Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Italy's interior minister scapegoated over divisive immigration policies


teleSUR
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 23:58 UTC
Salvini
© ReutersFar-right League party leader Matteo Salvini speaks at the media after a round of consultations with Italy's newly appointed Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
Salvini's policies are "distilling a very serious and worrisome xenophobia and an obvious disregard for human life and dignity," said Podemos' spokeswoman Aurora Ribot.

Mallorca, the famous Spanish Balearic island, has declared Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini a persona non grata, due to his anti-immigrant policies.

In a motion presented by the left-wing party Podemos and the Socialist Party Balearic Islands branch (PSIB) that was approved by the island's authorities, Salvini will not be allowed to enter the popular island.

Comment: Perhaps the attacks don't have as much to do with Salvini's policies as they do with the provocation of tensions between societies due to immigration policies in an already tenuous economic situation.

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Quenelle - Golden

Philippines won't stop buying Russian arms over US pressure - FM


RT
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
Rodrigo Duterte inspecting Kalashnikov
© AFP Photo / Presidential Photo Division / Robinson NinalPhilippine President Rodrigo Duterte inspects a Kalashnikov rifle. October 2017
The Philippines won't stop purchasing weapons from Moscow, despite possible pressure from the US, the nation's foreign minister has said in response to reports that Washington may introduce sanctions for arms deals with Russia.

"I don't think that we will give it up," Alan Peter Cayetano said Thursday in Singapore at his meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"It will actually by a test of our resolve for an independent foreign policy. I don't see us wavering from that," Cayetano stressed.

The two nations signed a military cooperation agreement last year, and the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had personally overseen the transfer of about 5,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles donated by Moscow.
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Brick Wall

Behind closed doors, intel officials are for shutting out Brennan and Clapper

Lee Smith
RealClear Investigations
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
BrennanClapper
© Rush LimbaughJohn Brennan • James Clapper
President Trump has been criticized for politicizing the intelligence community by threatening to strip the security clearances of former top officials including John Brennan and James Clapper. But numerous past and present senior intelligence officials say the Obama administration started that politicization -- and revoking the clearances of those who abuse the privilege for partisan purposes may help right the ship.

"As is often the case with the Trump administration, the rollout of the policy is bad, but the idea driving the policy is sound," said one senior intelligence official who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke to RealClearInvestigations only on condition of anonymity. "Under some Obama-era intelligence chiefs, intelligence was used as a political weapon. We need to root that out, not reward it."

It is not clear if the White House is moving forward on Trump's threats last month to revoke those clearances. After Brennan's continued media attacks on Trump following the Helsinki summit with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Sen. Rand Paul advised the president to strip him of his clearance. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Comment: Privileges, such as security clearances, are not owned by the recipient. That Clapper, Brennan, and others, have abused this trust speaks not only to the flaws in the system, but also their willingness to break their oaths to the administration and US citizens they profess to serve.

See also: Brennan's denial of reliance on dossier contradicted, IC report implies Clapper was leak source

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Snakes in Suits

George Galloway: UK Labour cruising towards a split over Israel-Palestine

George Galloway
RT
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 15:42 UTC
UK rally/George Galloway
© Peter Marshall/Global Look Press/en.wikipedia.orgUK rally for Palestine • George Galloway
Britain's Labour Party prepares to split; the Israel-Palestine issue breaks up the party after 100 years to the relief of Prime Minister Theresa May. At least that's the proximate cause of the rapidly approaching schism in the opposition Labour Party.

Attempts to effectively outlaw existential criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel have foundered on the rocks of the obduracy of the veteran Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn whose commitment to the Palestinian cause has been a leitmotif of his 40 years in left-wing politics.

Support for the Palestinians and opposition to Israel has grown massively in recent decades in Britain and throughout the Western world. The recent decision after a passionate debate in the Irish Senate to ban the products of illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories was a high point for the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) movement. And this decision preceded the new controversial National Law passed in the Israeli Knesset, which UN bodies and others have said makes Israel officially an apartheid state, giving a spur to the BDS cause. Widespread ostracism of apartheid South Africa was an important factor in the downfall of the system in South Africa.

But Israel is far from taking these defeats lying down. The Israeli embassy in London is a vital center for counter-offensives, Ambassador Mark Regev a key operative in Netanyahu's machine. That Israel chose to send Regev to London was an early sign of the importance of the UK battleground.

Comment: Divide and conquer? A plan within a plan? Israel is attempting political surgery to remove Corbyn - knowing without their anchor, his followers would be less influential. May and company will cheer from the sidelines and throw gratitude at Israel's undermining politics in England and eliminating Corbyn to their benefit.

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Star of David

Netanyahu boldly threatens Tehran with 'all Israel's arms' if key waterway off Yemen is blocked


RT
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 09:53 UTC
Neti
© Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at Israeli arch-regional foe Iran, vowing that any attempt by Tehran to block the key waterway off Yemen's coast would be met by force from the "international coalition" and Israel in particular.

The harsh statements by the Israeli PM, who was speaking at a graduation ceremony for naval officers on Wednesday, were referring to the recent Houthi attack on a Saudi oil tanker off Yemen's western coast. The Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly said the Houthis are armed and supported by Iran, but both the group and Tehran deny the claims.

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait
© EagleSpeakBab-el-Mandeb Strait
Yet, Netanyahu branded the incident "a sharp clash with Iran's satellites who tried to sabotage international shipping" at the mouth of the Red Sea. The Saudi-led coalition insists that its oil tanker was attacked by the Houthis in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait located between Yemen and Eritrea and Djibouti on the Arabian Peninsula.

Nobody was injured and the damage posed no threat to the environment.
"If Iran tries to block the Straits of Bab al-Mandab, it will find itself facing an international coalition determined to prevent it from doing so, and this coalition will also include the State of Israel and all its arms," Netanyahu warned.

Comment: It's about message not facts. Israel is a pro at using any instance or circumstance to push home its threats, relevant or not, and in doing so implicates/obligates for other nations to support its unsubstantiated paranoia.
See also:

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USA

Trump thanks Kim for sending home remains of US soldiers, a promise to meet soon


RT
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 14:17 UTC
Caskets from NK
© Hickam/ReutersCaskets containing the remains of American servicemen from the Korean War handed over by North Korea arrive at Joint Base Pearl Harbor.
US President Donald Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for handing over the remains of dozens of US soldiers who died during the Korean War, adding that he received a "nice letter" from Kim and hopes to see him soon.

Trump, who used to refer to Kim Jong-un as "little rocket man," showed his gratitude by praising the North Korean leader in a tweet.
"Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong-un for keeping your word and starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen!" The president also said he was "not at all surprised" that Kim "took this kind action." Trump also thanked Kim Jong-un for his "nice letter" and said that he looks forward to "seeing him soon."
In late July, Pyongyang handed over the remains of dozens of US soldiers who died during in the 1950-1953 Korean War. The symbolic move was welcomed by Trump, who expressed his gratitude to Kim.

The gesture, which coincided with the 65th anniversary of the Korean War, was part of an agreement reached by Trump and Kim during their landmark summit in Singapore in June.

Comment: Validation of cooperation?

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Cardboard Box

Little known black hole in the Pentagon's budget

Ross Marchand
The American Conservative
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
Pentagon
© Frontpage/ShutterstockThe Pentagon
Congress is doing little to curb this opaque authority, another rabbit warren in the military industrial complex.

The Pentagon is often described as a black hole of government spending. Just how bad is it these days? The Defense Department spent $21 billion in taxpayer money over two years without telling anyone what services were rendered or which companies benefitted.

Normally, watchdog groups can at least identify the agency's frivolous spending and tease out who the major beneficiaries are. But under something called Other Transaction Authority (OTA), the Pentagon can award money without the usual disclosures or due diligence normally required of federal contracts. Voila! A black hole.

Officials claim that OTA helps the the Department of Defense (DoD) court smaller, non-traditional contractors in places like Silicon Valley by avoiding some of the burdens of a more restrictive competitive bidding process. But loosely written rules and a lack of required congressional communication make OTAs Trojan horses for unaccountable spending that benefits some of the DoD's most entrenched contractors.

Comment: Americans have to work jobs and pay taxes to afford the Pentagon this unaccountable ability to grossly spend taxpayer money. The least the lawmakers could do is patrol the spending jungle on behalf of the public for the military's 'grease palm' schemes.
See also:

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Briefcase

No matter to what purpose, the case works against Mueller

Evan Slavitt
Boston Herald
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:00 UTC
SC Robert Mueller
© APSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller
The trial of Paul Manafort began yesterday in federal court in Virginia. It has received broad coverage because, at one point, Manafort was the Trump campaign chairman and he is being prosecuted by the Mueller team conducting an investigation of President Trump.

And yet, it really has nothing to do with anything.

Manafort is charged with a variety of tax and banking crimes. The trial is important to him because if convicted, he faces some serious time in the federal pen. But these charges have nothing to do with the Trump campaign, Russian interference with the election, or really anything else that anyone not named Paul Manafort would care about.

So why are they being brought by the special prosecutor?

It has to do with a kind of "drive-by" authority that is often given to special prosecutors and was given to Mueller. Basically, if in the course of his investigation of President Trump he came across other crimes, he was given the power to prosecute them. Apparently, while investigating Manafort, this is exactly what happened.

Comment: Mueller's last hurrah? The trial of an unrelated case.

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Target

Russia claims political motives behind Armenian charges against ex-leaders


RFE/RL
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 02:17 UTC
Lavrov
© Yury Kadobnov/AFPRussian FM Sergei Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow is "concerned" that Armenia's new leadership is making what he called politically motivated moves against former leaders who have been targeted in an anticorruption campaign.

Lavrov's remarks on July 31 came after former Armenian President Robert Kocharian was charged with violently putting down protests against his successor in 2008.

Kocharian, who was president from 1998 to 2008, was taken into custody on July 27 after being charged over the deadly dispersion of opposition protesters following the disputed 2008 presidential election.

On the same day, Yuri Khachaturov, the Armenian head of the Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization, was charged, like Kocharian, with overturning Armenia's constitutional order in connection with the deaths of 10 protesters in 2008.

Khachaturov and Kocharian have both denied the charges and claimed they are politically motivated.
"The events of the last few days...contradict the recent declarations of the new Armenian leadership that it was not planning to pursue its predecessors on political grounds," Lavrov said. "Moscow, as an ally of Yerevan, has always had an interest in the stability of the Armenian state, and therefore what is happening there must be of concern to us," he said.
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Attention

Flashback British-Libyan terrorists who blew up Manchester: "MI5 gave us free passage to fight Gaddafi"

Amandla Thomas-Johnson and Simon Hooper
Middle East Eye
Thu, 25 May 2017 14:30 UTC
libyan manchester rebels
© AFPA mural in Tripoli paying tribute to fighters from Manchester who joined the 17 February Martyrs' Brigade during Libya's revolution against Gaddafi
The British government operated an "open door" policy that allowed Libyan exiles and British-Libyan citizens to join the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi even though some had been subject to counter-terrorism control orders, Middle East Eye can reveal.

Several former rebel fighters now back in the UK told MEE that they had been able to travel to Libya with "no questions asked" as authorities continued to investigate the background of a British-Libyan suicide bomber who killed 22 people in Monday's attack in Manchester.

Salman Abedi, 22, the British-born son of exiled dissidents who returned to Libya as the revolution against Gaddafi gathered momentum, is also understood to have spent time in the North African country in 2011 and to have returned there on several subsequent occasions.

British police have said they believe the bomber, who returned to Manchester just a few days before the attack, was part of a network and have arrested six people including Abedi's older brother since Monday.

Comment: See also: Crowds flee Ariana Grande concert in Manchester following reports of explosion; at least 22 killed and 59 injured - UPDATES

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