Puppet Masters

Nameless U.S. official makes unsubstantiated statement: Russia gave missiles to separatists

Dashiell Bennett
The Wire
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 18:27 UTC

A U.S. official confirmed to The Washington Post on Saturday that Russia supplied advanced missile launchers to separatist groups in Ukraine, and that those launchers were moved back across the border after the downing of Malaysia Air Flight 17. The Russian government has so far denied sending weapons to the rebel groups, and the rebels have denied possessing them, though they have boasted online about shooting down other aircraft.

According to the report by journalists Michael Birnbaum and Karen DeYoung, U.S. intelligence officials learned "a little more than a week ago" that Russia was attempting to move the weapon systems, known as the Buk-M1, into Ukraine. Several videos have surfaced over the last two days of the mobile launchers being moved on Ukrainian roads, including back toward the Russian border, though those videos were unconfirmed. This would appear to be the first direct accusation from American sources tying the disaster to the Russian government.

Although Ukraine has their own versions of the Russian-made Buk missiles, the government claims they did not leave any behind in separatist controlled-areas. If true, the missiles could likely have only come from the other side of the Russian border.

Earlier on Saturday, the Ukrainian government announced it had evidence directly tying the Russians to the crash. The head of Kiev's state security service, Vitaly Nayda, displayed pictures of Buk missiles being moved toward the Russian border.

Comment: Practically every statement in this article is unsubstantiated and highly biased. The U.S. media is REALLY ratcheting up the anti-Russian, anti-Putin propaganda.

New York mayor promises investigation into strangulation and death of Eric Garner

Adario Strange
Mashable.com
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 20:26 UTC

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised an investigation into the death of Eric Garner after Garner was placed in an apparent chokehold by New York police officers.

A cellphone video that captured the incident on Thursday shows Garner, 43, being approached and questioned by two officers in Staten Island, New York. After several minutes of discussion, Garner claims the officers are harassing him and says, "I'm minding my business, officer ... please just leave me alone." Soon after, one of the officers, in an attempt to arrest Garner, appear to put him in a chokehold. In the video, the unnamed bystander filming the incident says off-camera that Garner had just broken up a fight.

Subdued by five officers holding him face down on the ground, Garner, a 350-pound man with a history of asthma, gasped, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." Moments later, Garner went into cardiac arrest and died.

Comment:

Father of six dies after New York police place him in chokehold for selling untaxed cigarettes

NYPD officer who strangled father of six put on desk duty

Now Ukraine says it 'knew' of separatists' air-defense capabilities

Margaret Coker And Robert Wall
Wall Street Journal
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 12:19 UTC

Ukraine intelligence officials said they knew three days before the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that rebels in the east of the country possessed sophisticated air-defense systems capable of felling a jetliner at altitudes in excess of where the Boeing 777 was flying.

The disclosure deepens the mystery of why Ukrainian aviation officials failed to entirely close off the airspace in the Donetsk region, where the jet was flying went it was shot down, killing all 298 people on board.

Three Buk-M1 medium-range antiaircraft systems, also known as the SA-11 Gadfly under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization designation, were known to be in rebel hands as early as July 14, said Vitaly Nayda, the head of the counterintelligence division of Ukraine's security service.

Ukraine imposed a partial flight ban in the region on flights below 26,000 feet on July 1, and raised the ceiling of the exclusion area to 32,000 feet on July 14. The Malaysia Airlines plane was flying at 33,000 feet.

The altitude restrictions on commercial flights were raised after rebel separatists backed by Moscow on July 14 shot down a Ukrainian military Antonov An-26 transport plane with eight people on board over the skies of the Luhansk region. The aircraft was flying at 21,000 feet.

Comment: All this is irrelevant. It's an accepted fact that Ukraine has Buk systems. That does not imply they shot down MH17 with this system. By the same logic, even if the militias have Buk systems as well, that does not imply that THEY shot down MH17. It hasn't even been conclusively established that MH17 WAS shot down with a Buk system. Facts first, conclusions after. Enough propaganda already.

Snowden sez British GCHQ worse than the NSA

RT
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 10:28 UTC

British intelligence is permitted to go further in surveillance than similar agencies in other Western countries, according to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who spoke of GCHQ's lack of oversight in a recent interview to the Guardian.

Snowden believes the powers of the British intelligence are not restricted effectively enough by "law or policy". Despite the UK government publicly claiming that regulations over the spy activity are strict, GCHQ's private documents suggest the opposite is true.

"You've got their own admission in their own documents that 'we've got a much lighter oversight regime than we should have,' full stop," Snowden said. "That's what they're talking about. They enjoy authorities that they really shouldn't be entitled to."

The lack of legal restrictions leads to UK intelligence being able to target more people than is necessary.

"Tempora [GCHQ's internet surveillance program] is really proof ... that GCHQ has much less-strict legal restrictions than other Western government intelligence."

Snowden is happy with life in Russia

RT
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 00:00 UTC

Although he is "probably three steps from death" considering his way of living, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is quite happy and leading a "pretty open life" and not feeling any "oppressive surveillance" in Russia, he told The Guardian.

"There's actually not that much difference," Snowden said in an interview with the Guardian when asked about the year he spent in Russia. "I don't live in absolute secrecy. I live a pretty open life." Those wondering are most likely just hoping to see him sad, Snowden added. "And they're going to continue to be disappointed."

Snowden said he's been working hard recently, not eating well and keeping a weird schedule, which is why he is probably "three steps from death," he jokes. He never mentioned what kind of work he is busy with, but hinted it has nothing to do with Russian intelligence community, once again stressing that he never brought a single piece of classified material with him to Russia.

Blame game continues: Ukrainians argue over crash site evidence while US-EU politicians threaten Putin

Anton Zverev and Peter Graff
Yahoo News
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 11:57 UTC

© AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
An armed man looks at charred debris at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, July 20, 2014. Armed rebels forced emergency workers to hand over all 196 bodies recovered from the Malaysia Airlines crash site and had them loaded Sunday onto refrigerated train cars bound for a rebel-held city, Ukrainian officials and monitors said.

Ukraine accused Russia and pro-Moscow rebels on Saturday of destroying evidence to cover up their guilt in the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner that has accelerated a showdown between the Kremlin and Western powers.

As militants kept international monitors away from wreckage and scores of bodies festered for a third day, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the rebels to cooperate and insisted that a U.N.-mandated investigation must not leap to conclusions. Moscow denies involvement and has pointed a finger at Kiev's military.

The Dutch government, whose citizens made up most of the 298 aboard MH17 from Amsterdam, said it was "furious" at the manhandling of corpses strewn for miles over open country and asked Ukraine's president for help to bring "our people" home.

After U.S. President Barack Obama said the loss of the Kuala Lumpur-bound flight showed it was time to end the conflict, Germany called it Moscow's last chance to cooperate.

European powers seemed to swing behind Washington's belief Russia's separatist allies were to blame. That might speed new trade sanctions on Moscow, without waiting for definitive proof.

Comment: The rebels are guarding the area because they know well that any evidence that might implicate the US led puppet-government in Kiev will be decimated by pro-Western investigators.

Who shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17? New Cold War, same old propaganda
10 questions the Russians have for Ukraine after crash of MH17
MH17 false flag? Emerging evidence points in that direction

OSCE: Kiev has butchered over 250 civilians in Lugansk in last 2 months

RT
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 11:59 UTC

At least 250 civilians were killed and over 850 wounded in June and July in the opposition-controlled city of Lugansk, which is besieged by the Ukrainian military, the daily report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission said.

According to the report, the observers met with members of Lugansk emergency first aid brigade on Thursday.

"The doctors said that in June and July alone there were 250 killed and 850 wounded in the Lugansk region," the document published Saturday said.

The figures didn't include civilians killed in close vicinity of combat zones outside the city as well as causalities among those involved in fighting, the report pointed.

The medics also told the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) that "increasingly more people were being killed by booby traps and mines."

The situation in Lugansk and Donetsk Regions "remained tense with on-going fighting around the city of Luhansk," the observers said.

The report says the "SMM heard the sound of a shell hitting a garage," while patrolling the center of Lugansk.

When the mission arrived on the scene, they found "one man killed lying on the pavement; the garage and a car were totally demolished."

On Saturday night, air sirens started off in Lugansk as a fighter jet was spotted in the skies following a brief mortar shelling. Friday attacks took 15 lives while over 50 more were injured, local authorities said.

Emergency workers sift through Malaysia Airlines debris field

Kirit Radia
ABC NEWS
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 02:15 UTC

We're back at the debris field of Malaysia Airlines MH 17 as the sun is setting.

The bodies are gone and the emergency workers established a perimeter, only to abandon it less than an hour later. We weren't immediately allowed to get up to the wreck like before, but it is now totally unguarded.

The rebels were even off in their tent and not patrolling the area.

We watched local emergency workers sift through the wreckage, lifting and moving pieces of debris. Coal miners who were brought in to comb the field for remains clamored about the wreckage, lifting up debris and taking pictures with their phones.

To my untrained eye, this looks like exactly the type of thing investigators would not want -- evidence being moved.

7:43 a.m. -- Maybe the light is better this morning, maybe we dare look more, but we're seeing body parts everywhere today in .

All of the bodies we spotted Friday were still laying among the wreckage nearly 48 hours after the crash.

It's been raining. The smell is different today.

Less jet fuel. More like a butcher shop.

It's worse.

Anywhere else in the world, this crash site would be sealed off and crawling with investigators.

Journalists, rebels and a few emergency workers are the only ones here this morning.

As we pulled away, investigators arrived to begin removing the bodies.

Comment: Interesting way to conduct an investigation...buck-a-bag, anyone? Or is it more advantageous to contaminate the evidence?

Common sense cooperation: Germany and Russia agree to international investigation into downing of MH17

The Raw Story
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 09:21 UTC

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed for an international investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines plane over Ukraine, Berlin said on Saturday.

The two leaders, who spoke on the telephone, "agreed that an international, independent commission under the direction of ICAO (UN's International Civil Aviation Organization) should quickly have access to the site of the accident... to shed light on the circumstances of the crash and move the victims," said a German government statement.

A Kremlin statement on the same phone call said that "both sides stressed the importance of a thorough and objective investigation of all circumstances relating to what has happened" and said Merkel gave a "positive assessment of Russia's readiness to send its representative to participate in the investigation."

Berlin considering expanding criminal prosecution to include American handlers of German spies

RT.com
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 07:29 UTC

Criminal prosecution is likely to be expanded on Americans involved in recruiting and supervising activities of German officials spying for the US intelligence, Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Welt am Sonntag.

If investigators find a body of evidence that alleged double agents in Germany's federal intelligence service and Defense Ministry have been spying to the benefit of American intelligence, "the investigation would extend on their feasible patrons," Maas declared.

According to Welt am Sonntag, the alleged spymaster is the US citizen Andrew M., a 52-year-old international political consultant, who allegedly received confidential military documents from the Germans.

"The law applies to everyone without discrimination," Maas said, stressing that intelligence security laws apply on friendly states either. "Those who do not abide by the law in this country may have to face criminal prosecution," he said.

"Spying among friends is like breaching a diplomatic dam," Maas said.

"The evidence for espionage activities is very strong," an anonymous security officer closely familiar with the case told the paper. "If I were the federal prosecutor, I would press charges."

An unceasing row of intelligence scandals, that started over a year ago with revelations of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who have revealed that the US has been extensively eavesdropping Germans, Chancellor Angela Merkel included, for years now.

Comment: It will be interesting to see how far the German government is willing to go in retaliation over US spying.

Spy vs. spy: Germany may start spying on U.S. after double-agent scandal
No honor among thieves: Germany arrests suspected 'double agent' for working for US
Rift deepening? Germany expels CIA Berlin chief over NSA spying

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Puppet Masters

Nameless U.S. official makes unsubstantiated statement: Russia gave missiles to separatists

New York mayor promises investigation into strangulation and death of Eric Garner

Now Ukraine says it 'knew' of separatists' air-defense capabilities

Snowden sez British GCHQ worse than the NSA

Snowden is happy with life in Russia

Blame game continues: Ukrainians argue over crash site evidence while US-EU politicians threaten Putin

OSCE: Kiev has butchered over 250 civilians in Lugansk in last 2 months

Emergency workers sift through Malaysia Airlines debris field

Common sense cooperation: Germany and Russia agree to international investigation into downing of MH17

Berlin considering expanding criminal prosecution to include American handlers of German spies

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