Puppet MastersS


Network

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor seeks inclusion of Afghanistan trade

camels silk road
© Fan Peishen / Global Look Press
China and Pakistan are looking to include Afghanistan in their $57 billion economic corridor, as part of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as quoted by Reuters.

The economic corridor is expected to benefit the whole region and act as an impulse for further development, according to the minister. Under the broader Belt and Road project Beijing is planning to build a new "Silk Road" connecting China to Southeast and Central Asia by land and the Middle East and Europe by sea.

"So China and Pakistan are willing to look at with Afghanistan, on the basis of win-win, mutually beneficial principles, using an appropriate means to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan," the agency quotes Wang as saying.

Comment: China massive Belt and Road initiative is not just about building trade. Underlying their model is a powerful tool to rebuild relationships and counter the vulnerabilities that open the doors for chaos. The Western world has destroyed and co-opted many of Eurasia's historic centers of trade. Instead of spreading wealth and productivity, these areas have been mutilated and converted to spread conflict. Both China and Russia are attempting to do the real work of rebuilding societies through mutually beneficial networks and exchange. The days of the West's all encompassing corrupting influence are very likely numbered.


Radar

Russian hysteria on Christmas Day: Royal Navy shadows newest Russian missile frigate in North Sea

Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans escorting Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov
© Royal NavyImages from an infrared camera show Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans escorting Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov
The Royal Navy's HMS 'St Albans' shadowed the cutting-edge Russian missile frigate 'Admiral Gorshkov' as she passed near British waters in the North Sea on Christmas Day.

'Admiral Gorshkov', Russia's newest guided-missile frigate, has been traversing the North Sea off the UK coast, prompting the Royal Navy to dispatch HMS 'St Albans' to "keep watch on the new Russian warship 'Admiral Gorshkov' as it passed close to UK territorial waters."

According to the Royal Navy's photos, apparently shot from the air, the vessels were sailing fairly close to each other. HMS 'St Albans', a Type 23 destroyer, scrambled a helicopter to monitor the Russian frigate.

Admiral Gorshkov', which is undergoing open sea trials, has been routinely sailing between the White Sea off Russia's northern coast and the Baltic. However, this time prompted the British military to respond with a message which may seem a little bit over the top.

USA

Season's greetings from US Empire means tidings of Phoenix-style torture and assassinations in Afghanistan

pence
© Reuters
This week saw another deadly bomb attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, only days after US Vice President Mike Pence promised American troops "victory was in sight."

This war is far from over, and signs are it will get much worse in the year ahead.

Lurking behind the cheery seasonal tidings brought by Pence lies a forthcoming year of much-increased violence in Afghanistan. Away from the upbeat headlines are portents of ever-deeper involvement by US elite forces in the country's unrelenting mayhem.

In particular, the US military is moving toward a new strategy under President Trump of unleashing killer units in an apparent bid to drown the Afghan insurgency in blood. It's a policy America has tried elsewhere, for example, the infamous Phoenix program of assassination during the Vietnam War. The policy usually fails in its stated objectives of "peace and security."

The "surprise" nature of Pence's whirlwind visit just before the weekend shows the Central Asian country's security is on a knife-edge. The unannounced trip by the vice president - his first to Afghanistan - was reportedly "shrouded in secrecy" for security reasons.

Flashlight

Pentagon reveals US military 'lost' $9.7M worth of assets in Afghanistan due to army's negligence

US troops in Afghanistan
© Omar Sobhani / ReutersUS troops in Afghanistan July 7, 2017.
The US have, since 2012, 'lost' some $9,7 million in assets in Afghanistan because of the army's negligence, Pentagon's watchdog has revealed, adding that enemy troops might even have used the resources against US troops.

The 'Army Oversight of Logistics. Civil Augmentation Program Government-Furnished Property in Afghanistan' report was released by the Inspector General of the US Department of Defense earlier in December. It analyzed the US army-administered Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) which enlists contractors to provide housing, transportation and facilities maintenance for US forces. The program is tasked with maintaining Government-furnished property (GFP) in Afghanistan, servicing heating and air conditioning units, forklifts and power generators.

The key finding of the study highlighted the US army's negligence in managing US assets and that it didn't conduct "effective oversight" of it's inventory. "LOGCAP contractors themselves reported more than $9.7 million in GFP losses since 2012," the report says. And as US army officials did not maintain accurate records of all the property, they cannot be certain that "all contractor GFP losses have been identified, investigated, and reported."

Comment: The amount of waste and corruption in the US military shows why it spends 8 times more than the Russians do and yet is much less effective:


Gift

Leaders of Ukraine and Donbass agree to holiday prisoner swap

Zakharchenko
The Donetsk People's Republics leader Alexander Zakharchenko said on Monday that a prisoner swap has been agreed by Ukraine and the DPR and Lugansk People's Republics (LPR) to occur December 27.

"Today a crucial event has taken place, the last conditions have been agreed and on December 27 the exchange by the 306 to 74 formula will be held," Zakharchenko said.

The LPR leader also said the republic was "ready to exchange prisoners on the conditions and in line with the agreements reached at today's meeting."

"We confirm our readiness to hold peace talks and resolve the conflict in Donbass by peaceful means," Pasechnik said.

"Today at the Svyato-Danilov Monastery the process has been completed on agreeing on all details concerning the exchange of prisoners between the Donetsk and Lugansk People's republics and Ukraine," the Patriarch confirmed.

Comment: RFE/RL adds a couple more details:
"The exchange will happen without any hindrance from the DPR or LPR [separatist-controlled areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions]," he said, adding that the prisoner swap was in its "first stage."

If the exchange is carried out, it will the first one in 14 months.
...
At a meeting in Minsk on December 20, representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the separatists, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that they had agreed on a holiday cease-fire starting at midnight on December 23.

The cease-fire was agreed "in connection with the forthcoming Christmas and New Year festivities" and existing agreements and obligations, said an OSCE statement.

However, on December 25, both sides in the conflict made claims accusing each other of violating the cease-fire agreement.



Jet2

Syrian military jet shot down by militants, pilot killed

Fighter jet
A Syrian military jet has been shot down by militants in the northern Hama province, the Syrian state broadcaster has confirmed, adding that a pilot was killed in the attack.

"The military aircraft crashed in the vicinity of Hama after it was shot down by terrorists; the pilot was killed," the Syrian state-run SANA news agency quoted a source as saying.

Folder

Erasing troublesome history: Massive trove of government files describing dark periods in Britain's past disappear from National Archives

British National archives
© Olivia Harris / Reuters
A massive trove of government papers detailing some dark episodes of British history, including the Falklands War and the notorious Northern Irish Troubles, have vanished from the National Archives.

Almost 1,000 files, each thought to contain dozens of British government papers, have disappeared from the National Archives in London after civil servants removed them from the institution, a Guardian investigation has revealed.

By odd coincidence, the disappearance affects some of the most controversial parts of 20th-century British history, namely papers concerning the Falklands War, Northern Ireland's Troubles and British colonial rule in Palestine.

Comment: Much easier to re-write history to support a narrative more suitable to the ruling elite's current purposes if there is no contradicting evidence..


Star of David

Israeli MP berates Palestinian mother on bus visiting son in prison - "Your son is a dog, an insect, a terrorist" (VIDEO)

Oren Hazan
© Oren Hazan‎ / Facebook
A member of the Israeli parliament mounted a bus from the Gaza Strip and lashed out at a Palestinian woman heading to visit her son jailed in Israel, yelling that the prisoner was a "dog," an "insect" and a "terrorist."

"Your son is a dog. He is a dog. You come to visit the scum who are sitting here in prison, whom you see as your family members," the Israeli lawmaker, Oren Hazan, said in a video published on Facebook.

"I am a member of the Knesset [Israeli parliament]," he said, adding that "I will make sure that you are not allowed to visit here anymore" because "your friends in Gaza are holding our brothers." Hazan then threatened the Palestinian woman by shouting "if you don't pass on the message that we want our children back, you won't see your son or your husband."

Dollar

U.S. cuts $285mln UN budget, U.S. will no longer "be taken advantage of"

nikki haley
Cutting the "bloated" UN budget by $285 million next year is a "big step in right direction," according to US envoy Nikki Haley. The news comes after reports from the UN that some critical aid programs were underfunded this year.

The US Mission to the United Nations announced on Sunday that it had secured a major curb in the global organization's budget for 2018 and 2019. Commenting on the announcement, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the cut would end benefits the international community has gained from "American generosity."

Washington "reduced the UN's bloated management and support functions, bolstered support for key US priorities throughout the world, and instilled more discipline and accountability throughout the UN system," reads a statement from the US mission.

According to Haley, "the inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known." Washington will no longer "let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked."

"This historic reduction in spending - in addition to many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable UN - is a big step in the right direction," the ambassador asserted.

Comment: With any luck, less U.S. funding will translate into even less U.S. influence. The UN hasn't lived up to its mission for the majority of its existence. It's time for a change, just not necessarily in the direction that former waffle house waitress would like.


Attention

Putin: US law regulating 'foreign agent' media much stricter than corresponding Russian legislation which does not infringe on citizen's rights

Putin meeting State Duma
© Sergey Guneev / SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the senior members of the Council of Federation and the State Duma on December 25, 2017.
US law relating to media outlets designated as 'foreign agents' are much stricter than the measures outlined by corresponding Russian legislation, President Vladimir Putin has said. But the law needs 'improvements,' he added.

In the US, where certain Russian media outlets were declared "foreign agents," these edicts applied to these so-called foreign agents are "much stricter than those that are proposed by our law," Putin said at a meeting with lawmakers. He pointed out that Russia's regulations on foreign agents in no way infringe on the freedoms enjoyed by citizens, but is instead aimed at preventing any external interference in the country's internal affairs.

"We do not limit the freedoms of our citizens and it has never been our goal," Putin said. But, he added, the law still needs "improvements to ensure that it indeed serves its purpose - to eliminate any interference into our [Russian] internal political life either directly from abroad or through some figureheads."

Comment: Unbridled hypocrisy: US State Dept condemns* designation of media as foreign agents (*only applies to Russia)