Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Erdogan, Rouhani meeting offers a united front against Kurdish secessionists

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 17:08 UTC
Rouhani Erdogan
© Times of IsraelRouhani and Erdogan in Tehran
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has just concluded a press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Both leaders stated that they are firmly committed to the territorial unity of Iraq and also Syria, in the wake of the unilateral secessionist referendum in northern Iraq. While Rouhani called regional Kurds "brothers", each said that dialogue with legitimate central governments is the only way forward, thus echoing calls of the wider international community, with the exception of Israel whose leaders support Kurdish secession.

Both Presidents also affirmed their commitment to expand growing economic ties, while speaking positively about the Astana peace process for Syria in which Russia, Iran and Turkey have worked jointly to create de-escalation zones in Syria, each of which has also been approved by the Syrian government.


Comment: Turkey's loyalties and alliances have shifted with the sands over the past few years rollicking from one heady crisis to another. Has Erdogan finally found his footing and usefulness by pivoting to Russia and Iran? If so, he may have become a better leader than his previous track record would indicate, and valued as such.

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Whistle

Tillerson debunks claims he threatened to resign as 'petty nonsense'


RT
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 15:52 UTC
RexTill
© Newsweek"Never!"
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters he had "never considered leaving" his post and described the story about friction between him and President Donald Trump as "erroneous" and "petty nonsense."

"The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of State because I have never considered leaving," Tillerson said Wednesday morning, addressing the press at the State Department after an NBC News story accused him of calling Trump a "moron" and threatening to resign earlier this year, only to be talked out of it by Vice President Mike Pence.

The NBC story was "fake news" and was "totally refuted" by Tillerson and Pence, Trump tweeted shortly after the State Department press event, calling for the network to apologize "to America."


Comment: Must have been a slow headline day?

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Attention

Masoud Barzani's miscalculation amounts to political suicide, pushes Kurdistan into the abyss

Martin Jay
RT
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 12:45 UTC
Barzani
© Azad Lashkari / ReutersIraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani
Corruption, dirty politics and betrayal by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has led to Iran and Turkey becoming a tad closer over the political suicide of President Barzani. Will the Kurdistan leader take his own country down with him?

There could never be a more fitting adage to describe the President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani's recent move in Iraqi Kurdistan than Charlotte Bronte's apt quote: "give a man enough rope and he will hang himself."

Barzani's capricious, if not reckless move to plow ahead with a referendum - in an erroneous bid to galvanize more political support for himself - is likely to backfire on a grand scale. Certainly, he has whipped up a plethora of feel-good nationalism as the Kurds' dream of an independent state was stoked following the demise of ISIS in the region.

But how long will that euphoria last if Iran and Turkey - the two key players who have both Kurdistan's and Barzani's fate in their hands - agree to a blockade? While the Kurdistan quandary helps to bring these two countries slightly closer, the prospect of Kurdistan's oil lifeline being closed becomes a stark reality as the clock ticks.

Comment: See also:

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Rocket

Putin: A strike launched on N Korea possible, but outcome uncertain


RT
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 12:11 UTC
Putin
© Sputnik News/KJN
A global strike to disarm North Korea would be possible, yet its outcome uncertain, as it is a "closed state," Russian President Vladimir Putin stated.

"Let us speak to the point, after all - can someone launch a global disarming strike? Indeed. Will it reach its targets? It's unclear because no one knows for sure what is where," Putin said while addressing the 2017 International Forum on Energy Efficiency on Wednesday. He added there is no "100 percent knowledge" about North Korea's objects as it is "a closed country."

Meanwhile, Putin said, coercive rhetoric against Pyongyang and attempts "to speak from a position of strength" only give more power to the North Korean leadership. The Russian leader urged all sides to cool down their rhetoric and engage in dialogue.

"All sides must ease rhetoric and find ways for face-to-face dialogue between the United States and North Korea, as well as between North Korea and countries in the region," he said. "Only this would help find balanced and reasonable decisions. At any rate, it is not my cup of tea to define and assess policies of the United States president," Putin added.

The president stated that Russia cannot remain mute to the Korean crisis as it has a border with North Korea. "We have a shared border and the Korean nuclear testing range lies 200km away from the Russian border," he added.

Comment: A country perceiving itself to be backed into a corner is a danger to all. It must have options and a way forward to come to resolution. And therein lies the difference in Russian and American diplomacy.

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Magnet

US will stay in Afghanistan indefinitely, so say Pentagon chiefs


RT
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 17:54 UTC
Dunford Mattis
© Press TVGenerals Dunford and Mattis
Despite the $12.5 billion annual price tag for US involvement in Afghanistan, the US will continue its longest war indefinitely so that the Taliban don't think they can "wait us out," top Pentagon officials told Congress.

A bolstered offensive against the Taliban will drive the insurgents to a reconciliation that will end the war, US Defense Secretary James Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, testifying alongside Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford.

Previously, the Taliban had a timetable for the US leaving and it motivated them to fight, but they don't have such a timetable anymore, Dunford said, explaining the new administration's strategy to skeptical senators.

"We want them to have no hope of ever winning," Mattis said.

Many lawmakers at the hearing seemed to have lost hope for the US ever winning the 16-year war, the longest in American history, as they repeatedly asked if it was even winnable.

"Yes," Dunford replied.

"We're at a stalemate," Mattis acknowledged. "We're not at a point where we can bring an effective political solution to the war."

Comment: Clever strategy: stay forever. Given an admitted stalemate and no political solution to the war, the logical thing is...spend another $700 billion and put more lives in jeopardy.

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Question

War Powers Act: When did Congress vote to support the Saudi's Yemen war?

Gareth Porter
The American Conservative
Mon, 02 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
jets refueling
© PinterestMidair refueling, courtesy USAF
Lawmakers use War Powers Act to finally question legality of U.S. involvement.

The bill introduced by a bipartisan group of House members last week to end the direct U.S. military role in the Saudi coalition war in Yemen guarantees that the House of Representatives will vote for the first time on the single most important element of U.S. involvement in the war-the refueling of Saudi coalition planes systematically bombing Yemeni civilian targets.

In doing so, moreover, the bipartisan bill, H. Con. Res. 81, will provide a major test of Congressional will to uphold the War Powers Act of 1973, which reasserted a Congressional role in restraining presidential power to enter into wars without its approval in the wake of the Vietnam War debacle.

Since the Obama administration gave the green light to the Saudi war of destruction in Yemen in March 2015, it has been widely recognized by both Congress and the news media that U.S. military personnel have been supplying the bombs used by Saudi coalition planes. But what has seldom been openly discussed is that the U.S. Air Force has been providing the mid-air refueling for every Saudi coalition bombing sortie in Yemen, without which the war would quickly grind to a halt.

Comment: It is disturbing to think that H. Con. Res. 81 will be a revelation to most US citizens. (For that matter, Congress as well.) No matter if the US is operating offshore Yemen, it is still complicit by its service to Saudi attacks.

More on US Air Force's increased involvement in Saudi War in Yemen from MintPress News:
New data from the Air Force showed a 50% increase in the number of in-air refueling sorties US planes have flown in the past year, over the first year of the war.

This has been common in US-backed air wars, as the US has much more in-air refueling capacity than other nations. The refueling allows Saudi warplanes to remain in the air over Yemen much longer without going back to refuel, letting them launch more strikes.

All of this just adds to American complicity in the massive number of civilians the Saudi airstrikes have killed, which was already a problem because the Saudis were flying American-made planes and dropping American-made bombs. That the US is also directly fueling the planes just further undercuts the claims the US is trying to broker peace in Yemen.
And from Military.com:
Since April 2015, the Air Force has logged 1,778 tanker sorties for the operation, Air Forces Central Command spokeswoman Capt. Kathleen Atanasoff told Military.com on Tuesday. That includes 1,069 over the past year, an increase of 360, or 50 percent, from the 709 in the previous period.

"These operations are ongoing, with aircraft refueling occurring daily," Atanasoff said in an email. The service's tankers such as KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-10 Extenders participated in 7,564 refueling "events" with coalition aircraft, with "about 54 million pounds of fuel off-loaded in support of Saudi operations in Yemen," Atanasoff said.

Refueling numbers are tracked by the command but, unlike statistics on strikes and sorties against the Islamic State and the Taliban, aren't publicly released via the command's airpower summary factsheets.


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Shopping Bag

Maduro: Global oil trade in ruble and yuan currency basket


RT
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:04 UTC
Yuan, ruble symbols
© Reitersedoa/Pinterest/KJN
The President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has proposed oil producing countries should discuss creating a currency basket for trading crude and refined products. "Developing a new mechanism of controlling the oil market is necessary," he said on Wednesday at the Russian Energy Forum, being held in Moscow this week.

According to Maduro, trading paper futures has an adverse impact on the oil market, undermining attempts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to stabilize prices.

Introducing alternative currency baskets, including the yuan, ruble, and other currencies will eliminate the impact of futures trading, according to the Venezuelan president.

Maduro insisted Venezuela is dealing with its debt to Russia, and that Rosneft's deal with Venezuelan state oil producer PDVSA is "subject to negotiation." "We fulfill all the obligations to Russia. If we get more favorable terms for restructuring the debt, this will be the result of a deal between the two governments," said Maduro.

Maduro pointed out that US sanctions make it difficult to negotiate the debt issue with American debt holders. Caracas is framing a plan to deliver its crude to alternative markets should the White House impose sanctions on trading the country's oil, Maduro said in response to a question on the possibility of PDVSA's default. "Venezuela has plans A, B, C, and others. There are other international companies interested in buying oil and refined products. We will create the best terms for them," he said.

Comment: Dollar dumping will turn US markets into a proverbial 'basket case.' Venezuela is sitting on the largest field of black gold and its impact will change financial history, should Maduro succeed in 1) keeping this resource in Venezuela's control, 2) changing out the payment system to new currencies, and 3) staving off a revolution by outside influences.

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Nuke

US Defense Secretary: Iran compliant, stay in the nuclear deal


RT
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 17:26 UTC
Mattis
© Getty ImageUS Defense Secretary James Mattis
"I believe that they [Iran] fundamentally are [in compliance]. There have been certainly some areas where they were not temporarily in that regard, but overall our intelligence community believes that they have been compliant and the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] also says so," Mattis said during a House of Representatives hearing Tuesday.

"The point I would make is that if we can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement, if we can determine that this is in our best interest, then clearly we should stay with it," Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I believe at this point in time, absent indications to the contrary, it is something that the president should consider staying with."

Iran is "not in a material breach of the agreement," said General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "I believe that [the agreement] has delayed Iran's nuclear program."

Under the deal negotiated in July 2015, Iran agreed to reduce the number of its uranium enrichment centrifuges by two-thirds, cap its enrichment below the level needed for weapons-grade material, reduce its enriched uranium stockpile by 98 percent from around 10,000kg for 15 years, and allow international inspections.

In exchange, much of the international sanctions against Tehran have been lifted. Some US sanctions, however, still remain in effect.

Comment: Trump has to know that if the deal is scrapped, Iran would never knuckle under to more restrictions, no matter who was on the other side of the negotiating table.

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Boat

China seeks closer military ties, docks warships in London


RT
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 10:57 UTC
Chinese ships
© South China Morning PostChinese war fleet docks in London.
London and Beijing must forge closer military ties in a world that is "far from being peaceful," Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said, as warships from China docked for the first time in London.

Two Chinese 54A frigates from the 26th Navy Task Force arrived in Docklands in the lower Thames as part of a European goodwill tour. Liu said the arrival of the two 4,000-ton, 440ft-long frigates is also a sign of China's commitment "to world peace."

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Bad Guys

Why isn't NATO bombing Madrid like it did Yugoslavia?


RT
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 18:30 UTC
catalan independence separatist
© Francois Lenoir / ReutersCatalan Raimon Castellvi, wearing a flag with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag), holds a sign as he protests outside the European Commission in Brussels after Sunday's independence referendum in Catalonia, Belgium October 2, 2017.
It is a little bit late for the EU to remember international law on its Western border when it was ignoring it on its Eastern border, Marko Gasic, an international affairs commentator, told RT.

Catalonia's leader has vowed to declare the region's independence from Spain in the coming days.

Carles Puigdemont, the breakaway region's president, said he does not plan to delay the declaration of independence for much longer and is ready to "act at the end of this week or the beginning of next," he said in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday.
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