Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

With a Russian nudge, Turkey and Syria step up contacts

Orhan Coskun, Laila Bassam
Reuters
Fri, 16 Sep 2022 03:00 UTC
AkarFidan
© Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool/ReutersTurkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar • Intelligence Chief Hakan Fidan
Turkey's intelligence chief has held multiple meetings with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus over the last few weeks, a sign of Russian efforts to encourage a thaw between states on opposite sides of Syria's war, four sources said.

A regional source aligned with Damascus told Reuters that Hakan Fidan, head of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT), and Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk met as recently as this week in the Syrian capital.

The contacts reflect a Russian policy shift as Moscow steels itself for a protracted conflict in Ukraine and seeks to secure its position in Syria, where its forces have supported President Bashar al-Assad since 2015, according to two Turkish officials and the regional source.

Any normalisation between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decade-long Syrian war.
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X

Big Tech steps up censorship after Biden speech


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2022 14:41 UTC
Biden
© Susan Walsh/APUS President Joe Biden • "United We Stand Summit"
White House • September 15, 2022
YouTube, Twitch, Microsoft, as well as Facebook and Instagram parent firm Meta announced on Thursday that they would monitor and remove allegedly hateful and extremist content after President Joe Biden made a speech portraying white supremacy as rampant in the US.

According to a White House website, YouTube will expand its removal of content "glorifying violent acts" and will launch a campaign to help young users identify the "manipulation tactics used to spread misinformation." Twitch will make it easier for users to report "hate and harassment," Microsoft will use artificial intelligence to "detect credible threats of violence" from those who use its products, and Meta will partner with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies' Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism to "analyze trends in violent extremism and... help communities combat it."

These firms already have extensive policies on allegedly hateful content, but liberals argue that such content still proliferates, and conservatives claim that these policies are used to discriminate against them for political reasons.

Comment: Biden offers big tech exactly what it wants: An excuse for Power.

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Stormtrooper

Ukraine has upped the ante in its conflict with Russia, how will Moscow respond?

Sergey Poletaev
RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2022 18:05 UTC
Russian soldier ukraine
© RIA/Alexey MaishevA Russian soldier in the southern sector of the special military operation in Ukraine.
Kiev's Western-assisted advance raises some questions for decision makers in Russia

After Russia and its local allies liberated Severodonetsk and Lisichansk in early July, the fighting in Ukraine subsided somewhat. It seemed as if Moscow was deliberately letting the conflict settle into something with an air of the routine. Relatively little resources were being spent on it, while the state apparatus was working to overcome the effects of sanctions and to adapt the economy.

During this time, the military operation was taking place in a kind of 'standby mode' against the background of turbulence in the global economy and the deepening energy crisis in Europe.

However, in late summer and early autumn, events on the Ukrainian front called into question the prospects for such a frozen state. As we had anticipated, the operational pause on the part of the Russian army led to the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) seizing the initiative and eventually launching two counter-offensive operations.

Comment: Russia reiterates its ability to control the tempo of the conflict:


Military analyst Scott Ritter weighs in:




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Eye 1

Facebook spied on private messages of Americans who questioned 2020 election

Miranda Devine
NY Post
Wed, 14 Sep 2022 16:58 UTC
facebook
© NurPhoto via Getty ImagesFacebook spied on the private messages of Americans who questioned the 2020 election
Facebook has been spying on the private messages and data of American users and reporting them to the FBI if they express anti-government or anti-authority sentiments — or question the 2020 election — according to sources within the Department of Justice.

Under the FBI collaboration operation, somebody at Facebook red-flagged these supposedly subversive private messages over the past 19 months and transmitted them in redacted form to the domestic terrorism operational unit at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, without a subpoena.

"It was done outside the legal process and without probable cause," alleged one of the sources, who spoke on condition of ­anonymity.

"Facebook provides the FBI with private conversations which are protected by the First Amendment without any subpoena."

These private messages then have been farmed out as "leads" to FBI field offices around the country, which subsequently requested subpoenas from the partner US Attorney's Office in their district to officially obtain the private conversations that Facebook already had shown them.
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War Whore

Ukrainian strike hits Kherson administration - authorities


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2022 16:56 UTC
kherson building bombed
© RIA
The Ukrainian military has struck the office of the pro-Russian administration in the southern city of Kherson, the local authorities claim. Kirill Stremousov, the deputy chair of the military-civilian administration, said the strike was meant specifically to take him out.

According to RIA Novosti, citing a correspondent on the ground, the attack left at least one person dead and another one injured. The report claims at least five missiles launched from a US-made HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) hit the seat of the pro-Russian administration.

One of the rockets hit the office of the local authorities, a member of the military-civilian administration, Ekaterina Gubareva, told journalists.

She called the strike a "craven act of terrorism."
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Light Sabers

Moscow slams West over Ukrainian grain deal


RT
Fri, 16 Sep 2022 16:45 UTC
ukraine grain ship
© Yasin AKGUL / AFP
The sanctions the West has imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict stand in the way of the grain deal that was supposed to allow Moscow to export food products and fertilizers, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said on Thursday.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting, Nebenzia slammed Western "illegal unilateral sanctions," thwarting the implementation of the UN- and Turkey-brokered deal unblocking Ukrainian grain export via the Black Sea in exchange for Russian agricultural products gaining unimpeded access to global markets.

"The European Union and the United States' narrative saying that their sanctions do not interfere with the export of food and fertilizers does not reflect reality," Russia's envoy noted.

According to Nebenzia, about 300,000 tons of Russian fertilizer to the tune of "tens of millions of dollars" have been stuck in European ports due to the sanctions.
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Snowflake

Most difficult winter since 1945 to come - Serbian president


RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2022 06:54 UTC
Fire Wood
© Getty Images / Johannes Simon / Staff
Alexandar Vucic attributed his gloomy forecast to both political turmoil and the economic crisis.

The next six months will be the most difficult period for Europe since the Second World War, due to both the economic and political challenges, Serbian President Alexandar Vucic said on Wednesday.

Vucic referred to the words of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who recently warned of the risk of a "full stop" of the European economy amid the energy crisis, exacerbated by Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Western sanctions against Moscow, and significant cuts in Russian energy supplies.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

US will cross 'red line' if it gives Ukraine longer-range missiles - Russia


Press TV
Thu, 15 Sep 2022 15:44 UTC
Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Russia has warned if the United States supplies Ukraine with longer-range missiles, Washington will cross a "red line" and become "a party to the conflict," more than six months into Moscow's military operation in the ex-Soviet republic.

In a press conference on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia "reserves the right to defend its territory."

"If Washington decides to supply longer-range missiles to Kiev, then it will be crossing a red line, and will become a direct party to the conflict," she warned.


Comment: Russia is just being strategically patient and lenient, because the US has already admitted that it is a direct party to the proxy-war: US & EU special forces and the CIA ARE on the ground in Ukraine after all - Coordinating Ukraine's weapons, training, and 'attack app'


Comment: Also recently former President Dmitry Medvedev warned that the West of the potential apocalyptic consequences of its attacks on Russia; it's worth reading in full, here.

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Magnify

Six degrees from Brookings: How a liberal think tank keeps coming up in the Russian collusion investigation

Jonathan Turley
jonathanturley.org
Mon, 08 Nov 2021 00:00 UTC
ClintonBrookings
© Brookings Institute InternshipsHillary Clinton • Brookings Institute
The latest indictment by Special Counsel John Durham has created a stir in Washington as the investigation into the Russian collusion scandal exposed new connections to the Clinton campaign. The indictment of Igor Danchenko exposes additional close advisers to Hillary Clinton who allegedly pushed discredited and salacious allegations in the Steele dossier. However, one of the most interesting new elements was the role of a liberal think tank, the Brookings Institution, in the alleged effort to create a false scandal of collusion. Indeed, Brookings appears so often in accounts related to the Russian collusion scandal that it could be Washington's alternative to the Kevin Bacon parlor game. It appears that many of these figures are within six degrees of Brookings.
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Green Light

China will work with Russia as 'great powers' - Xi


RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2022 15:18 UTC
Xi/Put
© Getty Images/TPGChinese President Xi Jinping • Russian President Vladimir Putin
Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to work with Moscow to take on the responsibilities of "great powers," he told his Russian counterpart on Thursday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand. Xi told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a leaders' summit at the SCO:
"China is willing to make efforts with Russia to assume the role of great powers, and play a guiding role to inject stability and positive energy into a world rocked by social turmoil."
Putin likewise praised the "multifaceted ties" the two countries have forged, in particular their trade relationship. Highlighting the exchange of $140 billion in trade with Beijing last year, he noted that the volume had increased 25% in the first half of 2022 and said he hoped the figure could reach $200 billion by the end of the year.

The Russian leader affirmed Moscow's support for Beijing's 'One China' policy and condemned
"the attempts at provocations by the United States in and around Taiwan. Overall I have to say that attempts at creating a unipolar world have been quite ugly and unacceptable as of late for the majority of the nations on this planet."

Comment: Iran prepares to join SCO:
Iran has signed a memorandum paving the way to transition from its current observer status to full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The Middle-Eastern nation, which the US has long sought to undermine with diplomatic isolation and economic sanctions, made a formal step on Thursday to become the ninth member of the organization.

The SCO was created in 2001 as an intragovernmental forum aimed at fostering trust and developing economic and humanitarian ties in Asia. It currently has eight permanent members: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The last is currently hosting the annual summit of the leaders of the member states in the city of Samarkand.

Iran has been an SCO observer since 2005. Its delegation to the summit is headed by President Ebrahim Raisi, who met with senior Uzbek officials on Wednesday.

Yury Ushakov, a foreign affairs advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said earlier this week that Iran could qualify for being upgraded to full membership before next year's SCO summit in India.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev touted this year's event as a turning point for the organization. He cited the rapidly growing interest of nations in closer involvement with the SCO and said that it served as an example of how a "deep crisis of trust at the global level" can be overcome by parties willing to do so. He also stressed the scale of the group, which accounts for roughly half of the world's population and a quarter of global GDP.

Belarus, also an SCO observer, is set to start the formal process for full membership this year. Egypt and Qatar formally joined the organization as dialogue partners on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia is scheduled to do the same, while Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Myanmar, and the Maldives are expected to begin their respective paths to receiving the same status.


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