Puppet MastersS


Chess

Prelude to swamp draining? Jeff Sessions says he's open to investigating Obama's DOJ


RT
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:45 UTC
Jeff Sessions
© Yuri Gripas / ReutersU.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not ruling out an independent investigation of the Department of Justice under the Obama administration.

Sessions expressed an openness to a third-party investigation of the DOJ under Attorney General Eric Holder and his successor Loretta Lynch in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday.

Sessions vowed to "do everything I possibly can to restore the independence and professionalism of the Department of Justice."

Hewitt asked Sessions whether he would allow an investigation by a counsel that has "authority to bring charges if underlying crimes were uncovered."

Hewitt claimed that some scandals were under-investigated, such as alleged discriminatory behavior by the IRS against Tea Party and conservative organizations, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) decision to sell weapons illegally in order to trace them to Mexican drug cartels.

While Sessions did not shoot the idea down, he did not commit to it either.
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Snakes in Suits

US hosts anti-ISIS meeting of 68 nations, refuses to invite Russia and Iran


RT
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:36 UTC
US military vehicle
© Ruptly
A high-profile ministerial meeting of 68 US-led coalition nations fighting against ISIS will be hosted by Washington in two weeks. It will not include two prominent players in the region actively fighting ISIS - Russia and Iran.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet delegates from other members of the 68-strong coalition fighting against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) on March 22-23.

The summit is meant to "accelerate international efforts to defeat ISIS in the remaining areas it holds in Iraq and Syria and maximize pressure on its branches, affiliates, and networks," according to a State Department statement.
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Briefcase

Erdogan and Putin discuss Syria debacle & megaprojects during Russia visit


RT
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 22:19 UTC
Erdogan Putin
© Sergey Guneev / SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The presidents of Russia and Turkey have held a meeting in Moscow on Friday, putting behind a 16-month-old crisis in bilateral relations. High-profile infrastructure projects and the Syrian crisis have dominated the Turkish leader's Russian visit.

Vladimir Putin has played host to Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the sixth session of a high-level cooperation commission. The session was initially planned for 2015, but Turkey's downing of a Russian bomber jet near the Syrian border in November 2015 prompted a cancelation of the meeting and sent bilateral relations into a tailspin.

The presidential meeting on Friday followed a phone call between Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, who on Thursday decided to lift trade restrictions imposed in the wake of the crisis. Erdogan's delegation in Moscow included several ministers and senior military officers, who met their opposite numbers in the Russian government to discuss a full reengagement.

The two leaders discussed the developments in Syria, where Turkey-allied troops are engaged in fighting with the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and Kurdish militias. Russia, which supports the Syrian government in its fight against jihadists, had advocated for a bigger autonomy of the Syrian Kurds in a post-war Syria. Turkey sees Kurdish fighters as allies of the Turkey-based Kurdish insurgency and likely enemies.

Comment: Russia appears to have a few points of leverage to ramp down Turkish aggression towards the Kurds. Balancing all the competing factors in the Syrian situation will be difficult, especially with the U.S. nominally refusing to join the discussion. Facts on the ground may change that stubborness in the future.

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Dollars

Swedish jihadists funded themselves through state welfare programs, govt says 'unacceptable'


RT
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 15:26 UTC
jihadists
© Global Look Press via ZUMA Press
Wannabe jihadists travelling to Iraq and Syria from Sweden and Denmark have supported themselves through state benefits, a report by the Swedish National Defense University has found.

The report examined hundreds of individuals who left to join extremist groups such as Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) between 2013 and 2016. Commissioned at the request of the Financial Supervisory Authority, it has found that the majority was still receiving living allowance, child benefit, maintenance support and parental benefits while abroad, having other people handle their mail to make it look like they were still at home.

In some cases, the individuals also applied for overseas study loans.

"This is of course totally unacceptable. No state funds should be used for anything even close to terrorism," Anna Ekstrom, the Minister for Upper Secondary School and Adult Education, told the public television channel SVT.

"We need to get a hold of this issue immediately. We are preparing now to go to parliament and ensure that the government gets the opportunity to stop the payout of such large sums at once."

The money collected is usually transferred to foreign accounts, making it harder to trace.
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Attention

Syrian government calls on UN to 'force' Turkey to withdraw troops: 'Ankara is killing our people and destroying infrastructure.'


RT
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:01 UTC
Turkish Army tanks
© Bulent Kilic / AFP Turkish Army tanks driving to the Syrian Turkish border town of Jarabulus.
The Syrian government has reportedly complained to the UN about Turkish troops on its territory and has asked the UN Security Council (UNSC) to end "Turkish aggression." It follows a reported attack on the Syrian Army by Turkish forces. The UNSC should "force Turkey to withdraw its invasion forces from Syrian land and stop the attacks," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said, as cited by the state-run Sana news agency. The request came in letters addressed to UN Secretary General António Guterres and the chair of the UN Security Council, currently the UK, the agency said.

Syria accused Ankara of killing "thousands of its innocent sons and destroying Syrian infrastructure." On Thursday, Damascus reported that one of its border guard positions near the city of Manbij in northern Syria had been shelled by rockets fired by Turkish troops. A Syrian general speaking to Sana on condition of anonymity said the attack was "an attempt to stop the success and progress made by the Syrian Army, and backing forces, in its war against terrorist organizations and the affiliated groups, to restore stability and security to Aleppo countryside and the whole Syrian territories."

Comment: Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad's words from last year turned out to be prophetic: "Turkey should immediately retreat from the Syrian territories, and as long as Turkey continues occupation of the Syrian lands, the regional situation will not improve.." (Sun, 27 Nov 2016)

See also:

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Bad Guys

Golden showers & Russian hacking: US hearing on 'Russia undermining democracy' full of crackpot conspiracy theories

Cassandra Fairbanks
Sputnik
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 13:40 UTC
US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Russia propaganda
© YouTube/House Foreign Affairs Committee
On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on "Russia's global efforts to undermine democratic states," and conspiracy theorists of all sort are guaranteed to enjoy it.

Much of the hearing focused on the US presidential election, and claims that Russian "propaganda" impacted the outcome.

"Russia has pumped tens of millions into disinformation and propaganda targeting the US and Europe," committee chairman Ed Royce said in a statement. "For too long, the US response to Russian aggression has been weak and ineffective - and that has to change. This hearing will allow us to examine ways to better counter Russia's weaponization of information and other hostile acts."

Comment: Rest easy America, lunatics are in charge - surely they can rescue you from the Russians in their heads!

Further reading:

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Light Saber

Putin bored by Netanyahu's Bible stories, invites Israeli PM to join real world

Paul Kaiser
Russia Insider
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:07 UTC
putin_netanyahu
Netanyahu's Sore Loser Summit with Putin in Moscow did not go quite as planned

It seems that we missed a crucial exchange from yesterday's Sore Loser Summit in Moscow

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Moscow on Thursday to complain to Putin about big, bad Iran and how tragic it is that Tehran destroyed legions of "moderate" rebels and ISIS fanatics in Syria.
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Attention

Russia's largest bank confirms hiring Podesta Group to lobby for ending sanctions

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:59 UTC
Tony Podesta
Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, has confirmed that it hired the consultancy of Tony Podesta, the elder brother of John Podesta who chaired Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, for lobbying its interests in the United States and proactively seeking the removal of various Obama-era sanctions, the press service of the Russian institution told TASS on Thursday.

"The New York office of Sberbank CIB indeed hired Podesta Group. Engagement of external consultants is part of standard business practices for us," Sberbank said.

Previously, The Daily Caller reported that Tony Podesta was proactively lobbying for cancellation of a range of anti-Russian sanctions against the banking sector. In particular, he represented interests of Sberbank and was paid $170,000 for his efforts over a six-month period last year to seek to end one of the Obama administration's economic sanctions against that country. Podesta, founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, is listed as a key lobbyist on behalf of Sberbank, according to Senate lobbying disclosure forms. His firm received more than $24 million in fees in 2016, much of it coming from foreign governments, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
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Chess

White House aide: Trump still determined to establish cooperation with Russia


TASS
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 13:40 UTC
Michael Anton National Security Assistant
© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez MonsivaisDeputy Assistant to the US President for National Security Michael Anton
Trump's aide Michael Anton noted that "the media pressure certainly does not help the policy formulation process"

The Republican administration of US President Donald Trump is still determined to try to establish cooperation with Russia. The White House does not think that the "window of opportunities" for this is closing because of the unbridled anti-Russian rhetoric of recent months in US media close to the opposition Democratic Party, Deputy Assistant to the US President for National Security Michael Anton told TASS.

Comment: Further reading: Two instances of spying on Trump now confirmed - Zero connection to Russia found

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Eye 1

U.S. Congress created a surveillance monster that has now turned on us

Andrew P. Napolitano
UNZ Review
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC
NSA spying
Those of us who believe that the Constitution means what it says have been arguing since the late 1970s that congressional efforts to strengthen national security by weakening personal liberty are unconstitutional, un-American and ineffective. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Congress passed in the aftermath of President Richard Nixon's use of the CIA and the FBI to spy on his political opponents, has unleashed demons that now seem beyond the government's control and are more pervasive than anything Nixon could have dreamed of.

This realization came to a boiling point last weekend when President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of monitoring his telephone calls during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Can a U.S. president legally spy on a political opponent or any other person in America without any suspicion, probable cause or warrant from a judge? In a word, yes.

Here is the back story.

The president can order the National Security Agency to spy on anyone at any time for any reason, without a warrant. This is profoundly unconstitutional but absolutely lawful because it is expressly authorized by the FISA statute.
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