Puppet MastersS


Snakes in Suits

Pentagon signs new defense deal with UAE over US troop presence


RT
Wed, 17 May 2017 12:46 UTC
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis meets with United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan
© Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley / DoD Defense Secretary Jim Mattis meets with United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan.
The US and the United Arab Emirates have signed a new agreement that would dictate "the magnitude and conditions" of the US military in the UAE, allowing the United States to send more troops and equipment to the region.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE to discuss the defense partnership between the two allies.

The accord, which was signed May 8, was disclosed by the Pentagon on Tuesday. The agreement will replace a previous agreement reached in 1994 after the first Gulf War.

"The agreement marks a new chapter in our partnership and reflects the breadth and depth of our ongoing cooperation, which is underpinned by the mutual respect we share for the professionalism and efficacy of our armed forces," Mattis said in a statement.
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Attention

US political schizophrenia: Putin ready to provide transcripts of Trump-Lavrov talks to prove no secrets were leaked


RT
Wed, 17 May 2017 12:38 UTC
Vladimir Putin
© Aleksey Nikolskyi / Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the latest reports about US leader Donald Trump allegedly revealing security secrets to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as "political schizophrenia."

"If the US administration deems it possible, we are ready to provide the Senate and Congress with the transcript of the conversation between Lavrov and Trump," Putin said at a press conference, following a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov followed up on Putin's statement with a clarification that there was no audio recording at the Trump-Lavrov meeting, and the only form of record available is a transcript.
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Info

Syrian Army rapidly advancing on UK/US Special Forces base


RT
Tue, 16 May 2017 12:26 UTC
Elite UK Forces
© Elite UK Forces / elitukforces.info
Syrian government forces accompanied by Iranian and Hezbollah fighters are within 15 miles (24km) of a joint US/UK Special Forces base, sparking fears of a confrontation.

British SAS troops were photographed at the heavily-fortified base at al-Tanf in 2016 and are thought to be operating alongside units from the US military, including in a training role.

"The Iranians are the ones promoting their movement towards al-Tanf, using the slogan Fighting The Grand Satan i.e. the US and the international coalition," Mozahem al-Saloum, a spokesman for the al-Tanf-based Free Syrian Army brigade told the Telegraph.
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Newspaper

Finland has no immediate plans to join NATO — ambassador


TASS
Wed, 17 May 2017 10:31 UTC
Finland's proposal to host a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump is still on the table

Finland and Russian flags
© Flickr/ Jori Samonen
Finland has no plans to join NATO, Finnish Ambassador to Russia, Mikko Hautala, told reporters on Wednesday.

Our policy is such that we have relations based on partnership with NATO, but Finland is not a member of that alliance," said Hautala who arrived in Yekaterinburg for a working visit. "Of course, we believe that, as a sovereign nation, we have the right to determine our foreign policy on our own. However, we have no plans to join NATO in our foreign policy," the ambassador said when asked whether Finland adheres to the policy of not seeking NATO membership.
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Bad Guys

Time to assassinate Syrian President Assad & get to his allies in Iran - Israeli minister


RT
Thu, 18 May 2017 16:02 UTC
Assad_Israel
© Sana / Reuters
An Israeli minister has bluntly called for Syrian leader Bashar Assad to be assassinated after unsourced media reports claimed Damascus was using a "crematorium" to cover-up mass killings. He said the "serpent's head" in Tehran should be dealt with next.

"The reality whereby Syria executes people, intentionally uses chemical weapons to hurt them and, now, in the most recent move of extremism, is burning their bodies - this has not been seen in the world in 70 years," said Israeli Housing Minister Yoav Galant, as cited by Haaretz.

"We are crossing a red line and, in my view, the time has come to assassinate Assad," he continued.

"And when we finish with the tail of the serpent, we will reach the head of the serpent, which can be found in Tehran, and we will deal with it, too," he said.
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Pirates

Former French intelligence chief: NATO is making up Russian threat to justify its own existence


RT
Tue, 16 May 2017 21:57 UTC
Nato
NATO became obsolete after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the bloc is purposefully representing Russia as a security threat to justify its own existence, Yves Bonnet, former head of French counter-intelligence, told RT.

The Russians "are no longer 'villains,' the Soviet threat has vanished - primarily because the USSR doesn't exist anymore," Bonnet said.

The claims of Moscow's aggressive behavior coming from the US-led military bloc's officials are "exaggerated," the former head of Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, or DST as its French abbreviation goes, which was dissolved in 2008, added.

"I believe that NATO intentionally fuels the perception of Russia as a threat... Like any organization, the North Atlantic Alliance wants to continue existing and the only reason for prolonging its existence is you... the Russians," he said.
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Attention

Sources say McMaster and his deputy are behind leaks to anti-Trump media


GotNews.com
Tue, 16 May 2017 22:05 UTC
mcmaster trump powell
© Chatham House/Wikimedia Commons
Two separate National Security Council sources have confirmed that National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster and Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell have been leaking negative material about President Donald J. Trump to their allies in the anti-Trump media, GotNews can exclusively report.

"It's very hard when your boss, the President, and your boss, the NSC advisor, see the world so differently," says one staffer, who opposes regime change in Syria.


Comment: That's the essence of what these sources are saying: McMaster is a warmonger. They're not. Neither is Trump.


Staffers on the National Security Council describe a culture of intimidation, especially for those who didn't come in under McMaster and support the Trump campaign's commitment to put America First.

"It's like the Bush years never ended," notes one staffer who didn't come in under McMaster. "I didn't sign up for this shit and the American people didn't vote for it."

The staffer also doubts that Democrats are to blame for withholding security clearances, especially for those with ties to General Michael Flynn. The Pentagon under Secretary Mattis has been working with Senator John McCain to deny security clearances over the fictitious Russia investigation.
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Star of David

Big surprise: Israel was the intelligence source for the "classified" info Trump allegedly gave the Russians

Shane Harris and Carol E. Lee
The Wall Street Journal
Tue, 16 May 2017 21:23 UTC
netanyahu trump
© Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg NewsISIS's biggest supporter (L), ISIS's biggest enemy (R).
Israel provided the U.S. with the classified information that President Donald Trump shared last week with Russian officials, according to officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

The intelligence came from a particularly valuable source of information about the Islamic State terrorist group's ability to build sophisticated explosives that could evade aviation-security measures and be placed on aircraft, these officials said. The source of the information was developed before Mr. Trump's election in November, they said.


Comment: Ask yourself: what makes an Israeli such a "valuable source" of information on ISIS? What about this? Now that we know Israel - that most sensitive of tiny, insignificant nations - was responsible, it puts a few things into perspective. For example, the anxiety over the possibility that Trump named the city where the plot was discovered. The original WaPo report said the city was "in the Islamic State's territory". The Islamic State only has territory in Syria and Iraq (though they have a presence in numerous other nations, like Afghanistan). How could the name of a Syrian or Iraqi city reveal anything significant? If it was an Iraqi city, naturally that would suggest Iraqi intelligence; likewise for Syria. ISIS is thoroughly infiltrated by all kinds of agents. So what gives, unless the city bordered Israel. (ISIS occupies Tasil in southwestern Syria, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.)

Could it even have been an Israeli city? If so, that in itself raises questions. What the hell is ISIS doing hatching plots in Israel?


Comment: Background on this latest bit of nonsense: Deep State again tries to block dialogue with Russia: Washington Post's phoney story about Trump's leak

According to Mike Cernovich, the information leaked to WaPo contained more detail than Trump revealed to Lavrov, or even had in the first place. Chew on that for a minute. That's the national security problem here. Not Trump. And apparently the administration is furious.

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Info

Macron blows apart old boundaries by picking a PM from the right

Ingrid Melander
Yahoo News
Mon, 15 May 2017 20:41 UTC
Edouard Philippe, Bernard Cazeneuve
© Reuters/Benoit TessierNewly-appointed French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (R) is greeted by his predecessor Bernard Cazeneuve (L) during a handover ceremony at the Hotel Matignon, in Paris, France, May 15, 2017.
Newly-inaugurated French President Emmanuel Macron appointed a conservative prime minister on Monday in a move to broaden his political appeal and weaken his opponents before legislative elections in June.

Edouard Philippe, 46, a lawmaker and mayor of port city Le Havre, is from the moderate wing of the main center-right The Republicans party and will be a counterweight to former Socialist MPs who have joined Macron's cause.

Elysee secretary-general Alexis Kohler made the announcement on the steps of the presidential Elysee palace.

Macron has vowed to end the left-right politics which have dominated France for decades, and his start-up centrist Republic on the Move (REM) party, which is just a year old, needs to find a wide base of support for the parliamentary elections.
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Star of David

Trump concerned over moving US embassy to Jerusalem; Netanyahu claims it will help the peace process


RT
Mon, 15 May 2017 20:13 UTC
Israeli embassy
© Baz Ratner / Reuters
Responding to US concerns over a proposed move of the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move would help the Israeli-Palestinian peace process by undermining Palestinians' claim on the city.

The relocation of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was one of US President Donald Trump's campaign promises. In 1995, the US Congress passed a law enacting such a move, but a series of presidential waivers blocked it. The latest one signed by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama expires on June 1, and Trump may choose not to renew it.

The Israeli government is strongly for the move, which would strengthen Israel's claim on Jerusalem as a single undivided capital of the country. Palestinians, who want to see the city as capital of a future Palestinian state and oppose Israel's continued occupation of its eastern part, are against the idea.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday that the decision is still being weighed by the White House because of the harm it would cause to the Middle East peace process.

Comment: More from Sputnik:
The comments appear to mark the first public disagreement between Israel and the Trump administration, and could prove to be a bone of contention if not remedied swiftly. Much of the Israeli right, including members of Netanyahu's ruling Likud Party, welcomed the victory of Trump precisely because of his campaign proclamation that he would move the US embassy from its current location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. If Trump rescinds on this move, it is likely that his reputation within Israel would be ruptured, and he could be seen as just another US president who has used talk of major foreign policy changes in favor of Israel as a convenient campaigning point.

Trump's comments come only one week before he scheduled to make his first official visit to Israel, which will also be his first overseas trip as US President. Trump and a White House entourage are also expected to visit Saudi Arabia, his first stop, where he will encourage Arab allies to take "bold steps" to confronting what is widely perceived as the threat of Iran. Israel-Palestine will inevitably however, be on the agenda for discussion.


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