Puppet MastersS


Attention

Trump and the 'Management of Allies'

Alastair Crooke
Consortium News
Fri, 26 May 2017 16:12 UTC
Donald Trump
© Official White House Photo Shealah CraigheadPresident Donald Trump is escorted by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia during the arrival ceremonies, Saturday, May 20, 2017, at the Royal Court Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
One commentator recently noted that if one wants to work out Donald Trump's foreign policy, it is not so hard: It's simply that it is the converse of whatever Barack Obama did. Ok, it's a quip. But like most good quips, there is a grain of truth to it, too.

President Obama - whether fairly or not - was heartily disliked in Israel and Saudi Arabia. So, we now have Trump proving that he is the true friend of both (sometimes simple motives do, also, at times underlie apparent grand strategy). Obama reached out to Iran; Trump just dumped on Iran. Obama talked multilateral grand strategy, Trump headlined his businessman "deal-making."

Throwing out "red meat" to the assembled Sunni Emirs and monarchs - of a pilloried Iran held up as the malign fount of all terrorism - was, no doubt, intended to "somehow" balance President Trump's mild reproof to the Sunni world for its tolerance of extremism. All this was intended to go down well in Israel, too, thus hoeing the ground for Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner's ample ambition to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians (though when it came to it, the President had nothing to say in Israel. Indeed its whole import lay with that: what he did not say - and could not say).
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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Terrorism as Population Control


Sott.net
Sun, 28 May 2017 16:00 UTC
Mc Cain Belhadj
John McCain with the leader of ISIS in Libya, Abdelhakim Belhadj
The recent terror attack in Manchester has once again brought into focus the problem of alleged 'radical Islam' in Europe. The mainstream media is content to parrot the official government line that these attacks are carried out by young men radicalized by 'Jihadi groups' bent on the destruction of Western society and values and the institution of sharia law. But that contention is obviously over-simplistic and fails to inform the public about the close ties that British and other Western governments, politicians and intelligence officials have had with the very same xtremist Muslim groups that claim responsibility for the attacks.

Long-term Polish-American geopolitical grand master, Zbigniew Brzezinski died yesterday. A quote attributed to him reads:
"For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia... America's global primary is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained..."
In this single statement, lies the explanation for everything from Trump's rise to power and the Russiophobia that has gripped the West over the past few years to the rise of China, terror attacks and wars in the Middle East and beyond.

Tune in this week as we analyze the current state of the world, how we got here and where we are likely going.

Running Time: 01:36:24

Download: MP3


Here's the transcript of the show:
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Vader

ISIS touches down in the Philippines mayhem breaks out

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Sun, 28 May 2017 14:50 UTC
Marawi Philippines ISIS
Mayhem broke out across the southern Philippine city of Marawi where militants besieged it and hoisted flags of the so-called "Islamic State." Located on the southern island of Mindanao, the city is only slightly removed from Al Qaeda affiliate Abu Sayaff's primary area of operation on nearby Jolo and Basilan islands.

The UK Independent in an article titled, "Isis-linked militants take priest and churchgoers hostage in Philippines," would report:
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the south because of the militants' siege on the city on Tuesday and abandoned a trip to Russia to deal with the crisis.

Mr Duterte vowed to place southern Mindanao island, where Marawi is situated, and its 22 million residents under military rule for up to a year if necessary.
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Bad Guys

Ukrainian military launch more than 180 shells and mines on Donetsk within one day


ITAR-TASS
Sun, 28 May 2017 15:17 UTC
Donetsk destruction
© Mikhail Sokolov/TASS
The Ukrainian military over the past 24 hours launched more than 180 shells and mines on Donetsk and its suburbs, spokesman of the operations command in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said on Sunday.

"The enemy opened fire mostly on Donetsk, where from positions of the 72nd and 92nd mechanized brigades were launched 43 shells of 152 and 122mm calibers, 144 mines of 120 and 82mm calibers," the Donetsk news agency quoted him. "Besides, the military used tanks, grenade launchers and small arms."
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Attention

'I will not listen to others' says Duterte on concerns over martial law


RT
Sun, 28 May 2017 14:40 UTC
Marawi City, Philippines May 28, 2017
© Erik De Castro / ReutersMarawi City, Philippines May 28, 2017
The president of the Philippines says martial law will remain in place until the military confirms the country is safe. It comes as lawmakers voice concerns about the legality of the step amid the fight against militants in the country.

"Until the police and the armed forces say the Philippines is safe, this martial law will continue. I will not listen to others. The Supreme Court, congress, they are not here," Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte told soldiers on Saturday, as cited by AFP.

President Duterte proclaimed martial law on the southern island of Mindanao, where fighting has been raging between government troops and insurgents from a local ISIS-linked group since Tuesday.
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Info

Merkel says Europe can no longer rely on US and post-Brexit Britain


Sputnik
Sun, 28 May 2017 14:40 UTC
Angela Merkel drinking beer
© REUTERS/ Michaela Rehle
Following this week's NATO and G7 summits, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that Europe "must take its fate into its own hands" as it sees the Western alliance divided by Brexit as well as Trump's reluctance to uphold the 2015 Paris climate accords, local media reported.

Addressing a crowd at an election rally in Munich, Merkel said that in the last few days, she had "experienced" that Germany and other European countries no longer can "completely rely on others."
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Info

Libyan Parliament supports Egypt's airstrikes on Libya's territory


Sputnik
Sun, 28 May 2017 14:34 UTC
smoke in Sirte, Libya
© AP Photo/ Manu BraboExplosions in Sirte, Libya
Egypt carried out airstrikes against the positions of the Daesh on Libya's territory in coordination with the Libyan armed forces and with support of the Tobruk-based parliament of Libya, according to Abdallah Bilhaq, the spokesman of the Libyan parliament.

The Tobruk-based parliament of Libya fully supports Egypt's decision to carry out airstrikes against the positions of the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIL or Daesh, banned in Russia) on Libya's territory, Abdallah Bilhaq, the spokesman of the Libyan parliament, told Sputnik on Sunday.

"For sure, we support these airstrikes and it is not for the first time. They are carried out in coordination with the Libyan armed forces and it is known that the town of Derna [where airstrikes took place] has been under siege of the Libyan armed forces for two years," Bilhaq said.
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Radar

'Terrorists will not be safe': Egyptian FM to RT after Cairo's retaliation strikes on Libya


RT
Sun, 28 May 2017 14:25 UTC
Egyptian fighter jet
© Yannis Behrakis / Reuters
Parts of Libya have turned into terrorist hotbeds, but Egypt will not allow them to feel safe there, the Egyptian foreign minister told RT after Cairo conducted airstrikes on suspected militant training camps in Libya.

"Those airstrikes were legitimate self-defense. Our nation will protect its national security by all means at its disposal," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told RT Arabic.

Egypt launched strikes in Derna, Libya on Friday in retaliation for a shooting attack on two buses and a truck carrying Coptic Christians in Minya, Egypt earlier the same day.
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Snakes in Suits

Why Polish Defense Chief's vehement opposition of Russia is unpopular in NATO


Sputnik
Sun, 28 May 2017 14:12 UTC
Antoni Macierewicz
© AP Photo/ Czarek SokolowskiPoland's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz.
On the eve of the NATO Summit in Brussels, Poland's parliament held a vote of no confidence against the country's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, but the majority of MPs blocked the motion. Sputnik Polska discussed the unpopularity of the military chief with Polish journalist Andrzej Rozenek.

On Wednesday, Poland's parliament held a vote of no confidence against the country's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, put forward by the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party.

In the motion, MPs from the opposition Civic Platform accused Macierewicz of "destroying the potential of the army's soldiers, slowing down the process of equipping the armed forces with modern weapons and equipment, as well as forcing through the malicious concept known as the Territorial Defense Forces."

191 MPs voted in favor of the motion, with 238 voting against. To initiate the motion, PO needed the support of 231 voters.
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Cheese

Killary comes out of the woods, immediately starts coughing

RI Staff
Russia Insider
Sun, 28 May 2017 13:14 UTC
hillary coughing
"Allergies"
"Allergies" continue to follow Hillary wherever she goes

By her own admission, Hillary Clinton spends a lot of time walking in the woods—and drinking Chardonnay. But now she has finally returned to civilization (this isn't entirely accurate because she's made herself available for interviews so she can explain how Putin forced her to be an awful politician. But we digress...).

Yes, Hillary Clinton gave the commencement address at her beloved alma mater, Wellesley College. And yes, she wore her favorite wizard hat and coughed a lot.

Some things never change:
You know [COUGH] four years ago, maybe a little more or less [COUGH] [COUGH] for some of you—just a minute I gotta get a lozenge—[COUGH] a-hem [COUGH] thank you. I told the trustees I was sitting with, after hearing Tala's speech, I didn't think I could get through it—so we'll blame allergy instead of emotions. [POPS PILL] [COUGH] [COUGH] ... [COUGH]

Comment: Also see: Hillary Clinton has another coughing attack at Wellesley College commencement speech

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