Aletho News

Zero mainstream coverage today of the foiled, U.S. backed plot to assassinate Belarus president Lukashenko

By Gilbert Doctorow | April 19, 2021

In his last book “War with Russia?” my friend and colleague Steve Cohen wrote about the flagrant censorship of news being carried on by The New York Times in support of its Russia-bashing editorial policies. Said Cohen, the newspaper’s century old slogan of “All the News That’s Fit to Print” has been turned into “All the News that Fits” when it comes to coverage of Russia.

But the problem goes far deeper than the professional malpractice of one leading newspaper in America. The censorship of news carried by mainstream media by U.S. authorities covers not only the domestic press but also the mainstream of Allied countries. News blackouts are imposed when something ugly arises implicating the United States in violation of international norms of state behavior for which the State Department has no ready explanation or white wash. … continue

NYT ‘bounties’ non-story shows US/UK media has got so used to blaming Russia, it’s now doing it out of habit

By Paul Robinson | RT | April 20, 2021

As holes predictably appear in claims that Russia paid the Taliban to kill American soldiers, questions arise as to why such erroneous stories keep appearing in the American press. Domestic US politics provide part of the answer.

“A Powerful Russian Weapon: The Spread of False Stories.” So ran a headline in the New York Times in August 2016. If it were only a Russian phenomenon, the world would be a much better place. Alas, the Times is far from immune from spreading “false stories” itself. From Walter Duranty’s reporting from the Soviet Union, through Judith Miller’s articles on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, up to its coverage of accusations that US President Donald Trump had colluded with the Russian government, The New York Times has had its fair share of “fake news” experiences. … continue

WaPo-Style Fake News Russia Bashing

By Stephen Lendman | April 20, 2021

Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post provides propaganda services for Washington’s intelligence community.

Like other establishment media, the broadsheet is militantly hostile toward nations unwilling to sacrifice their sovereign rights to US interests.

Relentless Putin bashing reflects his model leadership and prominence on the world stage — in stark contrast to pygmy US and other Western counterparts.

According to neocon WaPo editors, UN Charter-breaching Biden regime sanctions on Russia weren’t tough enough.

Imposed for invented reasons as part of longstanding US Russia bashing, WaPo claimed “punches were pulled (sic).”

International investors can still buy Russian bonds unobstructed, the broadsheet complained, adding:

Russian energy and mineral enterprises weren’t sanctioned.

A typical litany of Big Lies followed. … continue

The Media Lied Repeatedly About Officer Brian Sicknick’s Death. And They Just Got Caught.

By Glenn Greenwald | April 19, 2021

It was crucial for liberal sectors of the media to invent and disseminate a harrowing lie about how Officer Brian Sicknick died. That is because he is the only one they could claim was killed by pro-Trump protesters at the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

So The New York Times on January 8 published an emotionally gut-wrenching complete fiction that never had any evidence — that Officer Sicknick’s skull was savagely bashed in with a fire extinguisher by a pro-Trump mob until he died — and, just like the now-discredited Russian bounty story also unveiled by that same paper, cable outlets and other media platforms repeated this lie over and over in the most emotionally manipulative way possible. … continue

China Launches New App Allowing Citizens to Report Others For Expressing “Mistaken Opinions”

By Paul Joseph Watson | Summit News | April 19, 2021

China’s Communist government has launched a new app that encourages citizens to report dissidents for expressing “mistaken opinions” on the Internet.

The new platform will target anyone who criticizes the dictatorship’s ruling CCP, disputes the official version of the country’s history or engages in “misinformation.”

The new website and app was proudly unveiled by China’s Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), with authorities calling on users to play an “active role” in helping to identify “malicious people distorting facts and confusing” others.

“For a while now, some people with ulterior motives… have spread historically nihilistic false statements online, maliciously distorting, slandering and denying Party, national and military history in an attempt to confuse people’s thinking,” the announcement said.

“We hope that most internet users will play an active role in supervising society…and enthusiastically report harmful information.” […]

Given that social media mobs in the west, routinely aided by journalists, already conduct witch hunts that lead to people being socially ostracized, deplatformed and left unemployed for expressing “mistaken opinions,” are we really that better off than Chinese dissidents? … Full article

YouTube CEO wins ‘Free Expression Award’ sponsored by YouTube, then boasts how platform censors content 

RT | April 19, 2021

Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of Google’s video platform YouTube, was awarded the Freedom Forum Institute’s ‘Free Expression Award’ on Friday in a ceremony sponsored by her own company – despite YouTube’s track record of censorship.

In the digital awards ceremony, YouTube video creator Molly Burke praised Wojcicki as a free speech leader before the YouTube CEO detailed in her acceptance speech how much the platform censors its users.

“The freedoms we have, we really can’t take for granted,” Wojcicki declared, adding that “we really have to make sure we’re protecting them in every way possible.”

Wojcicki, however, went on to argue that “we also need to make sure there are limits,” and revealed that the company removed nine million videos in the last quarter, 90% of which were taken down by machines.

She also said there is “a lot of content that technically meets the spirit of what we’re trying to do, but it is borderline, and so for that content we will just reduce – meaning we’re not going to recommend it to our users.”

Social media users mocked the irony of Wojcicki receiving an award for free speech, and the video of the ceremony on YouTube had garnered more than 400 dislikes and just one like at the time of writing. … continue

“A Sign Of Progress”: How A Tiny Corporate Media Clique Inverted Reality During Brazil’s 2016 Coup

BRASIL WIRE | APRIL 17, 2021

On the fifth anniversary of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, the role foreign media played in propagandising for it still warrants further investigation. … continue

What will we get for a multitrillion-dollar energy policy?

BY PETER Z. GROSSMAN – THE HILL – 04/14/21

President Biden has made no secret of his plans to spend trillions of dollars on climate policies, which in his case means substituting renewable energy (especially wind and solar) for fossil fuels.

But the question we should all be asking is: What will those trillions get us?

In reality, close to nothing. That is, the U.S. will expend enormous resources to replace one vast electric system with a different one, which will do nothing any better than the one we have now. Well, it will emit less carbon dioxide, but its effect on global temperatures will be negligible.

Moreover, there are other less costly and disruptive ways to reduce CO2 emissions besides erecting 60,000 wind turbines and 500 million solar panels, as Biden plans. Yet all that new energy technology will just provide light and heat that run our appliances and charge our electric automobiles — the same as the technology we have now.

Actually, the new technology will in many ways be worse because it will be prone to blackouts, kill endangered birds and bats, raise electric rates and deface farmlands and wilderness areas with gigantic wind turbines, newly carved access roads and thousands of miles of new high-voltage power lines strung across thousands of steel towers. … continue

Scientists say

Science Notes | April 14 2021

Some scientists in the past have said that during the Phanerozoic Eon, which spans the last 541 million years, CO2 was the atmospheric control knob driving temperature change. But others have said the two weren’t correlated at all. Now with the benefit of a large number of new data sets covering the Phanerozoic beginning with the “Cambrian explosion” of multicellular plant and animal life, the evidence is in. … continue

Starmer’s Climate Hypocrisy

Gaia Fawkes | April 19, 2021

Despite advocating for “a green new deal hardwired into every level of government” during his leadership campaign, Keir Starmer nonetheless took to the skies over the weekend, flying from London to Edinburgh Airport (which is currently only open for ‘essential travel’) to film a campaign ad ahead of May’s local elections. A bit of a surprise, considering Starmer previously pushed for tax reforms to encourage alternatives to flying. Guido’s research also showed that, had Starmer taken a train, he would have apparently reduced his carbon footprint for the trip by 90%… Full article

‘Get out of my pub!’: Labour leader Keir Starmer THROWN OUT by landlord for supporting lockdowns

RT | April 19, 2021

Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer was dramatically kicked out of a pub in Bath by an angry licensee, who chastised him for supporting Covid-19 lockdowns.

In a series of videos published on social media, Monday, Starmer could first be seen arguing on the street with the landlord of The Raven, Rod Humphreys.

“Do you know what the average age of death from Covid is? It’s 82 years and three months. The average age of death normally? 81 years old”, said Humphreys. “Do you understand we have f***ed our economy because old people are dying?”

“You have failed me! I’ve been a Labour voter my entire life. You have failed to be the opposition. You have failed to ask whether lockdown was functioning”, Humphreys continued, before telling Starmer that “thousands of people have died because you have failed to do your job and ask the real questions…”

As Humphreys began to condemn Starmer for supporting the requirement that children wear a face mask in school, Starmer and his team attempted to bring the confrontation off the street by ducking inside the pub – a decision he likely regrets.

It wasn’t long before an increasingly angry Humphreys told the Labour Party leader to get out, shouting, “That man is not allowed in my pub. Get out of my pub! Go on! Get out of my pub!” … Full article

Courts Use COVID To Take Kids From Parents

By Michael Volpe | The American Conservative | April 17, 2021

In April 2020, NBC ran a story about a doctor in Florida who was kept from her children on the pretense that her job posed a COVID risk to them. That same month, CNN ran a story about an E.R. doctor who similarly lost custody temporarily because a judge decided her job was no longer safe.

“The Court does not enter this Order lightly but given the pandemic in Florida and the recent increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases, the Court finds in order to insulate and protect the best interests and health of the minor child, this Order must be entered on a temporary basis,” the judge wrote in that court ruling.

This phenomenon, however, is hardly limited to healthcare professionals with immediate exposure to the virus. On the contrary—even though COVID-19 has been consistently shown to pose no substantial threat to children—in a number of recent cases around the U.S., judges have used marginally COVID-related reasons to justify denying a parent custody or even altering a pre-existing custody agreement.

The American Conservative interviewed Melanie Joseph and Dr. Micheline Epstein, both of whose custody cases have recently received media attention. Both told TAC that their situations provide windows into widespread judicial tyranny in the U.S.A. … continue

Overexposed Fauci has nothing to add to gun debate and his intervention is an insult to firearms victims

By Micah Curtis | RT | April 19, 2021

CNN’s invitation to Dr. Anthony Fauci to opine on whether gun violence is a health issue in the US was totally misplaced. He’s not qualified to comment, and after his performance on Covid, few will be prepared to listen anyway. … continue

Why Can’t We ‘Just March Out’ Of Afghanistan?

By Ron Paul | April 19, 2021

Last week President Biden announced a “full” US withdrawal from Afghanistan – the longest war in US history – by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the United States. While this announcement is to be welcomed, the delayed US withdrawal may result in Americans and Afghans dying needlessly for good PR optics back home. We all remember how many Americans died after President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” stunt in Iraq.

The war has been a disaster from day one. So why wait to end it? … continue

Vienna talks reveal Biden team’s attachment to sanctions that would torpedo Iran deal

BY GARETH PORTER · THE GRAYZONE · APRIL 18, 2021

Biden’s foreign policy team refuses to relieve Iran from sanctions illegally imposed by the Trump administration, setting the stage for the collapse of negotiations and a major crisis. … continue

Settlers sabotage water facility, burn its electric panel in Nablus

Palestine Information Center – April 19, 2021

NABLUS – A horde of extremist Jewish settlers on Sunday evening infiltrated into Asira al-Qibliya village, south of Nablus, and burned a main electric distribution board used to provide the village with water supply.

Local official Ghassan Daghlas said that settlers set fire to the main power board, for the second consecutive time in two months, and smashed the main entrance gate of the water tank that feeds Asira al-Qibliya village with water.

Two months ago, settlers from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar infiltrated into the village and sabotaged the same electric distribution board and the water tank’s main gate.

As other areas of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian villages and towns of southern Nablus are exposed to daily attacks by Jewish settlers and soldiers.

Settlers torch 50 olive trees in Beit Fajjar

Palestine Information Center – April 18, 2021

BETHLEHEM – Jewish settlers torched dozens of perennial olive trees in Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem, on Saturday.

Hassan Breijia, an activist, reported that a group of settlers burned down 50 olive trees in the Deir Mualla area, north of the town.

The settlers came from the settlement of Migdal Oz, which was established by the Israeli occupation in 1977 on the lands of Beit Fajjar.

Statistics indicate that 165,000 Jewish settlers or 20% of the number of settlers in the West Bank live in settlements built on the lands of Bethlehem.

“Terror by White Supremacists”: BLM denounces coverage of Co-Founder’s R.E. purchases and Facebook censors story

By Jonathan Turley | April 16, 2021

We recently discussed the move by Twitter to block the tweet of sports journalist Jason Whitlock criticizing the BLM co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors for purchasing a $1.4 million home in a secluded area of Los Angeles. A self-professed Marxist, Cullors has reportedly purchased four homes worth more than $3 million and has looked at real estate investments in places like the Bahamas. As with the censoring of a New York Post article on the Hunter Biden laptop story, Twitter was criticized for the censoring of the story and later said it was a mistake. Now, Facebook has reportedly blocked the underlying New York Post report about the controversy. In the meantime, BLM itself insists that the controversy is little more than terrorism from white supremacists.

Various conservative sites reported this week that Facebook users could not share the link to a story that shed light on Cullors’ multi-million-dollar splurge on homes. Fox News reported that “an error message appears whenever users try sharing the article on their personal Facebook page or through the Messenger app.”

Cullors has not denied the purchase or the real estate investments, including in her statement below to the controversy. The story was widely circulated because Cullors has long insisted that she and her BLM co-founder “are trained Marxists. We are super versed on, sort of, ideological theories.” … continue

New Bill Seeks To Convince Biden To Implement ‘No First Use’ Nuclear Policy

By Tyler Durden | Zero Hedge | April 18, 2021

Currently, the only global nuclear-armed powers with a “no first use” (NFU) nuclear policy are China and India. According to the working common definition, “A no-first-use policy means that the United States would pledge to use nuclear weapons only in retaliation for a nuclear attack.”

Going back to the Cold War the United States has consistently resisted implementing a no first use nuclear policy, stating it “reserves the right to use” nuclear weapons first in a conflict scenario, which was reaffirmed most recently in its Nuclear Posture Review in 2010.

And now Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced a bill in the House and Senate on Friday that seeks to prohibit the US from using nuclear weapons first.

Introduced by Democrats Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Rep. Adam Smith (WA) the bill introduces: “It is the policy of the United States to not use nuclear weapons first.”

“Threatening to use nuclear weapons first makes America less safe because it increases the chances of a miscalculation or an accident,” Warren said in a statement arguing the bill’s urgency. “There are no winners in a nuclear war, and the US should never start one.”

Rep. Smith also affirmed, “The United States should never initiate a nuclear war,” in his statement, saying further, “This bill would strengthen deterrence while reducing the chance of nuclear use due to miscalculation or misunderstanding.” … continue

Trump Condemns Biden’s Delay in Ending Afghan War to 9/11

Sputnik – 18.04.2021

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo signed the peace agreement with the Afghan Taliban on behalf of the Trump administration on February 29, 2020. But new president Joe Biden has already broken the terms of the deal by delaying the US troop pull-out until September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that prompted the US invasion.

Former US president Donald Trump has laid into his successor Joe Biden’s delay in withdrawing troops from Afghanistan to September 11 this year.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the property tycoon laid out his reasons why postponing the pull-out was a mistake.

“First, we can and should get out earlier. Nineteen years is enough, in fact, far too much and way too long,” Trump said. … continue

Oregon may indefinitely extend controversial mask mandate as other states begin to ease Covid-19 restrictions

RT | April 18, 2021

As some states begin to lift their Covid-19 measures, Oregon is considering keeping some of its own restrictions for the foreseeable future, reportedly prompting a flood of negative responses from the public.

Michael Wood, the administrator of the state’s department of Occupational Safety and Health, said rules requiring masks and social distancing in all businesses in Oregon may be extended indefinitely. The restrictions, which are set to expire on May 4, could be maintained until they are “no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace.”

The proposal aims to satisfy state law, which requires a “permanent” rule to prevent the current measures from expiring. […]

Oregon, which has had some of the strictest restrictions in the country, isn’t alone in eyeing long-term Covid-19 rules. In January, Virginia became the first in the nation to impose permanent workplace safety and health rules aimed at reducing the spread of the virus. – Full article

Africans Deflect Biden’s Demand To End Fossil Fuel Use

By Duggan Flanakin ~ PA Pundits – International ~ April 17, 2021

As the merger of climate change and COVID panic materializes in front of our eyes, “global leaders” have found plenty developing world voices to join the crusade to “save the planet” from carbon (dioxide) “pollution.” But like their Chinese and Indian counterparts, many Africans, from heads of state to captains of industry and beyond, intend to expand, not shrink, reliance on fossil fuels to build their economies.

According to Oxford University researcher Galina Alova, “Africa’s electricity demand is set to increase significantly as the continent strives to industrialise and improve the well-being of its people,” but those who hope for rapid decarbonization in Africa will likely be disappointed.

Alova’s research found that Africa is likely to double its electricity generation by 2030, with fossil fuels providing two-thirds of the total, hydroelectric another 18 percent, and non-hydro renewables providing less than 10 percent.

Such an energy mix flies in the face of the firm commitment from the fledgling Biden Administration to demand an end to all international financing of fossil fuel based energy projects. Biden climate envoy John Kerry won a strong endorsement from 450 organizations worldwide after telling World Economic Forum members of the “plan for ending international finance of fossil fuel projects with public money.”

The Biden plan, which comports with the Paris climate agreement, echos the call by European Union foreign ministers for an end to financing fossil fuel projects abroad (which means in Africa). Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained that “development finance is a powerful tool for addressing the climate crisis” that the U.S. will use to “help drive investment toward climate solutions.” [Translation: “We intend to ram decarbonization down their throats!”] … continue

‘Obscene’ windfarm subsidies revealed

Global Warming Policy Forum | April 16, 2021

GWPF research has shown that just six offshore windfarms are now sharing £1.6 billion pounds in subsidies between them every year. Three receive annual subsidies of over a quarter of a billion pounds each year. On a single day in April last year, Hornsea 1 received a subsidy payment of nearly £1.5 million pounds.

The level of subsidy is sufficient to cover the construction cost of these windfarms in just six or seven years, meaning that future payments will represent almost pure profit for the operators.

The cost of the Contracts for Difference regime is accelerating, and rose by £0.7 billion last year alone, reaching £2.3 billion in 2020. Consumers are already paying out £6 billion under the Renewables Obligation and another £1 billion under the Capacity Market.

Direct subsidies therefore amount to an annual payment from each household of £350, a sum that is rising by at least £25 per year. … continue

Rollout of cartoon MASCOT to promote dumping Fukushima’s radioactive waters into ocean flops in Japan

RT | April 15, 2021

Japan’s government has scrapped a mascot promoting the plan to dump contaminated Fukushima wastewaters into the ocean just a day after its release, after the cute character received an extremely poor reception from the public.

The mascot, called ‘Little Mr. Tritium’, was withdrawn by the authorities for redesign on Wednesday.

“Since the theme of radiation is highly specialized and difficult to understand, we will use illustrations to get as many people as possible interested,” Japan’s Reconstruction Agency said in a statement.

The agency added it had received “various voices and reactions from the people” regarding Little Mr. Tritium, and said the design will now be revised. No timeframe for the potential return of the mascot has been provided.

The mascot, featured in animated videos and leaflets, made its premiere on Tuesday and had an extremely short-lived career, lasting for about a day. The character is a small greenish creature, named after tritium – a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, that contaminates over one million tons of water stored in large tanks around the crippled nuclear power plant.

Little Mr. Tritium’s rollout was blasted as an extremely distasteful move, given the gravity of the potential environmental impact the release of radioactive waters might have.

“The gap between the gravity of the problems we face and the levity of the character is huge,” Katsuo Watanabe, an 82-year-old fisherman from Fukushima, told the Kyodo news agency. “It seems the government’s desire to release the water into the sea takes priority over everything.”

Others found it insulting that the government apparently believed creating a cute little mascot was enough to win public support for the extremely unpopular move. The impending release of the wastewaters has been repeatedly rejected by Japan’s fisheries and environmentalists.

The radioactive liquid – coolant water, as well as rain and sea water seeping into the plant through cracks – has accumulated over the years after the catastrophic meltdown Fukushima suffered back in 2011. The wastewater is described by the Japanese government as “treated,” as it underwent a filtering process, dubbed the advanced liquid processing system (ALPS).

The ALPS process, however, is unable to rid the liquid of tritium. Environmentalist groups have repeatedly accused the Japanese government of misleading the public with the “treated” label. … Full article

The Dawn Of The E-Vehicle Battery Environmental Disaster … Discarded Even Sooner Than Expected

By P Gosselin – No Tricks Zone – 17. April 2021

It’s all beginning to dawn on the greens: the looming environmental disaster of e-vehicle batteries.

When it comes to lithium-ion e-vehicles and the environmentalist greens and profiteers:

• They know it’s a disaster.
• We know it’s a disaster.
• They know that we know that they know it’s a disaster.
• But they still pretend it isn’t.*

The huge environmental problems of e-cars are emerging

Now it’s beginning to dawn on the greens: They’ve got a colossal environmental problem in the works – a problem they were warned about long ago and one they’ve refused to believe was real because it clashed with their vision of a green utopia.

Greens playing them down, hoping for solutions

At the moment they are playing it down, insisting solutions to avert the lithium ion battery’s environmental problem will be found in time. But they are clearly getting uneasy about it as the astronomical dimensions of the problem of producing 200 million lithium ion car batteries – and the later disposing of them – are becoming undeniable.

Expert: “Urgent environmental issue” 

Not long ago Nobel Prize winning Japanese chemist and lithium battery researcher Akira Yoshino  warned that solutions for recycling these batteries were sorely needed and that it was becoming “an urgent environmental issue.” … continue

Follow the Science: Seas Rising 20 Times Slower than the Media Claim

By James Taylor | ClimateRealism | April 13, 2021

The prominent progressive magazine The Nation published an article today claiming the current trajectory for sea level rise is 20-or-more feet during the next 100 to 200 years. Unfortunately for The Nation, but fortunately for objective truth and climate realism, the current trajectory for sea level rise is merely 1 foot per century.

Google News this morning is promoting The Nation’s article among its top results under the search term “climate crisis.” The Nation article, titled “How Warming Oceans Are Accelerating the Climate Crisis,” claims, “Humans have locked in at least 20 feet of sea level rise.”

The article also claims, “If seas rise 20 feet or more over the next 100 to 200 years – which is our current trajectory – the outlook is grim. In that scenario, there could be two feet of sea level rise by 2040, three feet by 2050, and much more to come.”

According to NASA and NOAA satellite instruments, sea level is rising at a mere 3 millimeters per year, which is a pace of just under one foot per century. (Note, the NASA/NOAA-reported 3.3 mm/year rise in Global Mean Sea Level includes a 0.3 mm “adjustment” that accounts for land rising as glaciers melt. The sea-level rise in relation to coastal shorelines is therefore 3.0 mm/year.) Moreover, the satellite measurements show no significant acceleration during recent decades in the pace of sea-level rise.

Given that seas are rising at a pace of merely one foot per century, which is little if any faster than the pace of sea-level rise throughout the global warming of the 1800s and 1900s, it is almost certain that seas will not rise 20 feet during the next 100 to 200 years. It is also almost certain that seas will not rise two feet during the next 20 years. … Full article

Persuasion and the Prestige Paradox: Are High Status People More Likely to Lie?

By Rob Henderson | Quillette | April 3, 2021

Many have discovered an argument hack. They don’t need to argue that something is false. They just need to show that it’s associated with low status. The converse is also true: You don’t need to argue that something is true. You just need to show that it’s associated with high status. And when low status people express the truth, it sometimes becomes high status to lie.

In the 1980s, the psychologists Richard E. Petty and John T. Cacioppo developed the “Elaboration Likelihood Model” to describe how persuasion works. “Elaboration” here means the extent to which a person carefully thinks about the information. When people’s motivation and ability to engage in careful thinking is present, the “elaboration likelihood” is high. This means people are likely to pay attention to the relevant information and draw conclusions based on the merits of the arguments or the message. When elaboration likelihood is high, a person is willing to expend their cognitive resources to update their views. … continue

Corrupted News Network CNN

By Stephen Lendman | April 18, 2021

Founded in 1980, the most distrusted name in television news CNN consistently features fake news and mass deception over the real thing it long ago banned on air.

Like other establishment media, it reports a daily drumbeat of utter rubbish — truth and full disclosure on major issues nowhere in sight.

Project Veritas (PV) caught CNN reporting bald-faced Big Lies earlier.

Last week, Twitter suspended the account of its founder James O’Keefe for exposing anti-Trump propaganda reports by CNN — falsely claiming he violated company rules.

PV’s undercover video caught CNN technical director Charlie Chester red-handed — boasting about his anti-Trump propaganda, saying:

“Look what we did. (CNN fake news) got Trump out (sic).”

“I am 100​ percent going to say it, and I 100​ percent believe that if it wasn’t for CNN, I don’t know that Trump would have got voted out (sic).”

“Our focus was to get Trump out of office, right? Without saying it, that’s what it was.” … continue

‘I see my money as not my own’: BLM co-founder defends hoard of fancy homes in mostly-white neighborhoods

RT | April 16, 2021

Black Lives Matter’s chief and self-described “trained Marxist” Patrisse Khan-Cullors was forced to defend her real estate hoard on camera – by insisting that she sees her home in a well-off Los Angeles area as communal property.

“The way that I live my life is in direct support to black people, including my black family members,” Cullors defiantly told former CNN journalist Marc Lamont-Hill on Thursday as outcry over the gap between her stated ideals and her life reached a boiling point. […]

Cullors did not explain (and was not asked by Hill) why she had reportedly chosen to buy a $1.4 million home in Topanga Canyon, a tony enclave of Los Angeles where the population is 1.4% black – or why she apparently opted to buy it through a corporate entity instead of purchasing it directly. This is not Cullors’ only such purchase in LA, according to the media reports into her multi-million dollar purchases. […]

While Cullors couldn’t keep her spending private, she had some assistance from social media, which have been blocking the URL of a New York Post article about her real-estate binge posted on Tuesday. Attempts to link to the story on Facebook returned error messages “because this link goes against our Community Standards,” Newsweek confirmed. Black journalist Jason Whitlock was locked out of Twitter on Friday for similar reasons, deeming BLM “one of Big Tech’s sacred cows” and – in the offending tweet – joking that Cullors was “with her people” in lily-white Topanga Canyon. … Full article

Norway to allow US to build military facilities on its soil in new pact

Press TV – April 17, 2021

Norway has signed an agreement with the US to build facilities on its airfields and a naval base amid growing tensions between the US-led military alliance and neighboring Russia.

“The agreement regulates and facilitates US presence, training and exercises in Norway, thus facilitating rapid US reinforcement of Norway in the event of crisis or war,” the Norwegian government said.

The government further noted that the accord between the two founding NATO members will let the American military build facilities in three Norwegian air bases and one of its naval facilities, which would not constitute separate US bases. […]

Since joining NATO in 1949, Norway has claimed it would not allow the building of foreign bases or the stockpiling of nuclear weapons on its soil, although Western troops would be welcome to conduct military drills there. … Full article

Journalists, Learning They Spread a CIA Fraud About Russia, Instantly Embrace a New One

By Glenn Greenwald | April 16, 2021

That Russia placed “bounties” on the heads of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan was one of the most-discussed and consequential news stories of 2020. It was also, as it turns out, one of the most baseless — as the intelligence agencies who spread it through their media spokespeople now admit, largely because the tale has fulfilled and outlived its purpose.

The saga began on June 26, 2020, when The New York Times announced that unnamed “American intelligence officials” have concluded that “a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops.” The paper called it “a significant and provocative escalation” by Russia. Though no evidence was ever presented to support the CIA’s claims — neither in that original story nor in any reporting since — most U.S. media outlets blindly believed it and spent weeks if not longer treating it as proven, highly significant truth. Leading politicians from both parties similarly used this emotional storyline to advance multiple agendas.

The story appeared — coincidentally or otherwise — just weeks after President Trump announced his plan to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2020. Pro-war members of Congress from both parties and liberal hawks in corporate media spent weeks weaponizing this story to accuse Trump of appeasing Putin by leaving Afghanistan and being too scared to punish the Kremlin. Cable outlets and the op-ed pages of The New York Times and Washington Post endlessly discussed the grave implications of this Russian treachery and debated which severe retaliation was needed. “This is as bad as it gets,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Then-candidate Joe Biden said Trump’s refusal to punish Russia and his casting doubt on the truth of the story was more proof that Trump’s “entire presidency has been a gift to Putin,” while Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) demanded that, in response, the U.S. put Russians and Afghans “in body bags.”

What was missing from this media orgy of indignation and militaristic demands for retaliation was an iota of questioning of whether the story was, in fact, true. … continue

Pentagon Spokesman Refuses to Apologize for Afghan Bounties Allegations Against Russia

Sputnik – 16.04.2021

WASHINGTON – Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday that there will not be any apologies for the debunked US allegations that Russia offered monetary awards to militants in Afghanistan for killing US soldiers deployed in the region.

The intelligence review of all Russia-related grievances commissioned by President Joe Biden found “low to moderate” confidence in the allegations that had been rejected by Moscow and dismissed by officials in the Trump administration.

“We are talking about safety and well-being of our troops in harms way. And we won’t make any apologies for wanting to be concerned about that,” Kirby said during a briefing.

Afghan bounties allegations were actively promoted by the Biden campaign ahead of the 2020 presidential election as an example of what was described as former President Donald Trump’s inability to stand up to Russia. … Full article

Russian Foreign Ministry statement on measures in response to hostile US actions

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation | April 16, 2021

The latest attack by the Biden administration against our country cannot go unanswered. It seems Washington is unwilling to accept that there is no room for unilateral dictates in the new geopolitical reality. Meanwhile, the bankrupt scenarios for deterring Moscow that the US myopically continues to pursue only promise to further degrade Russian-US relations.

In this context, the appeals from across the ocean to refrain from escalation and essentially accept this attempt to talk to us from a position of strength sound hypocritical. We have repeatedly warned and demonstrated in practice that sanctions and any other pressure will never succeed and will only have dire consequences for those who dare attempt such provocations.

We will introduce the following countermeasures in response to anti-Russian sanctions in the near future… continue

A year and $85bn later, US spies still don’t know ‘where, when or how’ Covid-19 hit – but it ‘could’ve been a lab’

By Kit Klarenberg | RT | April 17, 2021

The question of how SARS-CoV-2 came to wreak havoc on the planet is one many have asked but none, so far, have answered. The truth is out there, but the very people on the case could have every reason to ensure it doesn’t emerge.

On April 14, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines revealed that after over a year of determined sleuthing, US spying agencies had no concrete answers on basic questions regarding the origins of the 2019 coronavirus.

“It is absolutely accurate the intelligence community does not know exactly where, when, or how Covid-19 virus was transmitted initially,” Haines told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Components have coalesced around two alternative theories, these scenarios are it emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals, or it was a laboratory accident.”

This time last year, Donald Trump alleged he’d seen evidence confirming covid was laboratory-made and, throughout 2020, former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove also claimed the virus was “an engineered escapee” from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Haines’ public admission that a “laboratory accident” is a possible explanation is significant because intelligence services have thus far been quick to dismiss the suggestion as a conspiracy theory whenever it’s been aired in public. In response to Trump’s statement for example, the Director of National Intelligence’s office firmly refuted the idea Covid-19 was “manmade or genetically modified.” Of course, the virus could be neither and still have escaped from a lab. … continue

UN complicit in US-Saudi act of piracy against fuel tankers: Yemen

Press TV – April 17, 2021

The Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) has lashed out at US-backed invading Saudi coalition for impounding Yemeni fuel tankers, calling the United Nations “a partner in the maritime piracy.”

“The US-Saudi coalition keeps confiscating ships carrying Yemeni fuel under the auspices of the United Nations,” YPC Executive Director Ammar al-Adhrai said.

Al-Adhrai made the remarks on Friday during a protest held outside the UN office in the Yemeni capital Sana’a under the slogan “Denying the siege is an additional crime.” … Full article

Pentagon Does Not Rule Out Possibility of Deploying More Capabilities for Afghan Pullout

Sputnik – 16.04.2021

The Defense Department does not rule out the possibility of deploying additional capabilities to Afghanistan for the US drawdown, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday.

“It is not out of the realm of the possible that for a short period of time there will have to be some additional enabling capabilities added to Afghanistan to, again, help affect a safe, orderly, and deliberately planned drawdown of everybody by the president’s deadline in early September,” Kirby said in a press briefing.

Kirby said preliminary drawdown plans are currently being revised, which include the pullout of some US contractors from Afghanistan. […]

The Taliban representatives have repeatedly stated the need for the United States to comply with the previously agreed deadlines for the withdrawal of troops, stipulated in the agreement signed in Doha. … Full article

Israel prevents non-vaccinated Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque

MEMO | April 17, 2021

Israeli occupation authorities have prevented thousands of Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Arab48 reported.

According to the news website, the Israeli authorities set a condition for the worshippers from the occupied territories to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to obtain access to the Muslim holy site.

Meanwhile, the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip do not have sufficient quantities of vaccines, and therefore thousands were deprived of performing the first Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli military checkpoints between the West Bank and Israel have experienced severe congestion, Anadolu Agency reported, noting that disputes occurred between Palestinians and the Israeli occupation forces at Qalandia Checkpoint.

“We were prevented from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque under the pretext of not being vaccinated,” Samia Abdul-Aziz told Anadolu Agency. “However,” she argued, “they aim to reduce the number of Muslim worshippers inside the sanctity yards.”

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians, steal land with impunity. Imagine the outrage if any other state did it.

By Eva Bartlett | RT | April 16, 2021

Every aspect of their existence on occupied Palestinian land is illegal. Still, the violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against civilians continues, propped up by Israel’s legal system and the world’s blind eyes.

Periodically, we will hear in the news something about the illegal colonies (settlements), but increasingly rarely over the years, and generally without a human face: just numbers and false promises to end the expansion of these colonies choking Palestinians from their land. … continue

Associated Press misreports news about Gaza rocket into Israel

By Alison Weir | Israel-Palestine News | April 16, 2021

A recent news report by the Associated Press (AP) published by thousands of newspapers around the U.S. contains inaccurate information.

The report, entitled “Israeli army: Rocket from Gaza hits south Israel,” states in its lead sentence that the rocket broke weeks of “cross border calm.”

In reality, Israeli forces have attacked Gaza numerous times in the past several weeks… continue

Israeli spies impersonated journalists to gather info from Emirati dissidents: Report

Press TV – April 17, 2021

A private Israeli spy company has reportedly impersonated journalists in order to elicit information from opponents of the leadership of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Daily Beast reported last week that individuals pretending to be a Fox News researcher and a reporter for Italy’s La Stampa newspaper approached two men, who have fallen afoul of the Ras Al Khaimah regime, in early 2020.

The journalist impersonators, it added, tried to trick the two men into divulging information about their legal disputes with the Emirati authorities.

Facebook revealed that the accounts used by the two supposed journalists were associated with the private Israeli intelligence firm Bluehawk CI.

In one of the cases, a woman claiming to be named “Samantha,” a FOX News journalist, contacted Oussama el-Omari by email, trying to obtain information about his legal rifts with the Ras Al Khaimah regime. […]

Established in June 2018, the company claims on its website that it offers cyber technologies and intelligence solutions, including “social engineering & PR campaign management” and “complex intelligence investigations.”

Last year’s normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE paved the way for lucrative deals by Israeli intelligence and cybersecurity firms in the Persian Gulf country. … Full article

Ontario to set up Covid-19 checkpoints at borders with Quebec & Manitoba to turn away ‘non-essential travelers’

RT | April 17, 2021

Canada’s Ontario province is setting up checkpoints at its borders with neighboring Manitoba and Quebec to turn away non-essential travelers, further curtailing personal freedoms in the name of fighting the spread of Covid-19.

The new travel restrictions will take effect on April 19, and only people who need to enter Ontario to work, receive medical care or deliver goods will be allowed to cross the provincial borders, Premier Doug Ford announced on Friday. Ford also extended a stay-at-home order for Ontario residents to six weeks from four weeks and gave police new powers to ramp up enforcement of his pandemic restrictions.

The new provisions toughen Covid-19 lockdown rules that Ford described as already the strictest in North America. Outdoor gatherings with people from other households are banned under the new orders, and capacity limits for large retailers will be cut to 25% of normal. Indoor religious gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 10 people, and non-essential construction projects are being suspended. There are also new restrictions on outdoor recreational venues, such as soccer fields and playgrounds. … Full article

If J&J Coronavirus Vaccine Shots Are Halted Because of Blood Clots, Why Not Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Also?

By Adam Dick | Ron Paul Institute | April 17, 2021

When the United States government’s Food and Drug Administration earlier this week called for temporarily halting the giving of Johnson & Johnson’s experimental coronavirus vaccine shots because of the developing of blood clots in people who have received the shots, I asked if we were seeing an example of regulatory favoritism for the new mRNA technology shots over more traditional vaccine shots such as the Johnson & Johnson shots. The question arises because the US government is still encouraging everyone to take experimental mRNA “vaccines” from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech regarding which there are also many reports of injury and death.

While a variety or injuries and deaths have been reported after people have taken experimental coronavirus vaccine shots developed respectively by the three companies, if you focus in on just blood clot problems, those problems appear to arise after Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech experimental coronavirus shots as well as after Johnson & Johnson shots. … continue

Is the Astra-Zeneca vaccine killing people?

By Sebastian Rushworth, M.D. | April 17, 2021

… yes, several young, otherwise healthy people have been killed by the Astra-Zeneca vaccine.

The incidence of this condition appears to be quite low. As mentioned, 132,000 people had received the Astra-Zeneca vaccine in Norway when this was discovered. And at least five of those people developed this new disease state, which the authors of the case series are calling VITT (vaccine induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia). If we assume (generously) that every case of vaccine side effects gets reported, that would mean an incidence of around one in 26,000.

However, the system for reporting of vaccine side effects is entirely dependent on three separate steps, and the system can easily fall down at any of the three steps. First, the treating clinician has to know that the patient has recently received a certain vaccine. Second, the clinician has to consider that the patient’s condition might have been caused by exposure to that vaccine. Third, the clinician has to take the time to contact the relevant authorities.

It is well known that most side effects never get reported. So what we are witnessing here could easily just be the tip of the iceberg. As societies, we’ve rushed headlong in to mass vaccination campaigns based on scant evidence. Most people seem unaware that the covid-19 vaccines have been approved based on only two months of preliminary trial data, and that the vaccine trials are still ongoing, and won’t be completed until 2022 at the earliest.

These case series show that a number of previously healthy young people have so far been killed by the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. Considering their age and underlying health status, the risk to them from covid-19 itself was infinitesimal. For healthy young people it is not at all clear that the potential benefits from the covid-19 vaccines outweigh the potential harms.

That doesn’t just go for the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. It goes for all the vaccines. It is quite possible that new revelations will arrive over the coming months concerning the other vaccines too. Now would be a good time for governments to change vaccination strategies, halt all plans to vaccinate healthy young people, and instead only vaccinate those who are at substantial risk of serious outcomes from covid-19.

It is unethical to vaccinate healthy young people until it is clear that the benefits to them outweigh the harms. At the present point in time, that is not at all clear. – Read full article

Denying the Demonic

By Edward Curtin | April 16, 2021

… I am interested in asking why so many people can’t accept that radical evil is real. Is that a right-wing question? Of course not. It’s a human question that has been asked down through the ages.

I do think we are today in the grip of radical evil, demonic forces. The refusal to see and accept this is not new.

As the eminent theologian, David Ray Griffin, has argued, the American Empire, with its quest for world domination and its long and ongoing slaughters at home and abroad, is clearly demonic; it is driven by the forces of death symbolized by Satan.

I have spent many years trying to understand why so many good people have refused to see and accept this and have needed to ply a middle course over many decades. The safe path. Believing in the benevolence of their rulers. When I say radical evil, I mean it in the deepest spiritual sense. A religious sense, if you prefer. But by religious I don’t mean institutional religions since so many of the institutional religions are complicit in the evil. … continue

“Unprecedented Levels of Sickness”, Says NHS Consultant and “Whole Teams Being Taken Out”

Behind the cover-up and spin, the stark reality. 

By Brandon Campbell | Ultimate Survival | April 14, 2021

The doctor who wrote it isn’t an “anti-vaxxer” (whatever that is exactly), a “conspiracy theorist” or “Covid denyer” or any of other other puerile labels hastily attached by the Vaccine Faction to anyone with the guts to speak out.

He is a conscientious medical doctor working on the front lines and observing at first hand what is happening to people who take the experimental vaccines and pseudo vaccines being recklessly pushed on them by the government.

As he rightly points out, if so many serious adverse reactions are already occurring in the short term, what lies in store for the vaccinated in the long term?

We would point out also that if so many, varied and extremely serious adverse reactions are occurring in the immediate-term that were not predicted and of which we were not forewarned, how sloppy has been the research and trials that preceded the release of these biochemical agents?

As the long term tests and trials were not done, nobody knows what is going to happen in the long term. … continue

UK Councils Bring Back ‘COVID Marshals’ to Report People For Not Social Distancing

By Paul Joseph Watson | Summit News | April 15, 2021

UK council authorities are putting more ‘COVID marshals’ onto the streets to report people to the police for not properly social distancing.

After the government lifted some lockdown restrictions on Monday, bars and restaurants were allowed to open outside.

This prompted the media to once again hysterically point to footage of people daring to enjoy themselves in order to whip up another contrived panic over a ‘4th wave’ of the virus returning despite Britain having one of the lowest case rates in the world amongst major countries.

Local government immediately responded by vowing to put more state spies on the streets. … continue

The Big Whopper on Afghanistan

By Jacob G. Hornberger | FFF | April 15, 2021

In December 2019, the Washington Post published an article detailing many of the lies that U.S. officials have issued throughout their entire war on Afghanistan. The article was based on “a confidential trove of government documents.”

Perhaps the biggest whopper though was the one emitted by President George W. Bush and that is now being repeated by President Biden — that the reason that Bush launched his war on Afghanistan was because the Taliban regime had knowingly “harbored” Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

That was a lie, a flagrant lie. Neither Bush nor any other U.S. official ever provided even a scintilla of evidence that the Taliban regime was somehow complicit in the 9/11 attacks.

The real reason that Bush launched his war was over the concept of extradition. Bush demanded that the Taliban regime deliver bin Laden into the custody of U.S. officials. However, Afghanistan and the U.S. did not have an extradition treaty. Therefore, the Afghan government was under no legal obligation to accede to Bush’s demand.

Nonetheless, the Taliban regime announced its willingness to deliver bin Laden to a neutral third party nation for trial. That’s because it feared, with some justification, that bin Laden would end up in the clutches of the U.S. national-security establishment, where he would be subjected to torture, indefinite detention, assassination, extra-judicial execution, or a kangaroo military tribunal.

The only condition that the Taliban imposed for doing this was that the U.S. provide evidence of bin Laden’s guilt, much as it would be required to do in a regular extradition proceeding. … continue

Taliban spokesman to Press TV: US has violated deal on withdrawal of troops

Press TV – April 16, 2021

The Taliban say the United States has breached its agreement with the group for the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

Mohammed Naeem Wardak, spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, told Press TV in an exclusive interview on Thursday that Washington has failed to abide by its commitments and respect pledges under the 2020 peace deal with the group.

“The US shamefully breached‎ the agreement on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Americans have failed to adhere to their commitments,” he said.

Wardak said the group’s priority is now to forcibly expel the US forces from Afghanistan.

“Afghans have been engaged in jihad against the occupiers and defending themselves against foreign forces for 20 years,” the spokesman said.

“We have been fighting to make our country independent. We want to have an independent establishment to protect our people,” he added. … Full article

Israel: new law will revoke citizenship of Arab prisoners

MEMO | April 15, 2021

A draft bill has been proposed in the Israeli parliament which, if passed into law, would see citizenship stripped from any Arab-Israeli prisoner who accepts a stipend from the Palestinian Authority. The PA pays such stipends to help prisoners’ families.

Knesset member Avi Dichter of the Likud and Orit Stook of the Religious Zionism party submitted the draft bill yesterday. The proposed legislation is aimed at any Palestinian or Arab Israeli citizen convicted of “terrorism” or “carrying out hostile acts”, reported Arab48.com, particularly Palestinian prisoners from occupied Jerusalem and Arab citizens of Israel itself.

According to the two MKs, their citizenship should be revoked even if they have completed their sentence in Israeli prisons. In addition, the bill proposes the deportation of these people from Israel or the territories it occupies and controlled by Israel to the areas controlled by the PA. … Full article

Spain allows Israeli agent to interrogate Palestinian journalist in Madrid

MEMO | April 15, 2021

The Spanish security services have allowed an Israeli agent from the Mossad spy agency to interrogate a Palestinian journalist seeking asylum, Wafa news agency has reported. The incident at the Civil Guard building in the capital has been condemned by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

The syndicate called on the Spanish government to assume its responsibilities by ensuring the security of Muath Hamid and his family. It also called for the Spanish authorities to open an investigation into what happened during the interrogation.

Spain’s Civil Guard is the oldest law enforcement agency in the country and “military in nature”. The journalists’ union said that it is suspected of being “complicit” with Mossad in allowing the Israeli agent to interrogate Hamid in its building. “This was a gross violation of international law, a violation of Spanish sovereignty and a threat to the journalist’s security and safety,” the syndicate insisted. … continue

Israel and Saudi Arabia buy influence in Britain as the lobbying scandal grows

By Yvonne Ridley | MEMO | April 15, 2021

Corruption in Britain is reaching startling new heights as lobby scandals threaten to engulf the government in a tsunami of sleaze. Leading the way, it seems, are both Israel and Saudi Arabia, each ruthless in the pursuit of backdoor access to the highest echelons of power in order to get their own way.

When Israel is involved in such activities, it is usually the Palestinians who pay the price demanded by right-wing, pro-Israel lobby groups. With the Saudis, though, it’s usually a matter of vanity and saving face.

Newspaper headlines are full of lobbying scandals at the moment involving former British Prime Minister David Cameron, and it seems that Theresa May’s government was also targeted, at least according to a former minister. However, it is now clear that Boris Johnson is also coming under fire for his alleged links to sleaze and dodgy dealings.

Johnson’s government recently opposed the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into war crimes allegedly committed by Israel after, it is said, some arm-twisting by pro-Israel lobby groups. The move prompted the Palestinian Embassy to the UK to accuse Britain of flouting international law and subverting “the rules-based global order” while ultimately harming peace efforts in Palestine.

The accusation comes hot on the heels of a hard-hitting interview given by former Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan, who revealed that pro-Israel lobbyists had embroiled themselves in “the most disgusting interference” in British politics, with negative influence on Britain’s Middle East policy. … continue

Bipartisan Murder

By Richard Medhurst | April 11, 2021

Syria is the key to the Middle East. Bordering Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, and with access to the Mediterranean Sea, for millennia Syria has held unique geopolitical and strategic importance in the region. The war taking place there since 2011 has been sold by virtually every news outlet in the West as being strictly a civil war, part of the popular uprisings of the ‘Arab Spring’. The reality couldn’t be more different.

As General Wesley Clarke points out in 2007 there had been an agenda to take out “seven countries in five years” among them Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran; to replace their governments with ones favorable to Washington DC.

Five years already before the “Arab Spring”, a 2006 cable from the United States embassy in Damascus published by WikiLeaks shows how the US was looking at various threats, both real and exaggerated, that it could exploit in order to destabilize the Syrian government. … continue

How a US-led Unholy Alliance is Preventing Syria’s Normalisation

By Salman Rafi Sheikh – New Eastern Outlook – 14.04.2021

If there is major stumbling block to Syrian unification and normalisation back to the pre-war years, it is the continuing presence of foreign forces inside Syria and the support they continue to provide to jihadi elements and militias that continue to seek to overthrow Assad’s government. Their presence, therefore, not only dovetails pretty closely with the underlying logic of the US and Turkish military interventions in Syria, but they continue to be the main instruments of a geo-political game the interventionist force, being led by the US, are playing in Syria against Syria and its principal allies, Iran and Russia. This was recently confirmed by a former US ambassador and special representative for Syria engagement, James Jeffrey, in an interview given to the US government’s Public Service Broadcasting (PBS) channel, where he was quoted to have said that militant and jihadi outfits like Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham remain an “asset” for America’s overall Syria strategy, currently territorially focused on Idlib, against Iran and Russia. … continue

EU Parliament session gets chaotic as MEP accused of ‘fake news’ for questioning OPCW on whistleblower scandal

RT | April 16, 2021

Despite whistleblower leaks casting doubts on the OPCW’s findings, the EU Parliament is determined to enforce the organization’s anti-Assad line on Syria. MEP Mick Wallace was accused of spreading “fake news” when he spoke out.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has taken an intense interest in Syria’s civil war, and has accused President Bashar Assad of deploying chemical weapons against his own people on several occasions. Its conclusions have twice been used to justify US military action against Syria, and a new OPCW report on Monday found “reasonable grounds” to suspect that a Syrian Army helicopter dropped chemical weapons on the town of Saraqib in 2018.

The OPCW’s reports are good news for Western interventionists, but the organization is not without its critics.

Mick Wallace, an Irish MEP, is among them. When OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias addressed the European Parliament Subcommittee of Security and Defence on Thursday, Wallace accused the OPCW of squashing evidence that Assad may not have been behind one particularly heinous 2018 attack in Douma, near Damascus.

“Why will you not heed calls from renowned international figures… to meet with all the investigators?” Wallace asked Arias. “This problem is not going away. Are you going to investigate all aspects in a transparent manner?”

He is far from a lone crank. … continue

‘US, allies have turned OPCW into a tool to pursue anti-Syria objectives’

Press TV – April 16, 2021

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad has categorically dismissed the new report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), stating that the United States and its allies have turned the international watchdog into a tool to pursue their political goals against Damascus.

“Despite the difficult situation that Syria is going through, we have stood committed to our membership in the Chemical Weapons Convention,” Syria’s official news agency SANA quoted Mekdad as saying in a meeting with ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions in Damascus on Thursday evening.

He added, “Syria and many other countries have acknowledged that the states which supported and funded armed terrorist groups in Syria, particularly the United States, France, Germany and Britain, will use the Syrian chemical file and the OPCW to achieve their hostile goals against Syria.”

Mekdad noted that Syrian government forces continue to score remarkable victories in their battles against the Takfiri terrorist groups, emphasizing that the troops have never used chemical warfare even in toughest operations against the foreign-sponsored militants.

He went on to say that certain Western countries have established the OPCW’s so-called Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) in order to produce reports, which best suit their anti-Syria agenda. … continue

Confidence game with ‘Russian bounties’ story shows one shouldn’t trust spies & self-serving media

By Nebojsa Malic | RT | April 16, 2021

Even when admitting a lie, the US establishment seeks to weaponize it further. Saying that US spies now have “low to moderate” confidence the infamous ‘Russian bounties’ story may be true is a perfect example.

So convoluted was the phrasing of the not-quite-admission of wrongdoing on Thursday, that some media outlets – looking at you, The Hill – actually took it as proof the claim Russia had offered Taliban money to kill US troops was true! … continue

The CIA Used To Infiltrate The Media. Now The CIA Is The Media.

By Caitlin Johnstone | April 16, 2021

Back in the good old days, when things were more innocent and simple, the psychopathic Central Intelligence Agency had to covertly infiltrate the news media to manipulate the information Americans were consuming about their nation and the world. Nowadays, there is no meaningful separation between the news media and the CIA at all.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald just highlighted an interesting point about the reporting by The New York Times on the so-called  “Bountygate” story the outlet broke in June of last year about the Russian government trying to pay Taliban-linked fighters to attack US soldiers in Afghanistan.

“One of the NYT reporters who originally broke the Russia bounty story (originally attributed to unnamed ‘intelligence officials’) say today that it was a CIA claim,” Greenwald tweeted. “So media outlets – again – repeated CIA stories with no questioning: congrats to all.”

Indeed, NYT’s original story made no mention of CIA involvement in the narrative, citing only “officials,” yet this latest article speaks as though it had been informing its readers of the story’s roots in the lying, torturing, drug-running, warmongering Central Intelligence Agency from the very beginning. The author even writes “The New York Times first reported last summer the existence of the C.I.A.’s assessment,” with the hyperlink leading to the initial article which made no mention of the CIA. It wasn’t until later that The New York Times began reporting that the CIA was looking into the Russian bounties allegations at all. … continue