Puppet MastersS


Dollars

Ukraine whining pays off - Sen. Graham to moronic foreign minister: Just shut up and we'll cut you a check

Ricky Twisdale
The Duran
Sun, 12 Mar 2017 13:43 UTC
fm Ukraine Klimkin
Foreign minister of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin
Senator Lindsey Graham lost patience with Ukrainian lackey Pavlo Klimkin who droned on about Russian aggression far too long

Russophobia watchers got a real treat on Tuesday. That is, if you manage to maintain a sense of humor about these things.

The ambassadors of Poland, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were joined by the foreign minister of Ukraine, the diminutive dweeb Pavlo Klimkin, for a deluxe crying and whining session. The goal: extract as much money as possible from US taxpayers by licking Washington's boots.

Klimkin, who was born in Russia, was apparently considered too ridiculous to be allowed to represent that country, but he was more than welcome in Ukraine. After all, they do appear to prefer being run by foreigners. (Most of whom have by now resigned in despair of trying to reform the country.)

The all-star panel of professional Russophobes spun out the usual groundless fear-mongering about Russia's "threat" to Europe and Putin's maniacal ambitions. I will not waste time recounting their bland tall tales, but those interested may watch or read their published testimony (in mostly illiterate English) here.
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Eye 1

Russian FM: Saudi plan to attack Yemen port city would 'cut millions off from food & aid supplies'


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:48 UTC
Yemen Saudi Arabia bombing airstrikes Houthi
© Abdu Muhammed Yahya Haydar / Anadolu Agency / Getty ImagesSmoke rises from Al Hudaydah city of Yemen after Saudi-led coalition air attack to Houthis' quarters in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition's plans to launch an assault on Yemen's biggest port-city, Al Hudaydah, have caused concern in the Russian Foreign Ministry, which warns the operation would significantly worsen the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country.

The coalition's "plans to storm Yemen's biggest port of Hudaydah give rise to serious concerns," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on the ministry's official website.

She added that battles in this area "would not only inevitably lead to a mass exodus of the [local] population but would also de facto cut the [Yemeni] capital of Sanaa from... food and humanitarian aid supplies."

Comment: No doubt the Saudis are very aware of this attack's consequences. It's a deliberate strategy - to destroy any resistance in Yemen. Good on the Russian FM for calling them out on it.

Further reading:

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Info

Afghanistan asks Russia to provide help in economic reconstruction


Sputnik
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:04 UTC
Afghan security force
© AFP 2017/ NOORULLAH SHIRZADA
Kabul has offered Moscow to participate in the restoration of 124 facilities important for the national economy, the commercial attache of the Afghan embassy to Russia Kasem Mohammad said Monday.

"Many facilities in Afghanistan were built by Soviet specialists and can be restored by Russia. There are more than 100 of them, being precise — 124. I will mention some of them. The Salang tunnel, the Kabul bakery, the Polytechnical University, the Jangalak automobile repair plant, and the power station in Pol-e-Khomri," Mohammad told Izvestiya newspaper.
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Chess

Francois Fillon: EU-Russia relations are strategic issue, sanctions are a mistake


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:48 UTC
Francois Fillon, former French Prime Minister
© Charles Platiau / ReutersFrancois Fillon, former French Prime Minister
French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon says he wants to open up dialogue with Russia, while blaming the "bad policy" of the EU for driving Russia away. He also stressed that the sanctions imposed on Moscow are Europe's "responsibility."

"Russia is drifting away... But why? Because we initially had a bad policy towards Russia," Fillon said in an interview with Europe1.

He pointed out that it was Europe that imposed sanctions on Moscow, adding "now I state that we have made mistakes."

Comment: Further reading: French election chaos: Fillon's fraud accusations could force him out of the race

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Jet4

US bombed Al Qaeda in Yemen more in one week than Obama did in entire year


Sputnik
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:48 UTC
al Qaeda ISIS terrorist
© AP Photo/ Hani Mohammed
Last week, the US hit Yemen more times than it did during any entire year of President Barack Obama's administration.

Forty targets were hit by airstrikes and drone strikes in early March, Foreign Policy magazine reported, pointing out that the administration of new US President Donald Trump seems to be much quicker to give the go-ahead to attacks than that of his predecessor.

A former senior US defense official contrasted the previous administration's discursive process, in which "stuff moved like molasses through the National Security Council," frustrating military planners, with the new administration's quick-draw approach, in which the military appears to have a stronger role in decision making and action is favored over deliberation.

Comment: Further reading:

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Light Sabers

Rand Paul joins Tulsi Gabbard in calling for end to U.S. funding of terrorists

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
Rand Paul Tulsi Gabbard
Rand Paul introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act (S. 532) to prevent American taxpayers’ money from being used to directly or indirectly support armed militants who are allied with or often working under the command of al-Qaeda, ISIS, or other terrorist groups. The legislation serves as a companion bill to H.R. 608, which Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI-2) reintroduced in January.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has joined fellow congresswoman Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) in calling on the U.S. government to stop funding terrorists. Dr. Paul, in a press release, announced the introduction of the Act known as the Stop Arming Terrorists Act (S. 532). The bill is meant to be a "companion bill" to Gabbard's (HR 608) which also carries the same title. Paul, a Republican, and Gabbard, a Democrat, have symbolically joined hands in calling on the federal government to be more accountable with how and to whom it gives money and material support.

Gabbard recently came out against the Military Industrial Complex, in January after she visited Syria. As The Free Thought Project first reported, she pulled the veil off of the mainstream media's narrative that Syria is the aggressor, and pointed the finger squarely at the U.S. as the country funding terrorism.

Later, in a statement, she said, "For years, the U.S. government has been supporting armed militant groups working directly with and often under the command of terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda in their fight to overthrow the Syrian government. Rather than spending trillions of dollars on regime change wars in the Middle East, we should be focused on defeating terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, and using our resources to invest in rebuilding our communities here at home...The fact that American taxpayer dollars are being used to strengthen the very terrorist groups we should be focused on defeating should alarm every Member of Congress and every American. We call on our colleagues and the Administration to join us in passing this legislation."
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Star of David

Netanyahu accused by Iran FM of spouting 'fake history' over 'Persians tried to destroy Jews' comments


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:47 UTC
netanyahu
© Baz Ratner / ReutersIsrael's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused Benjamin Netanyahu of resorting to "fake history" and of "selling bigoted lies" about Iran after the Israeli Prime Minister said Iran had been trying to "destroy" the Jewish people for some 2,500 years.

The row started over a video address by Netanyahu to Jewish children on the holiday of Purim. In it, the Israeli PM read from the Book of Esther in a synagogue in a town of Caesarea, northern Israel. According to legends, Esther, who was the Jewish queen to the Persian king Ahasuerus, thwarted a genocide of Jewish people.

Purim is a traditional Jewish holiday that marks the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, a vizier in the ancient Persian Empire.

"In Persia, they wanted to kill us but it didn't work," Netanyahu said. "Today, too, Persians are trying to destroy us, but today, too, it will not work."


Netanyahu's comments did not go unnoticed by Iranian authorities. On Sunday, Zarif tweeted that Netanyahu is "resorting to fake history and [is] falsifying Torah" ...in order to "sell bigoted lies" against Iran.

Comment: Israel still clings to centuries old traditions (of dubious origin) to justify its current behaviour. Putin called him out on it.

Putin to Netanyahu: Don't judge Iran by 5th century BC, we live in a different world

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Map

Zakharchenko declares Donbass frontline as state border

RIA Novosti translated by J. Arnoldski
Fort Russ News
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:46 UTC
Donetsk People’s Republic soldiers
According to a decree by Donetsk People's Republic leader Alexander Zakharchenko, the contact line between the DPR and Kiev-controlled territory from now on has the status of a state border.

The text of the decree has been published on the website of the Ministry of State Security of the DPR.

According to the document, the contact line can only be crossed through border control points and with the necessary registration processes.
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Info

Le Pen plans to discuss future of independent Europe with Poland and Hungary


RT
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:36 UTC
Marine Le Pen
© Christian Hartmann / Reuters
French right-wing leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said if she wins France's presidential elections this year she wants to propose to Poland and Hungary that they collaborate in dismantling the EU, Polish media reported.

"I think we can work on many points together. If I become the president [of France] tomorrow, I will talk to [Hungarian PM Viktor] Orban about what seems unacceptable to us in the European Union, what is intolerable in the EU's actions today," Le Pen told Polish Rzeczpospolita newspaper.
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Eye 1

Pentagon concerned over increasing Russian influence in North Africa


Sputnik
Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:12 UTC
Benghazi destruction
© AFP 2017/ Abdullah DOMA
The Pentagon's concerns over Russia's increasing contacts with Libyan politicians and military officials stem from the fact that the United States is losing control over the situation in North Africa, according to military expert and journalist Igor Korotchenko.

Earlier, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of US Africa Command, expressed concern about contacts between Russian and Libyan politicians and military officials.

"It is very concerning. [...] Russia is trying to exert influence on the ultimate decision of who becomes, and what entity becomes, in charge of the government inside Libya," Walhdauser said during a Senate hearing.

Comment: Neither the US nor the UN has provided any solutions for Libya that include the people. Russia will actively search for solutions while the rest of the world stands by befuddled.

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