When most people think of CIA sabotage, they think of coups, assassinations, proxy wars, armed rebel groups, and even false flags — not strategic stupidity and purposeful bureaucratic ineptitude. However, according to a declassified document from 1944, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which later became the CIA, used and trained a curious breed of "citizen-saboteurs" in occupied nations like Norway and France.

The World War II-era document, called Simple Sabotage Field Manual, outlines ways in which operatives can disrupt and demoralize enemy administrators and police forces. The first section of the document, which can be read in its entirety here, addresses "Organizations and Conferences" — and how to turn them into a "dysfunctional mess":

— Insist on doing everything through "channels." Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
— Make "speeches." Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your "points" by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.
— When possible, refer all matters to committees, for "further study and consideration." Attempt to make the committee as large as possible — never less than five.
— Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
— Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
— Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.
— Advocate "caution." Be "reasonable" and urge your fellow-conferees to be "reasonable" and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.

The so-called Syria opposition groups have begun talks in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in an effort to reach a common ground before potential negotiations with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said opposition groups from inside and outside Syria took part in the first round of the meetings on Wednesday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir opened the meeting and welcomed the delegates. He then left the closed-door meeting and the groups started the negotiations, which are expected to continue until Thursday.

Saudi Arabia invited 65 Syrian opposition figures to attend the meeting in Riyadh. Members of two militant groups calling themselves Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam are taking part in the conference. A number of groups fighting under the umbrella of the so-called Free Syrian Army are also attending the meeting.

A Syrian Kurdish group that has taken control of areas in north Syria said it has not been invited to the Riyadh meeting. The Kurds, however, organized a separate meeting in Syria's Hasakah Province. The Riyadh meeting is aimed at welding the so-called opposition groups into a unified team for potential talks with the Syrian government in early January.

Vladimir Putin has praised the Russian cruise missiles fired against terrorists in Syria from the sea. He expressed hope that these weapons would not have to be armed with nuclear warheads.

Meeting in the Kremlin with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who reported the latest results of the anti-Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) ops in Syria, the Russian president made a notable remark.

The Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi Parliament has called for a review or cancellation of an agreement with the United States on security over Washington's lack of a clear reaction to the worsening situation in the country, committee member Hamid al-Mutlaq told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"The government and parliament need to review the agreement signed with the United States on security because the United States does not seriously care about its fulfillment. We demand that it be annulled," al-Mutlaq said.

"Iraq will be protected only by its sons, and Turkey must withdraw [its troops] because Iraqi soil is holy and its sovereignty is the red line. We have the right to give this issue international character and demand Turkish troops be withdrawn through the UN Security Council," al-Mutlaq continued.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi gave Turkey 24 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq to avoid the matter being reviewed by the UN Security Council. Turkey has refused to do so.

Four Western coalition warplanes were spotted over the Deir az-Zor area in Syria on December 6, when a Syrian Army camp came under attack. No Russian warplanes were in the region, says the Russian Defense Ministry.

"Russian aircraft were not on a mission in that area. All our flights in Syrian airspace are coordinated with air traffic control and the General Staff of the Syrian government's armed forces," Konashenkov said adding that Russia always informs the US about the time, altitudes and routes of its aircraft in Syrian airspace.

"Pentagon officials said that on December 6, American aircraft were operating in that area, but striking a target some 55 kilometers away from the [affected Syrian] installation is true to an extent. But it's not the complete truth," Konashenkov stressed.

In this episode of 'Behind the Headlines' - broadcast Sunday 29 November 2015 - Sott.net editors Joe Quinn and Niall Bradley analysed the extraordinary shoot-down of a Russian Su-24 bomber in Syria by a Turkish F-16. Everyone is noting how 'stupid' the Erdgoan government is for sanctioning such an act, especially given the negative Russian reaction. But a closer look indicates that Erdogan either had no choice but to go along with the pre-planned provocation, or he was simply informed of it after the fact.

Joe and Niall go behind the headlines to identify the real orchestrators of the attack on Russia, and what this critical border incident means in the context of 'the Great Game' playing out across Eurasia.

Running Time: 01:57:00

Download: MP3


Articles by Joe Quinn on this subject:

• Russia versus NATO's Gladio 2.0: Turkish jihad from China to Syria

• Always the last to know: Did Turkish government find out about shoot-down of Russian jet after the fact?

• NATO Orders Stool-Pigeon Turkey to Shoot Down Russian Jet

Russian journalists preparing an investigative report into Ankara's alleged involvement in the oil trade with ISIS have been detained and deported from Turkey. Moscow strongly condemned the treatment of the Rossiya 1 TV crew, demanding explanations.

"We strongly condemn the illegal actions of the Turkish authorities," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "Such an attitude towards the media is absolutely unacceptable."

On Monday, the press crew of the TV program Special Correspondent, headed by Alexander Buzaladze, were detained in southeastern Turkey by authorities in civilian clothes. The journalists were preparing an investigative report into the alleged smuggling of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) oil into Turkey.

The trouble for the Rossiya 1 TV crew started only once they arrived at the border, Buzaladze said after the deportation. He told Russian state-owned channel Vesti that while the crew worked in Istanbul and Ankara they had faced no opposition from the authorities.

But as soon as they and tried to film close to the Turkish-Syrian border the crew was "blocked [by] the Turkish security forces" leaving them no time to even "get the camera out."

In true Orwellian doublespeak fashion, President Obama delivered a speech to the American people on Sunday night waging war on multiple fronts in the aftermath of the tragic San Bernardino shooting last Wednesday at a holiday party for county health workers that left fourteen dead and more than twice that number wounded. After taking undeserved credit for all his fake efforts at fighting ISIS, Obama then once again opportunistically rammed his gun control bandwagon down our throats to exploit America's most deadly killing spree since Sandy Hook as a brazen ploy to finally gain some antigun momentum.

Obama's surface message focused on his OCD need for gun control, vowing to protect America from domestic terrorists by legislating gun control laws to remove them from "bad" Americans committed to killing good Americans. It's worth noting that two family attorneys of the alleged terrorist couple seriously believe that the two suspects could have been framed and used as patsies in yet another false flag. US state sponsored false flag terrorism has been evident in numerous previous staged events like Charleston, Chattanooga, Boston, and Sandy Hook, Obama's true intent based on his plain-to-see covert actions is to wage war against law-abiding US citizens who believe in the Constitution and Second Amendment right to own guns as well as wage global war against rivals Russia and China in order to maintain US Empire hegemony at all cost. Yet on Obama's watch he helped militarize law enforcement to rampantly abuse its own citizens to squash the Occupy movement and First Amendment rights and murder unarmed Americans in unprecedented numbers 70 times that of the next Western nation. And while Obama says he's still "hunting down" the terrorists, in fact he is expending more efforts hunting down decent Americans than the brutal terrorists he is still secretly supporting.


Referring to the husband and wife shooters in San Bernardino, Obama stated:

Under cover of darkness, an Israeli armoured car advances down the potholed road that leads to Syria. As it crests a small hill, the driver picks up the radio handset and tells his commanding officer that the border is in sight. He kills the engine. Ten heavily-armed commandos jump out and take cover, watching for signs of ambush. Then five of them move up to the 12ft chainlink fence that marks the limit of Israeli-held territory. On the other side, on the very edge of Syria, lies an unconscious man wrapped like a doll in a blood-drenched duvet. The commandos unlock the fence, open a section of it and drag him onto Israeli soil.

The casualty - who doesn't look older than 20 - is losing blood fast. He has been shot in the intestines and the liver, and has a deep laceration in his left ankle. After putting him on an emergency drip, the commandos stretcher him back to the armoured car and head back to Israel. But this wounded man is not an Israeli soldier, or even an Israeli citizen. He is an Islamic militant. And his rescue forms part of an extraordinary humanitarian mission that is fraught with danger and has provoked deep controversy on all sides.

Our dear Nobel Peace prize winning president has asked congress for a new AUMF-- Authorization for Use of Military Force. WTF, the old one is getting old-- vintage 2001.

Before the chickenhawks and wimps who want to prove they are tough by voting for war-- those are the rare few who are not motivated by the military industrial complex lobbyists and donors-- cavalierly sign off on another war, they should be required to state out loud some of the following statistics.

For every soldier killed in action, two will commit suicide. So triple the projected death count, then add in the ones who die from injuries acquired on an off the battlefield, while in the military. Those deaths should count too.

Thirty percent of veterans seen at the VA have PTSD. It's estimated that as many as 35 percent of Iraq veterans will develop PTSD. One report found that "a large majority of Vietnam Veterans struggled with chronic PTSD symptoms, with four out of five reporting recent symptoms when interviewed 20-25 years after Vietnam." That's 80% suffering from PTSD symptoms.

Experts estimate that 30-35% of veterans come home with closed head trauma.

Almost half of vets were found to binge drink, 20% of them reported binge drinking every week for the past month, in one study.

A handful will go on to become war whores, as members of congress, totally selling themselves to the military industrial complex, becoming spokesmen for more and more war.

John McCain is one of the most despicable shameful examples. A tiny few will learn from their military experience and oppose war. It is sick that veterans are loyal to the army and the military and seek to send more innocent young, imbued with American exceptionalism driven patriotism to wars started on lies, where the real motives are profits and power.