The MoA Week In Review And Open Thread 2018-15
Last weeks posts:
The false headline is still up.
Our Skripal pieces attracted a large number of readers. Many people seem to distrust the mainstream reporting and came here for an alternative view. Welcome!
- Apr 3 - Operation Hades Blamed Russia - A Model For The 'Novichok' Claims?
- Apr 4 - "It's The Cover-Up" - UK Foreign Office Deletes Tweet, Posts False Transcript, Issues New Lies
- Apr 5 - Novi-Fog™ In Fleet Street - Truth Cut Off
- Apr 6 - The Best Explanation For The Skripal Drama Is Still ... Food Poisoning
- Apr 7 - A Very British Farce
The farce continues. As the Skripals are apparently alive and well the British government has a problem. When they talk and tell the world that it was actually food poisoning and not a chemical weapon attack that hit them, the government of Theresa May is toast. The Skripals have to be kept isolated and eventually vanished. The CIA might give them a new identity or lock them into one of its black sites. The Skripals house and the Zizzy restaurant are to be destroyed. (Who will kill the hospital doctors?)
The "doorknob" theory the UK spread to explain the alleged injury of one policeman is so outrageously stupid that many doubt it. To counter the mistrust, HMG comes up with an even more implausible explanation:
Russian agents watched Sergei Skripal for a fortnight and chose to strike on a Sunday morning so no postmen or delivery men would be exposed accidentally to the nerve agent. Any third parties touching the door handle before the Skripals would have required the agents to reapply the gel to the door handle, at the risk of being seen doing so.
Sure, that's why so many neighbors spoke of foreigners milling around in the street for two weeks (not). And its why there was such a large manhunt right after the incident happened (not).
Veterinarians in Salisbury post on Facebook that they had contacted the police several times immediately after they learned that the Skripals were admitted into hospital. They offered to take care of their cats and guinea pigs. The police did not react at all. One cat escaped, the guinea pigs died of thirst and the cat left behind was so starved that it had to be put down.
Use the comments as open thread ...
Posted by b on April 8, 2018 at 16:27 UTC | Permalink
next page »Has the penny dropped yet b that the Skripal episode was designed to condemn the Syrian Government ahead of another staged chemical attack - this time to be hit hard. Those damn Russians are launching chemical attacks in Britain, and now they are supplying chemicals to the regime to poison Syrian children...
It makes the shit stick.
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Apr 8 2018 17:08 utc | 2
I don't think this Skripal incident was staged. They went out for dinner. Caught very bad food poisoning. British intelligence and May's government jumped on this incident to blame it on Russia. May's poll number were down, and her handling of British exit from the EU was horrendous. This gave her all she needed to get back on her feet politically.
Posted by: Jose Garcia | Apr 8 2018 17:13 utc | 3
James Landale, BBC diplomatic correspondent writes
"For Russia, how far is it prepared to defend its allies' apparent use of chemical weapons when its own apparent use of a nerve agent in the UK is subject to so much global condemnation?"
Yes, the shit has stuck.
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Apr 8 2018 17:27 utc | 4
Once the Skripals have been vanished, there would no longer be any reason to keep them alive.
The Douma FF - too little too late? White helmets and the Coventry MI6 asset not working in unison. I take it the Ghouta gas attack was supposed to have occurred at the peak of the Russia=novichok meme somewhere between 12th-20th March.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Apr 8 2018 17:46 utc | 5
b.
Very nice writing, wit and "ohrwoerm" in general here.
I doubt that anything dramatic will happen in Syria on behalf of US retaliation or anything sinister in that direction..
US and others have their people in Assad opposing forces and they know exactly what is going on - on the ground.
What will be interesting is to observe how two Russian citizens will vanish and how the truth will be pushed under the carpet while Russia will not let this just go.
I am still trying to find the plausable connection between the two. Could somebody elaborate such option?
Posted by: laserlurk | Apr 8 2018 17:49 utc | 6
Whereas it’s clear that Bojo and the Tin Lady are playing a weak hand badly–and have only been spared by the appalling complicity of virtually the entire panoply of Western media as information warfare adjuncts–which is in itself a stunning and sickening display of power–it’s not clear that Russia has played a stronger hand much more ably.
In sum, the questions, criticisms and suggested avenues of response suggested here, as well as at the Off-Guardian, John Helmer’s blog, the Saker, MoA, and strategic culture.org (anyone who hasn’t seen Rob Slane’s 50 questions there really should), has been much richer and potentially more efficacious than Russia’s official demarches have so far been.
At the very least, can a writ of habeus corpus be filed? It will be clear to most of the world by now that the UK does not want the Skripals to be heard from directly unless and until their statements will not be those of “tools of the Kremlin.” (But it may be that the Russians are not so keen that they be heard from either, until what they will say can be determined.)
I would have to think that this trial balloon to have the Skripals relocated with new identities would be recognized by them as a threat (since at that point they will have been disappeared). If the Russians are hesitating about what they might say, and about having a writ of habeus corpus filed, the implied threat from the USUK might be enough to persuade the Skripals that if they have information embarrassing for the USUK (or for Russia, for that matter), they had better speak out now, before they are disappeared.
Posted by: Paul | Apr 8 2018 17:58 utc | 7
Yes, and Trump is throwing shit and having a fit.
CNN on the tweeting:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/08/politics/donald-trump-syria-assad/index.html
FOX News:
http://fox5sandiego.com/2018/04/08/trump-tweets-big-price-after-reports-of-syrian-chemical-attack/
So nice of him to toss off t hreats on Orthodox Easter Sunday. What a guy.
Who's influencing him? Bolton? FOX? Pompeo? Where does Mattis stand?
Wonder who is actually influencing him.
****
Interesting article at RT about Jaysh al-Islam coming to an agreement with the Syrian government to leave Duma/Douma and go to Jarablus.
Published time: 8 Apr, 2018 13:56
Edited time: 8 Apr, 2018 15:05
The Islamist group is to leave Douma for the city of Jarablus within 48 hours, SANA reported, citing an official source. It said a deal to release all the prisoners has been reached. Damascus agreed to negotiate with one of the last major militant groups holding out in Douma in a bid to protect civilians and liberate abducteesThe radical Islamist group, which has been accused of using civilians as human shields, earlier agreed to leave the enclave of Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital. Jaysh al-Islam will have to clear barricades and provide maps of minefields that they have laid in the area. The militants were set to begin withdrawing from the city of Douma on Sunday, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Syrian Reconciliation Center, Major General Yury Yevtushenko has said.
So...were the negotiations going on while supposedly Syrian was attacking with some sort of chem bombs?? Weird.
Also, the number of injured and dead has escalated very unbelievably. From about 15 to thoursands!!
Posted by: jawbone | Apr 8 2018 18:16 utc | 8
8 the "chemical attack" was part of the negotiations. Trump is talking tough but Russia made a believable threat to hit back.
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Apr 8, 2018 1:08:29 PM | 2
Yes, there is a "strategy" to pretend Russia is a criminal worse than other countries. They even mentioned the word "weapons of mass destruction" again. It is a very real campaign in a run up to war.
This here from the opcw meeting
"It is regrettable to say that our Western partners had tried to disrupt today’s session. In the beginning they offered to observe a minute of silence in memory of people killed in Khan Sheyhun, Idlib province, Syria. We proposed them to hold a moment of silence to remember all victims of chemical weapons, primarily in Vietnam, Cambodia, Iran, Iraq, and our partners somehow felt uncomfortable. [They] don’t want to remember all victims of chemical weapons,” said Shulgin."
It has become this transparent.
Posted by: somebody | Apr 8 2018 19:01 utc | 9
Posted by: Maracatu | Apr 8 2018 19:24 utc | 11
@11 Maracatu
The US is getting shivers. The knowledge that Russia is on combat alert - which I accept as true - must be scaring the shit out of the US generals. Who wants to make the next call, which ends in death? None of those chickenhawks, for sure.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 8 2018 19:48 utc | 12
If you watched Part 1 of the new "Putin" documentary by Andrei Kondrashev a couple of weeks ago, you may not know that Part 2 is now out, at the Vesti YouTube channel:
and if you didn't watch Part 1, here it is too:
If you're a fan, you'll find these two videos very inspiring. We've seen numerous snippets from the past life of Putin, and anecdotes, but Kondrashev has pulled together more complete narratives and interviews, including with Putin. Kondrashev is the guy who made "Crimea - the Way Home" and was interviewing Putin in that one. They obviously have a good relationship. The scale of Putin's achievement is almost impossible to grasp, and his sheer humanity is amazing. He came from the honest, working poor, and has never lost this connection, never stopped being one of them.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 8 2018 20:11 utc | 13
The Russians now officially want their money back (approx. 8.6b dollars) from Britain.
(One of the reasons why the Brits wrote the Skripal script? Preemptive strike?)
The Coalition will hit SR sooner or later. Israel will move 40km into SR soil and call the new area a buffer zone (between Golan Heights and the remaining Assad territory).
BTW, Somali authorities seize millions of dollars from UAE plane in Mogadishu.
Posted by: ConfusedPundit | Apr 8 2018 20:31 utc | 14
There have been some pretty radical reports at VeteransToday. is there anyone that can verify these claims? or even a good German speaker that can read the labels on chmeical munitions seized by the SAA...or any other supporting reports of captured US UK ISRAELI chemical experts in East Ghoutta?
regards
OY
Posted by: oldenyoung | Apr 8 2018 20:41 utc | 16
@11 Yes, Maracutu, shivers are pretty much a daily thing for me in these times. An "accidental" bombing of Latakia was the spark that finally set off WWIII in the old, but still popular, nuclear apocalypse novel Alas Babylon.
@ all Meanwhile, as all the Mad Magazine "Spy vs Spy" nonsense spins out in the UK, the Empire is keeping busy on the other side of the pond. In late March, a couple of nice folks from the US Southern Command paid a courtesy "friendship" visit to Ecuador:
https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/266769-ecuador-funcionarios-comando-sur-eeuu
Also, we apparently have US troops in Ecuador once again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2nClTjCs3I
During his term as President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa had (not very) politely and very firmly invited US military personnel to go home (or at least elsewhere than Ecuador) and he shut down the US base at Manta. His successor, Lenin Moreno, has proven to be some kind of neoliberal mole who wormed himself into the Alianza Pais and has completely betrayed the Citizens' Revolution. In less than a year in office, he has wrecked most of the progress slowly and steadily made under 10 years of Correa's leadership. In the past month or so, there have been three "terrorist" attacks on the Colombian border. These are supposedly connected with FARC. There had been NO troubles with FARC under Correa.
So far, I have not found any English-Language media talking about any of this. I have not found mention of how many US troops are involved. I have seen that there are now 500 additional ones in Peru to help with security for some summit Trump is going to. Of course, the ones in Ecuador are only there to be "helpful" to the country.
Also: RIP Nash Van Drake and his guinea pig siblings (has anyone heard what their names were, if any?). The murder of these pets may just be a weird side story to this madness, or it may have been to cover up and destroy evidence. The explanations for their deaths seem very suspicious to me. Some years ago, I had a male cat whom I let outside sometimes. He got himself shut in the neighbor's garage one afternoon. I looked everywhere, placed want ads, etc. No luck. Having basically given up, I discovered by accident he was in there after a week. I called the neighbor, who came out late at night and opened the garage up and I coaxed him out. Cat was very happy to be home and glad to see his food and water dish, but he was hardly malnourished. He essentially was no worse for wear, physically.
It takes quite a long time without food for a healthy, well-fed house cat to become "severely malnourished," unless perhaps there are some other special health problems already or special needs. I don't know the timeline of when they went in and found him. Two weeks? Three? Even then, look at all the videos out there of sick, malnourished cats rescued and nursed back to health.
I know a lot less about guinea pigs, but similar with them. If they had a bottle waterer mounted on the side of their cage, it was probably kept refilled pretty often. Even if already down by half, it should have lasted a while. How much water would they drink in normal house temperatures in the UK in late winter?
Posted by: PrairieBear | Apr 8 2018 21:04 utc | 17
The UK and France are in deep economic trouble and need an external enemy such as Russia using an incident such as the Skripal affair to deflect the people from focusing on removing their government leaders. If all else fails, the UK Royals will have a couple of weddings and babies to take up the front pages for most of this year. Meanwhile, like the Skripals, several UK/EU agents involved in the HillaryGate Steele dossier trail of evidence such as Christophe Steele, Joseph Mifsid, and Gianni Pittella have disappeared:
https://disobedientmedia.com/2018/04/all-russiagate-roads-lead-to-london-as-evidence-emerges-of-joseph-mifsuds-links-to-uk-intelligence/
https://via.hypothes.is/https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/the-mysterious-professor-at-the-center-of-the-russia-trump?utm_term=.paVe5QKjLR#.imWM6VNRLp">https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/the-mysterious-professor-at-the-center-of-the-russia-trump?utm_term=.paVe5QKjLR#.imWM6VNRLp">https://via.hypothes.is/https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/the-mysterious-professor-at-the-center-of-the-russia-trump?utm_term=.paVe5QKjLR#.imWM6VNRLp
In the UK case of May and BoJo, any alternative will result in a continuation of the decline of the society. To be honest, much of the decline is baked in structural with the loss of income from former "slave" colonies and the decline of North Sea oil and gas reserves. Staying in the EU against the will of the people will continue to further drain resources to Germany, which has structurally colonialized Western Europe.
France, like the UK, has extracted the wealth from their former colonies and facing a reduction in tribute from these sources. Macron has attempted to maintain control of some colonies such as Mali and really wants to conquer Syria. I suspect the meetings between Macron and MbS will result in an agreement for Saudi Arabia to buy French weapons while France getting financial aid to expand French troop bases in Syria.
Somehow, the current revolution in France is blacked out in the Western Media.
Videos of the current revolution are common on Youtube such as: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g21_myERteQ
Almost all sectors of the French society are protesting against the neo-feudal policies of Macron, FIRE economy participants and his dwarves in the National Assembly. There are strikes among:
transportation (rail, airlines, rotating bus and subway workers)
hospital workers
students
teachers (including kindergarden)
retirees
postal workers
television workers
Government workers (Fonctionnaires de France)
lawyers and judges
sanitation workers
EDF and GDF workers (Electricite de France and Gas de France)
store workers (Carrefour stores)
and some off duty police, etc.
For a schedule of the rolling strikes in France see:
http://www.cestlagreve.fr/
Macron has already deployed the CRS assassins and the street war will begin when EU police and military invade to crush to protestors. This will be far more violent than May 1968 and may usher in the 6th Republic. Unfortunately, Macron would prefer the cities to burn rather than resign and turnover the government to the President of the Senate.
The EU is also experiencing internal dissent with the Visegrad four (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) plus Italy and Austria and thus needs an external enemy to distract its members. I suspect that a Ukrainian invasion of DPR/LPR will once again be used as a flash point create “two minutes of hate” against Russia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4zYlOU7Fpk
These EU conflicts will not end peacefully as the system will fight back rather than step aside.
Posted by: Krollchem | Apr 8 2018 21:18 utc | 18
b: . . . The Skripal’s are apparently alive and well
I don’t think we should assume that that is true.
Wouldn’t their pets have been treated better if the authorities expected them to live?
- if they participated in the farce, they would have given some thought to their pets;
- if they were attacked or simply used for propaganda purposes, the authorities would care for their pets so as to not further offend them.
Yulia’s phone call was weird. Why would she tell her cousin that she won’t get a visa? Now the British are arranging for the Skripal’s to disappear into witness protection. Will the Skripal’s ever be allowed to make a public appearance and face questions from reporters? It appears that that they won’t be allowed to. Either they are already dead or the British fear what they might say if they make a public appearance.
Some mentioned on one of MoA’s Skripal threads that we have to be careful about what we believe and what we assume given that the authorities and press have proven to be biased. Sounds like good advice.
It seems clear that escalation in Syria direct public attention away from Skripal’s /Salisbury. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch (given all that has happened) to think that that was planned for.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 8 2018 21:34 utc | 19
The US, Australia, Canada and 16 EU states are among the countries which have expelled Russian envoys. Of the sixteen Commonwealth realms, with Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, fourteen of them have Russian embassies. But only three of the fourteen (UK, Canada, Australia) have joined the expulsion.
One of the remaining eleven rebel countries, New Zealand, provided a reason. PM Ardern-- “While other countries have announced they are expelling undeclared Russian intelligence agents, officials have advised there are no individuals here in New Zealand who fit this profile. If there were, we would have already taken action.”
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 8 2018 21:48 utc | 20
@ 17 -- There seem to be lots of weasely things being said about the fate of the Skripal pets. The big, fluffy black cat with amber eyes should in no way whatsoever have suffered such depletion of calories that he had to be put down. I fear he was sent to Porton Down to be "studied," and then "put down." If there was a water source --dripping faucet, water closet, most houses have some place a pet can drink from other that his water bowl-- a cat can survive weeks. My Maine Coon disappeared, but showed up about 3-4 weeks later, ragged coat, unkempt, very thin, but, when given saline solution by the vet, immediately began to act more normal. Took a while to get her muscle mass rebuilt, but she survived.
An article from The Sun, dated April 5th, has a photo of Nash Van Drake (what a pretty cat), and states the specialist chemical weapons investigators did not gain access to the Skripal residence UNTIL APRIL 4TH!!! We know from photographs that lots of folks wearing moons suits were around for weeks -- why was nothing done to care for the pets?
I can't find it now through google, but I read a comment or tweet from a vet who had made repeated offers to care for the pets. These pets should never have suffered to the extent they did.
Someone in power did not want anyone outside those with enforced silence agreements to see those pets.
The sickly mog was transported to the Ministry of Defence research laboratory at Porton Down to be tested, where he was found to be severely malnourished.The lab’s top veterinary officer ruled the pet was in so much pain he should be put down.
His body was then immediately incinerated to avoid contamination from the deadly nerve agent Novichok.
Sergei’s guinea pigs were also destroyed at the top secret military research facility.
(If there is a hell, may these animal abusers end up there with long and miserable afterlives.)
Posted by: jawbone | Apr 8 2018 22:01 utc | 21
I was trying to get through to the Veterans Today link in #16 can't get through, either using the link or the URL for the site. Just got a 524 Error.
Anyone get through?
OY, any really important things you can post?
Posted by: jawbone | Apr 8 2018 22:10 utc | 22
@22
The VT site is really slow, but it works. It looks explosive if true.
It links to this video in arabic which shows chemical weapons made in Germany and England (Salisbury!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=0&v=oEhUk73t8BA
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 8 2018 22:22 utc | 23
Posted by: oldenyoung | Apr 8 2018 22:25 utc | 24
re krollchem 18
The UK and France are in deep economic troubleBritain is, France isn't. Britain destroyed its industrial sector under Thatcher, and has nothing to offer faced with Brexit. France has a vast agricultural sector which they can fall back on. The French like revolutions, that's why the present troubles. Here's a video declaring revolution, from my university, if you can cope with the French, note the dog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHaV3Hm5g2A.
Posted by: Laguerre | Apr 8 2018 22:31 utc | 25
@22 text only...lots of good photos there...site is there for me. but it is very slow...
Last week, Russia and Syria announced the capture of British chemical weapon stockpiles in East Ghouta along with the capture of a “coalition” command and chemical weapons facility with all personnel. Taken from the combined statement censored from the western press, from March 25, 2018
“The Syrian Arab Army and with the help of Russian captured a shipment of chemical weapons destined for the Eastern Ghouta. These were British weapons produced at Porton Down in Salisbury. Russian suspects that the Skripal incident is related as by their records, Skiripal was working at Porton Down as a chemical weapons trafficker in partnership with a Ukrainian firm. Russia denies attacking Skripal but admits he was under surveillance for his activities involving support of terrorism in Syria and arms trafficking.
Russia also confirms that there are British, American, Israeli and Saudi intelligence officers who were caught by the Syrian army in one of the heavily fortified operations rooms during the invasion of the Syrian army and its allies of the East Ghouta.”
VT asked the Syrian government for serial numbers and closeup photographs of chemical weapons used. Syria sent them to us today.
Today, the Syrian Army captured the following German made poison gas shells, shipped into Syria though Ukraine and Turkey and delivered to Jeish al Islam by a US CH53 helicopter, according to statements “allegedly” gotten from POW interrogations.
American, British and Israeli military personnel captured in Syria have confirmed they were ordered to stage chemical attacks in East Ghouta by their governments.
Posted by: oldenyoung | Apr 8 2018 22:33 utc | 26
@ 22 rest of text
The Americans are still being held along with Israeli’s while British prisoners are being negotiated for. Sources in Damascus told us that representatives of Oman in Damascus approached the Russian Office of Reconciliation on behalf of Britain for the return of British chemical warfare personnel.
The shells in the above video are identified as VX gas from British stockpiles.
Russian officials in Syria informed Britain through Oman that they would have to directly deal with Syria for the return of their personnel. We have received no further information since, Damascus has remained silent on how or if negotiations were proceeding.
We do know that US Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a US Army combat veteran of Iraq, met with both President Assad and Donald Trump, in order to arrange for covert exchange, for substantial financial consideration, of captured Americans.
Initial introductions for this meeting were done by VT.
Israel bought back a Brigadier General (they claimed he was a colonel) in 2015 that we know about.
The recent gas attack in Syria, timed as the last terrorists were surrendering for relocation inside the Douma region of the Ghouta pocket, was planned personally by nominated presidential advisor John Bolton and President Donald Trump personally, according to highly placed sources.
Our sources in Russia, highest level, told us the attack was coming based on information they received from US and Israeli prisoners taken in East Ghouta after an evacuation attempt failed.
US casualty announcements in this effort have been released over the past few days as happening in other areas to cover US complicity in terrorism. This dishonors families of the dead, not just in the misuse of service members to support terrorism but in lying to families about combat deaths. This shame goes directly to coward Trump!
“The Marine Corps identified four Marines killed on Tuesday in a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crash near El Centro, Calif. The Marines were assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 465, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
“The loss of our Marines weighs heavy on our hearts,” Maj. Gen. Mark Wise, commanding general of 3rd MAW, said in a statement.
“Our priority is to provide support for our families and HMH-465 during this critical time.”
The four Marines killed in the crash were Capt. Samuel A. Schultz, First Lt. Samuel D. Phillips, Gunnery Sgt. Derik R. Holley and Lance Cpl. Taylor J. Conrad.”
Other US casualties were listed as a US Air Force F16 that allegedly crashed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and up to 6 Americans who the US claims were killed by “Kurdish forces” in the north of Syria.
All died in a failed combined US/Israel rescue operation to remove not only communications and command personnel but also chemical weapons operations teams as well.
Last week, VT Damascus received evidence that Americans, US Army Special Forces along with Israeli chemical weapons officers had been captured in East Ghouta. We were told that not only was a command facility captured with modern weapons but a stockpile of British made 81mm poison gas mortar shells, numbering in the hundreds, was seized as well.
Video’s were viewed by former MOD weapons specialists who identified the green stripe on the shells seized in East Ghouta as VX gas from British stockpiles.
The Obama administration investigated alleged chemical attacks in 2012 and 2013 and advised Syria to turn over chemical stockpiles as a way of discouraging terrorists from continuing to stage chemical attacks to blame on Damascus.
Most efforts had their roots in Britain’s MI6 and its affiliates, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the White Helmets.
The US is currently facing combined military operations against its occupied zone in Syria by Iraq, Syrian and Russian forces. The US has been told to remove forces from Syria or face a wider conflict.
The US and Russia have been at war against one another inside Syria for about a month now.
More coming…
Posted by: oldenyoung | Apr 8 2018 22:35 utc | 27
@laserlurk | Apr 8, 2018 4:41:06 PM | 15
Didn't want to clutter my post with links simply because a Copy&Paste from my post into google search bar would provide anyone with the related sources.
Russia's Prosecutor General Yury Chaika demanded Britain to return more than 500 billion rubles to the Russian Federation withdrawn by Russian citizens who are hiding from Russian justice
Somalia: Airport Security Seize Millions of Dollars of Cash sent by UAE
Posted by: ConfusedPundit | Apr 8 2018 22:40 utc | 28
@jawbone 21
I can't stop thinking about the curious affair of the pets, as it does seem to sum up the entire story -- if for no other reason than that it reflects a wild carelessness with all the reporting, as though everything was being hurriedly improvised. It's all vague and incomplete, and no one in the media seems to ever bother seriously following up to try and make sense of the mess.
It was unequivocally reported on March 17 that the pets had been reported to the authorities by the vet immediately after the incident and that the animals had been taken away to be assessed. Then the story surfaced last week, after official Russian questions about the pets, that the pets had instead been left to die from neglect in a sealed, poisoned home. It was then suggested by some that the first report was a lie -- but in the present cyclone of propaganda, who's to say which story is the lie? Both maybe? Ditto for all the shifting stories about the nature of the "poisoning" and when and how it occurred.
The only thing that can be said with 100% confidence is that there has been disgraceful and despicable malpractice on the part of professional "journalists." Maybe, as evidenced by the Skripals and Russiagate, we are living in a "post-journalism" era where journalistic standards of skepticism, critical thinking, and fact checking are simply as dispensable as truth itself. Still, I can't quite accept that answer. Truth has always had a rough time of it fighting to be recognized in our political systems and I think a lot of us have long understood that the fight is *ours*. It's just that I don't recall having such a hard time believing a single word coming from the press. You have to accept some minimal accuracy in the information you're reading just to get a toehold on what's happening. That's downright paradoxical when at the same time you have to treat "journalists" with the same unadulterated distrust as...well, politicians.
Posted by: Emily Dickinson | Apr 8 2018 23:24 utc | 29
Thnx to all who gave summaries of what was on VeteransToday. I finally got through, and was very sad to see just how Hillary handled the poison weapons revelations. Just another reason to be glad I did not vote for her (she lost me when she declared the Guatemala coup just a...change of government. Nothing to see there, folks.
How can the suppliers of those chemicals, including VX, lie their way out of how it looks? They'll say it was initially sent to the Syrian government? But all those lovely prisoners...with all their lovely poison toys.... How do they get away with it? Just have their propaganda organs (their big newspapers and broadcasters) just push it all down the Memory Hole?
Posted by: jawbone | Apr 8 2018 23:42 utc | 30
"For Russia, how far is it prepared to defend its allies' apparent use of chemical weapons when its own apparent use of a nerve agent in the UK is subject to so much global condemnation?"
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43691291
Posted by: Ninel | Apr 9 2018 0:28 utc | 31
Re the pets
The cat is a rare totally black Persian that (I read) cost 1500 pounds and was brought from Russia. No info on the hamsters other than they also came from Russia.
My theory is the pets were taken early-on by someone who thought the owner(s) would not be returning; the "they are dead" is cover for the theft.
Posted by: frances | Apr 9 2018 0:40 utc | 32
In case you missed it, photo of the Persian Nash van Drake.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 0:57 utc | 33
The following is from Reuters so beware but also seems likely, except the part about this being the first arranged exodus
Quotes
"
Rebel fighters began leaving the devastated Syrian city of Douma on Sunday in the first phase of a Russian-sponsored deal to evacuate thousands of rebels from the besieged enclave, state media said.
A bus carrying dozens of fighters and their families left the city en route to opposition-held areas in northern Syria in an arrangement expected to take several days.
Almost simultaneously, a first batch of freed hostages held by the rebels in Douma arrived at an army-controlled crossing, state television showed. They received a euphoric welcome from hundreds of relatives waiting for them before being whisked away to a reception center.
Both developments were part of a Russian-sponsored deal sealed on Sunday that grants safe passage to thousands of rebels from their biggest remaining bastion near Damascus in return for rebel group Jaish al-Islam releasing hundreds of hostages and prisoners of war.
"
"
Under the agreement, Jaish al-Islam fighters will evacuate Douma and move to the northern city of Jarablus, near the border with Turkey, within 48 hours, state media quoted an official source as saying.
Russian news agency RIA, citing a security source, said Jaish al-Islam rebels will leave Douma in two batches in the coming hours.
Commercial crossing points into the besieged city are to be opened under the supervision of Russian military police, who will also enter the city, opposition negotiators said.
Russian military police have played a similar role in some Syrian towns and villages but this would be first such deal in a city the size of Douma.
Opposition negotiators said the deal would allow those fighters from Jaish al-Islam who do not wish to leave to make peace with the Syrian authorities without being pursued by the security forces.
The deal includes a six-month reprieve for those wanted for military conscription, negotiators told Reuters.
"
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 9 2018 1:01 utc | 34
The Russia military exhibits an inventiveness in military strategy that is impressive, for example the expulsion of fighters tied to a prisoner turnover, a thinking outside the box that would probably be punished in the US military. I "blame" Putin, for lack of a better target.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 1:26 utc | 35
VT link worked fine for me. Damning and believable. Many more photos are needed if the Truth is to be pushed in to the faces of major media execs to force them to inform the public.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 9 2018 1:27 utc | 36
@oldenyoung
VT is pure fiction. In the pictures they show a smoke canister, a chlorine gas bottle (industry rather than munition) and the assortment of captured arms. The Americans Brits Israelis have been supplying weapons, some their own, much sourced from eastern Europe since the start of or before the start of the Syrian war. Apart from the Chlorine gas canister it is a haul of captured conventional weapons rather than CW.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Apr 9 2018 1:59 utc | 37
interesting information about trapped sas
"Massive Explosions" Heard Above Syria Amid Reports Of Fighter Jets Aistrikes; Pentagon Denies
#BREAKING Trump, Macron vow 'strong, joint response' to suspected Syria gas attack
Posted by: gome | Apr 9 2018 2:11 utc | 38
Laguerre | Apr 8, 2018 6:31:57 PM | 25
RE: “The French love a revolution”
I disagree with your statement and would rather see it edited to say that the French would rather respond to dictatorship or tyranny by going to the barricades even if it leads to a revolution.
Macron is a neoliberal globalist who dreams of vassalizing France to the EU and the US as part of a “plantation economy”. As the French say, he is the opposite of Robin Hood. Macron takes from the poor to give to the rich (for example, the sale of Alstom that he oversaw and made millions on the sale). For more on the Plantation economy see:
https://thedailycoin.org/2017/02/10/loving-servitude-americas-plantation-economy/
Your perception that the French socio-economic situation is “great” is a myth propagated 24/7 by the French media. This media is controlled by the nine oligarch families of France who installed Macron as their puppet. These families get richer and richer by the day while the average French loses his social and health benefits after each Jupiterian dictate and move one step further toward homelessness.
Yes, there still is an agricultural sector in France that is falling victim to EU/CETA edicts and dumping of US produce and contamination by GMO crops and Glyphosides. If you get out of Paris once in a while you will note that farmers are having a hard time keeping their farms and some choose suicide or leave for Russia to start again. There are also reports of hospital workers who commit suicide after their patients die of a lack of supplies and medical equipment. I do not have to refer you to the videos of the Macron visits to hospitals where he was verbally attacked (chahute and hue) by doctors and nurses.
In his quest to impose himself as a “great leader” in the eyes of the international community Macron will shed French blood on US led coalition battlefields all over the world. See his troop deployments in Syria and Mali in support of the US neo-colonialism. He also supports the rapid creation of the Schengen Military Project to control any rebellion within the EU member countries:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf114pWNxs8
In view of all this, it is understandable for all sectors of the French society to contemplate the barricades and the revolution. Since you write like a loyal LREM supporter, you should well remember that Manuel Valls, when he was still Prime Minister under Hollande, spoke about the civil war that could very well erupt in France.
The link you sent concerning the call for action at Tolbiac is misleading. The students were wearing masks to protect themselves from fascists (Action française étudiante ?) who have beaten protesting students at other universities in France. What is happening at Tolbiac, Montpellier and Lilles is reminiscent of the violence of the Action française group, which was an influential right-wing antirepublican group in the 20th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Fran%C3%A7aise
I seriously follow the developments in France and despise Macron’s Jupiterian personality and his actions. I agree with those who believe in and act according to the French Constitution. Furthermore, Macron and his administration are illegal and that his edicts border on high treason according to Mr Serges Petitdemange a retired French navy officer (in French) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNL7-SyS6uw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKV3fQ1_9Yc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EElVX44TebU
For specifics on the high treason see “Macron doit être renversé.”
“on haute trahison par une oilgarchie” (in French)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An-NCoprALE
Discussion on the political situation in France discussing a totally disconnected Macron (La Republique En Marche… Arriere) Administration (in French):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRqo7-k_zBg
Those who wish to learn more about the state of French society and how Macron is destroying it can refer to the websites of Jean Luc Melenchon, Francois Asselineau, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Olivier Besancenot, etc.
Posted by: Krollchem | Apr 9 2018 2:13 utc | 39
@30 That chlorine may had been destined for water treatment. We don't know. Jumping to conclusions based on a photo of a Cl2 container containing 450 grams of synthesis-grade chlorine is questionable, to say the least.
Posted by: Hmpf | Apr 9 2018 2:31 utc | 40
Posted by: Krollchem | Apr 8, 2018 10:13:41 PM | 39
Thank you, your information is most informative.
I am reading that the French air force is involved in the attack on Syria that began this evening, by any chance could Macron have exceeded his powers, and if so could the French rid themselves of him on this basis?
Posted by: frances | Apr 9 2018 2:34 utc | 41
Syria confirms hit by missile strikes, in SANA news as reported by RT, with more by ZeroHedge.
Pentagon "does not confirm" it was US - others report this as Pentagon "denies" it was US. Either way, seems not to be US.
In all fairness, it could be France from the Mediterranean. In all unfairness, I would bet on Israel. The little states are incontinent while the bigger states hold their water. I would also bet this is all there is in attacks from anyone, unless Israeli planes get shot down soon.
If Israel couldn't restrain itself in Syria, perhaps it also couldn't restrain itself in Salisbury, and all this theater is the squeal of little people running around trying to cover the tracks of those who cannot be named.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 9 2018 2:43 utc | 42
@41 frances
If it was the French, then it's of a piece with the UK nonsense. Proxy fighting has lost, and all that's left of theater now is puppetry.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 9 2018 2:47 utc | 43
@ Grieved who wrote: "..... and all this theater is the squeal of little people running around trying to cover the tracks of those who cannot be named."
Yep. It is starting to make me smile to watch, except when I think about the potential of cornered psychopaths.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 9 2018 3:06 utc | 44
@ gome with the ZH link about recent Syria attack
I read the posting and expect a Russian response soon, if it hasn't happened already.....that or the bully has succeeded again.
Yeah, WWIII is clearly underway. Lets hope it is not extinction oriented but evolutionary in nature.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 9 2018 3:16 utc | 45
I assume this attack was by Israel or Saudi Arabia because no one has accepted responsibility for it yet. It was a cowardly act that is designed to create an escalation and ensnare the US into the conflict. Now who might do that? That said one cannot yet rule out the U.K., France, Erdogan or the UAE. The pentagon has denied involvement but I wouldn’t rule out a rogue (neocon) operation either.
Now we have to see Russia, Iran, and Syria’s response. It’s no coincidence that this happened the day before Bolton started. Someone is relying on him.
Posted by: Alaric | Apr 9 2018 3:29 utc | 46
The attack on T4 looks to be Israeli planes launching missiles from the Lebanon border.
Eight missiles shot down apparently.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Apr 9 2018 3:38 utc | 47
@45 psychohistorian
I don't expect a Russian response, especially. No Russian assets have been hit it seems, and the US is not involved overtly, so this is purely a Syrian matter for the moment. And western puppets, or perhaps Israel itself. It speaks of their fear, truly, not their power, which is draining away by the day. By the day, they are diminishing.
Meanwhile Jaish al-Islam have been releasing their hostages for the last half-dozen hours at least, and Syria is overwhelmed with emotion. The terrorists themselves will be bused away as soon as the hostages are all freed. So the scum is being cleansed, and it was hard to find anywhere that would take them, even to keep them for the time until, at the last, Syria can turn its attention to them.
And Russia is part of this, and with Syria is performing actions each day that are greater than any need for mere responses. All of Syria knows this. So does the filth of Israel and the west. But too bad. A great victory is occurring and all the dogs can do is howl.
I believe with all of my reasoning that this is evolution and not extinction. Good people are winning. But there's a lot of shit to clean out of the stables. Could seem daunting. Chin up, comrade :)
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 9 2018 3:41 utc | 48
Russia/Syria continue to maintain the strategic advantage, but there is a major threat of a concerted effort by France, Israel, UK, USA to hit hard. Russia might be forced to either strike back, or wait and see while allies take major casualties.
I hate to say it, but WW3 might be the ultimate result of this. The level of cravenness from the West may not be negotiable, and a point of no return lies somewhere amidst all of these provocations. The problem is there are lots of people in decide positions that may actually want Thermonuclear war to happen, I think
Posted by: aaaa | Apr 9 2018 3:51 utc | 49
@47 Peter AU 1
Same playbook as before, right? Lebanese air space, Israeli planes firing missiles, some Syrian damage, some missiles shot down. For Syria, retribution is a dish to taste whenever there's time and opportunity. Perhaps soon.
I think Hezbollah feels these incursions into Lebanon in its heart, but the day of solving this is not quite here yet. Israel fears that day in its bowels, I think. Sad that it cannot grow up and admit the reality that surrounds it.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 9 2018 4:01 utc | 50
somebody @ 9 said:"It is a very real campaign in a run up to war."
At the very least, a run up to increased profits for the MIC community..
Posted by: ben | Apr 9 2018 4:09 utc | 51
@50 Grieved
Witness accounts in Lebanon claim the cruise missiles came from the sea and not from jets flying over Lebanese air space. I’m not sure Israel has used cruise missiles previously either. They have typically launched other air to ground munitions from Lebanese air space into Syria or they have flown for gutters right into Syria.
If the witness accounts are correct, the scenario suggests cruise missiles were launched from a naval vessel, most likely. Israel could do that and so could Saudi but so could the UK, France or US. That no one is admitting responsibility is telling and cowardly. I assume Russians know where it came from and can track it easily unless it came from a sub.
Posted by: Alaric | Apr 9 2018 4:14 utc | 52
"Trump Fought Fire Safety Laws And Never Installed Sprinklers on Residential Floors of Trump Tower"
From Alternet:
Posted by: ben | Apr 9 2018 4:15 utc | 53
From Consortium News:
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/04/05/gaza-protesters-murdered-by-israeli-forces/
And nary a peep from American MSM.
Posted by: ben | Apr 9 2018 4:20 utc | 55
frances@41
Latest from the Saker:
http://thesaker.is/missile-strikes-on-syria-tonight-do-not-rush-to-conclusions-please-post-here-what-you-hear/
Posted by: Krollchem | Apr 9 2018 4:30 utc | 56
""Massive Explosions" Heard Above Syria Amid Reports Of Fighter Jets Aistrikes; Pentagon Denies ..." (ZH)
Sounds more like some more public 'sock and bore' wing-jockey sound-barrier antics in progress.
We need to remember that it's not just a war going on ... it's also an exorcism in progress (at a regional & global scale).
Posted by: imo | Apr 9 2018 4:33 utc | 57
Alaric@54
Sounds like the US backed ISIS forces are trying to cutoff resupply to Al Bukamal which is in the South East corner of Syria. Syrian forces recently repelled about 400 ISIS fighters who tried to take Al Bukamal . If the ISIS conquest of South East Syria succeeds then the US and their proxy forces will then attack the T4 pumping station West of Al Bukamal and will then be able to transport Syrian oil to Israel while also cutting off the Iran to Lebanon road transportation route.
p.s. the commentator Paveway IV should be credited for putting the strategy together several months ago.
Posted by: Krollchem | Apr 9 2018 4:51 utc | 58
More optimism if you want it from M K Bhadrakumar. A 'dream come true' seeing India and Pakistan cooperating on security concerns at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/author/bhadrakumaranrediffmailcom/
Posted by: fairleft | Apr 9 2018 5:04 utc | 59
51
For some reason Daily Mail gives an objective account of British-Russian issues including the Skripal case.
Russia, meanwhile, launched an attack on Britain for harbouring alleged criminals from Moscow - and using their dirty money to boost the economy.Prosecutor general Yuri Chaika said: 'Since 2002, Russia has submitted requests to the UK authorities for the extradition of 61 people accused of - or convicted of - economic crimes.
'The amount of damage is estimated at over half a trillion roubles [£6 billion].
'This is only the direct damage, while the amount of funds they've transferred abroad is significantly higher.'
Many Russians who fled Vladimir Putin's Russia will find it hard to explain their wealth under new British rules, he said.
'It will be very difficult for many of them to do this,' he said, referring to the new Criminal Finances Act.
'And we very much hope that this law will be applied by the British authorities in accordance with the norms of a civilised state, and not the principle of 'rob what was robbed'.
'I mean, they have stolen from Russia and now the UK will take everything into its budget.
'You can keep the criminals, but return the money (to Russia). This is our money,'
Russia is planning to make correspondence public this week in relation to certain cases of its wealthy citizens who fled Moscow for Britain.
Moscow's ambassador in London, Alexander Yakovenko, has alleged that there are some 43 wanted Russian criminals - 'some of them serial killers - who have a residence permit and whom the UK has refused to extradite to Russia'.
Posted by: somebody | Apr 9 2018 5:15 utc | 60
@60, I feel like the Daily Mail, having the reputation of a tabloid, can get away with publishing stuff like this from time to time that Guardian or BBC would never publish, as the Daily Mail itself isn't taken seriously anyway.
Posted by: George Lane | Apr 9 2018 5:33 utc | 61
61 . I thought maybe it is the ownership. Usually tabloids are much more effective in manufacturing consent than the "elite media". At least in Germany "Bild" is.
Posted by: somebody | Apr 9 2018 5:48 utc | 62
You'd hafta fancy the israeli butchers as being the most likely culprits of this attack. If it were from US ship or plane then Russia shooting it down, blowing it out of the water will be deemed to be fair enough by all, but the ethnic cleansers will get a pass from the UN especially if they do the usual lie routine they've become so notorious for.
Then it will be "poor little israel - see what those mean Russian bullies have done". and of course Russia has its own zionist problem. Russian zionists will create a furor if Russia retaliates.
That will be the coalition of the incompetent's thinking at least
Posted by: Debsisdead | Apr 9 2018 5:48 utc | 63
#58 - "US backed ISIS forces are trying to cutoff resupply to Al Bukamal which is in the South East corner of Syria"
Al Bukamal (Abu Kamal) was identified last week as a focus for U.S. military activity:
"The big hurdle, in the U.S. military’s view, is seizing Islamic State-held territory around the Syrian town of Abu Kamal."
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-syria/trump-seeks-syria-pullout-as-advisers-warn-of-hard-work-ahead-idUKKCN1HA2EC
The U.S. military's "view" was expressed at a Washington event which featured speakers Joseph Votel, head of CentCom, and Brett McGurk.
I understand Al Bukamal as currently under the control of the Syrian government.
Posted by: jayc | Apr 9 2018 6:01 utc | 64
Is the growing deluge of Fake News in the Christian (Colonial) World about to surpass the Biblical Proportions benchmark?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 9 2018 6:03 utc | 65
Exactly as predicted less then a month ago. Lets see where this false flag goes..
Posted by: Lozion | Apr 9 2018 6:30 utc | 66
Russian prosecutor publishes correspondence with Theresa May as Home Secretary on Russian Exiles
Posted by: somebody | Apr 9 2018 9:45 utc | 67
b, I would like to draw your attention to this:
Christopher Steele is the go-to man when it’s needed some dirt on Russia: in fact he is the source for all accusations against Russia, including what may seem unrelated but in fact is a very important step against Russia, the FIFA/Blatter indictment that was intended for preventing the football championship in Russia in 2018. This case always stunk but I never looked for details, but now just found it a political motivated report that appeared in The New Yorker: Christopher Steele, the Man Behind the Trump Dossier
Christopher Steele, the Man Behind the Trump Dossier
It really is a pain to read becaus it's so biased an hateful but if you get to do it, it turns out to be a very, very interesting read that gives away how it works and how deeply Steele and the British are committed to frame Russia and Trump! In fact, it approaches a true coup d'état against the president of USA. Dreadfull!
Posted by: Ana Q | Apr 9 2018 10:23 utc | 68
Grieved says:
I believe with all of my reasoning that this is evolution and not extinction
well, aside from the extinction of 200,000 (and counting) SAA soldiers and god knows how many Syrian civilians, you could be right. but then, the view you take is so long and so draped with biblical bunting, that it winds up in the realm of prophesy.
i mean, what was it you were telling us a few months back? i'm paraphrasing, but it was something like, "the meek shall inherit the earth," and i thought, gosh, haven't i heard that one somewhere before?
Posted by: john | Apr 9 2018 11:01 utc | 69
Great!
Last couple fortnights fairly well tears it. From my atlas, 'Great' has been struck from the name of that country occupying the isle to the right; as well as restoring to the original owners of both those islands off the north west coast of Europe the appellation 'The Celtic Isles'. The complete lack of integrity on display requires no less.
For the kidnapping of a citizen of Russia, a complaint to the ICC be filed, demanding habeas corpus for all Russian citizens and naming Elizabeth II as responsible respondent.
Furthermore, Elizabeth II should appear, with bended head and on bended knees, at Trafalgar Square, before Nelson's Remaining Column, to explain to the Russian Ambassador just what mischief her wayward subjects have been up to, and just what she is going to do about it. She can stay there in that posture until a satisfactory answer os given.
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Apr 9 2018 11:11 utc | 70
I've had it with the SOHR
How does the SOHR know how many Iranians and Hezbollah members were killed at the T4 airbase this morning by Israel?
How does the SOHR know how many civilians were killed in Ghouta or people killed in an alleged chemical attack in Douma?
They must have an army of field correspondents to get such precise numbers and in real-time. This just shows how the MSM just craves numbers from an authoritative sounding agency. I can't believe the MSM falls for this. Why not claim that Korean nuclear engineers were among the casualties since they are pulling numbers out of their rear end.
I wish I could call myself the OSSC 'Official Syrian Scoring Corp' and have the MSM hang on my every word.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Apr 9 2018 11:59 utc | 71
Peter AU @ 37..
Thanks Peter, he is making some radical claims at VT...and i was needing some conformations from other sources, that i wasnt finding...
It appeared to me to be more of a weapons factory, than a chemical weapons plant. there are some good reports from 21st century wire and Matt Duggan, that were actually inside this weapons site...i dont read german, so i couldnt distinguish anything for certain except the white smoke grenades...was hoping there was real evidence of Western chemical specialists having been captured...Duff seems to be more of a "leak" than a solid source..
regards
OY
Posted by: oldenyoung | Apr 9 2018 12:29 utc | 72
I will never get used to how easily sentiment can be stirred up by propaganda (America) against some victims of geopolitical violence (Syria) and almost completely occlude others (Palestine). we are a sick and twisted people. so I make what I can in response: https://youtu.be/FS2XBqZQtQQ
President Donald Trump is set to get a briefing and have dinner with military leaders today. It's the first day on the job for his new national security adviser, John Bolton, who has previously advocated significant airstrikes against Syria.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 13:10 utc | 74
@CC 71
The SOHR is a one-man show, a clothier in Coventry here. Forget him.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 13:20 utc | 75
While some are scratching their heads wondering why Russia has not pulled the trigger on some jet or ship a thought crossed my mind regarding the current situation. Is not the Russia government constrained at the moment in their actions? Putin isn't president yet in his new mandate and hasn't formed a government. That may seem a strange notion but Putin does seem to take the law quite seriously. He has to either convince some to stay or appoint people to senior positions, like Lavarov and Medvedev. None of that happens till May.
Posted by: Bakerpete | Apr 9 2018 13:25 utc | 76
NATO is being threatened from within, according to one observer. "The mounting authoritarianism in Hungary, Poland, and Turkey likely poses the greatest internal threat to the nato alliance in its history.". . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 13:30 utc | 77
Was the expulsion of Ru diplomats and staff scheduled so that the strikes take them in a situation of shifting and not being able to carry their daily work?
Anyhow I wonder why the Isr ambass has not yet been summoned and kicked out with a number of businessmen. I doubt the Isr can afford to expel any Russian since they value them much in term of numbers (more than for their demography)
Posted by: Mina | Apr 9 2018 13:43 utc | 78
We see this sort of headline now....
"Kim Jong Un willing to discuss getting rid of North Korea's nukes, US says"
..but actually what Kim wants to discuss is "denuclearization."
The difference is explained here. In a nutshell, Kim reportedly is committed to denuclearization. But when he does so, he is not offering to abandon the bomb, at least not without very big changes like the withdrawal of American troops from the Korean Peninsula and the signing of a peace treaty.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 13:48 utc | 79
MbS starts a visit to France, no condemnation from the Arab world, not a word in the msm about the plight of the freed kidnapped people who have been in the hands of the Douma 'rebels' for 5 years..
Ahram reports as if the evidence was 100% clear and has nothing to say about Israel of course. RT Arabic says the Iranians aknowledge the lost of minimum 4 persons.
Posted by: Mina | Apr 9 2018 14:03 utc | 80
In a nutshell, Kim reportedly is committed to denuclearization. But when he does so, he is not offering to abandon the bomb, at least not without very big changes like the withdrawal of American troops from the Korean Peninsula and the signing of a peace treaty.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9, 2018 9:48:19 AM | 79
Importantly, that position is exactly what China wants, and Russia would have nothing against it either. Both neighbor powers were not particularly pleased with the energetic nuclear + missile program of DPRK, but now Kim can be on the same wavelength with them. So Boltonian ideas of forcing DPRK to submission by isolation and threats loose even modicum of plausibility. Trump has to chose between the "crazy hawk" friends (some to old for neo- prefix) and a chance for a historic achievement. Chances for positive development are low, but with Trump unexpected may happen. Someone quipped that we need to wait few months for another change at top diplomatic and security positions.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 9 2018 14:21 utc | 81
Well worth a listen. Vanessa Beeley reporting yesterday direct from Damascus: ‘Ticket to Idlib’ with Vanessa Beeley & Mike Robinson
Starts at 32 mins into the broadcast and lasts for about an hour – up-to-date information with good background detail.
Posted by: Carrie | Apr 9 2018 14:31 utc | 82
b,s readers might be interested in learning that his entry about the scheme of poison gas accusations is on the front page of antiwar.com. Unfortunately the comment thread is messed up with long running sentences and broken righhand margin, on Safari at least. I thin in entry too. It's a shame that this problem repeatedly happens because it discourages readers from following the blog only because of a few idiots who refuse to conform to the rules, I suppose, about adding links. b, can't you do something about getting this people to change their asocial behaviour or blocking them? I come here every day, more than once, and have admiration for your ability to collect information and interpret it.
Posted by: Quentin | Apr 9 2018 15:02 utc | 83
from the Sunday Times--
Sergei and Yulia Skripal offered new identities with CIA help
Poisoned daughter refuses to meet Russians
Intelligence officials at MI6 have had discussions with their counterparts in the CIA about resettling the victims of the Salisbury poisoning. “They will be offered new identities,” a senior Whitehall figure said.. . .here
An offer they can't refuse? Never to be seen again?
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 15:18 utc | 84
Craig Murray's latest"Government Propaganda Now Totally Bizarre."
The notion to rename them The Celtic Isles has great merit. After the antics by UK government, how can Scotland and Wales stay within the Union and retain a sense of decency?
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 9 2018 15:21 utc | 85
SecDef Mattis is probably the only check on a US attack on Syria. But now....
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday he would not rule out “anything” after a suspected chemical attack in Syria triggered speculation about a U.S. military response, and he piled blame on Russia for falling short on its obligations to ensure that Syria abandoned its chemical weapons capabilities.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 9 2018 15:23 utc | 86
Media Warn of ‘Russian Bots’—Despite Primary Source’s Disavowal
https://fair.org/home/media-warn-of-russian-bots-despite-primary-sources-disavowal/
Posted by: Anon | Apr 9 2018 15:36 utc | 87
Nauseous...This title in The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-eastern-ghouta-rebels-assad-regime-islamists-latest-tunnels-russia-a8287116.html
"How rebels and civilians survived near total destruction of eastern Ghouta through huge network of tunnels"
...BUILD BY KIDNAPPED KIDS
https://sana.sy/en/?p=133638
vid url: https://youtu.be/GTv7XfIQLd0
(Are Sana journalists too lazy to provide the handful of readers of Sana/English with subtitles? Tfuuu 3alaykum)
Posted by: Mina | Apr 9 2018 15:42 utc | 88
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 9, 2018 11:21:37 AM | 85
Also carried by The Daily Express. Things are coming to a pretty pass!
See: REVEALED: The bombshell Russian message intercepted on DAY of Skripal poisonings
Posted by: Carrie | Apr 9 2018 15:49 utc | 89
Silent But Deadly CNN Over Syrian Mass Weapons, Chemical Weapons, and Grave Site!
https://rebel0007com.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/silent-but-deadly-cnn-over-syrian-mass-weapons-chemical-weapons-and-grave-site/
Peace,
Andrea Iravani
.
Posted by: Andrea Iravani | Apr 9 2018 16:08 utc | 90
@Posted by: Carrie | Apr 9, 2018 11:49:47 AM | 89
UKC (UK Column News - 9th April 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrRwxGBd3nk
Patrick Henningsen and Mike Robinson comments briefing with Professor Piers Robinson on the latest Russian message intercepted....
Posted by: OJS | Apr 9 2018 16:49 utc | 91
craig murrays latest Government Propaganda Now Totally Bizarre..
Posted by: james | Apr 9 2018 17:01 utc | 92
The stock market is booming. Totally oblivious to the war clouds.
Maybe the psychopaths will hit the T4 airbase since that meets the Israelis did it and it did not trigger a response from Russia because no Russian personnel were there, or maybe the psycopaths will try to do one better than Israel and trigger a war?
When a country has gone mad with pride, self-righteousness, and a feeling of invincibility, anything is possible.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Apr 9 2018 17:09 utc | 93
Fox and Friends are running a poll on Twitter asking readers: "Should the U.S. take action against Syria for their reported use of deadly chemical weapons?" Before you groan, no, it's not my favourite show either. However, at the time of writing, the poll is running 68%-32% against a strike, based on 41,000+ votes.
See https://twitter.com/foxandfriends/status/983284055180562433
It's often said that Trump makes his mind up about lots of things by watching Fox News.. hard to believe, but then we seem to be living in very strange times.
You might care to cast your vote if you're on Twitter. It's probably more effective than kicking the wall - and who knows, it might just help stop a major war getting a lot worse.
Posted by: Syd Walker | Apr 9 2018 17:13 utc | 94
Russia seems to be very upset with Israel. No, not that Israel committed yet another heinous act of war against Russia's friends and allies, Syria and Iran. No that doesn't seem to bother Russia at all. Nope, Russia is upset that Israel didn't give Russia a proper headsup. I guess Putin will have to suck up to Netanyahu a little more, if he really wants to get the respect he deserves. A lot more.
Iran and Assad need to be watching their backs.
Posted by: paul | Apr 9 2018 18:37 utc | 95
Syd Walker @94, I voted negative but you know what the Brian Kilmeade's are going to say don't you ... this is just Putin's Troll army talking.
The Neocons will always get their splendid little war until the day we get a bloody nose. I don't want that for my country. The wrong people suffer, the John Bolton's of the world just get more rich on the speech / book circuit.
Posted by: Christian Chuba | Apr 9 2018 18:44 utc | 96
Veterans Today - Gordon Duff 40% False Information
"About 30% of what’s written on Veterans Today, is patently false. About 40% of what I write, is at least purposely, partially false, because if I didn’t write false information I wouldn’t be alive. I simply have to do that. I write…anything I write I write between the lines.""
https://archive.org/details/GordonDuff.FalseInformationControversy
article plus recording of Duff admitting this.
Posted by: Laura Roslin | Apr 9 2018 18:49 utc | 97
There will be a concerted effort now to disrupt the World Cup. It may take another ginned-up atrocity or two, but a boycott led by England, European countries, Australia, and Japan - as imagined by Johnson shortly after the Novichuk allegations broke - seems the predicted and almost inevitable means to force Russia to "pay a cost".
And, yes, Veterans Today is not a reliable information source. Unverified stories of western "chemical weapons experts" embedded with the jihadists appears immediately as "too good to be true". A fake Rand Corporation "document" made the rounds shortly after the Ukraine coup, and it was also too good to be true. This misinformation gets seeded, many repeat it, the story gets debunked, and all are discredited.
Posted by: jayc | Apr 9 2018 19:15 utc | 98
@ laura thanks for the link...astounding that he admits it...
@jayc thanks for the coroboration on Duff///
regards
OY
Posted by: oldenyoung | Apr 9 2018 19:50 utc | 99
Posted by: paul | Apr 9, 2018 2:37:55 PM | 95
That's a lot of interpretation. Could be Russians meant "so we don't make a mistake"?
Lots of armies in a small area historically does not end well.
Posted by: somebody | Apr 9 2018 19:56 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
thanks b.. great work as always...
i don't get it that britian is offering the skripals a new residence in the usa, or that they are destroying their house... is destroying and getting rid of the evidence all that have? i am sure they would like to get rid of the skripals too, not to mention the doctors and whoever else that doesn't go along with the official script...
Posted by: james | Apr 8 2018 16:57 utc | 1