Puppet MastersS


Attention

Top special operations general admits Russia could easily kick the US out of Syria

Ricky Twisdale
The Duran
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 12:41 UTC
Raymond Thomas
General Raymond Thomas, who heads the US special operations command, says the US is in Syria illegally and could be forced out by Russia.

The commander of the US Special Operations Command, Gen. Raymond Thomas, has dropped a bombshell in an interview reported by Newsweek.

According to Thomas, his forces operating in Syria are in violation of international law and Russia has the legal high ground:
Here's the conundrum: We are operating in the sovereign country of Syria. The Russians, their stalwarts, their backstoppers have already uninvited the Turks from Syria. We're a bad day away from the Russians saying, 'Why are you still in Syria, U.S.?'

If the Russians play that card, we could want to stay and have no ability to do it.
This admission comes right on the heels of the revelation that US President Trump has ordered the CIA to cut weapons and training programs to Syrian rebel factions.
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Snakes in Suits

Top US general Dunford: Russia is no longer America's 'single' biggest threat


RT
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 12:32 UTC
A Yars guided missile system during the final rehearsal of the military parade
© Evgeny Biyatov / SputnikA Yars guided missile system during the final rehearsal of the military parade.
The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff no longer believes Russia can be "singled out" regarding Washington's perceived national security threats. North Korea, Iran, and China also top the list of challenges.

During confirmation hearings for his current post as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford described Russia as "the greatest threat to our national security," saying that Moscow's "behavior" was "alarming."

Two years later, Dunford reassessed his original analysis of the alleged Russian threat, claiming that there are other actors threatening US national security, with North Korea now constituting the "number one challenge."

"I said at the time from a state actor perspective it's Russia. And I said that because of their nuclear capability and their cyber capabilities," Dunford said at a recent security forum in Aspen, Colorado. However, he said the US military does not "actually have the luxury today of singling out one challenge."

"I just want to put it into context. If I was to say Russia is the greatest threat - it is one of the threats that we face right now and the one that is most militarily capable," Dunford said.

Comment: Good grief, US has enemies everywhere! Get used to it Dunford, the world is no longer unipolar!

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Bad Guys

Tim Hayward: On Bellingcat, Truth, and War (revised)

Tim Hayward
Tim Hayward Wordpress
Mon, 17 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
This is a revised version of the original post.


Comment: Bold text is the authors.


Tim Hayward
© Tim Hayward
Bellingcat has a difficult job. For those who don't know, it is "to set the record straight" when US-UK foreign policy is challenged on the truthfulness of its factual premises. The difficulty lies in trying to sustain a reputation for reliable and truthful analysis at the same time. For facts are recalcitrant. They can only ever be spun for so long until a misleading narrative, the effort of maintaining it spent, subsides into acquiescence with the truth.

Comment: For more on Serena Shim: Western intel op? Press TV reporter killed after reporting that ISIS terrorists are entering Syria from Turkey as 'undercover NGO activists'

More on Bellingcat: More Bellingcat buffoonery, this time on discredited Khan Sheikyoun "chemical" attack

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Radar

Don't Make Me Laugh: The Empire of Destruction's "Precision Warfare"

Tom Engelhardt
Tom Dispatch
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:19 UTC
precision bombing
You remember. It was supposed to be twenty-first-century war, American-style: precise beyond imagining; smart bombs; drones capable of taking out a carefully identified and tracked human being just about anywhere on Earth; special operations raids so pinpoint-accurate that they would represent a triumph of modern military science. Everything "networked." It was to be a glorious dream of limited destruction combined with unlimited power and success. In reality, it would prove to be a nightmare of the first order.

If you want a single word to summarize American war-making in this last decade and a half, I would suggest rubble. It's been a painfully apt term since September 11, 2001. In addition, to catch the essence of such war in this century, two new words might be useful: rubblize and rubblization. Let me explain what I mean.

Comment: The author is probably judging Trump a little too strongly here. Trump's hands are mostly tied and hampered by the powerful forces and plans of the US military establishment that were made literally decades ago.

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Heart - Black

Israel's perspective: The supply of aid and food falls within the definition of "humanitarian" - even if it's to Al Qaeda

Translated by Anoosha Boralessa
Voltaire Network
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
Jihadi aid

Tsahal has revealed part of the "Good neighbor" operation that it has been leading in Syria for the past six years.

According to the Jewish News Service, the Israeli Defense Forces have brought aid to more than 4,000 Syrians that have been injured, more than 500 of which are children. The Israelis have delivered more than 450,000 litres of fuel, 40 tonnes of flour, 225 tonnes of foodstuffs, 12,000 kits for babies, 1,800 packets of nappies, 12 tonnes of shoes and 55 tons of clothes to face the cold.

The communication from Tsahal seems intended for internal usage to calm its population, troubled by the support Tel-Aviv is lending to the jihadists. It is accompanied by a video that has no hesitation in mixing authentic videos with clips that MI6 has filmed in the North of the country (in other words, outside the zone covered by "the Good neighbor").


Comment: So there are some sane people in Israel who are finally getting wind of their government's wrongdoings, and some good photo ops were needed to maintain the facade of illusion of Israeli benevolence.

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Info

Critics of US 'Israel Anti-Boycott Act' claim even requests for information could expose citizens to penalties

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 20:11 UTC
Faiz Shakir of ACLU
Faiz Shakir of ACLU
The bill in Congress that could make it a felony punishable by prison-time to advocate for boycott against Israel is causing a big splash in liberal and progressive waters. Numerous organizations have come out against the bill, including J Street, which warns against giving the Trump administration any power to "lock them up."

Though there is also considerable confusion about just what the law would allow the government to do. The ACLU says that "simply requesting information about such boycotts" could expose a person to penalties. But Jewish Voice for Peace warns its followers not to let the bill chill their advocacy, because it "does not make it illegal for individual consumers to boycott Israeli or settlement products."

Comment: Also see: US bill making it a federal crime to support BDS sends shockwaves through progressive community

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Bad Guys

Eyewitness report: Cold arm of 'jihad' sponsored by the West is reaching rebellious Philippines

Andre Vltchek
New Eastern Outlook
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 19:41 UTC
Marawi City
A month ago I wrote an essay exposing the complex network of Western-sponsored terrorism in Asia ("Washington Jihad Express: Indonesia, Afghanistan, Syria and Philippines"). I argued that in the 1980's, Indonesian and Malaysian jihadists, indoctrinated by the Southeast Asian brand of extreme anti-Communism, went to fight in Afghanistan against the socialist governments of Karmal, and then Mohammad Najibullah, with the ultimate goal of destroying the Soviet Union. Hardened and further brainwashed, they returned home to Southeast Asia, participated in several ethnic strifes and pogroms (including those in Ambon and Poso), and then, in order to 'bridge the generational gap', embarked on the coaching of young generation of terrorists, who eventually ended up fighting in Syria and recently in the Philippines.

My essay was full of facts, and I put into it various testimonies of Southeast Asian academics, thinkers, and even of one active and prominent 'jihadi cadre' who is now living in Jakarta.
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Network

Russian Duma passes bill targeting anonymity of internet messengers


RT
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 19:02 UTC
WhatsApp logo
© Natalia Seliverstova / Sputnik
The Russian lower house has given a final nod to bills obliging companies that own internet messengers to verify the identity of every user and banning various services that allow users to visit prohibited internet sites.

Both bills were drafted in early June by joint groups of lawmakers representing the centrist parliamentary majority party United Russia, the Communist Party and the center-left Fair Russia.

The bill on internet messengers obliges companies that provide this service to verify the identity of every user. The proposed means of identification is through users providing a mobile phone number.

In the same package of bills, the lower house passed the motion tightening the rules on the sale of mobile accounts, aiming to bar users from giving cell phone providers false data about themselves.
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Info

Russian MOD confirms agreement on E. Ghouta safe zone signed, borders established


Sputnik
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 18:58 UTC
ghouta syria
© REUTERS/ Bassam Khabieh
The agreements on functioning of Eastern Ghouta de-escalation zone in Syria have been signed, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.

The agreements, which were signed in Cairo, Egypt, define borders of the de-escalation zone and locations of control powers, according to the statement.

"These documents define the borders of the de-escalation zone, the deployment sites and powers of the de-escalation control forces, as well as the routes for delivering humanitarian aid and clear passage to the population," the ministry said.

The ministry noted that the first humanitarian convoy to the Eastern Ghouta de-escalation zone is expected in nearest time. It will be followed by the evacuation of wounded civilians for East Ghouta.

The documents have been signed in the development of the Astana agreements with the mediation of the Egyptian side, it added.

Comment: The Syrian Army announced the ceasefire today, which took effect at noon local time. The leader of the terrorist group Jaysh al-Islam (Saudi-backed) confirmed their participation in the agreement. But the "Al-Rahman Legion" (Qatari-backed) refused to sign up.

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Info

Hungarian PM Orban vows to support Poland against Brussels "inquisition offensive" over its judicial reforms


RT
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 18:00 UTC
Victor Orban support Poland judicial reforms
© Global Look PressKnown for his vehement opposition to the EU’s migration policy, Orban remains defiant, claiming that Hungary can’t “show solidarity with ideas and peoples whose goal is to change our lives.”
Hungary will stand by Poland in a row with the European Union, the country's prime minister Viktor Orban has said, blasting Brussels for its "inquisition offensive" against Poland which has been threatened with sanctions over its controversial judicial reform plans.

"The inquisition offensive against Poland can never succeed because Hungary will use all legal options in the European Union to show solidarity with the Poles," Reuters cited Orban as saying Saturday.

Orban's statement of support came as Poland's upper house passed the Judiciary Reform bill, which, if approved by the president, will enable lawmakers to designate judges to the Supreme Court.

Comment: Further reading: 'Threat to the rule of law': EU may strip Poland of voting rights over judicial reforms

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