Puppet MastersS


Attention

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to run for President of Libya in 2018

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
A family spokesman has broken the news on Egyptian television.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
© EPA
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son and erstwhile heir apparent to revolutionary leader Muammar Gaddafi has confirmed to Egyptian television, through a family spokesman, Basem al-Hashimi al-Soul, that he seeks to run in next year's tenuous Presidential elections in Libya.

While Libya remains a failed state in the wake of the 2011 NATO war against the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, many have pinned their hopes on Saif al-Islam Gaddafi who since his release from captivity this year, has been touring the country and buildilng support among Libya's many tribal factions.

According to his spokesman,
"Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the former Libyan president, enjoys the support of major tribes in Libya so he can run for the upcoming presidential elections due in 2018.

Saif al-Islam plans to impose more security and stability in accordance with the Libyan geography and in coordination with all Libyan factions".

Comment: See also:

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Attention

US defense secretary James Mattis rejects war on Iran

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
James "Mad Dog" Mattis has injected some sanity into mad Nikki Haley's tirades.
Mad Dog Mattis
© Unknown
US Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis has refuted claims that the US is preparing for war on Iran after US Ambassador to the UN, Nikkie Haley led a bizarre press conference in which she stated that Iran has armed Houthi fighters in Yemen and thus violating the terms of the JCPOA (aka Iran nuclear deal). Haley did not provide any evidence to substantiate her claims, claims which are logistically impossible given the Saudi led blockade of Yemen which predates the JCPOA by nearly four months.
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Star

Russian Presidential election campaign has officially launched


Sputnik
Mon, 18 Dec 2017 00:53 UTC
The Russian upper house has issued a resolution on the launch of the Russian presidential campaign.

Moon over Moscow's Kremlin Tower
© Sputnik/Vladimir SergeevMoon over Moscow's Kremlin Tower
The Russian presidential campaign has officially started, the relevant upper house's resolution was published in Monday's edition of the government's Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

The Russian upper house, the Federation Council, officially set March 18, 2018 as the day for the presidential vote on Friday.
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Light Sabers

Investigations of Trump and Clinton stacked with 'conflicts upon conflicts of interest'

John Hayward
Breitbart
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 20:30 UTC
Hillary Clinton Donald Trump
© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer talked during his appearance on Friday's Breitbart News Tonight with SiriusXM hosts Rebecca Mansour and John Carney about the discovery of politically charged text messages between Peter Strzok, an FBI official involved in both the Trump and Clinton investigations, and his mistress.

"We all expect that people at the FBI are going to have private political opinions," Schweizer allowed. "You know, these people vote, and they have views, and that's fine. In this particular case, Strzok had particularly strong feelings about Trump."

He said the text message of greatest concern was part of a conversation between Strzok and the woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair, in which they talked about developing an "insurance policy" in the event Donald Trump won the 2016 election.

"They never sort of spell out what the insurance policy is, but it's kind of implied in the context of the communication and what's going on at the time, which is this FBI investigation," he observed.

"What is an insurance policy? I'd take out an insurance policy because I want to be prepared if disaster strikes. If in my mind a disaster occurs - a hurricane, an earthquake, a fire - I've got something in my back pocket to help set things right. Well, Strzok, who clearly did not like Trump and liked Hillary, said that they had an 'insurance policy.' In that context, what he seems to be saying is disaster striking would be Trump being president and that they had some insurance policy to sort of deal with that disaster," Schweizer explained.

Comment: See also: Democrats counter-attack, claim Strzok texts exposing FBI's anti-Trump bias are "irrelevant"

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Bizarro Earth

Inside Russia-gate without Russia, the scary void

Stephen F. Cohen
Consortium News
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Russiagate
© Der Spiegel/KJN
The foundational accusation of Russia-gate was, and remains, charges that Russian President Putin ordered the hacking of Democratic National Committee e-mails and their public dissemination through WikiLeaks in order to benefit Donald Trump and undermine Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, and that Trump and/or his associates colluded with the Kremlin in this "attack on American democracy."

As no actual evidence for these allegations has been produced after nearly a year and a half of media and government investigations, we are left with Russia-gate without Russia. Special counsel Mueller has produced four indictments: against retired Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's short-lived national-security adviser, and George Papadopolous, a lowly and inconsequential Trump "adviser," for lying to the FBI; and against Paul Manafort and his partner Rick Gates for financial improprieties. None of these charges has anything to do with improper collusion with Russia, except for the wrongful insinuations against Flynn.

Instead, the several investigations, desperate to find actual evidence of collusion, have spread to "contacts with Russia" - political, financial, social, etc. - on the part of a growing number of people, often going back many years before anyone imagined Trump as a presidential candidate. The resulting implication is that these "contacts" were criminal or potentially so.

Comment: Below is an interview with Professor Cohen on media malpractice and healthy skepticism of intelligence reports:



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Arrow Down

Former CIA Director Morell: We didn't think about the downside of the intel community becoming political

Matt Vespa
Townhall
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 05:45 UTC
MichaelMorell
© Common DreamsFormer CIA Director Michael Morell
Former CIA Director Michael Morell sat down with Politico's Susan Glasser, where he admitted that he and others from the intelligence community didn't think through the consequences of them becoming political last year. Last year, Morell wrote an op-ed in The New York Times that endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Within the agency, Morell sharked his way up the halls of the CIA becoming the chief intelligence briefer to President George W. Bush, and then acting director twice. Intelligence analysts serve the country. There is no politics involved in any of their analyses - at least not until Trump was elected. Morell noted that putting himself in 'Trump's shoes' did not factor into his decision to become political, and that is something he admits he fell short on concerning the backlash for the community. At the same time, he doesn't think that going public with that op-ed was a mistake.

Comment: The separation of aspects of the government, which included the neutrality of ancillary agencies, was meant to be a failsafe, a counterweight keeping the Ship of State on a straight and narrow course. With the abandonment of these principles, DC finds itself in political and moral free fall, the complacent public barely realizing the difference.

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Snakes in Suits

Merk and Mac say they would support EU move against Poland


Radio Poland
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 16:52 UTC
MerkMac
© Daily Express
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Brussels that if the EU's executive decides on such a move against Poland "then we will support it."

The European Commission is on Wednesday due to assess sweeping changes to Poland's Supreme Court and the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), an influential body that nominates new judges, which were passed by lawmakers in Warsaw last week. The Commission is then expected to decide whether to activate Article 7.1 of the EU treaty.

The article means that, at the request of a third of member states, the European Parliament or the European Commission, the EU Council can declare that there is a "clear risk of a serious breach" by an EU country of the bloc's values.

Comment: See also:

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X

Saudi Arabia to limit media coverage of Trump's Jerusalem move, take aim at Iran


The New Arab
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Saudinewspaper
© Al Akhbar
Saudi Arabia has ordered media outlets in the kingdom to not focus "too much attention" on Washington's controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, sources have said.

The Saudi royal court sent a "severe warning" to bosses of newspapers and television and radio stations this week about the issue which has sparked protests across the Arab world, sources told The New Arab on Thursday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they added that the directive ordered media to instead "take aim at Iran and other regional countries" in its coverage.

US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Wednesday in a move that has outraged Palestinians and drawn near universal condemnation. Trump also began the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Saudi royal court on Thursday slammed Trump's "unjustified and irresponsible" decision, in a surprise move that likely embarrassed Riyadh's leadership.

Comment: News: Image more than truth; perception more than facts.

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Snakes in Suits

UNSC weighs resolution nullifying Jerusalem capital decision

Max Greenwood
The Hill
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 03:04 UTC
UNSC vote
© JPost.comUnited Nations Security Council vote
The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council is weighing a draft resolution that would essentially seek to nullify any move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The resolution, drafted by Egypt and circulated among the Security Council's 15 members, does not directly mention the United States or President Trump, who moved last week to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel's capital city, according to Reuters, which viewed a copy of the text.

To be sure, any effort by the Security Council to call for the U.S. decision to be withdrawn would be largely symbolic. As one of the body's five permanent members, the U.S. wields veto power over any resolution, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is almost certain to shoot the measure down.

Still, the resolution has wide support on the council, according to Reuters, and the body could vote as soon as Monday or Tuesday on the matter. It would need at least nine votes to pass. A veto from the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Russia or China would effectively kill the resolution.

According to Reuters, the resolution
"affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council."
Please note: After opening remarks, the UNSC comments in English begin at 4:08.

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Footprints

Russian S-400 and Pantsir-S Systems to remain in Syria post troop withdrawal


South Front
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Russian truckthing
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Fomichev
S-400 and Pantsir-S anti-aircraft weapon systems will remain in Syria despite the recently announced withdarawal of Russian forces, Viktor Bondarev, former Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Chairman of the Defense, and Security Committee of Russia's Federation Council revealed on December 13.

According to the Russian state-run news agency TASS, Russia is not going to reduce its anti-aircraft capabilities in the country. Some number of helicopters, warplanes and military personnel still involved in the ongoing anti-terrorist efforts will also remain.

Earlier, the Pentagon said that the US had not observed any significant withdrawal of forces from the country.

"There have been no meaningful reductions in combat troops following Russia's previous announcements planned departures from Syria," Reuters quoted Marine Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman.


Comment: See also:

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