[Majorityrights News] Alex Navalny, born 4th June, 1976; died at Yamalo-Nenets penitentiary 16th February, 2024 Posted by Guessedworker on Friday, 16 February 2024 23:43.
[Majorityrights Central] A couple of exchanges on the nature and meaning of Christianity’s origin Posted by Guessedworker on Tuesday, 25 July 2023 22:19.
[Majorityrights News] Is the Ukrainian counter-offensive for Bakhmut the counter-offensive for Ukraine? Posted by Guessedworker on Thursday, 18 May 2023 18:55.
Posted by DanielS on Saturday, 21 April 2018 12:40.
Scooter Libby with Paul Wolfowitz in 2008
- Observes Majorityrights correspondent, Kumiko.
It waves a giant red flag as to how much Trump is down with the Zionist agenda.
Who even needed 9-11 when you had Scooter Libby!
When you have insiders like that to manipulate the evidence to create false warrant on behalf of Zionist Operation Clean Break, you don’t need massive false flag events.
In fact, if you look at the PBS piece titled “A Secret History of ISIS”, they actually reveal the precise moment at which Israel injected itself into the decision-making process in the lead up to the Iraq War in 2003, and thus shaped the outcome to their advantage.
From 11min 40sec onward in that video, the transcript:
COLIN POWELL: The speech, supposedly, had been prepared in the White House and in the NSC. But when we were given what had been prepared, it was totally inadequate and we couldn’t track anything in it. And when I asked Condi Rice, the National Security Advisor, “Where did this come from?”, it turns out the Vice-President’s office had written it.
NARRATOR: Powell would turn to the CIA to vet the speech.
NADA BAKOS: We [the CIA] had a copy of the speech that was sent over from the White House that Powell was preparing, and one of our senior analysts was working on it, editing, working on the language to ensure that it reflected our analysis.
NARRATOR: Just days later, Powell arrived at the United Nations.
POWELL: Walking into that room is always a daunting experience, but I had been there before. And we had projectors and all sorts of technology to help us make the case.
KAREN DEYOUNG: Powell was very nervous. Powell doesn’t like to read speeches; he likes to have a few note cards and then do his Powell thing. But this one he read from the text, every word.
NARRATOR: At the Counterterrorism Centre, Bakos was watching carefully to see what Powell would say about Zarqawi, bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein.
BAKOS: We’re sitting in our room at CTC watching the television with a copy of the speech in our hand. When he got to our portion, it went off our script fairly quickly. And we were looking around at each other saying, “Where’s he at, where’s he at?” We’re flipping through pages. And so, you know, right away, we could tell that this wasn’t reflecting the language that we had used.
NARRATOR: Powell used Zarqawi to make the connection between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
BAKOS: It drew conclusions in language that we would not use. So we were very, very, very careful about describing the relationship as we saw it, and it seemed to overinflate and not reflect our analysis.
INTERVIEWER: How did that happen, Nada?
BAKOS: Within the process of how it went, you know, where it went back to the White House and who worked on it after that, I don’t know how it was changed, or by who.
If anyone should want to know what happened at that crucial point, and how, the place to look would be at the office of the Chief of the Staff to the Vice President of the United States, who at the time was Scooter Libby.
If you understand that Scooter Libby was to Dick Cheney as Dick Cheney was to George W. Bush, then suddenly you become capable of seeing how it could be possible for the changes that Bakos is referring to, to have been made in the Vice-President’s office by Scooter Libby and his network of very Zionist associates.
In summary
There is no need for any kind of 9/11 conspiracy theory to explain what happened in Iraq.
The explanation has been right in front of everyone’s face from day one. The office of the Chief of the Staff to the Vice President of the United States was compromised by Israel, and as such, all decision-making processes that flowed through there were subject to having Israeli policy preferences injected into them.
It is not the only node that was compromised, but it is the most pivotal and significant one in this situation. I hope that clears up all possible questions and that everyone can draw a line under that issue and call it a closed case now.
Now for the BBC article:
BBC, “Scooter Libby: Trump pardons Cheney aide who leaked”, 13 April 2018:
US President Donald Trump has pardoned former Vice-President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, who was convicted of lying about leaks to the media.
Lewis Libby, known as Scooter, was found guilty in 2007 following an investigation into the unauthorised disclosure of a CIA agent’s identity.
The White House said Libby was “fully worthy of this pardon”.
“I don’t know Mr Libby,” said Mr Trump, “but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly.
“Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”
What’s the background to the case?
Libby was found guilty of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements following an investigation into a leak that revealed the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
His trial heard that Bush administration officials wanted to get back at Ms Plame’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.
Mr Wilson had written a 2003 New York Times op-ed accusing Mr Cheney of doctoring pre-war intelligence on Iraq.
Libby was charged with lying to investigators about his contacts with reporters, but he maintained he simply misremembered the sequence of events.
He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 (£175,000).
But his sentence was commuted by then-President George W Bush.
What’s the reaction?
In an interview on Friday with MSNBC, Ms Plame condemned Mr Trump’s decision to pardon Libby.
“My personal sense is that I didn’t think my contempt for Donald Trump could go lower, but he surprises me each and every day,” she said.
“It’s very clear that this is a message he is sending, that you can commit crimes against national security and you will be pardoned,” she added.
Ms Plame has previously said her career as a CIA agent was finished “in an instant” once her identity was leaked.
She told the BBC in 2007 that “treason” had been committed in pursuit of political retribution.
Mr Cheney told the New York Times Mr Libby is “one of the most capable, principled and honourable men I have ever known.
“He is innocent and he and his family have suffered for years because of his wrongful conviction. I am gratedful that President Trump righted this wrong…”
On Friday, Democrats charged Mr Trump with hypocrisy for pardoning a man who leaked to the media, despite the president’s condemnation of such disclosures in his White House.
Mr Trump’s decision came on the same day that he savaged former FBI Director James Comey as a “proven LEAKER & LIAR”.
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff tweeted: “This is the President’s way of sending a message to those implicated in the Russia investigation: You have my back and I’ll have yours.”
What was Libby case’s political fallout?
Mr Cheney had pressured Mr Bush to pardon Libby in the final days of his presidency.
But Mr Cheney’s badgering reached the point where Mr Bush reportedly told his aides his vice-president was beginning to annoy him.
After consulting White House lawyers, Mr Bush decided it was best not to issue a pardon.
When he finally told Mr Cheney about his decision, Mr Cheney snapped at him, saying: “You are leaving a good man wounded on the field of battle.”
“The comment stung,” Mr Bush would write in his memoirs.
“In eight years, I had never seen Dick like this, or even close to this.
“I worried that the friendship we had built was about to be severely strained, at best.”
Key players in the 2007 CIA leak probe
What is a presidential pardon?
Libby’s pardon amounts to official forgiveness for his crime, but does not equate to exoneration or finding that he was innocent.
Presidential pardons can overturn consequences of a conviction such as being denied the right to carry out jury service, vote or run for political office.
Since the conviction, Libby has already had his law license reinstated.
And former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell restored his voting rights in 2013.
This is the third time Mr Trump has issued a pardon.
In August last year, he did so for former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt over his crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Last month he pardoned Kristian Saucier, a Navy sailor who took photos of classified areas inside a US submarine and served a year in federal prison.
Kumiko adds: Last night’s strike was not what they wanted.
John Bolton and some middle eastern leaders are laying the metapolitical backdrop for that - they wanted a broad and longer engagement. .
Instead, they got a limited strike because the US Defence Dept prevented anything bigger.
New Observer, “Jews Force 11,000 Pro-Israel Changes to US School Textbooks”, 16 April 2018:
The Jewish lobby in America has forced through more than 11,000 changes to US school textbooks issued by National Geographic, Prentice Hall, Five Ponds Press, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and McGraw-Hill over the past several years, it has emerged.
According to a press release issued by the Institute for Research Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) and posted at the Israel Lobby Archive, the latest changes were revealed in a set of changes demanded by the Jews in textbooks and teaching guides used in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Requested changes include:
– Deletion of references to Israel “occupying” territories captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and substituting “controlled.” International conventions clearly outline the responsibility of occupying powers and the illegality of collective punishment and population transfers.
– Changes to maps to recognize Israel’s declared “annexation” of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The U.S. and most other countries do not officially recognize Israeli annexation of either territory.
– Substitution of references to “occupied territories” to “captured areas.”
– Substitution of references to “Jewish settlers” and “settlements” with “building of homes and communities.”
– Deletion of a lesson reviewing a video documentary by Iranian-American religious studies scholar, author, producer and television host Reza Aslan.
– Deletion of an activity based on reading the biography and work of Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi.
– Substitution of an editorial cartoon titled “The Mideast Peace Game Rules” with a cartoon of an Arab suicide terrorist holding a “Road Map to Peace” game hostage.
California-based Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) proposed changes were submitted to the Virginia Department of Education on February 28 on behalf of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Committee (JCRC) of Richmond, and the JCRC of Tidewater.
In a January webcast on YouTube, ICS chief Aliza Craimer Elias claimed that “working behind the scenes” through state advocacy organizations ICS had successfully made more than 11,000 changes to U.S. textbooks.
Publishers of the textbooks targeted for changes include National Geographic, Prentice Hall, Five Ponds Press, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and McGraw-Hill.
Common themes in ICS requests to make changes to Virginia textbooks.
1. Qualify claims of Islam as “expressing Muslim religious belief” while referencing those of Judaism as “God’s covenant.”
2. Replace Christian versions of key texts (such as the Ten Commandments) with Judaic versions.
3. Emphasize the “Jewish ethnicity”“ of major American historical figures.
4. Eliminate terms such as “settlers,” “occupation,” “land theft” and “wall” or replace with more neutral terms such as “disputed,” “captured areas,” “security fence” and “controlled.”
5. Emphasize Arab culpability for crisis initiation (Israel’s 1948 War of Independence) leading to military action, but not Israeli culpability (e.g. surprise Israeli airstrikes on Egypt commencing the 1967 Six-Day War).
6. Discourage students from conducting open internet research on current events lest they run into controversial content. Instead recommend approved websites such as the ADL and the JewishVirtualLibrary.org
7. Eliminate or replace historical artwork created for predominately Christian audiences.
8. Add content that augments Israeli claims to occupied territory in the Middle East, such as changing maps of the Golan Heights as belonging to Israel rather than Syria.
9. Reference Israeli claims such as “Israel annexed East Jerusalem” as settled fact, without referencing lack of official recognition by other nation states.
10. Delete all references to “Palestinian Territories.”
11.Where ICS has already successfully lobbied for changes in national editions of textbooks, it demands that these changes also be made to State of Virginia editions.
Posted by DanielS on Saturday, 14 April 2018 18:16.
Trump took over Republican party on behalf of the Jewish Right in tandem with disingenuous, deracinating, oligarchic, objectivist, propositional Right…through its kosher, paleocon safety net/valve, false opposition, (((the Alt-Right))).
After Trump committed what was to Republican insiders the great sin of saying “there were good and bad on all sides” at the Unite the Right rally…
(((Corey Lewandowski))): “He has to fight back. So when you accuse him of being a racist he doesn’t want to back up, he wants to double down to prove to you that that’s not true, and that’s what the President is.”
Trump: “What about the ‘Alt-Left?” Not to be confused with what we define as White Left, nor the Jewy, fraud “Alt-Left” that also goes by that name; Trump was certainly not addressing that anyway, but rather a trendy way of addressing the motley “left” as it is commonly known - the pivotal move - to redirect attention and blame to “the Left” - in orchestration of the White Right through the “Unite the Right” rally.
In addition to Mnuchin using “Unite The Right” to offend Gary Cohn through it and Trump’s neutral response, to get Cohn out of the way, there were key Republican insiders that needed ingratiation for the Jewish Right to be able to take-over and join forces with the (deracinating) American right through front man Trump.
Following Trump’s first political victory on their behalf, the passing of the tax-cut bill:
Paul Ryan heaps saccharine, about face praise of Trump for making the rich, richer…
As Mitch McConnell has been kissing black ass since the days of “civil rights” when he marched with M.L. King, Trump had to be sure to burnish his pro-black credentials for him (note Uncle Tom/ Satchmo Step n’ Fetch-it type to Trump’s right).
Mitch McConnell: “You’ve made the case for the tax-bill (so that the rich could get richer and the poor, poorer - typical Repugs). We’ve cemented the Supreme Court to the right of center for a generation (pro-black women having babies). You’ve ended the over regulation of the American economy (pro-pollution). Thank you Mr. President, for all you’re doing.”
(((Corey Lewandowski))): “In essence this became Trump’s Republican party.
The testimony that people gave there is hard to take back”
- Oren Hatch, for example: “You’re one heck of a leader…and we’re going to make this the greatest Presidency that we’ve seen, not only in generations, but maybe ever.”
(((Corey Lewandowski))): “What the Republican establishment now know, is that Donald Trump is unequivocally the leader of the Republican party” (The Jewish Right-wing has taken over from Jewish liberals).
“He’ is the one who sets the tone of what takes place in Washington. He is the leader of our country - both politically and from a legislative side of things. I think they’ve learned that over the last year.”
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, around the time a British spy says Cohen met with a Kremlin official there to discuss Russian interference in the U.S. election, sources have told McClatchy. Cohen, pictured on April 11, 2018, has vehemently denied ever visiting Prague. Mary Altaffer AP
“Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier.”
WASHINGTON
The Justice Department special counsel has evidence that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, secretly made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Confirmation of the trip would lend credence to a retired British spy’s report that Cohen strategized there with a powerful Kremlin figure about Russian meddling in the U.S. election.
It would also be one of the most significant developments thus far in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of whether the Trump campaign and the Kremlin worked together to help Trump win the White House. Undercutting Trump’s repeated pronouncements that “there is no evidence of collusion,” it also could ratchet up the stakes if the president tries, as he has intimated he might for months, to order Mueller’s firing.
Trump’s threats to fire Mueller or the deputy attorney general overseeing the investigation, Rod Rosenstein, grew louder this week when the FBI raided Cohen’s home, hotel room and office on Monday. The raid was unrelated to the Trump-Russia collusion probe, but instead focused on payments made to women who have said they had sexual relationships with Trump.
Cohen has vehemently denied for months that he ever has been in Prague or colluded with Russia during the campaign. Neither he nor his lawyer responded to requests for comment for this story.
It’s unclear whether Mueller’s investigators also have evidence that Cohen actually met with a prominent Russian – purportedly Konstantin Kosachev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — in the Czech capital. Kosachev, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of a body of the Russian legislature, the Federation Council, also has denied visiting Prague during 2016. Earlier this month, Kosachev was among 24 high-profile Russians hit with stiff U.S. sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s meddling.
But investigators have traced evidence that Cohen entered the Czech Republic through Germany, apparently during August or early September of 2016 as the ex-spy reported, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is confidential. He wouldn’t have needed a passport for such a trip, because both countries are in the so-called Schengen Area in which 26 nations operate with open borders. The disclosure still left a puzzle: The sources did not say whether Cohen took a commercial flight or private jet to Europe, and gave no explanation as to why no record of such a trip has surfaced.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller’s office, declined comment.
Unconfirmed reports of a clandestine Prague meeting came to public attention in January 2017, with the publication of a dossier purporting to detail the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russia – a series of reports that former British MI6 officer Christopher Steele gathered from Kremlin sources for Trump’s political opponents, including Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Cohen’s alleged communications with the Russians were mentioned multiple times in Steele’s reports, which he ultimately shared with the FBI.
When the news site Buzzfeed published the entire dossier on Jan. 11, Trump denounced the news organization as “a failing pile of garbage” and said the document was “false and fake.” Cohen tweeted, “I have never been to Prague in my life. #fakenews.”
In the ensuing months, he allowed Buzzfeed to inspect his passport and tweeted: “The #Russian dossier is WRONG!”
Last August, an attorney for Cohen, Stephen Ryan, delivered to Congress a point-by-point rebuttal of the dossier’s allegations, stating: “Mr. Cohen is not aware of any ‘secret TRUMP campaign/Kremlin relationship.’”
However, Democratic investigators for the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which are conducting parallel inquiries into Russia’s election interference, also are skeptical about whether Cohen was truthful about his 2016 travels to Europe when he was interviewed by the panels last October, two people familiar with those probes told McClatchy this week. Cohen has publicly acknowledged making three trips to Europe that year – to Italy in July, England in early October and a third after Trump’s November election. The investigators intend to press Cohen for more information, said the sources, who lacked authorization to speak for the record.
One of the sources said congressional investigators have “a high level of interest” in Cohen’s European travel, with their doubts fueled by what they deem to be weak documentation Cohen has provided about his whereabouts around the time the Prague meeting was supposed to have occurred.
Cohen has said he was only in New York and briefly in Los Angeles during August, when the meeting may have occurred, though the sources said it also could have been held in early September.
Evidence that Cohen was in Prague “certainly helps undermine his credibility,” said Jill Wine-Banks, a former Watergate prosecutor who lives in Chicago. “It doesn’t matter who he met with. His denial was that I was never in Prague. Having proof that he was is, for most people, going to be more than enough to say I don’t believe anything else he says.”
“I think that, given the relationship between Michael Cohen and the president,” Wine-Banks said, “it’s not believable that Michael Cohen did not tell him about his trip to Prague.”
Posted by DanielS on Wednesday, 11 April 2018 06:07.
Zuckerberg “concedes” by increasing ZOG’s global influence - viz. in Asia - by cracking down on use of social media - viz. Facebook - by opponents of its Abrahamic footsoldiers (Islam) in Myanmar
Reuters, “Facebook’s Zuckerberg vows to work harder to block hate speech in Myanmar”, 11 April 2018:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday his company would step up efforts to block hate messages in Myanmar as he faced questioning by the U.S. Congress about electoral interference and hate speech on the platform.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a joint Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees hearing regarding the company’s use and protection of user data, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 10, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
Facebook has been accused by human rights advocates of not doing enough to weed out hate messages on its social-media network in Myanmar, where it is a dominant communications system.
“What’s happening in Myanmar is a terrible tragedy, and we need to do more,” Zuckerberg said during a 5-hour joint hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee.
More than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state into Bangladesh since insurgent attacks sparked a security crackdown last August.
United Nations officials investigating a possible genocide in Myanmar said last month that Facebook had been a source of anti-Rohingya propaganda.
Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, said in March that social media had played a “determining role” in Myanmar.
“It has ... substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict ... within the public. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that. As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media,” he said.
Zuckerberg said Facebook was hiring dozens more Burmese-language speakers to remove threatening content.
“It’s hard to do it without people who speak the local language, and we need to ramp up our effort there dramatically,” he said, adding that Facebook was also asking civil society groups to help it identify figures who should be banned from the network.
He said a Facebook team would also make undisclosed product changes in Myanmar and other countries where ethnic violence was a problem.
Posted by DanielS on Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:10.
A glimpse of things to come in the USA…
SBDL, “A Glimpse of Things to Come in the USA: Blacks in America Support Black South African Government Confiscating White-Owned Land Without Compensation”, 5 April 2018:
Land reform is a key issue in South Africa, due to the long history of dispossession of indigenous populations by white settlers. Progress has been painfully slow over the past 24 years, but the question of land is now suddenly at the top of the political agenda.
A major controversy erupted at the end of February following a motion adopted in parliament, tabled by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and modified by the ANC, which started the process of potentially amending the constitution to allow for the expropriation of (white-owned) land without compensation, and its subsequent redistribution (to black people.)
In March, the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, sent out phone messages stating: “ANC & EFF working together to take all private land and homes. You can only stop this if you’re registered correctly to vote! Check now.”
As a result, white South Africans are panicking that they will lose their land and their homes, and some white commercial farmers believe this is the beginning of Zimbabwe-style ‘land grabs.’ Australia’s minister of home affairs even offered to fast-track visas for white farmers.
In contrast, the motion was supported by many other political parties and has been greeted with approval by large numbers of black people. Given the bitter history of large-scale land dispossession, refusing to pay for stolen land is seen by many black South Africans as essential to restoring their dignity.
Parliament recently resolved to investigate whether or not the country’s constitution should be amended in order to allow for expropriation without compensation. A constitutional review committee is organising public hearings countrywide, and will report in August.
The ANC is clearly attempting to regain political ground lost to the small but vocal opposition party, the EFF. The unresolved land question, and in particular the issue of compensation, has been a key rallying cry for the EFF since it first emerged in 2013. It is sure to make land a central issue in national elections in 2019.
Chaser: what do Africans in America think about the black-controlled government of South Africa confiscate white-owned land without compensation?
Anthony Spearmen: You know its delicate you have White people who were born in Africa, who believe they are native, and of course you have native born Black Africans who dispute this claim. The right to redistribute the land is an argument that is going to be decided by the people and as it looks they are up in arms about reclaiming it. Violence in my opinion is never the answer, but it was taken through violence and most likely it will have to be reclaimed by violence. Those White folk are not going to give up easily.
Charles Townsend: From my personal opinion anyone is justified in reclaiming property that has been stolen. I know if I had something of value stolen from me I am going to all that is in my power to retrieve it. I think South Africa has every right. Apartheid has been a stain in that country for a long time and it’s time to remedy that.
Shirley Johnson: As far as I am concerned it was never the Europeans’ land in the first place. I think it is a difficult task - the redistribution of land. But from a justification point of view, yes the native born Africans do have a right to reclaim what was naturally theirs. What they will have to be prepared for is the blowback both politically and socially.
Mike Pierce: I don’t think the violence is necessary, but I think from a theoretical perspective the people of South Africa are justified and have the right to redistribute the land stolen. White colonization has run it’s course as consciousness is rising and awareness is growing in terms of the wrongs of the past. Society is becoming more compassionate towards the victims of those wrongs and the victims are beginning to fight back.
Monique: South Africa has every right to claim what is theirs. White people have been robbing the resources of that continent for centuries and the chickens are coming home to roost. Karma is what it is. It looks like to me that the African has had enough and are fighting back, fighting for what’s theirs. I hope they succeed.
Peace? No peace.
Today, white-owned land in South Africa will be confiscated by the black-controlled government to rectify historical inequities; tomorrow, white-owned land in the United States will be confiscated by the multicultural government to forever end white privilege, deliver a fatal blow to implicit bias, and squelch once and for all systemic inequalities.
You didn’t think teaching an entire generation of non-whites to resent white people in the USA for their unearned privilege wasn’t going to have consequences?
At least 14 fighters, including Iranians, were killed in the early morning strike, according to the monitoring organisation the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syria also accused Israel of carrying out the strike.
A military spokeswoman for Israel, which has struck Syrian military positions several times in recent years, declined to comment on the strike.
A Syrian military source was quoted in local media as saying air defences shot down eight missiles fired at the base, where defence analysts say there are large deployments of Russian forces, and where jets fly regular sorties to strike rebel-held areas.
It came after Donald Trump on Sunday warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin that there would be a “big price to pay” for a suspected Syrian chemical weapons attack that killed 70 people, including children.
In his harshest criticism of the Russian leader since taking office, Mr Trump said Mr Putin was partly “responsible” for the attack on rebels in Douma, a town in Eastern Ghouta
Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price…
3:00 PM - Apr 8, 2018
87.2K51.6K people are talking about this
“Syria conflict: Israel blamed for attack on airfield”
Monday’s attack hit the Tiyas airbase, known as T4, near the city of Homs. Observers say 14 people were killed.
Israel, which has previously hit Syrian targets, has not commented. Syria initially blamed the US for the strike.
Could Israel be involved?
Syrian state news agency Sana, quoting a military source, reported that air defences had repelled an Israeli missile attack on T4, saying the missiles were fired by Israeli F15 jets in Lebanese airspace.
Claim - Iran building base in Syria:
Israel has said it will not allow Iran, its arch-foe, to set up bases in Syria or operate from there, something Israel considers a major threat.
UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that fighters of various nationalities - meaning Iranians or members of Iranian-backed Shia militias - were among the 14 dead at the base.
Complicated equation
By Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent
This attack could be part of Israel’s growing effort to contain Iran’s military build-up in Syria and to interrupt the supply of advanced Iranian missiles to its Lebanese Shia ally, Hezbollah.
Any Israeli operation would have been closely monitored by Russian air defence radars in Syria. There is also a telephone hotline between the Israelis and the Russian headquarters in Syria.
So far Moscow has done nothing to interfere with Israel’s air operations.
But the presence of Russia’s air defences in Syria certainly complicates the strategic equation as Western governments ponder their response to the recent chemical attack.
“Trump tweets condemnation of Syria chemical attack, saying Putin shares the blame”
In a series of tweets on the morning of April 8, President Trump condemned an apparent chemical attack near Damascus on April 7.
The likelihood of a military strike against Syria after a suspected chemical weapons attack increased Sunday as President Trump said there would be a “big price to pay” and officials in France vowed the country would “do its duty” in responding.
France called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday to discuss the weekend attack, and eight other nations joined in the request, including the United States and Britain.
In reference to a warning by President Emmanuel Macron last month that France would strike unilaterally if Syria used chemical weapons again, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that the nation would assume its responsibilities.
[Dozens killed in apparent chemical attack on Syrian civilians]
Several prominent Republicans urged Trump to act — and to reconsider his plan to draw down the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) told ABC News’ “This Week” that this is a “defining moment” in Trump’s presidency that demands follow-through. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) suggested that Trump change his mind about withdrawing troops from Syria, place more sanctions on Russia and consider targeted attacks on Syrian facilities, similar to one he ordered a year ago after a chemical attack on civilians.
Trump wants them home, but how long will U.S. troops really be in Syria?
President Trump said he wants to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria where they’re supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against the Islamic State.
Even before the lawmakers spoke, Trump himself hinted that a military strike might be at hand if the use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces is verified.
As grisly images emerged, showing bodies of babies in basements and bloodied survivors at hospitals in Eastern Ghouta, Trump made a rare direct criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said Putin shared blame for the deaths through Russia’s support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay,” Trump said in back-to-back tweets. “Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!”
Late Sunday, SANA, Syria’s state-run news agency, said that an air base in central Syria was hit by a missile attack and that the military shot down eight missiles. The report initially said the attack in Homs province was “likely to be an American aggression.” Later, however, Syrian officials and allies in Russia said the airstrike was carried out by Israel, which also struck the same airfield in February.
Israel did not immediately confirm the reports of the Sunday attack.
In a statement, the Pentagon denied the report: “At this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting airstrikes in Syria. However, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable.”
Injured victims of an alleged chemical attack rest Sunday in rebel-held Douma, Syria.
The crisis in Syria is escalating at a pivotal moment for the White House’s national security team. John Bolton, a noted hawk on Russia and Iran, begins work as Trump’s national security adviser on Monday. On Thursday, CIA Director Mike Pompeo has a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his nomination as secretary of state.
Trump also blamed his predecessor for not following through on his threat that Assad’s chemical weapons use was a red line that would not be tolerated, something that Trump suggested he would not repeat.
[Trump instructs military to begin planning for Syria withdrawal]
“If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!” he tweeted.
Echoing Trump, V.P. Pence tweeted that U.S. officials were monitoring the events. “The Assad regime & its backers MUST END their barbaric behavior,” he added. “As POTUS said, big price to pay for those responsible!”
Syrian, Russian denials
Syria and its main backers, Russia and Iran, are not only denying responsibility, they question whether there even was an attack. SANA said the reports originated with “terrorists” who are on the verge of collapse under an offensive by the Syrian army. “Such allegations and accusations by the Americans and certain Western countries signal a new conspiracy against the Syrian government and people, and a pretext for military action,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
And Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement claiming that information on the reported attack is a tactic being used to cover up for terrorists.
“The goal of these false conjectures, which are without basis, are designed to shield the terrorists and the implacable radical opposition, who reject a political settlement,” the statement said.
The crisis over Syria is likely to accelerate the downward spiral of the relationship between Russia and the United States, already at its lowest point in decades. On Friday, the administration placed economic sanctions on some Russian tycoons. The sanctions give the United States a potent weapon to pressure international financial institutions not to lend money or facilitate transactions by the well-connected Russians.
“Whatever was driving Trump to leave Putin alone, it’s over,” said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group, an analytical firm. “Over the course of 48 hours, Trump basically sanctioned the Russian system and fingered Putin for backing the ‘Animal Assad.’
“If the U.S. confirms chemical weapons were used, I think we get a strike on Syria. As harsh as Friday’s sanctions were, they also set the precedent for sanctioning anyone who benefits from the Russian system.”
Trump’s gradual shift
Trump has come reluctantly to this crucible over Syria.
Assad has never been a priority for Trump. Though he called him a “bad guy,” he repeatedly said on the campaign trail and in the White House that Assad is not a U.S. priority. He was willing to be involved in Syria as long as the fight against the Islamic State was going on, but not much more. His announcement that the U.S. military role in Syria was “coming to a rapid end” was a continuation of that belief.
Red Ice, “Identities of 650 Antifa Members Who Attended Charlottesville Were Just Released”, 7 April 2018:
A list containing 650 names of Antifa members who attended “Unite The Right” in Charlottesville last August has been compiled. It took the media months for them to stop reporting on how absolutely evil the Alt-Right is, never once focusing on the Antifa members who were the cause of all the drama.
Now a list has been compiled of several individuals who took part in the rally from the left. People like Lacy MacAuley, Daryle Lamont Jenkins, Spencer George Sunshine, and John Michael Carico are listed as leaders. Oddly enough, it appears that although groups like Antifa preach love and total equality, they tend to have more men as leaders. Hypocrisy much?
Others like Marcus Martin, Alexis Morris, and Noelle Morris have their names listed as injured, and who would have been responsible for that other than themselves? For the most part, the Alt-Right tried to keep their distance from the opposing group, only when the police pushed them into the crowd did they have confrontation. From a logical point, this makes sense. These groups have nothing in common and the Alt-Right didn’t even want them to be there. Any “injury” Antifa received was of their own doing.
Many violent Antifa members are also listed as arrested or convicted. Deandre Shakur Harris, Corey Alexander Long, (Flamethrower) Troy Thomas Dunigan, Jacob Leigh Smith, Edgar Brandon Collins, and many others got in trouble with the law for getting violent at the rally. It looks like they’re taking their code of conduct “by any means necessary” and “no peace” to heart.
David Holtz, a proud supporter of Antifa, took the battle off the streets and into social media when he tweeted: “Except that whites actually DON’T deserve a homeland. You have terrorized the planet for ever. You should be enslaved and raped to death.
But luckily Twitter actually did something for once and suspended his account.
Now that this list has been released to the public and the vast majority of them appear to be psychopaths, will the mainstream media acknowledge this, or will they keep talking about how evil it is to be pro-white?
Whether we agree entirely with the Alt-Right’s beliefs is irrelevant, the fact is Antifa has been proven several times to be a domestic terrorist organization and yet the mainstream media still sing their praises. When will the madness end?
All known Antifa who went to the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, VA on August 11-13, 2017:
Key: Antifa with a “*” before their list number are Antifa who are known to be violent.
1. Lacy MacAuley (Leader): Washington, DC
*2. Daryle Lamont Jenkins (Leader): Philly, PA
3. Spencer George Sunshine (Leader): Brooklyn, NY
*4. John Michael Carico (Leader): Chattanooga, TN
*5. Renee Campbell Hall [INJURED]: Chattanooga, TN
*6. Alexander Stokes Contompasis AKA Alex Stokes (Leader): Albany, NY
7. Nicolas “Nic” Roy McCarthy-Rivera (Leader): Charlottesville, VA
8. Andrew Gil Mayton (Leader): Baltimore, MD
*9. Alexandra Shiflett: Bel Air, MD
*10. Cameron Rines: Severna Park, MD
11. Kelly Dietrich: Baltimore, MD
*12. Sean Gerwing Liter (Leader): Louisville, KY
13. Holly McGlawn-Zoller (Leader) [INJURED]: Louisville, KY
*14. Brent Vincent Betterly: Chicago, IL
*15. William Cory Lovell/William Corey Lovell/Corey Lovell: Chicago, IL
16. Jason Charter (Leader): Gaithersburg, MD
*17. Kyle Benjamin Wright (Leader): Chantilly, VA
*18. Rachel “Roody” Michelle Myles: Manassas, VA
19. Shiquan Rah Jackson (Leader): Charlottesville, VA
*20. Deandre Shakur Harris (ASH Seven Hills Antifa) [INJURED] [ARRESTED]: Suffolk, VA
*21. Corey Alexander Long (Flamethrower) [ARRESTED]: Culpeper, VA
22. Vonte “Vonzz” Long: Charlottesville, VA
*23. Charles Allen Howard Jr. AKA Bear Allen: Baltimore, MD
*24. Wyatt Reed: Elliston, VA
25. Lena Marie Seville: Charlottesville, VA
*26. Troy Thomas Dunigan [CONVICTED]: Chattanooga, TN
*27. Jacob Leigh Smith [CONVICTED]: Louisa, VA
*28. Jeff Fogel (Leader): Charlottesville, VA
29. Lara Rogers: Charlottesville, VA
*30. Edgar Brandon Collins [CONVICTED]: Charlottesville, VA
*31. Alec Summerfield (Leader): Maryland
*32. Dan Nguyen: Maryland
33. Jesse Schultz
34. Glenn Cantave: New York City, NY
*35. Hawk Newsome (Leader): New York City, NY
36. Medea Benjamin/Susan Benjamin (Leader): Washington, DC
37. Tighe Barry (Leader): Washington, DC
*38. Antonio “Tony” Wells: Charlottesville, VA
39. Evan “Hen” Henderson: Charlottesville, VA
40. Jay Scott: Waynesboro, VA
41. Cornel West (Leader)
Scooter Libby with Paul Wolfowitz in 2008
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, around the time a British spy says Cohen met with a Kremlin official there to discuss Russian interference in the U.S. election, sources have told McClatchy. Cohen, pictured on April 11, 2018, has vehemently denied ever visiting Prague. Mary Altaffer AP
