Sputnik International — War is Peace: US Deploys New Form of Hybrid Aggression in Ukraine Against Russia

The expulsion of 755 US diplomatic personnel from Russia was seemingly overkill for American mischief making. But it had a much broader and deeper significance. The Russian presidential election is approaching in 2018 and the US has a history of trying to influence the outcome now only from abroad but also within Russia through its diplomatic core and embedded intelligence agents, as well as state-sponsored NGOs. Russia had already shut down NGOs that receive foreign funding, and this move against the US diplomatic core was aimed at precluding interference with the upcoming Russian election on the ground in Russia.

Obvious, the US leadership is not going to take this lightly and will bring pressure to bear on Russia in other ways. The Ukraine is an obvious lever in this power game between major nuclear powers.

Read this article in this light.

Sputnik International
War is Peace: US Deploys New Form of Hybrid Aggression in Ukraine Against Russia

See also

Reuters
U.S. embassy in Moscow says locked out of diplomatic property

RT
US tanks head for Tbilisi as NATO flexes muscles in ‘largest ever’ joint drills with Georgia

Nauman Sadiq — The US takes Rebranded Al-Nusra Front off Terror Watch-lists

Shell games in the snake pit.

According to a recent report by CBC Canada, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, which was formerly known as al-Nusra Front and then Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) since July 2016, has been removed from the terror watch-lists of the US and Canada after it merged with fighters from Zenki Brigade and hardline jihadists from Ahrar al-Sham and rebranded itself as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in January this year.… 

Thus, this rebranding exercise has been going on for quite some time. Al-Julani announced the split from al-Qaeda in a video statement last year. But the persistent efforts of al-Julani’s Gulf-based patrons have borne fruit only in January this year, when al-Nusra Front once again rebranded itself from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which also includes “moderate” jihadists from Zenki Brigade, Ahrar al-Sham and several other militant groups, and thus, the US State Department has finally given a clean chit to the jihadist conglomerate that goes by the name of Tahrir al-Sham to pursue its ambitions of toppling the Assad regime in Syria.

Oriental review
The US takes Rebranded Al-Nusra Front off Terror Watch-lists
Nauman Sadiq

Paul Robinson — Homeless in Kitezh

The ultimate fake news.

This is too funny:

It's short.

Irrussianality
Homeless in Kitezh
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

Sophia Tesfaye — Mutiny at Foggy Bottom: State Department management resigns en masse

Draining the Swap edition. These people left before they were fired.

Clean out the top levels at State and the intelligence services and let the lower levels know that politicization is streng verboten.

Otherwise prepare to be run by the deep state.

Salon
Mutiny at Foggy Bottom: State Department management resigns en masse
Sophia Tesfaye

Dan Steinbock — The Story of the U.S. Regime Change Plan in the Philippines

As long-needed economic reforms are taking off in the Philippines, regime change plans have been prepared in the US State Department against a democratically-elected president who enjoys very high popular support.
During the Philippine presidential campaigns in spring 2016, U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg sided visibly with anti-Duterte forces, which led to several high-profile confrontations. After the controversial Ambassador left the Philippines, he wrote a “blueprint to undermine Duterte within 18 months.” Last month, the plan was leaked to The Manila Times, the oldest English-language daily in the Philippines.

It is not the first time Goldberg is associated with regime change efforts. In 2008 President Evo Morales and the Bolivian government gave him three days to leave the country after declaring him persona non grata – following Goldberg’s efforts to fund the opposition leaders, separatists and think-tanks with millions of dollars.

Yet, President Obama rewarded Goldberg by appointing him assistant secretary of state for Intelligence and Research; one of the 16 elements of the US Intelligence Community (IC). Thereafter he was sent to the Philippines, which he left in less than three years after efforts to intervene with the elections.

What that? The US interference in foreign states' elections. You must be joshing, right? (snark*)

Economonitor
The Story of the U.S. Regime Change Plan in the Philippines

Dan Steinbock, founder of the the Difference Group
* Things are so bizarre now it has become necessary to state the obvious.

Zero Hedge — State Department Says Presenting Evidence Of Russian Hacking Would Be "Irresponsible"

"Move along. Nothing to see here."

Economists' credibility, as well as that of banking and finance, was destroyed by the financial crisis and aftermath. The US Government's credibility, along with US intelligence services and the US media, was destroyed by lies about Saddam's "WMD."

Trust is breaking down, fraying the social fabric.

Zero Hedge
State Department Says Presenting Evidence Of Russian Hacking Would Be "Irresponsible"

Tyler Durden

Jesse Hellmann — Report: Trump orders Obama ambassadors to leave posts by inauguration

The State Department reportedly informed all politically appointed ambassadors that they were to submit letters of resignation effective Jan. 20 the day after the election, and instructed those seeking extensions to submit formal requests.

"Draining the swamp?"

The Hill
Report: Trump orders Obama ambassadors to leave posts by inauguration

Jesse Hellmann

RT — ‘They are all spies’: Philippines’ Duterte speaks on US ambassador’s ‘destabilization blueprint’

The outspoken president of the Philippines has lashed out at the former US ambassador to the country, who reportedly left a ‘blueprint to destabilize’ the country’s government when leaving his post in November.

President Rodrigo Duterte said all ambassadors play a part in their respective countries' spying operations, but American ambassadors have a "forte" for undermining the government of their host countries.

"Most of the ambassadors of the United States, but not all, are not really professional ambassadors. At the same time they are spying, they are connected with the CIA," Duterte said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

Duterte was commenting on a Tuesday report in the Manila Times, which claimed that Philip Goldberg, who resigned in November his position as the US ambassador to the Pacific nation, has left behind a detailed plan on how to undermine the Philippines government and oust its president....

Duterte has been on bad terms with Goldberg for quite some time. On one occasion he infamously called the American envoy a "gay son of a bitch" for interfering with Philippines politics.…

Harsh.

RT
‘They are all spies’: Philippines’ Duterte speaks on US envoy’s ‘destabilization blueprint’

Sputnik — Tillerson to Inherit ‘Politicized’ State Department, Middle East Crises

Tillerson need to drain the State Department swamp.

Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson is a highly experienced manager who will inherit a politicized US Department of State and a number of crises in the Middle East, former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman told Sputnik.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump officially announced he would nominate Tillerson to be the United States’ next secretary of state. 

"Tillerson will inherit a diplomatic service and State Department that have been seriously de-professionalized, politicized, and demoralized," Freeman said on Tuesday. 

The Exxon Mobil chief, Freeman added, will enter office amidst new uncertainties over relations with Iran, the Israel-Palestine issue and a significant enhancement of the Russian role in the Middle East. 

Tillerson would also inherit an escalated military confrontation with China over the Taiwan issue, a rising threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea, and the steady distancing of US allies from America, Freeman pointed out....

His deputy, John Bolton, won't be any help in that and will instead become part of the problem.

Sputnik International

Tillerson to Inherit ‘Politicized’ State Department, Middle East Crises

William Blum — Official Washington’s ‘Info-Wars’

Organs of Official Washington, such as the State Department and The Washington Post, are becoming unhinged over their weakening grip on the narratives that the people are supposed to believe, as William Blum explains.

Fake news about "fake news."

Consortium News
Official Washington’s ‘Info-Wars’

William Blum

Vladimir Platov — Armenia is Swarmed by Western NGOs

The tactics of employing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the preparation of so-called “color revolutions” in North Africa, the Middle East and a number of former Soviet states has been the modus operandi of the US and its satellites, which have been thoroughly discussed in various NEO articles.

It’s curious that these NGOs who are heavily sponsored by Washington choose to act precisely in those moments when a specific state begins resisting pressure applied on it by the so-called Western World. This resistance often is manifested as a reluctance to support certain projects that were put forward by Washington.

If we are to talk about post-Soviet regions, all Western NGOs, and American ones in particular, have been particularly active in Central Asian and Caucasus states over recent years in a bid to launch “color revolutions” across the majority of them.

Western NGOs have been particularly active in Armenia recently, which remains Russia’s most faithful ally in the Caucasus region. In an effort to repeat a Ukrainian-style scenario in Armenia and to force this country away from Russia, these Western-backed organizations have been trying to use any minor concern among the civilian population to provoke demonstrations and unrest, taking advantage of the huge funds they have been receiving.…

It's called subversion and it is a hostile act. That's why it is called hybrid warfare.

This is an aspect of liberalization in neoliberalism as the part of the trifecta of liberalization, deregulation and privatization used to impose transnational global capitalism under the control of the American Empire. Because freedom and democracy.

Platov does have an overactive imagination through, so read with a grain of salt.

NEO

Armenia is Swarmed by Western NGOs
Vladimir Platov

The Intercept on what The Man is up to

What The Man is up to.

The Intercept
FBI and Police are Knocking on Activists’ Doors Ahead of Republican National Convention
Alice Spen

State Department Turns Blind Eye to Evidence of Honduran Military’s Activist Kill List

Alex Emmons

Moon of Alabama — An Eyewitness Tells How The U.S. Ambassador Instigated "Revolution" In Syria

S. Rifai, also known as @THE_47th, is a Syrian "activist" from Homs. He was involved since early 2011 when the U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford (@fordrs58) fomented the "revolution" in Syria. He has since tweeted about the "revolution" and has shown lots of insider knowledge. Below S. Rifai corrects the U.S. propaganda record.…

"Eyewitness" is correct but too narrow. Rifai was an active participant in the revolution the US ambassador was fomenting in 2011 in Syria.

Moon of Alabama
An Eyewitness Tells How The U.S. Ambassador Instigated "Revolution" In Syria

More on propaganda.

Gallery: "Dramatic Rescue - Man With Kid Runs Towards Camera" - 43 (Staged) Pictures

Moon of Alabama — Know-Nothing "Diplomats" Prepare For Hillary's War On Syria — UPDATED

Update on Syria.

Moon of Alabama
Know-Nothing "Diplomats" Prepare For Hillary's War On Syria

See also

Well, well. These people have no idea what they are talking about.

Col. Lang underlined that. It is not a hyperlink.

Sic Semper Tyrannis
51 neocons at State want another Iraq

Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.), former military intelligence officer at the US Defense Intelligence Agency

Katehon
US DELIBERATELY MOVES TOWARDS A CONFRONTATION WITH RUSSIA

EA WorldView
Syria Daily: 51 US Diplomats — Time for Airstrikes on Assad Regime
Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham and editor-in-chief of EA WorldView. He is a specialist in US and British foreign policy and international relations, especially the Middle East and Iran. Formerly he worked as a journalist in the US, writing for newspapers including the Guardian and The Independent and was an essayist for The New Statesman before he founded EA WorldView in November 2008.

Bill Mitchell — The Wall Street-US Treasury Complex

Today’s part of the story, is to trace the growing US influence on the IMF and the way it manipulated that institution to further its ‘free market’ agenda on a global scale. We will consider what Jagdish Bhagwati called the “Wall Street-Treasury complex”, which referred to the way in which financial market interests in the US combined with (pressured) the US Treasury Department to advance the myth that liberalisation of global capital flows would deliver massive benefits in the post-1971 period after the convertible currency, fixed exchange rate system collapsed.

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
The Wall Street-US Treasury Complex
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Mike Weisbrot — Washington’s Dog-Whistle Diplomacy Supports Attempted Coup in Brazil

The day after the impeachment vote in the lower house of Brazil’s congress, one of the leaders of the effort, Senator Aloysio Nunes, traveled to Washington, D.C. He had scheduled meetings with a number of U.S. officials, including Thomas Shannon at the State Department.

Shannon has a relatively low profile in the media, but he is the number three official in the U.S. State Department. Even more significantly in this case, he is the most influential person in the State Department on U.S. policy in Latin America. He will be the one recommending to Secretary of State John Kerry what the U.S. should do as the ongoing efforts to remove President Dilma Rousseff proceed.

Shannon’s willingness to meet with Nunes just days after the impeachment vote sends a powerful signal that Washington is on board with the opposition in this venture. How do we know this? Very simply, Shannon did not have to have this meeting. If he wanted to show that Washington was neutral in this fierce and deeply polarizing political conflict, he would not have a meeting with high-profile protagonists on either side, especially at this particular moment.

Shannon’s meeting with Nunes is an example of what could be called “dog-whistle diplomacy.” It barely shows up on the radar of the media reporting on the conflict, and therefore is unlikely to generate backlash. But all the major actors know exactly what it means. That is why Nunes’ party, the Social Democracy Party (PSDB), publicized the meeting.

Weisbrot explains political signaling with several examples.

Counterpunch
Washington’s Dog-Whistle Diplomacy Supports Attempted Coup in Brazil
Mike Weisbrot |  co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, D.C. and president of Just Foreign Policy

US hybrid war conducted through the US State Department

Agitator funded by US State Department, gets award from US State Department - or - how to make illegitimacy & foreign-funded subversion look legitimate.

Land Destroyer

Thailand: US State Department Gives Award to US-Created/Funded Agitator

Victoria Nuland at work in Cyprus promoting Turkey.

Under a Clinton administration, neoconservatives Victoria Nuland and her husband Robert Kagan would likely have choice positions in the US foreign policy establishment.

Dances with Bears
REGIME THREAT IN CYPRUS – VICTORIA NULAND TRIES BLOCKING RUSSIA-CYPRUS RELATIONSHIP
John Helmer

delyagin — Secret U.S Cookies for Russian Oligarchs in Ekaterinburg

Now that Russia has kicked out foreign NGOs, is the US State Department replacing them?

Fort Russ
Secret U.S Cookies for Russian Oligarchs in Ekaterinburg
delyagin
Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ

Sophia News Agency — Obama Didn't Know US Requested Bulgaria Ban Russian Syria Flights

State Department didn't even inform him

Revealing. POTUS is not in the loop. The deep state is conducting foreign policy, which is the way it is supposed to work — in a technocracy rather than a democracy.

Sophia News Agency

Obama Didn't Know US Requested Bulgaria Ban Russian Syria Flights

Robert Parry — The Mess that Nuland Made

As the Ukrainian army squares off against ultra-right and neo-Nazi militias in the west and violence against ethnic Russians continues in the east, the obvious folly of the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy has come into focus even for many who tried to ignore the facts, or what you might call “the mess that Victoria Nuland made.”

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs “Toria” Nuland was the “mastermind” behind the Feb. 22, 2014 “regime change” in Ukraine, plotting the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych while convincing the ever-gullible U.S. mainstream media that the coup wasn’t really a coup but a victory for “democracy.”…

Much of what has happened, of course, was predictable and indeed was predicted, but neocon Nuland couldn’t resist the temptation to pull off a “regime change” that she could call her own. 

Her husband (and arch-neocon) Robert Kagan had co-founded the Project for the New American Century in 1998 around a demand for “regime change” in Iraq, a project that was accomplished in 2003 with President George W. Bush’s invasion.…

In other words, the neocons have struck again, dreaming up a “regime change” scheme that ignored practical realities, such as ethnic and religious fissures. Then, as the blood flowed and the suffering worsened, the neocons just sought out someone else to blame. 

Thus, it seems unlikely that Nuland, regarded by some in Washington as the new “star” in U.S. foreign policy, will be fired for her dangerous incompetence, just as most neocons who authored the Iraq disaster remain “respected” experts employed by major think tanks, given prized space on op-ed pages, and consulted at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Nuland is slated for a promotion in a Clinton administration, with talk of her becoming secretary of state.

Consortium News
The Mess that Nuland Made

Robert Parry