Puppet MastersS


Russian Flag

The very good reasons why Russia won't give up Iran to Israel & the US

Salman Rafi Sheikh
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 27 Jul 2018 16:07 UTC
syrian flag aleppo
© Syrian Arab News Agency/ReutersForces loyal to President al-Assad after they recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo in September, 2017.
With the heat developing on the question of Iran's presence in Syria, a presence which is neither illegitimate nor an invasion of the sorts the US is known for doing, tension in the region is likely to rise. As we write, Israel has already rejected Russia's more than reasonable offer to create a 60-mile buffer between the Israeli border and Iranian forces in Syria, letting the world know its intention that they wouldn't be satisfied on anything less than a virtual Iranian withdrawal from a country where Iran backed forces played a critical role in alliance with Syrian and Russian forces to defeat the world's richest and most brutal terror outfit, the Islamic State/Daesh. Obviously, this defeat did also mean a defeat for the regional, including Israel, and extra-regional actors' plan to 'send Assad home' to pave the way for altering the Middle East's balance of power to their advantage, and thus establish complete dominance over the world's crucial land route and one of the richest energy region. With Iran now firmly established in Syria and the region, Iran's primary enemies - Israel, the US and Saudi Arabia - are bent upon undoing it. Hence, the US withdrawal from the Iran-nuke deal, not because Iran was violating it but because Israel was able to 'convince' Donald Trump of the necessity of doing so.

Comment:

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Smiley

Russia destroyed US democracy using memes? 'Hilarious and paranoid', says Lavrov


RT
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:22 UTC
lavrov
© Grigoriy Sisoev / Sputnik
The idea that Moscow is swaying elections and bringing down US democracy by 'meme-sharing' is preposterous, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. The accusations hurled at Russia by the US lawmakers left him baffled.

"It's just hilarious when I hear that funny pictures can undermine American democracy," Lavrov told reporters on Thursday, answering RT correspondent's question about the latest US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on alleged Russian interference in US domestic affairs.

Experts, brought as witnesses to testify before the Senate on Wednesday, spoke about Russia allegedly using the "less news, more memes" approach online to divide the US public. This led the lawmakers to raise concerns over how Russian "meme-sharing" affects American voters.

"I think that's just paranoia that goes off the scale," Lavrov chuckled, saying that talk of weaponizing memes only makes the Senators themselves look bad. "It's not respectable for American lawmakers to make a sensation out of nothing."
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Star of David

Israel accepting defeat? Defense Chief Lieberman says Syrian front will be quiet with Assad's rule restored


Sputnik
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:16 UTC
syria victory flag
© REUTERS / Omar Sanadiki
The Syrian government has been restoring its control over the country, with the latest military operation being carried out against jihadists in the south of the Arab Republic.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has stated that he believes that the Syrian front will be more quiet with the restoration of the Assad administration's control.

"From our perspective, the situation is returning to how it was before the civil war, meaning there is a real address, someone responsible, and central rule," Lieberman pointed out.

Asked whether Israel should be less concerned about potential Golan Heights-related tensions, he said: "I believe so."

In July, Lieberman pledged a "harsh response" to any attempts by the Syrian Army to enter the Golan Heights, where a demilitarized zone was established in accordance with the 1974 disengagement agreement.

At the same time, he made it plain that he does not exclude "some kind of relationship" between Israel and Syria even though the two countries are "a long way from that".

Comment: Israel did everything it could to destroy Syria and Assad's rule. Israel failed. Not only that, Syria got stronger. So now, Israel must hope and pray the Syrians don't try to retake the Golan Heights, which Israel is illegally occupying. Israeli citizens can't tolerate when Jews are killed in Israel's wars (that's why they've been so careful to pick on defenseless civilians for the past decade or so), and any engagement with Syria would have many casualties, probably more than Israel suffered in the last war on Lebanon, which they lost.

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Bullseye

How Gaddafi's horrific migrant prophecy for Europe is proving true


Sputnik
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 12:00 UTC
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
© Sputnik / Alexei Druzhinin
The flow of migrants coming to Europe from Africa is likely to grow in the coming years, writes Sputnik Germany contributor Bernhard Schwarz. For decades Libya served as a firewall halting the tide of refugees heading to the EU. Now when Libya lies in ruins European leaders see that late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was right, Schwarz stressed.

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's "prophecy" is turning into reality with destitute Africans violently storming the Spanish-Moroccan border on July 26, writes Sputnik Germany contributor Bernhard Schwarz, stressing that the event sends a strong signal to Berlin.

"Driven by desperation and hunger, they are ready to risk their own lives and the lives of border guards to get to Europe. They will not take no for an answer. Their brutality against the police is shocking and should set the alarm bells ringing for Brussels. So far, the EU has not reacted to the incident, but unless a concrete action plan is presented soon, there is a risk that damaging violence and anarchy will be at the heart of Europe," the German journalist warned.

Comment: The migrant crisis in Europe didn't 'just happen' - it was a direct result of NATO and the West's wars of aggression and greed that fell under the Neo-liberal brand of 'Responsibility to Protect' - that a part of the world, unfortunately, still buys into.

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Eye 2

Strzok gave Special Counsel Mueller "special authorities" to target Trump according to new emails

Sara Carter
saraacarter.com
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 14:28 UTC
Peter Strzok
Peter Strzok
Anti-Trump FBI agent, Peter Strzok, insisted on maintaining special authorities before joining Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, according to newly released emails obtained by Judicial Watch.

In a July 13, 2017 email to numerous FBI officials (some of whom are redacted), Strzok says he wants to keep the privileges he had while serving as the deputy assistant director (DAD) in the counterintelligence division (CD) of the FBI:
"Broadly, I need to be able to act at least in the capacity of my old CD DAD job - approve NSLs [national security letters], conduct [redacted] declassify information, [redacted] agent travel, requisitions, etc. Of those, the most problematic and one of the most essential is declassification authority."

Comment: Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch discusses Strzok's request for special security clearance.





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Headphones

Trump reportedly wants to interview with Mueller, shunning attorneys' advice

Scott Morefield
The Daily Caller
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 12:24 UTC
Robert Mueller
President Donald Trump wants to sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller, according to a Wednesday New York Times report.

Although his legal team is advising against it, Trump reportedly believes the interview will allow him to clear his name, and is renewing a push to allow Mueller to sit down and question the president.

Previously, Trump had stated his desire to interview with Mueller, but also his intention to follow the advice of his attorneys.

Comment: See also:

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Stock Up

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon says Trump's tax cut and deregulation have 'accelerated growth'

Fred Imbert
CNBC
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 17:59 UTC
Jamie Dimon
© Getty Images
J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that President Donald Trump's tax cuts, along with some of his other efforts, have helped out the U.S. economy.

"Presidents get a lot of credit [and] a lot of blame for things they didn't do, but the president has done things which accelerated growth," Dimon told CNBC's Wilfred Frost on "Closing Bell." "We needed competitive taxes. The way the American public should be thinking of it is: For 20 years, we've been increasingly uncompetitive, driving capital and brains overseas."

Dimon also said some of the regulatory rollbacks pushed by Trump are helping small businesses. "We've had less small business formation in America than in any other recovery," he said. "This has accelerated the growth. It's been 20 percent over 10 years; it should've been 40. The reason it wasn't 40 is because of a lot of things that we did hurt ourselves."

Comment: For all the bitching and moaning the democrats have unleashed about Trumps 'horrible tax plan', it seems the experts are in agreement that Trump's interventions are having a clear benefit.

See also:

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Book 2

Bob Woodward's new book, 'Fear', puts readers face to face with Trump

Jamie Gangel and Dan Merica
CNN
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC
fear book cover Bob Woodward
Donald Trump is about to get the Bob Woodward treatment.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and author will release "Fear" -- his first book on the Trump administration -- on September 11, 2018, just weeks before the midterm elections that could deliver a strong verdict on the President's first two years in office.

According to sources with knowledge of the book, "Fear" is based on hundreds of hours of taped interviews with first-hand sources and provides an in-depth, probing account of Trump's thoughts and decisions on everything from national security to the Russia investigation to the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In addition to interviewing dozens of administration officials, the source said, Woodward was given memos, documents, diaries and notes, including some handwritten by the President.

Comment: Given Woodward's reputation, and his past chastising of the press for being 'emotionally unhinged' when reporting on the president, we may actually see an authentic account of the Trump presidency in this book. It remains to be seen, of course, if the author is more interested in selling copies of a smear piece, or if he sticks to his scruples. Here's hoping for the latter.

See also:

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Airplane Paper

Pentagon to begin Space Force — even before congress approves It

Marcus Weisgerber
Defense One
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 09:52 UTC
Atlas V rocket
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the third Mobile User Objective System satellite for the U.S. Navy creates a light trail as it lifts off on Jan. 20, 2015.
Within months, DoD will start standing up a new combatant command, a new space-procurement agency, and a new Space Operations Force.

The U.S. Defense Department this week will take the first steps to create the Space Force, a new branch of the military ordered up by President Trump but not yet fully backed by Congress.

In coming months, Defense Department leaders plan to stand up three of the four components of the new Space Force: a new combatant command for space, a new joint agency to buy satellites for the military, and a new warfighting community that draws space operators from all service branches. These sweeping changes - on par with the past decade's establishment of cyber forces - are the part the Pentagon can do without lawmakers' approval.

Creating the fourth component - an entirely new branch of the military with services and support functions such as financial management and facilities construction - will require congressional action. Defense officials plan to spend the rest of 2018 building a "legislative proposal for the authorities necessary to fully establish the Space Force." That would go to Congress early next year as part of the Trump administration's 2020 budget proposal.

Comment: As it is, the US is no fit state to take on China and Russia - especially in space, since they still rely on Russia rockets. What is curious is this "seismic" shift in the organizational process and whether this is symbolic of the increasing belligerence and blatant disregard by the US deepstate of the US democratic process:

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Broom

'Doomsday weapon': How Russia's Poseidon significantly exceeds the West's capabilities

Mikhail Khodarenok
RT
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 16:55 UTC
US Navy ship Sea Hunter
© John F. Williams / Global LookUS Navy ship Sea Hunter
US and British navies could counter Russia's nuclear-powered autonomous torpedo, Poseidon, by using undersea sensors and anti-submarine aircraft, writes Covert Shores website. But is this really a viable tactic?

The development of the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), originally known as 'Status-6', was first mentioned in November 2015. Western media later dubbed the submarine drone a doomsday weapon.

On March 1, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially confirmed the weapon's existence in his annual address to the Federal Assembly.

"We have developed unmanned submersible vehicles that can move at great depths - I would say extreme depths - intercontinentally, at a speed multiple times higher than the speed of submarines, cutting-edge torpedoes and all kinds of surface vessels," said Putin.

It is reported that the main goal of the torpedo is to deliver a thermonuclear warhead to enemy shores in order to destroy important coastal infrastructure and industrial objects, as well as ensure massive damage to the enemy's territory by subjecting vast areas to radioactive tsunamis and other devastating consequences of a nuclear explosion.

Comment: Considering the US' military performance in Syria and the current output of faulty US weaponry, no amount of investment into a completely corrupted system will produce anything that will outmatch that of Russia: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Putin The World To Rights: Russia's New Nuclear Weapons And The End of 'Unipolarity'

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