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USA

Analysis of Donald Trump's press conference after Flynn's resignation

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
Donald Trump
© Unknown
President Trump confirms during marathon press conference that his priority before negotiating with the Russians is to shore up his position at home. He has taken a first step towards rooting out his opponents in the intelligence community by asking the Justice Department to instruct the FBI to undertake a criminal investigation of the leaks which brought down General Flynn.

President Trump's gigantic sprawling 77 minute press conference was - as is always the case with him - a bravura performance that left the media reeling. Amid all the fire and thunder - which included denunciations of the media and warm and supportive words for General Flynn - it did however reveal some important things.

Comment: See also:

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Magnify

Not much different!?: Trump's Foreign Policy on Georgia

Henry Kamens
New Eastern Outlook
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
Georgia Police
© Unknown
Let's face a few facts. We know that Donald Trump can't continue with current US foreign policy and has no interest in doing so. We know that part of that policy has long been turning certain countries into regional CIA dirty tricks bases. We know that one of those countries is Georgia, whose previous governments were very happy to live under such an arrangement, for the usual percentage, but now has a government which is equally pro-US but doesn't have the criminal tendencies of its predecessor.

So what the US does in Georgia under Trump will be a template for what we can expect in other countries, such as Yemen, which the US has entered to do the things it would never be allowed to do at home. For once the US will be seeking to impose a change of its own regime, not that of the countries it intervenes in. It has been a long time since this happened, and therefore it is difficult to see what template will be used: assuming Trump takes any notice of previous precedent, or listens to any advice, neither of which seem to be his style.

So what can we expect the Trump Administration to do in Georgia, which will then roll out in other countries? We asked Jeffrey Silverman, Georgia Bureau Chief for Veterans Today, and found him answering some of the same questions for the Georgian media. Here is his take on what the world will see more of over the next four years, and where it leaves everyone who gets in the way.
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Handcuffs

Samsung chief arrested amid widening South Korea corruption scandal


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 01:41 UTC
Jay Y. Lee
© ReutersSamsung Group chief, Jay Y. Lee, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, February 16, 2017.
South Korea's special prosecutors have succeeded in a second attempt to secure the arrest of Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee, whose implicated in the high-profile bribery scandal that involves suspended President Park Geun-hye and her secret confidante.

Seoul Central District Court decided to arrest the Samsung Group chief early on Friday after an almost day-long closed-door hearing. The prosecutors requested the arrest over Lee's suspected role in the large-scale political corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of South Korea's President Park Geun-hye.

Lee was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Centre. Its the second attempt to arrest the senior Samsung executive, after the same court rejected the previous arrest request last month.

Comment: Further reading on the corruption scandal:

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Info

New Clinton emails? Something bigger? Cryptic WikiLeaks tweets about 'Vault 7'


Sputnik
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 22:21 UTC
clinton_wikileaks
© Twitter/RT_America
WikiLeaks has puzzled the public with a mysterious "Vault 7" riddle. Given several hints dropped by the organization the world may witness a new disclosure. WikiLeaks says it will be big.

WikiLeaks continues to tease the public with the alleged upcoming exposure of new explosive information. Apparently, it may have something to do with Hillary Clinton.

"WikiLeaks asked what is Vault 7, where is Vault 7, when is Vault 7. While the world waits for the 'why' and 'who', we assume that the answer as to 'when' is on February 19," a video released by Anonymous Scandinavia on Twitter says.
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Chess

Trump drops appeal of travel ban, will issue new executive order instead


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 22:54 UTC
trump protest travel ban
© Noah Berger / Reuters
The US Department of Justice will not appeal the 9th Circuit Court's decision on staying the January travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries. President Donald Trump will issue a new executive order instead, the DOJ said in a court filing.

"In so doing, the President will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation," the Justice Department said in a brief filed with the 9th Circuit on Thursday, according to Reuters.

Trump announced he would issue the new order during a press conference at the White House earlier in the day, adding it would be tailored to address "what I consider to be a very bad decision" by the court.

"We can tailor the order to that decision and get just about everything, in some ways more," he said.
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Bulb

Fmr US Ambassador to Soviet Union: Most fundamental interest of US and Russia is not to engage in nuclear warfare with each other


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 22:44 UTC
nuclear explosion
© Bryan Smith / www.globallookpress.com
The interests of Russia and the US are compatible and the most fundamental of them is not to engage in nuclear warfare with each other, former US Ambassador to the Soviet Union Jack Matlock told RT.

Matlock served in Moscow from 1987 to 1991, witnessing the Mikhail Gorbachev-era transformation of the Soviet Union and playing a key role in negotiating international treaties that defused Cold War tensions. He believes that those in Russia and the US who see current tensions between the two nations as a reincarnation of the Cold War are wrong.

"I see no reason for a renewal of the Cold War, because the basic interests of the United States and Russia are compatible. There is simply no reason for us to treat each other as enemies," he said.


Comment: The power-hungry psychopaths who have run US foreign policy for decades treat Russia as an enemy because Russia presents an 'existential threat' to US hegemonic power. The US cannot go around raping and pillaging countries around the world if Russia remains strong enough to stand up to them and not allow it. The answer for the psychos: Bring Russia down, either through subterfuge or force. Their behavior might destroy the US, but they cannot see past their own wishful thinking.


The former ambassador says the defusing of tension during his tenure in Moscow was based on the presumption that a nuclear war would be unwinnable, and the same remains true today.
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Info

Syrian govt delegation head accuses Turkey and armed rebels of derailing Astana talks


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 22:30 UTC
Meeting on Syria in Astana
© Ilyas Omarov / Sputnik
The actions of the Turkish and rebel delegations demonstrate that their goal is to disrupt the Astana negotiations, Bashar Jaafari, the head of the Syria's government delegation told journalists at the end of Thursday's talks.

The rebels and their Turkish backers demonstrate a "clear will to disrupt the Astana meetings," Jaafari said, as cited by Reuters. He went on to blame Turkey and the rebels for preventing the adoption of the final communiqué of the Astana meeting.

"The failure to adopt the final communiqué of today's meeting results primarily from the late arrival of the Turkish delegation and the delegation of the armed opposition," he said. He pointed to the fact that both delegations arrived in Astana only on Thursday, the last day of the talks, and is a clear demonstration of their "irresponsible attitude" towards the summit, RIA news agency reports.
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Chess

Trump tweets that investigation into leaks within intelligence community could be launched

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 21:23 UTC
michael flynn
US President Trump - as I speculated yesterday he might do - has signalled today that a leak investigation will be launched to track down and punish the leakers from within the US intelligence community who have been working overtime since before he was elected to undermine and delegitimise him.

That this is so is confirmed in a series of tweets President Trump has published today (here, here, here, and here)
The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story - RUSSIA. Fake news!

FAKE NEWS media, which makes up stories and "sources," is far more effective than the discredited Democrats - but they are fading fast!

The spotlight has finally been put on the low-life leakers! They will be caught!

Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize!
(bold italics added)
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Info

'Colonization was a crime against humanity': French presidential favorite Macron sparks firestorm


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 21:39 UTC
Emmanuel Macron
© Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
Emmanuel Macron, the centrist French politician who is surging in the polls two months ahead of the presidential election, has been forced to defend himself after criticizing his country's colonial past.

Macron, 39, was asked to clarify previous comments on colonization during an interview with Algerian television, broadcast on Tuesday night - a sensitive issue in a country that fought a bloody war to earn its independence from France.

"Colonization is a crime. It's a crime against humanity. It's truly barbarous and it's part of a past that we need to confront by apologizing to those against whom we committed these acts," Macron said.

"At the same time, we must not sweep this past under the rug...There's a fitting phrase that is said about Algeria: 'France established human rights in Algeria. It simply forgot to abide by them,'" the politician added.
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Propaganda

Fake News at it again: "Trump being kept in the dark by US intel agencies citing alleged 'Russian contacts'"


RT
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 09:14 UTC
harmful if swallowed
© The Free Thought Project
US intelligence officials may have kept sensitive information from President Donald Trump due to concerns of potential leaks. This has added to growing discord between the agencies and the new leader, according to media reports. In some cases, US intelligence officers did not inform Trump about the sources and methods used to collect classified information from foreign governments, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday in an unsourced report.

Citing unnamed "current and former officials familiar with the matter," the WSJ wrote of the decision not to reveal sources and "trustworthiness or discretion," but added it stems "from the president's repeated expressions of admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his call during the presidential campaign for Russia to continue hacking the emails of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton."

Notably, the WSJ report, widely cited by major US media, did not include any direct quote of the intelligence officials in question. What the newspaper does quote is a statement by a White House official, also anonymous, who says the allegations are false. "There is nothing that leads us to believe that this is an accurate account of what is actually happening," the official said.

The mere possibility of presenting incomplete information to Trump was officially dismissed by the US intelligence community itself.


Comment: Unnamed sources, unverified statements, no evidence, no idea what was said, no collusion proven, claims dismissed by the Intel community. Either intel is using fake news outlets or fake news outlets are creating fake intel -- neither, some or all. So, it begs the question...WHAT IS THE ACTUAL INTEL and are they sharing it with the president? (P.S.: And how would he know?)

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