Conflicting Moves Create the Intended ‘Smoke & Mirrors’
Just a cursory review of the latest developments in Syria is enough to make anyone dizzy. Well, not everyone- not those who pay attention to the chronology of events unfolding hourly and get past the smoke and mirrors created to obscure the real game and intentions. Let me start with the conclusion of the recent Kerry-Putin meeting in Russia this week.
The conclusion sold to the public at large for the purpose of adding smoke to the hall of mirrors on Syria is this [All Emphasis Mine]:
U.S. and Russia to Seek Syria Peace Talks
The United States and Russia agreed Tuesday to try to bring together the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition for peace talks, signaling a potential breakthrough in long-stalled diplomatic efforts to end a bloody conflict that threatens to destabilize the entire region.
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Lavrov said the U.S. and Russia were committed to a deal that would guarantee the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Syria and would follow the approach of a diplomatic agreement worked out by world powers last year.
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Immediately after this maneuver, this same US Secretary of State turns around and makes the following move: Read more
The Boiling Frogs Show Presents Pepe Escobar
Roving journalist Pepe Escobar returns to our show to discuss the latest on Syria and Iran. He provides us with his take on Russia’s position, Turkey’s real intentions and internal debate, and the seldom discussed Kurdish factor.
Pepe Escobar, born in Brazil is the roving correspondent for Asia Times and an analyst for The Real News Network. He is an investigative journalist with three decades of experience in covering politics and conflicts around the globe. He’s been a foreign correspondent since 1985, based in London, Milan, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, and Bangkok. Since the late 1990s, he has specialized in covering stories and cases from the Middle East to Central Asia, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination. Mr. Escobar has made frequent visits to Iran and is the author of three must-read books: Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War, Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad During the Surge, and Obama Does Globalistan.
Listen to the preview Here
Here is our guest Pepe Escobar unplugged!
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In this episode Eric Draitser covers recent developments and their implications in several regions including: Syria & Assad’s rejection of comparison with Libya-Egypt, Russia & Putin’s statement on the West clinging to Arab influence with airstrike democracy, Iran-China trade, CIA Director’s recent meeting with Saudi King in Jeddah, Mali & how the West cleared the way for Al-Qaeda’s African march … and more!
Eric Draitser is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City. He is the editor and host of StopImperialism.com and the Stop Imperialism podcast. He has provided analysis for Russia Today, Dr. Webster Tarpley’s World Crisis Radio and other programs. His articles have appeared on GlobalResearch.ca, Infowars.com, and a variety of other news sites.
Moscow’s 30-year struggle against encroachment into its sphere of influence by militant Islam
By Joe Lauria
Russia’s unyielding support for Damascus throughout the 16 months of Syria’s escalating crisis has earned Moscow strong condemnation from Washington and other Western governments, but the reasons for Russia’s implacable position have never been fully explained by Moscow or its critics.
Washington’s latest tension with Russia over Syria came last week in a face-to-face meeting between President Obama and President Putin. The week before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Russia’s assertion that it sold only defensive weapons to Damascus “patently untrue.” That was after Clinton had accused Russia of shipping attack helicopters to Syria to crush the rebellion, a charge denied by Moscow. The New York Times then reported that Russia was only returning repaired helicopters sold to Syria decades ago.
In February, Susan Rice, the top U.S. diplomat at the U.N., used undiplomatically strong language to say the U.S. was “disgusted” by Russia’s veto of a Security Council resolution that would have condemned the Syrian crackdown. The tough talk appears designed to embarrass Russia, especially after the recent upsurge in fighting and a string of grisly massacres blamed on Moscow’s client.
But until now Russia’s motives for defending Damascus have remained largely a subject of speculation, with the U.S. media seemingly disinterested in exploring it.
Russian officials say their position is based on an adamant opposition to regime change, particularly if it is led by Western military intervention, as in Libya. Moscow’s support for the Syrian regime has not changed though it has recently inched away from President Bashar Al-Assad leading it. Read more
The Shady National Endowment for Democracy &The Prime Agenda of ‘Whoever’ is Next US President
By F. William Engdahl
Washington clearly wants ‘finito’ with Russia’s Putin as in basta! Or as they said in Egypt last spring, Kefaya–enough! Hillary Clinton and friends have apparently decided Russia’s prospective next president, Vladimir Putin, is a major obstacle to their plans. Few however understand why. Russia today, in tandem with China and to a significant degree Iran, form the spine, however shaky, of the only effective global axis of resistance to a world dominated by one sole superpower.
On December 8 several days after election results for Russia’s parliamentary elections were announced, showing a sharp drop in popularity for Prime Minister Putin’s United Russia party, Putin accused the United States and specifically Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of fuelling the Russian opposition protesters and their election protests. Putin stated, “The (US) Secretary of State was quick to evaluate the elections, saying that they are unfair and unjust even before she received materials from the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (the OSCE international election monitors-w.e.) observers.”[1]
Putin went on to claim that Clinton’s premature comments were the necessary signal to the waiting opposition groups that the US Government would back their protests. Clinton’s comments, the seasoned Russian intelligence pro stated, became a “signal for our activists who began active work with the US Department of State.” [2]
Major western media chose either to downplay the Putin statement or to focus almost entirely on the claims of an emerging Russian opposition movement. A little research shows that, if anything, Putin was downplaying the degree of brazen US Government interference into the political processes of his country. In this case the country is not Tunisia or Yemen or even Egypt. It is the world’s second nuclear superpower, even if it might still be an economic lesser power. Hillary is playing with thermonuclear fire. Read more
