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Jet4

U.S. wages second day of strikes on al Qaeda in Yemen

Phil Stewart and Mohammed Mukhashaf
Reuters
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 13:41 UTC
map of Yemen
The United States carried out a second day of air strikes against al Qaeda in Yemen on Friday, U.S. officials said, in the latest sign of increasing U.S. military focus on a group whose strength has grown during Yemen's civil war.

Since a January commando raid, the United States has shown a desire to both strike al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and to recover from what U.S. officials acknowledge has been an intelligence shortfall about the group since Yemen's civil war forced the closure of the U.S. Embassy in 2015.

"We have a lot of gaps in our understanding of the organization," a U.S. defense official said, adding the pullout of U.S. personnel two years ago "certainly did not help our understanding of the situation."

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said at a news briefing that the United States had carried out more than 30 strikes over the past two days in Shabwah, Abyan and Al Bayda provinces.


Comment: US warplanes carry out airstrikes on al-Qaeda targets in Yemen

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Attention

'This is McCarthyism!' Trump accuses Obama of wire tapping Trump Tower before election win


RT
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 13:02 UTC
Donald Trump
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
US President Donald Trump has accused his predecessor Barack Obama of "wire tapping" Trump Tower just before his election win in November, according to his latest tweet.

Trump made the accusation in a tweet decrying the alleged surveillance as "McCarthyism."

The US president has not provided any further details on the alleged 'wire tapping' or how he was informed about the reported activity. However, Trump indicated in a subsequent tweet that legal action on the issue is a possibility.
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Airplane

U.S. airport pat-downs are about to get more invasive

Justin Bachman
Bloomberg
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 01:14 UTC
Travelers, at Denver International Airport
© RJ Sangosti/Denver Post via Getty Images
While few have noticed, U.S. airport security workers long had the option of using five different types of physical pat-downs at the screening line. Now those options have been eliminated and replaced with a single universal approach. This time, you will notice.

The new physical touching—for those selected to have a pat-down—will be be what the federal agency officially describes as a more "comprehensive" physical screening, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokesman.

Denver International Airport, for example, notified employees and flight crews on Thursday that the "more rigorous" searches "will be more thorough and may involve an officer making more intimate contact than before."

"I would say people who in the past would have gotten a pat-down that wasn't involved will notice that the [new] pat-down is more involved," TSA spokesman Bruce Anderson said Friday. The shift from the previous, risk-based assessment on which pat-down procedure an officer should apply was phased in over the past two weeks after tests at smaller airports, he said.
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Info

Syrian army pushes Daesh 12 miles away from Palmyra toward Deir ez-Zor


Sputnik
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 22:32 UTC
Syrian fighters
© AFP 2016/ STRINGER
The Syrian Army and allies have pushed Daesh terrorists for over 12 miles away from recently liberated Palmyra.

The Syrian Army backed by allies pushed Daesh away for more than 12 miles toward Deir ez-Zor province, Talal Barazi, the governor of the Homs province, told Sputnik Friday.

"The terrorists were pushed back from the city for more than 20 kilometers in the direction of As Sukhnah [a city located between Palmyra and Deir ez-Zor]. I believe, with the support of allies, the army will keep on the offensive toward As Sukhnah," Barazi said.
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Snakes in Suits

Pelosi and Schumer Trumped in the Russian agent game - Russian Ambassador met with Dems numerous times


Fox News
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 22:15 UTC
democrats meet russian ambassador
Democrats were aghast after learning Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice, as a senator, with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. without telling Congress at his confirmation hearing - but it turns out Sergey Kislyak is no stranger to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The longtime Russian ambassador met with seven then-Democratic senators in a single sit-down in 2013, among other discussions - and reportedly was a frequent visitor to the Obama White House.

As House Speaker Paul Ryan put it Thursday, "We meet with ambassadors all the time."

The central issue dogging Sessions is not so much that he met with the ambassador but that he claimed during his confirmation hearing he had no "communications" with Russian officials during his time as a Trump campaign surrogate. In a press conference, though, Sessions rejected claims he misled Congress and suggested he was answering in the context of campaign-related discussions, which he maintains he never had.

Comment: Nancy Pelosi herself was also 'Trumped' when the president tweeted out a picture of her meeting the Russian ambassador and other officials in 2010:

As The Duran puts it: Schumer and Pelosi just got TRUMPED in the 'Russian agent' game

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Radar

EU reviving plan to create joint command center for military missions


RT
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 22:16 UTC
Soldiers of the Eurocorps hold the European flag
© Jean-Marc Loos / ReutersSoldiers of the Eurocorps hold the European flag.
The European Union is considering establishing a joint command center for the bloc's military missions, according to officials and diplomats cited by Reuters. The move is viewed as a step towards increased security and defense cooperation.

Foreign and defense ministers from the EU's 28 member states will formally decide during a Monday meeting in Brussels whether or not to create the so-called Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), the news agency reported.

Once established, the MPCC would command the bloc's "non-executive military missions," including the three military training missions currently underway in Mali, Somalia, and the Central African Republic.

Comment: The EU has other problems to deal with: So it begins: EU founders to form Federal Union of European States

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Info

Donbass announces trade blockade of Kiev-held area of Ukraine


South Front
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 22:05 UTC
coal trains in Donbass, Ukraine
© RIA Novosti / Sergey Averin
Head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Aleksandr Zakharchenko, said that residents of the Donbass have learned to live in the blockade by the Ukrainian security officials, and now the DPR declares a blockade of the Kiev-controlled regions of Ukraine.

"We cut off all ties with Ukraine, against which we are fighting. Yes, [we] were selling coal to get money and pay salaries here. But due to the fact that we have learned to live in the blockade, we are announcing a blockade of Ukraine," he said at a press conference.

Earlier, Zakharchenko said that since March 1, external management would be introduced in enterprises of the Ukrainian jurisdiction, located on the territory of the republic, in order to overcome the crisis, arisen due to the transport blockade.

Comment: Kiev is spiraling out of control:

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Pirates

Top NATO general calls for collective aggression against cyber-attacks and 'fake news'


RT
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 18:16 UTC
General Adrian Bradshaw
NATO Commander General Adrian Bradshaw
NATO's top European commander wants cyber-attacks to be considered a strong enough reason to trigger the alliance's Article 5 which contains the principle of collective self-defense. General Adrian Bradshaw, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe accused Moscow of cyber and informational attacks, telling the BBC the West needs "a grand strategy" to combat Russian "hybrid warfare."

Currently, Article 5 declares that an "armed attack" against one or more NATO member states shall be considered an attack against all of them, leading to an appropriate collective response. For Bradshaw, however, this definition is not broad enough to ensure the effective operation of the Alliance.

"The West must respond by using all the tools at its disposal - economic, political, diplomatic as well as military - to deter Russian aggression", the general reportedly said.


Comment: People aren't believing the West's bogus narratives anymore, which is seen as a threat to the establishment's false reality. It's henchmen are losing their sense of control and are lashing out, with Russia being their primary target.

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Christmas Tree

Attorney General Jeff Sessions privately reassured senators there won't be a federal crackdown on marijuana

Burgess Everett
Politico
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 21:26 UTC
Elizabeth Warren
© AP PhotoThe effort is led in part by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) who hails from a state that has legalized marijuana
The Trump administration is causing serious paranoia among marijuana advocates with its hints of a federal crackdown on recreational use. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions has privately reassured some Republican senators that he won't deviate from an Obama-era policy of allowing states to implement their own marijuana laws.

Sessions has rattled both libertarians and liberals in ordering a review of the hands-off pot policy under President Barack Obama. But Sessions provided some private assurances to senators before he was confirmed that he was not considering a major shift in enforcement, despite his opposition to the use of marijuana.

"He told me he would have some respect for states' right on these things. And so I'll be very unhappy if the federal government decides to go into Colorado and Washington and all of these places. And that's not the [what] my interpretation of my conversation with him was. That this wasn't his intention," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). in an interview.
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Attention

Obama encouraged abuse of intelligence to sabotage Trump policies

b
Moon of Alabama
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 02:54 UTC
BObama
© Wikimedia
In its last months the Obama administration ordered the intelligence agencies to collect and distribute information of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. This to prevent any change by the Trump administration of the hostile policy towards Russia that the Obama administration instituted. The intent was also to give the intelligence services blackmail material to prevent any changes in their undue, freewheeling independence.

The above is reported in a rather short New York Times piece published yesterday. The reporting angle, captured in the headline, is biased to set the Obama efforts into a positive light. But the Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking.

But make no mistake. Not single shred of evidence has been provided that "Russia hacked the election" or had anything to do with various leaks of Clinton related emails. A lot of fluff and chaff was thrown around but not even one tiny bit of evidence.

The effort was clearly to sabotage the announced policy of the incoming administration of seeking better relations with Russia. Obama intended to undermine the will of the voters by abusing instruments of the state.

Comment: This ploy of the Democrats to polarize the nation, target the Russians as the evil disrupters, take down the new administration before it has a chance to prove itself is not a patriotic duty or some holy crusade. Obama intends to bring the USA to its knees from the inside out. This is not the will of the people. This is not what makes America strong. It will not serve its citizens nor guarantee their freedom or their rights. To trace the orchestration of evil, America should begin by looking within and to its recent past.

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