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Trump has reportedly approved new objectives in Syria, military presence open-ended

Benjamin Brown
Fox News
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
James Jeffrey
© www.baladinews.comSpecial Representative for Syrian engagement, James Jeffrey
President Donald Trump has reportedly agreed to new objectives that will keep American troops on the ground in Syria indefinitely to ensure Iranian forces are driven out of the country and to maintain pressure on the Islamic State.

The new policy is in stark contrast to comments Trump made in April, when he said he wanted to "get out" of Syria and "bring our troops back home," adding that the U.S is "very seriously" considering doing just that.

The Washington Post, citing senior State Department officials, reported Thursday that the renewed interest to keep the U.S. military in Syria comes amid concerns regarding Russia's commitment to help expel Iran.

James Jeffrey -- a former U.S. ambassador who also served as a deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush -- was recently appointed "special representative for Syrian engagement" by the Trump administration, and told the Post the U.S. is "no longer pulling out by the end of the year."

Comment: Anybody surprised? It is open-ended until they think up the next excuse.

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Briefcase

Mueller's triumph: Papadopoulos sentenced 14 days in jail, $9,500 fine and community service


RT
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 20:56 UTC
Papadopoulos
© Yuri Gripas/ReutersGeorge Papadopoulos leaves US District Court after sentencing hearing.
George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide of President Donald Trump, has been sentenced to two weeks in prison, a $9,500 fine and 200 hours of community service for lying to the FBI in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe.

On top of 14 days in jail, Papadopoulos will have a year of supervised release. Earlier, he pleaded guilty to making false statements to the investigators about his communications with 'Russians'.

While the prosecution demanded up to six months behind bars for ex-Trump campaign aide, Judge Randolph D. Moss found no evidence that 31-year-old Papadopoulos actually worked with Russia to meddle in the US election nor had "any desire to aid Russia in any way."

According to the US authorities, Trump's campaign aide made "material false statements" and omitted the facts regarding the extent, timing, and nature of his communications with an "overseas professor" said to have "substantial connections" to Russian government officials; a female Russian national; and a man who "told defendant Papadopoulos he had connections to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Comment: So a slap on the wrist for a nothing charge. Another big win for Mueller.

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Quenelle

Best of the Web: Twitter's banning of Alex Jones has far-reaching implications for us all

Robert Bridge
RT
Sat, 08 Sep 2018 17:54 UTC
Alex Jones of Infowars
© Jim Bourg / ReutersAlex Jones of Infowars
Today in the US, just arguing with someone can get you banned from social media platforms. We have crossed into a parallel reality, the very Matrix dungeon, where tech companies police not only our thoughts but our behavior.

A strange thing happened on the way to this week's Senate hearing on social media. As the masters of the tech universe were attempting to calm US lawmakers, assuring the stone-faced agents of Corporate America that they are systematically cracking down on Russia, fake news and anything that reeks of stinky people power, a verbal brawl was occurring just down the hall.

In an off corridor on Capitol Hill, Alex Jones, of InfoWars fame and notoriety, crossed paths with CNN ace reporter, Oliver Darcy. Things got ugly fast. In fact, had it been an MMA feature fight, the ref would have stopped the bout in a matter of seconds. Jones' vicious verbal pounding - at one point he compared Darcy to "a rat" and called him "evil looking" - was so brutal it left the senior CNN reporter visibly stunned.

Comment: Alex Jones is likely, at best, misguided in much of his analyses of conspiracies and what's taking place in the US, or the world at large for that matter, and may even be even be, effectively, a gatekeeper that does a disservice to those exposing true conspiracies by promoting nonsensical ones.

However, none of that necessarily should result in being silenced, and if it should, then the rest of the fake news media companies in the US should be banned as well for promoting outright lies. Perhaps he was targeted simply because of his popularity and dissenting opinions, in a demonstration of power by the tech companies. One thing's for sure: it's a very slippery slope from here.

Jordan Peterson shares his perspective on this:



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MIB

Kremlin slams US intel agencies for "crudely" trying to recruit Russian oligarchs

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 03 Sep 2018 15:05 UTC
Peskov Putin
FILE PHOTO: Spokesman Dmitry Peskov and President Vladimir Putin. Russia puzzled as to why Ukrainian leader is unaware of proposal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blasted the United States for "crudely" trying to recruit Russian oligarchs, after the New York Times published a Friday article accusing the Obama DOJ of unsuccessfully trying to recruit "roughly a half-dozen of Russia's richest men" between 2014 and 2016.
The attempt to flip Mr. Deripaska was part of a broader, clandestine American effort to gauge the possibility of gaining cooperation from roughly a half-dozen of Russia's richest men, nearly all of whom, like Mr. Deripaska, depend on President Vladimir V. Putin to maintain their wealth, the officials said.

...

The systematic effort to win the cooperation of the oligarchs, which has not previously been revealed, does not appear to have scored any successes. And in Mr. Deripaska's case, he told the American investigators that he disagreed with their theories about Russian organized crime and Kremlin collusion in the campaign, a person familiar with the exchanges said. The person added that Mr. Deripaska even notified the Kremlin about the American efforts to cultivate him. -NYT

Comment:

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Colosseum

SOTT Focus: Libya in Chaos Seven Years After NATO's 'Liberation', But Who Cares?

Neil Clark
RT
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 20:18 UTC
ruined building Libya
© Esam Omran Al-Fetori / ReutersA historic building ruined during a conflict, Benghazi, Libya, February 28, 2018
Libya remains a lawless land, with rival militias fighting battles in the streets of Tripoli and over 1 million people in need of aid. But the West's 'liberal interventionists' aren't interested in the catastrophe they created.

"Hundreds escape prison amid deadly clashes in Tripoli," a headline on the BBC News website declared this week.

Over 60 people have died in the current fighting with many more injured and hundreds of ordinary citizens displaced. The latest disturbances began after the Tarhuna's 7th Infantry ''Kaniat' Brigade made advances into the capital from the south and clashed with a coalition of Tripoli militias.

It's really hard to keep up with who's fighting who. If you think the situation in Syria is complicated, you haven't been paying much attention to Libya. As the BBC article acknowledged: "Libya has faced continuing chaos since NATO-backed militia forces, some of them rivals, overthrew long-serving ruler Colonel Gaddafi in October 2011."
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Vader

Idlib operation exposes the Empire: US and lackeys Britain and France desperate to save terrorist investment


The Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 08 Sep 2018 20:06 UTC
Cartoon of terrorists and moderate terrorists
It was quite an admission this week, albeit unintentional. The three Western members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain and France - all gave warning that they would carry out military strikes on Syria if the government forces there were to use chemical weapons.

That is a risible deceit of course, since the Syrian government does not possess chemical weapons, having disposed of its arsenal some two years ago under UN supervision.

This Western threat of unlawful military force against a sovereign country came as the Syrian government and the Russian military were loudly warning that a provocation with chemical weapons was being prepared by terror groups and foreign actors.

The Russian military gave details of toxic chemical supplies being transported in the northern Syrian province of Idlib by the terror group known as Nusra Front, in conjunction with their media agents called the White Helmets.

Comment:

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Fire

As Syria's war is near ending, Iraq's next civil conflict is heating up

Adam Garrie
Eurasia Future
Sun, 09 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Basra Iraq
© Nabil al-Jurani/APGovernment building torched in Basra, Iraq
Iraq's second most populous city Basra is literally on fire as months of protests have boiled over into violent acts of rage. Demonstrators initially took to the streets to protest the lack of drinkable water in the city as well as overarching issues of mass unemployment. At least five protesters have been killed after Iraqi troops fired on demonstrators.

Perhaps most worrying, the protesters have torched multiple government offices in the city and the offices of all major political parties with the exception of offices belonging to Muqtada al-Sadr's controversial political movement. With al-Sadr seeking to form a government in a broad coalition which would include an alliance with the factions loyal to current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, many have suggested that the protests are part of al-Sadr's infamous strategies to mobilise the genuinely disgruntled masses in order to hold the powers-that-be hostage, all so that he can extract vast political concessions. Not only does al-Sadr have a history of doing such things, but he has expressed disappointment in the progress of talks regarding the formation of a new government following the 12 May general election.

Comment: Different decade, same old tricks.

See also:
US oblivious to the resistance movement forming in Iraq - in response to US meddling
Excerpt from above linked article:
"There is a new dirty conspiracy revealing itself where the US, the UK and Iraqi politicians are overtly working to create a weak government. This conspiracy is led by Brett McGurk (the US envoy to Iraq) and Thamer al-Sabhan (the ex-Saudi Ambassador to Iraq and actual Minister). We have the power to intervene at the right moment to disarm this conspiracy as we are today stronger than ever. Our aim is to protect the interests of our people and keep the political process democratic and free from any interference", reads the communiqué.


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Rocket

US Marines launch live-fire air assault into Syrian desert, a 'strong message' to Russia?

Lucas Tomlinson, Jennifer Griffin
Fox News
Thu, 06 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Syrian Protesters Idlib town
© UnknownProtesters holding Syrian revolution flags in Maaret al-Numan, a town in Idlib province, Syria, September 7, 2018.
More than 100 U.S. Marines launched an air assault in the southern Syrian desert backed by artillery fire to send a "strong message" to Russia not to send their forces inside a restricted area near an American military outpost, two U.S. defense officials have told Fox News.

The show of forces comes as the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey are meeting Friday in Tehran to hammer out their next steps in the seven-year Syrian civil war ahead of an expected offensive led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces into the country's northwest Idlib Province.

On two separate occasions this month (Sept. 1 and Sept. 6), the Russian military warned its American counterparts of its intention to conduct a military operation in southern Syria near the At Tanf garrison where U.S. special operations forces are located.

Twice the U.S. military has told the Russians to back off.

"The United States does not seek to fight the Russians, the government of Syria or any groups that may be providing support to Syria in the Syrian civil war," Navy Capt. William Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. "The U.S. does not require any assistance in our efforts to destroy ISIS."

Comment: The media interpretations and snippets of facts and events. For another, see below.

More from Sputnik, 8/9/2018:
Earlier, American media reported that Russia had allegedly warned the US of its intentions to launch precision strikes on territory under the protection of the US-led coalition in Homs province. Moscow hasn't commented on the claims.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced military drills will be held near its At Tanf garrison in the province of Homs, Syria on September 7 aimed at preparing the troops for further battles against Daesh forces; however, CNN suggested that there is more to it.

According to an anonymous source in the Pentagon, cited by the news outlet, the drills are being conducted in response to recent warnings allegedly issued by Russia to the US via deconfliction communication lines. ...
The official statement by CENTCOM did not mention that the drills were a response to alleged Russian warnings.

CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said the drills will "demonstrate the capability to deploy rapidly, assault a target and conduct a rapid exfiltration," but added that the exercises are aimed at bolstering "defeat-ISIS [Daesh] capabilities."

Furthermore, the CENTCOM statement noted that their Russian counterparts had been duly notified via deconfliction communication channels about the upcoming drills to "prevent miscommunications or escalations in tension."

Both US-led coalition and Russian forces in Syria have been in continuous contact via special channels over the last several years in order to avoid striking each other's positions or troops and to avoid confrontation.
See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Trump: Meeting possible with SC Mueller under 'certain conditions'


RT
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 16:30 UTC
Trumpmueller
© Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump • Special Counsel Robert Mueller
Donald Trump has said he could meet with the special counsel investigating Russia's supposed meddling in US elections. It would require "certain circumstances," as the president doesn't want "to be set up with a perjury trap."

"I think that if we're going to meet it's got to be a fair meeting," Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. "I don't want to be set up with a perjury trap."

US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating widespread claims that Trump colluded with Russia to get an edge over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, has previously offered to allow Trump to answer his questions in writing. Recently, however, Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Reuters that Mueller has been insisting that written answers would have to be followed up with a personal interview.

Mueller is expected to produce a report on his investigation, which so far has failed to produce definitive evidence that Trump was helped to the White House by the Russians, in the coming weeks. The paper is being anticipated both by Trump's opponents and his legal team, which, according to Giuliani, is preparing a counter-report to question the legitimacy of Mueller's investigation.
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Pirates

Russian UN envoy: US aims to prevent fall of last terrorist nest regardless civilian cost


RT
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 16:04 UTC
terrorists
© Reuters
Washington and its allies pursue their geopolitical interests under the guise of humanitarian concerns as they apparently try to prevent the destruction of the last terrorist enclave in Syria, the Russian envoy to the UN said.

The US and its allies have done virtually nothing to contribute to the real peace process in Idlib, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia said, adding that the US particularly did not deliver on its promise to separate the "moderate opposition" groups from the terrorist organizations.

"Instead, [they] are hatching yet another aggressive plan, which includes false flag attacks involving the use of chemical weapons," the envoy said.

The Western states apparently "go out of their way to prevent the fall of the last major terrorist stronghold in Syria," Nebenzia said, adding that such actions serve some narrow geopolitical interests rather than the declared need to protect civilians.

Comment: Syria must be cleared of terrorist enclaves. There is no other acceptable option for the Syrian people. Russia and Syria are clear on this point. Is the US? Not according to Haley.

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