Puppet Masters

Iran in control: No need for alien presence or foreign ships in Persian Gulf

RT
Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:18 UTC

IRGC Navy Commander Real Admiral Alireza Tangsiri

The Iranian navy are "vigilantly controlling" the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and there is no need for the naval presence of "alien" countries, Tehran's new naval chief has declared.

"We can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the US and the countries whose home is not in here," Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, head of the naval branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said on Monday, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Having "outsiders" operate nuclear-powered ships in the Gulf creates potential environmental problems not just for Iran but its Arab neighbors as well, Tangsiri said. He also accused Iran's enemies of misrepresenting reality "in order to deploy forces to the region and sell their weapons."

Comment: This has been misunderstood as the Iranian admiral claiming that Iran "has full control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz." As in, 'the Iranian navy physically deciding who moves in and out'.

We're not quite there yet, though it could come sooner rather than later.

See also:

Pentagon, rebuilding its Cold War-era fleet, didn't expect Russia this strong in Arctic

RT
Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:32 UTC

US moves to reform its 2nd American fleet will create a potential theater of conflict with Russia, but experts say Moscow won't be too worried about the Pentagon's lagging military capacity in the Atlantic and the Arctic.

While US officials declared that they weren't "looking for a fight" in relaunching a fleet that had numbered over 100 vessels when the USSR collapsed, but were merely building a deterrent to ward off "resurgent" foreign powers, Russian analysts interviewed by RT have predicted a further escalation of tensions.

"This a return to the Cold War, and its marine rivalry. There is nothing good that can come from this, and we can expect the US to start acting more aggressively, particularly around the North Atlantic," said Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of National Defense magazine.

"The overall temperature of the relations between the two states will rise, and the area will become a flashpoint," said the analyst, noting that Russia's own northern fleet is its most powerful.

Colombia announces withdrawal from South American UNASUR bloc

RT
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 03:03 UTC

The Colombian president has said a letter has been sent to the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) announcing his country's withdrawal, meaning Bogota will officially cut loose from the bloc in six months.

Newly sworn-in Colombian President Ivan Duque announced on Monday that his country has started a formal withdrawal process stipulated by the organization's constituent treaty, that begins with a member-state sending a written notice to the bloc's headquarters.

"Today with precise instructions, the foreign minister sent UNASUR the letter where we denounce the constituent treaty of that entity and in six months our withdrawal will be effective," Duque announced in a brief televised statement, as he followed through on his pre-election pledge to get Colombia out of the bloc, which was originally intended to foster regional integration and counter US influence when it was founded in 2008. Right-wing Duque, who took office on August 7, had previously indicated that Colombia's departure from the 12-member organization was imminent.

Announcing Colombia's withdrawal on Monday, Duque claimed that the bloc of nations had failed to address a political crisis in Venezuela, which has been rocked by a wave of anti-government protests and the attempted assassination of President Nicholas Maduro earlier this year. Echoing the rhetoric of the US White House, Duque has labeled the Maduro government a "dictatorship"; he has also called the UNASUR Maduro's "greatest accomplice."

Comment: First Colombia joins NATO, now this.

In the S. American geopolitical theater, Colombia serves three purposes for the US: 1) a disrupter of bloc unity which may entice other defections, 2) it will have dependencies that may play to US advantage, and 3) serves as a counter-puppet to China's partnering with El Salvador that establishes the oriental foothold on the continent. See also: China's strategic interests in Central America

Pentagon considers withdrawing support to Saudis due to civilian death toll in Yemen

Sputnik
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 11:02 UTC

The Pentagon has warned Saudi Arabia that it could withdraw its military and intelligence support for its operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen after dozens of civilians were killed in a strike on a school bus earlier this month, media reported on Tuesday, citing officials.

An airstrike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Saada, Yemen's northern province, hit a bus carrying children from a summer camp on August 9, killing 51 people, including 40 minors.

The CNN broadcaster has learned that US Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Votel, head of US military operations in the Middle East, were concerned that Washington was supporting a Saudi-led campaign of airstrikes that killed multiple civilians.

According to the broadcaster, US military and intelligence support to Riyadh can be reduced unless it tries to limit civilian deaths in its campaign in Yemen.

Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich told Sputnik on August 16 that the US Department of Defense was working with Congress on the issue of US military involvement in attacks in Yemen.

Comment: Interesting how one tragic event - in several years of tragic events from the same perpetrators, suppliers and co-conspirators - suddenly turns media, congress and military to a new and self-righteous posture. The change agents are public perception and upcoming elections. It has nothing to do with the systematic slaughter of the Yemeni or the fact that the latest tragedy involved children.

Ramaphosa's South African land reform

Ilana Mercer
The Unz Review
Thu, 23 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC

He who believes he has a right to another man's property ought to produce proof that he is its rightful owner.

"As the old legal adage goes, 'Possession is nine-tenths of the law,' as it is the best evidence in our uncertain world of legitimate title. The burden of proof rests squarely with the person attempting to alter and abolish present property titles." -Into the Cannibal's Pot: Lessons For America From Post-Apartheid South-Africa

It is to this potent principle that democratic rule in South Africa has taken an axe-or, rather, an assegai.

Here is how taking land legally currently works in South Africa, a place the US State Department has only just lauded as "a strong democracy with resilient institutions...," a country merely "grappling with the difficult issue of land reform." "Land reform," of course, is a euphemism for land distribution in the Robert Mugabe mold.

The process currently in place typically begins with a "tribe" or group of individuals who band together to claim vast tracts of private property. If these loosely and conveniently conjoined groups know anything, it's this: South Africa's adapted, indigenized law allows coveted land, owned and occupied by another, to be obtained with relative ease.

See, the country no longer enjoys the impressive Western system of Roman-Dutch law it once enjoyed. Lax law and poorly protected property rights signal a free-for-all on the lives of white owners and their livestock

Comment: See also:

Mattis tells Turkey: 'US does not recommend' buying Russian missile defense system

RT
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 17:47 UTC

Defense Secretary James Mattis has warned Turkey against buying a Russian air defense system. He cautioned Turkey, a sovereign state and NATO member, that the US does "not recommend" the purchase.

"Turkey had a choice to make, a sovereign decision to make. But clearly Turkey bringing a Russian anti-aircraft, anti-missile system into a NATO country, we cannot integrate that into NATO," Mattis said. "Yes, it does concern us and we do not recommend that."

The US blocked the sale of American-made F-35 jet fighters to Turkey earlier this month in response to Ankara's decision to purchase the Russian-made S-400 air defense system. However, Turkey intends to press ahead with the purchase, and already made the first payment for the system last year. Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport said that the first batch of S-400 systems will be delivered to Turkey next year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended his decision to buy from Russia, arguing that the US has turned down his requests for more hardware for years.

Comment: See also:

Russia dispatches largest naval fleet yet to Syrian waters

Leith Aboufadel
Al Masdar News
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 20:30 UTC

Russia sends largest naval fleet to Mediterranean Sea

The Russian Navy has sent its largest fleet ever to the Mediterranean Sea in response to the alleged U.S. naval build-up around the Middle East.

According to the Twitter account @Capt_Navy, the Russian Navy has sent 15 warships to the Mediterranean Sea, which corroborates the report from Yoruk Isik of the Bosphorus Observer.

Below are the 15 ships the Russian Navy has sent to the Mediterranean Sea in the last few weeks:

Comment: See also: Russia sends 3 large ships to Syria as Idlib offensive approaches

South Africa's ruling ANC withdraws land expropriation bill for 'further reconsideration'

RT
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 17:21 UTC

A bill allowing the South African government to seize private land without compensation has been withdrawn by the Portfolio Committee on Public Works pending further study, according to the ruling African National Congress.

In 2015, the ANC proposed a constitutional amendment allowing the government to seize and redistribute land without any compensation to its owners. The draft, which has not been adopted so far, evoked widespread international outrage and multiple media reports of alleged violence against white South African farmers, including murders.

Comment: South Africa's leadership has not learned the lessons of its neighbor to the north, Zimbabwe

Trump announces $6bln in emergency relief to farmers affected by trade war

RT
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 17:11 UTC

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the first wave of financial assistance for the country's farmers affected by the escalating trade war.

The emergency plan, which consists of a "three-pronged approach," will initially include about $6 billion in aid. According to the Trump administration, the initial aid will consist of about $4.7 billion in payments to agricultural producers of seven commodities. The federal government will also buy up to $1.2 billion in certain "commodities unfairly targeted by unjustified retaliation."

A third part of the aid will consist of up to $200 million in spending to help develop foreign markets for US agricultural products.

Since taking office in 2017, President Trump has been pressuring US trading partners to agree new terms on trade deals more favorable to the US by imposing tariffs on foreign imports. Countries have retaliated with levies on American goods, particularly agriculture, because they target Trump's political support base in the US.

Trump, who has described US tariffs on foreign goods as "the greatest," said farmers would be the "biggest beneficiary" of the disputes after the US and its partners strike new trade deals.

Russia doing utmost to thwart false-flag 'chemical attack' in Syria, calls on US and Germany to influence Idlib militants (with whom they maintain contact)

TASS
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 19:10 UTC

Russia is negotiating with Syria’s 'moderate opposition'

Moscow doubts that Washington will be ready to counter the scenario of a provocation with chemical weapons in Syria

Russia is doing the best it can to prevent a provocation involving the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday.

"We believe the Jabhat al-Nusra (terror group, now called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, outlawed in Russia - TASS), which has changed its name, is now close to carrying out a very serious provocation in the Idlib area with the use of a chemical agent. All that will be filmed [by representatives of] the White Helmets [non-governmental organization]. After that, a smear campaign will begin about the use of chemical weapons by the regime [of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] against its people, and that will be used as a pretext for a massive military strike against Syria. This scenario is so obvious that we are doing our utmost to prevent it from being implemented," he said.

Comment: Moscow calls on Washington and Berlin to influence armed opposition groups and terrorists in Syria's Idlib with whom they are keeping in contact, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday.

"We want to call on colleagues in Washington and Berlin, using the opportunities that they have, to influence the armed opposition members and terrorist structures - in the latter case I'm speaking about the US, not about Germany - with which they retain contact," the deputy foreign minister said, commenting on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump's appeal to Moscow to influence Damascus regarding the situation in the governorate.

Russia is negotiating with Syria's "moderate opposition" to reach a peaceful settlement over Idlib, "which is virtually the last de-escalation zone",Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in Abakan on Tuesday.

"Over there tough negotiations are being held on all levels including the leaders of the 'moderate opposition,'" he said.

"The work being conducted there resembles that which is being carried out in the south de-escalation zone at the border with Jordan and the Golan heights in Israel," he added.

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Puppet Masters

Iran in control: No need for alien presence or foreign ships in Persian Gulf

Pentagon, rebuilding its Cold War-era fleet, didn't expect Russia this strong in Arctic

Colombia announces withdrawal from South American UNASUR bloc

Pentagon considers withdrawing support to Saudis due to civilian death toll in Yemen

Ramaphosa's South African land reform

Mattis tells Turkey: 'US does not recommend' buying Russian missile defense system

Russia dispatches largest naval fleet yet to Syrian waters

South Africa's ruling ANC withdraws land expropriation bill for 'further reconsideration'

Trump announces $6bln in emergency relief to farmers affected by trade war

Russia doing utmost to thwart false-flag 'chemical attack' in Syria, calls on US and Germany to influence Idlib militants (with whom they maintain contact)

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