© Sputnik/ Michael Alaeddin
"Another 8,949 servicemen and 25,642 civilians were wounded during the same period as a result of these violations," Antonov told reporters in Moscow.
Puppet Masters
"Another 8,949 servicemen and 25,642 civilians were wounded during the same period as a result of these violations," Antonov told reporters in Moscow.
The Afghan payrolls are heavily funded by international donors.
The U.S. government has allocated more than $68 billion since 2002 to help build and support Afghanistan's national army and police force.
John Sopko, the special inspector-general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said in a letter sent to the Pentagon in August that some of the money could be fraudulently wasted by funding so-called "ghost soldiers" in Afghanistan's security forces.
Two Russian ultimatums — "plutonium" and "nuclear" caused shock in the US. "It's a real tragedy because we had successful cooperation in these areas," - Forbes quoted a confused State Department rep Mark Toner.
What made Vladimir Putin raise the stakes in a geopolitical game so suddenly and sharply?
The confusion of Americans was evident almost immediately after the publication of decree that Russia suspends the intergovernmental agreement with the United States on weapons-grade plutonium.
© Maksim Blinov / Sputnik
The ballot took place on Friday with all 446 legislators voting in favor of the agreement, which will be applied "for an unlimited period and is timely applied from the date of its signing."
It is expected that the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, will review the document on October 12.
The deal states that the Russian Air Force is stationed at the Khmeimim airport in Latakia at the request of the Syrian government. A draft of the respective document was submitted by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the State Duma on August 9.
Comment: No surprise there since the US has proved to be an unreliable 'partner'.
© Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters
Once the jihadists exit the war-ravaged city, Syrian government troops and the opposition will be able to form joint law-and-order bodies, Russia's top diplomat said, as cited by RIA Novosti.
"In the first place, those who don't leave with 'Nusra' should clearly separate themselves [from it], on paper, officially sign such a commitment," Lavrov said.
"Maybe then the government law enforcers and this armed opposition will be able to form some kind of joint law-and-order bodies to ensure normal life, so that people would feel safe," he continued.
Comment: The question is: will al-Qaeda agree? This 'plan' was essentially one of the main objectives of the cessation of hostilities agreement. What makes de Mistura think the rebels will listen this time? Maybe there's something else going on, e.g., providing safe cover to exfiltrate the Nusra-embedded U.S. special forces rumored to be holed up. From the entertaining but unverifiable Ziad Fadel at Syrian Perspective:
The United States is particularly concerned about the 12+ American rodent terrorists who were embedded with Alqaeda in East Aleppo. Their being taken captive would be a massive humiliation for a president whose own legacy is now assuredly one of failure and deep degradation. The Syrian Army - MI are monitoring the communications between the American rodents and their commanders in Turkey. Their situation is untenable. The Americans are slowly starving and are giving hints they might have to surrender to the SAA. This is why the U.S. was so insistent on a cease fire. There is also discussion of an extraction operation using both U.S. and Turkish commandos to break in to East Aleppo and save the miserable lives of the American terrorists. Such an operation, if unsuccessful, will bring even more opprobrium to Obama and his team of imbeciles, not to mention a virtual admission of American support for Alqaeda. A real mess.Ironically, if Nusra takes de Mistura up on his offer, it won't end up well for the rebels, according to Syrian information minister Ramez Tourjman:
Aleppo is an important boundary in the history of this crisis. Its liberation will lead to a quick collapse of terrorist groups and will force [the sides] to transition to the political resolution of the crisis.
© Kia Ora Gaza
Original report, Oct. 6:
Israel has begun deporting the all-female crew of sailors who attempted to land in Gaza. The first two women returned to London on Thursday afternoon, a day after Israeli commandos seized the Women's Boat to Gaza, an activist ship skimming towards the Strip's maritime borders.
Comment: Some more details of the Israeli pirates illegal hijacking:
Two journalists from Al Jazeera who were on board Zaytouna-Oliva have been released and have safely reached London and Moscow. The other 11 women of the Women's Boat to Gaza are still in detention, but we anticipate that they will be 'deported' soon, as they were moved yesterday from Givon Prison to a detention facility at Ben-Gurion airport.
Wendy Goldsmith, a member of the land team working to secure the release of the women stated that, "the deportation is happening much quicker than in previous flotillas. While we had a great legal team assisting the women, we suspect that the reason for the quick release was because of all the negative media attention Israel has been receiving for its illegal interception, including the demand of rock band Pink Floyd." According to early reports from the women released, the Zaytouna-Oliva was surrounded by two warships along with four to five smaller naval boats. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) demanded that the Zaytouna-Oliva stop its course towards Gaza. When the warning was refused, at least seven IOF members, both male and female, boarded our yacht and commandeered it in international waters.
In the course of their capture, the women insisted that Israel's attack was illegal and that they were being taken against their will to Israel. The Women's Boat to Gaza campaign asserts that while the captivity of the women on board Zaytouna-Oliva may soon be over, the captivity of 1.9 million Palestinian people in Gaza remains. Whilst the term "peaceful" has been used in some media to describe the attack and capture of our boat, this is inaccurate. Peace is more than merely the absence of physical violence. Oppression, occupation, denial of human rights and taking a boat of unarmed, non-violent women against their will are not peaceful activities. Indeed, as Zaytouna-Oliva approached Palestine, the IOF launched multiple air raidsacross the Gaza Strip.
The Women's Boat to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition will continue to sail until Palestine is free.
Monica Lewinsky 2016
Unfortunately for Lewinsky, the 2016 presidential race keeps getting stuck in the past.
In the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the thrice-married Republican hinted at the Clintons' marital problems and brought up Bill Clinton's infidelities directly soon after. For now, Trump says he won't discuss the subject at Sunday's debate. But he has been known to change his mind.
"Let's see what happens," Trump said at a town-hall event Thursday in New Hampshire, referring to whether he will hold off on the topic. "I think we're all better off if we can do that because it is about issues, it is about policies."
Hillary Clinton may not want to relive this period. But Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said any attack by Trump on the topic would backfire, showing Trump to be "combustible and erratic." Some political analysts said Trump risks showing Clinton in a sympathetic light as the wronged wife — hardly helpful as he struggles to draw support from women.
Yet it's a fraught subject for both candidates. Bill Clinton aides moved aggressively to discredit women who alleged sexual contact with him, while Hillary Clinton stood by her husband publicly in much of that era and cast his accusers as part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
Comment: Killary 'having a real human moment'?? About as human as cackling over Gaddafi's lynching.
Slick Willy's White House flings are small potatoes compared to the full scale of the Clinton's criminal enterprise. Ironic that they seems to be one of the few things that may actually stick to Killary.
- New book 'Partners in Crime': Clinton Foundation is 'a vast, criminal conspiracy' and 'a slush fund for grifters'
- The real history of the '90s: Bill Clinton's odious presidency
- H is for Hypocrisy - Hillary's sordid past
- Flight logs show Bill Clinton flew on pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's 'Lolita Express' jet 26 times
© truthuncensored.net
Public relations staffers looking for a job should send their resumes over to President Barack Obama. In 2015 alone, the federal government paid $999 million on advertising and public relations, according to a study released by the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday. The federal government's spending on PR has increased dramatically with the rise of social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. On average, the federal government has annually spent about $1 billion on PR for the past decade.
The Department of Defense is responsible for $591 million worth of contracts, which is 50 percent more than what all other agencies combined spent in 2015. These numbers only represent the minimum spending on PR teams, that which has been coded for the budget with public relations.
Comment: Propaganda: $999,999,999; Truth: $1. This is about as transparent as it gets.
© Brian Snyder / Reuters
Jennifer Psaki, Jennifer Palmieri, Killary Clinton
Jennifer Psaki, Jennifer Palmieri, Killary Clinton
The emails particularly reveal the revolving door between the White House, the State Department and Clinton's incipient campaign leading up to the time in April 2015 she announced her intention to run for the presidency. The RNC has only shared some of the emails it obtained, specifically those that highlight friendly back-and-forths between the White House and the State Department.
Less than a month before Clinton officially announced her campaign, White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri got in touch with State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki, asking her: "between us on the shows... think we can get this done so he is not asked about email." "Agree completely and working to crush on my end," Psaki responded, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Comment: How to get immunity? You make it by destroying all evidence, squashing all discussion, making others complicit.
© John Vizcaino / Reuters
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and Marxist rebel leader Rodrigo Londono (R), better known as Timochenko, shake hands after signing an accord ending a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people in Cartagena, Colombia September 26, 2016.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and Marxist rebel leader Rodrigo Londono (R), better known as Timochenko, shake hands after signing an accord ending a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people in Cartagena, Colombia September 26, 2016.
"What we have signed [...] goes beyond a simple agreement between a government and guerilla to put an end to a conflict. [It] is a declaration by the Colombian people in front of the world to say that we are tired of war and that we do not accept any more violence as a mean to defend ideas, and that we say loud and clear: 'No more war!'" Santos said upon signing the deal. It had to be ratified by the people of Colombia in a referendum in order to come into force.
Polls ahead of the vote suggested the deal to have public approval, with the peace deal also backed by a great number of politicians in Colombia and abroad, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, Colombians rejected the deal, with 50.2% voting against it.
Comment: Peace...what a concept!
Comment: This has been going on for some time since at least 2013 and can also be found in Iraq. Is this just a case of sloppy accounting or is there a more nefarious reason for these "ghost soldiers"?