Puppet MastersS


Star of David

Ex Mossad chief: Civil war, not Iran, is Israel's biggest threat

Ariel Whitman
The Jerusalem Post
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:30 UTC
Tamir Pardo
© REUTERSMossad chief Tamir Pardo.
"If a society crosses a certain line in its division and hatred, then it is a real possibility to see a phenomenon like a civil war."

In his first public appearance since leaving office in June of this year, former Mossad Chief Tamir Pardo said the most pressing threat to Israel is not Iran, but rather it is the increased polarization within Israeli society.

"There is no outside existential threat to Israel, the only real existential threat is the internal division," Pardo said.

Speaking at the annual race to commemorate fallen Druse soldiers in the North, Pardo added that "internal division can lead us to civil war - we are already on a path towards that."

"If a society crosses a certain line in its division and hatred, then it is a real possibility to see a phenomenon like a civil war."

He said that society at large bears responsibility to prevent these divisions, not only the leadership.

Comment: Pardo's right. For a cruddy little pathocracy like Israel, the biggest threat is usually internal divisions. But kooks like Netanyahu and Liberman stoke Israelis' fears with non-existent Iranian threats, and complete misrepresentations of Palestinian grievances and motivations. With psychopaths like that running the show, there won't ever be a normalization with the Arab population internally or externally. If Pardo is actually sincere in his convictions, maybe he should support this: Putin offers to host peace talks between Israel and Palestine

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Info

Hollande says Europe seeks to end anti-Russian sanctions as soon as possible


ITAR-TASS
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:23 UTC
French President Francois Hollande
© Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP
France, the entire Europe and Russia are interested in ending sanctions and normalizing relations, French President Francois Hollande told an annual meeting with ambassadors in Paris on Tuesday.

"All of us are interested in lifting the sanctions regime as soon as possible and in the best way," Hollande said, stressing that both sides are suffering from the current chill in relations. "This has a high price and complicates the dialogue," the president emphasized.


Comment: The sanctions seem to be hurting France more than they are hurting Russia.


Paris always remembers the special character of relations with Russia, underpinned by the centuries-old history, he added. "There are many indications now proving that we can maintain them today."
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Radar

Russian warships headed to South China Sea in early September


ITAR-TASS
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:13 UTC
The Admiral Vinogradov
© Vladimir Sayapin/TASS
A detachment of ships of Russia's Pacific Fleet is expected to make a voyage to the South China Sea at the beginning of September, the chief press officer of Eastern Military District for the Pacific Fleet, Captain 2nd Rank Vladimir Matveyev told TASS.

The ships will take part in a major naval exercise of the Chinese Naval Force codenamed Joint Sea 2016.

"At the beginning of September, a detachment consisting of the big antisubmarine ships Admiral Tributs and Admiral Vinogradov, the big amphibious ship Peresvet, the sea towboat Alatau, and the tanker Pechenga will head for Zhanjiang in China," Capt. Matveyev said.

"From September 11 through to September 19, the ship crew will take part in the Joint Sea 2016 wargames of the Chinese Naval Force that will be held on the coast and in the water area of the South China Sea," he said.
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Briefcase

Stating the obvious: Australian report reveals Afghanistan, Iraq wars major push factors for extremism, terrorism


Sputnik
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:01 UTC
Extremist
© Flickr/ Zoriah
An Australian government sponsored report looking at violent extremism in southeast Asia has identified Islamaphobia, religious intolerance and western military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq as major "push" factors leading to extremism.

The report, produced by independent, counterextremism group, the Hedayah Institute, found a number of socioeconomic "push" factors have led to extremism in southeast Asia, such as poverty, hate speech, Islamaphobia, a feeling of victimhood due to the suffering of Muslims from outside the region and "military operations by western governments in Afghanistan and Iraq."

The western military intervention in the Middle East and perceived injustice related to it was also seen as one of many "pull" factors for terrorists, with the report stating that many young terrorists are drawn to the search of "pure Islam," a sense of adventure and the "idealization of former fighters from Afghanistan and other conflicts."
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Attention

'You don't exist': Amnesty and HRW slam Kiev's lack of human rights in new report after 13 released from secret torture prison in Ukraine

Christopher Miller
RFE/RL
Mon, 29 Aug 2016 15:20 UTC
ukraine sbu
© Shutterstock
Thirteen civilians who were allegedly held incommunicado, interrogated, and tortured after being rounded up "abduction-style" have been released from a secret jail run by Ukraine's domestic security service, two prominent human rights groups say.

In a letter to Ukraine's chief military prosecutor, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said 12 men and one woman who had been held at a detention facility in the eastern city of Kharkiv were set free by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on July 25 and August 2.

At least five people were still being held in secret detention at the Kharkiv facility, according to the rights groups' letter, which was dated August 23 and made public on August 29. Some of those who were released had been held for weeks, others for months.

The SBU, which has said it has no secret jails, did not respond to RFE/RL's requests for comment.


Comment: RT adds:
"The grotesque practice of secret detention continues to be denied by the Ukrainian authorities, but the evidence is overwhelming. The release of 13 people is welcome, but simply confirms the need to end and investigate these abuses and deliver justice to the victims," John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's regional director for Europe and Central Asia, said on the organization's website.
...
SBU's chief of staff, Aleksandr Tkachuk, has rejected the information on secret jails, calling it "false," however he pledged to carry out a thorough investigation into the issue during a broadcast of the Ukraine 112 TV channel. "We do pay careful attention to the information obtained by human rights groups," Tkachuk said. "And we are to check this data," he added.
...
Ashykhin said he was abducted from his home in December 2014 and was released last month. He told Amnesty International that during his 597-day illegal detention, the guards would go to great lengths to remove any trace of their presence so that independent monitors would not find anything.
...
Dalhuisen said that it is vital for Ukraine to acknowledge the problems it is facing as it looks to overhaul its criminal justice system ... "The rule of law is already weak in Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities cannot hope to overhaul its ailing criminal justice system, while pockets of its law enforcement engage in such egregious practices with such complete impunity. Ukraine's interests are far better served by tackling this problem, than denying it," he said.


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Info

Who is fighting who? Saudi-led coalition forces 'never once targeted ISIS militants' in Yemen


RT
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:44 UTC
Yemeen suicide bomber
© Fawaz Salman / ReutersPeople gather at the scene following an attack by a suicide bomber who drove a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias in the port city of Aden, Yemen August 29, 2016.
The latest car bombing is most likely a personal vendetta, probably more of a gang problem inside Aden over who is going to take control, the rebels or Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), political commentator Marwa Osman told RT.

Up to 60 people have been killed in a car bomb attack in the Yemeni city of Aden with dozens more injured. Most of the dead were pro-government troops.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Comment: Houthis refuse to back down as US & Saudi atrocities continue in Yemen

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Snakes in Suits

Hollande calls on Russia to act as mediator in Syria peace talks


ITAR-TASS
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:16 UTC
French President Francois Hollande
© EPA/AIDAN CRAWLEY
Russia should play a constructive role of a mediator at the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Syria, French President Francois Hollande told an annual meeting with ambassadors in Paris on Tuesday.

"Russia has been supporting the regime of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad for a year already. Today there is the need to ensure the end of combat actions and the resumption of talks. I will make this address to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," Hollande said.

The French president stressed that Paris expects Moscow's constructive efforts on settling the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.


Comment: So Putin needs to settle the Ukraine conflict that he had no part in starting.


"Russia should play its role - both in Ukraine and Syria - to allow setting these crises. In Syria, it should be an active participant of talks, and not one of the key actors in the events," he added.

Comment: Hollande gives the impression that it's all Putin's fault and that he should resolve the problems.

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Snakes in Suits

Moscow accused of meddling in US election but Kiev actually does it: Here's proof


Sputnik
Mon, 29 Aug 2016 15:03 UTC
Trump supporters
© AP Photo/ Mel Evans
Since the DNC email leak last month, Russia has been accused of direct interference in the US election process, with the media launching a tirade against Donald Trump for essentially being a 'Russian agent'.

Now, another former Soviet country, Ukraine, has been revealed as openly meddling in the election. The media's response? Silence.

For much of the summer, the Democratic Party and much of the media have accused Russia, the Kremlin, and Vladimir Putin personally of interfering in the American political process, providing little if any credible evidence to back up their claims, but openly implying that a vote for anyone but Hillary Clinton this fall makes you a Russian agent.

But on Sunday, an unassuming little story in the Financial Times revealed that Ukrainian officials, concerned with the prospects of a Trump presidency, are openly interfering in the US election, and proud of their role.

Kiev's political leadership, the paper reported, is seriously concerned that Donald Trump, "who has praised Ukraine's arch-enemy Vladimir Putin," would abandon them and their pro-Western reform efforts to break Ukraine out of Russia's political orbit. Effectively, FT noted, they have been spurred into doing "something they would never have attempted before: intervene, however indirectly, in a US election."
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Vader

Jerusalem Post: Leaked Soros emails reveal his campaign for global chaos

Caroline B. Glick
Jerusalem Post
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:55 UTC
soros
© Ralph OrlowskiReuters
Major media outlets in the US have ignored the leak of thousands of emails from billionaire George Soros's Open Society Foundation by the activist hacker group DCLeaks. The OSF is the vehicle through which Soros has funneled billions of dollars over the past two decades to non-profit organizations in the US and throughout the world.

According to the documents, Soros has given more than $30 million to groups working for Hillary Clinton's election in November, making him her largest single donor. So it is likely the case that the media's support for Clinton has played some role in the mainstream media's bid to bury the story.


Comment: It's curious that the JPost uses the term 'mainstream media'. Mainstream media outlets never say that!


It is also likely however, that at least some news editors failed to understand why the leaked documents were worth covering. Most of the information was already public knowledge. Soros's massive funding of far-left groups in the US and throughout the world has been documented for more than a decade.

But failing to see the significance of the wider story because many of the details were already known is a case of missing the forest for the trees. The DCLeaks document dump is a major story because it exposes the forest of Soros's funding networks.

The first thing that we see is the megalomaniacal nature of Soros's philanthropic project. No corner of the globe is unaffected by his efforts. No policy area is left untouched.
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Take 2

TTIP deal falls through due to US attitude towards negotiations


RT
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:26 UTC
ttip protest
© Francois Lenoir / ReutersA demonstrator holds a sign during a protest in Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2016
There will be no deal this year between the EU and US on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), says French President Francois Hollande. Several French and German ministers echoed the statement, citing US unwillingness to compromise.

"The negotiations are bogged down, positions have not been respected, it's clearly unbalanced," Hollande said in a speech to French ambassadors.

According to the French president, there will not be any agreement on TTIP "by the end of the year." Earlier, Minister of State for Foreign Trade Matthias Fekl told French media that the current TTIP talks should be halted and new ones should begin.

"There is no more political support in France for these negotiations," and "France calls for an end to these negotiations,"Fekl told RMC radio.

One of the problems of the deal lies in the US attitude towards the negotiations, he said. "The Americans give nothing or just crumbs... That is not how negotiations are done between allies," Fekl said. "We need a clear and definitive halt to these negotiations in order to restart on a good foundation."
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