Puppet Masters
US Defense Secretary James Mattis
This week saw more baseless allegations of Russian cyber attacks on American elections and British industries.
There were also crass claims by US officials that Russia was behind so-called sonic attacks on American diplomats in Cuba.
Then a Dutch foreign minister was forced to resign after he finally admitted telling lies for the past two years over alleged Russian plans for regional aggression.
Comment: Also See:
- MIT Professor eviscerates White Helmets 'evidence' of Syrian chemical weapons attack
- The Empire's horrifying plot to franchise the White Helmets psyop from South America to Asia
- The White Helmets: Channel 4, BBC, The Guardian are the architects of 'humanitarian war' supporting US regime change in Syria
- Eva Bartlett: How the MSM whitewashed al-Qaeda and White Helmets in Syria
- $200bn to reconstruct war-torn Syria: The US and its allies are responsible and should be charged for war crimes
- Assad visits Putin in Sochi, expresses heartfelt thanks to Russia for saving Syria
Ultimately, it's about American imperialism trying to assert hegemony over the international order for the benefit of US capitalism. Russia and China are prime targets for this global assault.
The three unfolding war scenarios are seen in Syria, North Korea and Ukraine. These are not disparate, disassociated conflicts. They are inter-related expressions of the American war plans. War plans which involve the moving of strategic military power into position.
Last week's massacre of over 100 Syrian government forces by American warplanes near Deir ez-Zor was an audacious overt assault by the US on the Syrian state. The US, along with other NATO allies, have been up to now waging a seven-year proxy war for regime change against Russia's ally, President Assad. The massacre last week was certainly not the first time that US forces, illegally present in Syria, have attacked the Syrian army. But it seems clearer than ever now that American forces are operating on the overt agenda for regime change. US troops are transparently acting like an occupation army, challenging Russia and its legally mandated support for the Syrian state.
Comment: As a general rule, you don't wage wars in more than one front at a time. Thus, the American strategy of global reach may collapse under its own weight. In the end, this is a game the US cannot win. Unfortunately, the Empire can still knock over the board in fury. It holds the 'big red button' and it can cause a catastrophe where we all lose. We live in dangerous times!
© Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
Before he'd even set foot on Korean soil, Pence had already started stirring up trouble by announcing "the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever". The announcement, that was made a day earlier in Tokyo, was clearly designed to exacerbate already strained relations and put a damper on any negotiations currently underway between North and South. The belligerent VP wanted to make sure that any attempts at rapprochement between Pyongyang and Soule would be swiftly thwarted by the Washington overlords. Far from an isolated incident, Pence's preemptive announcement follows a familiar pattern of heavy-handed intervention into Korea's domestic affairs that stretches back more than 6 decades with the aim of derailing any promising move towards national reconciliation or détente. The western media has done an impressive job in concealing Washington's malignant role in Korea's politics. By focusing on imaginary threats from the North, they have obfuscated the real source of the divisions, the distrust, and the hostility. Washington.
Comment: Mike Pence forgot his manners because he was upset at the possibility of peace breaking out in the Korean Peninsula. See:
Disastrous Winter Olympics For the USA, May Lose South Korea to Peace
© Alexey Filippov / Sputnik
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Ukraine was presented with same dilemma, Lavrov said, which "eventually led to a fracture in the Ukrainian society and state; caused an unconstitutional coup (in 2014) and the rise of radicals, including Neo-Nazis, in the internal political affairs of the country."
"Now they want to drag the Balkans into this same game, making them choose whether they are with the West or with Russia," he warned.
The EU's Balkan expansion plan foresees the inclusion of both Serbia and Montenegro into the bloc by 2025 if the countries meet certain conditions. Among other things, Belgrade is required to normalize relations with Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and bring its foreign policy into line with those of the EU.
© REUTERS/ Rodi Said
US soldiers stand near military vehicles, north of Raqqa city, Syria
US soldiers stand near military vehicles, north of Raqqa city, Syria
"Such fears arise when we get acquainted with the plans that the US is beginning to implement on the ground, primarily to the east of the Euphrates, on vast territories between this river and the border with Syria with Iraq and Turkey."The Russian top diplomat urged Washington not to "play with fire" in Syria and carefully consider its steps based "not on immediate needs of today's political situation, but rather from the long-term interests of the Syrian people and all the peoples of this region, including the Kurds," adding, "It seems to me that the statements of our American colleagues that the only purpose is to fight ISIL [Daesh] and preserve territorial integrity need to be confirmed by actions."
Comment: US must leave the area it controls in Southern Syria - Lavrov
US troops must immediately shut down their zone of control in Southern Syria in the area of Al-Tanf, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, speaking at Valdai Club conference on Middle East in Moscow.See also: Staffan de Mistura: Break-up of Syria may lead to 'Balkanization' of Middle East
The area on Syria's border with Jordan, which Washington designated as a "de-confliction zone" under its protection, hosts the Rukban refugee camp, Lavrov said on Monday. Russia believes the camp to be a recruiting ground for militant groups and blames the US for restricting humanitarian access to it.
"This zone must be shut down immediately. And deliveries of humanitarian aid must be allowed into the camp," the minister said.
Lavrov added that efforts aimed at reducing violence in south-western Syria, in an area that Russia designated as a "de-escalation zone," now must focus on pushing out all non-Syrian troops from that region.
"We negotiated the creation of this zone with Jordan and the US and it's not a secret that our Israeli colleagues were informed about what we discussed," he said. Israel accuses Iran of using proxy forces to seize control of parts of southern Syria, and has threatened to use military force to reverse the situation.
Hillary Clinton spent 53 times more money per month than Russians seeking to influence the 2016 presidential election.
As The Daily Caller's Amber Athey details, according to reports, the monthly Russian budget for the operation to meddle in the election was $1.2 million. As Peter Hamby pointed out on Twitter, Clinton and supporting PAC Priorities USA spent approximately $800 million in 2016.
Comment: Mueller's investigation implicated some trolls not the Russian government or its institutions after spending millions of dollars. Russian Collusion is myth and the deep state which supported Clinton "The Loser" would to like to peddle it to control Trump. See also:
- Analyzing Mueller's Russian indictments: No hint of Russian govt involvement, Trump cleared of collusion
- Mueller's investigation is a farce - Files joke indictment against Russian trolls
- Mueller indicts 13 Russians, 3 companies for trolling the US election, saying mean things about Killary
© Al Jazeera
Hugo Chavez, still bigger than life.
Hugo Chavez, still bigger than life.
Speaking at his alma mater, the University of Texas, on February 1, Secretary of State Tillerson suggested a potential military coup in the country. Tillerson then visited allied Latin American countries urging regime change and more economic sanctions on Venezuela. Tillerson is also reportedly considering banning the processing or sale of Venezuelan oil in the United States and is discouraging other countries from buying Venezuelan oil.
In a series of tweets, Senator Marco Rubio, the Republican from Florida, where many Venezuelan oligarchs live, openly called for a military coup in Venezuela. "The world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator," the former presidential candidate tweeted.
How absurd - remove an elected president with a military coup to restore democracy? Does that pass the straight face test? This refrain of Rubio and Tillerson seems to be the nonsensical public position of U.S. policy.
Comment: The US has competition if it wants to up its game in Venezuela. By default, Venezuela may experience the US playbook: 'to save the country we must destroy it' (think Libya, Donbas, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria....). If a choice, the other approach is from OBOR to 'join prosperity and walk with us'. There seems to be no safe option to go it alone. Venezuela has the right to figure it out for itself.
See also: China's OBOR threatens US in Latin America
© Ohanian
Mueller's Shill Game
Mueller's Shill Game
"There are two groups that have created chaos more than the Russians and that's the Democrats and the mainstream media," Gidley told the show Fox and Friends on Saturday. Gidley said the two groups spread false stories and narratives about supposed collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. "[They] continued to push this lie on the American people for more than a year, and frankly Americans should be outraged by that."
Gidley's statements come amid news that Mueller's investigation led to the indictment of 13 Russians and three Russian entities on Friday for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. The Russians supposedly bought ads, staged rallies and worked with grassroots campaigns. However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a press conference that "there is no allegation in the indictment that it had any effect on the outcome of the election."
© Quartz/KJN
Setting his sights on 2020
Setting his sights on 2020
Huddled in his newly opened office steps from the U.S. Capitol, Biden began a planning meeting for his new diplomacy center by addressing the elephant in the room. He said he was keeping his 2020 options open, considering it a real possibility. He insisted he had made no decision, and didn't need to yet, according to five people who either attended the meeting or were briefed on it by those who did.
Biden also expressed interest in bringing those in the room onto his team if he decides to launch a campaign. At the same time, he gave them an out: There would be no hard feelings if they decided they were content in their current roles outside of government, said the people, who demanded anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
The political world has long tried to game out Biden's plans for 2020. After all, he came close to running last time only to see President Donald Trump pull off a victory that many Democrats openly suggest wouldn't have happened had he, not Hillary Clinton, been their nominee. Several people came away from the meeting with the impression that if no strong Democratic candidate emerges in the next year or so, Biden would feel strongly compelled to run.
A presidential candidate twice before, Biden would be 78 on Inauguration Day if elected in 2020, a concerning prospect for some Democrats even though he's only a few years older than Trump. One possibility that Biden's longtime advisers have discussed privately is that he could announce his intention to serve only one term, clearing the path for his running mate to take over in 2024 and potentially setting up Democrats for a 12-year White House stretch.
Comment: What Biden didn't say was to what degree the 2016 election criminality and defamation has decimated the Democratic Party and his own culpability as a shadow co-conspirator in the eyes of the public. As the swamp drains, so may his support.
Comment: Indeed, this is recyled news presented as the 'shocking' conclusion of the investigation. See:
In the Absence of Evidence of Russian Collusion and 'Hacking', Congress Makes It Up
where we find jewels attributed to Russian trolls such as: