Puppet MastersS


Bomb

French Interior Ministry: 90 potential bombers in EU, report on Paris terrorist attack

Bataclan
© Christian Hartmann / ReutersBataclan concert hall, site of deadly attacks, November, 2015.
A chilling internal French police report has revealed that as many as 90 "kamikazes" may be roaming the EU. The report also states how terrorists are mastering encryption and bomb making techniques to help them achieve their aims.

The 55-page testimony, which was produced exclusively for the French Interior Ministry and was seen by the New York Times, shows the scale of planning that went into the November 13 Paris terror attacks, including precise encryption, top level document forgers and even sending bomb makers from Syria to Europe. The documents included interviews with both officials and witnesses and showed how Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has evolved into being able to carry out terror attacks on such a grand scale.

The report shows that the bombs used by the terrorists were simple to make, but very effective. They found traces of the same explosives used at each of the sites in Paris which were attacked by suicide bombers. The bomb maker who made the explosives had used triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which can be made from everyday products such as bleach or nail polish remover - items which could be purchased without raising suspicion. However, the person putting the explosives together certainly knew what he or she was doing.

"Their ingredients, when combined, are highly unstable and can explode easily if mishandled," said Peter Bergen, the director of the National Securities Studies Program at the New America Foundation, according to the New York Times. "To make an effective TATP bomb requires real training, which suggests a relatively skilled bomb-maker was involved in the Paris plot, since the terrorists detonated several bombs. It also suggests that there was some kind of bomb factory that, as yet, appears to be undiscovered, because putting together such bombs requires some kind of dedicated space," he added.

The report also states that a lack of border controls allowed the terrorists to move freely around Europe without arousing suspicion, while the inability of international governments to share intelligence also made it easier for the jihadists to avoid detection.

Comment: Terrorists indeed perpetrated the deadly Paris attacks last November, but the terrorists were professional and the attacks False Flags. Political fear-mongering is a deadly business with a dire message.

See also:


USA

American-style fascism, deceptively appealing

"If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States." ― Henry A. Wallace, 33rd Vice President of the United States
Nazi America
© Monkeypuzzla.blogspot.com
This is an indictment of every politician who has ever sold us out for the sake of money and power, it is a condemnation of every politician who has ever lied to us in order to advance their careers, and it is a denunciation of every political shill who has sacrificed our freedoms on the altar of Corporate America.

They're all fascists.

If Donald Trump is a fascist—as nearly half of Americans surveyed believe—then so is every other politician in office or running for office in America who has ever prioritized money and power over human beings.

Truly, apart from Trump's virulently bombastic comments and his metaphorical willingness to spit in the wind in order to garner media coverage and notoriety, how is he any more of a fascist than Hillary Clinton and the millions she has amassed from the financial sector?

How is Trump any more of a fascist than Barack Obama, whose willingness to march in lockstep with the military industrial complex has resulted in endless wars, covert drone strikes that have killed hundreds of civilians abroad, andmilitarized police who have killed thousands of American citizens here at home?

How is Trump any more of a fascist than Congress, the majority of whom are millionaires and who are more inclined to do the bidding of their corporate sponsors and benefactors, all the while remaining deaf to their less affluent constituents?

For that matter, how is Trump any more of a fascist than the Supreme Court whose decisions in recent years have been characterized most often by an abject deference to government authority, military and corporate interests?

Writing for the New York Times in 1944, Vice President Henry A. Wallace noted that "American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism. They use every opportunity to impugn democracy. They use isolationism as a slogan to conceal their own selfish imperialism. They cultivate hate and distrust..."

War Whore

A coup in progress? The fight for control of Brazil and the subversion of democracy

Rousseff
© Agencia Estado via AP ImagesBrazilian President Dilma Rousseff
The multiple, remarkable crises consuming Brazil are now garnering substantial Western media attention. That's understandable given that Brazil is the world's fifth most populous country and eighth-largest economy; its second-largest city, Rio de Janeiro, is the host of this year's Summer Olympics. But much of this Western media coverage mimics the propaganda coming from Brazil's homogenized, oligarch-owned, anti-democracy media outlets and, as such, is misleading, inaccurate, and incomplete, particularly when coming from those with little familiarity with the country (there are numerous Brazil-based Western reporters doing outstanding work).

It is difficult to overstate the severity of Brazil's multi-level distress. This short paragraph yesterday from the New York Times's Brazil bureau chief, Simon Romero, conveys how dire it is:
Brazil is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades. An enormous graft scheme has hobbled the national oil company. The Zika epidemic is causing despair across the northeast. And just before the world heads to Brazil for the Summer Olympics, the government is fighting for survival, with almost every corner of the political system under the cloud of scandal.
Brazil's extraordinary political upheaval shares some similarities with the Trump-led political chaos in the U.S.: a sui generis, out-of-control circus unleashing instability and some rather dark forces, with a positive ending almost impossible to imagine. The once-remote prospect of President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment now seems likely.

Yoda

Why the Russian campaign in Syria is considered a success in Moscow

Su-34
The significant SU-34 strike fighter was combat-tested in Syria
Originally appeared at Izvestia. Translated by Julia Rakhmetova and Rhod Mackenzie

The author is the Director General of the Moscow Center for Political Information, an influential think tank close to the Kremlin.

Some analysts are saying that despite claims to the contrary, Russia has not accomplished its mission in Syria. It's impossible to know exactly what the Russian Air Force has failed to achieve from its earlier statements.

However, the obvious result is that now there are two Russian military bases on Syrian territory. With our support, the Syrians have revamped and begun to rearm a sovereign military that is getting top military advice. So Russia has a real opportunity to influence the region as guarantor of social and political stability.

Given that the so-called 'broad coalition' headed by the US was the primary 'guarantor of instability', this has to be worth a lot. About 2,000 terrorists - immigrants from the former Soviet Union — have been killed, including 17 leaders of armed groups that will never return to Russia or other former regions of the USSR to pursue their terrorist activities.

Russia demonstrated its first-class weapons and tested them in combat. Without giving away vital information, our arms contracts have increased to a dozen billion dollars, covering the cost of the Syrian operation. We foresee a significant expansion of military and technical cooperation with our long-standing partners (India, China etc.) and new clients are impressed by the success of our planes.

Light Sabers

Washington should pay attention to Russia for an example of how to avoid getting stuck in protracted conflicts

Su-24 aircraft
© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
Washington can learn from Moscow's example in sticking to clear goals that avoid becoming engaged in a protracted conflict, Blake Franco wrote in National Interest.

Russia set clear goals for its operation in Syria which helped it to avoid becoming entangled in a protracted quagmire characteristic of US foreign policy in the Middle East, Blako Franco wrote in National Interest on Sunday.

"The primary lesson seen in Syria was remarkably simple: clear and concise goals trump grandiose visions of regime change or nation building when intervening in conflicts," Franco wrote.

When the Russian operation in Syria began on September 30, it clearly and straightforwardly identified its goals: to help the Syrian government take back as much territory as possible from Daesh, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups, and set a limited time-frame in which to do so.

"Clearly defining enemies ensured that allies were on the same page," and so Russian air strikes were able to work effectively with Syrian government forces, Franco wrote.

Jet3

Russia warns US force may be used against Syria truce violators

syria truce russian monitoring
Sergei Rudskoi, the head of the Main Operative Department of the Russian General Staff
Russia warns the US that it may resort to the use of force against those parties that refuse to honor the ceasefire in Syria.

In a statement on Monday, Sergei Rudskoi, the head of the Main Operative Department of the Russian General Staff, said Moscow will begin unilaterally applying the provisions envisaged by the ceasefire agreement from March 21 if there is no reaction from the US to Russia's proposals on ceasefire monitoring.

"Russia says it is ready to promptly complete the work on the proposed document, including to meet with a US delegation in Moscow or have a meeting in any place acceptable to the parties. If there is no reaction from the US to these proposals, the Russian Federation will begin to unilaterally apply the rules envisaged by the agreement from March 22," Rudskoi said.

Russia set up a center at the Hmeimim airbase in Syria's western Latakia Province last month to monitor the ceasefire. It has been providing almost daily reports of the violation of the ceasefire in Syria after it came into force on February 27.

Comment: The US and NATO had better take notice. By now the whole world knows that Russia keeps its word.


Eye 2

Best of the Web: Showing his fascist colors: Erdogan says democracy and freedom have absolutely no value in terrorist state Turkey

erdogan
© AFP/Getty ImagesTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he delivers a speech during the mukhtars (local town government heads) meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on March 16, 2016

Comment: Given Erdogan's frank admission below that he conforms to a fascist form of government, the EU leadership should get as far away from him as they possibly can instead of cozying up to him and paying him billions to re-route Western terrorists help control the refugee crisis. The West proclaims to represent freedom and democracy, but if they continue to support a country that not only openly denounces those values but also aids and abets terrorists, they have absolutely no footing to lecture Russia about anything.


The President of Turkey has said democracy and freedom have "absolutely no value" in the country after calling for journalists, lawyers and politicians to be prosecuted as terrorists.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on Wednesday as almost 50 people, including activists and academics, were detained in a wave of police raids.

In a speech to local politicians in Ankara, he criticised critics raising concern over Turkey's record on "democracy, freedom and rule of law" as discussions over a landmark deal on the refugee crisis continue.
Turkish riot police use water cannon
Turkish riot police use water cannon and tear gas to disperse supporters at Zaman daily newspaper headquarters
Turkish riot police use water cannon and tear gas to disperse supporters at Zaman daily newspaper headquarters

"For us, these phrases have absolutely no value any longer," he said in the televised address, according to a translation by DPA. "Those who stand on our side in the fight against terrorism are our friend. Those on the opposite side, are our enemy."


Comment: Erdogan paraphrasing a well-known Dubya-ism is particularly apt, given their shared affection for fascism.


Question

Will the FBI charge Hillary, or what? Politics muddies the waters

hillary clinton
© Kevin Lamarque/Associated PressSecretary of State Hillary Clinton checks her BlackBerry from a desk inside a C-17 military plane upon her departure from Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea, bound for Tripoli, Libya, in 2011
FBI chief James Comey and his investigators are increasingly certain that presidential nominee Hillary Clinton violated laws in handling classified government information through her private email server, career agents say.

Some expect him to push for charges, but he faces a formidable obstacle: the political types in the Obama White House who view a Clinton presidency as a third Obama term.

With that, agents have been spreading the word, largely through associates in the private sector, that their boss is getting stonewalled, despite uncovering compelling evidence that Clinton broke the law.

Exactly what that evidence is — and how and when it was uncovered during Comey's months-long inquiry — has not been disclosed. For the record, the FBI had no comment on the matter, and government sources say no final decision has been made.

Clinton denies she did anything wrong, claiming she had no idea she was getting classified information (a violation of federal law) on her private server during her years as Obama's secretary of state because the documents she received contained no such headings.

Comment: Odds are there will be no charges despite overwhelming evidence of Killary's guilt. It will be interesting to see what kind of fig leaf will be used to get her off the hook.


Megaphone

Sarkozy: Turkey has no place in Europe, is less a European country than Russia

Nicolas Sarkozy
© Jacky Naegelen / ReutersNicolas Sarkozy, head of France's Les Republicains political party and former French President
Ankara has no place in the European Union: Both historically and economically speaking, Turkey is less European a country than Russia, ex-president and head of France's main opposition party Nicolas Sarkozy stated in an exclusive interview with the iTele channel.

"Turkey is in Asia Minor. I'm sorry to say it, Turkey is a great country, a great civilization, but it is a bridge between Asia and Europe," the head of center-right party The Republicans stated in the interview published on Saturday.

"Turkey has no place in Europe. I have always adhered to this position, it is based on common sense. This doesn't mean that I have anything against the Turks. We need them, they are our allies in NATO. But if we begin to explain it - that Turkey is in Europe - European school students will have to be told that the European border lies in Syria. Where's common sense?" Sarkozy asked.

The former French leader said he is against Ankara joining the EU not only because it is too far from Europe by definition, but over the government's treatment of journalists and Kurds just as well.

Attention

U.S. unwilling to cooperate with Russia on Syrian ceasefire violation protocol, Russia will unilaterally monitor ceasefire from now on

Sergei Rudskoy

Comment: The Syrian ceasefire is playing out as predicted. Relatively few groups joined on. Those who did have largely abided by the truce agreements; residents are returning to towns, aid is flowing into rebel-held areas, and fighting has diminished in the towns and villages in question. But last week, the Russian military revealed that groups included on the U.S.'s list of truce-abiding groups have been violating the ceasefire. After being stonewalled by the U.S., the Russians are now vowing to take the ceasefire into their own hands starting tomorrow. Here's the U.S. response:
"We have seen the media reports on alleged Russian concerns over ceasefire violations," the official stated. "Whoever is making such statements must be misinformed, because these issues have been discussed at length already, and continue to be discussed, in a constructive manner."
Perhaps this "U.S. official" considers stonewalling to be a constructive attitude towards a situation on which lives depend.


On February 25, the Russian Defence Ministry sent a draft proposal on ceasefire observe and control in Syria through military-diplomatic channels to the US representatives following provisions of the Joint Russian-American agreement on ceasefire in Syria.

The document contains consultation process between the Russian Federation and the United States of America in case of receiving information about ceasefire violations and usage of military force against formations, which violate ceasefire obligations systematically. The Russian Defence Ministry considers that such procedures are to form an effective mechanism for controlling and suppressing potential ceasefire violators in Syria.

Having received viewpoint of the US representatives, the Russian side developed a compromise draft agreement and sent it on March 5. Moreover, the Russian party suggested holding consultations as soon as possible in order to let experts approve the text of the agreement.

However, the Russian-American consultations, which had been held in Amman on March 18, showed that the American party was not ready for particular discussion and approving of the agreement text.