Puppet MastersS


Light Saber

'Strong punishment': China starts two days of Joint Sword military drills around Taiwan


Al Jazeera
Thu, 23 May 2024 12:50 UTC
A Chinese warship
© Thomas Peter/ReutersFILE: A Chinese warship takes part in a military drill off the Chinese coast near Fuzhou, Fujian Province, across from the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands, China, April 11, 2023. Exercises begin three days after William Lai Ching-te took his oath as president of the island China claims as its own.
China has started two days of military drills in the water and airspace around the self-governing island of Taiwan, according to Chinese state media.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army started the drills at 7:45am (23:45 GMT) on Thursday in the Taiwan Strait, the north, south and east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin.

Military spokesman Colonel Li Xi said the joint exercises involving the army, navy, air force, and rocket force were a "strong punishment for the separatist acts of 'Taiwan independence' forces and a stern warning against interference and provocation by external forces", according to a post on China's Weibo messaging platform.

Comment: Meanwhile in Taiwan's parliament: Lawmakers exchange blows in bitter dispute over parliament reforms

And over in Russia: Russia begins 'non-strategic' nuclear weapons drills

Footage of the drills:



Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Wang Wenbin on the PLA Joint Sword 2024A exercise around Taiwan

The exercise is being conducted to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and is also a signal to separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence" and a warning to outside forces.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, which is both a historical fact and a real status quo that will never change. "Taiwan independence" is a dead end.

The Chinese people are unwavering in their determination to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

All separatist actions aimed at "Taiwan independence" will be met head-on by over 1.4 billion Chinese.

We warn that the United States must stop condoning and supporting pro-Taiwan independence forces and interfering in China's internal affairs.

Any action that threatens China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity will be met with a firm and decisive response from Beijing.


Read More...
Radar

Germany opposes Ukraine 'no fly zone'


RT
Wed, 22 May 2024 08:09 UTC
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
© Getty Images / Uli Deck; picture allianceGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned such a move would place NATO in direct conflict with Russia.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed a proposal tabled by former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the Ukrainian government to establish a no-fly zone over the country as dangerous talk.

His comments came after Rasmussen and Kiev officials presented a ten-page paper which suggested binding Kiev to NATO by implementing an air defense shield over the western part of the country.

Such a move would "protect NATO from Russian missile and drone strikes, but also Ukrainian civilians and military infrastructure in a well-defined area of responsibility inside western Ukraine." This, in turn, would allow Kiev to move air defense systems to the frontline in the east to protect key cities such as Kharkov and Dnepr.
Read More...
Target

Game of Drones: Mossad, MI6 and the art of non-negotiation

Decklan Hayes
Strategic Culture
Sat, 18 May 2024 00:00 UTC
Eagle
© iStock/proxy image/KJNThe Fantasy
Only honest actors like Iran, Russia and Hezbollah should negotiate on the one side and NATO, with its alphabet soup of intelligence agencies and their front media groups, should be got to negotiate, for their first time ever, in good faith.

This article's purpose of throwing light on recent "peace" overtures in Gaza and Ukraine necessitates a number of detours, the most pivotal of which is the negotiations British Field Marshal Montgomery engaged in on 4 May 1945 with the German High Command on Lüneburg Heath where he baldly dictated terms of unconditional surrender to them. In this deleted Downfall scene, the Soviets relay the same message regarding Berlin of Germany's total and unconditional surrender to Krebs.

Although kindergarten business books like Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal might think all negotiations are as uncomplicated as those facing the Germans in May 1945, that is not the case. Even there, Dönitz, who had succeeded Hitler as head of state, had tried to get some wriggle room by sending generals to "negotiate" with Montgomery rather than going in person. We see much the same process in Lawrence of Arabia where British puppet Prince Faisal plays the role of sovereign king at the time of Albion's Sykes-Picot doublecross.

Comment: Sides have been taken. Mindset is a closed circuit unable to create, unable to revise.

Read More...
Dollars

US military aid to Ukraine is 'grift' - Blackwater founder to Tucker Carlson


RT
Tue, 21 May 2024 21:09 UTC
cargo
© Christoph Soeder/Global Look PressAmmo for Ukraine loaded on a cargo plane • Rzeszow-Jasionka airport, Poland • April 5, 2023
The equipment Washington sends to Kiev will never change the tide of battle, Eric Prince has said.

US weapons shipments to Ukraine are senseless since they are not capable of changing the course of the conflict, Eric Prince, the founder of private American military contractor Blackwater, told journalist Tucker Carlson in an interview published on Tuesday.

The military aid to Ukraine is nothing but a "massive grift paid by the Pentagon," Prince stated, adding that the latest major aid package worth $61 billion approved by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April will end up lining the coffers of US defense industry giants. Prince, himself a former Navy SEAL officer, resigned and divested from his company after the 2007 Iraqi massacre scandal.

The Blackwater founder said:
"Most of that money goes to five major defense contractors to replace at five times the cost the weapons that we have already sent the Ukrainians. It does not change the outcome of the battle.

"The Biden administration believed that all this American weaponry would have saved the day. It has not."

Comment: The US self serves by means of death and destruction, be it ally or foe. Population and war equipment eliminations are the prerequisites. NATO is the cover. Ukraine is the current excuse. Last country standing is the goal.

Read More...
Stop

Federal judge blocks Biden ATF rule expanding gun background checks

Harold Hutchison
The Daily Signal
Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00 UTC
Garland irs whistleblower hunter tax fraud
© Getty ImagesUS AG Merrick Garland Prosecutors from his DOJ “went behind my back to get me removed from the case,” Shapley said.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Biden administration from fully enforcing a gun background check rule Sunday night.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the rule covering background checks for firearms purchases April 10, claiming it was based on bipartisan legislation passed in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

United States District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from enforcing the rule against the state of Texas and certain gun organizations until June 2.

The rule would dramatically expand the definition of when someone is "engaged in business" as a gun dealer subject to background check regulations, thereby expanding the number of who must submit to background checks.

Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt said:
"President [Joe] Biden and his anti-gun administration have aggressively pursued an agenda meant to harass, intimidate, and criminalize gun owners and dealers at every turn. This ruling is a compelling rebuke of their tyrannical and unconstitutional actions that purposely misinterpreted federal law to ensure their preferred policy outcome."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republican state attorneys general sued to block the rule May 1.

Comment: More than a third of the country joined this suit.

Read More...
Attention

Best of the Web: Norway, Ireland and Spain Recognize Palestinian State - Israel livid


Sputnik
Wed, 22 May 2024 09:45 UTC
Pro Palestinian Protestor
© AFP 2023 / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU
In late March, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Madrid had reached an agreement with Ireland, Slovenia and Malta to take the first steps toward recognizing the State of Palestine to promote the peace process.

Norway, Ireland and Spain have announced they are officially recognizing Palestinian statehood.
"The Norwegian Government has decided that Norway will recognise Palestine as a state. In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security," said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Wednesday.
He added that the Palestinian people have a fundamental right to self-determination.
"Both Israelis and Palestinians have a right to live in peace in their respective states. There will be no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution. There can be no two-state solution without a Palestinian state. In other words, a Palestinian state is a prerequisite for achieving peace in the Middle East," said the PM.
Ireland's taoiseach Simon Harris has also confirmed at a press conference that Ireland will recognise a Palestinian state, with a similar move announced by Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez.Palestinian movement Hamas has welcomed statements from Norway, Ireland and Spain on the recognition of Palestine as a state.


Comment: RT adds that Israel has recalled its ambassadors from all three countries:
The development comes more than 30 years after the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993. Since then, "the Palestinians have taken important steps towards a two-state solution," the Norwegian government said.

It said that the World Bank determined that a Palestinian state had met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, that national institutions have been built up to provide the population with important services.

"The war in Gaza and the constant expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still mean that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades," the Norwegian government said.
[...]
israel bomb palestine
© AFP via Getty ImagesSmoke is seen billowing over Palestinian territory following Israeli bombardment on May 21, 2024.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that his country will recognize a Palestinian state also on May 28. Sánchez, Spain's Socialist leader since 2018, made the expected announcement to the nation's Parliament on Wednesday.

Sánchez has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state, as well as a possible ceasefire in Gaza.




He has said several times that he was committed to the move.

Earlier this month, Spain's Foreign Minister José Albares said he had informed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of his government's intention to recognize a Palestinian state.

The fast-moving developments drew Israel's condemnation. Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered Israel's ambassadors from Ireland and Norway to immediately return to Israel, as Norway said it would recognize a Palestinian state and Ireland was expected to do the same.

"Ireland and Norway intend to send a message today to the Palestinians and the whole world: terrorism pays," Katz said.

He said that the recognition could impede efforts to return Israel's hostages being held in Gaza and makes a cease-fire less likely by "rewarding the jihadists of Hamas and Iran."

He also threatened to recall Israel's ambassador to Spain if the country takes a similar position.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Norway's recognition of a Palestinian state and called on other countries to follow.

In a statement carried by the official Wafa news agency, he says Norway's decision, announced Wednesday, will enshrine "the Palestinian people's right to self-determination" and support efforts to bring about a two-state solution with Israel.
Ooh, Netanyahu is big mad now.


So is little Ben Shapiro apparently. Scott Ritter delivers a well-deserved smack-down:


See also:

Read More...
Camcorder

Project Veritas: White House aide admits Biden fears 'huge Jewish influence'


RT
Wed, 22 May 2024 19:39 UTC
Netanyahu/Biden/explosion
© Youssef Massoud/Getty Images/KJNIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu • US President Joe Biden
The US president won't risk angering the lobby in Washington, a security adviser told Project Veritas

US President Joe Biden is under pressure from the Democratic Party's progressive wing to more forcefully condemn Israel's actions in Gaza, but will not do so unless he wins a second term in office, a National Security Council official has told Project Veritas.

Biden's position on Israel is the result of careful "political calculations," National Security Council policy adviser Sterlin Waters told an undercover reporter for Project Veritas, a conservative outlet known for its hidden-camera sting operations.

On one hand, Biden and his top aides need to tell Israel that "you're not going to continue to lie, and bomb, and kill all these kids without facing serious consequences" to placate progressive voters, Waters explained in a video published by the outlet on Tuesday. However, If Biden did this, Waters continued, he would anger the "huge, powerful Jewish influence in Republican and Democrat politics" and face a smear campaign that would cost him this November's presidential election.

Comment:



Read More...
Quenelle - Golden

Russia begins 'non-strategic' nuclear weapons drills


Sputnik
Wed, 22 May 2024 19:28 UTC
Iskander
The Russian defence ministry's footage showed Iskander missile systems moving into position in a wooded area for the test launch
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian General Staff, on behalf of President Vladimir Putin, had begun preparations to hold exercises with missile formations of the Southern Military District and Navy forces. Russia's Southern Military District has begun the first stage of an exercise involving practical training in the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the Defence Ministry said.

"In accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, the first stage of the drills has begun in the Southern Military District under the leadership of the General Staff of the armed forces of the Russian Federation with practical testing of the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons," the statement said.

The drills with the non-strategic nuclear weapons train for receipt of special munitions and equipment of launch vehicles, the ministry added.

Comment: Western media has derided the drills as 'theatrical', and this flippant response perhaps further serves to confirm why Russia has been forced to make its position clear to the dangerously deluded, warmongering West.

A surprisingly balanced news report with footage of the drills:


More footage of the drills:




Read More...
Attention

Raisi led the charge for Russia - Iran - China's 'new world order'

Pepe Escobar
The Cradle
Wed, 22 May 2024 18:30 UTC
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's eastward vision was instrumental in advancing the strategic Moscow-Tehran-Beijing nexus and bulldozing a path toward institutionalizing multipolarity.

Putin, Xi $ Raisi
© The Cradle
Amidst all the sadness and grief over the loss of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, let's take a moment to showcase the critical path he helped forge toward a new global order.

In the nearly three years since Raisi ascended to the Iranian presidency, Eurasian integration and the drive toward multipolarity have become fundamentally conducted by three major actors: Russia, China, and Iran.

Which, by no accident, are the three top "existential threats" to the hegemonic power.

At 10 pm this past Sunday in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Iran's ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, to be at the table in an impromptu meeting with the cream of the crop of Russia's Defense Team.

That invitation reached far beyond the myopic media conjecture over whether the Iranian president's untimely death was due to an "accidental crash" or an act of sabotage. It came from the fruits of Raisi's tireless labor to position Iran as an east-facing nation, boldly forging strategic alliances with Asia's major powers while sweetening Tehran's relations with past regional foes.
Read More...
Arrow Down

Zelensky's mandate expires - streets empty as men hide from Ukraine's new conscription law

Paul Serran
The Gateway Pundit
Wed, 22 May 2024 17:38 UTC
zelensky
'President' Vladimir Zelensky has declared that martial law allows him to continue in office despite the end of his official term.
MSM questions the power of presidential aide Andy Yermak and power is out all over the country

And so we've come to the point of the war in Ukraine in which the west's 'Knight in Shining armor', the 'defender of democracy' Volodymyr Zelensky has outrun his Constitutional Presidential mandate, and is now in power only by virtue of the martial law he enacted.

That is just the most dramatic of the absolutely disheartening (for Kiev) series of developments.

To begin with, a series of videos have surfaced showing how the streets of Ukraine now are deserted, with men hiding from conscription into the army - and somehow, everyone else seemed to have stayed at home, too.
Read More...