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Quenelle

Germany and Italy won't take part if West attacks Syria


RT
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:43 UTC
An Eurofighter jets takes off from the German Luftwaffe airbase.
© Wolfgang Rattay / ReutersAn Eurofighter jets takes off from the German Luftwaffe airbase.
Berlin and its allies have "tremendous" unity on Syria, but Germany would not join strikes on the country over the alleged chemical incident in Douma, Angela Merkel said. Germany expects to be "consulted" before any attack.

"Germany will not take part in possible - there have not been any decisions yet, I want to stress that - military action," Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.

Berlin, however, supports "everything that is being done to show that the use of chemical weapons is not acceptable," she stated, adding that the West has demonstrated "tremendous" unity on Syria. Earlier on Thursday, Merkel talked by phone to French President Emmanuel Macron, expressing concerns over the eroding ability of the international community to ban chemical weapons.
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Vader

How to lose friends and influence people: Nigel Farage breaks with Trump over Syria military intervention plan


RT
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 18:42 UTC
trump farage
© Jonathan Bachman / Getty 340398
Nigel Farage has turned his back on US President Donald Trump, as the former UKIP chief cautioned Britain against intervening alongside the US in Syria.

In an unprecedented break with the Republican leader, Farage said he would not want the UK to join forces with the US against Syrian President Bashar Assad. Farage's statement follows a volley of tweets from Trump warning Russia he intended to launch "nice and new and 'smart'"missiles against Syria.

While Prime Minister Theresa May has joined French President Emmanuel Macron and Trump in saying those responsible for an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria, should be held to account, Farage warned military intervention could lead to chaos.

Referencing UK intervention in Libya and Iraq as examples of botched operations, Farage said on his LBC radio program: "We intervene, we get rid of these Arab nationalist dictators because we think it is the right thing to do, having never thought through what the long-term consequences are."
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Gear

Zakharova to West: Seriously consider consequences of attack on Syria


PressTV
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 20:24 UTC
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Russia says threats by the US and France to launch a military aggression against Syria violate the UN Charter, calling on the West to "seriously consider" the consequences of such intimidation.

"At the highest level, the presidents of the United States and France threatened a tough reaction, with the use of force against Syria. I would like to note that the threat of using force against a UN member state is a gross violation of the charter of this organization," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"We call upon... members of the international community to seriously consider the possible consequences of such accusations, threats and especially action (against Syria)," she added.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Syria in response to an alleged gas attack in the Arab country. France has also said it would join the military action.

Comment: Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in a series of Syria-related phone talks that Rome will not take part in military action against Bashar Assad's government, the Agenzia Nova news agency reported Thursday citing sources in Gentiloni's office.
According to Agenzia Nova, Gentiloni stressed, though, that Italy will continue to provide logistics support to allies in line with international and bilateral agreements.

In the wake of US President Donald Trump's threats to attack Syria in retaliation to an alleged chemical attack which he quickly blamed on the Syrian government, European countries unveil their stance on the possible bombing of Syria.
See also: Touche: 'Let's start by destroying US chemical weapons' - Maria Zakharova responds to Trump's plea to 'end arms race'

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Handcuffs

Smart move: Vietnam imprisons US-funded operatives engaged in sedition

Joseph Thomas
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
Nguyen Van Dai and John McCain
Nguyen Van Dai, recently sentenced to 15 years in prison, is pictured with US Senator and chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI) John McCain in the US Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam. The IRI provides money to foreign agents of US influence and is a subsidiary of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Vietnam has tried and imprisoned several members of a US-funded network engaged in sedition across the country. The move follows trials and prison terms handed out earlier this year for other US-funded operatives meddling in Vietnam's internal political affairs.

The prison terms for agents of US-funded political meddling in Vietnam come as the US and its European allies continue pushing accusations of Russian meddling. However, unlike the US and Europe's accusations against Russia, agents of US-funded sedition in Vietnam are exposed by extensive evidence, much of which comes from the US government itself.

The BBC in its April 6, 2018 article, "Nguyen Van Dai: Vietnam jails activist lawyer and five others," would claim:
Six prominent Vietnamese activists have received heavy prison sentences on charges of "attempting to overthrow" the country's communist government.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was sentenced to 15 years, while the other defendants were jailed for between seven and 12 years, relatives said on Thursday

Comment: More background on US meddling in Vietnam: Washington's quiet proxy war against Vietnam

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Vader

'Within hours': May 'orders British submarines into position' as UK considers strike against Syria


RT
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 19:14 UTC
A submarine
© Mike Vallance/Bae Systems / Global Look Press
The UK has ordered submarines into striking range, ready to attack Syria's Bashar al Assad as early as Thursday night, reported the Telegraph.

Tensions continue to escalate following the alleged chemical attack in Douma.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has called her cabinet back from Easter break early for an emergency meeting on Thursday afternoon. May will discuss how the UK should respond to last Saturday's alleged chemical attack on Douma, Eastern Ghouta.

Comment: As the United States and some of its allies threaten military action against Syria in the wake of an alleged chemical weapons attack, two aircraft, which reportedly took part in previous US-led invasions, have arrived in the Mediterranean region.
Two surveillance planes of the US Air Force have recently arrived at the Iraklion Air Station on the island of Crete, Skai TV reports.

According to the media outlet, the two aircraft in question - the MC-12S EMARSS and MC-12W Liberty - were previously employed by the US during its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.


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Bad Guys

Zuckerberg stumbles trying to name a single Facebook competitor

John Carney
Breitbart
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:57 UTC
Zuckerberg
© AP/Andrew Harnik
A little more than an hour into his testimony before a rare joint panel of the Senate's Commerce and Judiciary committees, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg was hit with a question for which he did not have a ready answer.

The question was not very complex. It didn't require a lot of details about the inner workings of the company. In fact, it was probably one of the most basic questions facing Facebook and other digital giants.

"Who is your biggest competitor?" Senator Lindsay Graham asked.

"Senator we have a lot of competitors," Zuckerberg said.
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Bandaid

Trump realizes blunder and back-pedals on tweet threats to Russia

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 16:07 UTC
trump twitter phone
© NurPhoto / Getty Images
It has been an utterly fascinating day for followers of Donald Trump's tweets.

The day began with Trump responding in his usual overblown way to a needlessly provocative comment from the Russian ambassador to Lebanon, who is reported to have said that the Russians would shoot down all and every missile the US launched against Syria.

This statement - by a relatively junior ambassador in Russia's diplomatic hierarchy - goes far beyond what other far more senior Russian officials - notably Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia - have been saying, and is almost certainly untrue.

I have discussed how Russia would respond to a US strike on Syria on numerous occasions.

Briefly, so long as any US strike does not endanger Russian personnel in Syria, or threaten the existence of the Syrian government, or interfere in Syrian army operations against the major concentrations of Jihadi fighters, the Russians will not act to prevent it, though as they showed following the US strike on Syria's Al-Shayrat air base last year, that does not mean that they will not respond to it at all.

Comment: In short, Trump overreacted and then tried to smooth things out when he realized what he had just done. But even if we can relax now that we know that no one is planning World War III, Trump's blunder means he is forced to bomb Syria, even if just symbolically - but not too much so as not to upset the Russians.

Trump also wants to shake off the notion that he made a strategic error by telegraphing his intentions to the enemy, so today he tweeted this:

Never mind that it was not America, but Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian Army who got rid of ISIS.

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Propaganda

Nerve agent or food poisoning? UK doctor says Skripal awakening 'is a miracle'

Frank Sellers
The Duran
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 00:00 UTC
Benny Hinn miracles?
Sergei Skripal and his daughter are recovering and "improving rapidly" after their exposure to the deadly chemical nerve agent Novichok, in what appears to be "a miracle". Since Yulia's improvement, whence she regained consciousness around two weeks ago, reports say she has since been discharged from the hospital.

The statement that the UK police released about the poisoning alleges that the nerve agent was applied to the front door of Sergei Skripal's front door, which is supposedly how the Skripals were poisoned. From their home, the Skripals drove their car down to the Sainsbury car park, from where they walked to grab a few pints at The Mill Pub just before they went for a bite at Zizzi's restaurant, before walking to the park bench where they were found unresponsive, and where emergency services were called to. According to the time frame that is provided, this entire train of events went down over a course of roughly three hours.

Comment: See also:

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Propaganda

UK govt's OPCW response is 'propaganda drive against Russia' - political expert to RT


RT
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:51 UTC
Yulia Skripal
© ReutersYulia Skripal, daughter of former Russian Spy Sergei Skripal.
Politics expert Piers Robinson says the OPCW may not have been tasked to find out the origin of the nerve agent used to poison the Skripals, and that the UK reaction to the findings was part of a propaganda drive against Russia.

"[It's] a political game being played by the British government to try to exploit the events and whatever happened in Salisbury in order to continue the propaganda drive against Russia," Robinson told RT.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) published a summary of its analysis on Thursday, in which it confirmed the British findings on the nerve agent used in last month's poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia, and a police officer who assisted them in Salisbury. The report did not assign blame for the incident or even identify the source of the agent.
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Biohazard

UK releases dubious Yulia Skripal statement, OPCW releases report - confirms British analysis of 'toxic chemical', doesn't confirm Russia responsible


Moon of Alabama
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:37 UTC
Sergei and Yulia Skripal
Victims: Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33
There are a few notable developments in the Skripal case about the poisoning of a former British secret agent from Russia and his daughter in Salisbury.

(If you are new to the issue please refer to our older pieces listed below. You may want to start with The Best Explanation For The Skripal Drama Is Still ... Food Poisoning.)

On Sunday Yulia Skripal was secretly released from the Salisbury District Hospital but immediately taken into British government custody. She is under guard at an unknown location. Yesterday the Metropolitan Police released a Statement issued on behalf of Yulia Skripal:
"I have specially trained officers available to me, who are helping to take care of me and to explain the investigative processes that are being undertaken. I have access to friends and family, and I have been made aware of my specific contacts at the Russian Embassy who have kindly offered me their assistance in any way they can. At the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services, but, if I change my mind I know how to contact them.
"Most importantly, I am safe and feeling better as time goes by, but I am not yet strong enough to give a full interview to the media, as I one day hope to do. Until that time, I want to stress that no one speaks for me, or for my father, but ourselves. I thank my cousin Viktoria for her concern for us, but ask that she does not visit me or try to contact me for the time being. Her opinions and assertions are not mine and they are not my father's.

"For the moment I do not wish to speak to the press or the media, and ask for their understanding and patience whilst I try to come to terms with my current situation."
While written in quotes it is doubtful that Yulia Skripal expressed any of these words. "At the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services" is British bureaucratese, not the wording any Russian (or anyone else) with English as a second language would ever use.

Comment: Despite the relative lack of anything in the OPCW report, Boris Johnson immediately claimed it left "no doubt" that Russia was responsible. Britain is requesting a UN security council meeting on the report.

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