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Mr. Potato

"Don't do what we do": U.S. urges Pakistan not to use terror groups as proxies in Afghanistan conflict


RFE/RL
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 17:10 UTC
mcmaster
U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster
The U.S. national security adviser during his first visit to Pakistan urged Islamabad to fight all terrorist groups equally and stop using some of them as proxies in Afghanistan.

H.R. McMaster held meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and military chief Qamar Javed Bajwa at which he "stressed the need to confront terrorism in all its forms," the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said on April 18.

"The U.S. hopes Pakistani leaders will understand that it is in their interest to go after terrorist groups less selectively than they have in the past," McMaster told Afghanistan's Tolonews before his visit to the south Asia region.

"The best way to pursue their interest in the country and elsewhere is through diplomacy, not through the use of proxies and engaging violence," McMaster said.

Comment: Oh, this is rich! As a good-faith gesture, McMaster could have said something like this: "Now, listen here, guys. We're as guilty of this as you are. The U.S., after all, has a history of using terror groups as proxies, and we've been quite selective about who we've attacked in the past. Yes, it's shameful, and we deserve anything nasty you could say about us. It's all true. We deserve it. But that was the past. We've changed, we promise. We'll no longer act as ISIS's and Al-Qaeda's air force in Syria. We won't accidentally air drop supplies to ISIS in Iraq anymore. We'll stop funding and arming jihadis. All we ask is that you do the same."

But no, good luck getting McMaster to admit to any of that. It's all someone else's fault. As always.

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Eye 1

Delusional Saudi 'humanitarian' chief says Saudi Arabia did not actually attack Yemen


RT
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 07:09 UTC
Dr Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabiah
© RTDr Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabiah
In an interview to RT, Saudi Arabia's chief humanitarian director claimed his country's military campaign in Yemen was not an aggression, while also sharing his views on the Syrian deadlock and ties with Moscow.

As Yemen is facing an ongoing military campaign by the Saudi-led coalition, Dr Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabiah, who is the Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief (KSRELIEF) said Riyadh "did not actually attack" the country.

The official noted that the air campaign which has contributed to the deepening chaos in Yemen according to various rights groups, has in fact been provoked by the failed political process in the war-torn state.


Comment: See also:


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Jet1

Exceptional U.S. has to ask Russians for permission to fly over Syria

Tom Winter (translator)
InfolPolk.ru / Fort Russ
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 16:49 UTC
US fighter jets Syria
© Flickr/ U.S. Department of Defense
The US Air Force is forced to ask Russia for permission to fly over Syria, so as not to fall into the sphere of air defense and the Russian military aviation space, a Russian military-diplomatic source reported.

According to him, the US pilots must act cautiously, "so as not to bring on the Russians." Despite the fact that the memorandum on the prevention of air incidents in Syria is still suspended, the US troops "are using other available channels."**

**The US side notes "we are still in De-confliction mode." And "We talk to them everyday from the Combined Air Information Center." General Carlisle, quoted at Defense One.

The source explained that "the Syrian sky, by the standards of military aviation, is very small, so the American side often asks us for permission to enter a particular area of the Syrian airspace on other accessible channels." And "We understand the importance of ensuring the safety of flights and therefore often go meet them, but no more. "

Comment: See also: Mattis confirms 'deconflicting' with Russia and seeks political solution for Yemen

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Info

Ramzan Kadyrov: West will use every resource to bring Russia to its knees


RT
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 16:50 UTC
Ramzan Kadyrov
© Said Tzarnaev / Sputnik
The US and its Western allies will use any opportunity to harm Russia, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov told RT in an interview.

"The West, Europe do not want to help anyone. The important thing for them is to use every resource against Russia. They want to see us kneeling before them," Kadyrov said in an exclusive interview with RT Arabic channel.

The Chechen Republic in southern Russia was the scene of two military campaigns in the 1990s and early 2000s. Ramzan Kadyrov said his father's choice to pledge his loyalty to Moscow was the choice of the Chechen people.

"The people said they want to live as part of Russia," he said.
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Eye 2

Homeland Security chief tells Congress critics to 'shut up' or change immigration laws


RT
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:26 UTC
John Kelly
© Aaron P. Bernstein/ReutersSecretary of Homeland Security John Kelly
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly chastised Congressional lawmakers critical of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement, arguing his employees are only trying to keep America safe.

"If lawmakers do not like the laws they've passed and we are charged to enforce, then they should have the courage and skill to change the laws,'' Kelly said in a speech at George Washington University on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. "Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines.''

The stinging rebuke came as the retired Marine general argued immigration agents and airport security officers are unjustifiably criticized for enforcing federal laws and "asked to do more with less, and less, and less."

"For too long, the men and women of my department have been political pawns. My people have been discouraged from doing their jobs for nearly a decade, disabled by pointless bureaucracy and political meddling, and suffered disrespect and contempt by public officials who have no idea what it means to serve," Kelly said.

Comment: See also: Views of General Kelly: Lead pick for Trump's head of Dept. Homeland Security

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Briefcase

Appeal filed by Turkish opposition for referendum annulment


RT
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 11:36 UTC
antigov protesters Turk
© Channel NewsAsiaAnti-government demonstrators light flares during a protest in Istanbul, Turkey.
Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition HDP party has filed an appeal for the annulment of the referendum which will grant President Erdogan sweeping new powers, citing widespread violations. Meanwhile, the prime minister has warned against street protests.

The deputy chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Mithat Sancar, cited a number of alleged violations regarding the referendum. Those included the fact that numerous HDP leaders are still detained over alleged links to the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). Other alleged violations included the HDP's polling station monitors being rejected, and state resources being used in Erdogan's 'yes' campaign, Reuters reported.

Sancar went on to state that the electoral board's last-minute decision to allow unstamped ballots had prevented proper record-keeping to occur, meaning it was now impossible to determine how many invalid or make votes may have been counted.


Comment: Were they coerced?


He also said that some voters had been unable to cast their votes in private. "This referendum will forever remain controversial," Sancar told reporters on Wednesday. "You cannot build a change in the political system on such a controversial and unfair referendum."

The Sunday vote had an 85 percent turnout, with 51.4 percent voting 'yes' to allow for constitutional changes which will give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers when it comes to national matters of legislation, finance, appointments and civil society.

Comment: Erdogan has just become a legalized dictator, with thousands of citizens already in lock-down thanks to that botched coup idea. The best of both worlds or the next best thing?

See also: Possible manipulation of 2.5M Turkish votes

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Attention

Lavrov: Brits chair both OPCW probes on Syrian chemical attack, against international principles


RT
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 20:32 UTC
JohnsonLavrov
© Worldbulletin/PressTVForeign Secretary Boris Johnson • Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
It is "a strange coincidence" that both OPCW fact-checking missions investigating the alleged chemical attack in Syria's Idlib are headed by UK citizens, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that it "runs contrary to the principles of an international organization.""I would like to remind you that we have pointed out a very strange coincidence: that the two groups of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on the potential use of chemical weapons in Syria are chaired by UK citizens," Lavrov said answering to an RT question at a joint news conference with his Senegalese counterpart on Tuesday.

This, according to the minister, "runs contrary to the principles of an international organization, the structures of which must be maximally balanced."

The Q&A session comes ahead of a new round of Syrian peace talks in Astana, preliminary scheduled for early May. The OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) is an international organization set to make sure countries stick to the Chemical Weapons Convention, banning the use of such weapons and requiring their destruction.

"British citizens chairing the OPCW FFM don't tell anyone anything, while British scientists have already analyzed samples taken at the site of the incident," Lavrov said, referring to a recent interview by UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, who was quick to lay the blame for the attack in the Idlib province on Damascus as well as Russia and Iran. "He [Johnson] said that British scientists have analyzed samples from the site of the attack, and that these have tested positive for sarin or a sarin-like substance," the Russian minister said.

Comment: See also: Britain's chemical weapons investigation in Syria questioned by Russian embassy

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Star of David

Lawsuit: $234B aid to Israel a violation of US law against supporting secret nuclear states

Kit O'Connell
Mint Press News
Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
US/Israel/illegal
© Smoloko
The lawsuit warns that the U.S. gave Israel about $234 billion in foreign aid since the passage of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976, despite a ban on support for secret nuclear weapons programs.​

A lawsuit warns that U.S. aid to Israel violates a law meant to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, even as the United States prepares to increase the already massive Israeli aid program.

Filed Aug. 8 by Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy, or IRMEP, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the suit alleges that U.S. aid to Israel violates two amendments to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, known as the the Symington and Glenn Amendments, which collectively ban support for countries engaged in clandestine nuclear programs.

In the lawsuit, Smith alleges that violating these amendments means that Israel has received approximately $234 billion in illegal aid since the passage of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976.

The lawsuit reads:
"This lawsuit is not about foreign policy. It is about the rule of law, presidential power, the structural limits of the U.S. Constitution, and the right of the public to understand the functions of government and informed petition of the government for redress."
U.S. foreign policy is in sharp focus right now, as President Barack Obama prepares to sign off on a record-breaking aid package that would add to the $3.1 billion in annual military aid that Israel already receives.

Despite the U.S. government, and a compliant mainstream media, raising the alarm about the supposed dangers of the Iranian nuclear program, Israel possesses dozens of nuclear weapons — with some reports indicating the Jewish State possesses over a hundred — while showing no sign of halting its development of more.


Comment: Wikipedia quadrupled this amount to 400+


Comment: Since this piece was written, the assumed Clinton presidency has fallen by the wayside, but the support for Israel and its secret 'wink-wink' cache of nuclear bombs continues. Israel has created itself as an appendage to the US, but in reality it has its thumb on the jugular. Location Location Location: The US has an 'invested' interest in having a ready stockpile of deadly threats in the ME. It is willing to break its own laws and jeopardize billions of people to maintain this leverage and support this charade. A lawsuit, no matter how well crafted, is not going to change this pact with the devil.

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Beaker

Britain's chemical weapons investigation in Syria questioned by Russian embassy


RT
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 16:43 UTC
BJohnson
© Russian RealityForeign Secretary Boris Johnson on testing for sarin substance at Khan Sheikhoun.
The Russian embassy in London is calling on Britain to explain its testing of an alleged chemical weapons attack site in Syria, adding it hopes the UK's "takeover exercise" does not destroy the possibility of an impartial investigation.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told MPs British scientists found sarin or a sarin-like substance in samples obtained at the scene of a chemical incident in Syria's Idlib province.

"We know from shell fragments in the crater that not only had sarin been used, but sarin carrying the specific chemical signature of sarin used by the Assad regime," Johnson said.

"And given that samples from the victims showed conclusively that they had been exposed to sarin gas, there is only one conclusion: that the Assad regime almost certainly gassed its own people in breach of international law and the rules of war."

Russia has consistently called on both the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN to undertake a separate investigation of the site.

Comment: Assad is a pawn in the Middle East power play by Israel. Look at how quickly the US was brought back in line when it suggested Assad could stay and his future be determined by the Syrian people. We might find that the 'sarin attack' has deep roots elsewhere.

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Snakes in Suits

Federal judge in Washington DC: Public has no right to know risks of Dakota Pipeline spills


Mint Press News
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 16:27 UTC
Protesters outside White House
© AP/Jose Luis MaganaAmerica Indians and their supporters protest outside of the White House, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Washington, to rally against the construction of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline.
Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline's developer, has argued that keeping information regarding spill risks from the public is essential, as it could be "useful to vandals and terrorists." However, the move is looking more like a way to hide any potential negative impact on the environment.

While the fight to prevent the controversial construction of the Dakota Access pipeline has largely faded from the minds of most Americans, the pipeline's parent company - Energy Transfer Partners - is still hard at work seeking to further undermine civilian and environmental protections to ensure the "smooth" operation of their $3.8-billion-investment in the project.

In spite of long-standing concerns that the pipeline could threaten the safety of drinking water for 17 million people, a federal judge has now given Energy Transfer Partners legal permission to hide information about which areas of the pipeline are at risk for spills.

Last Friday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that information regarding these risks should be shielded from public view, but added that Energy Transfer Partners must make public certain details related to spill response measures, as well as the names of waterways that could be affected.
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