Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Erdogan unsurprisingly rejects Macron's offer to "get into bed with terrorists"


Al Jazeera
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 12:00 UTC
erdogan
Erdogan said Turkey had begun preparations to clear parts of northern Syria from 'militants' [Rasit Aydogan/Anadolu]
Turkish president's comments come after a delegation of Kurdish fighters in Syria met French President Emmanuel Macron.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected a French offer to mediate between Turkey and Kurdish fighters in Syria that have been blacklisted by Ankara.

His comments on Friday came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a delegation of Kurdish fighters in Paris and offered to mediate between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - an umbrella group of fighters dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) - and the Turkish government.

"Who are you to mediate between Turkey and a terror group?" Erdogan said at a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the capital, Ankara.

Comment: Chickenhawk Macron: 'France ready to strike chemical weapons sites in Syria'

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USA

SOTT Focus: 2018-2028: The Most Dangerous Decade

Chris Kanthan
Sott.net
Sat, 31 Mar 2018 22:12 UTC
cycles of violence USA
Every 80 years, nations often experience tumultuous events. There are different theories about what is behind this cycle - for example, the Fourth Turning theory focuses on the cyclical strengths of institutions versus individuals. Others surmise that four generations after a major crisis, there are no more older people to warn society of the dangers, and the younger people take peace and prosperity for granted.
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Dollar Gold

Nicolas Sarkozy: A case of crime and punishment?

Gilbert Doctorow
Consortium News
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
GaddafiSarkosy
© Patrick Hertzog/APLibyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, left, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, pose during a signing ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris in December 2007.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under investigation for allegedly receiving millions of euros in illegal election campaign funding from Libya's Muammar Gaddafi. This must be placed in the broader context of war crimes by Western heads of state.

The relationship between Sarkozy and Gaddafi fits the pattern of the old mafia joke: "You're my friend. I kill you for nothing."

Two news items jostled for attention on the front pages of mainstream newspapers and news bulletins of the main television channels on the Old Continent last week. One was the Sergei Skripal "nerve agent attack" and Theresa May's attempts to find support among EU leaders for a common stand against Russia as perpetrator. The other was the arrest and questioning of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy over allegations that he took 50 million euros in cash from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2007 for the election campaign that won him the presidency.

Comment: There are many 'heads of the Western hydra' that could/should come to reckoning if societies are demanding enough and the layers of protection, supplied by governments and colluders, are stripped bare. The evidence is all around us. We have to be willing to see it.

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Handcuffs

Kiriakou: I went to prison for disclosing the CIA's torture - Haspel helped cover it up

John Kiriakou
The Washington Post
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
John Kiriakou
© InterceptJohn Kiriakou
I was inside the CIA's Langley, Va., headquarters on Sept. 11, 2001. Like all Americans, I was traumatized, and I volunteered to go overseas to help bring al-Qaeda's leaders to justice. I headed counterterrorism operations in Pakistan from January to May 2002. My team captured dozens of al-Qaeda fighters, including senior training-camp commanders. One of the fighters whom I played an integral role in capturing was Abu Zubaida, mistakenly thought at the time to be the third-ranking person in the militant group.

By that May, the CIA had decided to torture him. When I returned to CIA headquarters that month, a senior officer in the Counterterrorism Center asked me if I wanted to be "trained in the use of enhanced interrogation techniques." I had never heard the term, so I asked what it meant. After a brief explanation, I declined. I said that I had a moral and ethical problem with torture and that - the judgment of the Justice Department notwithstanding - I thought it was illegal.

Unfortunately, there were plenty of people in the U.S. government who were all too willing to allow the practice to go on. One of them was Gina Haspel, whom President Trump nominated Tuesday as the CIA's next director.


Comment: Agencies, such as the CIA, become magnets for pathological abusers. The public has to recognize, acknowledge and address psychopathic traits within its leaders, agencies and general population to understand the ramifications for victims as well as society in general. Without this filter, nothing can or will be done to change the parameters by which Americans are governed and who is deemed responsible.

See also: 'She tortured just for the sake of torture' says CIA whistleblower on CIA pick Gina Haspel

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Arrow Down

Sarkozy's downfall, the revenge of Gaddafi and Libya

John Wight
Sputnik
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 15:35 UTC
Sarkozy
© RTL.frFormer president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy
None other than Julius Caesar reminds us that "fortune, whose power is very great in all spheres, but particularly in warfare, often brings about great reversals by a slight tilt of the balance."

The wisdom contained in the words of Rome's most famous and illustrious emperor, a man whose very name is synonymous with power, is confirmed in the plight of Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of the French Republic for whom ignominy beckons with the news that he has been charged with corruption and influence peddling. Specifically, he is accused of attempting to suborn the senior judge who was heading the investigation into Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign, concerning campaign finance illegalities.

The announcement that French authorities have decided to formally charge the country's former president with criminal wrongdoing on this matter comes on the back of the revelation that another investigation has begun in the wake of the allegation that Sarkozy accepted millions in illegal campaign donations from Libya's Muammar Gaddafi to help finance his 2007 bid for the presidency.

Comment: The destruction of Libya and the horror suffered by its people will never be compensated, but bringing one of the colluders to justice is a start.
See also:

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Nuke

Some say blame Trump when Iran races for the bomb

Trita Parsi
Foreign Policy
Thu, 29 Mar 2018 12:13 UTC
trump
© Columbia Journalism Review
If the United States breaks its end of the nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic's hard-liners are going to want a weapon ASAP.

The nuclear deal with Iran hangs by a thread. The appointment of John Bolton - an unapologetic proponent of war with Iran - as U.S. national security advisor has prompted celebrations among Iran deal detractors. The announcement that nuclear talks with North Korea will be held around the same time that U.S. President Donald Trump must decide whether to keep or kill the Iran deal has further complicated the picture. Yet few in Washington understand how Trump's gamble with Pyongyang may impact Tehran's nuclear calculations.

Conventional wisdom declares that Trump would be foolish to kill the Iran deal (formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) if he genuinely seeks to reach an agreement with the North Koreans. If Trump shows that he does not honor America's agreements, why would Pyongyang strike a deal with him?

But Trump is anything but conventional. His logic runs in the opposite direction, and Bolton will be more than happy to enable Trump's worst instincts. By killing the JCPOA, Trump thinks he'll signal to the North Koreans that they should have no doubt that he is ready to walk away from the talks if he doesn't get what he wants. After all, walking away from ongoing negotiations is much easier than killing an existing deal.

Comment: What Trump says and what he doesn't say send messages, and as such, have the power to validate or change a point of view. Trump's ability to be diplomatic occurs off camera and is certainly not evident in his blustery media displays some have come to cringingly love. That aside, the US is no shining example by which to lord judgement on any other nation.

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Jet3

Mattis admits US is involved in planning Saudi strikes in Yemen

Jason Ditz
AntiWar.com
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 01:00 UTC
Mattis
© UnknownDefense Secretary James Mattis
Says US involved in 'dynamic battlefield management'

In a new meeting with reporters, Defense Secretary James Mattis has offered new details about US involvement in the Saudi invasion of Yemen, providing specifics about what the US is doing that contradict long-standing claims of a very limited, non-combat involvement.

Mattis now admits the US is "doing the planning" in Yemen strikes, and has shown the Saudis how the concept of a no-strike zone is supposed to work, and engaged in a maturing process of "battlefield management" intended to see Saudi strikes killing fewer civilians.

Mattis also tried to spin the already established US involvement in mid-air refueling as beneficial for civilians being bombed. He warned Saudi bombers would make "rash or hasty decisions" if they had to worry about running out of fuel before bombing a place, and might take less time to avoid hitting civilian targets.

Comment: Saudi Arabia's war against Yemen is really a Western war against Yemen.

See also: 'Mad Dog' Mattis tells Senate US support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen will reduce civilian casualties

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Snakes in Suits

Trump ally interrogated by FBI at Boston airport


RT
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 15:45 UTC
ted malloch
© Hillsdale College/YouTubeTed Malloch
London-based academic and Donald Trump ally Ted Malloch was detained and interrogated by the FBI as he flew into Boston's Logan International Airport.

Malloch, an American citizen, was detained and interrogated on Wednesday, before being issued a subpoena to testify before special counsel Robert Mueller about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller's investigation has been called a politically-motivated "witch hunt" by US President Donald Trump.

Malloch was also interrogated by agents about his links to Republican strategist Roger Stone, and was asked whether he had ever visited WikiLeaks' Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. As special counsel, Mueller is also investigating how WikiLeaks managed to obtain emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign team, an investigation Roger Stone is implicated in.

Comment: How many grasped but empty straws does Mueller need to close an investigation without merit?

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Sherlock

The newest 'location' of 'novichok' nerve agent in Salisbury just shows the UK govt is making it up as they go along

Raúl Ilargi Meijer
The Automatic Earth
Thu, 29 Mar 2018 18:33 UTC
Sergei and Yulia Skripal
Victims: Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33
I am gullible. Very. I betcha I am more gullible than you. And that tells you something, because you know how gullible you are. Or so you think. Still, as bad as I got it, something physically snapped in the back of my head this morning, I could hear it snap, when I saw this Guardian headline:

Skripals Poisoned From Front Door Of Salisbury Home, Police Say
Detectives investigating the attempted murders of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal have said they believe the pair were poisoned with a nerve agent at the front door of his Salisbury home. Specialists investigating the poisoning of the the Skripals have found the highest concentration of the nerve agent on the front door at the address, police said. Counter-terrorism detectives will continue to focus their inquiries on the home address for the coming weeks, and possibly months...
See, because of my gullibility, I've decided that if I'm to have any idea of what really goes on around me, I'm condemned to reading a lot. Obviously, like you, I've found that the vast majority of what passes for news is as fake as it gets. More so by the day. So we have to read between the lines all the time. It's what it is. But this...

If these two people have actually been poisoned, that's a really terrible thing. But maybe lying about such things is much worse. And I doubt that anything at all we've been told about the Skripal case is true. Not because I don't want to believe it, but because the storytellers plant so many trees they're getting lost in their own forest.

Comment: Thankfully there are still a few people with a functional BS meter alive today. And some of them also happen to be on Twitter:





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Gear

UN chief calls for Cold War mechanisms to avoid escalation of Russia-West tension, after the White House declares the expulsion of 12 Russian diplomats from the UN


New China (Xinhua)
Sat, 31 Mar 2018 18:36 UTC
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
© Xinhua/Li MuziUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press encounter at the UN headquarters in New York, on March 29, 2018
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Thursday for restoring Cold War "mechanisms" to avoid escalation of tensions between Russia and the West, after the White House declared the expulsion of 12 Russian diplomats, among others, from its UN mission.

"I am really concerned," he replied when asked if the increased tension warrants a revival of Cold War safety mechanisms.

"I think we are coming to a situation that is similar to a large extent to what lived during the Cold War," the UN chief said.

Comment: See also: Trump caves again, expels 60 Russian diplomats, closes Seattle consulate over fake accusations for Skripal poisoning - 14 EU states follow suit

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