Puppet MastersS


Hiliter

Pending successful reduction in violence, US-Taliban to sign deal next week


RFE/RL
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 06:58 UTC
taliban talks
© Aleksandr Zemillanichenko/APTaliban representatives and US talks in Qatar
A deal between the United States and the Taliban is expected to be signed on February 29 provided a "reduction in violence'" due to enter into force at midnight proves successful, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on February 21.

The United States and the Taliban have been engaged in talks to facilitate a political settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan and reduce the U.S. presence in the region, Pompeo said in a statement.
"In recent weeks, in consultation with the Government of National Unity, U.S. negotiators in Doha have come to an understanding with the Taliban on a significant and nationwide reduction in violence across Afghanistan. Upon a successful implementation of this understanding, signing of the U.S.-Taliban agreement is expected to move forward. We are preparing for the signing to take place on February 29."
Pompeo added that intra-Afghan negotiations will start soon thereafter, with the final aim of delivering "a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire and the future political road map for Afghanistan."

In a written statement, the Taliban confirmed the planned signing of a deal on February 29 "in front of international observers" and said that "the groundwork for intra-Afghan talks will be resolved," although it did not mention when such talks would start. The Taliban had previously refused to speak directly to the Afghan government, which it labeled a U.S. puppet.

Earlier on February 21, a senior Afghan official and several Taliban leaders said that the week-long "reduction in violence" will begin at midnight local time on February 22. "We hope it is extended for a longer time and opens the way for a cease-fire and intra-Afghan talks," Javed Faisal, Afghanistan's National Security Council spokesman, was quoted as saying. The talks between U.S. and Taliban representatives began in Qatar in 2018.

Comment: Sputnik, 21/2/1010: Afghan forces put on standby
Afghan troops will remain on standby even as the seven-day "reduction in violence" is set to take effect at midnight, the spokesman of the Afghan Security Council revealed on Friday.
"They will be just on standby and protect themselves from attacks and will not attack the Taliban. Afghan national forces will send first responders to places controlled by the Taliban," Javed Faisal said.
A high-ranking official in the restive Nangarhar province said that the Taliban were expected to cut back on attacks on public areas, roads, military bases and public services by 80 percent.

The US-Taliban agreement was met with relief in Afghanistan. Afghan lawmaker Saima Khogyani said the arrangement would bring almost two decades of fighting between the US and Taliban closer to an end. "That peace is the dream of our nation and now we get closer to this process," she stated.


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Telephone

Putin, Erdogan intensify contacts regarding Idlib; air concerns but no peace yet


RT
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 19:53 UTC
rocket launcher
© AFP/SANA/file photo
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked Syria over the phone, as their troops squared off in Idlib province. The topics of Syrian sovereignty and terrorist threat loomed large.

Putin expressed "serious concern about the ongoing aggressive actions of extremist groups," and emphasized the need for "unconditional respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Syria, the Kremlin readout of Friday's phone conversation said. Moscow and Ankara agreed to "intensify bilateral interagency consultations on Idlib," along with intensive military contacts.

It wasn't clear how that would translate on the ground in Idlib, where Turkey keeps sending troops and tanks.

Ankara's redout provided to the Turkish press says that Erdogan told Putin that "Assad regime's actions and the consequent humanitarian crisis must be stopped in Idlib."

Speaking to reporters in Istanbul ahead of the phone call with Putin, the Turkish leader said there will not be a truce unless the Syrian forces stop their "cruelty." "Unless the regime stops the persecution of the people of Idlib at this point, it is not possible to withdraw from there," Erdogan said, according to Daily Sabah.

Comment: Turkey is reporting one more of its soldiers killed in action in Idlib:
A Turkish soldier identified as Mecit Demir has been killed in a bombing in Idlib, the governor's office of the southern Turkish Gaziantep province said in a Twitter post.

Most recently, Turkish artillery struck Syrian positions as militants launched a "major offensive" to retake lost ground. The barrage ceased, though, when Moscow contacted Ankara. The Syrian Army supported by the Russian Air Force also managed to repel the attack.

Moscow also stepped up its diplomatic efforts to ease tensions on the ground. Yet, despite the "intensified contacts" between presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayip Erdogan, the fight in Idlib has showed no signs of waning so far.
Meanwhile, France and Germany are calling for a ceasefire:
French President Emmanuel Macron said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were calling on parties to the Syrian conflict to respect the ceasefire in the province of Idlib amid the ongoing escalation of tensions in the region.

"We believe that this situation could be settled only via a call for an immediate cessation of hostilities", Macron said at a press conference in Brussels on late Friday. He described the situation in Idlib as dangerous, adding that the current hostilities may result in a further uncontrolled escalation of violence.
"We know that today Idlib is facing a humanitarian disaster amid the ongoing offensive of the forces loyal to the Syrian regime, backed by Russia", the French leader said, adding that the hostilities left some hospitals and offices of non-governmental organizations ruined.
Macron also called for resuming the political settlement and Istanbul-format talks, which involve France, Germany, Russia and Turkey.


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Jet3

Syrian media releases video of repelling militant attack in Idlib


Sputnik
Sat, 22 Feb 2020 18:40 UTC
Siria idlib
© AFP 2019 / Omar Haj Kadour
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) released a video of how Syrian forces repelled militants near the village of Nerab, west of Sarakib in Idlib province.

Footage taken from a drone shows the destruction of terrorist armed vehicles, including tanks, armoured personnel carriers and pickup trucks loaded with weapons.


On Thursday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that militants supported by Turkish artillery had breached the defence positions of the Syrian army near the villages of Qmenas and Nerab in Idlib. A Russian Su-24 jet opened fire on the militants, helping the Syrian troops repel the advancing fighters. The Turkish Defence Ministry later reported that two Turkish soldiers had been killed and five injured in an air attack in Idlib, adding that over 50 Syrians had been killed as a result of return fire.

Comment: For news about the Syrian army's offensive against terrorist-held Idlib, and the jihadists counter-offensive, see: In addition to Aleppo international airport opening for the first time in 8 years, the Damascus-Aleppo road has also officially opened to traffic.

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Eye 1

Macron expels Yellow Vest leader from farming fair during visit


Sputnik
Sat, 22 Feb 2020 16:50 UTC
yellow vest
Eric Drouet, a leading public figure of French yellow vest protests, was expelled from an agricultural show in Paris on Saturday by President Emanuel Macron's bodyguards, media said.

The truck driver who rallied crowds against the government's plan to hike fuel tariffs in late 2018 called for a protest at the International Agricultural Show, which French presidents traditionally visit.

He was spotted in front of a cereal stall when a group of protesters around him started shouting "Dictatorship!" at the sight of Macron, the BFMTV news channel reported.

Comment: It's unlikely Macron's presence was welcomed by many of the farmers: See also: Yellow Vests & brass necks: The brutality of Macron's crackdown continues to be invisible

And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal #26: Globalization vs Nationalism - The Hidden Causes of The Yellow Vest Protests in France

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Eye 1

Leaked report shows EU scheme for pan-European network of facial recognition databases

Zach Campbell, Chris Jones
The Intercept
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 17:23 UTC
simulating facial recognition software poster
© REUTERS/Thomas PeterA man walks past a poster simulating facial recognition software.
A police investigator in Spain is trying to solve a crime, but she only has an image of a suspect's face, caught by a nearby security camera. European police have long had access to fingerprint and DNA databases throughout the 27 countries of the European Union and, in certain cases, the United States. But soon, that investigator may be able to also search a network of police face databases spanning the whole of Europe and the U.S.

According to leaked internal European Union documents, the EU could soon be creating a network of national police facial recognition databases. A report drawn up by the national police forces of 10 EU member states, led by Austria, calls for the introduction of EU legislation to introduce and interconnect such databases in every member state. The report, which The Intercept obtained from a European official who is concerned about the network's development, was circulated among EU and national officials in November 2019. If previous data-sharing arrangements are a guide, the new facial recognition network will likely be connected to similar databases in the U.S., creating what privacy researchers are calling a massive transatlantic consolidation of biometric data.

Comment: Handing over even more power to people and bureaucracies that have proven themselves to be either systemically corrupt or woefully inept seems to be a rather risky endeavor for what is, as of right now, a demonstrably inaccurate and Orwellian program:

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X

Here we go again: Trump dismisses new US intel claims of Russian interference in 2020 re-election bid


RFE/RL
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 06:51 UTC
Trump
© APUS President Donald Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected reported assertions by U.S. intelligence officials that Russia was interfering in the 2020 presidential election in a bid to help his reelection campaign.

In a post on Twitter on February 21, Trump described the reports as "another misinformation campaign...launched by Democrats in Congress."


The same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also rejected the reports as "more paranoid announcements. They have nothing to do with the truth," Peskov said.

The New York Times, The Washington Post, and AP separately reported on February 20 that the warning was given during a closed-door briefing by U.S. intelligence officials on February 13. They cited two officials familiar with the briefing who asked for anonymity.

The Times said the briefing angered Trump, who said Democrats would use the information against him.

The Kremlin on February 21 denied that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election campaign. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on February 21 that the warnings made by U.S. intelligence officials were false. "This is another in a series of paranoid reports, and we regret to say that they will become more frequent as the election approaches," Peskov said. "They certainly have nothing to do with the truth."

Comment: Trump's still tweeting:



Team Bloomberg made fools of themselves by tweeting "Feel the Burn" in Russian:


And it's no shock that Hillary Clinton is jumping on the bandwagon:


Some of the Twitter responses to Clinton here are priceless. But as RT points out, there's more to the story. Or, to be more precise, less to the story:
Efforts to get to the bottom of precisely what it was claimed the Russians were actually doing to help Trump in 2020 have come up empty. CBS reporter Catherine Herridge said the ODNI officials who briefed the House on the alleged meddling had no "signals intelligence" or any tangible material to offer as proof. The response was more than a little redolent of the "17 intelligence agencies" - which morphed into three, then became hand-picked agents from three - who had insisted, citing classified information the public simply wasn't permitted to see, that they had proof of a Kremlin-directed influence campaign intervening on behalf of Trump in the 2016 election. The unclassified section of their report - which included a lengthy discussion of RT programs long off the air - did not inspire confidence, however.

Perhaps having learned their lesson, intelligence officials speaking to the New York Times claimed that Russians weren't doing all the influencing themselves this time - instead, they were conning gullible Americans into repeating their talking points. "Undermining confidence in American election systems" (not exactly rocket science after the Iowa caucuses and 2016 in general) and "sowing doubt over close elections and recounts" would be two dead giveaways that one was dealing with a victim of Russian influence operations, the officials said.
In other words, normal people are saying things the U.S. intelligence agency doesn't like, ergo they are Russian puppets.

Finally, arch-slimeball Eric Swalwell took to CNN to make an even bigger fool of himself and show just what an idiot he actually is (as if it wasn't obvious already):







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Megaphone

Tulsi Gabbard: How Democrats' impeachment campaign helped Trump

Tulsi Gabbard
Fortune
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 20:39 UTC
trump and nadler
© Chelsea Stahl / NBC News
Donald Trump must be defeated: Another four years of him as president would be a disaster. Unfortunately, as I warned, the Democrats' hyper-partisan impeachment process has increased the likelihood that he will be re-elected. After Trump's acquittal in the Senate, his approval rating reached the highest levels since he took office. And the risk that he will win in November is much greater than before.

This was entirely foreseeable.

For years I have stressed the need for our leaders to make decisions based on thoughtfulness and foresight — not just emotion, or what may "feel good" in a given moment. This is especially important in the area of foreign policy, as politicians' desire to "do something" too often overrides careful consideration of the unintended consequences of the actions they take. Time and time again, their poor judgment has led to worse outcomes in the countries where we recklessly intervene, and for our own country's national security.
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Airplane

Was MH17 properly investigated? Leaked documents cast doubt

Max van der Werff
Max from the Wharf
Thu, 20 Feb 2020 13:31 UTC
MH17 wreckage
© AP/Peter DejongMH17 wreckage
In this article the contents of four leaked MH17 Joint Investigation Team documents are analysed by me on behalf of Bonanza Media:

DOC 1. Is a 'Record Of Interview' (ROI) between an officer of the Australian Federal Police and journalist Billy Six.

DOC 2. As part of 'OPERATION AVENELLA' imagery specialist Shaun Ellis and geospatial specialist Tim Johns from Australia examined four images.

DOC 3. WITNESS TESTIMONY is a Record Of Interview with a witness refuting the claim Ukrainian Air Force did not fly.

DOC 4. LETTER about BUK Positions from the Dutch Military Information and Investigation Service legal affairs department addressed to the public prosecutor at the National Prosecutor's Office on Counter Terrorism.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Nano-technology: one world, one brain

Jon Rappoport
Jon Rappoport Blog
Fri, 21 Feb 2020 20:06 UTC
From lexico.com: nanotechnology: "The branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometers, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules."
Nanotechnology
© Medium
The recent arrest of Harvard pioneer in the field of nanotechnology, Charles Lieber — on charges of lying to federal authorities about his business connections to China — has exposed wide-ranging relationships among American and Chinese researchers.

These relationships include, above all, the open sharing of sensitive technologies that, once upon a time, would have been considered closely guarded state secrets. (See my recent piece, "Behind the explosive Charles Lieber scandal.")

Here are quotes from the journal Nano Today, from a 2019 paper titled: "Nanowire probes could drive high-resolution brain-machine interfaces". Its authors are Chinese and American:
  • ...advances can enable investigations of dynamics in the brain [through tiny sensor-implants] and drive the development of new brain-machine interfaces with unprecedented resolution and precision.
  • ...output electrical signals of brain activity or input electrical stimuli to modulate brain activity in concert with external machines, including computer processors and prosthetics, for human enhancement...
Aside from research into prosthetics and, perhaps, the reversal of certain paralyses, this avenue of investigation also suggests "modulation" of the brain, hooked to machines, for the purpose of control. Control of thoughts, sensations, emotions.

And along with the Internet of Things, why couldn't that control eventually be extended, in order to "harmonize" many, many brains with one another?
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Airplane

MH17 truth - before the Dutch, Australians, Ukrainians screen their lie show

John Helmer
johnhelmer.net
Wed, 19 Feb 2020 19:26 UTC
mh17 lies
New evidence leaked last week from the files of the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) proves that Dutch state prosecutors have concealed and suppressed evidence of a direct witness of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

That witness, a Ukrainian villager under MH17's flight path, reported to a Dutch police investigator in July 2015 that he had seen two Ukrainian Air Force fighter jets in the air at the time of the shootdown; a plume moving horizontally across the sky, indicating an air-to-air missile launch, not a missile fired from the ground; and the subsequent fall of the MH17 itself.

Another of the documents leaked shows that Dutch prosecutors have concealed an official report by Major-General Onno Eichelsheim, director of the Dutch military intelligence service (MIVD). Addressed to the National Prosecutor's Office for Counter-Terrorism, and dated September 21, 2016, Eichelsheim said that "flight MH17 was flying beyond the range of all identified and operational Ukrainian and Russian locations where 9K37M1 Buk M1 systems were deployed."

A third piece of evidence, hidden until now, is a report by the Australian Federal Police to the JIT dated July 2015. This concludes that images published internationally of a Russian BUK missile carrier alleged to have been the weapon used against MH17 had been "manipulated" and almost certainly had not been recorded at the time of the MH17 incident. The newly discovered evidence is inconclusive on what or who caused the downing of MH17. But the leaked documents show that the Dutch court trial, scheduled to start in The Hague on March 9 is a sham, its evidence inadmissible in a criminal proceeding in the UK or the US.

The new evidence has been presented by Bonanza Media, a partnership of Max van der Werff and Yana Yerlashova, and released with analysis by van der Werff. Read this in full here.

Comment: For more on the recent leaks, see:

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