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800 plus bases, $596 billion budget. The massive US military machine summed up in this Infograph

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 14:04 UTC
US troops
The US military machine and its global presence in charts.

Trump's budget for 2018, proposes cutting lots of stuff, from the EPA to the NEA and even small cuts at NASA. One of the few departments that will not see any cuts was the US Department of Defense.

In 2015, Politico estimated that there are 800 U.S. bases abroad. The cots to maintain this massive military global footprint runs up to $100 billion annually.

The Visual Capitalist has summed up the huge US military machine the Infograph and accompanying charts below...
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Star

Palestinians present highest award to UN official who resigned in 'Israeli apartheid' report scandal


RT
Sun, 19 Mar 2017 23:45 UTC
Palestinian award
© REUTERS/Jamal SaidiPalestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabbour (L) stands next to U.N. Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf (C) while she holds a gift, an Arabic calligraphy that reads "All the world is Palestine", after a news conference announcing her resignation from the United Nations in Beirut.
The UN official who resigned this week over the Israeli "apartheid regime" report has been awarded the highest Palestinian honor. Tel Aviv immediately slammed the move as an act of diplomatic war, saying its an "outrageous" decision to honor the former UN official for her "libel".

President Mahmoud Abbas had personally called Rima Khalaf, the former chief of Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) to notify her about receiving the Palestine Medal of the Highest Honor in recognition of her "courage and support" for the Palestinian people, Wafa news reported.

The series of events began when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked ESCWA to take down the report, which was published on the ESCWA website Wednesday. Khalaf was forced to resign her post after she refused to comply with Guterres' request to take down the controversial study which accused Israel of being guilty of "policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid" against the Palestinian people.

On Friday, the UN affiliate removed the document from its website.

Comment: See also:

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Target

China's opposition to THAAD is sufficiently justified


Xinhua
Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:51 UTC
Hua Chunying
© fmprc.gov.cnChinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying
China on Friday said its opposition to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) was justified and sufficient, urging the Republic of Korea (ROK) to cease deployment of the U.S. missile defense system. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to reports that many people in the ROK do not understand why China opposes the deployment.

"China understands the ROK's concerns with maintaining its own security, but THAAD harms strategic balance in the region and is not conducive to stability on the Korean Peninsula," Hua said, noting that THAAD may even make the ROK less safe.

Hua said the coverage of the THAAD missile defense system, especially the monitoring scope of its X-Band radar, went far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and reached into the hinterlands of Asia, and could peer deep into Chinese territories.

"We do not oppose necessary measures that the ROK takes to maintain its national security, but such measures cannot be pursued at the expense of China's security," the spokesperson said. "We again urges relevant parties to face up to the essence of the issue as well as China's legitimate concerns and stop the deployment," Hua added.

Yonhap news agency reported Thursday that the X-band radar, a core element of the U.S. missile defense system, will arrive the ROK in the near future. "The ROK Foreign Ministry has clarified the issue, with the Chinese side, that the reports are untrue," Hua said, noting that China's opposition to the deployment of THAAD was clear and consistent.

Comment: China has legitimate concerns. If the reverse were true, the South Koreans and the US would be intolerant of this installation as well. See also:

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Shopping Bag

Merkel, Abe defend globalization, calling for EU-Japan free trade agreement


RT
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 13:11 UTC
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
© Fabian Bimmer / Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have called for a free trade deal to be reached quickly between Japan and the European Union, saying global markets can be both open and fair.

"In times when we have to argue with many about free trade, open borders, and democratic values, it's a good sign that Japan and Germany no longer argue about this but rather are seeking to shape the future in a way that benefits people," Merkel said on Sunday as the German and Japanese leaders opened the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover.

She added that Germany was strongly for open markets, saying "Of course we want fair markets, but we don't want to put up barriers."
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Green Light

Brussels' Molenbeek district home to 51 NGOs with potential terror links (says Jan Jambon)


Sputnik
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 13:04 UTC
Molenbeek, Belgium
© AFP 2017/ Emmanuel Dunand
A total of 51 of the 1,617 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) under observation in the Molenbeek district of Belgium's capital city may have links to radicalism and terrorism, local media reported on Monday, citing an in-depth police investigation.

According to the Derniere Heure newspaper, the confidential police report demonstrated that 17 NGOs in Molenbeek were suspected of having links to drugs, while eight could be tied to firearms and another 26 complicit in other illegal activities. The report added that 270 NGOs required a more thorough investigation.

The investigation also reportedly showed that no person from eight Brussels communities had traveled to Iraq or Syria to join the extremists in a year, save one who tried unsuccessfully.

Comment: Is this really an anti-terror op? Or is it an anti-immigrant op?

Who is Jan Jambon?

Jambon is a Flemish right-winger. He gave a speech in 2001 to mark the 50th anniversary of Sint-Maartensfonds, an association of former Flemish soldiers who fought alongside the Nazis against the USSR during World War II.

And thus it's fitting that for his kind, today, Muslims are 'the cancer' that must be 'exorcized'.

No surprises then that the ministry he is responsible for is thoroughly corrupt:

Corruption, prostitution, fraud: Belgian immigration officials caught in massive scandal

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X

No evidence Trump-Russia collusion, Flynn leak is 'the one crime we know of'


RT
Sun, 19 Mar 2017 16:18 UTC
press conference
© Aaron P. Bernstein / ReutersHouse Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes reiterated that "no evidence of collusion" between Donald Trump's team and Russia has been found ahead of the first public hearing on the matter. The Republican told Fox News Sunday that the leaking of former Trump aide General Michael Flynn's name to the media is "the one crime we know that's been committed."

He added that the Congressional panel, which is investigating accusations of Russia's interference in the 2016 US election, was also investigating whether the names of other Trump aides were leaked to the press. Nunes, who has previously stated that no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion has been identified by the committee, confirmed this was still the case going into the first public hearing on Monday of the investigation into "Russian active measures."

FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers are both scheduled to testify at the hearing.

The committee chair also addressed Trump's recent allegation that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped Trump Tower just before the Republican's election victory in November, with Nunes stating that no evidence of this has been found, either. Nunes noted that, as far as he is aware, there was no FISA warrant issued for this purpose.

Obama has denied the allegation, though the White House called on Congress to investigate the alleged abuse of executive power.

Comment: Is this insane? News outlets should somehow be accountable for what they publish and promote, as in having proof-in-hand or sources thereof. But, even with this stipulation in place, truth versus implication depends upon how something is presented, what is included/left out, the relevancy and so on. The goal has become less for accuracy in reporting and more to create a smooth line of distortion upheld by deception management. The "Russians hacking US election" scenario is one supreme example of purposefully shaping a story to a particular conclusion and selling it to the people. No facts needed. There is now to be a public hearing...on nothing.

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Pistol

Duterte: War on drugs continues, 'ICC won't stop me'


RT
Sun, 19 Mar 2017 17:07 UTC
Philippines drug enforcers
© Romeo Ranoco / ReutersMembers of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Philippine National Police
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said that he will not be intimidated by the prospect of trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) or impeachment, promising to eliminate drugs and corruption even if it costs him his presidency. "I will not be intimidated and I shall not be stopped just by what? International Criminal Court? Impeachment? If that is part of my destiny, it is my destiny to go," Duterte said, as cited by Reuters. "The drive against corruption, criminality and drugs will resume and it will continue and it will be brutal," he added.

A man, who claims to be a member of a "deaths squad," operating on Duterte's command, is expected to file a case with the ICC near the end of March or in April, accusing the president of crimes against humanity, his lawyer stated.

The president stressed that he was ready to give up everything to deliver on his campaign pledge to eradicate corruption, drugs, and crime in the country. "I will deliver on my promises, even if it would cost me my life, my honor, and the presidency. I can lose them all but I will comply with my promise," he said told reporters ahead of official visit to Myanmar and Thailand.

Over 8,000 have been killed in the Philippines since Duterte started his drug crackdown, with a third of the deaths resulting from operations of security forces reportedly involving "extrajudicial killings."

According to human rights groups, those killed by the police have not only been drug dealers, but also drug users - a claim which is denied by the government.

Comment: When the US enters a country uninvited and bombs civilians, hospitals, schools that result in mass deaths of families and innocent bystanders to actively supports terrorists, there is no action by the ICC, nor the UNHC, nor any other legal agency to hold it accountable for 'crimes against humanity.' There is none for Israel when it blasts Palestinian neighborhoods, steals land, kills children throwing rocks and semi-starves a population. Duterte may figure he has the odds in his favor as well.

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Info

Brexit begins: Date Article 50 will be triggered to start process of UK leaving EU now confirmed


RT
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 12:57 UTC
Big Ben in London
© Neil Hall / Reuters
Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 on March 29, formally starting the process for Britain to leave the European Union.

May will write to the EU next Wednesday announcing the beginning of Brexit. It will start the clock on a two-year countdown to Brexit and allow negotiations between London and Brussels to begin.

Tim Barrow, the UK's ambassador to the EU, formally notified the office of the EU Council President Donald Tusk on Monday morning, the Telegraph reports.
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Pirates

How does Islamic State and Tibet affect China's crackdown in Xinjiang?

Gabriele Battaglia
South China Morning Post
Sun, 19 Mar 2017 02:32 UTC
Chinese military
© SCMPAuthorities’ show of force in China’s restive western region follows a spate of terror attacks and an IS video featuring Uygurs.
The HEAT IS on in Xinjiang. A string of deadly killings, blamed on Islamist separatists, have rocked China's restive far western province and prompted authorities into an unprecedented show of force - and a social clampdown experts say has been imported from Tibet (西藏).

Huge military parades have taken place in Hotan (和田地區), Kashgar (喀什地區) and Urumqi (烏魯木齊) featuring thousands of servicemen, signalling the authorities' intent to "relentlessly beat, and strike hard against terrorism", in the words of the local Communist Party deputy chief Zhu Hailun. The show of force comes after a knife attack in February that killed eight people and a car bomb in December that killed five. In January, three suspected terrorists were shot dead in Hotan while resisting arrest.

Those attacks are just the latest grisly episodes in the region's years-long struggle against terrorism that has claimed hundreds of lives. Authorities blame the attacks on ethnic Uygur militants belonging to the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), though some critics doubt whether ETIM exists as a cohesive group, claiming the attacks are more a reaction to repressive government policies that target the Uygurs' way of life.

The spate of violence coincides with the release this month of a half-hour video by Islamic State that features Uygurs issuing the terror group's first threat against Chinese targets. The event has added credibility to warnings by Beijing of the potential for Xinjiang militants to link up with global jihadist groups. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told Xinjiang's delegation at the National People's Congress in Beijing this month that the area required a "great wall of iron" to keep out Islamic separatists. He also underscored the need for "ethnic unity".

Comment: Like a disease, the Islamic State has sickened mankind with its terror and demands. Driven from former strongholds, this curse of mankind is seeking new refuge and feeding grounds. Every country in its path has to come to grips with this scourge as it destroys and spreads its damage. It is now infecting and utilizing the Uygurs, an increasing distraction for China. See the pattern; know who to thank.

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Pistol

Afghan soldier opens fire inside Camp Shorab air base, wounds three U.S. soldiers before being killed


RT
Sun, 19 Mar 2017 17:49 UTC
crime scene
© Ahmad Masood / Reuters
An Afghan soldier opened fire at Camp Shorab air base in southern Afghanistan, wounding three US soldiers before being shot dead.

The injured American troopers are receiving medical treatment, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said.

Afghan military spokesman, Rasoul Zazai, told Reuters that the incident happened at 3 p.m. local time Sunday at Camp Shorab in the Afghan province of Helmand.

An Afghan special forces operative "lost his life in exchange of fire" after wounding three US soldiers, he said.
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