Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Leaving Syria in 2020? Pentagon to put withdrawal "on pause" when number falls to 1,000


Sputnik
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 17:16 UTC
US army middle east
© CC0Staff Sgt. Jacob Connor / 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)Middle East
Earlier, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford denied reports that close to 1,000 of the estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria would stay in the war-torn country despite President Trump's withdrawal promises.

The withdrawal of the US military contingent in Syria will be put on pause after troop numbers are halved by early May, The New York Times has reported, citing officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

According to the officials, the pause will be followed by an assessment of 'conditions on the ground', with further withdrawals occurring every six months or so until numbers fall to the 400 troop limit approved by Trump in February. This, NYT noted, means Trump may not get his 400 troop cap until fall 2020.

Comment: So once again Trump's claims for withdrawal are contradicted by other powers in the US; although considering the endless 'coalition' airstrikes and other nefarious activity in the region, few believed it would actually happen: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: World in Chaos: Anti-Russia Hysteria, Israel Murders Palestinians, US Leaving Syria?

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Star of David

Palestinian dies from head wound at Gaza Border on one year anniversary of Great Return March protest


Sputnik
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 00:36 UTC
IDF snipers Gaza
© Jack Guez / Agence France-PresseIsraeli snipers on an earth barrier along the border with the Gaza strip.
A Palestinian man died from a head wound received during border clashes on Friday between residents of the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military, Palestinian media reported citing the PA Health Ministry.

According to Safa Palestinian Press Agency, the man, 20 received a shrapnel wound in eastern Gaza during protests. He was transferred to a hospital, but doctors failed to save his life.

During Friday's rallies, 10 Palestinians received bullet wounds from Israeli forces, the media outlet claimed, while Israeli officials have yet to comment on the situation at the border.
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Arrow Up

Stephen Cohen: Determining the real costs of Russiagate

Stephen Cohen
RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:09 UTC
Russia/US flags
© globalresearch
Its perpetrators, not Putin or Trump, "attacked American democracy." The very few of us who publicly challenged and deplored Russiagate allegations against candidate and then President Donald Trump from the time they first began to appear in mid-2016 should not gloat or rejoice over the US Attorney General's summary of Robert S. Mueller's key finding:
"The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election."
(On the other hand, those of us repeatedly slurred as Trump and/or Putin "apologists" might feel some vindication.)

But what about the legions of high-ranking intelligence officials, politicians, editorial writers, television producers, and other opinion-makers, and their eager media outlets that perpetuated, inflated, and prolonged this unprecedented political scandal in American history - those who did not stop short of accusing the president of the United States of being a Kremlin "agent," "asset," "puppet," "Manchurian candidate," and who characterized his conduct and policies as "treasonous"? (These and other examples are cited in my book War with Russia? From Putin and Ukraine to Trump and Russiagate, and in a recent piece by Paul Starobin in City Journal.) Will they now apologize, as decency requires, or, more importantly, explain their motives so that we might understand and avoid another such national trauma?
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Star of David

Netanyahu's campaign ad lecturing Obama drives a wedge Pelosi denies exists

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
ObamaNeti
© ScreenshotThe famous Obama lecture by Netanyahu in 2011, now in Netanyahu ad, March 2019.
Oh nostalgia! You've surely heard about Benjamin Netanyahu's latest ad that shows him lecturing Barack Obama in the White House eight years ago and says it's a sign of Netanyahu's strength.

The ad features the encounter between Obama and the Prime Minister in May 2011 right after Obama dared to suggest that the '67 lines were the basis for negotiation. Netanyahu trashes Palestinians in the ad, which is an excerpt of the PBS documentary, Netanyahu at War:
PBS Voiceover: "This time Netanyahu would lecture Obama, taking a hard line on the peace process."

Netanyahu to Obama: "It's not going to happen. Everybody knows it's not going to happen. And I think it's time to tell the Palestinians, it's not going to happen."

Ben Rhodes: "I've never a foreign leader seen a speak to the president like that and certainly not in public. I've certainly never seen it in the Oval Office."

Netanyahu: "Israel obviously can't be expected to negotiate with a government that is backed by the Palestinian version of al Qaeda.

Peter Baker, New York Times: "You're watching the president there, his face in his hand, and you can tell it's not going over well. It's his house and to be lectured in his office rankles."

Netanyahu to Obama: "You cannot go back to the 1967 lines. Because these lines are indefensible."

Dennis Ross: Bill Daley is standing next to me and he's going, "Outrageous. Outrageous."
The ad ends with a campaign message: "Netanyahu, Right. Strong."

Comment: See also:

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Question

A hidden 40th candidate? What does Vladimir Putin have to do with the Ukrainian presidential election?


RT
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 10:13 UTC
Kiev ballots
© Workers check ballots for presidential election at a printing plant in Kiev, REUTERS/Gleb GaranichWorkers check ballots for presidential election at a printing plant in Kiev
Ukrainians will choose from 39 candidates this Sunday, but one name has received a huge amount of attention despite not being on the ballot - Vladimir Putin. The contenders seem to be unable to stop talking about him.

Of course, the leader of Ukraine's powerful neighbor is not unworthy of the voters' attention. But some candidates may have gone too far shaping their campaigns around Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For instance, Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent Ukrainian president struggling to stay in office, states in non-ambiguous terms that he is running against Putin. "Who is my opponent? I don't hesitate to say this openly, since others are afraid to do it. It's Putin."

The message was also given a prominent place during a big event in which the Ukrainian president announced his candidacy in January. Displays showed banners featuring him and his Russian counterpart with the slogan: "Either Poroshenko, or Putin." Some observers, including Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, snickered, asking if Putin was aware he was running.

Comment: See also:

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Bizarro Earth

How electoral fraud became the cornerstone of Ukraine's 2019 presidential election

Ollie Richardson
The Saker
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:00 UTC
Ukraine election billboard
Election candidate billboard in Ukraine
Of course, it comes as no surprise that both state and independent media are currently interested in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, scheduled to take place on March 31st. But if we are to be honest, this interest isn't so much caused by an eager anticipation vis-a-vis the result. After all, nothing will change much in Ukraine after the election, or rather - the IMF will continue to pick the flesh from the state's rotten bones. Concerning the more actual reason for this interest, the March 28th episode of the RT show "World's Apart", hosted by Oksana Boyko, is very indicative indeed.

Here we see the least pro-"Ukrainism" politician in Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk (take note: I don't use the expression "pro-Russia" for a reason - there is no actual political opposition in Ukraine) explain to the host: "Ukraine's authorities are using their resources to bribe voters in preparation for the March 31 election! Everyone knows it, including Russia and the US!" Of course, Medvedchuk is telling the truth here - the presidential election is a competition between oligarchs, where law enforcement, Banderist militants, and the judicial system are willing to sell their services to the highest bidder. But what Medvedchuk doesn't mention is HOW this is happening. Let's try to address this question - briefly, but by no means exhaustedly, since this is an article and not a book - using facts.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

USAF grounds Boeing built B-1 Lancer bomber for the second time over ejection system problems

Corey Dickstein
Stars and Stripes
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 21:11 UTC
B-1B Lancer bomber
© CLAYTON CUPIT/U.S. AIR FORCEA U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber in the air over Qatar during Joint Air Defense Exercise 19-01, Feb. 19, 2019.
The Air Force on Thursday grounded its fleet of B-1B Lancers to inspect the conventional bombers' ejection systems after discovering a parachute rigging problem during a routine inspection, the service announced in a statement.

Air Force technicians will inspect all 62 of the service's B-1B aircraft during the stand down, said Air Force Capt. Earon Brown, a spokesman for Air Force Global Strike Command. The jets will be returned to flying status on a rolling basis as they are inspected and any issues are resolved, he said.

The stand down marks the second such grounding of the Air Force B-1B fleet in about one year due to ejection system concerns. Last May, Lancers were grounded about three weeks after a B1-B from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas experienced an in-flight emergency and its ejections seats failed to deploy. The crew, in that case, landed safely.

Comment: When we take this into account along with the forever faulty F-35s and the tragedies that occurred as a result of the US FAA and Boeing airplanes, and so much more, evidently something is serious rotten in the US:

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Arrow Up

Washington will lose if it refuses to sell Turkey F-35s, Russia can sell them Su-35s


RT
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 23:53 UTC
Sukhoi
© REUTERS/Amir Cohen; Wikipedia/RulexipF-35 (L) and Sukhoi Su-35 (R)
Washington risks losing the Turkish arms market if it continues to delay the delivery of F-35s agreed upon with Ankara, as Turkey can simply switch to buying warplanes from Russia, RT was told.

"If the US fails to ship the jets to Turkey, Ankara can certainly buy the Su-35s from Russia instead," Viktor Litovkin, a military analyst with the Moscow-based TASS news agency, told RT.

"The US will end up losing the arms market in Turkey should that happen;"

Both aircraft have comparable characteristics, Litovkin said, adding that Moscow wouldn't risk leaking sensitive military technology because the jet's software is hard to crack. It would not require much effort to smoothly integrate the planes into the Turkish military either.

Comment: See also:

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Quenelle - Golden

Zakharova blasts hypocrites in Washington for projecting their schemes for Venezuela onto Russia


RT
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 15:56 UTC
Russian Foreign Ministry
© Global Look Press / Sergey KovalevFILE PHOTO. Russian Foreign Ministry.
The US is projecting its own plans against Venezuela on Moscow, surmising about "military contingents" and "operations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, adding that Russian specialists have clear and open goals in the country.

"It looks like Washington is judging by itself, trying to ascribe its own plans it has against this country to Moscow. Yet again, they arrogantly announce they have 'all option on the table,'" foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Saturday. She added that Russian specialists in Venezuela are not "military contingent" which Moscow made clear from the very beginning.

The US' unsubstantiated alarm over an imaginary Russian "military contingent" deployed to Venezuela is an example of the utmost hypocrisy, given its own activities in South America.

Comment: It's pretty easy to talk sense when you're telling the truth, and so few in the West can say it like Zakharova:

Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?

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Megaphone

Globalism's last disgrace: The Army vs. the Yellow Vests

Tom Luongo
Strategic Culture
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:00 UTC
Genevieve Legay yellow vests
© Global Look Press / PanoramicFrench military police almost killed 73-year-old Genevieve Legay in Nice last week, because she dared defy Macron's ban against protesting
There are few people in this world more odious than French President Emmanuel Macron after his behavior this week. I'm sure there are child molesters who are worse. But as a man who is pivotal in the future of hundreds of millions of people, his decision to order the French military to quell the Yellow Vests protests with live ammunition is simply vile.

Macron outed himself as the very symbol of what animates the globalist elite he represents.

Disdain.

The disdain he holds for the people he leads is palpable. It's as palpable for his disdain for the British who voted for Brexit. To him the EU is all, the EU is inevitable and when faced with the choice of serving France or serving the EU, he chooses the EU every time.

That is what led him to this disastrous decision to deploy the French military to the streets for the first time since 1948 with orders to shoot protestors.

And that disdain is so complete that he doesn't realize what happens if even one of those men goes too far and takes the President at his word. Thankfully, that did not happen.

Comment: Macron tried ignoring France's cries but failing that he then offered compensatory crumbs, and failing that he toured the country with pointless debates, while all that failed to fool people that change for the better was coming, the violence and injustice against protesters, news reporters and medics, only increased: from endless, suffocating and indiscriminate tear gas, water cannons in mid-winter, to flash bombs that maim and rubber bullets that blind. When France truly learns of what Macron and his government have done to the country, as well as to those attempting to defend it, it's likely they will seek for justice to be served: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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