Politics

On Tuesday evening Turkey deployed 1,000 troops into Syrian territory near Jarablus in order to keep Kurdish People’s Protection Units away from the Turkish border.  Turkish authorities are doing this under the cover of supposedly fighting ISIS militants in the area, but as yet they haven’t killed or captured any ISIS militants. Sputniknews.com reports: The troops have reportedly crossed into Aleppo province, according to Hawar News, along with military vehicles, heavy equipment, and mine detection gear to dismantle minefields installed by Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State.

A senior Google director has unveiled a plan to thwart ISIS, using the power of the web.  Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas, says that ISIS need to be locked out of the open web. Speaking at a talk on digital counterinsurgency, Cohen said ISIS’ main strength lies in its ability to use the web and social media to promote the organisation. Trustedreviews.com reports: “Terrorist groups like ISIS, they operate in the dark web whether we want them to or not,” the Google lead said. “What is new is that they’re operating without being pushed back in the same internet we all enjoyed.

Israel’s defence minister has stated that Iran is a bigger threat to Israel than ISIS, saying that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and “terror infrastructure” make them Israel’s number one enemy. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told a conference in Tel Aviv that “Iran is our main enemy,” and faced with having to choose between Iran and ISIS in an open conflict, he would “prefer ISIS.” RT.com reports: The logic seems simple, as IS will be eventually be defeated, while Iran continues to pose a threat with its new rapprochement with the West.

A Grand Book From The Saker

Paul Craig Roberts

Several years ago a new commentator appeared on the scene. He writes under the pen name, The Saker, and describes himself as European born son of Russian refugees from the Bolshevik Revolution. He has two US college degrees and worked in Europe as a military analyst until his opposition to the US/NATO sponsored wars in Chechnia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo cost him his career. He retooled as a software engineer and began writing in response to the nonsense spewed by the Western media.

Just when we thought the surreal story surrounding Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's second capture couldn't get any more bizarre, it does just that, but in an oddly satisfying way, one which ties the soon to be incarcerated criminal south of the border with a criminal located right inside Washington D.C., one who however will never be punished. According to the Hill, a .50-caliber rifle recovered from El Chapo's hideout was one of the firearms lost by the U.S. government's gun-smuggling operation Fast and Furious.