Puppet Masters

Iranian FM makes surprise visit to Biarritz where G7 leaders discuss fate of nuclear deal

RT
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 14:28 UTC

Iranain Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has touched down in Biarritz, France, where G7 leaders are discussing a plan to restart the floundering nuclear deal. His surprise visit came at the invitation of his French counterpart.

The unscheduled visit at the invitation of Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian comes after Zarif met President Emmanuel Marcon earlier this week to discuss the fate of the agreement. The spokesman said Zarif would not be meeting US President Donald Trump or any of his delegation while in France.

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran Deal) all but collapsed after the US withdrew unilaterally last May, leaving Washington's European allies struggling to maintain trade with Tehran in the face of multiple rounds of US sanctions, and with military tensions between Iran and the US flaring in the Persian Gulf.

Comment: See also:

Israeli drone crashes in South Beirut suburbs, another 'prematurely explodes'

Sputnik
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 05:15 UTC

The Israel Defence Forces have yet to comment on claims about the country's drones flying over Beirut, Lebanon.

A drone fell in the southern suburbs of Beirut and a second drone exploded near the ground before dawn on Sunday, a Hezbollah official told Reuters on Saturday, suggesting that the drones were Israeli.

The second drone caused some damage, crashing in a neighbourhood of the Dahyeh suburbs close to Hezbollah's media centre, the official said. Residents in the area said they had heard the sound of an explosion. A witness said the army closed off the streets in one neighbourhood where a fire had started. No other information was immediately available.

The official told Reuters that the drones were Israeli, marking the first such incident in more than a decade.

Comment: RT provides more details:

An explosion rocked the Lebanese capital just as Israel was bombing 'Iranian targets' in Syria. The blast was the result of an 'Israeli drone attack' in which one UAV crashed and another prematurely exploded, Hezbollah claims.

A small drone failed to detonate and crashed in the southern suburb of Beirut, while a second drone exploded near the militant group's media center, damaging the building, a Hezbollah spokesperson told news agencies. No casualties were reported from the incidents, which the organization immediately blamed on Israel.

Unverified pictures surfaced online showing debris resembling a quad-copter similar to drones used by Israel for surveillance and the deployment of tear gas in Gaza border clashes. Israel has yet to confirm carrying out any operations against Hezbollah, which it considers a terrorist organization closely allied with Iran.

Hours earlier, however, the IDF admitted to carrying out a raid in Syria, claiming it had targeted Iranian-linked forces ironically suspected of planning a "large-scale attack of multiple killer drones."

The Democratic party is lost at sea

James Howard Kunstler
Kunstler.com
Fri, 23 Aug 2019 12:00 UTC

In these horse latitudes of late summer, with the seas becalmed and the riggings a'creak, the Resistance's ship-of-the-line (a.k.a. the Democratic Party) drifts ever further out of sight of land. Even so, a few of its crew members have jumped ship: New York's mayor, stowaway Bill de Blasio, may have been shoved overboard. Former Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper walked the plank clutching the lifebuoy of a sure-thing senate seat. Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee went mad drinking seawater and dove in after hallucinating a school of beckoning mermaids. Months from now, the accursed vessel may be discovered mysteriously deserted, prompting tales of mutiny and cannibalism, like the brigantine Mary Celeste of legend.

Comment: See also:

Israeli businessman reportedly behind 'secret mega deal' to supply spy planes to UAE

Sputnik
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 19:13 UTC

Although there are no diplomatic ties between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said earlier this year that he does not rule out a "strategic shift" in relations between the Arab states and Israel.

Israeli businessman Matanya "Mati" Kochavi could have helped to supply surveillance planes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), allowing it to spy on Iran, according to documents obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The alleged supplies were part of a decade-long "secret mega deal" worth millions of dollars, Haaretz claimed, citing the documents which partially originated in the 2017 "Paradise Papers" leak by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Kochavi declined to comment on the report.

Comment: See also:

Pentagon admonishes South Korea for scrapping military intel partnership with Japan

Sputnik
Thu, 22 Aug 2019 20:14 UTC

Earlier on Thursday, Japan's Foreign Ministry summoned South Korean ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan-pyo to protest Seoul's decision to terminate the military intelligence agreement.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said that the US has expressed 'strong concern and disappointment' over South Korea's decision to scrap its intelligence pact with Japan. He added that intelligence sharing is crucial to defence cooperation in the region. The United States, South Korea and Japan are stronger and safer when they work together, Eastburn said.

"We encourage Japan and Korea to work together to resolve their differences," he said in a statement. Previously, the Trump administration urged Seoul not to abandon the agreement, fearing this could impact talks with North Korea.

Known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), the pact was signed in 2016 and was due to be automatically renewed on 24 August. It regulated the sharing of intelligence data about North Korea's nuclear activities and also China's growing military capabilities.

Comment: See also:

S. Korea to scrap military info-sharing pact with Japan, Tokyo summons ambassador

The road not taken: Another failure by the FBI involving the Clintons comes to light

John Solomon
The Hill
Thu, 22 Aug 2019 07:00 UTC

August in Washington can be the political equivalent of an elephant graveyard: One good rain can wash away the dirt and expose the bones of scandals past.

And this August did not disappoint. Thanks to the relentless investigative work of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), we are learning that the Hillary Clinton email case may not really be settled.

A staff memo updating the two senators' long-running probe discloses that the FBI — the version run in 2016 by the now-disgraced and fired James Comey, Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok — failed to pursue access to "highly classified" evidence that could have resolved important questions.

The failure to look at the evidence back in 2016 occurred even though the agents believed access to the sensitive evidence was "necessary" to complete the investigation into Clinton's improper transmission of classified emails — some top-secret — on her unsecure private email server, the memos show.

What to expect from 'nightmare' G-7 Summit 2019

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 08:45 UTC

Once upon a time, the G-7 summits were showcases for boilerplate platitudes about international cooperation that garnered a baseline level of media cooperation.

That was before the Trump era.

Last year, President Trump sowed discord by feuding with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, before repeatedly refusing to sign off on the group's traditional communique. This year, as wildfires raging in the Amazon have inspired an international virtue signaling protest movement demanding that the leaders of some of the world's largest economies do something to contain fires that take place in the Amazon every year, and with the European economy teetering on the edge of recession - oh, and let's not forget Trump's escalating feud with President Xi - the annual summit once again promises to be a weekend-long drama.

The Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs on G-7 allies sowed discord at last year's summit. And already, finance ministers from the non-US countries have issued a criticism of US trade policy in advance of this year's summit, provoked by Trump's threats to slap tariffs on European goods ranging from wine and cheese to cars.

Comment: It's such an irrelevant event, we're unsure it's even worth reporting about, much less commenting on.

Maduro verifies recent Trump talks, meanwhile US Navy is ready for action

Ricado Vaz
venezuelanalysis.com
Fri, 23 Aug 2019 07:12 UTC

US Southern Command chief said US Navy will "do what needs to be done."

Venezuelan government officials have had secret contact with US officials for "months," President Maduro revealed Tuesday.

"I confirm that for months there have been contacts between senior officials from the Trump administration and from the Bolivarian government, with my express permission," he said, adding that there had been "various contacts" to "regularize" the conflict with Washington.

The Venezuelan president went on to add that he is always "ready for dialogue," urging Trump to "really listen" to Venezuela. No details of the contents of the discussions were disclosed.

Maduro's comments followed an Associated Press report that a Trump administration intermediary had held "secret talks" with National Constituent Assembly President Diosdado Cabello. The report did not disclose the identity of the intermediary, claiming that the goal of the meeting was to increase pressure by contributing to a "knife fight" allegedly taking place behind the scenes.

Comment: See also:

A push to wrap up before 2020 elections? US holds secret talks with unidentified Venezuelan officials

Foot-in-mouth Biden asks town hall 'what if Obama had been assassinated?' Internet cringes

RT
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 05:17 UTC

Democratic primary frontrunner Joe Biden has raised a nation of eyebrows when he asked an audience to imagine the fallout from Barack Obama's assassination, comparing the ex-president to Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

"Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee?" Biden asked a town hall in Hanover, New Hampshire on Friday that was supposed to be focused on healthcare. "What would have happened in America?"

Confirmed: Butina was VICTIM - not perpetrator - of FBI-staged 'Russian honeytrap', joins list of US intelligence meddling operations

Graham Dockery
RT
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 00:07 UTC

Revelations by former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne about 'Russian agent' Maria Butina are yet another dot in the pattern of behavior by US intelligence agencies who were involved in the 'Russiagate' conspiracy.

Butina is the Russian pro-gun activist who after months of solitary confinement confessed to being an "unregistered foreign agent" in 2016. To federal prosecutors and the media, her involvement with the US gun lobby and Republican circles during the early days of the Trump campaign seemed like evidence that Moscow was sending agents to "meddle" in the US.

Prosecutors even falsely accused Butina of using "sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization," and the media lapped it up, regurgitating every Cold War spy fiction trope they could in sensationalist headlines.

"Sex and schmoozing are common Russian spy tactics. Publicity makes Maria Butina different," read a USA Today banner last year. ABC News described her as a "Real life 'Red Sparrow'," a reference to a graphic 'Soviet sexpionage' novel adapted into a gruesome movie.

To hear Byrne tell it, however, Butina may have been the prey and not the hunter.

Comment: Interesting twist in the Butina case.

So what actually happened in all cases of Russian spies having been uncovered throughout the 'Russiagate period' is that US govt agents set up Russian (and US) civilians in sting-ops to make it look like Russian govt agents were setting up US civilians in sting-ops.

"We've found the meddlers and they is... US!"

Butina, by the way, is still serving out a prison sentence in the US on the basis of these lies. With justice like this, who needs 'commie totalitarianism'?

See also:

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Puppet Masters

Iranian FM makes surprise visit to Biarritz where G7 leaders discuss fate of nuclear deal

Israeli drone crashes in South Beirut suburbs, another 'prematurely explodes'

The Democratic party is lost at sea

Israeli businessman reportedly behind 'secret mega deal' to supply spy planes to UAE

Pentagon admonishes South Korea for scrapping military intel partnership with Japan

The road not taken: Another failure by the FBI involving the Clintons comes to light

What to expect from 'nightmare' G-7 Summit 2019

Maduro verifies recent Trump talks, meanwhile US Navy is ready for action

Foot-in-mouth Biden asks town hall 'what if Obama had been assassinated?' Internet cringes

Confirmed: Butina was VICTIM - not perpetrator - of FBI-staged 'Russian honeytrap', joins list of US intelligence meddling operations

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