Puppet MastersS


Chess

Beijing trade talks: China hints that talks were successful, Washington 'optimistic' over prospects for deal

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 11:28 UTC
Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping
© Reuters
Update: In an interview with Fox Business Network, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House is 'optimistic' about the prospects for a trade deal with China following this week's talks in Beijing.


While this should help reassure markets, it's important to keep in mind that if talks weren't going well, the White House probably wouldn't tell us.

After the 'mid-level' talks between US and Chinese delegations in Beijing were extended for a third day on Wednesday, the negotiations have reportedly wrapped up, with both sides touting that they are "serious" about coming to an agreement, and that significant progress has been made, according to CNBC.

With the US delegation on its way back to Washington, China's Foreign Ministry hinted that the talks had been a success and said it would soon release a statement on the outcome.

Comment: See also:

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Snow Globe

Trump's foreign policy for 2019: The real deal - or more bait and switch?

Philip Giraldi
The Unz Review
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC
Trump mission accomplished
Never before has any presidential administration been as all over the place in terms of national security and foreign policy as is that of Donald J. Trump. Indeed, one might well argue that there is no overriding policy at all in terms of a rational doctrine arrived at through risk versus gain analysis of developing international situations. Instead, there has been a pattern of emotional reactions fueled by media disinformation supplemented by "gut feelings" about a series of ultimately bilateral relationships that frequently have little or nothing to do with American national interests.

This is not to suggest that the "gut feelings" are always wrong. Established wisdom in Washington has long reflected the view that the United States must exercise leadership in establishing and maintaining the neoliberal consensus that gained currency after the devastation of the Second World War. Elections, free trade and a free media were to be the benchmarks of the new world order but they also came packaged with U.S. hegemony to confront those who resisted the development. And it turned out that those "benefits" were frequently difficult to achieve as elections sometimes produced bad results while trade agreements and an uncontrolled media often worked against broader U.S. objectives. All too often the United States found itself going to war against nations that it disapproves of for reasons unrelated to any actual interests, routinely claiming inaccurately that dissident regimes were both "threatening" and disruptive of the universal values that Washington claimed to be promoting.

Comment: See also:

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Chess

Next chess move: Turkey calls for joint control with Russia/Iran over US Syria withdrawal


RT
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 16:59 UTC
rouhani erdogan putin
© Reuters / Umit Bektas
As the US is experiencing "certain difficulties" with the withdrawal from Syria, it should be coordinated with Iran and Russia to prevent "terrorists" from taking up the vacated space, the Turkish foreign minister said.

"The United States [has] been facing certain difficulties with the process of the troops' withdrawal from Syria. We want to coordinate this process with Russia and Iran, with which we had arranged work in the framework of the Astana process," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday.

Cavusoglu visited Moscow late in December to discuss the situation in Syria. On Wednesday, he mulled bilateral talks between Turkey and Iran, giving no timeframe, however.

At the same time, Cavusoglu revealed that a summit between all three parties is being prepared in Moscow.

Comment: Trump already left the window open for this by suggesting leaving the defeat of ISIS in the hands of Turkey. But Turkey will not just do the U.S.'s bidding. It is yoked with Russia and Iran, to Bolton et al.'s great consternation. Said neocons are banking on the threat of Turkish aggression against the Syrian Kurds to forestall a withdrawal. But the Kurds probably know that they're dreams of an ethno-state are hopeless, and will negotiate with Damascus. The Syrian government has reportedly initiated contact with Kurds on the subject:
The Syrian government has "activated" contacts with Kurdish Groups "in light of Turkish intervention", Faisal Mekdad, the Arab Republic's deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday.

He added that there is no alternative to dialogue with the Kurdish groups.

"Therefore I am always optimistic... we encourage these political groups to be sincere in dialog that is happening now between the Syrian state and these groups, taking into account that there is no alternative to that," he said.


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Dominoes

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein expected to step down after new attorney general's confirmation

Darren Samuelsohn and Caitlyn Opresko
Politico
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 23:55 UTC
Rod Rosenstein
© Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP PhotoDeputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department official who has played a central role in overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, is planning to step down once the next attorney general has been confirmed.

Rosenstein's impending departure raises significant questions about the future of Mueller's probe into allegations of collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Kremlin. Rosenstein took on oversight of the Mueller probe in its infancy after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself over concerns that he had misled Congress during his confirmation hearings about his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign.

Two sources familiar with Rosenstein's plans indicated Wednesday that his upcoming departure was not spurred by any singular event.
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Attention

Major Turkish newspaper warns: "Soft coup against Trump is underway"

The Editorial Board
Daily Sabah
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 16:55 UTC
John Bolton Turkey
© Vivian SalamaNatSec adviser John Bolton, Gen. Joe Dunford and Amb. Jim Jeffrey departing from the presidential compound in Ankara after briefer than expected meetings with Turkish defense counterparts.
If U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton thought yesterday's visit was going to be a walk in the park, he must have had a rude awakening thanks to the lukewarm reception in the Turkish capital Ankara. In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea for Bolton to go rogue and try to impose conditions on the United States withdrawal from Syria. Keeping in mind that Turkey was already getting ready to send its troops to northern Syria before U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise announcement last month, it is time for Washington to accept that it isn't negotiating with Turkey from a position of power.

If there was ever any doubt that the resistance within the Trump administration wasn't real, what happened in light of Trump's decision to leave disproved the skeptics. Bolton and several other members of the Trump administration are committing a serious crime by preventing the current president of the United States from reversing his predecessor's misguided decisions in the Syrian theater. What is happening today isn't a policy debate, but a direct challenge to American democracy by unelected paper-pushers. Indeed, "many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate" President Trump's agenda.

A soft coup against Trump is underway in the United States. In recent days, anonymous U.S. officials, like the author of the infamous op-ed in The New York Times, have repeatedly lied to the American people in an attempt to force Trump to walk back from his comments about Syria. Turkey, they said, would "slaughter the Kurds" if U.S. military advisers leave the battlefield unconditionally. Although Turkey did not respond to that ludicrous accusation due to its absurdity, the speed at which such lies have been spreading demonstrates that malice, not ignorance, drives them.

Comment: Turkey (with some encouragment from Russia?) may have managed to put Trump back in the driver's seat regarding the Syrian withdrawal. The neocons don't give up their dreams of Empire easily though, so a false flag chemical attack may still be in the cards.

As US to leave Syria, old threats remain: Bolton promises 'strong response' for chemical attacks

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Books

The age of Trump clearly shows that narrative is everything

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 00:01 UTC
donald trump AOK
Yesterday President Donald Trump tweeted the following:

"Endless Wars, especially those which are fought out of judgement mistakes that were made many years ago, & those where we are getting little financial or military help from the rich countries that so greatly benefit from what we are doing, will eventually come to a glorious end!"

The tweet was warmly received and celebrated by Trump's supporters, despite the fact that it says essentially nothing since "eventually" could mean anything. Indeed, it's looking increasingly possible that nothing will come of the president's stated agenda to withdraw troops from Syria other than a bunch of words which allow his anti-interventionist base to feel nice feelings inside. Yet everyone laps it up, on both ends of the political aisle, just like they always do. Trump supporters are acting like he's a swamp-draining, war-ending peacenik, his enemies are acting like he's feeding a bunch of Kurds on conveyor belts into Turkish meat grinders to be made into sausages for Vladimir Putin's breakfast, when in reality nothing has changed and may not change at all.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Duterte suggests 'kidnapping and torturing' auditors who interfere in govt policies


RT
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 06:07 UTC
Duterte
© Lean Daval Jr/ReutersRodrigo Duterte recently threatened to have a bishop's head cut off.
The president of the Philippines has suggested kidnapping and torturing government auditors who look too closely into how the government is spending money.

Fed up with the Commission on Audit's (COA) constant scrutiny of government spending, President Rodrigo Duterte proposed a radical way to deal with the problem.
What's up with this COA? What if we kidnap someone from COA, we torture them here?
The 73-year-old leader admitted he doesn't like the "sons of b****es" always finding "something wrong" with the use of state funds, stressing that the COA's interference is making the implementation of government policies "difficult" for local officials.

Comment: Duterte is known for his colorful rants designed to capture attention...it's anybody's guess as to the seriousness of his threats.

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Fire

The potential blow back from Macron's Yellow Vest crackdown

Tom Luongo‌
tomluongo.me
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 12:00 UTC
macron new year speech
© Reuters
The Yellow Vests have reached critical mass. And the movement has now created the perfect storm for President Emmanuel Macron.

He can no longer ignore it, even though he tried to do so. And his lack of understanding of the situation as well as his open contempt for his opposition has placed him in a political vice.

Ignoring the problem will only make him look weaker and more disinterested. He could address the situation, put France first and step aside for new elections, which is the decent thing to do.

But, he's chosen the predictable third option, crack down on the protesters in a futile show of strength. Authoritarians react to challenges like clockwork.

Disobedience is met with violence. More disobedience is met with more violence.

Comment: As noted in the article, pathocrats are often predictable in their inability to understand and their responses regarding the human condition, see: Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes For more SOTT commentary on the matter, see:

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Briefcase

Labour MP to RT: The media isn't covering the Integrity Initiative scandal because they might be 'involved'


RT
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 15:36 UTC
Chris Willimason integrity initiative
© RTChris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North
The revelations about UK government-funded propaganda outfit the Integrity Initiative are a "real scandal" and more questions need to be asked about its activities and motives, Labour MP Chris Williamson has told RT.

British media has been reluctant to cover the Anonymous leaks which exposed the Scotland-based organization in November 2018, revealing that it had used its hefty government funding to interfere in the domestic politics of other European countries and to engage in a smear campaign against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn at home.

Speaking to RT's Afshin Rattansi on Going Underground, Williamson said that the media might be hesitant to cover the leaks because they themselves are implicated.

Comment:

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Colosseum

Best of the Web: Upheaval in London, Washington & Paris: Western Regime on The Brink of Collapse

George Galloway
RT
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 15:15 UTC
London Washington Paris protest
© Global Look Press / Christoph Meyer/Dpa; Reuters/Kevin Lamarque; Reuters/Christian Hartmann
Despite the thrashing around of the NATO disinformation apparat, the imperial heartland has entered 2019 in a state of complete chaos.

Washington, London, and Paris - the three capitals of the Empire - are today effectively ungoverned, shutdown, tottering on the brink of collapse or under siege by their own people.

Their self-chosen Nemeses - Moscow and Beijing - meanwhile toast the New Year in a state of considerable optimism and self-confidence. These are the facts, this is the news.

We should start at the top of the Empire. The United States government has closed down amid stasis and a barrage of inter-governmental howitzers.

Comment: Living standards are declining so drastically and corruption is now so blatant that, for many Western nations, they've been left with little option but to begin to take action against their deluded rulers: For in-depth discussions on the topics above, check out SOTT radio's:

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