Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Washington 'always used Daesh to fight or cripple the Syrian Army'


Sputnik
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 20:32 UTC
Syrian Arab Army soldier
© Sputnik/ Morad Saeed
The United States has not missed an opportunity to pit Daesh and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) against each other, trying to "kill two birds with one stone," founder and director of Gnosos, Ammar Waqqaf, told Radio Sputnik.

The analyst was commenting on reports that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have slowed down their advance toward Raqqa, the so-called capital of Daesh's shrinking caliphate, saying two possible explanations have been offered to explain this process.

According to one theory, the Kurds want guarantees when it comes to their place in a post-war Syria. "They would want some assurances from the United States that they wouldn't be left alone [once Raqqa is liberated]," the analyst said.
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Info

After Riyadh summit, Sunni unity crumbling

Sharmine Narwani
RT
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 20:11 UTC
Trump with orb
© Saudi Royal Palace / AFP
The glowing orb stunt should have been a sign that all was not what it seems. Theatrics, in the world of politics, usually suggest an illusion needs to be spun for audiences somewhere.

A week after US President Donald Trump's eyesore of a visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the pressing question now is "why?" What was the purpose of convening leaders and representatives of 55 Arab and Muslim nations to greet a US head of state amidst so much pomp, ceremony and an excruciating amount of flashing cameras?

The Riyadh summit had several goals, most of which specifically served Saudi and American political interests.

Comment: For more analysis: Trump's anti-Iran coalition crumbling as Muslim allies balk

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Lemon

Priceless: Killary now says she was victim of '1000 Russian agents' and 'broad assumption' she would win


RT
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 02:53 UTC
Killary
© Recode / YouTubeKillary still at it...
In her latest public appearance, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blamed the Democratic Party, the media, "weaponized information" and even a thousand Russians for her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Clinton told an audience at the annual Code Conference in Ranchos Palos Verdes, California, on Wednesday that the most important lesson from the election was the new "war" on information. Clinton, 69, said she takes responsibility for "every decision" she made, but added, "That's not why I lost."



Comment: Political bitterness: Piled high and deep. Careful where you step!

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Binoculars

The government spies on journalists to find leakers

John Crudele
New York Post
Wed, 31 May 2017 04:47 UTC
Govt leaks
© NsaEtsyWhere's the source of the leak?
There was a big ruckus four years ago when the Associated Press announced that telephone records for 20 of its reporters had been subpoenaed by the Justice Department. The government was apparently looking for CIA leaks about an operation in Yemen.

Well, a Washington source of mine tells me it's happening again. The Justice Department has gotten a warrant from the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court — also known as the FISA court — to conduct electronic surveillance on a group of journalists who've been the recipient[s] of leaked information, the source said.

The journalists are not the target, according to my source — and I say, thank goodness for that. Instead, the Trump administration is looking for the leaker. Who could it be?

Some in the administration are focusing on a retired, high-ranking military officer who held important posts in the intelligence service, according to the source. The possibly high-ranking leaker was getting some of his information from people inside the White House who were holdovers from the Obama administration, the source said.

Those White House leakers — said to be three people — have either already been fired or will soon be, the source claims. And these cases, I'm told, have been turned over to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

Comment: Whatever the leakers are doing, they are already hung in the eyes of a government that is willing to sacrifice the privacy and professions of legitimate journalists to unearth the sources. "Journalists are not the target"...balderdash! Journalists are a target if they are a means to an end.

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Airplane

Likely pilot error to blame for TU-154 crash near Sochi


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 19:29 UTC
plane wreckage
© Press-service of Russian Emergency Situations Ministry / SputnikWreckage from the crash of Tu-154 in the Black Sea near Sochi.
The captain of the Tu-154 military plane headed for Syria that crashed near Sochi last December probably lost his bearings and caused the accident that killed 92 people, the official investigative commission has concluded.

"It has been established that the cause of the accident could have been the loss of spatial orientation by the captain of the aircraft, which led to errors in his interactions with the plane controls," said the summary of the investigation, which was jointly conducted by the Defense Ministry, the Transport Ministry, the Trade Ministry and aircraft manufacturer Tupolev.

Investigators rejected other potential causes of the crash that killed 64 members of the world-famous Aleksandrov Ensemble Choir, which was due to perform for Russian troops stationed in Latakia in Syria.

"The procedures for refueling the plane in Sochi airport were not broken, and no outside factors have been detected," said the commission, referring to speculation that the plane was downed in a terrorist attack.

"No violations for existing requirements for the seating of passengers, or the load mass and distribution of cargo were found," added the authors, refuting another popular media theory that the Tu-154, which had been in operation since 1983, had been overloaded.

The aircraft departed from Sochi Airport at 5:25am local time on December 25, and after rapidly attempting to gain altitude crashed into the sea minutes after take-off, just 6 kilometers from the airstrip.

Comment: Do we completely buy this finding? Piloting by instrumentation may have advantages or drawbacks if you are spatially disoriented at the time. Surely a seasoned and route-familiar military pilot would know how to compensate. Could this truly be the only factor that caused this tragedy?

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Rocket

Successful intercept of ICBM: A critical milestone hailed by the Pentagon


RT
Wed, 31 May 2017 21:45 UTC
launched interceptor
© US Missile Defense AgencyThe FTG-15 test interceptor missile launch from Vandenberg AFB in California.
The US now has a credible deterrent against intercontinental ballistic missiles, the head of the US Missile Defense Agency said, following the first live-fire successful test of an interceptor against a mock-up ICBM target over the Pacific Ocean.

"The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment" for the deployed missile defense system and a "critical milestone" for the program, MDA chief Vice Admiral James D. Syring said in a statement. "This test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat."

A Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor was fired from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday afternoon. The target vehicle, designed to resemble an ICBM, took off from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The intercept took place high above the Pacific Ocean, the agency said.

Kwajalein is approximately 8,000km (4,972 miles) from Los Angeles, California. The Pentagon classifies any missile with a range greater than 3,400 miles as an ICBM.


Comment: Pentagon is doing the happy dance. How will this accomplishment factor into the standoff with North Korea? Smart would be not to brag too much about it.

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Dollar

Islamic State Asia: Region endangered by Saudi funding and naive policymakers

Joseph Thomas
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 31 May 2017 00:00 UTC
ISIS flag
© Eurasia Review
Recently, terrorist attacks have unfolded across Indonesia, a militant network disrupted along the Thai-Malaysian border and full-scale military operations including aerial bombing deployed as Philippine troops fought to take back Marawi City on the southern island of Mindanao, all linked or affiliated with the Islamic State.

A dangerously deceptive narrative is being crafted by US and European media organisations, the same sort of narrative that was used to conceal the true source of the Islamic State's fighting capacity across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region beginning as early as 2011.

The New York Times, for example, in an article titled, In Indonesia and Philippines, Militants Find a Common Bond: ISIS, claims:
An eruption of violence in the southern Philippines and suicide bombings in Indonesia this week highlight the growing threat posed by militant backers of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia.

While the timing of the Jakarta bombings and the fighting on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao appears to be coincidental, experts on terrorism have been warning for months that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has provided a new basis for cooperation among extremists in the region.

Comment: See also: Islamic terrorism: US' ally for 38 years

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Info

Russian Senator Sergey Kalashnikov: Extension of US sanctions unlikely to harm Russian companies


Sputnik
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 21:23 UTC
Federation Council building
© Sputnik/ Vladimir FedorenkoFederation Council building
On Wednesday, a group of US senators prepared a bill on extending sanctions against Russian companies. The bill includes introducing new sanctions affecting mining, metallurgy and railroad sectors of the economy. Senators stated that they are considering such measures due to Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria, as well as alleged cyber espionage.

"The existing scale of sanctions covers the real sector, and the sector where they could harm us is the banking sector," Kalashnikov said, adding that the extension of the list of sanctioned enterprises will not hinder the economic development of Russia.

Comment: See also:

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Eye 2

In bizarre onstage interview Killary blames Macedonia for election loss

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 20:29 UTC
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton explaining away her pathetic election campaign at a tech conference.

Hillary Clinton, the most inept politician when it comes to tech, speaking at a tech conference.

Comment: See also:

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Propaganda

The only way for America to remain on top is for Trump to play the Deep State's game

Mark R. Kennedy
Foreign Policy
Fri, 26 May 2017 13:33 UTC
Trump
© DANNY GYS/AFP/Getty Images
There is a paradox that turns any normal idea about strategy on its head. In a business context, I call it the paradox of profit. Simply put, the surest path to losing money is for a company to be preoccupied with profits. The surest path to profit is to be preoccupied with benefiting society. By appealing to society's environmental concerns, Tesla now has the highest market value of any American automaker. By attempting to sidestep those concerns, Volkswagen lost $26 billion in market value in two days. A similar paradox applies to national interests. As President Donald Trump continues his international tour, he would be wise to focus on shared interests with other nations in order to truly put "America first."


Comment: A more accurate application of this to America and the topic at hand: The surest path to losing influence is for a nation to be preoccupied with power.


Engaging those with no natural interest in your success but with great ability to shape your opportunities or risks (those who I define as shapeholders) begins with authentically aligning a purpose that benefits both you and them. Otherwise, there is little reason for others to give your concerns a second thought. Since the end of World War II, America's purpose has been underwriting global security, promoting open markets, and investing in development. As conflicts subsided, as trade expanded, and as newly prosperous nations became customers, both America and other nations benefited.

Abandoning America's purpose and reverting to narrowly defined national interests might appeal to many. Yet a nationalistic dalliance, even if only an interlude, could harm America's ability to advance its interests by undermining the trust and deference of other nations.


Comment: Authentically aligning with purposes that benefit all parties would entail the US abandoning its purpose, as the author puts it, as a global hegemon, because advancing American interests has so far meant seeking total domination of other nations and peoples. Which is the antithesis of seeking mutually beneficial relationships.


Comment: Bankrupt and friendless is where America will end up if it doesn't start actually focusing on enhancing mutual interests with other nations, including Russia.

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