Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Really? Saudi-UK links 'saving lives' claims May, not just in Yemen


RT
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 14:01 UTC
May MBS
© www.alaraby.co.ukPM Theresa May and Crown Prince Mohammed nin Salman
Theresa May has defended the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia. Despite coming under fire from politicians ahead of her meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, May said the countries' relationship will remain strong.

British PM May claimed Britain's relationship with the Middle East kingdom has prevented deaths. However, the UK is selling arms to the Saudis which are used in the war in Yemen, which has turned into one of the world's largest humanitarian crises as aid routes are strangled and record numbers of children have cholera. Despite the attack over the dispatch box, Tory leader May said the UK will stand by its ally.

She said intelligence gathered from the Middle East over planned terrorist attacks has prevented mass deaths.
"I look forward to welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from Saudi Arabia," May said. "The link we have with Saudi Arabia is historic, important and it has saved the lives of potentially hundreds of people in this country. The fact it is an important link is not just the view I hold. The shadow foreign secretary this morning said 'our relationship with Saudi Arabia is an important one.' She said we wouldn't be pulling our punches and I agree. I will be raising concerns about human rights with the crown prince when I meet him."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the relationship actually "threatened" people in the UK since a report - which he accused the government of "suppressing" - said the Saudis were funding terrorist groups active in the UK. He also pointed out 600,000
children have cholera in Yemen and aid routes have been blocked.

Comment: Funding Yemeni life-support is honorable. Cutting ties and ending the Yemeni genocide would be so much better. May has her priorities in a twist.

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Propaganda

Rupert Murdoch's Sunday Times to be sued? Claims attest paper hired PIs to spy on MPs


RT
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 13:03 UTC
Rupert Murdoch
© Stefan Wermuth/ReutersMedia Mogul Rupert Murdoch
Ex-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott may sue Rupert Murdoch's News Corp after he was informed that he was targeted by private investigator. The same PI made claims to the media that the Sunday Times hired him to spy on MPs.

Tony Blair's former right hand man took to social media after the BBC broke the story. He said he is now taking legal advice in relation to the allegations.

Ex-private investigator John Ford said he was used by the Sunday Times illegally to spy on politicians - including Blair - while they were in power. Ford said his spying methods included blagging, a term for tricking sources into revealing information by pretending to be a legitimate authority.

Ford claims he was contracted by the paper between 1995 and 2010. In that time, he said he targeted both the Labour government and members of the public. The former PI said he would go on "fishing expeditions often" and there were "hundreds of telephone interceptions, hundreds of bank interceptions. I've stolen rubbish. I'm afraid the list is endless," he added.

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Attention

Duterte: The ICC has no jurisdiction over him in its drug war probe - 'Not in a million years'


RT
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 01:09 UTC
Duterte
© IndependentPhilippine President Rodrigo Duterte
Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte has refused to recognize the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction over his persona in its preliminary probe of the tactics and abuses in the nation's war on drugs.

Earlier this month the ICC, based in the Hague, opened a preliminary investigation into Duterte's war on drugs, probing potential crimes against humanity in a ruthless campaign which has led to an estimated 4,000 deaths since its beginning in July 2016. While Duterte initially somewhat welcomed the probe, on Tuesday the 72-year-old leader backtracked his willingness to cooperate with it.

"You cannot acquire jurisdiction over me, not in a million years," Duterte said in Malacanang. "They cannot ever, ever hope to acquire jurisdiction over my person," he added, acknowledging that he is refusing to collaborate with the ICC inquiry, led by chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

"That's why I am not responding to them. It's true. I don't want to say. That has always been my weapon ever since," said Duterte, without elaborating.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

'Top secret' Israeli military systems and tactics details leaked online


RT
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 18:44 UTC
Israeli fire
© Mohamad Torokman / Reuters
An official document revealing two highly classified Israeli military systems, which had never been publicly mentioned before, was reportedly leaked in what the IDF describes as a "serious information security error."

The leaked Israel Defense Ministry paper was signed by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and disclosed classified information concerning the military capabilities and operational methods of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Haaretz reported.

According to the news outlet, which could not disclose any names or details due to a potential violation of the Israeli military censorship regulations, at least two sections of the document mentioned top secret mechanisms or systems, the existence of which had never been mentioned by the IDF.

One of them was so highly classified that it was forbidden for those aware of it to even call it by name during phone conversations, the IDF Spokesman's Office said. The other mechanism revealed in the leak was reportedly used by an Israeli military unit for operational purposes, with its publication putting a related top secret system at risk of exposure.

Comment: It could be a leak of a serious security nature (in which case Israel wouldn't admit it), or a purposeful slip to send a message to those 'foes' Israel wants to intimidate. Perception control is also a weapon.

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Treasure Chest

US State Department has $120M war chest for Russia bashing and McFaul wants to spend it


RT
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 12:18 UTC
Michael McFaul
© Astrid Riecken/AFPFormer Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul
There is $120 million in funding for "countering Russian propaganda" stashed somewhere in the State Department. There are "Russia experts" willing to blame Russia for everything. The two are meant to be together.

The $120 million, of which Rex Tillerson's diplomatic corps has failed to spend a cent, is funding for the Global Engagement Center - a task force originally meant to counter jihadist propaganda online. In the late days of the Obama administration, it was tasked with countering "Russian and Chinese propaganda" aimed against America's democratic institutions. The State Department is yet to spend any of that money.

For people failing to read past the New York Times headline, the failure to spend these funds would appear to be a clear indicator that Tillerson and the rest if the Trump administration have no interest in doing anything against Russia. There are memes about it, and people crying "Treason!" on Twitter.

Comment: And, $120M isn't the whole enchilada. Given other agencies and arenas, billions are spent by the US on propaganda - 'outgoing' and 'incoming'. Truth is such a bargain.

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Snakes in Suits

Guatemala joins US, confirms its embassy move to Jerusalem, thanks Donald Trump


teleSUR
Mon, 05 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
PresJimmyMorales
© ReutersPresident of Guatemala Jimmy Morales
Israel helped the Guatemalan military juntas during the genocide against the Mayan people in the 1980s.

President Guatemala Jimmy Morales said Sunday his country will return their embassy to Jerusalem on May 16, in support of the United States decision to do the same, a move that further reaffirms a decades-long controversial relationship between right-wing Guatemalan governments and successive Israeli governments.

"We've ordered that Guatemala returns and permanently moves its embassy to Jerusalem two days after the United States of America moves its embassy," said Morales during his speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual meeting in Washington Sunday, to which he was invited after Guatemala's support for Israel.

Comment: Israel and the US infiltrated Guatemala via the Guatemalan Civil War and the massacre of the Maya. What else transpired behind the scenes to create this dutiful and longterm puppet state? Besides a coup d'état, surely more than meets the eye.

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Magnify

Attempted murder: Ex-Russian double agent Skripal & daughter were exposed to nerve agent, police confirm


RT
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 18:00 UTC
Police
© Reuters/ Toby MelvilleRussian ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are currently in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
Russian ex-double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were exposed to a nerve agent, UK police have confirmed. The police are investigating their attempted murder.

Assistant police commissioner for the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley said "hundreds of detectives" are working on the case, after confirming an unnamed nerve agent has been identified in the case. The pair are currently in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

The pair were found slumped on a bench outside a shopping center in Wiltshire. It is believed they were exposed to a substance, but there are no facts as yet established as to what it was or how the pair came into contact with the substance.

Rowley, who has just weeks left in his role as head of national counter-terrorism policing, said an officer has also been taken seriously ill.

Comment: See also:

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Gear

National Intelligence Chief: US Considering New Attack on Syrian Gov't


Sputnik
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 19:38 UTC
The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter
© AP Photo/ Ford Williams/U.S. NavyIn this image from video provided by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea, Friday, April 7, 2017
A potential decision by Washington to take new military actions against Damascus would mark the second US strike on Syria in less than a year.

The Trump Administration is considering new attacks against the Syrian Government in response to reports of chemical weapons' use, the US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said on Tuesday.

"As you saw the president's response to the attack last year, this is something that is under serious discussion as we speak, but again, something that needs to be discussed in a classified session," Daniel Coats told a Senate committee, referring to the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles towards a military base in Syria's Shairat.

Last week, President Donald Trump had discussed the possibility of "a new military action" against the Syrian government as a punitive measure, citing Damascus' alleged use of chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta, the Washington Post quoted anonymous US officials as saying.
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Bullseye

More military spending - Why Putin's latest display of Russian military superiority should concern Americans

Jonathan Marshall
Consortium News
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 18:11 UTC
Sarmat ICBM
© APIn this video grab provided by RU-RTR Russian television via AP television on Thursday, March 1, 2018, Russia’s new Sarmat intercontinental missile is shown at an undisclosed location in Russia
Be afraid. Be very afraid of Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest boast to his Federal Assembly that Russian scientists have come up with "a breakthrough in developing new models of strategic weapons" aimed at the United States.

Don't be afraid that he has any intention of using them. Don't even be afraid that most of the weapons he demonstrated through animated simulations are operational.

Be afraid, rather, that armchair Cold Warriors in the United States will shamelessly exploit Putin's speech to justify billions-no, trillions-of dollars in needless spending on a pointless nuclear arms race.

Achieving their agenda was made easier by media coverage of the speech, which reported that Putin "threatened the West" (New York Times) and "represented an escalated level of martial rhetoric even by his pugnacious standards" (Washington Post).

Putin in fact explicitly and repeatedly emphasized that his claimed new weapons are not offensive, but rather designed to maintain Russia's nuclear deterrent in the face of growing U.S. anti-missile systems.

Comment: Previously: Putin Delivers Landmark 'State of The Union' Speech: Puts The Smack Down on US, Shows Off Latest Russian Nuclear Weapons

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Caesar

'If somebody decides to destroy Russia, we are justified in such a response': Putin says Moscow won't start nuclear holocaust


RT
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 19:18 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin
© Grigoriy Sisoev / SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin has reiterated that Russia will not strike first with nuclear weapons. Moscow's nuclear arsenal is not meant to be used, because the alternative is a global disaster that would destroy Russia too.

"A decision on the use of nuclear weapons may only be taken if our ballistic missile attack warning system not only detects a launch, but also predicts that the warheads would hit Russian territory. This is called a retaliation strike," he said in an interview. "If somebody decides to destroy Russia, we are justified in such a response."

Comment: See also: Behind the Headlines: Putin The World To Rights: Russia's New Nuclear Weapons And The End of 'Unipolarity'

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