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Eggs Fried

Obama legacy: 'Iran nuke deal was a positive step,' Kerry is thrown under the bus


RT
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 12:49 UTC
obamaKerrypodium
© Business Insider
The only positive thing the Obama administration did was support the P5+1 deal with Iran - which in any event was done by another five countries, while the US almost destroyed it on many occasions, says Gregory Copley, editor of Defense & Foreign Affairs.

As Donald Trump and his new team gear up to move into the White House, the old administration is preparing to leave. One of the key figures departing is John Kerry. RT spoke to Gregory Copley, editor of Defense & Foreign Affairs, and discussed the state of US foreign policy in the run-up to a new administration taking office.

RT: How would you assess the work of the outgoing US administration, especially in regards to the fight against ISIS?

Gregory Copley: The anti-ISIS coalition has little or nothing to do with the US. Certainly, they are making a lot of headlines about it, and there are many air strikes in Syria, in Iraq, and Libya. But in reality and in terms of the substantive fight against ISIS, particularly against Al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups, the US has been counterproductive. This is more the case because the Obama White House and the State Department have actually been supporting the various jihadist groups and rebels including ISIS through Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, because of Kerry's ineptitude, the US is now mired in meddling in Syria and Yemen in ways which will considerably exacerbate the conflicts and the human suffering in those countries.

Comment: Just think of the depth of muck the US would be in if not for being mired in 'ineptitude!' Unfathomable!

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Info

Battle for Mosul: Iraqi military losses and civilian displacement numbers below expectations


Sputnik
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 18:38 UTC
Iraqi soldier
© AFP 2016/ SAFIN HAMED
Losses among Iraqi government troops and the number of displaced civilians have fallen short of expectations in the campaign to liberate Mosul from terrorists, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told Sputnik.

"There are losses, but they are less than what we expected. The numbers of refugees are also less than our initial estimates. We thought there would be a million, but at this moment there are 120,000," Jaafari said.

The operation to retake Mosul from the Daesh (jihadist group has been continuing since October 17. The battle for the city began with 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and 30,000 Iraqi soldiers backed by the US-led anti-terror coalition advancing on the city from the east, west and south.
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Document

UNGA Syria War Crimes Resolution: An attempt to undermine Damascus legitimacy, negate terrorism fight success


Sputnik
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 17:10 UTC
UN Gen Ass
© Human Rights WatchUN General Assembly
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution establishing a mechanism to investigate war crimes in Syria is an attempt by Western countries to undermine the legitimacy of Damascus and to negate the success achieved by the country's army in fighting terrorism, Syria's Ambassador to China and former Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha told Sputnik. The Liechtenstein-proposed resolution was adopted on Wednesday by 105 votes in favor, with 52 abstentions, while 15 countries including China, Russia and Syria voted against.

"It goes without saying that this resolution is merely a continuation of the war against Syria in different means. The Western powers along with the oil rich Gulf states are rabidly looking for every possible tactic and venue to intensify the smearing and demonizing campaign [against the Syrian government], divert the attention from the series of successes attained by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies, and, most important of all, pump more blood and vigor into the veins of the armed terrorist groups," Moustapha said.

The resolution paves the way for the establishment of an independent panel to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for war crimes and human rights violations in Syria. In close cooperation with the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, the mechanism will collect and analyze evidence of violations of the international humanitarian law in order to expedite criminal proceedings in national, regional or international courts.

Following the Wednesday vote, Syria's Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari slammed the measure, saying it was contrary to the UN Charter and a "flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a UN member state," as well as "a direct threat to a solution" of the Syrian conflict. Imad Moustapha also said that the UN Board of Inquiry's investigation into the September attack on the UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy in Aleppo failed to name the perpetrator after it found no evidence proving Moscow or Damascus' responsibility, contrary to the version pushed forward by the West.

Comment: The resolution was prepared by Liechtenstein and was co-sponsored by 54 countries including the US, France, Britain, Italy , Germany, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Those countries voting against the resolution were: Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Burundi, China, Cuba, North Korea (DPRK), Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Russia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

More than 310,000 people have been killed, as per a UN Commission of Inquiry and civil society groups who compile documents, lists of witnesses and video footage. Hopefully these groups are impartial, untainted and accurate in their perceptions and records.

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Eye 1

The coup against Trump: His military and Wall Street defense

James Petras
Petra.Lahaine.org
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 17:24 UTC
FBI agents guarding Trump Tower
Introduction: A coup has been underway to prevent President-Elect Donald Trump from taking office and fulfilling his campaign promise to improve US-Russia relations. This 'palace coup' is not a secret conspiracy, but an open, loud attack on the election.

The coup involves important US elites, who openly intervene on many levels from the street to the current President, from sectors of the intelligence community, billionaire financiers out to the more marginal 'leftist' shills of the Democratic Party.

The build-up for the coup is gaining momentum, threatening to eliminate normal constitutional and democratic constraints. This essay describes the brazen, overt coup and the public operatives, mostly members of the outgoing Obama regime.

The second section describes the Trump's cabinet appointments and the political measures that the President-Elect has adopted to counter the coup. We conclude with an evaluation of the potential political consequences of the attempted coup and Trump's moves to defend his electoral victory and legitimacy.
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Jet5

Russia seeks joint use of Tajikistan air base amid growing Islamic militancy


RFE/RL
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 18:04 UTC
Igor Lyakin-Frolov
Russia's ambassador to Tajikistan, Igor Lyakin-Frolov
Russia wants to expand its air force deployment to Tajikistan and is in talks with Dushanbe for joint use of an air base in the former Soviet republic, the Russian ambassador to Dushanbe said on December 27.

Russia already has an infantry base near Dushanbe with up to 7,000 troops stationed there and last year deployed four attack and transport helicopters to nearby Ayni air base.

Ambassador Igor Lyakin-Frolov told reporters in Dushanbe that the Russian and Tajik governments were in talks over an agreement that would allow Russia joint use of the Ayni base and to expand its presence there.

Comment: More on Russia's plans in Tajikistan:

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Info

Russia's Sberbank CEO calls Trump the 'president of change'


Sputnik
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 17:47 UTC
Donald Trump
© REUTERS/ Mark Kauzlarich
US President-Elect Donald Trump is "the president of change," whose business experience should be sufficient enough to make right steps as the US leader, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said.

"I always welcome changes - today more than ever before the world needs changes. There are a lot of disparities both in national economies, including the United States, and in the world. Trump is the president of change," Gref told the Vedomosti newspaper.

Comment: It will be rough road for Trump:

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Info

Unprecedented security measures planned for Trump's inauguration ceremony


Sputnik
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 17:38 UTC
Trump inaguration construction
© AP Photo/ Pablo Martinez Monsivais
A security planning committee has its hands full preparing for Donald Trump's swearing-in that is expected to be held in Washington amid massive protests, local media reported citing sources.

"What the intelligence community says publicly is what they say privately, and that is more threats from more directions than ever before," Roy Blunt, the chair of the congressional committee, told The New York Times on Tuesday.
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Info

Ex-Argentine leader Cristina Fernandez indicted, tied to nuns and guns scandal

Hugh Bronstein
Reuters
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 17:11 UTC
Fernandez de Kirchner
© REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner waves to supporters as she leaves a Justice building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 13, 2016.
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was indicted on Tuesday on charges she ran a corruption scheme with a public works secretary who was arrested in June while trying to stash millions of dollars in a convent.

A federal judge accused them and other officials of the Fernandez administration of crimes "including the deliberate seizure of funds principally meant for public road works."

Corruption charges have long swirled around Fernandez and her husband and predecessor, the late Nestor Kirchner. She denies wrongdoing and accuses Argentina's current leader, Mauricio Macri, of using the courts to persecute her.

Comment: This is nothing compared to what the US has done to Argentina:

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Vader

Middle East expert: Daesh 'could have been wiped out in 2 months if it wasn't serving US interests'


Sputnik
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 16:55 UTC
Iraqi soldiers ISIS flag
© Thomas Coex/Agence France-PresseIraqi army soldiers hold a flag from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group up-side-down on November 23, 2016, near an Iraqi army base in the outskirts of Mosul
A senior US commander has calculated that it will take at least two years to push Daesh out of Iraq and Syria, and to capture or kill any jihadis attempting to escape. Speaking to Sputnik, geopolitical analyst Navid Nasr suggested that the terrorists could actually be destroyed in a couple months, if they weren't serving US geopolitical interests.

Speaking to a Daily Beast reporter on Sunday, US commander in Iraq Lieut. Gen. Stephen Townsend said that the current Iraqi and US-led coalition offensive against the Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) terrorists is unfolding about as well as can be expected, and will take up to two more years of hard fighting.

Geopolitical analyst and Middle East expert Navid Nasr has a different view. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, the independent expert suggested that Daesh could be erased from the map in a matter of months, not years, if it wasn't serving the geopolitical interests of influential regional and global powers including the US.

Kicking off with a discussion of the terror group's origins and home base of support, Nasr explained that unfortunately, "a lot of people still fail to appreciate the backstory of Daesh, and also what communities they're rooted in - the communities that gave birth to this organization. We're talking about Saddam [Hussein's] base of support in northern and western Iraq - the [so-called] 'Sunni triangle'."

"You have to remember that many people in Mosul greeted Daesh as liberators - and not just for ideological reasons, but because a lot of the fighters in Daesh are their cousins, their brothers, their fathers," the analyst said. "They're rooted in those communities in Iraq. That's where certainly all their major leaders and commanders, but [also] a lot of their fighters, come from. It wasn't Sauron who whipped them up like orcs - they're rooted someplace, they came from someplace, and a lot of them came from those communities in Iraq."
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Wine

Even if Russia interfered in U.S. election, the U.S. had it coming

Gordon M. Hahn
Russian and Eurasian Politics
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 17:09 UTC
Yeltsin and crowd
© Oleg Lastochkin / SputnikPresident Boris Yeltsin greeting rally participants outside the R.S.F.S.R. Supreme Council.
Two can play at almost any game. Russia is now accused of interfering in the 2016 U.S presidential election campaign by hacking Democratic and republican party committees and Hillary Clinton's illicit e-mail server and sending the uncovered documents to Wikileaks for publication allegedly in order to help Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat candidate Clinton. But since the collapse of the USSR, the U.S. has used a variety of means to interfere in the domestic politics of the post-Soviet states, including those of Russia. Those who implemented and supported those policies should have foreseen that some day a potentially resurgent Russia would exact revenge for such interference. That revenge came in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Throughout the post-Soviet period the U.S. has used the State Department, USAID, CIA, the military, and NATO to interfere in the domestic politics of post-Soviet states comprising Russia's traditional sphere of influence. Russia's eventually aborted transition to democracy was not viewed in Moscow as the occasion for foregoing that sphere of influence. Rather, Moscow hoped to maintain that sphere of influence and become a guarantor of democratization in Eurasia in partnership with the U.S. until NATO expansion was approved in Washington and Brussels in the mid-1990s. There is no need to demonstrate all the specifics of said interference outside Russia in the post-Soviet space, given the blatant a priori or post facto Western approval of numerous color revolutions in the region from Bishkek to Kiev. Rather, it would be more direct to point out just a few examples of Western interference in Russian domestic politics since the Soviet collapse.
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