tools to deter illegal immigrants; the ability to remove individuals who illegally enter the United States, and the vital authorities necessary to protect national security," a senior White House official told journalists.

The White House's offer of a path to citizenship for the Dreamers was much wider than expected. Earlier it had suggested it was only open to granting citizenship to the 690,000 young immigrants registered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

But in exchange, Trump was asking Congress to make future legal immigration more difficult -- and to shore up the Homeland Security Department's toolbox and funding to crack down on the overall population of unauthorized immigrants, estimated at some 11 million, including Dreamers.
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Newspaper

'I'm the least racist person': Trump offers to apologize (if asked) over retweet of far-right Britain First


RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 19:12 UTC
Prez Trump
© Nicholas Kamm / AFP
US President Donald Trump said he would apologize for retweeting Islamophobic videos by far-right group Britain First if he was asked to, adding he is "often the least racist person" anyone could ever meet.

The president came under fire in November after sharing anti-Muslim videos from the group's deputy leader Jayda Fransen's Twitter page.

Talking to ITV Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan, the controversial Republican leader defended himself saying he "knew nothing" about Britain First.

"If you are telling me they're horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologize if you'd like me to do that," he told Morgan. "I know nothing about them and I know nothing about them today other than I read a little bit.

"Perhaps it was a big story in Britain, perhaps it was a big story in the UK, but in the United States it wasn't a big story."

He stressed the sole reason for his retweeting of the inflammatory content was to pursue his battle against Islamic terrorism.
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Dollars

Soros blows record amount of funds on lobbying during Trump's first year

Joe Schoffstall
Washington Free Beacon
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 19:13 UTC
soros
Open Society Policy Center poured $16.2 million into lobbying efforts in 2017

Liberal billionaire George Soros spent more on lobbying during President Donald Trump's first year in office than he has in any previous year, disclosure forms show.

The Open Society Policy Center, a D.C.-based 501 (c)(4) nonprofit that focuses on domestic and international advocacy efforts and is a separate entity from Soros's Open Society Foundations, poured $16.2 million into lobbying throughout the entirety of 2017.

Soros's group reported spending $4.6 million during the first half of 2017 on its lobbying efforts. During the third quarter, Soros added $1.25 million to the total. Most of the lobbying expenditures-$10.3 million-were spent during the fourth quarter, which spans from October 1 to December 31.

Soros ramped up his efforts as the year progressed by pushing funds toward issues that have been seen as a direct attack on the deep-pocketed financier, such as Hungary's Bill on Foreign Funded Organizations (LexNGO), a crackdown on foreign-funded organizations in that country.

Comment:

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Info

US military categorically denies reports that Turkish airstrikes killed two US soldiers in Afrin

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 19:03 UTC
Afrin
© AFP 2018/ Ahmad SHAFIA BILAL
Syrian and Russian media reported en mass on Wednesday that in ​​the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northwest Syria, air strikes by Turkish military aircraft killed two military advisers from the United States. Full details of the report can be read here.

However, since that time, the United States has come out denied the claims.

"Reports of two US-Coalition members killed in Afrin are FALSE. Completely UNTRUE," said US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, from his Twitter account.


His claims are most likely true as it is known that the US military has no precense in the Afrin canton where Turkish-led forces are currently invading the region to remove the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that Ankara deems to be a terrorist organization.

Comment: Most likely true. But even then, if NOT true, the US would still deny it. To admit it would probably put the US on a war footing with Turkey, and very few Americans want that.

See also: Kurds call for help from Assad - Afrin crisis winding down?

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Hardhat

Moscow denies claims it helped North Korea export coal


Sputnik
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 19:01 UTC
coal
© Sputnik/ Alexander Kryazhev
Russia complies with all international sanctions regarding North Korea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, citing reports on Russia's alleged coal reexports to third countries.

"Do not listen to unnamed source in intelligence circles. No, we do not plan to verify [these claims]. We have not heard any official statements on this. Russia is a responsible member of the international community which implements all international rules," Peskov told reporters, adding that "Russia is a responsible member of the international community that adheres to all rules and sanctions."

The Kremlin's statement comes in wake of a report by Reuters that said, citing anonymous Western European sources, that North Korean coal was allegedly delivered to Japan and South Korea through Russia, violating the UN Security Council's sanctions.

This is not the first time, the media accuses Russia of violation Pyongyang-related sanctions. In late December, Reuters alleged three cases when Russian tankers supplied petrochemicals to Pyongyang while transferring cargos at sea, citing two anonymous senior Western European security sources. Moscow, however, strongly denied the allegations.
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Laptop

Yet another Russiagate fail: Facebook finds no link between Russian ads, Trump campaign


True Pundit
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 18:57 UTC
Facebook logos
© AFP Photo/LOIC VENANCE
Facebook said it is stepping up efforts to ensure its platform is used to help and not hurt democracy.
Facebook Inc. told a Senate panel that it has detected "only what appears to be insignificant overlap" between targeting of ads and content promoted by a pro-Kremlin Russia group and by the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

The social-media company said it "does not believe it is in a position to substantiate or disprove allegations of possible collusion" between Russia and the Trump campaign, as part of a written response to questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee released Thursday evening by the panel. Facebook didn't go into further detail, saying it was willing to schedule a meeting with Senate staff to discuss the matter.


Comment: Weasel words for "there's no collusion - these people are crazy".


The remarks go beyond what the company told Congress during public hearings on Nov. 1 as part of probes into Russian election meddling. At that time, Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch said, "We have not seen overlap in the targeting - that was relatively rudimentary - used in the advertising that was disclosed, and any other advertiser on the site, including the Trump campaign."

In responding to the Senate panel, Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google defended their efforts to combat malicious content on their networks and touted new disclosure efforts for election-related content that should be up and running for the 2018 midterm elections.
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Gear

Terrorist commanders, Israeli agents meet on occupation of southern Syria


FARS
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 19:11 UTC
Representatives of terrorist groups
© FNA
Representatives of terrorist groups and Tel Aviv have held a meeting earlier this week to pave the ground for the creation of a safe zone in Southern Syria, dissident-affiliated websites disclosed on Friday
The news websites reported that terrorist groups' commanders held a meeting with the Israeli agents on January 23 over the expansion of Tel Aviv's military role and creation of safe zone from the Golan Heights into the depth of the two Syrian provinces of Quneitra and Dara'a.

The websites added that several meetings have been held also between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Israeli representatives in early December over attacks on Hawz Yarmouk region in Western Dara'a that is under the control of ISIL-affiliated Jeish Khalid Bin Walid.

The websites further said that Israel intends to drive a wedge in areas as deep as 40 km out of the occupied Golan plain to be guarded off by border forces, trained by Israeli military.
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Ice Cube

Though Russiagate is about to implode, Neocon/Trotskyist cult's New Cold War remains

Rob Slane
The Blogmire
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
coldwarposter
© cleveland.com
Back in November, I described Russiagate as 'A Convention of Village Idiots Holding a Never-Ending Hunt for a Non-Existent Needle in an Ever-Expanding Haystack'. Well, it looks like the Convention might be nearing its end, not because the VI's have actually found the needle they were looking for - you can't find a non-existent needle, you see - but for another reason entirely. It's because the haystack itself was entirely the creation of the US Intelligence Agencies, the Obama Administration, the DNC, Hillary Clinton, and the Global Pravda Network (aka the mainstream media). As I said at the end of that piece:
"... it looks like there are a bunch of gates that really do need investigating. Like DNCgate and Clintongate and Comeygate and FBIgate and US Intelligence Agencygate and Mainstream Mediagate. Or shall we just lump them all together and call it Elephant-in-the-Haystackgate?"
And so it is. A memo has been circulating in the House Intelligence Committee which, if the words of those who have seen it are to be believed, will cause the whole Russiagate hoax to implode in on itself, revealing in its place what has always been the real collusion story.

Comment: These are the chilling results of a nation hijacked by a minority ideology because Americans are too complacent to pay attention, engage their (dwindling) rights and remember that 'a government of the people, by the people, for the people' needs to be front and center, honored and exercised, or it quickly disappears.

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