Puppet MastersS

Binoculars

Putin replaces head of Russia's foreign spy agency - what it means

State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin
© Aleksey Nikolsky / SputnikNew head of the SVR, Sergey Naryshkin.
The resounding victory of Putin-supported United Russia party in the September 18, 2016 parliamentary elections in which it won 343 out of 450 seats, helped greatly by the changes in the electoral system, will set the stage for the massive transformation of the Russian political system. United Russia, headed by the Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, now has enough votes to single-handedly change the Russian constitution, written under the U.S. tutelage in the 1990s. There is no doubt that it will soon avail itself of this power, further centralizing the Russian state apparatus and making its activities more prominent in all areas of social and economic life of the country.

While constitutional changes will probably take some time, personnel changes at the pinnacle of political power in Russia are already taking place. Just a few days after the Central Electoral Commission announced the election results, Putin had a meeting with Sergey Naryshkin, the speaker of the Russian Parliament since the last election in December 2011, and Mikhail Fradkov, the former Russian prime minister who has led the Russian External Intelligence Agency, better known in the West through its Russian acronym SVR, since October 2007. At this meeting, Putin announced that he was offering Naryshkin the position of the new SVR chief, while Fradkov would assume the position of the chairman of the board of the Russian Railroads, one of the biggest state-controlled companies in Russia.1

Comment: Prof. Kovacevic reviews the week in Russian media in the first edition of "Russian Newspapers Monitor" for Newsbud, culling stories from the biggest Russian papers, including "the Russian view of the U.S. policy in Syria, Putin's visit to Kazakhstan, the new generation of Russian strategic bomber aircraft patrolling the Pacific, the Russian military draft, and the political positions of the Russian Communist Party":




Attention

US calls for Syria investigation attempt to distract from ceasefire failure

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova
© Ramil Sitdikov / SputnikRussian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova
US is trying to distract attention from its own failure to implement the ceasefire deal by calling for an investigation into Russia's actions in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"The US side just could not fulfill the ceasefire agreement. They themselves told us that they do not have the means to put pressure on the opposition," Zakharova said, as quoted by TASS.

She also warned Washington that there were legal consequences for such rhetoric.

Snakes in Suits

Please God no: Tony Blair may return to politics to counter current "fantasy & error"

blair
© Bria Webb / ReutersWar criminal.
He sold his companies to spend more time doing charity work, but now Tony Blair is hinting at a return to politics as he warns that Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party was putting Britain at risk of becoming a "one-party state."

In an interview with Esquire magazine, the former Labour leader dubbed it "a tragedy" that British voters now had to choose between the Tories and "an ultra-left Labour Party" which he believed pursued policies that took the country "back to the Sixties."

"In the UK at the moment you've got a one-party state," he told the magazine. "When you put it all together (taking into account that the Conservative leader wasn't elected), there's something seriously wrong."

And despite having recently announced he was scaling back on his million-pound-generating business activities to focus on his "inter-religious dialogue," the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the ex-PM did not rule out a return to Westminster.

Jet3

Moscow on numbers killed in Syria (March to August 2016): 3,500 Syrian servicemen - 12,800 civilians - 35,000 terrorists

Syrian army servicemen
© Sputnik/ Michael Alaeddin
A total of 2031 violations of ceasefire regime by the US-backed 'moderate opposition' units have been registered in Syria from February 27 to September 1 this year in which 3,532 Syrian servicemen and 12,800 civilians were killed, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Friday.

"Another 8,949 servicemen and 25,642 civilians were wounded during the same period as a result of these violations," Antonov told reporters in Moscow.

Snakes in Suits

Watchdog group asks Pentagon to explain reports of Afghan 'ghost soldiers' on payrolls

Afghan National Army soldiers
A U.S. government watchdog is asking the Pentagon to explain reports about tens of thousands of nonexistent troops on the payrolls of Afghanistan's security forces.

The Afghan payrolls are heavily funded by international donors.

The U.S. government has allocated more than $68 billion since 2002 to help build and support Afghanistan's national army and police force.

John Sopko, the special inspector-general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said in a letter sent to the Pentagon in August that some of the money could be fraudulently wasted by funding so-called "ghost soldiers" in Afghanistan's security forces.

Comment: This has been going on for some time since at least 2013 and can also be found in Iraq. Is this just a case of sloppy accounting or is there a more nefarious reason for these "ghost soldiers"?


Bomb

The reason for Putin's plutonium ultimatum is the secret clash between Russia and NATO in Syria

Vladimir Putin
Translated from Russian by Kristina Kharlova

Two Russian ultimatums โ€” "plutonium" and "nuclear" caused shock in the US. "It's a real tragedy because we had successful cooperation in these areas," - Forbes quoted a confused State Department rep Mark Toner.

What made Vladimir Putin raise the stakes in a geopolitical game so suddenly and sharply?

The confusion of Americans was evident almost immediately after the publication of decree that Russia suspends the intergovernmental agreement with the United States on weapons-grade plutonium.

Comment: See also: Update: Putin suspends Russia-US deal on disposal of plutonium from decommissioned nuclear warheads


Jet5

Russian MPs unanimously back unlimited deployment of Air Force in Syria

Russian Su-24 aircaft on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in Syria.
© Maksim Blinov / Sputnik
The lower house of the Russian parliament (the State Duma) has ratified an agreement allowing the country's Air Force to stay in Syria on an unlimited basis. Combating terrorism is cited as one of the key goals.

The ballot took place on Friday with all 446 legislators voting in favor of the agreement, which will be applied "for an unlimited period and is timely applied from the date of its signing."

It is expected that the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, will review the document on October 12.

The deal states that the Russian Air Force is stationed at the Khmeimim airport in Latakia at the request of the Syrian government. A draft of the respective document was submitted by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the State Duma on August 9.

Comment: No surprise there since the US has proved to be an unreliable 'partner'.


Info

Russian FM says ready to support UN envoy's proposal to allow Al Nusra to exit Aleppo with arms

Karam Houmid neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria
© Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters
Russia is ready to urge the Syrian government to let Al-Nusra Front militants exit Aleppo with their weapons, as proposed by the UN envoy to Syria, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says.

Once the jihadists exit the war-ravaged city, Syrian government troops and the opposition will be able to form joint law-and-order bodies, Russia's top diplomat said, as cited by RIA Novosti.

"In the first place, those who don't leave with 'Nusra' should clearly separate themselves [from it], on paper, officially sign such a commitment," Lavrov said.

"Maybe then the government law enforcers and this armed opposition will be able to form some kind of joint law-and-order bodies to ensure normal life, so that people would feel safe," he continued.

Comment: The question is: will al-Qaeda agree? This 'plan' was essentially one of the main objectives of the cessation of hostilities agreement. What makes de Mistura think the rebels will listen this time? Maybe there's something else going on, e.g., providing safe cover to exfiltrate the Nusra-embedded U.S. special forces rumored to be holed up. From the entertaining but unverifiable Ziad Fadel at Syrian Perspective:
The United States is particularly concerned about the 12+ American rodent terrorists who were embedded with Alqaeda in East Aleppo. Their being taken captive would be a massive humiliation for a president whose own legacy is now assuredly one of failure and deep degradation. The Syrian Army - MI are monitoring the communications between the American rodents and their commanders in Turkey. Their situation is untenable. The Americans are slowly starving and are giving hints they might have to surrender to the SAA. This is why the U.S. was so insistent on a cease fire. There is also discussion of an extraction operation using both U.S. and Turkish commandos to break in to East Aleppo and save the miserable lives of the American terrorists. Such an operation, if unsuccessful, will bring even more opprobrium to Obama and his team of imbeciles, not to mention a virtual admission of American support for Alqaeda. A real mess.
Ironically, if Nusra takes de Mistura up on his offer, it won't end up well for the rebels, according to Syrian information minister Ramez Tourjman:
Aleppo is an important boundary in the history of this crisis. Its liberation will lead to a quick collapse of terrorist groups and will force [the sides] to transition to the political resolution of the crisis.



Star of David

Israel begins deporting women who tried to sail to Gaza after illegally hijacking their boat

gaza flotilla
© Kia Ora Gaza
Update, Oct. 7: The Women's Boat reports that "all 13 of the women on the Women's Boat to Gaza are currently in the process of deportation after being captured by the Israeli Navy and detained in a prison at Ashdod." A spokesperson says the deportation is going much faster than in prior flotillas. "We... suspect that the reason for the quick release was because of all the negative media attention Israel has been receiving for its illegal interception."

Original report, Oct. 6:

Israel has begun deporting the all-female crew of sailors who attempted to land in Gaza. The first two women returned to London on Thursday afternoon, a day after Israeli commandos seized the Women's Boat to Gaza, an activist ship skimming towards the Strip's maritime borders.


Comment: Some more details of the Israeli pirates illegal hijacking:
Two journalists from Al Jazeera who were on board Zaytouna-Oliva have been released and have safely reached London and Moscow. The other 11 women of the Women's Boat to Gaza are still in detention, but we anticipate that they will be 'deported' soon, as they were moved yesterday from Givon Prison to a detention facility at Ben-Gurion airport.

Wendy Goldsmith, a member of the land team working to secure the release of the women stated that, "the deportation is happening much quicker than in previous flotillas. While we had a great legal team assisting the women, we suspect that the reason for the quick release was because of all the negative media attention Israel has been receiving for its illegal interception, including the demand of rock band Pink Floyd." According to early reports from the women released, the Zaytouna-Oliva was surrounded by two warships along with four to five smaller naval boats. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) demanded that the Zaytouna-Oliva stop its course towards Gaza. When the warning was refused, at least seven IOF members, both male and female, boarded our yacht and commandeered it in international waters.

In the course of their capture, the women insisted that Israel's attack was illegal and that they were being taken against their will to Israel. The Women's Boat to Gaza campaign asserts that while the captivity of the women on board Zaytouna-Oliva may soon be over, the captivity of 1.9 million Palestinian people in Gaza remains. Whilst the term "peaceful" has been used in some media to describe the attack and capture of our boat, this is inaccurate. Peace is more than merely the absence of physical violence. Oppression, occupation, denial of human rights and taking a boat of unarmed, non-violent women against their will are not peaceful activities. Indeed, as Zaytouna-Oliva approached Palestine, the IOF launched multiple air raidsacross the Gaza Strip.

The Women's Boat to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition will continue to sail until Palestine is free.



Black Cat

Killary campaign can't shake hubby's scandals

Monica Lewinsky clinton
Monica Lewinsky 2016
Monica Lewinsky tends to avoid politics these days, after becoming instantly famous nearly 20 years ago as the White House intern who had an affair with President Bill Clinton.

Unfortunately for Lewinsky, the 2016 presidential race keeps getting stuck in the past.

In the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the thrice-married Republican hinted at the Clintons' marital problems and brought up Bill Clinton's infidelities directly soon after. For now, Trump says he won't discuss the subject at Sunday's debate. But he has been known to change his mind.

"Let's see what happens," Trump said at a town-hall event Thursday in New Hampshire, referring to whether he will hold off on the topic. "I think we're all better off if we can do that because it is about issues, it is about policies."

Hillary Clinton may not want to relive this period. But Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said any attack by Trump on the topic would backfire, showing Trump to be "combustible and erratic." Some political analysts said Trump risks showing Clinton in a sympathetic light as the wronged wife โ€” hardly helpful as he struggles to draw support from women.

Yet it's a fraught subject for both candidates. Bill Clinton aides moved aggressively to discredit women who alleged sexual contact with him, while Hillary Clinton stood by her husband publicly in much of that era and cast his accusers as part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

Comment: Killary 'having a real human moment'?? About as human as cackling over Gaddafi's lynching.

Slick Willy's White House flings are small potatoes compared to the full scale of the Clinton's criminal enterprise. Ironic that they seems to be one of the few things that may actually stick to Killary.