Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 05 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

Stop

Trump came this close to getting Afghanistan right, but then the establishment intervened

Daniel L. Davis
The American Conservative
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
TrumpMattis
© DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr
President Trump departs from the Pentagon alongside Secretary of Defense Mattis.
In a routine dating back to 2004, U.S. officials regularly claim that the latest strategy in Afghanistan is working - or as General David Petraeus said in 2012, the war had "turned a corner." It hadn't and it still hasn't. In fact, evidence overwhelmingly affirms that the newest "new" strategy will be no more effective than those that came before it. It is time to stop losing U.S. lives while pretending that victory is just around the corner. It is time to end the war in Afghanistan.

Last week, one of the most brazen insider attacks of the war took place in Kandahar when one of the Afghanistan governor's bodyguards turned rogue, killing three high-profile Afghan leaders and wounding the senior U.S. field commander, Brigadier General Jeffrey Smiley. Miraculously, the new commander, General Scott Miller, escaped harm. But in 2018, eight Americans have been killed in Afghanistan, bringing the American death toll to 2,351.

On October 7, 2001, President George W. Bush addressed the nation as combat operations in Afghanistan began. He emphasized that the American "mission is defined. The objectives are clear. [Our] goal is just." Those objectives, he explained, were "targeted actions" that were "designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime."

By the summer of 2002, those objectives were fully met as the Taliban organization was wholly destroyed and al-Qaeda severely degraded. As of 2009, there were reportedly as few as 100 stragglers scattered impotently throughout Afghanistan. The military mission should therefore have ended and combat forces redeployed.

Instead Bush, and later Obama, transitioned the military mission - without consultation from Congress - into a nation-building effort that was doomed from the start. Candidate Donald Trump spoke of a different approach to the Middle East and railed against nation-building abroad. His instincts on Afghanistan have been consistent and correct from very early on. Had it not been for the relentless pressure of several key officials, the war might already have come to end.

Comment: From day one of Trump's presidency, the number of 'what ifs' are many. His instincts are better than he has been allowed to effect. In his favor: the outlandish aspects of current circumstances make many things obvious to those who see. Some important changes are occurring and it is not just the weather.
See also:

      Read More...
Better Earth

US is coordinating with NATO allies on exiting INF Treaty

Ivan Pentchoukov
The Epoch Times
Sun, 28 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
jamesMattis
© EPA
Defense Secretary James Mattis
The United States is coordinating with European allies on its exit from a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, according to Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Mattis told reporters in Prague on Oct. 28 that the United States is consulting with NATO defense ministers as it negotiates an off-ramp from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia.

The treaty, signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, prohibits the possession and testing of short- and mid-range ground-launched ballistic missiles. President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 20 that the United States is withdrawing from the treaty. Washington hasn't yet served a formal notice.

"We are in consultations with our European counterparts," Mattis said. "I was speaking about it the day before with the German defense minister, and so, as I said, the consultations continue." As part of a brief visit to Prague, Mattis was expected to meet with the Czech defense minister, as well as Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

Mattis expected the conversations about the INF to culminate in December, when NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels.

Comment: The US unilaterally withdrawing from the framework treaty that ended the Cold War is hardly being talked about in the US mainstream, but Russians are watching closely:


See also:

      Read More...
Attention

Merkel fields another election setback in key German state of Hesse

Josie Le Blond
The Guardian
Sun, 28 Oct 2018 15:13 UTC
Greens supporters
© Ronald Wittek/EPA
Greens supporters react to exit polls in Wiesbaden, Germany. The party doubled its share of the vote to 19.5%.
Voters abandon country's ruling parties in droves as Greens and AfD make gains.

Germany's ruling parties are reeling from their second electoral upset in a fortnight, after voters in a key state abandoned them in droves. The result in the central state of Hesse could plunge both parties of Angela Merkel's coalition government into renewed crises.

Early results from a regional election seen as decisive for the future of Germany's increasingly wobbly coalition showed Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) slumping to 28%, the party's worst showing in the state since 1966 and a drop of 10 percentage points since Hesse last went to the polls in 2013.

Yet the CDU was at pains to present the result as a success. If the result stands, the state's CDU-Green coalition could scrape a majority, putting an end to speculation over the future of the CDU state premier and close Merkel ally, Volker Bouffier. With tensions running high in the CDU, some members have implied that if Bouffier falls, Merkel may struggle when she stands for re-election as party leader at its conference in December.

But Merkel has other reasons to worry about the result. Exit polls showed her coalition partner in Berlin, the Social Democrats (SPD), tanking to 20% in a dead heat with the resurgent Green party for second place.

Comment: Discontent with Merkel has been building and perhaps Germany is ready for a change.

      Read More...
Attention

Trump to migrant caravan: 'This is an invasion, our military is waiting for you'


RT
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 14:54 UTC
Aerial view marchers
© Unknown
Aerial view of march to USA.
As a thousands-strong 'caravan' of Central American migrants makes its way to the US border, President Trump warned the migrants to turn back, and promised them "our military is waiting for you" at the border.

"Many gang members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border," Trump tweeted on Monday, before addressing the migrants directly: "Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!"

Trump's tweet comes as the Pentagon reportedly prepares to deploy some 5,000 troops to the border, where they will bolster the existing National Guard and Customs and Border Patrol presence there.

It also comes one day after Defense Secretary James Mattis announced that the military has already begun moving equipment, including concrete barriers, to positions along the US' 2,000 mile border with Mexico.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Star of David

IDF kill three Palestinian teens in Gaza border airstrike


Sputnik
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 02:57 UTC
Gaza
© AP/Anja Niedringhaus
Earlier reports from Israeli Defense Force statements claimed the dead were three terrorists planting explosives on the border fence.

Three people killed in an Israeli aerial strike at the Gaza border have been revealed as being three teenage boys, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. According to Gazan health officials, reported by Reuters, two of the boys were aged 13, and one was 14.

This confirms an earlier report by Palestine Red Crescent Society spokesman Erab Fuqaha, who told Sputnik on Sunday that they had retrieved the bodies of three Palestinian teenagers from the border area.

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli IDF released a statement saying that the trio were terrorists trying to break a border fence or plant explosives.

"Three Palestinians approached the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip. They attempted to damage it, while apparently trying to plant an explosive device nearby," the IDF statement declared.

An aerial vehicle opened fire in their direction, killing all three.

Comment: Here is the latest assault on Gaza: Israel launches 'retaliatory' airstrikes against Gaza (again)

See also:

      Read More...
Arrow Up

Michael D. Higgins re-elected as President of Ireland in a landslide win

Denise Calnan, Catherine Devine
News Presidential Election
Sun, 28 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
Michael D Higgins
© Unknown
Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins
Micheal D Higgins has been re-elected as President of Ireland.

Sitting comfortably on top of the polls since the campaign began, the incumbent sailed through to a win on the first count with 822,566 first preference votes or 55.8 per cent of total valid votes. During an impassioned acceptance speech, President Higgins said: "People have made a choice as to which version of Irishness they prefer... I will be a President for all of the people."

Businessman Peter Casey, who struggled at just 2pc in the polls last week, soared into second place with 342,727 votes (23.3pc). Sean Gallagher, who came second in his 2011 bid, achieved just 94,514 votes, coming in third with 6.41pc.
Higgins, Wife, Casey
© Screenshot Kyran O'Bryan/Mark Condren
President Higgins and wife Sabina • Peter Casey
Liadh Ni Riada came fourth, with 93,987 votes (6.37pc). Joan Freeman earned just 87,908 votes (6.0pc), while Gavin Duffy failed to make an impression on the electorate and gained just 32,198 votes (2.2pc).

In the Presidential Election, there were a total of 1,473,900 valid votes.

Michael D Higgins used his re-election speech to call for an end to the "scourge of violence against women". The President promised to represent everybody in the country, regardless of whether they voted for him or not.

And in a thinly veiled reference to the debate about the Traveller community which dominated the campaign, Mr Higgins said: "Words matter. Words can hurt. Words can heal. Words can empower. Words can divide." He promised to identify those facing exclusion in society, which he said was
"more than just eliminating barriers, it means the exercising of new initiations. A real Republic is a Republic of equality, of shared vulnerabilities and of collective capacities. A real Republic is one where every person is encouraged and supported to participate fully and where every person and community is treated with dignity and respect."
The 77-year-old received the largest ever mandate in the history of the State, albeit from the lowest ever turnout in a presidential election. He received 822,566 votes, amounting to 55.8pc of the vote.
      Read More...
Arrow Up

Landslide: Amidst mass protests, right-wing Bolsonaro wins Brazilian election run-off


RT
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 01:51 UTC
Jair Bolsonaro
© Reuters/Amanda Perobelli.
Jair Bolsonaro, right-wing lawmaker and presidential candidate of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) has won Brazil's presidential elections.
Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing candidate from Brazil's Social Liberal Party (PSL), has won the presidential election run-off, beating Fernando Haddad of the Workers' Party after a campaign riddled with controversy.

With 99 percent of the ballots counted, Bolsonaro, dubbed "Tropical Trump" for his populist rhetoric, is ahead with 55.1 percent of the vote. His main opponent, left-leaning Haddad, is trailing with 44.9 percent.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has become a polarizing figure in Brazil because of his anti-LGBT, sexist and racist remarks. He has represented the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil's congress since 1991.


Comment: See also:
Brazil swings right, elects right-wing nationalist Jair Bolsonaro as president

      Read More...
Attention

Another suspicious package discovered at Atlanta mailing facility bound for CNN headquarters


RT
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 14:58 UTC
CNN NYC
© Nancy Kaszerman/Global Look Press
Police presence seen outside the Time Warner Building where news station CNN is located in New York.
A package addressed to CNN headquarters in Atlanta has been seized at a mailing facility after raising suspicions. It's unclear if it is related to mail bombs sent to the news outlet and several politicians last week.


Comment: Activities of a copycat? Or is Sayoc a patsy?
See also:

      Read More...
Windsock

Trade between Russia and Germany up by almost 25 percent


RT
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 09:56 UTC
Germany
© Global Look Press / Jens Kalaene
The volume of trade between Russia and Germany has been growing and reached US$39 billion in the first eight months of 2018, according to documents prepared by the Kremlin's press service.

"In January-August 2018, Russian-German trade increased by 24 percent (adding $7.5 billion) compared with the same period in 2017," the document says, detailing that "Russian exports to Germany rose by 35 percent to $22.1 billion, while imports grew by 12 percent to $16.9 billion."

The official numbers show that last year, trade turnover between the two countries was $50 billion.

German firms continue investing in the Russian economy despite facing barriers from economic sanctions against Russia. The total amount of accumulated German investments in Russia currently exceeds $18 billion, while Russian investments in Germany stand at $8.1 billion.
      Read More...
Dollar

Cuba planning to purchase $50mln in Russian arms

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 16:15 UTC
cuban army women
© Fort Russ News
Cuba has begun to escalate its militarization, as regional developments indicate continual U.S backed destabilization. To counter this threat, Russia will lend Cuba more than $50 million for purchases of Russian military equipment, the Russian daily Kommersant reported, citing two sources in the area of ​​technical and military cooperation of the two countries.

According to sources, the respective agreements will be signed during the 16th Intergovernmental Committee on Economy, Trade and Technical-Scientific Cooperation to be held in Havana on October 29 and 30. However, neither Russia nor Cuba confirmed the reports.

"Together with this agreement, a set of general economic documents and agreements initiated by Russia's finance ministry will be signed, but with other values," a source familiar with the negotiations said.

Cuba may use the resources to acquire armored vehicles and helicopters. "Separately, spare parts, tools and equipment for previously purchased vehicles, such as T-62 tanks or APC-60 armored vehicles, should be purchased," the source said.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts