Puppet MastersS


Horse

The same idiots who pushed for war in Iraq are stirring up anti-Russian hysteria

James Clapper
© Carlos Barria/Reuters
The main U.S. intelligence official pushing claims that Russia hacked the Democratic party is James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence.

But Clapper was responsible for a lot of the bogus intelligence which led to the Iraq war. Newsweek reported in 2010:
President Obama's nomination of Pentagon intelligence chief James Clapper as intelligence czar could reignite the Bush-era debate over how and why agencies overstated Saddam Hussein's weapons-of-mass-destruction arsenal before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Clapper played an important role in that estimate; from 2001 to 2006 he headed the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon unit responsible for interpreting spy-satellite photos and other technically gathered intelligence like air particles and soil samples. And now the conservative Washington Times is reviving the argument, reporting that in Clapper's judgment the Iraqi dictator evaded the post-invasion WMD search by hiding at least part of the arsenal across the border in shortly before the invasion.
Clapper himself told Congress yesterday that his "fingerprints" were all over the Iraq intelligence estimate.

The architect of the NSA's global surveillance system (Bill Binney) and a 27-year CIA veteran who chaired National Intelligence Estimates and personally delivered intelligence briefings to both Democratic and Republican presidents and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Ray McGovern) wrote yesterday:

Comment: See also: New "Russian hacking" intel report: Still no evidence


Stock Down

Israel cuts $6 million in funding to UN in retribution for resolution demanding halt to illegal settlements

netanyahu
Israel has decided to cut $6 million of its annual contribution to the United Nations after the Security Council adopted a resolution demanding a complete halt to Israeli settlement activities.

The funding cut which represents only a portion of Israel's $40 million annual contributions, will affect the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), and The Division for Palestinian Rights and programs dealing with "the Question of Palestine," an information campaign at the UN.

"It is unreasonable for Israel to fund bodies that operate against us at the UN," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said. "The UN must end the absurd reality in which it supports bodies whose sole intent is to spread incitement and anti-Israel propaganda."

Israel's UN Mission said that additional measures might follow "aimed at encouraging structural change within the UN with the ultimate goal of ending anti-Israel activities" after Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20.

Israel's UN funding trim comes a day after US lawmakers overwhelmingly adopted a congressional non-binding resolution declaring unwavering support for Israel. The motion, passed 342 to 80 on Thursday, insists that Washington rejects any future UN actions that are "one-sided and anti-Israel."

Comment: Ambassador Danon clearly doesn't understand what the US is setup to acheive. The UN Charter lists four purposes:
Maintaining worldwide peace and security. Developing relations among nations. Fostering cooperation between nations in order to solve economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian international problems.
Israeli settlements are illegal and obviously go against the charter. Danton's confusion is understandable however, since the only time the UN apparently seeks such purposes is when the United States elite have an underlying agenda of instigating trouble.


Green Light

Trump tweets for peace with Russia

Trump peace sign
© WikiMedia
Donald Trump's latest tweet stating that Russia is not a threat is his way of sticking a middle finger at Barack Obama and the deep state.

Donald Trump will cave under pressure from the deep state and renege on his pledge to cooperate with rather than threaten Russia...so said many pundits, but thus far they have been proved wrong time and again.

Donald Trump just tweeted the following:




Eye 1

FBI heavily censors document details provided in iPhone hacking lawsuit

iphone
The FBI has released 100 pages of heavily censored documents related to its agreement with an unidentified vendor to hack into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters, but it did not identify whom it paid to perform the work or how much it cost.

The records were provided Friday in response to a federal lawsuit filed against the FBI by The Associated Press, Vice Media and Gannett, the parent company of USA Today.

The media organizations sued in September to learn how much the FBI paid and who it hired to break into the phone of Syed Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife killed 14 people at a holiday gathering of county workers in December 2015. The FBI for weeks had maintained that only Apple Inc. could access the information on its phone, which was protected by encryption, but ultimately broke or bypassed Apple's digital locks with the help of an unnamed third party.

The FBI, in its records release Friday, censored critical details that would have shown how much the FBI paid, whom it hired and how it opened the phone. The files had been marked "secret" before they were turned over under the lawsuit.

Quenelle

Turkish PM visits Iraq amid spat over unauthorized troops

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi
© AP Photo/ Hadi MizbanIraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi
Yildrim arrived on an official two-day visit in the Iraqi capital earlier in the day, accompanied by a senior delegation, and is also expected to meet Iraqi President Fuad Masum, Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri as well as Iraqi Kurdistan's government, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Relations between Turkey and Iraq deteriorated after Turkey dispatched its troops in Iraq in late 2015 on the pretext of helping the Iraqi militia fight Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia), without the Iraqi government's consent.

In October, the Turkish parliament extended a mandate allowing Turkish troops to be deployed in Iraq and Syria to combat terrorists for another year.

Comment: Ankara agreed to meet the Iraqi demand, namely, to withdraw troops from the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq, Abadi said in the follow up to the closed-door meeting in Baghdad, as cited by the Al Sumaria broadcaster.


Pistol

Violence spreads to Ivory Coast's commercial capital in armed revolt

UN Blue Helmet peacekeepers vehicles Bouake
© Sia Kambou / AFPA picture taken in Bouake on January 6, 2017 shows UN Blue Helmet peacekeepers vehicles arriving at the entrance of the city where soldiers demanding more pay and housing rose up earlier in the day.
The situation is developing after Ivory Coast soldiers mutiny over pay, taking over three large cities. There are fresh reports of gunfire in the country's commercial hub, Abidjan, as well as several other cities. The defense minister announced he was about to engage in peace talks with the military.

The latest developments come on the heels of gunfire in the city of Bouake, which the soldiers took over last night. A soldier and resident at a military camp in Abidjan tells Reuters the base is now also a battleground.

"Shooting has started in our camp too now," the soldier told Reuters.

The mutinying soldiers entered the compound housing Ivory Coast's defense ministry, Reuters reported citing a diplomatic source who claimed to have seen them there.

USA

Marines heading back to Helmand Province despite Obama's promise of 'normal' Afghanistan embassy presence

machine gunner from the Eighth Marines Bravo Company on patrol in southern Afghanistan
© Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters / Reuters
US Marines will again be on the ground in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, less than three years after the final troops pulled out of the conflict zone as part of a handover to Afghan forces.

Some 300 military personnel are due to return to the southern Afghan province this spring in an advisory role, the US Marine Corps confirmed on Friday.

It means adding to US military levels in the country at a time when the US president had predicted they would be at an all time low.

Footprints

Iraq: Turkey to withdraw its illegally stationed troops

Turk soldiers Iraq
© Center for Turkey Studies
Following the announcement of a meeting between Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the two counterparts have agreed for the total withdrawal of all Turkish soldiers illegally stationed in the Bashiqa region near Mosul. Iraqi television quoted al-Abadi confirming an agreement reached with Turkey on the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Iraq.

Turkish Prime Minister Ben Ali Yildirim is expected to also meet President Fuad Masum and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri following his meeting with Abadi, as well as community leaders of Iraq's Turkmen minority.

The deployment of Turkish troops near Mosul caused a political showdown between the two states, with the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units vowing to rid Iraq of Turkish troops after defeating ISIS. Iraq also considered its options of attacking the illegally stationed Turkish troops.

Comment: In December, 2015, without Baghdad's approval, Turkey deployed troops and tanks to a base in the Nineveh province of Iraq under the guise of training Kurdish militia fighting against Daesh. Iraq rejected the ruse stating Turkey's military presence was not requested nor authorized. Iraq then filed a complaint with the UN Security Council and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the troops. Russia also advocated for deployment withdrawal.

See also:


Bad Guys

Iraqi military: Headquarters of Chechen Daesh terrorists seized in Mosul

An Iraqi security member stands guard as Iraqi Christians attend a Christmas Eve at the Saint John's church (Mar Yohanna church) in the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya), 30 km east of Mosul, on December 25, 2016
© AFP 2016/ SAFIN HAMEDAn Iraqi security member stands guard as Iraqi Christians attend a Christmas Eve at the Saint John's church (Mar Yohanna church) in the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya), 30 km east of Mosul, on December 25, 2016
Jawdat added that the Daesh headquarters were located in the south-eastern part of the city.

"Maps of IS [Daesh] attacks which were earlier carried out in various Mosul districts were found at the headquarters. Federal police discovered explosive belts and weapons," Federal Police commander Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat said.

Mosul operation commander Abdul Amir Rashid Jarallah said that the police also seized control over the nearby hospital and the area of the Al-Ghufran Mosque.

The Mosul operation aimed to liberate the city from Daesh forces started in October 2016. The operation is jointly conducted by Iraqi military forces, Iraqi Kurds and the United States-led coalition. The eastern part of the city has been recaptured from terrorists so far.

Clipboard

6 questions that should be asked about the 'Russian hacking' report

hacking report
All fluff and no substance.
Julia Ioffe, a writer for The Atlantic who watches Russia carefully, tweeted this about the intelligence community's unclassified report on Russian hacking released Friday: "It's hard to tell if the thinness of the #hacking report is because the proof is classified, or because the proof doesn't exist."*


"Thin" is right. The report is brief — the heart of it is just five broadly-spaced pages. It is all conclusions and no evidence. In the introduction, the IC — the collective voice of the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA — explains that it cannot supply evidence to the public, because doing so "would reveal sensitive sources or methods and imperil the ability to collect critical foreign intelligence in the future."

The problem is, without evidence, it's hard for the public to determine just what happened in the hacking affair. So here are six questions the IC might consider answering in the days ahead:

Comment: New "Russian hacking" intel report: Still no evidence