Puppet MastersS


Eye 2

Best of the Web: The (mostly unrecognized) US occupation and plunder of Syria

Stephen Gowans
what's left
Sun, 11 Mar 2018 15:43 UTC
US military syria
An American military convoy consisting of several armored vehicles reportedly entered Syria from the Iraqi border on April 29, 2017
The United States has invaded Syria with a significant military force, is occupying nearly one-third of its territory, has announced plans for an indefinite occupation, and is plundering the country's petroleum resources. Washington has no authorization under international or even US law to invade and occupy Syria, much less attack Syrian forces, which it has done repeatedly. Nor has it a legal warrant to create new administrative and governance structures in the country to replace the Syrian government, a project it is undertaking through a parallel invasion of US diplomatic personnel. These actions-criminal, plunderous, and an assault on democracy at an international level-amount to a retrograde project of recolonization by an empire bent on extending its supremacy to all the Arab and Muslim worlds, including the few remaining outposts of resistance to foreign tyranny. Moreover, US actions represent an escalation of Washington's long war on Syria, previously carried out through proxies, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda, into a full-scale conventional war with direct US military involvement. Yet, despite the enormity of the project, and the escalation of the war, the US occupation of Syria has largely flown under the radar of public awareness.

Atop multiple indignities and affronts to liberty and democracy visited upon the Arab world by the West, including the plunder of Palestine by European settlers and the political oppression of Arabs by a retinue of military dictators, monarchs, emirs and sultans who rule largely at the pleasure of Washington and on its behalf, now arrives the latest US transgression on the ideals of sovereignty, independence, and the equality of nations: marauders in Washington have pilfered part of the territory of one of the last bastions of Arab independence-Syria. Indeed, Washington now controls "about one-third of the country including most of its oil wealth", [1] has no intention of returning it to its rightful owners, has planned for an indefinite military occupation of eastern Syria, and is creating a new Israel, which is to say, an new imperialist outpost in the middle of the Arab world, to be governed by Kurdish proxies backed by US firepower. [2] The crime has been carried out openly, and yet has hardly been noticed or remarked upon.

Here are the facts:
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Info

Mexico threatens to stop helping US fight drug cartels if US troops deployed to border

Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby
Breitbart
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 16:43 UTC
US-Mexico border wall prototypes
© AFP Photo/GUILLERMO ARIASPrototypes for President Donald Trump's planned border wall: illegal immigration across the Mexico border has surged in recent months to pre-Trump levels.
The Mexican Senate passed a resolution seeking an end to bilateral cooperation with the U.S. against drug cartels and immigration problems after President Trump ordered National Guard troops to the border.

The resolution was passed in a unanimous fashion and sent to the White House, Members of the U.S. Congress, and Mexico's Foreign Relations Officer, El Universal reported.

"Despite everything that is at stake in the relationship between our two countries, the way in which President Donald Trump has behaved is, for the Mexican people, unacceptable and intolerable," El Universal quoted from the document.

The resolution demands that President Trump respect the people of Mexico, and notes the Senate "condemns the unfounded and offensive expressions about Mexico and Mexicans and the treatment that is needed for a relationship between neighboring countries, partners, and allies."

Other portions of the resolution reject efforts to "militarize the border with Mexico" and considered the measure offensive. In the third portion of the resolution, the Senate calls for Mexico to stop any binational cooperation with the U.S. in dealing with immigration matters and fighting transnational organized crime (cartels) until Trump "acts with civility and respect."

Comment: See also:

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Mr. Potato

Nutjob Nikki Haley sez: 'Russia will never be our friend, we'll slap them when needed'


RT
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 15:41 UTC
Nikki Haley
© Don EMMERT / AFPUS Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.
Nikki Haley has erupted in another fiery Russophobic rant, warning that Russia will "never be America's friend." Moscow can try to behave "like a regular country," but the US will "slap them when we need to," Haley said.

The US ambassador to the UN is not known for her friendly stance toward Moscow, but her new take on US-Russia relations stands out among even her most rabid ramblings. Speaking at Duke University in North Carolina on Friday, Haley admitted that friendly relations with Russia is an unlikely prospect, adding that the Trump team has done more against Moscow than any other administration since Ronald Reagan's tenure.

"Russia's never going to be our friend," Haley told students at a Q&A session, responding to a question about "holding Russia accountable" for alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The diplomat said Washington still works with Moscow "when we need to, and we slap them when we need to."

She then raised the stakes further: "Everybody likes to listen to the words. I'm going to tell you - look at the actions," Haley urged. "We expelled 60 Russian diplomats/spies, we have armed Ukraine so that they can defend themselves," she added.

Comment: Nikki Haley is pure evil.

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Vader

Russian envoy to NATO: 'You crossed red line with military build-up along our border'

Frank Sellers
The Duran
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 15:06 UTC
Nato soldiers
NATO has tripled its military attendance at Russia's western borders over the past five years, forcing Moscow to take retaliatory steps

NATO is bringing a "military dimension" to tensions between Russia and some of its Western neighbors by following through with a military build up which includes NATO military bases, and even missile defense systems. Russia's delegate to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, stresses that the security situation has gone from tight concerns to armed apprehension, calling these maneuvers "unjustified" at a panel at the Valdai Club:
NATO has crossed a line with its "unjustified" military build-up on Russia's doorstep, Russian envoy to NATO Aleksandr Grushko has warned. He added that global security cannot be ensured without Russia.

Relations with states neighboring Russia never developed "military dimensions" despite strained relations with some of them, including with the Baltic states, Grushko said. But the situation has now changed, thanks to the military bloc, he told a discussion panel at the Valdai Club on Tuesday.

"Now, thanks to NATO, we have a military dimension, it was their choice, they crossed the red line," Grushko said.

While the West has been trying hard to isolate Russia and fuel anti-Russian hysteria, international security is the only thing that suffers from this approach, according to Grushko. Any NATO and EU attempts to create "isolated safe havens" are doomed to failure, the diplomat said, as the creation of solid security systems cannot succeed without Russia.

"If they do not want dialogue, then there won't be any. It takes two to tango, as you know, it will be a conscious choice of the alliance," Grushko said.

Comment:

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Play

Ex-OSCE VP Willy Wimmer says UK behaving like 'mafia state' over Skripal case


RT
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:58 UTC
willy wimmer
The UK is exploiting European solidarity and behaving like a 'mafia state' by pushing forward warmongering accusations and excluding Russia from the Skripal poisoning probe, the former vice-president of OSCE assembly told RT.

Britain's behavior in the Skripal poisoning scandal is "a major danger to international peace," believes Willy Wimmer, who held the vp position with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assembly from 1994 to 2000, and who had previously served as state secretary to Germany's defense minister.

"I think we would call this state a mafia state because it is against all European and international rules and regulations how the British government has behaved in a criminal case with regard to another country," Wimmer told RT.

The UK has a history of pressing forward warmongering rhetoric, Wimmer said, recalling Britain's decision to go to war in Iraq. "We, as Europeans, have an experience with the British. We only have to look back to Tony Blair. They lie from one war into the next one." The long awaited Chilcot report, published in 2016, offered a damning critique of Blair, stating that he deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by the Iraqi regime and had relied on "flawed"intelligence.

"And that is why I think as long as the British don't behave in a proper, legal, international way, I think we all should believe that this is another British lie, at least to go for war against Russia," Wimmer added.


Comment: Wimmer is right, and his dissent hints at an undercurrent in Western politics that reflects the U.S.-Russia rivalry. If there's one thing the U.S. (and by extension the UK) fear, it is a Germany that gets closer to Russia. That's what they have feared for over 100 years. Keeping France and Germany out of the Russian sphere of influence has been a top priority for the Mackinder-influenced geopolitical ideologues of the West. But the U.S. keeps pushing European people into a position where they have little choice but to look to Russia, e.g., the sanctions, which hurt countries like Germany more than they hurt Russia. The West may just be the instrument of its own demise.

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Quenelle

UK contradicting itself in Skripal case, has provided no proof Russia is to blame - German official


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 16:41 UTC
big ben flag
© Niklas Halle'n / AFP
The UK has yet to prove that Russia is culpable in the Skripal poisoning case, and recent revelations contradicting the claim have "raised the pressure" on London, a German government representative said.

Gernot Erler, who serves as the German government's coordinator for Russia, said that London needed to cough up evidence of Moscow's guilt after the UK's Porton Down military research center said on Tuesday that it could not verify that the nerve agent used in the attack came from Russia.

"That contradicts what we had previously heard from British politicians and will certainly raise the pressure on Britain to show further proof that the traces plausibly point to Moscow," Erler told German broadcaster ARD.

Comment: Clearly the supposed evidence is lacking otherwise there would be no reluctance for a transparent investigation: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Facebook and Cambridge Analytica - Trump Dumped - Skripal Saga

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Arrow Down

Schengen agreement falters: France to extend internal EU border checks due to 'terrorism', 5 other countries plan to do similar


Euractiv
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 08:04 UTC
A group of migrants run on a road just after crossing the Italian border near Mongenevre, southeastern France, 16 January 2018.
© Guillaune Horcajuelo/EPA/EFEA group of migrants run on a road just after crossing the Italian border near Mongenevre, southeastern France, 16 January 2018.
France said Wednesday (4 April) it has decided to extend border checks with countries in Europe's Schengen passport-free zone until the end of October because of the persistent threat of terrorism.

France introduced border controls after the Islamic State group attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on 13 November 2015 and has renewed them every six months since then amid new attacks.

A 'mea culpa' emerged from the emergency meeting on security matters on Friday (20 November), as EU member states acknowledged they did not use all the tools at their disposal to address the terrorist threats.

Comment: See: Also check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Eye 2

Delusions of grandeur: Killary fantasizes about 'alternative reality' where she's president

Victor Skinner
The American Mirror
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 20:49 UTC
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton thinks she deserves credit for "accelerating" the #MeToo movement through her humiliating loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Clinton visited the women-only club "The Wing" in New York City Tuesday to relive the election and offer excuses for her defeat, the latest stop in a years long tour to explain "What Happened" in 2016.


"Someone at @the_wing just asked Hillary Clinton: 'In an alternative reality, if you were president today in 2018, do you think the #MeToo movement would've still happened?'" a Twitter user posted Tuesday, along with a video of Clinton's response.

"I believe that it was a wave that was building and building and building," Clinton said. "I think my losing probably accelerated that wave, but the wave was coming."

Comment: Earth 2? Uh, no thanks! Here's some reasons why: ...and the list goes on.

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Snakes in Suits

Netanyahu concerned over Trump's plan to withdraw soldiers from Syria


PressTV
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 10:06 UTC
US President Donald Trump (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
© AFPThis file photo, taken on May 23, 2017, shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Museum in the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds
A recent telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump grew tense over Trump's earlier expression of his tendency to withdraw US forces from Syria "very soon," according to two US officials.

Netanyahu and Trump discussed regional developments over the phone on Wednesday, according to the official account from the United States.

But two unidentified US officials said later that Netanyahu had objected to Trump's remark that he would like US forces out of Syria shortly, according to The Times of Israel.

There were no more details on the give-and-take between the Israeli prime minister and the US president.

Comment: See also: Trump agrees to keep troops in Syria

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Chess

Pepe Escobar: From Ankara to Moscow, Eurasia integration is on the move

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 09:20 UTC
Iran's Hassan Rouhani, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin
© PHOTO: AFP/ADEM ALTANIran's Hassan Rouhani, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin after a summit on Syria on April 4

The Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union is spreading its wings and gaining strength, with some key projects, big players and big plans in the pipeline

As presidents Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara for a second Russia-Iran-Turkey summit on the future of Syria, Moscow hosted its 7thInternational Security Conference attended by defense ministers from dozens of nations.

A more graphic illustration of the synchronicity drive towards Eurasia integration would be hard to find.

Crucially, China sent not only a high-ranking delegation to Moscow, but most of all a loud and clear message. General Wei Fenghe, the new Chinese Defense Minister, side by side with Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu, said: "The Chinese side came to let the Americans know about the close ties between the Russian and Chinese armed forces." Shoigu, for his part, underlined the "special character" of the Russia-China partnership.


Comment: Chinese defense minister in Moscow: We came 'to let US know' about close military ties with Russia


Comment: See also: Trilateral meeting in Ankara: Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani reject separatism in Syria

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