Puppet MastersS


Cardboard Box

White House denies talks were held over Israeli annexation of West Bank


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 22:27 UTC
The West Bank
© Mussa Qawasma / ReutersThe West Bank
The White House has denied it is helping Israel plan the annexation of the West Bank. The denial comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly suggested such talks had taken place.

The move to ring fence lands in the West Bank - where the Palestinians hope to build an independent state - could potentially inflame the already fraught situation. However, the White House dismissed the idea that Washington is working with Israel on an annexation plan as "false."

"On the subject of applying sovereignty, I can say that I have been talking to the Americans about it for some time," Netanyahu was recently quoted as saying by a spokesman of the Likud party, Reuters reports.

However, it's now being suggested that Netanyahu may have been trying to appease certain sections of his own party, with a senior Israeli official telling Reuters that the prime minister has not presented any plans to the US.

Comment: Whatever Trump's long-term plans for re-starting peace talks between Israel and Palestine were, they were greatly hurt by his tenuous recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and has undercut the US's already faltering standing as a broker for peace. To be guilty of working out annexation plans for the West Bank with Israel, if true, would be the nail in the coffin in the eyes of many. As if the following weren't bad enough:
In another controversial move apparently aimed at forcing Palestinians into negotiations with the Israelis, the US has been applying economic pressure. Washington withheld $65 million-worth of a planned installment of $125 million to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA. Trump, in one of his tweets, also accused the Palestinians of not showing enough "appreciation or respect" to the US after he had taken "the toughest part of the negotiation off the table." Tel Aviv meanwhile is not being pressured by Washington to alter its course.


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Bullseye

Peeling back the layers of Hillary's scandals and deceit

Michael Goodwin
New York Post
Sat, 10 Feb 2018 10:20 UTC
onionkillary
© BillMoyers.com/WordPress.com/KJN
For law enforcement, Congress and even journalists, exposing misdeeds is like peeling an onion. Each layer you remove gets you closer to the truth.

So it is with the scandalous behavior of the FBI during its probe into whether President Trump's campaign conspired with Russia in 2016. One layer at a time, we're learning how flawed and dirty that probe was.

A top layer involves the texts between FBI lawyer Lisa Page and her married lover, Peter Strzok, the lead agent on the Hillary Clinton email probe. They casually mention an "insurance policy" in the event Trump won the election and a plan for Strzok to go easy on Clinton because she probably would be their next boss.

Those exchanges, seen in the light of subsequent events, lead to a reasonable conclusion that the fix was in among then-Director James Comey's team to hurt Trump and help Clinton.

Another layer involves the declassified House memo, which indicates the FBI and Justice Department depended heavily on the unverified Russian dossier about Trump to get a warrant to spy on Carter Page, an American citizen and briefly a Trump adviser.

The House memo also reveals that Comey and others withheld from the secret surveillance court key partisan facts that would have cast doubt on the dossier. Officials never revealed to the judges that the document was paid for by Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee or that Christopher Steele, the British former spy who compiled the dossier, said he was "desperate that Donald Trump not get elected."

A third layer of the onion involves the revelations in the letter GOP Sens. Charles Grassley and Lindsey Graham wrote to the Justice Department. They urge a criminal investigation into whether Steele lied to the FBI about how much and when he fed the dossier to the anti-Trump media.

Comment: All onion layers come to an end: the good ones in a salad, the rotten ones in the compost pile.

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Cloud Grey

Federal abuses represent a growing blight on Obama's legacy

Monica Crowley
The Hill
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 08:00 UTC
Obama
© BOOMsbeat
In all of the discussions about the political weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, alleged corruption at the highest echelons of those agencies and serial abuse of the secret FISA process surrounding the 2016 election, one name has been conspicuously absent: President Barack Obama.

High-ranking officials and other major players in those agencies - which Obama oversaw - are increasingly embroiled in the growing scandal: James Comey, Loretta Lynch, Andrew McCabe, Andrew Weissmann, Sally Yates, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce Ohr.

Given the tight control Obama exercised over every part of his administration and agenda, the idea that any of these appointees and loyalists freelanced their activities without at least his tacit approval or that of his White House strains credulity.

These kinds of abuses of power were nothing new, given the Obama team's long history of this type of misconduct on everything from the Benghazi terror attack to the political misuse of the IRS. They weaponized the most fearsome government agencies to target, monitor and presumably illegally unmask political opponents, including members of Congress, journalists reporting unfavorable stories, Trump allies and average Americans.

Comment: Even if he could, Obama would not go back and do it differently. It is not in him.

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Star of David

Syria doesn't fear war with Israel - the rules of engagement have changed

Elijah J. Magnier
Elijah J M
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Guns Israelstar
© Global Research/KJN
Damascus air defence downed its first Israeli jet (F-16) ever, at a stroke changing the rules of engagement (ROE) with Israel and sending a clear message that it is ready for war and will no longer be silent on violations of its airspace. This clash has triggered the mobilisation of the Syrian army and its allies in Syria and in Lebanon, the Lebanese Hezbollah. The speed of the Syrian reaction was due to a prior decision taken at highest level among all allies operating on Syrian territory. These consider a possible confrontation may be inevitable if Israel has decided to respond and declare war. The violation of Syrian sovereignty is no longer an option open to Israel and the Israeli jets will no longer be able to carry out their usual promenades over the Levant without consequences.

Moreover, it is also clear that Russia - despite all that is said in the media - is aware of the Syrian decision to confront Israel. Moscow is supplying Syria with anti-aircraft missiles, its forces dominates the air space over the Syrian Army's controlled territory, and has the radar capability to see and monitor any Israeli aircraft flying over Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Russia is also informed when the Syrian army repeatedly fires missiles and confronts the Israeli air force in the sky over Syria or in the border areas.

It is not in the interests of Russia to see war break out in Syria where its forces are present on the ground and in the Mediterranean. Russia considers it has the right to intervene because its official presence on Syrian territory is at the request of and in agreement with the Damascus government. In its role as a superpower, it is in its interest to stop the tension on the Syrian border and show it has the power to impose peace on would-be belligerents.
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Chess

US ready for direct talks with sanctions-bullied N. Korea


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 15:00 UTC
Pencepodium
© Shizuo Kambayashi / ReutersUS Vice President Mike Pence
Washington is no longer opposed to the idea of talks with Pyongyang without preconditions, but still favors ramping up sanctions pressure against North Korea until it agrees to relinquish its nuclear arsenal, Mike Pence said.

The US vice president disclosed this subtle change in US Korean policy to Washington Post correspondent Josh Rogin while flying back from South Korea after a state visit. Apparently, Pence was convinced that actually talking to North Korea may be a good idea. Previously, senior US officials - starting with President Donald Trump - have insisted that talking to the North Korean government was of no use to America.
"The point is, no pressure comes off until they are actually doing something that the alliance believes represents a meaningful step toward denuclearization," Pence said as cited by the newspaper. "So the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. But if you want to talk, we'll talk."
So the US still wants to hurt North Korea as much as possible without starting an actual shooting war, but now it looks like it is willing to eventually hear Pyongyang's plea for mercy. Which is admittedly a step in the right direction compared to obstructing any talks.

Comment: Lazy, predictable, the US repeats patterns and ploys instead of looking for suitable and effective means to its ends.

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Attention

Rogue elements in CIA-State Dept. blocking release of American pastor from Turkish prison

Sibel Edmonds
Newsbud
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
GulenErdoganTrumpBrunson
© BBC/RealTimeTrump/State.com/KJNGulen • Erdogan • Trump • Brunson
A small group of high-level bureaucrats within the State Department and the CIA has been sabotaging the Trump-Pence White House directive on efforts for the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been jailed in Turkey due to his alleged connection to Gulen Network's failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.

A senior-level Newsbud source currently with the State Department provided the following information on the condition of anonymity:
There is a small group of high-level bureaucrats within the department who's been sabotaging the White House-Turkish government's negotiation process towards the release of Brunson. In an internal memorandum within the department the group claimed that for our long-term objectives the continued imprisonment of Brunson would provide more effective ammunition to be used against Erdogan on Human Rights grounds ... While his release would provide little to no gain during this critical stage in Syria. You are basically looking at a group that is operating and acting in direct defiance of the President's directive.
Andrew Brunson is an evangelical pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant church in Turkey, who was arrested in the purges occurring in the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt. Brunson, 48, who was applying for permanent Turkish residency, having lived there 23 years, was imprisoned on October 7, 2016, accused of being a member of the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government considers a terrorist organization. The charges were later amended to include spying and attempting to overthrow the government. To this date Newsbud has not been able to obtain any formal documents pertaining to evidence in Brunson's arrest and imprisonment.

According to the White House, President Trump has raised the case of Brunson at every opportunity with Mr. Erdogan, including a meeting in September 2017, when Trump hailed his counterpart as a good friend.
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Snakes in Suits

UK prosecutors pressured Sweden not to drop Assange extradition in 2013


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 11:07 UTC
Assange
© Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dissuaded Sweden from attempting to drop extradition proceedings against Julian Assange as far back as 2013, according to an email exchange seen by the Guardian.

The newspaper reports Swedish prosecutors were keen to drop the proceedings against the WikiLeaks founder in 2013, four years before they officially did in 2017. During the exchange between the Swedish director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, and an unnamed, since retired, CPS lawyer in charge of the case, Ny said that:
"There is a demand in Swedish law for coercive measures to be proportionate. The time passing, the costs and how severe the crime is to be taken into account together with the intrusion or detriment to the suspect. Against this background, we have found us to be obliged to lift the detention order ... and to withdraw the European arrest warrant. If so this should be done in a couple of weeks. This would affect not only us but you too in a significant way," Ny added.
In response, the CPS lawyer said:
"I do not consider costs are a relevant factor in this matter." Up until that point, the cost of preventing Assange from leaving the shelter of the Ecuadorian embassy in London was £3.8 million (US$5.25 million). "All we can do is wait and see (and perhaps be eternally grateful that neither of us have to share a room in the embassy with him over Christmas!)," he added.

Comment: See also: UK prosecutors confess to destroying key emails in Julian Assange case

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Star of David

Trump 'not necessarily sure' that Israelis and Palestinians want to make peace


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 02:04 UTC
Flags burning
© Osman Orsal / ReutersDemonstrators burn US and Israeli flags in protest.
Donald Trump has not expanded on his vision for the Israel-Palestine peace process. He has however noted that neither side appears to be "looking to make peace" since he officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

President Trump made the controversial announcement on December 6 last year, instructing the State Department to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city. It marked "the beginning of a new [American] approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians."

While stressing that the US remains "deeply committed" to helping facilitate a peace agreement, Trump said it is ultimately up to the foes themselves to agree on demarcating the borders of a future Palestinian state, including "specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem."

The announcement understandably sparked outrage among Palestinians who are engaged in weekly protests, which have claimed dozens of lives in clashes with Israeli forces.

Comment: The Sherlock Award goes to Donald Trump.

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USA

Erdogan: US presence in Manbij to thwart Turkey, Russia, Iran


Sputnik
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 12:41 UTC
map+3frames
© Walid Shoebat
In January, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara would not limit its precautionary measures against Kurdish fighters to Syria's Afrin but could move to Manbij, where the US has some 2,000 of its military personnel deployed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that the United States should leave Syria's Manbij in Aleppo province as Ankara plans to return it "to its true owners." He also added that Washington had "calculations against Turkey, Iran and maybe Russia" in Syria, claiming that the US military presence there was directed against the aforementioned countries after Daesh's (ISIS) defeat.

"If the United States says they are sending 5,000 trucks and 2,000 cargo planes with weapons for the fight against Daesh (Islamic State), we don't believe this. It means you have calculations against Turkey and Iran, and maybe Russia," Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.

Comment: Israel wants a Kurdish state and the US is tasked to make it so. Kurds will befriend anyone that can make this happen. Israel needs an anchored ally in the region, having pissed off everyone else, and has convinced the US to bear the cost, the burden and responsibility of this arrangement. Besides, the Kurds are excellent fighters and located closer to Iran, something Israel might find handy.

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Bad Guys

George Soros responds to social engineering criticisms in UK by dumping more money into anti-Brexit campaign


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:16 UTC
George Soros
© Reporters / Global Look PressGeorge Soros
Billionaire George Soros has hit back at the "toxic" criticism he received last week by pledging an additional £100k to his anti-Brexit campaign. He said engineering a "mere reversal" of the EU referendum result is not enough.

A Hungarian-American liberal, Soros faced accusations of meddling in British politics after it was revealed he had donated £400,000 to 'Best for Britain', which is currently campaigning for a second vote to be held on any final Brexit deal agreed between Parliament and the EU.

Soros' Open Society Foundation (OFS) has pledged to match a crowdfunded 'Fight Brexit Fund' set up in the wake of attacks against him. By Sunday night donations of less than £100 had reached a total of £45,000.

Comment: When Soros dumps heaps of money to influence the direction of a country, it's just a matter of 'free speech'. When Russia publishes news of what is going on in the world, it's sinister meddling. Got it?

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