Comment: Looks like Japan is slowly and smartly seeing that good economic relations with Russia - despite the imperial dictates of the U.S. - is a 'win-win'.

• Japan plans 'economic cooperation' with Russia despite lack of progress on Kuril Islands dispute
• Abe ignores Obama by going to Russia for access to energy sources
• Russia and Japan agree on boosting trade: Creating the 'green corridor'
• Japan turns down Merkel's NATO offer because it would 'negatively affect our relations with Russia'
• Japan hesitates: Puts Russian sanctions on hold in view of possible FM talks

Moving in this direction, Japan is creating a special "Minister of Economic Relations with Russia" post, reported to be staffed by Hiroshige Seko, current Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. Interesting move!

Enhanced cooperation

In May this year during a meeting of the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, they agreed on the implementation of large-scale bilateral economic projects. In particular, these envisage the development of joint infrastructure projects in the Russian Far East - ports, hospitals, as well as a gas processing plant. They also include projects in the field of small and medium industry, energy, high technology, and nuclear industry.

HideGeo-economics as the geopolitics

Economic cooperation has a political dimension. Japan is concerned about complaints that China is a regional hegemon in the Pacific. The Japanese perspective is that the Chinese claim to occupy the highest place in the regional hierarchy is not justified. Therefore, Japan would like to enlist Russia's support in its disputes with China. Russia, in turn, is interested in that, creating mutually beneficial and close relations with Japan, not to depend on China as their sole partner in the Pacific Ocean and contribute to a more independent course of Japan from the United States.

Comment: Immediately following Turkey's incursion into Syria, the situation was murky. It seems to have cleared a bit since then, whether as a result of subsequent talks and negotiations, or simply the original plans coming to light. The original statement of US air support for the operation appears to have fallen through:

The US-led coalition did not provide previously-agreed air support to Turkish forces and Free Syrian Army rebels when they were attacked by Islamic State militants outside the city of Jarablus in northern Syria, losing several troops wounded in action. A Free Syrian Army (FSA) unit and Turkish troops came under heavy machine gun fire from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in a village located nearby Jarablus on Tuesday evening, Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday.

Taking heavy enemy fire, Turkish air forward observers requested immediate support from the NATO airbase at Incirlik, from which the US-led coalition's aircraft operate. The agency's report also said that some US aircraft were already airborne for a regular patrolling mission. However, the US command was reluctant to provide air cover and reportedly delayed scrambling jets for about an hour, making excuses, though such scenarios were previously agreed between the US and Turkish militaries, according to Anadolu.

In the meantime, a Turkish tank which supported advancing rebels was hit by a rocket fired by Islamists, wounding three soldiers, an FSA source told the news agency. "We could have lost many people," the source said. "The Americans had promised to provide air support in case of an emergency, but they did not. They should have helped; however, the air intervention came in late because of them."

Consequently, the Turkish Air Force scrambled its own aircraft which arrived "last minute" and hit IS targets, the source added. US-led coalition jets came in and bombed the area three hours later, and the airstrike was useless, Anadolu said.

Naturally, the U.S. denies this. US Air Forces Central Command spokeswoman Kiley Dougherty told Sputnik: "Turkish forces requested air support from Coalition assets after a hostile vehicle attacked a Turkish tank in Jarabulus, Syria Tuesday evening. Coalition air support coordinated with the Turkish Air Force and Coalition ground forces to identify and destroy the vehicle."

Not only that, according to Hurriyet, the operation was launched without consulting with the U.S. They has been aware of plans for such an operation since June 2015, but rejected them at the time, not believing the plan was "feasible". The plan was put on the shelf after Russia entered the scene and the jet shoot-down shot down relations with Russia:

Washington seems to have warmed up to the initiative in recent months, but the US wanted to remove Kurdish forces from the conflict area. The White House was ready to conduct a high-level meeting on the possible operation on August 24, the Wall Street Journal reported, but by that time Turkey had already launched the ground offensive. "Ankara pulled the trigger on the mission unilaterally, without giving officials in Washington advance warning," the newspaper noted, adding that Turkey conducted its first airstrikes against targets in Syria alone. The US decided to provide air cover to the Turkish forces only after it understood that Operation Euphrates Shield was underway.

The media outlet described what happened as a "breakdown in coordination" that the US chose to keep under wraps. Early on August 24, the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim issued a statement saying that Turkey launched an operation to free the Syrian city of Jarablus that involved "the Turkish Armed Forces and the International Coalition Air Forces," referring to the US warplanes. Hours later an unnamed US official told Reuters that the US Air Force would provide air cover for Operation Euphrates Shield, adding that Washington was "in synch" with Ankara's initiative. Apparently, this is not how it went down. "Behind the scenes, cooperation between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners broke down at senior levels," the WSJ reported, citing unnamed officials from the US and Turkey. "The two countries weren't as aligned on the operation as their public statements indicated."

As a result, Turkey's operation undermined Washington's "behind-the-scenes" efforts to remove the Syrian Kurds from regions west of the Euphrates, something that Ankara has always seen as a red line. Since Washington failed to accomplish this task on time, Turkey's decision to go ahead with the operation also "created a prickly, new challenge for the US" as fighting erupted between its two regional allies that were supposed to focus on tackling Daesh.

Coincidentally, and possibly as a result of these maneuvers, there are reports that the U.S. and Russia are finally closer to an agreement on Aleppo. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Tasnim news agency: "We are, I hope, a few steps from an agreement on the special situation around Aleppo. Our military officials will meet again within few hours to reach a final deal. We haven't reached it yet." Svobodnaya Pressa asserts that the Turkish operation may play a "major role" in this process:

The new deal will most likely involve both sides sponsoring a ceasefire in Aleppo and introducing a mechanism to uphold it, but it will not see armed rebel groups put down their weapons or Moscow and Washington conduct joint airstrikes on the city, the media outlet noted.

Turkey's ground offensive that was launched on August 24 was "apparently coordinated" with Moscow, Damascus and Tehran, the media outlet said, offering possible conditions of the agreement if it was made. They involve Ankara saying yes to Assad remaining in power, making every effort to prevent the Kurds from carving an independent state out of northern Syria and withdrawing its support from Jaysh al-Fath, also known as the Army of Conquest. The latter is a jihadist coalition, comprising Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly called al-Nusra Front), Jabhat Ansar al-Din, Jaysh al-Sunna, etc.

In addition, "thirteen rebel factions of Fatah Halab, a group that has been fighting against government forces in Idlib and Aleppo, were redeployed through the Turkish territory to northern Syria prior to Ankara's operation," Svobodnaya Pressa said. "Along with the Turkish military they are currently fighting against Daesh and the Syrian Democratic Forces made of Kurdish and Arab fighters." Fatah Halab comprises Faylaq al-Sham, Nour al-Din al-Zinki, Sultan Murad, Jabhat al-Shamiya, 13th Division, Suqor al-Jebel, Jaish al-Tahrir, Hamza Division, Jaish al-Nasr, Mutassim Brigade, Ahrar Tel Rifaat, Liwa al-Fate and to an extent Ahrar al-Sham, an organization that Russia considers to be a terrorist group.

"There is only one way to resolve the Fatah Halab issue - by adding the group to the list of organizations covered by the ceasefire," Svobodnaya Pressa said. "The group has already published a statement agreeing to deliver humanitarian aid to Aleppo through the Ramouseh suburb and the Castello Road." Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham could also be added to the list of groups covered by the ceasefire regime that Russia and the US brokered in early 2016, Svobodnaya Pressa said. "If leaders of these groups come to an agreement, then the plan under which al-Nusra Front opted for a rebranding will work. The organization will dissolve in the new structure that will join the ceasefire. This new group will most likely be led by Ahrar al-Sham," the media outlet noted.

If these assertions are correct, the new agreement between Russia and the US will not "cleanse" Aleppo of armed opposition, but it will still be able to enforce a ceasefire regime in the city. Some rebel fighters will then join those fighting against Daesh in northern Syria. There are certain doubts that either Russia or the US will agree to view al-Nusra Front as a member of legitimate opposition, since both countries consider al-Qaeda's former offshoot in Syria to be a terrorist organization.

See previous coverage of the Turkish operation here: Turkish tanks cross Syrian border in military op to retake city of Jarablus from ISIS with US air support - UPDATES

Comment: These cardholders have essentially stolen from the government and the taxpayers, and none of them are going to see the inside of a jail cell. Which is infuriating, but we don't want to forget the bigger picture that these are just the low level swindlers and this release is a limited hangout. In the grand scheme of things, a million dollars is nothing, and those at the top are far more depraved.

Comment: Coincidentally, a female U.S. intelligence officer was rescued by the Turks on their border with Syria after she was wounded while "on mission" in Syria in early August. Wonder if she was actually 'on mission' in Iraq, then crossed into Syria?

Turkish Border Patrol Finds US Agent After Two Days of Searches by Military (Sputnik, August 7)

Turkish border patrol found on Sunday a US intelligence officer who US and Turkish military had been searching for two days, Turkish media reported.

Injured while on mission in Syria, the officer asked her command for rescue and headed to the Syrian-Turkish border, the Hurriyet newspaper said. Reportedly, US and Turkish military launched a search and rescue operation, involving helicopters and drones, but failed to find the intelligence agent.

On Sunday, the woman was found by Turkish patrol officers near the Syrian-Turkish border and brought to the Incirlik base. Her condition is unknown, the newspaper added.

Update: The plot thickens: Sputnik Exclusive: 'Russian Female Spy' Causes Stir in Daesh Ranks

A local source in Mosul told Sputnik that Daesh declared search for a woman named Um Hafsa, who was living in the ranks of Daesh as a spy and was passing information to Iraqi intelligence services.

The source explained that Um Hafsa has Russian roots, but her exact name is not known. Details of her links to Iraqi intelligence also remain unknown.

"She was married to a Daesh militant in Mosul. They lived in the Seth area, when she suddenly disappeared, along with three other women from Daesh," the source said.

According to him, the militants in Mosul arrested dozens of people, who somehow could be associated with her or are in contact with her. The terrorists realized that she was an undercover spy after she left her apartment an hour before an air strike by the coalition struck her house.

When militants carried out interrogations of the surviving civilians it turned out that Um Hafsa warned residents about the air strike before leaving and asked all the residents to leave their houses immediately.

She warned everyone except the militants. In addition to this, Um Hafsa was the organizer of setting young Yezidi girls free by allowing them to escape sexual slavery from Daesh. The girls were taken as slaves following an attack on the town of Sinjar in 2014.

According to local residents, the Seth area and its surroundings are filled with Daesh militant patrols that are searching and interrogating local residents in order to find any evidence regarding whereabouts of the escaped spy.

Comment: Lavrov: US Trying to Use Difficulties in Russia-EU Ties to Impose LNG Deliveries

The United States is trying to use the difficulties in Russia-EU relations to impose US liquefied gas supplies on Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

"The United States is trying to use the current cooling of relations between us and the European Union to impose own liquefied natural gas on the Europeans, which requires very expensive infrastructure," Lavrov said.

Comment: Economically, the election choice for the US is between the d'evil and a hard place. Maybe, the hard place?