Welcome to Sott.net
Thu, 21 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

Eagle

US Secretary of Defense: US troops being deployed will strike at ANY force challenging occupation of Syrian oil


RT
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 17:29 UTC
American soldiers stand near military trucks

American soldiers stand near military trucks, at al-Omar oil field in Deir Al Zor
American mechanized forces have begun deploying at Syrian oil fields, ostensibly to stop the remnants of Islamic State from seizing them, and will respond with "overwhelming force" to protect them.

Following the withdrawal of US forces from northern Syria earlier this month, and the killing of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Saturday night, American forces in Syria apparently have a new mission: protect the oil.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said at a press conference on Monday that American mechanized forces have already deployed to protect oil fields in eastern Syria. The mission, on its surface, aims to keep these oil fields in the hands of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Washington's former allies in the fight against IS.

The American troops, he said, will "respond with overwhelming military force against any group who threatens the safety of our forces there." When asked whether the US would potentially respond with force against Russian or Syrian forces, Esper simply responded "yes."


Comment: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov weighed in on this utterly egregious maneuver:
The consequences of reckless actions that the United States and its allies have taken in the Middle East are yet to unfold, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, addressing a meeting of the Academic Board of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of late Russian politician Yevgeny Primakov.

According to Lavrov, Washington's destabilizing activities of the West (and the United States in particular) in the Middle East have destroyed many regional states (Iraq, Syria, Libya), gave rise to rampant terrorism (ISIS), washed out a unique ethnic and religious mosaic and created a large-scale migration crisis, TASS reported.
"The consequences of reckless activities by the United States and its allies remain to be overcome. As you know, we are tackling this issues, first and foremost, by facilitating efforts to root out terrorism in Syria, resolve the country's humanitarian problems, promote the return of refugees and launch a political process, which we expect to begin with the start of the Constitutional Committee's activities in Geneva later in the week," the Russian top diplomat pointed out.
The spokeswoman for the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Jennifer Fenton stated earlier that the opening ceremony of the Syrian Constitutional Committee's first meeting was scheduled to take place in Geneva on October 30.

The Syrian Constitutional Committee was established under a decision made by participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in January last year (2018). The 150-member committee includes representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition, as well as the civil society members. Each of the three groups holds one-third of seats in the committee and will appoint experts to hold closed-door consultations in Geneva.


      Read More...
Arrow Up

Saudi investors may take part in $200 billion Russian national projects program


RT
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 14:12 UTC
port
© Reuters / Jessica Bachman
Oil-loading port in Russia
The development of Russia's national projects could lead to massive investment from Saudi Arabia, according to the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev.

Speaking to TASS, he said "we believe that the implementation of national projects in Russia creates excellent opportunities for investment, in a portfolio of projects worth over $200 billion in a number of industries."

Dmitriev explained that "the RDIF, which acts, by the order the President, as a tool for the selection, structuring and implementation of national projects, constantly offers interesting projects with attractive levels of yield to our Saudi partners."

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Pirates

Political warfare in Washington: Pelosi announces 'unnecessary' formal vote on impeachment as proceedings go public


RT
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 19:55 UTC
House Republicans
© Reuters / Carlos Jasso
House Republicans speak to reporters outside the secure basement room used for witness interviews
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced the House will finally hold a vote on impeachment proceedings, an effort to silence Republican complaints about secrecy - and force witnesses to respond to subpoenas.

A resolution "that affirms the ongoing, existing investigation that is currently being conducted by our committees" will be introduced in the House later this week to "eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives," Pelosi said in a statement released on Monday.

No one is above the law.


Comment: Pelosi and the Dems are quite simply playing with fire. Though they are not likely to succeed in impeaching Trump, half the country knows that these efforts are purely motivated by a hatred of Trump, and meant as nothing more than a power grab. But if they should succeed, there will likely be a backlash coming from Trump supporters that will make the politicos' head spin.

One thing's for certain, the political turmoil in Washington, and in the US as a whole, is only going to worsen.

See also:

      Read More...
Vader

Warnings of 'Financial Armageddon' from City of London: Calls for a One World Green Currency to Stop the New Silk Road

Matthew Ehret
Sott.net
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 21:24 UTC
mervyn king financial armageddon
Former Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King has let the cat out of the bag during an IMF meeting on October 19, 2019 when he said the world was heading towards a "financial Armageddon" unless central banks are given more freedom to print infinite amounts of money to bailout Wall Street, as had been done in 2008-2009 when he was governor. As King spoke these ominous words, the NY Federal Reserve found itself in its 5th week of daily money printing (begun on September 17) which has seen $50-$100 billion/day pumped into failing too-big-to-fail banks with "emergency liquidity injections". On October 24, the Fed had to raise the overnight repo loan limit from $75 billion to $120 billion/day and its two-week repo limit from $35 to $45 billion per auction.

Lord King stated:
"By sticking to the new orthodoxy of monetary policy and pretending that we have made the banking system safe, we are sleepwalking towards that crisis."
At the meeting, the British Lord correctly asserted that the systemic causes of the meltdown of 2009 were never resolved but then Delphically lied, saying that the financial regulations installed under Obama (Dodd-Frank) are currently preventing the scale of money-printing needed to encourage economic growth and keep the system from collapsing. The last part of that statement is additionally fraudulent since Lord King tried to equate "economic growth" with "bank bailouts". These terms are actually antagonistic to each other.
      Read More...
Star of David

Israel's newest underhanded moves to 'legalize' the occupation

Jonathan Cook
Mondoweiss
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 20:50 UTC
illegal settlements west bank
© UPI/Debbie Hill
A Palestinian stands on his property overlooking the Israeli settlement Har Homa, West Bank, February 18, 2011.
The United Nations' independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories issued a damning verdict last week on what he termed "the longest belligerent occupation in the modern world".

Michael Lynk, a Canadian law professor, told the UN's human rights council that only urgent international action could prevent Israel's 52-year occupation of the West Bank transforming into de facto annexation.

He warned of a recent surge in violence against Palestinians from settlers, assisted by the Israeli army, and a record number of demolitions this year of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem - evidence of the ways Israel is further pressuring Palestinians to leave their lands.

He urged an international boycott of all settlement products as a necessary step to put pressure on Israel to change course. He also called on the UN itself to finally publish - as long promised - a database that it has been compiling since 2016 of Israeli and international companies doing business in the illegal settlements and normalising the occupation.
      Read More...
Eye 2

Deep State destroyed Flynn to stop audit of its operations says author Lee Smith

Robert Kraychik
Breitbart News
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 19:46 UTC
Michael Flynn

Michael Flynn
A multifaceted "criminal conspiracy" to destroy former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was launched by persons across the national security state apparatus to prevent audits of intelligence agencies' operations, said Lee Smith, author of The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in U.S. History, in a Friday interview on SiriusXM's Breitbart News Tonight with host Rebecca Mansour and special guest host Rick Manning.

"General Flynn's lawyer, Sydney Powell, has done a fantastic job of unearthing a whole bunch of new information which clarifies what we've known — what we've suspected — for quite a long time, that large parts of the intelligence community targeted General Flynn," Smith stated.

Smith added, "Sydney Powell has brought forth a whole bunch of important information ... about how they tinkered with the FBI's interviews. They also ambushed General Flynn in the White House for an interview, and we know how that went down. It was James Comey who asked his deputy director Andy McCabe to send agents down there to go after General Flynn."

Comment: Read the excerpt from Lee Smith's book here.

      Read More...
Take 2

Caliph closure: 'He died like a dog'

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 19:51 UTC
syria al baghdadi site
© AFP
What remained of the attack site
"He died like a dog." President Trump could not have scripted a better one-liner as he got ready for his Obama bin Laden close-up in front of the whole world.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, fake caliph, ISIS/Daesh leader, the most wanted man on the planet, was "brought to justice" under Trump's watch. The dead dog caliph is now positioned as the ultimate foreign policy winning trophy ahead of 2020 reelection.

The climatic scenes of the inevitable-as-death-and-taxes movie or Netflix series to come are already written. (Trump: I "watched it like a movie.") Cowardly uber-terrorist cornered in a dead-end tunnel, eight helicopter gunships hovering above, dogs barking in the darkness, three terrified children taken as hostages, coward detonates a suicide vest, tunnel collapses over himself and the children.

A crack forensic team carrying samples of the fake caliph's DNA apparently does its job in record time. The remains of the self-exploded target - then sealed in plastic bags - confirm it: it's Baghdadi. In the dead of night, it's time for the commando unit to go back to Irbil, a 70-minute flight over northeast Syria and northwest Iraq. Cut to Trump's presser. Mission accomplished. Roll credits.
      Read More...
Calendar

EU: Brexit delayed until Jan. 31; Johnson pursues election

William James, Kylie MacLellan
Reuters
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 04:21 UTC
UK Johnson
© UK PM Boris Johnson, Sky News
UK PM Boris Johnson
The European Union on Monday agreed to a potential three-month Brexit delay that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had vowed never to request, as Johnson sought a snap election to secure a majority capable of passing his divorce deal.

Days before the United Kingdom is formally due to leave the EU on Oct. 31, Brexit hangs in the balance, with British politicians still arguing about how, when or even if the divorce should take place at all.

Johnson, who won the top job in July by vowing to deliver Brexit on Oct. 31, "do or die", was driven to request a postponement after he was defeated in parliament over the ratification of his divorce deal.

The 27 countries that will remain in the EU agreed on Monday to put off Brexit until the end of January, with an earlier departure possible should the faction-ridden UK parliament ratify the separation deal that Johnson agreed with the bloc.

If no EU country objects within 24 hours - by Tuesday afternoon - the delay will have been formally adopted. In a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, Johnson reluctantly accepted the delay, saying he had no choice under British law.
"This unwanted prolongation of the UK's membership of the EU is damaging to our democracy. I would also urge EU member states to make clear that a further extension after 31st January is not possible. This is plenty of time to ratify our deal."

Comment: RT, 28/10/19: 'Life's a ditch & then you die in it' BoJo ridiculed as Brexit pledge lies in tatters
Eyebrow-raising rhetoric, indeed, and it that has ostensibly rebounded in the form of brutal mockery on social media:


Ditch
© The Brexit Comic

The so-called 'flextension' would mean that Britain could leave the bloc before the renewed deadline day if, in the meantime, a deal is ratified by the UK parliament.


      Read More...
Star of David

Former Israeli parliamentarian: Public not interested in unity government


Sputnik
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 15:10 UTC
AvigdorLieberman
© Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
Potential Israeli election do-over beneficiary, Avigdor Lieberman
As Blue and White leader Benny Gantz continues to hold coalition talks in an attempt to form a unity government, a former member of the Israeli Parliament says the Israeli public is not interested in unity.

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz is set to continue his round of coalition talks, meeting chief of Israel Beitenu Avigdor Lieberman in the afternoon at the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset. The two have vowed to work towards a unity government but Ksenia Svetlova, a political analyst and a former member of the Israeli Parliament from the party Hatnua believes that the Israeli public didn't go to the polls to vote for unity.

No Unity Wanted
"People didn't vote for a unity government. Many chose Gantz because he was running with a campaign promise of never to sit down in a government with Netanyahu if he was under an indictment. Gantz, unlike other politicians, tends to keep his promises."
Neither does the public want another set of elections.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Question

Johnson and Macron - are they the caretakers or betrayers of Brexit?

Tom Luongo
Gold Goats 'N Guns
Fri, 25 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
MacronJohnsonMerkel
© politicaluk.co.uk
French President Macron • UK PM Johnson • German Chancellor Merkel
While everyone, including myself, has speculated how Boris Johnson could be the Hero of Brexit, it may come down to French President Emmanuel Macron being that hero.

Macron has made noise after noise about not wanting to grant any more extensions to the U.K. to delay Brexit. He wants Brexit completed.

That's what Macron wants you to believe. And as we close out another week of Brexit drama, that's what everyone is supposed to talk about until Monday when Boris Johnson brings forth his latest attempt to get a General Election through a Parliament inchoate with hatred of him.

Mike Shedlock has his latest take up on his blog covering this angle. It is well-considered. Mike believes Macron is serious and predicates his analysis on this position.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts