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Smiley

Turkey will not integrate its Russian S-400 into NATO's missile defense system

S-400 missile system
© Sputnik/ Sergei Malgavko
S-400 missile system that Ankara plans to buy from Russia will not be integrated into NATO missile defense system, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on Thursday.

"The Russian S-400 system will not be integrated into NATO missile defense system," Işık said.

On Wednesday, Turkish Defense Minister said that Ankara and Moscow made certain progress in talks on delivery of Russian-made S-400 air defense systems to Turkey, but the sides are still not ready to strike a deal.

Comment: Further reading:


Question

What's Russia looking for in Libya?

General Khalifa Haftar
Trojan horse.
Russia's engagement with Libya's General Khalifa Haftar serves anti-terrorist, economic and geostrategic purposes.

Moscow's unfolding strategy towards Libya could have a lot more to do with Cairo than observers realize.

The Western press' anti-Russian hysteria has spread to North Africa, with feverish reports circulating among the Mainstream Media warning about a speculative Russian special forces deployment to Egypt. According to the prevailing narrative that's being pushed, Russia is considering some form of clandestine or overt low-intensity military involvement in neighboring Libya, though this has been officially denied by Moscow. Rumors spread late last year about a possible Russian base in Sidi Barrani, which housed a Soviet-era facility during the Cold War and is also the scene of the latest chatter, but these were also refuted at the time, too.

Chess

The rise of China and fall of America

us china flags
The rise of China surely ranks among the most important world developments of the last 100 years. With America still trapped in its fifth year of economic hardship, and the Chinese economy poised to surpass our own before the end of this decade, China looms very large on the horizon. We are living in the early years of what journalists once dubbed "The Pacific Century," yet there are worrisome signs it may instead become known as "The Chinese Century."

But does the Chinese giant have feet of clay? In a recently published book, Why Nations Fail, economists Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson characterize China's ruling elites as "extractive"—parasitic and corrupt—and predict that Chinese economic growth will soon falter and decline, while America's "inclusive" governing institutions have taken us from strength to strength. They argue that a country governed as a one-party state, without the free media or checks and balances of our own democratic system, cannot long prosper in the modern world. The glowing tributes this book has received from a vast array of America's most prominent public intellectuals, including six Nobel laureates in economics, testifies to the widespread popularity of this optimistic message.

Yet do the facts about China and America really warrant this conclusion?

Comment: While economic progress isn't necessarily a zero sum game, the West, and in particular the United States, has based its neo-liberal economic policies around hegemony and containment of countries like China and Russia. So for the West, economic progress is seen and pursued as a zero sum game where the US and its vassals are the winners and everyone else is the loser. The mounting failures of such a system is evident, but to the Western ruling elite such signs aren't seen as warnings to re-evaluate their positions. Instead they double-down, which only results in more fumbling and ultimately, a crumbling empire.


Chess

Defense Secretary Mattis: Climate change is 'significant national security challenge'

Mattis
© DOD/MGN
US Defense Secretary James Mattis has said that climate change is a threat to US interests and the Pentagon's assets, a statement that is at odds with the beliefs of US President Donald Trump and others in his administration.

Mattis made the statements in his unpublished written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee after his confirmation hearing in January. ProPublica received excerpts of Mattis' responses, which were confirmed by Senate staff.

"Climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today," Mattis said. "It is appropriate for the Combatant Commands to incorporate drivers of instability that impact the security environment in their areas into their planning."

Comment: 17 Republican lawmakers have entered the fray, introducing their own pipe dream of 'climate change' legislation. How do they plan on stopping the Earth's climate from changing, as it has done countless times? Through good ole 'American exceptionalism' and 'green jobs' of course!

As RT reports:
While the bill does not explicitly state anything about green energy, it does call for "using our tradition of American ingenuity, innovation, and exceptionalism" to create solutions that address the causes and effects of climate change.

Stefanik, however, does specifically call for the use of green energy solutions, which she said are the "key to addressing the serious issue of climate change," in a press release.

"This resolution brings together the priority of addressing the risks of climate change with the importance of protecting and creating American jobs. Innovation and clean energy are key to solving both," she said.
Unfortunately for humanity, it seems our primary contributions to catastrophe and climate change are the hubris and corruption of so many public officials.

Check out:


Info

Pakistan successfully tests anti-ship missile

Pakistan missile test
© YouTube/Wajid ronyal
Pakistan's Navy on Thursday successfully tested a land-based anti-ship missile, local media reported.

According to the Pakistan Today news outlet, the missile launched from the country's coastal region has successfully hit the target in the sea.

The media outlet added that the anti-ship missile had been developed with the use of advanced technology and avionics.

The missile test was attended by Pakistan's high-ranking naval officials, who welcomed the activities of servicemen, who had conducted the launch, the outlet added.

Vader

The arrogance of Empire: South Korean news site claims US Delta Force, SEAL Team 6 practicing tactical "Infiltration" of North Korea, take out Kim Jong-un

navy seals
On March 1, the WSJ reported that the options contemplated by the White House in response to recent North Korean acts, include "the possibility of both military force and regime change to counter the country's nuclear-weapons threat." The review came amid recent events t [that] have strained regional stability including last month's launch by North Korea of a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, and the assassination of the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Malaysia.

And, according to a report in Yonhap, said "regime change" may come far sooner than expected: the South Korean website writes that U.S. special operations forces, including the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, will take part in joint military drills in South Korea "to practice incapacitating North Korean leadership in the case of conflict", a military official said Monday.

The U.S. Navy's Special Warfare Development Group, better known as the SEAL Team 6, will arrive in South Korea for joint military drills and take part in an exercise simulating a precision North Korean incursion and "the removal of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un", according to the Ministry of National Defense Monday.

Comment: Whatever geo-politcal game the White House may be playing, if the shooting starts, things will spiral out of control. The Korean Crisis: US' next phase of Pan-Eurasian containment
[T]he more realistic reason why the US instigated the Korean Crisis. In the larger scheme of things: the US is hoping that its provocations against Pyongyang can drive North Korea into simultaneously providing Washington with the indefinite 'justification' for THAAD and thus transforming the country into a troubling security liability for Russia and China. If successful, then Washington could cleverly prompt Moscow and Beijing into taking on the burden of dealing with Pyongyang and consequently making Kim Jong Un the ultimate international pariah by turning his last remaining partners against him.
More wishful thinking from the Empire?


Attention

President Trump says evidence of Obama's wiretap 'coming soon' in Tucker Carlson interview

Trump and deep state
In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson, President Trump covered a wide array of topics including the battle over the GOP replacement plan for ObamaCare, the recent "illegal, disgraceful" leaking of his tax records to twitter and media bias.

The most interesting part of the interview, however, is at the 10:45 minute mark, where Trump addresses the now infamous "Obama wiretap" tweet, saying...
"We will be submitting things before the committee very soon, that hasn't been submitted as of yet."

"I will be perhaps speaking about this towards next week."

"I think you're going to find some very interesting items come to the forefront in the next few weeks."

Chess

Theresa May shuts down 2nd Scottish independence referendum

Theresa May Nicola Sturgeon
© Russell Cheyne / ReutersBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (R).
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has blocked a second Scottish independence referendum, saying "now is not the time" for another vote.

A repeat of the 2014 referendum is not appropriate because the country is already going through a huge change in terms of Brexit, and Scottish people need a fuller picture before making any decision on the future, said May.

The move will create an intense political standoff with Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon, who will next week ask Scottish MSPs to approve her plans for a second referendum.

"My message is very clear. Now is not the time," May said, speaking to ITV.

Comment: Further reading: Theresa May, Britain's clueless Prime Minister, starts to unravel
The point is that it was only the High Court and Supreme Court decisions that finally forced Theresa May to spell this out. Had the High Court and the Supreme Court not made those decisions, it is likely that Theresa May would have invoked Article 50 sometime this month without making clear what sort of Brexit she wanted. The uncertainty would have been further prolonged, further souring the political climate and the course of the Brexit negotiations.

The trouble is that this inability to chart a firm course on Brexit - a serious enough matter in itself - is now becoming increasingly the pattern of Theresa May's approach to government. On issue after issue - Brexit, relations with Russia, Hinkley Point - Theresa May appears to stake out a firm position, only to retreat from it at the first sign of trouble.



Attention

Ukrainian National Guard blocks all roads to Donbass

Ukraine soldiers
All roads and railway lines leading to the frontline in Donbass have been cut off by the Ukrainian National Guard, National Police, and State Border Guard Service.

More than 800 troops have been deployed to checkpoints on the Ukrainian side of the frontline in Donbass. The blockade checkpoints are reportedly being reinforced with military vehicles.

"Pursuant to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, today all roads and railway lines leading to the demarcation line have been blocked by forces of the National Guard, National Police, and border guard services in order to ensure control over and prevent the illegal movement of goods," the National Guard's statement reads.

Comment: More on the latest Ukraine instability: Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko sidelined as Tymoshenko reportedly flies to Washington


Caesar

Zakharova: It's 'beyond common sense' that West won't condemn terrorism in Syria

Terror attacks Syria car crash bomb
© REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki
The behavior of Moscow's Western partners regarding the situation in Syria raises eyebrows, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman.

Russia's Western partners in the UN Security Council are constantly evading condemning terrorist attacks in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"Our Western partners in the UN Security Council, allegedly seeking to fight terrorism, as they regularly claim, act in a way that is beyond logic and common sense. They are evading, under various pretexts, condemning terrorist attacks in Syria," Zakharova said at a briefing.

She stressed that such behavior was reflecting the position of West toward Syria and its people.

Comment: Further reading: Syrian War in Perspective: The Rise of ISIS & America's 'Hellish Proxy War'