Moscow (AFP) - Russia has offered to send an Alsatian puppy to France in a gesture of solidarity after a police dog was killed during a raid on jihadists linked to the Paris attacks.

Russia's interior minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said he had written to his French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve offering to send a puppy named Dobrynya to replace Diesel, a Belgian Shepherd killed in a huge raid north of Paris last Wednesday.

Kolokoltsev said that as "a sign of solidarity with the people and police of France," he was offering the puppy, which "will be able to occupy the place in service of the police dog Diesel killed during a special operation to neutralise terrorists."

The dog is named after a hero of Russian folk legend, Dobrynya Nikitch, famed for his strength, goodness and courage, he added.

The ministry late Friday posted pictures of the small fluffy puppy and a video of him playing with a ball, which can be viewed here: https://mvd.ru/news/item/6802710

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Yes - so true.

I personally believe that the furor over corruption within FIFA, also,had more to do with it awarding Russia the 2018 World Cup than anything else. The irony is, the US don't even play football !!

Your other points were spot on also IMHO.

FIFA Scandal, World Cup and Joseph Blatter

In it I gave and example of the FIFA scandal and the ousting of its long-time president Joseph Blatter. The thing is that corruption within the organization notwithstanding, Blatter was a friend of Russia. Just before the scandal broke out he visited Russia and Putin. He was also a big proponent of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and supporter of the development of the Russian sport.

Russia never hosted World Cup, which is considered the Olympics of football. I personally am indifferent towards football (US: soccer), but many in Russia are ardent supporters and the country at large has been ecstatic to host the world’s most important football competition. This has to do with national pride, but also with the love of the sport. Regardless of how one feels about football or sport in general, my goal is always to present a balanced, truthful and complete picture.

And the truth is this: naturally and in line with their proclaimed goal of expanding the world of football and giving nations that never hosted the chance, FIFA, and Blatter personally, wanted to award World Cup to Russia and other countries that showed enthusiasm and dedication.

Knowing how well received World Cup was by Russians, the FIFA scandal was timed in such a way as to try to take the hosting rights away from Russia. THIS was really the reason for the whole FIFA scandal. The idea was to throw a lot of loud accusations in corruption and bribery and see if they would stick – if they could be pinned on Russia. If it was possible to prove that Russians got the 2018 World Cup via bribery, then the next step would begin: humiliate Russia by stripping it of the championship – and vilify, vilify, vilify on all levels possible.

The plan didn’t work. It turned out that the bribes were not Russian. They came from Qatar, which was awarded 2022 World Cup. The thing is that FIFA votes and awards two consecutive World Cups in one meeting. So, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 were awarded together.

According to witnesses, Qatar representatives carried with them envelopes stuffed with $20,000 each and just gave them away to everyone in the audience as ‘mementos.’ Just imagine what was going on behind the scenes and how much money was passed under the table, if $20,000 multiplied by thousands of participants were given out like little trifles.

But Qatar wasn’t the target here – Russia was.

Despite the obvious failure, Western MSM and politicians continued howling that Russia (notice – not Qatar) should be stripped of World Cup hosting. FIFA, which under Blatter conducted independent policies, refusing to bow to the Anglo-American bosses, refused to transfer it from Russia. Blatter stood firm and the scandal died down. No one demanded that Qatar be stripped of its 2022 World Cup.

The result was the ousting of Blatter under bogus and falsified pretexts as a lesson to others to toe the line.

When in 2013 the terrorists stormed the Headquarters, which are next to the presidential home, the international media were quick to report that "Damascus has fallen." Exploding shells could be heard from the house of the president, the eldest son is a student, and decided that he will not do to classes because of this. And was surprised when his mother started to collect his books: "Do you not love me? There's shooting there! I can get killed! "-" You will go to school just because I love you. I do not want for my son to grow up as a coward, you have to be educated, and not like the ones that are trying to destroy us."

Syria, which before the war was called the Eastern Fairytale, famous for the fact that there coexist more than 20 confessions. The history of this land goes back thousands of years.

When Sergei Stepashin, the head of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) visited Syria last year, Bashar Assad asked him to convey to President Vladimir Putin, that he is not Yanukovych. "I will not run. I'll stay until the end, "- said Assad, noting that if the Russian language in Ukraine is excluded from the school curriculum, in Syria, Russian is a compulsory subject. And the eldest son of President, Hafez, can already speak a little Russian. "At a meeting with the first lady we met with Hafez - says Milla Zhukovsky. - The eldest son of the president is named in honour of his grandfather, father of Bashar al-Assad. We had prepared a special gift for the teen - models of Russian fighter jets, which his grandfather piloted. The young man immediately determined that it is "MiG" and said in Russian: "Great!"



The first lady herself speaks English, French and Spanish. She was born in London, where her mother worked in the Syrian embassy, and his father was a cardiologist. During the holidays the parents came home, where as a child she met with Bashar al-Assad, who is 10 years her senior. Then she admitted: "Children's friendship grew into love."

In 2000, Bashar Assad became president of Syria, and soon the pair played the wedding. The family of the President has many children, the couple raising two sons and a daughter.

"Desert Rose", so translates the name of wife of President Assad - has become an example of resistance to the Syrians. All the years of the war, she did not leave the tormented Syria ready to share the fate of her people.

During the summit, “I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) units by private individuals. This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them,” Putin told the journalists.

Putin also spoke of the urgent need to curb the illegal oil trade by IS.

"I’ve shown our colleagues photos taken from space and from aircraft which clearly demonstrate the scale of the illegal trade in oil and petroleum products," he said.

“The motorcade of refueling vehicles stretched for dozens of kilometers, so that from a height of 4,000 to 5,000 meters they stretch beyond the horizon," Putin added, comparing the convoy to gas and oil pipeline systems.

Putin reiterated Russia’s readiness to support armed opposition in Syria in its efforts to fight Islamic State.

"Some armed opposition groups consider it possible to begin active operations against IS with Russia's support. And we are ready to provide such support from the air. If it happens it could become a good basis for the subsequent work on a political settlement,” he said.

“We really need support from the US, European nations, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran,” the president added.

Putin also disagreed with Western criticism of Russia’s actions in Syria, where the country has been carrying out a large-scale air campaign against Islamic State and other terror groups since September 30.

“It’s really difficult to criticize us,” he said, adding that Russia has repeatedly asked its foreign partners to provide data on terrorist targets in Syria.

“They’re afraid to inform us on the territories which we shouldn’t strike, fearing that it is precisely where we’ll strike; that we are going to cheat everybody,” the president said.

“Apparently, their opinion of us is based on their own concept of human decency,” he added.

Putin told the media that Russia has already established contact with the Syrian opposition, which has asked Moscow not carry out airstrikes in the territories it controls.

No.  I'm not even opposed to conspiracy theories.  I'm only opposed to asserting them without any proof or even without any evidence.   As is being done here.

My heart goes out to anyone who lost a family member in these horrific attacks, it does, but once again, history tells us to keep a watchful eye over what happens next. With details still sketchy at best, and the number of dead or injured being very fluid, one number I noticed in the video below was not fluid: President Hollande declared a state of emergency and mobilized 1,500 troops to patrol Paris streets. In the video, you’ll see an article that says “officials“ have the right to perform searches, and “military justice” may be enacted. I assume that means citizens can get ventilated if they aren’t fully cooperative, no questions asked… but who knows? Also in one article, Obama promises to do “whatever it takes” to bring the terrorists to justice. Hmmmm.

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1.) How many gunmen? Already, the number of individuals involved in the Paris attacks is in question. While some reports suggested four shooters were involved, others suggested three. The majority of mainstream reports seem to be only acknowledging two shooters. So how many shooters were there? Two, three or four? One witness, Pierre Marie Bertin, a 36-year-old who was at the theater when the shooting began, stated that there were as many as four gunmen. Bertin described some male hostages who “went onto the balcony and tried to negotiate for the life of their wives with one of the guys [terrorists]. It was sickening.” Bertin recounted somewhat more detail than some other witnesses and was clear that there were as many as four gunmen. Australian news media is reporting that three gunmen have been killed.

This might seem inconsequential to many readers, but, in informed researching circles, it is well-known that the information that comes out shortly after the event is usually the most reliable. This is not to discount the existence of confusion related to panicked reports coming from eyewitnesses and the like. However, the information coming out early on has not yet been subjected to the top-down media revision that will inevitably take place as the story becomes molded to fit the narrative pushed by the individuals who either directed the attack at the higher levels or at least have connections with those who are able to control the manner in which various media outlets report the event. For instance, in times of false flag attacks, the initial reports may point to 5 gunmen. Very shortly after, reports may only mention two. Only a few hours after the attack, however, all references to more than one gunmen are removed entirely, with only the “lone gunman” story remaining. Any other mention of additional gunmen after this point is ridiculed as “conspiracy theory.”

2.) The types of weapons used – While some reports suggest that the attackers were using AK-47s, other reports are suggesting that shotguns were used. While the contradiction in reports can certainly be attributed to victims and witnesses simply not being aware of the type of weapons being used in the attacks and panic in the heat of the moment, there is none the less contradiction in the reports being issued. As of the time of the writing of this article there has been no clarification as to what type of weapons were used. Since the assailants were supposedly killed by police it should be clear what weapons they used.

3.) Were the gunmen killed or arrested? While the number of gunmen itself is in doubt, news reports coming from Fox and Sky are suggesting that a suspected gunmen was actually arrested. In fact, the suspect allegedly stated to police, “I am from ISIS” giving us all the information we need as for who is responsible for this attack.

4.) Gunmen connected to ISIS, gunmen connected to Syria – Along with the very convenient and immediate statement by an allegedly arrested suspect that he was from ISIS, we also have screams of a shooter that “This is for Syria!” This gives us all the information that we need regarding the motivation of the alleged attackers. They are from ISIS. They hate the French because the French are “attacking” ISIS and because somewhere in France in a very darkened corner, under the sofa, there are freedoms. ISIS hates freedoms. This is quite coincidental considering the fact that a Russian airliner was recently bombed, allegedly by ISIS – at least according to the West.

5.) The timing of the event – Aside from the obvious connotations derived from the attacks occurring on Friday the 13th, the Paris massacre has taken place shortly before a major climate summit that was set to take place in France. The French government was expecting massive protests they alleged could potentially become violent, by activists opposed to globalization and energy austerity. Interestingly enough, France had already planned to impose border controls starting on November 30th in anticipation of the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Paris “because of the terrorist threat or risk of public disorder.” Needless to say, there will be no massive protest now considering the fact that 2015 France resembles the 1943 version of itself more than anything else.

6.) Security – Considering the fact that the security had been so heightened both on the heels of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the anticipation of disorder for the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, how on earth did such a major terror attack slip through the hands of the DGSE? After all, France is nothing if not a police state. It is also giving the United States a run for its money in the contest for how much information it is able to nab up on its citizens. No doubt, we will be sold the line of “pre-civilized savages outsmarted first-world high end military surveillance states.”

7.) Drills – One hallmark of the false flag operation is the running of drills shortly before or during the actual attack. Many times, these drills will involve the actual sequence of events that takes place during the real life attack . These drills have been present on large scale false flags such as 9/11 as well as smaller scale attacks like the Aurora shooting.

For instance, as Webster Tarpley documents in his book 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made In USA, at least 46 drills were underway in the months leading up to 9/11 and on the morning of the attack. These 46 drills were all directly related to the events which took place on 9/11 in some way or other. Likewise, the 7/7 bombings in London were running drills of exactly the same scenario that was occurring at exactly the same times and locations.

Although one reason may take precedence over the other depending on the nature and purpose of the operation drills are used by false flag operators for at least two reasons. One such purpose is the creation of intentional confusion if the drill is taking place during the actual attack. The other, more effective aspect, however, is using the drill as a cloak to plan the attack or even “go live” when it comes time to launch the event. Even more so, it gives the individuals who are involved in the planning of the event an element of cover, especially with the military/intelligence agency’s tight chain of command structure and need-to-know basis. If a loyal military officer or intelligence agent stumbles upon the planning of the attack, that individual can always be told that what he has witnessed is nothing more than the planning of a training exercise. This deniability continues all the way through to the actual “going live” of the drill. After the completion of the false flag attack, Coincidence Theory is used to explain away the tragic results.

All of this must be considered, when one reads reports suggesting that the UK conducted counter-terrorism drills earlier this year that included scenarios that involved terror attacks in Paris similar to those that took place on the Charlie Hebdo massacre. As the reports surrounding the UK drills were released, a number 10 spokesman confirmed “it had been agreed that future exercises, which take place on a regular basis, should seek to learn from events in France.” David Cameron himself stated that there was  a need for police “to call on military help if there was a major emergency.”

8.) Charlie Hebdo – The recent Paris attacks were similar to the Charlie Hebdo massacre that occurred earlier this year. The Charlie Hebdo attacks, however, were largely revealed as a false flag operation. Evidence for which can be seen in my article “15 Signs the Charlie Hebdo Attack Was a False Flag.” Thus, there exists a clear precedent for such attacks in France, albeit on a much larger scale

9.) Who controls ISIS? For many, claims that the attackers belong to ISIS is a deal breaker. For these individuals, ISIS is a shadowy terrorist organization that supports itself and has created a caliphate in eastern Syria and western Iraq that can scarcely be defeated (except when the Russians bomb it). However, the facts do not support such a shallow understanding of the ISIS terrorist organization. ISIS was entirely created, funded and directed by the United States, Britain, France and other NATO countries. Its actions have been coordinated by the Anglo-American Intelligence apparatus for geopolitical purposes all across the world both at home and abroad. For this reason, the declaration that ISIS committed a terrorist attack in Paris is by no means a get-out-of-jail-free card for the western Intelligence apparatus. Instead, it is the trademark of their handiwork. Please see these articles for more information on the nature of ISIS: here, here, here and here.

The massacre in Paris is reported to have occurred at 21:16 CET.

By 23:06 Wikipedia had an article up that is extremely detailed, containing statements from a former French President and a complete outline of events at several locations, matters that the press I read had not by then reported.

It piqued my interest that an article would be up on Wikipedia within two hours of the event happening. So I went there.

I began reading the current version of the article and then decided to read a much earlier version. I chose the 23:18 version for this article, not overly consciously. At that point I did not understand very much.

By the time I got myself organized here, I saw that the earliest versions of the article had just been erased from Wikipedia’s change record. Everything before 00:00 was erased from the record, preventing access to the originals of the story. That aroused my suspicions immediately.

(That list of deleted versions was gotten again by going to the user page of the person who wrote the article, known only by his number 82.45.236.70. The list appeared there and the articles proved linkable and recoverable. You can reach them, until they’re taken down, by clicking on the list given in Footnote 1.)

(Thanks to the reader who identified the IP address (82.45.236.70) as belonging to a block of addresses assigned to VirginMedia Consumer Broadband UK.)

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I have known for months that something like this was in the making. These events were almost certainly organized and/or provocateured by one or more intelligence agencies. If you think that that's farfetched, do some research on "Operation Gladio". It included deadly terrorist bombings killing large numbers of people that were organized by NATO and the European secret services during the Cold War. Those atrocities were blamed on communists in order to reduce support of left-wing political options among the general public.
This time the goal is to provide propaganda for the NATO countries' neocolonial invasions and occupations of countries in the Mideast and North Africa that are rich in oil, gas and other resources. Russia's successful campaign in Syria is no doubt one of the factors that precipitated the execution of this plot.
If all of the Orwellian surveillance of the general public in western countries these days is being justified by the phony "War on Terror", then how did people who should have been top on the list of people being watched, manage to obtain the training and weapons needed to pull this off? The mercenary thugs known variously as ISIS, IS, and Al Qaeda, are the proxy army of the imperialists and warmongers. They are used to destabilize and create chaos in target countries that is cynically used to justify military interventions and the installation and/or support of puppet governments.
This whole program of endless war, profiteering and plunder goes directly back to the mother of all false flag operations - 9/11. That is why it is more urgent than ever to demand the real criminal investigation of that pivotal event before we're led once again like sheep into a world war. In today's world, with so much information available thanks to the internet, there is no more excuse for people to let their corrupt leaders manipulate them into supporting more war.

I am not a french citizen. I am a turkish citizen, I work in france and plan to apply for citizenship.

It is besides the point too. There will be more people like me in the future. Who are highly qualified, some of them atheists or agnostics. And your idea of not letting new muslims into europe, will block these people also.

Yes, provocative and selfish, too. I was supporting an independent Scotland, but Catalonia is a part of Spain, and it couldn't live without the rest of Spain. Some catalans think they will emulate Switzerland, but they're very wrong, they would not get any foreign investment, and they don't have any natural resources like Scotland has in the North Sea. Also, in case of trouble, the ECB won't have any other choice but to let them die.

Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia, with the remainder now part of France's Pyrénées-Orientales. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and the Valencian Community to the south. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan

n the nineteenth century Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars. In the second half of the century Catalonia experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1913, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–39), the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored as an autonomous government.

From the late 1950s through to the early 1970s, Catalonia saw rapid economic growth, drawing many workers from across Spain, making Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas and Catalonia into a major tourist destination. Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–82), Catalonia has gained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain.

http://ssmaker.ru/6aaed7d9/

 

The official death toll is 128, but some 80 to 90 people are in "critical" condition. Meanwhile, the most important developement today was the discovery of a Syrian passport from the dead body of one of the attackers. That means that at least some of the terrorists were Syrian ISIS members, or someone with a stolen Syrian passport.

"Oppositionist Pack"

Now that the world's media attention has shifted to Russian air strikes in Syria, about a million refugees in the EU are somewhat forgotten. However, "the Arabic stream" still fills the surrounding countries, and more and more refugees saved from the cities overtaken by an "Islamic state" (a terrorist organization banned in Russia). Incidentally, the terrorists only encourage the "migration" . "They even provide busses - a teacher from Mosultold me. - Accompany with guards almost to the border. " Why ISIS suddenly become so good, is clear without explanation: among the "newcomers" almost half are with freshly shaven-off beards - that is, the potential militants. Turkish border territories are already under influence of the ISIS and the local guides were earning good money taking European volunteers to the terrorists. Now another business thrives here - false documents. While in September, a Syrian passport was worth $1,000, it is now easy to buy one even for $500. They also provide "an opposition package" - a photo of a ruined house in Syria and "evidence of the prosecution by the authorities": an attest of an arrest and a "stint" in prison.

Russians help the same Russians that live on territory of Ukraine. Really it is it heavy to understand?

remember when stalin promised to fight the japanese and liberate china in the proses?
he didn't kept his promes, he just laughted and watched... china didn't forgot that.

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First of all, RIP all the victims and deepest condolences to their families.

Unfortunately, the Paris events are a direct and easily predictable consequence of the NATO/US/West’s actions and meddling in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, as well as elsewhere in the Middle East. ISIL (aka, Daesh or ISIS) is staffed in big part by former Saddam Hussein’s officers, who are Sunnis and who had been dismissed by the US after they took over Iraq. The rest of ISIL is formed from the armed opposition left over after Libya was destroyed by NATO (including French) strikes, parts of Al Qaeda, as well and other Islamist rebels financed by US, Saudis and Qatar.

Also, I never had the chance to officially say RIP to the 224 victims of the Russian Kogalymavia Airbus320 flight from Sinai, Egypt. Our most sincere condolences to the families of all victims.

I have some serious intel about who benefitted from blowing up the Russian Airbus320 in Sinai. An article is coming when I get a spare moment.

The attacks in Paris and the Russian Egypt flight catastrophe are directly related to Syria, Assad and Russia’s successful anti-ISIL operation.

France has declared a state of emergency, closed down the airport and borders. This may signal the turnaround in the EU’s policy of open borders. This also may signal a turnaround of the EU policies towards refugees that are flooding Europe.

The attacks in Paris, already blamed on ISIL and refugees, may trigger a tough response from the French government. The closure of other EU countries’ borders is also possible.

The most worrisome is that if it is classified as an attack on one of the NATO members, this may become the signal for NATO mobilization. We all know how much criticism NATO has drawn in recent years, some calling for its disbanding as an organisation that has outlived its usefulness. This is a perfect storm for NATO. Such situation may confirm their usefulness and provide justification for their existence. It appears that there is already a groundwork for such NATO mobilization being prepared by MSM and Obama.

Considering the above, the attacks in Paris may have been a false flag designed to provoke NATO mobilization. The attack on the Russian Airbus320 in Egypt may have been orchestrated for the same purpose, among others: to make NATO countries agree to mobilization and intensification of bombings of ISIL in Syria and Iraq.

These things are often designed to be multi-prong. This may have also been a warning to Hollande to toe the line.  At the time of the attacks Hollande was at the stadium watching a match in close proximity to the explosions. Another thing that strikes me is that the match was between France and Germany. This effectively means that the warning was a hint to Germany to toe the line as well.

A similar warning took place previously when German plane Germanwings crashed in France. This happened immediately after Hollande and Merkel dared to defy the US in how they approached the Ukraine crisis, working with Russia on trying to stop war in Donbass. It also has to be noted that Russian plane blown up over Sinai was of the French manufacturer Airbus.

This effectively means the following:

After Russia’s successful bombing campaign in Syria, it was proven how ineffective (or how corrupt) the US/West’s bombings were. Thanks to Russian air support, Syrian army is now advancing on four directions at the same time, having gained control over half of the territory previously controlled by ISIL, with attack on their capital planned in the near future. Such miraculous turnaround was absolutely impossible to imagine just a few short weeks ago, before Russians went to Syria.

If it keeps up, Syria will be ISIL-free in a few months. I wrote in Earth Shift Report 5: SYRIA GAME CHANGER that Russian jets would squeeze out US and NATO airforce planes out of Syrian airspace because they wouldn’t risk colliding directly with the Russians. And it has happened in the exact way predicted.

All Russia needs is for the US and West to get out of the way and let them do their job. This seemingly started happening with Obama/Kerry changing their rhetoric, talking negotiations and intel sharing. However, I fear that one thing is being said to Lavrov’s face and something entirely different behind the closed doors. I never thought that US/NATO/Pentagon would just accept the humiliation of being outplayed and sidetracked in Syria. They would do everything in their power to make Russia’s job as difficult as possible.

This possibility could arise out of Paris attacks. If NATO countries mobilize, NATO planes may crowd into the same air space as Russian planes, creating dangerous and volatile situations. To avoid collisions, they may insist on no-fly zones (remember Libya no-fly zone that led to the destruction of the country?). NATO airforce is completely ineffectual compared to the Russian airforce in a combat situation. However, I’m afraid they may be very effective at interfering/getting in the way of Russia doing her job.

And should any countries, such as France or Germany, attempt to conduct their own independent policies, they will be sent reminders.

The biggest concern of mine is that they may be able to tie up Russia’s hands in Syria, like they did in Ukraine, creating a zone of permanent frozen conflict and preventing Russia from resolving it. This will tie up Russian resources. It is undoubtedly one of the goals.

Besides, US still wants to unseat Assad and they are peeved that Syrian ‘moderate’ opposition is meeting in Moscow, discussing peaceful elections, new constitution and power sharing with Assad. Syrian opposition started sharing intel on ISIL locations with Russia and joining Assad’s army to fight the Islamists. In other words, Moscow managed to achieve in two months what the US/West couldn’t (or rather wouldn’t) in years.

There is another consideration why US and their NATO vassals desperately need to orchestrate a return. US is losing its grip on the Middle East, including Iraq, where they still have troops. Iraq government they themselves had brought to power, had created a joint Russia-Iran-Iraq anti-ISIL center in Baghdad. Somehow, US didn’t notice that at first. But when Iraq president and parliament tried to ask Russia for help in bombing ISIL on Iraq territory, US had a hysterical response. My prediction was that US wouldn’t let Iraqis ask for Russian help (read more in ESR5: Syria Game Changer). Iraqis are frustrated with the fact that US is not even trying to fight ISIL. US has to put them in their place. Mobilizing NATO could indirectly serve this purpose.

Worst case scenario: should US/NATO leaders turn out to be complete maniacs (and from what I am seeing, they may be), this can generate a situation of no return, leading to the new World War.

I thought I’d publish this warning. In truth, I believe that Putin and Lavrov will be able to defuse the situation and to create a more cooperative solution for all. Unfortunately, these two are the only adults in the room, with Western ‘leaders’ being not up to the task. However, hopefully, the sense of self-preservation of the Europeans will be enough to keep them on the side of reason.

On another note, personal attacks are taking place on Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and Sports Minister Vitaliy Mutko, together with the entire Russian sport. All these simultaneous attacks are designed to disorient, destabilize and tie up Russian resources, as well as to distract from real problems in the West, Middle East and Ukraine. I will talk about the latter attacks in the upcoming article.

Scarcity is part of what gives both gold and bitcoin value. The only reason anything has any value at all is that everyone believes it to be true. This is true of bitcoin, gold, and fiat. Confidence in the particular monetary system is what bestows value, and part of the confidence in bitcoin is the built in scarcity of a hard cap and halving block rewards along the way. If that confidence is undermined, then the value/utility of the monetary system is going to fall, and that's true of gold and fiat too.