Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

War of the Wahhabis: A look into the recent Saudi condemnation of Qatar

Trump sword dance
© AP Photo/ Evan Vucci
US President Donald Trump could not possibly have predicted the game-changing after-effects of his triumphal sword dance in Riyadh.

Or could he?

The fact is the House of Saud went amok, in a flash, going after Qatar and bombing from the inside that glorious Arab NATO project - call it NATOGCC — sworn with pomp over a glowing orb.

An excited Trump tweeted three times his approval for Riyadh going after Doha.

Trump and NATOGCC had equaled Daesh and Iran as "terrorists". The House of Saud went one up — and denounced Qatar for top terror financing, which equals Don Corleone hurling Mafioso accusations against Tony Soprano.

But then, in an unexpected plot twist, Daesh, handily, graphically, underlined the cosmic stupidity of the whole charade - staging, or at least claiming to stage a terror attack against the Parliament and the Imam Khomeini shrine in Tehran.

Comment: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Terrorism and the Anglo-American Establishment


Info

Will anything change? UN investigates reports of up to 80 civilians killed by airstrike in ISIS-held part of Mosul

West Mosul, Iraq
© Erik De Castro / Reuters
The UN is investigating reports which say up to 80 civilians have been killed by an airstrike in a terrorist-held part of western Mosul. It also accused the jihadists of killing at least 231 residents attempting to flee the Iraqi city.

The airstrike happened in the Zanjilly neighborhood of the war-torn city on May 31, and is one of several reported incidents in which airstrikes caused civilian deaths in Mosul, the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement on Thursday.

The organization said its Iraqi office was seeking additional information on the incidents and called on the Iraqi Security Forces and the US-led coalition to take all measures to minimize civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict.

Comment: Read the Ali Arkady series here: Elite Iraqi forces execute hospital employee suspected of ISIS links

UN Report:
DRC: Zeid calls for international investigation into massive human rights violations in Kasais

GENEVA (9 June 2017) - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Friday called on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international investigation into the widespread human rights violations and abuses that have occurred in the Kasai Central and Kasai Oriental Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the existence of at least 42 mass graves.

Since August 2016, some 1.27 million people from the Kasais have been internally displaced by the violence while some 30,000 refugees have fled to Angola. The UN Human Rights Office has documented 42 mass graves, although the actual number may be even higher. According to information gathered by UN Human Rights teams, soldiers from the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC) reportedly dug many of the graves after clashing with presumed elements of the Kamuina Nsapu militia over the past several months. Reports of summary executions and other killings - including of children - as well as sexual violence have been documented since August 2016. The UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC* continues to receive allegations of serious human rights violations, but security constraints have hindered further investigations.

High Commissioner Zeid in early May urged the Government of the DRC to take a series of steps to ensure that a credible, transparent investigation, respecting international standards and with the involvement of the UN Human Rights Office, be established by 8 June. While the Government has sought technical support and advice from the UN Human Rights Office and MONUSCO, its response to date falls short, in view of the gravity and widespread nature of the violations, and given the imperative need for justice for victims, according to the High Commissioner.

"It is the sovereign duty of the Government of the DRC to carry out judicial investigations into human rights violations committed on its territory and we will continue to support the Government by providing advice and support towards its fulfillment of these obligations," High Commissioner Zeid said. "However the crimes committed in the Kasais appear to be of such gravity that they must be of concern to the international community as a whole, and in particular the Human Rights Council. The scale and nature of these human rights violations and abuses, and the consistently inadequate responses of the domestic authorities, oblige us to call for an international investigation to complement national efforts."

"We have an obligation to the victims and a duty to send a message to the perpetrators of these crimes that we are watching and that the international community is throwing its weight behind ensuring that the endemic impunity in the DRC is brought to an end."

The flare-up in the Kasais occurred in August 2016 when a customary chief was killed by the FARDC. The Kamuina Nsapu militia, named after the chief, sought to avenge his killing by targeting police and members of the army, state symbols and institutions, such as government buildings, police stations and churches, recruiting children to join its ranks. The FARDC have reportedly reacted to the attacks by launching a blistering counter-attack, including by firing indiscriminately with machine guns in towns where the militia were suspected to be as well as conducting door to door searches, shooting dead suspected militia members or sympathizers. While a number of national investigations have been launched into the alleged crimes committed by the Kamuina Nsapu, the Government has failed to conduct meaningful investigations into the conduct of the FARDC and the Police nationale congolaise.



Radar

Several US military aircraft make emergency landings in Japan on same day

US Air Force's F-18 on Japanese southwestern island of Okinawa
© Kimimasa Mayama / ReutersUS Air Force's F-18 on Japanese southwestern island of Okinawa.
Several US military aircraft, including Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and F/A-18 fighter jets, had to make emergency landings on the same day at various bases on the Japanese island of Okinawa, local media reported.

An Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft based at the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma had to carry out an emergency landing at the US airfield on the Island on Tuesday night, after a cockpit warning light was activated, Kyodo reported.

On the same day, three F/A-18 fighter jets landed at the Japanese Air Force's Matsushima base in Miyagi Prefecture at around 1.45pm local time, after one of the pilots reported engine trouble.

The fighters were reportedly heading to US Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in western Japan, from Alaska, the newspaper said.

Yoda

The man for our time: Calling Jeremy Corbyn 'unelectable' is the biggest fake news of the election

Jeremy Corbyn
© Reuters / Andrew Yates
After two years of being repeatedly told by the establishment that Jeremy Corbyn is "unelectable," recent polls and the trajectory of his popularity have revealed he's just the opposite. But what changed so radically? Mostly, the endless smears from the mainstream media and anti-Corbyn MPs lost their effect when the Labor leader was able, during the campaign, to convey his message directly to the people. The incessantly trotted out "unelectable" trope turned out to be "fake news," and fake news cannot indefinitely patch over the injustices impacting people's daily lives. In an era of unfathomable inequality, Corbyn's economics-centred, unapologetic Left Wing populism turned out to be just what the public had been craving.

Since being elected leader, Corbyn faced a barrage of attacks, more so than previous Labour leaders. The London School of Economics found that 74% of newspaper articles on Corbyn did not include his views or had represented his views out of context. Over two-thirds of editorials were critical or antagonistic. Anti-Corbyn bias extended to public broadcasters with the BBC Trust finally admitting what thousands of ordinary people had been screaming for months, that Laura Kuenssberg's reporting on Corbyn breached impartiality and accuracy guidelines. This coincided with mainstream media giving a platform to campaigns discrediting pro-Corbyn figures and even vilifying ordinary Labour members.

In a bizarre spectacle that would provide textbook training to any aspiring schoolyard bully, we saw media commentator after commentator, MP after MP, pile on to the 'Corbyn must go' bandwagon. In true bullying fashion, the target was singled out and held to different standards from other politicians, every minor slip up exaggerated, every anti-Corbyn lie repeated as gospel, every success ignored.

Comment: Why the British Establishment is terrified of Jeremy Corbyn


Arrow Down

Trump's condolences to Iran over terror attack "repugnant"

Tehran Iran parliament
© Omid Vahabzadeh / ReutersMembers of Iranian forces run during an attack on the Iranian parliament in central Tehran, Iran, June 7, 2017
Iran's foreign minister has branded condolences sent by the White House over recent Tehran attacks as "repugnant." The US administration sent sympathies to Iran, but lectured that "states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote."

"Repugnant White House statement ... as Iranians counter terrorism backed by US clients. Iranian people reject such US claims of friendship," Javad Zarif tweeted.

At least 13 people died and dozens were injured in gun and bomb attacks at the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini's shrine in Tehran on Wednesday. The attacks were claimed by Islamic state (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), said Amaq news agency, which is affiliated with the terrorists.

Comment: Iran has been a major contributor to the fight against terrorism in the Middle East, which is no small reason why Iran is so demonized by the West. Trump's antagonistic position against Iran is foolish and misplaced, especially when he cozies up to actual sponsors of terror like Saudi Arabia. He should take his own smarmy advice because you do indeed reap what you sow, and whether directly or indirectly, the U.S. has been one of the biggest sponsors of terrorism worldwide.


Info

Qatar Crisis: Win-win for the U.S.?

trump saudi
The underlying Saudi and Emirati grievances with Qatar have been lingering for a while, but the real catalyst of this week's crisis is the new US administration

It has been a big week for Qatar in the international headlines, with a Saudi and UAE-sponsored severing of diplomatic relations and closure of airspace. These moves, along with several other dramatic escalations, have dragged out into the open what was previously assumed to be just another of the region's many long-simmering and seemingly intractable disputes.

With "Gulf politics" not exactly renowned for transparency, rumours have naturally begun to swirl about what why it has happened now and what may happen next, with talk of far-reaching conspiracies, and - as one Egyptian newspaper dubiously claimed - even an assassination attempt having taken place on a senior Qatari minister.

Although there is certainly a sense that we have been here before, in 2014 specifically, when a similar set of measures was imposed against Qatar before eventually being resolved after several months of negotiations, the current campaign against Qatar does seem more intense and much better orchestrated, and for that reason we will have to take it much more seriously.

Comment: Voltaire Network published an interesting report today. Qatar's emir is essentially the nation's supreme power. He answers to no one. And yet:
Speaking on television, the Emir declared: "Qatar has never failed to play its role whether as an Arab state or an Islamic state and to defend the challenges that our Islamic Arab nations are facing". After being on air for just 18 seconds, the programme was censured at the 19th second. The Al-Jazeera presenter, taken aback, came back on air, stammering.

We will never know what Emir Tamim was hoping to say nor less to do. The local press failed to address the issue on Tuesday 6 June. Noone knows who has the authority to cut off a message delivered by the Emir nor who is hiding behind this puppet leader.
Voltaire also just reported the following:
The leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and its armed organizations (Al-Qaeda, Daesh, etc.) have left Tripoli after Saudi Arabia and Qatar broke off diplomatic relations.

They are now regrouping in Turkey.

Thus we should shortly be seeing some clarification of this matter in Libya, where one of the three governments, currently in power, should be dissolving.

The entire nexus of alliances throughout the Middle East is being reconfigured.
See also: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Terrorism and the Anglo-American Establishment


Radar

Qatar military goes on highest alert fearing Saudi invasion at any moment, Qatar FM to visit Moscow June 10th

Donald Trump and Saud king
Trump extends an olive branch, offering to help the Qatar and Saudi Arabia resolve their differences.

After yesterday's dramatic developments in the unfolding Qatar - Saudi row which saw Saudi Arabia drew up a list of demands directed towards Qatar, or else face consequences...which then led to Turkey fast-tracking troop deployment to Qatar, it appears that Qatar is now on high alert, bracing for a Saudi incursion.

CNN Arabic is reporting that the Qatari military has brought up 16 Leopard tanks out of storage in Doha and put the military on its highest alert out of fear that Saudi Arabia and others might attempt a military incursion.
On June 5, the Qatari Ministry of Defense transmitted a message to the governments of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, saying they would fire on any naval ships from those countries that enter into its waters, a US official said.

Jet5

Tradeoff? US supports Saudi-led crackdown on Qatar to avoid relocating its Mideast military base

al-Udeid Air Base
© REUTERS/ U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Terrica Y. Jonesal-Udeid Air Base outside Doha, Qatar
The United States' decision to take side of the Arab states that cut off the diplomatic relations with Qatar in the ongoing row indicates that Washington is seeking to avoid its military base outside Doha being moved to another country amid growing evidence that Qataris fund Islamists, analysts told Sputnik.

The US government supports Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) imposing control on Qatar's foreign policies and stopping the flow of funding to Islamist terror movements, including al-Qaeda and Daesh (both outlawed in Russia), analysts told Sputnik.

"From the United States' perspective, a particularly sensitive problem is likely to be resolved," University of Durham Reader in Middle East Politics Christopher Davidson, an expert in the Gulf Arab states, said. Davidson said the US government appeared to have arranged in advance of the current crisis that in the event of a Saudi and/or UAE takeover of Qatar or imposition of a new government, Washington would be permitted to continue operating at al-Udeid Air Base outside the capital Doha. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has its forward headquarters for all Middle East military operations at al-Udeid.

"[W]ith Saudi and UAE guarantees having undoubtedly been provided for all US rights to military facilities in Qatar, currently including CENTCOM's forward headquarters and a major airbase, there has emerged a distinct 'win-win' situation," Davidson stated. Cracking down on Qatar would reduce US official embarrassment, Davidson remarked. "Notably, any Saudi and UAE-monitored freeze on Doha's foreign policies will help to solve an increasingly divisive problem at the heart of US politics," he said.

Comment: The US should be worrying about a lot more than 'official embarrassment'. Saving face and not having to move its base is surely more convenient than resisting meddling in the ME, colluding to destabilize whole countries and submitting to a blackmail deal from Saudi Arabia. Saving face...and just which face would that be?


Camcorder

Snooper duper: Trump backs the permanent snooping powers he criticized as abusive

Trumpsnoop
© Washington Times
Just months after President Trump complained about being spied on by the Obama administration, his administration is embracing a full permanent extension of the secret snooping powers the government used to track conversations between his campaign aides and Russian operatives.

Mr. Trump's intelligence and counterterrorism team said Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has saved hundreds of lives by preventing terrorist attacks and insisted — despite Mr. Trump's claimed experiences — that the law is not being abused.


Comment: Is it that the law is not being abused? Or is it that people are being abused by the law?


"Simply put, the use of this authority has helped save lives," Thomas P. Bossert, President Trump's top counterterrorism adviser, wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times, announcing support for a bill introduced this week making the snooping powers permanent. Without congressional action, Section 702 is set to expire on Dec. 31. That part of the law allows federal intelligence agencies to scoop up the communications of foreigners outside the U.S. It does not allow Americans to be targets of snooping, but if foreigners who are targeted are communicating with Americans, then those exchanges can be tracked in what is dubbed "incidental collection."

Comment: Over 1B communications reportedly collected.Unscrupulous security gathering, without oversight from independent watchdogs, gives unlimited capability to create statistics and offer 'potential or hypothetical ad hoc scenarios' then foiled to validate its necessity. Who are the watchdogs to verify authenticity of agency reporting and that incidental collection of American communications are actually purged as required? (Nothing, if security is all it is claimed to be, is ever truly lost.)


Snakes in Suits

Qatar and the forty thieves

The Plague-stricken Animals
© Getty Images
The sudden, unprovoked and coordinated outrage of Middle East regional powers, as well as international powers, against Qatar is something akin to a story in Fables de La Fontaine. With a bit of a twist, it resembles the story of "The Animals Seized with the Plague".

For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with this fable, the animals convened to find out why they were struck by the plague. One by one, the big predators made their confessions about their hunting, killing and ravaging adventures, but they were forgiven and vindicated. Then a donkey admitted that he once ate a mouthful of grass from someone's pasture, and for this act, the donkey was named as THE culprit, killed and sacrificed to save the rest of the animals from the wrath of the gods.

Qatar is not as innocent as La Fontaine's donkey, but who are those who are passing judgement?