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Gold Seal

Best of the Web: 'We've seen this all before': Tucker Carlson shreds those who demand war on Syria in epic monologue


RT
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 13:23 UTC
Tucker Carlson
© Fox News / YouTube
As US leaders and mainstream media push for the nation to go to war in Syria, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has slammed so-called "geniuses" who claim to know the truth behind the alleged chemical attack.

Speaking on his television show on Monday, Carlson spoke of the alleged attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma. However, he noted that while "genius" politicians, media, intelligence services, and think tanks seem to blame Syrian President Bashar Assad for the attack, they don't actually know what happened on the ground.

"All the geniuses tell us that Assad killed those children, but do they really know that? Of course they don't really know that. They're making it up. They have no real idea what happened," Carlson said.

Comment: The full monologue below:



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Fire

John Kelly threatens to quit after blow up at Trump in Oval Office meeting

Jonathan Swann
Axios
Sat, 07 Apr 2018 13:36 UTC
John Kelly
© Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump stands with John Kelly.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly threatened to quit on March 28, according to sources familiar with the events.

What I'm hearing: Kelly blew up at Trump in an Oval Office meeting that day, and while walking back to his office muttered he was going to quit. Sources said it was not related to the David Shulkin firing that happened the same day.

A senior administration official said that calling it a threat was "probably too strong, it was more venting frustration." Kelly often says he doesn't have to be there and didn't seek the job originally.

Comment: He might get his wish without having to resign: Trump considering replacing Chief of Staff John Kelly with Mick Mulvaney

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Attention

Iran warns of 'stronger than imagined' response if US pulls out of nuclear deal


RT
Tue, 10 Apr 2018 02:49 UTC
Iran missile
© Reuters
The Iranian president has warned the US that it will regret pulling out from the milestone 2015 nuclear deal and will see the consequences "in less than one week," should it go ahead with the much-discussed withdrawal.

"Iran will not violate the nuclear deal, but if the United States withdraws from the deal, they will surely regret it," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday, during a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the National Day of Nuclear Technology. He added Tehran's response "will be stronger than what they imagine and they would see that within a week."

US President Donald Trump "has big claims and many ups and downs in his words and actions [and] has been trying for 15 months to break the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]," Rouhani said, adding the landmark pact "is so strong that it has not been shaken by such quakes."
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Info

Flashback Russian General Staff: Russian military advisors work with nearly all Syrian army units


TASS
Wed, 27 Dec 2017 02:51 UTC
Valery Gerasimov
Valery Gerasimov
Russian military advisors assist nearly all units of the Syrian government's armed forces in planning military operations, the chief of the Russian General Staff, Army Gen. Valery Gerasimov, said on Wednesday.

"We cooperate closely with the Syrian government troops, our advisors are attached to nearly all units," Gerasimov said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

He said that "any military unit - a battalion, a brigade, a regiment, a division" has Russian military advisors and their assistants - intelligence and artillery specialists, military engineers, as well as translators and other officials.

"They, in fact, plan combat operations and assist in commanding those units while they fulfill their combat tasks. In all directions, those operations are a part of a single strategy, a single plan, guided from the grouping's command center in Hmeymim," the chief of the Russian General Staff said.

Gerasimov added that the work of Russian military advisors and other Russian support to Syrian troops is one of the reasons to keep Russian military bases of Tartus and Hmeymim. Another reason is to protect Russia's own interests in the Middle East, he added.

Comment: Why is this relevant? Watch your step! Moscow warns against foreign attack in Syrian areas where Russian troops are located

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Jet2

'Dire consequences': Israel made a big mistake by striking Syria & jeopardizing relations with Russia - expert


RT
Mon, 09 Apr 2018 22:53 UTC
Israeli air force
© Amir Cohen / ReutersAn Israeli air force F-15 fighter jet.
Israel's airstrike on a Syrian airbase was a strategic error that'd be hard to explain to Russia, as the aggressive act can't be classified in any other way than aiding terrorists, political scientist Vyacheslav Matuzov told RT.

"The Israelis, I think, have made a strategic mistake because, by picking up the role of a warmongering client of the US, they put into question the whole Israeli-Russian relations," Matuzov said. "The T-4 airfield that was bombed by the Israeli Air Force hosted a number of Russian aircraft, including Mi-8, Ka-52 helicopters. There were Russian servicemen, Russian pilots there."

The Israeli military isn't denying the attack, but refusing to comment on the issue, "which is the same as acknowledging it,"Matuzov, who's also the head of the Russian-Arab Friendship and Business Cooperation Society, believes. "But the Russian military, having all the special means in their possession, clearly identified who fired the missiles."

Early on Monday, Russia's Defense Ministry said that two Israeli F-15 fighters had targeted Syria's T-4 airbase in Homs province. They fired eight guided missiles, with three of them avoiding Syrian air defenses and striking the landing field. The attack was carried out from over Lebanese airspace, with Beirut later confirming the breach by Israeli jets.

Comment: See also: Watch your step! Moscow warns against foreign attack in Syrian areas where Russian troops are located

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Dollars

Busted: New photos reveal Robert Mueller and Paul Manafort both worked with former Ukraine President in 2013

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Sun, 08 Apr 2018 22:45 UTC
mueller Yanukovych
Robert Muller meets Viktor Yanukovych in 2013
Robert Mueller is investigating Paul Manafort for working with Viktor Yanukovych in 2013. Mueller also worked with Yanukovych in 2013

Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged Paul Manafort, President Trump's former Campaign Manager, for working with former Ukrainian Presidnet Viktor Yanukovych in 2013.

Mueller failed to mention that he also worked with Yanukovych in 2013...six months before John Brennan, John McCain, Victoria Nuland, and their EU partners, lead a bloody neo-nazi coup to overthrow the Yanukovych government.

Comment: Mueller never should have been appointed special counsel. His straight-arrow persona is just that, a mask hiding a career political hack.

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Wine

Austria gets smart, agrees to establish friendly strategic partnership with China, strengthen ties


Global Times
Mon, 09 Apr 2018 22:23 UTC
xi van der bellen
© Xinhua/Rao AiminChinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 8, 2018.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen agreed Sunday to establish a Sino-Austrian friendly strategic partnership and advance bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

Invited by Xi, Van der Bellen headed a large delegation on his state visit to China, including Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, four cabinet ministers, and members of the business community.

Xi said the visit revealed the great importance that Van der Bellen and the Austrian government attached to ties with China.

Van der Bellen is scheduled to lay a wreath at the Monument to the People's Heroes in downtown Beijing on Monday. Xi said it showed the Austrian president's respect towards and friendship with the Chinese people.

Calling Austria an important cooperative partner of China in Europe, Xi said the Austrian new government has written into its working program the contents of enhancing relations with China as well as the Belt and Road Initiative. He expressed appreciation for that.
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Pirates

SOTT Focus: Fake Chemical Weapons Attacks Are West's Strategy For Undermining Russia in Syria

Ryan Jones
Sott.net
Mon, 09 Apr 2018 23:58 UTC
cnn fake news
Fake news on replay: Fake chemical weapons attack media coverage from April 7, 2017
On the night of April 8th, 2018, a Sunday, Syria's Tiyas Military Airbase in the Homs governorate (also known as the T-4 Airbase), was struck by missiles in a vicious and unprovoked attack. Initial reports claimed that Syrian air defences intercepted five of eight projectiles, and that there were several casualties and wounded.

The attack comes just over one year after the April 7th, 2017, US missile strikes against the Shayrat Airbase, when 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched as a US 'response' to a flurry of reports of a chemical weapons attack against civilians in Idlib province, which also allegedly killed around 70 people. That 'response' took place without an investigation and on the basis of little evidence demonstrating the Syrian government's involvement. The missile strikes rewarded newly-elected US president Donald Trump with positive media coverage, but shook his supporter base as it undermined his election promise to not 'topple foreign regimes'.

And now, once again, the supposed 'red line' for this latest attack has been the use of chemical weapons within Syria's borders, but rather unusually there have been no immediate statements from a major military power claiming responsibility for it. The US military denied perpetrating the attack, claiming that, "At this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting air strikes in Syria."
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Light Sabers

Watch your step! Moscow warns against foreign attack in Syrian areas where Russian troops are located


Sputnik
Sun, 08 Apr 2018 17:36 UTC
navy missile
© AFP 2018/ Ford Williams/U.S. Navy
Earlier, the US State Department had expressed concern about the reports of chemical weapons use in Douma that allegedly led to deaths of 40 people, claiming that Russia was accountable for targeting Syrians; the Russian military has refuted the allegations, saying they were aimed at disrupting of Jaysh al-Islam militants' evacuation from E Ghouta.

"Hoaxes of attacks using chlorine or other poisonous substances by Syrian government forces are continuing to emerge. Another such hoax that has supposedly taken place is the alleged chemical attack in Douma yesterday. At the same time, references have been made to the notorious NGO "White Helmets," which has been repeatedly caught acting with terrorists, as well as other so-called humanitarian organizations based in the United Kingdom and the United States," the ministry said in a statement.


Comment: Vanessa Beeley chronicles the violent reality of Western propaganda construct White Helmets


The ministry went on to say that it had repeatedly warned about possible provocations involving the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Their major aim is to accuse Syrian government forces of chemical weapons use and justify possible military intervention in Syria from abroad, according to the ministry's statement.

Comment: See also: Russia promises retaliation if Trump strikes Syria again

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Pirates

Philippines may become ISIS' next caliphate, here's why...

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 15:18 UTC
ISIS philippines
© ramaliah.news
There are many indications that ISIS, or ISIS-inspired entities, are looking to renew their armed insurgency in the Philippines. As is typically the case, wherever ISIS goes, the US military is not too far behind.

Not many people will be aware that aside from the fact that peace-prize-laureate Barack Obama was bombing at least seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East at any given time during his presidency, he was also secretly drone-bombing the Philippines, as well. Obama's drone campaign, of course, was widely regarded as one of the most effective recruitment tool for groups like ISIS (incidentally, a group now growing from strength to strength in the Philippines).

In fact, Operation Enduring Freedom Philippines, launched not long after the September 11 attacks rocked the United States in 2001 (and ending in 2014), is considered the largest US counterterrorism effort in the Pacific theater.

When an ISIS-inspired insurgency in the Philippines made headlines last year, the US military assisted the country's authorities in its crackdown not long after. Shockingly enough, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte did not actually expressly authorize America's renewed involvement in his country, having long signaled a greater desire to turn away from the United States and focus more on rebuilding relationships with rising giants Russia and China.

Comment: US military strategy adores proximity - be it by consent, coercion or force, thus the Philippines have been targeted. Unacceptable to Duterte, it remains to be seen as to what Russia and China will do.

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