Puppet MastersS


Holly

SOTT Focus: Proxy War Against Russia: Ukrainian Nazis teaming up with 'Chechen' terrorists

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 21:34 UTC
kadyrov
Yesterday, Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov told NTV channel he'd like to quit his post as leader of Chechnya and help the local militias in Novorussia (Donetsk and Lugansk) fight their Ukrainian attackers. This comes after Kiev's corrupt officials initiated criminal proceedings against him last week and threatened to put him on an international 'wanted' list. He responded:
They can keep saying whatever they like. But I am going to ask the (Russian) president for permission to quit my post in order to go to Donbass to protect the interests of those citizens who are fighting there now.
The day after the probable false-flag terror attack in Chechnya's capital city Grozny on December 4, several members of the Ukrainian Rada, including Yuri Beryoza, Andriy Levus and Ihor Moiseychuk voiced their support for the terrorist attack, calling for a "second front" to open in Russia's Caucasus region. One of these fools, Moiseychuk, even implied a wish for Kadyrov's assassination, uploading a video of him shooting an assault rifle at a photograph of Kadyrov.
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Magnify

Reading between the lines: Lavrov's recent interview with France 24


Fort Russ
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 23:31 UTC
lavrov
Lavrov statements once again scared the Russian bloggers/LiveJournal political scientists. Blogger 'Friend' dissects Lavrov's statements to calm their fears.

People who periodically confuse the TV series Home 2 with the war in Donbass, send texts for Strelkov/Gubarev, and demand to bring in troops to the TNT channel - are particularly paranoid. Their paranoia progresses so quickly that in no time they will be mortified by just the word "Ukraine," in response reciting: "Putiiin Duuumped, La-La-La-La-La-La! Putiiin Duuumped, La-La-La-La-La-La".

A special case of such a fright we discuss below. But honestly, we would not be commenting on it, if in addition to words which caused panic among LiveJournal 'political scientists', there would not be very important and fundamental statements.

If you are really concerned about one issue or another, always start with a review of the primary sources of information. The transcript of the interview of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to "France 24" can be found here.

We highlight a few things that caused some noise and have essential implications.

Comment: See also: Lavrov tells French media 'NATO is not Russia's enemy'

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USA

Of mercenaries and proxy armies: Why is this Texas plumber's pick-up truck being used by 'Islamic jihadists' in Syria?


Daily Mail, UK
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 13:14 UTC
Image
ISIS is a US proxy army, exhibit A
Mark Oberholtzer isn't an Islamic fighter in Syria. He's never been to Syria. And the plumber from Texas City, Texas, says he certainly would never willingly aid fundamentalist rebels.

So it's hard for him to understand how his Ford F-250 pickup truck - including his logo for Mark-1 Plumbing and his phone number - wound up in a propaganda picture sent out by the extremist Ansar al-Deen Front from the front lines of the war in Syria.

Mr Oberholtzer says he's been getting hundreds of phone calls and faxes since the Ansar al-Deen Front tweeted a picture of his old truck with an anti-aircraft gun in the back, according to the Galveston County Daily News.

'A few of the people are really ugly,' he told the newspaper.

Some threatened his life.

Mr Oberholtzer says he has hired a lawyer and wants to make Twitter remove the posting, CBS News reports.

Comment: The answer to this 'riddle' is perfectly simple: the CIA/US government purchased this used car as part of the war material for its proxy army of mercenaries ('ISIS', 'Al Nusra', 'Free Syrian Army', 'Ansar al-Deen' whatever, they're all the same) to carry on what it was no longer willing to send US troops in to do: 'pacify the natives', remove unwanted regimes, and secure control of the Middle East oil valve. The British Foreign Office has been doing this in the exact same location since MI6 agent 'Lawrence of Arabia' got the Arabs to do London's dirty work during WW1.

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Attention

Obama announces US will lift sanctions and establish embassy in Cuba


RT
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:09 UTC
US President Barack Obama
© AFP Photo / Saul Loeb
United States President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the US is initiating plans to rebuild its relationship with Cuba following decades of disputes between the two nations.

Speaking from the White House in Washington, DC, Pres. Obama said Wednesday that the US is seeking to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and soon plans to open an embassy in Havana, authorize sales and exports between nations and make changes to current travel laws that for decades have restricted traffic between the two countries.

"Today, the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba," Obama said as he offered to "extend a hand of friendship" while unveiling what he called "the most significant changes in our policy in more than 50 years."

"We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interest," Obama said.

Raúl Castro, the president of Cuba, announced in a statement televised concurrently with Obama's that his nation will "reestablish diplomatic relations" with the US.

Comment: One can't help but wonder if this sudden decision is a response to keep Cuba from getting closer to Russia.

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Eye 2

Torture report leaves no doubt - Bush Administration guilty of war crimes

Marjorie Cohn
Truthout
Mon, 15 Dec 2014 19:02 UTC
Image
© Eric Draper / The White House via The New York TimesA handout photo of CIA Director George Tenet, center with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in the Oval Office, Washington, March 3, 2003
Reading the 499-page torture report just released by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was a disgusting experience. Even after many years of writing books and articles about the Bush torture policy, I was unprepared for the atrocious pattern of crimes our government committed against other human beings in our name.

One of the most hideous techniques the CIA plied on detainees was called "rectal rehydration" or "rectal feeding" without medical necessity - a sanitized description of rape by a foreign object. A concoction of pureed "hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts and raisins" was forced into the rectum of one detainee. Another was subjected to "rectal rehydration" to establish the interrogator's "total control over the detainee." This constitutes illegal, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a humiliating outrage upon personal dignity.

Several detainees were waterboarded, a technique whereby water is poured into the nose and mouth to cause the victim to think he's drowning. One detainee in CIA custody was tortured on the waterboard 183 times; another was waterboarded 83 times. Waterboarding has long been considered torture, which is a war crime. Indeed, the United States hung Japanese military leaders for the war crime of torture after World War II.

Other "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EIT) included being slammed into walls, hung from the ceiling, kept in total darkness, deprived of sleep - sometimes with forced standing - for up to seven and one-half days, forced to stand on broken limbs for hours on end, threatened with mock execution, confined in a coffin-like box for 11 days, bathed in ice water, dressed in diapers. One detainee "literally looked like a dog that had been kenneled."

The executive summary of the torture report was made public, but the 6,700-page report remains classified. The summary depicts the CIA at best, as keystone cops, at worst, as pathological, lying, sadistic war criminals. The CIA lied repeatedly about the effectiveness of the torture and cruel treatment. Interrogations of detainees were much more brutal than the CIA represented to government officials and the American public.

Bush's CIA directors George Tenet, Porter Goss and Michael Hayden should be charged with crimes, along with their minions who carried out the torture.


Comment: It's not just Bush's people who are complicit, but also the Obama Administration who have done everything in their power to protect Bush and his cronies and to keep all the crimes committed by them hidden. They are just as guilty.

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Chess

Lavrov tells French media 'NATO is not Russia's enemy'


RT
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:03 UTC
Lavrov
© Desconocido

Comment: Lavrov continues Putin's policy of gentlemanly comment on the actions taken against Russia by her adversaries and their lackeys. Russian has answered every aggressive step with calm language that gives opportunities for climbing down from extreme positions. Any reasonable person would welcome the opening. But the psychopathic elite, living in their fantasy world, simply can't go there.


The NATO military alliance is not Moscow's enemy, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told French media that suggested the opposite. Lavrov also expressed disappointment over the fact that Russia had overestimated EU's independence from the US.

Speaking to France 24 in Moscow, Lavrov stated that the military doctrine of the country never mentioned that NATO is Russia's enemy, even though the French media suggested that there is such an impression in the Western world.

"What [Russia's military doctrine] says is that the security risks for Russia, among other things, are NATO expansion to the East and the movement of military infrastructure of NATO closer to the Russian borders - not NATO itself, but its militarized movement to the East is considered by the Russian military doctrine as a security risk and threat for Russia," he said.

Lavrov said that, due to Russia's stance in the Ukrainian crisis, NATO had cut off all ties with Russia, "severed all practical cooperative mechanisms, including on Afghanistan, including on counter-terrorism, some other specific things."
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Bullseye

Paul Craig Roberts on the collapse of the ruble and the meaninglessness of markets

Greg Hunter
USAWatchdog
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 00:00 UTC
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Paul Craig Roberts - Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
Former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts thinks the only thing that explains the plunge in the Russian ruble is that it is being attacked by America. Roberts contends, "It is not a currency crash in the sense there are no economic reasons for the ruble's fall. Unlike the United States, which has a massive trade deficit, and if the currency markets were not rigged, the dollar would be collapsing, the Russian economy has a trade surplus. Therefore, there is no pressure on its currency for economic conditions." Dr. Roberts goes on to say, "This is not some independent action of market forces. So, it's either hedge funds, currency speculators like Soros, or it's an Act of War on behalf of the United States government by the Federal Reserve or the Exchange Stabilization Fund. . . or possibly both hedge funds working with the federal government."

Manipulating the markets, any market, is supposed to be illegal, but don't count on the bankers going to jail. Dr. Roberts, who has a PhD in economics, thinks,
"The big banks, the big Wall Street money, are essentially agents of the government. This is why they don't get prosecuted. This is why they can break all kinds of laws, commit felonies and settle with a fine. This is what we've been watching in the financial arena. When these financial gangsters are caught, instead of being indicted and put on trial, they pay money."

Comment: Central control of World markets/economy has become so opaque that it impossible to discern the details of what is actually going on. The very word "market" has lost its traditional meaning with the explosive growth of paper derivatives which now control all "markets" in real goods and commodities.

For more on the recent omnibus spending bill and Elizabeth Warren's scathing assessment of the Citigroup attachment see:

Ron Paul: All I want for Christmas is a real Government shutdown

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Magic Hat

Ukrainian Freedom Support Act - The Devil's in the details

Andrew Korybko
Sputnik
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 16:00 UTC
Image
© Unknown
The latest anti-Russian bill to come out of Washington does a lot more than simply arm Ukraine, although that's destabilizing enough as it is. Contained within the Act are powerful provisions that expand NATO's influence in Russia's backyard and continue the War on Syria.

The Ukrainian Freedom Support Act (UFSA) is essentially the actionable successor to the recently passed House Resolution 758, which itself has been referred to as the declaration of the New Cold War. It's exceptionally noteworthy for fulfilling John McCain's threat to arm Ukraine, but it's the other decrees within it that have gone unnoticed by the mainstream media, although they're just as troubling, if not more so. And unsurprisingly, Congress somehow found a way to group its War on Syria into the UFSA, showing that it truly exploits any opportunity to push through its agenda of regime change there even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the bill at hand.

The Three Amigos

The UFSA is just as much about Moldova and Georgia as it is about Ukraine, as all three countries are collectively grouped together except for when it comes to assisting with internally displaced persons. For example, when it comes to 'the three amigos', UFSA says that sanctions will be imposed if:
  • Russia (or any actor affiliated with it) sends "defense articles" to those countries without the consent of its government'
  • And Russia "withholds significant natural gas supplies from countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova" and NATO members.
And that the three are to be 'rewarded' with:
  • Major non-NATO ally status (which allows them to purchase weapons only reserved for NATO allies);
  • And a prioritized information campaign run by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, where these countries are given a greater focus than the other former Soviet states.
Putting it all together, it is clear that the US has strategically incorporated Moldova and Georgia into its legislation about Ukraine, providing proof that it is Washington and not Moscow which is 'widening the battlefield' of the New Cold War. This isn't the first time either, as all the amigos were first lumped together in May when the so-called Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014 was unveiled, which served as the predecessor of House Resolution 758.
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Vader

Death threats, beatings and intimidation is daily life of Ukraine opposition: Former Ukrainian deputy Elena Bondarenko's open letter to the citizens of the world

Elena Bondarenko
Fort Russ
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 15:31 UTC
Elena Bondarenko
© Unknown
Elena Bondarenko, silenced in the Ukrainian Parliament, published an open letter to the public. It's a voice nowhere to be heard in the Western press. Although it has been written a few months ago, it is still important today and will remain on the pages of history as a testimony to the situation of lawlessness perpetrated by those in the highest ranks of power in Ukraine:

My friends, here is my declaration. I ask that you share it to the extent possible. If you can translate it into other languages, please do!

I, Elena Bondarenko, People's Deputy from the Party of Regions, finding myself in opposition to the current power in Ukraine, wish to declare that this administration has resorted to direct threats of physical elimination of the opposition in Ukraine; has resorted to suspending the right of freedom of speech, in parliament and out, and is implicated in complicity in crimes not just against politicians, but even against their children. The everyday life of an opposition deputy is this: constant threats, unofficial ban from the airwaves, targeted persecution. Everyone who calls for peace is immediately branded as an enemy of the people, just as in 1930's Germany, or in McCarthyite US.

A few days ago, Arseniy Avakov, the Minister of the Interior, an ardent adherent of the so-called Party of War of the Ukraine, said the following: "When Elena Bondarenko comes to the podium to speak, my hand automatically reaches for my gun." This, I emphasize, are the words of a man entrusted with the supreme police power of the country. Further: exactly one week ago, Alexander Turchinov the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, deprived me of the right to speak from the podium as a member of the opposition Party of Regions, only for this: I declared "Any power that commissions its army to bomb its peaceful cities, is criminal." After which, he magnanimously gave the radical parliamentarians the option to call for shooting the opposition. Considering that my car was shot at last year, when the extremists were already arming with weapons, [a fact on record with the police, on my complaint] such threats aimed at me must be taken seriously.


Comment: A question to all members of European national parliaments who support the current Kiev regime: How would you feel if the interior minister in your home parliament says to you?
"When you come to the podium to speak, my hand automatically reaches for my gun."
Would you vote to support such a guy and his colleagues with weapons and money and keep silent about war crimes, fascists terror groups, while putting sanctions on the countries that speak out against such practices?


Comment: The fascist junta in Kiev made sure by intimidation, threats and violence that most opposition members didn't get re-elected in the October election in Ukraine.

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Info

On economic warfare and ruble exchange rate fluctuations

Aleksei Kettunen
The Vineyard of the Saker
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 15:26 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Vladimir Sergeev
Russian ruble exchange rate changes have all the ingredients of success detective story. On Monday, 15.12. 2014 ruble weakened to a record low since 1998: the dollar cost 64 rubles and 79 rubles to the euro. In recent years, the price of an euro has been hanging around 50 rubles, or 5 000 rubles withdrawn from an ATM for a night of adventures in St. Petersburg would cost around 100 euros.

Last night, the Russian Central Bank raised its base rate drastically from 10.5 per cent to 17 per cent to curb currency speculation. The price of an euro during the day momentarily exceeded the limit of 100 rubles or 80 rubles for a dollar. Now at the end of the market day the ruble has slightly appreciated: $ 1= 72.60 rubles and 1 euro = 90 rubles. The official rates of the Russian Central Bank before tomorrow's market day are $ 1 = 61.15 rubles and 1 Euro = 76.15 rubles

What is this about?

The economic sanctions imposed by the US and the EU prevent granting of loans to Russian companies with a payment period of more than 30 days. As Russian companies have been borrowing money from the West the entire post-Cold War period at a lower rate of interest and the penalties now prevent loan restructuring and follow-up funding, these companies must now get euros and dollars to take care of their loans, thereby creating more demand for foreign currency in the Russian market and thus weakening the ruble.

Also, the fall in the price of oil reduces Russia's foreign exchange earnings, which in a situation of high demand for currency weakens the ruble.

The Eurasian Economic Union comes into force on January 1, 2015. Most likely at the same time the Russian ruble and foreign exchange markets will change drastically, and the Russian economy will take a distance to the dollar and the euro. Now the West is doing its best to weaken the ruble and thus destabilize the Russian economy and the political system before the end of the year. The maxima of the West is to prevent the emergence of the new economic union and closer cooperation within the BRICS. Taking into account the Christmas holidays, the West has little more than a week to succeed.

Comment: See: The biggest threat for Russia and for Putin
The Russian economy in general and the Ruble especially are both under direct attack, not only by official sanctions, but also by speculative operations. The price of oil is collapsing probably under a combination of objective reasons (the world recession) and deliberate US operations, yet Putin is not changing economic course in a fundamental way and he is even complimenting the Central Bank for its activities. Does that not remind you of something?

Personally, this reminds me of what happened during the last months of Anatolii Serdiukov when the Russian military was hit by one scandal after another, yet Putin continued to praise Serduikov and his work. Eventually, of course, Serdiukov was sacked and replaced by the truly outstanding Shoigu, but it took a lot of time and efforts to finally get him sacked (and even today Serdiukov has still not been sentenced by any court for his numerous criminal activities).

Does that mean that Putin is hesitant, weak or confused?

I don't think so. I think that this shows that one of the most difficult and dangerous tasks for Putin is to get rid of the saboteurs in the top echelons of power. The same Mikhail Khazin has recently declared that only now did the "Eurasian Sovereignist" group's power roughly match the one of the pro-US "Atlantic Integrationists" (though he did not quite use these expressions which are mine).

Hopefully Putin is setting up a Serdiukov-like sacking of Nabiulina, but this is not sure at all. The pressure is mounting for him to take dramatic action and to finally begin to de-couple the Russian economy from the western economic orthodoxy known as the Washington Concensus, but there is also a lot of resistance.

This is right now by far the biggest threat to Russia and Putin: the 5th column of saboteurs in the top echelons of power, especially the government. As long as these people will remain in power Russia will continue to remain weak and fragile and very susceptible to western economic warfare.
And it seems that it's not just the Russian currency that is being hit.
Most worryingly, Russia's problems are starting to spread. Ukraine has been in deep trouble all year and it is now teetering on the edge of collapse; its hard currency reserves dipped below $10bn earlier this month, or about 1.3 months' of import cover. The hryvna is down by some 40% since the start of the year and the only thing holding it up now is the promise of more international bailout money in the new year.

Kazakhstan devalued the tenge in February by 18%, but all the wiggle room it created has now been used up. Fears of another devaluation are mounting fast, as Kazakhstan's economy remains closely tied to Russia's as well as being a major oil exporter.

The falling currencies are no longer just hitting countries that are tied to Russia and the contagion is spreading out, leading some to start talking about a repeat of 1998 when oil prices fell to $10. Last week the Turkish lira sank to its lowest levels against the dollar for a year, despite the fact it is one of the big winners from falling oil prices, as it is heavily dependent on oil and gas imports. Likewise, China, another major energy importer. has watched its currency fall by 26% since May, and 7% since the end of October alone.

Collapsing currencies around the world, coupled with the "death spiral" of selling in the oil markets, is sparking worries that we are coming to the point where things could spin out of control - and not just for Russia.
See also: Economic warfare: The U.S. Empire of "Frack" versus Russia

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