Puppet MastersS


Pirates

Berezovsky's security chief arrested for illegal arms possession and possible role in terrorism


The Moscow Times
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 14:07 UTC
Sergei Sokolov
© Komsomolskaya Pravda / YoutubeSergei Sokolov
The late Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky's former head of security has been arrested on an illegal arms possession charge and is being questioned for his role in allegedly planning terrorist attacks.

Berezovsky, the self-exiled tycoon and former powerful Kremlin insider who helped President Vladimir Putin gain power, died in 2013.

Comment: More on Berezovsky:

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MIB

Drone attack on Russia's bases in Syria was likely CIA false flag

Finian Cunningham
Strategic Culture Foundation
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 13:34 UTC
CIA seal
The audacious multiple-drone attack on Russia's military bases in Syria is increasingly looking like a false flag carried out by the American Central Intelligence Agency. Sophisticated technology and a Ukrainian connection indicate that the swarm attack with 13 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was not the work solely of Syrian anti-government militants.

What's more the Russian government appears to have the incriminating evidence on who sanctioned the drone attacks against the Russian air base at Hmeimim and its naval port at Tartus on January 6.

The weapons failed to execute their deadly mission. Of the 13 drones used, seven were shot down by Russian Pantsir S-1 air defenses and six were safely landed by Russian electronic jamming technology. Those captured intact UAVs will have provided forensic information about what agency authored the plot.

Comment: The theory makes sense. While we cannot be sure if it was indeed the CIA, one thing is certain: given the sophistication and technology of the attack, one or more states or state agencies were involved. And which states would like to see Russia fail in Syria?

Previously:

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2 + 2 = 4

How national security agencies undermine American democracy

Philip M. Giraldi
Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:52 UTC
In the War Between Intelligence and the White House, Truth Is the First Casualty
central intelligence agency
There is a growing consensus among many observers in Washington that the national security agencies have become completely politicized over the past seventeen years and are now pursuing selfish agendas that actually endanger what remains of American democracy. Up until recently it has been habitual to refer to such activity as the Deep State, which is perhaps equivalent to the Establishment in that it includes financial services, the media, major foundations and constituencies, as well as lobbying groups, but we are now witnessing an evolutionary process in which the national security regime is exercising power independently.
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Bad Guys

The whole world is sick and tired of United States Foreign Policy

Darius Shahtahmasebi
Anti Media
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 12:40 UTC
US needs more war
According to four-star General Wesley Clark, in a 1991 meeting with Paul Wolfowitz, then-under-secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense, Wolfowitz seemed a little dismayed because he believed the U.S. should have gotten rid of Saddam Hussein in Operation Desert Storm but failed to do so. Clark summarized what he says Wolfowitz said:
"'But one thing we did learn. We learned that we can use our military in the region, in the Middle East, and the Soviets won't stop us. We've got about five or ten years to clean up those old Soviet client regimes, Syria, Iran, Iraq, before the next great superpower comes on to challenge us.'" [emphasis added]
This was certainly the case in the years that followed, as the United States used the pretext of 9/11 to attack both Afghanistan and Iraq with little to no substantive resistance from the international community. This trend continued as the Obama administration heavily expanded its operations into Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and even the Philippines, to name a few, right up until the U.S. led a cohort of NATO countries to impose regime change in Libya in 2011.

At the time, Russia withheld its veto power at the U.N. Security Council because it had received assurances that the coalition would not pursue regime change. After NATO forces began bombing Muammar Gaddafi's palaces directly, a furious Vladimir Putin questioned: "Who gave NATO the right to kill Gaddafi?"

Comment: Indeed, there is a pattern here, in which the usual US imperial adventures and the CIA's "fun and games" do not work as smoothly as they used to. There is a new sheriff in town, as Nikki Haley recently put it - except that it is not who Nikki thinks it is, but Russia and China.

Perhaps this is why the Trump administration has not initiated any new wars. It is not so much that Trump himself opposes such plans (his Deep State handlers certainly don't) but that they can't interfere as easily with Russia and China around and all other countries increasingly against the US.

Another interesting question is: What will Israel do when US supremacy vanishes completely? How will it get away with all its crimes?

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Hearts

Pepe Escobar: China's strategy in the Middle East - Make trade not war

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times Online
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:21 UTC
LNG terminal
© AFPAn LNG terminal in Yangkou Port in Nantong city, which is in China's Jiangsu province.
China's "Go West" strategy was brought into sharp focus at a forum in Shanghai last weekend. Billed as the Belt and Road Initiative: Towards Greater Cooperation between China and the Middle East, it highlighted key aspects of Beijing's wider plan.

The New Silk Roads, or the Belt and Road Initiative, involve six key economic corridors, connecting Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. One, in particular, extends through the Middle East to North Africa. This is where the Belt and Road meets MENA or the Middle East and North Africa.

Of course, Beijing's massive economic project goes way beyond merely exporting China's excess production capacity. That is part of the plan, along with building selected industrial bases in MENA countries by using technical and production expertise from the world's second-largest economy.

Again, this is will connect western China to the eastern Mediterranean. It will mean developing a corridor through projects such as the Red Med railway. There are also plans to expand ports, such as Oman's Duqm, as well as substantial investment in Turkey.

Comment: The idea of real Win-win situations instead of bullying, intimidation and blackmail is why more and more countries the world over are moving away from the US and towards the alternative presented by countries such as China and Russia.

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Better Earth

Koreas to march under 'united' flag in Olympic Games after first high level talks in two years


BBC
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 12:00 UTC
The
© AFPThe "reunited" flag symbolises aspirations in both the North and South to end the nearly seven decades of division
North and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single "unified Korea" flag at next month's Winter Olympics in the South.

They also agreed to field a joint women's ice hockey team in rare talks at the truce village of Panmunjom.

These are the first high-level talks between the countries in more than two years.

It marks a thaw in relations that began in the new year when North Korea offered to send a team to the games.

Comment: Any advance in relations is despite the US meddling and is instead thanks to the diplomacy of Russia, China and the Koreas themselves:

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Arrow Down

US-Canada summit on N Korea: "Not the slightest legality", a "provocation" and failed to provide alternative to Russia-China deal


RT
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 18:10 UTC
The Russian Foreign Ministry building
© Natalia Seliverstova / SputnikThe Russian Foreign Ministry building
The joint US-Canada summit is just a "heavy-handed attempt" to undermine the decisions of the UNSC, Russia's Foreign Ministry has said. It added that the meeting failed to provide an alternative to the Russian-Chinese initiative.

Participants at the Vancouver summit failed to provide any alternative to the existing Chinese-Russian roadmap for easing the Korean knot, the ministry said in statement. It noted that instead of coming up with any "constructive" results, the gathering demonstrated "absolute disrespect" for the authority of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
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Chess

Shutdown 'more likely than not' says Senate Democrat

Erich Wagner
Government Executive
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 00:01 UTC
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
© Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APSen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said that with the rhetoric "amped up on both sides," a shutdown is likely, though not desirable.
With just four days left to approve a spending measure, Congress appears to be on the precipice of a government shutdown.

Just last Thursday, developments on multiple issues seemed to be moving toward a bipartisan solution to the spending impasse, as a House committee chairman announced he would bring forward a long-term extension to the Children's Health Insurance Program and a bipartisan group of senators said they had reached a deal to protect participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program. Democrats have said these two issues must be resolved for them to support any spending package.

But shortly thereafter, The Washington Post reported that President Trump had panned the immigration accord in a meeting with Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in which the president reportedly asked why the United States must take in immigrants from "shithole countries" like Haiti, El Salvador and nations in Africa, instead of countries like Norway.

Comment: It's amazing how the obsession with the "shithole" comment, which was likely never said, is being used as an excuse by the Dems to stall and risk government shutdown. Trump was right when he said 'Democrats aren't going to make a (DACA) deal".

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Arrow Down

The US has no regrets for turning Haiti into a 'shithole'

Sir Ronald Sanders
teleSUR
Sat, 13 Jan 2018 18:06 UTC
haiti earthquake 1
© ReutersDestroyed buildings are seen after a major earthquake hit the capital Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010.
Haiti, for us in the Caribbean is more than just a member of our community; it is the first nation to rise up against slavery and oppression in our region.

The effect of the inappropriate depiction of Haiti, El Salvador and all African nations as "shit hole" countries is a matter that the people of the United States of America and their government and Congress should contemplate seriously.

The responses have been swift, showing a mixture of outrage and shock. At the time of writing this commentary, there has been no expression of regret about the comment that has done nothing but injures the relations between the United States and many countries. Hopefully, representatives of the U.S. in other countries will distance themselves from it, and apologise as discreetly as they can.

I am here concerned particularly with the remarks about Haiti, a member state of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the current Chair of the group's Heads of Government caucus. My colleague, the Ambassador of Haiti to the United States, Paul Altidor, rightly said, "We feel in the statements if they were made, the president was either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people." The United Nations spokesman Rupert Colville, described the remarks as "racist," adding that, "You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 'shitholes,' whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome."


Comment: Really? It's in pretty bad shape, so much so that Trump's 'statement' isn't too far off the mark.


Comment: Through no fault of their own, Haiti was turned into a 'shithole' country, but it doesn't mean it isn't. However it came about, it remains a terrible place to live. On the other hand, the US does an excellent job of forcing their 'shit' down everyone else's 'holes'. See also:

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Star of David

Watch Israel-Firster Nikki Haley groveling and pandering at AIPAC event (VIDEO)

Louis Heyward
Russia Insider
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 10:04 UTC
nikki haley israel
The level of insanity has reached an all new high when your diplomatic representative to the rest off planet Earth makes it clear that she is in fact beholden to a foreign government.

Watch as she panders to the Zionist! She goes the extra mile to make sure that they understand that serving Israel comes first, everything else is secondary.

She is an embarrassment to her country.


Comment: Nikki Haley's shameless words of support for apartheid state Israel deserve a place in the Hall of Infamy next to Hillary Clinton's 'we came, we saw, he died' and Madeleine Albright's 'we think the price is worth it'.

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