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SOTT Focus: SOTT News Snapshot: Weekend edition - U.S. provides Daesh air cover, massacres Syrian troops


Sott.net
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 22:51 UTC
black hole
© NASAFor the first time, NASA observes the black hole dubbed "Samantha Power" 'belching' intense radiation after consuming the souls of surrounding stars.
The big news this weekend has obviously been the U.S.'s massacre of 62 Syrian soldiers in Deir ez-Zor, in which they provided air cover for a Daesh offensive on the besieged city. The Americans reportedly dropped phosphorus bombs on the Syrians, killing many of them instantly. You can read all about it in our full coverage of the incident here:
  • Russia-brokered ceasefire shattered as US airstrikes against Syrian Army in Deir ez-Zor leaves 80 soldiers dead, over 100 injured (UPDATES)
To give a brief recap of events leading up to it: the ceasefire went into effect on Monday. On Friday, it was extended for the final 72 hours, after which Russia and the U.S. planned to set up their joint implementation group, collaborating on targeting Nusra and Daesh. Despite hundreds of violations on the part of the U.S.-backed rebels, this was still the plan. But the U.S. was threatening to pull out because Assad wasn't letting UN aid into Syria - no mention of the fact that this was because the U.S.-backed rebels north of Aleppo refused to abide by the agreement to demilitarize the road on which the aid convoys were planned to travel. But the details were all worked out, with convoys planned for this morning. In other words, the U.S. would have no reason to call the ceasefire a failure. Now this.

The U.S. says it was targeting Daesh in the area, which is ridiculous for several reasons: 1) they've never provided air cover for Syrian troops in the past, 2) the Syrians were known to have held the area targeted, 3) if they had really been observing the 'targets' for days, they would have known exactly who they were targeting, 4) if they really wanted to attack Daesh, they could have waited 2 days in order to do so with Russian coordination. Unless they're just total idiots, this attack was deliberate, and it came just 2 days before the planned U.S.-Russian coordination. Someone is trying to sabotage the ceasefire, and it looks like the Pentagon is the guilty party.
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SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: War by cowardice: U.S. provides air cover for Daesh, massacres Syrian troops, says it was an accident


Sott.net
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 16:00 UTC
deir ez-zor bombing
The site of the US bombing is here denoted by 'Tal Thardah'
With just two days left before the planned creation of a Russian-U.S. joint implementation group in the war on Daesh and Nusra in Syria, the Americans have done the unthinkable. Not only did they break the ceasefire they had allegedly agreed to last Friday; they targeted positions of the Syrian Army in Daesh-besieged Deir ez-Zor. The troops defending the city there were not even involved in the war against the U.S.'s "moderate" jihadis in other areas of the country. Now, 62 Syrian soldiers are dead, 100 are wounded, and the future of the ceasefire - and the war as a whole - does not look good. The U.S. has not even taken full responsibility, passing with ease between subtly blaming Russia, explicitly blaming Assad, and pretending it was an accident.

On this episode of Behind the Headlines, we discuss the massacre, its context, and what it means in relation to the ceasefire and the dirty war on Syria in general. Brent also joins us for a Police State Roundup.

Running Time: 02:04:15

Download: MP3

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SOTT Focus: Anglo-American russophobia: The good, the bad and the oh-so-stupid

Paul Mansfield
Sott.net
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 22:14 UTC
jackie chan
Jackie Chan reads the latest Washington Post nonsense.
Last Sunday, I, like millions of people around the world, was intrigued by the collapse of Hillary Clinton at the 15th 9/11 memorial in New York City.

I quickly visualized ear-to-ear grins on those who were convinced Clinton has serious health problems. 'Vindicated!' I could hear them say.

Next, I turned my attention to the mainstream media, which had just spent the last year arrogantly scoffing at all those 'conspiracy theorists' claiming that Clinton is very (and possibly terminally) ill. I could see them squirming behind their rickety old typewriters, wondering how they'd wriggle out of this one. Belatedly, some in the MSM have now conceded that Clinton's health is a campaign issue.

I predicted that Putin would be blamed. So I waited for the shoe to drop. And I waited. And then waited some more. Hang on, let me scour Twitter again, surely it will be there...

Come on MSM, lift your game! Are you all worn out, bereft of inspiration, or just cringing at the thought of having to trundle out more hyper-russophobic fantasy? We all know the headline you want to write:
"Putin 'did a Litvinenko' on Clinton"
Isn't that the next logical step in your trumpeting of Clinton by demonizing Putin?
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SOTT Focus: SOTT News Snapshot: September 16 edition - Colin Powell brushes off Iraq Chilcot report, admits Israel has 200 nukes


Sott.net
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:49 UTC
paris
© Thomas Samson / AFPA French riot police officer is surrounded by flames, during a demonstration against the controversial labour reforms of the French government in Paris on September 15, 2016
If you were ever wondering how war criminal politicians feel about their crimes, look no further than recent leaked emails between former British Foreign Minister Jack Straw and his former US counterpart, Colin Powell.

In early 2003, both Straw and Powell were major front-men for their governments in the push to launch the illegal invasion of Iraq. Straw wanted the British government's 'dodgy dossier' in Iraq's non-existent WMDs to be "hardened up" with something he appropriately called a "killer paragraph". For his part, Powell went to the UN and touted the evidence of an Iraqi source that was known to the Defense Intelligence Agency as "a liar and a fabricator". Powell wiggled a vial of white powder at the UN, claiming it was anthrax (although it probably came from Dubya's coke stash) and said Saddam might have boatloads of the stuff. It was a provocative display, and Powell reminded people that the anthrax attacks of 2001 freaked everyone out, so they should also be freaked out about Saddam now too.
Powell UN anthrax
"There's enough anthrax in this vial to kill everyone in this room. Just kidding! Or am I?..."
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SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: Connecting the Dots: There's something rotten.....everywhere


Sott.net
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:00 UTC
multiple vaccines
Things are heating up in the health world with many interesting news stories from the last few weeks. Is something big on the vaccine front headed our way? Public agencies are certainly acting as if there is. The WHO released an instruction manual on how to win the hearts and minds of vaccine deniers and if that doesn't work, the CDC has plans to stop, quarantine and 'treat' any travelers who look a little under the weather. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it's okay for doctors to ditch the non-vaccinated and, thanks to a little bill out of California, showing the film VAXXED could become a crime.

Join us for this episode of the Health and Wellness Show where we'll discuss the above madness as well as ways to protect against the dreaded MMR vaccine, the high costs of Autism, useless cancer screening and more.

Stay tuned, as always, for Zoya's Pet Health Segment and find out what an anal gland is.

Running Time: 01:28:35

Download: MP3


Here's the transcript of the show:
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SOTT Focus: SOTT News Snapshot: September 15 edition - Everything you need to know about American doping


Sott.net
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 05:41 UTC
williams
American dopers.
So, someone hacked WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency). As expected, the Russians are blamed. But that's not the issue. Just like the DNC hacks, the issue isn't who did the hack; the issue is the content of the leaks. In a nutshell, America's greatest and bestest athletes have been doping for years. Big surprise. But they've been doping legally. Yep, you heard that right. They got a doctor's note that says they can dope. That's probably all our regular readers need to know in order to grok the heart of the matter, but for new and casual readers, we'll expand a bit.

Self-described "international hack team" 'Fancy Bear' says they stand for fair play and clean sport. On their website, they state:
We announce the start of #OpOlympics. We are going to tell you how Olympic medals are won. We hacked World Anti-Doping Agency databases and we were shocked with what we saw.

We will start with the U.S. team which has disgraced its name by tainted victories. We will also disclose exclusive information about other national Olympic teams later. Wait for sensational proof of famous athletes taking doping substances any time soon.
Their first hack revealed that American athletes like Simone Biles, Serena and Venus Williams all took banned substances for years. But The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says it's all cool, "the athletes have done nothing wrong", because they had "therapeutic use" exemptions for these banned substances because of undisclosed medical conditions (those fields are marked "confidential" in the documents).
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SOTT Focus: SOTT News Snapshot: September 14 edition - Syrian ceasefire reaches 2-day mark


Sott.net
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 15:36 UTC
Golan
© AFP 2016/ JALAA MAREY Golan Heights, June 2016.
The first 48 hours of the ceasefire have been largely successful, and the Russian General Staff is calling for the first 48-hour extension. This despite the fact that, according to them, "the total number of violations by militants increased to 60... We also note that some armed groups controlled by the United States, such as Ahrar Al-Sham, announced directly their unwillingness to cease fire. The biggest number of violations is linked to these groups." If these next 48 hours hold, and the 72 after that, the U.S. and Russia will presumably team up to coordinate attacks on Daesh and Nusra. (Though Washington will continue to support any "moderate opposition" that uphold the ceasefire, according to Kerry.)

As we covered yesterday, Russian FM Lavrov is saying that Russia has nothing to hide regarding the details of the Syrian ceasefire, the details of which have been kept secret, presumably at the U.S.'s urging. As Leonid Bershidsky wrote in a Bloomberg article after the press conference last week, "The agreements, five separate documents, won't be published, ostensibly to prevent Islamist groups from disrupting the humanitarian effort that should follow the deal."

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner responded to Lavrov's statement, confirming that it is the U.S. that wants it to stay secret: "[T]here are some operational details, areas of sensitivity, we do not believe would be in the interest of the agreement, or in anyone's interest, to share." Of course, this raises the question as to what the U.S. considers so "sensitive". Maybe the rumors of a dozen or so U.S. special forces troops embedded with the al-Nusra and stuck in encircled east Aleppo are true - and the agreement ensures their safe passage. Maybe the agreement has the U.S. selling out some of their terrorist groups in writing. Impossible to know. Just watch the following video:

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SOTT Focus: SOTT News Snapshot: September 13 edition - What is Israel doing in Syria? Are Killary's batteries running out?


Sott.net
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:37 UTC
delhi
© Digital Globe/Foundation for Deep EcologyRandom revealing picture of the day: New Delhi, India, where many landfills are reaching a breaking point. The surrounding population of Delhi totals some 25 million people.
The Syrian ceasefire officially went into effect last night. The Russian General Staff reports the Syrian government has fully halted attacks on all but Daesh and Nusra areas. Early reports yesterday suggested "some reduction in violence", according to Kerry. German FM Steinmeier called it a "significant" reduction in violence. Today we have the same story: largely holding, only minor violations reported (e.g., rebels shelled army positions near the Castillo Road north of Aleppo - they even attacked Russian Marines during a live broadcast with the Russian Defense Ministry). Things are even reportedly calm in rebel-held east Aleppo -- somewhat surprising given the presence of Nusra there. And even the UK-based one-man anti-Assad psyop known as the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights" is reporting that not a single civilian has been reported killed in the last 15 hours. SOHR focuses on civilian deaths allegedly caused by Syrian airstrikes, but as usual, he (it's just one guy) doesn't pay all that much attention to civilian deaths caused by rebels.

The Russian military reported 23 violations by rebel militants over the past day, shelling residential and army positions and causing 6 deaths in Aleppo and 10 wounded. Russia has called on the Syrian government not to respond to these provocations: "I ask everyone not to succumb to provocations, to carefully record all possible violations and send the data to the Russian Reconciliation Center," Russian General Staff official Viktor Poznikhir said.
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SOTT Focus: Cooperation between US and Russia in Syria finally a reality?

Paul Mansfield
Sott.net
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 13:12 UTC
syria
© Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters
After 14 hours of marathon talks in Geneva, Russia and the USA agreed on a new ceasefire deal in Syria. A key difference to the February cessation of hostilities deal is that the US and Russia have agreed to coordinate airstrikes on Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra). There is a catch — and here is where we get the first signs of the agreement unravelling: pre-conditions of a seven-day cease fire need to be met before strikes can commence.

Under the deal an initial 48-hour ceasefire commences as of yesterday, 12 September. This ceasefire then extends to at least 7 days. Should the ceasefire hold, a Russian-US Joint Implementation Centre (JIG) will be set up to delineate territories controlled by JFS and opposition groups in areas of active hostilities. This amounts to separating terrorists and "moderate" or "sane" opposition.

Russia and the US will share targeting data and coordinate air strikes against JFS and ISIS. To ensure the effectiveness of airstrikes, the US is to persuade opposition groups it supports to separate themselves from JFS forces. Up to this point this has been an exercise in futility, or perhaps intransigence, and is another potential pitfall to unravel the agreement in its embryonic stage.
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SOTT Focus: SOTT News Snapshot: September 12 edition - Conspiracists vindicated, Hillary sick as a dog


Sott.net
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 13:12 UTC
It was bound to happen. After months of alternative news coverage over Hillary's poor health - and the predictable mainstream denials and search-engine manipulation (we've covered it before, but Sputnik published a study today with even more examples and analysis) - Hillary's health is now mainstream news after her fainting spell after a 9/11 memorial in New York City. She had to hole up in Chelsea's NYC apartment to recover, but also ended up cancelling a fundraiser trip to California. You've probably seen the video by now, but here it is anyway:


Just 4 days ago Killary tweeted: "The most important quality in a president and Commander-in-Chief is steadiness—an absolute, rock solid steadiness." Nice try! Just look at some of the coverage (culled from the Drudge Report): from NBC and CBS News to Fox, Politico and more: The last article asks an important question. Just what will happen if Killary's health continues to be an issue, or, God forbid, she kicks the bucket before the election?
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