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Guantanamo Bay: CIA waterboarding developer in legal battle defends torture


Sputnik
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 06:32 UTC
H2Oboarding
© Still from The Stuff of Life
A private contractor for the CIA who played a key role in developing so-called "waterboarding" interrogation techniques that have been condemned as torture faced the beginning of a week of questioning by lawyers at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Washington Post reported.

James Mitchell was quizzed by defence lawyers representing five detainees at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay prison camp, including Khaled Shaikh Mohammad, who is accused of being the architect of the hijack plot on 11 September 2001, that killed almost 3.000 Americans, the report said on Tuesday.

The five are to face a war crimes trial a year from now at Guantanamo Bay and could face the death penalty if convicted. They claim the evidence they gave against themselves to the FBI was tainted because they had been coerced by CIA interrogators using the techniques of Mitchell, a former US Air Force psychologist, the report noted.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Pentagon INCREASES number of injuries from Iranian airstrikes on US base in Iraq, but won't say by how many, and warns 'there may be more'

Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns
Associated Press
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 19:36 UTC

Comment: First they said there were 'zero casualties'. Then early reports about some 200 injured US troops being flown to Israel for treatment were retracted. Then they admitted 11 casualties. Now, two weeks later, they've increased that number 'by a few', with 'more potentially to come'...


assad airbase iraq
© Sergey Ponomarev / The New York Times
United States military personnel inspecting damage at Ain Al-Assad Air Base on January 9th.
Additional U.S. troops have been flown out of Iraq for closer evaluation of potential concussion injuries from the Iranian missile attack of Jan. 8, U.S. defense officials said Tuesday.

The exact number of troops flown to Germany was not immediately clear, but officials said it was a small number. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because some details were still being sorted out. Last week, 11 U.S. service members were flown from Iraq to U.S. medical facilities in Germany and Kuwait for further evaluation of concussion-like symptoms.

Navy Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations across the Middle East, confirmed the additional evacuations but did not say how many were included.

"As medical treatment and evaluations in theater continue, additional service members have been identified as having potential injuries," Urban said Tuesday evening. "These service members — out of an abundance of caution — have been transported to Landstuhl, Germany, for further evaluations and necessary treatment on an outpatient basis. Given the nature of injuries already noted, it is possible additional injuries may be identified in the future."

Comment: This all looks real dodgy. And notice how LOADED Pentagon spokespersons' statements are with newspeak. What does all that jargon even mean?

Their tight control of information coming out of the targeted airbase just goes to show how politically important the perception of infallibility is to the US military.

See also:

Pentagon admits there WERE U.S. casualties from Iranian airstrikes, but 'only 11 injuries'

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Pistol

Hybrid war: Masked gunmen assassinate regional Basij commander - described as 'Soleimani ally' - in southwest Iran


Al Jazeera
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 19:04 UTC
Abdolhossein Mojaddami

Abdolhossein Mojaddami
Masked gunmen on Wednesday ambushed and killed the local commander of a paramilitary security force in southwest Iran, an associate of Iran's top general recently killed in an American drone strike in Baghdad.

The slain commander, Abdolhossein Mojaddami, headed the Basij forces, a paramilitary wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used for internal security and other tasks, in the town of Darkhoein.

He was shot in front of his home in the town in the country's oil-rich Khuzestan province, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Two gunmen on a motorcycle - armed with an assault rifle and a hunting rifle - ambushed Mojaddami, IRNA said. Other Iranian media said the gunmen's faces were covered with masks and that four shots were fired.

Comment: Mystery 'motorcycle assassins' in Iran reminds of Iranian scientists working on the country's nuclear energy program being taken out by assassins on motorcycles about a decade ago.

From 2012...
U.S. officials tell NBC News: 'Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran's nuclear scientists'

The attacks, which have killed five Iranian nuclear scientists since 2007 and may have destroyed a missile research and development site, have been carried out in dramatic fashion, with motorcycle-borne assailants often attaching small magnetic bombs to the exterior of the victims' cars.


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USA

Laying the groundwork for the next US civil war

John W. Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:40 UTC
"Pity the nation oh pity the people
who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away..."
— Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet
US Civil War
© SkyMinds
And so it continues.

This impeachment fiasco is merely the latest in a never-ending series of distractions, distortions, and political theater aimed at diverting the public's attention from the sinister advances of the American Police State.

Don't allow yourselves to be distracted, diverted or mesmerized by the cheap theater tricks.

This impeachment spectacle is Shakespearean in its scope: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Nothing is the key word here.

Despite the wall-to-wall media coverage, nothing will change.

Mark my words: the government will remain as corrupt and self-serving as ever, dominated by two political factions that pretend to be at odds with each other all the while moving in lockstep to maintain the status quo.

So President Trump's legal team can grandstand all they want about the impeachment trial being "an affront to the Constitution" and "a dangerous perversion of the Constitution," but that's just smoke and mirrors.

You know what is really "an affront to the Constitution"? The U.S. government.

We've been losing our freedoms so incrementally for so long — sold to us in the name of national security and global peace, maintained by way of martial law disguised as law and order, and enforced by a standing army of militarized police and a political elite determined to maintain their powers at all costs — that it's hard to pinpoint exactly when it all started going downhill, but we're certainly on that downward trajectory now, and things are moving fast.

The republic has fallen.

The Deep State's plot to take over America has succeeded.

The American system of representative government has been overthrown by a profit-driven, militaristic, corporate oligarchy bent on total control and global domination through the imposition of martial law here at home and by fomenting wars abroad.

Even now, we are being pushed and prodded towards a civil war, not because the American people are so divided but because that's how corrupt governments control a populace (i.e., divide and conquer).

These are dangerous times.
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Passport

US to impose visas restrictions for pregnant women

Matthew Lee and Colleen Long
ABC News
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 12:39 UTC
birth tourism
The Trump administration is unveiling new visa restrictions aimed at restricting "birth tourism," in which women travel to the U.S. to give birth so their children can have a coveted U.S. passport.

The State Department plans to publicize the rules Thursday, according to two officials with knowledge of the plans who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The rules would make it more difficult for pregnant women to travel on a tourist visa. In one draft of the regulations, they would have to clear an additional hurdle before obtaining the visa — convincing a consular officer they have another legitimate reason to come to the U.S.

The Trump administration has been restricting all forms of immigration, but the president has been particularly plagued by the issue of birthright citizenship - anyone born in the U.S. is considered a citizen, under the Constitution. He has railed against the practice and threatened to end it, but scholars and members of his administration have said it's not so easy to do.

Regulating tourist visas for pregnant women is one way to get at the issue, but it raises questions about how officers would determine whether a woman is pregnant to begin with, and whether a woman could get turned away by border officers who suspect she may be just by looking at her.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Hunter Biden ordered to explain why he shouldn't be held in contempt of court

Andrew Kerr
Daily Mail
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 11:49 UTC
Bidens
An Arkansas judge ordered Hunter Biden on Monday to appear before a court Jan. 29 to explain why he shouldn't be held in contempt for his failure to produce information about his finances in relation to a heated child support dispute.

Independence County Circuit Court Judge Holly Meyer ordered Hunter Biden to appear in court on Jan. 29, to "show cause, if any exists, as to why he should not be held in contempt for any of the alleged violations of this Court's orders."

The order came the same day an attorney for the mother of Hunter Biden's child, Lunden Roberts, accused Hunter Biden of failing to abide by a court-mandated deadline to disclose a deluge of information, including a list of all companies he owns or controls, his sources of income and employers for the past five years, unredacted copies of his tax returns, copies of deeds to properties he owns and more.

Hunter Biden has even refused to provide the address in which he resides and his telephone number, Roberts's attorney Clinton Lancaster said in his filing Monday.

Comment: See also: Investigator says Hunter Biden used identity of dead brother Beau to hide his whereabouts

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Russian Flag

Russian PM Mishustin announces first cabinet: Lavrov and Shoigu remain, but many fresh faces are among appointees

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:06 UTC
New govt Moscow Jan 2020
© Reuters / Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi / Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin meet with members of the new government in Moscow, Russia January 21, 2020.
Russia's new prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, has announced his first cabinet. It doesn't amount to a radical overhaul, but there are new, and younger, appointees and some well-known ministers have been replaced.

Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Shoigu held on to their "big beast" positions, which suggests foreign and defense policy won't change much. The cabinet retained 12 people from the outgoing one and replaced nine positions, bringing down the average age of ministers down to 50 years. Here are the new faces of Mishustin's cabinet.

First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov (replaces Anton Siluanov) A Muscovite and son of a prominent Soviet economist, the 60-year-old Belousov might have remained a theorist with his degree in economic cybernetics, if not for his 2005 report in which he made several prophetic predictions, including the 2008 financial crisis. He joined the Ministry of Economic Development in 2006 and became its head six years later, before being appointed as an aide to President Vladimir Putin in 2013.

Comment: For an in-depth analysis of Putin's changes and methodology to shepherd Russia as he begins the transition from President, see: Putin prepares his succession, the West is purged from the Kremlin

More:

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Chess

Trump again offers U.S. 'help' in mediating India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir

Alexandra Alper, Luke Baker & Alexander Smith
US News & World Report
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Donald Trump
© REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the President of the Swiss Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga at the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2020.
President Donald Trump said the United States was watching developments between India and Pakistan over Kashmir "very closely" and was prepared to help if necessary, but did not say how.

Speaking ahead of talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump said trade and borders were both critical points for discussion, while Khan said that for him Afghanistan was the top priority.

"Trade is going to be of very, very paramount importance ... and we're working together on some borders, and we're talking about Kashmir in relation to what is going on with Pakistan and India. And if we can help we certainly will be helping," he said.

Comment: India was against any outside interference in Kashmir and will protest any outside interference, including Pakistan. China tried to raise this issue at the UNSC and found itself isolated over it due to the refusal of 14 other nations:
France and UK out and categorically called Kashmir a "bilateral" issue between India and Pakistan. 14 members of the UNSC rejected China's request to discuss the issue saying it is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
...
China sought a "closed-door consultation" under "AOB" (Any Other Business) at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) after the listed issues were discussed. The meeting was based on the old request of Pakistan and was scheduled for December 24 but could not take place.

Sources have told India Today TV that the second consultation after the August 2019 closed-door meeting on Kashmir also ended with "zero" outcome.

India Today TV has learnt that UK was forthright in saying that "bilateral" dialogue has no place in the United Nations. US, on its part, also added that the issue did not belong "here" (the UNSC).


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Sherlock

Co-opting nationalism: The case of Italy

Giuseppe Verdi
The Saker Blog
Wed, 15 Jan 2020 12:16 UTC
Salvini

Matteo Salvini addressing his supporters during the yearly Party meeting in Pontida (2019)
Nationalism is dead. Its stinking corpse is laying in front of Palazzo Montecitorio, home to the Italian Parliament (its increasingly peripheral power centre). People start to notice it, people start to smell its awful stench. What is left of the brief Italian nationalist experience has finally shown its true, cowardly face, bowing to the international globalist elite and rejecting its truly revolutionary potential. This is the story of how Italian nationalism has been co-opted by the establishment to serve its wicked agenda.

Liliana Segre and her security detail

Comment: See also:

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Sheriff

Defense, Foreign and Finance ministers retain their positions in new Russian government


RT
Tue, 21 Jan 2020 17:09 UTC
Lavrov
© Sputnik / Maksim Blinov
FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu (R).
President Vladimir Putin has approved a new Russian government after the surprise resignation of the previous cabinet last week. While there was a significant reshuffle, the defense, foreign and finance ministers kept their posts.

"The new government is a well-balanced one, although it went through a major reshuffle," Putin said during a meeting with the new cabinet.

Both Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Shoigu are political heavyweights and among the most trusted political figures in Russia, trailing only behind President Putin himself when it comes to popularity with the public. Anton Siluanov has been Russia's finance minister since 2011.

A career diplomat with decades of experience in international relations, Lavrov served as Russia's envoy to the UN for ten years before taking the helm at the Foreign Ministry in 2004.

Comment: The reshuffle has apparently been on the cards for some time now and for very good strategic reasons, as noted in Putin prepares his succession, the West is purged from the Kremlin:
[...]
What emerges from my approach as set out below is a tentative and still partially self-contradictory constitutional restructuring to assure continuity of a strong, centralized and deeply patriotic federal government with or without Mr. Putin. Most important of all, it is a restructuring that begins at once, so that it can consolidate in the coming four years of transition, allowing all the political actors to grow into new roles of greater responsibility and prove their mettle under the watchful eye of the sitting president.

[...]

And so, we are likely to see in the coming days that candidates for a number of federal ministries in the new, post-Medvedev cabinet will be drawn precisely from parties other than United Russia. In effect, without introducing the word "coalition" into his vocabulary, Vladimir Putin has set the stage for the creation of a grand coalition to succeed the rule of one party, United Russia, over which Dimitri Medvedev was the nominal chairman. It is highly relevant to note that, unlike Putin, whose popularity as measured by opinion polls has returned to well above 60% in recent months, the United Russia party has seen its popular support continue to erode so that its ability to hold a parliamentary majority after the next general elections is very much in doubt. The new grand coalition will ensure political continuity and stability in all eventualities.


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