Puppet MastersS


Wolf

Columnist opines that Sweden should consider adopting Israeli methods against terrorism


Sputnik
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 18:20 UTC
violence sweden
© Markus Schreiber/Associated PressPolice officers guard the scene as a truck is pulled away by a service car after it was driven into a department store in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday, April 8, 2017
The deadly recent truck attack in Stockholm has left Sweden in shock and prompted politicians and pundits to ponder ways of possibly putting an end to such attacks altogether. Several Swedish experts believe that it is high time Sweden learned from Israel's experience in combatting terrorism. According to Anders Persson, a political scientist and Middle East researcher at Lund University, it's crucial that Prime Minister Stefan Löfven sees the truck attack into the context of radical Islamist terrorism rather than simply "violent extremism," which is the preferred nomenclature nowadays. If it's able to do so, Sweden may be able to copy Israel's experience in fighting Islamic terrorism.


Comment: Israel is a violent, apartheid state. Is that what Persson wants Sweden to become?


"Many Western countries, including Sweden, often criticize Israel openly, while they at the same time are secretly eager to learn how the country has fought Islamic terrorism and other security threats" Anders Persson wrote in his opinion piece in the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. He ventured that Sweden has much to learn from Israel's ability to tackle the latest cycle of violence, which is often called "popular terrorism."
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Propaganda

Fake News MSM misrepresents Putin's 'false flag' statement to make him sound crazy

RI Staff
Russia Insider
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 19:32 UTC
Putin listening
Yesterday Putin claimed that Idlib gas attack was a false flag and that Russia had information that more such "provocations" were in the works. Specifically he feared that one such was imminent in rebel-held southern Damascus.

A number of media outlets took that and reported that Putin was saying that the US was planning more chemical weapons false flags attacks in Syria. In fact Putin said no such thing, nor did he imply it.

As usual British tabloids led the way but crucially other, supposedly "respectable" outlets joined in. Mail, Mirror and Sun all went with one version of "Putin claims US planning fake chemical attacks" -- and the CNBC and The Independent joined in.
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Jet4

Russia could 'neutralize' the F-22 and F-35 before they even hit the production line


Sputnik
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 19:29 UTC
Russia’s state-of-the-art Defense Ministry Management Center
© Natalia Seliverstova / SputnikRussia’s state-of-the-art Defense Ministry Management Center
In a string of articles for The National Interest, columnist Dave Majumdar commented on the threat of Russian SAM systems to advanced American air power. Asked for comment, military aviation expert Viktor Pryadka told Sputnik that the US developments in stealth technology lag far behind Russia's creation of even more advanced air defense systems.

According to Majumdar, the use of fourth-generation US aircraft such as Super Hornets and F-16s in the areas where modern Russian air defense systems are deployed has long become 'inexpedient,' but the newest US combat planes have no guarantees against the S-400 and upcoming S-500 air defense systems, either.

The biggest threat to the US's new planes, the expert hinted, would be a full-scale echeloned Russian air defense network, focused specifically on the detection of stealth targets.
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Question

Trump administration on Syria: Two weeks, six positions, clear as mud


Voltaire Network
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:00 UTC
Trumpx6
© Andrew Harnik | AP PhotoSix is a tremendous number!
Over the course of two weeks, the Trump administration has defended 6 different positions on Syria:

- Until 30 March, it took the position that the President Bashar Al-Assad had been elected by his fellow citizens and therefore was legitimately in power. On 30 March 2017, his ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed that defeating the Syrian President was no longer a US priority.

- On 5 and 6 April 2017, after the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun, President Trump and his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson considered that Damascus was responsible; that it had "crossed the red line" and that Bashar al-Assad had to go. By taking these positions, they were reinstating the Neo-Con stance and specifically, the position of Hillary Clinton.

- From 6 to 10 April 2017, the National Adviser of Security, HR McMaster, and the Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, take the position that the United States has no interest in knowing if President al-Assad must stay or go, but how to prevent the use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere.

- On Sunday, 9 April 2017, during several interviews, Rex Tillerson returned to his previous position. For him, the priority was to destroy Daesh. The fate of President Al-Assad will only be envisaged following developments with Russia. This point of view was confirmed by HR McMaster. Nikki Haley declared that as far as she was concerned, the United State had multiple priorities in Syria and that peace cannot be achieved while President al-Assad was in power.

Comment: Well, that about covers most of a brain dump of options, wouldn't ya say? A little something for everyone.

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Tornado1

On the way out? Trump kneecaps Bannon

Mike Allen
Axios
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:00 UTC
steve Bannon
© Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via GettySteve Bannon
Allies of Steve Bannon fear the White House chief strategist is about to be pushed out, following the posting last night of an ominous interview with Trump by Michael Goodwin, a New York Post columnist and someone the president has been comfortable with over many years.

What it means: Axios' Jonathan Swan points out that if Bannon goes, there's no one of similar status in the White House who has the status to push the nationalist agenda to Trump - and more centrist figures are already ascendant (Jivanka, Gary Cohn). Without Bannon's voice, this becomes a much more conventional White House. It would be an acute normalizing of the staff, although no one can normalize Trump.

Comment: See also:

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X

George Galloway: Think about it - Assad's not 'mad enough' to carry out chemical attack


RT
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:30 UTC
George Galloway
© Andrew Parsons / Global Look PressFormer MP George Galloway
Syrian President Bashar Assad is simply not mad enough to have carried out the recent chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Syria, according to outspoken former MP George Galloway. Writing for the 'Westmonster' website, the former Labour and Respect MP said the idea that Assad was behind the recent suspected chemical attack at Sheikoun Khan was off the mark.

Major Western powers laid the attack at Assad's door and leading figures have said Russia is tacitly responsible as well. Syria maintains that the gas incident occurred after a conventional bomb hit a rebel chemical weapons depot.

"Syrian President Assad is no doubt bad enough to do anything at all to save his regime including the use of any and all weapons," Galloway writes. "But he's not mad enough to launch militarily insignificant chemical weapons attacks on an already beaten enemy and, hey presto, bring America directly into the war against him. Anyone who says otherwise is either a fool or is trying to fool you," Galloway warned.

Galloway urged readers to ask who would gain from such an attack.

"One only has to ask two questions. Why? And who benefits? That there is no conceivable advantage to the Syrian regime is obvious. That there is every conceivable advantage for the ISIS/Al-Qaeda-led rebels is equally obvious," he said.

Comment: As Galloway points out, there was no benefit for Assad, every benefit for the rebels. This was obvious before the missile attack. What then was the real reason behind the decision to bomb Syria?

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Question

Which is it: Rue, ruse or rule? Putin's options facing the US military junta

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 00:00 UTC
Putin
© NewsweekDecisions
How to rule a country which is a target of war by the mad figurehead of a military junta in another country? This is not a historical question about Joseph Stalin's options in August 1939, before he and Adolph Hitler decided on the time-buying ruse known as the German - Soviet Non-aggression Pact. Nor is this a current question about Bashar al-Assad and Syria, nor about Kim Jong-un and North Korea.

It's the question President Vladimir Putin is obliged to ask about Russia's options facing a US regime in which, as the Kremlin now acknowledges, a military junta has installed itself behind President Donald Trump. "We have seen this all before", Putin declared yesterday.

The president went on to say that he himself is in two minds on what is to be done, and rues having to make the decision. On the one hand, according to Putin, the US junta is preparing new operations for the purpose of escalating the war in Syria, as well as the war against Russia. "We have information from a variety of sources that such provocations (I cannot find another word for this) are being prepared in other parts of Syria, including in southern suburbs of Damascus, where they are planning to plant certain substances and accuse Syrian authorities of using them."

On the other hand, Putin also said, "we are ready to put up with that for a while in the hope that it will eventually lead us to some positive trend based on interaction. For consumption within America, there are reasons for this. Simply put, political opponents of the incumbent president are still out there, and if anything happens, it will be blamed on him. I have no doubt about that."

Comment: Insight into the inner workings of Putin's political/military system touches on the historical differences between Western process and that of traditional Russian operation. The US administration's military decision to bomb Syria has created a conundrum for Russian response. In some respects, what Mr. Trump inadvertently did was to place Mr. Putin in similar circumstances to his own with those in the Russian government who might advocate for war over patience and compromise. Where there might have been some hope going forward, there is now, at best, doubt.

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Umbrella

Putin's unlimited olive branch: Russia still hopes for better relations with US despite missile strike

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 00:00 UTC
Putin
© Huffington Post"Simply put, political opponents of the incumbent president are still out there, and if anything happens, it will be blamed on him. I have no doubt about that."
Russian President Putin hints missile strike was intended to resolve political problems within the US and between Donald Trump and the US's allies. He says Russia is prepared to let this process play out in the hope of better relations to come.

That the Russians conduct foreign policy in a radically [different] way from Western governments, and in way their Western "partners" find baffling, has once again been illustrated by the latest comments made today by Russian President Putin.

Most international attention has rightly focused on President Putin's comment that more 'false flag chemical attacks' in Syria are on the way. Putin is obviously right about this. Even without access to the vast treasure trove of information Putin gets from his intelligence services it is possible to guess it. I did so myself just a few days ago
..regardless of what exactly happened at Khan Sheikhoun, the Jihadis in Syria now know that all they have to do is stage a chemical attack and the President will oblige them by launching missiles on President Assad's forces without an investigation and without seeking Congressional or UN Security Council approval. That all but guarantees that staging more chemical attacks is precisely what the Jihadis will now do. One does not have to be a prophet to see how this situation could escalate from now on, even if that is not the President's wish, and how he is now in a much weaker position to prevent that happening.
However a more interesting comment Putin made today was arguably this one
Why is this happening? Everyone wants to restore relations in the Western community after - thanks to the former US administration - many European countries adopted an anti-Trump position during the election campaign. Syria and Russia, as a common enemy, provide a wonderful platform for consolidation. We are ready to put up with that for a while in the hope that it will eventually lead us to some positive trend based on interaction.

For consumption within America, there are reasons for this. Simply put, political opponents of the incumbent president are still out there, and if anything happens, it will be blamed on him. I have no doubt about that.

Comment: Putin is giving Trump a bit of rope...hopefully he understands how short it might be.

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Star of David

Israeli defense chief: 'Not be surprised if the Iranian president is assassinated'


RT
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:10 UTC
Rouhani
© LobeLogPresident Rouhani of Iran
The murder of a top Hamas operative last month was an inside job, Israel's Defense Minister has claimed, adding he would "not be surprised" if "somebody" eventually assassinates one of the fundamentalist organization's most ardent supporters - the president of Iran.

Following the shooting of senior Hamas member Mazen Faqha in the Gaza Strip in late March, the Palestinian liberation movement went on to blame Israel for the assassination, vowing a "divine punishment" to his assassins.

While Hamas' internal investigation into the assassination was reportedly completed, Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, that internal assassinations are characteristic of the group. "We can say with certainty that it was an internal killing," Lieberman said, according to Haaretz. "I wouldn't be surprised if, during the Iranian election on May 19, somebody assassinates the president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani," he added.

The Israeli defense chief did not elaborate on his statement about the potential assassination of the Iranian president, but it seems unlikely that Hamas would seek to assassinate the president of a country which shares parts of its ideology and has been known to help the Palestinian cause.

Comment: Israel is taunting the Iranians and seeding fear. Brazen bluster or a dangerous preamble? Is Rouhani to be yet another 'chosen one'?

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Stop

Foiled: Boko Haram's attack on UK and US Nigerian embassies


RT
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:00 UTC
Boko Haram
© Silverbird TVBoko Haram, Nigeria's nightmare
Nigeria's secret police have thwarted a plot by militant Islamist group Boko Haram to launch attacks on the UK and US embassies in the capital Abuja, the country's Department of State Services (DSS) has said in a statement. The DSS says it has arrested five people who had planned terrorist attacks on the embassies, as well as other Western "interests," to take place on March 25 and 26.

The forces reportedly uncovered the plot as they dismantled an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)-linked cell based in Benue State and Federal Capital Territory. The statement, signed by DSS official Tony Opuiyo, said: "The group had perfected plans to attack the UK and American Embassies and other western interests in Abuja."

Boko Haram, a terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria, has led an eight-year insurgency in the country.

It received worldwide condemnation following the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from the Nigerian town of Chibok, Borno State, in April 2014. While some of those kidnapped later managed to escape, and 21 were released thanks to government negotiations, more than 200 remain missing.

Comment: Boko Haram is aligned with ISIS and has been behind more than an alleged 20,000 deaths in Nigeria.

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