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Vader

The strange case of a Nazi who became an Israeli hitman

The Forward and Dan Raviv And Yossi Melman
Haaretz
Mon, 04 Apr 2016 14:20 UTC
Otto Skorzeny
© Wikimedia Commons / Kurt Alber
Otto Skorzeny
On September 11, 1962, a German scientist vanished. The basic facts were simple: Heinz Krug had been at his office, and he never came home.

The only other salient detail known to police in Munich was that Krug commuted to Cairo frequently. He was one of dozens of Nazi rocket experts who had been hired by Egypt to develop advanced weapons for that country.HaBoker, a now defunct Israeli newspaper, surprisingly claimed to have the explanation: The Egyptians kidnapped Krug to prevent him from doing business with Israel.

But that somewhat clumsy leak was an attempt by Israel to divert investigators from digging too deeply into the case — not that they ever would have found the 49-year-old scientist.

We can now report — based on interviews with former Mossad officers and with Israelis who have access to the Mossad's archived secrets from half a century ago — that Krug was murdered as part of an Israeli espionage plot to intimidate the German scientists working for Egypt.
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Vader

Pentagon cannot account for $223M in anti-ISIS operation spending


Sputnik
Mon, 28 Mar 2016 12:51 UTC
Pentagon Gate - Logo
© Kevin Harber
The US Central Command cannot account for $223 million in orders placed during the international operation against Daesh because of inaccurate records-keeping and poor guidance, according to a Department of Defense Inspector General audit released on Monday.

Specifically, the Inspector General said they were unable to verify the accuracy of 72 US Army Central Command ACSA orders valued at more than $202 million "due to a lack of supporting documentation."
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Folder

First Panama Papers casualty? Former Iceland Premier calls on current PM to resign to 'prevent a social uprising'

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Mon, 04 Apr 2016 08:57 UTC
Cameron and Gunnlaugsson
© Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images
Both Gunnlaugsson and Cameron's father were implicated in the latest leaks.
One of the more prominent names featured in the Panama Papers disclosure is that of Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. The reason is that according to the leaked files, Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his wife secretly owned a company called Wintris set up in 2007 on the Caribbean island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, to hold investments with his wealthy partner, later wife, Anna Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir.

As Guardian reports, the couple were living in the UK at the time and had been advised to set up a company in the tax haven in order to hold and invest substantial proceeds from the sale of Pálsdóttir's share in her family's business back in Iceland.

Gunnlaugsson owned a 50% stake in Wintris for more than two years, then transferred it to Pálsdóttir, who held the other 50%, for one dollar. The prime minister's office now says his shareholding was an error and "it had always been clear to both of them that the prime minister's wife owned the assets". Once drawn to the couple's attention in late 2009, the error was corrected.

Towards the end of Gunnlaugsson's time as a Wintris shareholder, having returned to Iceland, he was elected to parliament as leader of the Progressive party.

Gunnlaugsson, who became prime minister four years later, never disclosed his Wintris shares on Iceland's parliamentary register of MPs' financial interests.

Comment: Further reading: Disinfo campaign commences: Panama 'leaks' target West's enemies, ignore NATO criminals

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Bad Guys

Washington Times: Erdogan is playing 'dangerous game' by blackmailing Europe


Sputnik
Mon, 04 Apr 2016 03:32 UTC
erdogan con isis
Pushing the European Union to make concessions to Turkey considering its accession to the bloc, President Erdogan may have won a Pyrrhic victory, American historian Daniel Pipes writes. Amid the major migrant crisis, Europeans not be too embracing of the increased influx of Turkish citizens to the continent.

Blackmailing Brussels, the Turkish president risks leading his country into a catastrophe of unprecedented scales that would likely result in the collapse of the state, Pipes, who is the president of the Middle East Forum, wrote in an opinion column for The Washington Times.

According to the historian, Erdogan has taken advantage of millions of Syrian refugees seeking a chance to get to northern Europe, using the moment as a tool to push his own agenda through.

Comment: Also see: Neocons ready to cut Erdogan loose? Open letter to the wannabe Sultan

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Bullseye

Assad: West is 'dishonest,' pursues policy detached from international law


RT
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 20:44 UTC
Assad West dishonest
© SANA / Reuters
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad
That the West can't be trusted is the most important lesson Syria has learned during five years of civil war, Bashar Assad, Syrian president, said in an exclusive interview with Sputnik.

"The most important lesson we have learned, but I suppose we knew it all along, is that the West is not honest. Western countries are dishonest," Assad stressed.

The US, EU and their allies "are pursuing a policy far removed from the principles of international law and the United Nations" and because of that "it is impossible to rely upon the West to solve any issue," he said.

"We live in a world where there is no international law or morality in politics at present. Anything can happen anywhere on our planet," the Syrian president added.

Comment: President of Syria Bashar Assad understates things quite a bit here, especially when he says that the West ie. the U.S. is "not honest". But he is being a statesman, and it would be inappropriate for him to say that the US gov is made up of a bunch of murderous, profit-driven, power-seeking and conniving psychopaths - not that we're putting words in his mouth.

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No Entry

Ukraine membership in EU blocked by 5 states


RT
Sat, 02 Apr 2016 03:44 UTC
Poroshenko and Juncker
© REUTERS/ Yves Herman
Five EU countries remain firmly against Ukraine ever joining the union, French diplomat Pierre Vimont, who has helped negotiate the Ukraine - EU Association Agreement, told a Dutch publication ahead of next week's advisory referendum on the deal in the Netherlands.

Germany, France, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands all rejected the idea of Ukraine's potential EU membership during the five-year negotiation period in 2008-2012, Vimont told Volkskrant. Even after the 2014 Euro-Maidan revolution, the group of EU states refused to consider the matter of including a clause in the Association Agreement that would outline a roadmap for Ukraine's potential ascension into the Union - despite efforts by Britain, Sweden, Poland and the Baltic states to pave the road for Kiev. The EU states "consistently refused... to make any pledges about the future," Vimont explained.

An anonymous Lithuanian diplomat confirmed the fracture within the EU, telling the publication that countries which thought of including a clause in the treaty on membership went too far while France and the Netherlands "just kept saying 'no perspective, no perspective.'" Vimont said that France and the Netherlands are skeptical about Ukraine's prospects within the EU as both countries are "fed up with expansion," noting that both states also rejected the EU constitution in referendums in 2005.

Comment: With its proximity to Russia, the US and other EU members want the Ukraine as a buffer for military logistics. "European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker noted that a rejection of the treaty could lead to a 'continental crisis.'" Does this sound like a veiled threat to you?

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Attention

Libyan front: Terror could soon metastasize in Africa

Catherine Shakdam
RT
Fri, 01 Apr 2016 13:23 UTC
AM flag africa
© www.gconew.com
The forgotten child of Western interventionism, Libya continues to battle its demons: terror, instability, mass migration, which NATO ever-so willingly unleashed onto the war-torn nation under the convenient label of "humanitarian interventionism."

If Libya stands today free of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, and the violent nepotism his rule asserted as the predominant socio-political matrix, the North African nation is not exactly home free either. And while there is no denying that Gaddafi had to go ... if anything, because his people wished it so, Western interventionism literally exploded Libya's chance at a unified transition of power.

Should Libya been allowed to handle its own affairs, should Libyans been allowed to practice their free political will, it is likely the country would not have fallen prey to terror - it is likely war would not have broken out between tribal factions, and it is likely radical militants would never have had the opportunity to open a new front of terror in Africa - right at Europe's doorstep.

In true neocon fashion, NATO preferred to destroy first, bomb now, and then blame someone else later...in most cases - Russia. Funny though how strikingly different Western interventionism has been from Russia's careful, and lawful collaboration with its foreign partners: i.e. Syria. Wherever Western powers have dropped bombs, chaos, death and more radicalism have ensued - whenever Russia has stepped in however radicals have retreated, and IDPs* returned home. [*Internally Displaced Persons]

Are you still under the impression that Western capitals know best? Clearly they don't. Clearly their agenda lies not in the promotion of stability, but rather absolute chaos. Because it would be foolish to think that their actions are only the products of stupid politicking.

Comment: Africa has at least 29 current terrorist factions, such as: Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Lord's Resistance Army, Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS...and so on. Terrorist activities have run rampant in Rwanda, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Uganda...to name a current few. While the pillage and terrorism of Africa has taken place for centuries, it portends to get worse with the "rescue" involvement of foreign "interest" on top of the inevitable infighting of radical groups for territorial conquest. Terrorism in Africa is also a part of Western history as well. Case in point: the Atlantic Slave Trade that built America.

See also:

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Rocket

Azerbaijan launched wide-scale attack along contact line with breakaway republic Nagorno-Karabakh


Armenian Weekly
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 22:21 UTC
erdogan aliyev

Pan-Turkic Empire? They wish!
Attack Repelled; Casualties Include 12-Year-Old Artsakh Boy

Azerbaijan launched a full-blown attack on multiple positions on the Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh, NKR) contact line overnight on April 1-2. The Azerbaijani army employed tanks, military helicopters, drones, and various caliber weapons in an assault targeting the Line of Contact on the southern, southeastern, and northeastern fronts. The NKR Defense Army retaliated, and, according to the NKR Defense Ministry Twitter page, brought down two helicopters and two drones, and destroyed three tanks. There are multiple casualties on both sides. Civilians have also been targeted. According to reports, 12-year-old Vaghinag Grigoryan was killed in the Marduni region, while two other children were wounded, from a Grad BM-21 multiple rocket launcher attack.

During an emergency meeting of Armenia's National Security Council held on the evening of April 2, Armenia's President Serge Sarkisian announced that as a result of the attacks, the Armenian side suffered 18 casualties, while 35 people were injured. Azerbaijan's losses—including air force, personnel, and armored vehicles—were "significant," he added, according to PanArmenian. Azerbaijan has reported 12 combatant casualties, although the NKR Defense Ministry says the Azerbaijani side has 200 losses.

Comment: The timing of this border skirmish is interesting. With Russian airstrikes and Syrian army advances liberating Palmyra, and thus opening the way to retake all of Syria from 'Islamic State', the worst fighting in this 'frozen' conflict since 1994 combines with the significant build-up of Kiev forces along the Donbass contact line to 'give Russia some things to think about'.

The forces ranged against Russia are nothing if not predictable.

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Bad Guys

Provoking the bear? Nagorny-Karabakh fighting continues despite Baku's "unilateral ceasefire"


RT
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 21:15 UTC
Nagorno-Karabakh
© Hrayr Badalyan / Sputnik
Volunteers at the collecting station in the town of Askeran in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia and Azerbaijan report hostilities are continuing in the Nagorny-Karabakh despite Baku's announcement of a unilateral ceasefire. People are reportedly being evacuated from the conflict zone.


Comment: The Armenian MOD saw this ceasefire what it was: a lie and a trap. It's just an excuse to "self-defense" the hell out of the Armenians, following the tried-and-tested Israeli model.


The fighting is ongoing on the frontline in Nagorny-Karabakh, Armenia's Defence Ministry said, as cited by TASS.

Martakert region head, Vladik Khachataryan, said shelling is continuously ongoing from the eastern side. Several shells apparently fired by Azeri forces hit Martakert town center. In the last 24 hours, the town has reportedly been hit by 25 shells.


Comment: Russian State Duma VP Sergei Zheleznyak described these recent events as provocations from a "third force" -- "the same warmongering people who fuel conflict in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus, unhappy with the success achieved by Moscow and its Syrian allies in keeping peace in the Arab country and the struggle against terrorism." Hmm, wonder whom he could be referring to here! "At night in the mountains you only need to have a small, well-trained group that, aware of the balance of power, stirs up reciprocal fire in 'response'."


Comment: Armenia had nothing to gain by capturing any more of Nagorny-Karabakh than they already had. It is in their interests to maintain the status quo. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, wants back the "occupied territories". But the Azeris don't have much to gain either -- there's no guarantee they'd be successful in any major military offensive. So is this just a bit of chest-thumping to remind the international community? Or is something like Zheleznyak's "third force" at work here?

NATO is trying to cozy up to Armenia in order to encircle Russia. Did the Armenians refuse one of their 'offers'?

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Wolf

Neocons ready to cut Erdogan loose? Open letter to the wannabe Sultan


Voltaire Network
Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:36 UTC
erdogan

"Mort, I thought we were friends?"
Open Letter to President Erdogan

H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
President of the Republic of Turkey
T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Genel Sekreterliği
06689 Çankaya, Ankara
Turkey

Dear President Erdogan,

Welcome to Washington. Your visit comes at a critical moment in U.S.-Turkish relations.

Within the past decade, many of Turkey's friends here were optimistic about your country's potential to become a vibrant and stable democracy as well as an increasingly strong and capable U.S. ally. The salutary role Turkey can play, regionally and globally, has been demonstrated by the hospitality your country has extended to millions of refugees. Recent developments in Turkey, however, are deeply troubling. Today we would like to air the concerns of Turkey's many friends in the United States.


Comment: Ouch. The big "but". In other words, it looks like Turkey has a shortage of democracy. Does that mean it's time for the U.S. to send a shipment of its 'best' export?


Over the past year, more than a thousand people have been charged with the crime of insulting you. Hundreds of academics have been investigated or faced disciplinary proceedings for questioning your government's anti-terror policies. Last year, the offices of Hurriyet, an independent paper, were attacked and set on fire by a mob led by a member of your former Justice and Development Party (AKP), a well-known columnist was attacked by thugs outside his home, and two editors of Cumhuriyet were arrested. More recently, your government has orchestrated the takeover of the popular daily Zaman. Why shouldn't people in the European Union and the United States be concerned about the prospects for a free media in Turkey?


Comment: The mainstream press in the West is equally suppressed, but no need to mention that... Are these folks truly outraged at the curtailment of freedom of speech? Hardly. But the overt, ham-fisted way that Erdogan has gone about it does provide a great pretext for pontificating.

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