Puppet MastersS


Arrow Down

DNC completely lost public trust in its primary process the very first day

Caitlin Johnstone
Medium.com
Tue, 04 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
inverted jackass
© unknown
After a 2016 presidential primary race riddled with scandals, all of which worked against Bernie Sanders to the advantage of anointed establishment favorite Hillary Clinton, the 2020 Democratic presidential primary elections officially began with a massive scandal working against Bernie Sanders to the advantage of an establishment favorite.

The 2020 Iowa caucuses turned out to have been designed to depend on the use of a new, untested app with extensive ties to establishment insiders and to the Pete Buttigieg campaign, and because of problems using this app as of this writing we are still waiting on the full results of the election. The Iowa Democratic Party has bizarrely released a partial result with 62 percent of 99 counties reporting, which just so happens to have favored the campaign of a Mr Peter Buttigeig, who in the sample came out on top in delegates despite coming in second in votes.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Report: At least 2 US troops killed, several wounded in Afghanistan firefight - UPDATES

Howard Altman, Shawn Snow
Military Times
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
Nangarhar
© U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jacob KroneMountainous terrain in southeastern Nangarhar
Numerous U.S troops were killed Saturday during a firefight in Afghanistan, according to the New York Times.

A military source, speaking to Military Times on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media, said at least two members of the 7th Special Forces Group — operating in eastern Afghanistan — were killed and several others wounded.

U.S. officials told Military Times they could not immediately confirm reports about casualties. However, an official did say that the U.S. and Afghan forces conducting an operation in Nangarhar Province were engaged by direct fire on Saturday, according Col. Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan.

"We are assessing the situation and will provide further updates as they become available," he said in an emailed statement Saturday.

Comment: UPDATE: RT, 8/2/2020: US, Afghan forces under 'direct fire'
"A combined US and Afghan force conducting an operation in Nangarhar Province was engaged by direct fire on February 8," Col. Sonny Leggett, spokesperson for US forces in Afghanistan, announced. "We are assessing the situation and will provide further updates as they become available."

There's also a possibility that it was an insider attack. Mubariz Khadem, a senior security official in Nangarhar, told Reuters that US and Afghan forces clashed. The so called "green-on-blue" attacks used to be frequent during 18 years of American presence in the country, but have not taken place recently.
UPDATE: RT, 9/2/2020: 2 US troops killed, 6 injured by 'individual in Afghan uniform'
At least two US service members were killed and six others injured after an individual in "Afghan uniform" armed with a machine gun opened fire on a joint patrol in Afghanistan, the US military has confirmed.

The incident took place in Nangarhar province earlier on Saturday as a combined US and Afghan force was returning from a "key-leader engagement."

The wounded service members are receiving medical treatment at a US facility, Colonel Sonny Leggett added, sharing no details of their condition."We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time." No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Update 11 Feb 2020

The two soldiers the Pentagon admits were killed have been named:
On Sunday, the Pentagon identified the two Americans killed as Sgt. 1st Class Javier Jaguar Gutierrez, 28, of San Antonio, Texas, and Sgt. 1st Class Antonio Rey Rodriguez, 28, of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Both soldiers, who were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), were posthumously promoted after the attack.


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Light Saber

House Cleaning: Trump ousts key impeachment figures Sondland, Vindman

Alex Pappas
Fox News
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 18:29 UTC
Ambassador Sondland recalled hours after Lt. Col. Vindman was escorted out of the White House.
Trump fired shots
© Paul Zanetti
U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who testified about President Trump's Ukraine dealings during the House impeachment hearings, said Friday he had been recalled from his overseas position, hours after a National Security Council aide who testified against the president was also fired.

"I was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as United States ambassador to the European Union," Sondland said.

Sondland's recall follows the dismissal of another impeachment witness, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was fired by the National Security Council and escorted off of the White House grounds on Friday.
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Star of David

Flashback Best of the Web: Israel admits arming anti-Assad Syrian 'rebels'. That was a big mistake

Daniel J. Levy
Haaretz
Sun, 03 Feb 2019 19:59 UTC
Free Syrian army damascus suburb
© ReutersA fighter from the Free Syrian Army's Al Rahman legion carries a weapon as he walks towards his position on the front line against the forces of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in a Damascus suburb
For the first time on the record, a senior official confirmed Israel's secret unconventional war in Syria, aimed at preventing Iranian encroachment. But what did Israel gain from exposing its 'anti-intervention' lie after so many years of denial?

In his final days as the Israel Defense Forces' Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot confirmed, on the record, that Israel had directly supported anti-Assad Syrian rebel factions in the Golan Heights by arming them.

This revelation marks a direct break from Israel's previous media policy on such matters. Until now, Israel has insisted it has only provided humanitarian aid to civilians (through field hospitals on the Golan Heights and in permanent healthcare facilities in northern Israel), and has consistently denied or refused to comment on any other assistance.

In short, none other than Israel's most (until recently) senior serving soldier has admitted that up until his statement, his country's officially stated position on the Syrian civil war was built on the lie of non-intervention.

Comment: This article was published almost exactly one year ago. What a change since then. Syria has regained two-thirds of its territory, and with Russian support, is well on the way to pushing Turkey's terrorist proxies out of Idlib. Unfortunately, the US is still squatting in the resource-rich north-east of the country and at the Al-Tanf border crossing with Iraq, but (probably on Russia's advice) Idlib must be dealt with first. Regaining the illegally-occupied Golan Heights is a distant goal still, but it's unlikely Syria will give up on it. All in all, not the picture Israel was hoping for a year ago.
syria territory military situation
© SouthFront


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Gem

Gems amid garbage? Sifting through the Senate Intel report on Obama's response to 2016 'Russian meddling'

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Fri, 07 Feb 2020 01:33 UTC
Capitol/Garbage
© Reuters/Jim Young
Much of the new Senate report about 'Russian meddling' in the 2016 election consists of Obama administration officials covering their posteriors - but is also unwittingly revealing about its (false) premises, sources and methods.

A day after its members voted along party lines in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee joined forces to publish yet another fan-fiction in the 'Russian meddling in 2016 US presidential election' saga, this time focusing on the Obama administration's responses.

The problem obvious right from the start is that the committee presupposes the existence of said meddling, citing the intelligence community assessment commissioned by Obama and Mueller indictments as evidence rather than unproven assertions. The "geopolitical context" of events in the report is a perfect example of how rotten assumptions and circular reasoning lead to garbage conclusions.
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Star of David

Just how low can Israelis go?

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 11:52 UTC
IsraeliJet
© Israeli Airforce/Eran Kaplan/Instagram
Not only is Israel bombing neighboring Syria in acts of aggression, the Israeli air force is compounding its criminality by using civilian airliners as cover for their assaults.

That's the assessment from Russia's Ministry of Defense which says flight data shows that an air raid by four Israeli F-16 warplanes this week near Damascus deliberately put in danger a civilian airliner with 172 passengers onboard.

Russian MOD spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the Israeli jets effectively hid behind the radar signal of an Airbus A-320 as it approached Damascus international airport in order to launch airstrikes on targets near the Syrian capital.

It was only due to the skill of the Syrian air defense operators that the passenger plane was correctly identified and escorted out of the firing line. The aircraft was diverted to a safe landing at the Russian air base at Hmeymim further north at Latakia.

Comment: If tables were turned and another country was breaking international law by using an Israeli passenger jet as cover for its illegal bombing operation, the cry and furor over such an incident would echo around the globe. Israel's retaliation would be quick and merciless. Yet Israel gets a 'ho-hum' pass, a slap on the wrist, even from Moscow. Is that how insidious Israeli indoctrination has become?

See also:
Russian MoD charges Israeli airstrikes on Damascus suburbs put civilian flight with 172 passengers at risk

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Star of David

Russian General Gorbenko slams IDF: 'Almost certainly knew' schedule of civilian plane nearly shot down over Syria


Sputnik
Fri, 07 Feb 2020 19:34 UTC
Israeli F-16 fighterjet
© AP Photo/ Str/HOIsraeli F-16 fighterjet
On Friday, the Russian military revealed that a Syrian Cham Wings Airbus A320 with 172 passengers onboard was forced to land at the Russian airbase in Hmeymim to prevent it from being accidentally shot down by Syrian air defences responding to an Israeli missile attack.

The Israeli Air Force's tactic of hiding behind unarmed and civilian aircraft to try to prevent the Syrian military from staging an effective air defence has become all too common, Lieut. Gen. Valery Gorbenko, former commander of the Russian Air Force's 4th Air and Air Defence Army, has said.
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Dollar

The height of economic idiocy

Doug Casey
Zero Hedge
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 21:55 UTC
Debt and Deficit
© CNN.com
"The only element in the universe more common than hydrogen is stupidity." - Einstein

I'm not a fortune teller. In fact, the only things anybody knows about predicting - even if you gussy the concept up by calling it "forecasting" - are 1.) Predict often and 2.) Never give both the time and the event.

The worst offenders are those who pretend they know where the economy's headed.

Statistics - so often the basis of conjecture with regard to the economy - are so subject to interpretation, and so easy to take out of context, that most of the time they're best used as fodder for cocktail party conversations. Still, as potentially wrong-headed and tendentious as the subject is, "the economy" is occasionally worth talking about simply to establish a clear point of view.

In fact, I place the phrase "the economy" in quotes because I don't even accept the validity of the concept, nor that of "the GDP"; they're both chimeras.
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Book 2

A key witness told Mueller team that Russia collusion evidence found in Ukraine was a fabrication

John Solomon
Just the News
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
Mueller
© UnknownRobert Mueller
One of Robert Mueller's pivotal trial witnesses told the special prosecutor's team in spring 2018 that a key piece of Russia collusion evidence found in Ukraine known as the "black ledger" was fabricated, according to interviews and testimony.

The ledger document, which suddenly appeared in Kiev during the 2016 U.S. election, showed alleged cash payments from Russian-backed politicians in Ukraine to ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

"The ledger was completely made up," cooperating witness and Manafort business partner Rick Gates told prosecutors and FBI agents, according to a written summary of an April 2018 special counsel's interview.

In a brief interview with Just the News, Gates confirmed the information in the summary. "The black ledger was a fabrication," Gates said. "It was never real, and this fact has since been proven true." Gates' account is backed by several Ukrainian officials who stated in interviews dating to 2018 that the ledger was of suspicious origins and could not be corroborated.

If true, Gates' account means the two key pieces of documentary evidence used by the media and FBI to drive the now-debunked Russia collusion narrative — the Steele dossier and the black ledger — were at best uncorroborated and at worst disinformation. His account also raises the possibility that someone fabricated the document in Ukraine in an effort to restart investigative efforts on Manafort's consulting work or to meddle in the U.S. presidential election.
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Snakes in Suits

Supreme Court Justices ruling in favor of a crackdown on nationwide injunctions

Shawn Fleetwood
The Federalist
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
US SupremeCourt
© Stock photo
Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a concurring opinion about the threat nationwide injunctions present to separation of powers and the role of the courts under the Constitution.

On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling that the Trump administration may deny green cards to foreign nationals who use taxpayer-funded social services. The ruling freezes several nationwide injunctions issued by lower federal courts late last year. Monday's vote also fell along ideological lines, as the five Republican-appointed justices voted in favor, while the four Democrat-appointed justices dissented.

According to the Immigration and Nationality Act (NIA), foreign nationals are prohibited from acquiring a green card if they are "likely at any time to become a public charge." The issue at hand on Monday was what fit the criteria of a "public charge." In recent years, the phrase was characterized as an individual who was reliant on a cash assistance program.

Back in August 2019, the Trump administration implemented this new rule to take into account immigrants' use of government benefits, such as Medicaid and food stamps, when determining whether to provide individuals with permanent status. The policy exempts refugees and asylum seekers.
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