Puppet MastersS


Fire

Did terrorists set Syria's Latakia on fire?


Sputnik
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 20:02 UTC
Latakia burning
© Pixabay
It seems like the terrorists in Syria have found a new target to demolish. A massive fire has destroyed hundreds of kilometers of agricultural land and forests in Al-Qardaha in the Latakia countryside and it seems like the terrorists are behind this.

A military source spoke to Sputnik Arabic saying that the forest near the border with Turkey and in the eastern province of Latakia where the main forces of terrorists are situated is not burning. The cities of Al-Qardaha and Gabla are faced with a looming threat. The fire was mainly raging in the south of Latakia but a cloud of black smoke has covered almost the entire territory of the province. Dozens of families have fled their homes. According to the source, there are no obvious or natural causes for the occurrence of such a fire in this area. Therefore, people believe that the fire was probably set by the terrorists.

The firefighters have yet achieved the expected success in eradicating the fire and according to a firefighter who spoke with Sputnik Arabic there are several reasons for that.

"Firstly, there are several fires burning at the same time, so inevitably we are late getting somewhere. The priority is saving civilian homes and putting fires out over there comes first. Secondly, there are complications with fueling the fire-fighting machines with water," the firefighter said. Thirdly, there is a strong wind blowing from the East which makes it impossible to approach the fire site. Minister of the Internal Affairs of Syria, Muhammed ash-Shaar, visited the region and instructed the responsible parties to investigate the causes of the massive fire. Earlier it was reported that the fire destroyed agricultural land and olive trees in several villages in the area.


Comment: If it is true the fire was set by terrorists, and this is as likely as any explanation, it will take time to prove it. In itself, it is just one more devastating and horrific consequence for Syrians to overcome.

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Info

Complicated foreign policy decisions that await Donald Trump

Federico Pieraccini
Strategic Culture Foundation
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 00:34 UTC
Donald Trump
Donald Trump's victory caught everyone by surprise, injecting a frisson for international observers. Those who deal with foreign policy immediately took note of the great promises made during the election campaign. During the 18-month campaign, Trump suggested numerous international policies of detente and cooperation. Washington still needs to focus on historically relevant regions of paramount importance, such as Europe, the Middle East and Asia. What, realistically, could be a credible foreign policy doctrine for Donald Trump?

While Donald Trump was elected against the will of the whole state apparatus - the media, military, intelligence, etc. - the real battle begins now. The first step for the President-elect involves the appointment of his staff. It is a difficult and complicated task that could shape the future of the Trump administration. The right mix would require the new president to assign to key roles of the administration people considered not only suitable but also in line with the expectations of the establishment. Trump is believed to be a successful person mainly because of his ability to negotiate; throughout the election campaign he has repeatedly highlighted this. He said he wanted to change the nation as well as international treaties, giving a major overhaul to norms and agreements, stressing that the US president would make America 'win, win, win'. The first challenge has already begun just a few days following the elections. The appointment of key figures in his administration seems to annoy everyone, Republican leaders and as well as his most loyal supporters. Indeed, the New York-based tycoon intends to appoint to the roles of councilors or national security personalities outside the Washington consensus; while for the role of Secretary of State he advances the nomination of Bolton, a Bush-era hawk. But without speculating too much on names, not at all certain, we seem to be witnessing a typical process of negotiation, in which both sides will come to a settlement at some point.
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Evil Rays

How fake news spreads — Corporate media spread story of 'active shooter' during a knife attack

Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought News
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 17:31 UTC
ohio_attack
© Herald Mail Media
For all the noise out of the mainstream corporate media about "fake news," it didn't take long for a mass knife attack at Ohio State University on Monday morning to morph into widespread reporting of an "active shooter."
active shooter1
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Chess

Egypt finally picks a side in Syria by supporting Russian-backed coalition and publicly backing Assad

Alex Gorka
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sun, 27 Nov 2016 00:37 UTC
putin
Finally, Egypt has taken a clear stance on Syria. This is an event of great importance to drastically change the situation. Speaking on the Portuguese TV network RTP on November 22, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi publicly affirmed his support for the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In response to the question of whether Egypt will send troops to Syria or not he stated: «Our priority is to support our Army in issues such as controlling some parts of Libya and dealing with extremist forces for establishing peace, including in Syria and Iraq».

President al-Sisi restored diplomatic relations with Syria after coming to power in 2013.

Last month, Egypt backed a Russian-backed motion calling for a ceasefire in Syria. Egypt had known the support for the Russian measure would put it at odds with the West and Saudi Arabia. Riyadh responded by suspending oil shipments to the country but the Egyptian government does not give in under pressure. For instance, it has defied the US and Saudi Arabia by refusing to get involved in the Yemen's conflict.

Citing «well-informed Arab sources», Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir reported that 18 Egyptian pilots arrived at Hamah military airbase in Syria on November 12. The servicemen are part of a special helicopter squadron. A source «close to the Syria file» told the newspaper that a large deployment of Egyptian troops will arrive in Syria in late January to take part in military operations «not limited to air support at Hama airbase».
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Snakes in Suits

Why, after Trump, global liberalism will seek revenge

P. T. Carlo
Katehon
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
Preselectrump
© Business Insider
On the morning of November 9th, 2016 as the sun rose over the White House, shock and disbelief began to turn into outright mourning for the members of President Obama's staff. Donald Trump had won the election, a contingency for which they had not anticipated, no less planned for. All of their plans for the future now lay in tatters. The Affordable Care Act, the President's signature achievement, would probably be repealed. Most of the President's executive orders, especially those concerning the status of illegal immigrants, would be immediately revoked upon Trump taking office. Perhaps most importantly, the entirety of the Neoconservative establishment's plans for continued U.S. Global Hegemony, including attacking the Syrian Government, to the benefit of the Islamic State and Al Qaeda, and supplying weapons to the Ukrainian government to support its war on the people of the Donbass, were now destroyed.

For many this turn of events has been seen as a cause for celebration, and indeed, given the forces that were stacked against Trump and the profound dangers that a Clinton victory would represent, a celebration is certainly in order. But while Trump's victory is certainly important for those opposed to Neoliberal Globalist Ideology, it by no means signals the end of the struggle. Rather it signals the beginning of a new, and far more dangerous phase of it.

Comment: It would be naive to think that the Democratic neoliberal machine has pulled its plug and will lie docile and dormant until the next hurrah. Losses unacknowledged, it is adamant on continuing its agenda unchallenged. Except for what the public can learn from real (not manufactured) alternative news sites, now erroneously referred to as "fake news", the nation doesn't stand a chance in assessing the level of subterfuge, the motives nor the caliber of danger it truly faces.

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Map

US-led coalition forces claim Daesh lost 56% of Iraqi territory and 27% of Syrian land


Sputnik
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 00:25 UTC
Islamic State billboard
© REUTERS/ Nour Fourat
Daesh terrorist group has lost 56 percent of its territory in Iraq and 27 percent of its Syria holdings to local forces backed by the US-led coalition, the Department of State said in a press release on Monday.

At the meeting, held in Washington, DC on Monday, McGurk told coalition representatives that the loss has escalated during the current operations to recapture Mosul and Raqqa from Daesh. "Local ground forces, with coalition support, have now retaken 56 percent of the populated territory ISIL [Daesh] once held in Iraq and 27 percent of what it once held in Syria," the release cited US coalition envoy Brett McGurk as saying at a coalition plenary meeting.

Comment: The US just has to show some progress now that Russia and Syria have almost retaken Aleppo. An Obama farewell gift?

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Map

This tiny sliver of Russian territory is what NATO fears most

Robert Farley
The National Interest
Fri, 25 Nov 2016 23:45 UTC
S-400 at the 2011 Victory Day parade, Moscow
© Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru
In 1945, Soviet armies occupied East Prussia, a portion of Germany territorially detached from the rest of the Reich since 1918 (briefly reunified in 1939). Ethnically German and featuring the historic Prussian city of Königsberg, the territory represented a problem for the Soviets. They had no interest in returning it to Germany, especially as such a move would increase tension with the Poles, and they did not want to create an independent German socialist state, the birth of the German Democratic Republic remained in the future. Stalin decided to simply annex the territory, expelling the German inhabitants and replacing them with Russians.

Until 1991, the Kaliningrad enclave was territorially contiguous with the Soviet Union, if not the Russian Federation. After the secession of the Baltic Republics and the collapse of the USSR, Kaliningrad was separated from the rest of Russia. When the Baltics joined NATO, it became hostile territory deep inside the Western alliance. This has left Kaliningrad deeply vulnerable, but has also made it a potentially deadly military threat. Recently, the Russian government has taken to publicly highlighting the deployment of some of its most lethal military systems to the enclave. Intended to defend Kaliningrad, these systems could also represent a critical offensive threat to the heart of the NATO alliance.

Comment: This article seems to paint Russia as an aggressor but when seen as a Russian defensive tactic, it should give NATO pause.

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Pirates

It's a miracle! ISIS accidentally discovers existence of Israel, attacks Israeli-occupied Golan Heights


RT
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 22:43 UTC
ISIS Israel
The IDF ordered an airstrike on Islamic State's facility in the south of the Syrian Golan Heights after militants opened small arms and mortar fire on an Israeli patrol on Sunday. Local media said it was the first encounter between the two sides.

An IDF spokesman said that the Monday airstrike targeted "an abandoned military facility, which was previously used by the United Nations and served as a location for [Islamic State or IS, formerly] ISIS to consolidate their offensive forces and operations near the border," according to the Jerusalem Post.

The military said the bombing came in retaliation to the IS-linked attack on Sunday and was aimed at preventing militants from returning to the compound which would pose "a substantial threat in the area."

Comment: So ISIS finally attacks Israeli interests (not even Israel itself, mind you).

It's been so glaring a discrepancy that ISIS was forced to explain earlier this year why it has ignored what has up until now been the primary revolutionary rationale of 'Islamic terrorism' (avenging Israeli crimes against Arabs)...

"We're scared of the IDF!"

Yes, the same IDF that Hezbollah defeated back in 2006.

We are of course being sarcastic with our headline: the Israeli government and ISIS/'rebels' know each other too well - they have been working closely in destabilizing Syria since 2011. Netanyahu has personally visited hospitals set up by the IDF to patch up 'rebels' and send them back into Syria.

See also:

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Info

Ukraine's Naftogaz starting to make nice with the Russians

Kenneth Rapoza
Forbes
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 22:34 UTC
Vladimir Putin waves as he arrives with Angela Merkel
© Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
Well, isn't this interesting? Ukraine is already starting to make nice with the Russians.

Not too long ago, like say a year ago, the word was that the Russians would be rolling tanks into the Donbass region and soon marching all the way to Kiev to raise the red, white and blue striped flag of the Russian Federation. Maybe they'd even put a picture of a smiling Vladimir Putin surrounded by laurel leaves in the middle.

But now there are signs that the biggest company doing business with the Russians is willing to get back to business. This is very good news. Any normalization of relations between Russia and Ukraine is a positive as it would likely lead to a normalization trend for relations with Europe as well, Russia's most important trading partner.

Comment: May be this has something to do with it: Did the EU betray Ukraine by allowing Russian gas to bypass Ukraine on the way to Europe?

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Info

Wisconsin rejects hand recount mandate, Jill Stein says will sue

Jason Stein and Patrick Marley
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 22:20 UTC
Wisconsin voters participating in early voting in the fall elections
© Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Elections Commission set a timetable Monday for a recount of the presidential election but rejected a request to require a count by hand made by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who quickly responded that she would sue.

Also Monday, Stein filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania to force a recount there and her supporters began filing recount requests at the precinct level there. Stein — who received just a tiny piece of the vote —also plans to ask for a recount in Michigan on Wednesday.

Unless Stein wins her lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court, officials in each of Wisconsin's 72 counties would decide on their own whether to do their recounts by hand. That could mean some counties perform recounts by machine and some by hand.

Comment: See also: Wisconsin agrees to election vote recount after receiving Stein and Del La Fuente petitions

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