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Eye 2

Ominous casting call: Russian MOD says White Helmets hiring locals for staged chemical attacks, paying in food


Sputnik
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 21:16 UTC
white helmets
© Associated Press / Syrian Civil Defense White HelmetsFake aid group White Helmets
According to intelligence information available to the Russian defense ministry, Daesh (ISIS)* has committed some 57 terrorist attacks and members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces since September 1.

Terrorists Planning Provocation Using Chemical Weapons in Aleppo, Elsewhere

Militants in several Syrian regions including Aleppo are engaged in planning provocations involving the use of chemical weapons including chlorine, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, citing information provided by the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria.

"We have repeatedly informed the public about attempts by radical militants and the White Helmets, notorious for their fakes, to organize provocations using chemical agents and accusing government forces of using chemical weapons against the local population," Konashenkov noted, speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Comment:

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X

Trumps may send up to 15,000 troops to block migrant caravan from entering US


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 21:17 UTC
caravan migrants
© Jose Cabezas / Reuters 1008184A caravan of migrants departs from San Salvador, October 31, 2018.
President Donald Trump says he may send up to 15,000 troops to border with Mexico where thousands of people are heading in a caravan seeking entry to US. This is more than double the number voiced previously by the Pentagon.

"We may go up to anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 military personnel," in addition to the existing border patrol staff, Trump told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday. By comparison, the US currently has approximately 14,000 troops in Afghanistan.

"Nobody's coming in," Trump said, adding that his administration will not allow in any immigrants who "don't have the well-being of our country in mind." He pointed to the violent incidents where members of both migrant caravans clashed with Mexican border guards and police, breaking through border fences.
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Propaganda

Iran International TV station in UK reportedly outed as propaganda outlet funded by the Saudi royal court

Saeed Kamali Dehghan
RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 20:34 UTC
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
A UK-based Iranian TV station is being funded through a secretive offshore entity and a company whose director is a Saudi Arabian businessman with close links to the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Guardian can reveal.

The disclosures are likely to raise concerns about the editorial independence of Iran International, and comes at a time of growing fears about a number of Saudi-linked stations operating across London.

A source has told the Guardian that Prince Mohammed, who many believe is responsible for the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is the force behind Iran International. The station, which is operating out of Chiswick, has not denied claims that it receives its funding from the Saudi royal court.
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Snakes in Suits

Merkel is 'autocratic' leader who turned own party into political graveyard - ex-OSCE Assembly VP


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 20:18 UTC
Angela Merkel
© Reuters / Axel SchmidtAngela Merkel's famous "triangle of power" gesture
Angela Merkel's coalition, plagued by election failures and shrinking support, has come to this because of her autocratic inclinations and allergy towards fellow party leaders, the former VP of the OSCE Assembly told RT.

Willy Wimmer, who also served as State Secretary to Germany's defense minister, has provided his take on Chancellor Angela Merkel on the heels of her decision not to run for a fifth term. The problems now gripping her government began to snowball years ago, according to the retired conservative politician from the Christian Democratic Union.
"It all started at the end of the last decade when it came to the financial crisis in the year 2008. Since then, she [has] made decisions [on] her own... in rather an autocratic way."
Merkel, who rose through the ranks of the Christian Democrats during the 1990s, is widely seen around the world as a leader who is able to come to terms with almost anyone. This is not the case at home, Wimmer argued, citing the chancellor's decision to get rid of nuclear power and shutting down the proposal to revive the military draft.
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Bad Guys

'Dixie Claire': Fellow Dem compares Senator McCaskill to slave owner


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 20:17 UTC
Claire McCaskill
© Joshua Roberts / ReutersSenator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri)
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) has found herself in a public (and very vitriolic) spat with a fellow Democrat who took to Twitter and compared her to a slave owner less than a week before midterm elections.

It all started when McCaskill decided to run a radio campaign ad describing herself as "not one of those crazy Democrats" in an obvious effort to secure moderate and middle-of-the-road voters as her poll numbers struggle.

Pushed by Fox News' Bret Baier to give examples of who those "crazy Democrats" actually were, McCaskill later referenced controversial Missouri Democratic state senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, who once called for US President Donald Trump to be assassinated.

Comment: Claire's been having a rough couple of weeks

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Nuke

Stephen Cohen: Abolition of nuclear abolitionism?

Stephen Cohen
RT
Sun, 28 Oct 2018 15:43 UTC
Trump/Commanders
© Global Look Press/Shealah CraigheadUS President Donald Trump with senior military commanders, October 23, 2018.
President Trump's withdrawal from the INF Treaty nullifies a historic precedent.

Stephen Cohen elaborates on the following points regarding Trump's decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed by the US and (Soviet) Russia in 1987.

- For whatever reasons, both leaders at the time, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, had developed a deep personal fear of nuclear weapons. After agreeing in principle, though informally, in February 1986 that all nuclear weapons should be eliminated, the following year they abolished an entire category of those instruments of mass destruction: nuclear-warhead-bearing missiles with a range of some 500-5,500 kilometers.

- The INF Treaty was focused on Europe, which was targeted by Soviet missiles and which was where US counter-missiles were based. It was a major step in a diplomatic process of grand détente that both Reagan and Gorbachev thought would end the Cold War and nuclear arms races forever. The treaty's larger significance is that it was the first, and still only, act of nuclear abolitionism - until now, a historic 31-year tangible symbol of what more could, and should, be possible.

Comment: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gives a warning:
From RFE/RL:
Shoigu told his visiting Greek counterpart on October 29 that the European Union and NATO should weigh the consequences of a U.S. exit from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty...

"It seems to us that not everybody in Europe understands that this decision will have serious consequences for Europe either, and to put it more accurately, for Europe in the first place," Shoigu said.

Shoigu's statement follows a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin last week that Russia would target any NATO member countries if the United States withdraws from the treaty and puts currently banned intermediate-range missiles in those countries -- something NATO has said is not currently being contemplated.

In the days since Trump announced his intent to abandon the pact, Russia has called for a return to dialogue over the treaty to address complaints on both sides.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on October 28 that Moscow is drafting answers to a list of questions the United States has drawn up about Russian compliance with the treaty.


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Briefcase

The originalist: A case against birthright citizenship

Daniel Horowitz
Conservative Review
Sat, 25 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
Gavel/WeThePeeps
© Moussa81/Getty Images
The American people are being told by the political class that there is nothing they can do to prevent future waves of illegal immigrants from coming here, unilaterally declaring political and legal jurisdiction, and securing citizenship for their children. We are told that there is no recourse through our elected representatives to prevent illegal immigrants from gaining a legal foothold in this country, all because of a footnote from the most radical anti-originalist justice of this century, William Brennan Jr.

If you are scratching your head wondering how our own Constitution can be used as a suicide pact against us by foreign countries, you are not missing anything. This irrational sentiment expressed by a number of conservative and liberal pundits alike, in fact, undermines the very fabric of the social contract, popular sovereignty, and the republican form of government established by the preamble of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Comment: Is the US true to its founding principles or modifying those standards to appease some of the people some of the time? Can't have it both ways. Protection was guaranteed. Now, not so much.

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Footprints

Pentagon readies 7K troops for border duty; Trump warns 'gang members' in caravan


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:56 UTC
Stonethrowers
© Reuters/Carlos Garcia RawlinsUS-bound migrants throw stones after pulling down a gate at the Mexico/Guatemala border.
Continuing a stream of similar warnings, US President Donald Trump has again warned a thousands-strong 'caravan' of migrants, en route to the US, to "turn around," as the Pentagon identifies 7,000 troops to send to the border.
"The Caravans are made up of some very tough fighters and people," the president tweeted on Wednesday. "Fought back hard and viciously against Mexico at Northern Border before breaking through. Mexican soldiers hurt, were unable, or unwilling to stop Caravan. Should stop them before they reach our Border, but won't!"

With a caravan of around 4,500 migrants already well into Mexico, "breaking though," was likely a reference to a second migrant caravan forcing its way through Mexico's southern border with Guatemala on Saturday, battering down the gates and throwing rocks at police.

Comment: This upcoming encounter, with all its potential variables, is akin to threading a humanitarian, legal and political needle. There will be only one chance to do it right.
See also:

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Jet3

US urges Saudi-led coalition to cease airstrikes in 'populated areas' of Yemen


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:35 UTC
PomMat
© cnn.comSecretary of State Mike Pompeo • Defense Secretary James Mattis
The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has urged the Saudi-led coalition to stop airstrikes in heavily populated Yemen, shortly after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a that long-lasting ceasefire is the only possible solution.

"Time is now for the cessation of hostilities, including missile and UAV strikes from Houthi-controlled areas into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Subsequently, Coalition air strikes must cease in all populated areas," Pompeo said in a statement.

"It is time to end this conflict, replace conflict with compromise, and allow the Yemeni people to heal through peace and reconstruction," declared the top diplomat of the country that supplies the coalition with the bulk of its weapons, as well as intelligence and reconnaissance assistance.

Just hours earlier - while noting that American aircraft continue to provide aerial refueling and intelligence to Saudi jets attacking Yemeni targets - the Pentagon chief also demanded that the warring parties work towards a long-lasting peace.

"We want to see everybody around a peace table based on ceasefire, based on a pullback from the border, and then based on ceasing dropping bombs," Mattis said at the Institute of Peace (USIP).

Comment: The time to end this conflict was years ago.

And from Sputnik:
A strike by the Arab coalition fighting Houthis in Yemen killed 150 rebels near the port city of Hodeidah, a spokesman for the Saudi-led forces said Tuesday. The missile and bomb attack hit a Houthi training camp, Col. Turki Al-Malki said.

The coalition of mostly Gulf Arab nations has been carrying airstrikes in Yemen in support of the country's government since 2015.

UN aid chief Mark Lowcock has warned that fierce clashes for the Red Sea port were blocking a crucial road used by food convoys to feed northern Yemen. Half of the country's population, he said, will soon be on the brink of famine.


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Attention

Premeditated: Khashoggi was strangled in planned attack, body dismembered says Turkish prosecutor


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 14:10 UTC
Saudi Prosecutor
© REUTERS/Kemal AslanSaudi public prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb leaves from the Justice Palace in Istanbul, Turkey October 30, 2018.
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by "strangulation" immediately after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a Turkish prosecutor has confirmed, adding that his body was "cut into pieces' after the murder.

The dissident reporter disappeared after going to the diplomatic mission on October 2. After denying his death and the knowledge of his whereabouts for days, Riyadh admitted that Khashoggi died as a result of a 'fist fight.' Later, the Saudi prosecutors also said that some evidence suggested that Khashoggi's killing was premeditated.

Now, the office of Istanbul's chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan says Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the diplomatic compound as part of a premeditated killing. This is the first official confirmation of the murder made by the Turkish officials.

Comment: The prosecutor 'confirms' this. Is there a forensic report to back him up?

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