Puppet Masters

Trump's "peace" plan is apartheid, says South Africa's president

Ali Abunimah
Electronic Intifada
Wed, 12 Feb 2020 12:00 UTC

Screenshot from the discussion.

On Tuesday I appeared on The Heat, on China's CGTN television, to discuss the so-called Deal of the Century - the "peace" plan recently released by the Trump administration.

Kicking off the discussion, I cited South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, who slammed the plan at a meeting of the African Union, just before the body rejected it.

"It brought to mind the chronicled history that we as South Africans went through," Ramaphosa said.

"The apartheid regime once imposed the bantustan system on the people of South Africa without consulting them and with all the oppressive elements which that plan had."

Comment: Nelson Mandela's grandson would likely agree with him: Nelson Mandela's grandson slams Israel the "apartheid state"

See also:

Netanyahu boasts of Israeli lobbying power in the US

Sputnik
Thu, 13 Feb 2020 03:58 UTC

Over the last couple of years, Washington and Tel Aviv have became closer in a range of various issues, according to media reports. US President Donald Trump has gained popularity among Tel Aviv power brokers after a series of statements and moves that vividly favor Israel, sending shockwaves of alarm across the globe.

Among one of such stunt is a recent presentation of Trump's much-anticipated peace plan to allegedly bring stability between longstanding rivals Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Trump's "deal of the century" was met with delight in Tel Aviv and saw firm rejection by the PA.

One of the Trump ideas suggests the extension of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank - a prospect that is also rejected by the UN Human Rights Council (OHCHR). The OHCHR recently blacklisted dozens of Israeli business entities that operate in the West Bank. The move sparked a backlash in Israel, prompting Tel Aviv to suspend ties with the UN-spearheaded organization.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his apparent indignation over the OHCHR action. Netanyahu's tweet, however, attracted wide public attention for something other than the ongoing territorial dispute.

Comment: Here are some more Tweets that hit the nail on the proverbial head:

London attack: West's terrorists bite the hand that feeds (again)

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 12 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC

The latest incident in London was so entirely preventable that it is difficult to describe it as anything less than deliberate.

In yet another headline-grabbing terror attack - an armed man in south London left several injured - some seriously - with the suspect himself killed at the scene by police.

Entirely predictable was the fact that the suspect named as Sudesh Amman - was a known terrorist - having been previously arrested, tried, and imprisoned for terror-related offenses, only to be inexplicably released early.

The London Telegraph in its article, "Streatham attack knifeman named as Sudesh Amman who had a previous terror conviction," would report regarding his earlier conviction that:

Alexis Boon, then head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said at the time of his conviction that Amman had a "fierce interest in violence and martyrdom".

He explained: "His fascination with dying in the name of terrorism was clear in a notepad we recovered from his home. Amman had scrawled his 'life goals' in the notepad and top of the list, above family activities, was dying a martyr and going to 'Jannah' - the afterlife.

U.S. Customs Chief admits agents mistreated Iranian Americans at U.S.-Canada border

RFE/RL
Wed, 12 Feb 2020 23:30 UTC

The acting head of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency acknowledged that agents were out of line last month when they detained dozens of Iranian-Americans and Iranians at a border crossing near Canada in Washington State.

While providing January border-crossing statistics in Washington on February 11, Mark Morgan, the agency's acting commissioner, said agents behaved in a way "that was not in line with our direction," when they held more than 60 U.S. citizens of Iranian heritage for up to 10 hours or more for questioning.

It was a rare admission of misconduct from the agency and the first public recognition of the incidents.

Accounts from travelers and advocacy groups reported dozens of people being held over the January 4-5 weekend at an entry point in Blaine, Washington.

U.S. Senate advances resolution limiting Trump's actions against Iran

RFE/RL
Thu, 13 Feb 2020 23:23 UTC

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has advanced a bipartisan measure intended to limit President Donald Trump's ability to take military action against Iran.

Eight Republicans sided with Democrats on a motion to proceed to a final vote on the matter as soon as February 13. The February 12 vote on the procedural motion was 51-45.

The nonbinding resolution would direct Trump to remove U.S. troops engaged in hostilities against Iran unless Congress declares war or passes a specific authorization for the use of military force.

Pepe Escobar: It's time to reclaim Syria's road to recovery

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Thu, 13 Feb 2020 20:57 UTC

© iStock
Erdogan de facto supports al-Qaeda remnants while facing either humiliating retreat from or total war against Syria

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, neo-Ottoman extraordinaire, is not exactly inclined to commit seppuku, the Japanese act of ritual suicide.

But if not through the perspective of neo-Ottomanism, how to explain the fact he is de facto supporting al-Qaeda remnants in Syria while facing two unsavory options - a humiliating retreat from or total war against the Syrian Arab Army?

Everything about the slowly evolving, messy chessboard in Idlib hinges on highways: the imperative for the government in Damascus to control both the M5 highway between Damascus and Aleppo and the M4 highway between Latakia and Aleppo. Fully reclaiming these two crucial axes will finally turbo-charge the ailing Syrian economy.

Very few players nowadays remember the all-important Sochi memorandum of understanding signed between Russia and Turkey in September 2018.

Comment: See also:

Troy Price, head of Iowa Democratic Party, resigns after caucus results debacle

Brianne Pfannenstiel
USA Today
Wed, 12 Feb 2020 20:43 UTC

© Associated Press
Troy Price, chair of Iowa’s Democratic Party stepped down after overseeing a disastrous presidential caucus event

The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party resigned his position on Wednesday as the organization grapples with the fallout of a botched caucus process that has left the party and state reeling.

"While it is my desire to stay in this role and see this process through to completion, I do believe it is time for the Iowa Democratic Party to begin looking forward, and my presence in my current role makes that more difficult. Therefore, I will resign as chair of the Iowa Democratic Party effective upon the election of my replacement," Troy Price said in a letter to the Iowa Democratic Party's State Central Committee.

Price, an Iowa native, worked as political director for Barack Obama's 2012 Iowa campaign and Hillary Clinton's 2016 Iowa campaign. He served as executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party before being elected its chair in July 2017 and reelected in 2018.

Comment: Unfortunately, Price is having to take the fall for a planned disaster. The voting app, a brainchild of Killary operatives, performed as desired, boosting robo-candidate Buttigieg just enough over the hated Bernie Sanders, while (hopefully) not appearing to rig the process.

US-led coalition admits killing at least 1,370 civilians in Syria, Iraq - casualty report

Sputnik
Thu, 13 Feb 2020 18:43 UTC

The US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria has killed at least 1,370 civilians since the start of its military operations in 2014, Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve said in its monthly civilian casualty report on Thursday.

"The Coalition conducted 34,763 strikes between August 2014 and the end of December 2019. During this period, based on information available, CJTF-OIR assesses at least 1,370 civilians have been unintentionally killed by Coalition actions since the beginning of Operation Inherent Resolve," the report said.

Where does Turkey stand in the Syrian Endgame?

Salman Rafi Sheikh
New Eastern Outlook
Thu, 13 Feb 2020 18:05 UTC

Whereas the mainstream western and Arab media have been claiming a 'serious rift' between Russia and Turkey over the death of Turkish soldiers in a Syrian offensive in Idlib, this is far from the case. While there is no gainsaying that Russian and Syrian interests do not always converge fully and that there are some contentious areas, this then is also quite equally true of Turkey's relations with the US/NATO as well.

Therefore, expecting Turkey to take a full wheel U-turn to the US/NATO as a result of the so-called 'serious rift' with Moscow/Damascus is not only an extremely unlikely event to happen but also geo-politically an unrealistic assumption; for, the major disagreement, as it stands, does not exit between Russia and Turkey per se, it exists, if at all, between an increasingly assertive Syrian army, ambitiously advancing to regain control of their country, and a Turkish a resolve to prevent the emergence of a 'Kurdistan' along its border with Syria.

Turkey enraged as Syrian parliament recognizes Armenian genocide amid bilateral tensions

Sputnik
Thu, 13 Feb 2020 18:39 UTC

The overwhelmingly symbolic move comes in the wake of a serious deteriorated situation in northwestern Syria, where Turkish and Syrian troops have been trading fire in the rebel-held province of Idlib.

The People's Council of Syria, the nation's unicameral parliament, has backed a resolution condemning the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during WWI as genocide.

Lawmakers have passed the motion unanimously, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reports.

They expressed sympathy for the Armenian people and recognised what they called the "systematic ethnic cleansing and massacre" of Armenians, Syrians and Assyrians by the Ottoman Empire, calling on the international community to condemn it as well.

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Puppet Masters

Trump's "peace" plan is apartheid, says South Africa's president

Netanyahu boasts of Israeli lobbying power in the US

London attack: West's terrorists bite the hand that feeds (again)

U.S. Customs Chief admits agents mistreated Iranian Americans at U.S.-Canada border

U.S. Senate advances resolution limiting Trump's actions against Iran

Pepe Escobar: It's time to reclaim Syria's road to recovery

Troy Price, head of Iowa Democratic Party, resigns after caucus results debacle

US-led coalition admits killing at least 1,370 civilians in Syria, Iraq - casualty report

Where does Turkey stand in the Syrian Endgame?

Turkey enraged as Syrian parliament recognizes Armenian genocide amid bilateral tensions

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