Puppet MastersS


Arrow Down

US Navy scraps decade-long program to build next-gen electromagnetic railgun

railgun
© usnavyresearch / YouTube
The US Navy is turning its attention away from a decade-long, electromagnetic railgun program, opting instead, for a less expensive alternative that uses the projectiles as ammunition in existing guns, rather than a next-generation weapon.

Last week, the Congressional Research Service released a report, which said the Pentagon is looking to divert from a decade-long electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) program, but are planning to use the projectiles developed in the program, which are compatible with its current powder artillery gun systems.

Instead of relying on traditional explosive propellants like gunpowder, EMRG uses electrical currents to fire a projectile at speeds of up to 5,600 mph, or more than seven times the speed of sound.

The Navy has been developing the EMRG since 2005 in conjunction with defense contractors General Atomics and BAE Systems. Testing the weapon has cost an estimated $500 million, according to Popular Mechanics.

Nuke

US planned to "Wipe the Soviet Union off the Map" during World War II with nuclear attack

bomba atomica
According to a secret document dated September 15, 1945, "the Pentagon had envisaged blowing up the Soviet Union with a coordinated nuclear attack directed against major urban areas.

All major cities of the Soviet Union were included in the list of 66 "strategic" targets. The tables below categorize each city in terms of area in square miles and the corresponding number of atomic bombs required to annihilate and kill the inhabitants of selected urban areas.

Six atomic bombs were to be used to destroy each of the larger cities including Moscow, Leningrad, Tashkent, Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa.

The Pentagon estimated that a total of 204 atomic bombs would be required to "Wipe the Soviet Union off the Map". The targets for a nuclear attack consisted of sixty-six major cities.

To undertake this operation the "optimum" number of bombs required was of the order of 466 (see document below)

One single atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima resulted in the immediate death of 100,000 people in the first seven seconds. Imagine what would have happened if 204 atomic bombs had been dropped on major cities of the Soviet Union as outlined in a secret U.S. plan formulated during the Second World War.

Hiroshima after the bomb
Hiroshima in the wake of the atomic bomb attack, 6 August 1945

Comment: While it is unlikely that it would come to nuclear war, with people of the likes of Clinton around (good thing she's not President), it still can't be considered completely off the books. Then again, in a nuclear war with Russia, no one will survive.


Dollar Gold

Big $urprise: Majority of detained Saudis agree to settle

riyadh
© Shutterstock
Saudi Arabia's attorney general has released a statement on his committee's finding regarding a recent probe into corruption in the kingdom.

The statement said 320 persons were summoned by the commission with the addition of others after first investigations began on Nov. 9 based on the information provided by the detainees.

The anti-corruption commission referred a number of the arrested to the kingdom's public prosecutor's office. The number of detainees to date stands at 159.

"Most of those who have been confronted with corruption charges against them by the committee have agreed to a settlement and the necessary procedures are being completed," the statement said.

"The Public Prosecution examined the files of those referred to it in accordance with the relevant legal procedures and decided to detain a limited number of them and released the rest," the attorney general's statement added.

According to the statement, the total number of those who have been detained and whose accounts have been frozen stands at 376.

Comment: In contrast to the rights listed above, there are still reports that at least some detainees have been tortured. Whatever the truth may be, if the strategy was to get a whole lot of money for MBS's state projects, it has been a big success. In a country where practically everyone is corrupt, and the most corrupt are the richest, simply go after corruption, offer a form of amnesty in return for compensation, and there you go. Of course, that can only happen if you secure your personal safety first. MBS seems to have done that much successfully, at least. The next difficulty is avoiding the resentment and possible retaliation from those who realize they were only targeted for their wealth, when everyone else is engaged in similar financial crimes. In that regard, we'll just have to wait and see if MBS's strategy will be fully successful or not.


Gear

Donald Trump and Jerusalem - Making Middle East peace impossible

President Trump at Wailing Wall in Jerusalem
President Trump at Wailing Wall in Jerusalem
Donald Trump's Jerusalem move weakens US influence in the Middle East and makes peace between Arabs and Israelis all but impossible

President Trump's decision - of which he informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a telephone call today - to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has implications which too few people in the West and in the US especially recognise.

Jerusalem has hosted Israel's government and parliament ever since the Israeli army took over formerly Jordanian controlled east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Days War. In a sense moving the US embassy to Jerusalem simply recognises what has been the reality of the last fifty years.

That is however to ignore the huge symbolism of this step.

Attention

World leaders condemn Trump's move toward recognizing Jerusalem as Israeli capital

Jerusalem
World leaders, activists and international bodies have reacted with a single voice, universally condemn Donald Trump's expected move to recognise Jerusalem/Al-Quds as the Israeli capital. No other country in the world has ever done so, nor has the United Nations.

Here is what world leaders had to say:

Palestinian Liberation Organisation-Husam Zomlot, PLO envoy to United States

"The move will have "catastrophic consequences" and elicit a "strategic and political" response from the PLO."

Jet3

Western provocation: S. Korean media reports US bombers and fighter jets conducting drills over Korean peninsula

B-1B Lancer
© U.S. Air Force / ReutersA U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer
An American B-1B Lancer strategic bomber and F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets accompanied by South Korean military aircraft have conducted simulated bombing drills in the skies over South Korea amid rising tensions on the peninsula, Yonhap News Agency says.

The maneuvers are part of the unprecedented joint air force Vigilant Ace 18 drills which kicked off Monday.

The drills staged by the US and South Korea feature hundreds of warplanes conducting mock attacks on North Korean nuclear and missile objects in different war scenarios, but are claimed to be of a "defensive nature."

On Wednesday, the US Air Force dispatched B-1B aircraft, F-22 Raptor fighter jets, as well as several F-35 stealth jets and F-16 fighter planes to take part in joint drills at the Pilsung Firing Range in Gangwon Province, Yonhap reports, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Seoul sent F-15Ks and KF-16s to join the American squadron.

Fire

Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital throws fresh embers on Middle East powder keg

trump protesters
© Musa Al Shaer / AFPPalestinian protesters burn pictures of US President Donald Trump at the manger square in Bethlehem on December 5, 2017
The IDF is on high alert after Hamas called for a "day of rage" ahead of the White House's expected announcement to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The planned demonstrations come as nations around the world condemn Trump's decision.

Israel is bracing for demonstrations in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem ahead of US President Donald Trump's expected plan to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish state's capital.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are preparing for violence after Hamas called for a "day of rage" in response to Trump's controversial decision. The main demonstration is planned for Thursday afternoon at al-Manara Square in Ramallah. People from across the West Bank are expected to participate.

On Wednesday, a large demonstration is scheduled to take place in Jenin. Israeli police and military are also preparing for demonstrations near the American embassy in Tel Aviv. Thousands of Israeli law enforcers are expected to be on duty in Jerusalem on Friday.

Info

Russian MoD: Syria fully liberated from ISIS terrorists

Syrian soldiers
© SputnikSyrian soldiers
The Russian General Staff has declared the liberation of Syria from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), stating that all territories previously under terrorist control were liberated in the final push by the Syrian Army.

"All terrorist units of ISIS on Syrian soil have been destroyed, and the territory is liberated," Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov said.

"Therefore, as of today, there's no territory controlled by ISIS in Syria," he added. Gerasimov made the announcement during an annual briefing for foreign military attachés.

Comment: See also: Syria days away from annihilating ISIS on the battlefield: The tasks that come next


Bad Guys

Saleh's assassination places Yemen's future between geopolitical rock and hard place

Saleh
© Patrick Kovarik/AFPYemeni ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh
Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's removal from the political scene creates an unprecedented chance for the former Cold War-era state of the "Democratic People's Republic of Yemen", commonly known as "South Yemen", to resurface in the form of a federal unit following the possible post-war internal partition of the country, even though this populist move would play into the UAE's geostrategic hands.

The Yemeni rebel movement experienced a sudden though unsurprising split late last week when former President Saleh pivoted towards the Saudi coalition and publicly announced his willingness to commence peace talks if the international parties removed the blockade, stopped the bombing, and signed a ceasefire.

According to Al Jazeera's extensive report investigating "How Did Yemen's Houthi-Saleh Alliance Collapse?", this move was the result of long-running secret negotiations between Saleh and the UAE, the latter of which influenced Saudi "Red Prince" Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) through his mentor Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) to go along with this strategy as the most convincing face-saving maneuver for crafting the conditions for a coalition withdrawal from Yemen.

Star of David

Phil Giraldi: Russiagate is becoming Israelgate

kushner netanyahu
Reading the mainstream media headlines relating to the flipping of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to provide evidence relating to the allegations about Russian interference in America's last presidential election requires the suspension of one's cognitive processes. Ignoring completely what had actually occurred, the "Russian story" with its subset of "getting Trump" was on display all through the weekend, both in the print and on the live media.

Flynn's guilty plea is laconic, merely admitting that he had lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about what was said during two telephone conversations with then Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak, but there is considerable back story that emerged after the plea became public.

The two phone calls in question include absolutely nothing about possible collusion with Russia to change the outcome of the U.S. election, which allegedly was the raison d'etre behind the creation of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel office in the first place. Both took place more than a month after the election and both were initiated by the Americans involved. I am increasingly convinced that Mueller ain't got nuthin' but this process will grind out interminably and the press will be hot on the trail until there is nowhere else to go.

Based on the information revealed regarding the two conversations, and, unlike the highly nuance-sensitive editors working for the mainstream media, this is the headline that I would have written for a featured article based on what I consider to be important: "Israel Colluded with Incoming Trump Team to Subvert U.S. Foreign Policy," with a possible subheading "FBI Entraps National Security Adviser."

Comment: The problem, as Giraldi rightly points out, is that Israeli-American collusion is so common that no one will raise a fuss about it. The last president to stick up to the beast of the Middle East was JFK. He saw that Israeli development of nuclear weapons was a threat to world peace and insisted on inspections of Dimona. The Israelis, particularly Ben Gurion, were furious. He supported the Palestinian right of return. And he insisted that AIPAC's precursor register as a foreign agent. Coincidentally, he was assassinated shortly after these issues came to a head. Johnson reversed all Kennedy's policies. And since then, Israel has been free to coerce and corrupt American politicians at will.

From one perspective, Trump has been smart to cozy up with the Israelis (via Kushner and others). Every other American politician does so, because their careers depend on it. From another, he has sold over certain aspects of U.S. foreign policy to a foreign nation. Everything the media says he is guilty of in respect to Russia, he is actually guilty of in respect to Israel.