Puppet MastersS


Jet5

Idlib air war heats up: Syrian forces in counter-attack near Saraqib


South Front
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
map Idlib
On March 1, the Syrian Army and Hezbollah launched a counter-attack on Turkish-led forces in the area of Saraqib retaking the villages of Jawbas, San, Dadikh and Kafr Battikh, and forcing Turkish-backed militants to retreat from the eastern part of Saraqib itself.

According to pro-government sources, Syrian artillery and air forces were carrying out an active bombing campaign in support of this attack. Russian warplanes were also involved.

These developments took place amid the heating up air war over Greater Idlib. Turkish state media reported that Turkish artillery and drones had targeted Al-Nayrab military airport operated by the Syrian military near Aleppo city.

Comment: See also: Turkey's Idlib mess? Even NATO won't touch it!





Read More...
Arrow Down

Trump administration yanks green cards from those who abuse US welfare system

Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
Sat, 29 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
Cuccinelli
© AP/Evan VucciActing Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli
Conservatives have been trying for decades to create an immigration system that rewards immigrants who won't be a burden on society and discourages those who will.

The Trump administration this week began enforcing the "public charge" rule, giving U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the authority to refuse green cards — the key step on the path to citizenship — to people who have used a wide range of nonemergency welfare programs.

"The main reason this got done is because we have a president who is determined enough to make self-sufficiency matter again in a meaningful way," said Ken Cuccinelli, who pushed through the rule as acting chief of USCIS and is now acting deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. "That kind of entrepreneurial mentality is a natural for him."

Like most of President Trump's other immigration moves, this one has survived an onslaught of court challenges, howls of complaints from Democrats on Capitol Hill and fierce opposition of immigration rights groups, who called it racist and elitist.

The administration said the vision of self-sufficient immigrants has been part of the American vision since Colonial times and was explicitly written into law in 1882, when Congress banned any immigrant who was "unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge."

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Attention

Turkey's Idlib mess? Even NATO won't touch it!

Scott Ritter
RT
Fri, 28 Feb 2020 15:47 UTC
Turkish forces
© Getty Images/Ibraham Hatib/Anadolu AgencyTurkish armed forces in Idlib de-escalation zone, February 20, 2020
Having been hit by the Syrian Air Force in Idlib, Turkey has called on NATO's protection, but as much as the alliance would like a fight with Assad and his ally Russia, it's refused to back Ankara's questionable adventure.

Turkey engaged NATO in Article 4 consultations, seeking help regarding the crisis in Syria. The meeting produced a statement from NATO condemning the actions of Russia and Syria and advocating for humanitarian assistance, but denying Turkey the assistance it sought.

The situation in Idlib province has reached crisis proportions. A months-long military offensive by the Syrian Army, supported by the Russian Air Force and pro-Iranian militias, had recaptured nearly one-third of the territory occupied by anti-Assad groups funded and armed by Turkey. In response, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dispatched thousands of Turkish soldiers, backed by thousands of pieces of military equipment, including tanks and armored vehicles, into Idlib to bolster his harried allies.

The result has been a disaster for Turkey, which has lost more than 50 soldiers and had scores more wounded due to Syrian air attacks. For its part, Russia has refrained from directly engaging Turkish forces, instead turning its attention to countering Turkish-backed militants. Faced with mounting casualties, Turkey turned to NATO for assistance, invoking Article 4 of the NATO charter, which allows members to request consultations whenever, in their opinion, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

Comment: Erdogan has always ridden the fence between US-NATO allies and Russia, playing one side against the other. Turkey now finds itself in an untenable position with neither side giving into his demands. As an invader, it would seem a dubious argument for Article 4 that Turkey's 'territorial integrity', 'political independence' or 'security' is being threatened.

See also:

Read More...
Star of David

Israel: Political stalemate may trigger yet another vote


Sputnik
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 13:59 UTC
Netanyahu
© Washington TimesIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
On 2 March Israel will go to the polls for the third time in less than a year. Although Netanyahu's Likud Party leads in the polls, his victory is far from being guaranteed. Things don't look bright for his rivals, either, and that means that yet another round of elections could take place.

In April 2019, during the first round of Israel's general polls, nobody saw it coming. Even though Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its rival, ex-chief of staff Benny Gantz' Blue and White came in equal, receiving 35 seats each in Israel's 120 seat parliament, the victory belonged to the right-wing bloc, which with 65 members had more than enough to form a stable government.

Once President Rivlin gave Netanyahu the mandate to start coalition talks, the situation looked promising. Negotiations with Gantz over a unity government were not an option, given the bad blood between the two leaders, and the prime minister opted for his "natural" partners - the right-wing bloc - thinking that victory was within arm's reach. He was wrong.
Read More...
Footprints

Trump: US troops to begin leaving Afghanistan 'immediately'


RFE/RL
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:48 UTC
Trump
© AP/Alex BrandonUS President Donald Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump says American troops will "immediately" begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan following the signing of a historic agreement with the Taliban that could end the country's 18-year war.

"Today -- They will start immediately," Trump told reporters at the White House on February 29 when asked when the soldiers will start to leave Afghanistan. "No one should be criticizing this deal, after 19 years," Trump said, adding that he will "be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-so-distant future," without being specific.

The comments came hours after an agreement was signed by the leader of the political wing of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and Washington's chief negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, in the Qatari capital, Doha.

The agreement lays out a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for various security commitments from the insurgents and a pledge to hold talks with the government in Kabul -- which it so far has refused to do.

Comment: Homeward bound? Not until the boots actually touch American soil.

Read More...
Vader

Did Erdogan just sacrifice Turkish troops to protect Al-Qaeda?

Matthew Ehret
Sott.net
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 19:54 UTC
us soldier turkey syria
© Agence France-Presse/Delil SouleimanA US soldier stands guard during a joint patrol with Turkish troops in the Syrian village of al-Hashisha on the outskirts of Tal Abyad town along the border with Turkey, on September 8, 2019.
After 33 Turkish troops were killed in a Syrian army offensive on February 27 amidst the current Russia-backed campaign to liberate Idlib, Erdogan responded by laying the blame entirely on Russia and Syria - successfully avoiding all mention of the uncomfortable fact that Turkey has been protecting radical terror networks not only in Idlib but across Syria as a whole for years.

During this time, Islamist forces within Turkey favorable to Assad's overthrow have been attempting to play a complex game of geopolitics for which they are totally unqualified.

Turkeyin over its head

One of the most wild-card members of NATO, Turkey had originally been preparing itself to gain entry into the European Union with the promise of being granted local control across the Middle East as a loyal member of the New World Order. This ambition for a revived Ottoman Empire made Erdogan an enthusiastic proponent of regime change in the Middle East, and as journalist Eva Bartlett has documented for years, resulted in Turkey's role as supplier of logistics, military hardware, training and monetary support to the various terrorist groups masquerading as anti-Assad regime freedom fighters.

Comment:

Read More...
Bullseye

It's older than you think: 'Russian collusion' has been a political weapon since the Cold War

Helen Buyniski
RT
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 19:40 UTC
russian hysteria
© Reuters / Yuri Gripas
The "Russian collusion" trope didn't just spring to life with US President Donald Trump in 2016 - accusations of taking help from the evil Russkies have dogged candidates who buck the establishment since the 1960s.

Trump may be the best-known candidate to attract allegations of being 'Putin's puppet,' but he is by no means the first. The Cold War was marked in the US by an ongoing 'red panic' that saw politicians accusing their enemies of doing Russia's bidding, whether as unwitting 'useful idiots' or even as Soviet spies. While this pattern died down after the Soviet Union fell and Washington's focus shifted to fearmongering about Islamic terrorism (which, ironically, they helped create, nurturing the mujahideen to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan), it has returned with a vengeance now that the US' geopolitical dominance of a unipolar world is no longer a certainty.
Read More...
MIB

Democratic congresswoman reportedly asks DOJ if Epstein was FBI informant

Sara Dorn
New York Post
Sat, 29 Feb 2020 18:44 UTC
epstein speier
© Getty ImagesJeffrey Epstein (left) and Jackie Speier
A California Democrat gave credence to a wild Jeffrey Epstein theory on Capitol Hill this week, asking a top Justice Department official whether the serial predator was an undercover FBI informant, a report said.

Rep. Jackie Speier reportedly asked John Demers, the assistant attorney general of the national security division, the way off topic question at a House Intelligence Committee briefing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, set to expire in several weeks, the Daily Beast reported.

She introduced her inquiry by noting the obvious — it was not on the agenda, the outlet reported. Demers answered that he had no knowledge of Epstein working for the agency, noting that he works for Justice, not the FBI, according to the report.

The lawmaker's question was reportedly sourced from a theory that law enforcement may have gone easy on Epstein in his 2007 Miami child sex abuse case, because he helped finger his powerful friends.
Read More...
Stock Down

WHO chief on coronavirus: Global markets 'should calm down and try to see the reality'

Natasha Turak
CNBC
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 18:34 UTC
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
© Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty ImagesWorld Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gestures during a press briefing on evolution of new coronavirus epidemic on January 29, 2020 in Geneva.
Market panic over the fast-spreading new coronavirus is uncalled for, the World Health Organization's director-general said Sunday as governments around the world rush to contain its spread.

"Global markets ... should calm down and try to see the reality," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told CNBC's Hadley Gamble during a panel discussion at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid Center's International Humanitarian Forum in Riyadh. "We need to continue to be rational. Irrationality doesn't help. We need to deal with the facts."

The comments come after global stocks were slammed in their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow Jones plunged a whopping 3,500 points across the week, more than 12%, its largest weekly point loss ever and biggest percentage drop in 12 years.

The deadly virus, which originated in China, has spread to more than 60 countries and killed at least 2,943 people. More than 85,000 people have been infected.

But the public response now must focus on facts instead of fear, Ghebreyesus stressed.

"We need to go into the numbers, we need to go into the facts, and do the right thing instead of panicking. Panic and fear is the worst."

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Binoculars

Guaido says Venezuelan government tried to assassinate him after gunman spotted at opposition rally


RT
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 18:26 UTC
Juan Guaido
© Juan Calero / ReutersJuan Guaido surrounded by his supporters at a protest rally in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. February 29, 2020.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has accused the government of trying to murder him, after a masked gunman was photographed at his rally and motorcycle-riding attackers reportedly shot up his motorcade.

The incident took place at an opposition rally in the city of Barquisimeto in Venezuela's northwestern Lara state on Saturday. Though no videos of the confrontation are available, a few photos from the scene were provided to the media by Guaido's team. They show an unidentified dark-clad man in a helmet pointing a gun toward a group of opposition activists and politicians, including Guaido. The gunman's face was covered with a cloth.


The city's former mayor and Guaido supporter Alfredo Ramos told AFP that the protesters were by around 200 pro-government activists and security personnel, but the masked gunman did not fire his weapon when that happened. Guaido's team said a 16-year-old protester sustained a gunshot wound in the leg sometime later.

In a separate incident, attackers on motorbikes reportedly shot at Guaido's motorcade and pelted it with stones. His team shared a photo of a vehicle with a damaged rear windshield.

Comment: Gauido taking a page out of his masters' playbook: before the evidence is in, accuse, accuse, accuse. Then follows the international condemnation, before any investigation has even established blame against the accused party. Geopolitics is the original #MeToo.

Read More...