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In addition to the timeline, the Met released a series of images showing the alleged assassins. I want to concentrate this piece on three particular images, but before I do, first some more general comments.
Firstly (sarcasm alert), I just wanted to say how pleasing it is to see that Scotland Yard finally found some CCTV footage, after apparently being unable to find any of Mr Skripal and Yulia Skripal from that day (even though it does exist), and in the end having to settle for two seconds of grainy footage of two people walking through The Maltings.
Secondly, one of the most obvious things about these images is that they show the two men doing whatever they are doing in broad daylight. This alone is enough to raise questions about the validity of the claim that these men were GRU Intelligence Officers on a mission to assassinate Mr Skripal. Not being an Intelligence officer or an assassin, I cannot be 100% sure, but I'm reasonably persuaded that the normal modus operandi is to do such things with minimum exposure, not in full glare of a plethora of cameras.
Comment: Then again, that is exactly what the Mossad did, for example, when they assassinated Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai in 2010.
© Yuri Gripas / Reuters
Acts of sabotage against the president are perilous to the American system of government. They're also self-serving.
The title of Bob Woodward's new book, Fear, contains a multitude of meanings. For one thing, it describes the attitude of many of President Donald Trump's own aides toward his judgment.
It's not just that many sources were willing to tell Woodward damaging stories about Trump: The most stunning examples are those in which top aides reportedly thwarted his will. Even more stunning is an anonymous op-ed published in The New York Times Wednesday afternoon written by a purported "senior official in the Trump administration."
Comment: So there you have it; there IS a deep state, and it is publicly boasting about its anti-democratic efforts to thwart Trump.
See also:
- NY Times publishes Trump insider's admission of working against the president. Still says Deep State doesn't exist
- Fake Book Based on Fake News Based on Fake Intel: Bob Woodward Novella 'Fear' Portrays Trump as Impetuous Madman
- The coup against Trump - his JFK moment, and America's
- In fits of anti-Trump pique, American liberals shamelessly embrace 'deep-state' criminals
© Stephane De Sakutin/ReutersFrench Rafale fighters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, 2016
"We are ready to strike if chemical weapons were used again," Armed Forces Chief Francois Lecointre told a small group of reporters Thursday.
"They can be carried out at national level but it's in our interest to do it with as many partners as possible," he added.
Comment: Cowards.
The threats come a week after the Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov warned top diplomats in Washington that militants in Idlib were planning a false-flag chemical attack, in order to frame the government of Bashar Assad as his forces prepare for an offensive to recapture the northern province.
Comment: The evidence to back up the West's previous bombing campaign is still not forthcoming - that's because there isn't any - and yet this blood-thirsty army chief is already talking about dropping more bombs on Syria?
- Russian jets strike only terrorist targets in Syria's Idlib says MoD
- Explosive Jerusalem Post Report Confirming IDF Gave Weapons to Islamists in Syria Vanishes
- Nikki Haley discovers psychic powers, knows exactly who will use chemical weapons in Syria
- False-flag Bust: The Empire Cuts to The Chase to Defend Its Terrorists in Syria
- 'Aid-Delivering Syrian Rebels' is How The NYT Describes The Humanitarian Side of al-Qaeda Terrorists in Idlib
Best of the Web: Syrian War Report - September 6, 2018: Russian Warplanes Launch Airstrikes Against McCain's Terrorists in Idlib
Winning
Earlier, pro-militant sources once again accused the Russian Aerospace Forces of striking civilian targets in the province of Idlib. While some civilian casualties as a result of any kind of fully-fledged operations against well-armed terrorist groups can hardly be avoided, pro-militant sources and mainstream media outlets are often exploiting this narrative in their propaganda campaigns against the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance. Most of reports appearing from pro-militant "media activists" in Idlib describe any destroyed militant position, HQ or warehouse as a bakery, a medical point or a civilian house.
Comment: Let's take a closer look:
Sayonara, McCain!
John McCain's funeral exposed the cynicism of Anti-Trumpism
So now we know what 'the resistance' really is. It's the establishment. It's the old political order. It's that late 20th-century political set, those out-of-touch managerial elites, who still cannot believe the electorate rejected them. That is the take-home message of the bizarre political spectacle that was the burial of John McCain, where this neocon in life has been transformed into a resistance leader in death: that while the anti-Trump movement might doll itself up as rebellious, and even borrow its name from those who resisted fascism in Europe in the mid 20th-century, in truth it is primarily about restoring the apparently cool, expert-driven rule of the old elites over what is viewed as the chaos of the populist Trump / Brexit era.
© Getty
© United NationsOn 2 July 2012, Jeffrey Feltman, ex-assistant to Hillary Clinton, became the number 2 of the United Nations. He swore his oath on the UN Charter before the then Secretary General, the extremely corrupt Ban Ki-moon.
In October 2017, the UN under-secretary for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, secretly drew up a list of instructions for all UN agencies about the attitude they should adopt concerning the conflict in Syria.
None of the member-States of the Organisation, not even the members of the Security Council, were informed of the existence of these instructions. At least, not until the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergueï Lavrov, revealed them on 20 August last [1].
We have just acquired a copy of the list [2].
This document betrays the United Nations Charter [3] by inverting its priorities. While the UN's main objective is to 'maintain peace and international security', Feltman's instructions place the 'respect for human rights' above this goal. In this way, those rights become an instrument which work against peace.
Comment: Is Lavrov right? Is there a double hierarchy residing within the United Nations divided on peace and war? Not unprecedented, this sort of entrenched construct and 'replacement entity' has become both foundational and crippling within the US since the Eisenhower administration. Who might want the UN to become overtly ineffective while driving a different agenda - especially regarding the future of Syria?
See also: Israel's fifth column exercises control from inside the US government
© Joshua Roberts/ReutersUS Secretary of Defense James Mattis
"We have zero intelligence that shows the opposition has any chemical capability," James Mattis told journalists on Wednesday, noting that despite its deep "penetration" of the armed Syrian opposition groups, the US has never "seen" the militants using any chemicals. Citing "American" and "international" data, he emphasized that only the forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad "had done this before."
Backing his words with little factual proof, Mattis resorted to the usual US rhetoric and accused Damascus and its allies - Moscow and Tehran - of being ultimately responsible for the Syrian conflict. Neglecting to mention any terrorist and armed Islamist groups, or the involvement of the US-led coalitions, Mattis claimed the war "did not have to happen, but for Assad... but for Russia's regrettable vetoes in the United Nations... but for the Iranian's support of Assad's murders."
Comment: The war in Syria was planned many years in advance. No lame excuses can erase the apocalypse it has become.
Comment: It doesn't take classified Pentagon know-how to stage a chemical weapons attack, given the history and frequency of such timely events in Syria. The only determination is 'for what manipulative reason' and 'when best suits that purpose'.
© UnknownRussian defense forces
Evidently, Russia takes this US threat seriously (it has deployed 20 naval vessels into the E. Mediterranean, off Syria). And Iran evidently takes the threat seriously, too. The Iranian Defence Minister on Sunday made a rapid unscheduled visit to Damascus in order to agree a tri-partite (Russia, Syria Iran) response to any US attack on Syria.Russia does take this threat very seriously and positioned her naval task force in a form of a screen in case of expected and highly likely salvo of TLAMs and, possibly, depending on the circumstances attempts of carrier aviation launching their own stand-off munitions.
Moreover, Russian naval exercises off Syria are more than just Fleet-In-Being demonstration of a naval force with a significant salvo--as such this force will have issues surviving when pitted against much superior US Navy's one or two Carrier Battle Groups. But here is the REAL build-up and there is nothing secret about it.
Comment: Russia is leaving little to chance, perhaps hoping a large show of unbeatable resistance and retaliation capability will emphasize the seriousness and repercussive severity of any foolhardy action currently in the minds of the West.
© KCNA/AFP
The North Korean leader wants to denuclearize and end long-standing hostility between Pyongyang and Washington by the time Donald Trump's first term expires in early 2021, Chung Eui-yong, South Korea's national security adviser, revealed on Thursday after meeting with Kim Jong-un.
This is the first time the North Korean leader laid out a potential deadline for dismantling nuclear weapons, the development of which pushed the region to the brink of military confrontation last year. According to Chung, Kim "reaffirmed his determination to completely denuclearize" the peninsula, but said "he would appreciate that such good faith is accepted with good faith."
Later in the day, Trump hailed Kim's "unwavering faith," writing in a tweet: "Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!"
Comment: John Helmer adds: He finishes off with this: