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Jet5

Just as Syria got the chance for a peaceful future, strike on Damascus comes - Moscow


RT
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 10:33 UTC
French fighter jet
© Yiannis Kourtoglou / ReutersA French fighter jet prepares to land at RAF Akrotiri, a military base Britain maintains on Cyprus, April 14, 2018.
Damascus has come under attack by the US, France and the UK at a time when Syria is returning to peaceful life, after battling a terrorist aggression for years, Russia's Foreign Ministry said, as it condemned the attack.

"First, the Syrian people was subjected to Arab Spring, then Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL], now to 'smart' American missiles. A strike was carried out on the capital of a sovereign state, which for many years has been trying to survive under the threat of terror," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

She blamed "all those who claim moral leadership in this world, who declare their exceptionalism" for the attack, noting that "you should be really exceptional" to attack Syria at a time "when it was given a chance for a peaceful future."

Comment: See: BREAKING: Trump announces US, UK and France launched missile strikes against Syria - UPDATES

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Blackbox

What does Dubai stand to gain by destabilizing Somalia?

Andrew Korybko
Oriental Review
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 13:09 UTC
Somaliland agrees to UAE naval base
Somaliland agrees to UAE naval base.
Recent events suggest that the UAE is trying to destabilize Somalia and throw it back into a multisided security crisis in order to trap Qatar's Turkish ally in a quagmire and offset the Great Power rise of Egypt's Ethiopian rival.

Most Things Come In Threes

Somalia has been shaken by three interconnected developments over the past few weeks which show that the UAE is dedicated to destabilizing the country in order to cynically advance its grand strategic interests in the region at Mogadishu's expense. The Emirates controversially signed a deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland to build a naval base in the Gulf of Aden, shortly after which a political feud between the country's President and Parliamentary Speaker erupted into an armed standoff that was fortuitously resolved before any shooting started. At the beginning of this week, the Somalian authorities seized nearly $10 million in cash from a UAE plane that was supposedly going to be disseminated within the country for yet-undisclosed purposes, which coincided with the Parliamentary Speaker's resignation prior to a planned vote of confidence against him.
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Bullseye

Covering their tracks: Attack on Syria launched to upset OPCW probe in Ghouta, says Russian lawmaker


TASS
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 14:14 UTC
Douma, the suburb of Damascus recently recaptured from anti-government forces.
© ReutersDouma, the suburb of Damascus recently recaptured from anti-government forces.


The politicial is certain that the attack was launched "especially for upsetting an impartial investigation of the alleged chemical attack"

The US-led coalition dealt a strike on Syria with the aim to upset the investigation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Eastern Ghouta, the coordinator of the State Duma's group for relations with the Syrian parliament, Dmitry Sablin, told the media on Saturday. Sablin is currently in Damascus with a Russian delegation.

Comment: Indeed. From the perspective of the US, the UK and France, the evidence that Russia was beginning to realease to the public indicating that the 'chemical attack' was staged, plus the arrival of the OPCW mission, 'forced' them into obscuring the issue as much as possible - even if that meant rushing the attack. See:

How London and the White Helmets Staged the Douma "Chemical Attack"

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Attention

UK government's reputation at stake over Skripal case, says Russia's envoy to Britain


RT
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 10:29 UTC
Theresa May and Boris Johnson
© Reuters
The Skripal case has raised a lot of questions, which are posed not only by Moscow, but by the British people, the Russian ambassador to the UK told RT, and failure to answer them puts the UK government's reputation on the line.

"We have the strategic patience and what we're going to do is to just press the British government, because they have to give a reply not only to us but also to the British people," Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko told RT in an exclusive interview.

The UK government has started answering some of the questions, but the pace is still very slow and the major ones remain unanswered. The scandal erupted in early March, when former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found in critical condition in the town of Salisbury. Top UK officials pinned the blame on Moscow, but they are yet to release evidence to back up the accusations.

Comment: More from the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, from RT :
UK appears to be 'destroying' evidence in Skripal case - Russian envoy
Published time: 13 Apr, 2018 12:08
Edited time: 14 Apr, 2018 10:13

The UK appears to be pursuing a policy of "destroying evidence" in the case of the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal, the Russian envoy to the UK said during a press conference on Friday.

"We get the impression that the British government is deliberately pursuing the policy of destroying all possible evidence, classifying all remaining materials and making a transparent investigation impossible," Alexander Yakovenko said.

The accusation came from Yakovenko, as he was updating the media on the developments in the Salisbury poisoning case. He reiterated Russia's dismay over the British government's refusal to allow Russian diplomats access to Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was also poisoned, saying that from Moscow's point of view, the two Russian nationals appear to have been abducted by the British authorities.

The ambassador said London's approach to the high-profile case followed a pattern of crimes, in which the UK chose to classify details from the public and ignore Russia's request to disclose them.

The latest such case is the death of Russian businessman Nikolay Glushkov on March 12, after the apparent attack on the Skripals, Yakovenko said.

He confirmed Russia's receipt on Thursday of a classified report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which the organization sent after confirming Britain's identification of a toxic agent used in the poisoning. Yakovenko said Moscow is studying it carefully and will make its opinion public when ready. He stressed that Russia's criticism of the way the UK chose to engaged the OPCW in the case did not amount to doubting the merits of the report.

The Russian diplomat also commented on the situation in Syria and Britain's possible military action there. He advised the UK against taking rash steps in Syria based on a fabricated chemical weapons attack last Saturday, saying it would be similar to the misguided intervention in Iraq in 2003.

He briefed journalists on the latest development in Douma, a town in the suburbs of Damascus, where the alleged attack took place and where Russian military police has been deployed on Thursday. He suggested that the media compared the situation in Douma, which is relatively undamaged after its capture by the Syrian government forces, to that in the city of Raqqa, which was practically obliterated by the US-led coalition and its allies on the ground last year, when they took the city from the jihadist group of Islamic State.
The full news conference:



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Info

OPCW statement: Syria airstrikes will not deter chemical weapons inspectors


RT
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 12:56 UTC
Ruins in Douma, the Syrian city where OPCW inspectors are expected to visit
© ReutersRuins in Douma, the Syrian city where OPCW inspectors are expected to visit.
A fact-finding mission by the UN's chemical weapons watchdog will continue in Syria despite airstrikes carried out on the country hours earlier by the US, UK, and France.

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are in the country to investigate the circumstances surrounding reports of a gas attack in the Syrian city of Douma, where at least 70 people are reported to have died from chemical exposure. Syria and Russia called for an OPCW inquiry into the claims.

The agency, set up to ensure the destruction of chemical armaments, is due to assess the scene and take samples from alleged attack victims to determine the cause and potentially uncover the perpetrators.

Comment: Why bother with an investigation when the almighty U.S., UK and France have already acted as judge, jury and executioner? We live in a post-truth, and post-justice era. Guilt is determined by accusation.

OPCW Conclusions Could Have Nullified US Intentions and Actions - Lawmaker
If OPCW specialists reached Douma and confirmed information by Russian specialists that no chemical weapons attack has happened in Syria, this would have nullified all US actions and intentions, says Russia's State Duma Foreign Relations Committee deputy chairman Alexei Chepa.

He added that Trump's decision to conduct a strike in Syria was deeply mistaken and could lead to very heavy consequences.

Russian lawmaker Dmitry Sablin also says the strike on Syria aimed to disrupt the OPCW investigation.

"The conduction of the strike on the very same day when the OPCW mission had to start its work says that nobody is interested in the truth," Sablin told reporters. "Just like with the Iraqi WDM, this is only a pretext. This has been done intentionally to disrupt the investigation of the alleged chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta."


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Fire

After the fall of da Silva, expect chaos for Brazil, exactly what the US wants

James Stavridis
Bloomberg View
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 18:13 UTC
Rumsfeld and Da Silva
© Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty ImagesLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva, right, once seemed promising for Latin America.
Washington should capitalize on the receding "pink tide" as leftists depart.

When I first met Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, he seemed larger than life, despite his somewhat compact stature. Now, even in disgrace, the former Brazilian president remains a towering figure in Latin America's future, and a serous complication in American foreign policy south of the border.

That introduction to Lula came in 2005, when I was senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld. We spent over an hour with him in the capital, Brasilia. There were important topics on the table, ranging from Brazil's laudable role in leading the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti to stopping the flow of narcotics in the region.

Speaking without notes, Lula provided a tour de force vision of Latin America and the Caribbean as seen through the eyes of a leader at the height of his game. Rumsfeld, a hard man to impress, walked away with real respect for the left-leaning former union leader.

Comment: This writer seems to be in the dark about what's really going on in Brazil at the moment. Lula is in jail based on no material evidence, yet there is a mountain of physical evidence implicating illegal collaboration between Brazilian prosecutors and the US Department of Justice. The US DOJ has its hands all over the ousting of da Silva, aiming to prevent him from winning the election (which he would have).

See also:

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Attention

UN, EU, and NATO to hold urgent consultations on Syria after missile strikes


RT
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 12:49 UTC
A Syrian soldier waves Russian and Syrian flags during a protest against air strikes in Damascus,Syria April 14,2018
© Omar Sanadiki / ReutersA Syrian soldier waves Russian and Syrian flags during a protest against air strikes in Damascus,Syria April 14,2018.
International bodies are scrambling to meet in the wake of the US-led strike against Syria, which was conducted without a UN mandate, just hours before the OPCW was to begin its on-site inquiry into the Douma gas attack.

US President Donald Trump's decision to rain missiles down on Damascus in the early hours of Saturday, along with the UK and France, was not sanctioned by the United Nations, and bypassed an on-the-ground fact-finding mission into the alleged April 7 gas attack in Eastern Ghouta. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was scheduled to begin its on-site investigation on Saturday.

Numerous international bodies and governments are now convening to take stock of the situation.

Comment: For the latest on the missile strikes in Syria: {BREAKING} Trump announces US, UK and France launched missile strikes against Syria in BIGLY war theater - UPDATES

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Eye 1

US and France have 'proof' and 'very high confidence' of Douma event - But curiously the evidence is 'classified'

Frank Sellers
The Duran
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 03:54 UTC
us state dept
They "believe" that they are "confident" in their "proof" which must be "assessed"
The US is brazenly declaring that they have proof that the Syrian government, under the direction of Bashar al-Assad, conducted a chemical attack on the town of Douma, ten kilometers out of Damascaus, and that they have a "very high confidence" in their "evidence".

Moreover, Russia is "part of the problem" because of its "failure to stop them", and their "continued distraction on this front" exacerbates the issue, according to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Additionally, the State Department's spokesman Heather Nauert is issuing the declaration that "the Syrian government was behind the attack" at a press briefing. The Hill reports:


Comment: The gall of the propaganda masters in the west is jaw-dropping: How London and the White Helmets Staged the Douma "Chemical Attack"


Comment: Emotional biases and avoiding the pitfalls of America's Dunning-Kruger epidemic

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Eye 2

Genocidal IDF claims without evidence that downed Iranian drone was 'armed with explosives' intended for Israel


Sputnik
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 20:15 UTC
Downed Iranian UAV
© AP Photo / Jamejam Online, Chavosh Homavandi
The Israeli Defense Forces revealed the results of an investigation into what they claimed was an Iranian UAV shot down by the country's air force in February on Syrian territory.

The Israeli Defense Forces announced Friday that their probe into the Iranian drone that entered the country's airspace in February showed that it was allegedly carrying explosives and programmed to attack Israel.

The incident took place on February 10. According to the Israeli army, one of its Apache attack helicopters had intercepted the Iranian drone launched from Syria, ultimately triggering the Israeli Air Force (IAF) to strike alleged Iranian targets in Syria.


Comment: Israel will conjure up any reason for its relentless violence:


Comment: See Also:

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Jet2

Strike on Syria won't remain without consequences, warns Russian ambassador to US


RT
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 02:45 UTC
Strike on Syria
The Russian Ambassador to the US has warned of "consequences" after the US and its allies launched a coordinated military action against Syria.

Russia feels threatened by the US decision to strike Syrian targets in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack in Douma on April 7, which Moscow believes was staged.
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