Puppet MastersS


Nuke

Mattis 'can't imagine' Washington accepting a nuclear Pyongyang


RT
Sat, 28 Oct 2017 11:13 UTC
Hwasong-14
© KCNA/AFPHwasong-14
The US secretary of defense says he "cannot imagine" the US ever accepting North Korea as a nuclear state, and claimed that possessing nuclear arms makes Pyongyang vulnerable rather than more secure. The Pentagon head spoke after a week-long trip to America's allies in Asia, culminating in a visit to the DMZ, or demilitarized zone, the tense border between South and North Korea.

After meeting his counterpart, Song Young-moo, Mattis said Washington would not back down in its pressure on North Korea over its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. "I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power," he said in Seoul on Saturday.

Mattis stressed that the military pursuit of North Korea, which Pyongyang says is needed to protect the nation from a possible attack by the US and its allies, would actually undermine its security and threatened a "massive military response" to the use of nuclear weapons by North Korea. "Make no mistake - any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated. And any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming," Mattis said.

Meanwhile, the US Congressional Research Service has prepared an assessment of possible consequences of renewed hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, Bloomberg reported. It estimated that even without nuclear strikes, it could kill hundreds of thousands of people in a few days and affect up to 25 million living on both sides of the border, including 100,000 American citizens.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Conway to CNN: Can't get CNN to cover Russia now that the shoe is on other foot

Charles Russell
The Washington Free Beacon
Fri, 27 Oct 2017 12:16 UTC
Clintonuraniumputin
© artvoice.comWhere was CNN?
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Friday rebuked the media for not covering a controversial deal that gave Russia control of more than 20 percent of America's uranium supply when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, arguing the press was "obsessed" with Moscow when the main story concerned potential Russian ties to President Donald Trump.

Conway sparred with CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota about U.S. relations with Russia, focusing on the sale of a Canadian uranium mining company, Uranium One, to Russia's Atomic Energy Agency, Rosatom, that was approved by the Obama administration in 2010.

The White House counselor first said that she wanted to talk about the current opioid epidemic in the United States, which Trump declared a public health crisis on Thursday, before addressing the Uranium One deal.

"Well, first of all, the president is not worried about Uranium One. The people who should be worries about Uranium One are the people who benefited from it," Conway said. "His spouse didn't go make a half-a-million-dollar speech in Russia while he was secretary of state, then turn around and be part of the decision-making process for them to get 20 percent of our rights. He wasn't secretary of state or president at the time when Russian folks were trying to infiltrate the State Department and get an advantage for this particular deal."


Comment: If MSM were truly reporting the news, there would be equal and just coverage no matter the story subject or implications.

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Bad Guys

Not just Niger: All across West Africa, U.S. military ops are a recruiting tool for terrorists

Nick Turse
The Intercept
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 18:26 UTC
niger soldiers
© Spc. Zayid Ballesteros/U.S. Africa CommandA U.S. Army Special Forces weapons sergeant speaks to a group of Nigerien soldiers during Exercise Flintlock 2017 in Diffa, Niger, on March 11, 2017.
The mission never made the front page of the New York Times or the Washington Post. It wasn't covered on CNN or Fox News. Neither the White House chief of staff, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, nor the president ever addressed it in a press briefing. But from mid-January to late March 2013, Green Berets from the 10th Special Forces Group deployed to the impoverished West African nation of Niger. Working alongside local forces, they trained in desert mobility, the use of heavy weapons, and methods of deliberate attack.

On May 15 of that year, another contingent of Special Forces soldiers arrived in Niger. For nearly two months, they also trained with local troops, focusing on similar combat skills with an emphasis on missions in remote areas. From the beginning of August until mid-September, yet another group of Green Berets traveled to the hot, arid country for training, concentrating on desert operations, heavy weapons employment, intelligence analysis, and other martial matters, according to Pentagon documents obtained by The Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act.

One constant of all of these counterterrorism missions, which were carried out by small teams of elite U.S. troops operating alongside Nigerien forces, was a concentration on reconnaissance. Until recently, such missions were conducted without notice or media scrutiny. Americans were involved in firefights, but the operations were kept quiet. When special operators died in Africa, it was due to an accident or after a night of partying. Americans were rarely killed in combat.
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Snakes in Suits

Mainstream media and the Magnitsky myth: ​U.S. reporting project sheds unfavourable light on UK citizen financier and campaigner Bill Browder

Roger Annis
New Cold War
Fri, 27 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Bill Browder
‘Checkered champion’ report published on 100 Reporters, Oct 20, 2017
One week ago, the 100 Reporters web news project in the U.S. published a report on the UK citizen and resident financier Bill Browder, he of anti-Russia, 'Magnitsky Act' fame in the U.S. and Canada. Reporter Lucy Komisar's report dated October 20 is titled 'Checkered champion: Bill Browder, anti-corruption crusader, got $70 million from tax evasion and fraud in Russia'. It frontally challenges the official story that Browder has been delivering to Western governments and media as part of his crusading effort to have Western governments boost economic sanctions against Russia.

Komisar writes, "an examination of Browder's record in Russia and his testimony in court cases reveals contradictions with his statements to the public and Congress, and raises questions about his motives in attacking corruption in the Kremlin."

Comment: For further background on Browder read Film exposing conspiracy of financiers and mainstream media to frame Russia for their own evils banned in West
The Power of Myth

Nekrasov suggests that the power of Browder's convoluted story rested, in part, on a Hollywood perception of Moscow as a place where evil Russians lurk around every corner and any allegation against "corrupt" officials is believed. The Magnitsky tale "was like a film script about Russia written for the Western audience," Nekrasov says.

But the Browder's narrative also served a strong geopolitical interest to demonize Russia at the dawn of the New Cold War.


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Rocket

Mutual Assured Destruction: Missile defense might be a lie

Philip Giraldi
The Unz Review
Tue, 24 Oct 2017 17:53 UTC
missile defense shield graphic
Sometimes it is possible to read or view something that completely changes the way one looks at things. I had that experience last week when I read an article at Lobelog entitled "A Plea for Common Sense on Missile Defense," written by Joe Cirincione, a former staffer on the House Armed Services Committee who now heads the Ploughshares Fund, which is a Washington DC based global foundation that seeks to stop the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

The article debunks much of the narrative being put out by the White House and Pentagon regarding missile defense. To be sure, it is perfectly reasonable to mistrust anything that comes out of the federal government justifying war given its track record going back to the War of 1812. And the belligerent posture of the United States towards Iran and North Korea can well be condemned based on its own merits, threatening war where there are either no real interests at stake or where a diplomatic solution has for various reasons been eschewed.

But the real reason why the White House gets away with saber rattling is historical, that the continental United States has not experienced the consequences of war since Pancho Villa invaded in 1916. This is a reality that administration after administration has exploited to do what they want when dealing with foreign nations: whatever happens "over there" will stay "over there."
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Beer

Kiev blames booze and negligence as military suffers 'terrifying' number of non-combat casualties


RT
Sat, 28 Oct 2017 17:47 UTC
Ukraine soldier
© Thomas Peter / Reuters
Ukraine's chief military prosecutor said the armed forces and those who "defended the nation" with weapons sustained 10,103 non-battle casualties since 2014. The defense minister blamed alcohol abuse and failure to observe safety rules in some cases.

The astounding number was revealed on Saturday by Anatoly Matios. "Between 2014 and today we have lost 10,103 troops among the armed forces and everyone who had been given arms to defend the nation due to deaths and injuries. Not on the battlefield," the chief military prosecutor told ZIK TV.

Over two thousand service members died while not in action, Matios said. He added that "3,700 [perished] while not in combat in the area of the anti-terrorist operation [a term used in Ukraine to describe the military crackdown against eastern breakaway regions]."

"A total of two fully manned brigades" have been lost because troopers committed crimes against fellow soldiers or failed to follow military regulations, the official noted. He called the figures "terrifying" and that "no one" is actually mentioning them. To make matters worse, hundreds of thousands of people who served in the so-called "anti-terrorism operation" are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Matios.
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Info

Real journalism: Sputnik interviews US coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon about US-Russia coordination in Syria


Sputnik
Sat, 28 Oct 2017 18:52 UTC
US soldier
© REUTERS/ Azad LashkariA US soldier looks at weapons and ammunition belonging to Daesh terrorists in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq, December 14, 2016
Since the Daesh terror group has been driven back in Syria into a small pocket of territory in the middle Euphrates River Valley between the cities of Deir ez-Zor and Abu Kamal, the communication between the US and Russian forces in Syria got a new level of intensity.

According to the spokesman, both sides maintain two lines of communication to coordinate operations in the air and on the ground, as well as a third direct channel for senior level officers.

"As the pro-regime forces and our partner force the Syrian Democratic Forces started to move closer to one another, there's no question that the level of deconfliction had to increase," Dillon said in a phone interview from Baghdad, adding that the lines of communication between the two sides "are often used multiple times throughout the day."

US-Led Coalition Monitors Situation in Idlib

Ryan Dillon commented on the situation in the Syrian province of Idlib, which is currently controlled by the Free Syrian Army and other opposition forces, who are fighting against government troops.

Comment: The Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon told Sputnik on Friday that US and Russian generals recently have held a third face-to-face deconfliction meeting in an attempt to prevent any mishaps as rival forces close in on the same territory in Syria.
"I'm pretty sure that there have been three now in total. I think three face-to-face meetings have occurred," Dillon said in a phone interview from Baghdad, adding that the latest meeting had occurred "within the last week and a half."

All three meetings took place outside of Iraq and Syria in a Middle Eastern country, Dillon told Sputnik.

US and Russian generals held the first such meeting in mid-September, followed by a second in early October, Dillon previously disclosed.

Such meetings give US and Russian officers an opportunity to examine the same maps and graphics and arrive at agreements to avoid any ambiguity, he said.

The meetings allow "operational leaders on both sides to work through these deconfliction measures so that we can both continue to go after our goals and objectives, and ours is defeating ISIS," Dillon said, referring to the Daesh terror group.


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Gold Seal

Dr. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: Memorandum on fabrications against the Libyan state, leadership and army

Joanne Moriarty
Libyan War the Truth
Fri, 27 Oct 2017 16:44 UTC
saif gaddafi
Please find below the formal statement/memorandum of Dr. Saif al Islam Ghadafi published by Hanne Nabintu Herland - founder and host of The Herland Report. This report was written by the second son of Moammar Al Ghadafi, Dr. Saif Al Islam Ghadafi, regarding the truth about the crimes committed by NATO (and all its allies) in Libya in 2011. The current ongoing crimes against humanity today in Libya, the absolute lack of charges/accountability against the terrorists, Zionist puppets, mercenaries and criminals that occupy Libya today by force against the will of the Libyan people. This memorandum is a statement to the world of the corruption of the ICC (International Criminal Court), their lack of any form of justice and their ludicrous charges against Dr. Saif and others who are the actual victims of the horrendous crimes in Libya. It should also be noted that Dr. Saif Al Ghadafi was exonerated of all crimes and given full immunity by the House of Representatives in Tobruk, Libya. The only LEGITIMATELY elected government in Libya.

I would like to confirm that many of the crimes against humanity that are listed by Dr. Saif, were witnessed first hand by myself and my husband. We stand with Dr. Saif and all the Libyan people in their fight to free themselves from illegal occupation, the continuing theft of Libyan resources, the lies being used to keep Libya broken and controlled by the Zionists mafia puppets/mercenaries.
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Megaphone

Sacked Catalan president calls for peaceful resistance to Spain's takeover of region


RT
Sat, 28 Oct 2017 16:35 UTC
catalonia
© REUTERS/ Ivan Alvarado
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who was fired by the Spanish government over the region's declaration of independence, has called on the people to non-violently resist Madrid's takeover bid.

In a televised address on Saturday, Puigdemont said Madrid's decision to suspend the autonomy of the province and appoint Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria as Catalonia's provisionary head goes against the will of the people.

"It's very clear that the best form of defending the gains made up until now is democratic opposition to article 155," Puigdemont said in a brief statement aired on public regional TV3 broadcaster. He further pledged to "continue working to build a free country".

Madrid's move came after the Catalan Parliament voted to declare the region independent from the Spanish government on Friday.

Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy announced the dismissal of Puigdemont and his cabinet, as well as the head of the regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra. He also dissolved the Catalan parliament and announced a snap election will be held in the region on December 21.


Comment: The sticking point in Spain's plans is that Article 155 does not explicitly allow for the Madrid government to take control of an autonomous region and rule it directly, but instead specifies that 'the [Madrid] government can take the necessary steps to oblige the autonomous region to comply with orders from the government'. By dissolving the Catalan government and, effectively, ruling directly until new elections in December, the Madrid government is breaking its own laws.

What kind of elections does Madrid think it can organize in December whereby there will be a majority of anti-independence members of the Catalan parliament, unlike the current parliament configuration? Are mass arrests of pro-independence MPs in Cataluña coming? Will pro-independence parties be banned? How else can Madrid prevent the MPs it has just 'fired' from running again for election?

See also:

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Newspaper

Russian lawmakers congratulate Ukraine on anniversary of liberation from Nazis while denouncing current Neo-Nazism


RT
Fri, 27 Oct 2017 16:36 UTC
old Kiev
© SputnikKiev after the liberation from the Nazi occupation in November 1943. The destroyed Kreshchatik Street.
The Russian Lower House has passed an address to the Ukrainian people congratulating them on the 73rd anniversary of liberation from the Nazi occupation. The address also denounces all extant manifestations of Neo-Nazism under the current Kiev regime.

The address was prepared by MP Dmitry Belik (United Russia) from the Crimean city of Sevastopol. "State Duma deputies, who represent the multi-ethnic victorious people, congratulate the brotherly people of Ukraine on the 73rd anniversary of their liberation from occupation by Nazi Germany, and express hope that the memory of our ancestors' great heroism will forever remain in the Ukrainian and Russian peoples' hearts," the document reads.

The MPs noted that in Ukraine during WWII the Nazis and their accomplices killed 3.9 million civilians, using 180 concentration camps and over 400 Jewish ghettoes. The lives of 824,000 Soviet soldiers from all ethnic groups of the Soviet Union were lost during the operation to liberate Ukraine.
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