Puppet MastersS


War Whore

The time for talking is over: Obama prepares his war strategy in Syria

kerry lavrov
Kerry and Lavrov
The Obama administration is considering a tougher response to the Russian-backed Syrian liberation of Aleppo, including military options.

Did we ever imagine that the US and Russia would go to war over Syria...a war where Russia is siding with the secular, internationally recognized government in Syria, and the US is siding with AL Qaeda / Al Nusra and ISIS?

This is exactly what is shaping up with each passing day.

Russia will not allow an ISIS black flag to be raised in Damascus, and the US has invested too much time, money, and hope in seeing the ISIS and Al Qaeda proxy army lose the war it was sent in to win, six years ago.

Comment: More on this situation below. Note the endless stream of lies coming out of John Kirby's mouth. He's essentially blaming Russia for what the US is doing.




War Whore

Military-industrial complex: Peace activists expose cozy relationship between UK government and arms manufacturers

uk soldier
© Reuters
Peace campaigners have exposed the cozy relationship between the British government and the nation's arms dealers by publishing details of meetings between weapons manufacturers and public officials.

According to data analyzed by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), the Defence and Security Organization (DSO) has had more than 1,000 meetings with industry representatives since 2010.

CAAT now suggests there is a "revolving door" between the British government and arms & security industries.

The group highlighted the case of current Leicestershire police and crime commissioner, Baron Willy Bach, who moved from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) procurement department to the directorship of aerospace and cybersecurity firm Leonardo-Finmeccanica shortly after he left the government in 2005.

"The government may talk about the importance of human rights, but its role is absolutely central to the UK arms trade," CAAT spokesman Andrew Smith told the Guardian.

Comment: See also:


Briefcase

WSJ reports that the Saudis tried to cut secret deal with OPEC

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih
© Ramzi Boudina / Reuters Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih chats with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal (R) at the 15th International Energy Forum Ministerial (IEF15) in Algiers, Algeria September 27, 2016
Ahead of OPEC's informal freeze talks in Algeria, Saudi Arabia offered the cartel a secret deal, reports the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

Riyadh reportedly promised to reduce its crude output by 400,000 barrels per day, if Iran would keep production at the current level of 3.6 million barrels.

However, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh rejected the offer as Tehran plans to return to producing 4.2 million barrels a day, according to the newspaper.

Saudi Arabia has reviewed its pump-at-will policy due to the country's growing economic problems. Riyadh's current position is in stark contrast to earlier this year, when former oil minister Ali al-Naimi claimed the kingdom would survive even at $20 a barrel.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih's attention was drawn to OPEC's forecast that global crude oversupply would persist into 2017, according to people close to the matter.

Георгиевская ленточка

Kremlin: Main result of Russia's campaign in Syria is Al-Nusra and ISIS have been kept out of Damascus

syria children
© Omar Sanadiki / Reuters
The main result of Russia's operation in Syria is that Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front terrorists have been kept out of Damascus, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Russian airstrikes on radical Islamists in Syria over the past year have ensured that "neither Islamic State, nor Al-Qaeda nor the Nusra Front are now sitting in Damascus," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

He noted, however, that assessing the success of the ongoing operation is the task of military experts.

Responding to a question on whether the Russian leadership anticipated that the operation in Syria would last more than a year, Peskov said that no time frame was outlined when the initial decision to send aircraft to Syria was made.

"At the same time, the main goal was declared to help Syrians and the Syrian Army in the fight against terrorists, who at the start of [our] operation occupied most of the country," he pointed out.

Rocket

Moscow 'keeps in mind' US 'first strike' nuke readiness, prepared for 'countermeasures'

Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee
© Handout / Reuters
Russia has promised to take all necessary countermeasures to ensure its national security given recently-announced US plans to modernize its nuclear triad and hawkish statements on nuclear deterrence coming from Washington.

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter told American troops at Minot Air Force Base in South Dakota that the Pentagon has been seeking $108 billion over the next five years to upgrade the nation's nuclear triad of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, ballistic submarines, and strategic bombers. He also announced that NATO is reviewing its "nuclear playbook" to deter potential "terrible attacks" by Russia.

"Across the Atlantic, we're refreshing NATO's nuclear playbook to better integrate conventional and nuclear deterrence to ensure we plan and train like we'd fight and to deter Russia from thinking it can benefit from nuclear use in a conflict with NATO, from trying to escalate to de-escalate, as some there call it," Carter said on Monday.

Wall Street

'Criminal enterprise': Congressmen grill Wells Fargo CEO and fine the bank $20mn over soldiers' loans

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf
© Gary Cameron / Reuters Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have accused Wells Fargo's CEO of running a "criminal enterprise" as the bank faces a new $20 million fine for soldiers' car loans and financially harming military families.

Wells Fargo CEO & Chair John Stumpf appeared before the House Financial Services Committee in what turned into more than four hours of hostile questioning.

Opening the hearing, Stumpf said he was "deeply sorry" for "unethical sales practices" and for failing to fulfill "responsibility to our customers, to our team members, and to the American public."

"I am fully accountable," Stumpf said. "I'm fully committed to fixing this issue, strengthening our culture, and taking the necessary steps and actions to restore our customer's trust," he added.


Comment: So long as being fully accountable and fully committed doesn't include jail time or job loss, that is.


However, Stumpf's apology failed to ease tensions on Capitol Hill, where he withstood bipartisan bashing for a second time.

Wall Street

Saved? French press 'confirm' Deutsche Bank near reduced settlement with US Justice Department

Statue in front of Deutsche Bank
© Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
Seemingly conforming the rumor, Agence France Press reports that Deutsche Bank is nearing a $5.4 billion settlement with the US Justice Department. This has catalyzed another leg higher in Deutsche Bank stock and lifted the whole market as it would appear that unconfirmed sources have 'fixed' the world's most systemically dangerous bank (despite the fact that short-dated counterparty risk is soaring).

Here is the tweet...


Ambulance

At least 15 civilians killed and 13 injured in US drone strike in Afghanistan

MQ-9 Reaper drone
© Josh Smith / Reuters A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone takes off from Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan
An airstrike designed to target Islamic State militants in Nangarhar, eastern Afghanistan, has killed at least 15 civilians and injured another 13, including a child. The UN said the strike was carried out by an international drone, which only the US operates.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has condemned the killing of the civilians, calling on the Afghan government and international military forces to launch a "prompt, independent, impartial, transparent, and effective investigation into the incident." The airstrike took place in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province, on the eastern border with Pakistan, early Wednesday morning.

The UN said the civilians had gathered in a village to celebrate the return of a tribal elder from the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and were sleeping in a guesthouse of the elder when the airstrike took place.

"A drone targeted the house and killed most of them," Mohammed Ali, the Achin district police chief, told Reuters.
Civilian victims of the strike included students and a teacher, according to the UN.

"I saw dead and wounded bodies everywhere," Raghon Shinwari, who was injured in the attack, told Reuters, speaking from a hospital bed in Jalalabad city.

Afghan government sources told the UN mission that Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) personnel also died in the attack. Provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal confirmed that several IS leaders had been killed, but denied there were any noncombatants among the victims, Reuters reported.

The US military acknowledged it had conducted an aerial attack in Nangarhar, but refused to discuss the incident.

Chess

US to continue saber-rattling in Asia Pacific with more subs and undersea drones

aircraft carrier
© Siu Chiu / ReutersThe U.S. Navy's USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier
The United States aims to "sharpen its military edge" in Asia Pacific with modernized military equipment to "undergird security" in the region and counter China's rising military might, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said.

"The United States will continue to sharpen our military edge so we remain the most powerful military in [Asia Pacific] and the security partner of choice," Ash Carter pledged on Thursday in a speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. Carter said the Pentagon will focus its efforts on modernizing its military capabilities in the region, including Air Force modernization of the KC-46A tanker, B-21 bomber and F-35 joint strike fighter. It also plans to invest in undersea drones and advanced torpedoes, the Military Times reports.

Carter added there would be "a few surprises" in the new technological developments as well, but did not specify the details. "I can't share all the details on these for obvious reasons, but what our friends and our potential adversaries - and all of you - should know is that these new capabilities will help us keep our decades-old commitment to undergirding security in the Asia-Pacific," the Pentagon chief said.

The aim of all these improvements, Carter said, is to ensure the region "remains a place where every nation can rise and prosper," even at a time of political, economic, and security changes and challenges. Among these he named North Korea's "nuclear saber-rattling," terrorism, transnational threats, and maritime concerns, alluding to China's claims disputed areas of the South China Sea and Beijing "sometimes behaving aggressively."

Info

Moscow launches criminal cases against leaders of Ukrainian radical group Right Sector

Ukrainian radical group Right Sector
© Alexandr Maksimenko / Sputnik
Russian investigators have launched criminal cases against several leaders of the Ukrainian radical group Right Sector, saying that they possessed evidence of extremism and numerous crimes against Russian citizens and institutions.

The Russian federal law enforcement agency specializing in very serious cases - the Investigative Committee - released a press statement on Friday saying that its own department for war crimes along with Russia's Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service obtained evidence against members and leaders of the Right Sector extremist group. Right Sector activities have been banned in Russia since late 2014.

The agency reported that on the basis of this evidence, they have initiated criminal cases against Right Sector leaders Dmitry Yarosh, Andrey Tarasenko, and several other top members of the group on charges of extremist activities - a crime that is punished with up to eight years in prison.

"It is established that the Right Sector group, founded by Yarosh in 2013, is based on radical Ukrainian nationalism, overt Russophobia, and fascism with the declared goal of 'armed resistance to Moscow aggression' that was put into practice through the justification of political, racial, ethnic and religious violence," the statement read.

Comment: Also Russia is pursuing a criminal probe on Duma election day violence in Ukraine: Russia initiates criminal probe into Kiev embassy attacks on Duma Election Day