Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Israeli intel report: ISIS contains Iranian expansion - Terrorists will likely increase attacks against 'Iranian land corridor'


RT
Tue, 28 Nov 2017 23:42 UTC
WindupISIS
© Unknown
A new study from a think-tank closely affiliated with Israeli intelligence says that Islamic State attacks are among the few remaining weapons holding back an Iranian sphere of influence that could soon stretch from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.

"Iran, which previously displayed dexterity in exploiting every opportunity to enhance its standing as a regional power, wishes to capitalize on the vacuum created in Syria and Iraq by ISIS's collapse, to advance its ambitions in the region and play a central role in shaping the post-ISIS Middle East," says a 37-page report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC).

Although ostensibly an NGO, ITIC is part state-funded, has an office at the Israeli Defense Ministry, and has often served as the informal voice of the country's intelligence services.

According to the report's lead author, prominent Iran researcher Raz Zimmt, Tehran is seeking to stabilize the Bashar Assad regime in Syria and the Shia government in Iraq, which would help it "dislodge the US" from the region, and "escalate the threat posed to Israel, while creating a state of deterrence."

Comment: Israel, succumbing to its own insanity, believes it sees an opportunity to escalate conflict with Iran to its advantage.

See also:

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Chess

Is Trump's line on Syria prevailing in DC?

M. K. Bhadrakumar
Rediff
Mon, 27 Nov 2017 00:00 UTC
Trumputin
© The Daily Beast
Some of the confusion as to who sets the US policies on Syria may be clearing up. It seems Trump plays an influential role.

This first became discernible when despite the shenanigans of state department functionaries to scuttle a meeting between him and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Danang on November 10 (pleading 'scheduling difficulty'), the two veterans snatched a few minutes together the next day to be able to sign up on a US-Russian joint statement on Syria stressing an inclusive political solution through free and fair elections under a new constitution.

The very next day, however, senior state department officials began fudging the statement by injecting a dose of poison into it - by hinting at a continued US military presence in Syria (echoing an earlier remark by US Defence Secretary James Mattis) and reiterating the archaic demand that President Bashar Al-Assad just cannot be part of even the transition.

Moscow objected promptly to point out that the Trump-Putin statement did not require any annotation. At any rate, Putin touched base with Trump personally exactly 10 days later on November 21 (on the eve of the famous 'trilateral summit' in Sochi) where they simply picked up the threads of discussion in Danang.

Comment: Unfortunately, the arms to the SDF have not stopped.
See also:
Hundreds of truckloads of weaponry reach SDF, so much for Trump's promise

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Bomb

Kerry: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt wanted US to bomb Iran prior to nuclear deal


RT
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 14:56 UTC
Netanyahu/King Abdullah/Mubarak
© Haaretz.comIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu • Saudi King Abdullah • Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
The leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt all pressurized the US to bomb Iran prior to negotiations on the 2015 nuclear deal, former US secretary of state John Kerry said. He described the proposition as a "trap in lots of ways" for Washington.

Kerry, who chaired the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee before heading the US diplomatic corps in 2013, recalled how he met Saudi King Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his capacity as legislator. All three leaders lobbied him for military action against Iran. "Each of them said to me: You have to bomb Iran, it's the only thing they are going to understand," he said.
"I remember that conversation with President Mubarak. I looked at him and said: It's easy for you to say. We go bomb them and I bet you'll be the first guy out there the next day to criticize us for doing it. And he went: 'Of course, ha-ha-ha-ha!'" Kerry said. "It was a trap in a lot of ways. But more importantly, Prime Minister Netanyahu was genuinely agitating towards action."

Comment: Hindsight is always 20/20, narrations favorable, and speculation spot on when one is no longer in office. On the question of bombing Iran... it is still a trap. Kerry got that one right.

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Take 2

Tillerson accuses Russia of using nukes to establish a global balance of power


RT
Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:50 UTC
Tillerson
© Yuri Gripas/Reuters
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused Russia of using nuclear weapons to establish a new post-Soviet global balance of power and revive the Cold War threat. It is not yet time for US cooperation with Russia on counterterrorism, he added.

Speaking at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC on Tuesday, Tillerson said that Russia is using its nuclear arsenal to "impose its will on others by force." As examples of this behavior, he cited the "invasions" of Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014.


Comment: Pot, Kettle, Black. The US set the rules when it imposed its will on others by force from 1945 to 2014. It's an American century too late to whinge about others doing likewise now.


"With the end of the Cold War, the imminent threat that everyone faced for that 70 year period was now diminishing. What we now realize is it didn't," he said. "It's still defining itself; It's still searching for its role in the name of Russia."


Comment: Yes, and it has arguably found that role: world policeman.


Tillerson also criticized Russia for assisting the Syrian government - which, he said, showed "disregard for their own citizens" - in its battle against Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist groups.


Comment: Blah, blah, blah.


Comment: The shout-out to West Africa was obviously a reference to Chinese trading inroads in the oil-rich region.

All in all, the Trump admin messages are, as usual, a mixed bag of 'told to say,' 'had to say,' 'said anyway'.

That's why we keep an open mind that Trump may be attempting to 'turn the ship of state around', or at least stop it from sinking. In the meantime though, it's producing weird rhetoric because his people are so cagey about their intentions.

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Pistol

SDF spokesman: 'Hundreds of truckloads of US weaponry are still reaching us'. So much for Trump's promise to Erdogan


Sputnik
Tue, 28 Nov 2017 18:39 UTC
SDF fighters
© REUTERS/ Rodi SaidSyrian Democratic Mercenaries, er, 'Forces' near Raqqa, Syria.
Abdulaziz Yunus, who is in charge of foreign affairs of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has revealed to Sputnik that the US and the coalition have never stopped arms supplies, despite earlier reports that President Trump promised President Erdogan to put an end to deliveries to the Syrian Kurds.

"The US and its coalition continue providing their military aid. Any reports that the US has halted its arms' supplies are wrong and do not reflect the situation on the ground," Abdulaziz Yunus told Sputnik Turkiye.

He further specified that, only a day before, Washington had sent "hundreds of trucks loaded with weaponry," all of which have been brought from Qamishli, a city in northeastern Syria on the border with Turkey, to the districts of Deir ez-Zor, where the SDF is currently launching a military operation against Daesh.

Comment: Smoke and mirrors, or a delay in the game? Neither are a good sign.

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Cowboy Hat

Top US army general: 'We are gonna win in Afghanistan. I can feel it'


RT
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 03:34 UTC
US soldiers coffin
Winning in Afghanistan
The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan says the war has "turned a corner," a claim made verbatim dozens of times over the conflict's 16 years. However, this new military strategy has apparently been a real "game changer."

On Tuesday, US Army General John Nicholson, commander of the US and NATO mission in Afghanistan, told reporters that the "Taliban cannot win" under a new US strategy in the area. However, it is not the first time that US officials have made similar proclamations.

During a video briefing at the Pentagon, Nicholson said that 2018 would be a different year for US-led coalition forces in the country.

One hundred days after President Donald Trump announced his South Asia strategy, Nicholson said that the new plan has been a "game changer," which has helped put the Afghan government forces "on a path to a win. We can see the impacts already, especially in terms of our adversary's reactions," Nicholson said.


Comment: 16 years? This is a losing battle, and always has been. Never mind the new spin, more bombs and a military pep talk.

See also: The talking heads of war say that the 'corner has been turned' in Afghanistan again, and again, and again
"I'm a driver; I'm the winner;
Things are gonna change
I can feel it"


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Bad Guys

FCC Chairman says internet giants control internet and prevent open web


RT
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 20:14 UTC
virtual internet spying
© Lawyr.it
Internet giants are deciding what content users see and routinely block or discriminate against content they don't like, which makes them a threat to an open internet, the head of the US communications watchdog says.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) head Ajit Pai argued on Wednesday against critics who said the White House's move to reverse the Obama administration's net neutrality rules would spell the demise of the web.

Referring to so-called 'edge providers' - companies such as Google and Amazon that provide online services such as websites or streaming - Pai said: "They might cloak their advocacy in the public interest, but the real interest of these internet giants is in using the regulatory process to cement their dominance in the internet economy."

Comment: Much of what Pai says it true, but this doesn't mean that the FCC's new pursuits for internet regulation are sincerely designed to benefit the average American. It's actually just more of the same disguised as a new drama.

See the following for a good analysis: American 'net-neutrality': Censorship re-branded for a US audience

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Mr. Potato

Idiot Macron publicly 'humiliates' Burkina Faso president as French leader's Africa trip goes wrong


RT.com
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 21:08 UTC
Macron Burkina Faso
Emmanuel Macron's visit to Africa has been tainted not only by attacks and protest on his first stop in Burkina Faso. The president of the African nation apparently wasn't so much into French humor either, leaving the room during Macron's speech at a local university.

Meeting with the students of the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on Tuesday, the French leader reiterated his position that France's paternalistic approach to the African countries should be ended. The tradition of African nations reproaching France in case if something goes wrong should also be broken, he said, adding that the students spoke to him "as if he were a president of Burkina Faso" when complaining about the poor state of the university.

"Sometimes you talk to me like I'm still a colonial power," the French president said. "But I do not want to deal with electricity in universities in Burkina Faso," Macron added, smiling. Apparently warmed up by a mix of laughter, applause and whistling in the audience, he carried on. "It is the work of the president [of Burkina Faso]," he said, pointing at president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who was listening to Macron's speech from the same stage.

At this point, Kabore suddenly stood up and left the room. "He's leaving... Stay there! So, he went to repair the air conditioning," Macron shouted after the African state leader. The video posted on Macron's Twitter account has been edited to exclude his comments addressed to Kabore.





Comment: Macron's idiocy is stunning. He spends a good few minutes laboring the point that he is not the President of Burkina Faso and that the French colonial attitude to Burkina Faso should be ended, and then proceeds to talk tot the President of Burkina Faso as if he were a satrap of the French empire.


Comment: Yes, Macron encourages Burkina Fasoans to applaud French troops in Burkina Faso for their service in maintaining French influence in Burkina Faso to the detriment of local people while Macron applauds himself for lecturing the people of Burkina Faso for not taking enough control over their own country. Makes perfect double-speak sense. What else should we expect from the self-styled 'Sun King' Macron.

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Attention

Losing count: More women come forward accusing Democratic 'icon' Conyers of sexual harassment

Alex Christoforou
Red Pill Times
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 19:33 UTC
Rep. John Conyers conference
© Alex Wong / Getty Images
Three or five sexual harassment accusers for Democrat "icon" John Conyers?

Who can keep count anymore...Democrat leaders certainly cannot.

According to CNN, a third accuser has come forward, alleging Conyers made unwanted sexual advances towards her while working in his Detroit office...

Deanna Maher told CNN that Conyers made three sexual advances toward her when she worked for him in his district office in Detroit from 1997 to 2005.

Comment: Further reading:

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Info

Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren's in a pickle: Pretending to be Native will continue to haunt her in upcoming elections

David Catanese
U.S. News & World Report
Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:01 UTC
elizabeth warren
When President Donald Trump casually invoked "Pocahontas" during a ceremony honoring Native Americans on Monday, Washington's political class swiftly went into its familiar and usually unfulfilling ritual of trying to decipher his deeper intentions.

Was he attempting to purposefully distract media coverage away from the White House's skirmish with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Was he simply reaching for cheap levity among a group he was largely unfamiliar with?

Or did he view it as an irresistible opportunity to strike at a re-occurring political nemesis who he views as a gathering threat to his re-election prospects in 2020?

The president first deemed Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts "Pocahontas" in May of 2016. After Trump had become the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Warren began coming at him hard on Twitter, vowing to battle his "toxic stew of hatred & insecurity."

Never allowing an attack to go unanswered, Trump responded in kind on his favorite social media platform, blasting her "phony Native American heritage."

Comment: Back in 1984, the cookbook Pow Wow Chow included some recipes from Warren, allegedly passed down through her family from her allegedly Cherokee great-great-great-grandmother. But it turns out at least 3 of her 5 recipes were plagiarized:
The two recipes for Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing and Cold Omelets with Crab Meat appear to be word for word copies of a French chef's design.
A third recipe for Herbed Tomatoes appears to be lifted directly from a recipe in a 1959 Better Homes and Gardens magazine, down to Mrs Warren's instructions for how to enjoy the dish.
And then there's this from Breitbart:
O.C. Sarah Smith Crawford had no Cherokee heritage, was listed as "white" in the Census of 1860, and was most likely half Swedish and half English, Scottish, or German, or some combination thereof. (Note, the actual 1894 marriage license makes no claim of Cherokee ancestry.)

But the most stunning discovery about the life of O.C. Sarah Smith Crawford is that her husband, Ms. Warren's great-great-great grandfather, was apparently a member of the Tennessee Militia who rounded up Cherokees from their family homes in the Southeastern United States and herded them into government-built stockades in what was then called Ross's Landing (now Chattanooga), Tennessee-the point of origin for the horrific Trail of Tears, which began in January, 1837. [...]

These were the troops responsible for removing Cherokee families from homes they had lived in for generations in the three states that the Cherokee Nations had considered their homelands for centuries: Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

While these involuntary home removals were not characterized by widespread violence, the newly displaced Cherokee mothers, fathers, and children found an oppressive and sometimes brutal welcome when they finally arrived at the hastily constructed containment areas. An estimated 4,000 Cherokees were warehoused in Ross's Landing stockades for months awaiting supplies and additional armed guards the Federal Government believed necessary to relocate them on foot to Oklahoma.
See also:

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