Puppet MastersS


Briefcase

Iraqi woman, Sundus Saleh, uses Chilcot Report in war crimes lawsuit against George W. Bush

George Bush
© Stephen Crowley / The New York TimesPresident George W. Bush discusses the Iraq war in Washington, May 24, 2007.
Sundus Saleh, an Iraqi woman, first filed her lawsuit against George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz in September 2013. Alleging that the Iraq War constituted an illegal crime of aggression, Saleh filed the suit on behalf of herself and other Iraqis in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The district court dismissed Saleh's lawsuit in December 2014, saying the defendants acted within the scope of their employment when they planned and carried out the Iraq War. Saleh then appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In her appeal, Saleh is arguing that the Bush officials were acting from personally held convictions that the US should invade Iraq, regardless of any legitimate policy reasons, and that they knowingly lied to the public when they fraudulently tied Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda and the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

Inder Comar, Saleh's lawyer, explained, "Nuremberg held that domestic immunity was not a defense to allegations of international aggression. Everything the Germans did was legal under the law. We are asking the Ninth Circuit to reject the application of domestic immunity in this case, in line with the holdings of Nuremberg."

Comment: Torture report leaves no doubt - Bush Administration guilty of war crimes


Megaphone

UN Human Rights chief Zeid warns against populists and demagogues in Europe and U.S.

UN Human Righs chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein
© UN Photo/Jean-Marc FerréUN Human Righs chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein
Peace, Justice and Security Foundation gala,
The Hague, 5 September 2016

Dear Friends,

I wish to address this short statement to Mr. Geert Wilders, his acolytes, indeed to all those like him - the populists, demagogues and political fantasists.

To them, I must be a sort of nightmare. I am the global voice on human rights, universal rights; elected by all governments, and now critic of almost all governments. I defend and promote the human rights of each individual, everywhere: the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and immigrants; the rights of the LGBTi community; the rights of women and children in all countries; minorities; indigenous persons; people with disabilities, and any and all who are discriminated against, disadvantaged, persecuted or tortured - whether by governments, political movements or by terrorists.

Handcuffs

Venezuelan journalist charged with money laundering after anti-Maduro protest

Braulio Jatar
A prominent journalist on the Venezuelan island of Margarita was charged Monday with money laundering and will remain behind bars after publicizing a protest against President Nicolas Maduro.

Videos of the Friday evening protest, in which residents of a working-class neighborhood banged pots and hurled insults in Maduro's face, became an instant social media hit encapsulating the frustration many Venezuelans feel with the direction of the socialist-run economy.


Braulio Jatar, who is also a lawyer, helped spread news of the demonstration on his Margarita-based website, Reporte Confidencial, which supports the opposition.

Comment: Presstitution: The Financial Times is a megaphone calling for mass murder and regime change in Venezuela


Snakes in Suits

Rudy Giuliani, his grotesque relationship to 9/11 - and new job offer

Rudy Giuliani and 9/11
After stepping down as mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani tried to launch himself as a national political leader on the back of the single defining event of his career.

In the end he failed miserably, with voters immediately seeing his ploy for what it was: base political pandering.

But what many do not realize is that Giuliani's case is not just that of another ghoulish politician parading on the corpses of those who died on his watch for his own political gain.

On the day of 9/11, while the remains of the twin towers and WTC7 were still smoldering, one of Mayor Giuliani's first concerns was clearing away the evidence from the crime scene.
RUDY GIULIANI: "We were able to move 120 dump trucks out of the city last night, which will give you a sense of the work that was done overnight."

1st NY RESIDENT: It's wild out here. They just keep coming look! It doesn't stop. There's more, I keep thinking it's the end but an it's not."

(SOURCE: Donald Trump Commission on TERRORISM NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani = Criminal Destruction of Evidence WTC)

Comment: In yet another example of 'failing upwards,' we see a career politician whose record for public service is abysmal - criminal actually - offered yet another position of power.

Here's more on this political psychopath (if you can stomach it):



Footprints

Hungary becomes the first EU country to ban the IMF

Rothschild
The name Rothschild is literally associated with wealth. This is because for over 200 years, the family has remained the most powerful and wealthy family in the world. Most of the Rothschild fortune has been made in the world of banking, but investments in other industries, such as coal, real estate, and construction, have helped secure the family's wealth and immense power.

One of the banks owned by the Rothschild group (the biggest banking group in the world) is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), AKA 'Imposing Misery and Famine'. Not only does the group make money off usurious interest rates at the misfortune of crumbling economies, it literally owns Governments and people of power. Because it's nearly impossible to escape the clutches of the banking group, news of IMF being booted from Hungary is being heralded as a victorious happening.

TapNewsWire reports that in 2008, Hungary survived economic turmoil by relying on a €20 billion ($26 billion) loan from the IMF and aid from the EU. This was before Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was elected into office.

Treasure Chest

Saudi FM to meet British MPs to make case for continued arms exports despite war crime claims

Saudi jet
© Fayez Nureldine / AFP
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir will meet with British MPs on Wednesday in a bid to convince them not to ban UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia over concerns the Gulf kingdom is committing war crimes in Yemen.

Al-Jubeir's decision to take the unusual step of briefing MPs in person comes days after Prime Minister Theresa May discussed human rights concerns with Saudi diplomats at the G20 summit in China.

The briefing will take place hours before the Select Committee on the Control of Arms Exports meets to debate whether to call for a ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

MPs are under mounting pressure to end Britain's arms exports to the Middle Eastern country after the UN claimed UK-made weapons are being used in attacks on civilian targets in Yemen, including hospitals and markets.

Comment: The Suadis bringing money will override any UK concerns on human rights violations unfortunately.


Attention

Moscow: Putin's official presidential car in head-on-crash, kills 'favorite chauffeur'

Putin's Car crash
© CEN/Getty
The Russian president's favourite chauffeur was killed in the horror collision, which was captured in shocking CCTV footage.

The presidential BMW was travelling on Kutuzovsky Avenue in the Russian capital when a Mercedes veered from the other side of the road, smashing into it head-on.

Putin was not in the car at the time.

Russian media reports that the president's official driver was killed in the crash.

Medics are said to have arrived quickly on the scene, but the unnamed victim — who had more than 40 years' driving experience — died instantly.

It is not known if the driver of the other vehicle was injured in the crash.

The presidential car is officially registered as belonging to the Federation Council — Russia's equivalent of the House of Lords.

Police are investigating the exact cause of the crash.


Comment: Update

The smashed car is officially registered as belonging to the Federation Council, also known as the Russian Senate or Upper Chamber of Parliament. The clean-up operation took several hours and a huge traffic jam formed when Kutuzovsky Avenue was closed after the crash. Putin is currently attending the G20 conference in China.


Airplane

Open Skies Treaty: Russia to carry out observation flight over Bosnia and Herzegovina

Open Skies Treaty
© Wikipedia/

Comment: See also: EU to consider intervention in Bosnia if tension escalates


Dollar Gold

Does new Russia-Saudi oil deal signal beginning of the end for OPEC?

Oilfield Bashneft Russia
© Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters A worker at a pump jack at an oil field owned by Bashneft company north from Ufa, Russia.
On Monday, Russia and Saudi Arabia signed a joint oil market stabilization statement, aimed at tackling a global glut; Russia's Energy Minister called it a "historic moment" in relations between OPEC members and non-members, while experts believe it could be the harbinger of a new alliance that will finally replace OPEC.

The joint statement was signed in China's Hangzhou on the sidelines of the G20 summit and followed a meeting between Russian President Putin and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The two ministers announced that both countries have recognized an oil output freeze as the most effective tools available to provide stability to the oil market.

Alexander Novak called the agreement a "historic moment" in relations between members and non-members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Comment: Further reading: Global crude prices soar upon news of Russian-Saudi cooperation to support oil markets


Stock Down

Poroshenko admits Ukraine is out billions of dollars after losing Russian market

President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine
Ukraine lost a whopping 15 billion dollars from the loss of the Russian market, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, adding that Moscow's actions were an "economic shock" for Kiev, RIA Novosti reported.

Speaking in an annual address to the Ukrainian parliament, Poroshenko said that his country's exports to Russia continue to decline.

"In 2015, our exports to Russia fell by half in comparison to 2014 and this is not yet the bottom. Russia's share in Ukrainian exports currently stands at only 9 percent, with a tendency to fall further," he said.

He added that due to the economic downturn, Ukraine has lost "tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs."

According to him, "this economic aggression is one of the main reasons for the rapid decline in [Ukraine's] living standards."

Comment: Further reading: Contagion of fear and war: Western media propaganda threatens peace and prolongs the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine