Puppet MastersS


Attention

Trump reportedly says US 'losing' war in Afghanistan, wants top brass reshuffle


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 15:34 UTC
US soldier in Afghanistan
© Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters
Seeking a more aggressive stance in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump reportedly vowed a radical reshuffle of his national security team, including firing a general who has been in charge of US troops in the war-torn country for over 16 years.

Details have emerged of a tense meeting with top military officials in mid-July, when Trump repeatedly voiced frustration over the current strategy in Afghanistan, where the US has been bogged down in war for 16 years. The US must consider new, more assertive ways of winning the war, Trump maintained, according to an NBC report.

One of the options he floated at the meeting in mid-July was the dismissal of Army General John Nicholson, commander of US troops in Afghanistan. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford would replace him, NBC reported, citing senior administration officials who requested anonymity.

Trump reported lashed out at military staff during the fractious meeting, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, accusing them of losing ground in Afghanistan despite having enough time to push for a decisive win. "We aren't winning," the president reportedly said. "We are losing."
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Rocket

Cut the Americans off from space? Here's how Russia could respond to new US sanctions

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 15:17 UTC
Launch of Soyuz-FG launch vehicle carrying Soyuz-MS spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome
© Maksim Blinov / SputnikLaunch of Soyuz-FG launch vehicle carrying Soyuz-MS spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The new US sanctions on Russia have angered the Kremlin, especially after Donald Trump promised to repair relations. With the American president increasingly looking a busted flush, Moscow is likely to deliver a forceful response.

In the end, it didn't take long. Just over six months after President Trump assumed office, the Washington establishment has, in the short to medium term at least, ended any hope of improved Russian-American relations. A humiliated Trump has been forced to publicly admonish his legislature for leaving him no option but to approve new coercive measures against Russia.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. On election night, Trump promised to have "great relations" with everyone. And that followed a campaign where he intimated he'd remove Obama's, comparatively feeble, anti-Russia penalties. Now, not only has he been forced to codify them, but he's also signed into law far stricter embargoes. Rarely, if ever, has an occupant of the Oval Office been so openly paralyzed by lawmakers and the deep state.

In truth, Trump only has himself to blame. Because while he self-identifies as a Reagan-esque historical-figure-in-waiting, bringing detente to the world, he's delivered only bombast and chaos. Instead of carefully building a coalition which would allow his, undoubted, deal-making skills to shine, he's spent the first eight months of his reign fighting the media and his own party. He also betrayed a bizarre infatuation with insulting TV presenters, something beneath the dignity of his office.
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Snakes in Suits

Who cares about the population, it's politics: EU blacklists 3 Russian nationals and 3 companies over Siemens turbines to Crimea


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 15:07 UTC
Electricity transmission lines
© Sergey Malgavko / Sputnik
The European Commission has decided to broaden sanctions against Moscow on Friday. More Russian individuals and firms accused of delivering Siemens gas turbines to the Crimea have been blacklisted.

The updated blacklist includes Russian Deputy Energy Minister Andrey Cherezov, the head of the department of operational control and management in Russia's electric power industry Evgeniy Grabchak and state firm Technopromexport CEO Sergey Topor-Gilka.

"Establishing an independent power supply for Crimea and Sevastopol supports their separation from Ukraine, and undermines the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Gas turbines are a substantial element in the development of new power plants," the EU said in a statement.


Comment: The EU proudly proclaims that it doesn't matter what the people want and what the people need. Western defined boundaries must be enforced come hell or high water.


Western companies are not allowed to do business in the Crimea. The region is under EU and US sanctions since voting to rejoin Russia in a referendum three years ago.
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Star of David

Israeli court hands ownership of Greek Orthodox church property in Jerusalem to illegal settlers


Middle East Monitor
Wed, 02 Aug 2017 15:06 UTC
Church of the Holy Sepulchre jerusalem
© Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu AgencyPeople gather outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which was opened to worship after the restoration in Jerusalem on 22 March, 2017.
An Israeli military court ruled that settler groups have the right to seize two hotels and a large building in the Old City of Jerusalem which belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.

The Church said the Israeli Central Court yesterday accepted lawsuits filed by settler groups against it regarding the Petra and Imperial hotels and the house of Mu'amadiyah in the Jaffa Gate area of the Old City.

Jaffa Gate is the closest to the Christian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the church owns several properties.

In a statement published yesterday, the Patriarchate condemned the court's decision adding that the court based its decision on "a deal concluded illegally with the person responsible for the church's financial department during the time of dismissed Patriarch Irenaios in 2004".
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Snakes in Suits

German FM warns Turkey's death penalty calls spell end of current EU relations


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 14:46 UTC
EU and Turkey flags
© Fatih Saribas / Reuters
Claims of the possible reinstatement of capital punishment in Turkey signal an end to the existing relations between Ankara and Europe, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.

"The core problem is that Turkey is distant from democracy," Gabriel said in an interview with Stern magazine, adding that "innocent people are imprisoned there."

The minister noted the crackdown on the media and shakeup in the police and judicial system in Turkey, which followed the failed coup attempt last summer.

In April, the Turkish people supported the switch from a parliamentary to presidential system in a controversial referendum, vastly expanding the powers of leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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Info

Trump rally: Investigators should look into Hillary's emails, not 'fake' Russia story and Governor turns Republican


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 14:11 UTC
Trump rally
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
President Donald Trump left a West Virginia crowd chanting, "Lock her up!" at his latest campaign-style rally, after he called on prosecutors to look into Hillary Clinton's deleted emails.

On Thursday, Trump traveled to Huntington, West Virginia to host a "Make America Great Again" rally. The president said Democrats were "cheating" American voters by obsessing over the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and told his supporters that they are "on the side of the special interest."

"The reason why Democrats only talk about the totally made up Russian story is because they have no message, no agenda and no vision," Trump said.
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Chess

Is Madame Merkel's being "up in arms" about Washington's new sanctions just a ruse?

Peter Koenig
Global Research
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
Merkel
Everybody with a clear mind is up in arms about the US Congress' latest sanctions against Russia - and as usual - sanctions for naught- zilch, zero - since Russia hasn't done any of the things Washington and the servile west accuses her of, like interference in US elections (US secret services have repeatedly said there is no evidence whatsoever), interference in Ukraine (Washington / NATO / EU have instigated and paid for the bloody Maidan coup in February 2014); annexing Crimea (an overwhelming (97%) vote by the people of Crimea for reincorporation into the Russian Federation - their given right, according to the UN Charter). Even if Russia wanted to, she couldn't correct any of her 'mistakes'. They are all invented.

None of the accusations have any substance. But the western presstitute keeps hammering them into the dimwitted brains of the populace. We can only repeat with Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister: "Let me control the media, and I will turn any Nation into a herd of Pigs". Well, the western Anglo-Zionist propaganda machine has successfully turned western civilizations (sic) into a herd of pigs.

Comment: While its possible that Merkel is putting on a show to get re-elected, she certainly would be supported by many in Germany if her sanctions push back was sincere: Germany seeks EU countermeasures against US 'illegal' Russia sanctions

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Bizarro Earth

Top US military official says US plans 'global' drills to counter Russia and other 'complex threats'


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 14:01 UTC
US army tank
© David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters
The US military is shifting towards a "more global" exercise program in preparation to deter what they term a "more assertive Russia" as well as countering other complex threats, a senior officer commanding the US forces in Europe has said.

"What we're eventually going toward is a globally integrated exercise program so that we (are)... all working off the same sheet of music in one combined global exercise," Air Force Brigadier General John Healy, who directs the drills of US forces in Europe told Reuters.

Healy said troops need to be prepared for increasingly complex threats across all domains of war - land, sea, air, space and cyber sphere. The general went on to say the training must include rehearsing possible conflicts and take into account the global nature of the military threats facing the US.

The goal of the Pentagon is to hold exercises that would involve troops from all nine US unified combatant commands instead of being limited to a specific region or a military branch, he said. Such drills could be staged as early as 2020, he added.
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Info

Russia plans to restore Gaddafi-era economic links with Libya


RT
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 12:08 UTC
Member of Libyan forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar
© ReutersMember of Libyan forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar holds a weapon as he sits on a car in front of the gate at Zueitina oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi.
Russia plans to resume contracts with Libya agreed by former leader Muammar Gaddafi. The infrastructure projects have been frozen since Gaddafi's assassination and the breakout of civil war.

"We plan to resign the contracts signed during Muammar Gaddafi's rule. This includes the previous agreements in the transport sector, construction of railways, energy, electrification and a number of others," said Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian contact team on Libya in an interview with Kommersant daily.

After six years of conflict, Libya is split between two rival governments. The western part of the country is controlled by Fayez al-Sarraj's Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli. The eastern regional government is under the control of General Khalifa Haftar, located in Tobruk.

While the UN backs the Tripoli government, General Haftar is supported by the Libyan National Army and a number of countries including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Comment: Russia Planning Talks on Libyan Settlement
Russia is thinking of holding intra-Libyan talks, which could eventually take place in Moscow or Grozny, the capital city of Russia's republic of Chechnya, Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian contact group on intra-Libyan settlement, said on Thursday.

"There are such plans. We are now actively negotiating with the Libyans. Several delegations from Libya have already visited Moscow and said they were ready to return to Moscow or Grozny," Dengov, who also serves as an aide to the Chechnya head, told the Kommersant newspaper, adding that he could not yet tell when exactly the talks would take place.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow supported the intra-Libyan dialogue and was ready to contribute to advancing political process in the country.


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Eye 1

Big brother's secret database: The FBI knows plenty about you but you aren't allowed to find out


Nextgov
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
biometric data
A new rule will prevent millions of people from finding out if their fingerprints, iris scans and other biometric information is stored in a massive federal database.

The FBI's Next Generation Identification system stores the biometric records of people who have undergone background checks for jobs, volunteer positions and military service, as well as of those who have criminal records. Effective Aug. 31, that database will be exempt from certain parts of the Privacy Act, a law that allows people whose records are held by the federal government to request more information about which records those are.

The exemption means the FBI doesn't have to acknowledge if it is storing the biometric records of an individual in that database; the bureau has argued that notifying people that they were in the database could compromise investigations.

Comment: How much does the FBI really know about you? Too much

FBI secretly ramps up biometrics; civil and criminal fingerprints combined into one database

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