Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

Proxy war: Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of being behind deadly 'ISIS' attack on Tehran parliament


RT
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 18:46 UTC
Smoke in central Tehran
© ReutersSmoke is seen during a gunmen attack at the parliament's building in central Tehran, Iran, June 7, 2017
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have accused Saudi Arabia of masterminding the deadly attacks in Tehran on Wednesday, in which at least 12 people were killed. Earlier the terrorist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.
"This terrorist attack happened only a week after the meeting between the U.S. president (Donald Trump) and the (Saudi) backward leaders who support terrorists. The fact that Islamic State has claimed responsibility proves that they were involved in the brutal attack,"
said the statement, as quoted by Reuters.

Earlier, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, IRGC deputy commander, pledged retaliation for the attack.
"Let there be no doubt that we will take revenge for today's attacks in Tehran, on terrorists, their affiliates and their supporters,"
he said, as cited by the news agency Mehr.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the attacks will make the country more united.

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

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Boat

Gulf states initiate naval blockade of Qatar, choke-hold on commerce

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 14:44 UTC
Naval blockade of Qatar
© unknown
In what has emerged as the most significant escalation to result from the Qatar diplomatic crisis - which pits two of OPEC's largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, against the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas and further disrupts stability in the region - the biggest Middle East oil and container ports banned all vessels sailing to and from Qatar from using their facilities.

According to a notice posted on the website of Inchcape Shipping, Saudi Arabian and Bahraini authorities closed off all of their ports to Qatari-flagged vessels or ships traveling to or coming from the Persian Gulf state, in what has been described as a naval blockade.


Comment: Saudis et cabal are doubling down on Qatar as the sticker face for provocation spillage into Iran, the real target. (Coy manipulation by Trump to keep the US in the shadow?) Do the Saudi affiliates see Qatar as the spearhead, the 'throw-away'? Given the rapid oust and costly long-term consequences, Qatar may have no other recourse than to align with Iran. Will Iran maintain restraint, or reach a quickly-activated boiling point fulfilling Israel's dream to say 'I told you so.'

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Attention

Saudis hypocritically 'shocked, shocked' to discover Qatar funds Islamist terror groups (just as they do)


Sputnik
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 15:11 UTC
Salman
© AP Photo/Yoan Valat, PoolKing Salman taken aback at the dastardly behavior of Qatar!
The diplomatic conflict between Qatar and a number of other Arab states over the support for terrorist groups shows the hypocrisy of Riyadh, which has been repeatedly spotted funding extremists, analysts told Sputnik.

Saudi accusations against the Persian Gulf Arab monarchy of Qatar for supporting Islamist terror groups are highly hypocritical and express fake outrage because Riyadh does the same thing on a greater scale. "As for Saudi complaints about Qatar funding terrorism, it's hard to take them seriously since Saudi Arabia's activities in this respect are all too well known," foreign affairs analyst and political commentator Dan Lazare said.

The US authorities were aware of the support granted by Qatar and Saudi Arabia to the terrorists operating in the Mideast countries, the leaked e-mail of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton published by WikiLeaks showed. In 2009, then-Secretary of State Clinton declared in a diplomatic cable that "donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide."

In September 2014, Clinton wrote in an email that "Qatar and Saudi Arabia... are providing clandestine financial and logistical support to ISIL [Daesh] and other radical Sunni groups in the region," he noted. "Are we really supposed to believe that the Saudis are now upset because Qatar is funding them as well," Lazare asked?

Comment: The US/Israeli-Arab cabal is hidden in plain sight. The hoisting of Qatar on its terrorist-supporting petards has done nothing to exonerate the rest of the Arab league and Western allies from their various covert proxy dealings. Instead, with Qatar as the patsy, it magnifies and brings forth the subterfuge into global examination. Iran is the target. Who wants Iran out of the picture enough to cause this exposure, to pull these kinds of strings?

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Bad Guys

The Betrayal of India: How Mumbai's 9/11 set India's geopolitical alliances

Graeme MacQueen
Global Research
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 16:10 UTC
taj mahal burning
© Haunted IndiaThe Taj Mahal Hotel burning after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai
These days we rush from one media story to another, trying to keep up with the latest terrorist attack. Yesterday Paris; today London; tomorrow, who knows? These attacks are tragic enough when they are acts of violence by religious extremists who have outsmarted our police and intelligence agencies. But, of course, many of them are actually violent acts facilitated by our police and intelligence agencies, directly or indirectly. The tragedy in such cases lies not only in the immediate human suffering but in the way our civil society and elected representatives are betrayed, intimidated, disciplined and stripped of their power by our own security agencies. The War on Terror, which goes by different names in different countries but continues as a global framework for violent conflict, thrives on this fraud.

But if the very agencies that should be investigating and preventing these attacks are involved in perpetrating them, what is civil society to do to protect itself? Who will step in to study the evidence and sort out what really happened? And who will investigate the official investigators? Over the years, civilians from different walks of life have stepped forward - forming groups, sharing information and methods, creating a tradition of civilian investigation.
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Footprints

Trump weighs in on Qatar-Arab league rift, Middle East trip 'already paying off'


RT
Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:56 UTC
Dtrump
© Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
US President Donald Trump has hinted that the spat which saw Saudi Arabia, the UAE and several other Arab League states cut ties with Qatar over alleged funding of terrorist groups was a result of his recent Middle East trip.

"So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off," Trump tweeted, wading in to the largest crisis in the Arab world in decades. "They [Arab states] said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!" he added.

In another tweet, the US president said that leaders of unnamed Middle Eastern nations "pointed to Qatar" when he demanded funding of "radical ideology" to be stopped.

Comment: Did Qatar draw the short straw? Has Donald Trump become the 'Arab whisperer'? Finger-pointing hypocrisy for supporting terrorism is rampant and likely the means to goading the involvement of Iran.

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Snakes in Suits

China and California will team up to defy US' climate accord retreat


RT
Tue, 06 Jun 2017 20:08 UTC
GovBrown
© ABCNewsCalifornia's Governor Jerry Brown • China’s Minister of Science and Technology, Wan Gang
California has signed a cooperation agreement with China on clean energy technology, emissions trading and air pollution reduction in an effort to bridge the gap left by President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US from the Paris climate accord last week.

Under the pact, signed at an environmental tech summit in Beijing on Tuesday, California and China will work to develop and commercialize expertise on carbon capture and storage, clean energy and information technology to rein in pollution.

"The challenges are big but so too is the commitment - the commitment of Jiangsu Province with California and China with the people of America. We're going to get it done. Nothing will stop us," said Governor Brown in a statement. "Green is not only gold, green is our future - China, California and America and the other countries of the world all working for the prosperity of the people."

Under the agreement, signed by Governor Jerry Brown and China's Minister of Science and Technology, Wan Gang, California and Jiangsu Province will expand collaborate on greenhouse gas emission and air pollution reduction programs. US Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who was at the same conference, declined to take questions from reporters.



Comment: Brown claims Trump said 'climate change' is a hoax. The president said 'global warming' is a hoax and he's not a believer in 'man-made global warming'. These are clearly two different statements implying two different concepts and outcomes. No one, not even the president, denies climate change. But how it is coped with and what is being done has different impacts dependent upon which argument is in play. For Jerry Brown: Focus a lot of effort and money on a faulty scientific concept that masks (and perhaps increases) the upcoming cyclical cold climate trend. For Donald Trump: Focus no money on a historically proven climate cycle we didn't cause and can't change.

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Radar

Syria's Cauldron: One step away from a major showdown

Peter Korzun
Strategic Culture Foundation
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 16:07 UTC
Syrian rebels
Syrian rebels from Eastern Lions and Ahmad al-Abdo Army formations - the elements of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) - state that they are "intensely" attacking Iranian-backed pro-government militias in the eastern Syrian desert in an operation dubbed "The Land is Ours". The forces' strength is around four thousand. The main enemies are the Islamic State (IS), Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Syrian government-allied forces. The operation is conducted near Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan. This time, the mission is to squeeze the SAA and its allies out from the desert areas.

Supplied from Jordan, the opposition plans to ultimately advance further into Syria's territory. Combat operation areas encompass the de-escalation zones proposed by Russia, Turkey and Iran where ceasefire was expected to be established on June 6. In peace talks in early May, Russia, Iran and Turkey signed an agreement to create four de-confliction zones in Syria. This deal was supposed to apply to the US as well, but the Trump administration has refused to recognize the legitimacy of these de-escalation zones—even while using them to justify attacks on Syrian government-allied forces.

Evidently, one of the goals pursued by the escalation of hostilities is to demonstrate that the armed opposition is a force to reckon with at a time the crisis management talks are held in Astana and Geneva. Obviously, this is an attempt to subvert the ongoing international peace efforts.
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Attention

The Middle East is being rocked by these 4 events from the past 3 days

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 16:01 UTC
Trump Saudi Arabia
This week has been one of change, uncertainty and violence in the Middle East. While the specific linkage between each of the following events must be analysed on an individual basis of proximate causation, there is a wider pattern which has emerged.

1. Qatar Isolated

On the 5th of June, Saudi Arabia led a charge of Arab and Muslim nations cutting off all diplomatic, commercial and transport links with Qatar. Qatar now stands isolated from its neighbours including and especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Now, Saudi Arabia has threatened war on its small neighbour, something which still seems unlikely due to the heavy American military presence in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but the threatening nature of Saudi's most recent statement should not be taken lightly.
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Георгиевская ленточка

Russian crackdown on corruption continues: Duma passes legislation to create list of corrupt officials


RT
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 15:54 UTC
russian duma
Russian MPs have passed a bill ordering a unified list of all ex-officials who lost their posts because of corruption scandals.

The bill was prepared and drafted by the Russian Labor Ministry in early 2015, and received approval from the government in August of 2016. It was cleared by the Russian lower house in its third and final reading, and is expected to come into force from January 1, 2018.

Once this happens, Russian state agencies will have to create and maintain a nationwide list of officials convicted of corruption crimes or fired over "loss of trust" caused corruption scandals.
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Info

Qatar situation plays into increasing Russian gas supplies to Europe


RT
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 15:40 UTC
Qatar LNG ship
© Reuters
The world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter Qatar is facing supply problems with the Saudi-led alliance isolating the country's trade. This may help Russia on the European gas market.

Qatar's tanker fleet is barred from using regional ports and anchorages, posing a threat to the country's LNG supplies.

Traders are worried Saudi Arabia and allies would refuse to accept LNG shipments from Qatar, and that Egypt might even bar tankers carrying Qatari cargo from using the Suez Canal, despite Cairo's obligation under an international agreement to allow the use of the waterway.

If LNG supplies are disrupted, Europe will have to buy more gas from Russia.
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