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Southern goodbye: Column of US troops heads BACK to Syria from Iraq


Sputnik
Sat, 26 Oct 2019 18:28 UTC
american military vehicles
© AP Photo / Arab 24 network
The development comes after Washington decided to withdraw US troops from northeastern Syria following the start of a Turkish military operation against Kurdish forces on October 9.

A column of US troops has returned to northeastern Syria's al-Hasakah Province from Iraq, Syria TV reports.

The news outlet claimed that "the column of American occupation forces entered [...] the province through the illegal al-Walid border crossing" and that the column, which includes "dozens of soldiers and military hardware" is covered by US combat helicopters.

This comes a day after US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said that the US would maintain a "reduced presence" in Syria, citing concerns about Daesh terrorists taking control of nearby oil fields.

Almost two weeks ago, Esper pledged that the US would withdraw all of its force of 1,000 soldiers from northeastern Syria, after Turkey launched its military operation in the area to drive Kurdish militias and remaining Daesh militants away from the border.

Comment: Try as he might, Trump cannot get out of Syria. He's being subverted at every turn by his advisers and the military-intelligence services. It sounds like they really do want Americans to be there for the next '400 years'.

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Stop

Not just Iraq: Bundestag MPs demand US troops leave Germany


RT
Fri, 25 Oct 2019 18:15 UTC
us troops germany
© Global Look Press / Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert
German MPs have demanded that the government expel US forces stationed in Germany. MPs argue that their presence only serves the purposes of the US illegal wars in the Middle East and stokes tensions with Moscow.

Lawmakers from the opposition Left Party have tabled a motion calling on Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to immediately stop financing the American military presence in the country and to annul a 1990 treaty allowing US soldiers to be deployed on German soil in the first instance.

"More than 35,000 US soldiers are stationed in Germany, more than in any other European land," the document, published on the Bundestag's website, points out, adding that American military bases are used to further Washington's "policy of war in the Middle East." The lawmakers particularly expressed their outrage over the fact that the German bases are used "in the continuing illegal practice of targeted US assassinations in Pakistan and Afghanistan," apparently referring to the American use of strike drones.

The document also states that the continued presence of American forces on German soil leads to nothing but escalation of an already tense situation with regard to relations with Russia. The MPs also denounced any deployment of American troops to bases in Poland and other Central and Eastern European states, saying that such actions cannot be interpreted as anything but "war preparations."

Comment: Actually, if Americans want to occupy foreign nations like Germany, they should be the ones to pay, not Germans. And if they don't want to pay, they should get the hell out. It's that simple. The idea that the Americans are there to provide "security" is a joke. They're there for their own geostrategic purposes, which happen to align with a tiny minority of foreign toadies. It would be better for everyone for the Americans to just go home.

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Caesar

Planning in the long-term: How Russia's military operation in Syria laid groundwork for Erdogan-Putin agreement

Mikhail Khodarenok
RT
Sat, 26 Oct 2019 17:37 UTC
erdogan putin agreement syria
© Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia.
Preparations for the events in northeastern Syria began around a year ago. Now, after the US dumped the Kurds, they have no choice but to abide by the Russian-Turkish memorandum.

The Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey and Russia on northern Syria, adopted in Sochi on October 22, put an end to the Turkish offensive against the Syrian Kurds, brought northeast Syria back under the control of Damascus and guaranteed protection of Turkey's national security interests.

The Turkish-Syrian border is currently split into four stretches specified below in geographical order from east to west.

Comment: Russia can and should be proud of its achievements in Syria. The goals set by Putin, decisively defeating the jihadist terror threat, preserving the integrity of Syria as a country, and stabilizing the duly-elected government of its people, have been met. Further, Russia had demonstrated its commitment to being a partner, not a conqueror for all the world to see. The U.S. does not measure up well by comparison.

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Light Saber

Taking the gloves off: Trump accuses Obama of treason for 'spying' on his 2016 campaign

Paul Bedard
Washington Examiner
Fri, 25 Oct 2019 16:38 UTC
trump Doug Wead book
© Official White House Photo/Tia Dufour/Courtesy Doug Wead
President Trump (seated) meets with Doug Wead in the Oval Office of the White House. Wead provided the photo to Secrets.
President Trump has ratcheted up his claim that the Obama White House spied on his 2016 campaign, charging in a new book that it was a "treasonous" act by the former Democratic president.

"What they did was treasonous, OK? It was treasonous," he told author Doug Wead for his upcoming book, Inside Trump's White House: The Real Story of His Presidency.

"The interesting thing out of all of this is that we caught them spying on the election. They were spying on my campaign. So you know? What is that all about?" said Trump.

"I have never ever said this, but truth is, they got caught spying. They were spying," said Trump who then added, "Obama."

Comment:

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Snakes in Suits

EU delays Brexit extension decision as France pressures MPs ahead of Bojo's demand for a general election

Daniel Boffey
The Guardian
Thu, 24 Oct 2019 16:09 UTC
Michel Barnier
© Johanna Geron/Reuters
Michel Barnier talks to the media after the meeting of ambassadors in Brussels.
The EU will delay its decision on the length of the Brexit extension until next Monday or Tuesday after France piled pressure on MPs ahead of a vote on Boris Johnson's demand for a pre-Christmas general election.

During a meeting of EU diplomats, the French ambassador stood alone in arguing that it was not the right time to agree a three-month delay, in a move that will be welcomed in Downing Street.

Only after the vote on Monday should the EU decide to "go short, to push for ratification, or long to accommodate a general election", the ambassador told the other member states, according to a diplomatic note.

Comment: Is it any wonder most British voters think violence against MPs is 'price worth paying' over Brexit ?

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Pirates

Pirates of the Mediterranean: Russian military releases satellite images PROVING the US govt is plundering Syrian oil


Sputnik
Sat, 26 Oct 2019 10:20 UTC
satellite US smuggling oil
© Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
The Russian Defense Ministry published satellite intelligence images proving that oil from Syria was sent abroad under the guard of US servicemen before and after the defeat of the Daesh terrorists, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Saturday.

The ministry said that "the space intelligence images showed that oil was actively extracted and massively exported for processing outside Syria, under the reliable protection of US troops, before and after the defeat of the Daesh* terrorists."

Comment: More of Konashenkov's statement:
"What Washington does now - the capture and holding under its armed control of oil fields in Eastern Syria is, simply speaking, an international state banditism," he said, adding that Syrian oil reserves and other mineral resources belong solely to the Syrian Arab Republic, not to Daesh terrorists or to "American protectors from Daesh terrorists""Neither international law, nor the American legislation itself can justify the US troops' goal to guard Syrian hydrocarbon reserves from Syria itself and its people," the statement reads.
...
The oil was smuggled in tanker truck convoys, guarded both by US servicemen and the mercenaries of private military contractors (PMCs), the ministry spokesman said.

"Meanwhile, Washington imposed sanctions on shipping hydrocarbons to Syria, which spans not only US companies, but everyone else," the statement says.

Despite that, oil extraction is being conducted using equipment provided by "leading Amercian corporations", Konashenkov said.
...
According to the statement, oil extraction was conducted by a US-controlled company, created under the so-called "Autonomous Administration of East Syria".

The smuggling revenue went through intermediary companies to US intelligence agency and PMC bank accounts, he said.

"Considering one barrel of Syrian oil costs $38, the monthly revenue of this 'private enterprise' of US intelligence agencies is more than $30 million," the statement reads. "For such a constant flow of cash, free of state control and taxes, Pentagon and Langley management will be ready to guard Syrian oil wells from 'hidden Daesh cells' indefinitely."
In the Americans' credit, they're not hiding it anymore. Trump said they would 'secure the oil', and they have since threatened to shoot anyone coming near their oil-smuggling operations.

We're a long way from humanitarian interventions now, eh?

This is not the first time the Russians have released damning photographic evidence in the course of the Syrian war at important junctures. Here are a couple of reminders:

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Bizarro Earth

European army in Syria? Germany and Denmark propose sending 35,000 troops


Sputnik
Thu, 24 Oct 2019 08:42 UTC
denmark
© AP Photo / Rene Schutze/Polfoto
Earlier this week, Germany's ruling party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), proposed sending a joint European army of 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers to set up a security zone in Syria.

The Danish government is open to supporting Germany's idea and sending European soldiers to Syria to secure peace at the border with Turkey, Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has stated.

"There is a long way from this talk to making an actual decision, and of course we will engage in dialogue with our allies both in Europe and in particular in NATO, but the idea that Europe should play a more active role seems basically good, maybe even necessary, too", Mette Frederiksen said, as quoted by TV2.


Comment: No mention of 'engaging in dialogue' with Syria whose territory they would be violating.


Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Surprise! US to send troops and machinery to guard Syrian oil interests - after having vowed to 'withdraw'


RT
Fri, 25 Oct 2019 18:48 UTC
US Troops in Syria
© Reuters / Bob Strong
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has confirmed that US troops are being relocated to Syria's oil regions and more "mechanized forces" are coming, despite previous pledges to pull out.

Just weeks ago, President Donald Trump pompously declared it was "time to bring our soldiers back home" as he announced that American forces would withdraw from Syria in the face of the then-looming Turkish offensive targeting Kurdish-led militias - Washington's long-time allies in the fight against Islamic State (IS, former ISIS/ISIL) terrorists.

Then, he suddenly changed his mind and said that certain troops will stay, supposedly to prevent the Syrian oil fields falling into the hands of potentially resurgent terrorists that escaped Kurdish prisons in the turmoil accompanying the Turkish operation.

Now it turns out that the US will send even more troops to the area, to ensure that the oil is "totally secure." On Friday, Esper told other NATO defense ministers in Brussels that the US is "taking some actions ... to strengthen our position at Deir Ezzor, to ensure that we can deny ISIS access to the oil fields."


Comment: How about deny the Syrian and government of their own oil fields?


Comment: Well we knew that a real withdrawal couldn't be allowed to occur by the Pentagonians. No doubt someone whispered something in Trump's ear that would compel him to go along with this reversal. And it couldn't have anything to do with Israel's going into hysterical fits and apoplexy at the mere idea of Syria being a sovereign country without US forces in it to sabotage progress. No way.

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Top Secret

Impeachment wars: Democrats threaten GOP with ethics charges after crashing Schiffty's secret proceeding

Jack Phillips
The Epoch Times
Wed, 23 Oct 2019 19:27 UTC
Republicans schiff secret hearing storm
© Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) speaks during a press conference alongside House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Oct. 23, 2019.
After about two dozen House Republicans entered a closed-door impeachment proceeding on Wednesday, House Democrats threatened Republican lawmakers with rarely used ethics violations.

The Republicans wanted access to the meeting with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper. According to the Washington Examiner, they argued that Cooper is under the jurisdiction of the House Armed Services panel.

"Now we are being threatened with ethics violations," Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, told the news outlet. "We, as sitting members of Congress, with jurisdiction over the witness, and over military aid, are being threatened."

The House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees were designated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to head the inquiry into impeaching President Trump.

Comment: Republicans took to social media to justify the move:


Observers were upset at a secure room being breached although partisan digs were in evidence:


More comment:





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Briefcase

DOJ to begin criminal probe into 'Russiagate' investigation


RT
Fri, 25 Oct 2019 00:42 UTC
AG Barr
© Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein
Attorney General William Barr
The US Department of Justice has reportedly moved to launch a criminal inquiry into the roots of the 'Russiagate' probe, which fizzled after failing to uncover any damning evidence of collusion between the US president and Moscow.

A months-long review launched by Attorney General William Barr into the origins of the ill-fated Russia investigation, repeatedly denounced by US President Donald Trump as a "hoax" and a "witch hunt," has been transformed to a criminal inquiry, multiple media outlets reported late Thursday, citing US officials.

The move, if confirmed, would give DOJ officials more leverage in conducting the ever-expanding investigation, such as issuing subpoenas to prospective witnesses and filing criminal charges. It's yet unclear if the grand jury had been convened in the case, a source told Reuters.

Comment: See also:

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