Puppet MastersS


Attention

China's FM Wang warns new Korean war may break out 'at any moment'

USS Carl Vinson
© ChinatopixUSS Carl Vinson strike group heading to Korean Peninsula.
China's Foreign Minister warned that an armed conflict with North Korea may break out "at any moment," urging Washington and Pyongyang to tone down their hawkish rhetoric and realize the price to pay for both sides if a new Korean War were to start.

The extraordinary warning comes amid massive US military buildup near the Korean Peninsula, with the carrier strike group 'USS Carl Vinson' heading towards the region. While US President Donald Trump is threatening to "take care" of the North Korean "problem," Pyongyang says it is ready to repel any military action.

"Lately, tensions have risen with the US and the ROK [South Korea] on one side, and the DPRK [North Korea] on the other," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Friday, adding that "One has the feeling that a conflict could break out at any moment."

He cautioned both sides that "if a war occurs, the result is a situation in which everybody loses and there can be no winner," and that whichever side provoked a conflict "must assume the historic responsibility and pay the corresponding price."

Earlier in the day, Wang said both Washington and Pyongyang must refrain from "provoking and threatening each other, whether in words or actions, and not let the situation get to an irreversible and unmanageable stage," as cited by Reuters. In an apparent attempt to cool down the US administration's bellicose rhetoric, he added: "Force cannot solve the problem - dialogue can be the only channel to resolving the problem."

China, North Korea's close ally and main trading partner, does not welcome Pyongyang's nuclear program, but advocates finding political solution to the crisis. For its part, Russia, which also shares a land border with the reclusive state, expressed deep concern over the mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Comment: What any country independently does is no longer a singular action. Instead it invites local, regional and in some cases, global participation. Wang and other clear heads are warning the US to cool their jets and work through diplomatic channels. The consequences of runaway military prowess and snap decisions are too great a risk. The US has been warned. Will it lose its hubris and choose wisely?


Star of David

Israeli minister, Naftali Bennett, threatens genocide in Lebanon...where is the outcry?

Naftali Bennett
© Jewish Task ForceEducation Minister, Security Cabinet Member, leader of Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett
Picture, if you will, what the front pages of the British newspapers would look like if Russia threatened to target the civilian infrastructure of a neighbouring country and send it "back to the Middle Ages." The uproar is not too hard to imagine. Indeed, the condemnations would flow thick and fast. The government and the opposition would condemn Russian belligerence, and there would be calls to discuss the matter at the UN Security Council; plans for new sanctions would be drawn up.

In fact, such a threat was made only last month but we heard not a peep from any of the pillars of the British establishment. That's because it wasn't Russia making the genocidal threats, but Israel, the West's favourite — and much favoured — colonial regime.

Liberal Zionist newspaper Haaretz published an interview with Naftali Bennett, Israel's education minister and member of the security cabinet, in which he threatened to make Lebanon a free-fire zone: "Lebanese institutions, its infrastructure, airport, power stations, traffic junctions, Lebanese Army bases; they should all be legitimate targets if a war breaks out," he claimed. If Lebanese missiles were then fired "at the Israeli home front, this will mean sending Lebanon back to the Middle Ages."

Bennett contrasted this with what he said was Israeli behaviour in Lebanon. During the 2006 Israeli war of aggression against its northern neighbour, he was a reservist commander in an "elite" unit. The unit was charged with trying to track down the rocket launchers of Hezbollah, the powerful militia which defends Lebanon from Israeli attacks.

You can't fight rockets with tweezers, Bennett grumbled in the interview.

However, as the newspaper pointed out, Bennett's belligerence in openly threatening genocidal war crimes against Lebanon and its people, is nothing new for Israel, even if it did ratchet-up the rhetoric.

Comment: The face and comments of an Israeli psychopath who is rising in popularity and power.


Bomb

Wikileaks drops bomb on Killary's tarmac: Email to HRC assures her "AQ (Al Qaeda) is on our side in Syria"

Killary
© Knights Templar International
Hillary Clinton's former policy adviser told the presidential candidate that Al-Qaeda is on the side of the United States in Syria.

Wikileaks has just posted an unclassified email to Hillary Clinton from her foreign policy advisor, Jake Sullivan. The email is dated February 2012, with heading "See last item - AQ is on our side in Syria".

AQ meaning Al Qaeda.

"[al-Quada] is on our side in Syria" - email from policy advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Feb 2012)

Another interesting part of the email published by Wikileaks says...

UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05789138 Date: 10/30/2015 AL-ZAWAHIRI URGES MUSLIM SUPPORT FOR OPPOSITION (U) Al-Qaida leader al-Zawahiri called on Muslims in Turkey and the Middle East to aid rebel forces in their fight against supporters of Syrian President Asad in an internet video recording. Al-Zawahiri also urged the Syrian people not to rely on the AL, Turkey, or the United States for assistance.euters)

Executive Secretariat
© ShadowproofState Department email made public via FOIA process.
The full chain of the unclassified emails in that document published by Wikileaks can be found here, reprinted below...

Comment: Busted.


Bizarro Earth

CIA chief loses it: Wikileaks, Assange, followers are 'hostile intel' and 'demons'

CIAWIKI
© techcrunch.com
CIA Director Mike Pompeo called Julian Assange and his associates "demons" and accused WikiLeaks of siding with the world's dictators and endangering the security of the "free world" with the help of states like Russia.

Speaking at an event organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC on Thursday, the former Kansas congressman went on the warpath against the whistleblower website, accusing its editor Julian Assange of being on the "wrong side of history" and seeking to harm America, freedom and democracy. "It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is, a non-state hostile intelligence service, often abetted by state actors like Russia," Pompeo told the audience.

"The Russian propaganda outlet RT actively collaborated with WikiLeaks," Pompeo added, repeating the unsubstantiated allegation by Hillary Clinton's campaign from October 2016, when RT reported on the daily disclosures of emails from Clinton's campaign chair, John Podesta.

Assange "knows nothing about America and our ideals," Pompeo declared, adding that had he lived in the 1930s he would have been on the "wrong side of history," as he "and his ilk make common cause with dictators today. Their currency is clickbait, their moral compass nonexistent," Pompeo added, accusing Assange of being a "narcissist... a fraud, a coward hiding behind a screen."



Comment: This is rich. The kettle is black. He who says the kettle is black is on the 'wrong side of history' and has no right to say so. Where did Trump get his confirmation for the missile attack? This guy. Bad choice, a really, really tremendously bad choice. FYI: There can be no risk to democratic values if those values are pristine and maintained. They are not and have been degraded from within. This is where the 'blame' 'lies.'


Take 2

'Brought to you by agency which produced Al-Qaeda and ISIS' - Assange dishes it out to CIA chief

Pompeo/Assange
© odt.co.nz/Getty ImagesLeak Wars: "Return of the Wiki"
Julian Assange has responded to CIA Director Mike Pompeo's accusation that WikiLeaks is a "non-state intelligence agency" by trolling the CIA over its own roles in producing "Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Iraq, Iran and Pinochet."

Assange tweeted, "Called a 'non-state intelligence service' today by the 'state non-intelligence agency' which produced Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Iraq, Iran & Pinochet."


Pompeo accused WikiLeaks of siding with dictators and being a "non-state hostile intelligence service," at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on Thursday. He called Assange and his associates "demons" and said "he and his ilk make common cause with dictators."


Assange in turn accused the CIA of producing terrorist groups and dictators. He said the CIA produced Al-Qaeda, referring to the agency's role in arming and training mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets during the 1970s, some of whom - including Osama Bin Laden - later evolved into Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Assange has previously stated that the CIA's role in arming the mujahideen led to Al-Qaeda, which led to 9/11, the Iraq invasion and, later, the formation of ISIS.

Comment: Uncomfortable truths or comfortable lies. One of these will survive the test of time. The other will be despised.


Take 2

Lavrov and Tillerson agree: No future US strikes on Syrian government

Lav and Till
© Maxim Shemetov/ReutersMr. Lavrov and Mr. Tillerson at their joint press conference, April 12, 2017
Moscow and Washington have reached an understanding that further US strikes similar to the one carried out against Syria's Shayrat Air Base "should not occur again," the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Lavrov emphasized that this issue was raised during his discussions with the US Secretary of State on Wednesday when Rex Tillerson was visiting Moscow.

"We have discussed this issue with the US Secretary of State in details yesterday and agreed upon the fact that a similar [strike] should not occur again," he told journalists ahead of his meeting with his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, in Moscow.

Lavrov further underlined that the US missile strike against the Shayrat Air Base played "a highly provocative role."

He went on to say that the US confirmed its commitment to the idea that there is no other option of resolving the Syrian conflict other than the political dialog, adding that this offers hope for the future of the peace process.

"It is encouraging to some extent that Rex Tillerson confirmed yesterday that [the US still holds] the opinion that there is no alternative to the political process [of the resolution of the Syrian crisis] despite all the recent negative developments," he said.

A "right and responsible step" is how Lavrov described the Syrian government's decision to invite experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to conduct an investigation of the chemical weapon incident in Idlib province.

He said the "hysteria" around the alleged Idlib chemical weapons attack should not impede efforts made in Astana and Geneva, which are aimed at resolving the Syrian conflict. The Russian Foreign Minister warned that there are forces still trying to "bust up the ceasefire regime brokered in Astana and welcomed by the UN Security Council."

Comment: Tillerson was statesmanly and Lavrov was firm and pragmatic, offered latitude, construction, a reality check and way forward. This could have turned out much worse.

For the entire press conference, see also:
Lavrov to Tillerson: To avoid Idlib 'attack' probe means international community does not seek the truth


Георгиевская ленточка

Russia outlines preconditions for restoring communication channels with US in Tillerson meeting

tillerson lavrov
© Janarbek Joldoshbaev / RFE/RLThe Russians knew that Tillerson came with empty hands and that in fact he was the suitor, not the one being wooed
During Tillerson's visit to Moscow, the Russians set down their preconditions for reinstatement of the deconfliction arrangements: no further U.S. air attacks on Syrian government positions. We may be sure that this was the major subject for discussion and possible agreement during Tillerson's unscheduled meeting with Putin

Mainstream print media in the United States have presented the meeting yesterday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in remarkably neutral terms. One might be tempted to say "factual" but too many relevant facts and observations were missing for the journalism to have substantial value to readers.

The Washington Post did better than other media outlets. Bureau Chief David Filipov and his colleague covering the State Department in Washington highlighted the fact that the parties were "sharply at odds."

Why and what came out of the meeting appear in the first quarter of the article .

Bomb

US successfully tests new nuclear gravity bomb

USAF F-16 testing a B61-12 gravity bomb
© National Nuclear Security Administration @FrankKlotzNNSA / Twitter USAF F-16 testing a B61-12 gravity bomb.
As the world's attention was on the first combat use of the conventional "Mother Of All Bombs," the US National Nuclear Security Administration announced the successful field test of the modernized gravity nuclear bomb in Nevada.

The NNSA and the US Air Force completed the first qualification flight test of the B61-12 gravity nuclear bomb on March 14 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, the agency announced on Thursday.

The test was intended to evaluate the weapon's "non-nuclear functions" and the capability of the F-16 fighter to successfully deploy the bomb. An F-16 fighter from Nellis Air Force Base dropped the "non-nuclear test assembly," the NNSA said in a statement.

"The successful test provides critical qualification data to validate that the baseline design meets military requirements," said Brigadier General Michael Lutton, NNSA's principal assistant deputy administrator for military application. The NNSA is part of the Department of Energy, which is charged with managing US nuclear weapons.

Comment: Forget the 'mother of all bombs,' meet the Russian-made 'daddy'


Rocket

Forget the 'mother of all bombs,' meet the Russian-made 'daddy'

Russian Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power
© Reuters
The US boasts that its GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB), known as the 'Mother of all bombs', is the largest ever non-nuclear bomb used in combat but, don't be fooled, Russia possess something far superior. Kids, meet Daddy.

The Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power, known as the 'Father of all bombs' (FOAB), was developed by Russia in 2007 and eclipses its US rival in both power and efficiency.

It can inflict a 44 ton-yield when detonated, compared to the 11-ton-yield of the mother. Unlike its US counterpart though it's less hefty, weighing in at 7,100kg compared to 8,200kg.

Biohazard

White House claims on Syria chemical attack weaken under scrutiny

trump
© Doug Mills / The New York TimesPresident Donald Trump leaves after making a statement about the American attack on an air base in Syria, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, April 6, 2017.
Two unnamed senior Trump administration officials briefing journalists Tuesday asserted that a Syrian regime airstrike in the city of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4 had deliberately killed dozens of civilians with sarin gas.

The Trump administration officials dismissed the Russian claim that the Syrian airstrike had targeted a munitions warehouse controlled by Islamic extremists as an afterthought to cover up the Syrian government's culpability for the chemical attack. Moreover, the Trump officials claimed that US intelligence had located the site where the Syrian regime had dropped the chemical weapon.

However, two new revelations contradict the Trump administration's line on the April 4 attack. A former US official knowledgeable about the episode told Truthout that the Russians had actually informed their US counterparts in Syria of the Syrian military's plan to strike the warehouse in Khan Sheikhoun 24 hours before the strike. And a leading analyst on military technology, Dr. Theodore Postol of MIT, has concluded that the alleged device for a sarin attack could not have been delivered from the air but only from the ground, meaning that the chemical attack may not have been the result of the Syrian airstrike.