Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

The connections between the DUP, Brexit, dark money & a Saudi prince

Fintan O'Toole
Irish Times
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 12:26 UTC
Theresa May and Saudi King Salman bin Abulaziz Al-Saud
© Hamad I Mohammed / ReutersBritish Prime Minister Theresa May (R) and Saudi King Salman bin Abulaziz Al-Saud (L)
If Northern Ireland were a normal democracy, the election campaign would be dominated by a single question: how did the Democratic Unionist Party end up advancing the cause of a united Ireland through its support for Brexit? More specifically: what role did dark money play in that extraordinary decision? This story has all the makings of a John le Carré thriller but democracy on this island needs facts, not fiction.

To recap briefly: two days before the Brexit referendum last June, the Metro freesheet in London and other British cities came wrapped in a four-page glossy propaganda supplement urging readers to vote Leave. Bizarrely, it was paid for by the DUP, even though Metro does not circulate in Northern Ireland. At the time, the DUP refused to say what the ads cost or where the money came from.

Comment: Further reading: Meet the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Britain's loyal fundamentalists in Ireland

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Handcuffs

Iranian Security Forces arrest 41 Daesh members across the country, following deadly Tehran attacks


Sputnik
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 10:25 UTC
Daesh group pins
© AP Photo/ Emrah GureIslamic State group pins are on display at an Islamic bookstore where books about Islam, militant Islamic leaders and Islamic flags are displayed in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Monday,Oct. 13, 2014
The Iranian security forces arrested 41 members of Daesh terror group (outlawed in Russia), in four provinces across the country, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"Following a series of sophisticated intelligence operations and with the cooperation of the families of some of the terrorists, 41 elements of the ISIL [Daesh] Takfiri group were identified and arrested before conducting any act of terror," the statement said, as quoted by the Fars news agency.

The operations were conducted in the provinces of Kermanshah, Kordestan, West Azerbaijan and Tehran.

"Many documents and equipment for terrorist operations were also seized from the terrorists," the Intelligence Ministry added.

Comment: See also: Dozens of fatalities & injuries after shootings, bombings at Iranian parliament & Khomeini shrine - UPDATES

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Pistol

Tories are forming a coalition with a party backed by terrorists

Siobhan Fenton
The Independent (UK)
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 16:00 UTC
A UDA mural supporting the DUP
A UDA mural supporting the DUP

The UDA is a violent loyalist paramilitary group, which is still active today. Just weeks ago, it murdered a man in broad daylight in Northern Ireland - he was shot dead in a Sainsbury's car park in front of horrified shoppers and his three-year-old son

Northern Irish politics has been thrust from the sidelines into centre stage this morning, as the UK woke up to a hung parliament and a DUP-Conservative coalition. After a disastrous election for Theresa May in which her gamble failed to secure the majority she sought, the obscure Northern Irish party's support is now required for her to enter No 10.

A partnership between the Conservatives and the DUP will be deeply harmful and destabilising for the peace process in Northern Ireland, which is now being risked by the Tories in an unconscionable way in order to retain power.

Most striking about the Conservatives' new stablemates is that after running a campaign based on fearmongering and whipping up false hysteria about Jeremy Corbyn and his alleged IRA sympathies, the Conservatives will enter government with the DUP, which is backed by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

The UDA is less known in England than the IRA, largely because they killed Northern Irish Catholics during the Troubles, which didn't make the news as often as the killing of English people or security personnel. The UDA is a violent loyalist paramilitary group, which is still active today. Just weeks ago, it murdered a man in broad daylight in Northern Ireland. The man was shot dead in a Sainsbury's car park in front of horrified shoppers and his three-year-old son.

Comment: Meet the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Britain's loyal fundamentalists in Ireland

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Attention

Commander Dean Haydon, head of MPS Counter Terrorism Command: London attack 'could've been worse' as terrorists tried but failed to rent 7.5-ton lorry


RT
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 08:44 UTC
London policemen
© Ik Aldama / Global Look Press
British police say casualties from the London Bridge attack could have been much worse had the attackers succeeded in hiring a 7.5-ton truck instead of a van, which was used to plow through a crowd of pedestrians during the first stage of their bloody onslaught.

Authorities have revealed that terrorists tried to hire a 7.5-ton lorry on the morning of the terrorist attack, but ring leader, Khuram Shazad Butt, had payment issues and the rental was rejected by the online booking system as a result.

"Concerningly, Butt had earlier attempted to hire a 7.5-ton lorry that same morning. When he did not provide payment details, the rental did not go ahead. The effects could have been even worse," Commander Dean Haydon, head of MPS Counter Terrorism Command said Friday, as cited by the Guardian.

Instead, the attackers settled for a van which they loaded with gravel bags to make the vehicle heavier and thus more deadly on impact, police revealed.

Comment: See also: The ISIS Was 'Allegedly' Behind the London Bridge Attacks - Who Is Behind the ISIS?

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Arrow Down

The real Robert Mueller

Michael Krieger
LIberty Blitzkrieg
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 12:20 UTC
Robert Mueller
© Liberty Blitzkrieg
Shortly after former FBI Director Robert Mueller was announced as the special counsel for the Russia investigation, the screeching hordes of America's "always wrong about everything" punditry class cheered in near unison, lauding the man as some sort of second coming. This sort of thing should always be seen as a red flag, and thanks to an excellent article written by retired FBI special agent Coleen Rowley, everyone can now know exactly why.

But first, who is Coleen Rowley?
Coleen Rowley, a retired FBI special agent and division legal counsel whose May 2002 memo to then-FBI Director Robert Mueller exposed some of the FBI's pre-9/11 failures, was named one of TIME magazine's "Persons of the Year" in 2002. Her 2003 letter to Robert Mueller in opposition to launching the Iraq War is archived in full text on the NYT and her 2013 op-ed entitled "Questions for the FBI Nominee" was published on the day of James Comey's confirmation hearing.
It's important to be aware of that background as you read the following excerpts from the excellent post published at CounterPunch titled, Comey and Mueller: Russiagate's Mythical Heroes:

Comment: James Comey and Robert Mueller: Russiagate's mythical heroes

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Padlock

New corruption probe: Will Hillary Clinton go to jail?


Sputnik
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 22:37 UTC
Hillary Clinton
© AFP 2017/ JIM BOURG / POOL
The Senate Judiciary Committee has launched a new corruption investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Does the latest inquiry signal that Clinton may eventually find herself behind bars?" RIA Novosti contributor Vladimir Ardayev asks.

Following Donald Trump's election promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton the question on everyone's lips is whether the former Democratic presidential nominee will find herself behind bars, RIA Novosti contributor and political analyst Vladimir Ardayev notes in his latest op-ed.

Comment: And just recently: James Comey admits: Obstruction of justice...by Hillary Clinton, NOT Donald Trump

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Play

House intel panel demands 'Comey tapes' as Trump teases on their existence


RT
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 22:26 UTC
James Comey (L), US President Donald Trump
© Reuters
President Donald Trump's counsel has just two weeks to hand over, if they exist at all, recorded "tapes" of conversations Trump had with fired FBI director James Comey to the House panel probing alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump teased reporters Friday that they would be "very disappointed" when it is finally confirmed, "in a very short period of time," whether or not there are actual recordings of Trump and Comey's intimate conversations.

The same day, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence sent a letter to White House Counsel Don McGahn formally requesting any recordings or memoranda that "now exist or have in the past" and to send the committee copies of any such material by June 23.
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Snakes in Suits

Comey testimony: Many news stories about Russia are 'just dead wrong'


RT
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:58 UTC
Comey swearing in
© Jonathan Ernst/ReutersFormer FBI Director James Comey
Former FBI director James Comey has testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, confirming that he leaked a meeting with Trump to the media and stating that some news stories about Russia are "just dead wrong."

In an unusual move, the committee released Comey's prepared remarks on Wednesday afternoon. The seven-page document outlines his relationship with Trump, some details of which had already been leaked to the press in the weeks following his firing, including that the president asked Comey for his loyalty

Trump fired Comey on May 9, faulting him for failing to find intelligence community leakers feeding information to the media.

Speaking before Comey, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner (D-VA), said the hearing is not a "witch hunt" or "fake news," but rather an effort to protect the US from a "new threat" which will not be going away anytime soon.
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Map

Syrian Arab Army takes full control of Jordanian border

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 22:13 UTC
Syria battle map
The move will help stop the inflow of terrorists into southern Syria.

Fierce fighting with ISIS and US backed jihadists in southern Syria has been ongoing for months. In June, two convoys of Syrian and allied soldiers came under fire from US forces illegally operating in the desert areas of southern Syria near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.

Today, the Russian General Staff announced that Syrian forces are now in full control of 105 kilometres of the border with Jordan. Jordan which for decades has been hostile to Syria has been an important passage for terrorists and illegal armed forces entering Syria.

Comment: For more updates on the Syrian battles:



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Snakes in Suits

The Qatar crisis: Yet another clumsy attempt by the Three Rogue States to weaken Iran

The Saker
TheSaker.is
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 21:15 UTC
Bin Salman face of evil
First, a quick who's who

We will probably never find out what truly was discussed between Trump, the Saudis and the Israelis, but there is little doubt that the recent Saudi move against Qatar is the direct results of these negotiations. How do I know that? Because Trump himself said so! As I mentioned in a recent column, Trump's catastrophic submission to the Neocons and their policies have left him stuck with the KSA and Israel, two other rogue states whose power and, frankly, mental sanity, are dwindling away by the minute.

While the KSA and Qatar have had their differences and problems in the past, this time around the magnitude of the crisis is much bigger than anything in the past. This is a tentative and necessarily rough outline of who is supporting whom:

Supporting the Saudis (according to Wikipedia) United Arab Emirates , Bahrain , Egypt , Maldives , Yemen (they mean the pro-Saudi regime in exile), Mauritania , Comoros , Libya (Tobruk government), Jordan , Chad , Djibouti , Senegal , United States , Gabon.

Supporting Qatar (according to me) Turkey, Germany, Iran.

The numbers are on the Saudi side, but the quality?
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