Puppet MastersS


Windsock

Trump turns on ally Pakistan

Eric Margolis
The Unz Review
Sat, 13 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Taliban in Pakistan
© RT
Henry Kissinger rightly noted that it's often more dangerous being an ally of the United States than its enemy. The latest victim of this sad truism is Pakistan, a loyal ally of the US since the dawn of our era.

President Donald Trump's visceral hatred of Muslims (never mind what kind, or why, or where) erupted this week as he ordered some $900 million in US aid to Pakistan to be abruptly cut off. Trump accused Pakistan of lying and deceiving the US and providing a safe haven to Afghan resistance forces of Taliban ('terrorists' in US speak) battling American occupation forces.


Comment: Is this a fair Trump assessment: a presumed 'visceral hatred of Muslims' equates sudden funding cut-off? Or is it the safe-haven for terrorists excuse touted by Tillerson, and the unqualified liberties the US takes over Pakistani land that has fueled the rebuff?


Frustrated and outwitted in Afghanistan, US imperial generals, Pentagon bureaucrats, and politicians have been trying to cast blame on anyone they can find, with Pakistan the primary whipping boy. Next in line is the notorious Haqqani network which is blamed for most US military failures in Afghanistan, though its active combat role is modest. I knew its founder, old man Haqqani. In the 1980's, he was the golden boy of the CIA/Pakistani-led effort to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan.

Comment: See also:

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Pirates

US military, besides training Syrian militants, does not care if they choose to fight for terrorist organizations

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
US trains Syrian rebs
© AP Photo/ Hussein MallaCENTCOM trains Syrian militants
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM), the United States military branch responsible for North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, has admitted to a journalist that they only train militants and does not care if they join internationally recognized terrorist organizations afterwards.

Sharmine Narwani, an award winning journalist, asked a CENTCOM spokesperson what they thought of US-trained "rebels" allying with Al-Qaeda.

In response to the question, the spokesperson responded with "We don't 'command and control' these forces - we only 'train and enable' them...Who they say they're allying with, that's their business."

Comment: See also:
Syria: Russian journalists report on alleged US terrorist training network, civilian hell

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Sherlock

Russian media tries to work out source of attack on Syria air base, suggest terrorists 'achieved a new technological level'

Anton Mardasov
Al Monitor
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 12:00 UTC
Putin airbase syria
© Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik via REUTERSRussian President Vladimir Putin addresses servicemen as he visits the Khmeimim air base in Latakia province, Syria, Dec. 11, 2017.


The last day of 2017 turned out to be one of the gloomiest for the Russian military in Syria. First, one of its helicopters crashed north of Hama due to a technical failure, killing two servicemen. Then, rumors spread that on Dec. 31 militants had shelled the Russian Khmeimim air base, which President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had visited about three weeks beforehand.
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Chart Pie

Germany's central bank to include Chinese yuan in foreign exchange reserves


RT
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 10:35 UTC
Chinese Yuan
© Thomas White / Reuters
Germany's central bank has decided to add the Chinese currency to its foreign exchange reserves, according to Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret. The move could further boost the international status of the yuan.

Speaking at a finance forum on Monday, he said the decision was taken last year after the European Central Bank (ECB) switched €500 million ($611 million) worth of its US dollar reserves into yuan. The move reportedly reflects the increased use of the Chinese currency and Beijing's importance as one of the eurozone's biggest trading partners.

"It is not a major amount but it is something that we decided on and that we want to be part of," Dombret told Bloomberg. "The fact that the renminbi [yuan] is now included in the SDR (Special Drawing Rights) basket and the fact that the ECB has decided to do that are both factors we thought about."

Comment: More signals that the dollar hegemony is waning:

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Dollars

SOTT Focus: Why is The Trump Administration Selling Weapons to Ukraine?

Andrés Perezalonso
Sott.net
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 14:02 UTC
Javelin antitank missile
© GettyThe Trump administration approved the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.
Last month, the Trump administration approved the largest US sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine since 2014 by approving a commercial license authorizing the export of sniper systems to Ukraine for $41.5 million. A few days later, the antitank Javelin missiles that the Ukranian government requested were added to the sale - the total package is now valued at $47 million. Although the US State Department announced the measure as providing Ukraine with "enhanced defensive capabilities as part of our effort to help Ukraine build its long-term defense capacity", Russia has rightly suggested it will exacerbate the conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated that the US has become an accomplice in the war and that the sale makes it impossible for Russia to remain "indifferent".

Writer Daniel Larison calls Trump "a fool" for arming Ukraine, as Russia will respond more aggressively and will always outmatch whatever support the US gives, because it has far more at stake. The situation will lead to a "fruitless and unnecessary competition with another major power" - a power that Trump promised barely a month earlier to seek a good relationship with. Likewise, Professor Stephen Cohen is right when he says it doesn't make any geopolitical or strategic sense.
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Bad Guys

Macron and May might do deal where France promotes post-Brexit EU trade deal in exchange for UK accepting Calais and Paris migrants


RT
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 11:12 UTC
Emmanuel Macron will demand Britain pay more for border - reports Reuters/ Francois Lenoir
© Reuters/ Francois LenoirEmmanuel Macron will demand Britain pay more for border - reports
Britain could be backed into a corner and forced to take on more migrants and refugees - while paying millions of pounds to France - as French President Emmanuel Macron seeks to extend his influence in the European Union.

The young French leader is rumored to be plotting an offer for UK Prime Minister Theresa May which would rid northern France of its migration problem, and see a new border force area funded with British pounds.

Given the growing animosity towards Britain as Brexit looms, and Macron's popularity, Downing Street may have no choice but to accept.

And Macron has a trump card to play - if May agrees, he will offer French approval for a post-Brexit trade agreement.

Comment: Behind all the high-faluting ideals of European civilization, it's all just business in the end. Also check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Laptop

Campaign website of President Vladimir Putin up and running


TASS
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 20:31 UTC
Incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin will be running in the coming presidential election scheduled for March 18, 2018, which will be his fourth, as an independent candidate this time
Putin
© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS
The campaign website of Russian President Vladimir Putin who will be running for the nation's highest office as an independent candidate this coming March got started at putin2018.ru.

According to Elena Shmeleva, co-chair of Putin's campaign office, plans are to make this website as informative and convenient as possible.
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Bulb

Now would be a great time for the US to stop meddling with Haiti

Ryan McMaken
Mises Institute
Sat, 13 Jan 2018 00:00 UTC
Haiti map
© iStock
Earlier this week, President Trump allegedly disparaged Haiti, describing it as "sh*thole." The response has been what you might expect. It's been a torrent of demands for apologies from the Trump administration and commentary on how "troubling" Donald Trump's views are.

Upon hearing of such comments supposedly directed at Haitians, a well informed person might be tempted to think "if only this were the worst thing a US president has inflicted upon the Haitian people."

But, as is typical for the American left and the mainstream media, uttering mean words is the worst thing a politician can do. Actively meddling in another country's internal affairs and undermining its elections? Well, that's no big deal - unless you're Russia, of course.

Indeed, anyone who has any familiarity at all with the history of US-Haiti relations knows that the US has a long, well-established habit of intervening in the island nation - often in a brutal manner.

Comment: To add insult to the injury that generations of Haitians have received at the hands of the US, there's the fact that the Clinton cabal tried to "help" (or help themselves to) Haiti too:

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USA

America's Civil War - It's here, it's real and it's now

Justin Raimondo
AntiWar.com
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 20:27 UTC
The American Civil War
© Emaze
For nearly twenty-five years I have been writing in this space about war: that is, the wars we have waged against other countries. I've heard every possible rationalization for these conflicts, from "weapons of mass destruction" to "he's killing his own people" to babies being bayoneted in their incubators and on down the line.

Now that I've reached a milestone in my career as a chronicler of this kind of folly, and thought I'd seen it all, I've come upon something entirely new and that totally outdid my experience and expectations: civil war in America.

Oh, and you should hear the rationales! They make George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Richard Perle come off like paragons of honesty and rectitude.

According to a coalition of forces including the Democratic party, the FBI, the CIA, and most of the "news" media, the country has been taken over by Vladimir Putin and the Russian State: President Donald J. Trump is an instrument in their hands, and the independence of the United States has been fatally compromised: the President and his top aides are taking their orders from the Kremlin.
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Dollar

Lavrov: US forcing Europe to abandon Russian gas & buy more expensive American LNG


RT
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 11:31 UTC
barrels
© Igor Zarembo / Sputnik
The United States is afraid of fair competition in the energy sector, and is hampering the implementation of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"There is reprisal in the energy sector against North Stream 2. It is the US which is calling it politicized, leading to a split in Europe, and the strangling of Ukraine," he said at a press conference on Monday.
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