Puppet MastersS


Stop

Amidst bloody riots, Iraqi PM declares he will resign if acceptable replacement found

Taylor Heyman
thenational.ae
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
Barham Salih
© ReutersIraqi President Barham Salih
Iraqi President Barham Salih promised the resignation of his prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on the condition his departure does not leave a "constitutional vacuum" and a replacement is found.

In an televised address to the nation, Mr Salih said Mr Abdul Mahdi had agreed to submit his resignation. "The prime minister had previously agreed to submit his resignation, if the blocs agree on an acceptable replacement in order to adhere to constitutional and legal frameworks," Mr Salih said.

Mr Salih said he would welcome an early election, but only after the institution of reforms to the current electoral system and a national dialogue to improve how the country is governed [occurs].

His speech responded to a month of protest in Iraq's south, in which up to 250 people have been killed. Protesters say security forces are being heavy-handed and violent, but refuse to back down.

Comment: Sputnik, 31/10/2019: Death toll rises in Iraqi protests
The demonstrators call on the government to resign and demand economic reforms and fighting against corruption. As the protests resumed last Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said that he would carry out a cabinet reshuffle and introduce changes to election laws. Mahdi said that the government's resignation, demanded by protesters, would throw the country in chaos.
See also:

Read More...
Star of David

Sanders: $3.8B annual US military aid to Israel should be leveraged to end horrific treatment of Palestinians

Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
BernSanders
© Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty ImagesPresidential candidate Bernie Sanders
"We have a right to say to the Israeli government that the United States of America and our taxpayers and our people believe in human rights, we believe in democracy, we will not accept authoritarianism or racism."
Speaking at a conference Monday hosted by the liberal-leaning Jewish organization J Street, Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed support for leveraging billions of dollars in annual U.S. military aid to stop Israel's horrific treatment and occupation of the Palestinian people.

Sanders, who is vying to become the first Jewish president in U.S. history, said:
"My solution is to say to Israel: You get $3.8 billion every single year. If you want military aid you're going to have to fundamentally change your relationship to the people of Gaza. I think it is fair to say that some of that $3.8 billion should go right now into humanitarian aid in Gaza."

Comment: Watch Sanders' full appearance at the J Street conference:



Read More...
X

Adam Schiff told witnesses they don't have to respond to GOP questions

Sara Carter
saraacarter.com
Tue, 29 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
Schiff
© Boston HeraldHouse Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise accused House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff Tuesday of undermining Republicans during the impeachment hearing against President Donald Trump when he told witnesses they didn't have to answer questions posed by Republicans.

"Adam Schiff, is claiming that this is a fair process by saying that Republicans are allowed to ask questions. He gets to choose all the witnesses - him and himself only - which means its not a fair process on its face," Scalise said.

"Even (Schiff's) claim now that Republicans can ask questions has been undermined because now he's directing witnesses not to answer questions that he doesn't want the witnesses to answer if they're asked by Republicans," said Scalise, who spoke to reporters after the hearing with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Read More...
Attention

Rights group says CIA-trained death squads behind Afghan war crimes


RFE/RL
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 18:06 UTC
afghan airstrike
© AFPAccording to NATO data, the United States conducted 1,113 air and artillery strikes in September, a large increase on previous months.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary forces have "committed summary executions and other grave abuses without accountability" -- including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and attacks on health-care facilities.

In its report, released on October 31, HRW called on the Afghan government to immediately disband all pro-government paramilitary groups that operate outside the "ordinary military chain of command."

It is also calling for the Afghan government to "impartially investigate all allegations of abuse by Afghan security forces" and to "prosecute those responsible for war crimes and serious abuses."

It says both the United States and the Afghan government should also "cooperate with independent investigations of all allegations of war crimes and other human rights abuses."


Comment: Never going to happen.


It also says the U.S. government should "investigate any U.S. personnel" involved in abuses, and should "cease supporting Afghan forces that have been responsible for serious violations."


Comment: In an ideal world, but again, never going to happen.


HRW documented 14 cases from late 2017 to mid-2019 in which it said CIA-backed "strike groups" committed grave abuses during night raids, such as one in the southeastern province of Paktia in which a paramilitary squad killed 11 men, including eight who were home for the Eid holidays.

Comment: The CIA in Afghanistan simply pulled out the Phoenix program playbook. Douglas Valentine has the details:

Read More...
Mr. Potato

Corrupt spook Brennan assures us that Russia 'changed minds' during 2016 election - at least one!


RFE/RL
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 17:47 UTC
Brennan
© The Counter Jihad Report"Russian meddling changed this many votes."
Former CIA Director John Brennan took findings from his country's intelligence agencies a step further by saying that at least one voter was persuaded as a result of Russia's 2016 presidential election interference machinations, but refrained from concluding that the operation influenced the vote's outcome.

Speaking to the National Press Club in Washington on October 30, Brennan said he was "sure, personally, that those Russian efforts changed the mind of at least one voter."

"Whether it was one voter or a million voters, I don't know," he said at the event alongside former intelligence figures.

Comment: At least one American voter changed their vote because they ate a bad burrito that morning. We can't say for sure who it was, but we're highly confident it did happen. And at least two voters changed their vote from Democrat to Republican after visualizing for three seconds what a Hillary presidency would look like. In fact, we're extremely confident that either or both of those factors swung a heckuva lot more votes than the "Russian meddling" Brennan can't stop obsessing about.

Read More...
NPC

Best of the Web: Fact-checking Trump's dog tweet shows once again MSM journalists don't understand memes

Sophia Narwitz
RT
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 17:00 UTC
trump dog
© Twitter / realDonaldTrump
Content with not maintaining any credibility whatsoever, MSM decided to completely tarnish the last smidgen of integrity by losing it over a meme of US president Donald Trump giving a medal to a dog that helped kill ISIS leader.

It all began when President Donald Trump tweeted out a meme created by the Daily Wire. The image depicted him giving a medal to the brave dog that helped corner the recently deceased Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The picture is clearly fake and is just Trump having some fun celebrating a successful military raid.

The media, missing the humor - or just wanting to manufacture yet even more outrage as that seems to be all they run on these days - jumped in to express disbelief over the photoshopped image.


Steve Herman, the White House bureau chief for the Voice of America, thought it necessary to contact the president's homestead and ask if the photo was photoshopped, even going so far as to confirm that there "was no such canine event" on the POTUS' schedule. Meanwhile, Shirish Date, the White House correspondent at the Huffington Post, boldly stated the president was "disseminating a doctored image created by a right-wing propaganda site."

Read More...
Yoda

Hungarian PM Orban: Russia brings much needed stability to Middle East amid migrant influx


RT
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 16:43 UTC
putin and orban
© Sputnik / Alexey Nikolsky
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has hailed Russia's role as a stabilizing force in the Middle East, adding that the European nation is very interested in peace in Syria in view of the infamous migrant crisis.

"Russia plays an important role in terms of ... creating stability" in the Middle East and Syria in particular, Orban said at a joint press conference with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom the prime minister hosted in Budapest on Wednesday.

Moscow's role in the region, Orban noted, is not limited to military or political dimensions, adding that the two nations discussed humanitarian aid. "We are going to talk about how we can together ... provide food security and restore villages ... where migrants and refugees could come back from Europe. They need somewhere to go back to. That is our motto - we should provide assistance, we should not add to the trouble."
Read More...
Star of David

That's chutzpah: Israeli businessman refuses to give Holocaust letter to family of victim, saying it would cause him "irreparable financial harm"

Marcy Oster
Jerusalem Post
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 16:38 UTC
nikolic holocaust museum yad vashem
© REUTERSSERBIA’S PRESIDENT Tomislav Nikolic looks at pictures of Jews killed in the Holocaust during a visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
A court in Israel has blocked the sale of a letter written by an 11-year-old Polish girl who was killed in the Holocaust following a protest by family members.

Five letters, including the one by Rachel Mintz, were to be auctioned Tuesday at the Dynasty Auction House in Jerusalem. They were written by children in Poland to counterparts in prestate Israel before the outbreak of World War II.

The injunction from the Tel Aviv District Court halted the sale of all the letters.

Rachel's letter described life in Poland in 1937 and talked about her desire to immigrate to Israel, according to The Times of Israel.

The seller is identified as Israeli businessman Dudi Zilbershlag, Haaretz reported. Zilbershlag, who said he bought the letters at the Jaffa Flea Market, is a member of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum council. He had declined a request to give Rachel's letter to her family or the Yad Vashem archive, saying it would cause him "irreparable" financial harm, The Times of Israel reported.

The starting bid for the letters was set at $400, according to Haaretz, and the auction house had offered to sell the letter to the family for $10,000, according to The Times of Israel.

"It is morally unacceptable and highly distasteful that anyone should trade in personal items, artifacts or documents of Holocaust victims or from the Holocaust era," Yad Vashem said in a statement.
Read More...
Light Saber

'Fight terror without double standards': Russia-India counter-terrorism group vows 'credible action' against 'safe havens'


RT
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 16:41 UTC
Russian and Indian army servicemen
© Sputnik / Vitaliy AnkovRussian and Indian army servicemen
Moscow and New Delhi will boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism and destroy militant "safe havens" around the world, the two countries' counter-terror working group said in a joint statement.

Meeting in India's capital on Wednesday, the working group condemned "terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," and called for deeper ties on counter-terror issues, including through "intensifying exchange of information" and "regular meetings at [the] experts level."

The two parties also stressed the need for "credible, irreversible ... action against terrorists" and terrorist "safe havens" - particularly in the South Asia region - "without double standards." Drug trafficking and other avenues of funding for militant groups, as well as countering extremism on the internet, were also touched upon.

The Russian delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov, was received by Indian External Affairs Secretary (East) Vijay Thakur Singh. The working group will convene its next meeting in Russia at a date to be determined.
Read More...
Star of David

IDF soldier sentenced to ONE MONTH in prison for 'disobeying' order and murdering teenage Palestinian protester


RT
Wed, 30 Oct 2019 16:28 UTC
march return gaza protesters
© AFP / Said Khatib
An Israeli soldier was sentenced to one month in prison after fatally shooting an unarmed Palestinian protester without his commander's permission during the unrest along the Israeli-Gazan border.

A military court ruled on Monday that an IDF service member broke the rules of engagement when he fired at a Palestinian protester, who attempted to climb the Gaza border fence during a protest along the border on July 13, 2018.

Palestinian officials identified the protester as 15-year-old Othman Helles and said he died from a gunshot wound to the chest. A video from the scene showed Helles placing both feet on the fence before immediately collapsing on the ground and being quickly carried away by other protesters. The army claimed that the teenager tried to infiltrate Israeli territory but the Palestinians denied it.

Comment: The IDF's hypocrisy is clear. The soldier was sentenced not for killing an unarmed protester, but for not waiting for the order to kill an unarmed protester.

Read More...