Puppet MastersS


Pirates

DNC cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike may have fabricated Russian hacking in Ukraine

Michael Sainato
Counter Punch
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 16:23 UTC
Crowd Strike
© New York Times
The cyber security firm outsourced by the Democratic National Committee, CrowdStrike, reportedly misread data, falsely attributing a hacking in Ukraine to the Russians in December 2016. Voice of America, a US Government funded media outlet, reported, "the CrowdStrike report, released in December, asserted that Russians hacked into a Ukrainian artillery app, resulting in heavy losses of howitzers in Ukraine's war with Russian-backed separatists. But the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) told VOA that CrowdStrike erroneously used IISS data as proof of the intrusion. IISS disavowed any connection to the CrowdStrike report.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense also has claimed combat losses and hacking never happened." The maker of the military app allegedly hacked called CrowdStrike's report "delusional," and told VOA that CrowdStrike never contacted him either before or after they completed their report. VOA News noted Ukraine's rebuttal to CrowdStrike received little media attention as CrowdStrike's report was widely cited in media outlets throughout the United States as further evidence of Russia hacking the United States. Alperovitch, who gave several interviews on CrowdStrike's initial report to the Washington Post and other media outlets, refused to comment on VOA News' report.
Read More...
Propaganda

Newly obtained documents disprove "missing eleven days" claim of Snowden's accusers

Glen Greenwald
The Intercept
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 16:22 UTC
Edward Snowden
© The Intercept
For almost four years, a cottage industry of media conspiracists has devoted itself to accusing Edward Snowden of being a spy for either Russia and/or China at the time he took and then leaked documents from the National Security Agency. There has never been any evidence presented to substantiate this accusation.

In lieu of evidence, the propagators of this accusation have relied upon the defining tactic of tawdry conspiracists everywhere: relentless repetition of rumor and innuendo based on alleged inconsistencies until it spreads far enough through the media ecosystem to take on the appearance of being credible. In this case, there was one particular fiction — about where Snowden spent his first 11 days after arriving in Hong Kong — which took on particular significance for this group.

They insist that Snowden, contrary to what he has always maintained, did not check into the Mira Hotel on May 21, 2013, the day after he arrived in Hong Kong. Instead, they assert, he checked-in only on June 1, which means Snowden has 11 "unaccounted-for" days from the time he arrived in Hong Kong until he met with journalists at the Mira in the beginning of June. They have repeatedly leveraged this Missing Eleven Days into the insinuation that Snowden used this time to work with his Russian and/or Chinese handlers in preparation for meeting the U.S. journalists in Hong Kong.
Read More...
Jet5

China tells US to respect air defense ID zone after report of B-1 flyover


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 15:45 UTC
B-1B Lancer supersonic bomber
© Handout / ReutersA U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer supersonic bomber
China says the US should respect its self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ), after a report alleged that a US bomber illegally flew inside the area in the East China Sea.

"The United States has its own ADIZs. I think if this matter is true, they should respect China's relevant ADIZ rights," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing on Thursday.

It comes after CNN reported that Chinese officials warned a US military aircraft flying near South Korea on Sunday, telling its pilots they were illegally operating in Chinese airspace and ordering the plane to leave.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Norway grants asylum to Turkish military officers who fear persecution after failed coup attempt


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 16:06 UTC
Turkish protestors
© Huseyin Aldemir / Reuters
Four Turkish NATO officers and a military attaché were given asylum in Norway after ignoring orders to return home following last year's attempted coup. Turkey has summoned the Norwegian ambassador to Ankara for an explanation.

According to Norwegian media, citing Kjell M. Brygfjeld, the lawyer of the officers and the attaché, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration accepted the asylum applications earlier this week.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Israel seeking to prevent resolution of Syrian war


Sputnik
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 16:14 UTC
Israel tank
© AFP 2017/ STR
Israel is likely to try to retain the existing status quo in Syria since it has benefited from the ongoing conflict in the war-torn neighboring nation, political analyst Sergei Balmasov asserted, saying that Tel Aviv's combat missions are not aimed at President Bashar al-Assad, but are rather meant to prevent the crisis from being resolved.

"Israel is deeply interested in the ongoing standoff between the Sunnis and the Shia. Tel Aviv wants them to continue killing each other. Nothing presents a threat to Israel as long as this war is ongoing. The Israeli Air Force launches airstrikes against Shia militias in Syria, tipping the balance. This evens out the chances and the war drags on," he told RT.

Comment: In other words, Israel is invested in maintaining terrorism.

Read More...
Bullseye

'Aleppo boy' versus 'Mosul girl': How the Western MSM manipulates news coverage to fit NATO's agenda

Robert Bridge
RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:36 UTC
Zašto mediji ne spominju izbjeglice i civilne žrtve u Mosulu, iz Aleppa se izvještavalo svakodnevno
© Ari Jalal / Reuters
The world recently got a crude lesson as to how the Western media machine manipulates its news coverage to fit NATO's regime- change agenda.

During two parallel global events - the Russian-backed liberation of Aleppo and the US-backed liberation of Mosul - viewers witnessed the tragic circumstances of two children, with two radically different media spins.

By now, many people are familiar with the story of Omran Daqneesh. He is the Syrian boy from Aleppo who - seated alone in the back of an ambulance, covered in dust, blood and the flood of flashbulbs - became the Western media's stock image whenever it wished to portray the "Russian-backed Syrian regime" and its effort to free the city of Aleppo from the yoke of terrorism.

Omran's "haunting" photograph, splashed across every front page of every Western newspaper on August 18, 2016, accompanied a self-righteous Western jeremiad against "Russia and the Syrian regime," as opposed to the bloodthirsty terrorists who held the residents of this northern Syrian city hostage to their insane ideology for years.

Would the Western media really stoop so low as to use the image of an injured child as a propaganda device to damage Russia's efforts in defeating such deranged characters?

Unfortunately, that appears to have been the case.


Comment: The boy in the ambulance: US State Dept-funded groups behind latest 'iconic image' designed to demonize Russia and encourage further bloodshed in Syria


Comment:

Read More...
Health

UN program for reconstructing Gaza is not only ineffective, it's escalating crisis


TeleSUR
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 15:34 UTC
Palestinian boy water
© ReutersA Palestinian boy drinks water next to a cart loaded with containers filled with water from public taps in the northern Gaza Strip, June 20, 2013.
Under the plan, Israel continues to tightly control the materials that are being used to build vital infrastructure in Gaza.

The United Nations-backed strategy for the reconstruction of Gaza following the 2014 offensive by Israel has been dubbed a failure by the international charity Oxfam. An investigation released Wednesday revealed that the strategy "is failing to meet the needs of 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza" and instead is worsening Gaza's already dire water and sanitation crisis.

The Oxfam report, titled "Treading Water" and released on World Water Day, analyzed the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism or GRM, which was designed to help with urgent reconstruction of areas devastated by the 2014 war by allowing the entry of building materials into the strip.

Under the GRM, almost 3,000 items needed to build infrastructure for water and sanitation in Gaza are still awaiting approval. Only 16 percent of items that have been submitted for GRM approval for water and sanitation projects have made it past the Israeli-imposed blockade.
Read More...
Bullseye

Best of the Web: The 'Peaceful Revolution' narrative in Syria by the West was a lie from the beginning

Patrick Henningsen
21st Century Wire
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 15:35 UTC
mccain
This week is the 6th anniversary of the beginning of the Syrian conflict. Despite the mounting evidence and the collapse of Washington and London's failed project, many liberal 'humanitarian interventionists' in the West are still clinging to the imaginary storyline of 'freedom fighters' in Syria battling against an evil authoritarian tyrant in their fragile bid to preserve their dream of a progressive liberal democratic future in the Middle East. A fairy tale for the ages...

From the beginning of hostilities in 2011, the US, UK, France, the EU, Turkey, Jordan, Israel and the Gulf monarchies, led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar - have all been pumping the fraudulent narrative of a 'Syrian Revolution', which was meant to be the latest peaceful installment of the fabled 'Arab Spring.' This ornate lie has been refined and recycled across all US mainstream, European and Gulf media outlets for the last 6 years, custom designed to give the false impression that "Assad is a brutal dictator" - and justifying the Western and Gulf-backing of religious extremist militants, followed by a protracted US-led 'Coalition' bombing campaign in Syria (all of which have been illegal under international law, and, US law for that matter).

In truth, US-led plans to overthrown the Syrian government and reshape the country along sectarian lines goes way back...
Read More...
Map

Sangin: Afghan district where over 100 British soldiers lost their lives retaken by Taliban


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 15:36 UTC
british soldiers
© Steve Lewis / Reuters
The deadliest district of Helmand Province in terms of UK military losses has fallen to the Taliban, according to local officials.

While the symbolism of the area's capture is strong given the loss of 106 British soldiers, Sangin has been under severe threat from the Taliban since 2015.

A local police commander named Mohammad Rasoul reported that Taliban fighters had overrun Sangin district center early Thursday.
Read More...
Apple Red

Russia blasts Turkey over massive agriculture tariffs


RT
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 15:27 UTC
farm tractor wheat
© Jim Young / Reuters
Russian Agriculture Minister Aleksandr Tkachev has criticized Ankara for imposing a 130 percent tariff on Russian wheat and corn. The measure could halt Russian agricultural exports to Turkey.

"Turkey's actions cast doubt on the sincerity of intentions to build a lasting relationship. We do not accept attempts to exert pressure on Russia to force it to open access to banned Turkish agricultural products to the Russian market," said Tkachev.

At present, Russia bans imports of Turkish frozen meat and poultry as well as tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, apples, pears, strawberries and other fruit and vegetables.
Read More...