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SOTT Focus: NewsReal: Groundhog Day in the Situation Room: Whacking 'Our' Terrorists, Hating on Russia


Sott.net
Mon, 07 Feb 2022 14:00 UTC
groundhog day biden isis newsreal
© Sott.net
President Joseph R Biden last week personally commanded a top military mission to 'take out' the 317th leader of Al-Qaeda... sorry, 'ISIS', in his hideaway on the Syrian-Turkish border. Quite what the (real) strategic purpose of the assault was, no one knows, but at least the most voted-for president in US history got his 'Osama-hunting' photo-op in the Situation Room and the US government reminded the world of its vital role in keeping the world safe... from its own terrorists.

Meanwhile the Russians still have not invaded Ukraine. Is there a time limit on how 'imminent' this possible future event is? On this NewsReal, Joe and Niall explain that the manipulation of Ukraine as 'leverage' against Russia, and the overall expansion of NATO eastwards, is a decades-old process that even current Washington actors warned against EVER doing, back during saner times...


Running Time: 02:38:50

Download: MP3 — 109 MB

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Document

Erdogan in Kiev, Putin in Beijing: Can neo-Ottomanism fit into Greater Eurasia?

Pepe Escobar
The Cradle
Fri, 04 Feb 2022 17:36 UTC
russia china erdogan turkey putin
© The CradleThe sweeping new Sino-Russian strategic partnership struck in Beijing this week has established clear expectations of geopolitically-ambiguous Eurasian states like Turkey
The Chinese year of the Black Water Tiger started with a big bang - a live Beijing summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping - and a minor bang - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Kiev, Ukraine. And yes, it's all interlinked.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov had revealed in advance that Putin-Xi would release a very important "joint statement on international relations entering a new era," with Russia and China in synch "on the most important world problems, including security issues."

Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Wang Yi, who worked non-stop prior to the summit, met the day before in Beijing to finalize the joint statement. Wang stressed the increasing interconnection of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), and much to the interest of the Global South, referred to extensive discussions on BRICS cooperation, Ukraine, Afghanistan and the Korean Peninsula.

Comment: See also:

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Newspaper

The Pakistani-Chinese strategic partnership isn't an anti-Modi alliance

Andrew Korybko
One World Press
Fri, 04 Feb 2022 12:00 UTC
india pakistan china
India’s political system allows for a diversity of discourse, including about foreign policy, but constructive critiques should be realistic and based upon actual facts. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s, however, aren’t either of these.
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday while speaking before the Lok Sabha. According to the Congress parliamentarian, "The single biggest strategic goal of India's foreign policy has been to keep Pakistan & China separate...You have brought Pakistan and China together. This is the single biggest crime that you could commit against the people of India." This assessment was rebuked by multiple government officials and wasn't even endorsed by US State Department spokesman Ned Price, who said that "I will leave it to the Pakistanis and the PRC (People's Republic of China) to speak to their relationship. I certainly would not - would not endorse those remarks." Some clarification is urgently in order so as to better understand this scandal.

Comment: See also:

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Better Earth

Trapped in IMF debt, Argentina turns to Russia and joins China's Belt & Road

Benjamin Norton
Multipolarista
Sun, 06 Feb 2022 22:42 UTC
Argentina Fernández Russia Putin China Jinping multipolar
Argentina's President Alberto Fernández meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping in February 2022
Argentina is trapped in $44 billion of IMF odious debt taken on by corrupt right-wing regimes. Seeking alternatives to US hegemony, President Alberto Fernández traveled to Russia and China, forming an alliance with the Eurasian powers, joining the Belt and Road Initiative.

The United States constantly intervenes in the internal affairs of Latin America, organizing coups d'etat, destabilizing independent governments, trapping nations in debt, and imposing sanctions. Washington sees the region as its own property, with President Joe Biden referring to it this January as "America's front yard."

Seeking alternatives to US hegemony, progressive governments in Latin America have increasingly looked across the ocean to form alliances with China and Russia.

Argentina's President Alberto Fernández did exactly that this February, taking historic trips to Beijing and Moscow to meet with his counterparts Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

Comment: It's perhaps no coincidence that this seeming acceleration in efforts between the aspiring multipolar world comes amidst ever more brazen attempts at destabilization by the West, including the recent coup attempt in Kazakhstan and the provocations in Ukraine: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Groundhog Day in the Situation Room: Biden's 'Osama' Moment?



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Bad Guys

UK adds new offences to its 'online safety bill'

Chris Price
BBC
Sat, 05 Feb 2022 12:00 UTC
phone mobile digital technology
© Getty
Sending "genuinely threatening" or "knowingly false" messages are among new criminal offences being added to proposed online safety laws.

If passed, the government's online safety bill could see social networks fined 10% of their global turnover if they fail to remove harmful content.

The changes mean they will also have to proactively remove harmful content.

The bill also covers revenge porn, human trafficking, extremism and promoting suicide online.

Comment: As has been the case with other recent bills governments have tried to ram through, hidden amongst reasonable legislation are other much more worrying proposals that are essentially designed to further the governments totalitarian agenda: UK's "draconian" protest bill defeated at House of Lords - for now

As an aside, let's once again meet Secretary of State for Digital, Media and Culture Nadine Dorries, who in this recent interview provides a clear example of the kind of person currently in a position of power in the UK:



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Burka

US State Dept backs latest raft of Saudi, UAE, Jordan arms sales despite Biden's claim to shift focus to 'human rights'


Al Jazeera
Fri, 04 Feb 2022 17:22 UTC
missile defence systems
© Andrew Cabellero-Reynolds/AFPThe US State Department has approved deals for the UAE and Saudi Arabia to upgrade their missile defence systems
The US State Department has approved Washington's latest raft of proposed weapons sales to the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) preliminarily approved for deals - if they are not blocked by US Congress.

The sales come at a time of heightened tensions with Iran, and as the UAE has seen a rare string of attacks claimed by the Houthis, a rebel group that a Saudi-led military coalition, of which the UAE is a member, continues to fight in Yemen.


Comment: US weapons sales will always come at a time of 'heightened tensions', because the US, its allies, and its vassals, are almost always involved in provocations somewhere.


Comment: Any claim that the US is shifting its focus to human rights is a sick joke. As just the most recent egregious example of its hypocrisy, it rejected Amnesty Internationals report that showed that as Israel has "an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination of the Palestinian population for the benefit of Jewish Israelis - a system of apartheid."

See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Kabul Airport Atrocity - What Actually Happened?



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Broom

Japan rejects US insistence it should sanction Russia based on 'speculations'


Al Mayadeen
Sat, 05 Feb 2022 19:56 UTC
japan biden Fumio Kishida
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden
Japanese Kyodo news agency reports that US officials have urged Japanese officials to consider introducing sanctions on Russia over an alleged "invasion" of Ukraine.

The US authorities are encouraging Japan to consider implementing economic sanctions against Russia in the event of an alleged "escalation" in Ukraine, yet the Japanese government speaks against rushing into such measures, media reported on Saturday.

Kyodo news agency reported, citing both US and Japanese diplomatic sources, that Washington urged Tokyo to toughen its criticism of Moscow over its buildup at the Ukrainian border.

Comment: Note that, decades ago, the US and NATO also agreed that expansion eastwards would constitute a threat to Russia, however in the years since they've repeatedly violated that agreement: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Ukraine Gambit - US Attempting to Destroy Russia



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Pirates

Wall Street pays out biggest bonuses since Great Recession of 2009

Tristan Bove
Fortune
Wed, 02 Feb 2022 22:51 UTC
Wall Street
© AP Photo / David Karp
Wall Street had a fantastic year, and they've decided to celebrate by rewarding bankers with the biggest bonuses since the end of the Great Recession.

A resurgent stock market in 2021, a flurry of new companies with exciting IPOs, and a revival of global dealmaking hitting record highs have meant that a lot of banks made a lot of money.


Comment: 'Compensation rates'... Lest we forget that banks 'made a lot of money' and were paying out record bonuses just before the global banking crash of 2008, and that's because they were involved an awful lot of dodgy deals.

Not long after tax payers bailed out the banks, and paid for it with a decade of austerity measures and slashes to public spending, banks, that hadn't implemented any worthwhile reforms, because governments never made them, went bank to paying unjustifiable bonuses.


Now, big banks are significantly increasing compensation rates for their most valued employees. Morgan Stanley said its compensation expenses had gone up 18% in 2021. Goldman Sachs spent around 23% more per employee in compensation in 2021 compared with 2020. And Bank of America also bumped up its compensation for dealmakers by 50% in 2021. These earnings are the highest Wall Street bankers have received since 2009, CNN reports.

Comment: One wonders how many of these deals and mergers that banks feasted upon are actually the fallout from the nearly 2 years of rolling lockdowns that devastated small and medium businesses? Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: The Great (End)Game - Closing the Afghan War, Opening the 'Covid War'?



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Light Saber

Hungary reportedly blocks Ukraine's accession NATO Cyber Center


Sputnik
Sat, 05 Feb 2022 12:00 UTC
nato
© AP Photo / Olivier Matthys
Hungary blocked Ukraine's accession to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), Ukrainian news website European Pravda reported on Friday, citing a source.Ukraine submitted an application to join the CCDCOE in August 2021.

On Thursday, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, said that one of the European countries blocked Ukraine's participation in the work of the CCDCOE, without specifying the country that blocked the accession.

According to European Pravda, the procedure for approving the Ukrainian application began in October. Had it been approved, Ukraine would have become a member of the centre as early as January 1, 2022.

Comment: Hungary stands out as one of the few EU countries that has relatively consistently stood its ground against both the EU and the US, although it has suffered for it, and it risks making itself a target for further Western hybrid warfare, however it at least it has something to show for it, such as its recent deals with Russia, and its likely it won't be the only country to bail on the ailing and addled Western establishment: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Canadian PM Flees Freedom Convoy as Washington Seeks War in Europe



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Bullseye

Former Kiev minister say anti-Russia sanctions are threat to Ukraine too

Layla Guest
RT
Sun, 06 Feb 2022 19:45 UTC
currency rates
© Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesPeople walk past a sign showing currency exchange rates in Simferopol, formerly in Ukraine, now in Crimea.
Moscow has previously warned that its disconnection from the SWIFT financial service would be felt across Europe

Should the West follow through on its threats to shut Russia off from the SWIFT financial transaction system, Ukraine would soon also feel the sting and be left in a difficult position, Kiev's former economy minister has cautioned.

Speaking as part of an appearance on Ukraine's Channel 4 on Thursday, Viktor Suslov, who served in the government from 1997-1998, set out how disconnecting Moscow from the global payment service would impact its neighbor.

"If we transport gas and Russia cannot pay for it, will Ukraine transit for free? Of course not," he explained. According to the politician, support from the International Monetary Fund would not save Kiev, because cash alone cannot replace gas or nuclear fuel.

Comment: Ukraine isn't the only country concerned about U.S. intentions:

German minister warns of 'system collapse' if Russia blocked from SWIFT, EU switch to Chinese payment system would cause 'serious damage'

Is Russia worried? Nyet.

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