Moscow, Ankara must take swift decisions on Syria's Idlib: Russian defense chief says

I've been watching Idlib, still. 
It seems to me  we can take cues from the happenings in that area and extrapolate them outwards. There is a meeting in Sochi taking place present time. The earliest reports have Russia's Shoigu stating that Russia and Turkey need to make swift decisions to support a demilitarized zone..

I've updated below and am making note of the fact that Turkey and Russia are being pretty tight lipped on what was discussed/resolved/agreed to at the Sochi meeting

Sergei Shoigu

What are the decisions going to be? Have they already been made, more or less?

"Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says Moscow and Ankara need to take swift decisions to support a demilitarized zone in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, which has has so far held off a government offensive on the last major terrorist stronghold in the country.

“The situation in Syria requires our immediate decision and discussion of the urgent issues. The dynamics we have gained after signing the documents on Idlib in Sochi needs to be maintained to tackle the remaining issues without losing momentum,” Shoigu told his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday"

HTS had been warned previously. Would a move against them be in the cards?
Is this the 'swift decision' required? I'll be watching.

Anadolu Agency 

5:45 est- UPDATE Begins- Head of Turkish Intelligence was also present:

"Defense ministers of Turkey and Russia on Tuesday discussed further interactions in Syria's Idlib at a meeting in Russia's coastal city of Sochi."

Interactions; suggesting joint actions

"Hulusi Akar and Sergey Shoygu examined the actions needed to be performed to "close all the remaining issues in Idlib," said a Russian Defense Ministry statement."

Joint actions to close all the remaining issues in Idlib- 

"The current situation in Syria requires our immediate solution and discussion of the pending issues," it said.

Turkey's head of National Intelligence Service (MIT) Hakan Fidan was also present at the meeting, according to Turkish defense sources.

On Sept. 17, Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib."

Can we surmise that the agreement Turkey and Russia made is still at play? 
That does appear to be the case.  
Should we be expecting some actions in Idlib in short order to bring the deal to fruition. 
(Fruition: the state of having successfully completed an activity or plan)  Not necessarily an attack by Syrian Arab Army, alone-  But perhaps in a supportive role?
I see there is noise again about an impending chemical attack?

Go back to this post from September 18/2018- Idlib Agreement: A few more details

" The rebels are to hand over their heavy weapons under the supervision of Russia and Turkey by Nov. 10."

November 10th has come and gone.. have the heavy weapons been handed over? 
If the heavy weapons have not been handed over is this the reason for some type of joint action to be taken?

• Are Turkey & Syria Coordinating Operations In North Eastern Syria?

• Raqqa Assassination of Influentail Sheik May End Dream of Independent Syrian Kurdistan

• Russia Conducts an Agreement with “Tahrir al-Sham” and Attacks in Idlib

•  Syria: The Idlib Agreement & What is the Future of HTS in Idlib?

 

Deposing Saudi Arabia's Prince- More Then One Way to Skin A Cat

After yesterday’s report: Foregone Conclusion: CIA says MBS Ordered Khashoggi Assassination & Another Wife Appears. 

 I got thinking about the CIA “concluding” MBS was responsible for the killing of Khashoggi. One can’t help but notice that the CIA is hard selling a concept of tyrannical/dictatorial leadership.  

" the agency’s assessment of the prince as the country’s de facto ruler who oversees even minor affairs in the kingdom"

Rest assured if the CIA/Central Intelligence Agency states that MBS is guilty and a tyrant... this is the foundation for which all future plans concerning Saudi Arabia will built upon.

 This determination, as questionable as it is, indicates very clearly, in my opinion, that the days of MBS ruling in Saudi Arabia are numbered.

 Last night hubby and I were discussing this subject and my husband said... ‘makes you wonder about that earlier attempt on his life’ Referring to the reports of an assassination attempt on Mohamed Bin Salman earlier this year.

Rethinking that incident sure gave me a couple of aha moments!

Let’s go back to May 2018: Media speculates about ‘possible death’ of Saudi crown prince 


Saudi Arabia: Where is bin Salman, Attack at National Guard Facility etc.,

Saudi Arabia was putting out reports stating that Bin Salmon was not dead. These rebuttals came out after the incident at the palace, which resulted in MBS being absent  from the public eye for weeks. The absence raised questions:

"On April 21, heavy gunfire was heard around the royal palace in Riyadh"

"International media on Thursday claimed that Saudi Crown Price Muhammad Bin Salman has gone missing since April 21 attack on the royal palace in Riyadh"

"Questions arose regarding the whereabouts of the crown prince, who usually has a high media profile and is regularly seen meeting fellow leaders and chairing events"

"Saudi authorities have released new video footage of Mohammed bin Salman amid conspiracy theories alleging the crown prince has been dead for more than a month"

At the time of this news I asked three questions:

• Are we dealing with infighting and power grabbing?
• Is this related to Yemen?
• Are these some bigger geo political moves at play?

Clearly bigger geo-political moves are at play.. Relating to all of the above questions
Including new leadership in Saudi Arabia... if it can be had?

Aha moment # 1: External factions working in partnership with internal players

Was the April attack on MBS, internal but aided by external factions?
Much like the attempted assassination of Erdogan?
That was an inside job, with lots and lots of outside support. 
The April attack on MBS? Was it more of the same?
Factions inside Saudi Arabia, allied with outsiders, took their best shot/s at MBS and he survived !  Which would have been a problem... Requiring alternative solutions.

Serene

Can’t discount that concept as a possible reality. It’s certainly been done before.  Erdogan survived the assassination attempt and the US/UK/Israel has been gnashing their teeth ever since.

Perhaps this possibility of yet another assassination attempt is the reason MBS is reported to stay on his secure yacht? Bin Salman Stays on His Very Secure Yacht- Serene


Aha # 2: Internal partners strategically located in the Saudi Consulate

When we consider the very real possibility that other nation states can and do have influence in certain Saudi circles. Friends in all the right places. Contacts.  Dual agents and the like.  

We then have to think beyond the idea of those insiders not just being connected to an attempted assassination of MBS. Indeed, we have to also mull over the real possibility that some well placed friends/contacts/agents were operating in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. (This is NOT a stretch of the imagination considering the nature of reality in the world of covert ops and operatives) When Mr Khashoggi entered the consulate, certain connected persons,  took the opportunity to ‘take him out’ in order to frame MBS.

This could have been a dual purpose hit as well. Since Khashoggi, who was obviously a CIA asset, could have become a liability.

*Recall the early news reports claiming the US had advance knowledge regarding Saudi plots against Khashoggi : Intercepted communications- Saudi’s are said to Have Lain in Wait for Khashoggi

“Before Khashoggi’s disappearance, U.S. intelligence intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to capture him, according to a person familiar with the information. The Saudis wanted to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and lay hands on him there, this person said”

Perhaps US officials were privy to advance knowledge of an action they might just have been involved in? Perhaps the person/s who sent the 'kill team' to Turkey were the same person/s who sent a "kill team" to Mohammed Bin Salmon's palace in April?

There is more then one way to skin a cat just as there is  more then one way to overthrow a leader.

Foregone Conclusion: CIA says MBS Ordered Khashoggi Assassination & Another Wife Appears.

Couldn't let this pass- Let's call it a foregone conclusion.
As had been expected: Fitting the intelligence to the agenda.
Also interesting, another Khashoggi wife has come out of the shadows

The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month

The CIA’s assessment, in which officials have said they have high confidence.

Concluded with high confidence 

In reaching its conclusions, the CIA examined multiple sources of intelligence, including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi...

A phone call. No mention of what was said, but, a phone call.

"people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity"

So, say people. What people? Familiar people, of course. Speaking anonymously. Of course. 

Disputed by an actual named person, who gives their actual position:

 Fatimah Baeshen, a spokeswoman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, said the ambassador and Khashoggi never discussed “anything related to going to Turkey.”

She ( named person, holding an identified position) added that the claims in the CIA’s “purported assessment are false. We have and continue to hear various theories without seeing the primary basis for these speculations.”

The CIA’s conclusion about Mohammed’s role was also based on the agency’s assessment of the prince as the country’s de facto ruler who oversees even minor affairs in the kingdom.  The accepted position is that there is no way this happened without him being aware or involved,” said a U.S. official familiar with the CIA’s conclusions.

Another unnamed official. 

A spokesman for the CIA declined to comment.

The Washington Post article reminds me of a post by fellow blogger Yaya:

The Fine Journalistic Art of Innuendo

 

 The entirety of the Washington Post article can be boiled down to one word: Innuendo

 Common Dreams... whose credibility on many things is sorely lacking is happy to extol the virtues of the CIA report as long as they can take pot shots at Trump- That's some real journalistic integrity in action over there.

Happy to Gobble Up Whatever Saudis Say, Trump Reportedly "Skeptical" of CIA Determination That Crown Prince Ordered Khashoggi Hit

"All the circumspection,laughter , and Trump administration statements that even at the time seemed bizarre and gullible, say critics, appear even more damning on Friday night after the Washington Post reported that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency believes the evidence shows that Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, directly ordered the murder of  journalist Jamal Khashoggi."

 Common Dreams, pathetically, extols it's readers to actually believe the CIA, based on an appeal to ridicule tactic.  Because the CIA is not known for extreme manipulation. Or abuse. Lies. Fabrications. Manipulations. Human experimentation. And other horrific activities.
Nah............... We should take the CIA's word at face value because.. HA HA HA Trump administration?

Jamal Khasshogi had a wife!

An Egyptian woman says she married Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a religious ceremony in the United States this year, months before he was killed at a Saudi consulate in Turkey while seeking papers needed to marry a different woman.

The disclosure of the marriage, which Khashoggi appears to have kept hidden from his Turkish fiancee and even members of his family, adds to the complicated timeline of Khashoggi's final months before he was killed by a team of Saudi assassins in October.

In an interview, the woman said she was coming forward to reveal her relationship with Khashoggi because "as a Muslim wife, I want my full right and to be recognised".

She spoke on the condition that she be identified only by her first initial and last name, H. Atr, citing concern for her security and her job.

Atr provided The Washington Post with text messages that she and Khashoggi exchanged and photos of them together, including some from their wedding ceremony, which took place in June in a Washington suburb.

If she were to establish that she was Khashoggi's legitimate wife, Atr could be in a position to claim part of any compensation that his family collects from the Saudi government.

Atr said that she has provided photos and other evidence of her marriage to Saudi and Turkish officials at a consulate in the Middle East. Some of those photos surfaced online this week in a series of posts to a Twitter account supportive of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Atr said she is 50 years old, resides in the Persian Gulf region and spent time with Khashoggi mainly when business travel brought her to the United States. She said they met nearly a decade ago at a media forum in the Middle East, but that their romantic relationship began over the past year.

She said she saw him for the last time in early September, and that while he sometimes expressed concern that the Saudi government might retaliate against him, he did not believe his life was in danger.

"He never thought they would assassinate him," she said. "He knew they could kidnap him and beat him, but he never thought they would go as far as to kill him."

An imam who presided over the ceremony, Anwar Hajjaj, did not respond to requests for comment. He is listed online as a professor of Islamic studies and education at American Open University in Virginia.

Greencrow:  CIA has moved its lips....Ipso facto we are now assured that MBS IS INNOCENT of Khashoggi False Flag Murder 

Scott at Nomadiceveryman: Bernie Sanders (once again) Promotes CIA Khashoggi Propaganda on Behalf of Neoliberal Oligarchs of America

KNM Helge Ingstad: Norwegian Warship, Under NATO Command, Sinks After Collision

With an oil tanker! 
How familiar is this narrative in the past couple of years? 
War ships coming into contact with lumbering transport/merchant ships.  
For no sensible reason at all... Only negligence (stupidity/arrogance) on the part of the military crews.

 USS John McCain:

• USS John S. McCain Collides with Merchant Vessel- 10 Sailors Missing

• Sudden Turn by USS John McCain Caused Collision Which Killed 10 Sailors

USS Fitzgerald:

• USS Fitzgerald/ACX Crystal Collision- Missing Sailors Presumed Dead.

•  The Far More Maneuverable Fitzgerald Will Likely Bear Much Of The Blame.

In both previous incidents the ships and their crews were at fault, and responsible for subsequent losses of life.

KNM Helge Ingstad

KNM Helge Ingstad:

A maritime blunder then a ruinous rescue attempt has left a multi-million dollar warship under NATO command almost entirely submerged in a Norwegian fjord.

A large hole was torn into the side of KNM Helge Ingstad when it collided with a Malta-registered oil tanker, Sola TS, in the early hours of November 8. 

The frigate, one of five in the Scandinavian country's navy, had been moving around inner fjords in western Norway for navigation training before it collided with the 250-meter long tanker (820 ft) that was sailing out of an oil terminal. 

Clearly the navigation training was a failure. As was the operation to to move the ship.

While military crew reportedly drove the vessel up on underwater rocks in order to prevent it from sinking, the tanker emerged relatively unscathed. 

But efforts to move the 5,500-ton warship to a safe place went catastrophically wrong this week after cables attached to hold it in place snapped.

Now all that remains above the waterline is the frigate's top, antennas

But efforts to move the 5,500-ton warship to a safe place went catastrophically wrong this week after cables attached to hold it in place snapped. 

Now all that remains above the waterline is the frigate's top, antennas and radar, leading local media to speculate how a ship designed for war failed to avoid a slow-moving 150,000-ton tanker.

I'd suggest the crews of the USS John McCain or USS Fitzgerald could shed some light on how it's possible a ship, highly maneuverable, could fail to avoid a slow moving 150,000 ton tanker?

The images are nothing short of stunning:

KNM Helge Ingstad

 

Sinking Deeper

“KNM Helge Ingstad“ sank deeper in the water during night to Tuesday, photos made public by the Norwegian Defense show.
Tuesday morning, most of the navy ship is under water.

A First: US to Vote Against UN Resolution Condemning Israeli "Control" of Golan Heights

Haaretz; The resolution is 'biased against Israel,' U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley says 

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley announced on Thursday that she would vote against an annual UN resolution condemning Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The resolution entitled "The Occupied Syrian Golan" is scheduled for a vote on Friday.

It will be the first time the U.S. votes against the resolution. The country has abstained from voting on the move in the past.

The US will no longer abstain when the UN engages in its useless annual vote on the Golan Heights. The resolution is plainly biased against Israel; on Friday, we will vote no.

— US Mission to the UN (@USUN) November 15, 2018

U.S. tweets decision on Golan Heights UN resolution.

In a press release, Haley said that the U.S. "will no longer abstain when the United Nations engages in its useless annual vote on the Golan Heights." 

The US will NO LONGER abstain. So, this is a definite change, benefiting the Israeli state, in US policy 

The resolution is "biased against Israel" and in light of tensions on the Syrian border, there is no justification for supporting the move, the statement said.

 How is the resolution biased against Israel? Explain Nikki Haley? You say the words, but, what do they mean? Biased against Israel? Reality being Golan was Syrian territory taken/annexed by Israel. And Israel has been creating and sustaining the tensions on the border.
 Taking Golan wasn't a fair trade. Syria didn't agree to this theft of territory. 
How is this resolution really biased against Israel?

"This resolution does nothing to bring any parties closer to a peace agreement. The United States will vote no," the statement said.

I would suggest the resolution could bring parties closer to an agreement. One that condemns Israeli control of Golan, makes clear the territory is not Israel's and should be restored to Syria. It would bolster international law.

Following the announcement, Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon thanked Haley for her decision to vote "no on a despicable resolution."

I thank @nikkihaley for the #US decision to vote “no” on a despicable resolution condemning #Israel’s presence in the Golan Heights. It is time the world distinguishes those who stabilize the region from those who sow terror. https://t.co/MF816SpPsh

— Ambassador Danon (@dannydanon) November 15, 2018

Danon thanks Haley in tweet.

"It is time the world distinguishes those who stabilize the region from those who sow terror," he wrote on Twitter.

Yes, it is time the world distinguishes who stabilizes the region vs who destabilizes the region.
Since it's Israel that benefits from the destabilization of the region. Serving it's own expansionist agenda.

F William Engdahl: The Dark Story Behind Global Warming Rebrand Climate Change

Interview based on an article that was previously posted here at the blog:

The Dark Story Behind "Human Forced Global Warming" Rebrand "Climate Change"

Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.

• Recharging soils with carbon could make farms more productive

• 
   Keeling Curve covered: Hysteria reigns as "CO2 levels cross 410 ppm " First Time In Human History

• Where do Trees Get Their Mass?- The answer is carbon!

 Keeping in mind the latest posts:

Sunspot Activity is At Record Low, Nearly Non Existent- Cold Coming

And the first snowstorm of the FALL/Autumn set to hit my locale today- weeks ahead of the usual. 

Alerts for: Niagara

Statements

5:03 AM EST Thursday 15 November 2018

Weather advisory in effect for:

Niagara Falls - Welland - Southern Niagara Region

St. Catharines - Grimsby - Northern Niagara Region

Winter weather travel advisory in effect beginning this afternoon.
Snow associated with a deepening low pressure system moving up along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States will reach Southern Ontario later this afternoon. The snow is forecast to continue through tonight into early Friday morning.

A snowfall of 5 to 10 cm is expected across the region, with most of the snow falling tonight. Poor winter driving conditions are expected. Untreated roads may become snow covered and slippery.

James Corbett: The WW1 Conspiracy

CorbettReport.com

What was World War One about? How did it start? Who won? And what did they win? Now, 100 years after those final shots rang out, these questions still puzzle historians and laymen alike. But as we shall see, this confusion is not a happenstance of history, but the wool that has been pulled over our eyes to stop us from seeing what WWI really was. This is the story of WWI that you didn't read in the history books. This is The WWI Conspiracy.