Puppet MastersS


USA

Obama's legacy: Entire World 'disgusted' by his disastrous Foreign Policy

Matthew Allen
Russia Insider
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 18:38 UTC
obama
© White House photoThe Denier in Chief
Let us take a few moments to meditate on the last eight years.
  • The U.S. is still bogged down in Iraq.
  • The U.S. military is still protecting poppy fields in Afghanistan. It's been America's longest poppy field protection operation. And its longest war.
  • The first black president expanded AFRICOM and the shadow wars and classified drone operations in Africa.
  • He also destroyed Libya, the most prosperous, developed nation in North Africa. As expected, his justification for doing so was later revealed to be massive baloney bullshit
  • He "created a secret drones program to kill terrorist suspects worldwide without public acknowledgement or due process. Under his watch, the US has expanded the field of battle in the "war on terrorism" to a dozen countries and constructed institutions and routines of surveillance and assassination - such as the so-called 'disposition matrix' and 'Terror Tuesdays' that will have serious consequences beyond his presidency."
  • Then there's Ukraine. Don't even get us started.
  • The "Asia pivot" is also working out great. So glad that we're now provoking the Chinese in an ocean called the South China Sea.
  • And of course, there's Syria. The Obama administration's greatest, most moderate success.
  • In general, everything is terrible.

Comment: See also: Zakharova telling it like it is: Entire world 'disgusted by Obama administration's foreign policy'

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Quenelle

Iranian President Rouhani orders to prepare road map on developing relations with Azerbaijan


Sputnik
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 18:19 UTC
Baku
© Sputnik/ MURAD ORUJOVBaku
Earlier in the day, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held a meeting with the Iranian delegation headed by Vaezi.

"Mahmoud Vaezi noted that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had ordered to prepare the road map on the development of relations with Azerbaijan, which would also contain the recommendations of the Azerbaijani president. During the meeting, the sides discussed the prospects of the bilateral relations," Aliyev's press service said citing the Iranian minister.

Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have been improving since Rouhani became Iranian president in 2013. In an effort to boost relations and regional trade, both countries are taking part in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) planned to link India, Iran, the Caucasus and Russia via a rail and shipping route.
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Stock Up

Growth in Chinese economy a reassuring sign for vulnerable global economy


RT
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 17:16 UTC
great wall china
© David Gray / ReutersA section of the Great Wall of China
The world's second-largest economy will meet its growth targets of 6.5 to 7 percent this year, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. The country's stable growth is a reassuring sign for a "weak and vulnerable" global economy, it added.

Maintaining stable growth won't be easy for China in 2017, Xinhua said, "given persistently weak external demand, ongoing deleveraging and capacity-reduction pressure, and a slowing property sector."

But unlike other countries, China has the flexibility to beat off sharp economic decline as it restructures its economy toward consumption and services, according to the agency.

Statistics showed China's GDP witnessed a 6.7 percent increase in all three quarters of 2016. The country's industrial development, consumption, and investment maintained stable growth in October- November, with a rapid rise in the service industry.

Despite experts' concerns, Chinese officials are confident in the country's economy, saying the positive trends of this year will continue into next year.
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Chess

Trump Commerce Secretary: Brexit is opportunity to take business away from London


RT
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 17:12 UTC
trump wilber ross
© Mike Segar / ReutersDonald Trump and Wilbur Ross
Donald Trump's pick for commerce secretary Wilbur Ross has urged countries to take advantage of Britain while it is in the process of leaving the European Union, reports The Times.

According to the paper, Ross told Cypriot financiers they should strike during this "period of confusion" to take business away from the City. Brexit is a "God-given opportunity" for Britain's competitors like Frankfurt and Dublin, he said.

The daily says Ross made the remarks before the US presidential election and being picked by Trump.

"I recommend that Cyprus should adopt and immediately announce even more liberal financial service policies than it already has so that it can try to take advantage of the inevitable relocations that will occur during the period of confusion," Ross said, according to The Times.
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Stock Down

Iranian rial plummets to record low despite record oil output


RT
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 16:48 UTC
Iranian rials
© Mushtaq Muhammed / Reuters
The Iranian rial has plummeted to a record low against the US dollar, continuing a six-month decline that has seen the currency fall nearly 19 percent, despite the lifting of sanctions.

This week the currency has dropped to 41,600 rials to the dollar, its lowest point ever, further extending the gap with the official government rate fixed at 32,300.

The slide has accelerated since the victory of Donald Trump in the US election. He has pledged to renegotiate the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers. At the same time, the country's economy has not yet seen the benefits of sanctions being lifted.

"Surely this negatively impacts people's lives. Lots of foreign goods are imported into our country and many of the things people need come from abroad. It also has a very negative psychological effect on the people," said a Tehran resident as quoted by CNBC.
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Attention

Russia, China, and Pakistan warn the Islamic State is growing in Afghanistan

Peter Hobson
Reuters
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 16:23 UTC
Islamic State jihadist
© Stringer / Reuters
Russia, China and Pakistan warned on Tuesday that the influence of Islamic State (IS) was growing in Afghanistan and that the security situation there was deteriorating. Representatives from the three countries, meeting in Moscow, also agreed to invite the Afghan government to such talks in the future, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"(The three countries) expressed particular concern about the rising activity in the country of extremist groups including the Afghan branch of IS," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters after the meeting.

The United States, which still has nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan more than 15 years after the Islamist Taliban were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces, was not invited to the Moscow talks. The gathering, the third in a series of consultations between Russia, China and Pakistan that has so far excluded Kabul, is likely to deepen worries in Washington that it is being sidelined in negotiations over Afghanistan's future.


Comment: Of course the US is being sidelined. You don't invite terrorist sponsors to the table for a discussion on how to defeat terrorists.

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Info

Dozens of princes and princesses fleeing Saudi Arabia in fear of death


FARS News Agency
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 16:12 UTC
King Salman
Dozens of Saudi princes and princesses have left the country for the fear of their lives after the empowerment of King Salman and his son Muhammad bin Salman as deputy crown prince.

The Palestinian daily, al-Manar, quoted informed sources as saying that many members of the royal family have fled Saudi Arabia to other countries after increased internal differences and rivalries in the House of Saud and their policies in the region.

A large number of the royal family members believe that their lives are at stake and could be assassinated at any moment.

According to the report, a number of these princes and princesses aren't allowed to leave the country and are still in Saudi Arabia under the supervision of the security bodies.

Comment: Lots of trouble brewing in Saudi Arabia:

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Candle

China Joins Russia in Mourning Loss of Members of the Alexandrov Ensemble


Sputnik
Mon, 26 Dec 2016 17:59 UTC
China
© YouTube/DjukiNew1957
In the early hours of Sunday morning, a Russian Tu-154 aircraft en route to Syria crashed in the Black Sea. All 92 people onboard are feared dead, including 64 musicians of the renowned Alexandrov Ensemble, an official choir of the Russian Army. Speaking to Sputnik China, people explained why they feel Russia's loss as if it were their own.

Russian investigators are continuing their probe into Sunday's deadly crash. December 26 has been declared a day of mourning in Russia and neighboring Belarus.

The Alexandrov Ensemble was en route to Syria from Moscow when it crashed in the Black Sea off the coast of Sochi, shortly after refueling at an airport in the resort city of Adler. Syrian President Bashar Assad, who received news of the plane's loss with "great sadness," said that the Russian musicians were traveling to Syria "to share with us and the people of Aleppo the joy of victory and holidays."

Comment: Our condolences to the families and people of Russia for their beloved members of the Alexandrov Ensemble.

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Bomb

US closed $40bn worth of global arms agreements in 2015, far outstripping competitors - study


RT
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 16:21 UTC
Units of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles stand at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo, Japan
© Kyodo / ReutersUnits of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles stand at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo, Japan
The US took first place in closing weapons sales deals globally last year, signing agreements to sell about $40 billion worth of military hardware, accounting for half of all such contracts worldwide, according to a congressional study.

The study, titled 'Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2008-2015,' showed that the US placed well ahead of the number two weapons dealer, France, when it came to overall weapons agreements clinched in 2015. Paris signed deals worth $15 billion.

Russia placed third in closing global arms sales agreements, with $11.1 billion.

Comment: Interesting to note that US military weaponry has been shown to fall into the hands of terrorists. How does that happen?

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War Whore

A rancid holiday season for Neocons

Robert Parry
Consortium News
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 16:01 UTC
neocons
America's extended Christmas holiday season, stretching through much of November and all of December, has not been a happy time for Official Washington's dominant neoconservatives and their liberal-interventionist sidekicks.

First, they had to lick their wounds over the defeat of their preferred U.S. presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton; then they had to watch as their "moderate" Syrian rebel proxies and their Al Qaeda allies were routed from east Aleppo; and finally they watched in disbelief as the Obama administration permitted passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel's illegal settlements on Palestinian lands.

To say that the neocons and liberal hawks have not taken these reversals well would be an understatement. They have pretty much blamed Clinton's defeat on everyone but themselves and Clinton herself. They have been apoplectic over Aleppo and their lost dream of "regime change" in Syria. And they have sputtered in outrage over President Obama's failure to veto the Israeli anti-settlement resolution.
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