Puppet MastersS


Vader

Will someone in Washington play the ace of spades before November?

James George Jatras
The Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 01 Sep 2018 23:15 UTC
Trump Protests
With regard to American foreign and security policy, President Donald Trump presents a paradox. Aside from some harsh bluster ("fire and fury" directed towards Pyongyang in the lead-up to an unprecedented US-North Korea summit), Trump generally seems to want more peaceful ties with the rest of the world and an end to wasteful and dangerous conflicts. On the other hand, if that is his intention, he's been unable to make much headway with an establishment that constitutionally is totally under his authority but in practice seems to be almost entirely independent of his supervision.

For example, Trump expresses his desire the get US forces out of Afghanistan but then announces that contrary to his own preferences he's putting more troops in. He meets in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin to achieve détente but then the State and Treasury Department immediately poison the well with more sanctions and evidence-free accusations of Russian meddling in the upcoming Congressional elections. Trump announces his willingness to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani without preconditions but then is immediately overruled by über-President (a/k/a Secretary of State) Mike Pompeo.
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Snakes in Suits

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces he will not seek re-election

Andrew O'Reilly
Fox News
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 01:33 UTC
Rahm Emanuel
© Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he is not seeking re-election. (AP
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday that he is not seeking re-election for a third term amid withering criticism over his administration's policies and a soaring violent crime rate in the Windy City.

"As much as I love this job and will always love this city and its residents, I've decided not to seek re-election," Emanuel said at a press conference on Tuesday. "This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime."

Emanuel added: "For the last seven and a half years I've given my all every day and left everything on the field. This commitment has required significant sacrifice all around. ... We have more to do and from now until then, we will do everything in our power to get it done and walk out the door hopefully leaving Chicago and Chicagoans in a better place."


Comment: When he walks out the door it will definately be a better place!


Comment:

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Cut

Catalonian president Quim Torra to relaunch bid for independence after rejecting proposal from Madrid offering greater autonomy


RT
Tue, 04 Sep 2018 17:21 UTC
Catalonia independence
© Albert Gea / Reuters
Catalonia's separatist leader Quim Torra is set to relaunch the region's bid to split from Spain, shooting down an offer from the government in Madrid to hold a referendum which would offer greater autonomy but not independence.

Torra, who was sworn in as the region's president in May, plans to launch his 'Our Moment' separatist strategy at a lecture on Tuesday. Torra's predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, who sought independence, fled to Brussels last year after being removed from office by the central Madrid government.

In an interview on Monday, Torra said he plans to take Catalonia's bid for independence "to the end" and "as far as the Catalan parliament wants me to go," Reuters reported.

On Monday, Spain's new socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, who has aimed to defuse tensions over Catalan independence, proposed a referendum which could grant greater autonomy to the northeastern region, but ruled out any kind of independence referendum.

That offer was rejected by Roger Torrent, the speaker of the Catalan parliament, who said that a referendum on self-determination "is what the majority of the Catalan people wants".
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Monkey Wrench

State of emergency declared as Tripoli witnesses the worst unrest in years

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sun, 02 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Militia clashes Tripoli Sep 2 2018
© Nadia Ramadan/TwitterAftermath of intense militia clashes in Tripoli this week.
After we reported heavy inter-factional fighting within the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA)-controlled Tripoli last week, Libya's capital city has only descended into further chaos and is quickly sliding toward full-on civil war.

On Saturday a barrage of rockets rained down on the city center, reportedly striking residential homes and a popular hotel; and tanks continue to roam the streets amidst intensifying street-to-street fighting which after a week has left 40 dead, nearly half of those civilians, and four of those children. Local authorities also have cited over 100 wounded in battles that have often raged in the heart of residential areas in Tripoli's southern districts.

And what's more, the largest prison break in the country's recent history occurred on Sunday, with some 400 detainees taking advantage of nearby fighting in southern suburbs to escape Ain Zara prison, according to the AFP.

The 15 or more rockets landing on the capital city and its surrounding environs over the weekend forced the suspension of all flights at Tripoli's only operational airport. A state of emergency has been declared by the ruling GNA over the entirety of the capital area.

Though post-Gaddafi Libya, long forgotten about in the media after its "liberation" by NATO and Islamist militants, has since 2011 existed in varying degrees of anarchy and chaos with up the four governments recently ruling different parts of the country, this past week has witnessed the worst unrest in Tripoli in years.

Comment: The Great Tribes of Libya begin to cleanse Tripoli of terrorist militias
Today, many of the largest tribes in Libya joined the Tarhouna tribe near Tripoli to support them in the cleansing of the rubbish controlling the city of Tripoli. The people of Libya who are all members of tribes and represented by the tribes, have had enough. Recently, as I reported earlier, 45 young men were sentenced to death by a kangaroo court made up of criminal militias. These young men had broken no laws, their only crime was being members of the Libyan army fighting against NATO invaders in 2011. This was just one more criminal act that pushed the Libyan people (tribes) over the edge. Even though the tribes have no support from outside like the militias who receive weapons and money from the US (via Turkey), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Sudan; the Great Tribes of Libya have joined together to take back their sovereignty no matter what.


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Quenelle - Golden

Spain halts weapons sales to Saudi Arabia amid mounting Yemen death toll


RT
Tue, 04 Sep 2018 17:41 UTC
airstrike in Sanaa
© Mohamed Al-Sayaghi / ReutersSmoke rises from the scene of an airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen
The Spanish Defense Ministry has confirmed that Spain has halted the sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia, as they would have been used in the bloody and controversial Saudi-led bombing of Yemen.

The ministry has already begun to cancel a 2015 contract between the two countries for 400 laser-guided bombs. Spain will pay Saudi Arabia back €9.2 million ($10.6 million) for the undelivered weapons. The Spanish government has confirmed the cancellation, first reported by Cadena Ser.

Cancelation procedures began last July, shortly after Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took office in June. Before ousting his conservative predecessor in a no-confidence vote, Sánchez railed against his country's arms sales to the Saudi government.

Comment: Meanwhile the UK can't sell Saudi Arabia weapons fast enough, and is more than happy to send over special forces in contravention of the Geneva conventions to assist them in their genocidal war on Yemen: MBS vows to continue targeting children, wants Yemenis to 'shiver' in fear for generations

See also:

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Attention

Facebook builds physical 'war room' to fight 'bad actors' for upcoming US midterm elections


RT
Tue, 04 Sep 2018 21:16 UTC
Dr. Strangelove
© Supplied by FilmStills.net / Global Look PressIconic war room from Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.'
Facebook is getting ready for the US midterm elections by building a literal "war room" and seeking to win the "arms race" against "bad actors," a company boss said in remarks that seemed like they were pulled from the Cold War.

Facebook's head of civic engagement, Samidh Chakrabarti, highlighted progress made by the tech giant in tackling "misinformation" and "fake news" in an interview with NBC published on Tuesday.

The platform has become really effective over the past two years in "combating foreign interference" and blocking and deleting unwanted "fake accounts," according to the top executive.

"I think we are in a much better place than we were in 2016. But it is an arms race. And so that's why we're remaining ever vigilant, laser focused to make sure that we can stay ahead of new problems that emerge," Chakrabarti stated.
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Bullseye

France, Germany inappropriate partners for Ukraine peace talks after murder of Donbass leader - Lavrov


RT
Tue, 04 Sep 2018 20:44 UTC
Aleksandr Zakharchenko Donetsk
© Alexander Ermochenko / ReutersDonetsk, Ukraine, September 2, 2018
Holding Ukraine peace talks with Germany and France after the recent murder of a Donetsk rebel leader would be extremely inappropriate, considering neither has condemned the killing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"It would be plainly inappropriate to gather the Normandy format, especially since neither Berlin nor Paris condemned the political murder committed in Donetsk," Lavrov told Russia's Channel One on Monday.

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, was killed by an explosion at a café in the city of Donetsk on Friday. His bodyguard was also killed, and 11 other people were injured.

Russia is not leaving the Normandy format completely, Lavrov stressed. Still, he said that none of the EU members of the group have been able to press Kiev to stick to its Minsk deal obligations, which were supposed to bring about peace in Ukraine.

Comment:

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Vader

SOTT Focus: False-flag Bust: The Empire Cuts to The Chase to Defend Its Terrorists in Syria

Finian Cunningham
RT
Tue, 04 Sep 2018 19:39 UTC
al qaeda nusra syria
© Ammar Abdullah / ReutersMembers of al Qaeda's Nusra Front carry their weapons as they move towards their positions
Last week the US warned of military strikes on Syria "if" government forces use chemical weapons (CW). This week, Trump comes clean by dropping any mention of a CW pretext - simply warning Syria not to attack terrorists.

Trump tweeted his warning to Syria, as well as its allied Russian and Iranian forces, to not launch a military offensive to retake control of the northwest province of Idlib. The area is the last remaining stronghold of illegally armed militant groups in Syria. It's potentially the endgame to the nearly eight-year war.

On Monday, Trump said: "President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy."

Comment: Russia is skilfully using the US missteps in Syria to strengthen its influence in bringing stability to the Middle East. No doubt war-weary civilians will welcome Putin's moderating influence.

Finally, finally, we are getting to the point where F.UK.US powers simply state what everyone can see: that they are behind the terrorist scourge.

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Pirates

SOTT Focus: 'Aid-Delivering Syrian Rebels' is How The NYT Describes The Humanitarian Side of al-Qaeda Terrorists in Idlib


RT
Mon, 03 Sep 2018 18:49 UTC
Hayat Tair al-Sham Idib
© Omar Haj Kadour/AFPHayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) members at a camp in the countryside of the northern Idlib province on August 14, 2018.
A New York Times report warning of an impending bloodbath in Idlib downplays the fact that the Syrian province is controlled by Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists, portraying the "rebels" as humanitarian-minded administrators.

"Millions of civilians are dreading what comes next" in Idlib, the New York Times reports, after presumably consulting with most of the province's estimated three million inhabitants. In a true masterpiece of euphemism-infested journalism, the Times has turned the operation to liberate Idlib from a US-designated terrorist group on its head, bemoaning the uncertain fate of the "rebel fighters and their civilian supporters who rose up more than seven years ago demanding regime change."

Scroll about 20 paragraphs down and the Gray Lady notes with a dismissive air that Syria's deputy prime minister called these brave fighters "terrorists" (scare-quote credit: NYT) during an interview with Russian (yes, Russian!) television on Saturday.

Comment: Tea, cookies, terrorists, oh my! The NYT has become 'The Mother of Re-invention'.

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Pirates

As the battle for Idlib looms, a Russian task force cruises the Mediterranean - by chance or plan?

Elijah J. Magnier
American Herald Tribune
Mon, 03 Sep 2018 00:00 UTC
Frigate in Bosporus
© Yörük Işık/ TwitterThe frigate Admiral Grigorovich transits the Bosporus en route to Tartus.
Russia has amassed large naval and air forces in the Mediterranean opposite the Syrian coast under the command of the Russian Navy commander Admiral Vladimir Korolev. 25 warships and 30 aircraft are involved in these extensive maneuvers: Tu-160 bombers, Tu-142s, II38 anti-submarine, Su-33s and Su-30SMs, and other aircraft. The drill is announced to end one day after the Tehran Summit between presidents Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hassan Rouhani, to decide the fate and outcome of the battle of Idlib. This may indicate that Russia is about to provide huge firepower for the Syrian Army offensive in the north of Syria against jihadists, thus creating a shield for the dissuasion of a possible US tactical attack against Damascus.

Sources close to the leadership command in Syria said that there is no doubt that the battle of Idlib will take place, regardless of US threats. It will be divided into several steps. The first objective is to ensure the safety of the Russian Hameymeem military base on the Syrian coast that has been subject to several armed drone attacks, carried out by al-Nusra, aka Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the ex-al Qaeda in Syria, as claimed by Russia. This makes the rural Latakia area the first objective, followed by rural Idlib. Turkey has offered substantial information which has been added to Syrian intelligence and Russian information gathering. This has created a bank of objectives against HTS, Tanzim Hurras al-Deen (THD) and all the other jihadists and foreign fighters in the city and its rural area.

Comment: Except in opposition, the US is irrelevant to the final stages of the war in Syria. That it may through false means create a deadly diversion - a final hurrah - would be no more than a validation of immaturity and empirical intent at the expense of thousands of innocent lives.

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