Puppet MastersS


Footprints

'Don't go!' Syrians grateful for Russian troops, but express concern over their withdrawal


Sputnik
Tue, 12 Dec 2017 15:56 UTC
Russiantroops
© Sputnik/ Michael KlimentyevRussian Troops • Hmeimim Airbase, Syria
On Monday, Putin arrived at Russia's Hmeimim airbase in Syria, where he thanked the military personnel and ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria to their permanent bases.

The skies of Syria's Latakia are filled with the noise of military aircraft, and it seems that no significant changes have happened in the city after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of a significant portion of Russian troops from the Arab state to begin, however, people seemed to be concerned.

"That's a shame, that is really a shame. But still, maybe it's a good sign," an employee of a hotel in Latakia says, looking up into the sky to see the aircraft flying above the city.

Sign of Victory And Peace

Mahmoud, a taxi driver, came to Latakia from a village located near the city of Homs in 2013. He had to leave his home when militants arrived in the village, killing, raping and pillaging.

"My village is one of the tens of thousands of examples in the country... I think every Syrian has a tragic story to share, the war has been going on here for a long time," Mahmoud says, adding that the actions of the terrorists showed that they did not care about the government or the president, but only about money and power.
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USA

SOTT Focus: Subverting American Democracy: The FBI's 'Insurance Policy' Against a Trump Win and the Dodgy Russian Dossier

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 19:07 UTC
trump deep state
© WhoWhatWhy / Gage Skidmore / Flickr / US Government
I sincerely hope that this is the very last time that I (or anyone else) will have to write about this topic. But here we go again.

New data has been added to the already sizable trove of evidence that clearly show that the FBI actively attempted to subvert American democracy by preventing Donald Trump from winning last year's US presidential election. When Trump won despite the FBI's efforts, the agency launched a 'Russian collusion' smear campaign against him in an attempt to hobble his presidency, in particular to prevent him from establishing closer ties with Russia and changing US foreign policy from one that promotes terrorism to one that fights it. Both of these measures would, of course, have been in the best interests of the American people.
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Eggs Fried

SOTT Focus: US Illusion of Democracy: The Idiotic Distinction Between Liberal Interventionists and Neocons

Andrés Perezalonso
Sott.net
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 21:35 UTC
army ejercito estados unidos usa
© army.mil / RT / wikipedia.org
Libyans, Syrians, Iraqis and Afghanis (to name but some) can be fully excused for being completely unaware of the fact that the United States of America is a democracy. As the preeminent global democracy, there are at least two subtly different ideological positions that made those countries targets for American bombs.

First, we have the neoconservatives, or 'neocons', who gave us the Project for the New American Century, the bombing of Afghanistan and the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, and who were prominent in government during the horrid George W. Bush years. They include people such as Bill Kristol, Max Boot, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and Michael Chertoff. They tend to be Republicans.

Then we have the liberal interventionists, or "the indispensable-nation crowd", as Katrina vanden Heuvel calls them (due to their insistence that the US is 'indispensable' as the global police), who also supported the Iraq War, cheered Obama's continued military adventures in Afghanistan, rejoiced when NATO bombed Libya and handed it on a plate to Al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups, and supported rebels in Syria (also terrorists), in the hope that they would topple Assad. This gang includes Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Michele Flournoy. They tend to be Democrats.

So here's the distinction between the two groups: One of them promotes military intervention and regime change in non-compliant nations, and predatory capitalist practices in complaint nations, for the profit of US business, and also unconditionally supports Israel. And so does the other.
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Bad Guys

Nikki "Tricky" Haley attempts to deceive press over Iranian missile threat


RT
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 18:23 UTC
Nikki Haley Iran UN
© Yuri Gripas / ReutersU.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley briefs the media in front of remains of Iranian "Qiam" ballistic missile provided by Pentagon at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, U.S., December 14, 2017
US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has described Iran as a "global threat" in a news conference outlining evidence of the nation's "destabilizing behavior" in the Middle East.

Under the current administration the US attitude towards Iran has hardened. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump claimed that a 2015 financial deal intended to limit Iran's nuclear program has helped the nation fund terrorism.

Speaking about the new strategy on Iran, ambassador Nikki Haley indicated US agencies and their international partners are currently scrutinizing Iran's ballistic missiles program, arms exports and "its support for terrorists, proxy fighters and dictators."

Comment: Saudi Arabia has had a two-year blockade on Yemen, making it impossible for Iran to sneak in ballistic missiles. Furthermore a UN panel found no evidence that the missile launched at Saudi Arabia originally came from Iran. In fact, the panel found that the missile was a modification of a type that came form North Korea. Both Yemen and Iran have bought and modified the same missile type, which has been conveniently ignored by the mainstream press. For further background on this deception see:

Yemen: Saudis throw in the towel - Saleh is baaack - Russia wins

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War Whore

Neoconservatives may finally get their generational dream war with Iran, from Donald Trump

James North and Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 20:33 UTC
Barak-Goldberg
The very day Donald Trump was to deliver on Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech about- the Iranian threat to the "entire world."
If Iran continues unabated, they will have a nuclear arsenal of 100 bombs and more.... This has to be stopped. Not merely because Iran calls for the annihilation of Israel, but because Iran wants to conquer the entire Middle East and go even beyond that. It's developing ICBMs to reach any point on earth.
Netanyahu seems to hope that after delivering on Jerusalem, Trump will also deliver on Iran- the attack that Netanyahu was unable to convince George Bush or Barack Obama to undertake.
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Padlock

Israel puts two Gaza border crossings on lockdown over security concerns


Sputnik
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 19:49 UTC
Israeli soldiers
© AP Photo/ Tsafrir AbayovIsraeli soldiers stand near the border with Gaza
The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that two Israeli border crossings with the Gaza Strip will be closed on Thursday over security concerns.

"Due to security-related incidents and after analyzing the current situation, the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is used for goods transfer, and the Erez pedestrian crossing will be closed tomorrow," the Army press service said.

Rocket launches and other skirmishes between Israel and Palestine have become commonplace since US President Donald Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel and directed the US State Department to begin making plans for the construction of a US embassy there. The decision caused criticism from many countries around the world, first of all in the Middle East. Earlier on Wednesday, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reportedly said that Washington had lost its role as a mediator in Middle Eastern settlement after this move.

Comment: See also: IDF spokesperson: Israeli military shoots down rockets fired from Gaza

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Vader

Extreme provocation: American F-22 fires flares at Russian Su25s in attempt to warn them away from 'our chunk of Syria'


RT
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 18:22 UTC
F-22 Raptor
© Toby Melville / ReutersU.S. F-22 Raptor
The Russian Defense Ministry has said that an F-22 got close to a pair of Su-25 jets, hampering them from escorting a humanitarian aid convoy. It dismissed reports of the Russian jets being "intercepted."

The incident took place Wednesday in the vicinity of the Syrian town of Mayadin, when a pair of Su-25 close air support jets were escorting a humanitarian aid convoy, the Russian Defense Ministry said. A US F-22 stealth fighter came from across the Euphrates river and approached the aircraft, firing flare decoys in front of them.

A Su-35 fighter jet, which provided cover for the Russian planes, "rapidly approached" the F-22 from the rear and the US warplane left the area afterward, the ministry added.

The ministry stressed that the incident occurred above the western bank of the Euphrates River, dismissing media reports that the Russian planes were allegedly operating over the eastern bank.
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Russian Flag

President Putin thanks Su-30 jet pilots for 'covering' his plane during Syria visit


RT
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 19:32 UTC
Russian President Vladimir Putin
© Michael Klimentyev / ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin aboard the presidential plane during a flight to the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria, December 11, 2017
Vladimir Putin has told reporters at his annual Q&A session how security for his recent visit to Syria was provided. Russian fighter jet pilots risked their lives, the president said, revealing how he watched their maneuvers from the window of his plane.

"The pilots, those guys, I watched them. They were not just flying nearby - during landing, they descended to be flying below our plane," Putin said. He explained that the maneuver was a dangerous one for the pilots of the fighter jets, but they chose to provide cover for the presidential plane.
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Chess

Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu reveals plan to open embassy in East Jerusalem


RT
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 19:16 UTC
Jerusalem
© Global Look PressJerusalem
Turkey's foreign minister has suggested that his country will consider opening an embassy in East Jerusalem once an independent Palestinian state is internationally recognized.

Speaking on Thursday, Mevlut Cavusoglu said there is a "serious determination" among the international community to recognize Palestine. The diplomat added that, once the world acknowledges the claim, he is confident there will be an influx of embassies and other diplomatic services into what would then be the new state's capital.

"We need to succeed in this," Cavusoglu said, according the Associated Press. "Once we succeed, embassies will open in the independent Palestinian state's capital, East Jerusalem."

Comment: Netanyahu said the resolution from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) "fails to impress us."
He added "the truth will win in the end and many countries will certainly recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and also move their embassies."

On Wednesday the OIC - which describes itself as "the collective voice of the Muslim world" - held an extraordinary summit in Istanbul at the behest of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting was called in response to President Donald Trump's December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and set in motion plans to move the US embassy there.


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Stock Down

Western sanctions against Russia have hit Germany the hardest - Export losses have hit 40%


RT
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 17:25 UTC
germany
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
Economic penalties introduced by the EU against Russia three years ago have become punitive for Germany, according to a new study published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, as quoted by German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"Germany accounts for nearly 40 percent of export trade losses compared to the Western countries, with other major geopolitical players far less affected," the study states.

The authors say that exports from the United Kingdom to Russia dropped 7.9 percent, while French exports declined by 4.1 percent. Trade between the US and Russia decreased by just 0.6 percent.

According to the institute's estimates, German exports are currently €618 million lower than they could be if the sanctions were not imposed. The analysts highlight that overall export losses due to the mutual trade restrictions have totaled €37.5 billion since the penalties were introduced. EU losses reportedly comprise 90 percent of that figure.

Comment: The Germans are experiencing the American way of doing imperial business - the ends justify the means and if you are a vassal state you just have to grin and bear it when their geopolitical strategies hurt you. At some point one would think they would tire of being under the imperial thumb and look to the East for an alliance that is actually beneficial to the country.

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