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President Rouhani's allies to fill all Tehran seats in Parliamentary Elections


Sputnik
Sun, 28 Feb 2016 10:37 UTC
Rouhani
© www.washingtonpost.com
President Rouhani, pleased with the outcome.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's reformist allies gained all 30 parliamentary seats in the Iranian capital of Tehran, national media reported Sunday.

Preliminary Interior Ministry data indicated reformist leader Mohammad Reza Aref leading the list of 30 candidates in Tehran, according to the IRNA news service. Aref served as first vice president in 2001-05. Principlist candidate Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel placed 31st in the Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district.

Iranians voted on February 26 to elect a new Islamic Consultative Assembly of 290 members for four-year terms.

Over 4,800 candidates have registered to participate in the election, according to the Iranian Central Election Commission. Around 500 women have made it into electoral lists.

With over 54 million Iranians eligible to cast their ballots, voters are choosing mainly between candidates from the Principlists Coalition electoral list, comprising various conservative political parties, and candidates from the Pervasive Coalition of Reformists.

Rouhani and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani are leading in the parallel race to the Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body that appoints the country's supreme leader.
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Bulb

Sophie&Co: Former MI6 agent talks Syrian war, ceasefire, erratic Turkey, refugees (VIDEO)

Sophie&Co
RT
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 20:48 UTC
crooke
© RT
A ceasefire deal has been brokered between the US and Russia - a product of long and painful negotiations, but the prospect of lasting peace is still slim. With the rebel forces having no unity, and Turkey keen on attacking the Kurdish fighters in Northern Syria, many warn that the truce will crumble shortly. Will sober heads prevail, or will the bloodshed in Syria just open another chapter? We ask former a MI6 agent and EU foreign policy adviser. Alastair Crooke is on Sophie&Co today.


Comment: Some surprising common sense coming from an ex-MI6 agent!

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Bomb

Say what? Local media reports Turkey bombing ISIS in Syria


RT
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 19:53 UTC
turkish tank
© Stringer / Reuters
The Turkish military struck Islamic State positions inside Syria on Monday, local media reported. It came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he would be in favor of a Syrian ceasefire that encompasses the whole of the country.

Fifty artillery rounds were fired by the Turkish military on targets north of Aleppo on Monday as part of the US-led coalition's offensive against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.

On Sunday, a Russian TV crew managed to obtain video proof of Turkey's increased military presence on the Syrian border, which showed fortifications and tanks at the frontier.

"The barrels of the tanks and self-propelled guns are pointed in the direction of the mainly Kurdish Syrian city of Kobane," a journalist from REN-TV said.

It came just one day after reports emerged of the northern Syrian town of Tell Abyad being attacked by militants coming from Turkey.

Comment: Does Turkey have multiple personalities? On the one hand they support ISIS (via the illegal oil trade, allowing their fighters to cross the Turkish border in both directions, giving them material support). On the other, they bomb them. What's going on? Are the Turkish media reports false? Did the U.S. have a stern talk with Erdogan in order to help with Turkey's image? Are there divisions within the Turkish government/military?

For more on the ceasefire, see: Syrian cessation of hostilities: 'Largely successful' so far, but even 'failure' is a success for Russia

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Bad Guys

War against ISIS is not about 'Islam vs the West' - it's a global struggle against psychopathy


RT
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 18:13 UTC
ISIS suicide blast bombing
© Wissm al-Okili / Reuters
People gather at the site of bombings in Baghdad's Sadr City February 28, 2016.
Islamic State (IS formerly ISIS/ISIL) attempts to create fear no matter where they carry out attacks; they kill more Muslims than westerners, says Massoud Shadjareh of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

ISIS uses the same tactics aimed at creating fear and we need to recognize that the concept the extremists act against the West is a fallacy, because in reality they kill more Muslims, said Massoud Shadjareh. It's not a conflict between Islam and the West but an abomination against the humanity, he added.

Sunday's twin explosions in eastern Baghdad killed at least 73 people and left about 110 more wounded. The first bomb detonated at an outdoor market in Sadr City, which is a mainly Shia district. The explosion was followed by a suicide attack aimed at those who had rushed to help the wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deadliest string of bombings this year.

Comment: The flags of terrorist groups have been attracting psychopaths from around the world like moths to the flame. Nurtured financially and militarily by their sponsors within Washington, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, they have left entire countries in ruin. If it weren't for Russian intervention this abomination would be even worse.

It seems the real war against terror is a struggle against this global network of psychopathy, the damage it has done, and the lies it has spread in order to justify its crimes. These lies have been used to justify torture, ethnic cleansing, the erosion of Western freedoms, the hatred of everything 'Arab', the corralling of refugees, and genocide. 'Never again' is happening again, and it's hidden in plain sight.

Further reading:

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Alarm Clock

Syrian cessation of hostilities: 'Largely successful' so far, but even 'failure' is a success for Russia

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 21:14 UTC
putin poster syria

Demonstrators hold up a poster of Putin and Assad in Damascus
This last Saturday, I shared my thoughts on on SOTT Radio Network's Truth Perspective show regarding the cessation of hostilities in Syria, which went into effect that same day. In a nutshell, I think it's a pretty smart idea, but not because I think it will be 'successful' - I don't. Rather, I think it will succeed because it offers a win-win scenario for Syria and Russia, even in the event of its failure.

Sure, the U.S. and their Wahhabist allies will invent stories about Russian and Syrian violations, but they'll be just as transparent as all the previous lies (e.g. indiscriminate bombings of hospitals and civilians). The fact is, as the Russian MOD said on Saturday, Russia is "in full control" of the situation in Syria. It will be a fairly simple matter to identify any ceasefire violations, and provide proof (something the U.S. apparently hasn't heard of). The U.S. may be planning 'Plan B from Outer Space', but they're dreaming - Russia and Syria won't even consider it, totally ruling out the scenario of breaking Syria apart.

The U.S. has now agreed to share information about the groups they support, and their locations - if those groups sign up to the ceasefire, that is. Until now the U.S. has refused to divulge information about their movements, despite Russia repeatedly asking and stating their willingness to avoid making them targets.
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USA

Join the US military where you have to buy your own equipment

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
RT
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 19:06 UTC
US Soldier
© Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
US troops serving in elite units such as the Navy SEALs are increasingly forced to tap into their own money to buy crucial gear like helmets, GPS trackers and medical supplies as the service fails to supply them, a group complained to lawmakers.

There may be a systemic problem in the supply chain, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, who is a Marine veteran, after the meeting held at the Capitol Hill last week, Stars and Stripes reported.

"It's been impossible for me to find out how the money is getting stopped and why it is not going down to where it's supposed to be," he said.

The problem may become a major issue should the US ramp up deployments back to the heights seeing at the peak of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., an Air Force combat veteran.

One of the people participating in the meet was Sean Matson, who retired from the SEALs and now heads a military supply company. He said the military measured his head four times before each deployment with plans to provide him a more advanced ballistic helmet, but it never materialized. He and six of his fellow SEALs each spent about $900 to get their necessary gear.

Aaron Negherbon from the nonprofit group Troops Direct, which steps in and delivers military supplies to troops that they cannot acquire through regular channels, said equipment as crucial as tourniquets or sniper gear may not be provided in time by the military supply chains.

"They came to us for...batteries because they didn't have any of those ... It is kind of like, 'What the heck is going on?'" Negherbon said.
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Snakes in Suits

Tony Blair new memoir: Deceived his top ministers on Iraq invasion


RT
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 12:17 UTC
Blair and men
© www.rt.com
Tony Blair misrepresented evidence on WMD before Iraq invasion, allowed desire to supersede proof and reason.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair kept members of his cabinet and numerous high-profile Whitehall officials in the dark over his plans to create a "regime change" in Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein, a new memoir has revealed.

Broken Vows, a new book about the former PM by investigative journalist Tom Bower, reveals that Blair had decided as early as 2002 that Saddam Hussein should be removed, but failed to state his intentions to his Chief of Defence Staff, Cabinet Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and most of the Cabinet.

The book alleges that because so many top officials were out of the loop, the military were unable to begin training in earnest for an invasion, and subsequently suffered due to insufficient equipment. Blair always insisted he was an "honest broker," looking for a peaceful solution.

Amongst the allegations in the book are the claims that Blair refused to make proper post-invasion plans, tried to get rid of the Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Mike Boyce and ignored warnings that the invasion could be a catastrophe.

It also alleges that Blair told then-head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove to bring him raw intelligence on Iraq which could be used to bolster the case for invasion. It claims he told the security chief, "My fate is in your hands."Dearlove was also complicit in compiling the so-called "dodgy dossier" on Saddam Hussein's supposed possession and development of weapons of mass destruction, which provided the basis for the 2003 invasion.

Comment: As they say, "it all comes out in the end." Blair is a war criminal, amongst a cadre of like-minded Western warmongers with a joy to destroy. Estimates of up to 1M Iraqis died subsequent to their decisions. Will the Brits finally give this guy his Day of Reckoning?

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Bomb

Somalia: Twin suicide blasts kill 30, injure 40


RT
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 05:13 UTC
ambulance
© www.newsweek.com
Al-Shabab kills 30 in twin blasts in Baidoa, Somalia.
At least 30 people have been killed and 40 others injured in twin suicide explosions carried out by Somalia's Al-Shabaab terror organization, an Al-Qaeda splinter group, in south-central Somalia, according to police.

The blasts rocked the center of the city of Baidoa, targeting a busy spot near a restaurant."The restaurant and the junction were very busy and the death toll may rise," Reuters quoted the Police Major Bilow Nurr as saying. The targeted city is located about 245 kilometers (152 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

Thirty people were killed, with another 40 wounded, police Colonel Abdi Osman confirmed. The police official added that one bomb had blown up at the junction, while another explosion had targeted the restaurant. Hospital employees said that some of the bodies they received were unidentifiable due to horrible charring.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terror group claimed responsibility for the attack, with the group's military operation spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab stating: "We targeted government officials and forces," as reported by Reuters. According to Musab, a police station was located nearby.

The attack comes just of days after Al-Shabaab fighters killed 14 people when they set off a car bomb and stormed the Somali Youth League hotel, also known as the SYL hotel, located in the heavily secured area near the presidential palace in the center of Mogadishu. The extremists group is fighting against Somalia's Western-backed government, with the goal of imposing a strict version of Islamic law.

Comment: And the list of tragedies continues without falter.

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Laptop

Ex-NSA/CIA Hayden: 'I'd move heaven and earth' to access Lavrov's emails--like foreign intel did Hillary's


RT
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 04:19 UTC
Lavrov,Clinton
© www.michellesmirror.com
The Reset Button! Hillary's gift to Mr. Lavrov in case he misuses his private server and breaches confidentiality like she did.
Privacy seems less and less attainable these days, as foreign spy agencies target top political figures. The former director of both the NSA and CIA told US Today that he'd "move heaven and Earth" to access Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's email.

Retired four-star general Michael Hayden, the only person who has ever served as both the director of the NSA and CIA, made the comments while criticizing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private server for emails. The interview's discussion then somehow veered off to Lavrov.
"How much energy would I expend if I were still director of the National Security Agency and someone told me I could get access to the unclassified email server of [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergei Lavrov? I'd move heaven and Earth to do that. And here you've got these private, intimate conversations by a senior official of the US government sitting out there in what I would call an unprotected environment."
Hayden added that, in all likelihood, the fact that Clinton used a private server was well known to foreign intelligence agencies, making it a priority target. "I would lose all respect for a whole bunch of foreign intelligence agencies if they weren't sitting back, paging through the emails," he said.

Comment: If we can't get Hillary's classified "whiffs of wrong-doing" emails from the State Department, perhaps Mr. Lavrov can send us a copy?

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Quenelle

Russian TV crew films Turkey's military support for ISIS along Syrian border


RT
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 15:53 UTC
Turkey shelling bombing Kurds YPG Syria
© AP Photo/ Halit Onur Sandal
A Russian TV crew has managed to obtain video proof of Turkey's increased military presence on the Syrian border, as it filmed fortifications and tanks on the frontier.

The lodgments are heavily fortified by tanks and self-propelled guns, REN-TV crew reported from the scene.

Shells and other ammunition are being delivered to the Turkish positions, which are shelling Kurdish forces in Syrian territory, according to the report.

"The barrels of the tanks and self-propelled guns are pointed in the direction of the mainly Kurdish Syrian city of Kobane," the journalist said.

Comment: Further reading:
The Russian ceasefire monitoring center near Latakia says it is verifying reports of an attack on the Kurdish town Tell Abyad in northern Syria carried out by militants coming from Turkey. The reports came overnight and claim that the forces coming from Turkey are using heavy artillery, according to Lt. Gen. Sergey Kuralenko, who heads the center for Syrian reconciliation. "This information was verified through multiple channels, including representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), [a rebel alliance that includes Kurds, Arabs and other ethnic groups and operates in the region]," he said.

Russian military report: Syrian town attacked by militants from Turkey


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