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Oliver Stone interviews Putin on War & Peace, why 'the Ukraine' is actually Russia, and the '2 percent factor'


Kremlin.ru
Fri, 19 Jul 2019 11:44 UTC
putin oliver stone
Vladimir Putin answered questions from American film director, screenwriter and producer Oliver Stone, parts of which were included in his new documentary, Revealing Ukraine. The interview was recorded on June 19, 2019 in the Kremlin. Here is the complete transcript...

Oliver Stone: So, I interviewed Mr Medvedchuk [leader of a Ukrainian opposition party]. It was in Monte Carlo. He gave us a very interesting interview. He gave us his view of the Ukraine. I gather that you're close with him.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: I would not say that we are very close but we know each other well. He was President Kuchma's Chief of Staff, and it was in this capacity at the time that he asked me to take part in the christening of his daughter. According to Russian Orthodox tradition, you can't refuse such a request.

Oliver Stone: Oh, you cannot refuse it?

I thought it was a big honour for you to be the godfather of his daughter.

Vladimir Putin: It is always a great honour to be a godfather.

Oliver Stone: Well, how many children are you godfather to?

Vladimir Putin: I will not give a number but several people.

Oliver Stone: Wow. Is it like a hundred or three hundred?
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Vader

French intelligence strategy document warns of "insurrectional violence"

Will Morrow
WSWS
Fri, 19 Jul 2019 19:54 UTC
cop, repression, 1984
© Inconnu
The French national intelligence and counterterrorism organization quietly released the first update to its five-year public strategy document on Monday. The report — which was uploaded to a ministerial website and not accompanied by any presidential press release — states that the role of France's counterterrorism agencies is to fight "subversive movements" and the threat of "insurrectional violence" in the population.

The "National Intelligence Strategy" was published by the National Intelligence Coordination for the Fight Against Terrorism (CNRLT), an arm of the Élysée presidential palace. It advises the president and reports directly to the prime minister. The report was written in direct collaboration with the prime minister and personally approved by President Emmanuel Macron.

The strategy document "constitutes the road map for the intelligence agencies," it states in the preface. A comparison with the first five-year "road map" makes clear the purposes of the update. The 2014 version identifies its five areas of operations as terrorism, espionage and economic interference, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyberattacks and organized crime.
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Star of David

How does Trump handle the Israeli-Palestinian question?

Thierry Meyssan
Voltairenet.org
Tue, 16 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
Trump/Jackson
© Michael Reynolds/Getty Images
US President Donald Trump and portrait of President Andrew Jackson
President Trump does nothing like his predecessors (except for his model, Andrew Jackson), thereby destabilising his partners. The "Deal of the Century" that he dreamed up for Palestine angered President Abbas, who interpreted it from the point of view of previous US propositions. Could he have been wrong?

President Donald Trump has declared several times that his method of government was enough to solve many different conflicts, and that he even hoped, during the course of his mandate (or mandates), to attain peace between the Palestinians and the Israëlis.

According to the international Press, Donald Trump has evolved, for US electoral reasons. Although he once seemed little interested by religious questions, he has apparently moved closer to the Christian Zionists and is now under the influence of his vice-President, the Evangelical Christian Mike Pence, and one of his sponsors, the Jewish casino-operator Sheldon Adelson.

President Trump's decisions to move the US embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, to interrupt the financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and then to recognise Israëli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan, have been interpreted as confirming his pro-Israëli bias.

All this is true, but does not enable us to understand Donald Trump's singular approach to the Palestinian conflict, which could lead to serious errors of interpretation. In order to grasp his approach, we have to study his model, President Andrew Jackson, and replace it in the particular situation of the United States before the War of Secession.
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Fire

New juncture? Epstein and the explosive crisis of the deep state

Charles Hugh Smith
oftwominds.com
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
DeepState
© usdefensewatch.com
Since the battle is for the legitimacy of the state, it must be waged at least partially in the open.

Speculations by outsiders must give Deep State insiders many opportunities to chuckle, "if only they knew." We don't know, of course, and public leaks are engineered to misdirect our attention from what's actually going on or "frame" our understanding in a positive way.

Decades later, history reveals a very ordinary mix of great successes and horrific failure in secret operations, caused by errors of judgment, faulty intelligence, poor planning and so on. In other words, life isn't tidy, either inside or outside the Deep State.

Deep state chart
Nonetheless we can postulate a few things with some certainty. One is that the Deep State-- the unelected, permanent government which includes not just the intelligence community but a vast array of agencies and institutions as well as the top-level structures of diplomacy, finance and geopolitics--is not monolithic. There are different views and competing camps, but the disagreements and bureaucratic wars are kept out of sight.

Two, we know that at critical junctures of history one camp wins the narrative battle and establishes the over-riding direction of state policy. Put another way, one camp's understanding of the era's most pressing problems becomes the consensus, and from then on disagreements are within the broad outlines of the dominant ideology.

Comment: Other articles by this author:

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Arrow Up

Despite rising tensions with Iran, Saudis give approval to host US troops


RFE/RL
Sat, 20 Jul 2019 02:13 UTC
Salman bin Abdulaziz
© Reuters
Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz
Saudi Arabia's King Salman has approved the hosting of U.S. troops for the first time since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, as the two allies bolster cooperation amid rising tensions with Iran.

A Defense Ministry spokesman was quoted by Saudi state news agency SPA as saying on July 19:
"Based on mutual cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, and their desire to enhance everything that could preserve the security of the region and its stability...King Salman gave his approval to host American forces."
Saudi officials provided only limited details about the agreement. But senior U.S. defense officials told AP that some troops and Patriot air-defense missile systems had already arrived at Prince Sultan Air Base, south of Riyadh and site of the previous U.S. deployment. Troops are preparing the base for the arrival of aircraft and additional soldiers later in the summer, one U.S. official said.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement on July 19 that the "movement of forces provides an additional deterrent, and ensures our ability to defend our forces and interests in the region from emergent, credible threats."

Comment: From Sputnik: US Sec of Defense authorizes deployment to Saudi Arabia
The acting US defense secretary has authorized the deployment of "US military personnel and resources" to Saudi Arabia, according to a statement issued by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).
"In coordination with and at the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Secretary of Defense has authorized the movement of U.S. personnel and resources to deploy to Saudi Arabia. This movement of forces provides an additional deterrent, and ensures our ability to defend our forces and interests in the region from emergent, credible threats. This movement creates improvement of operational depth and logistical networks. U.S. Central Command continually assesses force posture in the region and is working with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia authorities to base U.S. assets at the appropriate locations."
According to the CNN report, the site for the deployment of the US troops - the Prince Sultan Air Base - was chosen because it is located in a remote area that would take longer for Iranian missiles to reach. Neither the US Department of Defence or Riyadh have confirmed the location to which the US troops will be deployed.

The upcoming deployment is expected to reinforce the US military and support personnel already on site with beginning preparations for a Patriot surface-to-air missile system, a runway and other airfield improvements.

Earlier in the day, CENTCOM announced that the US armed forces have surveillance aircraft observing the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

"We have patrol aircraft operating in international airspace monitoring the situation within the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM Chief of Media Operations Lieutenant Colonel Earl Brown said on Friday. "US Naval Forces Central Command has been in contact with US ships operating in the area to ensure their safety."


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Arrow Down

Trump official wants to slash refugee admissions to zero next year

Ted Hesson
Politico
Thu, 18 Jul 2019 09:04 UTC
protesters
© Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Protestors come out against migrant detention in NYC. More than 29,000 refugees have completed USCIS interviews, a major step in the process to being granted travel to the U.S.
The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — cutting the number to nearly zero — according to three people familiar with the plan.

During a key meeting of security officials on refugee admissions last week, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services representative who is closely aligned with White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller suggested setting a cap at zero, the people said. Homeland Security Department officials at the meeting later floated making the level anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000, according to one of the people.

The proposal for a near-shutdown of the refugee program is alarming officials at the Department of Defense, who don't want to see a halt in admissions of Iraqis who risked their lives assisting U.S. forces in that country. The possible move comes after the Trump administration cut refugee admissions by a third this year, to 30,000.

If the administration shuts down refugee admissions, it would give President Donald Trump a powerful talking point as he makes immigration restrictions a centerpiece of his reelection campaign.


Comment: For more on the Trump administration's history regarding refugee quotas, see also:

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Bad Guys

Middle East heading towards 'maximum danger': Khamenei's 3 commandments

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Sat, 20 Jul 2019 19:30 UTC
iran
The Middle East is heading for "maximum danger" following the "maximum pressure" imposed on Iran by US President Donald Trump who, unilaterally and unlawfully, withdrew over a year ago from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the nuclear agreement, and imposed harsh sanctions on Iran that Tehran considers a declaration of economic war. Trump's move against Iran has provoked a gathering storm of tanker wars, the mutual detention of tankers by Iran and Britain. Indeed, the US administration has been pushing London to confront Iran starting from the capture of an Iranian super tanker (Grace 1) at Gibraltar on July 4, which has now triggered an Iranian tit-for-tat reaction (capturing a British tanker in the Straits of Hormuz). While the US and the UK are walking, along with Iran, on the edge of the abyss, the Iranian supreme leader, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, has publicly proclaimed "three points of guidance" for officials in the country, which includes a road map to follow even in his own absence.

Iran has detained a British oil tanker "Stena Impero" hours after the British High Court of Gibraltar announced the extension of an additional month of the arrest of Iranian tanker "Grace 1", carrying two million barrels of oil. When this news reached the Iranian leadership, they realised that mediation efforts by French President Emmanuel Macron had stumbled and that it was time for Iran to take the matter in hand.

This does not mean that Iran is closing the door to French diplomacy or attempts by other intermediary states to de-escalate the extremely tense situation that is intensifying daily in the Middle East, particularly with the gathering of new British naval war vessels and the arrival of additional US military forces in Saudi Arabia.

President Emmanuel Macron's chief adviser, Ambassador Emmanuel Bonne, had visited Tehran this month and met with Iranian leaders, and he promised to intervene to secure the release of the Iranian super tanker Grace 1 and to play a mediation role between Tehran and Washington.

Comment: More analysis from Magnier available here:

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Arrow Down

Washington backpedals bid to build 'anti-Iran' military coalition in Persian Gulf


Press TV
Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:37 UTC
Wheelbarger/Votel/Waldhauser
© AP
Senior US defense official Kathryn Wheelbarger (right), General Joseph Votel (left) and US Africa Commander General Thomas Waldhauser
The Trump administration has backtracked on its earlier bid to build a military coalition in the Persian Gulf to counter what it called the "Iran threat", saying now that the coalition is not aimed at countering the Islamic Republic.

A top Pentagon official told Reuters on Thursday that the US Persian Gulf maritime proposal is not supposed to be a military coalition against Iran. "This is not a coalition against Iran ... If you were militarily confronting Iran, this is not the construct that you would use," said Kathryn Wheelbarger, one of the most senior policy officials at the Pentagon.

Wheelbarger, who briefed NATO allies this week on the US proposal, said the coalition is simply aimed at "shining a flashlight" in the Persian Gulf to deter attacks on commercial ships. "Just shining a flashlight on something - that's all we're asking people to do, quite frankly."

According to the senior official, the coalition is to be less operational and more geared toward increasing surveillance capabilities. "The goal is to increase maritime domain awareness and surveillance capabilities in the region to dissuade malign action," she explained.

Comment: More from antiwar.com: Allies resist US call for anti-Iran naval force
As tensions have continued to rise between the US and Iran, American officials continue to try to court allies to join a naval force to safeguard key shipping lanes off the coast of Iran. So far, they don't have any takers.

The Trump Administration has been keen to have other nations pay for the defense of the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump has argued that the US shouldn't have to cover the entire cost. US officials, however, are clear they will be in total control of this foreign fleet of ships they're trying to recruit.

Some nations are okay with sending a few ships to escort their own tankers, but diplomats say that there is a lot of resistance to being seen as part of a US-formed fleet that would increase tensions even further.

"Nobody wants to be on that confrontational course and part of a US push against Iran," an official was quoted by Reuters as saying. Pentagon officials argue that the goal is not to encourage a confrontation, though everyone else seems to notice this is the end-result of US efforts in the area, and doesn't want to be involved.


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Propaganda

Lie factory, CNN, is in a state of collapse, thank God!

Paul Craig Roberts
paulcraigroberts.org
Thu, 18 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
CNNCartoon
© Creators Syndicate/SKLLN
CNN abandoned journalism and became a propaganda ministry for the Democratic National Committee and the corrupt upper echelons of the CIA and FBI. After three years of telling the most outrageous lies ever associated with an alleged news organization in an alleged democracy, CNN's viewership collapsed. CNN - turned propaganda ministry - saw its primetime viewers shrink by 40%. Even insouciant Americans could see that CNN was nothing but a lie factory.

One would have thought CNN would have learned a lesson. But apparently not. The scum or fools, whichever it is, that runs CNN decided instead to tell even more lies. The propaganda ministry concocted an even less believable story than the ones that had driven away 40% of CNN viewers. The story "reported" by Alex Marquardt goes as follows:
Assange, being a Russian spy, turned the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he had asylum into a command post for arranging a US presidential election outcome that pleased the Russians. Marquardt spins a fantasy of how Assange from his embassy base, undeterred by Ecuadoran President Correa or the Ecuadoran ambassador to the UK, and aided with deliveries of hacked materials and suspicious meetings with Russians and world-class hackers, undermined the American presidential election.

Comment: See also:

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X

Twitter censors 3 Iranian news agencies after seizure of British tanker


RT
Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:36 UTC
Iranian news agencies
© Twitter
Accounts of Iranian news agencies blocked by Twitter
The Farsi accounts of three Iranian news agencies have been suspended on Twitter since Friday, shortly after they reported the capture of a UK-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. Twitter says the events are unrelated.


Comment: Right...


Two Farsi-language Twitter pages of Mehr News Agency, as well as pages belonging to the Young Journalists Club (YJC) and IRNA, have all been blocked on Twitter since Friday. Mehr and the YJC are semi-official news agencies, and IRNA is Iran's official government-run agency.

Mehr and IRNA's English-language accounts were still accessible as of Saturday evening.

Twitter apparently didn't tell the targeted agencies why they had been abruptly suspended, at least not immediately. Mehr said on its English website Saturday evening that it was in the dark about the reason for Twitter's crackdown, while denouncing it as "illegal."

The YJC denounced its suspension, saying the targeted agencies "had no other purpose than the publication of news and information." It reported that the accounts of other Iranian users were also suspended in the purge.

A day after the suspension, a Twitter official cited by AFP said that the agencies' accounts were blocked for "coordinated and targeted harassment" of the Baha'i religious minority in Iran.
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