Friday 29th of March 2024

of success and self-appraisal...

blame russia

TAL ABYAD, Syria —In a former high school classroom in this northeastern Syrian town, about 250 Arab recruits for the U.S.-backed war against the Islamic State were being prepped by Kurdish instructors to receive military training from American troops. 

Most of the recruits were from villages surrounding the Islamic State’s self-
proclaimed capital of Raqqa, and the expectation is that they will be deployed to the battle for the predominantly Arab city, which is now the main target of the U.S. military effort in Syria. 

But first, said the instructors, the recruits must learn and embrace the ideology of Abdullah Ocalan, a Kurdish leader jailed in Turkey whose group is branded a terrorist organization by both Washington and Ankara. 

The scene in the classroom captured some of the complexity of the U.S.-backed fight against the Islamic State in Syria, where a Kurdish movement that subscribes to an ideology at odds with stated U.S. policy has become America’s closest ally against the extremists. 

The People’s Protection Units, or YPG, is the military wing of a political movement that has been governing northeastern Syria for the past 4 1 / 2 years, seeking to apply the Marxist-inspired visions of Ocalan to the majority Kurdish areas vacated by the Syrian government during the war. 

Over the past two years, the YPG has forged an increasingly close relationship with the United States, steadily capturing land from the Islamic State with the help of U.S. airstrikes, military assistance and hundreds of U.S. military advisers. 

read more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-military-aid-is-fuel...

When the FOX sends a tough "dove" to NBC...

Why Megyn Kelly is leaving Fox News for NBC

Megyn Kelly offered a heartfelt tribute to Fox News and her viewers in explaining her "tough decision" to leave the network for NBC.

At the close of Tuesday's "Kelly File," Kelly said she felt a "human connection" to her viewers and also treasures that "particularly when it comes to my children, who are 7, 5 and 3," signaling that her nighttime schedule was a key factor in her decision.

"I have grown up here and been given every chance a young reporter could ever ask for," she said, praising Rupert Murdoch's family for its kindness toward her. Her last show at Fox airs Friday.

Kelly's closing remarks came less than 12 hours after the surprise announcement that she will be giving up her prime-time role at Fox for a multi-year deal that includes several roles at NBC. She will launch a daytime program as well as a Sunday evening news magazine show, and be part of the network’s coverage of major political and breaking-news events.

Murdoch, executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, said in a statement: “We thank Megyn Kelly for her 12 years of contributions to FOX News. We hope she enjoys tremendous success in her career and wish her and her family all the best.”

Kelly told viewers she deeply admires the journalists at NBC, but also said she is "very grateful" to Fox for her 12-year career at the news channel. She expressed similar sentiments in a Facebook posting, singling out not just Murdoch but his sons, Lachlan and James, who led the discussions to keep her.

Read more:

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/01/03/why-megyn-kelly-is-leavi...

 

If I was not a sarcastic old bastard, I would spill the beans as I see the move: Imagine for a second that Uncle Rupe has an agenda... NO, I hear you say, Would he?... Uncle Rupe knows Megyn is a tough interviewer who leans on the right side of politics. NBC is middle of the road...You're with me?...

If I was not an agent provocateur, nor a socialist plant on a very respectable independent website, I would suggest that under subtle management, Megyn had made a tough interview on Donald Trump who derided her, etc... Imagine for a short moment that this was a deliberate false flag event (with no weight on the outcome of the election) in order to make Megyn appear tough and aggressive against "the Donald" in the eye of NBC executives who need some dry gunpowder to attack the new administration once it is annointed. You still wiv me?

For whatever wrong reason, I can see some loose Murdoch strings on the back of Megyn Kelly... Most of her attacks (tough journalism) will be made against the democrats in a proportion of 70 per cent and only 30 per cent against the Trump. With these odds, Mr Trump is as safe as houses... 

It's tough love... Love is tough... I could be wrong, but my mate Masterman would applaud nonetheless... I'm sure you're with me here...

four more years of more shit?...

Of course, Russia would try to influence the recent American election. After an explicitly hostile two-term Democratic administration, the prospect of at least another four years of Hillary Clinton-led hostility was never going to fill the Kremlin with gleeful anticipation.

With both the Democratic and Republican party establishments deeply antagonistic toward Russia, Moscow would be guilty of a dereliction of duty to the Russian people if it had not wanted success for the most diplomatically pragmatic, and arguably the only realistic, American presidential candidate on issues such as radical Islamic terrorism, Syria, and Ukraine.

In geopolitical terms, the Russian government continues to be an artful, amoral chess player, while the idealistic Obama administration still struggles to master the simple game of checkers. It should not be surprising, therefore, if Moscow took the steps necessary to acquire damaging material about Obama's Democratic party, while his party's unworldly leadership chose to equip its technological infrastructure with only elementary security. It would be ridiculous to think that other foreign governments also do not have tangible interests at stake, when it comes to the outcome of American presidential elections.

Two recent examples involve America's closest economic, diplomatic, and military allies, Canada and the United Kingdom. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, an Obama acolyte, and his colleagues were devastated when Trump defeated Clinton. Trudeau's center-left government favors aggressive action against climate change, no changes to existing North American trade deals, the importation of large numbers of unvettable Middle Eastern migrants and refugees, and a dovish approach to Islamic State.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201701131049580354-russia-us-election-obama-hypocrite/

 

This is not an admission of Russia having hacked the DNC... The information came on a USB stick...

bullshit report...

The recent hysteria surrounding Russia’s alleged interference with the November presidential elections saw another episode after an intelligence report, jointly elaborated by the CIA, FBI and NSA, was released on Friday, January 6th.

After weeks of bombshell headlines based on statements from anonymous intelligence officials, western media finally had an official intelligence report to support their bombshell headlines. Unsurprisingly, all headlines look very similar, with the Guardian even changing the title of their main story after realising it was not menacing enough.

The problem is that, much like the old stories, the new ones do not contain any evidence to support the claims, because the report itself does not have anything in that regard. The report says that the “evidence” remains highly classified. These outlets are just being fed the same (non-)information in a new package, and reporting it as “remarkably blunt” (WaPo) and “damning and surprisingly detailed” (NYT) does not change the fact that there are no facts to back this thesis that there was a campaign orchestrated by the Russian state which decided the American presidential elections. Repeating the same accusation time and again is not a way of proving it, and given their track record, we cannot just take intelligence agencies at their word.[1]

read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2017/01/14/34734/

 

see toon at top...

he lied...

Do not be fooled by the tears and gushing words of Obama and his supporters as he counts down to his departure from the White House. They are an insult when measured against the tears of the countless Libyans, Syrians, Afghans and others who have suffered as a result of a foreign policy that brought his administration into disrepute.

Barack Obama goes down in history as a president who more than any other in living memory entered the White House on a wave of hope and expectation, only to depart eight years and two terms later under a cloud of crushing disappointment and bitterness. In speech after speech, America's first black president outlined a vision of his country's place in the world that would embrace multilateralism, place a premium on diplomacy, and embrace a foreign policy underpinned by justice. He also pledged to close the controversial US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Eight years later it's impossible to avoid the conclusion that he lied.


Read more: https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201701121049525929-us-obama-legacy-opinion/

saint obama...

As the eight-year term of America’s first black President draws to a close, the media are already in the process of myth-making. There’s room for an honest autopsy of a man who promised a new kind of world, and delivered merely warmed-over soundbites and a few fake tears.

“With Barack Obama’s exit the US is losing a saint.” writes Simon Jenkins in the Guardian, whilst Ann Perkins praises his “grace, decency and defence of democracy”. Lola Okolosie rhapsodises on his legacy of “warmth, love, resilience”. 

Already the storyline is set – Obama was a good man, who tried to do great things, but was undone by a Republican senate, and his own “sharp intelligence”.

These people, as much as anybody, reflect the cognitive dissonance of the modern press. “Liberals”, to use their own tortured self-descriptor, now assign the roles of good guy and bad guy based purely on aesthetics, convenience and fuel for their vanity. Actions and consequences are immaterial.

For the sake of balance, here is a list of Saint Obama’s unique achievements:

  • Obama is the first President in American history to be at war for every single day of an 8 year presidency.
  • Obama has carried out 10x more drone strikes than Bush ever did. Every Tuesday a military aide presents Obama with a “kill list”, and the “decent, gracious” Obama picks a few names off a list…and kills them. And their families. And their neighbours. These illegal acts of state-sanctioned murder have killed hundreds of civilians in 5 different countries in 2016 alone. The only reason that number isn’t higher, is that the Obama administration re-classified all males over 18 as combatants, regardless of occupation.
  • After declaring he wanted to build a “nuclear free world”, Obama committed to spending $1 TRILLION dollars on rebuilding America’s nuclear weapons.
  • Under Obama, the NSA et al. were able to spy on, essentially, the whole world. When this was revealed, not a single intelligence officer or government official was prosecuted. Instead…
  • Obama’s administration declared a “war on whistleblowers”, enacting new laws and initiating what they call the “Insider Threat Program”. Manning was prosecuted, Snowden sent into exile and Assange was set-up, discredited and (they hoped) extradited. It has never been more dangerous to be a government whistle-blower, than under Barack Obama
  • In terms of foreign policy, despite his press-created and non-sensical reputation as a non-interventionist, American Special Forces are currently operating in over 70% of the world’s 195 countries. The great lie is that, where Bush was a warmonger, Obama has sought to avoid conflict. The truth is that Obama, in the grand tradition of the CIA and American Imperial power, has simply turned all America’s wars into covert wars.
  • Before Obama came into office, Libya was the richest and most developed nation in Africa. It is now a hell-hole. Destroyed by war, hollowed-out by corruption. The “liberal” press allow him to agonise over this as his “greatest mistake”, and then gently pardon him for his good intentions. The truth is that Libya was not a mistake, or a misjudgment, or an unforeseen consequence. Libya is exactly what America wanted it to become. A failed state where everything is for sale, a base to pour illegal CIA weapons south into Africa and east into the ME. When war is your economy, chaos is good for business. When secrecy is your weapon, anarchy is ammunition. Libya went according to plan. A brutal plan that killed 100,000s and destroyed the lives of millions more. Libya, like Iraq, is a neocon success story. Syria on the other hand…
  • Syria, probably the word that will follow Obama out of office as “Iraq” did his predecessor, is a total failure. Both of stated intent and covert goals. Where the press will mourn Obama’s “indecisive nature” and wish he’d “used his big stick”, the real story is one of evil incompetence, so great that it would be almost comical…if it hadn’t destroyed an ancient seat of civilisation and killed 100,000s of people. Syria (along with Libya, Iraq, Somalia, Iran and Sudan) was on the list of the 7 countries America intended to destroy, famously “leaked” by General Wesley Clark. After the fall of Libya, Syria was (essentially) surrounded by American military on all sides. Iraq, Israel, Turkey and America operating out of Libya could pour “freedom fighters” into Syria to bring down “the regime”. When that didn’t work they deployed the trusty “WMD” method, to demand “humanitarian intervention”…the Russians saw that off. Then “ISIS” was created by the CIA, as al-Qaida were before them, and their manufactured barbarism was used as a pretext for invasion. The Russians, again, saw to it that this would not happen.
  • Perhaps in the hope of distracting Russia from the ME, or perhaps merely as a short-sighted punitive measure, the Obama’s administration next foreign policy target was Ukraine. Victoria Nuland’s own voice proves how much that “color revolution” was an American creation. Ukraine is broke, even more broke than it was, its people starve and freeze through the winter. The new “democratic government” has shelled 10,000 people to death in the East of the country….using American weapons.
  • In Yemen, the poorest country in the ME is being bombed to shreds by the richest….again, using American (and British) weapons. Obama’s “defense of democracy” doesn’t extend to criticising, or even discussing, the abhorrent Human Rights record of America’s Saudi Arabian allies, and in an act of brazen hypocrisy, even supported their chairing of the Human Rights Council of the UN.

This is the world Saint Obama has created. Guantanamo is still open, and terrorist “suspects” are still held there without trial or charge (they are probably still tortured). Other “suspects” can be simply declared guilty, and unilaterally executed…anywhere in the world. The NSA and CIA are illegally monitoring the communications of half the world. If any other leader in the world claimed even 1% of this power, they would be decried as “autocratic”, and their country denounced as a “pariah state”.

The Middle-East is ablaze from Libya to Afghanistan, and from Yemen to Turkey. Relations with Russia are as precarious as at any time since WWII, thanks to America’s efforts to break Russia economically and shatter their global influence. There is no sign that America intends to back-down (see the recent red-scare style hysteria in the American press). Likewise America has positioned itself to have a massive conflict with China in the South China Sea. Obama is, in terms of influence, nothing more than a used-car salesman. His job is not to create policy, but to sell neocon ideas to the general public, but his lack of agency cannot excuse his lack of vision or morals. Under Obama’s notional leadership the world has moved to the very brink of self-immolation in the name of protecting American hegemony. Domestically America still crumbles.

He had a nice smile, and a good turn of phrase. He was witty, and cool, and looked good in a suit…but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t just more of the same. He could say the right things, and sound like he meant them, but he was still a monster. As he moves out to pasture, the press will try to spit-shine Obama’s tarnished halo, to try to convince us that he was a good man at heart and that, as politicians go, we can’t do any better.

But yes, we can.

read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2017/01/15/the-beatification-of-barack-obama/

evil trump...

For the past eight years American liberals have gorged themselves on symbolism. A significant section of the population, including those most likely to support Barack Obama, have felt better about their country even as they have fared worse in it. The young, good-looking, intact, scandal-free black family in the White House embodied a hopeful future for America and beyond. Photogenic, with an understated chic, here were people of colour who looked even better in black and white. With personal stories of progress without privilege, they provided Camelot without the castle: evoking a sense of possibility in a period of economic stagnation, social immobility and political uncertainty.

As Obama passes the keys and the codes to Donald Trump at the end of this week, so many liberals mourn the passing of what has been, remain in a state of disbelief for what has happened, and express deep anxiety about what is to come. It is a steep cliff – politically, rhetorically and aesthetically – from the mocha-complexioned consensual intellectual to the permatanned, “pussy-grabbing” vulgarian.

read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/16/how-barack-obama-p...

 

see also:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/fashion/michelle-obama-first-lady-fas...

 

exceptionalism...

Anyone who follows media coverage of Russia will know that the ability to read Putin’s mind is something most journalists and analysts on that beat claim to possess. It’s truly fascinating to watch. Endless articles have been published wherein the author claims to know exactly what the mysterious and impenetrable Putin wants, feels, or thinks about the topic at hand.

It’s also not the first time journalists have attempted to explain Putin using 19th century writers and philosophers. As Robinson noted on his blog, last year it was Ivan Ilyin — and next year it will probably be someone else who holds the true key to understanding Putin’s soul.

Jimenez describes Putin as a “dangerous product” of the Russian soul as conceptualized by Dostoyevsky. He will stop at nothing to build his empire and is supported by the Russian people who are “seeking proof” of their “superiority among the family of nations.” Interestingly, he neglects to mention that there is another country, whose foreign policy is literally (and proudly) built on a belief in its superiority and exceptionalism.

read more:

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/373753-dostoyevsky-putin-russia-dark-soul/

reading between the lines...

NBC is canceling the third hour of “Today” to make way for new star Megyn Kelly, sources exclusively confirm to Page Six.

We’re told Kelly will take over either the 9 a.m. hour from Tamron Hall and Al Roker or will replace Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford.

“If she takes over Hoda and Kathie Lee’s 10 a.m. hour, they will move to the 9 a.m. hour,” an insider said.

We hear Hall will be leaving the network next month when her contract is up. Roker will continue his 7-to-9 a.m. duties.

Kelly will start in September.

“Everyone has been left in the dark and no one knows why there’s such a disruption when shows are doing so well across the board,” an insider told us. Another insider adds: “People are pissed. The third hour was beating every syndicated show across the board. They were in over their head and bit off more than they can chew when they hired Megyn.”

read more:

http://pagesix.com/2017/01/27/huge-shakeup-at-today-to-make-way-for-megy...

 

Sure... One can see the Murdoch inflitration but go and tell them... Read:  When the FOX sends a tough "dove" to NBC...

oliver stone's interviews with putin...

 


Oliver Stone’s ‘Putin Interviews’ Will Teach You Little About Putin, and Even Less About Russia

 

(http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/07/oliver-stones-putin-interviews-will-teach-you-little-about-putin-and-even-less-about-russia/)

 

Rubbish... But it will sure also teach you a lot about the hypocrisy of the USA. The Stone's interviews are showing a sobering side of what the USA's rabid war machine sees as the devil. Here this rag Foreign Policy magazine is miffed that Putin is shown to be more reasonable than their tin-pot presidents, the latest one of which they are trying to get rid off...:

 

Perhaps most insulting to the viewers, Putin says that he has evidence that the United States provided technical support to the Chechens, against whom Russia waged the first and — and Putin the second Chechen war early in his presidency. Putin says he cannot show Stone that evidence, however. Stone accepts that he cannot see this evidence and says it is contradictory that the United States would fight terror in Afghanistan while supporting it in Russia, which is perhaps the most simplistic rendering of the Chechen wars possible. Stone’s documentary doesn’t discuss how the Second Chechen War boosted Putin’s approval ratings, or that the Moscow bombings that the Kremlin blamed on Chechens were carried out by Russian agents. We see graphics showing the death tolls in the 2002 terror attack on a theater in Moscow and that of a 2004 attack on a school in Beslan. That many of the casualties in both cases were caused by a bungled Russian security response is not brought up.

--------

 

In fact, the Chechen wars WERE supported by some of the Saudis' lackeys under the instruction of Washington. Putin did not give the "evidence" as it would reveal the secret chain of info trickling up to Moscow -- unlike the "Putin interfered with the US election evidence" of which there is none.

With the Georgian war and with the destabilisation of Ukraine the influence of Washington was more "direct" in its support... 

The interviews have certainly exposed the lunacy of the US military crew and its loony presidents who have nothing else to do but annoy the rest of the world for profit, while running an massive deficit. 

In term of the bungle Russian security responses, let's say that the Chechen terrorists were more like a full-on army of men ready to die no matter what and unafraid of killing people in the hundreds. We could say the same for the Saudi loonies who did 9/11. Could the US have stopped this massacre? Why not? Possibly? What about the lone idiot at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney? The investigation took two years to show that the Police and the "negotiators" bungled the rescue, and that the bloke should have been in jail anyway for previous offences, including possible murder. Eventually the people who died were accidentally shot by the police. And what about Manchester? The "lone wolf" was well known to MI5, MI6 and the CIA and he got away with killing a lot of people. Suddenly, the police arrests 12 "known" people.

So this Foreign Policy magazine is a stupid critic of Oliver Stone's work. Learn something, you idiots, including a bit of humility and insight into the mind of one of the most successful leader of the 21st century who took a Russia on the ropes and turned it into a powerhouse. But that success is what annoys the shit out of the moronic Americans who are "exceptional".

 

US warmongerings...

 

Starting in 2011, the civil conflict in Syria spiralled out of control after the US and its allies intervened, wreaking havoc in the once prosperous country.

2021 marks the tenth year of the war in Syria - the US-backed civil conflict which crippled and very nearly destroyed what was once an oasis of secularism, ethnic diversity and interfaith peace in the Middle East. In addition to destabilising the region, the war has contributed heavily to the refugee crisis facing many European countries.

On the war's 10th anniversary, Sputnik has put together an infographic which gives a full break-down of the war's deadly consequences: civilian casualties - including children; how many have been forced to flee as refugees and internally displaced persons; the destruction of infrastructure, housing and industry, and more. Data is based on figures researched by Russian scholars specialising in the Middle East and US foreign policy.

The United States spent billions of dollars on a secret CIA war against the Middle Eastern nation, providing thousands of tonnes of arms, training and financial support to militias in a programme known as 'Timber Sycamore'. As the war continued, independent investigations by US media began to reveal that the 'rebels' who received the aid were often directly linked to jihadist extremists including Daesh (ISIS)* and al-Qaeda.* The Trump administration reportedly curtailed the programme in mid-2017, but continued to pressure Damascus through sanctions and the occupation of wide swathes of Syria's territory. The Biden administration has so far publicly continued Trump-era policy on Syria.

A decade on from the war's start, the Syrian Army has managed to consolidate control over much of its territory, and, with help from its Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies, succeeded in crushing the terrorists. Now, as Damascus rebuilds from war and negotiates peace, it is facing what may be its toughest challenge yet - finding a way to regain territories occupied by the United States and its allies, Turkish-backed militias and jihadist remnants. Today, the war is also being waged on the diplomatic front, with Syria continuing to insist that Washington and its European allies lift their crushing and illegal sanctions against the war-torn nation.

Check out Sputnik's infograpics to learn more.

 

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/infographics/202104301082769850-us-war-for-peace-in-syria/

 

Read from top.

 

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW.