Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

The reason behind the US government's secret hatred of Europeans

Eric Zuesse
Strategic Culture Foundation
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 19:12 UTC
Victoria Nuland
The reason for the US government's hostility — at least since 4 February 2014 — toward Europeans, has been a mystery, until now.

This hostility wasn't even publicly recognized at all, until it leaked out, on that date, from a tapped phone-line of arguably the most powerful person at the US State Department, the person whom American President Barack Obama had personally entrusted with running his Administration's most geostrategically sensitive secret foreign operations (and she did it actually throughout almost the entirety of Obama's eight years in office, regardless of whom the official US Secretary of State happened to be at the time): Victoria Nuland.

Her official title was "Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs" and she was appointed to that post by the President himself, but nominally she reported to him through the Deputy Secretary of State William Joseph Burns, who reported to the Secretary of State, who, in turn, reported to the President.
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Radar

Barbarossa 2.0? NATO opens the Baltic front


Katehon
Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:14 UTC
Barbarossa WWII
Despite official statements, the troops of the North Atlantic alliance continue systematic preparations for a military confrontation with Russia.

NATO military trainings in the Baltic area are being held so regularly that you can hardly doubt the peaceful actions of our "Western partners". "Spring Storm" operation was followed by "Summer Shield". No sooner had the "Spring storm" come to an end, it was followed immediately by the "Shot of the sword", which was replaced by the "Iron Wolf" and so on. All these are names of maneuvers that should terrify the enemy. And only one country, of course, is considered the enemy, which, according to Western strategists in past and present, covers too much territory and "unjustly" owns the largest reserves of natural resources in the world.
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Map

Japan files protest against Chinese coast guard patrols near disputed Senkaku islands


RT
Sat, 24 Jun 2017 17:14 UTC
China Coast Guard vessels
© Erik De Castro/ReutersChina Coast Guard vessels (File photo)
Tokyo has lodged a protest over four Chinese coast guard vessels it says violated its waters near disputed East China Sea islands. The complaint comes a week after the Japanese Navy sent its flagship helicopter carrier close to waters claimed by Beijing.

Four China Coast Guard ships sailed into the disputed territorial waters in the East China Sea on Saturday. The vessels stayed in the area near the contested Senkaku islands (otherwise known as Diaoyu in Chinese) for about two hours and sailed out before noon, NHK reported, citing Japanese officials.
"Senkaku Islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory and the invasion into the territorial waters was an unacceptable violation of Japanese sovereignty," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, as cited by the news agency.
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Magnify

Yemen's ousted govt pledges to investigate alleged torture at prisons run by ally UAE


RT
Sat, 24 Jun 2017 13:17 UTC
Yemen protesters
The ousted Yemeni government, which is struggling to retake control of the country with the help of a Saudi-led military intervention, says it will investigate claims that its key ally, the UAE, is running a network of secret prisons that torture inmates.

The government of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was overthrown by Houthi rebels in 2015 and turned to Saudi Arabia for military help to quash them. The two-year war for power in Yemen has taken a great humanitarian toll on the country, which remains under a Saudi blockade. The United Arab Emirates are part of the Saudi-led coalition propping Hadi and training fighters to support him on the ground.

According to an AP report, the EUA has established a network of clandestine prisons to detain and interrogate people suspected of having links with the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda, which seized the opportunity to gain more influence in the country amid the civil war. The prisons, which are said to be out of the Hadi government's control, were accused of abusing and torturing inmates.
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Handcuffs

Turkish man who beat protesters in brawl at Turkish embassy charged with hate crime


RT
Fri, 23 Jun 2017 23:10 UTC
turkish embassy brawl
A New Jersey native, who was part of the brawl outside the Washington DC residence of the Turkish ambassador, faces hate crime charges in connection to the May 16 incident.

Eyup Yildirim, 50, who owns a construction company in New Jersey, and is a supporter of Turkey's president, was arrested last week and charged with assault with significant bodily injury, aggravated assault and misdemeanor assault, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Caller.

Yildirim was part of last month's fight with people protesting President Recep Erdogan's visit to the US where he met with President Donald Trump.

Yildirim was arrested last week on charges of "kicking another person in the head and face" and "were motivated by ethnic bias," according to papers filed in the US District court of New Jersey and obtained by the Daily Caller.

Comment: Feds arrest two Turkish men involved in the Turkey Embassy brawl scandal and charge 12 more - Update: Erdogan not happy

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Chess

New center of power? CIS anti-terrorism chief warns ISIS shifting focus to Afghanistan, threatens Central Asia


RT
Sat, 24 Jun 2017 00:40 UTC
ISIS Afghanistan
© Reuters
Islamic State terrorists are seeking to shift the main focus of their activity from Syria and Iraq to Afghanistan and neighboring states, Col. Gen. Andrey Novikov, the head of the Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC) of the Commonwealth of Independent States has said.

The Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group seeks to subdue some Taliban militants and other local extremist groups to create a new power base in Afghanistan and extend its influence to Central Asia, Novikov warned as he addressed two UN Security Council committees Friday.

The terrorist group "exports a new model of extremist and terrorist activity from the battle zones [in Syria and Iraq] to the Central Asian states," he said, as cited by TASS. He particularly emphasized that the growing Taliban activity in the northern regions of Afghanistan, bordering the Central Asian, states could be indicative of some Taliban commanders switching their allegiance and joining Islamic State.

Comment: The Afghanistan war racket

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Bad Guys

Israeli contractor tests long-range 'shipping container' missile


RT
Sat, 24 Jun 2017 16:15 UTC
Israel missile container
© armyreco / YouTube
An Israeli defense contractor has successfully test-fired a missile with a 400-kilometer range that can fit into a standard shipping container. Launched from a ship, it joins the trend of weaponizing civilian freighters.

The missile that was fired on Tuesday, dubbed LORA or Long-Range Artillery weapon system, is produced by state-owned defense giant Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). According to company specifications, the solid-propellant ground-to-ground 1,600-kilogram projectile has a range of 400 kilometers and can be fired at a target in just 10 minutes.

First revealed in 2006, the missiles were originally designed to be secretly deployed. To protect them from detection, the missiles are stored in dedicated sealed canisters that can fit inside a standard shipping container and have a shelf life of seven years without maintenance.
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Question

Reince Priebus in danger of losing White House appointment

John Bowden
The Hill
Sat, 24 Jun 2017 16:05 UTC
Priebus
© Fox NewsReince Priebus
Senior sources at the White House say chief of staff Reince Priebus is the most in danger of losing his job, The Washington Post reported Friday.

According to the Post, Priebus's job has been in danger since President Trump took office in January, and allies don't expect him to last much more than a year.

"For somebody who was rumored to be on his way out week one, if he lasts six or seven months, it is a success," one senior White House official told the Post.

The Post reports that Trump is dissatisfied with the chaos in the White House and wants someone with more governing experience to take over the top job. Sources told the Post that Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) have both been floated for the job.

Comment: Priebus has been on shaky ground from the start of Trump's administration.

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Piggy Bank

The refugee crisis is sucking Europe dry

Grete Mautner
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:02 UTC
Merkel and refugees
In spite of the widespread xenophobia, political populism, and numerous instances of barbed wire fences being installed along the EU borders, the flow of refugees to Europe has been growing steadily.

As it's been reported by the Bild with a special reference to an undisclosed report drafted by the European intelligence agencies, a total of 6.6 million refugees in the Mediterranean countries are awaiting the opportunity to carry on their journey to Europe. About 3.3 million refugees that are planning to reach Europe at some point in the future are residing in Turkey, another 720,000 found temporary refuge in Jordan, another million can be traced in Egypt and Libya, 160,000 in Tunisia, and 430,000 in Algeria.

A total 55% of all migrants arriving by sea to the EU are natives of Nigeria, Bangladesh, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and the Gambia. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Spokesman, Babar Baloch more than 1,700 migrants suffered fatal injuries when they were trying to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
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Propaganda

CNN retracts story on investigation into Scaramucci's meeting with CEO of Russian fund


RT
Sat, 24 Jun 2017 15:50 UTC
CNN news room
© Global Look Press
CNN has retracted a story claiming that an adviser to the Trump campaign is under Senate investigation for meeting with the head of a Russian state-backed investment fund at the Davos economic forum.

The now-deleted report cited an anonymous congressional source as saying that the Senate Intelligence Committee was investigating ties between several figures in the Trump camp, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and financier Anthony Scaramucci, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a Russian sovereign fund that manages direct foreign investments into the Russian economy.
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