Puppet MastersS


Eiffel Tower

SOTT Focus: La Grande Armée 2018? Macron Taunts Trump on Armistice Day Amid Eurotalk of Empire-building

Robert Bridge
RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 15:41 UTC
macron paris ww1
French President Macron rebuked the concept of 'nationalism' during Armistice Day celebrations marking the end of WWI. At the same time, his government was pondering the merits of empire and building an all-European army.

Donald Trump's trip to France got off to a bumpy start, and the world is still experiencing the turbulence today. Ahead of Trump's arrival in Paris for the celebrations, Macron dropped a bombshell, speaking out on behalf of an all-European military force, which would be totally free of US patronage.

"We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America," he told French radio.

Although Trump and Macron made nice for the cameras in Paris, the US leader referred to Macron's remarks as "very insulting."
Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron 11/10/18
© Reuters / Christophe Petit TessonDonald Trump and Emmanuel Macron at Elysee presidential palace, Paris, France, November 10, 2018 Reuters / Christophe Petit Tesson

Comment: The current leadership in all western EU countries (save Italy, perhaps) doesn't have the cojones to walk the walk:

Europe bows to Trump: Not a single member-state takes up EU offer to form alternative payment channel for bypassing Iran sanctions

Read More...
Che Guevara

'What's wrong with that?' Duterte skipped meetings at key Singapore summit for 'power naps'


RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:49 UTC
duterte
© AFP/ Linus Escandor II
Philippines President Duterte raised a few eyebrows when he gave "power naps" as an excuse for missing key meetings at a Singapore summit. The president, however, said that he simply doesn't get the hype surrounding it.

President Rodrigo Duterte was among the world leaders and top officials taking part in the South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Singapore this week.

But the Philippines leader, who is renowned internationally for his bizarre and equally controversial comments, failed to turn up to four out of 11 appointments on Wednesday.

"He took power naps to catch (up) on sleep," presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said, adding that "some quarters are making a big fuss of the President skipping a few meetings."
Read More...
Bad Guys

Trump warns Antifa had better hope the 'other side' doesn't mobilize: They are 'tougher, smarter & angrier'

Saagar Enjeti and Benny Johnson
The Daily Caller
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:16 UTC
antifa charlottesville
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesAnti-fascist counter-protesters wait outside Emancipation Park to hurl insluts as white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the “alt-right” are forced out after the “Unite the Right” rally was declared an unlawful gathering August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
President Donald Trump warned violent leftists and Antifa members that an opposition to them may "mobilize," and it would mean "big trouble" for the leftist group.

"They better hope that the opposition to Antifa decides not to mobilize," the president told The Daily Caller in an exclusive Oval Office interview Wednesday.

"These people, like the Antifa - they better hope that the opposition to Antifa decides not to mobilize. Because if they do, they're much tougher. Much stronger. Potentially much more violent. And Antifa's going to be in big trouble. But so far they haven't done that and that's a good thing," he continued.
Read More...
Star of David

Russia sidelines Netanyahu in its anteroom

M.K. Bhadrakumar
Indian Punchline
Sun, 11 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
Netanyahu
© NBC NewsNetanyahu put 'on hold'.
It is over a month since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced that he was going to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin with a view to open a new page in the relations between the two countries following the incident over Syrian skies on September 17 when a Russian reconnaissance plane was shot down killing 15 personnel.

However, Moscow has not scheduled Netanyahu's visit so far. Netanyahu hoped that on the sidelines of the ceremony marking the centenary of the World War 1 armistice in Paris to tomorrow there might be an opportunity for a meeting with Putin. The Israelis sought a meeting. But Moscow apparently hasn't confirmed Putin's convenience.

Clearly, Moscow is keeping Netanyahu in the anteroom to cool his heels, signaling that it cannot be 'business as usual'. In a hard-hitting interview with Times of Israel, the Russian ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov made it clear in the weekend that the September 17 incident rankled. He said Russian defence establishment is "extremely disappointed" with the Israeli military's response to the incident.

Ambassador Viktorov also rubbed it in that the Israeli demand for the removal of all Iranian troops on Syrian soil is both "unrealistic" and unnecessary since Iran has no plans to attack Israel and it is Israelis, after all, who are killing Iranians and not vice versa!

Comment: Russia watches and waits. Honor or dishonor exhibited by its 'friends' determines Moscow's reactions.

Read More...
Snakes in Suits

Macron: Being America's ally doesn't mean becoming its vassal state


RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 19:33 UTC
TrumpMacron
© Reuters/Vincent KesslerPresidents Trump and Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he wasn't offended by a slew of angry tweets directed at him earlier this week by Donald Trump, saying that he understood the US president was just playing to a domestic audience.

Macron, who was speaking to reporters on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, said that respect was due between the US and France, two long-time allies, recalling that France was at America's side during its fight for independence - something which many on Twitter also tried to remind Trump after he mocked French losses during both world wars.

"At every moment of our history, we were allies, so between allies, respect is due," Macron said. Asked about Trump's tweets, the French president said: "I think he's playing politics, and I let him play politics."

Macron also said that being an American ally does not mean being a "vassal" state.
"The United States are our historic ally and will continue to be. It's the ally with which we take all the risks, with which we carry out the most complicated operations. But being an ally doesn't mean being a vassal state," he said.

Comment: Macron and Trump: a battle of conceits. Is France a vassal state, given its most domineering factor is Macron?
See also:
Post-bromance spat: Trump taunts Macron for country's losses to Germany in both World Wars, low approval ratings and wine policy

Read More...
Stock Up

What's the damage? About to top $6T, the war on terror's price tag tally has only begun


RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 05:08 UTC
War ruins
© Reuters / Alaa al-Marjwani
With the longest war in US history now dragging into its 17th year, Americans are looking at a massive bill. Total costs of the War on Terror now approach $6 trillion, according to a new report - to say nothing of the human costs.

To arrive at this mind-boggling sum, Brown University's Cost of War report included not only Defense Department spending in Iraq and Afghanistan, which at $1.9 trillion is already nothing to sneeze at, but associated expenses from the State and Homeland Security Departments, an increase in the Department of Defense budget, and - perhaps the most significant hidden cost of the war - long-term healthcare costs for veterans. All told, the "check" comes to $5.9 trillion.

And will that be cash, or credit? The US has been financing these wars through deficit spending and borrowing, meaning there are hefty interest payments to be made. A 2011 calculation that capped total war appropriations at a fraction of their current level yielded a cumulative interest figure of $7.9 trillion. Given that the Trump administration has shown no sign of winding down the fighting - indeed, his cabinet has expanded its saber-rattling beyond Iran and Venezuela into outer space - there is no telling how long we will continue to borrow against the inevitable to fund our war habit.


Comment: Cost of War: If you feed it, it grows.

Read More...
Eye 1

Google sparks privacy concerns after absorbing subsidiary with access to NHS patient data


RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 16:59 UTC
A nurse hands out methadone to addicts in Lisbon.
© Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty ImagesA nurse hands out methadone to addicts in Lisbon.
Google will integrate a UK-based health company into its main organization, igniting concerns that the tech giant will misuse NHS patient data that the health company had been given access to.

DeepMind, a company that develops artificial intelligence (AI), was purchased by Google in 2014 and will merge its health division with Google Health, a new venture focused on consolidating the tech giant's health-related projects.

The partnership aims to turn DeepMind's 'Streams' app into a fully-fledged "AI-powered assistant for nurses and doctors."

The news has caught the eye of privacy advocates and even government watchdogs.
Read More...
Bad Guys

After a string of failures, the West's goal is still to stoke sectarian war in Middle East

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 16:36 UTC
nato saudi
All wars initiated or supported by the US establishment - from the occupation of Iraq in 2003, the second Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, the regime-change in Syria in 2011 and the occupation of a third of Iraq in 2014 - have failed in their goal of stoking the fire of sectarian war between Sunni and Shia in the Middle East. The failure of this strategy has pushed the US establishment towards two new options: the first, of using media to reveal Saudi Arabia's intention to harm the Iranian economy and assassinate its military commanders. The second is to promote and advertise for an "Arab (Sunni) NATO Army". The goal is to keep the possibility of sectarian war alive.

The struggle for dominance between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been going on since the fall of the Shah and the victory of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Nevertheless, today's level of direct confrontation in various parts of the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrein and Yemen) is unprecedented. This is partly the result of US efforts to throw gasoline on the fire of hate and competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

It is against the interests of the US establishment to see the Iran-Saudi struggle wane because that would damage the US economy. Trump said clearly that he needs Arab money in exchange for the protection he is offering, otherwise "the Arab regimes won't last for one week". Accordingly, a state of non-war or non-competition between Tehran and Riyadh would significantly reduce the billions of dollars in US arms sales to Saudi.
Read More...
Light Sabers

Sec. of State Pompeo lashes out at Newsweek Magazine, claiming it 'spread lies' about US sanctions on food imported into Iran


Sputnik
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 16:43 UTC
pompeo
© AFP 2018 / Saul Loeb
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Newsweek had helped Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif spread "lies" about possible US sanctions on food imported into Iran.

In a tweet, Pompeo called the magazine "#FakeNewsweek," saying that the US "does not, and never did, sanction food and medicine," nor monetary transactions related to humanitarian needs.

Pompeo's comments came after Newsweek published an article last week with a headline suggesting Pompeo said Iranians would not eat if they did not follow the US' will. The story quoted an interview Pompeo gave to BBC Persian, in which he said that the Iranian leadership should make decisions that would address their people's needs.
Read More...
Arrow Up

Prosecutor to seek death penalty for Khashoggi's accused killers - US sanctions 17 Saudis in connection with murder


RT
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 10:53 UTC
Khashoggi
© Erdem Sahin/EPA-EFESlain journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor says he will seek the death penalty for five individuals accused of murdering Jamal Khashoggi. He said the crown prince was not implicated in the crime.

"The public prosecutor has requested the death penalty for 5 individuals who are charged with ordering and committing the crime," deputy public prosecutor and spokesman Shaalan al-Shaalan told reporters. He, however, didn't name those five people.

Eleven people have been charged and 21 are being held for Khashoggi's murder, the prosecutor said. The journalist and Washington Post columnist was allegedly strangled at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

The plans to retrieve Khashoggi "were in place on September 29," three days before his murder, the statement from the prosecutor said. A team was sent by the former deputy intelligence chief to retrieve the journalist and persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia.

The commander of the mission allegedly decided to murder the prominent journalist if the persuasion failed. "The body of the victim was dissected after the murder and removed from the consulate by five of the team members. One of them then gave the remains to a local handler", the prosecution claimed.


Comment: 17 Saudis have been sanctioned for their alleged involvement in Khashoggi's murder.

Among the sanctioned individuals is Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, who Turkish authorities believe led a 15-man 'kill team' to Istanbul to murder Khashoggi.

The New York Times reported that Mutreb had told a superior by phone to "tell your boss" that Khashoggi had been killed. The "boss" is suspected to be Crown Prince bin Salman, although Saudi authorities deny his involvement.

For details on the latest definition of Khashoggi's murder and remains, see: Turkey reveals Khashoggi 'murder kit' x-ray photos

Read More...