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Sustained efforts to undermine Douma 'attack' whistleblower underscore importance of his UN testimony

Scott Ritter
RT
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 14:25 UTC
OPCW
© HOKRG/KJN
NATO states responded with an unjustified certainty to the Douma incident two years ago, and have compounded the shame with their treatment of weapons expert Ian Henderson this week at the UN.

Preordained conclusions

At an 'Arria-formula' meeting of the Security Council convened on January 20, 2020 at the request of Russia, Ian Henderson - a former member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - gave testimony which contradicted, or otherwise brought into question, the conclusions of the OPCW detailed in its official report on the use of chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 4, 2018.

The details provided by Henderson were technical in nature, addressing various scientific and bureaucratic shortcomings within the OPCW regarding the collection, assessment and presentation of information relating to the Douma incident.

Henderson noted that he and his fellow inspectors "had serious misgivings that a chemical attack had occurred" at Douma, but that these concerns were overridden by OPCW management amid pressure from the US and UK to sustain the original allegations.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Will they stay? Hell yes! US general says troops to remain in ME for 'quite a while'


Sputnik
Fri, 24 Jan 2020 21:50 UTC
McKenzie
© NBC News
US Marine General Frank McKenzie, Commander of CENTCOM
In the last eight months, US troop levels in the Middle East have increased by one-third, and new arrivals can expect to be there "for quite a while," a top US general said earlier this week.

US Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who commands US Central Command (CENTCOM), told sailors and Marines aboard the USS Bataan in the Red Sea on Thursday, according to AP.
"You're here because I requested that you come. I'm not sure how long you're going to stay in the theater. We'll work that out as we go ahead. Could be quite a while, could be less than that, just don't know right now."
McKenzie's comments come amid a heated debate in Washington about redeploying US troops for confrontation with Russia and China on the one hand, and increasing pressure on US forces in the Persian Gulf as Washington pushes ever closer to war with Iran on the other.

Troop shifts proposed by Pentagon leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, could see as many as 200,000 service members shifted toward theaters more likely to see conflict with Moscow or Beijing, with most of them going to US Indo-Pacific Command, Sputnik reported.

Comment: Nothing says 'de-escalation' like frontloading troops to a volatile pressure point.

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Bizarro Earth

Brexit Britain scheming towards new 'forceful' role in Asia

David Hutt
Asia Times
Fri, 24 Jan 2020 10:55 UTC
HMS Queen
© AFP/Richard PohlePost-Brexit Britain eyes new forceful role in Asia
A British naval officer looks up at the fluttering White ensign flag hoisted at the stern during the Commissioning Ceremony for the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base in Portsmouth, southern England on December 7, 2017.
When Britain leaves the European Union (EU) later this month, it will be free to chart its own independent course in foreign affairs and fulfill years of promises to build a truly "global Britain."


Comment: When Britain leaves? More like if.


That will likely entail a historic realignment of its foreign policy interests from the Middle East and Africa to the "Indo-Pacific," one of the three "primary centers of the global economy and political influence", after North America and Europe, according to the United Kingdom's last National Security Capability Review published in March 2018.

The Indo-Pacific is currently home to most of the world's largest and fastest growing economies, as well as the center of US-China geopolitical competition, which isn't likely to dampen down anytime soon.

Comment: It's a blessing for our planet that the wishful thinking of the British establishment will also have to face the reality of Russia:

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Snakes in Suits

The Davos World Economic Forum for the world's elites is at it again - Celebrating it's 50th anniversary

Peter Koenig
Global Research
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Davos World Economic Forum
Friends, this year the WEF is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. Forty-nine (49) of the insanely pompous - and every year more - WEF events took place in Davos, Switzerland. Just one, in 2002, after 9/11, was moved to New York City, paradoxically for 'security reasons' they said - the logic of such a move was as ludicrous as the WEF itself.

Friends, you should go to the WEF, the notorious World Economic Forum in Davos, (21-24 January), where a 12 square-meter hotel room costs US$ 10,000 per night (if you don't believe it, look it up on the internet), and where it's totally normal that sharpshooters are everywhere on roof tops in subfreezing temperatures - to protect the about 3000 upper-echelons, of course - and that a huge section of the Zurich airport has been cordoned-off for the private planes of the 'environmentally conscious elite' — and where Trump arrived this morning, Tuesday, 21 January; and where the "plane-spotters" with their sophisticated binoculars and telescopes are practically camping in the airport areal — to be first when the airport gates are opened, for them to enter the airport terraces to "spot" the arriving VIP / CEO / celebrity private planes (you get the picture, it's sort of like Black Friday, with the campers in front of the Walmart gates) - hundreds of private jets are expected - the normality of abject uselessness and decadence of the rich - and its acceptance and even glorification by the populace, is much more than George Orwell could have ever thought of when he wrote 1984 in 1948.
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Black Cat

Cindy McCain admits 'we all knew' about Epstein

Spencer Neale
Washington Examiner
Fri, 24 Jan 2020 13:20 UTC
Cindy McCain
Cindy McCain, the widow of late Sen. John McCain, blasted authorities who were "afraid" to arrest convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein even though everyone "knew" what he was doing.

"Epstein was hiding in plain sight," said Cindy McCain. "We all knew about him. We all knew what he was doing, but we had no one that was — no legal aspect that would go after him. They were afraid of him. For whatever reason, they were afraid of him."

McCain's comments came after she was questioned by an attendee during her appearance at the State of the World 2020 conference in Florida.

McCain said a girl from her daughter's high school was one of Epstein's victims and that she hopes Epstein "is in hell."

Epstein's massive wealth and his connections to powerful politicians and celebrities allowed him to continue trafficking young women and girls long after many had exposed his devious interests.

Dr. Barbara Sampson, the New York City medical examiner, said Epstein died by suicide at a Manhattan federal detention facility last August. His death and the circumstances surrounding it have created controversy after the former medical examiner of New York, Dr. Michael Baden, told 60 Minutes that he believes Epstein was murdered.

Cameras from outside Epstein's jail cell failed to record footage on the night of his death, and guards who were supposed to monitor him every 30 minutes fell asleep when the former financier died.

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Light Saber

Retired army war hero urges AG Barr to dismiss charges against Flynn

Kristina Wong
BreitbartBreitbart
Sat, 25 Jan 2020 17:12 UTC
Michael Flynn
© Getty Images
Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
Army Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John K. Singlaub, a decorated war hero, wrote to Attorney General Barr on Thursday, asking him to dismiss charges against Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Michael Flynn, the president's former national security adviser.

Singlaub, chairman of America's Future, Inc., and Ed Martin, president of the organization, wrote that a federal prosecutor named Brandon Van Grack, in a "severe miscarriage of justice," pressured Flynn to lie in a case related to a former business partner. They wrote:
This kind of a political conduct should not be levied at an American hero like Lt. General Flynn. As a decorated military officer with a career spanning from World War II to the Reagan Administration, and in light of my continued efforts to help our President and democracy, I know what courage looks like. I have fought Nazis, Communists, and other enemies of freedom. I have worked against enemy lines and behind them. I've seen the atrocities of war and tasted victory.

There may be few people today who have seen what I have seen, but courage doesn't just belong to my generation. Many brave men and women fight for freedom today. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is one such courageous individual. He served our nation honorably for thirty-three years in the U.S. Army. During his time in Afghanistan and Iraq, he had an important role in developing counterterrorism strategy. As a founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency, I can attest to the difficulty and importance of the work he did. He is clearly a patriot in every sense of the word. That's why I was so pleased to honor him as the inaugural recipient of an award bearing my name in 2018, the Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub Award For Service To America.

Comment: The Obama-era hacks at the DOJ are twisting themselves up in every possible way to make their accusations against Flynn stick. If his case collapses, the entire Russiagate fairytale goes with it. As one pundit put it: "General Flynn might take a flamethrower to this town before he's done"

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Megaphone

Fox News shows emails tying alleged Ukraine whistleblower to Obama White House meeting on Burisma

Daniel Chaitin
Washington Examiner
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:46 UTC
Biden burisma board of directors
© Burisma Holdings
The Burisma Holdings Board of Directors
Newly revealed documents raise questions about the alleged Ukraine whistleblower.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham reported Wednesday evening that she obtained a chain of State Department emails stemming from a standard request for comment from New York Times journalist Ken Vogel, whose reporting helped generate scrutiny of Hunter Biden's ties to Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Biden, 49, is the son of Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden, and Republicans have called for him to testify during the Ukraine-related Senate impeachment trial against President Trump.

On May 1, 2019, Vogel contacted State Department official Kate Schilling about a story he was working on regarding an Obama administration meeting in January 2016 with Ukrainian prosecutors and mentioned the name of the CIA analyst believed to be the whistleblower whose complaint sparked impeachment proceedings that led to two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Ingraham did not state the name of the alleged whistleblower — Fox News hosts are banned from doing so until the identity is confirmed — and blacked out the name when showing excerpts of documents. However, she likely was referring to Eric Ciaramella, who some Republicans and conservative media figures believe is the whistleblower.

Comment:

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Info

Obama feels Sanders is unfit to battle Trump - and he has told people he might say so publicly

Charles Gasparino and Lydia Moynihan
FOX Business
Fri, 24 Jan 2020 10:59 UTC
bernie sanders campaigning
© AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., arrives to speak at a campaign stop at the State Historical Museum of Iowa, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Des Moines.
Obama could publicly rebuke Sanders as the senator's momentum grows

Former President Barack Obama has remained mostly silent through the early stages of the Democratic race to unseat Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election but that may soon change, friends and associates tell FOX Business, as avowed socialist Bernie Sanders gains in national polls and seems poised to obtain front-runner status.

The people who spoke on the condition of anonymity say Obama's preference had always been to lay low through the primaries aside from making some broad comments as he did in November of last year when, according to a report in The New York Times, the former two-term president, best known for expanding the size of government and his eponymous health care mandate, appeared genuinely worried about some of the increasingly leftist proposals being touted on the campaign trail from Sanders, the US senator from Vermont, and to some extent, Elizabeth Warren, the US senator from Massachusetts.

"The average American doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system to remake it," the Times quoted Obama, who was speaking at a gathering of Democratic donors.

Comment: Far be it for us to rely on anything unnamed 'people' say, but Obama allegedly has a point. It may simply be too much for mainstream USA to embrace an outright socialist like Bernie for president. The fact that Project Veritas has released secret footage of Bernie campaigners spouting extremist invective is, no doubt, something the Trump campaign will use against him if Sanders ends up being the Democratic contender. Few Americans are looking for radical change, despite what the vocal minority Twitter mob would lead one to believe.

See also:

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Eye 1

Iranian news agency says its website offline worldwide down 'due to US sanctions'


RT
Fri, 24 Jan 2020 20:30 UTC
fars news down
© Screenshot
The website of Iran's Fars News Agency, often described as semi-state operator, has gone offline worldwide, with the agency claiming its server company blocked the site on orders from Washington.

Internet users trying to access farsnews.com on Friday found only a blank screen, along with a message stating "farsnews.com's server IP address could not be found." Fars News announced on Twitter that its server company had blocked the site because of US sanctions.

It is unclear where the server company is based, but several multinational tech firms have withdrawn service to Iranian users in the past, for fear of violating Washington's ban on doing business with the Islamic republic. GitHub limited access to Iranian users last year, while Apple removed Iranian apps from its App Store two years earlier, as did Google.

Comment: Clearly the US could target anyone it deigns to, and so is it any wonder Russia has made steps to extricate itself from the clutches of the US internet monopoly? 'Who knows what they have in mind?' Putin tells press that Russia could be cut off from global internet

See also: Starvation sanctions are worse than overt warfare

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Eye 1

Assange's solitary confinement ends following pressure from lawyers and fellow prisoners

Mohamed Elmaazi
Sputnik
Fri, 24 Jan 2020 17:57 UTC
Assange
© Mohamed Elmaazi
Assange's forced isolation and lack of access to proper medical care in Belmarsh prison has been heavily criticised by the UN expert on torture, as well as by dozens of medical professionals who have demanded that he be transferred to a proper teaching hospital for examination.

Prison authorities have removed Julian Assange from solitary confinement in what has been described as a "huge" and "important" victory by Joseph Farrell, WikiLeaks's Ambassador and section editor. The "dramatic climb-down" by Belmarsh prison authorities followed intense pressure both from his lawyers and from a group of fellow prisoners who petitioned the governor "on three occasions insisting that the treatment of Assange was unjust and unfair".

"Assange was moved to a different prison wing, albeit one with only 40 inmates", Farell explains in a video statement released via the Don't Extradite Assange Campaign Twitter account, on the afternoon of 24 January 2020. This followed meetings between "prisoners, lawyers and the Belmarsh authorities", he added.

Comment: The Canberra Times adds:
"The move is a huge victory for Assange's legal team and for campaigners who have been insisting for weeks that the prison authorities end the punitive treatment of Assange," Mr Farrell said in a statement to AAP.

Assange is set to face trial next month to determine whether he should be extradited to the US, where he has been charged with 17 counts of spying and one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.

The charges relate to allegations Assange tried to help former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning protect her digital identity as she accessed classified Pentagon files on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

At a recent case management hearing solicitor Gareth Pierce said the defence team had only been allowed three hours with Assange to discuss the case.

"He is still being denied adequate access to his lawyers as even the judge recognised at a case management hearing in Westminster Magistrates Court," Mr Farrell said.

"And campaigners continue to insist that Assange should not be in jail at all, least of all in Belmarsh high security prison."
See also: Three protected state witnesses accuse Spanish ex-marine of illegally spying on Julian Assange

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