Puppet Masters

Middle East: Who's killing whom? Blaming Iran could be the excuse for war

Philip M. Giraldi
Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC

Newsweek is reporting a story regarding how Iran "was responsible for the deaths of at least 608 American troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2011." The account is sourced to a newly revised estimate prepared by analysts at the Pentagon that was discussed by Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook at a State Department press briefing on April 2nd. According to Hook, Tehran is now being blamed for 17 per cent of all US military deaths because it supplied weapons to the several Shiite militias that were opposing the US invasion, occupation and subsequent presence in the country.

Hook also stated that the American casualties are in addition to the "thousands" of Iraqi troops and civilians that were killed in attacks initiated by what he referred to as the Iranian proxy forces. Hook noted that the new number is higher than the 2015 confirmed death total of 500 that was reported by then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, who qualified his estimate by saying:

"We were not always able to attribute the casualties that we had to Iranian activity, although many times we suspected it was Iranian activity, even though we did not necessarily have the forensics to support that."

Comment: See also more on this outlandish statement:
US claims Iran is behind the killing of hundreds of US troops in Iraq

Matt Taibbi: The Pentagon books are so screwed on every level it's impossible to detect fraud

RT
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 15:11 UTC

The US Department of Defense's (DoD) finances are so labyrinthine and full of invented numbers that it's impossible to detect cases of rampant fraud and criminality from the books, journalist Matt Taibbi told RT's Lee Camp.

Taibbi recently delved into the intricacies of the Pentagon's finances to find out how a much-lauded audit of the organization, which receives half a trillion dollars a year, failed to give the DoD either a pass or fail. What he found was a system that is inherently unable to provide financial accountability, he said during an interview on Redacted Tonight.

"It's organized so badly that when the Pentagon at the end of every year goes to ask for more money for the next year... they invent the numbers because they have no audit trail. They submit all those numbers to the Congress, saying we spent this on that, but they don't actually have the documents. The sheer quantity of the numbers makes it impossible to detect anything like fraud or theft because the books are all wrong at every single level of the system."

Comment: See also:

Bolsonaro angers Israel saying Holocaust can be 'forgiven'

RT
Sun, 14 Apr 2019 01:13 UTC

Brazilian right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro has risked falling out with one of his closest allies over his off-hand "We can forgive, but we cannot forget" remark about the Holocaust after it sparked a fierce backlash in Israel.

The Israeli president, as well as the official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, have pounced on Bolsonaro, taking offense at the Brazilian leader's comments.

Addressing evangelical leaders on Thursday night in Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro made reference to the Holocaust as an example of a tragedy that must not be forgotten so it would never be repeated. "We can forgive, but we cannot forget. That quote is mine. Those that forget their past are sentenced not to have a future," he said.

The remark struck a raw nerve in Israel, with critics zooming in on the first part of the quote.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin accused Bolsonaro of an attempt to "erase" the extermination of Jews in Nazi camps from the public memory.

Comment: More from RT:

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tried to explain the message behind his eyebrow-raising 'Holocaust can be forgiven' phrase was gravely distorted, and the following uproar is used to cause bad blood with his "Jewish friends."

"My speech was never meant to be used in a historical context," and its other interpretations only serve those "who want to push me away from my Jewish friends," Bolsonaro wrote in a statement, shared by Israel's envoy to Brazil, Yossi Shelley, on social media.

Russia cashes in: European oil refiners pay for its US sanctions

Gleb Gorodyankin, Olga Yagova
Reuters
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 12:59 UTC

European refiners are paying the price for U.S. oil sanctions on Venezuela and Iran as they scramble to replace the sour crude Washington has blocked from the global market with increasingly expensive Russian oil, trading sources said and data showed.

Compounding the impact of sanctions, OPEC members have mainly cut sour crude output as part of their deal with allied producers to boost oil prices while a large, new refinery, designed to run on sour oil, has just started up in Turkey.

U.S. output is soaring and exports are set to jump later this year as new infrastructure comes online but it is not an alternative, being mainly light and sweet.

As a result, European refiners have been left competing to secure as much medium, sour Russian Urals as they can, pushing the differential of that oil to levels not seen since 2013. "Urals is anchored in a positive zone versus dated Brent and there is no indication it will fall to a discount any time soon," a trading source at a European oil major said.

In the Mediterranean, the differential for Urals typically trades at a discount of at least a dollar to benchmark dated Brent but since early November, the level has spiked and now stands at a premium of 70 cents a barrel. For a 600,000-barrel cargo of Urals, that rise translates to an extra $1.35 million cost.

Axis of Resistance: Iran, Iraq and Syria to connect their rail systems

Paul Antonopoulos
FRN
Sun, 14 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC

Syria, Iran and Iraq plan to hold a trilateral meeting on the connection of their rail systems, media reported quoting a source at the Syrian Ministry of Transport.

"Our countries are now working on the resumption of the project that connects the railways of Syria, Iran and Iraq and are determining the date of the meeting between the representatives of the countries to develop the plans," a source told al-Watan newspaper on Saturday.

The goal of the project, launched before the start of the crisis in Syria in 2011, is to secure access to Syrian ports for Baghdad and Tehran, the source told the newspaper.

Before the start of the crisis, Syria reached 97% of the project, however, during the war most of the railroads were destroyed.

Comment: Iran Daily had more to say on this project:

Iraq announced that negotiations are underway with Iran and Syria to develop a transnational railway line linking the three countries. Iraqi Republic Railways Company chief, Salib al-Hussaini, said a summit will be held between the countries to further discuss the matter, the Arabic-language Al-Sumeria news website reported.

The comments made on the sidelines of the joint Syrian-Iraqi committee held in Damascus came a week after Iranian First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri spoke of an initiative to link the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean.

"We will connect the Persian Gulf from Iraq to Syria and the Mediterranean via railway and road," said Jahangiri, making reference to the construction of a railway linking the Iranian Shalamcheh border region to the Iraqi city of Basra.

Speaking last December, the Director General of the Railway and Technical Structures Department at the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) Mohammad Mousavi said Iran was planning to build a movable railway bridge over the Arvand River as part of the Shalamcheh-Basra project. Mousavi said the project would effectively link the Iranian cities of Khorramshahr and Abadan along with the Imam Khomeini Port to the Iraqi city.

The railway project was agreed to last month when Iran and Iraq signed five memoranda of understanding for the expansion of bilateral cooperation in various economic and healthcare sectors.

Observers have described the new agreements as a sign of Baghdad's serious intention of not being "party to the system of sanctions against Iran" as Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi said earlier in February.

Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said the "historic" agreements covered cooperation in fields of industry, trade and agriculture. He called the agreement "a message to the world on the reality of Syrian-Iranian cooperation."

Israeli releases satellite photos of alleged destroyed 'Iranian' facility in Syria

Sputnik
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 17:52 UTC

Israel reportedly carried out an airstrike against a military facility near the city of Hama in western Syria on Saturday, with Syrian air defences intercepting some of the missiles, said to have been launched from Lebanese airspace to hinder an effective defence.

Israeli satellite intelligence company ImageSat International has released satellite images of what it says may be 'Iran-related missile manufacturing hangers' in Masyaf, Syria.

The images, posted on the company's Twitter account, show unidentified structures 'before' and 'after' the attack, with several large buildings turned into what appear to be piles of rubble.

Turkey says it won't integrate S-400 with NATO systems, wants to engage in technical discussions to address US concerns

Sputnik
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 17:55 UTC

Russian S-400 air defence systems will not be integrated into any active NATO military systems, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in Washington on Monday.

"This system will not be integrated neither with NATO's systems nor with any other somehow connected to NATO's national [military] systems," the minister said during an annual US-Turkey conference in Washington.

He vowed that the decision would not change any of Turkey's commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Turkish minister also expressed hope that other NATO countries would also keep their commitments to Turkey.

"The procurement of the S-400 is not an issue," Akar said. "We believe that all disagreements can and should be resolved."

Commenting on the tecnhical discussions with the United States, the minister noted that Turkey was ready for them and it would address concerns over Ankara's procurement of Russian S-400 air defence systems.

Comment: See also:

Craven 'journalists' pile on in Ecuador's attempt at Assange character assassination

Danielle Ryan
RT
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 17:19 UTC

© Jack Taylor/Getty Images
Julian Assange gestures to the media from a police vehicle on his arrival at Westminster Magistrates' Court on April 11, 2019 in London.

Ecuador's attempted character assassination of whistleblower Julian Assange stepped up since his arrest last week, with officials offering various excuses to justify his expulsion - and the media has been eagerly lapping it up.

Apparently more interested in (allegedly) salacious details of Assange's almost seven-year exile inside the west-London embassy, members of the UK and US press have been breathlessly repeating flaky Quito-leaked claims about his living habits and personal hygiene.

While Assange awaits the very likely possibility of extradition to the US and prosecution for reporting on the sins of the world's most powerful, mainstream media "journalists" are doing humanity another great service - by posting irrelevant videos and pictures taken inside the embassy in an effort to assist Quito in its smearing efforts.

Comment:

Leaked docs reveal extensive French weapons aid to 'inefficient' Saudi military in Yemen

Sputnik
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 17:40 UTC

Reporters accuse the French government of concealing information about the deployment of these weapons - including battle tanks, artillery, helicopters, and fighter jets - against the civilian population.

Journalists claim to have uncovered the "massive use" of French-made weapons in war-torn Yemen through a leak of secret military documents.

Radio France and investigative reporters from the NGO Disclose say they have obtained a classified 2018 report about French arms sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which form part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi militiamen in Yemen since 2015.

The paper was allegedly compiled last September by France's military agency DRM and handed over to President Emmanuel Macron and other cabinet-level officials. It apparently contains a list of all French weapons deployed in Yemen by the two Arab monarchies.

"These include Leclerc battle tanks, long-rod penetrator ammunition, Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets, COBRA counter-battery radar systems, Aravis armoured troop-carrying vehicles, Cougar and Dauphin helicopters, CAESAR truck-mounted howitzers," reads a statement on Disclose's website.

Comment: More from RT:

The report also revealed that despite hand holding by the most powerful militaries in the world, the Saudi Kingdom has dropped the ball in putting it all to good use. One example refers to the Saudi armed forces failure to make use of intelligence provided by US drones, which have been employed to gather intelligence on Houthi controlled territory:
If the RSAF benefits from American support, in the form of advice in the field of targeting [by American drones], the practice of Close Air Support (CAS) is recent and appears poorly understood by these crews.
This seems to be in direct contradiction to a statement made to the Intercept by a CENTCOM spokesperson, who reportedly said that the US does not provide targeting support to Saudi Arabia. CENTCOM's email statement supposedly underlines that the US' role is "advisory only."

Blame Russia! EU centrists likely to lose MEP seats to Eurosceptics - and Russia is again accused of meddling

RT
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 10:08 UTC

© REUTERS / Alessandro Garofalo
FILE PHOTO: Matteo Salvini of Italy (R), Marine Le Pen (C) of France and Heinz-Christian Strache of Austria give a thumbs up.

Anti-establishment Eurosceptic parties are preparing to make a splash during next month's European Parliament election. But some see their rise as evidence of successful interference by Russia.

The 750 MEP seats will be up for grabs in May, and various anti-establishment forces on either side of the political spectrum are forging alliances to gobble up the shares currently held by centrists. Adding to the confusion is Britain, which will take part in the election despite supposedly working hard to leave the EU.

But for some European and international officials, the problem seems to be Russia secretly supporting Eurosceptics - not the disconnect between political elites and the people they are meant to represent. Blaming the looming electoral failure on Kremlin trolls (without offering a shred of evidence, of course) is as tempting in 2019 Europe as it was in 2016 America.

Comment: Just look at any of the thwarted neo-liberal, neocon, globalizing, nation-destroying policies coming out of the West these days - and watch the media and elite political class blame Russia for it's failures.

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Puppet Masters

Middle East: Who's killing whom? Blaming Iran could be the excuse for war

Matt Taibbi: The Pentagon books are so screwed on every level it's impossible to detect fraud

Bolsonaro angers Israel saying Holocaust can be 'forgiven'

Russia cashes in: European oil refiners pay for its US sanctions

Axis of Resistance: Iran, Iraq and Syria to connect their rail systems

Israeli releases satellite photos of alleged destroyed 'Iranian' facility in Syria

Turkey says it won't integrate S-400 with NATO systems, wants to engage in technical discussions to address US concerns

Craven 'journalists' pile on in Ecuador's attempt at Assange character assassination

Leaked docs reveal extensive French weapons aid to 'inefficient' Saudi military in Yemen

Blame Russia! EU centrists likely to lose MEP seats to Eurosceptics - and Russia is again accused of meddling

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