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Global debt soars to all-time high of $164 trillion - US and Japan account for more than 50%


RT
Tue, 01 May 2018 15:28 UTC
Ballon bird fierce
© Fredy Builes / Reuters
The world is now 12 percent of GDP deeper in debt than it was at the peak of the financial crisis in 2009, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF). China was described as a "driving force" behind the new debt levels.


Comment: And yet China is thriving economically:

According to its Fiscal Monitor report, global debt is at a historical high, reaching the equivalent of 225 percent of GDP.

"One hundred and sixty-four trillion is a huge number," said Vitor Gaspar, head of the IMF's fiscal affairs department. "When we talk about the risks looming on the horizon, one of the risks has to do with the high level of public and private debt."

The ballooning debt could make it harder for countries to respond to the next recession and pay off debts if financing conditions tighten, according to the fund.


Comment: And many western countries are showing signs of instability, and it is clearly a matter of when the crash will hit the manipulated markets.


Comment: The financial predators at the IMF are deeply involved in the corruption and chaos around the world and benefit by privatizing national resources and services, so while their assessment is probably correct, one wonders how they aim to take advantage of the situation.

There also seems to be a correlation between the countries with the highest debt levels and their desire for waging war, one wonders whether they're related. Because while this global debt problem will affect every nation on the planet, not every nation is struggling to stay afloat, Russia and China in particular:

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Cowboy Hat

Is US 'Mission Against ISIS' Really About Partitioning Syria?


RT
Tue, 01 May 2018 22:25 UTC
Syrian Democratic Forces
© Rodi Said / Reuters
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters
Announcing the start of military operations against the remaining strongholds of Islamic State, the US State Department included some pointed language, hinting at de facto partition of Syria, analysts tell RT.

"The days of ISIS controlling territory and terrorizing the people of Syria are coming to an end," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Tuesday.The operations will be conducted by the US-led coalition and local partners, including the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces.

The US will also work with Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon to "secure their borders" from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Nauert said. This is intriguing, because the only remaining IS presence is near the Iraqi border, with a pocket south of Damascus currently being cleared out by Syrian government forces.

Nauert also said the US will ensure there is a "strong and lasting footprint" in Syria so that IS cannot return and the liberated populations "are not exploited by the Assad regime or its Iranian supporters."

Comment: It speaks volumes that, as things currently stand, US forces are geographically situated BETWEEN Syrian and Russian forces and the remaining ISIS pockets on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Are they there, in fact, to protect what's left of the 'Islamic State'?

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Pocket Knife

Russian military technology: More bang for the buck

F. William Engdahl
New Eastern Outlook
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 00:00 UTC
Russian military
More bang for the buck is the most apt description when we compare spending of the United States Government with that of the Government of the Russian Federation on its defense sector and military technology development. A closer look at the two budgets reveals the huge fault line that cuts across the entire US economy today. It also mirrors the true collapse of the American hegemon as a world power. It need not have been.

In the official Fiscal Year 2017 the US Department of Defense officially requested $523.9 billion in what they call "discretionary funding," as in, "we use it as we please, no independent audit allowed." Another $58.8 billion was requested for so-called Overseas Contingency Operations, typical Pentagon-speak for wars everywhere from Afghanistan to Syria to military operations around the South China sea. That made an official total of $583 billion requested and granted by a docile Congress.

On October 13, the Russian wire-service tass.ru reported that the Russian government is set to spend 948.59 billion rubles on national defense in 2017, according to the draft federal budget posted. It sounds like a lot, almost one trillion rubles. If we convert at the current dollar exchange rate, this translates into a mere $15 billion. Of that 793.79 billion rubles or $12.7 billion is planned to be spent on the Russian Armed Forces. In 2015 the Russian Federation spent $26 billion on the state military-industrial complex development program will reach 1.67 trillion rubles.

Comment: For more on just how much Russia has achieved, see: Putin Delivers Landmark 'State of The Union' Speech: Puts The Smack Down on US, Shows Off Latest Russian Nuclear Weapons

And as for the West: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Humpty Trumpty? Western Reality Creation Taken to Breaking Point in Syria Strikes

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Microscope 2

Salisbury-gate smoking gun found? Initial reports said Skripals poisoned with Fentanyl

Nick Griffin
Sott.net
Tue, 01 May 2018 20:00 UTC
:
skripals salisbury park
The entire UK press is refusing to tell the British public of revelations about the Skripal poisoning in Salisbury which - if revealed - would surely lead to the sacking of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and could even bring down the entire Theresa May regime.

The UK's press has gone strangely quiet on the Skripal case. After the huge uproar over the Salisbury poisoning incident and the miraculous recovery of all the victims of "Putin's deadly nerve agent Novichok", there is only silence. But remarkable revelations in the small print of a local newspaper and the website of a specialist health journal tell us why.

First, consider for a moment what is missing: Where are the further statements from Julia Skripal? Where is she and why have there been no further briefings about the health? Has she visited her father in hospital? If yes, why has this not been reported? If, no, why not?

What has happened to the daily updates on Sergei Skripal? The last reports suggested that he would shortly be able to leave hospital, so has he done so? If not, how is he? How did he take the news that the British state killed all his pets and incinerated the evidence that they were not contaminated with Novichok?

Comment: See also:

Look Where They Tell You Not to Look

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Star of David

Iran Lied? Netanyahu Cries Wolf AGAIN as Trump Mulls Scrapping JCPOA

Corey Schink
Sott.net
Tue, 01 May 2018 21:36 UTC
iran lied Benjamin Netanyahu
© AMIR COHEN/ REUTERS
Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel April 30, 2018.
Every year or so Benjamin Netanyahu treats the entire globe to cartoonish nightmares of a 'nuclear Iran,' exhorting us all to do something 'before it's too late!' Just like with the 'global warming' myth, there's the exhortation that, if we just did something, we could all be saved. And, just like the global warming myth, we are never told 'it's too late' because then the myth loses its political usefulness.

In the latest edition that will no doubt dominate headlines for days, Netanyahu, utilizing a 'professional' PowerPoint presentation, provides what he calls incontrovertible proof that Iran had a nuclear weapons program and is still secretly pursuing nuclear weapons. He sums it up as follows:
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Star of David

'Infamous Liar': Iran responds to Netanyahu claims Tehran had a nuclear weapons program


RT
Tue, 01 May 2018 09:49 UTC
Netanyahu
© Amir Cohen/Reuters
The Netanyahu Presentation
Calling the Israeli premier "an infamous liar" and head of a "child-killing Zionist regime," Iran has furiously denounced an elaborate presentation by Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons.

In a statement Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry blasted Monday's claims by a "broke and infamous liar who has had nothing to offer except lies and deceits." It accused Israel of "using battered charlatanism" and viewing others as a threat to justify the existence of their "illegal regime."

"Netanyahu and the notorious, child-killing Zionist regime must have reached the basic understanding that the people of the world have enough awareness and cognizance," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Qassemi.

In a series of tweets, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also ridiculed Netanyahu's accusations, noting the "coordinated timing of alleged intelligence revelations by the boy who cries wolf just days before May 12." On that day President Donald Trump is expected to decide whether the US should stay in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal inked by five world powers as well as Iran.

Earlier on Monday, Netanyahu presented a massive bookcase filled with folders, claiming they contained top-secret files on Iran's nuclear program he dubbed Project Amad.

Comment: See also:

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Nuke

Scrutinizing Netanyahu's 'smoke and mirrors' performance on the Iranian nuclear deal

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Tue, 01 May 2018 16:27 UTC
Netanyahu
© The Times of Israel
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
A well-established trick of a skilled propagandist is to dress up as a "startling revelation" something which in reality everyone with knowledge of a matter has long known. We had a masterclass in this technique yesterday from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is someone who is not just a skilled propagandist but who is actually a brilliant one.

Thus we heard from him a technically superb presentation about how Iran has "lied" about its nuclear programme, complete with the perfect prop: a vast archive of documents apparently stolen by Israeli intelligence from Iran, which supposedly confirms how Iran has previously "lied" about its nuclear weapons programme.

Netanyahu then drew from this "revelation" the conclusion that he wanted: that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA") between Iran and the world powers whereby Iran agreed to place limits on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief is based on a "lie".

Comment: See also:

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Light Saber

Hezbollah accomplishes mission in Syria, prepares to defend Lebanon against Israeli aggression

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Tue, 01 May 2018 19:34 UTC
Hezbollah involvement in Syria
Hezbollah has accomplished its mission in Syria and its presence on the battlefield is no longer necessary. Thus, in coordination with the Syrian government, Hezbollah has moved the majority of its forces into Lebanon, particularly as the Syrian army has recovered and regained its military strength and increased its combat capability. But with a US establishment that could encourage Israel (even after the failed adventure in 2006) to embark on another strike, the spectre of war looms over the country, and fear remains on the southern front in the Lebanon. What is the risk of this and the real possibilities of its happening?

According to well-informed sources in the Lebanese capital, the Lebanese Hezbollah has accomplished the task of stabilising the Syrian regime and preventing its fall and its replacement with Takfiri ruling groups or even a failed state. Despite the United States, some European states and other Middle Eastern countries (including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey) supporting tens of thousands of Takfiris to travel to Syria with the aim to control the Levant, Hezbollah, the Syrian army, Iran with its allies and with Russia were able to thwart this plan after years of long war and effective intervention against Jihadists.

Thus, Hezbollah withdrew most of its forces from Syria and took up positions in Lebanon where, incidentally, the geopolitical conditions do not bode well: the forecast is not good.
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MIB

Chris Blackburn on the contradictions surrounding Joseph Mifsud, his murky intelligence connections and the Trump dossier

Elizabeth Vos
Disobedient Media
Tue, 01 May 2018 16:51 UTC
Brexit Mifsud Dossier
© Link Campus
Joseph Mifsud on the far right
After the publication of Disobedient Media's coverage of 'eclectic scholar' Joseph Mifsud's unexamined ties to UK intelligence officials, this author was contacted by Chris Blackburn, a UK Political Analyst focusing on International Relations and Security, whose Twitter post instigated this writer's research into the matter.

This writer's interest in Mifsud and in turn, the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, was heightened by a Twitter thread on the subject published by WikiLeaks Editor-In-Chief Julian Assange shortly before Ecuador cut off his connection to the outside world.

mifsud Clair Smith Dossier
© hris Balckburn/Twitter
Mifsud and Claire Smith train Italian military and law enforcement officials at LINK Campus in Rome.
Chris Blackburn's initial Tweets on the matter included of a photograph showing UK Joint Intelligence Committee member Claire Smith and Joseph Mifsud together at LINK Campus in Rome, where they collaborated on a training program involving Italian military officials. Disobedient Media was able to confirm the photograph's authenticity, finding that the program was organized by the London Academy of Diplomacy (LAD), which Mifsud directed. The event took place in 2012 - a significant date because, at that time, Claire Smith was a member of the UK intelligence security vetting panel.

As Blackburn informed us, there is more to this story than is told by that single photograph, or by the October 2017 photograph of Mifsud standing with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The following discussion took place electronically.

Comment:

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Star of David

Israeli parliament allows Netanyahu to declare war with only defense minister's approval


Sputnik
Tue, 01 May 2018 18:54 UTC
The Knesset
© AP Photo / Ariel Schalit
The opening session of the Knesset
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as well as the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee originally decided against the proposal, but it was later passed in the Knesset during a second and third reading, Haaretz newspaper reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been granted the authority to declare war with only defense minister Avigdor Lieberman's approval in extreme situations, according to Haaretz newspaper.

The Knesset approved the amendment 62 to 41, transferring the power to launch a war or significant military operations to the Prime Minister without specifying the makeup of the panel that makes the decision.

Comment: Senior U.S. officials said that Israel seems to be preparing for war against Iran as airstrikes against Iranian troops in Syria intensified.
"On the list of the potentials for most likely live hostility around the world, the battle between Israel and Iran in Syria is at the top of the list right now," said one senior U.S. official.

The same officials confirmed that Israeli F-15s jets struck an Iranian base in the Syrian province of Hama, killing and injuring scores of Iranian troops, including officers.


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