Puppet MastersS


Propaganda

British propaganda and disinformation, a longtime imperial and colonial tradition

Wayne Madsen
Strategic Culture Foundation
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
MIGgunman
© Hang the Bankers
When it comes to creating bogus news stories and advancing false narratives, the British intelligence services have few peers. In fact, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6) has led the way for its American "cousins" and Britain's Commonwealth partners - from Canada and Australia to India and Malaysia - in the dark art of spreading falsehoods as truths. Recently, the world has witnessed such MI-6 subterfuge in news stories alleging that Russia carried out a novichok nerve agent attack against a Russian émigré and his daughter in Salisbury, England. This propaganda barrage was quickly followed by yet another - the latest in a series of similar fabrications - alleging the Syrian government attacked civilians in Douma, outside of Damascus, with chemical weapons.

It should come as no surprise that American news networks rely on British correspondents stationed in northern Syria and Beirut as their primary sources. MI-6 has historically relied on non-official cover (NOC) agents masquerading primarily as journalists, but also humanitarian aid workers, Church of England clerics, international bankers, and hotel managers, to carry out propaganda tasks. These NOCs are situated in positions where they can promulgate British government disinformation to unsuspecting actual journalists and diplomats.

Comment: The British PTB and subservient agencies are overlooked and undervalued as core perpetrators of fabricated news to manipulate Western context and shape future actions. Israel is another prime deceiver with its tentacles into all Western hierarchy.

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Rocket

Attack Syria: Thumbing noses at the constitution and the law

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
TrumpMayMacron
© tr.sputniknews.comPresidents Trump and Macron, Prime Minister May
It was a sad spectacle to see U.S. brass rubbishing the Constitution and trying to silence critics of the U.S. strike on Syria.

The U.S. Constitution and international law suffered a stinging blow last night at the hands of an odd coalition that might be called Goldilocks and two moral dwarfs posing as Marine generals, together with a "Right Dishonorable" harridan and a young French poodle.

As was the case 15 years ago when the U.S. and UK launched a war of aggression against Iraq, the pretext was so-called "weapons of mass destruction" (WMD) - this time the claimed use on April 7 of chlorine (and maybe the nerve agent sarin - who knows?) in Duma a suburb of Damascus. And this time French President Emmanuel Macron was allowed to join, as junior partner, the gang that can't lie straight.

The attacks by the Gang of Three came hours before specialists from the UN Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons were to arrive in Syria to study soil and other samples in Duma. The question leaps out: Why could the Gang not wait until the OPCW had a chance to find out whether there was such an attack and, if so, what chemical(s) were used?
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Snakes in Suits

Federal judge zeros in on Facebook with new ruling


Conservative Fighters
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
Zuckerberg
© Conservative FightersFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
If Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thought last week was bad, this one might be worse.

Before Zuckerberg's two days of grilling by D.C. lawmakers had even faded from the headlines, the company was back in the spotlight on Monday with a federal judge's ruling to allow a class action lawsuit against Facebook over a facial recognition feature.

And the damages could be in the billions.

According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled on Monday that a suit against Facebook could proceed under class action status for users in Illinois who sued the company in 2015 alleging Facebook was violating a state law by collecting "biometric information." That opens the way for individual users to sue as a group, substantially increasing the potential penalties the company might have to face.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Media cover-up: The policy of shielding Israel

Ramzy Baroud
MintPress News
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
FoxNewsScreen
© oaklandsocialist.com
The term 'media bias' does not do justice to the western corporate media's relationship with Israel and Palestine. The relationship is, indeed, far more profound than mere partiality. It is not ignorance, either. It is a calculated and long-term campaign, aimed at guarding Israel and demonizing Palestinians.

The current disgraceful coverage of Gaza's popular protests indicates that the media's position aims at suppressing the truth on Palestine, at any cost and by any means.

Political symbiosis, cultural affinity, Hollywood, the outreaching influence of pro-Israel and Zionist groups within the political and media circles, are some of the explanations many of us have offered as to why Israel is often viewed with sympathetic eyes and Palestinians and Arabs condemned.

But such explanations should hardly suffice. Nowadays, there are numerous media outlets that are trying to offset some of the imbalance, many of them emanating from the Middle East, but also other parts of the world. Palestinian and Arab journalists, intellectuals and cultural representatives are more present on a global stage than ever before and are more than capable of facing off, if not defeating, the pro-Israeli media discourse.

However, they are largely invisible to western media; it is the Israeli spokesperson who continues to occupy the center stage, speaking, shouting, theorizing and demonizing as he pleases. It is, then, not a matter of media ignorance, but policy.

Comment: We must not forget who owns US mainstream media and from just how high up the skewing of news originates.

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Biohazard

Watch how Assad ripped into Western chemical attack charges, same then as now

Ricky Twisdale
The Duran
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 13:32 UTC
Assad
© UnknownSyrian President Bashar al-Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not spoken to the western press since the alleged chemical attack in Douma and subsequent western bombing of his country.

However, the uncanny similarity of Douma with the incident in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017 makes it worth revisiting what he had to say one year ago, when asked if he ordered an inhuman attack on civilians.

Step-by-step, the trained physician (described by his former ophthalmology instructor as "a sensitive man who was incredibly polite and punctual") analyzed, diagnosed and dismantled the charges against him using pure logic and common sense.


Comment: It is hard to imagine Assad ever striking anyone as a barbarian, a tyrant or 'an animal.' And yet this is the personae promoted by the West to rally support for the Empire. The same sort of rhetoric is being applied to Putin. Why are we not surprised.

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Eye 2

Best of the Web: The White Helmets attempted to gain Roger Waters endorsement using Saudi cash

Max Blumenthal
The Grayzone Project
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 18:44 UTC
roger waters
Roger Waters on stage in Barcelona, April 13, 2018
During a Barcelona concert on April 13, Roger Waters denounced the Syrian White Helmets as "a fake organization that exists only to create propaganda for jihadists and terrorists." Warning that the groups' unverified claims about chemical weapons attacks across insurgent-held territory were aimed at triggering Western military intervention, Waters cautioned his audience,
"If we were to listen to the propaganda of the White Helmets and others, we would encourage our governments to start dropping bombs on people in Syria. This would be a mistake of monumental proportions for us as human beings."
In fact, Waters had first hand experience with the powerful pro-war PR operation behind the White Helmets. Back in October 2016, a public relations firm representing the White Helmets called The Syria Campaign attempted to recruit Waters by inviting him to a lavish dinner organized by a Saudi-British billionaire, Hani Farsi. The rock legend and renowned activist was told that by signing on to the organization's mission, he could help "elevate the voices of Syria's peaceful heroes"
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Quenelle

Russian ambassador: UN will see interview with Syrian boy lured into White Helmets' staged Douma attack video


TASS
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:46 UTC
Nebenzya
© EPA-EFE/JASON SZENESRussia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya
A TV report about an 11-year-old from Syria's Douma who was snared into taking part in the White Helmets' staged chemical attack video will be shown to the representatives of the UN Security Council members, Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, told the Rossiya-1 television channel in an interview on Thursday.

Earlier, the Rossiya-24 round-the-clock channel aired an interview with the boy who was ensnared into participating in the staged video of an alleged chemical attack in Syria's Douma. In the TV report, the 11-year-old explains how he appeared in the faked chemical attack video spread by the NGO known as The White Helmets. In the same TV story the boy's father says that "the militants gave the boy some dates and cookies to eat" and then let everybody go home. The man says his son had been well all the time and there were "no chemical weapons at all."

Comment: The Russian Ministry of Defense commented on April 12:



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Info

How petty: Turkey 'may face sanctions' for buying Russian S-400 missiles and not toeing US line says US diplomat


RT
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 19:06 UTC
S-400 battery
© Aleksey Malgavko / SputnikS-400 battery is being deployed in Russia on Jan 13, 2018
Ankara's decision to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia exposes Turkey to possible US sanctions and may bar it from getting F-35 jets, a State Department official said, adding that Turkey should "align with the West."

The warning came on Wednesday from Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell, who spoke to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on behalf of his department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

"Ankara should be mindful of the risks in making strategic concessions to Moscow in order to achieve its tactical objectives in Syria. Ankara claims to have agreed to purchase the Russian S-400 missile system, which could potentially lead to sanctions under section 231 of CAATSA and adversely impact Turkey's participation in the F-35 program," he said.

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

Russia tells OPCW that US publication of so-called 'Novichok' formula puts it in violation of Chemical Weapons Convention


RT
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 16:35 UTC
skripal poisoning
© Ben Stansall / Reuters
The formula of the nerve agent A-234 ('Novichok') allegedly used to poison former double agent Sergei Skripal, was published in the US in gross breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Russian mission to the OPCW said.

The name of Russian chemist Vil Mirzayanov, who was the first to publicly speak about the A-234 substance, has been recently circulated in the Western media following his claims of Russian complicity in the Salisbury case. He was among those scientists who left Russia and continued their work abroad.

"The publication of Mirzayanov's book ... facilitates the transfer of knowledge about chemical weapons, and this is indirect transfer of chemical weapons," the mission said speaking at the Executive Council Meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Wednesday.

Comment: Questions have even been raised as to whether 'novichok' was even involved.

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Jet1

US ally Iraq coordinates with US enemy Syria to launch strikes on ISIS


RT
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 16:02 UTC
fighter jet
© Jewel Samad / AFP
Iraqi air forces have launched strikes on Islamic State positions in Syria, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said. They were carried out in coordination with the Syrian government, the Iraqi military confirmed.

The airstrikes demonstrate the increased capacity of the Iraqi forces to "pursue and eliminate terrorism," the statement from Iraqi PM office added.

"Our heroic air force carried out, on Thursday, in Syria near the Iraqi border, deadly airstrikes against Daesh's [IS] terrorists gangs," the statement from the PM's Media Office on Twitter said.

Baghdad deployed F16 fighter aircraft to cross into Syria and conduct the strikes, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told Reuters.

Iraq supports the Syrian government in its crackdown against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists. When the US, the UK and France recently launched airstrikes on Syria in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack in the city of Douma, Baghdad criticized the move, calling it "extremely dangerous." The actions taken by the trio of world powers will only "give terrorism a new opportunity to expand" after it was defeated in Iraq and mostly overpowered in Syria, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in statement.

Comment: Iraq is doing the job the U.S. is supposed to be doing. For months, the U.S. "coalition" has been sitting back doing nothing about the ISIS presence on the Syrian border with Iraq. As long as they do nothing they can justify staying in Syria because of the continued ISIS presence. Thankfully Iraq is not their puppet and has security concerns of its own, and the willingness to do something about it in concert with the legitimate government of Syria.

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