World Politics

[djpbaltimore]

I guess the Canadian media are on the take too, shamefully taking money to hide the actions of their imperial government.

Canada’s aid agency has also doled out tens of millions of dollars on media initiatives over the years. The now defunct Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has funded a slew of journalism fellowships that generate aid-related stories, including a Canadian Newspaper Association fellowship to send journalists to Ecuador, Aga Khan Foundation Canada/Canadian Association of Journalists Fellowships for International Development Reporting, Canadian Association of Journalists/Jack Webster Foundation Fellowship. It also offered eight $6,000 fellowships annually for members of the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec, noted CIDA, “to report to the Canadian public on the realities lived in developing countries benefiting from Canadian public aid.”

The various arms of Canadian foreign policy fund media initiatives they expect will portray their operations sympathetically. It’s one reason why Canadians overwhelmingly believe this country is a benevolent international actor even though Ottawa long advanced corporate interests and sided with the British and US empires.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/12/press-on-the-dole-how-canada-pays-to-shape-the-news/

 

[blutto]

Re:

I guess the Canadian media are on the take too, shamefully taking money to hide the actions of their imperial government.

Canada’s aid agency has also doled out tens of millions of dollars on media initiatives over the years. The now defunct Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has funded a slew of journalism fellowships that generate aid-related stories, including a Canadian Newspaper Association fellowship to send journalists to Ecuador, Aga Khan Foundation Canada/Canadian Association of Journalists Fellowships for International Development Reporting, Canadian Association of Journalists/Jack Webster Foundation Fellowship. It also offered eight $6,000 fellowships annually for members of the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec, noted CIDA, “to report to the Canadian public on the realities lived in developing countries benefiting from Canadian public aid.”

The various arms of Canadian foreign policy fund media initiatives they expect will portray their operations sympathetically. It’s one reason why Canadians overwhelmingly believe this country is a benevolent international actor even though Ottawa long advanced corporate interests and sided with the British and US empires.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/12/press-on-the-dole-how-canada-pays-to-shape-the-news/

....yeah that has been the case for a while and its not like its been greeted with a loud cheer by folks here ...there is a reason that Tony Burman is no longer with the CBC....read the corporate agenda mindset that defines Merikan media has invaded and found a home here...and this trend has accelerated during the reign of Stephen the Last....

....and btw if you look around the world you will find similar developments occurring which is why the Shillary inspired pro glorious revolution, anti-Putin and anti-Trump campaigns can march in lock step across the globe...

...so thanks for informing us that the sun rose in the east this morning....and please keep us in the loop for more equally mind-blowing developments....we stupid little people really appreciate it we really do....no word of a lie....

Cheers

 

[blutto]

.....eating their own...ooooh this is going to get messy, very messy....is there no honour among thieves anymore ?.....gosh, what is the world coming to ?....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110852812

Brazil's former president of the chamber of deputies and mastermind of President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment, Eduardo Cunha, lost his seat in the Lower House. The House had so far given him immunity against judicial proceedings over corruption charges

.

Cheers

 

[blutto]

....nice shooting !

British SAS sniper kills ISIS flamethrower executioner with a crack shot to save 12 hostages

"The expert British special forces marksman was almost a mile away when he gunned down the feared ISIS executioner and three others as they were set to turn a flamethrower on the civilians who were accused of being spies.

The SAS sniper fired a single round from his high calibre .50 Barrett rifle at the fuel tank of the executioner's flamethrower, causing it to explode, incinerating him and three other ISIS members who were poised ready to film the killing of the civilians.

A source told the Daily Star Sunday that it was part of a rescue operation near Raqqa in Syria earlier this month.

The so-called ISIS executioner who was killed in the mission is said to have been on a US 'kill list' for months because of his brutal method of killing prisoners with his flamethrower, burning them alive.

The source told the newspaper:“The SAS team moved into an overwatch position above a village where they were told the execution was going to take place.

“Up to 12 civilians were going to be murdered – eight men and four women. They were suspected of being spies.

“The executioner gave some sort of rambling speech over a loud hailer then when he finished the SAS sniper opened fire.""

http://www.joe.ie/news/british-sas-sniper-kills-isis-flamethrower-executioner-with-a-crack-shot-moments-before-he-torched-12-hostages/559788

Cheers

 

[python]

^^sort of reminds me those surgical strikes from american drones and also reported by the the always unanimous us army sources that killed a precise numbers of bad guys but later turned out to be weddings or hospitals.

forgive me pls, as much as i'd like that tale to be true for purely emotional reasons, i am skeptical it was so neat. not a point against your informative mission... the self service motive of the british sas source would be the least of my suspicions...did they free the hostages or incinerated them them as a collateral damage too? the article did not elaborate...

the brits need to create those tales as much as pentagon to show they aren't a taxpayer dudds.

 

[blutto]

Re:

^^sort of reminds me those surgical strikes from american drones and also reported by the the always unanimous us army sources that killed a precise numbers of bad guys but later turned out to be weddings or hospitals.

forgive me pls, as much as i'd like that tale to be true for purely emotional reasons, i am skeptical it was so neat. not a point against your informative mission... the self service motive of the british sas source would be the least of my suspicions...did they free the hostages or incinerated them them as a collateral damage too? the article did not elaborate...

the brits need to create those tales as much as pentagon to show they aren't a taxpayer dudds.

....yeah it did require a bit of a willing suspension of disbelief... given that, it was a nice moment...a guy can dream and maybe enjoy a good story every once in a while eh....

Cheers

 

[blutto]

David Cameron ‘ultimately responsible’ for Libya collapse and the rise of Isis, Commons report concludes

The scathing verdict comes just one day after Mr Cameron’s sudden announcement that he will leave Westminster immediately

The bloody collapse of Libya – which triggered a refugee crisis and aided the rise of Isis – is blamed today on David Cameron’s blunders when he intervened to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi.

A damning report by MPs condemns the 2011 military campaign for lacking both “accurate intelligence” and a coherent strategy for the aftermath of removing the dictator.

The disastrous results were “political and economic collapse”, tribal warfare, the refugee crisis, widespread human rights abuses and the rise of Islamic State (IS) in North Africa, fuelled by weapons abandoned by the Gaddafi regime.

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee concludes: “Through his decision-making in the National Security Council, former prime minister David Cameron was ultimately responsible for the failure to develop a coherent Libya strategy.”

The scathing verdict comes just one day after Mr Cameron’s sudden announcement that he will leave Westminster immediately, breaking an earlier pledge to stay on as a backbencher

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/libya-david-cameron-isis-islamic-state-ultimately-responsible-for-leading-to-collapse-and-rise-of-a7251331.html

Cheers

 

[Jagartrott]

No shame: (from the Financial Times)

Corporate America’s most powerful chief executives are rallying to Apple’s side in its tax battle with the EU, appealing directly to European heads of government to overturn Brussels’ demand for billions of euros from the tech group.

A group of 185 American CEOs has urged the leaders of 28 EU member states to reverse a European Commission ruling that requires Apple to reimburse Ireland for €13bn in underpaid taxes, calling the attempt a “grievous self-inflicted wound”.

The push for national governments to intervene — contained in letters sent to leaders by the Business Roundtable on Thursday — marks an escalation in US attacks on the EU, whose decision has already been slammed as “political crap” by Apple boss Tim Cook.

The corporate chiefs, who are already grappling with uncertainty over the outcome of the presidential election at home, warn the commission’s decision threatens to scare away investment by legitimising abrupt reversals of government policy overseas.

“In the interest of all countries that respect the rule of law, this decision must not be allowed to stand,” said a letter from the Business Roundtable to German chancellor Angela Merkel seen by the Financial Times.

Last month, Brussels sparked a transatlantic feud by ordering Dublin to claw back at least €13bn from Apple, arguing the favourable tax arrangements the company devised with Ireland constituted illegal state aid between 2003 and 2014. In “exceptional circumstances” EU member states have the power to override commission decisions on illegal state aid. But such intervention is unprecedented and highly unlikely in the Apple case because it requires unanimity between all 28 EU member states. Many EU countries back the €13bn tax penalty; Michel Sapin, France’s finance minister, called the decision “entirely legitimate”.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, has said Apple should have realised it had a tax deal that was “too good to be true” and has dismissed claims that she acted retrospectively to change Irish law. “The state aid rules apply since 1958,” she said. “It has never been a secret that tax exemptions could be state aid, and that if so, they’d have to be paid back. The only secrets were the [Irish] tax rulings themselves.”

If upheld, the decision would set a precedent that undermines the legal certainty businesses need to make large-scale investments, the letter to Ms Merkel warns, adding that Brussels’ move is “a grievous self-inflicted wound for the European Union and its citizens”.

“Absent [a] reversal, other countries outside the EU will interpret the decision as acceptable governmental behaviour and will put all companies with cross-border investments — including EU-headquartered companies — at risk of having their assets expropriated by foreign governments seeking extra revenue or seeking to punish a successful foreign competitor.”

Apple’s EU tax dispute explained
Apple's offices on Half Moon Street in Cork, Ireland

The consequences of the commission’s complaint and the wider implications of its ruling

There are already signs non-EU countries are following Brussels’ lead. Japan on Friday ordered Apple to pay ¥12bn ($117m) in back taxes after authorities ruled the company was liable for withholding tax on royalties paid from a local subsidiary to an Irish holding company.

The Business Roundtable is chaired by Doug Oberhelman, chief executive of Caterpillar, and its vice-chairs are the leaders of Xerox, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin and Dow Chemical. Apple’s Mr Cook is not part of the group, but other members include the heads of Walmart, ExxonMobil, AT&T, GE and JPMorgan.

By wading into the sensitive realm of ties between Brussels and EU member states, the corporate chiefs are following in the footsteps of the Obama administration, which has been sharply critical of the commission and accused it of behaving like a “supranational tax authority”.

The letter to Ms Merkel says: “I urge you to work with your colleagues to overturn this decision and seek an end to the use of state aid investigations that override the ability of your country and other EU member states to determine and interpret their own tax laws.”

The group’s message also echoes many of the arguments made by Apple executives in the aftermath of last month’s decision.

“The ruling threatens to seriously undermine the sovereignty over EU member states over their own tax matters and the rule of law,” Apple finance chief Luca Maestri told reporters on the day the decision was revealed. “The impact of this decision will be devastating for the European economy.”

 

[python]

a couple of strange,wacky developments took place today in syria. squarely in the middle was the beacon of freedom and all goodness...the following brief summary was extracted from numerous links. anyone interested in more details should have no problems finding them ...

the latest...
the us airforce some hours ago attacked the syrian govt forces around Deir Ezzor killing 62 and wounding several hundred... it's a syrian govt outpost far from damask completely surrounded by isis, the organization we are told is the devil. immediately after the american attack, the isis units went into the offensive. iow, the us air force has supported the isis ground operations DIRECTLY. just minutes ago, the us claimed the attack was 'unintended'. i cant help but recall atm that the us 'surgical' strikes on the horrible terrorists turned out (and admitted when the denying was obviously stupid) some weddings and/or hospitals. these are hard recorded facts. given the record, right now i am skeptical of the beacon of goodness. why would the us support isis i can only speculate...

some time earlier, same day...
today is the 5th day of the us-russia agreement to impose a 7-day seize fire in syria. if we recall, it was stated officially 5 d ago that there were 5 secret documents signed by both kerry and lavrov.

the significant news today is that vlad complained. while he (and was reported ...france) is in favour of a total transparency and thus making the 5 documents public, the us - the beacon of the worlds most transparent translucency - is dead against. no one knows why the us is so secretive, but vlad had opined. he said, he was going to respect the us desire, but thought the us was sensitive to exposing their confusion (or, at worst, a covert support to the jihadists facing assad) wrt separating them from the 'moderates' rebels. the clue - every serious observer of syria believes the jihadists and the moderates converge to avoid being bombed.

so here we have it. the united states has created another forking mess. much like earler in iraq and libya. the key difference now is that the russians are tring to help the us avoiding another clusterfork...

when one never paid for the previous war crimes, there is no way of curbing the arrogance.

unless the russians start shooting down the us plains and killing their troops under one of the sly pretexts they are so good at...i seriously think that's where it s going if i am to interpret the vlad record right

 

[python]

the latest from the pentagon...

'the us 'used its own intelligence. the attack on the assad troops was unintended. the us informed russia of the attack except the details

the latest from the russian defence ministry..
their air force is currently striking isis attackers around where they went into an offensive. 10 strikes so far. russia is urgently calling for the unsc meeting. they blame us of everything.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

a couple of strange,wacky developments took place today in syria. squarely in the middle was the beacon of freedom and all goodness...the following brief summary was extracted from numerous links. anyone interested in more details should have no problems finding them ...

the latest...
the us airforce some hours ago attacked the syrian govt forces around Deir Ezzor killing 62 and wounding several hundred... it's a syrian govt outpost far from damask completely surrounded by isis, the organization we are told is the devil. immediately after the american attack, the isis units went into the offensive. iow, the us air force has supported the isis ground operations DIRECTLY. just minutes ago, the us claimed the attack was 'unintended'. i cant help but recall atm that the us 'surgical' strikes on the horrible terrorists turned out (and admitted when the denying was obviously stupid) some weddings and/or hospitals. these are hard recorded facts. given the record, right now i am skeptical of the beacon of goodness. why would the us support isis i can only speculate...

some time earlier, same day...
today is the 5th day of the us-russia agreement to impose a 7-day seize fire in syria. if we recall, it was stated officially 5 d ago that there were 5 secret documents signed by both kerry and lavrov.

the significant news today is that vlad complained. while he (and was reported ...france) is in favour of a total transparency and thus making the 5 documents public, the us - the beacon of the worlds most transparent translucency - is dead against. no one knows why the us is so secretive, but vlad had opined. he said, he was going to respect the us desire, but thought the us was sensitive to exposing their confusion (or, at worst, a covert support to the jihadists facing assad) wrt separating them from the 'moderates' rebels. the clue - every serious observer of syria believes the jihadists and the moderates converge to avoid being bombed.

so here we have it. the united states has created another forking mess. much like earler in iraq and libya. the key difference now is that the russians are tring to help the us avoiding another clusterfork...

when one never paid for the previous war crimes, there is no way of curbing the arrogance.

unless the russians start shooting down the us plains and killing their troops under one of the sly pretexts they are so good at...i seriously think that's where it s going if i am to interpret the vlad record right

I know you didn't pose a question, but to me it was a case of one answering his/her own question, if you get my drift. The US foreign policy strikes again. Literally and figuratively. If things continue heading in this direction, where the US does as it chooses in the Middle East (or anywhere else, for that matter), it will create MASSIVE problems and dare I say, a potential for a catastrophic event, as in...World War III. Too many times the US has had these 'unintentional' moments in wars. I can't believe that it was simply 'unintentional.' Either whoever carried the attack is a massive idiot (both for mistaking and/or doing it on purpose) or they are provoking the Russians and anyone who is pro-Syrian Army/Assad. It seems to have been a fake resolution that the US agreed on. Fake as in, they were never going to honor anything. They are in there for themselves, not for the Syrian people. If the US actually participated actively to stop the war and defeat ISIS, perhaps victory could have been achieved already. I think the ultimate goal was to undermine and trick the Russians while at same time provoking ISIS and create more problems.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

a couple of strange,wacky developments took place today in syria. squarely in the middle was the beacon of freedom and all goodness...the following brief summary was extracted from numerous links. anyone interested in more details should have no problems finding them ...

the latest...
the us airforce some hours ago attacked the syrian govt forces around Deir Ezzor killing 62 and wounding several hundred... it's a syrian govt outpost far from damask completely surrounded by isis, the organization we are told is the devil. immediately after the american attack, the isis units went into the offensive. iow, the us air force has supported the isis ground operations DIRECTLY. just minutes ago, the us claimed the attack was 'unintended'. i cant help but recall atm that the us 'surgical' strikes on the horrible terrorists turned out (and admitted when the denying was obviously stupid) some weddings and/or hospitals. these are hard recorded facts. given the record, right now i am skeptical of the beacon of goodness. why would the us support isis i can only speculate...

some time earlier, same day...
today is the 5th day of the us-russia agreement to impose a 7-day seize fire in syria. if we recall, it was stated officially 5 d ago that there were 5 secret documents signed by both kerry and lavrov.

the significant news today is that vlad complained. while he (and was reported ...france) is in favour of a total transparency and thus making the 5 documents public, the us - the beacon of the worlds most transparent translucency - is dead against. no one knows why the us is so secretive, but vlad had opined. he said, he was going to respect the us desire, but thought the us was sensitive to exposing their confusion (or, at worst, a covert support to the jihadists facing assad) wrt separating them from the 'moderates' rebels. the clue - every serious observer of syria believes the jihadists and the moderates converge to avoid being bombed.

so here we have it. the united states has created another forking mess. much like earler in iraq and libya. the key difference now is that the russians are tring to help the us avoiding another clusterfork...

when one never paid for the previous war crimes, there is no way of curbing the arrogance.

unless the russians start shooting down the us plains and killing their troops under one of the sly pretexts they are so good at...i seriously think that's where it s going if i am to interpret the vlad record right

I know you didn't pose a question, but to me it was a case of one answering his/her own question, if you get my drift. The US foreign policy strikes again. Literally and figuratively. If things continue heading in this direction, where the US does as it chooses in the Middle East (or anywhere else, for that matter), it will create MASSIVE problems and dare I say, a potential for a catastrophic event, as in...World War III. Too many times the US has had these 'unintentional' moments in wars. I can't believe that it was simply 'unintentional.' Either whoever carried the attack is a massive idiot (both for mistaking and/or doing it on purpose) or they are provoking the Russians and anyone who is pro-Syrian Army/Assad. It seems to have been a fake resolution that the US agreed on. Fake as in, they were never going to honor anything. They are in there for themselves, not for the Syrian people. If the US actually participated actively to stop the war and defeat ISIS, perhaps victory could have been achieved already. I think the ultimate goal was to undermine and trick the Russians while at same time provoking ISIS and create more problems.

Difficult to fight a war when you want two different outcomes. US wants Assad gone full stop. The Russians say they want him gone, Assad says eventually but neither the Russians nor anyone else is convinced that will happen. Then you have all of the different factions fighting plus Turkey and two different Kurdish armies. It's s mess and they can't even agree on the humanitarian side of things so what hope the strategic and tactical side ? I am not convinced that the USA being more cooperative or the Russians for that matter will bring the war to a stop quicker as it's far from a conventional war anyway and as we have seen before an air war and nothing but can only be so effective. You could argue that destroying the country by air is just helping the guerilla war.

 

[hrotha]

If the US attacking the Syrian army makes no sense from a political, military or geostrategic point of view (they'd have to escalate this conflict enormously to put any serious dent on the Syrian forces or any real pressure on Russia, and they're clearly unwilling to do so, given the likely consequences regarding Russia), maybe the theory of a mistake has some merit, especially when compared to "one of the actors in this conflict is Chaotic Evil and a cartoon villain". Friendly fire happens - and the Syrian forces aren't even "friendly", in that there's not a lot of communication or coordination between them and US forces.

 

[python]

to REALLY sort out if it was a mistake or an intentional provocation a lot of objective information followed by a sober analysis would be needed. i found very little so far. as i usually did when genuinely curious, i looked at all sides.

the us military issues a statement. they say they've watched a group of vehicles for several days. then an order to strike was issued. it lasted for about 20 minutes until a russian officer contacted them, at which point they seized the attack. the other american comments i dismissed as a garbage, b/c they were sourced from the persons 'not authorized to talk'

the official russian version is difficult to sort for details b/c there's a tonne of yelling in it. they say the attack was undertaken by 2 f-16s and 2 a-10s (a-10 is an ancient tank buster with a huge gatling gun protruding from its nose). they also say a drone was in the sky. they deny the us assertion of being informed of the attack. some pro-russian analysis and comments (the south-front portal) indicate that a mistake is unlikely b/c this type of air operations would always be guided by a ground based spotters. also, some point out that a provocation may have been designed to send a message, 'this is what will happen if we start targeting 'yours' should you prove too difficult to negotiate'

the official syria version (sana) is that the attack came about early evening on a unit based on the top of a strategic mountain. following the us attack, the isis fighters immediately seized the base. they are sure it was deliberate. the base was guarded by an elite unit.

other comments seem reasonably pointing out that the use of the clumsy and slow a-10s signifies the us was sure there were no shoulder-fired manpads in the area. we dont know if they were used. no reports of the shut down american planes or a use of any rockets.

decide for yourself. i am skeptical of the american version. but that's no more than a gut atm.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

to REALLY sort out if it was a mistake or an intentional provocation a lot of objective information followed by a sober analysis would be needed. i found very little so far. as i usually did when genuinely curious, i looked at all sides.

the us military issues a statement. they say they've watched a group of vehicles for several days. then an order to strike was issued. it lasted for about 20 minutes until a russian officer contacted them, at which point they seized the attack. the other american comments i dismissed as a garbage, b/c they were sourced from the persons 'not authorized to talk'

the official russian version is difficult to sort for details b/c there's a tonne of yelling in it. they say the attack was undertaken by 2 f-16s and 2 a-10s (a-10 is an ancient tank buster with a huge gatling gun protruding from its nose). they also say a drone was in the sky. they deny the us assertion of being informed of the attack. some pro-russian analysis and comments (the south-front portal) indicate that a mistake is unlikely b/c this type of air operations would always be guided by a ground based spotters. also, some point out that a provocation may have been designed to send a message, 'this is what will happen if we start targeting 'yours' should you prove too difficult to negotiate'

the official syria version (sana) is that the attack came about early evening on a unit based on the top of a strategic mountain. following the us attack, the isis fighters immediately seized the base. they are sure it was deliberate. the base was guarded by an elite unit.

other comments seem reasonably pointing out that the use of the clumsy and slow a-10s signifies the us was sure there were no shoulder-fired manpads in the area. we dont know if they were used. no reports of the shut down american planes or a use of any rockets.

decide for yourself. i am skeptical of the american version. but that's no more than a gut atm.

Interesting, as there has been reports that Australian jets were also involved, and we only have variations of F-18s. There's every reason to be sceptical IMO

 

[python]

Re: Re:

to REALLY sort out if it was a mistake or an intentional provocation a lot of objective information followed by a sober analysis would be needed. i found very little so far. as i usually did when genuinely curious, i looked at all sides.

the us military issues a statement. they say they've watched a group of vehicles for several days. then an order to strike was issued. it lasted for about 20 minutes until a russian officer contacted them, at which point they seized the attack. the other american comments i dismissed as a garbage, b/c they were sourced from the persons 'not authorized to talk'

the official russian version is difficult to sort for details b/c there's a tonne of yelling in it. they say the attack was undertaken by 2 f-16s and 2 a-10s (a-10 is an ancient tank buster with a huge gatling gun protruding from its nose). they also say a drone was in the sky. they deny the us assertion of being informed of the attack. some pro-russian analysis and comments (the south-front portal) indicate that a mistake is unlikely b/c this type of air operations would always be guided by a ground based spotters. also, some point out that a provocation may have been designed to send a message, 'this is what will happen if we start targeting 'yours' should you prove too difficult to negotiate'

the official syria version (sana) is that the attack came about early evening on a unit based on the top of a strategic mountain. following the us attack, the isis fighters immediately seized the base. they are sure it was deliberate. the base was guarded by an elite unit.

other comments seem reasonably pointing out that the use of the clumsy and slow a-10s signifies the us was sure there were no shoulder-fired manpads in the area. we dont know if they were used. no reports of the shut down american planes or a use of any rockets.

decide for yourself. i am skeptical of the american version. but that's no more than a gut atm.

Interesting, as there has been reports that Australian jets were also involved, and we only have variations of F-18s. There's every reason to be sceptical IMO

good point. turns out the f-16 were danish
http://cphpost.dk/news/danish-fighters-took-part-in-friendly-fire-attack-in-syria.html

still no reliable details to sweep away one of the versions, except to comment on some inconsistencies:

- if the us military admitted to watching those they attacked for some time the fact they missed was either due to having a faulty surveillance gear/methods or being duped by the the isis. i doubt the multilayered, advanced technology used by nato - space satellites, drones, special ground spotters etc - is THAT bad.
- turns out, the observers say, the us never interfered directlyin the actual fighting in the area btwn the assad forces and the isis. that they did it now is highly suspicious. to remind: deir ezzor where the massacre took place is an area in the syria's east far from damask and COMPLETELY surrendered by isis. the troops slaughtered were defending the only communication hub with the rest of syria - the local airbase. why does it matter ? simple. b/c the syrian troops there due to being surrounded and remote CAN'T get effective or heavy weapons. That is, they are easier targets than isis possessing anti-air weapons. sure enough, the isis proved it by shooting down a sysrian mig the same day.

 

[blutto]

.....the war on cash ?....the idea of negative interest rates ?......mix together and voila....digital usury ?....

September 18, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - Several central banks, including the Bank of England, the People’s Bank of China, the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve, are exploring the concept of issuing their own digital currencies, using the blockchain technology developed for Bitcoin. Skeptical commentators suspect that their primary goal is to eliminate cash, setting us up for negative interest rates (we pay the bank to hold our deposits rather than the reverse).

But Ben Broadbent, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, puts a more positive spin on it. He says Central Bank Digital Currencies could supplant the money now created by private banks through “fractional reserve” lending – and that means 97% of the circulating money supply. Rather than outlawing bank-created money, as money reformers have long urged, fractional reserve banking could be made obsolete simply by attrition, preempted by a better mousetrap. The need for negative interest rates could also be eliminated, by giving the central bank more direct tools for stimulating the economy.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45500.htm

Cheers

 

[blutto]

.....Merikan incompetence ?.....Merikan competence ?.....

Leaked: Source Reveals Coordination between US, ISIS in Attacking Syrian Army

The ISIS launched attacks on the Syrian army positions in Deir Ezzor only 7 minutes after the US-led coalition’s airstrikes on Saturday, a military source said, adding that the air and ground assault were highly coordinated, According to FNA report.


The source said after the coalition’s pounding of the Syrian army near Deir Ezzor airbase, the ISIS could take full control of al-Tharda mountain and then Deir Ezzor military base, adding that the army and national defense forces deployed near the airbase immediately won it back from the terrorists by launching a counterattack.

Noting that Deir Ezzor is now almost in tranquility and no change has occurred in the military map of the region, the source said by attacking the Syrian army positions, the US seeks to prevent military operations to break the terrorists’ siege on the city

http://www.globalresearch.ca/leaked-source-reveals-coordination-between-us-isis-in-attacking-syrian-army/5546355

Cheers

 

[python]

the blutto piece above being somewhat ahead of where i came to stand, i am now reasonably convinced, lets say it's 80%, the attack on the syrian troops was premeditated and deliberate.

not an accident, not a misfortune, not - and this may still prove me wrong - not a directly coordinated op btwn the us and isis as the article above seems to suggest.

in addition to the skeptical arguments i posed above, several more are tilting me. not the least, and that's the one needing a further confirmation, NEVER BEFORE (on my watch at least) the 'us-lead coalition' cared to elaborate the roles of the individual nations taking part in the massacre of the syrian troops. here's another observation.

since the slaughter took place 2 days ago, 3 nations, specifically the ozzys, the danes and the brits came out to stress their role in an 'unintended event'. they lined up to take the blame very neatly soon after the us command 'regret' is unprecedented ! again, i am an attentive watcher of the syria and iraq military developments and i NEVER have seen the individual roles of the 'allies' entertained. that it took place now looks to me as an attempt to 'spread' the blame or, more likely, to divert it from the united states. why and what's the purpose of the diversion i really dont know but believe it's a part of what the us may think is a scheme/a way to pressure russia towards accepting something it feels strongly against. like lets assume accepting some anti-assad jihadist groups as legit, that is non terrorist. it's too complex, but the us may be trying to maneuver btwn the saudi-sponsored islamists (the doha group ?) that iran and syria consider reject as the terrorists. i do think the us insistence on their agreement with lavrov being secret, is based on the belief that full openness would expose the us double game.

enough strategising from this armchair..

 

[blutto]

........

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/09/robert-parry/getting-fooled-iraq-libya/

Cheers

 

[blutto]

.....rank stupidity in Libya....or just more neo con/liberal insanity ?.....

According to the new U.K. report on Libya, Britain’s military intervention – alongside the U.S. and France – was based on “erroneous assumptions and an incomplete understanding” of the reality inside Libya, which included a lack of appreciation about the role of Islamic extremists in spearheading the opposition to Gaddafi.

In other words, Gaddafi was telling the truth when he accused the rebels around Benghazi of being penetrated by Islamic terrorists. The West, including the U.S. news media, took Gaddafi’s vow to wipe out this element and distorted it into a claim that he intended to slaughter the region’s civilians, thus stampeding the United Nations Security Council into approving an operation to protect them.

That mandate was then twisted into an excuse to decimate Libya’s army and clear the way for anti-Gaddafi rebels to seize the capital of Tripoli and eventually hunt down, torture and murder Gaddafi.

Ignored Terror Evidence

Yet, there was evidence before this “regime change” occurred regarding the extremist nature of the anti-Gaddafi rebels as well as those seeking to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria. As analysts Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman wrote in a pre-Libya-war report for West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, “the Syrian and Libyan governments share the United States’ concerns about violent salafist/jihadi ideology and the violence perpetrated by its adherents.”

In the report entitled “Al-Qaeda’s Foreign Fighters in Iraq,” Felter and Fishman also analyzed Al Qaeda’s documents captured in 2007 showing personnel records of militants who flocked to Iraq for the war. The documents revealed that eastern Libya (the base of the anti-Gaddafi rebellion) was a hotbed for suicide bombers traveling to Iraq to kill American troops.

Felter and Fishman wrote that these so-called Sinjar Records disclosed that while Saudis comprised the largest number of foreign fighters in Iraq, Libyans represented the largest per-capita contingent by far. Those Libyans came overwhelmingly from towns and cities in the east.

“The vast majority of Libyan fighters that included their hometown in the Sinjar Records resided in the country’s Northeast, particularly the coastal cities of Darnah 60.2% (53) and Benghazi 23.9% (21),” Felter and Fishman wrote, adding:

“Both Darnah and Benghazi have long been associated with Islamic militancy in Libya, in particular for an uprising by Islamist organizations in the mid?1990s. … One group — the Libyan Fighting Group … — claimed to have Afghan veterans in its ranks,” a reference to mujahedeen who took part in the CIA-backed anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, as did Al Qaeda founder, Osama bin Laden, a Saudi.

“The Libyan uprisings [in the 1990s] became extraordinarily violent,” Felter and Fishman wrote. “Qadhafi used helicopter gunships in Benghazi, cut telephone, electricity, and water supplies to Darnah and famously claimed that the militants ‘deserve to die without trial, like dogs,’”

Some important Al Qaeda leaders operating in Pakistan’s tribal regions also were believed to have come from Libya. For instance, “Atiyah,” who was guiding the anti-U.S. war strategy in Iraq, was identified as a Libyan named Atiyah Abd al-Rahman.

It was Atiyah who urged a strategy of creating a quagmire for U.S. forces in Iraq, buying time for Al Qaeda’s headquarters to rebuild its strength in Pakistan. “Prolonging the war [in Iraq] is in our interest,” Atiyah said in a letter that upbraided Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for his hasty and reckless actions in Iraq.

The Atiyah letter was discovered by the U.S. military after Zarqawi was killed by an airstrike in June 2006. [To view the “prolonging the war” excerpt in a translation published by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, click here. To read the entire letter, click here

....West Point ?......well that kinda puts to bed the idea that it was just bad intelligence or we weren't aware.....more like wilful ignorance papered over with massive amounts of BS from the usual suspects at the Hillbilly Post and the New York Trash ( you know, the sources the smart people in the room turn to )....and any guesses as to who was at the head of this parade ?.....hint, it wasn't the clown....it was the blood thirsty idiot psychopath....

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/09/robert-parry/getting-fooled-iraq-libya/

Cheers

 

[blutto]

....more precision bombing on the Syrian front....

Syria conflict: UN suspends all aid after convoy hit

Source: BBC ( actually the source here is some guy in London blogging in his pajamas which given the history of the BBC is just beyond pathetic....the major media is now just such a waste of bandwidth....)

The UN has suspended all aid convoys in Syria after its lorries were attacked by warplanes near Aleppo on Monday.

The convoy had received proper permits, and all warring parties - including Russia and the US - had been notified, a UN spokesman said.

Eighteen of the 31 lorries, containing wheat, winter clothes and medical supplies, were destroyed.

A senior official of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent was among a number of civilians killed.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37417898

Cheers

 

[python]

^^
Russia and Syria deny they attacked UN aid convoy in Aleppo
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-rejects-claims-attacked-uk-aid-convoy-syria-831106410

curiously, 'that guy in pajamas' quoted by the western msm is so void of a plain common sense and substance, that a poster on a cycling forum has to wonder why so unprofessional...?

here's the catch that instantly jumped at me. every major msm said it was the attack from the air. the russians and the syrians flatly denied using their air assets. they say it was the 'rebels' (having no air force) whose territory the trucks were crossing, who attacked the trucks.

one would think it should seem simple to distinguish an air from a ground attack. dozens of witnesses were around. plus per the article, the convoy was visible on the live russian webcams installed specifically to monitor the seize fire. why not a single witness account or a single image are available to prove the air attack claims ?

besides, the dust has already settled and the type of munition used could be easily determined. neither the pajamas nor the state department nor the super duper pentagon's sky snooper have produced anything.

looks to me like a clear case of misinformation similar to the one used in that malaysian liner crisis - claim and blame whatever and when asked for evidence refer to 'classified sources', or the mouthy guys 'not authorized to open their mouths, or when the cheap and dirty need, find the guys in pajamas.

 

[python]

Re:

^^
Russia and Syria deny they attacked UN aid convoy in Aleppo
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-rejects-claims-attacked-uk-aid-convoy-syria-831106410

curiously, 'that guy in pajamas' quoted by the western msm is so void of a plain common sense and substance, that a poster on a cycling forum has to wonder why so unprofessional...?

here's the catch that instantly jumped at me. every major msm said it was the attack from the air. the russians and the syrians flatly denied using their air assets. they say it was the 'rebels' (having no air force) whose territory the trucks were crossing, who attacked the trucks.

one would think it should seem simple to distinguish an air from a ground attack. dozens of witnesses were around. plus per the article, the convoy was visible on the live russian webcams installed specifically to monitor the seize fire. why not a single witness account or a single image are available to prove the air attack claims ?

besides, the dust has already settled and the type of munition used could be easily determined. neither the pajamas nor the state department nor the super duper pentagon's sky snooper have produced anything.

looks to me like a clear case of misinformation similar to the one used in that malaysian liner crisis - claim and blame whatever and when asked for evidence refer to 'classified sources', or the mouthy guys 'not authorized to open their mouths, or when the cheap and dirty need, find the guys in pajamas.

I swear i dont have any connection to the united nations...turns out, it took them a whole day to confirm what a cycling board fool deduced in 15 minutes by using common sense.

Article: U.N. rows back from describing Syria convoy attack as 'air strikes

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN11Q1NR?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29

 

[blutto]

Re: Re:

^^
Russia and Syria deny they attacked UN aid convoy in Aleppo
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-rejects-claims-attacked-uk-aid-convoy-syria-831106410

curiously, 'that guy in pajamas' quoted by the western msm is so void of a plain common sense and substance, that a poster on a cycling forum has to wonder why so unprofessional...?

here's the catch that instantly jumped at me. every major msm said it was the attack from the air. the russians and the syrians flatly denied using their air assets. they say it was the 'rebels' (having no air force) whose territory the trucks were crossing, who attacked the trucks.

one would think it should seem simple to distinguish an air from a ground attack. dozens of witnesses were around. plus per the article, the convoy was visible on the live russian webcams installed specifically to monitor the seize fire. why not a single witness account or a single image are available to prove the air attack claims ?

besides, the dust has already settled and the type of munition used could be easily determined. neither the pajamas nor the state department nor the super duper pentagon's sky snooper have produced anything.

looks to me like a clear case of misinformation similar to the one used in that malaysian liner crisis - claim and blame whatever and when asked for evidence refer to 'classified sources', or the mouthy guys 'not authorized to open their mouths, or when the cheap and dirty need, find the guys in pajamas.

I swear i dont have any connection to the united nations...turns out, it took them a whole day to confirm what a cycling board fool deduced in 15 minutes by using common sense.

Article: U.N. rows back from describing Syria convoy attack as 'air strikes

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN11Q1NR?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29

....out of curiosity went back to the BBC story linked above....the story now re-written and is missing the reference to the blogger in pajamas, instead they are going with this different nonsense....

Riad Hijab, general co-ordinator of the main umbrella group the High Negotiation Committee, said the opposition had proof Russia and Syria were behind the convoy attack, but did not give details.

....and cases for war have been built on crap like this and thousands and thousands of folks have died as a result...this is fcuking pathetic....

Cheers