Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Israeli businessman reportedly behind 'secret mega deal' to supply spy planes to UAE


Sputnik
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 19:13 UTC
israel
© AFP 2019 / Stringer
Although there are no diplomatic ties between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said earlier this year that he does not rule out a "strategic shift" in relations between the Arab states and Israel.

Israeli businessman Matanya "Mati" Kochavi could have helped to supply surveillance planes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), allowing it to spy on Iran, according to documents obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The alleged supplies were part of a decade-long "secret mega deal" worth millions of dollars, Haaretz claimed, citing the documents which partially originated in the 2017 "Paradise Papers" leak by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Kochavi declined to comment on the report.

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X

Pentagon admonishes South Korea for scrapping military intel partnership with Japan


Sputnik
Thu, 22 Aug 2019 20:14 UTC
Abe/Moon
© Reuters/Getty ImagesJapan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe • South Korea President Moon Jae-in
Earlier on Thursday, Japan's Foreign Ministry summoned South Korean ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan-pyo to protest Seoul's decision to terminate the military intelligence agreement.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said that the US has expressed 'strong concern and disappointment' over South Korea's decision to scrap its intelligence pact with Japan. He added that intelligence sharing is crucial to defence cooperation in the region. The United States, South Korea and Japan are stronger and safer when they work together, Eastburn said.

"We encourage Japan and Korea to work together to resolve their differences," he said in a statement. Previously, the Trump administration urged Seoul not to abandon the agreement, fearing this could impact talks with North Korea.

Known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), the pact was signed in 2016 and was due to be automatically renewed on 24 August. It regulated the sharing of intelligence data about North Korea's nuclear activities and also China's growing military capabilities.

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Brick Wall

The road not taken: Another failure by the FBI involving the Clintons comes to light

John Solomon
The Hill
Thu, 22 Aug 2019 07:00 UTC
HilClinton
© Yeni SafakHillary Clinton
August in Washington can be the political equivalent of an elephant graveyard: One good rain can wash away the dirt and expose the bones of scandals past.

And this August did not disappoint. Thanks to the relentless investigative work of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), we are learning that the Hillary Clinton email case may not really be settled.

A staff memo updating the two senators' long-running probe discloses that the FBI — the version run in 2016 by the now-disgraced and fired James Comey, Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok — failed to pursue access to "highly classified" evidence that could have resolved important questions.

The failure to look at the evidence back in 2016 occurred even though the agents believed access to the sensitive evidence was "necessary" to complete the investigation into Clinton's improper transmission of classified emails — some top-secret — on her unsecure private email server, the memos show.
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Snakes in Suits

What to expect from 'nightmare' G-7 Summit 2019

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 08:45 UTC
G7 Meeting 2019
© ScreenshotG7 Meeting 23/8/2019
Once upon a time, the G-7 summits were showcases for boilerplate platitudes about international cooperation that garnered a baseline level of media cooperation.

That was before the Trump era.

Last year, President Trump sowed discord by feuding with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, before repeatedly refusing to sign off on the group's traditional communique. This year, as wildfires raging in the Amazon have inspired an international virtue signaling protest movement demanding that the leaders of some of the world's largest economies do something to contain fires that take place in the Amazon every year, and with the European economy teetering on the edge of recession - oh, and let's not forget Trump's escalating feud with President Xi - the annual summit once again promises to be a weekend-long drama.

The Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs on G-7 allies sowed discord at last year's summit. And already, finance ministers from the non-US countries have issued a criticism of US trade policy in advance of this year's summit, provoked by Trump's threats to slap tariffs on European goods ranging from wine and cheese to cars.

Comment: It's such an irrelevant event, we're unsure it's even worth reporting about, much less commenting on.

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Arrow Up

Maduro verifies recent Trump talks, meanwhile US Navy is ready for action

Ricado Vaz
venezuelanalysis.com
Fri, 23 Aug 2019 07:12 UTC
Maduro
© Presidential PressVenezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
US Southern Command chief said US Navy will "do what needs to be done."

Venezuelan government officials have had secret contact with US officials for "months," President Maduro revealed Tuesday.

"I confirm that for months there have been contacts between senior officials from the Trump administration and from the Bolivarian government, with my express permission," he said, adding that there had been "various contacts" to "regularize" the conflict with Washington.

The Venezuelan president went on to add that he is always "ready for dialogue," urging Trump to "really listen" to Venezuela. No details of the contents of the discussions were disclosed.

Maduro's comments followed an Associated Press report that a Trump administration intermediary had held "secret talks" with National Constituent Assembly President Diosdado Cabello. The report did not disclose the identity of the intermediary, claiming that the goal of the meeting was to increase pressure by contributing to a "knife fight" allegedly taking place behind the scenes.

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Pistol

Foot-in-mouth Biden asks town hall 'what if Obama had been assassinated?' Internet cringes


RT
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 05:17 UTC
JBiden
© Global Look/Jack KurtzPresidential candidate Joe Biden
Democratic primary frontrunner Joe Biden has raised a nation of eyebrows when he asked an audience to imagine the fallout from Barack Obama's assassination, comparing the ex-president to Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

"Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee?" Biden asked a town hall in Hanover, New Hampshire on Friday that was supposed to be focused on healthcare. "What would have happened in America?"
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Sheriff

Confirmed: Butina was VICTIM - not perpetrator - of FBI-staged 'Russian honeytrap', joins list of US intelligence meddling operations

Graham Dockery
RT
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 00:07 UTC
ByrneButina
© Overstock.com/Justice Integrity ProjectFormer Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne • Maria Butina
Revelations by former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne about 'Russian agent' Maria Butina are yet another dot in the pattern of behavior by US intelligence agencies who were involved in the 'Russiagate' conspiracy.

Butina is the Russian pro-gun activist who after months of solitary confinement confessed to being an "unregistered foreign agent" in 2016. To federal prosecutors and the media, her involvement with the US gun lobby and Republican circles during the early days of the Trump campaign seemed like evidence that Moscow was sending agents to "meddle" in the US.

Prosecutors even falsely accused Butina of using "sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization," and the media lapped it up, regurgitating every Cold War spy fiction trope they could in sensationalist headlines.

"Sex and schmoozing are common Russian spy tactics. Publicity makes Maria Butina different," read a USA Today banner last year. ABC News described her as a "Real life 'Red Sparrow'," a reference to a graphic 'Soviet sexpionage' novel adapted into a gruesome movie.

To hear Byrne tell it, however, Butina may have been the prey and not the hunter.

Comment: Interesting twist in the Butina case.

So what actually happened in all cases of Russian spies having been uncovered throughout the 'Russiagate period' is that US govt agents set up Russian (and US) civilians in sting-ops to make it look like Russian govt agents were setting up US civilians in sting-ops.

"We've found the meddlers and they is... US!"

Butina, by the way, is still serving out a prison sentence in the US on the basis of these lies. With justice like this, who needs 'commie totalitarianism'?

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Rocket

Iran: Successful test of 'new missile' amidst increasing Gulf tensions


RT
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 08:41 UTC
Bavar-373
© WANA/ReutersIranian rocket Bavar-373, video broadcast Iran 22/8/2019
Tehran successfully test-fired a new missile, according to the leader of the elite Revolutionary Guards. The launch comes as Tehran seeks to deter military escalation with the United States in the Persian Gulf.

Major General Hossein Salami disclosed the tests to a group of clerics on Saturday:
"Our country is always the arena for testing a variety of defense and strategic systems and these are non-stop movements towards the growth of our deterrent power. Yesterday was one of the successful days for this nation."
According to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, he did not provide details about the missile's range or capabilities.

Earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially unveiled the country's new air-defense missile system, the Bavar-373.
Bavar-373 on display
© Tasnim News Agency/REUTERSThe domestically built mobile missile defence system Bavar-373 is displayed on the National Defence Industry Day in Tehran, Iran August 22, 2019.

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Attention

Ex-Iraqi PM issues a warning of 'strong response' if Israel is proven to be behind recent airstrikes


Sputnik
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 01:23 UTC
Nouri al-Maliki
© AP/Khalid MohammedFormer Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is warning of a "strong response" if it is proven that Israel was behind a recent series of strikes targeting training camps and arms depots.

In statements issued by his office on Friday, he also said that if Israel continues to target Iraq, the country "will transform into a battle arena that drags in multiple countries, including Iran."

Al-Maliki, who was Iraqi prime minister for eight years and now heads a Shiite bloc in parliament, made his comments hours after US officials told the New York Times that Israel was responsible for the bombing on July 19 strike on a military base north of Baghdad. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

One of the officials said Israeli strike was launched from inside Iraq, though he did not provide further details. He said it destroyed a cache of guided missiles with a range of 200 kilometres (125 miles). The attacked base was affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, according to the official.

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Pharoah

It's Great to be a King!

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 24 Aug 2019 19:28 UTC
Thai king Rama X
© Corbett Report
Did you catch the video that made the rounds recently showing Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn (reigning title: Phrabat Somdet Phra Vajira Klao Chao Yu Hua, but we'll just call him by the simpler title Rama X) promoting his girlfriend to "Royal Noble Consort"? You know, the video where Major-General Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi lay completely prostrate at the monarch's feet, gratefully accepting royal baubles and trinkets from her master like an obedient dog?

No no no, not the video from this past May where he promoted his top bodyguard to be his new queen in a ceremony that involved her lying completely prostrate at the monarch's feet, gratefully accepting royal baubles and trinkets from her master like an obedient dog. That's an entirely different video!

But either way, I think we can all agree that King Rama X is a super cool dude and that it's a great thing that he and his fourth wife and his official mistress are the rulers of Thailand. Long live the King!

Oh, and by the way, apropos of nothing in particular — just as an aside, really — did you know that it's illegal to insult the King of Thailand? I mean, it's not just frowned upon, but actually literally illegal? Well, it is!

That's right, according to Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, "Whoever, defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years."
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