Puppet MastersS


War Whore

Top US commander skeptical of Russia-US cooperation in fight against ISIS


CBS News
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:24 UTC
isis flag
© REUTERS
The top U.S. commander for the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) said Monday that he is skeptical of any additional military cooperation with Russia in Syria, and that he believes he can get the mission done without it.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said that any decision to cooperate with Moscow is one for the Obama administration to make.

But, "as a soldier, I'm fairly skeptical of the Russians," Townsend told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Baghdad. "I'm not sure how much I'm inclined to believe that we can cooperate with them."

Townsend's comments on Russia reflect a broader U.S. military reluctance to work more closely with Moscow on operations in Syria, despite requests from Russia to the U.S. to join forces against ISIS in Syria. The U.S. is reluctant to cooperate with Moscow because of its alliance with President Bashar Assad; the U.S. is backing rebels who are fighting ISIS but who are also in Assad's sights.

Last week, U.S. aircraft scrambled twice to protect American commandos because Syrian government warplanes were bombing nearby.
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Snakes in Suits

The alternate reality of NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Danielle Ryan
RT
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 15:12 UTC
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
© Virginia Mayo / Reuters
Reading through a recent interview with former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, it becomes clear that his world is one in which US foreign policy has only ever made us all safer and the biggest risk we now face is diminished US power.

The entire premise of his argument throughout the interview is that if the US steps back from playing global policeman, the "bad guys" will win. Simple as that.
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Dollars

Divide and conquer: Saudi Arabia proposes financial aid to Kurds for fight against Syrian army


Sputnik
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 14:53 UTC
terrorist fighter
© AP Cagdas Erdogan
According to the Lebanese As Safir newspaper, the proposal was made via official channels during a meeting of representatives of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly proposed to support Kurdish combat actions against the Syrian army and the main condition for getting the aid is a continuation of fight all across Syria, where the Kurdish fighters are present, the newspaper reported, citing PKK sources.
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Dollars

'The grayest legal campaign loophole': Trump spent $7.7 million in supporter donations to buy services from his own companies

Claire Bernish
Free Thought Project
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:05 UTC
trump donations
© Free Thought Project
According to a new filing with the Federal Elections Commission, Donald Trump's kids have been profiting handily from his campaign — to date, his children and companies have been paid $7.7 million in campaign contributions — and that figure is on the rise.

Roughly 20 percent of Trump's campaign spending in May, $1.1 million, went directly to his children — and another $800,000 did so in July.

It would seem the ostensible itinerant business mogul has discovered the grayest legal campaign loophole on which to opportunistically capitalize.

"Campaign finance laws on the topic are hazy and contradictory, largely because no candidate for federal office has ever had such a sprawling business empire that could be employed for a campaign," wrote Vice News' Alex Thompson. "The FEC allows candidates to rent themselves their own office space — as the Trump campaign does at Trump Tower — but bans them from collecting royalties on any memoirs purchased by the campaign. Money ultimately flows back to the candidate in both cases but the FEC has issued divergent rules."

Trump's complex web of interconnected businesses and services — coupled with extensive family involvement — makes this known gray area in campaign finance law a bit shadier than would ordinarily be the case.

"The extent of Mr. Trump's use of his own companies for goods and services during the campaign is unprecedented," explained Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance expert and Deputy Executive Director of The Campaign Legal Center, as quoted by Thompson. "It has the potential to transfer donations to himself and his children."
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Chess

Putin preparing for war? Russia conducts armored train drills for first time in 15 years

Mac Slavo
SHTFplan.com
Wed, 17 Aug 2016 15:08 UTC
russia tank
One could only conclude that Putin is not playing around anymore. Instead, Russia is out and out prepared for war. It is likely enough that we should expect it, too. Can you feel things heating up?

These drills appear to be very serious training for the mobilization of a major force that intends to bring in vast numbers and superior equipment under cover from fire.

Watch carefully as this force readies to protect Putin's army during transport to the point of conflict:

The Russians have been flaunting their latest equipment for communications jamming, which allows them to literally dominate and control an area; they have been flexing their ICBM mobile trucks and they have been giving every sign that they will not be pushed around by NATO, rightly or wrongly.
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Bad Guys

U.S. imperialism on tour in East Africa - Kerry makes the rounds championing military interventions

Abayomi Azikiwe
Global Research
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:35 UTC
Kerry Kenya
© US State DepartmentUS Secretary of State John Kerry with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta
Secretary of State visits Kenya with initiatives on South Sudan and Somalia

Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Nairobi, Kenya on August 22 for meetings with President Uhuru Kenyatta and foreign ministers from several regional countries in East Africa.

Washington's top envoy focused attention on the fractious political situation in neighboring South Sudan and Somalia.

In the Republic of South Sudan a split between President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar in December 2013 was never fully resolved. The agreement brokered by the regional Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) sought to create a coalition aimed at the re-integration of military forces from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) headed by Kiir and the SPLM/A in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) led by Machar.

The former Vice-President Machar returned to the capital of Juba in April under the presumption that he would be placed back into his position held prior to the December 2013 fighting which took on the dimensions of an ethnic conflict between the Dinka and Nuer groups. The fighting over the last two-and-a-half years has worsened the humanitarian crisis inside South Sudan with reports of atrocities committed by the military forces of both factions and the displacement of two million people impacted by the conflict.

Despite the agreement for a coalition government, clashes erupted during mid-July after which Kiir appointed another Vice-President Taban Deng Gai prompting Machar to flee the capital and the country. Deng, a former negotiator for the SPLM/A-IO, has apparently broken ranks with Machar.

Comment: So Kerry is on a tour, waving the flag of U.S. concern for the poor Africans who can't get their act together on terrorism or anything else for that matter. Or is it is to lean on the leaders of as many countries in the region as possible to counter increasing influence from China, who promise real economic development?

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Handcuffs

Police arrest British Armed Forces member on suspicion of terrorism in Northern Ireland


RT
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 14:49 UTC
police line
© Stefan Wermuth / Reuters
Police have arrested a serving member of the British Armed Forces on suspicion of Northern Ireland-related terrorist activities.

The 30-year-old man was remanded in custody at 12:20pm local time (11.20 GMT) on Wednesday during a joint operation involving the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism squad, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, and Devon and Cornwall police.

In a press statement, the London Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said the arrest was "pre-planned and intelligence led" as part of an investigation into Northern Ireland-related terrorism.

The suspect, from Somerset, has not been identified, but has been taken to an unnamed police station in the west of England.
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Chess

Iran tells OPEC it is ready to discuss crude oil output freeze


RT
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 14:44 UTC
oil refinery
© Francisco Bonilla / Reuters
Tehran has told OPEC it will attend talks between the world's biggest oil producers in Algeria in September. Iran's reluctance to talk has been one of the main stumbling blocks to a global production cap.

OPEC's third-largest producer has been increasing output after the rollback of Western sanctions in January, aiming to reach four million barrels per day. Iran refused to join a previous attempt to freeze production in April. Talks collapsed after Saudi Arabia said it would not make a deal without its rival at the table.

"Iran is reaching its pre-sanctions production level soon and after that it can cooperate with the others. In general, Iran prefers more actions from the OPEC side rather than just freezing at the maximum production level of all members. If this freezing issue helps prices to improve, Iran by positive words of support, will help," a source familiar with Tehran's stance told Reuters.
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Megaphone

Trump slams Killary for 'Third World' corruption after it emerged that HALF of her meetings as Secretary of State were with Clinton foundation donors

Harvey Day
Daily Mail
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:15 UTC
donald trump
© AFPDonald Trump stepped up his attacks on Hillary Clinton by accusing her of 'Third World' corruption after revelations about donor access to the Democratic candidate
Donald Trump stepped up his attacks on Hillary Clinton by accusing her of 'Third World' corruption after revelations about donor access to the Democratic candidate.

The Republican nominee called the revelations about Clinton and her family's charitable foundation a 'disgrace' and a 'threat to the foundation of democracy' at a rally in Austin, Texas.

A report revealed that more than half the people outside government who met Clinton while she was Secretary of State donated money to the Clinton Foundation.

'It is a total embarrassment if our secretary of state can be bought or bribed or sold,' Trump said.

'It's a disgrace, this is a threat to the foundation of democracy. This is what happens in Third World countries.'

Comment: They don't come any dirtier or corrupt than the Clintons.

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Eye 1

FBI secretly took over child porn site in 2015, distributing child porn and improving web site performance in 'Playpen' case


RT
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 14:37 UTC
fbi child porn
© Zachary Fagenson / Reuters
Membership on the largest "dark web" child pornography site rose by a third and it ran "much better" while it was operated secretly by the FBI, one defense lawyer in the "Playpen" case has argued, seeking to have the charges dismissed.

After taking control of "Playpen" in February 2015, the FBI continued to operate the child pornography site for two more weeks, seeking to infect users' computers with malware. Over 4,000 computers worldwide were hacked in this fashion, and 186 people were charged. A defense attorney for one of them is now saying the FBI did a better job of running the site.

Steven Chase, the original administrator of Playpen, is accused of participating in a "child exploitation enterprise." His attorney is seeking to have the case dismissed due to "outrageous government conduct," Motherboard reported.

"The FBI distributed child pornography to viewers and downloaders worldwide for nearly two weeks, until at least March 4, 2015, even working to improve the performance of the website beyond its original capability," wrote Peter Adolf, an assistant federal defender in the Western District of North Carolina, in a motion to dismiss the case filed Monday.
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