Puppet MastersS


Arrow Up

Chinese diplomacy forces the US and North Korea to stop the 'war of words'

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
Trump Kim Jong il
As predicted by The Duran, Chinese diplomacy and Chinese warnings have forced Washington and Pyongyang to stop the 'war of words' which was escalating the crisis in the north Pacific.

Four days ago, following China's warning to the US that China would defend North Korea if the US attacked North Korea and sought to change its regime, and following Chinese President Xi Jinping's follow-up call to US President Trump, in which Xi Jinping told Trump to back off, I said in article for The Duran that I thought Chinese diplomacy was likely to succeed and that the recent war of words between the US and North Korea would soon abate
Read More...
V

SOTT Focus: No country for old monuments

J. Martin
Sott.net
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 23:58 UTC
Civil War Fighters
© Unknown
I am not come to argue with facility the nuances of states' rights, or the socio-economic causation of the American Civil War. I am not come to censure nor to support nor to give up an apologetic for either side. I am come to discuss the meaning of a monument, that strange word which enters our language from Latin - monere - to remind, through Middle English, in the form of monumentum denoting a burial place.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Mainstream media weeps over deaths of terrorist brigade White Helmets, a documented wing of al-Nusra front

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
white helmets Al-queda
In between reports about Charlottesville, race war, and Donald Trump, the Western media is also mourning the loss of several members of its terrorist PR brigade known as the White Helmets. Falsely labeled the Syria Civil Defense (the real Syria Civil Defense is a completely different organization), the White Helmets are a documented wing of al-Nusra Front.

Resting assured that its regular readers are unaware of the White Helmets' Nusra connections, Western corporate press outlets are parading the dead White Helmets as if they are an example of the "war on humanitarian personnel" in Syria which it disingenuously portrays as being the agenda of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Seven White Helmets members were shot and killed on Saturday by "unknown assailants" in Sarmin, Idlib near the Turkish border. All through rebel-held territory, propaganda vigils were held for the dead White Helmets, with participants carrying signs saying "Save White Helmets" and "The men of civil defense are used to saving civilian lives, but found none to save theirs."


Comment: Seven White Helmets members shot in head in Idlib - UPDATE


Comment: More evidence exposing the White Helmets as Al Qaeda co-workers and enablers:

Read More...
Info

Syrian probe finds chemical incident in Khan Shaykhun deliberately staged by militants


RT
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 21:33 UTC
man carries the body of a dead child, after gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, Syria
© Ammar Abdullah / Reuters
An investigation conducted by Syrian authorities indicates the Idlib chemical incident in April was orchestrated by terrorists, Syria's deputy Foreign minister has said, and that the US used it as a pretext to attack the Shayrat Airbase.

The "Syrian government has concluded its own investigation, based also on the results of analyses made by foreign governmental organizations. During the probe, it was conclusively determined that the so-called incident in Khan Shaykhun from beginning to end was staged by militants according to a prearranged scenario," Faisal Mekdad announced at a news conference in Damascus Wednesday.

The investigation conducted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which found traces of sarin in the samples of soil supposedly coming from Khan Shaykhun, where the incident took place on 4 April, has many flaws and cannot be deemed conclusive, Mekdad stated.

"The investigation conducted by OPCW specialists, to put it bluntly, is laughable and we told the organization about it. How can the organization analyze samples, delivered by the militants from another country?" Mekdad questioned.

"We suspect though, that such probes are just a formality. We'd like to remind that there's a crucial 'chain of custody' principle. Who can guarantee that the samples allegedly coming from the crater were indeed there? Or how they got there?" Mekdad said. "Who can guarantee the alleged witnesses would not falsify the facts?"

"The chain of custody requires control by an OPCW representative and not those interested in smearing the Syrian government and fabricating facts, used by the US to justify such terrorist acts as the strike on the airbase," he added.
Read More...
Yoda

Zakharova: US and UK should be investigated over claims they supplied chemical weapons to terrorists

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 20:21 UTC
zakharova
This week Syria has alleged that in addition to the already acknowledged arming of terrorists in Syria with weapons and vehicles, America and Britain also gave them access to chemicals which could easily be weaponised.

Specifically, chemical weapons confirmed by the OPCW to be in the hands of terrorists in Aleppo and Damascus are said to have derived from the US and UK.

Today, the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Zakharova stated,
"This information requires immediate verification by international bodies. This is not the first time when the western countries, namely, the representatives and the states involved in the US-led coalition, are suspected of supplying and supporting extremist groups, terrorists and militants. The information requires serious attention and immediate verification".
This crucial information that Russia intends to verify as soon as possible not only validates an OPCW report and mission which signed off on the fact that the Syrian government has not possessed chemical weapons since 2014, but that the terrorists in Syria which have been known to use such weapons may have obtained them via the United States and United Kingdom.
Read More...
Rocket

Iran has every right to develop its missile program

Dr. Alexander Yakovenko
RT
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 20:12 UTC
Simorgh rocket is launched and tested at the Imam Khomeini Space Centre
© Tasnim News Agency / ReutersSimorgh rocket is launched and tested at the Imam Khomeini Space Centre, Iran on July 27, 2017.
The launch by Iran on July 27 of a Simorgh rocket caused a lot of speculation aimed at putting additional pressure on the country under the pretense.

In fact, there are no international obligations, including UN Security Council Resolutions, under which Iran cannot develop national missile and space programs. The launch is not contrary to UNSC Resolution 2231, which only calls upon Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology."

The IAEA has concluded that Iran is not working on creating nuclear weapons. There is no evidence Iran is building an infrastructure for storage and maintenance of nuclear weapons, which could be easily spotted by existing technical means.
Read More...
Info

'Mind your own business': Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei scolds US after Charlottesville events


RT
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 19:59 UTC
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
© Iranian Supreme Leader's Website / AFP
After the events in Charlottesville last week, Iran's Supreme Leader has advised the US to get its own house in order before meddling in the affairs of other countries.

On Wednesday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to Twitter to advise the US to "manage their country, tackle #WhiteSupremacy rather than meddle in nations' affairs."

Khamenei used the hashtag #Charlottesville and included a black-and-white picture of himself holding a young black child.

The tweet was posted as a response to last week's rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which turned deadly after a Unite the Right march participant drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman and injuring 19 people.
Read More...
Attention

Mueller loses top FBI investigator in Russia probe

Mike Levine
ABC News
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 19:47 UTC
Robert Mueller
© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
One of the FBI's top investigators, tapped by special counsel Robert Mueller just weeks ago to help lead the probe of Russian meddling in last year's presidential election, has left Mueller's team, sources tell ABC News.

The recent departure of FBI veteran Peter Strzok is the first known hitch in a secretive probe that by all public accounts is charging full-steam ahead. Just last week, news surfaced that Mueller's team had executed a search warrant at the Virginia home of Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. And the week before that ABC News confirmed Mueller is now using a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., to collect documents and other evidence.

It's unclear why Strzok stepped away from Mueller's team of nearly two dozen lawyers, investigators and administrative staff. Strzok, who has spent much of his law enforcement career working counterintelligence cases and has been unanimously praised by government officials who spoke with ABC News, is now working for the FBI's human resources division.
Read More...
Snakes in Suits

'Not on negotiating table': US and South Korea to hold joint military drills despite calls to ease tensions


RT
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 19:38 UTC
South Korean soldiers
© Jung Yeon-Je / AFP
Annual joint US-South Korea exercises are non-negotiable and will continue as planned amid threats from the North, a top US military official said. It comes after Beijing called for "dialogue and consultations," adding that military means "cannot become an option."

The Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises, scheduled to begin Monday, are "not currently on the table as part of the negotiation at any level," said Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, as quoted by Reuters.

"My advice to our leadership is that we not dial back our exercises. The exercises are very important to maintaining the ability of the alliance to defend itself," Dunford told reporters in Beijing following a meeting with his Chinese counterparts on Thursday.

"As long as the threat in North Korea exists, we need to maintain a high state of readiness to respond to that threat," he added.


Comment: Washington is stubborn as ever. They can't see past being the aggressor towards the world.

Read More...
Shopping Bag

Ukraine's trade with Russia rapidly increasing


Russia Insider
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 19:35 UTC
Ukraine check point
Kiev is doing more and more business with a nation it claims is at war with Ukraine.

Ukraine's volume of trade with Russia collapsed after 2014. It will probably never recover, but it remains very significant for Ukraine, and what is more, is rising rapidly:
Despite the improving trade with the EU, Russia still plays an extremely important role in Ukraine's trade: the trade turnover with Russia was just under $5bn for the same period, with both exports and imports rising at the about the same pace as those with the EU.

After a heavy decline, exports to Russia are rising again, which were up by 26.4% in the first half of this year to $1.93bn. However, this increase off a very low base and prior to the current conflict Russia made up about half of Ukraine's trade with volumes in the tens of billions. Imports from Russia were up by even more, by 41.5% to $2.99bn.
Kiev claims Russia is at war with Ukraine yet it spends more and more money on Russian imports? Wouldn't that be treason if Ukraine's government truly believed Russia is occupying Donbass?
Read More...