Puppet MastersS


Dollar

Politely holding all the cards: Putin bests the IMF on Ukraine debt

Alexander Mercouris
Russia Insider
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 19:21 UTC
Putin Lagarde IMF
© Michael Klimentyev / RIA NovostiRussian President Vladimir Putin and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, November 15, 2015.
Putin's supposed "offer" at the G20 to restructure the $3 billion debt Ukraine owes Russia has been universally misunderstood. It was not a real offer at all.

Firstly, it was not made to Ukraine - which is the country that owes the money - but to the IMF's Christine Lagarde. Secondly the "offer" is conditional on the IMF - or the US or EU - guaranteeing to pay Russia the money if Ukraine defaults. On that basis Putin said Russia would accept payment in instalments, each of $1 billion, payable over 3 years. Ukraine would however continue to pay interest.

If the offer were accepted Russia would get all its money - either directly from Ukraine or from the IMF or US or EU - plus interest on top, only over 3 years instead of in December. Putin cheekily pointed out that if Lagarde is so sure Ukraine is about to become solvent, giving Russia a guarantee should present no problems.

In reality - as Putin well knows - there is no chance the IMF or the US or the EU will ever give Russia such a guarantee. In the case of the IMF it is questionable whether it is legally able to. In the case of the US and EU doing so would be politically impossible.

Comment: Even the baroness of the IMF is outmatched by Putin. No worries, Lagarde, you've got a lot of company to lick your wounds with.

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Red Flag

State Governors press White House for Syrian refugee information

Josh Rogin
Bloomberg
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 18:31 UTC
Image
© Alex Wong/Getty Images White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough
In a call with senior Obama administration officials Tuesday evening, several governors demanded they be given access to information about Syrian refugees about to be resettled by the federal government in their states. Top White House officials refused.

Over a dozen governors from both parties joined the conference call, which was initiated by the White House after 27 governors vowed not to cooperate with further resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states. The outrage among governors came after European officials revealed that one of the Paris attackers may have entered Europe in October through the refugee process using a fake Syrian passport. (The details of the attacker's travels are still murky.)

The administration officials on the call included White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, State Department official Simon Henshaw, FBI official John Giacalone, and the deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center John Mulligan.

Comment: Makes one wonder why the government is keeping information on the refugees so secret. Are they trying to hide something?

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Arrow Up

Take no prisoners - Russia's fight against ISIS

Pepe Escobar
RT.com
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 17:57 UTC
Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
© Ramil Sitdikov/RIA Novosti Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
The so-called Islamic State should have learned by now: they've picked a fight against the wrong guys. We have entered "take no prisoners" territory. For Russia, now all the gloves are off.

Especially after online terrorist magazine Dabiq published a photo of the alleged bomb that downed the Metrojet: a crude device inside a can of Schweppes Gold, placed under a passenger seat. Also published were photos of passports of Russian victims, allegedly taken "by the mujahedeen."

Their collective fate was sealed the minute the Director of the Federal Security Service Aleksandr Bortnikov told President Putin, about the Metrojet crash on October 31 in Egypt that: "We can say with confidence that this was a terrorist act."

Caliphate goons may run - in the deserts of 'Syraq' and beyond - but they can't hide, as per Russia's presidential message: "We will search for them everywhere - wherever they are hiding. We will find them in any spot on the planet and we will punish them." The message comes with extra enticement; the $50 million bounty offered by the FSB for any information leading to the perpetrators of the Sinai tragedy.

Putin's message instantly turned heavy metal in the form of a massive, impressive Russian barrage over 140 Caliphate targets, delivered via 34 air-launched cutting-edge cruise missiles and furious action by Tu-160, Tu-22, and the Tu-95MC 'Bear' strategic bombers. This was the first time the Russian long-range strategic bomber force has been deployed since the 1980s Afghan jihad.

And there's more coming - to be stationed in Syria; an extra deployment of 25 strategic bombers, eight Su-34 'Fullback' attack aircraft, and four Su-27 'Flanker' fighter jets.
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Bomb

Paul Craig Roberts: Suicide bombers - More Paris puzzles

Paul Craig Roberts
PaulCraigRoberts.org
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 17:38 UTC
Suicide Bomber
© StrangeCosmos.com
Some people who are not inclined to believe the official story of the Paris attack are troubled by the question why Muslim suicide bombers would blow themselves up for a false flag attack. The answer to this question is very simple. But first we should dispose of the question whether suicide bombers did blow themselves up. Is this something that we know, or is it part of the story that we are told?

For example, we were told that during 9/11 passengers in hijacked airliners used their cell phones to call relatives, but experts have testified that the technology of the time did not permit cell phone calls from airliners at those altitudes.

To dispose of the question whether we have or do not have any real evidence that suicide bombers blew themselves up, I will assume that they did.

So we have suicide bombers blowing themselves up.

Now turn to the question that troubles some doubters: Why would suicide bombers blow themselves up for the sake of a false flag attack?

As I said, the answer is simple: Why assume that the suicide bombers knew who was organizing the attack? There seems to be abundant evidence that ISIL is a US creation, one that is still dependent on US active or passive support—thus the conflict between Putin and Washington over attacking ISIL.

ISIL seems to be what Washington used to overthrow the government in Libya and afterward was sent by Washington to Syria to overthrow Assad. Obviously, Washington has ISIL infiltrated. Washington has long proven is ability to use Islamic extremists. As Washington used them in Afghanistan against the Soviets and in Libya and Syria against independent governments, Washington used them in Paris. By my last count, the FBI on 150 occasions has successfully deceived people into participating into FBI orchestrated "terror plots."
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Wall Street

What a concept: Place sanctions on banks and states funding ISIS, says Corbyn


RT
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 17:27 UTC
Jeremy Corbyn
© Russell Cheyne / Reuters
States and financial institutions suspected of managing or providing funds to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) should have sanctions placed on them, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told MPs.

Speaking to the House of Commons, the Labour leader urged Parliament to take more action to clamp down on institutions which provide "vital infrastructure" to the terror group in Syria and Iraq.

Corbyn said one of the main ways to stop IS from functioning is to cut off its resources, suggesting the EU would also need to play a part in suffocating the organization.

"Surely a crucial way to help defeat ISIL is to cut off its funding, its supply of arms, and its trade," Corbyn said during prime minister's questions (PMQs).

"Can I press the prime minister to ensure that our allies in the region, indeed all countries in the region, are doing all they can to clamp down on individuals and institutions in their countries who are providing ISIL with vital infrastructure?

Comment: There is only one way to defeat ISIS: Follow the money

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Attention

Russian combat ships will not provide air defense support for French navy off Syria


ITAR-TASS
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:54 UTC
Russian warship
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Russian combat ships in Syrian waters will provide no air defense or antisubmarine support for the French aircraft carrier-led group as it can accomplish these missions independently, a source in defense and diplomatic circles told TASS on Wednesday.

Some media reports said earlier that the Russian naval ships in Syrian waters would provide combat support for the French aircraft carrier in its operation against the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria.

"In fulfillment of the orders by Supreme Command-in-Chief Vladimir Putin, the Russian Navy's task force staying in Syrian waters will exercise close interaction with the French aircraft carrier grouping at sea and in the air, including anti-subversion and anti-terror activity. However, there is no talk about our ships' antisubmarine and air defense support for the French naval grouping led by the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle," the source said.

Comment: France has UK and USA sending warships to Syria so there will be quite a show of naval force with Russia already there.

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Radar

Nowhere to hide: ISIL fighters fleeing Raqqa amid Russian air campaign


Sputnik
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:46 UTC
Russian TU-160 bomber
Islamic State fighters are fleeing Raqqa, the terrorist group's stronghold in Syria, as Russia and France have intensified airstrikes on their positions, Russian media reported on Wednesday.

The terrorists have abandoned their positions and are fleeing toward the Turkish border, while some of them are hiding in civilian buildings, RIA Novosti news agency wrote, citing local eyewitness reports on Wednesday.

In Tel-Abyad, a town 100 kilometers north of Raqqa, ISIL fighters abandoned their strongholds under pressure from Kurdish self-defense forces.

The Islamic State group is coming under increased military pressure after claiming responsibility for last month's bombing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt and Friday's attacks in Paris, which killed more than 120 people.

Comment: There is no choice for ISIL but to flee as Russia continues to hunt them down. Interesting they are fleeing to Turkey.

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Dollars

Russia's warplanes in Syria hunting Islamic State oil tanker trucks


ITAR-TASS
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:17 UTC
Syria bombing
© AP Photo, File
Russian warplanes in Syria have begun hunting for Islamic State's tanker trucks carrying crude oil and petroleum products, the chief of the main operations directorate of Russia's General Staff, Colonel-General Andrey Kartapolov told a news briefing on Wednesday.

"I would like to point out that a decision has been made to let Russian planes fly sorties to search for tanker trucks carrying petroleum products belonging to terrorists in areas controlled by the organization calling itself the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia)," Kartapolov said.

Russian officials have repeatedly called to implement the UN Security Council resolution that was passed upon Russia's initiative, on preventing the financing of terrorism. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry has admitted that the efforts to disrupt financing of terrorist activity in the Middle East depend on some countries' good conscience.

"UN Security Council Resolution 2199 [on combating financing of terrorist organizations through their illegal trade in oil and oil products] has set a mechanism of submitting reports on the implementation of its provisions. So far, the mechanism has not started to work in full. Amid the persisting problem acuteness, this causes serious concern," spokesperson for Russia's Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said in late October.

Comment: Russia hitting Islamic State where it hurts the most.

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Play

South Front: What the Nov. 13 Paris attacks mean (plus Syria-Iraq and Catalan independence video updates)


South Front
Tue, 17 Nov 2015 16:26 UTC
south front
Foreign Policy Diary - What the Nov.13 Paris Attacks Mean?

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War Whore

Western aggression: NATO conducting simulated troop deployment near Russian border


RT
Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:27 UTC
Image
© Agencja Gazetai / Reuters
NATO is conducting its first-ever test deployment of troops in the Baltic from a UK-based command center. The simulated build-up close to Russia's borders is aimed at checking the capabilities of the organisation's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) to control large formations 'within a challenging security crisis.'

A large-scale command exercise named Arrcade Fusion 15 (AF15), lasting two weeks and involving over 1,700 troops from 20 NATO countries plus Sweden, is underway in three Baltic states - Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. AF15 is a command-post exercise by the ARRC, which is based in Gloucestershire, UK. Arrcade Fusion exercises have taken place annually since 1992.

This year the ARRC is deploying its headquarters for the exercises to the Baltics for the first time at Latvia's Lielvarde air base, with elements working concurrently in Lithuania, Estonia and the main HQ in the UK.

Official statements say the scenario for the maneuvers is "fictitious" with "realistic global security threats" played on computers only.

Comment: It's completely hypocritical of the US/NATO to criticize Russia for any kind of "aggression" when they are putting their own military right on Russia's doorstep. How would the US react if Russia were to conduct military exercises on the US border to Canada? All kinds of hyperbole and threats would be issued. It is totally reasonable for Russia to respond to such "exercises" by building up their own military.

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