Puppet MastersS


Jet5

US-led coalition airstrikes destroy Daesh headquarters in Raqqa and Mosul


Sputnik
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 16:12 UTC
US-Led Coalition Airstrikes
© Reuters
US-led coalition airstrikes in Syria and Iraq on Sunday destroyed Daesh headquarters near the terror group's strongholds of Raqqa and Mosul, Operation Inherent Resolve said in a press release.

"Near Raqqah, six strikes destroyed three tunnels, an artillery system, a VBIED, and an ISIL headquarters," the release stated on Monday. "Near Mosul, three strikes destroyed 23 ISIL-held buildings, an ISIL headquarters and a front-end loader; and damaged 14 supply routes and a tunnel."

The coalition conducted 10 additional airstrikes in Syria, including three that destroyed oil well heads near Abu Kamal and seven near Deir ez-Zor that destroyed oil tanker trucks, oil wellheads and a pump jack.
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Chess

Trump 'doesn't care about talking to Parliament,' wants meetings instead


RT
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:49 UTC
trump
US President Donald Trump is not interested in addressing Parliament during his state visit to the UK, and instead wants to focus on the pomp and ceremony Britain affords foreign leaders, government officials planning his stay say.

Sources told the Guardian that Trump has expressed no interest in speaking at Westminster. However, it's understood that he does want "high visibility visits with key members of the Royal family."

The US president is rumored to have asked for a tour of the Cabinet war rooms with a senior government official such as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, and it has even been suggested he wants to play golf with the Queen at Balmoral.
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Eye 2

Think tank reports potential ISIS recruits offered protection & free passage to Europe


RT
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:49 UTC
refugees europe migrant immigration
© Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters
Islamic State provides free passage to Europe to refugees willing to join the terrorist group, offering potential recruits up to $1,000 while actively infiltrating migrant communities in countries of destination, a British anti-extremism think tank warns.

A latest report by the leading British counter-extremism think tank Quilliam also says that underage asylum seekers are at increasing risk of being radicalized by Islamic State's (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) preachers infiltrating refugee camps and local migrant communities.

"Groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram recruit using financial incentives within refugee camps and work with smugglers and traffickers to facilitate the journey to asylum," Quilliam's report said. According to the think tank, IS is clearly aware of the value of migrant routes in the Eastern Mediterranean as it offers free passage and "a degree of security" to those willing to join IS.
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Bad Guys

DPR Emergency Statement: Poroshenko prepares for total war following Trump call

J. Arnoldski (translator)
Fort Russ / RusVena
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:49 UTC
Eduard Basurin Donbass
The deputy commander of the Donetsk People's Republic, Eduard Basurin, stated at an emergency briefing in Donetsk last night that Poroshenko is preparing to unleash a full-scale war and reject the Minsk Agreements.

Basurin announced: "Following the talk between Poroshenko and Trump, Ukraine will in the near future cease to receive financial and military support for its terrorist operation in the land of Donbass. In connection with this, the Ukrainian president has fallen into complete despair and is ready to desperately commit to the most reckless action of unleashing a full-scale and bloody war in Eastern Europe."

"All of this is needed in order to blame their crimes on the unrecognized republics and the Russian Federation and defraud the West of new funds in order to develop their business built on the blood of the ordinary Ukrainian people," Basurin continued.

Comment: Further reading: Trump administration fails to back Ukraine. It seems Poroshenko is digging in his heels:
While live on the TV channel "Inter," Sergey Kaplin, a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, called on the Ukrainian population to prepare for a protracted war.

"Let's resume preparations for the civil defense of our population. Today we should honestly tell our people that no Minsk Agreements, no negotiations, and no geopolitical shifts in the world will lead to a stabilization of the situation. We should learn to live in a state of war or semi-war for the next few years. The country should be prepared for these challenges," Kaplin stated.

Kaplin was supported by international affairs analyst Aleksandr Sushko, who added: "We should honestly tell the people waiting who sincerely believe that the war could end and that normal life will return in six months - tell them that normal life will not return in the coming years, and maybe this extraordinary situation will continue for decades."

Before his election in May 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised to end the war in Donbass within two weeks.


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Quenelle

Palestinians file suit against Trump adviser and Netanyahu for terrorism

Charlotte Silver
Electronic Intifada
Thu, 02 Feb 2017 15:54 UTC
Trump
© Molly Riley/ United Press InternationalPresident Donald Trump speaks next to Jared Kushner, his senior advisor and son-in-law, in the White House on 31 January. Kushner’s family foundation is among several defendants named in a lawsuit over the financing of Israeli settlements and violent extremism.
A group of US citizens and Palestinian nationals is suing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and key members of US President Donald Trump's administration for perpetrating and enabling war crimes.

Their lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, alleges a money laundering scheme that involves the US defendants raising charitable donations to send to Israeli government leaders.

Based on the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Alien Torts Statute, the complaint alleges that the Israeli officials use the money to fund settlements and violent extremism in the occupied West Bank, which the complaint identifies as "international terrorism."

It comes as Netanyahu vowed that Israel would soon build an entirely new settlement in the occupied West Bank. Since Trump took office last month, Israel has announced plans for 6,000 additional settler housing units.

Israel's current and former defense ministers Avigdor Lieberman and Ehud Barak are named as defendants, as is former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who recently evaded a war crimes summons from Belgian prosecutors.

The lawsuit also names the family foundation of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and now his adviser on the Middle East and Israel.

Other defendants are David Friedman and his charity, American Friends of Beit El Yeshiva Center. Friedman, Trump's ambassador-designate to Israel, is a major fundraiser for Israeli settlements.
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Eye 2

US administration abandons plan to reopen CIA 'black sites' - media


RT
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:42 UTC
Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay naval base
© Michael R. Holzworth / ReutersA Navy guard patrols Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay naval base.
The Trump administration will not proceed with plans to reopen the infamous CIA prisons to interrogate terrorist suspects, US media report, citing sources.

According to the New York Times, the White House has decided to abandon their plans to reopen 'black site' prisons. The unnamed officials who revealed the change of heart to the newspaper cited a revised draft of an executive order on US detention policy.

The first draft of the document titled "Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants" was released by WikiLeaks last week.

In addition to cancelling out former US President Barack Obama's intention to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, it called for a review of overseas CIA interrogation programs discontinued under Obama. Although US Defense Secretary James Mattis, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and White House spokesman Sean Spicer denied having any knowledge of the document, it has been widely circulated in the media.

Comment: See also:
  • New CIA deputy director Gina Haspel used to run 'black site' torture prisons
  • Intel source: Steve Bannon Is making sure there's no White house paper trail


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USA

97 US firms lean on Trump travel ban in court


RT
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:51 UTC
Muslim ban protesters
© Tom Mihalek / Reuters
Nearly 100 American firms, including tech giants Apple, Google and Microsoft, have filed a legal brief supporting a case challenging the so-called 'Muslim ban', saying the White House's restriction "is inflicting substantial harm on US companies."

The 'amicus curiae' brief, which was filed with the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco on Sunday, supports a lawsuit brought by several US States to challenge President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the country.

The 97 companies backing the brief include tech heavyweights such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Twitter, eBay, Netflix, and Uber, and also non-tech companies, including Levi Strauss and Chobani.

Comment: More on the Muslin ban:

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Radar

No need for drama: US avoids inflaming South China Sea dispute for now


Sputnik
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:49 UTC
US ships in South China Sea
© AP Photo/ U.S. Navy/Petty Officer 2nd Class Will Gaskill
The United States appears reluctant to launch a large-scale military response to Chinese activity on South China Sea.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has declared that the United States sees no reason to launch any kind of large scale military moves in South China Sea due to the current level of Chinese activity in the region.

"At this time, we do not see any need for dramatic military moves at all," Mattis said during a press conference held after the meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada.


Comment: Japan will not participate in US 'freedom of navigation' patrols in South China Sea


Comment: Maybe Mattis is stalling for time to develop a plan: The new US administration expands South China Sea conflict

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Jet4

Report: Thousands of US airstrikes unaccounted for in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq


RT
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 01:13 UTC
Apache attack helicopter
© Daily Star
US Central Command has been misleading the public in its assessment of the overall progress in the war on terror by failing to account for thousands of airstrikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, a Military Times investigation reveals. The publication says that in 2016 alone, American aircraft conducted at least 456 airstrikes in Afghanistan that were not recorded in the database maintained by the US Air Force.

The investigation also revealed discrepancies in Iraq and Syria where the Pentagon failed to account for nearly 6,000 strikes dating back to 2014, when the US-led coalition has launched its first airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS,ISIL) terrorist targets. According to the Air Force, coalition jets conducted 23,740 airstrikes through the end of 2016. The US Defense Department, however, puts the number at 17,861 until the end of January 2017. "The Pentagon routinely cites these figures when updating the media on its operations against the Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates in Iraq and Syria," the publication says.


Comment: The United States of Discrepancy: How to dodge blame and rape the system.

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Star of David

Netanyahu calls for united front against 'Iranian Aggression'


Sputnik
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 00:41 UTC
netanyahu
© Your News Wire"Read my face...it says it all!"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on London and Washington to join efforts "against Iran's aggression" ahead of his visits to the United Kingdom and the United States. Earlier in the day, the Israeli Prime Minister set off for the United Kingdom to meet the country's leadership on Monday. Netanyahu is also expected to hold a meeting with US President Donald Trump on February 15.

"I think that the most important thing at the moment is that countries like the United States, which will take the lead, Israel and the United Kingdom line up together against Iran's aggression and set clear limits to it. This will be the first issue, among many, that I will discuss with UK Prime Minister Theresa May and, of course, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson," Netanyahu said ahead of the flight.

Netanyahu added that the transition of power in both the United States and the United Kingdom created new diplomatic opportunities and he planned to discuss improvement of relations between these countries and Israel. "I intend to speak with them about tightening relations between each side and Israel and trilaterally. This is what I will do next week in Washington and in London tomorrow," the prime minister added.

The relations between Israel and Iran have been strained since the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s. The ties are overshadowed by a number of issues, including Tehran's nuclear and missile programs accompanied by controversial anti-Israeli statements of high-ranking Iranian officials, such as former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.


Comment: Very likely justified.


The tensions around Iran have escalated since late January after the test of ballistic missile by Tehran, which has been criticized by officials in both the United States and the European Union.

Comment: In other words, Netanyahu's relationship with Obama was in the dumpster and he now has an opportunity to sidle up and mesmerize fresh champions to do his dirty work.

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