Puppet MastersS


Attention

Lavrov warns accepting Kosovo means politicizing UNESCO


RT
Fri, 06 Nov 2015 16:29 UTC
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
© Brendan Smialowski / Reuters
Russian Foreign Minister has warned against using UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as tool to legitimize the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo. The UNESCO General Conference is preparing to vote on Kosovo membership during the ongoing Paris session.

"With all the difficulties of international life, it's important to avoid politicizing UNESCO's activities, which we are currently witnessing in relation to attempts to grant Kosovo with [UNESCO] membership in violation of the UN Security Council resolution," Sergey Lavrov said following meeting with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

On October 21, the UNESCO Executive Committee recommended considering Kosovo's membership of the organization during the general conference in Paris from November 3-18. The Kosovo vote is likely to take place on Monday, November 9.

"The fact that the membership of Kosovo and Metohija is being discussed today in Paris is proof of a deep crisis in international law, a crisis of the today's world," Serbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic said on Tuesday.
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Eye 2

NATO invades the central Mediterranean

Pepe Escobar
Sputnik
Fri, 06 Nov 2015 15:56 UTC
Portugese NATO soldiers
© AFP 2015/ FRANCISCO LEONG
Fresh from its thunderous humiliation by the Taliban; its "liberation" of Libya for the benefit of militia hell; and while Russia was bombing the hell out of a Salafi-jihadi/"moderate rebel" constellation in Syria, NATO - in search for a "360-degree" response to Russia - resorted to invading... Spain.

And Portugal. And Italy. The whole "central Mediterranean" for that matter. Trident Juncture - the heroic denomination of NATO's war games - is supposed to last a very long five weeks, involving 36,000 troops, 230 military units, 140 fighter aircraft, more than 60 ships, and Humvees spectacularly bogged down on Portuguese beaches.
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Blackbox

Russia agrees to suspend all flights to Egypt


Sputnik
Fri, 06 Nov 2015 15:04 UTC
A321 plane crash
© Sputnik/ Maxim Grigoryev
Russian President has agreed that all flights over Sinai Peninsula should be suspended during the A321 crash investigation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees with Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov's recommendation to suspend passenger flights to Egypt while the investigation of the Sinai plane crash is underway, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

"The head of state agreed with these recommendations. Putin instructed the government to work out mechanisms for the implementation of these FSB recommendations, and to ensure the return of Russian citizens," Peskov told reporters.

Comment: Aside from Western propaganda that this tragedy was the result of an ISIS terrorist attack, designed to punish Russia for her intervention in Syria, the evidence available thus far supports the conclusion that this crash was due to an extreme weather event. Either way, don't hold your breath for an objective account from the Western media.

Also see:

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Bad Guys

Pentagon vows more weapons drops to Syrian rebels: Claims massive gains against ISIS by largely fictional faction

Jason Ditz
AntiWar.com
Wed, 04 Nov 2015 02:45 UTC
pentagon
© Unkown
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren today announced that the US intends to carry out more weapons airdrops in the Hasakeh Province of northeastern Syria, claiming the "Democratic Forces" faction has achieved massive gains in the weeks since they dropped their last batch of arms there.

The Democratic Forces have been hyped by the US as a major new force against ISIS, though most analysts agree the group exists "in name only" and simply refers to the Kurdish YPG and a few mostly irrelevant allies. Interestingly, the US claim of success is the first claim that any major territory has changed hands in Hasakeh recently.

Warren said the territorial gains "validate" the program, and that the US intends to send more weapons to "reinforce success," though again the claim of territorial gains does not appear to be verified by any other sources, and even the Kurds aren't claiming new victories in the area.

Comment: The U.S. is backing terrorists. As Sergey Lavrov said, "If it looks like a terrorist, walks like a terrorist, acts like a terrorist and fights like a terrorist it's a terrorist, right."

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Vader

New poll reveals Americans are unhappy with Obama's foreign policy quagmires


Sputnik
Thu, 05 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
obama
© AP Photo/ Jacquelyn Martin
Americans are none too pleased with the way their president is dealing with combating the self-proclaimed Islamic State terror group and the prolonged conflict in Afghanistan, an Associated Press-GfK poll recently revealed.

US citizens feel their president is incapable of finding ways out of foreign policy quagmires in which the country is embroiled, after series of failures in the country's approach to IS and following Obama's announcement that thousands of troops will stay in Afghanistan after his presidency ends in 2017.

More than 60% of those polled expressed concern over Obama's handling of the threat posed by IS in Syria and Iraq. Fewer people now support the president in this than when the US-led coalition to fight IS was launched in late 2014. Since January, disapproval over White House policies in Syria has increased by 8% over last September, when Americans were roughly split on the issue.

Comment: Perhaps seeing Russia's swift and proficient targeting of the ISIS terror networks has finally awoken Americans from their stupor, allowing them to comprehend the complete incompetence of the U.S. in fighting terrorism. How long will it take before more people also understand that U.S. has actually been instrumental in the spread of terror?

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Light Sabers

Definition of insanity: J K Rowling and co-existing with apartheid

Ramzy Baroud
Counter Punch
Thu, 05 Nov 2015 08:51 UTC
gaza west bank apartheid wall
© Unknown
There is a possibility that you have heard of the famed British author, J K Rowling, writer of the popular fantasy series 'Harry Potter'. While I knew of her books - through my teenage kids - I knew little about the author herself, until recently.

Under an oblique title, "Israel needs cultural bridges, not boycotts", Rowling, along with a few celebrity writers, argued against growing calls for an academic boycott of Israel.

Using generalized, ambiguous terminology that offered little by way of compelling Israel to end its ongoing Occupation in Jerusalem and the West Bank, genocide and siege in Gaza and protracted institutional discrimination against Arabs and other minorities in Israel, she argued for 'cultural engagement', instead. Such engagement, her letter reads, "builds bridges, nurtures freedom and positive movement for change. We wholly endorse encouraging such a powerful tool for change, rather than boycotting its use."

The author seems disconnected from the reality of life under Israeli Occupation. On the day of writing this article, I spoke to Ismail Abu Aitah, a young man from Gaza who lost both his parents, his brothers, and one of his nephews when Israel blew up their house in the 2014 summer war. He, too, was badly injured, together with almost every surviving member of his family.

Comment: Sounds like J K Rowling has a serious disconnect with reality. There's no way to "make peace" with an aggressor who's bent on stealing all your land, killing you and your entire family, and committing genocide against all your people, especially when that aggressor has demonstrated time and again that they're willing to lie, cheat, stab you in the back, and even completely rewrite history at every chance they get in order to get what they want. Attempting to do so, as the author states, fits the definition of insanity precisely.

See also:

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Binoculars

Human Rights Watch remiss in pinning "war crimes" on Russia


Fort Russ
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
Dmitri Peskov
© or-politics.comDmitri Peskov responds to HRW's habit of demonizing Russia. “We know about the large number of reports, hoaxes and deliberate lies about the consequences or the bombing operation that the Russian troops are conducting. This, I believe, is one of them."
"Human Rights on the Syrian front of the infowar against Russia"

Moving to the public sphere, the methods of waging information war have now become significantly easier. As practice shows, anyone who so desires can establish some kind of "monitoring center" or make an "analysis" on the same the level as the main directorate of the defense intelligence of Ukraine. And a message on a social network, even without any kind of evidence, can have extremely large consequences!

Nevertheless, massive structures with an impressive staff of employees and a budget accumulated over years of long "quasi-authority" work are still functioning as before. However, in attempting to see through what these structures are actually reporting and what the foundation of their statements is, it quickly becomes clear that they can be believed to the same extent as "online activists."

On October 25, numerous media reports, referring to Human Rights Watch, accused Russia of war crimes, namely air strikes on peaceful villages which led to mass deaths of women and children. Media are operating with excerpts from the HRW report and giving the impression that news reports aren't even citing the total results and evidence because of the volume and shocking format [of the report]. However, upon analyzing the original report of HRW, it is easy to notice that there isn't any kind of evidence or proof in favor of the charges at all.


Comment: The Kremlin rejects the HRW group's report its planes [possibly] killed Syrian civilians. Russian diplomat and press spokesman Peskov said that the Russian military have repeatedly said that in selecting the targets [for the airstrikes on the terrorist facilities] they give priority importance to "the civilian population safety", using data supplies by the Syrian colleagues and colleagues from the coordination centre in Baghdad.


Comment: The point seems to be twofold: 1) the assumptions of the report (as per Western maneuvering to persuade a viewpoint) and, 2) the vilification of Russia before the facts are examined. Either way, there is little to be gained from either speculation and/or rubber-stamping.

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Play

South Front Reports: Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, and the Russia-US standoff (VIDEO)


South Front
Wed, 04 Nov 2015 09:20 UTC
south front
Foreign Policy Diary: The Russia-US standoff in the Central Asia

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Stormtrooper

CIA and Saudi Arabia will provide "select" militants in Syria with weapons capable of downing commercial airliners

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Thu, 05 Nov 2015 20:00 UTC
Image
The rather pale-skinned ISIS group claiming responsibility for shooting down Russian plane
Wednesday brought a veritable smorgasbord of "new" information about the Russian passenger jet which fell out of the sky above the Sinai Peninsula last weekend.

First there was an audio recording from ISIS' Egyptian affiliate reiterating that they did indeed "down" the plane. Next, the ISIS home office in Raqqa (or Langley or Hollywood) released a video of five guys sitting in the front yard congratulating their Egyptian "brothers" on the accomplishment.

Then the UK grounded air traffic from Sharm el-Sheikh noting that the plane "may well" have had an "explosive device" on board.

Finally, US media lit up with reports that according to American "intelligence" sources, ISIS was probably responsible for the crash.

Over the course of the investigation, one question that's continually come up is whether militants could have shot the plane down. Generally speaking, the contention that ISIS (or at least IS Sinai) has the technology and/or the expertise to shoot down a passenger jet flying at 31,000 feet has been discredited by "experts" and infrared satellite imagery.

Comment: While it's very unlikely that ISIS, or any person/group for that matter, was involved in the crash of Flight A321, it is totally insane for the US to provide weapons to the terrorist groups, who will then use them against Russia, Syria and Iran. The US says that they are doing these absolutely crazy things because Assad represents a threat to their allies in the region, but where is the proof that Assad is a threat to Israel or Saudi Arabia? What has he done to make him such a threat? There doesn't seem to be any proof behind that statement. But in believing this lie, the US is willing to risk war with Russia. Someone needs to lock up the people making decisions in the US government in a round room and tell them to go sit in the corner. That will keep them busy.

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Vader

Has the U.S. chosen to go into direct conflict with Russia in Syria?

Eric Zeusse
Sott.net
Wed, 04 Nov 2015 00:00 UTC
Image
On Tuesday November 3rd, U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Laura Seal told The Daily Beast that twelve F-15C air-to-air combat planes are being sent to the Incirlik Turkey Air Base for deployment in Syria against Russia's Su-30 air-to-air combat planes. Neither the F-15C nor the Su-30 can destroy ground-targets, only air-targets — enemy planes.

In other words: U.S. President Barack Obama is telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that unless Putin is willing to go to war against the United States, he must stop what he's now doing in Syria. Obama is saying this in the only language whose meaning cannot be denied or misinterpreted: sending in counter-force to specifically what Russia has already sent into Syria.

If it were not the case that both the F-15C and the Su-30 are equipped only for air-to-air-combat, then the meaning of Obama's move here wouldn't be so clear and unambiguous. Ms. Seal made her point even clearer by volunteering to tell The Daily Beast's reporter David Axe, "I didn't say it wasn't about Russia." Axe then commented in his article, that this statement of hers "hinted at its [the deployment's] true purpose." But one would need to be a fool in order to deny it. The only real question here is why Obama has made this decision, which is quite likely to be fateful. So: that's the subject: Why did he do this?

Comment: Yet more U.S. belligerence, aggression and stupidity that will only further show the world of thinking people that it cannot stand for anyone countering its hegemoniacal plans in the middle east - or anywhere else. But know that Russia will be making all diplomatic and tactical efforts possible to stave off any possible conflict with the U.S. And that's when the U.S - out of desperation - will get even stupider (if such a thing is possible). Stay tuned...

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