It was two weeks ago when we alerted readers to Egypt’s Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah visiting Moscow – so it should come as no surprise to see Vladimir Putin now extending his influence into Syria.

President Obama has created an intentional leadership vacuum in the mid-east.
Intentional by design.
The two most stable forces within the region, Egypt and Jordan, have been ignored by President Obama for several years.  President Obama willingly allowing Turkey’s Recep Erdogan free reign on what takes place inside Syria, while Erdogan simultaneously provides a safe-haven for the Muslim Brotherhood.  The current events are not disconnected from this empirical truth.

WASHINGTON — Russia has sent a military advance team to Syria and is taking other steps the United States fears may signal that President Vladimir V. Putin is planning to vastly expand his military support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, administration officials said Friday.

The Russian moves, including the recent transport of prefabricated housing units for hundreds of people to a Syrian airfield and the delivery of a portable air traffic control station there, are another complicating factor in Secretary of State John Kerry’s repeated efforts to enlist Mr. Putin’s support for a diplomatic solution to the bloody conflict in Syria.

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Remember this moment years from now when everyone wonders why Russia has replaced the U.S. in the sphere of influence.  Egyptian President Fattah el-Sisi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan during a scheduled visit to Moscow.  Both President el-Sisi and King Abdullah have been blocked from visits to the White House.

EGYPT – According to Egyptian presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef, the two Arab leaders discussed counter-terrorism strategies and acknowledged the importance of regional and international alliances in combatting threats posed by extremist and terrorist organisations in the Middle East. El-Sisi and Abdullah II also acknowledged the importance of military cooperation between their own countries and across the wider Arab world.

[…]  Regarding Libya, the two leaders renewed their support to the elected Libyan government and the national Libyan army, while advocating a political solution in the country. The heads of state also agreed on the importance of supporting the Iraqi government in its efforts to achieve stability and unity in the country. (more…)

The New York Times begins digging into some of the quid-pro-quo elements outlined in the upcoming book “Clinton Cash”. A review of a Russian bid to control U.S. Uranium mine interests exposes millions of undisclosed donations to the Clinton Family Foundation which occur during critical timeframes requiring coincidental approval by Secretary Clinton.
New York Times […] Beyond mines in Kazakhstan that are among the most lucrative in the world, the sale gave the Russians control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. Since uranium is considered a strategic asset, with implications for national security, the deal had to be approved by a committee composed of representatives from a number of United States government agencies. Among the agencies that eventually signed off was the State Department, then headed by Mr. Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.
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On October 25th of last year we noted something was odd. In the evening the White House was totally unaware of what happened in the news regarding the Islamist Hatchet attack in New York against two cops a few hours earlier. Our suspicions grew the next day when the NSC meeting was moved from the White House to the State Department building; something was not passing the sniff test. We suspected a communication network breach, possibly a hack.

On October 28th our suspicions were confirmed when the White House admitted a security breach into the Executive Office of The President. The breach had taken place three days prior according to an official release to Reuters: “The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say who might have been responsible for the activity on what was described as an unclassified computer network used by employees of the Executive Office of the President”.

Today we find out who was behind the cyber breach. The Russians hacked the communication network of the EOP (Executive Office Of The President). However, we also find out the cyber hack was far more extensive than previously shared. [ NOTE – The State Department was also hacked – So now we wonder if Russia has possession of Hillary Clinton’s emails ]

Washington (CNN)—Russian hackers behind the damaging cyber intrusion of the State Department in recent months used that perch to penetrate sensitive parts of the White House computer system, according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigation. (more…)

We have shared Jon McNaughton’s work before and his latest is right on target.

Interactive version HERE and Video Below (more…)

According to State Media a few people showed up for a rally in Moscow to reflect unity toward the assassinated opposition leader Boris Nemtsov….. or something:

I have a feeling they might be underestimating the crowd a little. (more…)

RUSSIA – Russian news agencies say prominent opposition politician and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov has been shot dead in Moscow.

The Interfax news agency cited a law enforcement source as saying that Nemtsov was shot four times by an unidentified assailant late in the evening on February 27 and died of his injuries.

Interfax said it did could not independently verify the report.  Nemtsov’s fellow Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin said on Twitter that Nemtsov was shot and is “dead.”

Once considered a potential successor to Russia’s first post-Soviet president, Boris Yeltsin, Nemstov became an opposition politician and fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  (link)

“I’m scared Putin will kill me” ~ Boris Nemtsov said weeks before murder.

It should not come as a surprise to followers of the U.S. position in Libya to discover that both the U.S. and British political apparatus are trying to block Egypt’s request to the Security Council for intervention in Libya.
What comes as more of a surprise is the stark contrast between espoused public positions from both President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron about fighting “Islamic Extremism” when contrast against their less public -but far more damaging- positions about allowing the elements of ISIS to have free reign amid the Libyan geography.

As a consequence what is beginning to emerge is, yet again, the rise of Russian influence in the North African region; as Russia’s Putin and Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi work together to remove the extremists despite the action of Cameron and Obama.
CAIRO –  Faced with a new threat to its national security, Egypt may, at least for now, go it alone in battling ISIL militants in neighbouring Libya.
Egyptian warplanes struck ISIL targets last week in the city of Derna, an extremist stronghold, in retaliation for the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians there by the militants.
But Cairo’s desire to see the creation of a UN-backed force to intervene militarily in Libya has been stymied at the UN Security Council last week. (more…)

In response to the killing of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya Egypt’s President Fattah al-Sisi has called for the international community to join in a united response.
In the leadership role which would normally be filled, or at least bolstered by a determined U.S. President, Egypt’s al-Sisi has asked the United Nations Security Council to convene and organize a response to “an active terrorist threat”. Sisi was visiting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on the same day that Pope Francis condemned the attack calling the victims “Christian Martyrs”.

“Today I read about the execution of those twenty-one or twenty-two Coptic Christians. Their only words were: ‘Jesus, help me!’ They were killed simply because they were Christians.”

Italy’s Renzi and Egypt’s el-Sisi appeared together and spoke at length about the need for a united international community to accept the face of the enemy and engage with strong force to eliminate the growing threat. The Egyptian presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef relayed the details of the diplomatic conversation between Renzi and Sisi.
Renzi affirmed his country’s support and willingness to assist with Egypt’s ongoing efforts.  Three days ago, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said his country was ready to join a U.N-led force to combat “an active terrorist threat”.  Following that statement Renzi called Monday for the United Nation Security Council to send a United Nations-led “mission” to Libya as fast as possible. (more…)

Russia and Egypt are working on several strategic alliances. Russia has committed to assist in building Nuclear power plants, and interestingly both Egypt and Russia are negotiating plans to drop the dollar as their trade currency.
(Reuters) – United by a deep hostility toward Islamists, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russia’s Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday they were both committed to fighting the threat of terrorism.
The general and the former KGB officer found common ground on security at talks in Cairo that signaled a rapprochement between their two countries, at a time when relations between Egypt and the United States have cooled.
Sisi, who is fighting a raging Islamist insurgency in the Sinai region, said Putin had agreed with him that “the challenge of terrorism that faces Egypt, and which Russia also faces, does not stop at any borders”. (more…)