Establishment Consensus

Mastering the Obvious,

"Trump Scores Major North Korea Points; Democrats Sue WikiLeaks for Telling the Truth", our girl Caitlin in Oz

https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/trump-scores-major-north-korea-points-dems-sue-wikileaks-for-telling-the-truth-6094ef6fa1ea

Details of North Korean friendly prelude to negotiations...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/20/north-korea-suspends-nuclear-missile-tests

WASHINGTON—Demanding greater accountability for the race’s outcome, the Democratic National Committee reportedly filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit Friday alleging that the nation should never, ever stop focusing on the 2016 presidential election. “Our lawsuit lays out, in no uncertain terms, that the nation should never under any circumstances move on from the 2016 election results.”    (The Onion)

https://politics.theonion.com/dnc-files-lawsuit-alleging-nation-should-never-ever-st-1825424101

The Washingtoin Post reports that The Democratic National Committee filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit Friday against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and the WikiLeaks organization alleging a far-reaching conspiracy to disrupt the 2016 campaign and tilt the election to Donald Trump.      (Not The Onion. Notice the difference? ... Me neither.)

 https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-20/democratic-party-sues-russia-trump-wikileaks-conspiring-hurt-hillary-2016-election

Jim Kunstler says...  It begins to look like The USA will litigate itself into Civil War Two with the first battle being half the lawyers in the Department of Justice prosecuting the other half until Anthropogenic Global Warming puts the DC Swamp completely underwater and all parties concerned scuttle off into the deep blue sea.  It was rather a shock to see the photo lineup of all those familiar faces — Comey, Hillary, McCabe, Loretta Lynch et. al. — in the criminal referral “matters” sent over to the DOJ by congress on Wednesday, as if they were some mob of goombahs caught running a waste management kickback racket in the Hackensack mud-flats...  Mixed metaphors aside, it looks like all the clones of Ricky Ricardo and Lucy engineered in some CIA black lab will never satisfy the amount of ’splainin’ that needs to be done, and that the ensuing trials may last longer than the lifetimes of millennials still struggling on campus with their gender presentation...  This melodrama will make The Lord of the Rings look like a knock-knock joke...   

Trump may emerge briefly from his triumph over the Swamp-led coup-d’etat only to find himself in his fated other role as designated bag-holder for the next crack-up of the banking system. At least he’ll be in his natural element: bankruptcy, presiding over the biggest ruined casino the world has ever seen...

Meantime, my head is still reeling from the shenanigans in Syria last week. How many of our missiles were shot down exactly? I’m not too confident we’ll ever get a straight answer about that from the generals. Nor why they decided to blow up a suspected chemical weapons factory which, you’d think, would disperse a residue cloud of chemical weapons all over the Syrian landscape — and since that didn’t happen, was it actually a chemical weapons factory at all? 

http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/whirling-whirling/

Why Each US President Ends Up as Ruthless Interventionist These Days, Philip Geraldi   Thanks Eleni

In the wake of last week’s cruise missile attack on Syria, there was a joke going around the internet saying that it doesn’t matter who Americans vote for, they always wind up getting John McCain as President...  President Donald Trump’s explicit pledges to avoid expanded engagement in Asia and the Middle East while also fixing the relationship with Russia are by now lost down the memory hole...  Pundits see the process whereby all new presidents turn into hawks as evidence of the pervasiveness of the Deep State in US foreign policy, but as the Deep State operates largely in the open in the United States, it might also be referred to as the Establishment Consensus...  The combination of government and media lies renders most Americans completely ignorant about what is going in in Syria. First of all, the United States and its allies, who are occupying nearly one quarter of the country, are in Syria illegally...  It is also a war crime as defined by the Nuremberg Trials that followed after the Second World War, which ruled that a war of aggression is the “ultimate war crime” as it inevitably leads to many other crimes. So the United States is undeniably an unindicted war criminal ...  Establishment politics has meant that the United States is now a rogue nation defined by its propensity to go to war. America’s bombing of Syria is illegal, immoral, ineffective and dishonest. 

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/04/phil-giraldi/why-each-us-president-ends-up-as-ruthless-interventionist-these-days/

I have to hope this is right: 

"The embarrassing ineffectiveness of the April 14th missile- invasion — it didn’t even get the OPCW, Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, to cancel its planned investigation of the evidence in Douma Syria regarding whether it was Assad and Putin who have been lying, or instead Trump and his foreign allies who were lying — caps what is actually the U.S. Government’s defeat in its decades-long plan for global hegemony, global dictatorship." 

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/04/18/why-the-april-14-missiles-invasion-syria-was-historic-turning-point.html

The US is still protecting moderate-terrorists in the 25% of Syria it controls, the part with the oil, gas and water. Update here:

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/syria-cleanup-around-damascus-continues-wmd-rumors-prepare-for-new-us-attack.html#more

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) finally reached Douma for their investigation and inspection for chemical weapons. They were not delayed by Russian or Syrian "cover-up", which they discounted as a possibility. "The OPCW in official statements confirmed that they were prevented from visiting Douma not by Syrian or Russian authorities, but by United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), which has the final say over OPCW movements within Syria."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-21/opcw-chemical-inspection-team-reaches-douma-after-issuing-statement-negating-russia

Two of President Trump’s “nice and new and smart” cruise missiles were recovered non-detonated by the Syrian Armed Forces on April 14, one day after the US, the UK and France fired more than 100 rockets into Syria according to the Russian TASS new agency...  And now the reverse engineering of America's "new and smart" technology can begin: an unnamed source within the Syrian military confirmed to TASS that the cruise missiles were sent to Russia on April 18...  Pentagon officials have denied all claims that their “nice and new and smart” cruise missiles were shot down. Officials said that missiles successfully hit all targets, while the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Syrian air defense claimed they shot down 71. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-21/russia-claims-it-captured-trumps-nice-and-new-and-smart-missiles-after-syrian

Naked Emperor

Not As Advertised

Coming Up Short,

This article from Eleni lays out the Plan-B goal in Syria, to bleed and bleed and bleed Iran, since regime change sweeping across the middle east has not gone as efficiently as originally planned. Whose interests are served? No interests are well served as greed and overreach of aggressive policy have natural consequences. There is a lot of good insight here.

The strikes from this weekend were intended to do much more damage than they did.  The U.S. Military’s presser on Friday after the attack was purposeful disinformation.  They only admitted to attacking three sites, all of which were empty and obliterated. But what about the airstrikes on no less than four Syrian airfields, including Al-Shairat (again)? No mention of those. Because they didn’t succeed. 

https://russia-insider.com/en/lack-rubble-settles-real-plan-syria-revealed/ri23198?ct=t(Russia_Insider_Daily_Headlines11_21_2014)&mc_cid=776a7e046b&mc_eid=7a06d680cf

Brandon Smith says the Syrian conflict is a distraction from a secret war. (I think the war does more than distract from the inevitable monetary reset of global reserve currency. Central bankers want electronic money. Bitcoin is actually lousy as a currency, but great for central bank transactions. We can just have credit cards with chips, and be excluded from the economy if we don't conform. Perfect! Against Western central banking runs the counter-force of Russia, China and Iran, though Libya is now out of that game. This group prefers gold. Pick a side and a personal strategy. Growing vegetables is revolution.)

http://www.alt-market.com/articles/3414-syrian-conflict-is-a-distraction-from-a-secret-war

Vladimir Putin, well aware of anti-Russian sentiment in the US, opens the invitation to negotiation with the bid to make concessions under the right circumstances. Russia has a fairly strong hand, but not economically...

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-18/putin-reportedly-ready-deep-concessions-seeks-deal-trump

Donald Trump, as well as wanting to negotiate rationally with Russia, in the interests of the US, also wants US troops to come home from Syria as soon as possible. (Trump is an America-firster, who does not want America to keep getting exhausted by imperial overreach. It's not in the American interest, after all.)

https://sputniknews.com/military/201804161063596592-trump-syria-forces-home/

Eleni sends this article (excerpts below) from Paul Craig Roberts about "Racism" as a cover for financial exploitation and aggressive war, currently and historically in North America. (We are divided and conquered...)

The working class, designated by Hillary Clinton as “the Trump deplorables,” is now the victimizer, not the victim. Marxism has been stood on its head. The American ruling class loves Identity Politics, because Identity Politics divides the people into hostile groups and prevents any resistance to the ruling elite. With blacks screaming at whites, women screaming at men, and homosexuals screaming at heterosexuals, there is no one left to scream at the rulers. 

  The ruling elite favors a “conversation on race,” because the ruling elite know it can only result in accusations that will further divide society...  

The first slaves in the new world were white. When real history was taught, this was widely understood. Movies were even made that showed that in King George III’s England, the alternative to criminal punishment was to be sold as a slave in the colonies. See, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAgfWhlc3gQ   Among the first New World lands to be exploited by the Europeans were the Carribean Islands, which were suitable for sugar and rice production. The problem was that the white slaves died like flies from malaria and yellow fever. The Spanish lack of success with a work force of natives of the lands they conquered led those in search of a work force to the slave export business of the black Kingdom of Dahomey. The demand for black workers rose considerably when it was discovered that many had immunity to malaria and resistance to yellow fever. This meant that a plantation’s investment in a work force was not wiped out by disease...  

Why did the South leave the Union? Because it was being economically exploited by the North, which, once the North gained the ability to outvote the Southern states, imposed tariffs that benefited the North at the expense of the South. The North needed protection from British manufactures in order for the economic rise of the North. In contrast, the South’s economy was based on cotton exports to England and on cheap manufactures imported from England. Tariffs would bring the South higher cost of manufactured goods and retaliation against their cotton exports. The economic interests of the North and South did not coincide...  

What about the Emancipation Proclamation? Didn’t this order by Lincoln free the blacks? No. It was a war measure on which hopes were placed that, as almost every able-bodied Southern male was in the front lines, the slaves would revolt and rape the Southern soldiers’ wives and daughters, forcing the soldiers to desert the army and return home to protect their families. As Lincoln’s own Secretary of State said, the president has freed the slaves in the territories that the Union does not control and left them in slavery in the territory that the Union does control...  

The United States with its brainwashed and incompetent population—indeed, the entirety of the Western populations are incompetent—and with its absence of intelligent leadership has no chance against Russia and China, two massive countries arising from their overthrow of police states as the West descends into a gestapo state. The West is over and done with. Nothing remains of the West but the lies used to control the people. All hope is elsewhere. 

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/04/18/conversation-race-paul-craig-roberts/

"Today reporters no longer have to check sources, because there is no longer journalism in America. When the Clinton regime in compliance with the Deep State that made the Clintons super-rich permitted 90% of the independent and diverse US media to be concentrated in the hands of six political companies, that was the end of journalism in America. All we have now is a propaganda ministry that lies for a living. Anyone in American journalism who tells the truth is either immediately fired or in the case of Tucker Carlson at Fox News is set upon by outside presstitutes in an effort to force Fox to replace him. I wonder how long before some woman pops up and claims Tucker Carlson sexually harassed her. 

As far as I can tell, the United States is now a police state in which all information is controlled and the population is trained to believe the propaganda or be accused of lack of patriotism and consorting with terrorists and Russians." 

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/04/16/upon-time-long-ago-truth-important/

There are rodents chewing on the Clinton & Friends neoliberal power establishment. It looks like some heads will roll, someday... There are subpoenas and referrals for indictment targeting Clinton/Obama team insiders at the highest levels. There is a lot of meat there, too, unlike the lame Russian-collusion story that could never be supported factually, and turned into a low-catch-fishing-expedition. The floundering fishermen may be reeled in soon.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-19/gop-chairman-subpoena-doj-over-comey-memos

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-18/criminal-referral-issued-comey-clinton-lynch-and-mccabe-rosenstein-recusal-demanded

66 pounds of plastic bags in it's stomach killed this 7 ton sperm whale, washed up on a Greek island and rotting from inside. 

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2018/04/17/whale-santorini-plastic-bags/

Swallowed Enough

Negotiate Or Else

Bargaining Chips,

Military conquest of Syrian oil, gas, farmland and water... for "peace", "freedom" and stuff.

"Northeastern Syria is an important region owing to its rich natural resources, particularly fossil fuels in the form of natural gas and oil. Indeed, this area contains 95 percent of all Syrian oil and gas potential — including al-Omar, the country’s largest oil field. Prior to the war, these resources produced some 387,000 barrels of oil per day and 7.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, and were of great economic importance to the Syrian government. However, more significantly, nearly all the existing Syrian oil reserves – estimated at around 2.5 billion barrels – are located in the area currently occupied by the U.S. government...  In addition, the conflict in Syria – now in its seventh year – was, in part, initiated as a result of clashes over two pipeline proposals that needed to secure passage through Syria. Syria, not long before the foreign-funded proxy war besieged the country, had turned down a U.S.-backed proposal that would take to Europe natural gas from Qatar in favor of a Russia-backed proposal that would take natural gas originating in Iran."

https://www.globalresearch.ca/how-the-us-has-illegally-occupied-30-of-syria-containing-most-of-its-oil-water-and-gas/5636586

"US opens new military base in former ISIS stronghold", (yeah, the oil place , Dier Ezzor, in northeast Syria, where ISIS failed to keep the oil away from the Syrian government as ordered.)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-17/us-opens-new-military-base-former-isis-stronghold

Vladimir Putin warns that the world is at risk of descending further into chaos if the US attacks Syria again. (It does not seem to be worded as a threat,)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-16/putin-warns-global-chaos-if-west-hits-syria-again

President Trump was given 3 options to attack Syria. (Not attacking was not apparently offered to him as an option.) 

He chose the one that mostly wasted a lot of missiles for domestic propaganda, and cost less than the others. 

"We taught 'animal Assad' a lesson" seems to be the sales pitch..

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-16/trump-chose-cheapest-option-syria-strike

Secretary of Defense Mattis advocated for seeking Congressional approval before launching recent missile attack on Syria. ("Mad Dog"? Maybe "Monk Mattis", his USMC nickname, was correct all along.) 

"In the end, Mattis prevailed in limiting the Friday night strikes to three targets which would avoid hitting Russian troops stationed at various military facilities throughout Syria. Democratically elected Syrian President Bashar al Assad moved fighter jets to said installations before the US-led strike, which also included the participation of the United Kingdom and France to give it an air of legitimacy." “The strike was really just enough to cover the president politically, but not enough to spark a war with the Russians,” said two-tour Iraq war veteran Jon Soltz, chairman of liberal veterans group VoteVets. “It was clear the military had tight constraints on the operation, and that everybody in the military seemed to know that except the president.”  "The cleanup crew at the destroyed Barzah chemical weapons Research facility didn't need protective clothing to sift through the rubble, the message is loud and clear; the West needs to get it's act together before bombing a sovereign nation based on crappy - or even worse, fabricated intel. "

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-17/mattis-wanted-congressional-approval-syria-strike-was-overruled-trump 

Pentagon hides failure of attack, as over 70 missiles are shot down, about 1/3 get through to least defended areas. none of these areas was defended by Russia.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/syria-pentagon-hides-attack-failure-70-cruise-missiles-shot-down-.html#more

A view from France. Thanks Eleni.

The Allies pretend that Syria kept stocks of chemical weapons, despite its membership of the Convention which prohibits them. They claim that they targeted only areas linked to these weapons. And yet, for example, they fired four missiles at the international commercial airport in Damascus, an exclusively civilian target. Happily, the Syrian Arab Army managed to intercept them all. In total, the Syrian Arab Army, which was only in possession of S-125’s, S-200’s, Buk’s, Kvadrat’s and Osa’s, managed, single-handed, to shoot down two thirds of the Western projectiles. Finally, despite themselves, the Allies had just fought the first battle of their history in which they killed not one enemy. France, which tested its new naval Cruise missile for the first time in a combat situation, was unable to boast of a success to its potential clients...  This grand show, then, was no more than a futile gesture. After a quarter of a century of unilateral domination by the West, its three main military powers have just been down-graded. The world has returned to a bipolar situation like that of the Cold War, although the new rules still need to be defined. The Third World War will have to wait. 

http://www.voltairenet.org/article200729.html

"Now that the jihadist-occupied suburb of Douma has been retaken by the Syrian government, western journalists have been allowed in to poke around and start asking questions, and so far it isn’t looking great for the propaganda machine." (No chemical weapon injuries or deaths at all in Douma that day, according to doctors and residents of the area.This is why the attacks had to come before any investigation. US says "Russia ate my homework")

https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/us-russia-hacked-the-evidence-of-chemical-attack-in-syria-85a17e6d6087

CIA Director, Mike Pompeo met with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un this past weekend. It reportedly went well. Pompeo is nominated for Secretary of State. (Howzat lookin?)

Speaking at his Florida beach resort Tuesday ahead of bilateral meetings with Shinzo Abe, Trump confirmed that the two governments had held direct party-to-party talks for the first time without the South Koreans acting as intermediaries. Trump disclosed that the two countries were hoping to hold the historic meeting in early June, or possibly before.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-18/trump-confirms-mike-pompeo-met-kim-jong-un#comment-11532503

North and South Korea are reportedly set to announce an official end to the 1950-1953 Korean War that technically finished with a truce — and not a peace treaty, according to South Korea's daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/04/17/report-north-and-south-korea-set-announce-official-end-war/523804002/

The US military is poised to develop smart-enough drones to make the decision of who to kill, completely on their own. (This should reduce PTSD on remote drone operators who dream of the children they've killed at all those family gatherings. Mission Accomplished! "Blowback?" What blowback? Nothin's gonna go wrong! This is completely different from self-driving cars.)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-17/autonomous-drones-will-soon-decide-who-kill

Throwing Dice

Oops English Nerve Gas

Publicly Embarrassed,

A Swiss lab determines that "Russian BZ" poison used on Skripal father/daughter, was not of Russian origin, but came from UK or US chemical weapons labs (poor quality, too...). 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-14/independent-swiss-lab-says-bz-toxin-used-skripal-poisoning-usuk-produced-not

Yulia Skripal makes this odd statement, with police "protectors" at her side: 

"I have specially trained officers available to me, who are helping to take care of me and to explain the investigative processes that are being undertaken. I have access to friends and family, and I have been made aware of my specific contacts at the Russian Embassy who have kindly offered me their assistance in any way they can. At the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services, but, if I change my mind I know how to contact them"..."For the moment I do not wish to speak to the press or the media, and ask for their understanding and patience whilst I try to come to terms with my current situation."  http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/new-developments-in-the-skripal-drama-police-statement-opcw-report-release.html#more

France, UK & US attack on Syria (more apparent than real; cute acronym) Thanks Eleni. 

"Last night France, the UK and the U.S. launched an illegal attack on Syria and bombed several military and civilian sites within the country. They justify their attack as revenge or punishment for an alleged 'chemical attack' that had taken place a week earlier. The 'chemical incident' on April 7 in Douma was designed to reverse Trump's publicly announced decision to order the U.S. military out of Syria. The Saudi financed Salafi 'rebels' in Douma collected bodies, probably from another incident, and stacked them up in one apartment to stage a scene and to create fake videos of a 'chemcial attack' which they falsely attributed to the Syrian government. Trump pretended to fall for the videos and tweeted threats against Syria and Russia. Russia threatened to respond with strong force should any U.S. attack hurt its soldiers or interests in Syria. The UK and France, who like the U.S. were only recently visited by the Saudi clown prince and showered with fresh Saudi billions, jumped onto the case. France now admits that its 'intelligence' of the Douma incident is solely based on the obviously staged youtube videos and claims made by 'western' financed propaganda operations who cooperate with the Jihadis." 

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/fukus-strikes-syria-who-won.html#more

The Pentagon also said the United States had “deconfliction” contacts with Russia before and after the strikes, that Syrian air defense systems had been largely ineffective and there was no indication that Russian systems had been employed. In comments on Saturday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said the strikes did little damage and claimed that of 103 cruise missiles fired in the U.S.-led airstrike, 71 were shot down by Syria’s Soviet-made air-defense systems. The intercepted missiles included all 12 of those bound for the Al-Dumayr military airfield near Damascus, where the chemical attack that triggered the crisis was allegedly launched. In de-escalating the airstrikes' aftermath, Russia said its own air defenses were not activated because none of the missiles passed through its zone of influence. Russia also said there were no immediate reports of military or civilian casualties. The Syrian army command said three civilians had been injured in the attack on Homs.  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-14/people-are-dancing-streets-syria-russia-iran-shrug-more-limited-feared-airstrikes

"It's not only about Syria itself, you see.  The GDP of Syria won't make a difference on the USD.  It's about stopping a revolution.  If Syria uses a Russian - Chinese financial and energy system perhaps it will spread to Jordan, Lebanon, and who next?  If half the world is suddenly using a Yuan denominated trading market, it would threaten US hegemony.  So all alternatives need to be stopped in their tracks, period.  That isn't an opinion it is the policy in DC based on research by companies like RAND." 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-14/alert-syria-first-strike-world-war-3-deep-analysis

Chinese State News, "Global Times" says:

  The facts cannot be distorted. This military strike was not authorized by the UN, and the strikes targeted a legal government of a UN member state. The US and its European allies launched strikes to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a suspected chemical attack in Duma last weekend. However, it has not been confirmed if the chemical weapons attack happened or if it did, whether government forces or opposition forces launched it. International organizations have not carried out any authoritative investigation...  The US has a record of launching wars on deceptive grounds. The Bush government asserted the Saddam regime held chemical weapons before the US-British coalition troops invaded Iraq in 2003. However, the coalition forces didn't find what they called weapons of mass destruction after overthrowing the Saddam regime. Both Washington and London admitted later that their intelligence was false.  Washington's attack on Syria where Russian troops are stationed constitute serious contempt for Russia's military capabilities and political dignity. Trump, like scolding a pupil, called on Moscow, one of the world's leading nuclear powers, to abandon its "dark path." Disturbingly, Washington seems to have become addicted to mocking Russia in this way. Russia is capable of launching a destructive retaliatory attack on the West. Russia's weak economy is plagued by Western sanctions and squeezing of its strategic space. That the West provokes Russia in such a manner is irresponsible for world peace.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1097887.shtml

Provocative Israeli airstrikes in Aleppo, Syria kill about 20 Iranian military personnel. Iran is goaded to strike back, then be destroyed "to protect Israel". Nukes would suffice. (What Israeli target can Iran strike without pulling that trigger?)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-14/unidentified-warplanes-strike-iranian-military-base-southern-syria-skynews-arabia

"Hours after the overnight US-led missile strikes on Syria, WikiLeaks republished a crucially important diplomatic cable through its official media accounts confirming that Saudi Arabia's long term strategy in Syria has been to pursue regime change "by all means available." According to the leaked internal Saudi government document, this is the kingdom's proposed end-goal even should the United States at any point show "lack of desire" due to the threat of Russian response and possibility of a 'great power' confrontation... It is also essential to recall that the al-Qaeda linked group which originated the claims of a government orchestrated chemical attack on civilians in the Damascus suburb of Douma, called Jaish al Islam (JAI), is and has always been state sponsored by the Saudi regime. The Guardian, among others, reported beginning in 2013 that Saudi Arabia founded and trained the group, spending millions...  Notably, as Russia as well as some Western counter-terror experts continue to point the finger at Jaish al Islam (and the "White Helmets") for staging the Douma "chemical attack" in order to provoke the US military response, it has emerged through past reporting that JAI itself had used chemical weapons against Kurdish militias in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud district in 2016 (and it appears that the Saudi-backed group openly admitted to carrying out prior chemical attacksaccording to The Daily Beast)."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-14/wikileaks-secret-cable-overthrow-syrian-regime-play-nice-russia

Cheating to Win

Arranging Armageddon

Examining the Facts,

The former UK Ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford, told BBC Radio Scotland regarding the alleged Douma chemical weapons attack: The Syrian government is probably not guilty. The sources claiming there was a chemical weapons attack are pro-Islamist jihadi propaganda outlets. The incident was probably staged, and it is likely that no one actually died. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-11/former-uk-ambassador-syria-syrian-chemical-weapons-attack-was-staged-islamic-jihadi

"There wasn't a single corpse" No corpses at all, in the Douma war zone. The made for TV movie was apparently NOT made in Douma, Syria. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-11/there-wasnt-single-corpse-russia-claims-white-helmets-staged-syria-chemical-attack

US attack in Syria is "Imminent", though uncertain, due to Trump not being smoothly in line with neocon/Pentagon consensus. John Ward has a few connections left. They say Trump favors a "surgical strike" to assassinate Assad and keep Syria in chaos, while neocons want a full court press, with boot-in-the-sand American (or other infantry?) invasion. (That would take the route for the Saudi-Qatari gas pipeline to Europe, which is critical to imperial strategy going forward. Even if Iran doesn't get a pipeline to Europe, the Russians, Syrians and friends need to prevent the US/Saudi/Israeli/NATO pipeline, and get Syria into a recovery from war, not the Libyan chaos. Europe needs gas from somebody and more gas pretty soon.) https://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2018/04/11/syria-us-attack-imminent-as-schism-

The Saker looks at the strike force being amassed by the US. (It could also strike Iran, couldn't it?)  Considering that the USS Georgia and USS John Warner nuclear submarines are also deployed in the region, the US Navy could have about 406 Tomahawks to use for its attack on the Assad government. On April 11, the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is set to depart Naval Station Norfolk for deployment in the Middle East and Europe. The strike group includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy and the guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke, USS Bulkeley, USS Forrest Sherman and USS Farragut. The destroyers USS Jason Dunham and USS The Sullivans will join the strike group later. If the attack on Syria does not take place in the coming days, the USS Harry S. Truman will further strengthen the US offensive capabilities for a possible large-scale invasion against the Assad government and thus Russian and Iranian forces deployed in Syria. 

https://thesaker.is/syrian-war-report-april-11-2018-us-destroyers-subs-with-hundreds-of-missiles-near-syria/

Trump now walks back the announcement of missile attacks on Syria "coming soon", and says they could be any time. Aircraft carrier USS Truman will be in the region in 2 weeks. (It seems to me that the missile attacks on the Syrian airfield last April were a prelude to invasion, but did not go so well since most missiles were taken out by electronic and anti-missile countermeasures. This looks like a rerun of the spring-invasion plan. Trump apparently does not want to invade, but the most he can probably do is be a big-mouthed galoot and out of step, and awkwardly obstructionist, and not-a-team-player...)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-12/trump-syria-attack-could-take-place-very-soon-or-not-so-soon-all

We are in the Last Days Before all Hell Breaks Loose, Paul Craig Roberts (A lot is included here that is not included elsewhere regarding strategic decisions of targets and escalation.)

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/04/10/last-days-hell-breaks-loose/

War Map of Syria is presented here:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-12/map-coming-war-who-who-and-where-syria

Praying for Nothing

Truthy Tucker

Questioning Motives,

[My personal view is that the critical Imperial interest in Syria is to get the Saudi-Qatari gas pipeline through to Europe, to hold the Western Empire and gulf sheikdoms together, and to make another war against Russia possible. Europe can't really make war upon Russia while expecting Russian gas to do so. The Empire really needs to control the European economy, and all oil and gas, including the Russian oil and gas.]

"What do we really know this time about chemical weapons attack in Douma?" "We know it's a fraud." Tucker Carlson , Thanks Tom.

(Who is protecting Tucker Carlson for him to say these things on TV? This is 13:40 of him calling the government liars and making his point as a Republican Senator obfuscates, implies Tucker is a Putin-enabler, and says the questions need to be asked, but not answered.)

https://americaneveryman.com/2018/04/10/tucker-what-do-we-really-know-this-time-about-chemical-weapon-attack-in-douma/

The US State Department Accuses Syria and Russia of Gassing Civilians before any Investigation, Caitlin Johnstone

https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/state-dept-accuses-russia-and-syria-of-gassing-civilians-before-any-investigation-8921495c83fb

The big question is whether this development portends an impending US attack on Syria, bypassing the UN. The UN has refused to confirm there has been any attack at all. Russia and Syrian government insist there has been no attack and have approached the Organization for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for an international investigation. The good thing is that the OPCW is deputing two teams of experts to go to Douma later this week.  http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2018/04/11/us-attack-on-syria-is-futile-but-serves-a-purpose/

When a Government declares a Verdict before an investigation, it's because there's a Pre-exising Agenda, more Caitlin (There is real urgency for the Empire to get a full scale invasion of Syria going.)

https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/when-a-government-declares-a-verdict-before-an-investigation-its-because-there-s-a-preexisting-64b5ffafb34c

"How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways. gradually, then suddenly." Ernest Hemmingway character in "The Sun Also Rises". 

When does the "suddenly" part happen for the $US. That's critical. It is the extractive solvent for transport of wealth into the empire from the rest of the world.

https://dailyreckoning.com/is-this-the-moment-of-truth/

"This revolution is non-ideological because the enemy that we are fighting does not have an ideology of its own. The nationless plutocratic power structure that is choking us all to death is not intrinsically socialist, capitalist, liberal, conservative, libertarian, progressive, Zionist, white supremacist, or anything else. It will use any or all of those ideologies at any given time to manipulate people toward supporting its agendas, but the rulers of the western empire ultimately do not care about any of those things. What they care about is maintaining and expanding their power, and they’ll cheerfully wave a rainbow flag today and a Nazi flag tomorrow in order to get it." More Caitlin, Thanks Cat

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/04/06/this-revolution-is-non-ideological/

"Hizbullah Today", provides insight into one of the most successful groups resisting the Western Empire. Thanks Eleni.

http://www.unz.com/article/hizbullah-today/

Why Systems Fail, Charles Hugh Smith (The empire is desperately close to the structure breaking, which holds it together.)

https://www.oftwominds.com/blogapr18/systems-fail4-18.html

Trump tells Russia that "Missiles are coming" to Syria. Russia expresses intention to shoot them down. (Who has more missiles? Somebody will run out first.)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-11/trump-warns-russia-missiles-are-coming-syria-after-moscow-vows-shoot-them-down

Trump asks Russia to roll-over. Russia won't roll-over (ever).

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/trump-asks-russia-to-roll-over-it-wont.html

Trump backpedals that tweet. (It's not up to him, anyway, is it?)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-11/futures-rebound-after-trump-reverses-tweets-russia-needs-us-help-their-economy

Syrian forces evacuate airfields and military bases ahead of attacks. (They are moving planes and weapons systems to Russian bases. Russia has said they will fight fire with fire if Russian soldiers are killed by western attacks. This is the brink.)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-11/syrian-pro-government-forces-evacuate-airports-military-bases-ahead-airstrikes

Israel vows to "Wipe Assad off the Map" if Iran attacks from Syrian territory. (Well, that's as clear as Polish troops invading a German radio station in 1939. The Israeli/US/French/Saudi response will be vigorous, I'm sure.)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-11/israel-vows-wipe-assad-map-if-iran-launches-attack-syrian-territory

French (puppet) President Macron appears ready to commit the French military to helping out Saudi friends in Syria.

http://www.dw.com/en/emmanuel-macron-broaches-possible-french-airstrikes-on-syria/a-43331358

Paul Craig Roberts: "There is no longer any doubt that the criminally insane government in Washington is driving the world to the last war."

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/04/09/threshold-war-paul-craig-roberts/

Google's data file on you is 10 times bigger than Facebook's. Here is how to access it, modify "preferences" and supposedly delete it.

http://theantimedia.com/google-10-times-data/

10 million pounds of human feces from New York and New Jersey have been sitting on the train tracks in Parrish Alabama for 2 months, horribly stinking up the small town, which has no authority to get the cargo out of there. It was headed to a landfill in another town, which got an injunction against it. Parrish has no specific laws on the books that can defend it against this unexpected fecal invasion.  Thanks Jeanine.

Parrish only spans 2 square miles, and the town's mayor, Heather Hall, says that everything stinks because of the containers. “It greatly reduces the quality of life,” she told CNN, “You can’t sit out on your porch. Kids can’t go outside and play, and God help us if it gets hot and this material is still out here.”

http://www.thedrive.com/news/19920/train-carrying-10-million-pounds-of-poop-stranded-in-alabama-train-yard-for-two-months

Living With It