Puppet MastersS


Key

Netanyahu shows off flawed, overpriced F-35 as Israel receives first batch


RT
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 14:58 UTC
Netanyahu inspects F-35
© Amir Cohen/ReutersIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands next to a F-35 fighter jet just after it landed in Israel at Nevatim air base after the Israeli air force bought them at Nevatim in southern Israel December 12, 2016.
Israel became the first foreign country to receive much-hyped American F-35 jets on Monday. Despite its questionable reputation and criticism by US President-elect Donald Trump over inflated costs, Israel's leadership was very happy with the purchase.

The US military's fifth-generation fighter took 15 years to build and is projected to cost $1.5 trillion over the 55-year life of the program, as it continues to face a whole plethora of unforeseen costs, surprise setbacks, and design and technical problems - including computer vulnerability, opening it up to outside intrusion. But the F-35 is being billed as the main American weapon in the sky for the next several decades at least.

President-elect Trump, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the program, bashed the plane on Twitter on Monday - in line with his campaign promises to cut billions in military costs.

The mood, however, was festive on Monday evening at Nevatim Airbase near Beersheba, where the first Adirs ('mighty' - Israel's choice of name for the fighters) arrived after taking off from Italy late that afternoon. Bad visibility due to fog delayed the arrival by six hours, pushing the welcoming ceremony back to 7:30 in the evening. Thousands were in attendance, including Israel's political and military leadership.
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Dollar

Forced labor: Qatari employers to hold migrant workers' passports, impose travel bans


RT
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 20:23 UTC
Migrant workers in Qatar
© Naseem Zeitoon/Reuters
Migrant workers in Qatar remain at risk of being subjected to "forced labor" despite "meager reforms," Amnesty International has warned, noting that many of the exploited laborers have been tasked with building the 2022 World Cup stadiums.

Qatar says the new law that comes into effect on Tuesday will give workers more flexibility, freedom, and protection. The country has brought in hundreds of thousands of workers from countries including India, Nepal, and Bangladesh to build projects related to the World Cup.

However, Amnesty says the law "barely scratches the surface" in addressing Qatar's flawed labor system, and still leaves migrant workers at the mercy of "exploitative bosses" and at risk of being subjected to "forced labor."

Amnesty pointed out three key points in the new legislation that it found particularly alarming.

The first is that migrant workers will still need to obtain their employer's permission to change jobs. If they change jobs during a contract period, they will face criminal charges for "absconding." Contracts can be valid for up to five years. Workers will also still need exit permits to leave the country, which can be blocked by their employer. Lastly, employers will be able to keep workers' passports, something that has been illegal up until now.
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Info

Trump's Secretary of State pick: Rex Tillerson


RT
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 20:20 UTC
tillerson
© Daniel Kramer / ReutersExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Rex Tillerson to be the 69th secretary of state. The ExxonMobil CEO will also serve as a member of the National Security Council.

A statement from Trump's transition team on Tuesday says Tillerson, 64, is "a forceful and clear-eyed advocate for America's vital national interests" and will "help reverse years of misguided foreign policies and actions that have weakened America's security and standing in the world."

"Rex Tillerson's career is the embodiment of the American dream. Through hard work, dedication and smart deal making, Rex rose through the ranks to become CEO of ExxonMobil, one of the world's largest and most respected companies," Trump said in the statement announcing the news.

Tillerson will replace the current Secretary of State John Kerry, who took over the role in February 2013. Agencies under its responsibility include the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Mission to the United Nations (USUN). The secretary of state is fourth in the presidential line of succession.

Comment: An interview with Tillerson by RT from 2012:


Further reading:

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USA

The government's divide-and-conquer strategy is working at Standing Rock

John W. Whitehead
A Government of Wolves
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 20:00 UTC
"We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."— Benjamin Franklin, as quoted in The Works of Benjamin Franklin
Standing Rock Protesters
© A Government of Wolves
Divide and conquer.

It's one of the oldest military strategies in the books, and it's proven to be the police state's most effective weapon for maintaining the status quo.

How do you conquer a nation?

Distract them with football games, political circuses and Black Friday sales. Keep them focused on their differences—economic, religious, environmental, political, racial—so they can never agree on anything. And then, when they're so divided that they are incapable of joining forces against a common threat, start picking them off one by one.

What we're witnessing at Standing Rock, where activists have gathered to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline construction on Native American land, is just the latest incarnation of the government's battle plan for stamping out any sparks of resistance and keeping the populace under control: battlefield tactics, military weaponry and a complete suspension of the Constitution.

Militarized police. Riot and camouflage gear. Armored vehicles. Mass arrests. Pepper spray. Tear gas. Batons. Strip searches. Drones. Less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force. Rubber bullets. Water cannons. Concussion grenades. Arrests of journalists. Intimidation tactics. Brute force.

US Military Force at Standing Rock
© A Government of Wolves
This is what martial law looks like, when a government disregards constitutional freedoms and imposes its will through military force.

Only this is martial law without any government body having to declare it.

This is martial law packaged as law and order and sold to the public as necessary for keeping the peace.

These overreaching, heavy-handed lessons in how to rule by force have become standard operating procedure for a government that communicates with its citizenry primarily through the language of brutality, intimidation and fear.

What Americans have failed to comprehend is that the police state doesn't differentiate.

In the eyes of the government—whether that government is helmed by Barack Obama or Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton—there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats, between blacks and whites and every shade in the middle, between Native Americans and a nation of immigrants (no matter how long we've been here), between the lower class and the middle and upper classes, between religious and non-religious Americans, between those who march in lockstep with the police state and those who oppose its tactics.
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Snakes in Suits

Australia clears itself of blame in Deir ez-Zor bombing but watches on as Palmyra falls to ISIS

David Macilwain
Russia Insider
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 19:58 UTC
US F-18 hornet jet
A US investigation found the coalition 'botched' a strike in Deir al Zour, hitting the Syrian Army by mistake. Why did they not return to kill the IS fighters who moved in, or the IS fighters who just moved back to Palmyra?

Following a two-month investigation into the US coalition attack on a Syrian Army base in Deir al Zour in September, the Defense departments of the US and Australia concluded that the 'botched' strike was a result of poor information and human error, and no-one will face charges over the 'incident'.

Australia's chief of Joint Military Operations, David Johnston described it thus in a prepared statement:
"Although the identity of those killed or wounded could not be substantiated, the investigation found it was more likely than not that those struck were irregular forces aligned to the Syrian government.

The situation on the ground in Syria is complex and dynamic. In many ways these forces looked and acted like Da'esh fighters the coalition has been targeting for the last two years. They were not wearing recognizable military uniforms, or displaying identifying flags or markings."
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Propaganda

Victory in Aleppo breeds onslaught of fake news in Western media

Bernhard
Moon of Alabama
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 19:53 UTC
fake news
I have not ever experienced a #fakenews onslaught as today. Every mainstream media and agency seems to have lost all inhibitions and is reporting any rumor claim regarding east-Aleppo as fact.

Consider this BBC headline and opener:

Aleppo battle: UN says 82 civilians shot on the spot
Syrian pro-government forces have been entering homes in eastern Aleppo and killing those inside, including women and children, the UN says.

The UN's human rights office said it had reliable evidence that in four areas 82 civilians were shot on sight.
1. A UN human rights office does not exists. What the BBC means is the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR). That commissioner is the Jordanian Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, a Hashemite educated in the UK and U.S. and a relative of the Jordanian dictator king. That is relevant to note as Jordan is heavily involved in the supporting the "rebels" against the Syrian government.
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War Whore

Fmr. British MP demands Obama attack Russia: 'I want bombing raids'

Riley Waggaman
Russia Insider
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 19:37 UTC
Louise Mensch
The inner world of Louise Mensch
RUSSIA INSIDER EDITOR'S NOTE: If you don't know who Louise Mensch is, please stop reading this internet article and instead go for a nice walk in the forest, or have a picnic, or do something equally innocent and pleasant. You have yet to be forever cursed by the knowledge of Louise Mensch's existence. Enjoy life.
There are approximately 7 billion people currently living on our beautiful blue landfill, Earth. Because they are humans, and not kittens, we can safely assume that of these 7 billion, no less than 1 billion are complete jerks. And of these 1 billion jerks, there are probably several hundred million who could be described as "extremely unpleasant/ potentially toxic to everyone around them". Of these, it would be prudent to place all Huffington Post contributors and Raytheon executives into a separate, even more dangerous category of human.

And then there are people like Louise Mensch, who prove that gender is a fluid social construct because sometimes you really aren't a "boy" or a "girl", but instead "Satan with a Twitter account."

Comment: Further reading:

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Attention

Unnamed official says US halted weapons sales to Saudis over growing civilian casualties in Yemen conflict


Sputnik
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 19:41 UTC
Saudi airstrike in Yemen
© AP Photo/ Osamah Abdulrhman
A rapidly-increasing civilian death toll resulting from Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen has prompted the White House to halt the sale of weapons to Riyadh. Washington announced that instead it will shift focus to improving target practice in the kingdom and training the Saudi Air Force.

In the 20 months since the Saudis, at the behest of Yemen's exiled president, became involved in the country's civil war, President Barack Obama's administration has been vexed by some 10,000 casualties and massive food shortages that have created a humanitarian crisis amid already scarce resources.

In late October, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien addressed a statement to Obama on conditions in Yemen, writing, "This humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen is a man-made disaster, where conflict has exacerbated and exponentially increased the suffering of the 50 percent of the Yemeni population who already were in dire and extreme poverty."

Comment: Germany is also looking to train the Saudis: German opposition rightfully slams 'hypocritical' MoD plans to train Saudi officers

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Vader

Russian 'shelling, execution' videos in Aleppo faked by militants - MoD


RT
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 16:53 UTC
ISIL terrorists
© UnknownISIL terrorists
The videos of alleged 'Russia's shelling and executions' as well as other similar footage are fake and were shot by the militants themselves, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman.

"All of the statements by high-ranked Western officials, which cite so-called 'reports by the activists,' as well as 'flicks,' showing alleged 'Russian bombardments,' 'executions' and other stuff are staged videos, produced by special film crews formed by militants,"Konashenkov said in a statement Tuesday.

The spokesman said that "it remains a question, why some media outlets were so eager to use them without checking."

Comment:



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Bad Guys

Total terror in eastern Aleppo: There were NO "humanitarian organizations" or "human rights watchdogs" as claimed by Western Media


Sputnik
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 20:35 UTC
Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's Sheikh Saeed, on December 12, 2016, after troops retook the area from rebel fighters
© AFP 2016/ GEORGE OURFALIANSyrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's Sheikh Saeed, on December 12, 2016, after troops retook the area from rebel fighters
"In Eastern Aleppo, there were no 'opposition', 'local councils', or so-cherished by London and other capitals, 'humanitarian' NGOs with 'western values' such as the 'White Helmets', 'medical' associations or 'human rights defenders'," he said.

Konashenkov noted that, according to locals, there were only hunger and total terror exerted by militants as punishment for any attempts to express discontent or leave the enclave.

Russian combat engineers "have not found a single operational hospital or school that had been used in militant-held areas for their designated purposes," he added.

Instead, those facilities were used as staffs, Sharia courts, ammo depots, production facilities for making improvised rockets, he said.

Comment: The Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov has refuted allegations of "250,000 trapped" Aleppo civilians.
"The Syrian troops' operation to liberate the eastern parts of Aleppo, successful and humane in every sense in regard to civilians... showed a number of important things... All of the dramatized outcries, allegedly in defense of the '250,000 trapped' Aleppo civilians, especially those which are loudly voiced by representatives of Britain and France, are nothing more than russophobic chatter," he said.

Konashenkov underscored that terrorists had held more than 100,000 civilians as human shields in Eastern Aleppo. The civilinas have already left the embattled city.

"All of them left the enclave at the first opportunity and entered government-controlled areas for the sake of security, real aid and food," he added.


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