Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

What Afghanistan's Saigon moment teaches us about America's 'humanitarian wars'

Maram Susli
RT
Mon, 16 Aug 2021 09:38 UTC
Chopper/Soldier
© Antonio Olmos/The ObserverUS Army helicopter evacuates injured soldier of the 101st Airborne in Panjwai district, 2010.
What we've just witnessed in Afghanistan is a historical repeat of the 'Saigon moment'. But the final hours of the US occupation have been accompanied by a cacophony of neocons decrying the decision to end the war.

They cite women's rights, regional stability and anti-terrorism as reasons the US should have remained in Afghanistan. But those were the very reasons cited for starting the war in the first place, back in 2001. How many more decades do they expect the world to be held hostage to the narratives of 'the humanitarian war'? It's now, at the end of the US's longest war, that we must reflect on the past 20 years, and consider how it was that those false "humanitarian" narratives led us to this point.

Some of the most grave human rights violations occurred at the very onset of the war.

In the first months, the US dropped thousands of yellow cluster bombs around Afghan villages. They resembled aid packages - also yellow. Children would rush to collect what they believed to be food, only to end up dead after picking up and setting off an explosive device.

In an incident now known as 'the convoy of death', Taliban fighters who surrendered to the Afghan Northern Alliance were stuffed into sealed shipping containers and allowed to asphyxiate as they were driven across the desert - allegedly under the watchful eye of the CIA.
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Syringe

Catherine Austin Fitts' approach for dealing with vaccine mandates

Jon Rappoport
blog.nomorefakenews.com
Tue, 31 Aug 2021 01:28 UTC
Catherine Austin Fitts
© UvacallCatherine Austin Fitts
"If I taught a college course, I'd take students through a year of tracking a descending trail of government documents, moving down into finer and finer detail as we go; and at the bottom of the trail, which is Hell, we would either find a vacuum, nothing at all, no meaning, a blank; or the clear evidence of intent to do great harm, and to evade discovery. That's where the details take you, when you break them down far enough."
-Richard Bell
My longtime friend and colleague, Catherine Austin Fitts, who founded and heads up a marvelous and essential organization, Solari (solari.com), has suggested an approach to dealing with vaccine mandates.

This is an individual strategy, and it's much more. It could open a wide legal and financial doorway for every person who wants to exercise free choice when it comes to COVID vaccination.

Comment: See also:

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Airplane

'Righteous' drone strike in Kabul killed 'at least one' ISIS-K terrorist, Pentagon says amid reports of seven dead children


RT
Wed, 01 Sep 2021 22:19 UTC
Milley
© Michael Reynolds/APChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley
The US drone strike in Kabul that allegedly killed seven children was "righteous," followed proper procedures, and eliminated "at least one" person who was a "facilitator" for ISIS-K terrorists, the top US military officer said.

Sunday's strike had targeted a vehicle in Kabul, which the US Central Command said represented an "imminent" threat to the evacuation efforts ongoing at Hamid Karzai International Airport at the time.

Local media and the Taliban, however, said that 10 civilians were killed as a result - seven of them children.

Addressing reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley repeated the claim by CENTCOM that "secondary explosions" were evidence that the vehicle was intended to attack the airport. He told the reporters:

"At this point, we think that the procedures were correctly followed, and it was a righteous strike and that "at least one" person who was killed was a "facilitator" for the terrorist group Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K). It was ISIS-K that claimed responsibility for last Thursday's suicide bombing outside the airport, which killed an estimated 200 Afghans and 13 US troops.

"Were the others killed? Yes. Who are they? We don't know," Milley said, adding there would be an investigation.

Initially, CENTCOM said that there were "no indications" of civilian casualties from the "self-defense" strike.

Comment: The US general implies blowing up seven children was an acceptable tradeoff for one possible terrorist. No apology necessary. It's just standard procedure.

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Family

Pro-Life Win: SCOTUS lets Texas six week abortion ban stand

Paul Bois
Breitbart
Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:00 UTC
abortion ruling
© Getty Images/AFP/M. NganSupreme Court ruling on Texas law
In a pro-life victory, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 on Wednesday not to block the new Texas law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy while legal challenges to that law proceed in lower courts.

A narrow majority of justices held that the abortion-provider plaintiffs had failed to meet the high standard required for the Supreme Court to issue an injunction blocking a law before it goes into effect.

Signed in May by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Senate Bill 8 effectively bans abortions in the Lone Star State the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected, which often occurs after six weeks of pregnancy. Since women do not often detect pregnancy prior to the sixth week, the law effectively bans abortions in the state. Multiple states have tried to implement similar measures only to be blocked by the courts.

The five-justice majority of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and Trump-appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett did not issue a published opinion with their decision, so the precise reasoning of the Court remains unclear, including whether the Texas law would survive a constitutional challenge on the merits when that question is squarely before the Supreme Court.
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Footprints

Taliban reportedly launches offensive in Panjshir Province after negotiations with resistance failed


Sputnik
Thu, 02 Sep 2021 07:40 UTC
Panjshir province recruits
© Ahmad/Sahel Arman/AFPAfghan resistance forces in Panjshir province
The developments come as the Taliban* is expected to announce a new Afghan government on 2 September. It was also earlier reported that resistance forces in Panjshir had pledged to continue fighting the movement.

The Taliban has launched a military operation in the Afghan province of Panjshir after negotiations with resistance forces, headed by Ahmad Massoud, allegedly failed, Al Jazeera reported on 2 September, citing a Taliban source.

The resistance forces earlier said that they would continue fighting the Taliban as their negotiations did not bear fruit.

The Taliban reportedly offered the resistance forces one or two seats in the government they were trying to form, but the resistance turned the offer down.

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem told Sputnik that the movement was not going to take Panjshir by force, dismissing media reports that the leaders of the resistance had declared the negotiations failed and the Taliban were planning to force their way into the province.

Comment: Taliban says 'thanks, but no thanks' to the resistance deal:
The resistance forces in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Panjshir said on Wednesday that they would continue fighting the Taliban as their negotiations did not lead to any results.

Earlier in the day, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem told Sputnik that the movement was not going going to take Panjshir by force, dismissing media reports that the leaders of the resistance had declared the negotiations failed and the Taliban were planning to force their way into the province.

"After the negotiations fell through and the last Taliban attack, it was decided that the negotiations are over and fighting against the Taliban will take place in Panjshir and other regions of Afghanistan," the National Resistance Front said in a statement.

According to the Front, the Taliban offered it one or two seats in the government they were trying to form, but the resistance turned the offer down.
See also:

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Pirates

As Afghan war ends, $24bn bump for Pentagon budget approved by House


RT
Thu, 02 Sep 2021 08:56 UTC
Afghan armed men
© Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN / AFPFILE PHOTO. Afghan armed men in Panjshir province.
Just after the US military's wasteful Afghanistan mission came to a close, House legislators marked almost $24 billion in extra defense spending supposedly needed to maintain America's competitive edge against Russia and China.


Comment: The US spends more than Russia and China combined and still struggles to compete.


The House Armed Services Committee held a marathon session on Wednesday to markup the spending under the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Lawmakers from both parties joined forces to defy President Joe Biden's intention to keep the Pentagon budget at $715 billion for next year, essentially keeping it at the same level as last year. Instead, an extra $23.9 billion was set to be poured into weapons procurement, research and other areas.

The financial boost was proposed by Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the ranking Republican member on the committee, who welcomed the passage of his proposal as a snub to Biden from his own party.

Comment: In ponerized US institutions, incompetence surely has reached critical levels, but it's also clear that corruption is diverting those funds for more nefarious purposes; the question is: what are these unfathomable sums of taxpayers money being spent on? Also check out SOTT radio's: MindMatters: How Psychopaths Infect and Destroy Hierarchies of Competence



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Vader

Never fear: America's empire builders have another pawn to fuel their apocalyptic chess game - Ukraine

Tarik Cyril Amar
RT
Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:45 UTC
Michael McFaul
© Reuters / Vladimir PirogovOut-of-work ex-ambassador Michael McFaul grasps for relevance in WaPo op-ed
The Ukrainian President's trip to Washington has drawn out the West's "Russia-watchers" in force. Among them is Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Moscow who has since morphed into a prolific, if unreliable, commentator.

In a new op-ed in the Washington Post, McFaul makes it clear he sees Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting with President Joe Biden as in need of a loud battle cry, appealing to the American government and the public to rally behind Ukraine's calls for support. But, as is customary in the Stanford professor's output, Kiev is really just an excuse, almost reduced to a mere pretext.
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Boat

Beijing tightens maritime rules for foreign ships, Pentagon bleats about 'serious threat' to freedom of navigation


RT
Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:35 UTC
china soldiers partol sea lanes
© Stringer/ReutersChinese soldiers patrol the beach on Woody Island in the South China Sea, 2016.
The US Defense Department has accused Beijing of undermining international law after the country tightened regulations for foreign vessels entering its territorial waters amid the tensions in the South China Sea.

"The United States remains firm that any coastal state law or regulation must not infringe upon navigation and overflight rights enjoyed by all nations under international law," John Supple, a Pentagon spokesperson, said, as quoted by the South China Morning Post.

Comment: China has been tolerant in the face of Western provocations in its territorial waters. The have apparently reached the limit of their patience.

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Chess

EU trying to shut its borders to Afghan refugees & instead direct them to poor ex-Soviet states in Central Asia, Russia claims

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:37 UTC
barbed fence
© REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
European Union member states are trying to shut their borders to Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban and instead want to send them to countries bordering Afghanistan, Russia's Permanent Representative at the EU said on Wednesday.

Speaking to TV channel Russia 24, Vladimir Chizhov explained that the EU is trying to shield its territory from a wave of migrants.

"Today, we see an attempt by the European Union ... to solve two problems," he said, according to news agency TASS. "On the one hand, to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan ... and, on the other hand, to protect its own territory from a massive influx of refugees."

"Here, as you understand, there is a problem, including for us, because the countries neighboring Afghanistan are, among others, Central Asian countries, our allies and partners," Chizhov added.
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Pocket Knife

'Artery of friendship': Seoul proposes extending legendary Trans-Siberian railway from Vladivostok through to North & South Korea

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:32 UTC
Trans-Baikal railway
© Sputnik / Evgeny Epanchintsev
The Trans-Siberian railway could be an artery of friendship and economic partnership for North and South Korea, Seoul's Unification Minister said on Thursday during the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok.

Speaking remotely to Forum guests, Lee In-young called for improvement in transport connections between the two Koreas, expressing hope that a train from the South Korean port city of Busan could "pass through North Korean territory, get to Vladivostok and move on to various routes that may have tourist value."

If this comes to pass, the Trans-Siberian Railway will turn into an "artery of friendship" to enable the development of "peace and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula," he said.
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