Puppet MastersS


Star of David

SOTT Focus: Zionism is the Right's 'Identity Politics'

Corey Schink
Sott.net
Wed, 16 May 2018 18:57 UTC
Trump i Netanyahu
© KOBI GIDEON/GPO
In December of 2017 Donald Trump ditched the pretense of 'US neutrality' toward the Israel-Palestine conflict and flatly stated that "It is time to officially recognize Jerusalem [the much-hoped for capital of a Palestinian state] as the capital of Israel." Ever since, it's been difficult to view the conflict as anything other than two nuclear-armed powers beating the snot out of a weak, under-developed people - which, of course, is what it is.

Way back in the mists of time, in 1988, a Gallup poll showed that 47% of Conservatives and 42% Liberals took Israel's side in the conflict with the Palestinians. Today Republicans sit at 87% while Democrats sit around 49%. A few decades of embracing Israel's 'War on Terror' have convinced the political Right in the USA that 'Israel is on our side' against the Muslims, while the Left still seems to see the conflict through the lens of the mainstream, which is having a difficult time rationalizing the increasingly pronounced episodes of Israeli brutality.

In this divisive political climate, it's useful to remember that truth transcends any political agenda.
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Bad Guys

North Korea would do well to remember US track-record on nuclear disarmament


RT
Wed, 16 May 2018 16:56 UTC
Murad Gazdiev
Less than a year after Donald Trump's notorious "fire and fury" threat against North Korea, the US is now offering aid and investment if Pyongyang ditches its nukes. The progress seems remarkable... if you have a short memory.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says North Korea only has to give up its nuclear weapons program to become America's next best friend. Aid, investment and diplomacy will then elevate the reclusive country, bringing it on par with its Southern neighbor.

Such a stark switch from stick to carrot seems like the opportunity of a lifetime, one that Kim Jong-un had better grab at... but as evidenced by the Iran nuclear deal, the carrot can get yanked away at the last moment.

RT's Murad Gazdiev recounts history's bitter lessons.

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Binoculars

House Senate leaders say Comey misled them, suggested Flynn wouldn't be charged for making false statements

Cillian Zeal
Conservative Tribune
Mon, 14 May 2018 16:49 UTC
comey intelligence committee
© Joshua Roberts/ReutersFBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, January 10, 2017.
The presses have yet to cool from printing his book "A Higher Loyalty," and former FBI Director James Comey has found himself in more trouble with Congress.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Comey had told the House Intelligence Committee that agents hadn't noticed any physical signs of deception when they interviewed former national security adviser Michael Flynn about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Now, according to the Washington Examiner, a letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee has gone even farther, with Chairman Chuck Grassley saying to the Department of Justice and FBI that Comey had suggested Flynn wouldn't be charged for making false statements to investigators.

"Director Comey specifically told us during that briefing that the FBI agents who interviewed Lt. General Michael Flynn, 'saw nothing that led them to believe (he was) lying,'" Grassley, an Iowa Republican, wrote in the letter.

"Our own committee's staff's notes indicate that Mr. Comey said the 'agents saw no change in his demeanor or tone that would say he was being untruthful.'"

This was similar to what the House Intelligence Committee said in its report.
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Star of David

SOTT Focus: Making Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinians

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Tue, 15 May 2018 20:48 UTC
Palestinian mothers gaza dead baby
The body of 8-month-old Laila Anwar, who died of tear gas inhalation, was held by her mother at a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday
Satirical news site News Thump recently published an article where they 'quoted' Israeli PM Netanyahu on yesterday's massacre of 62 unarmed Palestinians by Israeli soldiers:
Netanyahu has defended his armed forces and their tactics, accusing Palestinians of working together to jump in front of any random sniper's bullets that happened to be in their vicinity.

Netanyahu told reporters,

"These people could have avoided the thousands of high-velocity bullets sent in their general direction if they had wanted to.

"But no, their primary goal was to make Israel look like a bully on the international stage, so they took every opportunity they could to throw themselves in front of bullets that would have otherwise fallen harmlessly into the ground.

"And those dead children were probably thrown in front of bullets by their parents."
The article has been liked 339,000 times on Facebook, and as far as I can tell, few if any realized that the article comes from a satirical site and that Netanyahu did not publicly say those words, or anything like them. But then that's not exactly surprising, because Netanyahu could easily have said those words, and there's little doubt he - and many other members of the Israeli political and military elite - thought them.
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Question

SOTT Focus: Reality Check: EU Replacing U.S. as Global Leader After Trump Leaves Iran Deal?

Ben Swann
Truth in Media
Wed, 16 May 2018 17:01 UTC
Iran deal
The president of the European Commission says the the EU needs to replace the U.S. as a global superpower because President Trump has announced that the U.S. will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Jean-Claude Juncker had strong words. But is he right?

"At this point, we have to replace the United States, which as an international actor has lost vigor, and because of it, in the long term, influence..."

Those are the words of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during an address to Belgium's Flemish Regional Parliament in Brussels. He says that the European Union should take over as global leader because the U.S. "no longer wants to cooperate" with the world, as it's abandoning the Iran nuclear deal.

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Info

Brussels summons Israeli envoy after she calls everyone killed in Gaza bloodshed 'terrorists'


RT
Wed, 16 May 2018 18:33 UTC
Gaza City
© Etienne De Malglaive / Getty ImagesMay 14, 2018 in Gaza City, Gaza
All the Palestinians, including children, killed in the violence at the Israeli-Gaza border were "terrorists," Israel's ambassador to Belgium said. She was called to the foreign ministry shortly after the statement.

Brussels slammed the Israeli envoy to Belgium, Simona Frankel, as she did not mince words in the aftermath of the widely-condemned violence in Gaza, where at least 60 people were killed and more than 2,700 protesters were injured by Israeli fire on Monday.

"I regret death of every human being, even 55 terrorists who tried to cross the border," Frankel said in an interview to Belgian broadcaster RTBF on Tuesday. When asked to clarify whether even 8 minors were terrorists, the Israeli diplomat stood by her words and replied that "they all are." The envoy added that Hamas is to blame for everything that happened at the border, as she said they manipulated the people who went out to protest.

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Chess

EU considering options to protect businesses in Iran and potential retaliatory actions in wake of US pullout from JCPOA


Sputnik
Wed, 16 May 2018 06:42 UTC
EU Iran flags
© AFP 2018 / EMMANUEL DUNAND
The EU is considering how to protect its companies in Iran as well as retaliatory measures in the wake of the US pullout from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), French National Assembly member Delphine O said in remarks at the Atlantic Council.

"There are a number of options that we are looking at and I think those options fall into two categories. First category would be how do we simply protect our interests? How do we allow our companies to continue to do business in Iran [and] to invest in Iran?" the lawmaker said on Tuesday. "How do we shield them from the secondary sanctions?"

The second category, she added, is how to retaliate against US actions that affect European companies and whether the EU should also put in place extraterritorial measures.

O stressed that the message that they would like to convey is that the EU would rather focus on the first category and not have to resort to the second.

Comment: There has been much bluster in the EU in response to the US withdrawal from JCPOA - whether any retaliatory measures will be taken against their US masters remains to be seen:

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MIB

Rand Paul asks 'Bloody Gina' if she knew about CIA surveillance of Trump

Burgess Everett and Eli Okun
Politico
Wed, 16 May 2018 15:56 UTC
Rand Paul
© Alex Wong/Getty ImagesSen. Rand Paul is the only Republican senator who opposes Gina Haspel right now. Enough Democrats have come out in support of her this week to seal her confirmation before the end of the month.
Rand Paul has one last question for CIA director nominee Gina Haspel: Was she at all involved with any surveillance of President Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign?

The Kentucky senator sent Haspel a letter on Tuesday laying out his suspicions. The missive amounts to a last-minute effort to derail Haspel before her expected confirmation by attempting to get the president's own CIA nominee to admit to being aware of the intelligence community monitoring the president.

"She's high enough up in the CIA. I think we should know what she knows about whether the Trump campaign was surveilled upon," Paul said on Fox News. "Before she's appointed, if she is indeed appointed, I would like to know what does she know about the surveillance of the Trump campaign and why was the CIA involved?"

Comment: More than a few people believe John Brennan to be at the heart of the effort to remove Trump from office.

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Star of David

Israeli hasbara repurposes old Nakba propaganda to justify its Gazan massacre

Jonathan Cook
CounterPunch
Tue, 15 May 2018 15:19 UTC
Gaza City protest tear gas
© Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesProtesters run away from tear gas dispersed by Israeli forces as they inch closer to the border fence separating Israel and Gaza on May 14, 2018, in a camp east of Gaza City, Gaza.
On Monday and Tuesday, Palestinians commemorate the anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, their mass expulsion and dispossession 70 years ago as the new state of Israel was built on the ruins of their homeland. As a result, most Palestinians were turned into refugees, denied by Israel the right to return to their homes.

Tens of thousands turned out on Monday in the occupied territories to protest against seven decades of Israel's refusal to make amends or end its oppressive rule.

The move on Monday of the US embassy to Jerusalem, a city under belligerent occupation, has only inflamed Palestinian grievances - and a sense that the West is still conspiring in their dispossession.

The focus of the protests is Gaza, where unarmed Palestinians have been massing every Friday since late March at the perimeter fence that encages two million of them. For their troubles, they have faced a hail of live ammunition, rubber bullets and clouds of tear gas. Dozens had been killed and many hundreds more maimed, including children.
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Boat

Putin: Russian Navy to maintain presence in Syrian waters to thwart terrorist comeback


RT
Wed, 16 May 2018 15:10 UTC
Russian navy
© Kemal Aslan / ReutersThe Russian Navy's guided-missile destroyer Smetlivy sails on its way to the Mediterranean, April 21, 2018
Russia will keep its warships - armed with Kalibr cruise missiles - in the Mediterranean to thwart the possible re-emergence of terrorist groups in Syria, President Vladimir Putin said, hailing the navy's operations overseas.

Russia's standing naval task force, which includes warships equipped with Kalibr-class cruise missiles, will remain off Syrian shores on permanent deployment "given the persistent threat of terrorist incursions" in the country, Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

Russia's naval presence in the Mediterranean has become a game-changer in combatting terrorism in Syria, Putin said, adding that "missile strikes as well as efficient action by our naval aircraft inflicted serious damage to terrorists."
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