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Wall Street

What would happen if today's media covered the surrender of Stalingrad like it covers Aleppo?

Tatzhit Mihailovich
Fort Russ
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 16:53 UTC
mainstream media
Just a little thought exercise I embarked on, changing a few names in today's newspaper articles to imagine how they would report on the surrender Wehrmacht's 6th Army at Stalingrad 1943 (assuming modern technology was available back then).

1. NY Times: One Man's View Into the Last Days of Anti-Communists in Aleppo Stalingrad
Messages posted to a WhatsApp group by William Zaev, an English teacher and anti-government activist in Stalingrad, describe what he saw in the shrinking anti-communist territory as Soviet forces and their allies waged an assault to retake the city.Mr. Zarqa openly opposes the Soviet government. He has been a regular contributor of audio, video, and text messages to the WhatsApp group that activists, doctors and others use to share information and opinions with Western journalists covering the Soviet war.

Mr. Zaev said via text message that he fled to Germany in 1941, after the Soviet conflict started, to avoid being drafted into the Soviet army. He said he returned voluntarily to Stalingrad, in August 1942 to teach in the eastern half of the city then controlled by anti-communist forces and the European coalition advisors.

Tuesday morning, Mr. Zaev shared images of injured people fleeing violence in the besieged areas. Several people in the messaging group expressed fear of being killed or arrested by the communists if they left the besieged area. Most of the messages showed scenes of destruction, despair and violence.
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Bad Guys

EU presses the Netherlands to override public referendum that rejected closer ties with Ukraine


RFE/RL
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:39 UTC
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
European Union leaders have reached an agreement about a demand from the Netherlands on a deal that would establish closer ties between the EU and Ukraine. The EU's so-called Association Agreement with Ukraine is vital to Kyiv's efforts to establish closer ties with the West since mass protests toppled pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in early 2014.

The Netherlands is the only country that has not ratified the deal, with Dutch voters rejecting it in a referendum in April. The Dutch government has asked the EU for additional guarantees to ensure that ratification of the association agreement does not lead to EU membership for Ukraine.

On December 15, EU leaders meeting in Brussels agreed to issue a special statement saying Ukraine's association agreement "does not confer on Ukraine the status of a candidate country for accession to the Union, nor does it constitute a commitment to confer such status to Ukraine in the future."The statement also says the pact "does not contain an obligation for the union or its member states to provide collective security guarantees or other military aid or assistance to Ukraine."

Comment: The EU is not led by elected leaders nor is it a democratic body, as demonstrated by their tactics to deny the will of the Dutch people.

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Георгиевская ленточка

Syria and Russia share enormous moral victory in Aleppo

Dean Parker
Russia Insider
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:55 UTC
Ancient City of Aleppo
© Silvan Rehfeld / UNESCO Ancient City of Aleppo (Syrian Arab Republic)
Name one other government in the world which would allow encircled al-Qaeda militants to evacuate to spare further damage to city?

Syria and Russia have organized the evacuation of al-Qaeda militants from its crumbling encircled positions in eastern Aleppo to another part of rebel-held Syria where they will be free to continue the fight against the Syrian army.

Let that fact sink in for a while.

Do you reckon that if al-Qaeda fighters were holed up in downtown Seattle and had finally been broken militarily that the US would organize buses to take them to Detroit to continue their fight from there?

And what do you reckon would have happened to Syrian army soldiers if al-Qaeda and friends had prevailed in Aleppo? Actually we do not have to guess much. When rebels took the encircled al-Kindi hospital in Aleppo in 2013 the captured surviving soldiers were dragged out and shot in the back of the head by al-Qaeda while the rest of the rebels cheered. Three months later the proud executioners released the video of their execution for their Gulf donors to enjoy.
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Snakes in Suits

Impeachment not likely: Philippines President Duterte made controversial statements confessing he killed suspects


RT
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:32 UTC
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte
© Wallace Woon/ / ReutersPhilippines President Rodrigo Duterte
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's confession that he used to kill suspected criminals while serving as mayor of Davao is grounds for impeachment, two of the country's senators have claimed.

"That is betrayal of public trust and that constitutes high crimes because mass murders certainly fall into the category of high crimes. And high crimes is a ground for impeachment under the constitution," Senator Leila de Lima told CNN on Thursday.

De Lima has been Duterte's most outspoken domestic critic, and has led an inquiry into the president's 'war on drugs'. Allies of the president filed a criminal complaint against her this week, claiming she has shown "disrespect to the House of Representatives."

However, De Lima isn't the only senator speaking out against the controversial Duterte. Her statement was echoed by Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the Senate Justice Committee.

Comment: See also: Duterte admits he personally killed suspected criminals

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Attention

Trump will change many White House press traditions

Pam Key
Breitbart
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:36 UTC
Donald Trump's Press Pen
Wednesday on the "Hugh Hewitt Show," incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said many White House press traditions will change under President Donald Trump.

Partial transcript as follows:

HEWITT: Last two questions have to do with the media. First of all, instead of that boring Saturday morning radio address, I think the President should do a Friday morning drive time nationally syndicated show each week, you know, in the morning when you can shape news. Don't you agree?

PRIEBUS: Well, you know, what? Look, I think that many things have to change, and I think that it's important that we look at all of those traditions that are great, but quite frankly, as you know, don't really make news...

HEWITT: No.

PRIEBUS: And they're just sort of...

HEWITT: It's horrible.
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Newspaper

Flashback The media are misleading the public on Syria

Stephen Kinzer
Boston Globe
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 16:13 UTC
Syrian gather in a street in the northern city of Aleppo in celebrations after rebels said they have broken a three-week government siege on Syria's second city.
© AFPSyrian gather in a street in the northern city of Aleppo in celebrations after rebels said they have broken a three-week government siege on Syria's second city.
Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.

For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo. Their rule began with a wave of repression. They posted notices warning residents: "Don't send your children to school. If you do, we will get the backpack and you will get the coffin." Then they destroyed factories, hoping that unemployed workers would have no recourse other than to become fighters. They trucked looted machinery to Turkey and sold it.

This month, people in Aleppo have finally seen glimmers of hope. The Syrian army and its allies have been pushing militants out of the city. Last week they reclaimed the main power plant. Regular electricity may soon be restored. The militants' hold on the city could be ending.

Militants, true to form, are wreaking havoc as they are pushed out of the city by Russian and Syrian Army forces. "Turkish-Saudi backed 'moderate rebels' showered the residential neighborhoods of Aleppo with unguided rockets and gas jars," one Aleppo resident wrote on social media. The Beirut-based analyst Marwa Osma asked, "The Syrian Arab Army, which is led by President Bashar Assad, is the only force on the ground, along with their allies, who are fighting ISIS — so you want to weaken the only system that is fighting ISIS?"
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Network

Trump appoints Fox News commentator and retired Army general to National Security Council posts


Sputnik
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:35 UTC
trump
© REUTERS/ Carlo Allegri
President-elect Trump plans to appoint retired US Army lieutenant general Keith Kellogg and conservative commentator Monica Crowley to posts on the National Security Council, media reported Thursday.

According to the Washington Examiner, Trump will make Kellogg chief of staff and executive secretary of the Council, while Crowley will be senior director of strategic communications.

Kellogg served in the Vietnam War, later commanded the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and was chief operating officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority that administered Iraq in the months following the 2003 US-led invasion of that country. He also has been an adviser to Trump on national-security matters.

Crowley is an author and newspaper columnist who frequently appears on Fox News Channel.

Previously announced picks for national-security posts in the incoming Trump administration are retired Marine general James Mattis as defense secretary, John Kelly as homeland-security secretary and Michael Flynn as national security adviser.
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Pirates

John Podesta crumbles into hysteria, blames FBI for not covering up Clinton's corruption

Charlie Spiering
Breitbart
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:03 UTC
John Podesta
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta is blaming the FBI, after Russians successfully hacked the Democratic National Committee's emails. Podesta complained that the FBI failed to physically send an agent to warn the DNC, even though FBI agents repeatedly called the DNC to warn it of Russian cyber attacks on their network.

"What takes this from baffling to downright infuriating is that at nearly the exact same time that no one at the FBI could be bothered to drive 10 minutes to raise the alarm at DNC headquarters, two agents accompanied by attorneys from the Justice Department were in Denver visiting a tech firm that had helped maintain Clinton's email server," he said.

Podesta called the FBI "broken" saying it spent more time investigating Hillary Clinton's email server than protecting Democrats from hacking.
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Snowflake

Sorry Liberal Snowflakes, Don't Look To Electoral College To Upend Trump Victory

Calvin Woodward and Rachel La Corte
AP
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:56 UTC
trump
© Getty
There's more hustle than hope behind an effort to derail Donald Trump's presidency in the Electoral College.

Republican electors are being swamped with pleas to buck tradition and cast ballots for someone else at meetings across the country Monday that are on course to ratify Trump as the winner. AP interviews with more than 330 electors from both parties found little appetite for a revolt.

Whether they like Trump or not, and some plainly don't, scores of the Republicans chosen to cast votes in the state-capital meetings told AP they feel bound by history, duty, party loyalty or the law to rubber-stamp their state's results and make him president. Appeals numbering in the tens of thousands — drowning inboxes, ringing cellphones, stuffing home and office mailboxes with actual handwritten letters — have not swayed them.

The interviews found widespread Democratic aggravation with the electoral process but little expectation that the rush of anti-Trump maneuvering can stop him. For that to happen, Republican-appointed electors would have to stage an unprecedented defection.

Still, people going to the typically ho-hum electoral gatherings have been drawn into the rough and tumble of campaign-season politics. Republicans are being beseeched to revolt in a torrent of lobbying, centered on the arguments that Clinton won the popular vote and that Trump is unsuited to the presidency. Most of it is falling on deaf ears, but it has also led to some acquaintances being made across the great political divide.

Comment: A poll conducted by the AP contacted 10 of the 30 states Trump won in November, and of the 170 delegates in those states 169 promised to deliver their vote to Trump. Here are statements from various states on who their delegates will vote for on Monday:

Florida:
"We're certain about how our electors will vote," Florida GOP chairman Blaise Ingoglia told The Hill. "There is a better chance of Hillary Clinton telling the truth about something than any of our 29 electoral votes going for anyone other than Donald Trump."
North Carolina:
"We have been in contact with all of North Carolina's electors, and as far as they have told us, they are all very excited and confident in their vote for Donald Trump," North Carolina GOP spokeswoman Emily Weeks told The Hill.

"Most of the questions and concerns have been about event rehearsal prep and just making sure everyone has their ducks in a row."
South Carolina:
GOP chairman Matt Moore said he attended a Christmas party with all nine of his state's electors this week.

"I saw every single one last night, and I'm absolutely confident," Moore said.
Arizona:
Chairman Robert Graham said he's held a roundtable meeting with his 11 electors and stays in touch through private discussions, much of which is focused on the deluge of angry correspondence and threats they've received.

"We're getting hundreds of thousands of emails, but as it stands, every one of our members signed a pledge to support the nominee before this brouhaha," Graham said. "Nothing has changed. All 11 will be delivered."
Texas:
"They called to ask me who I planned to vote for and I told them Trump," said Will Hickman, a Texas elector. "There is the one guy who said he'd vote for another Republican, and another who said he'd resign, but I'd be surprised if anyone else voted differently."
Ohio:
"All of Ohio's electors will vote for Donald Trump on Monday," said Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges. "We specifically asked the campaign to hand-pick their electors so no issues like this would come up here."
Michigan:
"We have been in contact with all of our electors and fully anticipate all of them to cast their ballots for Donald J. Trump for president and Mike Pence for vice president," said Michigan GOP executive director Steve Ostrow.
Idaho:
"Less than zero percent chance any of Idaho's four electors will cast ballots for anyone other than the overwhelming winner of our state, President-elect Donald Trump," said Idaho GOP chairman Steven Yates.

"We have been in regular contact with them. They have weathered a truly sad bullying campaign via phone, email and social media. They are standing strong by the will of our voters."


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Books

Vladimir Putin and lessons from the Syrian-sarin false flag attack

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:11 UTC
Putin and Obama
© Pete SouzaPresident Vladimir Putin of Russia welcomed President Barack Obama to the G20 Summit at Konstantinovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5, 2013.
A review of events leading to the very edge of full-blown U.S. shock-and-awe on Syria three years ago provides a case study with important lessons for new policymakers as they begin to arrive in Washington.

It is high time to expose the whys and wherefores of the almost-successful attempt to mousetrap President Barack Obama into an open attack on Syria three years ago. Little-known and still less appreciated is the last-minute intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin as deus ex machina rescuing Obama from the corner into which he had let himself be painted.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia welcomed President Barack Obama to the G20 Summit at Konstantinovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Accumulating evidence offers persuasive proof that Syrian rebels supported by Turkish intelligence - not Syrian Army troops - bear responsibility for the infamous sarin nerve-gas attack killing hundreds of people on Aug. 21, 2013 in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus. The incident bears all the earmarks of a false-flag attack.

But U.S. and other "rebel-friendly" media outlets wasted no time in offering "compelling" evidence from "social media" - which Secretary of State John Kerry described as an "extraordinary tool" - to place the onus on the Syrian government.

However, as the war juggernaut started rolling toward war, enter Putin from stage right with an offer difficult for Obama to refuse - guaranteed destruction of Syria's chemical weapons on a U.S. ship outfitted for such purpose. This cheated Washington's neocon mousetrap-setters out of their war on Syria. They would get back at Putin six months later by orchestrating an anti-Russian coup in Kiev.

But the play-by-play in U.S.-Russian relations in summer 2013 arguably surpasses in importance even the avoidance of an overt U.S. assault on Syria. Thus, it is important to appreciate the lessons drawn by Russian leaders from the entire experience.

Putting Cheese in the Mousetrap

So, let us recall that on Dec. 10, 2015, just over one year ago, Turkish Member of Parliament Eren Erdem testified about how Turkey's intelligence service helped deliver sarin precursors to rebels in Syria.
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