Puppet MastersS

MIB

Best of the Web: It's official: British and US intelligence is directing al-Qaeda operations in Syria

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MI6 and CIA al Qaeda operatives in Syria proudly display the weapons supplied to them by their paymasters.
British intelligence on Syrian troop movements is helping rebels in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, it was revealed today.

The disclosure by a Syrian opposition official is the first indication of British intelligence playing a covert role in the civil war.

The official told The Sunday Times the British authorities 'know about and approve 100 per cent' signals intelligence from their Cyprus bases being passed through Turkey to the rebel troops of the Free Syrian Army.

'British intelligence is observing things closely from Cyprus. It's very useful because they find out a great deal,' the official said.

'The British are giving the information to the Turks and the Americans and we are getting it from the Turks.'

According to the official, the most valuable intelligence so far has been about the movements of troops loyal to President Assad towards the stricken second city of Aleppo, which is partly controlled by rebels.

Comment: Notice the lip-service to international law at the end of this article, despite having already made it clear that this is exactly what they are doing.

State-Sponsored Terrorism - Western Journalists Embedded With 'al-Qaeda' in Syria


Propaganda

Propaganda Alert! Death Toll Rises to 20 in Yemen's Suspected al-Qaida Attack on Intelligence Building

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The death toll of an al-Qaida suspected attack on a Yemeni intelligence headquarters rose to 20 on Saturday, in the worst such attack in a year that highlights the challenges faced by the country's new leadership as it struggles to bring security and reconcile a military with split loyalties.

The attack, in the heart of the port city of Aden, underscored al-Qaida's ability to launch deadly strikes despite a two-month Yemeni military offensive backed by the U.S. that earlier this year dislodged militants who had taken over a string of southern towns near Aden.

In a coordinated attack, two groups of masked militants stormed the intelligence building from two sides, firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, according to intelligence officials in the city and witnesses from the adjacent state TV and radio building.

While one group clashed with guards of the intelligence building's main gate, a second threw a bomb at a small mosque, killing soldiers who were resting and sleeping inside, officials said. The gunmen then sprayed their victims with bullets before detonating a car bomb in front of the intelligence building, collapsing its facade.

Comment: al-Qaida? More like al-CIA-duh. For more information on state-sponsored terrorism read:
State-Sponsored Terrorism - Western Journalists Embedded With 'al-Qaeda' in Syria
The British Empire - A Lesson In State Terrorism


Info

New Zealand Signals Earlier Exit from Afghanistan

John Key
John Key
Wellington, New Zealand - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced Monday that the country will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan earlier in 2013 than planned. He said the move is not prompted by the deaths this month of five New Zealand soldiers, including three who were killed Sunday by a roadside bomb.

August's deaths account for half of all fatalities suffered by the small contingent of New Zealanders in the nine years they have been stationed in central Bamiyan province, which was comparatively stable until a recent upswing in violence.

Key said it was "highly likely" the remaining soldiers from the contingent of 145 would be withdrawn in April 2013. He said discussions for the earlier withdrawal began before the five deaths this month. Murray McCully, New Zealand's foreign affairs minister, had announced in May the troops would be withdrawn "in the latter part of 2013."

Key said he wants to bring home the troops as fast as practicable within a timetable that fits in with the coalition partners.

"We'll do it as fast as we can, and we'll do it in the way that protects our people as best we can," he said.

The U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan plan to end their decade-long combat mission and withdraw almost all troops by the end of 2014. The U.S. this year has been withdrawing a planned 23,000 troops, which would leave 68,000.

Key rejected calls to end New Zealand's role in Afghanistan immediately.

Bomb

Eight Dead After Suicide Bombing in Russia's Caucasus


Eight people were killed and fifteen wounded by a suicide bombing in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia, according to reports by the country's main law enforcement agency.

Both police and civilians were injured in the blast, according to the latest casualty figures.

The bombing targeted mourners at a funeral for a police officer killed in a shootout on Saturday.

The force of the explosive device was reportedly equivalent to ten kilograms of TNT, and was packed with shrapnel to increase the likelihood of casualties. Earlier reports suggested the force of the bomb was equivalent to three kilograms.

"According to preliminary results, it was a suicide bomber who blew himself up at the mourning ceremony," RIA Novosti quoted the secretary of the Region's Security Council as saying.

"A head of a man whom nobody was able to identify was found several meters from the site of the bombing," Interfax news agency reported, quoting a source in the Republic's police agency. "It may suggest the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber."

Airplane

U.S. Drone Attacks Kill 10 "Militants" in Pakistan

drone
© MilitaryPhotos
Islamabad - American drones fired a flurry of missiles in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan Sunday, killing a total of 10 suspected militants, Pakistani officials said.

In the first strike, missiles fired from unmanned American spy planes hit two vehicles near the Afghan border, killing at least seven militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The strike came in the Mana area of North Waziristan, the officials added.

The officials say the area is dominated by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a commander whose forces often strike U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but they did not know whether his men were the targets of Sundays' strike. A U.S. drone strike Saturday also in North Waziristan killed five Gul Bahadur allies.

About 10 hours later on Sunday, two missiles destroyed a home also in the Mana area, killing three militants, the officials said.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

The drone program is hotly contested in Pakistan.

Comment: For more information about the use of drones please read:
Celebrating our "Warrior President"
Obama's Death Panels: Jeremy Scahill at the Drone Summit
Spy in the Sky: Is It Only a Matter of Time Before Drone Technology is Used in Civil Society?
Police State: "Robots R'US": Military-Style Drones on 63 Military Bases In The USA


Bad Guys

US drone attacks leave 21 dead in NW Pakistan in 48 hours

Children gather near a house destroyed
© Press TVChildren gather near a house destroyed in a US drone attack on civilians in northwest Pakistan (File photo)
US assassination drone strikes have left at least 21 people dead in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region near border with Afghanistan during the past 48 hours, Press TV reports.

Pakistani officials told Press TV that nine people were killed after a US drone fired four missiles at two vehicles in Mana area of Shawal district in North Waziristan on Sunday morning.

This is while on Saturday twelve people lost their lives when a US drone targeted a building in the same troubled region.
Washington claims its drone strikes target militants, although casualty figures clearly indicate that Pakistani civilians are the main victims of the assaults.
Despite Pakistani government's repeated calls on Washington to end the drone attacks, the US government continues its strikes on the tribal regions of the country.

Chess

Iran Calls Israel's Existence an 'Insult,' as Prominent Rabbi Warns It's More Than Rhetoric

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
© The Associated Press

Aug. 17, 2012: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at the conclusion of an annual pro-Palestinian rally in Tehran.
Tehran, Iran - Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity," Iran's president said Friday in one of his sharpest attacks yet against the Jewish state, as Israel openly debates whether to attack Iran over its nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said confronting Israel is an effort to "protect the dignity of all human beings."

"The existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to all humanity," Ahmadinejad said. He was addressing worshippers at Tehran University after nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies, an annual event marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

The comments are "reminiscent" of a letter written about the Jews and signed by Adolf Hitler in 1919, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wisenthal Center, says.

"Even though Ahmadinejad is attacking the state of Israel, we know what he means," Rabbi Hier said.

Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its nuclear and missile programs, support for radical anti-Israel groups on its borders and repeated references by Iranian leaders to Israel's destruction.

Ahmadinejad himself has repeatedly made such calls, as has Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Bizarro Earth

Iran Commander 'Welcomes' Possible Israeli Strike

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© The Associated Press/Vahid SalemiIranian demonstrators burn an Israeli and British flag during a an annual pro-Palestinian rally marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, at the Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) St. in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012.
Tehran, Iran - A senior Iranian commander says a possible Israeli airstrike against his country's nuclear facilities is "welcome" because it would give Iran a reason to retaliate and "get rid of" the Jewish state "forever."

The remarks by Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard's air force, were reported Saturday by the official IRNA news agency.

Hajizadeh says in the event of an Israeli strike, Iran's response would be "swift, decisive and destructive." But he also claims Israeli threats of a strike are just part of a psychological war against Iran.

His comments are the latest in a war of words between the archenemies.

Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its suspect nuclear program. Iran denies seeking atomic weapons, saying its uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes only.

Pistol

Agencies Tamp Down Speculation Over Hollow-Point Ammo Purchases

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Obscure federal agencies triggered a firestorm of conspiracy theories this week after they put out orders for thousands of rounds of deadly hollow-point bullets.

But the agencies, most recently the Social Security Administration, are trying to put a damper on the speculation -- noting the ammunition is "standard issue" and simply used for mandatory federal training sessions.

"Our special agents need to be armed and trained appropriately," said a message on the official blog for Social Security's inspector general office explaining the purchases.

The bullet purchases drew widespread attention as the website Infowars.com published several stories on them that were linked off the widely read Drudge Report and other sites. Infowars.com catalogued a string of recent purchases -- first by the Department of Homeland Security, then by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and then the Social Security Administration.

The Social Security Administration solicitation, posted Aug. 7, called for 174,000 rounds of ".357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition."

Infowars.com speculated that the purchases were being made in preparation for "civil unrest," imagining a scenario of economic collapse where seniors could cause "disorder" if denied their Social Security benefits.

Passport

Israel falsifies documents to deport Sudanese migrants - reports

Sudanese migrants in Israel
© Reuters/Adriane OhanesianSouth Sudanese disembark from a plane from Israel that arrived at the airport in Juba June 18, 2012. Israel deported a planeload of migrants to South Sudan early on Monday, the first of a series of weekly repatriation flights intended as a stepping stone to dealing with much greater influxes of migrants from Sudan and Eritrea.
Israel has deported Sudanese asylum seekers by issuing documents with purposefully incorrect nationalities, a recently published report by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed.

ยญMore than 100 Sudanese nationals in Israel were given passports or birth certificates incorrectly labeling them as citizens of South Sudan, the report said. Israel has no repatriation agreement with Sudan, but can deport the asylum-seekers to the country's neighbor, which seceded last year from the North.

The revelation comes two months after Israel initiated a controversial 'emergency plan' to deport 60,000 African migrants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified the plan, claiming that "The breach of our borders by infiltrators could threaten the Jewish and democratic state. ... We will begin by removing the infiltrators from South Sudan and move on to others."

Comment: The things some countries will do to protect their xenophobic and racist identities.