Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Israel is an indispensable ally...to no one

Abdullah Masri
TRT World
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC
Netanyahu
© Times of Israel
Here's why Netanyahu's attempt to use tensions between Arab states and Iran to deflect from the horrors of Israeli crimes won't stand.

Benjamin Netanyahu has outdone himself this time. While attending the inauguration of Brazil's newly elected populist president, Jair Bolsonaro, he told Brazil's Globo TV that Arab countries see Israel as an "indispensable ally" in fighting Iran and Daesh.

Presumably, he was referring to the rapport Israel has found with the GCC in their common enemy.


Comment: Gulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.


In Brazil, he described the shared understanding as the reason behind "a revolution in relations with the Arab world."

The statement is ironic at best. Israel labels itself as the "indispensable ally," joining a merry bond united in common cause against the external existential threat that is Iran, while ignoring the major elephant in the room: Israel occupies more Arab land, causes more conflict, death and destruction than Iran ever has.

Comment: Beyond its own, Israel has no justification unless another country gives it such. Blindly, many do.

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Star of David

Reports speculate some US troops could remain in South Syria after pullout


Sputnik
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 23:42 UTC
Bolton
© Reuters/Kevin LamarqueUS National Security Advisor John Bolton to visit Israel
US national security adviser John Bolton reportedly plans during his trip to Israel to discuss maintaining US presence in Syria to counter the Iranian threat.

NBC news reported, citing a senior US official, that some US troops could stay behind at the key At Tanf base in southern Syria after American forces leave the country.
Around 200 personnel are currently at the base, which sits on an important road from Tehran to Baghdad to Damascus, according to the NBC news channel.

On December 5, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, said that Russia had suggested to the United States to eliminate the military base in At Tanf and to establish joint Russian-US control over the zone instead. According to Gerasimov, Washington has not provided an answer. The general also stressed that the United States justified the reasonability of its presence in At Tanf by the necessity to counter Iran, allegedly transporting weapons and military equipment to Syria.

Comment: Israel should have nothing to say about whether the US continues its illegal occupation or packs up and goes home. But it will. Israel is the ME expert in illegal occupation, and Netanyahu the perfect source for Bolton to seek advice.

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Snakes in Suits

Pelosi: Two superpower leaders talking to each other is 'dangerous'


RT
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 00:03 UTC
Pelosi
© REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Just after reclaiming the gavel in the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) has stoked anti-Russian sentiment and so far unvindicated claims of collusion, calling the US President's contacts with Russian leader Vladimir Putin "dangerous."

Freshly reinstated as the third most powerful person in the US government, Pelosi assumed an undiplomatic tone as she spoke with MSNBC's Joy Reid about a range of topics, including the Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigation, that has failed to unearth any damning evidence of collusion despite sending an array of Trump associates to jail on unrelated charges.

Following up on the 'Russiagate' probe, Reid asked Pelosi what she makes of the relationship between Putin and Trump.

"I think that the President's relationship with thugs all over the world is appalling," Pelosi responded to a thunderous round of applause from the audience that muffled her next words. 'Vladimir Putin, really? Really? I think it's dangerous.'

Comment: Pelosi is only one of many that are deluded and separated from the facts and practicalities of a real and complicated world. She would rather push it off a cliff to prove she is right.

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Attention

Bolton warns Turkey against attacking Kurd fighters after US pulls out of Syria

Steve Holland
Reuters
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 06:18 UTC
Bolton
© Israel National NewsWH National Security Advisor John Bolton
White House national security advisor John Bolton added a new condition on Sunday to the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, saying Turkey must agree to protect the United States' Kurdish allies.

President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to announce a U.S. pull-out from Syria left many questions open, chiefly whether Kurdish fighters who had been operating in northern Syria alongside U.S. forces would now be targeted by their long-time enemy Turkey.

Bolton, on a trip to Israel and Turkey, said he would stress in talks with Turkish officials, including President Tayyip Erdogan, that Kurdish forces must be safeguarded.

Bolton told reporters ahead of talks with Israeli officials:
"We don't think the Turks ought to undertake military action that's not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States at a minimum so they don't endanger our troops, but also so that they meet the president's requirement that the Syrian opposition forces that have fought with us are not endangered."
Asked whether a U.S. withdrawal would not take place in Syria until Turkey guaranteed the Kurdish fighters would be safe, Bolton said, "Basically, that's right."
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Key

Syria: YPG offers surrender of its zones for Kurdish autonomy


Sputnik
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 01:19 UTC
YPG fighters
© Delil Souleiman/AFPFighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG)
Syrian Kurdish YPG leader Sipan Hemo offered last month to hand over control of Kurdish-held lands to the Syrian government in return for Kurdish autonomy, media said Saturday.

The Kurdish militia commander came to Russia's Hmeimim base in western Syria days after the US president announced troop withdrawal from the country, Asharq al-Awsat reported.

Hemo then traveled to Damascus to tell Syrian authorities that YPG was ready to give up control of the Syrian-Turkish border, before going to Moscow on December 29.

In Russia, the Kurdish leader asked for assurances and suggested that Moscow bring out of mothballs a draft constitution it had proposed for Syria, which guaranteed the Kurdish right for self-determination.

The publication linked this trip to the surprise handover of the flashpoint Manbij city to the Syrian army on December 28, which was confirmed nearly simultaneously by the Syrian government and Kurdish forces.

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

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


RT
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 22:53 UTC
Syria Chem weap
© The Sleuth Journal
As the US is preparing to withdraw its troops from Syria, it seems little has changed in Washington's vision of the conflict: the Assad "regime" is still the problem, and Tomahawks are going to rain on Syria if WMDs are used.

Despite President Donald Trump's announcement he will withdraw the 2,000 US troops stationed in Syria being perceived as a sudden change in course on the ground, it appears that it has hardly affected Washington's Syria policy in general. The latest thinly veiled threat of a strike on Syria was on Saturday made by US National Security Advisor John Bolton on his way to Israel.

Bolton told reporters on his plane shortly before landing in Tel Aviv:
"There is absolutely no change in the US position against the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and absolutely no change in our position that any use of chemical weapons would be met by a very strong response, as we've done twice before."
While the schedule of the planned pullout remains unspecified, Bolton reminded that the US would hold Syrian President Bashar Assad accountable for any incidents involving chemical weapons.

Comment: It is easier to cherry-pick evidence to fit a needed scenario than to investigate and come to correct conclusions. Is this the best Bolton can muster? A regurgitation of old and misleading threats?
See also:

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Arrow Up

SDF commander: Deal on Kurdish autonomy with Damascus 'inevitable'


Sputnik
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 09:32 UTC
SDF Fighters
© AP/Syrian Democratic ForcesSDF Fighters
An Arabic newspaper earlier reported that the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) has offered to hand over the territories under its control to Damascus in exchange for Kurdish autonomy.

A deal between Damascus and Syrian Kurds over Kurdish autonomy in the country's north is "inevitable", Redur Khalil, a commander in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, told AFP on Saturday:
"Reaching a solution between the autonomous administration and the Syrian government is inevitable because our areas are part of Syria. Negotiations are ongoing with the government to reach a final formulation for administering the city of Manbij."
The commander added that if that results in a solution that "protects the rights" of Manbij residents, a similar deal could be reached in SDF-held areas of Deir ez-Zor province.

"We still have some differences with the central government, which need negotiations with international support", he elaborated, adding that Russia could act as a guarantor state.
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Dollars

Due to shutdown, Trump freezes raises for Pence and cabinet

Kimberly Leonard
Washington Examiner
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 11:11 UTC
Cold cash
© Getty Images/Tetra ImagesPay freezes!
The White House has frozen pay for Vice President Mike Pence and members of President Trump's Cabinet as the 14th day of the government partial shutdown was coming to a close.

Top officials, which included secretaries and deputy secretaries, were set to get salary raises of roughly $10,000 that would begin to take effect Saturday because no legislation was passed to halt a pay cap set to expire Jan. 5. The White House announced Friday that it would freeze the raises shortly after Trump was asked about it by reporters earlier in the day.

Pence's salary was set to rise from $230,700 to $243,500, and Cabinet secretaries who made $199,700 were set to receive an increase to $210,700. The Washington Post was first to bring attention to the planned salary increases.

Congress typically has passed a spending bill to prevent these types of pay raises to take effect, but lawmakers and the White House have been unable to come to an agreement on a spending bill for several agencies that has led to a partial government shutdown. The disagreement is over Trump's demands that Congress fund a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Trump's move on pay freezes comes amid as 800,000 of approximately 2.1 million federal workers have been furloughed or are being required to work without pay during the partial shutdown.

Comment: One wall to build and another to get over.

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Arrow Down

No Deal! Turkey rejects new US offer based on canceling Russian S-400 systems


Sputnik
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 20:19 UTC
S-400 missile defense system
© Sputnik/Igor ZaremboS-400 missile defense system
According to the Yeni Safak newspaper, a US delegation has tried to convince Turkey to give up on purchasing the Russian missile systems during the visit to Ankara earlier this week. However, the Turkish authorities reportedly rejected the offer since it did not include a discount on the price set or a transfer of technology.

The Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday that the United States had submitted a proposal to sell Patriot missile systems to Ankara. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on December 18 the US State Department had approved a possible sale to Turkey of 80 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM-T), 60 PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles and other related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.5 billion.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on December 19 that there was no connection between the possible acquisition by Turkey of the US Patriot missile systems and the purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense systems, stressing that Moscow and Ankara will continue implementing the contract on S-400 deliveries.

Comment: More from RT:
The Turkish government, which had been long trying to acquire the Patriots, got frustrated with the US for not selling them the missiles "when they were needed the most."

In 2017, Ankara signed a contract with Russia to buy the more advanced S-400 air defense systems. Their installation is expected to begin in Turkey in October this year.

The move caused outrage in the US as Washington claimed that the use of Russian hardware by a NATO state like Turkey endangers the whole bloc. The US Congress delayed the shipment of 100 F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in retaliation.

However, Ankara has been reluctant to give in to the American pressure. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted that the S-400 purchase was a "done deal" and that his country didn't need anybody's permission to strike deals essential for its security.

When asked about the Patriot talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated that there were no plans to cancel the S-400 agreement with Moscow.

"The purchase of the S-400 is to fulfill our country's urgent and short-term security needs. We will take the necessary measures so that this system can be used independently and will not harm F-35 and NATO systems. We are continuing our contacts with US authorities who are also sensitive about this issue," Cavusoglu said, as cited by Yeni Safak.


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Boat

US Navy landing ship headed to Black Sea citing 'advance security and stability in Europe'


RT
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 17:32 UTC
USS Fort McHenry
© Reuters/US NavyAmphibious dock landing ship, USS Fort McHenry
One more US Navy vessel, landing ship USS Fort McHenry, is about to arrive in the Black Sea where tensions are running high after three Ukrainian ships violated Russian territorial waters in late November and have been arrested.

USS Fort McHenry entered the Dardanelles Strait, separating the Aegean and Azov Seas, the US 6th Fleet said in a statement on Sunday. The warship's arrival "reaffirms our collective resolve to Black Sea security and enhances our strong relationships with our NATO allies and partners in the region," Vice Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, 6th Fleet commander, said.

Florida-based Fort McHenry is on a regularly scheduled deployment with the US 6th Fleet to "conduct operations with allies and partners to advance security and stability in Europe," the statement read.


Comment: A boatload of tensions floating on a sea of suspicion.

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