Puppet MastersS


Bomb

Syria: Drone loaded with cluster bombs intercepted


Sputnik
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 15:41 UTC
Drone down
© Twitter/WithinSyriaBlog
According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, special services dismantled the drone, which they managed to detect and shoot down north of the city of Al Qunaitra.

The Syrian Army has intercepted a drone loaded with cluster bombs over Jebel al-Sheikh near the Golan Heights, the Syrian Arab News Agency said on Saturday. ​The incident comes two days after another drone interception over the Damascus suburb of Aqraba.

In addition, Syrian intelligence agencies discovered a stash of weapons, ammunition, medicine, food, and equipment produced in Israel, in the village of Barika in the suburbs of Quneitra. ​

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Pirates

Trump again threatens to dump captured ISIS fighters on Europe's doorstep


Sputnik
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 19:47 UTC
trump pointing finger
© REUTERS / Tom Brenner
The US president has repeatedly criticised Germany, France, and other European countries whose citizens joined the Islamist terrorist group, fought in the Middle East, and were captured, for their reluctance to take them back. As the complicated issue remains unresolved, he resumed his threats to release the alleged jihadists.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to set prisoners from Europe who joined Daesh in Syria and Iraq free at the EU's borders if they refuse to take back the captives. According to the American commander-in-chief, after the US defeated the so-called caliphate, Washington has "thousands of prisoners of war, ISIS fighters" who are European nationals, but these countries are refusing to cooperate. He singled out France and Germany when speaking on the matter.

"We're asking the countries from which they came, from Europe, we're asking them to take back these prisoners of war. And they can try them, do what they want. So far, they've refused. And at some point, I'm going to have to say, 'I'm sorry, but you either take them back or we're going to let them go at your border'", he said.

Donald Trump insisted that the US "is not going to have thousands and thousands of people" to hold at Guantanamo Bay, where a notorious American prison for terrorists is located, for the next 50 years, "spending billions and billions of dollars", as he put it.

"We've done Europe a tremendous favour. If they don't take them back, we're going to probably put them at the border and then they'll have to capture them again", Trump threatened.
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Attention

Not a free speech platform: Facebook declares it's a 'publisher' & can censor whomever it wants, walks right into legal trap


RT
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 17:24 UTC
zuckerberg
© Reuters / Leah MillisMark Zuckerberg
Facebook has invoked its free speech right as a publisher, insisting its ability to smear users as extremists is protected, but its legal immunity thus far has rested on a law which protects platforms, not publishers. Which is it?

Facebook has declared it has the right, as a publisher, to exercise its own free speech and bar conservative political performance artist Laura Loomer from its platform. Even calling her a dangerous extremist is allowed under the First Amendment, because it's merely an opinion, Facebook claims in its motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Loomer.

But Facebook has always defined itself as a tech company providing a platform for users' speech in the past, a definition that has come to appear increasingly ridiculous in the era of widespread politically-motivated censorship. Now, the not-so-neutral content platform has redefined itself as a publisher equipped with a whole new set of rights, but bereft of the protections that have kept it safe from legal repercussions in the past.

Comment: A former software engineer who has worked at Facebook and Google sounds off:
In the latest video this week, Shyu said Facebook employees have to constantly boast about their mundane accomplishments on Workplace, the company's internal social network, in order to get ahead.

"It's kind of this game for people to get as many likes and comments on their posts," he said. "If you're into popularity contests, if you thrive in that type of environment then you'll probably do really well."

Facebook's culture was described as "cult-like" by former employees who spoke with CNBC in January for a report about the company's performance review system.


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Георгиевская ленточка

If NATO is stupid enough to strike Kaliningrad, they will lose Baltic States in less than 48 hours

Dmitry Sudakov
Pravda
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 16:57 UTC
russia military defense
Russia will not wait for the United States to launch an attack on the Kaliningrad enclave. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have preventive measures not to let this happen, military expert Mikhail Alexandrov believes.

US Air Force Operations Commander in Europe, General Jeffrey Harrigian, said that the United States had a plan to break through air defense of Russia's Kaliningrad enclave in Europe. According to The National Interest, a B-52 bomber of the US Air Force practiced an attack on the Kaliningrad region in March of this year. Does Russia have similar plans?

Comment: The over-stuffed, arm-chair oafs that pass for NATO generals know Russia is not bluffing.

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Oil Well

Trump deploys reinforcements to Persian Gulf to defend 'American oil' and other assets, not US allies


RT
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 13:37 UTC
Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal
© Reuters / Ahmed JadallahSaudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal.
The US is sending reinforcements to Saudi Arabia and UAE to protect what it believes to be its own assets, and put additional pressure on Iran, increasing the risk of a sudden and devastating regional war, analysts told RT.

​The Persian Gulf is a powder keg, and any aggressive action by the Saudis or any other regional player "could trigger some sort of conflict that draws the US in" - but Americans are unlikely to fall in line with yet another war, especially to defend such a repugnant ally, Colin Cavell, associate professor of political science at Bluefield State College, told RT.

Washington is putting itself in a "very tenuous situation" and even though it will likely try to sell potential war with the usual line that they're "fighting for freedom and democracy," Cavell warned "there's a pretty widespread feeling among US troops that that's not the case."

"The US is trying to protect what it considers to be their oil, their strategic lifeline."

Comment: More on Trump's announcement:
"The president has approved the deployment of U.S. forces which will be defensive in nature and primarily focused on air and missile defense," Esper said at a news conference late on Friday.

While Esper and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said details of the "force package" deployment will be determined over the coming days, it will include air and missile defense and a "moderate" troop increase, although the number of troops "will not be in the thousands."

"As the President has made clear the United States does not seek conflict with Iran. That said we have many other military options available should they be necessary," he said.

Saudi Arabia requested what the secretary described as "extra defensive support," he said, and it will "send a clear message that the United States supports our partners in the region." The move was also made with commerce in mind, as the attack included as a target the world's largest oil processing facility.

The extra troops would help "ensure the support free flow of resources necessary to support the global economy," Esper explained.

Esper said that while this is just the "first step", he was not ruling out additional "kinetic" moves down the road, and said that it's a response to requests from the Saudis and the UAE to help improve their air and missile defenses.


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Windsock

Brexit: Jean-Claude Juncker denies 'erotic relationship' with Irish backstop

Thomas Burrows
The Sun
Fri, 20 Sep 2019 09:16 UTC
Juncker
© AFP or licensorsJean-Claude Juncker insisted 'we can have a deal' before the Halloween deadline
JEAN-Claude Juncker has bizarrely said he did not have an "erotic relationship" with the Irish backstop - as he declared "we can have a deal".

In an apparent change of heart, the EU Commission president declared for the first time he was willing to scrap the controversial backstop which critics fear will keep Britain tied to EU regulations.

Calling his lunch with Boris Johnson in Luxembourg on Monday as "a rather positive meeting", Mr Juncker told Sky News: "We can have a deal."

Asked if the chances were more than 50-50, he added: "I don't know. But I'm doing everything to have a deal, because I don't like the idea of a No Deal."

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Yellow Vest Protests, Brexit Farce - Revolutionary Climate in Western Europe?

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Pirates

Western NGO Action Against Hunger booted out of Nigeria after it's caught FEEDING Boko Haram terrorists


RT
Fri, 20 Sep 2019 16:25 UTC
plane boko haram
© PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFPFile photo
The Nigerian Army, operating in the country's besieged northeast, has shut the offices of NGO Action Against Hunger (AAH). The group is accused of aiding terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

AAH ignored repeated warnings to cease "aiding and abetting terrorist groups" by supplying them with food and medicine, Colonel Ado Isa, deputy director of army public relations, said, as the staff were ordered by soldiers to close the main office in Maiduguri, Borno State.

"The subversive... actions of the NGO Action Against Hunger persisted despite several warnings to desist from aiding and abetting terrorists and their atrocities," Isa said in a statement on Thursday. He added that the group has been declared an entity "non-grata."

Comment: Action Against Hunger is a mega, global operation, operating in over 50 countries. Lord knows how many terrorists and proxy armies they've supplied over the decades.

See also:

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X

Twitter purges hundreds of accounts from Egypt & UAE for 'pro-Saudi messaging' that targeted IRAN & QATAR


RT
Fri, 20 Sep 2019 18:23 UTC
twitter saudi purge
© Reuters / Jason Lee; Reuters / Mike Blake; Reuters / Lisi Niesner
Twitter has permanently banned nearly three hundred accounts based in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, citing "platform manipulation" which boosted support for the Saudi government and "targeted" countries like Iran and Qatar.

The latest purge was announced in a blog post on Friday, stating the company had removed a "network of 273 accounts" for coordinated and suspicious activity.

"These accounts were interconnected in their goals and tactics: a multi-faceted information operation primarily targeting Qatar, and other countries such as Iran," the blog post said, adding "It also amplified messaging supportive of the Saudi government."

The company said it found evidence that a software firm based in Abu Dhabi, DotDev, managed the operation, and that it had banned all accounts associated with the tech firm.

Comment: See also:

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Stop

Peacemaker? Saving face? Trump claims attacking Iran is too 'easy'; restraint is his 'sign of strength'


RT
Wed, 18 Sep 2019 19:56 UTC
Trump
© Reuters/Brian SnyderUS President Donald Trump
As American and Saudi Arabian officials blame Iran for attacking Saudi oil refineries, President Donald Trump has remained noncommittal about a US response, calling his prior restraint a "sign of strength."

Speaking to reporters in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the US president said that he would outline new sanctions on Iran within 48 hours, after announcing them via Twitter earlier in the day. While it would be "very easy" to attack Iran, his reluctance to do so is "a sign of strength," Trump added.

That statement echoed his reply on Tuesday to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), who called Trump's cancelation of military strikes on Iran in June a "sign of weakness."

Graham, the former wingman of the hawkish Senator John McCain, has emerged as one of the loudest proponents of retaliatory strikes in recent days, declaring the oil refinery attack an "act of war," and calling for an "unequivocal" response. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also described the attack as an "act of war," while Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that America is "locked and loaded" to defend her Saudi allies.

Trump, on the other hand, has been more ambivalent. Stopping short of outright pointing the finger at Iran the president said on Monday that it was "certainly looking" like Iran was behind the attack, adding that "we pretty much already know" Tehran is to blame.

Comment: From Sputnik, 18/9/2019: CNN anchor eggs on war with Iran; why Trump 'balks' at military retaliation
With the Gulf crisis in danger of exploding into war between Iran, the US and its allies, the Trump administration seems to be stepping back from the kind of ultra-militant posturing that nearly caused a war early in the summer.

However, some in the mainstream media, which opposes Trump at all costs, are now trying to shame him into one.

After Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he would be further increasing economic sanctions against Iran, CNN anchor Jim Sciutto replied with a carefully worded question: "does this mean the president is again balking at military retaliation?"

Indeed, one of NBC's political commentators, William Arkin, famously quit in January, denouncing the network in his resignation letter as a "cheerleader for open and subtle threat mongering," full of people who "accept that a state of perpetual war" is a necessity.

The mainstream media loves it when Trump bombs things. Trump can be almost certain that on the day he does send in the jets, the MSM will be there to praise the decision as "presidential."



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Arrow Up

Houthi attack on Saudi oil facility proves Turkey's S-400 purchase was the right choice

Paul Antonopoulos
FRN
Fri, 20 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
Russian S-400
© UnknownRussian S-400 anti-air system
September 14 would prove to be a major wake up call for Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter and producer of oil in the world, as its daily supply was cut by nearly 50 percent because of drone and missile attacks against state-owned oil company, Aramco. The attack by the Yemeni Shi'ite Houthi-led Ansarullah movement was so powerful that on the September 17, the Saudi Energy Minister announced the use of oil reserves to offset some of the market demand. Oil prices skyrocketed on September 16 on stock exchanges around the world after the reduction of production was announced at 5.7 million barrels per day.

The attack against oil fields in Saudi Arabia threatens to add a considerable risk premium to the price of crude oil, especially with production in the Kingdom already halved. The worst-case scenario would see prices rise to $100 per barrel. The perennial rise in oil prices is capable of affecting business activity and consumer confidence, as well as threaten to slow global demand. In turn, the decline in production worldwide can cripple the growth of exports.

With the attack having such a huge economic impact on Saudi Arabia, it must be questioned why the U.S. Patriot system failed to defend the Kingdom from Yemeni drones and missiles. For Riyadh, this must become a critical question since their country also happens to be the largest purchaser of U.S. weapons in the Middle East. This humiliating attack should make Riyadh rethink its use of the U.S. Patriot missile defense system to ensure its security.
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