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Russian general Gerasimov offers US' Dunford to cooperate on rebuilding Syria, repatriating refugees

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 14:58 UTC
dunford gerasimov
© USN PO1C Dominique A. Pineiro / ReutersGen. Joe Dunford (left) and Gen. Valery Gerasimov (right), Helsinki, Finland, June 8, 2018
Major international media have reported that Russia's Armed Forces' Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov has contacted his US counterpart Joseph Dunford with a proposal.

According to reports citing a US government memo, the Russian military has supposedly offered the US military to cooperate in rebuilding the devastated Syrian nation.

If the memo and reports are true, then Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, contacted United States General Joseph Dunford, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on July 19, offering Russian cooperation in the reconstruction of Syria and in the repatriation of refugees to the Arab country.

This is the first time such a proposal has been reported, but details have not yet been released.

Comment: While unconfirmed, the terms of the memo are plausible and reflect the Russian approach to diplomacy. While they have every opportunity to throw the U.S. to the wolves by exposing U.S. collusion with radical jihadists, the Russian approach is to always leave the door open for cooperation, to let bygones be bygones, even to let the U.S. participate in the benefits (material and in terms of public image) of victory. But the U.S. is stubborn, as the memo also suggests: they will only cooperate once every last chance of subversion is gone, i.e., when the war is 'over'. But the war will only be over once the U.S. stops supporting 'opposition' in the form of jihadists and the Kurds. But even then, Russia will probably keep this offer on the table, because peace is the best outcome, even if one must swallow their pride to make it happen.

Update: The Russian MoD has now commented, blaming Washington for the leak:
The Russian offer, passed on through a confidential communication channel between the militaries of the two nations, was initially reported by Reuters on Sunday after the agency obtained a US government memo about it.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has now confirmed that a proposal to join efforts in Syria was sent by the chief of the Russian General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Marine General Joseph Dunford, in mid-July.

Regarding the leak, Moscow said "the inability of the US side to comply with the agreement on publicizing the contacts [between the two militaries] only with the consent of both sides is disappointing."

"We expect that the US side will be able to take the necessary measures to prevent further violations of mutual agreements in the future."

The Russian MoD also expanded on the content of its offer. Moscow is open "to work with the Syrian authorities on providing security guarantees to the refugees from the Rukban camp in the US-controlled area of al-Tanf and creating necessary conditions for their return home."

The defense ministry also said it is prepared to "coordinate the issues of humanitarian demining, including in Raqqa," as well as addressing other humanitarian issues. The joint work would serve to establish a return to peaceful life in Syria as well as curbing attempts by terrorists to find recruits.

Moscow again underlined the importance of the secure communication channel with Washington on Syria, saying that it "helps [in] preventing incidents between our armed forces and finding mutually acceptable solutions [to pressing issues], taking into account the interests of both countries."

The Russian proposal "received an icy reception in Washington," Reuters reported.


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Stock Down

Pi$$ing off the whole world, one country at a time: Turkish lira plummeting under bite of US sanctions


RT
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 14:53 UTC
turkish lira
© Murad Sezer / Reuters
Investors are dumping Turkey's national currency, the lira, after Washington imposed sanctions relating to the trial of an American pastor accused of backing terrorism.

The lira hit an all-time low of 5.11 versus the dollar on Friday after the US sanctioned two of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ministers who played a key role in detaining American pastor Andrew Brunson. Turkish authorities are accusing Brunson of aiding the attempted military coup in Turkey in July 2016.

Inflation in Turkey surged over the last month, surging to almost 16 percent in July alone. Despite this, the country's central bank left the key interest rate unaltered at 17.75 percent. Erdogan earlier criticized his central bank for hiking the rates, which can be regarded as a sign that it has become less independent.

"Further escalation in the standoff could prompt further capital outflows and have a negative impact on the confidence in the economy," said Jakob Christensen, head of emerging markets research at Danske Bank, as quoted by Reuters.

"This is one of the key risks for Turkey, but you also have the underlying structural weaknesses in the economy, which are exacerbating these geopolitical concerns."

Comment: See also: Turkey vows retaliation against US sanctions over jailed pastor allegedly involved in 2016 coup

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Dollars

Two knockout blows to US imperialism: De-dollarization and hypersonic weapons

Federico Pieraccini
Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 13:15 UTC
Putin and Xi
In the current multipolar world in which we live, economic and military factors are decisive in guaranteeing countries their sovereignty. Russia and China seem to be taking this very seriously, committed to the de-dollarization of their economies and the accelerated development of hypersonic weapons.

The transition phase we are going through, passing from a unipolar global order to a multipolar one, calls for careful observation. It is important to analyze the actions taken by two world powers, China and Russia, in defending and consolidating their sovereignty over the long term. Observing decisions taken by these two countries in recent years, we can discern a twofold strategy. One is economic, the other purely military. In both cases we observe strong cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. The merit of this alliance is paradoxically attributed to the attitude of various US administrations, from George Bush Senior through to Obama. The special relationship between Moscow and Beijing has been forged by a shared experience of Washington's pressure over the last 25 years. Their shared mission now seems to be to contain the US's declining imperial power and to shepherd the world from a unipolar world order, with Washington at the center of international relations, to a multipolar world order, with at least three global powers playing a major role in international relations.

The Sino-Russian strategy has shown itself over the last two decades to consist of two parts: economic clout on the one hand, and military strength on the other, the latter to ward off reckless American behavior. Both Eurasian powers have their respective strengths and weaknesses in this regard. If Russia's economy can hardly be compared to China's, China plays second fiddle to Russia's conventional and nuclear deterrents, and is quite some way behind Moscow in terms of hypersonic weapons. The cooperation between Moscow and Beijing aims to synergize their respective strengths.
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Stop

US District Court Judge warns Mueller team they 'can't prove conspiracy' without star witness

Alex Pappas & Anne Ball
Fox News
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 11:59 UTC
Paul Manafort
© AP Photo/Jacquelyn MartinPaul Manafort, center right, walks with his wife Kathleen Manafort, right, and Jason Maloni, Manafort's spokesman, left, as they arrive at the Alexandria Federal Courthouse in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 8, 2018.
The federal judge in the trial of ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort told Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team on Thursday they cannot prove a key part of their case unless prosecutors call Manafort's former business partner to the stand.

U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III issued the warning after prosecutors suggested Wednesday that Rick Gates - who is cooperating with prosecutors and had been considered a potential star witness - might not be called to the stand after all.

Referencing Gates, Ellis told prosecutors in court they "can't prove conspiracy without him."

"Not necessarily," Mueller prosecutor Greg Andres responded, before saying they still have "every intention" to call Gates to the stand.
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Better Earth

Is Imran Khan's Pakistan ready to escape the clutches of the US?


Sputnik
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 15:07 UTC
Imran Khan'
© AP Photo / B.K. BangashImran Khan's Greatest Test
The first time I saw Imran Khan he was a young student playing cricket (very well), for Oxford in the University Parks in the 1970s. The next, around forty years later, was when he signed my copy of Wounded Tiger - a History of Cricket in Pakistan, at my friend Peter Oborne's book launch in London.

Now he's set to be sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan. It's been quite a journey.

Imran faced a number of challenges in the cricket field, most of which he dealt with admirably. Taking over as captain of Pakistan during a turbulent time in the early 1980s, he led his country to new heights and had a profound impact on the development of the game. In 1992 he captained Pakistan to its first- and to date- only World Cup victory- inspiring his team with the immortal words: 'We have nothing to lose. We should go out and fight like wounded tigers'.

"Imran's success is first and foremost a triumph of will and intelligence," Oborne writes. "Imran was the only captain in Pakistan's history, apart from Kardar and Mushtaq Mohammed, with the strength of character to stand up to the cricketing bureaucracy".

Comment: Like many other countries who have suffered US dirty tricks and domination, Pakistan likely knows it will secure a better and more stable future with countries like Russia and China: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: What's The Problem With Nationalism?

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Broom

Last bus to Idlib: Terrorist safe-haven in Syria soon to face a cleaning out

Steven Sahiounie
MintPress News
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 09:33 UTC
Al-Qaeda Militant
© APAn al-Qaeda-linked militant standing in a bus, after being evacuated from the town of Arsal, near the Syrian border, in northeast Lebanon route to the rebel-held Idlib province in northwest Syria. Syrian Central Military Media
Green city buses have delivered their last passengers to Idlib. In a recurring pattern across Syria, at the end of every battle in which Syrian government forces won back their territory, the Russian Center for Reconciliation has made deals with armed fighters: surrender and return to civilian life, or take the free bus ride to Idlib. The Russian police secured the safety of the fighters and their families who chose to not integrate back into society but to continue their jihad with the goal of establishing an Islamic state in Syria according to the Wahhabi political doctrine.

But this was the last time the bus ride to Idlib would be offered as an option. One by one, all other areas in Syria under terrorist control have fallen, and now the final battle for Idlib looms large on the horizon.

The Syrian conflict began in Daraa in 2011 as a U.S.-NATO project for "regime change." The project failed to achieve its objective, but did cost about 500,000 lives as well as the wholesale destruction of many parts of Syria, and left millions of Syrians homeless or living abroad as refugees. Recently, the conflict has made a U-turn ending in Daraa - and setting the stage for the last battle of Idlib.

Comment: See also:

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Caesar

Best of the Web: With Jeremy Corbyn - Who Will Stand?

John Wight
Sputnik
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 08:56 UTC
jeremy corbyn anti-semitism
The febrile atmosphere whipped up over the leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn's alleged anti-Semitism demands a response, and at times like this W.B. Yeats hovers into admonitory view:
"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world:
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
"The worst are full of passionate intensity" is pristinely apt when attempting to place the hounding and character assassination of Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, into some kind of perspective.

The 'worst' in our time is a sundry crew of, in the main, very middle class, very affluent, and very mendacious champions of war - Iraq, Libya anyone?- and defenders of Israel's oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian people, who to all intents have been marked out as children of a lesser God.

Comment: In a way, Corbyn's stance on Gaza and Palestinians' right to not be brutalized aren't the real issue here. Certainly, the Israeli lobby has strong influence and would prefer not to see him become the next PM of the UK. But the Tory establishment (including that part of it ensconced within the Labour Party) is at least equally determined to prevent Corbyn from becoming PM. And thus all its media lapdogs have been marshalled to jump on the bandwagon, not out of particular concern for covering up Israeli war crimes, but because it's a convenient mode of attack against Corbyn - which, they hope, will make him less popular. (No chance!)

What's all the more jarring about this mode of attack is that Corbyn is NOT of the 'far-right'. Ideologically, he's 'the opposite'. And yet here we have a 'leftie' being bashed with something usually reserved for bashing the 'populist right-wing'. That it doesn't at all 'fit' Corbyn points to just how 'black' this black propaganda is, and how fecklessly inconsistent its propagators are.

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Gold Seal

Best of the Web: Syrian Army wraps up successful liberation operation in southern Syria


South Front
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 08:28 UTC
us weapons syria
© SANAThe Syrian Army displays some of the sophisticated US weapons ISIS surrendered in southern Syria
On August 2, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that warplanes of the Israeli Air Force had bombed several fighters of the ISIS-affiliated Khalid ibn al-Walid Army near the occupied Golan Heights. Seven militants were killed in the strikes according to the Israeli media.

This was the second attack by the IDF on the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army during the last two weeks. On July 26, Israeli warplanes destroyed a rocket launcher allegedly belonging to the group in southwestern Syria.

An official of the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) announced that members of the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army are attempting to cross the border from Syria. According to him, the JAF's 10th Border Guard Battalion clashed with the terrorists in the Yarmouk Valley killing a number of them.

According to Syrian sources, some number of terrorist group members are still hiding near the Golan Heights and at the border between Syria and Jordan. They are attempting to flee the area in order to hide from the ongoing security operation by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).


Comment: Notice that Israeli and Jordanian forces are suddenly fighting against, rather than fighting for, ISIS in Syria. A sea-change indeed, if this new pattern holds. Russia's patience is paying off; regional countries are cooperating with the new World Policeman.

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Bad Guys

US puts the screws on Ecuador in agreement to create new joint security office that circumvents constitution


RT
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 01:39 UTC
Pence Moreno
© Daniel Tapia / ReutersUS Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno in Quito, Ecuador June 28, 2018.
The United States will soon be cooperating with Ecuador in dealing with security issues through a new office. The previous government in Ecuador scaled down military cooperation with the Americans.

The establishment of the new Security Cooperation Office, which was reported by Ecuadorean Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin on Thursday, is the latest move by President Lenin Moreno's government to depart form the policies from his leftist predecessor Rafael Correa. Jarrin was careful to stress that the new entity would not violate the country's constitution, which was amended under Correa to ban permanent presence of foreign troops in Ecuador.

"There will be a plane that will allow us to share intelligence. It will stay here for three or four days and then return. So in no way it means that a new military base is being established," the minister said. He added that due to this arrangement the Ecuadorean Air Force would be handling the cooperation program.
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Cowboy Hat

Duterte trolls critics, says God has agreed to accept all victims of extrajudicial killings into heaven


RT
Sat, 04 Aug 2018 01:32 UTC
Duterte
© Czar Dancel / Reuters
All victims of extrajudicial killings will get a free pass to heaven, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced after purportedly consulting with "God" on the issue.

Speaking at the opening of a drug rehabilitation center on Friday, the eccentric Philippines leader disclosed that he had "asked God" for "all the victims of extrajudicial killings" to go to heaven - and God consented.

Duterte said that when he asked for the favor, God replied: "I can, I can."
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