Puppet MastersS


Eye 1

EU politicians tell Hungarian PM Orban to 'calm his rhetoric' or his party will get expelled from European People's Party


Sputnik
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 09:31 UTC
Viktor Orban
© AFP 2018 / THIERRY CHARLIER
Earlier this week, MEP Manfred Weber told the Bild newspaper that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban must stop his anti-EU rhetoric if he wants his Fidesz Party to remain in the conservative European People's Party (EPP).

"The dispute between Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the EU is in fact a struggle between the old EU countries (Western Europe) and the new ones (Middle and Eastern Europe)", Frank Creyelman, honorary Belgian MP and former chairman to the Committee on Foreign Policy, European Affairs and International Cooperation, told Sputnik.

He claimed that one of the main stumbling blocks in Brussels is "the most symbolic issue" of mass immigration, in which "Orban took a leading and even provocative role".

Comment: Also see:

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Bad Guys

India accuses Pakistan of 'hiding information' by blocking access to bombing site

Krishna N. Das
KFGO
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 09:31 UTC
Pakistan army soldier
Pakistan's army soldier stands at the edge of a crater, after Indian military aircrafts struck on February 26, according to Pakistani officials
India said on Saturday Pakistan had "plenty to hide" by preventing journalists from accessing the site of an air strike by Indian fighter jets inside Pakistan.

Citing "security concerns", Pakistani security officials on Thursday barred a Reuters team from climbing a hill in northeastern Pakistan to the site of a madrasa, or religious school, and a group of surrounding buildings that was targeted by Indian warplanes last week.

"The fact that Pakistan has now refused access to journalists from visiting the site means that they have plenty to hide," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters.
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Bad Guys

Washington backs off, says 'no timeline' for regime change in Venezuela


RT
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 09:31 UTC
Venezuela opposition protest
© Reuters / Carlos Garcia RawlinsOpposition supporters take part in a rally to commemorate the Day of the Youth and to protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela February 12, 2019.
After weeks of insinuating that Nicolas Maduro's ouster was imminent, Washington now insists that there's "no timeline" for regime change in Venezuela. RT looks at how the US' best laid plans haven't panned out.

When Vice President Mike Pence released a video statement in January pledging full US support for Juan Guaido's claim to the Venezuelan presidency, many assumed that an operation to install the opposition leader in Caracas was just around the corner. But more than a month later, and with Maduro still firmly in power, Washington seems to be out of ideas: Not only has the US failed to deliver its "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela, but Washington's allies have unanimously ruled out military action.

The Trump administration now asserts that there's "no timeline" for regime change in Venezuela - what RT's Igor Zhdanov described as a "thinly veiled admission of failure." Washington still contends that "all options are on the table" - but how many options are left?
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Bad Guys

UK bans jihadi bride but gives 'warm welcome' to more than 100 White Helmets

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 09:31 UTC
white helmets
© AFP 2018 / AMER ALMOHIBANY
Talk about getting your in-laws and outlaws mixed up. This week, the British government banned a British-born jihadi wife returning from Syria. Meanwhile in the same week it emerges that British authorities have taken in over 100 so-called White Helmet members from Syria.

The case of 19-year-old Shamima Begum and her newborn child stranded in a refugee camp in Syria has sparked controversy and soul-searching. Some say she should be left to the wilderness of Syria as retribution for consorting with terrorists when she eloped from her London home four years ago. Others say she should be brought back to her native Britain to face possible prosecution for taking up with a member of the ISIS terror group.

This week the British government stripped Begum of her citizenship and is refusing to take her back. The fate of her newborn baby, who has British citizenship, remains unclear. There will be immense legal wrangling to resolve the case, and Begum's family in London are appealing for her return to face justice. They condemn her involvement with Daesh*, but nevertheless want her to be dealt with as a British citizen.
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Bad Guys

Did Donald Trump and John Bolton sabotage a North Korea deal?

Harry J. Kazianis
The American Conservative
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Whether this started as a cynical ploy to distract from domestic politics or not, it's all rapidly devolving into 'an utter disaster.'
Trump Bolton North Korea talks
© ReutersBolton (far left) with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney at a meeting with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and his delegation in Vietnam on Feb 28, 2019.
Forget about the niceties exchanged after the much-hyped Hanoi summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un. To put it bluntly, the administration's strategy towards Pyongyang has devolved into an utter disaster, and if things do not change soon, we could very well go back to the dark days of "fire and fury."

So what happened? It may be that Trump walked into the summit in Hanoi with a very slick game plan. There has been ample reporting showing that the Trump administration knew that the North Koreans wanted large-scale sanctions relief in exchange for the closure of much of the Yongbyon nuclear facility. If working groups led by Special Representative Steve Biegun could not bridge the gap, why even hold the summit at all?

Comment:
Did Bolton Blow North Korea?
...
The media reported that Trump walked away from the meeting before the scheduled signing ceremony and closing press event. The talks broke down, it was reported, because Kim demanded an end to all sanctions before any reduction in North Korea's nuclear arsenal. Washington sighed with relief and said all together, "better no deal than a bad deal."

Meanwhile the North Koreans held a rare press conference clarifying that they only asked for partial sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling one of their main nuclear facilities. Further, press reports began to surface that National Security Advisor John Bolton threw additional demands on the table which led Kim to draw the meeting to an early close.

Who's telling the truth? We likely won't know. But given Bolton's strong opposition to any kind of peace agreement with North Korea it's hard to doubt that he had something to do with the blow-up of the summit. As the New York Timesreported over the weekend, while Trump's advisors were shocked when he decided to meet Kim face-to-face the first time for negotiations, John Bolton wasn't worried at all. As the Times writes, "Mr. Bolton told colleagues not to worry. The negotiations, he said, would collapse on their own." And so they did.

Will Trump continue to allow his diplomatic efforts to be undermined by his own staff? Let's hope the president will ignore Washington, ignore the neocons, and continue to work for peace with North Korea.


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Propaganda

Summary of OPCW's Douma, Syria Report: No Sarin or Chlorine deaths


Land Destroyer
Sun, 03 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Douma Attack 17
Patrick Henningsen (21WIRE) and Mike Robinson (UK Column) do a quick overview of the final OPCW report on the April 7, 2018 alleged "chemical attack" in Douma, Syria, just a day before Syrian government forces finally retook the area from US-sponsored terrorists.

Other points to consider include a similar yellow canister turning up at a nearby militant-run bomb factory as well as similar craters on nearby buildings as those the two yellow canisters involved in the supposed attack allegedly passed through - suggesting the canisters might have been placed near pre-existing damage.

Both points - regarding a similar canister found in a militant bomb factory and similar craters in nearby buildings - were specifically noted in the OPCW report itself.

Comment: See also:

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Brick Wall

'I'm winning': Trump fires back at 'wacky nut job Anne Coulter' over border wall


RT
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 20:46 UTC
Trump winning
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
Claiming that he is "winning at the border," the US president has fired back at conservative firebrand Ann Coulter, who ended her cooling political romance with Donald Trump by calling him an "idiot" over concessions to Democrats.

"Wacky Nut Job Ann Coulter, who still hasn't figured out that, despite all odds and an entire Democrat Party of Far Left Radicals against me (not to mention certain Republicans who are sadly unwilling to fight), I am winning on the Border,"Trump proclaimed on Twitter.

"Tens of thousands of illegals are being apprehended (captured) at the Border and NOT allowed into our Country," he added. "With another President, millions would be pouring in."

Coulter, an early and once-fervent supporter of Donald Trump's presidency, ramped up her criticism of the commander-in-chief during the government shutdown as it became clear that Trump would be unable to negotiate a border wall deal with House Democrats.

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Megaphone

Russia, Syria slam contradictory US stance on refugees from Rukban camp


Sputnik
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 20:38 UTC
refugees
© AP Photo
The United States is contradicting itself with its stance about the return of refugees from Syria's Rukban camp on the Jordanian border and has put forward conditions for the return of people residing there, the heads of the Russian and Syrian Joint Coordination Committees on Repatriation of Syrian Refugees said in a statement.

"A representative of the US-led international coalition against ISIS in Syria, Sean Ryan, said there are no obstacles to the free movement of Rukban camp refugees. At the same time, the first Secretary of the US Embassy in Amman, Alex Hawke, authorised to discuss the problems of the Rukban camp, has outlined a number of conditions to allow residents of the camp to freely leave its territory", the statement said.

Comment: See also: Russian MoD slams US for blocking evacuation convoys at Syria's Rukban camp

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Bullseye

Real collusion: Judicial Watch releases documents revealing DOJ protected Steele after FBI's public shunning


Sputnik
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 18:57 UTC
C.Steele
© AP/Victoria Jones/PAChristopher Steele
Steele was cut off by the FBI for revealing his relationship with the Bureau to the media - but Ohr continued to pass information from Steele to his colleagues, regularly spoke to him via email and phone, and met up with him face-to-face on several occasions.

Information watchdog Judicial Watch has released 339-pages of US Department of Justice records, revealing former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr remained in regular contact with ex-MI6 operative Christopher Steele after Steele's status as a paid confidential informant was terminated by the FBI in November 2016.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton:
"These smoking gun documents show Christopher Steele, a Hillary Clinton operative and anti-Trump foreign national, secretly worked hand-in-glove with the Justice Department on its illicit targeting of President Trump. These documents leave no doubt that for more than a year after the FBI fired Christopher Steele for leaking, and for some 10 months after Donald Trump was sworn in as president, Bruce Ohr continued to act as a go-between for Steele with the FBI and Justice Department. The anti-Trump Russia investigation, now run by Robert Mueller, has been thoroughly compromised by this insider corruption."

Comment: See also:
The tangled web: Testimony provided by Rosenstein and Simpson contradicts Bruce Ohr's testimony

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Calendar

Skripal saga: One year later some things are clearer

James O'Neill
New Eastern Outlook
Sat, 09 Mar 2019 00:00 UTC
Skripal ambulance
© Unknown
This past week (4 March 2019) saw the first anniversary of the incident in Salisbury England where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia became ill in a public space in the centre of town. Within a very short time (12th March) and before evidence could possibly have been adduced, United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May was making a statement in the House of Commons attributing blame to Russia.

The then foreign secretary Boris Johnson had already (6 March) drawn parallels with the Litvinenko death in 2006. On 12 March (before May's statement) Johnson went further and said that the substance responsible for the Skripal's illness had been identified as "A234" and that accordingly, in the British assessment "it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack."

In the succeeding 12 months the British have not deviated from that view. This is despite a wealth of evidence contradicting that assessment, and a multiple of variations of the official story that have emerged. The British have also ignored the manifest impossibilities of many of their arguments, and the emergence of other, far more plausible explanations.
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