Puppet MastersS


Light Saber

Hezbollah accomplishes mission in Syria, prepares to defend Lebanon against Israeli aggression

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Tue, 01 May 2018 19:34 UTC
Hezbollah involvement in Syria
Hezbollah has accomplished its mission in Syria and its presence on the battlefield is no longer necessary. Thus, in coordination with the Syrian government, Hezbollah has moved the majority of its forces into Lebanon, particularly as the Syrian army has recovered and regained its military strength and increased its combat capability. But with a US establishment that could encourage Israel (even after the failed adventure in 2006) to embark on another strike, the spectre of war looms over the country, and fear remains on the southern front in the Lebanon. What is the risk of this and the real possibilities of its happening?

According to well-informed sources in the Lebanese capital, the Lebanese Hezbollah has accomplished the task of stabilising the Syrian regime and preventing its fall and its replacement with Takfiri ruling groups or even a failed state. Despite the United States, some European states and other Middle Eastern countries (including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey) supporting tens of thousands of Takfiris to travel to Syria with the aim to control the Levant, Hezbollah, the Syrian army, Iran with its allies and with Russia were able to thwart this plan after years of long war and effective intervention against Jihadists.

Thus, Hezbollah withdrew most of its forces from Syria and took up positions in Lebanon where, incidentally, the geopolitical conditions do not bode well: the forecast is not good.
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MIB

Chris Blackburn on the contradictions surrounding Joseph Mifsud, his murky intelligence connections and the Trump dossier

Elizabeth Vos
Disobedient Media
Tue, 01 May 2018 16:51 UTC
Brexit Mifsud Dossier
© Link CampusJoseph Mifsud on the far right
After the publication of Disobedient Media's coverage of 'eclectic scholar' Joseph Mifsud's unexamined ties to UK intelligence officials, this author was contacted by Chris Blackburn, a UK Political Analyst focusing on International Relations and Security, whose Twitter post instigated this writer's research into the matter.

This writer's interest in Mifsud and in turn, the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, was heightened by a Twitter thread on the subject published by WikiLeaks Editor-In-Chief Julian Assange shortly before Ecuador cut off his connection to the outside world.

mifsud Clair Smith Dossier
© hris Balckburn/TwitterMifsud and Claire Smith train Italian military and law enforcement officials at LINK Campus in Rome.
Chris Blackburn's initial Tweets on the matter included of a photograph showing UK Joint Intelligence Committee member Claire Smith and Joseph Mifsud together at LINK Campus in Rome, where they collaborated on a training program involving Italian military officials. Disobedient Media was able to confirm the photograph's authenticity, finding that the program was organized by the London Academy of Diplomacy (LAD), which Mifsud directed. The event took place in 2012 - a significant date because, at that time, Claire Smith was a member of the UK intelligence security vetting panel.

As Blackburn informed us, there is more to this story than is told by that single photograph, or by the October 2017 photograph of Mifsud standing with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The following discussion took place electronically.

Comment:

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Star of David

Israeli parliament allows Netanyahu to declare war with only defense minister's approval


Sputnik
Tue, 01 May 2018 18:54 UTC
The Knesset
© AP Photo / Ariel SchalitThe opening session of the Knesset
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as well as the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee originally decided against the proposal, but it was later passed in the Knesset during a second and third reading, Haaretz newspaper reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been granted the authority to declare war with only defense minister Avigdor Lieberman's approval in extreme situations, according to Haaretz newspaper.

The Knesset approved the amendment 62 to 41, transferring the power to launch a war or significant military operations to the Prime Minister without specifying the makeup of the panel that makes the decision.

Comment: Senior U.S. officials said that Israel seems to be preparing for war against Iran as airstrikes against Iranian troops in Syria intensified.
"On the list of the potentials for most likely live hostility around the world, the battle between Israel and Iran in Syria is at the top of the list right now," said one senior U.S. official.

The same officials confirmed that Israeli F-15s jets struck an Iranian base in the Syrian province of Hama, killing and injuring scores of Iranian troops, including officers.


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Briefcase

Trump excoriates 'lying machine' Clapper for leaking dossier briefing to CNN then lying about it

Cristina Laila
The Gateway Pundit
Sat, 28 Apr 2018 16:36 UTC
Trump and Clapper
© Reuters
President Trump unleashed on former Intel Chief James Clapper Saturday morning after the House Intel Russia report revealed he leaked the dossier briefing to Jake Tapper then lied about it.

The much-anticipated House Intel Russia report was released Friday morning, officially clearing President Trump of any "collusion" during the election.

The House Intel report also revealed former DNI Chief, James Clapper leaked the dossier briefing to CNN's Jake Tapper.Clapper then lied about leaking over and over again, including under oath.

Fake News CNN then ran a story featuring James Clapper, denying Clapper leaked to CNN.

Comment: Lying seems to be as natural to Clapper as breathing.

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Arrow Down

Ecuador's solitary confinement of Julian Assange is no less than torture

Elizabeth Voss
Disobedient Media
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is torture. It is torture when it is used in prisons, against adults and teenagers like Kalief Browder. It was torture when it was imposed on Chelsea Manning, and it is torture that is now being applied to WikiLeaks Editor-In-Chief Julian Assange.

What exactly constitutes torture, and why does solitary confinement fall under its definition? The term is defined in the online Oxford English Dictionary thus: "1. The action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or in order to force them to do or say something. Eg: 'the torture of political prisoners,' or 'confessions extracted under torture.' 1.1. Great physical or mental suffering. 1.2. A cause of great physical or mental suffering."

Clearly, by this standard Julian Assange is experiencing torture in the form of great mental and physical suffering stemming from his long-term, indefinite confinement without medical care, now exacerbated by Ecuador's imposition of near-complete social isolation.

Assange was already facing the beginning of his sixth year spent in arbitrary confinement in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London before Ecuador's implementation of total isolation. The lengthy period of arbitrary confinement followed approximately two years under house arrest. Wikileaks recently likened Assange's current circumstances to solitary confinement on Twitter:


Comment: See also:

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Top Secret

Banana Republic: New York judge effectively 'legalizes' CIA control of media by condoning selective leaks of classified info

Tim Johnson
McClatchy DC Bureau
Mon, 30 Apr 2018 15:07 UTC
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) flag
© Yuri Gripas / ReutersThe Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) flag
The CIA can selectively divulge classified information to selected reporters in emails yet withhold that information from other journalists or members of the public when they seek the same information under the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge in New York has ruled.


Comment: In other words, the CIA can legally control/manipulate the media. Great. Thanks, 'judge'!


The decision appeared in the court record on Friday but became more widely disseminated Monday.

The ruling comes amid vigorous national debate over leaks to the media and the use of anonymous sources in covering national security news, including an ongoing FBI investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York ruled that the CIA does not have to release parts of five emails senior CIA officials sent to journalists from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and The Washington Post in 2012. At the time, the CIA was facing pressure over links it may have had to a Pakistani doctor who helped American forces hunt down Osama bin Laden.

Comment: The CIA might be "planting stories or manipulating reporters in a self-serving way" - ya think?

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Nuke

Sorry, Bibi: IAEA says 'no credible evidence' Iran was working on nuclear weapon after 2009


RFE/RL
Tue, 01 May 2018 15:31 UTC
pompeo netanyahu
© Thomas Coex / ReutersU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on April 29.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it has "no credible" evidence Iran was working on developing a nuclear "explosive device" after 2009 and that the UN's nuclear watchdog considered the issue "closed" after it was presented in a report in December 2015.

The 2015 report "stated that the agency had no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009. Based on the director-general's report, the board of governors declared that its consideration of this issue was closed," the IAEA said in a statement on May 1.

"In line with standard IAEA practice, the IAEA evaluates all safeguards-relevant information available to it. However, it is not the practice of the IAEA to publicly discuss issues related to any such information," it added.

The IAEA statement comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on April 30 that Israel had documents that showed new "proof" of an Iranian nuclear-weapons plan that could be activated at any time.

Comment: Netanyahu is a liar. And this latest stunt is just another in a long line of cartoonish displays from the laughable Israeli PM.

See also:

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Hourglass

Salacious Distraction: Los Angeles federal judge grants 90-day delay of Stormy Daniels lawsuit

Nathan Solis
Courthouse News Service
Fri, 27 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
Michael Cohen
© Hector Retamal / AFP/ Getty ImagesMichael Cohen, President Trump's personal lawyer, leaves a federal courthouse in New York on Thursday.
Citing the circumstances surrounding an attorney and a sitting president, a Los Angeles federal judge on Friday agreed to delay a lawsuit from adult film star Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had a brief affair with Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero granted a delay in the lawsuit filed by Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, due to the uncertainty surrounding a criminal investigation involving Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen.

FBI agents raided Cohen's New York office and residence on April 9, seeking records about a $130,000 payment to Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement stemming from her claim of the affair.

Cohen brokered the deal through a third-party limited liability company created for the agreement.

Comment: See also:

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Gold Seal

S. Korean President Moon: Trump can take a Nobel, as long as the Koreas each get one too


RT
Mon, 30 Apr 2018 15:24 UTC
Trump Kim Moon
US President Donald Trump "can take the Nobel prize" as long as the Koreas receive peace in return, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday, just months after Trump threatened North Korea with total destruction.

Last week, Moon and Kim attended a summit at Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone, during which the two men walked across the border between their two countries and agreed to work toward ending decades-long animosities.

Following that historic meeting and new pledges to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, Trump tweeted that Americans "should be very proud" of the progress being made. With that progress came calls for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize - and Trump seems happy to take the credit for the recent breakthrough.

But missing from much of the coverage are mentions of the years of diplomacy and huge efforts made by other leaders - not to mention the fact that only months ago, Trump the peacemaker was threatening North Korea with nuclear annihilation.

Comment: True, the events in Korea aren't solely the doing of Trump. But his approach arguably precipitated them. Without Trump's seemingly erratic brinkmanship, negotiations probably wouldn't have come when they did. Instead we would have had additional years of "cold war" - something the American establishment would have been just fine with. One thing they are NOT prepared for is peace. So if peace does actually break out in Korea, yeah, Trump should get at least some of the credit.

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Quenelle

Assad: Aggressors against Syria are just angry that Syria defeated their terrorist proxies


Sputnik
Mon, 30 Apr 2018 15:18 UTC
Assad con partidarios
© Sana / Reuters
The success of the Syrian government in its fight with terrorist and armed groups, some of which are supported by the Western states, makes Syria's opponents resort to direct aggression, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Monday.

"It is clear that the region is going through the stage of the world map's redrawing and the escalation of aggression against Syria and enemy nations' resort to direct aggression after the defeat of their cells and associates will only strengthen Syrians' desire to fully eradicate terrorism and its various forms," Assad said at the meeting with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of the foreign policy and national security committee at the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly.

The Syrian president has once again stressed the right of the Syrian people to defend the country's sovereignty and to decide on its future independently, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

Boroujerdi, in turn, stressed that the United States, its allies and proxies had been defeated in Syria, adding that the failure of the recent missile attack on Syria reaffirmed the strength and steadfastness of "the resistance axis" in the country. Boroujerdi highlighted that Iran would continue to provide assistance to Syria.

Comment: Assad is right - again.

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