Puppet MastersS


Info

Germany once again caught between America and Russia

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:28 UTC
Martin Schulz (L) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
© Yves Herman / Reuters
Since Willy Brandt made Egon Bahr's "Ostpolitik" official government policy in 1969, Germany's leaders have been divided. Some want closer ties to Washington, and others demand a common European home with Russia. As voters prepare for the polls, the debate has kicked off again.

Over in Berlin, they've been enduring an election campaign so tedious that American media outlets are making its very dullness the story. Last week Quartz chuckled about how "Germany's election campaign is a snooze" and The Wall Street Journal's news-peg was "Stunning Plot Twist in Germany's Big Election: Wow, It's Boring."

Unlike last year's US Presidential contest, there are few fireworks and little showbiz. Instead of something like Donald Trumps "Make America Great Again" slogan, Angela Merkel's CDU is using "für ein Deutschland in dem wir gut und gerne leben (for a Germany in which we live well and happily)" which hardly rolls off the tongue. And their SPD opponents, led by Martin Schulz, aren't channeling Hillary Clinton's feistiness either with "Die Zukunft braucht neue ideen. Und einen, der sie durchsetzt (The future needs new ideas. And someone who implements them)."

The fact both realistic candidates for chancellor have so much in common removes the scope for the usual political jousting. Both are liberals who favor a strong European Union under Berlin's leadership. And Schulz appears to broadly support Merkel's 2015 decision to open German doors to millions of migrants.

Comment: For more on the German elections: 'Lost years' and 'stagnation'? Doubts linger as longtime leader Merkel on way to securing new term

Read More...
Map

Russian MoD announces strategic defeat of ISIS in Syria imminent


RT
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 14:21 UTC
Russian Su-25s take off at the Hmeimim base in Syria
© Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik
Russian jets have intensified bombing of ISIS positions around the city of Deir ez-Zor as the Syrian Army pushes to break through the encirclement. Once the blockade is lifted, the terrorists' strategic defeat in Syria will be sealed, Moscow says.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) controls the rural areas of the Deir ez-Zor governorate, while the provincial capital remains under control of government troops. The Syrian Army, backed by the Russian Air Force, is ramping up pressure on the jihadists to drive them out of the city.

"ISIL militants are still attempting to stop the advancement of the Syrian troops by relocating to the Deir ez-Zor region armor, pick-up trucks with high-caliber machine guns mounted on them, weapons and ammunition. They create fortifications with positions for artillery and mortars," the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Saturday.
Read More...
SOTT Logo S

SOTT Focus: Wolf Spotting: Why Antifa Is a Problem

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 15:55 UTC
Antifa
When Trump said there was violence on both sides in Charlottesville, jaws dropped. How could he? Let's look at the commonly acknowledged facts. On one side you had white supremacists, veritable fascists, and card-carrying members of the KKK. On the other you had anti-fascist counter-protesters who only want equality and compassion - a world without racism and oppression. One side is so obviously evil and degenerate, and the other is so obviously good and noble, that to equate the two sides must not only be morally wrong, but also a sign that Trump must secretly be a white supremacist. Unfortunately, pretty much every one of these "facts" is wrong, incomplete or misleading. And the collective blindness to that fact is seriously dangerous.
  • "Alt" fact #1: Not everyone protesting in Charlottesville was a white supremacist. It seems there were some fine people there. This goes both ways. I'm sure there were some fine people among the counter-protestors too.
  • "Alt" fact #2: As subsequent events at Berkeley have made clear, Antifa is more than just a group of well-meaning anti-fascist protesters. They are a radical group that endorses and commits violence against those they deem to be fascists. The MSM has finally noticed this (Nancy Pelosi too!).
  • "Alt" fact #3: Whether you think Trump is really racist or not, he was right to condemn violent extremists on both sides. Call me old-fashioned, but adopting the view that violence is justifiable only in self-defense is a good rule of thumb. But Antifa seems to have adopted the Bush doctrine on violence.
I watched a video of the protesters and counter-protesters in Boston a week or so ago. (I can't find the exact video this time around, but these two are worth watching.) The free-speech counter-protester made a comment about how Antifa protesters engaged in the same tactics as fascists. One of the Antifa people scoffed, laughed, and pointed out how the guy was making a "moral equivalency" between fascists and people fighting fascism and oppression. How could anyone reasonably do such a thing? Well, I doubt that person will read this article, but I'll try to explain why it's absolutely essential that we do exactly that.
Read More...
Chart Pie

Irexit: 'There are no longer any advantages to Ireland staying in the EU'


Sputnik
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 13:33 UTC
Customs building in Dublin
© AP Photo/ Peter Morrison
A growing number of commentators in Ireland are urging Dublin to follow London out of the EU; such a move would be beneficial because the EU has become more of a hindrance than a help to Ireland, Dr. John Anthony Coughlan told Radio Sputnik.

As the UK negotiates its exit from the EU, some voices in neighboring Ireland are calling for the country to follow suit.

According to economist Ray Kinsella, who wrote a widely-discussed op-ed in the Irish Times on Wednesday, the EU has become a distortion of the vision held by pioneers of European unity such as Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman. They were key figures in the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community in1951, the precursor to the European Economic Community and later the EU.

"It is a hegemonistic and increasingly militarized political behemoth, controlled by Germany and, to a lesser extent, by a Franco-German identity of interests. Europe is bound together by an oppressive dependency on the center. Political scientists know that even the largest of other countries play in the reserves," Kinsella wrote.
Read More...
Post-It Note

Moscow lodges note of protest to US over plan to search trade mission in Washington


RT
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 13:05 UTC
US Embassy in Moscow
© Google map
Russia has summoned the deputy chief of mission of the US Embassy in Moscow to lodge a note of protest over US plans to search the Russian trade mission in Washington, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Anthony F. Godfrey was summoned to the ministry on Saturday, it said in a statement, adding that Russian diplomats have been denied access to the trade mission building despite being owned by Russia and protected by diplomatic immunity.

"We consider the planned illegal search of Russian diplomatic premises in the absence of Russian officials and the threat we have received to break down the door of the building as an aggressive action, which the US intelligence service may use to orchestrate an anti-Russian provocation by planting compromising items," the statement said.

Moscow has called on Washington to stop vitiating international law and refrain from compromising the immunity of Russian missions in the country. Otherwise, retaliation may follow, the ministry warned.
Read More...
Radar

Trump and Moon 'conceptually' agree on revising ballistic missile treaty and arms supplies


RT
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 12:48 UTC
South Korean soldiers take part in a military drill held as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise in Yongin, South Korea
© Hong Ki-Won / Yonhap / Reuters
Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart have agreed to revise the joint treaty that limits the range of Seoul's ballistic missiles. South Korea also said its consulting with Washington about other possible "military options" against the North.

"The two leaders agreed to the principle of revising the missile guideline to a level desired by South Korea, sharing the view that it was necessary to strengthen South Korea's defense capabilities in response to North Korea's provocations and threats," South Korea's presidential Blue House said.

Under the 1972 agreement with Washington, Korea received US missile technology but agreed to "voluntarily" limit the maximum range of its missiles to180 kilometers. Citing the growing threat from Pyongyang over the years, it has been revised several times up to the current range of 800 kilometers with a maximum payload of 500 kilograms.

The White House said Trump "provided his conceptual approval of planned purchases by South Korea of billions of dollars in American military equipment," but made no mention of the missile treaty.
Read More...
Mr. Potato

Russia Jerks America's Chain: Smoke Seen Coming from Russian Consulate in SF


Sott.net
Sat, 02 Sep 2017 07:47 UTC
Russian Consulate San Francisco Smoke
Black smoke billowed from the roof of the Russian consulate in San Francisco on Friday afternoon in the aftermath of the US State Dept. ordering its closure. Firefighters arrived at the scene but were told there was no cause for alarm, the Russians inside were just 'using the fireplace'.

But to brainwashed Americans, the truth was clear for all to see: Russian spies in SF were burning top secret documents that explained exactly how Putin hacked the American election to ensure a Trump win.
Read More...
Chess

CIA on war footing against Pompeo after officials claim he's 'leaking info to Trump'

Wayne Madsen
Intrepid Report
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 21:06 UTC
Pompeo
© Jonathan Ernst / ReutersCIA Director Mike Pompeo
The Central Intelligence Agency is no stranger to "moles" feeding highly-classified intelligence to outside parties. The Cold War and subsequent years saw moles within the CIA being ferreted out by U.S. counter-intelligence officers. However, what is unprecedented is the fact that the current CIA director, former Kansas Tea Party Republican Representative Mike Pompeo, is suspected by CIA counter-intelligence officials of conveying critical intelligence on certain key CIA operations to Donald Trump and his close associates, including Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. It is well known that Kushner and his ex-con father, Charles Kushner, enjoy close relations with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Mossad.

What has CIA internal security and counter-intelligence personnel particularly worried is a decision by Pompeo to have the agency's Counterintelligence Mission Center (CMC) to report to him directly. The CMC is responsible for investigating Trump and the Trump Organization's links to a myriad of Russian and other Eurasian individuals, companies, and syndicates. Pompeo's decision was so egregious to CIA career employees, one or more leaked to The Washington Post Pompeo's unusual decision to have the CMC bypass its intermediate superiors within the agency's chain-of-command and pass on all relevant information on counter-intelligence operations, including raw intelligence, directly to Pompeo.


Comment: Pompeo himself said that, according to WaPo, having the CMC report to him was supposed "to send a signal to the workforce that this was important and we weren't going to tolerate misbehavior." Clearly those in charge of this fake investigation didn't like such a move.


Comment: Further reading:

Read More...
Info

Merkel: Berlin may further 'rethink' ties with Ankara after new detentions of Germans in Turkey


RT
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 21:13 UTC
Angela Merkel
© Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters
Two German citizens were detained in Turkey under unknown circumstances this week, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to announce that Berlin should "react decisively" this time and further "reconsider" ties with Ankara.

Merkel's main rival in the upcoming elections, Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Martin Schulz said this must be done in days rather than weeks.

The latest detentions occurred at Antalya airport Thursday, Germany's foreign ministry said. Berlin was not officially informed of the arrests and the diplomatic mission only became aware through "non-state sources," ministry spokeswoman, Maria Adebahr said.

Diplomats have not been able to contact the detained German citizens, she said, adding that while Berlin is "trying to establish what they are charged with," it is assumed that "it's a political charge, suspicion of terrorism, as with the others."
Read More...
Arrow Down

Crisis in the US Navy's Seventh Fleet

Anthony Clay
Encyclopedia Geopolitica
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 20:45 UTC
US Navy Seventh Fleet
© US NavyAircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) conduct dual aircraft carrier strike group operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in June 2016.
The United States Navy's Seventh Fleet is entering a tough period of scrutiny following two high profile and deadly warship collisions, a vessel running aground, and a less publicized collision all within a year. Despite this unfortunate recent publicity, this is not a new state of affairs. WESTPAC has long served as the tip of the spear for the U.S' warfighting readiness, and they have also been plagued with a history of avoidable errors. As the Asia-Pacific region remains a major center of geopolitical tension for the U.S, the Navy must solve these issues or find itself facing real crises with significantly degraded capacity.

While Seventh Fleet has found itself the focus of intense criticism in recent months, the reality is that the root causes for these incidents stem from three separate areas; Training, Operations, and Culture.
Read More...