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Normandy Four agrees to extend Minsk deals to 2016


ITAR-TASS
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 19:51 UTC
Poroshenko press conference
© Mykola Lazarenko/Ukrainian presidential press service/TASS
The Normandy Four has agreed to extend the validity of the Minsk Agreements to 2016 after a phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"The leaders thoroughly discussed the still tense and unstable situation in southeast Ukraine in the context of implementation of the agreements coordinated in Minsk February 12, 2015," the Kremlin reported.

"They agreed to extend their validity to 2016. The importance was noted of further work of the Contact Group to fully and comprehensively implement the Minsk Package of Measures," it said.

Comment: Ukraine has nothing to show of any progress in the Minsk agreements and the West seems to have lost interest.

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Blue Planet

The U.S. refuses to accept that the world is becoming multipolar


Sputnik
Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
US Pacific fleet
© Flickr
The United States doesn't want to admit that humanity has entered the age of a new multipolar world, according to an El Pais article.

Over the past 15 years the world has changed dramatically. When George W. Bush was elected as the president of the United States in 2000, the only concern Washington had was the regime of Saddam of Hussein in Iraq, the article, translated into English by the website Whattheysayaboutusa.com, said.

Since then things have dramatically changed. Now we have open rivalries between the three great powers — the United States, Russia and China — and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East as a result of the Iraq War, the Arab Spring and the rise of Daesh (Islamic State), El Pais said.
"A multipolar world had become a true possibility — if only international organizations would acknowledge it," the article said, referring to the fact that Western-led international organizations, such as the G-20 and the IMF, refuse to fully recognize the power of new emerging economies.

Comment: The arrogance and wishful thinking of the neoconservatives driving U.S. foreign policies make them blind to the fact that these policies are failing to achieve their aims. Their relentless drive for global domination is only bringing the world closer to WWIII, which is unlikely to end as they imagine.

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Handcuffs

Silencing truth: Department of Defense plans legal changes to crack down on whistle-blowers


Sputnik
Wed, 30 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
whistleblower
After a year marked by repeated cyberattacks into US government databanks, the Department of Defense is tightening up its Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to prevent future breaches and leaks, legal and cyber analysts told Sputnik.

Former CIA counterterrorism officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou told Sputnik on Tuesday that the change in the Code seemed focused on bringing military legal procedures up to date to deal with the burgeoning field of cybercrime and cyberespionage.

"It may be that the law was outdated and didn't include 'cybercrime," Kiriakou said.

The Defense Department has proposed a reform in the US Code of Military Justice to introduce punishment for specific computer offenses for the first time.

Retired US Army Major Todd Pierce, an author and expert on military law and civil liberties, told Sputnik the reform seemed to be focused on serving military personnel who became whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning, rather than on civilian contractors such as Edward Snowden.

Comment: The history of the U.S. government's attacks, intimidation, and murder of whistleblowers

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Bomb

Iran denies it fired rockets close to US aircraft carrier - 'This false news is psychological warfare'


RT
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 13:48 UTC
USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier
© Kristina Young / ReutersThe aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman
Tehran has officially denied that its Revolutionary Guards' patrol vessel launched rockets in imminent proximity to the USS Harry S. Truman and its convoy entering the Persian Gulf, calling the allegation an act of "psychological warfare."

On Tuesday, reports emerged that last Saturday the US aircraft carrier was intimidated after missiles were launched by an Iranian patrol vessel on a parallel course with the American naval convoy.

"The naval forces of the Guards have not had any exercises in the Strait of Hormuz during the past week and the period claimed by the Americans, for them to have launched missiles and rockets,"Reuters quoted Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ramezan Sharif as saying.

Comment: It's more of the same baseless allegations, repeated ad nauseam in the media, that led up to the Iraq war, the Libyan invasion, and the current Syrian intervention. The psychos in power will use every trick in the book to attempt to demonize and destabilize their targets.

Also see:

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Bad Guys

Poland passes 'national media' law allowing for all-out media crackdown


RT
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 13:38 UTC
Poland EU
© Przemek Wierzchowski / Agencja Gazeta / Reuters
The EU, European journalists organizations and the OSCE media rep have slammed Poland's new media law, which gives government more control over public TV and radio and the right to appoint officials to top broadcast posts "to shield national interests."

In another step by the newly-elected Law and Justice party (PiS) government to gain a firmer grip on state institutions, a "national media" law was passed in Warsaw on Wednesday.

The new law will come into effect immediately after President Andrzej Duda signs it. The bill would give the powers to the treasury minister to replace current senior public broadcasting officials at Polskie Radio and Telewizja Polska (TVP) with any other candidates.

It also terminates the terms of the current management of the national broadcasters.

Comment: As if Western media weren't already pure propaganda:

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USA

Obama to slam new 'friend' Iran with fresh sanctions over contested ballistic-missile program

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 13:19 UTC
US Treasury Building in Washington, DC
© Karen Bleier / AFP
Spot what's wrong with the following sentence: "The Obama administration is preparing to impose its first financial sanctions on Iran since it forged a landmark nuclear agreement in July."

That's from WSJ and it underscores how truly absurd the relationship between Washington and Tehran has become. Just as the US is preparing to lift crippling international sanctions against Iran in connection with the country's nuclear program, The White House is set to slap new sanctions on the country to punish the Iranians for advances in ballistic-missile development.
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Newspaper

Russia signed agreement to build oil rigs for Iran in the Persian Gulf


RT
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 10:39 UTC
Oil Rig
© Raheb Homavandi CJF / Reuters An Iranian man points to an oil production platform at the Soroush oil fields in the Persian Gulf, 1,250 km (776 miles) south of the capital Tehran
Russian and Iranian ship-building companies have signed an agreement for construct oil rigs in the Persian Gulf, PressTV has reported. Under the agreement, the Russian Krasnye Barrikady (Red Barricades) shipyard will build rigs for exploration and production of oil and gas, according to Hamid Rezaian, Managing Director of Iranian shipbuilder ISOICO. The Russian company will also share some of the technology.

"We are ready to provide ISOICO with the necessary equipment thanks to the financial and insurance support of the Russian government," said Alexander Ilyichev, CEO of Krasnye Barrikady. He added that Iran was also interested in ordering new oil tankers for operation in the Caspian Sea.

The deal was signed during a big foreign exhibition in Iran earlier this month. Representatives of 80 leading Russian companies showed off their products at the event. The ISOICO head said in November the company was waiting for the lifting of Western sanctions from Iran. The shipbuilder plans to unveil a range of joint projects with major world shipbuilders, including those of South Korea, Italy, China, German and Turkmenistan. Sanctions against Iran are yet to be lifted, as the International Atomic Energy Agency has to confirm that Iran has met its obligations. Iran and the six international mediators (the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China) signed a deal in July to settle the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Tehran has already announced a package of contracts and plans of increasing oil exports to pre-sanctions level of 2.2 million barrels per day once the sanctions are lifted.

Comment: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasili Nebenzya said it best:
"There are unilateral sanctions of the USA against Iran which we don't regard ourselves bound with while the calls to give up the development of relations with Iran greatly look like competitive rivalry.."
See also:

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Bomb

Turkey's terror state: 150 civilians dead in one week as Erdogan promises to 'annihilate' more


Sputnik
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 03:50 UTC
Kurds Turkey
© AP Photo/ Cagdas Erdogan
The death toll among civilians has surged as Turkish security forces continue a large-scale operation against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey, shattering the last hopes to conclude a truce between the opposing sides.

Government forces have killed over 150 civilians and at least 200 Kurdish insurgents within the last week, according to human rights groups and local officials, cited by the New York Times. Amid escalating fighting across southeastern Turkey, hundreds of thousands of residents have abandoned their homes for safer regions.

"What people here in the west [of Turkey] do not realize is that we are one step away from a civil war," Engin Gur, a resident of the Turkish South East who moved to Istanbul, told the New York Times.

Comment: While Erdogan acts like a brutal, bloodthirsty dictator, the West remains almost completely silent. The Western media is quick to demonize officials who fight for their people, and they're quick to lionize officials who kill their people.

Also see:

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Bomb

Iraqi forces recapture Ramadi & find a city the U.S. bombed into oblivion


Sputnik
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 03:34 UTC
Iraq Ramadi
© AFP 2015/ AHMAD AL-RUBAYE
The recapture of Ramadi by the Iraqi Army dealt a major a blow to Daesh, also known as ISIL/Islamic State, and the Obama administration is desperate to take credit for the victory as a means for justifying Washington's failed anti-terror strategy.

In May, Daesh conquered the city of Ramadi, in the Anbar Province, using a wave of suicide bombs to defeat Iraq's security forces. Earlier this week, the Iraqi Army retook the city.

In an email to the New York Times, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the turn of events meant that "enemy forces have suffered a major defeat." US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter called the victory, "a significant step forward in the campaign to defeat this barbaric group." Landon Shroder, a US intelligence analyst, told the Times that the liberation of Ramadi is a "much-needed tactical victory."

Comment: The US has been bombing Ramadi to ruins since July, and has been repeatedly frustrating Iraq's attempts to retake the city. Then, once Iraqi forces proved that they were moving in for good, the US allegedly evacuated their top terrorists. Now the US is trying to take credit for their 'success' in the fight against Daesh. Well, with half of Ramadi's infrastructure now destroyed, it would be nice if the US officials attempting to take credit for this 'success' finally received the credit they so richly deserve - in a war crimes tribunal.

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Arrow Down

Russian special envoy: 'US and NATO's mission in Afghanistan has been a complete failure'


RT
Wed, 30 Dec 2015 14:34 UTC
US soldiers
The US and NATO mission in Afghanistan has been a complete failure, the Russian President's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, told TASS, in evaluating the effectiveness of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) there.
"Assessing the results of the actions of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, it can be said that they have completely failed their mission," Kabulov said in an interview to TASS, adding that the ultimate goal of the ISAF anti-terrorist campaign, which consisted in creating "a democratic centralized state" in Afghanistan, has not been achieved.
The special envoy stressed that, not only has the US-led coalition in Afghanistan failed to achieve its main goal, but "has not accomplished any of the tasks it had set before the operation," as Afghanistan still lacks "strong and stable central authority." He also emphasized that, failing to defeat the Taliban by military means, the ISAF's current policy of national reconciliation de-facto envisions their participation in the new political power structure of Afghanistan.

Kabulov drew attention to the fact that the ongoing "Decisive Support" training mission, which the US and their allies in Afghanistan are currently conducting, has also shown very little result. The program aims to improve the combat readiness of the Afghan army and police, enabling them to independently secure stability and order. According to Kabulov, Afghan governmental forces "show inability to affect the situation due to a lack of arms and equipment, as well as an insufficient level of training and low morale."

Comment: United States operations in Afghanistan have only been a miserable failure when you take their stated goals at face value. The world knows what the US says and what it does are two different things. There is in fact a stable, and respected leadership structure with Afghan tribes which could pave the way for peace, but then that is not at all what the US wants. The plan all along has been regional destabilization as a means of control over an emerging Eurasia.

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