Puppet MastersS


Blackbox

Turkey bombarding US 'partner forces' in Syria, and the US dares do nothing?

Marko Marjanović
Check Point Asia
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 12:00 UTC
Turkish artillery firing into northern Syria — home to ten US bases
Turkish artillery firing into northern Syria — home to ten US bases
Where is now that vaunted "collective self-defense of partnered forces" the US was invoking when it was shooting down Syrians, threatening Russians?

Last June a US Navy F/A-18 fighter plane shot down a Syrian Su-22 ground attack plane over central Syria. The Americans said the Syrian army jet had endangered "US partner forces" by dropping its bomb load "near SDF fighters" and their actions were therefore justified and "defensive".

In reality the Syrian jet had been on a bombing mission against ISIS which was just a few kilometers away, but became momentarily disoriented. It is not at all clear that the Syrian plane ever even released its bomb load, or that the US-backed Kurdish fighters were ever in any danger. Nonetheless the Americans attacked the jet over its own country.

Comment: That could be why all we're seeing from Russia are calls for exercising 'restraint' while Assad 'condemned' Turkish actions:

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Mr. Potato

SOTT Focus: British Defence Secretary Claims Russia 'could kill thousands and thousands and thousands' With Infrastructure Attack on UK


UK Telegraph
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 12:15 UTC
British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson
© AFPBritish Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson
The British defense secretary says Russia could kill "thousands and thousands and thousands" of Britons with a cyber attack that could cripple infrastructure and energy supply and cause panic and chaos across the United Kingdom.


Comment: And thousands?


In an interview with The Telegraph, Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson claimed Moscow had been researching the UK's critical national infrastructure to know how to damage the British economy and energy supply. He offered no proof.

Comment: The British ministry of defence fear is after funding, and they need an enemy 'out there' to justify it:

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Cloud Grey

Storm clouds are gathering over the Ukraine

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 19:56 UTC
ukraine donbass tanks
In a recent article for The Duran I wrote of how the economic situation in Ukraine appeared once more to be deteriorating, with economic statistics apparently being distorted to conceal the extent of the rise in inflation, making the claimed figure of 2% GDP growth in 2017 unlikely.

In a further sign of a deteriorating economic situation, recent reports from Ukraine speak of rolling electric power blackouts in some regions, suggesting growing energy shortages as the price of oil hikes.

In a symptom of how bad the situation has become, the Ukrainian government has quietly dropped its sanctions prohibiting coal imports from Russia, indicating that Ukraine is being forced to turn to Russia for imports of coal in light of the gathering energy crisis.

In this situation, as Paul Goncharoff has recently pointed out, the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal to force Ukraine to resume gas purchases from Gazprom actually helps Ukraine, since the gas Gazprom is able to supply Ukraine is actually cheaper than the gas Ukraine has up to now for political reasons been buying in Europe.

Comment: Stavros Hadjiyiannis comments in the source article:
I agree with everything that Alexander is saying here, except the closing statement:

"with the Western powers once again doing everything possible however thoughtlessly to aggravate the process, the country seems to be slipping back towards war."

The Western powers are not thoughtlessly aggravating the situation but deliberately so. A renewed conflagration in the Donbass (even if 100% initiated by Ukraine) will surely be portrayed by the Western media as yet more "Russian aggression" and may be utilized for any number of different tasks:

a) Put the Russian government on the spot right before and during the approaching Presidential elections, by forcing a serious dilemma on the Kremlin, either appear weak (by not responding adequately) or respond and appear as an aggressor and an adventurer.

b) Explain away Ukraine's dire and worsening economic situation as the result of Russian aggression, and not as is the case due to the self-defeating anti-Russian policies of the Maidean regime and even more crucially, the quite astonishing lack of any significant material support on the part of the both the EU and the US. In my view, the most underestimated and under-discussed aspect of the Ukrainian crisis is the complete unwillingness or incapacity of the Western powers in actually providing Ukraine with any significant economic benefits and/or opportunities. This simple fact, on its own, should seal the fate of the Maidan regime and everything it represents, but as long as Ukraine's economic suffering can be falsely blamed on the Russians, then the pro-Western Maidan regime can prolong its agony.

c) More "Russian aggression" can be utilized as an excuse for further economic sanctions.
See also:

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Wolf

Louise Mensch's pathology: Brit conspiracy theorist slanders US conservative pundit D'Souza with 'Kremlin kompromat'

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 10:46 UTC
Louise Mensch
These days, when America's political extremes clash online the results can often be unedifying. And Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy theorist Louise Mensch's latest questionable accusation is especially uncouth.

The notorious New York Times contributor alleged on Thursday morning (GMT) that Dinesh D'Souza, a married Indian-American conservative commentator, was a homosexual. She then further asserted how Russia had allegedly used this situation to manipulate the noted filmmaker and supporter of President Donald Trump.


Comment: It's no surprise that Mensch is working for an American newspaper since in the UK she's seen as the columnist equivalent of a sad being who's lost complete touch with reality and babbles loudly on a street corner.


"Dinesh, you're gay and had a one night stand with a man on a Navy ship, my sources said. And that was how Russia kompromated (sic) you as you were too cowardly to come out of the closet. There is a recording apparently. True or false?" Mensch tweeted.
mensch tweet d'souza
Class-A looper

Comment: Mensch and her ilk are almost certainly out of time: Is 'Russia Collusion' Narrative About to Come Crashing Down?

Generally, troubled beings like Louise Mensch should just be ignored - and not given a news column. However, in the interests of science and safety, since stupid people can be extremely dangerous when left to their own devices (and on Twitter), and the demented nature of their thinking can also be rather fascinating and educational, it's best to take a moment and flick through some of the articles posted below which will provide some insight into just how sick a person can really be yet still, apparently, function:

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Attention

Erdogan says Turkish forces will clear Syria of Kurdish fighters 'all the way to Iraqi border'


RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 10:35 UTC
Soldiers driving tanks
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
Turkish forces in Syria will go after Kurdish militias in Manbij after finishing the operation in Afrin, President Erdogan said. Ankara intends to continue fighting the Kurds all the way to the border with Iraq, he added.

The Turkish military launched a military operation in Syria targeting Kurdish militias in the enclave of Afrin last week. Ankara considers armed Kurdish groups in Syria an extension of the Turkey-based Kurdish militant group PKK, which it labels a terrorist organization. The US plan to train and arm the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militant force dominated by Kurdish militias, outraged Turkey, which responded with an attack on Afrin.

Escalating the situation on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the incursion will not be limited to Afrin, which is located in north-western Syria near the Turkish border, and that the Turkish troops will later advance on other Kurdish areas in Syria.

Comment: See also: Kurdish officials seek Damascus' protection as Turkey's Erdogan vows to return Afrin to 'owners'

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Chess

Kurdish officials seek Damascus' protection as Turkey's Erdogan vows to return Afrin to 'owners'


RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 09:55 UTC
Fighters from the self-defence forces of the Kurdish-led north
© Rodi Said / ReutersFighters from the self-defence forces of the Kurdish-led north hold their weapons during a rally in Hasaka, northeastern Syria, January 23, 2018
Kurdish officials in Afrin have urged Damascus to send troops to protect Syria's sovereignty from the "Turkish occupier." Ankara insists it will return the enclave to its "original owner" after its "liberation" from "terrorists."

The self-administrated, Kurdish-held enclave in the northern Syria issued a plea for help to the Syrian government on Thursday, reiterating its commitment to the integrity of the country.

"We reaffirm that the Afrin region is an integral part of Syria and that our forces are the people's protection units," it wrote in a statement, arguing that the Turkish military operation in Afrin "threatens the territorial integrity of Syria and the security and lives of the civilians."
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Info

Russian MoD: Syrian army finds terrorists' modern equipment of European origin


Sputnik
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 09:38 UTC
Anti-government Syrian fighter
© AP Photo/ Hammurabi's Justice NewsIn this photo taken on Tuesday May 23, 2017, provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group, the Hammurabi's Justice News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a US-backed anti-government Syrian fighter from Maghaweer al-Thawra stands on a vehicle with heavy automatic machine gun, left, next of an American soldier who also stands on his armored vehicle, right, as they take their position at the Syrian-Iraqi crossing border point of Tanf, south Syria
The US established a military base near the town of al-Tanf on the Syria-Iraq border back in April 2017, citing the need to carry out operations against Daesh.

"During the search at the site of the fight with terrorists, the Syrian forces found modern radio-electronic equipment manufactured in Europe, ammunition for light weapons and Daesh literature," the statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

The Syrian forces have also found banners and emblems of the oppositional Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo group, trained by US instructors at the al-Tanf training camp to form 'The New Syrian Army,' the ministry said, adding that thus the US was trying to impede the Syrian peace process by forming a pro-Daesh armed opposition that it would control itself.

Comment: See also:

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Dollar

How to win enemies: Trump orders Palestinians to 'accept Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or lose hundreds of millions in aid'


RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 08:28 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© Denis Balibouse / ReutersUS President Donald Trump walks in a corridor after a meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 25, 2018
US President Donald Trump has warned Palestinians they will miss out on US aid if they don't sit down and hold talks with Israel, after they snubbed the visit from Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump voices his threat during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"When they disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great vice president to see them, and we give them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support, tremendous numbers, numbers that nobody understands - that money is on the table and that money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace," Trump said.

"And they [Palestinians] are going to have to want to make peace too, or we're going to have nothing to do with it any longer," he added.

Comment: The US offered 'hundred of millions of dollars' to Palestinians through International Institutions, but it's not a bribe, it's 'courage to achieve peace'.

Peace with Israel is not possible if the status of Jerusalem is off the agenda, a top Palestinian official has said, rejecting Trump's claim that the US has removed the controversial issue from the negotiation table.
"Jerusalem is not off the negotiations table, rather the US is outside the international consensus," said Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Secretary Saeb Erekat in a statement.

"Those who say that Jerusalem is off the table are saying that peace is off the table," Erekat said. "The holy city is in the hearts of each and every Palestinian, Arab, Christian and Muslim, and there will be no peace without East Jerusalem being the sovereign capital of the State of Palestine."
See also: 'We will not accept occupation without cost, East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state' - Abbas urges Israel to rethink apartheid policies

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MIB

As walls close in on FBI, the bureau lashes out at its antagonists

Sharyl Attkisson
The Hill
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 01:50 UTC
fbi emblem
© Getty
What happens when federal agencies accused of possible wrongdoing - also control the alleged evidence against them? What happens when they're the ones in charge of who inside their agencies - or connected to them - ultimately gets investigated and possibly charged?

Those questions are moving to the forefront as the facts play out in the investigations into our intelligence agencies' surveillance activities.

There are two overarching issues.

First, there's the alleged improper use of politically-funded opposition research to justify secret warrants to spy on U.S. citizens for political purposes.

Second, if corruption is ultimately identified at high levels in our intel agencies, it would necessitate a re-examination of every case and issue the officials touched over the past decade - or two - under administrations of both parties.
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Eye 2

'Systemic failure of world order': Neocons Kissinger & elder statesmen 'take on' disaster they created


RT
Fri, 26 Jan 2018 03:00 UTC
Kissinger Schultz Armitage
© Mark Wilson / AFPNeocons rising from the crypt: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State George Shultz, and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage,
In testimony before the Senate, national security strategists from the Nixon, Reagan and Bush administrations identified nuclear annihilation, climate change and emerging technologies as major challenges facing the US.

Former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz were joined at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. They all referred to the rising threat of nuclear annihilation through the erosion of international cohesion rather than consolidation.
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