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Salisbury saga continues: To trust the Met, or not to trust the Met, that is the question

Rob Slane
The Blogmire
Fri, 12 Oct 2018 20:33 UTC
metro police
I was listening to a podcast a while ago about what constitutes a successful business, and the guy being interviewed said that every business problem is essentially a trust problem. If people don't believe that a product or service is reliable and that they can trust it, they won't buy it, or if they do, they won't come back. And so one of the major goals of every company should be to create conditions where customers and potential customers really can trust that the product or service does what it says it does.

Amongst other things, he identified clarity and competence as being key. If a business can't be clear on what it does and what it can offer, it will not be successful. If a company cannot demonstrate ongoing competence, again it will not achieve success.

What goes for a company actually goes for any organisation, and I am reminded of this when I think of the Metropolitan Police's investigation into what happened in Salisbury on 4th March 2018. As a taxpayer, and indeed a concerned citizen of Salisbury and Britain, I want to be able to trust The Met in what it is doing. I want to have a high regard for this organisation, but to do so requires clarity and competence on their part. But unfortunately, over the last few months we have been presented with the exact opposite - ambiguity and incompetence.
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Arrow Down

The 'Sun King's' arrogance? Poll: Two-thirds of French disapprove of Macron's statements - usurping job of government communications team


Sputnik
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 20:51 UTC
Macron UN
© Associated Press / Richard Drew
France's President Emmanuel Macron addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018.
Sixty-four percent of the French disapprove of President Emmanuel Macron's controversial statements and believe he is doing too much of what the communications team should be doing, a poll showed Thursday.

At the same time, 35 percent of the French think that the president is "right to make these controversial statements as by making them he can advance ideas and projects he is promoting," Odoxa poll said.

In June last year, 37 percent of the French believed that Macron was veering too far into the domain of the communications team, which "is not his role as the president," while 62 percent thought he was right to make controversial statements.
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Bad Guys

Russia expanding to Lebanon as Israel trains with F-35s to counter S-300

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Tue, 09 Oct 2018 20:13 UTC
f-35 jet
The Israeli Air Force is conducting intensive manoeuvres with its F-35 Adirs along with F-16s over Lebanese airspace to counter the threat posed by the three battalion sets of S-300PM missiles systems delivered by Moscow to Damascus so that Tel Aviv can resume its bombing of targets in Syria. Despite the lack of available data on S-300 efficiency, the presence of these missiles represents a danger to the Israeli Air Force and its violation of Lebanese and Syrian airspace. It is clear that Israel will not cease testing Syrian patience, violating the country's airspace using the excuse of "protecting its own national security".

Informed sources said: "Tel Aviv and Moscow have never ceased their regular coordination to monitor and avoid air incidents over the Levant. The downing of the Russian IL-20 and the death of all its 15 crewmen forced Israel to communicate its belligerent intentions much ahead of time to Russia, to put its jets and personnel in safety. Indeed, it was the downing of the IL-20 that speeded up Russia's delivery of the long-awaited S-300 to Syria.

Although Russia possesses high-frequency VHF, tracking systems and radar capable of detecting the F-35 and making it visible, it is another matter to shoot it down with the S-300. Russia's answer to this theory? "Let the Israelis test our system and we shall see the results".

Comment: Too bad the F-35 is a complete waste of money: In wake of South Carolina crash, US, UK and Israeli military ground entire fleet of F-35 fighter jets. Israel is in a tough spot. Do they send their F-35s to test the S-300? Would they risk exposing just how worthless the jets are? They can't do nothing... So here's hoping for another great display of blustering Israeli incompetence. It's just what the world needs right about now.

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Brick Wall

Saudi political and business isolation grows over Khashoggi disappearance

Martin Chulov, Patrick Wintour and Bethan McKernan
The Guardian
Sat, 13 Oct 2018 19:53 UTC
Saudi consulate Instanbul
© Yasin Akgül/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The shadow of a security guard is seen on the entrance door of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Business elites withdraw from summit as Turkish officials claim to have consulate tapes

Saudi Arabia has found itself further isolated over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after the business world turned its back on a high-profile investment conference in the kingdom and US officials claimed audio and video recordings had captured the moment the journalist was murdered in Istanbul.

The Future Investment Initiative conference, to be held in Riyadh later this month, was rapidly turning into a fiasco on Friday after most media partners and several top business allies pulled out. More were expected to follow. All said they had been disturbed by the circumstances of Khashoggi's disappearance from the Saudi consulate in Turkey and the lack of credible responses.

Comment:

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Fire

US coalition strikes Syrian town using banned white phosphorus (again)


Sputnik
Sat, 13 Oct 2018 12:44 UTC
jet fly
© AP Photo / Vadim Ghirda
The reported strikes are not the first time that the US-led coalition has been accused of using the banned munitions in recent weeks. Last month, the Russian military reported that US strikes using white phosphorus had resulted in major fires and civilian casualties in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ez-Zor.

The strikes, taking place Saturday across multiple districts in the town of Hajin, Deir Ez-Zor province, included the use of white phosphorus, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) has reported, citing local sources.

The agency did not provide any immediate information about possible civilian casualties.

Comment: International law has never stopped the West before: Yuri Shvytkin, deputy chair of the Russian parliament's lower house's defense committee, told Sputnik that if confirmed, this attack must be investigated by the UNSC and OPCW:
"First of all, the authenticity of the information has to be reverified. If it is confirmed, then without a doubt, a relevant request has to be immediately submitted to the the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) when the information is obtained so that a relevant internal investigation is conducted; the issue must be brought to the attention of the UN Security Council," Yuri Shvytkin, deputy chair of the Russian parliament's lower house's defense committee told Sputnik on Saturday.

In turn, Alexei Kondratyev, deputy chair of the Russian upper house's defense committee, told Sputnik that if the United States used banned weapons, it must be held accountable.

"White phosphorus is prohibited by international law, especially in settlements where civilians may be affected. If these data is confirmed, the United States must be held accountable for this," Kondratyev said.

He also stressed that the incident requires international investigation.

In addition, a member of the Russian parliament's upper house's defense committee, Frants Klintsevich, said that the OPCW should look into reports on the incident as soon as possible.

"Of course, I do not call on the OPCW to accuse the international coalition led by the United States of the use of white phosphorus in Syria only citing SANA's reports. This fact needs to be verified, which is what this organization should do immediately," he wrote on Facebook.

Klintsevich also noted that the fact that the OPCW had not yet commented on the reports yet might mean that the organization was politicized.


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Handcuffs

Trump insists Turkey released pastor Brunson without any US 'deal'


RT
Fri, 12 Oct 2018 20:00 UTC
Andrew Brunson
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
Pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife Norrine arrive at the Izmir airport, October 12, 2018.
No deal was struck between Washington and Ankara for releasing pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkish prison, US President Donald Trump said. The freed cleric is en route to the US and will visit the Oval Office upon arrival.

"We got him out," Trump told reporters upon his arrival to Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday, where he is scheduled to speak at a rally. "I hear he's in very good shape," he added.

"There was no deal at all. No deal," Trump replied when asked if his administration offered to remove some sanctions from Turkey in exchange for Ankara letting the pastor go.



Comment: Despite Trump's claim, there's probably a lot that went on behind the scenes. Brunson (and his wife) have both been tied to the CIA, and there have been Turkish reports of much intrigue regarding his detention.

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Video

Turks say they have audio and video recordings supporting the conclusion Khashoggi was murdered

Shane Harris, Souad Mekhennet
Washington Post
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 07:36 UTC
Khashoggi group
© Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman and Egyptian opposition politician Ayman Nour (left) hold pictures of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a demonstration in front of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on Monday.
The Turkish government has told U.S. officials that it has audio and video recordings that prove Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul this month, according to U.S. and Turkish officials.

The recordings show that a Saudi security team detained Khashoggi in the consulate after he walked in Oct. 2 to obtain an official document before his upcoming wedding, then killed him and dismembered his body, the officials said.

The audio recording in particular provides some of the most persuasive and gruesome evidence that the Saudi team is responsible for Khashoggi's death, the officials said.

"The voice recording from inside the embassy lays out what happened to Jamal after he entered," said one person with knowledge of the recording who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss highly sensitive intelligence.

"You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic," this person said. "You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered."

A second person briefed on the recording said men could be heard beating Khashoggi.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Trump vows 'severe punishment' should Saudi Arabia be behind killing of WaPo journalist Khashoggi


RT
Sat, 13 Oct 2018 12:30 UTC
Trump, MbS
© Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia will face "severe punishment" if it ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, US President Donald Trump has warned.
"There's a lot at stake, and maybe especially so because this man was a reporter. There's something really terrible and disgusting about that if that were the case...we're going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment,"
Trump said during an interview with the CBS program 60 Minutes on Friday.

However, Trump stressed that even if the journalist was killed at the hands of Riyadh
President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman he still wouldn't end the arms deal between the two countries.

"They are ordering military equipment; everybody in the world wanted that order. Russia wanted it, China wanted it, we wanted it - we got it. And we got all of it, every bit of it."

He went on to say that he doesn't want to "lose an order" or hurt jobs, and that there are "other ways of punishing" Riyadh if needed.

Comment: Turkey reported evidence of the murder from Khashoggi's Apple Watch synched with his iPhone in his fiancee's possession...an interesting development but is it true? As far as Trump issuing 'punishment' to Saudi royals...to what level and type of retaliation remains to be seen. We can bet it won't involve money.

See also:
Does murder of journalist Khashoggi spell the end for Mohammad bin Salman?

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Chess

A look at the Syrian chess board

Conn Halinan
Antiwar.com
Fri, 12 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
Syrian troops
© Mikhail Alaeddin/Sputnik
The Syrian civil war has always been devilishly complex, with multiple actors following different scripts, but in the past few months it appeared to be winding down.

The Damascus government now controls 60 percent of the country and the major population centers, the Islamic State has been routed, and the rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are largely cornered in Idilb Province in the country's northwest. But suddenly the Americans moved the goal posts and - maybe - the Russians have fallen out with the Israelis, the Iranians are digging in their heels, and the Turks are trying to multitask with a home front in disarray.

So the devil is still very much at work in a war that's lasted more than seven years, claimed up to 500,000 lives, displaced millions of people, destabilized an already fragile Middle East, and is far from over.

There are at least three theaters in the Syrian war, each with its own complexities: Idilb in the north, the territory east of the Euphrates River, and the region that abuts the southern section of the Golan Heights.

Comment: Participating countries, in shake-ups and re-scrambles, are jockeying for position and advantage. The Syrians are straight-forward in their wants and needs. Foreign interests are much more complex. Not mentioned are the rebel factions and false flag plays that may still have an influence over the Syrian outcome.

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Snakes in Suits

Trudeau: Ottawa concerned with Khashoggi's fate but it won't stop arms sales to Saudis


RT
Sat, 13 Oct 2018 15:18 UTC
Canadian Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV)
© John D McHugh/AFP
Canadian Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV)
Ottawa will keep its $15bn arms deal with Riyadh despite concerns over Saudi involvement in the disappearance of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the diplomatic row over human rights, Prime Minister Trudeau said.

"We respected that contract," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Friday, adding that his cabinet has put forward measures to make the arms sales more transparent. "We are making sure Canadians' expectations and laws are always being followed," he said.

The contract was signed in 2014 by the previous conservative government, and has since been upheld by Trudeau. The specifics of the sales were originally not disclosed by the parties.

According to documents obtained by CBC News last month, a Canadian company is to ship 742 LAV-6 light armored vehicles to Riyadh. The same outlet revealed in March that hundreds of the LAV-6s will be outfitted as "heavy assault" and "anti-tank" types.

Comment: The fate of one individual, as well as the fates of hundreds of thousands, pale in the shadow of arms sales - albeit prior deals to capitalize on the means for murder and destruction.

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