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Pentagon 'strongly opposed' to US-Russian agreement in Syria


South Front
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 12:31 UTC
Pentagon
© Flickr/ chuck holton
The Pentagon opposes cooperation with Russia.

Cooperation within the framework of military operations in Syria was not discussed during a recent video conference between Russian and US military, spokesman for the Pentagon Peter Cook said.

According to the US official, during the last talks, Russia and the US discussed measures to prevent incidents, but military cooperation in Syria will be negotiated separately.
As Cook said, officials of the US military department held a discussion on security operations since the last bilateral meeting between Russian and US military. "The both sides confirmed the need to adhere to measures to strengthen operational safety for avoiding accidents and misunderstandings," the Pentagon spokesman said.
One of the central topics of the last video conference was security measures on flights over Syria in accordance with the previously adopted memorandum of mutual understanding. Cook stressed that the conversation with Russian military was constructive. The both sides intend to continue it in the similar format.

Comment: Further reading: SOTT News Snapshot: September 14 edition - Syrian ceasefire reaches 2-day mark

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Eye 1

German spy chief: Lone-wolf attacks ordered through social media


RT
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 13:13 UTC
Terrorist
© Abed Omar Qusini / Reuters
Lone-wolf terrorist attacks in Europe are ordered and orchestrated through social media platforms like Facebook or WhatsApp, which creates a type of "hybrid warfare," chief of German domestic intelligence believes.

Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence agency, said that potential attackers presumably receive orders from foreign terrorist leaders through encrypted instant messaging systems.

The details of what he described as "hybrid warfare" were disclosed at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday, according to Deutsche Welle. Attacks are ordered through social media or messengers such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, while "perpetrators themselves are safe and not recognized."

"We are concerned about the new type of perpetrator who seems to be acting alone," the news agency quoted Maassen as saying.

Comment: See also:

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Blackbox

Who in fact killed Daesh's chief strategist Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani?


Sputnik
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 18:37 UTC
Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani
© AP Photo/Militant Photo
While the Pentagon claims that it was its own precision airstrike which killed Daesh strategist Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani near Syrian city of Al Bab on August 30, and not Russia's; Russian experts explain why Russia's version of events looks more likely.

"The Department of Defense has confirmed that the US precision airstrike on August 30 targeting senior ISIL [Islamic State, Daesh] leader Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani was successful," US Department of Defense spokesperson Peter Cook said in a statement on Monday.

However on August 31, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Russia's Su-34 fighter-bombers killed up to 40 Islamic State militants in the southern ranges of Aleppo, including Al-Adnani.

The Pentagon claimed it had no information on whether Russia had targeted a second-in-command of the Islamic State.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Western destabilization: CIA asset USAID pledges $3 million to Russian NGOs ahead of Duma elections


RT
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 22:16 UTC
dollar bills
© Mark Blinch / Reuters
The US government agency responsible for administering financial aid among foreign states has received $3 million specifically for Russian non-governmental organizations just as the country prepares to hold State Duma elections.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), banned in Russia in 2012 as an "undesirable" organization, is assigning $3 million received from Washington to Russian non-governmental entities, according to data posted on governmental website US Spending.

The investment has been listed under the heading "For activity in Russia". However, no further details have been provided. It is set to be completed by 2017, according to the data.

The website USAspending.gov provides three entries concerning grants to Russian NGOs in 2016 of $1 million each. Two of them were made on August 29 while the third one dates back to September 1.

Comment: Imagine the reaction from the US if Russia did this. The media would be going crazy with accusations of Russian interference in US elections. But apparently it's only allowed when the Exceptional Country does it. It's also well known that USAID and other NGOs act as fronts for Western intelligence agencies:

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Vader

Damage control: Killary's doctor releases letter that she has "mild pneumonia" and is "fit to serve as president"


RT
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 21:32 UTC
hillary
© Scott Morgan / Reuters
The Hillary Clinton campaign has released updated health information for the Democratic presidential candidate. Her doctor wrote in a letter that she had a "mild" and non-contagious form of pneumonia and remains "healthy and fit to serve as president."

Clinton's doctor, Dr. Lisa Bardack, wrote Wednesday that she is recovering from her pneumonia. She is "recovering well with antibiotics and rest," after she became overheated, dehydrated and felt dizzy at a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York City on Sunday.

The statement said she was treated with an antibiotic called Levaquin, which was prescribed for 10 days.

Clinton's doctor said she is "healthy and fit to serve as President of the United States."

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SOTT Logo S

SOTT News Snapshot: September 14 edition - Syrian ceasefire reaches 2-day mark


Sott.net
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 15:36 UTC
Golan
© AFP 2016/ JALAA MAREY
Golan Heights, June 2016.
The first 48 hours of the ceasefire have been largely successful, and the Russian General Staff is calling for the first 48-hour extension. This despite the fact that, according to them, "the total number of violations by militants increased to 60... We also note that some armed groups controlled by the United States, such as Ahrar Al-Sham, announced directly their unwillingness to cease fire. The biggest number of violations is linked to these groups." If these next 48 hours hold, and the 72 after that, the U.S. and Russia will presumably team up to coordinate attacks on Daesh and Nusra. (Though Washington will continue to support any "moderate opposition" that uphold the ceasefire, according to Kerry.)

As we covered yesterday, Russian FM Lavrov is saying that Russia has nothing to hide regarding the details of the Syrian ceasefire, the details of which have been kept secret, presumably at the U.S.'s urging. As Leonid Bershidsky wrote in a Bloomberg article after the press conference last week, "The agreements, five separate documents, won't be published, ostensibly to prevent Islamist groups from disrupting the humanitarian effort that should follow the deal."

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner responded to Lavrov's statement, confirming that it is the U.S. that wants it to stay secret: "[T]here are some operational details, areas of sensitivity, we do not believe would be in the interest of the agreement, or in anyone's interest, to share." Of course, this raises the question as to what the U.S. considers so "sensitive". Maybe the rumors of a dozen or so U.S. special forces troops embedded with the al-Nusra and stuck in encircled east Aleppo are true - and the agreement ensures their safe passage. Maybe the agreement has the U.S. selling out some of their terrorist groups in writing. Impossible to know. Just watch the following video:

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Cut

Possibility of petrodollar unholy alliance fracture? Saudis threaten US over Sept 11 law

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 20:48 UTC
US - Saudi Arabia
When Congress unaninmously passed a bill last Friday known as "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act," or JASTA, allowing families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts, there was confusion whether Obama would still veto said bill, as he had threatened to previously, even though by sheer numbers Obama's veto may be overruled, leaving him hanging and appearing to support a Saudi position over that of the US people. Then on Monday we got the answer when White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced that Obama would still veto said bill. "That is still the plan," Earnest said. "The president does intend to veto this legislation."

The Saudis, however, are not taking any chances, and are back to engaging in the same verbal warnings they unleashed in April of this year, when they suggested passage of the law would force the kingdom to sell its US-denominated reserves: threats.

As Reuters reports, a senior Saudi policy adviser on Wednesday condemned a U.S. bill that would allow families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue the kingdom for damages, "warning it would stoke instability and extremism." In other words, if Obama fails too stop a law which everyone in Congress voted for, the US would suffer.

"This legislation sets a dangerous precedent in the field of international relations," Abdullah Al al-Sheikh was quoted as saying by state news agency SPA. Al al-Sheikh is the speaker of the Shura Council, an appointed body that debates new laws and advises the government on policy.

Comment: When Obama vetoes this bill, will congress then override the veto? If that happens, will Saudi Arabia follow through with threats to sell their US treasuries and then sell other assets such as US equities? What happens to the petrodollar standard where Saudi Arabia has recycled their oil profits back into buying US debt since the 70's and thus underpinned the dollar as the world's reserve currency? Will Saudi Arabia decide to accept currencies other than the dollar for the purchase of their oil? Will Saudi Arabia eventually turn toward China and possibly Russia over a souring relationship with the US?

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Newspaper

The Washington Post's open letter to Donald Trump deconstructed

Peter Lavelle
The Duran
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 20:54 UTC
The world is not only about Washington and its interests. Morell and Vickers represent a morbid imperial and colonial mindset.
trump putin
Deconstructing "Morell and Vickers: An open letter to Donald Trump" - published by the The Washington Post on its opinion page September 10, 2016.

Many years ago, I used to engage in rebutting - paragraph-by-paragraph - the most egregious propaganda nonsense the American media could stoop to. But it is time consuming and maddening. I hate giving time to hateful and small minds. But this op-ed forces me to react. My words are in italics. [SOTT.net: we've removed the italics and placed Lavelle's responses below quoted sections of Morell's piece.]
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Magnify

Leaked emails reveal Colin Powell's scathing comments on Killary - She 'screws everything up,' 'can't believe or accept' that Obama beat her in '08


RT
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 20:36 UTC
Colin Powell
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
Hacked emails from former Secretary of State Colin Powell reveal scathing statements about both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who claimed Powell instructed her on using a private email server.

Whistleblower website DCLeaks posted some of Powell's emails on its site Wednesday, giving the access password to several news organizations (RT was not among them). Powell's spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino confirmed that the emails were authentic. "We have confirmed that the general has been hacked and that these are his emails," she told the Washington Post. "We have no other comment at this time."

Powell reportedly called Trump a "national disgrace and an international pariah," who "has no sense of shame." In June 2015, he wrote to an aide that "the whole birther movement was racist," noting that Trump led the calls for President Barack Obama to publish his birth certificate and prove US citizenship.

Questions about Obama's citizenship actually originated with Clinton's campaign in 2008.

While Powell's denunciations of Trump made headlines on Thursday, his disdain for Clinton has attracted far less attention. Multiple emails have revealed Powell's frustration with Clinton over the claims that he had instructed her on the use of private emails, during a 2009 dinner with several former secretaries of state.
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Light Sabers

US statement urging Turkey to respect democracy draws ire of Turkish diplomats - "Your ambassadors are not governors of Turkey"


RT
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 20:31 UTC
Binali Yildrim
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildrim
Following a US statement urging Turkey to respect the democratic process after clashes between demonstrators and police in southeastern areas, Turkish officials tell the American ambassador to respect their sovereignty.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that a "democracy lesson" from the US was not acceptable after the US embassy reproached the suspension of 28 mayors in the country. Foreign Minister Cavusoglu pointed out that US ambassadors were not governors.

On Sunday, the US embassy in Turkey issued a statement in the wake of rallies in the southeastern provinces of Suruc, Batman and Hakkari, which were dispersed by police. The protesters had taken to the streets to vent their anger at the suspension of 28 mayors across the region, heavily populated with Kurds.

Ankara accused the politicians of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK and Gulenists, and replaced them with trustees.
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