Puppet MastersS


Info

Setting the next stage of war? Acting Pentagon representative goes to Iraq for talks on US military presence

Missy Ryan and Tamer El-Ghobashy
The Washington Post
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:03 UTC
Patrick Shanahan
© Afghanistan Ministry Of Defense/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockActing U.S. defense secretary Patrick Shanahan and his Afghan counterpart, Asadullah Khalid, visit an Afghan special-forces unit outside Kabul on Feb. 11, 2019.
Acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan highlighted the U.S. commitment to Iraqi autonomy during talks in Baghdad on Tuesday, in the wake of comments from President Trump that have jeopardized plans for an ongoing counterterrorism presence there.

Shanahan made his first-ever visit to Iraq as part of an inaugural overseas tour after being tapped in January to become acting Pentagon chief. That followed the sudden departure of Jim Mattis, who resigned over differences with Trump.

"I wanted to make clear to them that we recognize our role. We understand that we're there by invitation, that we jointly share the resources. And that we clearly recognize their sovereignty," he told reporters of his discussions in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

Shanahan's visit occurred as the Trump administration seeks to wind down the operation against the Islamic State, the extremist group that took over large swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014. It also follows a political outcry generated by Trump's recent suggestion that he might want to maintain a military presence in Iraq to "watch Iran," his administration's chief adversary in the Middle East.
Read More...
Black Magic

'Collateral damage': When US bombs incinerated 408 civilians in Iraq's Amiriyah shelter


RT
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 10:28 UTC
Amiriya Shelter
© Getty Images / Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TimesIraqis visit the Amiriya Shelter on memorial day, in remembrance of those who died in the American bombing that took place there in 1991
On this day in 1991, over 400 people lost their lives when the US dropped two 2,000-pound smart bombs on a Baghdad air-raid shelter. But because it was the 'good guys' who did it, the massacre is not remembered as it should be.

'Collateral damage'. The first time I remember those words being used was in the first Gulf War. There was plenty of 'collateral damage' in that conflict. In other words, lots of innocent people were killed.

At around 4:30am on Wednesday February 13, 1991, US F-117 aircraft bombed an air raid shelter in Amiriyah, a suburb of Baghdad, incinerating 408 people, many of them women and children.

Comment: The slaughter of civilians by the West continues to this very day and so, while we can expect that the corruption plaguing their militaries will result in some errors, the sheer number points to a more nefarious intent: US-led coalition's policy of bombing 'ex-mosques' in Syria revealed, 70 civilians dead in 2 days, Kurdish militants advance in Al-Baghuz

For a list of the most recent airstrikes primarily killing civilians, and just in Syria, see: Syria alerts UN to US-led coalition's crimes against humanity in region

See also: About Those 'Nice, New, Smart' Missiles And The 'Chemical Weapons' Sites in Syria

Read More...
Light Sabers

'Fake news': Beijing slams WSJ report on Chinese diplomats meeting with Venezuelan opposition


RT
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 16:45 UTC
Guaido
© Reuters / Carlos Garcia Rawlins
A newspaper report alleging that Chinese diplomats met in secret with Venezuelan opposition figures to ensure that Beijing's vast investments in the Latin American country are not endangered is "fake news," China has claimed.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese officials held talks in Washington with representatives of Juan Guaido, the self-appointed interim president of Venezuela who has received the full backing of the US... not so from China.

The paper suggested that Beijing was looking to safeguard its oil projects in Venezuela from the current political crisis. Caracas also owes China around US$20 billion, it is estimated.

"In fact the report is false. It's fake news," Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters when asked about the article.
Read More...
Magic Hat

SOTT Focus: Unraveling The QAnon Hoax

Makia Freeman
The Freedom Articles
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 15:46 UTC
QAnon
"Trust the plan!..."
The QAnon, Q-Anon or Q phenomenon, which started around October 2017, managed to attract a large amount of die-hard followers who hung on to Q's every word. However, 1.5 years later, we have enough clues to see who was really behind the whole thing, which now appears to be over. There were many clues that QAnon was a psy-op, including his blatant support of regime change in Iran (right in line with the Zionist NWO agenda), his insistence that rabid warmonger and neocon John Bolton was cleaning up Washington, and his praise for current US President Donald Trump, who has dropped more bombs and fired more missiles than Obama.

QAnon Praises Neocon Warmongers

Whitney Webb wrote in this June 2018 MintPressNews article:
The reality constructed by QAnon has ultimately unfolded much like a fictitious spy novel, one that details a "secret" counter-coup by the Trump administration against the so-called "Deep State" that Trump - in reality - has dutifully served ever since winning the 2016 election. Despite QAnon's having been proven wrong repeatedly, its following remains large and the phenomenon itself remains influential.

Robert Martin, a documentary filmmaker whose series A Very Heavy Agenda delves into the nefarious political influence of the neoconservatives, told MintPress that QAnon is the "perfect wish-fulfillment conspiracy snowball" aimed at conservatives, adding that it has worked to "rehabilitate some of the most tarnished and scary neocons to all of a sudden be heroic figures."
Read More...
Hiliter

Senate has uncovered no direct evidence of conspiracy between Trump campaign and Russia

Ken Dilanian
NBC
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 16:21 UTC
Richard Burr Mark Warner
© Joshua Roberts / ReutersChairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Richard Burr (R-NC) and vice-chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) prepare for a hearing about "worldwide threats" in Washington on Jan. 29, 2019.

"We were never going to find a contract signed in blood saying, 'Hey Vlad, we're going to collude,'" one Democratic aide said.

After two years and 200 interviews, the Senate Intelligence Committee is approaching the end of its investigation into the 2016 election, having uncovered no direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to both Democrats and Republicans on the committee.

But investigators disagree along party lines when it comes to the implications of a pattern of contacts they have documented between Trump associates and Russians - contacts that occurred before, during and after Russian intelligence operatives were seeking to help Donald Trump by leaking hacked Democratic emails and attacking his opponent, Hillary Clinton, on social media.

"If we write a report based upon the facts that we have, then we don't have anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia," said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in an interview with CBS News last week.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
People

Warmongers in their ivory towers: Tulsi Gabbard is "Ron Paul of the Left"

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 21:45 UTC
tulsi gabbard
While it seems the mainstream media paused last week's avalanche of attacks on progressive Hawaiian Democratic rep. Tulsi Gabbard, which painted her as a Russian stooge for daring to oppose Washington's addiction to regime change wars abroad, in favor of new controversy surrounding another progressive, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and charges of anti-Semitism leveled at her for criticism of pro-Israel money in US politics, Gabbard hasn't let up a bit in terms of the intensity of her attacks on the warmongering establishment within both parties. In a new televised message Gabbard excoriated the pundit class for constantly dreaming up "new places for people to die".

Gabbard released the half-minute video on Tuesday appropriately called "Warmongers in their ivory towers" wherein the US Army reserve officer and Iraq War veteran slammed the Washington culture of "powerful" decision-makers who "sit in ivory towers" and send other people's children to war, while themselves never stepping close to a battlefield.

Comment: The depiction of Gabbard as "the left's Ron Paul" is apt, on foreign policy at the very least. It's no wonder the MSM is working overtime to smear and defame her.

See also:

Read More...
Megaphone

US-led coalition's policy of bombing 'ex-mosques' in Syria revealed, 70 civilians dead in 2 days, Kurdish militants advance in Al-Baghuz


RT
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 19:10 UTC
SDF syria
© REUTERS / Rodi SaidA member of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria February 11, 2019.
At least 70 civilians were killed or injured over two days as Kurdish militias advance on an ISIS-held town in eastern Syria. The US-led coalition supports the operation with deadly airstrikes.

The offensive was launched on Monday and is touted as an attempt to capture the last remaining territory held by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group on Syria's border with Iraq. Al-Baghuz Fawqani is a small town on the Euphrates River that had a population of some 10,000 before the war in the country started in 2011.

The forces of the Kurd-dominated SDF are being supported by the US-led coalition, which provides air support to the militias on the ground. According to SANA, the Syrian government news agency, at least 70 civilians were killed or injured on the outskirts of the town by the airstrikes.

Comment: And the litany of war crimes by the West continues to mount while, out of the other side of its mouth, it's claiming it will be withdrawing its forces from Syria:

Read More...
Chess

Scheer calls for emergency meeting over Trudeau's potential interference in justice system

Katie Dangerfield
Global News
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 10:57 UTC
justin trudeau meng whanzou arrest
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is calling for an emergency committee meeting over allegations that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office interfered in the justice system.

On Thursday, Trudeau denied a report that the Prime Minister's Office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to help SNC-Lavalin avoid going to trial on fraud and corruption allegations and instead cut a deal known as a "remediation agreement."

Speaking in front of reporters Friday, Scheer said the Conservatives and NDP will try and force the emergency meeting of the House of Commons justice committee with the goal of passing a motion calling on nine high-ranking officials to testify about the alleged interference in the SNC-Lavalin case.
Read More...
Star of David

Israel supporters go nuts after Ilhan Omar points out that AIPAC influences Congress

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 10:57 UTC
Ilhan Omar
Ilhan Omar
As you surely know by now, the United States political class is talking about whether AIPAC, the leading pro-Israel group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, wields its influence in Congress using money.

Last night Glenn Greenwald seized on the news that House minority leader Kevin McCarthy intends to investigate two Muslim congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, over their criticisms of Israel and remarked "It's stunning how much time US political leaders spend defending a foreign nation even if it means attacking free speech rights of Americans."

Ilhan Omar responded with her usual pithiness.
Read More...
Megaphone

Saudi Arabia using hacked Twitter accounts to push state propaganda

Yarno Ritzen
AlJazeera
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 12:00 UTC
Twitter
© Regis Duvignau/ReutersAccess to verified Twitter accounts can be sold for $1,200 or more on forums frequented by hackers
Several verified Twitter accounts have been taken over by pro-Saudi operatives and some have been used to promote Saudi Arabia or its leadership, according to an academic who researches digital propaganda and Twitter bots.

At least four verified Twitter accounts, including one that belonged to a US meteorologist who died over two years ago, appear to have been hacked and sold to pro-Saudi entities, Marc Owen Jones wrote in a blog post on Saturday.

A verified Twitter account usually signals that the person maintaining it is who they claim to be.

One of the verified hacked accounts originally belonged to Weather Channel meteorologist David Schwartz who died in 2016.

Comment: We look forward to the furore in the mainstream press about Saudi Arabia's meddling in democracy: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: West Discovers Saudi Arabia Has Human Rights Issues & The Real Reason People Hate Trump

Read More...