Puppet Masters

US permits 3 NATO allies use Russian SAMs, but goes nuts over Turkey's S-400 deal

RT
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 13:31 UTC

For years, three NATO states have had no trouble using Russian air defense systems, but Turkey's S-400 deal is a special case as it's a risk to the US grip on Ankara and inflicts losses on its military industry, analysts told RT.

Not a single month passes without the United States unloading on Turkey, which seems to stay on course buying the top-notch S-400 anti-aircraft systems. Washington has already put on hold F-35 deliveries to the Turkish Air Force and warned that carrying on with the deal could jeopardize Ankara's ties with the US and NATO.

Comment: As if the US/NATO didn't have a big hand in screwing that up already!

Following suit, some mainstream media rushed to explain how Turkey's industry will suffer if the S-400s reach Turkish soil. Others warned that having the F-35 and the S-400 within one military would compromise critical advantages of the fifth-generation fighter jet.

Military analysts who talked to RT said much of the fuss is about Ankara not bowing to Washington and NATO and pursuing its own interests.

Comment: See also:

US Army terminal missile defense system (THAAD) to be deployed in Eastern Europe, controlled by NATO

Jen Judson
Defense News
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC

© Leah Garton/U.S. Army
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor is launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, during a test on July 30, 2017.

So far only the Pacific region and, more recently, the Middle East have seen operational deployments of the U.S. Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, but now it's headed to Romania this summer, according to an April 11 U.S. European Command statement.

Questions have swirled for years on when, where and if THAAD would deploy to Europe, particularly as the situation on the eastern flank has heated up since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The THAAD system, according to the USEUCOM statement, will deploy this summer "in support of NATO Ballistic Missile Defense" - in other words, it's filling in for the operational Aegis Ashore missile defense system while it undergoes a "limited period of scheduled maintenance and updates."

The Aegis Ashore in Deveselu, Romania, has been operational since 2016. It is part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach, or EPAA, designed to defend U.S. troops and its allies in Europe against possible ballistic missile attacks.

Comment: From who? Russia?? Why the build-up unless the US foresees a conflict that it itself will start?

Kangaroo court: UK judge brands Julian Assange 'narcissist' in 15 min 'trial'

RT
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 13:30 UTC

The UK judge who found Julian Assange guilty of breaking his bail conditions in 2012 has called the whistleblower a "narcissist" and his behavior "shameful."

Inside the courtroom, District Judge Michael Snow branded the WikiLeaks founder a "narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest."

Just hours after his arrest by British police on Thursday morning, Assange was found guilty of failing to surrender to bail in 2012. Assange pleaded not guilty to the charge, with his lawyers arguing that he would never have received a fair trial if he had been extradited to Sweden on sexual assault charges and that he was therefore forced to seek asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy.

Comment: Of all the parties forming the UK government, only Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party has shown some spine in opposing Assange's potential ~~kidnapping~~ extradition. He continues to be a man of principle:

Leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has publicly opposed UK's possible extradition of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange to the US, saying he exposed evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hours following Assange's arrest in London on Thursday, Corbyn tweeted a video statement of Labour MP Diane Abbott, who argued in Parliament that WikiLeaks had "lifted the veil on US military operations in a variety of theaters, none of which have produced a favourable outcome for the people of those countries."

"Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security, he is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations and their military forces," said Abbott.

Proving its subservience to Israel, Congress circulates bills to curtail BDS while movement's founder is denied entry to the US

Allison Deger
Mondoweiss
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 13:13 UTC

On Wednesday the man regarded as the founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel (BDS), Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, headed to the airport outside of Tel Aviv intending to embark on a U.S. speaking tour and attend the wedding of a relative. Despite possessing a valid visa through 2021, he was prevented from boarding.

According to a statement released by the Arab American Institute (AAI), the group sponsoring his talks, Barghouti was told his travel block was due to an "immigration matter." Airline staff told him they had orders from the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv and and U.S. immigration services not to let him on the plane.

The denial sparks questions whether legislation circling on Capital Hill to curtail boycotts against Israel has come with a shadow policy to prevent its most vocal advocates from entering the country.

Comment:

Spineless MSM profited from Assange's work yet refuses to sound alarm over his arrest

RT
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 09:45 UTC

© Reuters / Henry Nicholls
Members of the media are reflected in a window of a police van as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen inside, after he was arrested in London.

The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is a severe blow to press freedom, but the mainstream media has no objections, despite never shying away from writing articles based on his publications, analysts told RT.

"What we're seeing right now is criminalization of journalism; the criminalization of publishing," analyst Patrick Henningsen said hours after the UK police forcibly removed Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

This "very unfortunate" development affects each and every journalist, but the "supine mainstream media isn't protesting what's going on," he added. The leading Western outlets are "in lockstep with the government of the US, the UK, Spain and others" and just don't see Assange as their colleague.

Tip of the iceberg: Top Obama WH lawyer charged with lying about collusion with Ukrainian government

Sean Davis
The Federalist
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 02:54 UTC

A federal grand jury on Thursday charged Greg Craig with conspiring to hide his paid collusion with a foreign government and lying about that work to federal officials. Craig, a high-powered Beltway lawyer, served as President Barack Obama's top White House lawyer during the former president's first year in office.

According to the formal indictment of Craig, which the Department of Justice released Thursday afternoon, the Democrat superlawyer "did unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully falsify, conceal, and cover up" his work on behalf of the Ukrainian government.

"The purpose of the scheme was for CRAIG to avoid registration as an agent of Ukraine," the indictment alleges. "Registration would require disclosure of the fact that" an unnamed Ukrainian had "paid CRAIG and the Law Firm more than $4 million[.]"

Comment: For those willing to look behind the soundbites, plenty of evidence of Ukrainian collusion with Democrats, and especially Killary and Slick Willy, can be found:

Long-time Sudanese leader arrested, army has seized power - defense minister

RFE/RL
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 20:34 UTC

sudan protesters president arrested april 2019

© Reuters
Sudanese antigovernment protesters cheer as they drive towards a military vehicle after Sudan's defense minister said that President Omar al-Bashir had been detained "in a safe place" and that a military council would run the country.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been ousted and arrested following nearly four months of protests against his 30-year rule, the defense minister says.

Speaking on state television on April 11, Awad Ibn Ouf said that Bashir had been detained "in a safe place" and that a military council will oversee a two-year transitional period followed by elections.

The announcement came as tens of thousands of people marched through the capital, Khartoum, some shouting that the "regime has fallen."

Comment: RT adds:

As thousands of protesters gathered for a sit-in outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, television and radio stations broadcast footage of military marches and patriotic music. People who took part in a protest vigil outside the army headquarters were chanting "[The government] has fallen. We won" as they awaited further news, according to Reuters.

The news agency also reports that troops raided the headquarters of the Islamic movement led by al-Bashir.

It is believed that a military-run transition body was established, but this is yet also to be confirmed. In the meantime, a Sudanese group that coordinated the protest demanded that power be handed over to a civilian - not military - interim entity.

The latest twist of the crisis in Sudan comes after clashes between anti-government activists and uniformed security forces over the past days.

In all, 49 people are said to have died in protest-related violence since demonstrations erupted over government plans to sharply increase the price of bread in December 2018.
© Reuters/Stringer
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against President Omar al-Bashir
President al-Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup carried out by the military on the heels of a 21-year civil war. In the mid-2000s, he faced allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity following a conflict in western region of Darfur.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant and a travel ban on al-Bashir. He also won consecutive polls in 2010 and 2015, but promised at the beginning of 2019 that he would not seek re-election once his term ended in 2020.

Interesting that the coup comes when the atmosphere in Sudan has been warming to Russia:

Facebook deletes accounts linked to India's Congress party, Pakistan military

Aditya Kalra, Saad Sayeed
Reuters
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 20:20 UTC

Facebook has deleted 712 accounts and 390 pages in India and Pakistan for "inauthentic behaviour", it said on Monday, many linked to India's opposition Congress party days before a national election, and others related to Pakistan's military.

Facebook has come under increasing pressure around the world to ensure its social media platform is not abused for political purposes or to spread misinformation.

The action against accounts with alleged links to Congress, the party led by the Gandhi family that has dominated Indian politics for much of its post-independence era, marks a bold move by Facebook.

The platform has more than 300 million users in India, where it has been a key political campaigning tool in the election - the largest democratic exercise in the world - starting on April 11.

Comment: Clearly, Facebook is on a worldwide censorship mission, and it's not exactly Mark Zuckerberg who is at the helm:

235 children perish in 'unbearable' Syrian refugee camp controlled by US allies - Russian MoD

RT
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 20:06 UTC

© Reuters/Issam Abdallah
People gather near the fence of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria March 8, 2019.

Up to 20 people die daily in a tent camp set up by US-backed forces in northern Syria due to an acute shortage of medicine and food, as well as an inability to escape the squalid conditions, the Russian military said.

The death toll has been skyrocketing in the makeshift Al-Hol camp since December, when it saw a massive influx of new arrivals fleeing the former Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) stronghold of Al-Baghuz Fawqani as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) mounted a large-scale offensive on the area.

The camp, which was initially supposed to house no more than 20,000 residents, has now become home to over 74,000 people, with its capacity long overstretched.

Comment: See also:

Trump believes Netanyahu's win is a boon to ME peace...fat chance!

RT
Wed, 10 Apr 2019 19:45 UTC

Just days after the Israeli Prime Minister vowed to annex new areas of the West Bank with American help, US President Donald Trump assured reporters that the PM's electoral victory is a step towards peace.

You heard that right. Benjamin "I Want To Annex Your Land" Netanyahu, after four terms in office, will suddenly turn the tides and seek peace with his Palestinian rivals, the president suggests.

"Everybody says you can't have peace in the Middle East, with Israel and the Palestinians," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I think we have a chance. I think we have now a better chance with Bibi having won," he said, using the PM's diminutive nickname.

Netanyahu won a narrow election Tuesday on a platform of outright hostility toward the Palestinians, promising to "extend sovereignty" over West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law. He said he would try to do that with American support.

Great job guys! 'We're looking at impending utopia." Sure. Provided you're stoked to live in a one room pod eating bug juice, after being vaxed...

Rowan Cocoan

A Fox News host (Lisa Booth) asking some of the right questions (nothing new if you're not new to the ranks of SOTTypes though). Her spiel begins...

Animanarchy

I've got a LOT of rope. Just let me know.

DeliciousTears

Brand new JP Sears video. Spiritual People Then vs Now: [Link]

Animanarchy

Well, if anyone would know a 'rigger', it's Obomber. The democratic party is filled with riggers, as the last 'election' amply demonstrated.......

Winston Smith

Puppet Masters

US permits 3 NATO allies use Russian SAMs, but goes nuts over Turkey's S-400 deal

US Army terminal missile defense system (THAAD) to be deployed in Eastern Europe, controlled by NATO

Kangaroo court: UK judge brands Julian Assange 'narcissist' in 15 min 'trial'

Proving its subservience to Israel, Congress circulates bills to curtail BDS while movement's founder is denied entry to the US

Spineless MSM profited from Assange's work yet refuses to sound alarm over his arrest

Tip of the iceberg: Top Obama WH lawyer charged with lying about collusion with Ukrainian government

Long-time Sudanese leader arrested, army has seized power - defense minister

Facebook deletes accounts linked to India's Congress party, Pakistan military

235 children perish in 'unbearable' Syrian refugee camp controlled by US allies - Russian MoD

Trump believes Netanyahu's win is a boon to ME peace...fat chance!

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us