Puppet Masters

A "master of political alchemy": Putin's speech points the way forward for Russia and the world

Translated for Fort Russ by J. Arnoldski
Fort Russ
Fri, 04 Dec 2015 17:20 UTC

Perhaps the main feature of today's address by Vladimir Putin was his emphasis on the fact that Russia and Russians need to change. The year 2015 is coming to a close, and this year was very important in terms of understanding who we are, where we are going, and what we want from the political leadership of our country.

After the momentous year of 2014, when the elite and the people together decided that it is time for the country to regain the status of a superpower, it was very important to ensure that we, the country, the people, and the political elite, are ready to pay for history. Independence, self-esteem, and the right to decide one's fate are very expensive. The calculation of our enemies was simple and pragmatic: the Russians, realizing that one can't lay on soft cushions for eternity, will prefer the dream of parmesan and black bread than being builders of a great empire. After all, the most recent incarnation of the Russian Empire was betrayed in exchange for jeans and Coca-Cola - well, what can be worse than parmesan?

This time, the script didn't work. Over the course of 2015, Russians have not repented of their choice, and the Russian managerial elite have finally consolidated themselves around the president. In word and deed, Russia has confirmed its application to participate in the redivision of the world order. The decision to return Crimea was made and secured. There is no turning back and it is possible to talk seriously about global stakes, goals, and methods of accomplishing them.

Putin very clearly outlined that we live in a time of the creation of new trading blocs and the development of new breakthrough technologies, and the position of Russia in the context of these processes will determine its future place in the global division of labor. Occupying a decent place in the world of the future is the main challenge for our country.

Pepe Escobar: How Russia is shattering the Turkish game in Syria

Pepe Escobar
Counterpunch
Thu, 03 Dec 2015 17:22 UTC

Master of the Global Chess Board

So why did Washington take virtually forever to not really acknowledge ISIS/ISIL/Daesh is selling stolen Syrian oil that will eventually find is way to Turkey?

Because the priority all along was to allow the CIA - in the shadows - to run a "rat line" weaponizing a gaggle of invisible "moderate rebels".

As much as Daesh - at least up to now - the Barzani mob in Iraqi Kurdistan was never under Washington's watch. The oil operation the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) runs to Turkey is virtually illegal; stolen state-owned oil as far as Baghdad is concerned.

Daesh stolen oil can't flow through Damascus-controlled territory. Can't flow though Shi'ite-dominated Iraq. Can't go east to Iran. It's Turkey or nothing. Turkey is the easternmost arm of NATO. The US and NATO "support" Turkey. So a case can be made that the US and NATO ultimately support Daesh.

What's certain is that illegal Daesh oil and illegal KRG oil fit the same pattern; energy interests by the usual suspects playing a very long game.

What these interests are focused on is to control every possible oil asset in Iraqi Kurdistan and then in "liberated" Syria. It's crucial to know that Tony "Deepwater Horizon" Hayward is running Ug Genel, whose top priority is to control oil fields that were first stolen from Baghdad, and will eventually be stolen from Iraqi Kurds.

And then, there's the Turkmen powder keg.

The key reason why Washington always solemnly ignored Ankara's array of shady deals in Syria, through its fifth column Turkmen jihadis, is because a key CIA "rat line" runs exactly through the region known as Turkmen Mountain.

These Turkmen supplied by Ankara's "humanitarian" convoys got American TOW-2As for their role in preserving prime weaponizing/ smuggling routes. Their advisers, predictably, are Xe/Academi types, formerly Blackwater. Russia happened to identify the whole scam and started bombing the Turkmen. Thus the downing of the Su-24.

Comment: Russia versus NATO's Gladio 2.0: Turkish jihad from China to Syria

Several terrorist leaders in Syria killed by Russian Air Force over past week

RT
Fri, 04 Dec 2015 15:55 UTC

© Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation / Reuters
A still image taken from video footage, released by Russia's Defence Ministry on November 20, 2015, shows Russian Tupolev TU-22 long-range strategic bombers conducting an airstrike at an unknown location in Syria.

Several terrorist leaders have been killed in Russian airstrikes in Syria over the past week, the Defense Ministry said. In Latakia province, a dugout with the leader of a large terror group named Abu Abdu and several other field commanders has been destroyed, General-Major Igor Konashenkov, a Defense Ministry spokesman, told a media briefing on Friday.

"Also during the week, several [terrorist] leaders were eliminated near the village of el-Latamna in Hama province," he added. Illegal oil trade by the terrorists was also targeted by the Russian Air Force, with Konashenkov speaking of "12 oil pump stations, eight oil fields and refineries, and over 170 oil tanker trucks" being destroyed over the past seven days.

"Over the past week, between November 26 and December 4, Russian aircraft have performed 431 sorties from the Khmeimim airbase [in Syria's Latakia province] and carried out 1,458 pinpoint airstrikes against terrorist facilities in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa," he said. According to Konashenkov, terrorist command centers, strongholds, militant training camps and arms depots were targeted. "I want to emphasize that all our bomber and attack planes received cover from Su-30 [fighter jets]," he stressed. The measure was implemented after the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force on November 24.

Comment: The Russian airstrikes in Syria already halved the Islamic State's income a day from illegal oil trade. Bilal Erdogan, the son of Sultan Erdogan, desperately needs new oil smuggling routes and tankers. Russia is watching their every move. The Erdogan family mob was branded as "criminals", with Moscow presenting only an appetizer of all the evidence it has in store.

U.S. Department of Defense opens all combat roles to women - 'no exceptions'

Phil Stewart and David Alexander
Raw Story
Thu, 03 Dec 2015 14:57 UTC

Women can compete for all U.S. military jobs, including front-line combat posts, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Thursday, overriding Marine Corps objections in a historic move to strike down gender barriers in the armed services."As long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before," Carter told a Pentagon news conference.

"They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They'll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALS, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men," he said.

Carter said the opening to women would take place following a 30-day waiting period required by law, after which women will be integrated into new roles in a "deliberate and methodical manner." During the waiting period, the military services will finalize plans for integrating women into the new positions, he said.

The move comes nearly three years after the Pentagon first eliminated its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles and began a process that would let women compete for 220,000 additional military jobs. Then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted a ban in force in 2013 on women in front-line combat roles, a restriction seen as increasingly out of place during a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan in which women were increasingly in harm's way.

Women represented about 2 percent of U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some 300,000 deploying to the conflict zones. Carter said most of the services favored opening all jobs to women, but the Marine Corps had sought a partial exception for roles such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support reconnaissance and others.

Comment: More cannon fodder for the Pentagon.

Uruguay meets 95% of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources

Jonathan Watts
The Guardian
Fri, 04 Dec 2015 16:23 UTC

As the world gathers in Paris for the daunting task of switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy, one small country on the other side of the Atlantic is making that transition look childishly simple and affordable.

In less than 10 years, Uruguay has slashed its carbon footprint without government subsidies or higher consumer costs, according to the country's head of climate change policy, Ramón Méndez.

In fact, he says that now that renewables provide 94.5% of the country's electricity, prices are lower than in the past relative to inflation. There are also fewer power cuts because a diverse energy mix means greater resilience to droughts.

It was a very different story just 15 years ago. Back at the turn of the century oil accounted for 27% of Uruguay's imports and a new pipeline was just about to begin supplying gas from Argentina.

Comment: While Uruguay's shift to 'clean energy' is being held up at the UN climate change conference in Paris as the model to follow, note that foreign - in this case, German - energy companies control what is effectively a giant wind farm. Note also that this means the population of this small country pay the highest prices in Latin America for their energy.

While it's great to become independent of Big Oil, it comes at the cost of remaining dependent on other Western firms, which is ultimately what these 'climate change conferences' are about: lobbying/business events for Western-controlled multinationals.

Lebanese politician: Turkey main sponsor of terrorists in Syria

Farsnews Agency
Fri, 04 Dec 2015 06:07 UTC

"Turkey is the main sponsor of terrorism in the region."

The fight against international terrorism should start with pressuring Turkey, now the main sponsor for militants groups in Syria, leader of the Lebanese orthodox party Masarik Roderick Khoury said.

"Turkey is the first and main power which funds and supplies weapons to terrorist groups. We believe the fight against terrorism should begin with pressuring Turkey. Now," Khoury said at a press conference in Moscow, Sputnik reported.

"The name of the real leader of the terrorists is Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish President). The others like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (ISIL leader) and al-Qaeda are just his servants. Al-Nusra Front also carries out orders from Turkey," he pointed out.

According to him, there is real evidence to the allegations. Khoury said that after the city of Kassab, near Lattakia, was liberated from terrorists Turkish ambulance vehicles, clothes and weapons were found there.

Khoury added that when the terrorists take Syrian or Lebanese hostages they only can be released after negotiations with Turkey.

Israel possibly trained against Russian S-300 air defense system in Greece

Dan Williams and Karolina Tagaris
Reuters
Fri, 04 Dec 2015 16:25 UTC

Israel has quietly tested ways of defeating an advanced air-defense system that Russia has deployed in the Middle East and that could limit Israel's ability to strike in Syria or Iran, military and diplomatic sources said.

The sources said a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft system, sold to Cyprus 18 years ago but now located on the Greek island of Crete, had been activated during joint drills between the Greek and Israeli air forces in April-May this year.

The activation allowed Israel's warplanes to test how the S-300's lock-on system works, gathering data on its powerful tracking radar and how it might be blinded or bluffed.

Russian airstrikes responsible for twofold decline in IS oil production and revenue in Syria

TASS
Wed, 02 Dec 2015 15:25 UTC

The Russian aviation airstrikes in Syria have caused a twofold decline in Islamic State's revenue from illegal oil trade, from $3 million to $1.5 million a day, chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff Sergey Rudskoi said on Wednesday.

"The revenue of this terrorist organisation reached $3 million a day. After two months of airstrikes delivered by the Russian aircraft on the terrorists, their oil revenue declined to $1.5 million a day," the official said."Over the two past months, the Russian air strikes have destroyed 32 oil refining complexes, 11 oil refineries, 23 oil pumping stations and 1,080 vehicles carrying petroleum products," he said. At the same time, he added, the gangs "continue to receive considerable funds, as well as weapons, ammunition and other assets for their activity."

The Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) currently earns about $2 bln a year from illegal oil trade. Islamic State terrorists currently have no less than 8,500 fuel vehicles, which transport up to 200,000 barrels of oil daily.

"The profits from selling oil are one of the most important sources of the terrorists' activity in Syria. They earn around $2 billion every year, spending these funds on recruiting gunmen around the world and providing them with weapons, equipment and armament," [Defense Minister] Antonov said.

Russia's Aerospace Forces have been carrying out airstrikes against the facilities of gunmen in Syria since September 30 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Over the past two months, the airstrikes have destroyed more than 1,000 tankers of crude oil and dozens of oil refining facilities belonging to terrorists.

Comment: To fight and kill a monster, you must also destroy its source.

Kremlin: No comment regarding possibility of a future second base in Syria

TASS
Fri, 04 Dec 2015 12:41 UTC

The Kremlin has left unanswered the question about the possibility of opening a second Russian airbase in Syria. "No, I cannot offer any comment," presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media, when asked if the media reports of plans for creating a Russian base in Homs province were true. At the moment Russia's air group operating against the terrorist Islamic State in Syria is based at Hmeimim.

Russia's Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The air group initially comprised over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. They were redeployed to the Khmeimim airbase in the province of Latakia.

On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy's Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants' facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive. In mid-November, Russia increased the number of aircraft taking part in the operation in Syria to 69 and involved strategic bombers in strikes at militants. As the Russian Defense Ministry reported, Russia's air grouping has focused on destroying terrorist-controlled oil extraction, storage, transportation and refining facilities.

Comment: No comment, while not a "yes," is not a "no." It is likely that, should the war in Syria and adjacent territories escalate due to Western meddling and its self-serving agenda, the need for another Russian base may become a reality, if not already in the works. Russia is not a pushover and knows how best to systematically play this hand.

'No refuge for terrorists' and 'remember your value' - Putin's state of the nation speech

Sputnik
Thu, 03 Dec 2015 13:17 UTC

The fight against international terrorism, which Russia is familiar with only too well, was the core of President Putin's State of the Nation Address. Russia is fully capable of defeating it, but in its fight it should have respect for itself and know its own value. Here are the highlights of the president's speech.

This was President Putin's twelfth annual State of the Nation Address to Russian MPs and dignitaries, but probably one of the most emotional ones, being delivered so close to the heinous shootdown of a Russian bomber in Syrian airspace and preceding air crash of the Russian passenger plane in Egypt.

The solemnity of the speech was emphasized by the location - the St George's Hall of the Moscow Kremlin, a historic hall of Russian military glory.

The president started with words of gratitude to all the Russian servicemen who are fighting international terrorism, directly addressing the combat pilots and representatives of the Armed Forces currently taking part in the anti-terrorist operation who were invited into the Kremlin.

Those in attendance included the widow of the Russian pilot who was gunned down in Syria and the widow of the naval infantry soldier who was killed during the rescue operation.

The president asked everyone to honor the memory of the soldiers who gave up their lives while fulfilling their duty and all Russian citizens who fell at the hands of terrorists with a moment of silence.

Later in his speech the president returned to this incident and bluntly blamed the Turkish authorities who are directly responsible for the deaths of our servicemen in Syria.

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Puppet Masters

A "master of political alchemy": Putin's speech points the way forward for Russia and the world

Pepe Escobar: How Russia is shattering the Turkish game in Syria

Several terrorist leaders in Syria killed by Russian Air Force over past week

U.S. Department of Defense opens all combat roles to women - 'no exceptions'

Uruguay meets 95% of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources

Lebanese politician: Turkey main sponsor of terrorists in Syria

Israel possibly trained against Russian S-300 air defense system in Greece

Russian airstrikes responsible for twofold decline in IS oil production and revenue in Syria

Kremlin: No comment regarding possibility of a future second base in Syria

'No refuge for terrorists' and 'remember your value' - Putin's state of the nation speech

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