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Russian senators approve agreement for permanent air force base in Syria


RT
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 20:32 UTC
Russia Federation Council
© Sputnik/ Vladimir Fedorenko
Russian senators have ratified an agreement that allows permanent deployment of the country's air force in Syria, solidifying Moscow's projection of power in the Middle East.

One hundred and fifty-eight Russian senators thrust their support behind the permanent air force at the Syrian base in Khmeimim during the Wednesday vote, with one senator abstaining.

"Russia's Air Force group will be located in Syria only for defense purposes and does not target third countries," Viktor Ozerov, chair of the Defense Committee in the Federation Council, told RIA Novosti after the vote.

Ozerov added the decision marks Russia's "substantial input" into the international effort to stabilize the situation in Syria.

"I believe we should consider [the treaty] in a context of global issues and talk about a new quality of Russia's positioning, not only in Syria and the Middle East, but in the world," Frants Klintsevich, deputy chair of the upper house's Committee for Defense and Security, said in a statement. "We have orders of magnitude fewer military facilities in other countries than others do, especially NATO members. It's a drop in the ocean," he added.


Comment: See also: Russian MPs unanimously back unlimited deployment of Air Force in Syria

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Handcuffs

Russia continues crackdown on corruption with new anti-bribery bill


RT
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 17:57 UTC
dollar ruble
© Mihail Kutusov / Sputnik
A State Duma lawmaker representing parliamentary majority party United Russia has prepared a draft law introducing criminal responsibility for promises, proposals and requests of bribery.

In an explanatory note attached to the bill, Anatoly Vyborny wrote that it had been prepared in order to fulfill Russia's obligations within the Council of Europe's Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the recommendations of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).

Once passed, the bill would amend the Russian Criminal Code with new articles ordering punishment of up to eight years behind bars for anyone requesting or proposing a bribe as a means to resolve some problem or other.

Those convicted will also face fines up to 30 times the value of the proposed or requested bribe. The law would apply to corruption cases in state agencies and state-owned corporations and also in private companies - against managers who accept bribes in order to make decisions that would damage the interests of owners and shareholders.

Vyborny also wants to introduce into the Criminal Code an 'abuse of influence' article, punishing any transfer of money, securities or other property to some official in an effort to use the influence of this person in the decision-making process in a Russian or foreign state agency, or a public international organization.

Comment: Western media would have people believe that Putin is corrupt to the core and hell-bent on destroying all of civilization. Reality has a different take on the issue:

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Gold Seal

Putin: West responsible for Middle East instability, Syria ceasefire failure - all genuine efforts are blocked


RT
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 19:37 UTC
putin
© Aleksey Nikolsky / Sputnik
October 11, 2016. President Vladimir Putin at the meeting with representatives of international sports organizations taking part in the International Sports Forum
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: How did you end up here? This is a just a small provincial town. These days, you find French people wherever you go in Russia, in every village. This is very good and we are pleased to see it.

Question: Mr President, could you explain why you are not going to Paris?

Vladimir Putin: It's very simple. We had planned to hold an official opening ceremony for the newly built Russian religious and cultural centre in Paris. From the looks of things though, this is not the best moment for official meetings, given the lack of mutual understanding, to put it mildly, that we have over events in Syria, particularly the situation in Aleppo. But we are always open, of course, to any consultations and dialogue on this matter.

Question (retranslated): This is exactly what the French hoped for - to use this opportunity to discuss the situation in Syria, but it is for this reason that you are renouncing this visit.

Vladimir Putin: You know, it is not that we are renouncing the visit, but simply that we were told that the main reason for this visit, namely, opening the religious and cultural centre, is not appropriate at this moment. But if the main reason for my visit to Paris is not appropriate, we will probably find another opportunity to meet and discuss Syria. We set no limitations concerning this matter and we are open for dialogue.
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Black Cat

Killary's 'private position' flip-flops - has praised Putin as 'interesting' and a protector of "wildlife"

Alex Christoforou
The Duran
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 19:59 UTC
Putin clinton
© The Duran
The speeches referencing Putin shows a Hillary Clinton at times heaping praise on Putin and at times pandering to her audience and demonising the Russian President.

Hillary Clinton was not kidding around when she said during a paid speech in 2013, "So, you need both a public and a private position."

Hillary has been spreading hate and racism towards Russians, and demonising Russia's President Vladimir Putin, in what can only be described as disgusting and lewd, unbecoming of any statesman, let alone someone running for the US Presidency.

Alas...Wikileaks has releases a huge tranche of Clinton Campaign email exchanges, and HRC speech transcripts, that actually have Clinton painting Vladimir Putin in a very different light, than what has been coming out of the Clinton Campaign these last few months.

You can download the complete HRC Paid Speech Flags here.

Comment: Vintage Killary, playing to her audience according to her cashflow needs. Right now demonizing Russia is the tactic of choice, an attempt to deflect the stench of her collusion with the DNC to derail Sander's nomination bid, and the problems Slick Willy's sexual history is causing her.

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Pumpkin 2

Unconfirmed Russian report about anonymous officials unofficially recommending something sparks British hysteria of Putin unleashing nuclear war


RT
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 18:20 UTC
Putin nuclear war
© Screenshot from dailystar.co.uk
An unconfirmed report in a regional news site appears to be enough for British tabloids to remind readers how 'Big Bad Vlad' secretly wants to nuke them.

The allegation is based on a claim that Russian officials were ordered to fly their families home from the West. Based on anonymous sources, it has since been denied by the Kremlin. Still some British media outlets jumped at a chance for a little Russia-bashing exercise.

"Russia 'urgently recalls officials' families living abroad' as WW3 threat looms," said the headline of the Daily Star, which apparently was the first British newspaper to report the story.

The publication has a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin glancing angrily with an explosion in the background. Another picture shows Putin and a map of Europe, with Russia painted red with the sickle and hammer symbol of the Soviet Union apparently bombarding European nations with nuclear missiles.

The newspaper cites Russian political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky as saying that the alleged evacuation of family members is part of Russia preparing for a big war with the West. The report ties the move with recent civil defense training in Russia, which drew unexpected attention in Britain despite being annual and not out of the ordinary.

Comment: Oh no, the boogeyman is coming, the boogeyman, we tell you!

It's a sad state of affairs when Western society is so fragile that it can be driven to such heights of fear over so little.

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Vader

Smoke and mirrors: The illusion of US power in the Middle East

Gareth Porter
Middle East Eye
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 19:14 UTC
obama Saudi government
© Agence France-Presse
Obama and Bin Salman meet in the White House
One of Obama's biggest failures is letting his policy in Syria be determined primarily by the ambitions of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey

With the collapse of the US-Russian ceasefire agreement and the resumption and escalation of the massive Russian bombing campaign in Aleppo, the frustration of hawks in Washington over the failure of the Obama administration to use American military power in Syria has risen to new heights.

But the administration's inability to do anything about Russian military escalation in Aleppo is the logical result of the role the Obama administration has been playing in Syria over the past five years.

The problem is that the administration has pursued policy objectives that it lacked the means to achieve. When Obama called on President Bashar al-Assad to step down in September 2011, the administration believed, incredibly, that he would do so of his own accord. As former Hillary Clinton aide and Pentagon official Derek Chollet reveals in his new book, The Long Game, "[E]arly in the crisis, most officials believed Assad lacked the necessary cunning and fortitude to stay in power."


Comment: Cunning isn't needed when you have the support of your people.


Administration policymakers began using the phrase "managed transition" in regard to US policy toward the government, according to Chollet. The phrase reflected perfectly the vaulting ambitions of policymakers who were eager to participate in a regime change that they saw as a big win for the United States and Israel and a big loss for Iran.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be out front pushing for a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a "transition" in Syria.

Comment: Russia's careful, measured actions in Syria have gradually pulled back the Empire's mask. The failure of the ceasefire due to Pentagon insubordination has removed it completely.

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Piggy Bank

Fifth column: How Nazi Kiev squeezed $6 billion out of Russian banks?


Fort Russ
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 19:29 UTC
Dollars and Ukraine nationalists graphic
Tsargrad, Yuri Pronko - translated by J. Arnoldski

The Sberank in the center of Kiev is licking its wounds after yesterday's armed attack. Now they change the storefront and signs more often than they give commercial loans. Russian banks, it seems, are not so perturbed. Many Ukrainian citizens have decided not to return the money they owe on Russian bank loans. On the contrary, they are shifting their deposits to banks painted in the patriotic colors of yellow and blue with official permission from the government and National Bank of Ukraine.

200 billion for Kiev from Russian state corporations

"For the first half of 2016, VTB Bank suffered a loss in the amount of $200 million," says expert from the Eurasian Economic Union's Russian Institute of Strategic Studies Alisa Abaeva. "The National Bank of Ukraine is pursuing a specific policy towards Russian banks and putting the emphasis on influencing us with negative consequences," she explained.
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Snakes in Suits

Trump's lies about a nuclear 'gap' with Russia serves US agenda

Jonathan Marshall
Consortium News
Tue, 11 Oct 2016 18:51 UTC
Trump with nuclear explosion graphic
© Getty
"The country has never had a presidential candidate who lies the way that [Donald Trump] does," remarked New York Times editor David Leonhardt after Sunday's presidential debate. Yet his impressive list of 20 Trump lies is notably silent about one unchallenged whopper: that Russia is gaining military superiority over the United States.

Trump told debate watchers that Hillary Clinton "talks tough against Russia. But our nuclear program has fallen way behind, and they've gone wild with their nuclear program. Not good. Our government shouldn't have allowed that to happen. Russia is new in terms of nuclear. We are old. We're tired. We're exhausted in terms of nuclear. A very bad thing."

Hillary Clinton didn't rebut him. The moderators didn't rebut him. The Clinton campaign's fact checkers didn't rebut him. Nor did those of the mainstream media — perhaps because more than a few reporters and editors assume Trump is right.


Comment: No one said anything because his comments go along with the anti-Russian rhetoric and the chronic American addiction to spending ever more on the military.


Comment: The reality is that Clinton and the media won't call Trump out because they agree with him.

However...

Trump may in fact have a point (though he may not have intended to make it).

US military-technological superiority IS facing a serious challenge, from both Russia and China.

We have a theory, one we can't really test unless the US and Russia go head-to-head (which they won't), so, for what it's worth, here it is:

The US may outdo Russia in terms of the quantity of its arsenal, but Russia now has better quality; specifically, Russia has weapons that can penetrate US defenses, but the US has nothing that can penetrate Russian defenses.

We're not sure of that, so don't quote us on it, but it would explain why the US is too chicken to physically 'put Russia back in its place', and must instead resort to incessant black propaganda.

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Radar

Another message? US Navy claims destroyer targeted yet again by Yemen missiles


RT
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 18:31 UTC
USS Mason
© Reuters
US officials said a US Navy destroyer was again targeted in a failed missile attack from Yemen. The alleged attack is said to come from a Houthi-controlled area of the country. It is the second such incident in less than a week.

The destroyer, USS Mason, which was reported by Reuters as the target of the missile attack, fired defensive salvos in response. Neither of the missiles hit the ship or caused any damage said US officials.

The destroyer has been operating north of the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.

The US was weighing what military response it should take against Yemen-based Houthi rebels, after two missiles were allegedly launched at American warships in the Red Sea on Sunday.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters on Tuesday the US is still investigating the incident, including the exact location of the missile launches.

Comment: So is Saudi Arabia having its al-Qaeda militants lob these missiles to keep the US funding the war machine? More on the Yemen missile attacks on US ships: Gulf of Tonkin redux? Pentagon sez: 'US Navy destroyer targeted by missiles from Yemen' - Houthi rebels deny involvement - UPDATE

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Vader

U.S. hypocrisy in focus: Preaching human rights, inviting mass murderers as guests

Joseph Thomas
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 18:19 UTC
Thai protesters
On October 6, Los Angeles' Loyola Marymount University invited ex-Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra to give a talk on the subject of "The Secret of Reducing Poverty and the Rich-Poor Gap: The Power of Political Will." The Los Angeles Loyolan newspaper in an article titled, "Los Angeles Loyolan Visit from former Thai PM causes controversy," reported that:
There is, however, some controversy regarding his visit. Shinawatra governed Thailand from 2001 to 2006 until a military coup pushed him out on accounts of corruption, abuse of office for personal gain and several other convictions.

According to LMU's Asia Media website, Shinawatra was exiled from Thailand in 2006 and is considered a fugitive by many. He is widely criticized by Thai students, families and citizens across the country. Because of this, Shinawatra's presence on campus this Thursday sparked controversy among Thai students at LMU.

The students interviewed asked to be kept anonymous due to fears about personal safety when stating their opinions on the former prime minister.
Thai students in California were right to fear for their safety. While in power, Shinawatra mass murdered upward to 3,000 people, including thousands during a 90-day "drug war" in 2003, over 80 protesters in a single day in 2004 and a wide range of political opponents and activists.

After being ousted from power in 2006, Shinawatra would deploy heavily armed militants in Bangkok in 2010 and again in 2013 and 2014 in a violent bid to seize back and hold political power. Over 100 would die during the violence.
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