Puppet MastersS


War Whore

The untold story of John Bolton's role in US-Israeli strategy to start war with Iran

Gareth Porter
The American Conservative
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 19:11 UTC
John Bolton
© Gage Skidmore/FlikrJohn Bolton
Everyone knows Bolton is a hawk. Less understood is how he labored in secret to drive Washington and Tehran apart.

In my reporting on U.S.-Israeli policy, I have tracked numerous episodes in which the United States and/or Israel made moves that seemed to indicate preparations for war against Iran. Each time-in 2007, in 2008, and again in 2011-those moves, presented in corporate media as presaging attacks on Tehran, were actually bluffs aimed at putting pressure on the Iranian government.

But the strong likelihood that Donald Trump will now choose John Bolton as his next national security advisor creates a prospect of war with Iran that is very real. Bolton is no ordinary neoconservative hawk. He has been obsessed for many years with going to war against the Islamic Republic, calling repeatedly for bombing Iran in his regular appearances on Fox News, without the slightest indication that he understands the consequences of such a policy.

His is not merely a rhetorical stance: Bolton actively conspired during his tenure as the Bush administration's policymaker on Iran from 2002 through 2004 to establish the political conditions necessary for the administration to carry out military action.

Comment: See also:

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Mr. Potato

Boris Johnson admits British Government has stocks of nerve agent used to poison Skripal


Sott.net
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 18:18 UTC
Boris Johnson Deutsche Welle interview
In an exclusive interview with DW's Zhanna Nemtsova, UK Foreign Secretary Johnson waffled on about the evils of Russia and why Putin is responsible for the attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal. In the course of the interview, he let something very significant slip.
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Cloud Lightning

Washington and FBI insiders fear: "General Flynn might take a flamethrower to this town before he's done"


True Pundit
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Flynn is back
The biggest, baddest dude in Washington D.C. might be President Trump but Gen. Mike Flynn is running a close second, according to FBI insiders who fear he may start talking soon.

And talking about the FBI and what exactly went down during his ordeal with the Bureau's Andrew McCabe-infused investigation of Flynn. Those unflattering details, insiders reveal, would bring more unwanted turmoil and public scrutiny to the embattled agency. Especially the FBI's actions wielded against Flynn which likely involve illegality and corruption.

Worry quickly swept through the Beltway this weekend after Flynn appeared at a political rally days ago to support a California underdog running for Congress; Flynn's first public appearance since he was sacked as national security adviser in 2017.

That surprise appearance clearly put the D.C. establishment on notice.

Flynn is back.

Comment: Mike Flynn may have been one of the few really knowledgeable, capable and willing enough to truly help Trump drain the swamp - so he had to be taken out. But is he back in the sense that the article conveys? We'll have to wait and watch. See also:

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Megaphone

Selective outrage: Liberal media slams Trump's call to Putin, forgets that Obama did the same in 2012


Hannity.com
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Putin and Obama
The mainstream media's anti-Trump obsession was on full-display Tuesday; with multiple networks slamming the President for calling Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election; totally ignoring the fact that Barack Obama did the same thing in 2012.

The President confirmed this week that he placed a private phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin hours after his landslide election; sparking outrage from liberal lawmakers and the destroy-Trump press.

Comment:

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Light Saber

Blunt Duterte blasts Canada over failed helicopter deal: 'How stupid can you get?'


RT
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 15:38 UTC
duterte trudeau
© Mark R. Cristino / ReutersCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
Outspoken Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has launched another tirade of abuse, this time aimed at Canada after it decided to stop a $233-million deal to send 16 helicopters to Manila.

In his address to the General Assembly of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines, Duterte hit out against Canada's decision after beginning his speech with a description of the various internal struggles his country is up against.

"My God, you Canadians, how stupid can you get? Our citizens are joining ISIS so we have every right to kill our citizens because we do not want to destroy the community with apathy."

The Philippines has been struggling with Islamic extremism in recent years, with terrorist groups affiliated to ISIS operating in the country since 2014. Tensions between extremist groups and the government culminated with the so-called Marawi Siege, a five-month conflict that has cost thousands of lives.

Comment: Duterte may be too rough around the edges for the elite, but his lowyalty to his people is unquestioned.

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Binoculars

Germany selling weapons tech to Iran and 'working against Israel' as US Dems block Trump pick for Ambassador

Adam Kredo
Washington Beacon
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 11:45 UTC
Richard Grenell
© Getty imagesRichard Grenell
Administration officials alarmed over bid to block Trump's ambassador to Germany

U.S. officials are increasingly alarmed by a congressional block on President Donald Trump's pick to be the next ambassador to Germany, a holdup that comes as Berlin pursues a host of anti-Israel measures and is growing closer to Iran, according to multiple administration insiders who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

As Democrats in Congress continue to hold the nomination of Richard Grenell, a veteran Republican diplomat who was tapped by Trump to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Germany, the post remains vacant, sparking concerns the United States is ceding leverage amid sensitive discussions regarding the future of the landmark Iran nuclear deal.

The vacancy also has left the United States with little voice to combat a series of anti-Israel efforts being pursued by the German government. Trump administration insiders are becoming increasingly fed-up with the block on Grenell, telling the Free Beacon that U.S. diplomats currently helming the post have been bungling critical national security priorities, including the Iran portfolio and recent efforts by Germany to sell Tehran sensitive equipment used by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria to produce chemical weapons.


Comment: The whole 'Assad uses chemical weapons on his people' and 'Iran is evil' shtick seems to be conflated with other diplomatic issues here.

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Pirates

The long war: Endless investigation of Trump was always the plan

Charles Hurt
Breitbart
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 14:59 UTC
MuellerKrembucks
© The Washington Reporter
So this is the new standard for electing a president here in America, the greatest living experiment in self-governance.

A man can run the gauntlet against more than 20 professional politicians and come out victorious.

He can win more than 40 Republican primary contests and beat every professional political campaigner out there, earning the votes of more than 14 million Republicans.

He can then turn his attention to beating the most powerful, entrenched political machine America has seen in nearly a half-century. (That corrupt machine had just pulled off its most devious and dishonest scam ever - rigging a presidential primary to snatch the party's preferred Socialist candidate away from Democrat voters.)
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Brick Wall

GOP Rep McSally wants border wall between California and Arizona to 'keep out criminals'


RT
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 14:50 UTC
US border wall
© Mike Blake / Reuters
It's not just the US-Mexico border which could witness a forbidding wall cropping up soon. A GOP representative wants to build a similar barrier between Arizona and its immigrant-friendly neighbor California.

Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) proposed erecting a border wall between California and Arizona to protect Arizona from "dangerous criminals" who, she claims, are protected by California's sanctuary cities policy. McSally made the remarks during a round-table discussion about sanctuary cities on Tuesday at the White House.

Comment: The good representative is not alone in her views.

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Arrow Down

Top general says US troops should be prepared to die for Israel

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:40 UTC
General Richard Clark
© Jerusalem PostBrig.-Gen Zvika Haimovitch, the head of the IDF's Aerial Defense Division and US Air Force 3rd AF Commander Lt. Gen. Richard Clark.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same..." This is the oath of enlistment that every American military service member or federal employee takes upon entry into government service (with slight variation for commissioned officers).

With the largest joint U.S.-Israeli air defense exercise ever conducted having recently concluded, which involved over 2,500 American service personnel, and in the midst of heightened Israeli involvement in the Syrian war, we find ourselves asking...

Are US troops ready to fight and to die for America's Israel's defense? ...We think not, but there are US generals out there enthusiastically promoting the idea.
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Bad Guys

MPs who misled public about 'Iraq's WMDs' jump on Skripal poisoning bandwagon


RT
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 12:29 UTC
US Army Iraq
© Robert King / Global Look PressFeb 16, 2005 - Baghdad, Iraq - An American soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division is treated after being shot in the volatile area of the Haifa Street neighborhood.
Many of the MPs who rushed to judgment over the Iraq War are now asserting Russia's 'culpability' for the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal. Fifteen years after the war began, are the same politicians repeating their mistakes?

In the Commons, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was slammed as he compared Theresa May's approach - labeling Russia as culpable for the Skripal poisoning before an investigation has concluded - as similar to the WMD saga that led the UK into Iraq.
Following his statement, many Labour MPs rushed to condemn their leader, openly backing May in Parliament and further distancing themselves from Corbyn following the session.

Corbyn, along with a handful of fellow MPs, consistently voted against the Iraq War - a stance he is now hailed for after British intelligence claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) were discredited.
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