Puppet MastersS


War Whore

Zelensky fears a new 'Maidan' - Bloomberg


RT
Fri, 17 Nov 2023 07:44 UTC
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
© AP Photo / Efrem LukatskyThis has been the second time in less than a week that the Ukrainian leader has told Western media that a third "Maidan" is being plotted against him
The Ukrainian president has reportedly claimed there may be Moscow-inspired mass protests in Kiev.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told journalists on Thursday that he has received tips about a Russian influence campaign aimed at destabilizing his government, according to a Bloomberg report. He claimed that various intelligence agencies had informed him about the purported operation.

Ukraine's top leadership has experienced divisions in recent months, with a series of publications in the Western press, based on leaks from Kiev staffers, describing Zelensky as calcified in pursuing an unrealistic goal of pushing Russia out of all territories claimed by Kiev.

His office has also publicly clashed with one of the country's top generals, Valery Zaluzhny, who said earlier this month that the hostilities had reached a stalemate and that he expected no breakthrough for Kiev.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Outrage ensues after special counsel says 'no charges likely' in Biden classified document scandal


Truth Press
Fri, 17 Nov 2023 20:41 UTC
robert hur biden classified docs
© AP Photo/Steve Ruark, FileU.S. Attorney Robert Hur arrives at U.S. District Court in Baltimore Nov. 21, 2019
Following a 'thorough investigation,' special counsel Robert Hur is unlikely to charge anyone in connection to President Joe Biden's classified document scandal, according to multiple reports citing sources familiar with the matter.

Hur's report is expected to sharply criticize Biden and his aides for their handling of classified documents - the standard treatment for the protected establishment class whose name doesn't end in Trump.

This outcome raises obvious questions DOJ sham investigations - for if a Special Counsel's probe into potential mishandling of sensitive national documents results only in criticism and no legal repercussions, what message does it send about accountability at the highest levels of government?

Comment: The Federalist comments:
While the Department of Justice works overtime to imprison top political foe and 2024 presidential poll leader, former President Donald Trump, over mishandling classified documents, Special Counsel Robert Hur plans to let President Joe Biden off scot-free.
[...]

Attorney General Merrick Garland hand-picked Hur as special counsel for the documents case in January 2023. Hur's involvement in the FBI's communications with Russia collusion hoaxer No. 1 Christopher Steele and his role as a member of the DOJ team that tried to subvert a congressional exposé of the intelligence community's failures during that same collusion hoax fed fears that he would not divert from the DOJ's politicized agenda when he evaluated Biden's information cache.

Hur's decision not to charge Biden while the DOJ continues to target Trump only confirms those suspicions.

There were plenty of questions and questionable activity, including the comings and goings of several White House officials in the months leading up to the discovery of classified documents, surrounding Biden's concealment of the papers from his time as vice president.

Yet neither the article nor the accompanying TV segment made any mention of why Biden's lawyers, who claimed they stumbled across the documents, were snooping around the Penn Biden Center office in Washington, D.C., in the first place.

The White House insisted the National Archives and Records Administration and DOJ were notified "the minute that his lawyers found those documents" in fall 2022. Even though investigators did not get fully involved until 2023, CNN echoed this talking point by claiming that the "key differences" between Biden's document scandal and Trump's was that Biden "quickly notified the National Archives of the materials found in his possession."

CNN did not mention the other key differences between Biden's and Trump's case, like the fact that Trump's documents were discovered on a private, Secret Service-protected property while Biden's were found in a busy public building and easily accessible garage. Nor did it note that NARA specifically didn't work with Trump after his departure as it did with former President Barack Obama and Biden.

Special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in June with 37 counts of mishandling classified documents following his first term in the White House. A couple of months later, Smith tacked on three more charges related to the discovery of documents at Trump's sprawling Florida mansion.

Biden's information cache warranted the same level of investigation and transparency that Trump suffered. Instead, he won't even get a slap on the wrist. While Trump is tied up in a court that refuses to delay his May trial date, Biden faces zero red tape, legal hurdles, or consequences.

Biden harbored classified documents from his time as vice president in a box by his 1967 Corvette Stingray and his "think tank" office for years, yet it was Trump who became the subject of the corporate media and the FBI's public scorn and could soon face jail time.

The DOJ's treatment of Biden compared to its treatment of Trump only furthers a majority of Americans' belief that the U.S. has a two-tiered system of justice.
Aaaand the MSM does its bit:



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Light Saber

Trump blasts 'politically biased' judge Arthur Engoron and NYC clerk after gag order is lifted

Bethan Sexton
The Daily Mail
Thu, 16 Nov 2023 20:31 UTC
Judge Arthur Engoron trump trial new york city
Judge Arthur Engoron is presiding over Donald Trump's NYC fraud trial
Trump blasts 'politically biased' judge Arthur Engoron and NYC clerk after gag order is lifted allowing him to talk freely as his fraud trial continues

A gag order put in place by a 'politically biased' New York judge during Donald Trump's civil fraud trial has been overturned.

Judge Arthur Engoron - who is overseeing the fraud trial that is ongoing against Trump - slapped a limited gag order on the former president on October 3 after he insulted the judge's principal law clerk in a post on his Truth Social platform.

On Thursday, another judge, Associate Justice David Friedman, temporarily lifted the gag order pending a hearing about whether it should be in place amid concerns it could impinge on Trump's freedom of speech.

'Considering the constitutional and statutory rights at issue an interim stay is granted,' the appellate judge wrote.

Comment: Trump is one of the few individuals who has the resources to stand up to judicial bullying. In the process he is exposing the rot in the system. Can't keep the Orange Man down.

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Star of David

Biden admin justifies Israel's assault on Gaza hospitals with recycled Israeli 'intelligence'

Wyatt Reed
The Grayzone
Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00 UTC
military
© UnknownIsraeli forces assault areas around Gaza City's Shifa Hospital • November 14, 2023
As Israel assaults Gaza's Shifa Hospital, the Biden administration claims that "Hamas does use hospitals" as military bases. Once again, Washington appears to be relying on dubious Israeli propaganda rather than independent analysis.

With Israeli troops storming Gaza's Al-Shifa and Al-Rantisi hospitals, the United States and Israel are doubling down on discredited claims that Hamas has been maintaining "command centers" out of the basements of hospitals in Gaza, even after so-called evidence produced by Tel Aviv was thoroughly debunked.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday:
"I can confirm for you that we have information that Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, used some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Shifa, and tunnels underneath them, to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages."
Kirby's claim echoed the assertion by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who maintained that "open-source reporting" shows
"Hamas does use hospitals, along with a lot of other civilian facilities, for command-and-control, for storing weapons, for housing its fighters."
On November 14, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that US intelligence had no "boots on the ground," nor any intelligence assets capable of independently gathering intelligence from or about Shifa. When asked if the declassified intel briefing spun out by Kirby and Sullivan arrived through Washington's "Israeli counterparts," she refused to answer. But she strongly suggested the intelligence dump was politically motivated.

Comment: Israeli occupation forces target Palestinian families attempting to leave Al-Shifa Hospital. Body count at 30:
As Al-Shifa was getting invaded, the occupation cut off all communications from the hospital. The IOF have converted Al-Shifa Hospital into a military barracks, handcuffing a large number of its attending doctors and indiscriminately opening fire throughout the health facility as they storm patient wards without constraints.

Correspondent further noted that the Israeli forces stormed the dialysis department, the intensive care unit, and other specialized sections, as well as other critical parts of the hospital. The medical complex is under complete siege of Israeli tanks.
The US will never hold Israel accountable...nor itself.

See also:
Israeli troops enter Al-Shifa Hospital after killing Hamas terrorists in gate-side firefight

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No Entry

Iran tells Hamas it won't enter a war with Israel


RT
Wed, 15 Nov 2023 21:45 UTC
meeting
© Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu/Getty ImagesAyatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier this month in Tehran.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly told Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh that Tehran won't get directly involved in the militant group's war with Israel, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing senior Iranian and Hamas officials with direct knowledge of the talks.

The Iranian leader was surprised by the October 7 attacks by Hamas that triggered the ongoing conflict, the agency added.

Khamenei and Haniyeh reportedly discussed the war during a face-to-face meeting earlier this month in Tehran. Iran, which wasn't forewarned of the Hamas raids that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis, would only enter the conflict if it was attacked by Israel or the US, according to the report.

Barring such an attack, Iran's involvement in the conflict will be limited to political and moral support, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Khamenei directed Haniyeh to silence the Hamas leaders who have called for Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, to fully join the battle against Israel.

Comment: Sidelining the fight? Smart positioning for now.

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Ice Cube

Zelensky comments on 'frozen conflict' prospects


RT
Thu, 16 Nov 2023 10:27 UTC
zelensky
© AFP/Ukrainian Presidential Press ServiceUkraine President Volodymyr Zelensky • Training facility • November 3, 2023
The Ukrainian president told visiting reporters that Kiev has "already lost too many people"...

The next generation of Ukrainians, or their offspring, may end up fighting if Ukraine's conflict with Russia becomes 'frozen' at this stage, President Vladimir Zelensky has told a group of visiting journalists in Kiev. He also said his government is working to prevent such an outcome.

The Ukrainian head of state's latest comments, made on Wednesday, follow an admission by the country's top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, that Kiev and Moscow are locked in a "stalemate," with neither side apparently in a position to launch a decisive offensive.

Asked about the prospects, Zelensky insisted that "if there is a stalemate and a frozen conflict, we have to honestly say that our children, or our grandchildren, will have to fight" - something Kiev wants to avoid, he added.

According to the president, though his country has "already lost too many people," Ukraine cannot afford to even think about freezing the conflict, "however hard it may be. If we want to end the war, we must end it," he proclaimed, insisting that Russia must be "put in its place," or else it would strike again later on.

Comment: Ego has no place in war. When winning is out of the question: Negotiate.

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Oil Well

Russia and China tighten grip on Iraqi oil crescent

Simon Watkins
OilPrice.com
Mon, 13 Nov 2023 06:00 UTC
Oil field
© UnknownIraqi oil field
In line with Moscow and Beijing's objective of keeping the West out of energy deals in Iraq to keep Baghdad closer to the new Iran-Saudi axis and to "end [the] Western hegemony in the Middle East [that] will become the decisive chapter in the West's final demise," Russia has struck a new deal in one of Iraq's biggest oil fields. Around the same time, another Chinese company has been granted full exploration and development rights across Iraq's oil and gas reservoirs.

Russian oil and gas giant Lukoil announced just over a week ago that it has signed a deal with Iraq's state-owned Basrah Oil Company to extend its oil service contract for the West Qurna 2 oilfield by 10 years to 2045 and to double oil production to 800,000 barrels per day (bpd). Located 65 kilometres northwest of the southern port of Basra and with roughly 14 billion barrels of reserves in place, West Qurna 2's initial production target in Phase 1 was 120,000 bpd. The target for Phase 2 was 480,000 bpd, based largely on developing the Mishrif formation. Phase 3 will focus on the deeper Yamama formation. Originally this was to have targeted the addition of a further 650,000 bpd to the production mix, and from there the intention was to reach a plateau target of 1.8 million bpd. According to comments from Lukoil last week, it appears that this plateau has now been reduced to just 800,000 bpd, at least for the time being.

Comment: Iraqi oil industry chooses complementary global partners, kicks the US to the curb.

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Calculator

Pentagon fails sixth audit, with number of passing grades stagnant

Noah Robertson
Defense News
Wed, 15 Nov 2023 08:34 UTC
McCord
© Jose Luis Magana/APPentagon Comptroller Mike McCord
For the sixth year in a row, the Pentagon failed its annual audit.

The result is not a surprise. The Department of Defense's assets are vast and decentralized, amounting to $3.8 trillion alongside $4 trillion in liabilities. These are located in all 50 states and more than 4,500 sites around the world.

Since the Pentagon began auditing itself in 2018 — the last department to do so after Congress required the practice across the government in 1990 — it's solved some of its easiest accounting problems. Now change each year is more incremental.

If there's change at all, that is — last year, auditors only rated seven of the nearly 30 sub-audits as clean. This year too there were seven. One other was rated as "qualified," the next step down in accounting jargon. Three more audits are still ongoing. The remaining 18 were given failing grades.
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Star of David

Lapid calls to oust Netanyahu as prime minister, replace him from within Likud


Times of Israel
Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:55 UTC
Netanyahu Yair Lapid
© European Press Agency/Abir SultanIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yair Lapid
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his job and replace him with another figure from within the Likud, without calling a new national election.

In an interview with Channel 12 news, Lapid says the public has lost faith in Netanyahu, following Hamas's murderous rampage through southern Israel on October 7, and "we can't run an extended [military] operation with a prime minister we do not have faith in."

He did not name another Likud member he thinks can take on the job, but claims there are several lawmakers in the party who understand it is time for Netanyahu to go. He says his Yesh Atid party would join a wide government helmed by Likud if it were headed by another party leader.

In response, the Likud party said it was "sad and embarrassing" to see Lapid "play politics in a time of war" and try to oust the prime minister "who is leading the operation."

Labor chief Merav Michaeli writes on X that she is glad to see Lapid join her call for Netanyahu to be replaced.

Comment: Are the snakes turning on each other? Ironically, in Israel, Bibi is considered a moderate. If he is in danger of being ousted, it is not only because he has a legal noose around his neck for corruption, but because his party thinks he isn't going far enough, fast enough to completely get rid of the Palestinians.



And the realist take:



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Star of David

What has Israel 'found' in Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital?


Al Jazeera
Fri, 17 Nov 2023 19:17 UTC
al shifa hospital complex layout
© Maxar Technologies/AJLabs/Al Jazeera
The Israeli military claims it has found rifles, grenades and military vests — but so far, no Hamas command centre.

Israel on Thursday raided Gaza's al-Shifa hospital for a second day in a row.

On Wednesday, Israeli troops had raided the coastal enclave's largest medical facility, starting at 2am. Israel has long claimed that Hamas was using the hospital as a command centre. The Israeli army has said the raid has helped it find evidence to back up its assertion.

So what does Israel claim to have found?

Comment:
tweet al shifa hospital gaza


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