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Congress threatens to seize Saudi assets, Saudis respond in turn


Moon of Alabama
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 20:27 UTC
Deceased Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud and Barack Obama
Deceased Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud presents Barack Obama with the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit.
Some current nonsense headlines in the U.S. media read like this: Saudis threaten sell-off of U.S. assets if 9/11 suits are allowed:
Saudi Arabia has warned the United States not to revoke its sovereign immunity, protecting the kingdom from lawsuits related to Sept. 11, or it will sell off hundreds of billions in American assets.
It is not the Saudis who are threatening something. It is the U.S. Congress that is threatening to lift the immunity of nation states in front of U.S. courts:
The Senate bill is intended to make clear that the immunity given to foreign nations under the law should not apply in cases where nations are found culpable for terrorist attacks that kill Americans on United States soil. If the bill were to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the president, it could clear a path for the role of the Saudi government to be examined in the Sept. 11 lawsuits.
Under the bill a civil U.S. person could file in a U.S. court against nation states for acts or omissions(!) of that nation state related to some "terrorist act". U.S. courts are notorious for dubious rulings against foreign states, impounding and seizing huge assets of such states.

Comment: By all accounts, Saudi Arabia is guilty to some large degree in the attacks on 9/11 (along with Israeli, Turkish, Pakistani and American partners, mind you). But that doesn't mean this legislation is necessary or even ideal. There are existing international laws and institutions in place to deal with state-sponsorship of terrorism. The U.S. just doesn't like those institutions, because the U.S. is one of the biggest state sponsors of terrorism there is.

See also: 60 Minutes, 28 pages and the limited hangout: The truth about the Saudi connection to 9/11

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Jet5

Putin's new National Guard


The Saker
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 19:50 UTC
russian special forces
Russian special forces

This article was written for the Unz Review:http://www.unz.com/tsaker/putin-creates-a-russian-national-guard/

The recent announcement by President Putin of the creation of a Russian National Guard has triggered a flurry of wild speculations about the reasons behind this important move. Some experts saw that as a way to prepare a bloody crackdown against an insurrection, others have speculated that Putin needed a new force to deal with protests and riots, while others have even suggested that this National Guard would become "Putin's army". In reality, the matter is both much simpler and much more complicated.

First, let's look at the forces and units which will be brought together into this National Guard:
  • Troops of the Interior Ministry (about 170'000 soldiers)
  • Personnel from the Ministry of Emergency Situations
  • The OMON riot police forces (about 40'000 soldiers)
  • The SOBR rapid-reaction forces (about 5000+ soldiers)
  • The Special Designation Center of the Operational Reaction Forces and Aviation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs including the Special Forces units "Zubr", "Rys'" and "Iastreb" (about 700+ operators)
So we are talking of a total force of about 250'000 soldiers which will probably reach the 300'000 men figure in the near future. By any measure, this is an impressive and powerful force which can deal with the full array of possible internal threats. Furthermore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it will now include the Federal Migration Service (FMS) and the Federal Drug Service (FSKN). This consolidation is important because it ties in practically all the internal security forces of the Russian Federation with the exception of the high-threat Federal Security Service (FSB). What is even more impressive is the list of tasks given to this new National Guard. It will include:

Comment: Regardless of any screaming from the Western media about Putin's totalitarian lock-down, this is quite a big piece of news, and suggests that Russia is only expecting further escalation of chaos and a renewed terrorist assault on their soil. The biggest threat seems to be the tsunami of Jihadis sweeping across Eurasia, which shows no signs of stopping despite the efforts of Russia and her allies in Syria.

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Handcuffs

The West has a terrorist "catch and release" program, admits proxy army is geopolitical strategy

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 12 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
man in hat
© www.globalresearch.ca"Caught and released" for a purpose.
Virtually every suspect involved in recent Brussels bombing had been tracked, arrested, in custody - either by European security agencies or the agencies of their allies - but inexplicably released and allowed to carry out both the Brussels attack as well as the Paris attack that preceded it. So obvious is this fact, that the Western media itself admits it, but simply dismisses the obvious and deeper implications such facts pose by claiming it is merely systemic incompetence.

The Wall Street Journal would admit that the recently arrested "man in the hat" also known as Mohamed Abrini, was also arrested for suspected terrorist activity - allegedly scoping out potential targets in the UK - but also - like his collaborators - inexplicably released. His brother had been to Syria where he fought and died alongside the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS), and Abrini himself too appears to have been in Syria.

The Wall Street Journal's article, "Brussels Suspect Mohamed Abrini: What We Know," reports that:
After the U.K., Mr. Abrini traveled to Paris and then Brussels, where he was arrested but then released, according to the two people. But Belgian authorities passed the information about his U.K. trip, including images found on his phone, to the British, the sources said. Abrini's case of "catch and release" before carrying out a successful string of deadly attacks across Europe, is just the latest.

Comment: Headliner terrorist attacks, as in the Brussels airport bombing, have the Gladio B signature. Where feasible, small time criminals or mentally-challenged loners are coerced into service as patsies, or in this case, suicide bombers. Interesting how these terror events tie into the bigger picture of maneuvering governments, populations and actions toward a particular outcome.

The DIA document verifies the intentions of the West for Syria, the admission of using proxy armies and the goal of creating a Salafist principality.

Apparently both of these tactics work so well, they bear repeating.

See also:

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Eagle

Killary lied: Benghazi was part of larger al-Qaeda operation


Moon of Alabama
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 17:11 UTC
hillary clinton benghazi
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesHillary Clinton looked bored at last year’s Benghazi hearing. That surely means she’s guilty of something, right?
The conservative group Judicial Watch has FOIAed documents of then Secretary of State Clinton related to the September 11 2012 attack in Benghazi which killed a U.S. ambassador and several CIA honchos. The documents prove that the Obama administration knew that the attack in Benghazi was part of an Al-Qaeda operation. Clinton and the Obama administration have publicly claimed the attack was in reaction to some anti-Muslim movie that was circling on the Internet.

That was obviously nonsense. My post about the incidents written in the early morning of September 12 was headlined: U.S. Ambo in Benghazi Killed In AQ Operation. All known facts pointed to that conclusion.

The documents Judicial Watch got released through several Freedom of Information court decisions confirm that my take was correct and that Clinton and the Obama administration knew that the attack in Benghazi was part of a well organized al-Qaeda operation.
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Briefcase

FSA says Syrian truce on brink of collapse, opposition negotiations continue


Sputnik
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 18:27 UTC
aleppo
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Voskresenskiy
Osama Abu Zeid, a legal adviser of the Free Syrian Army, said that the ceasefire in Syria was on the verge of collapse and the FSA may withdraw from the negotiation process.

"Intensity of ceasefire violations by the regime is increasing, particularly in Aleppo, from the southern suburbs, where Iranian and Afghan fighters get together... This decision [to exit the negotiation process] requires consideration, perhaps the Free Syrian Army leadership will summit to decide whether or not to continue to participate in the negotiations," Osama Abu Zeid said.

He added that these violations and failure to comply with the humanitarian provisions can lead to the collapse of the truce in the war-torn country.


Comment: The Former Syrian Al-Qaeda Free Syrian Army is a lie and a joke. FSA routinely works together with al-Nusra. Abu Zeid provides no evidence for "regime" ceasefire violations, just his own say-so. It's easy enough to claim the Syrian Army is violating the ceasefire when they attack al-Nusra, who is not a party to the truce.

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Newspaper

Saudi Arabia threatens to liquidate US assets if its role in 9/11 is exposed

Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 18:01 UTC
saudi puppet
A bombshell report by the New York Times has revealed that Saudi Arabia, the third largest holder of U.S. Treasury bills in the world behind China and Japan, has warned the Obama administration and Congress that they will begin liquidating their U.S. assets if Congress passes a bill allowing for the Saudi government to be held responsible for their role in the terror attacks of 9/11.

Make no mistake that this is blackmail, as the Saudis are estimated to hold three-quarters of a trillion dollars in T-bills and the sudden divestment would almost certainly crash the dollar as well as global markets along with it.

Perhaps this explains Obama's unwavering support for the Wahhabi regime, as congressional aides and administration officials have confirmed that the President has been lobbying Congress to block passage of the bill. Administration officials have warned Senators that if the Saudis make good on their threat, there would be extreme economic and diplomatic fallout.
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Eye 2

The Soros system: How his dodgy "NGOs" are disrupting real democracy around Russia's borders


Sputnik
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 16:54 UTC
Soros Georgia color revolutions
© Agence France-Presse/STRChildren wave Georgian and US flags at Freedom Square in the Georgian capital Tbilisi
American political scientist Phil Butler digs into the details of how George Soros' Open Society Foundations have permeated, or as he puts it, 'infected', the nations of the former Soviet Union from the Baltics to the Caucasus.

Studying the machinations of 'democracy promotion' activist billionaire magnate George Soros in a pair of articles for New Eastern Outlook, Butler offers a detailed account of how Soros' "American brand of Lebensraum" has worked to conquer the hearts and minds of political and intellectual elites, and those of ordinary people, across the former Soviet space.

Latvia: An Experiment in Social Manipulation

The small Baltic nation of Latvia, the analyst recalls, was one of the first nations in Eastern Europe to become entangled in the web spun by Soros and his allies, becoming "a sort of 'conversion' template, a kind of Soros new world order experiment." Established in 1992, immediately after the collapse of the USSR, Soros Foundation Latvia soon came to have enormous reach in virtually every sphere of education, law, and society.

"It was at this time [that] George Soros began funding academia down to the grade school level. Then in 1994 Soros initiatives engaged students at Latvian universities with enticements like study abroad, and later the grant system of 'encouragements' for students." Other initiatives included the publication of philosophical works and textbooks, and even funding for the arts, via the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts.

Comment: Further reading (if you can stomach it):

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MIB

EU counter-terrorism chief: 'We should recruit ISIS terrorists fleeing Syria to work for us'


RT
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 13:53 UTC
nutella ISIS
'Mum, send over more Nutella, will ya?'
Blanket prosecution of foreign fighters coming back from Iraq and Syria to Europe would be counterproductive, a senior EU security official has said. In his view some of them should be rehabilitated and even used to counter Islamic State propaganda.

EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove criticized his home country Belgium for having no options to deal with its citizens, who joined radical groups such as Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and went to fight in the Middle East, but then returned to Europe.

"If there is no evidence that they are an active jihadi - for instance, they crossed the border and spent a week with the organization but were really just washing dishes, a fourth-rank foot soldier, then saw people beheaded and rushed to leave, saying, 'I made a big mistake' - is it really worth putting them on the trail that leads to prison?" he told the Guardian.


Comment: So, let's get this straight. You're now saying that ISIS terrorists are not evil incarnate; they're actually just wayward youngsters?


Comment: Is this guy just hopelessly naive about what the European terrorists have been getting up to in Syria and Iraq? And didn't ISIS just blow up some of his colleagues in Brussels??

Is this some ruse to enable the terrorists - which are already in the employ of Western states - to return home without facing incarceration?

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Chess

Syrian Hmeymim delegation ready to accept Kurdish PYD member - who has 'never heard of such a group'


Sputnik
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 14:46 UTC
Syrian Kurds geneva talks
© Jaques DeMarthon/Agence France-PresseDemocratic Union Party (PYD) co-president Saleh Muslim (File photo)
The head of Syrian opposition delegation, formed at the Hmeymim air facility, said that his delegation is ready to accept Saleh Moslem, the co-chairman of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), as its new member.

The delegation of the Syrian internal opposition, formed at the Hmeymim air facility, is ready to accept Saleh Moslem, the co-chairman of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), as its new member, the head of the delegation, Ilian Masaad, told Sputnik Sunday.

"We are ready for Mr. Saleh, the head of the Democratic Union, to join our delegation. All members of our group agree with this idea," Masaad said.

Meanwhile, Moslem told Sputnik that "he had never heard of such a group [Hmeymim]."

"We already have a group called 'Secular and Democratic Union.' And we still have not been invited to participate in the negotiations," he stressed.

The new round of the intra-Syrian talks aimed at putting an end to the five-year civil war is currently underway in Geneva.

Syrian Kurds, one of the largest ethnic groups in the country, still do not take part in the crucial talks on the reconciliation in the Arab state.

Comment: More confusion in the peace talks, aiming at yet more delays?

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Vader

Best of the Web: The American Empire: slouching towards its end

Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr.
Counterpunch
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 12:55 UTC
american empire US imperialism
I'm here to talk about the end of the American empire. But before I do I want to note that one of our most charming characteristics as Americans is our amnesia. I mean, we are so good at forgetting what we've done and where we did it that we can hide our own Easter eggs.

I'm reminded of the geezer—someone about my age—who was sitting in his living room having a drink with his friend while his wife made dinner.

He said to his friend, "you know, we went to a really terrific restaurant last week. You'd like it. Great atmosphere. Delicious food. Wonderful service."

"What's the name of it?" his friend asked.

He scratched his head. "Ah, ah. Ah. What do you call those red flowers you give to women you love?"

His friend hesitated. "A rose?"

"Right. Um, hey, Rose! What was the name of that restaurant we went to last week?"

Americans like to forget we ever had an empire or to claim that, if we did, we never really wanted one. But the momentum of Manifest Destiny made us an imperial power. It carried us well beyond the shores of the continent we seized from its original aboriginal and Mexican owners. The Monroe Doctrine proclaimed an American sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere. But the American empire was never limited to that sphere.
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