Puppet MastersS


Attention

WSJ: Susan Rice was not the only one 'unmasking' Team Trump

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 05 Apr 2017 10:52 UTC
Man smoking
© Virgin Experience DaysThe mystery unmasker strikes again.
As part of its daily wrap of the Susan Rice newsflow, which focused on her first media appearance since she was "outed" as the persona responsible for "unmasking" members of team Trump, the WSJ provides two new pieces of incremental information: i) in addition to Michael Flynn, at least one more member of the Trump transition team was "unmasked" in intelligence reports due to multiple foreign conversations that weren't related to Russia; and ii) Rice wasn't the administration official who instigated Mr. Flynn's unmasking, confirming there is at least one more high-level official giving "unmasking" orders.
But first, a brief detour: "Unmasking" is a term used when the identity of a U.S. citizen or lawful resident is revealed in classified intelligence reports. Normally, when government officials receive intelligence reports, the names of American citizens are redacted to protect their privacy. But officials can request that names, listed as "U.S. Person 1," for example, be unmasked internally in order to give context about the potential value of the intelligence. Unmasking is justified for national security reasons but is governed by strict rules across the U.S. intelligence apparatus that make it illegal to pursue for political reasons or to leak classified information generated by the process.
It is the accusation that Rice unmasked members for purely political reasons - ostensibly in coordination with president Obama - that has gotten Republican smelling blood in the water. Republicans have for weeks signaled that they saw unmasking as the key to investigating the source of media leaks damaging to the Trump administration — such as the exposure of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign in February after media reports revealed that he misled Vice President Pence about the contents of his discussions with the Russian ambassador.

Comment: And so the plot thickens. When you begin to drain a swamp, you have to start with the scum on the pond. See also:

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Arrow Down

Washington's war on Trump: House Intel Chair Nunes will step down from Russia probe


RT
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 13:49 UTC
Nunes
© The HillHouse Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes
Following pressure from Democrats and Republicans, House Intelligence Committee Chair David [Devin] Nunes will step aside from the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Californian Republican congressman said he is stepping down due to "entirely false" accusations filed against him with the Office of Congressional Ethics. The decision will also affect the committee's probe into alleged possible interactions between Moscow and Trump campaign staffers.

The probe will now be conducted by congressional members Michael Conaway (R, Texas), Trey Gowdy (R, South Carolina), and Tom Rooney (R, Florida). Rep. Gowdy is chairman of a House Select Committee which carried out the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack.


Comment: And look how thoroughly and honestly that was done...


Declaring the charges against him "false claims," Nunes said he intends to speak with the Ethics Office as soon as possible.

Comment: It wasn't the source, or the location the Dems are unglued about. It was the fact Devin Nunes reported directly to the Commander in chief, his ultimate boss, on information that was pertinent to the president's security exposure, and didn't privy Democrats as his first priority.

Trump says he is very smart. Did he foresee just how crazy the Crazies could be?

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Chess

Trump's remarks on Syria, five possible explanations - Tillerson says regime change back on the table

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:00 UTC
Trump
© Politico
Donald Trump's confused foreign policy just got a lot more confusing. 24 hours after Sean Spicer claimed that regime change in Syria was no longer a viable option, Donald Trump seemed to imply the opposite.

Speaking next to Jordan's King Abdullah, Donald Trump said that the chemical weapons attack changed his position on Syria. He seemed to believe the fake news story that it was the Syrian government that dropped chemical weapons, rather than the forensically realistic explanation provided by Russia which explained that an illegal chemical weapons depot, where terrorists hoarded their explosives, was hit during an airstrike.

When asked about his sudden about face, Trump replied, "I do change, and I am flexible. I am proud of that flexibility".

Well then let's hope that Donald Trump is flexible enough to understand the truth. There was an atrocity and it was committed by the jihadists that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton armed. It was not committed by the Syrian government. Even if one was to believe Syria had the ability to commit such an atrocity (which they do not), one has to ask why Syria would do it, knowing that America might change it's position of 'living with Assad', which was articulated on Tuesday by Sean Spicer and before that by Rex Tillerson. It is a twist of logic beyond the wildest science fiction.

But what is Trump's modus operandi in this? How could he have gone from a position of non-interventionism prior to entering policies, one that he maintained during the campaign and one that he spoke of as President, to seemingly wanting regime change in Syria?

All of the possibilities ought to be explored:

Comment: Something for everybody...Door #? Two additional speculations: #6. Trump needs to stay distant from Russia at this point in time and immediately agreeing with the Russian explanation would escalate Russia frenzy. #7. Justification for boots on the ground. #8...anybody?

If it was an airstrike mistake, its timing was unfortunate. If it was a false flag, its timing was impeccable in relation to the announcement by the WH regarding its newly-evolved position on Assad. The 'obvious' use of chemical weapons would make it difficult for the international community to agree to any peace deal that does not demand Assad's removal. So who set this in motion?

In related news, Tillerson dug himself deeper into the hole of real or fake stupidity today with the following:
The Trump administration has reversed course on Syria again, blaming President Bashar Assad for the alleged chemical attack in Idlib province and declaring he has no future leading Syria - just days after publicly abandoning the policy of regime change.

"There is no doubt in our minds, and the information we have supports, that the Syrian regime under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad are responsible for this attack," Tillerson told reporters in Florida, ahead of the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"It is very important that the Russian government consider carefully their support for Bashar al-Assad." Tillerson added.

Asked if the US will lead a regime change effort in Syria, Tillerson said that "those steps are underway."

See also: Idlib "chemical weapons attack" reality: Syria bombed REBEL chemical weapons storehouse, Russia says military support will continue, vetoes U.S./UK/France UN resolution

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Nuke

Pepe Escobar: The toxic meltdown in Syria

Pepe Escobar
Sputnik News
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 18:33 UTC
Hospital Destruction
© AFP 2017/Omar haj kadourA picture taken on April 4, 2017 shows destruction at a hospital in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, following a suspected toxic gas attack.
"These heinous acts by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated." Thus spoke the President of the United States.

Instant translation; Donald Trump - and/or the alphabet soup of US intelligence agencies, with no detailed investigation - are convinced that the Russian Ministry of Defense is simply lying.

That's a pretty serious charge. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov, stressing "fully objective and verified" information, identified a Syrian Air Force strike launched against a "moderate rebel" warehouse east of the town of Khan Sheikhoun used to both produce and store shells containing toxic gas.

Konashenkov added the same chemicals had been used by "rebels" in Aleppo late last year, according to samples collected by Russian military experts.

Still, Trump felt compelled to telegraph what is now his own red line in Syria; "Militarily, I don't like to say when I'm going and what I'm doing. I'm not saying I won't do anything one way or another, but I certainly won't be telling you [the media]."

By his side at the White House lawn, the pathetic King Playstation of Jordan praised Trump's "realistic approach to the challenges in the region."

This might pass as a Monty Python sketch. Unfortunately, it's reality.
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Hiliter

Could Washington's 'red line' in Syria spell the prospect of victory for Assad?


RT
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 12:42 UTC
Assad
© Pinterest
Following a chemical attack in Syria there seems to be a rush to judgment, Ray McGovern, former CIA officer, told RT. Dan Glazebrook, political writer and journalist, and Marijn Nieuwenhuis, chemical weapons expert, University of Warwick, join the discussion.

The UN Security Council convened on Wednesday to discuss the reported use of chemical weapons in western Syrian town of Idlib on Tuesday. The UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs said the means of the attack could not be confirmed. However, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, delivered an emotional speech to the international body that included images of children to argue in favor of retaliatory action. The pictures were used in reporting of the alleged chemical weapons attack.

Meanwhile, Syria's foreign minister has dismissed allegations that the Syrian Army had deployed chemical weapons in Idlib, saying the military will never use such weapons against its own people or even terrorists.

RT: What kind of chemicals do you think the people on these videos were exposed to?

Marijn Nieuwenhuis: It is very difficult at this stage to decide which chemical weapon has been used. There have been a lot of reports of sarin being used, but also other nerve agents such as tabun have been claimed has been used. So we can't really identify at this point which chemical it was.
Syria's foreign minister has dismissed allegations that the Syrian Army had deployed chemical weapons in the city of Idlib, saying the military will never use such weapons against its own people or even terrorists. There's been an unseemly rush to judgment here; I've never seen the likes of it. The question will be whether Trump is so impressionable; whether he believes the mainstream media here, who are drumming the drums for war, or whether he'll - like Obama - listen to his military advisers. - Ray McGovern, former CIA officer
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Gold Seal

Best of the Web: Peter Hitchens: Idlib attack is WMD all over again! Why don't you see it?

Peter Hitchens
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 05 Apr 2017 18:15 UTC
cnn fake news syria gas attack
Actually knowing something, remembering history or having experience of the world, is becoming a disadvantage. How much easier it would be to join in with the flow of opinion about Syria, to listen happily to, and read contentedly, media reports on the subject.

As it is, I feel something close to a physical pain as I do this.

Today's frenzy over alleged use of poison gas in Syria is the 2017 version of Anthony Blair's WMD in Iraq. Why can you not see it? Did you think they would do it in exactly the same way again? You are being assailed through your emotions, to act first and think long after, and far too late.

How *can* trained journalists (and experienced diplomats) be so lacking in the desire or ability to question what they are told? How come that they accept without hesitation reports which have not come from their own staff, but instead come from within terrifying war zones where gangs of fanatical murderers are the only law? One or two at least have the decency to refer to the new reports of gas attacks as 'suspected' or alleged, but most present them as established fact. 'All the hallmarks' means, in such cases, what? Though millions believe this has been proven, past accusations of gas use by Damascus have never been independently shown to be true.
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Black Cat 2

Was Killary behind false flag chemical attack in Idlib?

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 19:40 UTC
Idlib false flag attack
© EMC
Libya did have chemical weapons, and we know Hillary Clinton was running a "rat line" between Libya and Syria.

Here is what we know:

1. The United States was quick to lay the blame for what is claimed to have been a chemical attack in a province of Idlib (Khan Shaykhun) under the control of Al Qaeda - ISIS.

2. In 2014, then President Barack Obama conceded that Assad destroyed all of Syria's chemical stockpiles under the supervision of UN inspectors and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The Americans even paid for the process of destroying those weapons.

3. ISIS and Al Qaeda do have chemical weapons. There was a large chemical lab at the University of Mosul. Those who served in Saddam Hussein's chemical forces developed these weapons. Mosul feel under ISIS control and has been for a significant time period.

4. The chemical attack, and Washington's subsequent statements on Assad, came at a time when the "moderate rebels" (aka Al Qaeda - ISIS) in Syria were struggling to maintain their hold on various land in Syria. With defeats mounting against them...suddenly a chemical attack out of nowhere springs up.
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Bulb

Scott Adams: Syrian Gas Attack Is Pure Persuasion

Scott Adams
Scott Adams' Blog
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 17:52 UTC
idlib white helmets sarin attack
Let's hose down that nerve agent
According to the mainstream media - that has been wrong about almost everything for a solid 18 months in a row - the Syrian government allegedly bombed its own people with a nerve agent.

The reason the Assad government would bomb its own people with a nerve agent right now is obvious. Syrian President Assad - who has been fighting for his life for several years, and is only lately feeling safer - suddenly decided to commit suicide-by-Trump. Because the best way to make that happen is to commit a war crime against your own people in exactly the way that would force President Trump to respond or else suffer humiliation at the hands of the mainstream media.

And how about those pictures coming in about the tragedy. Lots of visual imagery. Dead babies. It is almost as if someone designed this "tragedy" to be camera-ready for President Trump's consumption. It pushed every one of his buttons. Hard. And right when things in Syria were heading in a positive direction.
  • Interesting timing.
  • Super-powerful visual persuasion designed for Trump in particular.
  • Suspiciously well-documented event for a place with no real press.
  • No motive for Assad to use gas to kill a few dozen people at the cost of his entire regime. It wouldn't be a popular move with Putin either.
  • The type of attack no U.S. president can ignore and come away intact.
  • A setup that looks suspiciously similar to the false WMD stories that sparked the Iraq war.
I'm going to call bullshit on the gas attack. It's too "on-the-nose," as Hollywood script-writers sometimes say, meaning a little too perfect to be natural. This has the look of a manufactured event.

Comment: See also: Idlib "chemical weapons attack" reality: Syria bombed REBEL chemical weapons storehouse, Russia says military support will continue, vetoes U.S./UK/France UN resolution. Marko Marjanovic highlights just how dumb Assad would have to be by provoking a suicide-by-Trump:
In August-September 2013 Syria came within inches of being bombed by the US. The reason? The alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.

Obama only pulled back when his intelligence services told him the idea sarin poison gas was deployed by Assad was "not a slam dunk".

Next Russia brokered a deal whereby Syria would give up its entire weapons stockpile. Damascus was freaked out enough by how close it got to being bombed that it agreed.

By June 2014 all declared chemical weapons were destroyed in a program supervised by US and Russia.

So then in 2017, with the battlefield situation looking far better than in mid 2013, in fact better than at any time since then, Assad pulled out some chemicals he had hid away to do the one thing virtually guaranteed to land him in a world of trouble? The one thing that very nearly got him bombed four years ago?
...
So yeah maybe in 2013 Assad kept some sarin around in case if he wanted to set himself up for a nice bombing years later. Hey, it's possible.

Or maybe the opposition, which was already accusing the army of using poison gas every Wednesday, finally figured out that to make it stick they needed it to be sarin and they needed a video. Then as luck would have it, the very first time since 2013 when sarin, rather than chlorine, has been deployed opposition cameras are there to capture it. The very first Syria gas attack in Syria to be caught on film! (Albeit the very video from the opposition raises doubt about sarin allegations.)

Meanwhile months after the 2013 sarin attack Seymour Hersh discovered the nerve agent, which originated in Turkey, was actually deployed by rebels and made to look like a government attack. That was a year after Obama had stated to the world that if Syrian government deployed chemical weapons he would intervene against it militarily.

Wonder what we will know about this one months from now.


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Cell Phone

Australian consumer watchdog sues Apple over alleged iPhone 'bricking'


RT
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:30 UTC
Apple iPhone technician
© Michaela Rehle/ReutersA technician fixes a broken iPhone 6 by Apple.
Australia's consumer watchdog has sued tech giant Apple alleging the company used a software update to disable iPhones which had cracked screens fixed by third parties.

According to the court filing, Apple 'bricked' or disabled with a software update hundreds of smartphones and tablet devices. It then refused to unlock them because customers had the devices serviced by "unauthorized repairers."

"Consumer guarantee rights under Australian Consumer Law exist independently of any manufacturer's warranty and are not extinguished simply because a consumer has goods repaired by a third party," said Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

He added that "denying a consumer their consumer guarantee rights simply because they had chosen a third party repairer not only impacts those consumers but can dissuade other customers from making informed choices about their repair options including where they may be offered at lower cost than the manufacturer."
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Bad Guys

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem says terrorists bringing chemical weapons to Syria from Iraq, Turkey


Sputnik
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 19:15 UTC
Canisters found at a terrorist chemical weapons factory in Aleppo
© Sputnik/ Nour MolhemCanisters found at a terrorist chemical weapons factory in Aleppo
Damascus has repeatedly warned the UN Security Council and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that the terrorists of Daesh and Nusra Front were bringing weapons to Syria from Iraq and Turkey, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Thursday.

"Nusra Front and [Daesh] and other organizations continued to store chemical weapons in urban and residential areas. And we have sent more than a hundred telegrams to the Security Council and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, telling them or sending them information about chemical weapons being brought to Syria from Iraq and from Turkey," Muallem said.

Damascus is in contact with Moscow regarding the idea to create a committee to investigate the reported chemical attack in the Syrian Idlib province, the country's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Thursday.

"Yesterday, the Russian representative at the United Nations made a proposal for forming a neutral and non-politicized committee to initiate investigations. Our experience with such commissions, because by now we are used to these commissions, because we have been subject to such accusations, has not been encouraging... We condemn the use of chemical weapons anywhere against anybody... but in order not to jump to conclusions we are coordinating with the Russian side in order to see what the efforts aimed at forming that committee are," Muallem said.

Any commission to investigate the reported chemical attack in Syria's province of Idlib "should be neutral, not politicized," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem emphasized.

Comment: See also:

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