Russia warned it would respond proportionally to yesterday's unprecedented sanctions and diplomatic expulsions unveiled by the Obama administration, and this morning it did just that when Russia's foreign ministry announced plans to expel 35 U.S. diplomats and ban U.S. diplomatic staff from using a dacha and a warehouse in Moscow in retaliation to Washington's sanctions, Russian news agencies reported.
Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,
The English language Russian news agency, Sputnik, reports that former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is advising US president-elect Donald Trump how to “bring the United States and Russia closer together to offset China’s military buildup.”
If we take this report at face value, it tells us that Kissinger, an old cold warrior, is working to use Trump’s commitment to better relations with Russia in order to separate Russia from its strategic alliance with China.
Coming at an awkward time, just as the US accused Russia of doing (once again, without a shred of valid proof as opposed to a report which the DHS was quick to disown) what the CIA has done to other nations for decades, earlier today everyone's favorite volatile, vulgar and outspoken Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte derided U.S. ambassadors as "spies", responding to a media report of an alleged American plot to destabilize his government, a job he said some envoys were appointed solely to do.
This article by David Haggithwas first published on the Great Recession Blog:
President Obama’s UN declaration that Israeli settlements are illegal says this duck isn’t lame. It was not the finale of Obama’s closing months as president but the prologue to years ahead, pushing his legacy to where it can be carried out at the UN. Congressional leaders say Obama is already plotting further action on Israel before he leaves office, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Today, the Department of Homeland Security and FBI released a report alleging Russian hacking.
The report itself is only five and a half pages long in large print (with another 7 pages for future security recommendations).
It’s important to note what the report does NOT say …
It does NOT allege any of the following: