For the first time, Russian FM Lavrov indicates a sovreign Novorussiya is in the cards:

I’m sure that what has already been achieved in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk consolidates these regions in their fight for what is most important – for the right to live in those lands the way their fathers and grandfathers did, and live the way they want to live as well, speaking the Russian language, providing their children with education in the Russian language, electing their own governors and legislative assemblies, being able to get the money from taxes on economic activities that are carried out on their territory, being able to maintain economic, cultural and purely human contacts with their relatives and friends in the Russian Federation and other countries. That is the main thing,” Lavrov said.

Source: Lavrov: talks the only way to find out if eastern regions want to be part of Ukraine

Posted by: Colin Brace | Aug 27 2014 19:15 utc | 3

http://twitchy.com/2014/08/22/wheres-the-media-outcry-unarmed-white-man-shot-by-black-police-officer-in-utah/
This shooting happened in utah apparently the police are being secretive and supposedly the cop was wearing a body camera. Family of victim can’t get any answers…not good.

Posted by: really | Aug 27 2014 19:24 utc | 5

Colin Brace #3 I’ve never seen any analysis on what the parameters would be for RF recognition of Novorossiya independence, but I yearn for the day, of course.
More on Russia and Putin’s visit to Minsk. This is a long comment by Alexander Mercouris, whom I don’t really know but found him through Petri Krohn, and I bookmarked his Facebook feed because it was so good and timely. As far as I can tell this is mostly Mercouris’s own commentary, and I’m quoting in full because not everyone has a Facebook account to view this.
Link is here. Forgive the length but I love the analysis:

TOTAL DEADLOCK IN MINSK – ON THE WAR, ON GAS AND ON THE EU ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT. THE WAR CONTINUES AND A GAS WAR LOOMS
We now have the details of Putin’s press conference in Minsk and this helps to get a sense of what happened there.
http://eng.kremlin.ru/transcripts/22852
1. On the civil war in the eastern Ukraine this is what Putin says he said to Poroshenko
“Question: You talked about a ceasefire. Did you speak substantively about the conditions for a ceasefire to be possible.
Putin: No. We did not discuss this matter substantively. Frankly speaking, we cannot discuss any conditions for a ceasefire or possible agreements between Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk. This is not our business; it is a domestic matter of Ukraine itself. We can only support the creation of an environment of trust during this possible, and in my view, highly necessary negotiation process. We spoke about this. We spoke, where possible, about what Russia could do to make this process possible. But Russia did not impose any conditions. We cannot do that, and we do not have any right to do so. This is a Ukrainian affair; it is up to Donetsk and Lugansk”.
In other words Putin made it absolutely clear to Poroshenko and to Ashton that Russia will not put any pressure on the NAF on any subject and that if they want peace in the Ukraine they must talk directly to the NAF.
Incidentally I know there are some people who question whether Poroshenko and his European backers really did come to Minsk to look for a way out. I don’t think there is any doubt that they did. That is why Merkel went to Kiev and said there the things she said there (see the Moon of Alabama on this), that is why the German vice Chancellor resurrected the topic of federalisation on the eve of her visit, that is why during the Minsk summit Poroshenko talked about the peace of Europe being in danger and that is why Ashton during the visit was the one who brought up the question of a ceasefire. It is quite clear to me that the idea was to get the Russians to put pressure on the NAF to accept Ukrainian sovereignty in return for an offer of discussions on some vague form of decentralisation (which would certainly in the end amount to a lot less than real federalisation) and a possible end to hostilities. Putin firmly rejected that idea. No other interpretation of his words makes sense.
I would also refer to Putin’s pointed use of the word “trust”. This is a word rarely used in diplomatic discussions. The fact that Putin used it is obviously because he knows that following Maidan’s string of broken promises there isn’t any.
2. On the gas talks Putin said the following:
“It is no big secret that Gazprom has advanced payment for the transit of our gas to Europe. Ukraine’s Naftogaz has returned that advance payment. The transit of our gas to European consumers was just about suspended. What will happen next? This is a question that awaits painstaking investigation by our European and Ukrainian partners. We are fulfilling all the terms of the contract in full. Right now, we cannot even accept any suggestions regarding preferential terms, given that Ukraine has appealed to the Arbitration Court. Any of our actions to provide preferential terms can be used in the court. We were deprived of this opportunity, even if we had wanted it, although we already tried to meet them halfway and reduced the price by $100”.
The importance of these words have been ignored and they confirm that a major crisis is looming. We are looking at a gas war with pan European implications. The Ukrainians have been trying to force Gazprom to lower its gas price by threatening to cut off Russian gas to Europe. Putin has rejected that blackmail and has rejected any suggestion that Gazprom grant Naftogaz even a temporary discount pointing out that the Ukrainians would treat it as an admission in the legal proceedings in Stockholm that the existing contractual price is too high (people constantly harp on Putin’s KGB background. They forget that he is also a trained lawyer). What that means in effect is that there is or will shortly be no Russian transit gas going through the Ukraine to Europe. Unless the Ukrainians change course a cold winter looms not just for the Ukraine but for Europe as well.
3. On the EU association agreement Putin stuck to the Russian position which is that in its present form it is incompatible with the existing free trade arrangements between the Ukraine and Russia. The Europeans and the Ukrainians have very belatedly woken up to the implications of this. They have pressed for the setting up of an expert group supposedly “to iron out the problems”. Essentially they continue to want to have their cake and eat it ie. they want the Ukraine to join the European Single Market via the association agreement whilst remaining in a free zone with Russia, which is not part of the European Single Market and which does not have a free trade agreement with it. Putin again said that is impossible. Ulyukaev, the Russian economy minister, made it clear today that any retention of trade preferences for the Ukraine would require amendments to the basic text of the EU association agreement (see this report from Itar Tass http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/746874 ). Yatsenyuk has again today ruled that out. On this issue again we have deadlock.
In summary, Putin took an unyielding line on every issue. The Europeans and the Ukrainians got nowhere and they now have a growing crisis on their hands. No wonder Poroshenko couldn’t bring himself to speak to the waiting reporters and rushed to talk to Ashton instead. Not surprisingly in light of the failure to agree on any substantive issue the Minsk summit ended with no final communique

Posted by: Grieved | Aug 27 2014 19:32 utc | 7

Here are the technical specs of the brutal Israeli butchery in Shujaiya. All the psychopath armchair generals can ooo and ahh about it, like the real psychopath generals do in the article.
The anonymous US officers rightly say the artillery fire was disproportionate and indiscriminate, and compared the size of the deployment to typical US deployments in Iraq. The anonymous officers probably should have compared it to what the US used in Falluja, they might have been less “stunned.”

Posted by: ess emm | Aug 27 2014 19:45 utc | 9

@8
Frome the article:
“…One of the more curious moments in Israel’s Operation Protective Edge came on July 20 when a live microphone at Fox News caught U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry commenting sarcastically on Israel’s military action. “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” Kerry said. “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation.”…”

Posted by: really | Aug 27 2014 19:59 utc | 11

Essentially, the Kiev government had all spring and summer to win its own “war on terror”. The clock is running out. Europe and Russia are on the same side regarding Russia’s gas pipelines.
If the southern thrust of the rebels continues unabated, can we expect to see Odessa liberated soon?

Posted by: Bob In Portland | Aug 27 2014 20:06 utc | 13

11
Yes I mean you dont admit such stuff as a soldier, it seems to be made up the junta, but of course I could be wrong.

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 27 2014 20:17 utc | 15

If the southern thrust of the rebels continues unabated, can we expect to see Odessa liberated soon?
At this rate I expect to see Poland liberated soon and hopefully all of Europe. One can only hope. Please Putin, free Europe. It’s something that should have happened long ago and Obama and Rasmussen have pretty much given the green light for Russia’s annexation of Europe. Farewell, Europe. I can’t say it’s been fun. Good riddance.

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Aug 27 2014 20:34 utc | 17

Posted by: Grieved | Aug 27, 2014 3:32:32 PM | 6
Thanks

Posted by: jo6pac | Aug 27 2014 20:42 utc | 19

@Cold N. Holefield #16:
Russia is European; the US isn’t. So if Russia replaces the US as Europe’s main ally, Europe will just resume being European, as opposed to an American colonial monstrosity, which it is now.

Posted by: Demian | Aug 27 2014 21:17 utc | 21

@6
http://en.ria.ru/business/20140827/192399153/Russia-Set-to-Fulfill-European-Gas-Contracts-Regardless-of.html
Looks like Russia is prepared to deliver the gas to the EU no matter what. Now in regards to whether the EU receives it or not, is kiev’s decision. If the EU is shivering this winter it won’t be Russia’s fault.

Posted by: really | Aug 27 2014 21:23 utc | 23

Demian, Your prediction that nothing would come out of Minsk was on the money, whereas mine, that a deal was in the works, was way off the mark. You were also right in intimating that a total defeat of the junta might be closer than is generally acknowledged.

Posted by: Mike Maloney | Aug 27 2014 21:32 utc | 25

@Mike Maloney #24:
🙂
A “total defeat of the junta” would involve its removal from power. But the rebels are not claiming that they are going to do that. They hold open the possibility that a fascist rump Ukraine/Banderastan may remain. But they are keeping to the idea that Novorossiya will consist of more than just the DPR and LPR.
I have had the ipression for about a week now that the Novorossiyan project amounts to a “rebranding” of the Ukraine. Nobody yet knows what its borders will be.
What is being fought over is an idea: whether there is such a thing as a Ukrainian nation. Russians have come to the conclusion that the Ukraine has no other reason for existence than as an effort to destroy Russia.
As I’ve noted before, this war did not have to happen. As Colonel Cassad has explained, since the Ukraine’s “independence”, Russia neglected to counter the programs that USG launched to make the Ukrainian government turn its citizens into virulent ant-Russians.

Posted by: Demian | Aug 27 2014 21:51 utc | 27

Washington has gone completely mad. From this Wash Post story:

“What we have seen are repeated provocations by the Russian regime to further escalate tensions in the region,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

How can you call a permanent UNSC member, one of the world’s two nuclear superpowers, and the country with the largest territory in the world, a “regime”? This smacks of desperation. It is one thing for op-ed writers to say that; quite another for government officials to do it.
Remember, this whole thing is a desperate attempt by USG, after it deindustrialized its economy, to cope with the fact that the center of the wold is Eurasia, which the US happens to be on the other side of the globe of.

Posted by: Demian | Aug 27 2014 22:04 utc | 29

I dont know if there is a more detestable imperialist/warmonger/propagandist than Michael Weiss.

[A simultaneous air attack on both IS and Assad] would also foreclose on the possibility that the IS’s loss would translate into an Assad gain, and also signal to Syria’s embattled Sunni population, without which the jihadists will never been contained or defeated, that its two main oppressors are now declared and targeted enemies of the United States.

Posted by: ess emm | Aug 27 2014 22:10 utc | 31

@28
The US media can call Russia a regime because in the USG’s mantra, the only nation state on the globe that matters is the USA. The amount of former cia analysts all over the “news” is astounding. The New America Foundation supposedly a non-partisan think tank is writing op-eds for major msm publications. Think tanks control the media, and these entities are staffed by former goverment officials. This has always been the case in US finest, but it’s to the point that there is no real dissenting opinion regarding the government narrative. I have notice a half hearted attempt at asking a tough question here and there by some msm anchors, but it is just for appearances only.
Yes Demian the USG is off its geo politicaL rocker. US domestic politics are just as disturbed.
Here is some of New America Foundation’s finest. If you have not seen this already take a gander…
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/24/opinion/bergen-schneider-drones-isis/

Posted by: really | Aug 27 2014 22:30 utc | 33

ess emm that is good news about the Rafah crossing being open. The Jodi Rudoren story this morning mentioned its continued closure as a shortcoming of the ceasefire for Hamas. Nonetheless what was being discussed at the outset of negotiations in Cairo was the PA manning the border posts in Gaza. So we’re still a far way away from that.
Demian, if the junta’s offensive collapses prior to October elections, it is hard to bet against anarchy erupting in Kiev. Colonel Cassad says fighting has to continue through parliamentary elections. But what if the junta is routed and can’t field fighters to fight?

Posted by: Mike Maloney | Aug 27 2014 22:33 utc | 35

Reading of The Newburgh Sting and mindful of the CIAs involvement with the Tsarnaev’s I have to wonder if Douglas McAuthur McCain wasn’t sent to Syria/Iraq by the CIA … and if James Foley wasn’t purposefully hung out to dry.
As time goes on and the monstrous madness of the clique behind the puppetshow in Washington gets more and more desperate … it’s hard to recognize anything at all human left at the top of the USG.

Posted by: john francis lee | Aug 27 2014 22:49 utc | 37

@Thirdeye #34:

That leaves the question of how negotiations between Kiev and Donetsk are supposed to work if nobody on the Kiev side has the flexibility and authority required to negotiate.

I have a feeling that the plan is for Novorossian forces to capture as much of the former Ukraine as possible, and then wait for what is left of the former Ukraine to socially collapse. So there may be no negotiations for years.
As for Russian forces being in the Ukraine, I was surprised that Putin said the soldiers Kiev talked about were Russian, but had gotten lost. A Novorossian leader said in a press conference yesterday that volunteers for the Novorossian army increased fourfold over the last few days. So young east Ukrainian men have finally seen the light?
In this new kind of war, Russia is never going to admit that it has sent its forces into the former Ukraine. And as Colonel Cassad observed, if Russia doesn’t admit it and the West can’t prove it, whether Russia is sending in forces doesn’t matter. After the war is over, we will learn what went down.

Posted by: Demian | Aug 27 2014 23:26 utc | 39

@39 demian.. it’s another shitty proxy war – mercenaries paid by the usa, kolomoisky and etc. on the one side, (along with any leftover maiden fanatics from kiev area) in opposition to those living in eastern ukraine in combo with those paid for by russian and etc support.. no one is supposed to say anything, and hope they can catch the other in the act..

Posted by: james | Aug 27 2014 23:43 utc | 41

@38 @40
I suppose the MSM, Huffington included, will always have a readership, but it must have taken a tremendous hit over the course of the present administration. Yeah, sure, there are people who still read such sites, even buy a NYTimes or CIApost paper … but how many take seriously what they read any longer?
Certainly Obama II – Libya, Syria, Ukraine – and the naked Israel genocide in Gaza have got to have let fall scales from many eyes. The site of the snipers and MRAPS in Ferguson has got to have startled a lot of folks who were otherwise just muddling through, hoping for things to get better.
The realization of just how completely things are out of control … worse, under control of true sociopaths, the kind who can literally write off the live of hundreds of millions, no, billions of people – must actually be beginning to register.
Panic is what we have, not the requisite response to what we have. Are we up to it?

Posted by: john francis lee | Aug 28 2014 0:18 utc | 43

@james #41:

it’s another shitty proxy war

For Russia, it’s more than a proxy war. Remember, Russia and the Ukraine used to be part of the same country. (Nota bene: a new country, the name of which is Russian for “borderland”, does not have good chances for thriving.) So this can be seen as a civil war within the territory of the former USSR.
As I said before, Russians were willing to give Ukrainians the chance to have their own country. but after Ukrainians let their country be ruled by racist fascists, Russians concluded that the Ukraine has lost its right to sovereignty. If Europeans had not become zombified by American neocolonialism, they would have reached the same conclusion.

Posted by: Demian | Aug 28 2014 0:26 utc | 45

Oh wait, the story’s still there. Probably the problem was that yourlink ends with a slash.
Volunteer battalion leader says soldiers see ‘betrayal’ in military strategy

Posted by: Demian | Aug 28 2014 0:36 utc | 47

@Thirdeye #48:
Novorossia is more than just the DPR: there is also the LPR. Also, this week there has been talk of gaining some of the coastline, as well as the area which links eastern Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula. The Crimea not having a direct connection to Russia-friendly territory is very awkward.

Posted by: Demian | Aug 28 2014 1:18 utc | 49

@45 demian – what i mean by proxy war is the war is essentially between planetary oligarchy verses a hold out who is walking a fine line.. that seems to me to be what this is about.. world oligarchy verses putin who is not above working with oligarchs either, but would like to spread the wealth around a bit more.. maybe i am mistaken.. obama is just a rubber stamp for these silent financial interests.
it seems ever since yukos wasn’t a done deal, there are a number of malevolent forces ganging up hoping to rape and pillage the former ussr.. i guess they were lining up before this too, but somewhere along the line putin stepped in to alter the giving away of russia.. porkoshenko is in power to continue the giving away of the resources to the same plundering forces.. that is generally what i mean by ‘proxy war’..

Posted by: james | Aug 28 2014 1:25 utc | 51

Those crazy Zionists, victims of their own propaganda.

Into Gaza we pushed all those other people who lost their clay huts, stone houses and fig trees during that terrible summer of 1948. True, they were the ones who refused to accept us here, who refused to divide the land and forced a war on us. But in the end, we sent them from Jaffa, Yavne and Majdal to Jabaliya, Nusseirat and Rafah. We occupied them again in 1967 and settled among them after 1967 and ruled over them for some 40 years.
Responsibility for the formation of the abscess of despair that is Gaza rests heavily with the Arab world and Arab nationalism.

Unapologetic imperialist.
He forgets that 250,000 Palestinians (the ones Shavit calls ‘other people’) were expelled before the end of April 1948, before the war. And I dont see why the Palestinians were under any obligation to divide the land—they owned 95% of it. With his numerically superior military forces, Ben-Gurion wanted the war in order to expell the Palestinians.

Posted by: ess emm | Aug 28 2014 1:32 utc | 53

Well it does look like the Clauswitzian point has been reached.

I’m glad you mentioned that. One of the resident trolls forbid me to say that, claiming it was a “fake-left” concept.
It does appear that events are moving very quickly. Reports that the NAF are west of Mariopol, well on their way to Zaporizhia.
I imagine that in the next round of trade talks Putin’s ideas might get a better hearing. Facts on the ground, and all that.

Posted by: Malooga | Aug 28 2014 2:12 utc | 55

Yes, its been played brilliantly. Makes one wonder if the meeting in Minsk had anything whatsoever to do with trade. (Though I still think my questions were valid.)

Posted by: Malooga | Aug 28 2014 3:01 utc | 57

militarymaps.info is showing some NAF troops half way to Dnepropetrovsk.

Posted by: Malooga | Aug 28 2014 3:19 utc | 59

malooga @55

One of the resident trolls forbid me to say [Well it does look like the Clauswitzian point has been reached], claiming it was a “fake-left” concept.

JFC @36

People could then post references to von Clausewitz, demonstrating their Armchair Military prowess

Your memory isnt what it used to be, malooga.

Posted by: ess emm | Aug 28 2014 4:03 utc | 61

A HREF=”http://rusvesna.su/news/1409082485/”>Russian Spring
08/26/2014-23:48
Comments of Combatant Prokhorov:

The things in settlement Amvrosiyevka – on August 25, most of Ukrainians were on the run, the commandant’s office hanged out a white flag. Those who did not run were hiding in residential and private buildings. The combatants were not coming. On August 26, the white flag was taken off (they thought it was over). Next came the combatants.
By the way, yesterday, the Ukrainian Council of National Security announced control over town Novoazovsk. Funny, what Ukrainians themselves say:
“The troops of volunteer battalions saw through binoculars the tanks and APCs near Novoazovsk. They were ordered to retreat for lack of heavy weaponry. The army was nowhere close either. Armed by submachine guns equipped with bayonets – technically one can go on attack and pierce through the tracks that they get stuck – joked the troops. Then, the cannons and tanks were delivered. Better late than never. Just Novoazovsk was let go without resistance. It means long heavy fighting it back. Mariupol` is well fortified – taking it is not easy. Yet opponent (the combatants in this case) traverse our territory by tens of tanks, 2-3 was long past.”
As of 14:00 August 27, 3 platoons of 39th battalion, some of 93rd, remnants of 51st brigade and parts of battalions “Dnepr-1” and “Donbass” were still under Ilovaysk. The severe wounded had not been evacuated neither had been wounded and killed. No food delivery.

Posted by: Fete | Aug 28 2014 4:15 utc | 63

@guest77 #62:

that is akin to Jen Psaki declaring that President Putin is a “fake Russian” or something.

That made me laugh out loud. But I hope she doesn’t read this blog, because this might have given her ideas.
@OIFVet #58:
Thanks for that. Always nice to see what Anglophone military bloggers think about the war in the former Ukraine.

Posted by: Demian | Aug 28 2014 5:12 utc | 65

The defeat of the Ukrainian army is starting to look more and more like a rout: Territorial battalions are fleeing: The 5th Territorial Battalion from Ivano-Frankivsk left with 400 men and went home. No one in Ukraine could stop them on the way.
Sources:
– Carpathian 5th territorial defense battalion deserted (No, this is not Transcarpathia, but Ivano-Frankivsk in core Banderastan)
– 5th Battalion territorial defense Carpathian traveled Kirovograd (PHOTOS)
– Through the checkpoint in Kiev tried to drive 400 armed soldiers who left the position in the area of ​​ATO
– From the front, fled 400 Ukrainian soldiers with weapons. What’s next?
The stories are not clear on what happened. They were stationed at Amvrosievka, but decided to leave. On article suggest they went through Russia, but that would be impossible with their weapons. I suggest NAF simply let them out on a promise they would pack up and drive home. NAF could not take their weapons because without them the junta would have arrested them half-way.
***
The most reliable source for the latest events seems to be Military Maps – at least people seem to be relying on it a great deal. What it shoes this morning is truly remarkable: The NAF attack has two equal goals: Crimea AND the River Dnieper! If the later succeeds all of left bank Ukraine south of Zaporizhia will be cut off from the rest of former Ukraine.
My collection of screenshots from 7 am on Facebook.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Aug 28 2014 6:04 utc | 67

@53
The Israelis are the most despised people on earth at this point, after their series of vicious attacks on Gaza dispossession of Palestinians. Their latest full-throated embrace of genocide has got even the families of holocaust survivors denouncing them in the NYTimes on Saturday(s).
And after the Europeans wake up and count the costs of their ‘swell’ adventure with Uncle Sam in Ukraine … we Americans will be right up there (down there) with the Israelis in Europe. Already are in the rest of the non-5-eyed world.
In order for things to change … they have to change. And they have and they are -ing.

Posted by: john francis lee | Aug 28 2014 6:58 utc | 69

Stupid western journalists that defend when us bomb iraq and now perhaps syria but whine about “invasion!1!1!!”!!!!!” when they talk about Russia/Ukraine. Have they no shame?

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 28 2014 7:16 utc | 71

@somebody #72:
Lavrov isn’t serious about that. The RF is just keeping up appearances by saying that it respects Ukrainian sovereignty. In reality, the time for that is long past. The Canadian military blogger you quote is correct.
Do you take Novorossian political and military leaders, as well as soldiers, to be fools? Because what they are fighting for is Novorossia, which is the Russian solution to the Ukrainian problem. And the idea of Novorossia implies that the “sovereign, unified Ukraine” is toast.
Ukraine will only exist as a rump state, which, as Dmitri Orlov wrote, will stew in its own juices, with the meat eventually falling off the bone.
Surely you, as a German, should be able to understand this by now. (I believe that Germans, unlike members of the Angloshpere, can understand Russians.)

Posted by: Demian | Aug 28 2014 7:46 utc | 73

Malooga # 52
To your question 7.):
War does change people and the goals change as the war progresses. This may have started as an indentity war, a liberation war, an autonomy war or whatever. But as things keep moving and the players change I see a new narrative emerging (and I’m basing that on interviews with the new commanders I saw on The Saker; sorry can’t recall spelling of names). part of the narrative is that this is becoming a battle against the oligarchy model that has unfortunately gripped Ukraine like in a set of pincers. That is why Ukraine could not improve its lot as much as other east European countries had. The oligarchs basically won and are running the show.
But here is the problem: oligarchs don’t make good politicians or tacticians or diplomats. They certainly don’t make good rulers because one oligarch can hardly ever agree with another. They bring the competitive cut-throat business model – a winner-take-all and money-can -buy -anything – to government and that just doesn’t work. I read that in Ukraine the 50 richest people own 85% of all the wealth of the country. Now, that’s downright feudal.
I think that the Novorussiya people, as they progress, and as they contemplate what form their new country/province will take are coming to the realization that the battle has been about lots more than Russian language and autonomy in education. It’s been about self-determination in the actual, not only abstract, sense of the word.
I also read that they want to put in the words: “Liberty and Labor” on their new flag. That shou;d tell us something, no? like the right to be free but also the right to work and enjoy the fruits of one labor?
I hope there are some intellectuals on their side, starting to formulate the “what was it all about” part. sometimes intellectuals can make themselves useful, no?
Also, if I’m right and the Novorussiyans end up winning their new province/country, AND adopt the pro-labor, anti-oligarch agenda I hope they will, may be we could invite them to the US to do some clean-up here?

Posted by: Merlin2 | Aug 28 2014 8:23 utc | 75

Petri Krohn’s comments on his blog
http://antifasistit.blogspot.com/
have been vindicated, both by recent events in Donbass, and re. MH 17
http://www.corbettreport.com/episode-294-crashes-of-convenience-mh17/

Posted by: Cu Chulainn | Aug 28 2014 8:45 utc | 77

Posted by: Demian | Aug 28, 2014 3:46:57 AM | 73
Time will show. I don’t see how the “Kyiv government” can keep in power after defeat in this criminal stupid war. Why should Russia split Ukraine if it might get a friendly Kiew government? And more friendly European countries? Why should Russia carry the burden of the South Eastern Ukrainian economy alone? In November at the latest Ukraine (and South East Europe) will need Russian gas.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 28 2014 8:59 utc | 79

@somebody #80:

Why should Russia split Ukraine if it might get a friendly Kiev government?

There’s a very simple answer to that question. As far as I can tell from following Russian Web sites, Russians do not believe that it is possible for them to get a friendly Kiev government. And if you look at the record, all post-USSR Kiev governments were hostile to Russia. So how can Kiev get more Russia-friendly after it has fought a civil war against Russia-friendly Ukrainians?
The only solution to the problem of Ukrainian nationalism (which will always be a major problem for Russia so long as this nationalism exists) is a social collapse of the rump Ukraine. The remaining Ukrainians have to see their society collapse, so that they can finally understand that the idea of a Ukrainian nation is an absurdity (a fiction created as a Western project to destroy Russia, to be more precise).

Posted by: Demian | Aug 28 2014 9:23 utc | 81

Can we please sort out who is responsible for the killing so that the people who have lost homes and families know who to be bitter about?
Posted by: ralphieboy | Aug 28, 2014 4:58:12 AM | 79
In twenty years, if Mearsheimer is still alive and can still move his fingers, he’ll write an article for Russian Affairs (formerly Foreign Affairs), telling a now Russian citizenry of the Russian-European Federation how it was The Former West’s fault such a glorious union wasn’t achieved sooner. And for that, he’ll get an extra bite of strained green beans at dinner.

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Aug 28 2014 10:46 utc | 83

“….“Fracking with diesel fuel can pose a risk to drinking water and human health because diesel contains benzene, toluene, and other chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other health problems,” the EIP report reads. While a mandate under the Safe Drinking Water Act allows the EPA to regulate the use of diesel fuel, US Congress exempted fracking fluids from the act in 2005 referred to as the “Halliburton Loophole.”
According to the EIP report, up to 30 explosions from a fracking-related mishap at a well site in Clarington, Ohio on June 28 led to the uncovering of 9,000 gallons of diesel among the fracking supplies at the site. “Unfortunately, diesel fuels are not the only fracking fluids that pose significant threat to human health, which is why the Halliburton Loophole is both wrong and potentially dangerous,” the EIP report states…”
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140814/191998814/US-Using-Diesel-in-Fracking-Poses-Health-Threat.html
The Halliburton Loophole™…a Dick Cheney brand(honed from decades of USG criminal activity) that laws don’t apply when it comes to Halliburton. The USG uses the Halliburton Loophole when it pertains to geo politics,war and domestic affairs. Poisoning the Ukraine with diesel and other chemicals is what Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden has in store for the people in Ukraine.

Posted by: really | Aug 28 2014 11:17 utc | 85

Well it getting down to crunch time. From what I read from the some of the astute posters here at moa about the conflict in Ukraine, it appears that the rebels are holding their own and/or making gains against kiev forces. Next month NATO will be meeting to discuss Ukraine and what to do next. So we are starting to hear the term ‘Russian Aggression’ saturating the headlines again. Kiev/NATO are getting desparate and winter is closing in. Russia has put the responsibility on Kiev/Nato as to whether the EU recieves Russian gas. If Kiev/NATO decides not to allow Russian gas to reach EU markets it would be politically and economically disastrous particularly for Germany and Merkel.
Kiev/Nato are at the point where they have to put their cards on the table and the US has a card to play called the Russian Aggression Act of 2014. This vile legislation has been pending since May 2014 and now the US is going to sell it to the US population and Obama is gonna sign it. The NATO meeting is just window dressing for the decision to give Ukraine much more advance weaponry and support than is already is occurring.
Links for those that don’t know…
http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/the-american-aggression-enablement-act-and-the-us-eurasian-thrust-ii/
http://www.bing.com/search?q=russian+aggression+act+2014&first=67&FORM=PORE

Posted by: really | Aug 28 2014 11:48 utc | 87

86
Everyone in the industry knows that ‘fracking fluid’ is a Mafia way to dispose of hazwaste for more profit, and more than likely as not, ‘radioactivity leaching out’ of frack gas condensed liquids is probably the same radwaste that went into it! It wouldn’t be too much of a reach then to cook medwaste into their ‘proprietary formula’, since nothing living could survive the hot cocktail of hazwaste and radwaste it’s being mixed into, or the super high injection pressures. Now if they could also just find a way to blend in corpses of the homeless and jobless, wow! Soylent frack oil!
America is so fracked, …you have no idea. My favorite insider Mafia story was from the guy who set up ship breaking of the Soviet nuclear submarine fleet, including the super- radioactive reactor shielding, which ended up in Germany …as razor blades, ha, ha, ha.
Is that a pimple on your chin, or is your 5-stage melanoma glad to see me!?
Out goes the bad air, in comes the good!
On to Tehran!! Lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu !!!

Posted by: ChipNikh | Aug 28 2014 11:50 utc | 89

Regarding striking ISIL in Syria I feel that it would be irresponsible of the USG if the UNITED STATES CONGRESS doesn’t vote on these proposed strikes on ISIL in Syria. Therefore if it turns out that the USG is really striking Assad and or the operation turning to sh!t, more than likely it will, then every congressional member will be on the record and not hiding behind Obamas robe. In other words congress needs to stand up and be counted, let the American voters know that you represent hos they feel about striking ISIL and or Assad in Syria, don’t weasel out and wait till after the mid term elections. That would be cowardly, a dereliction of your congressional responsibilities and a slap in the face to the US military.

Posted by: really | Aug 28 2014 12:18 utc | 91

94;Let’s see,the German police killed 6 people in the line of duty last year,and the USA 402.I saw that somewhere the other day.

Posted by: dahoit | Aug 28 2014 13:37 utc | 93

“…UK government sources have expressed surprise at US media reports indicating that Britain is willing to take part in an air campaign alongside the US against so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria. Downing Street said there had been no request from Washington for the UK to contribute to air strikes yet. “Our focus has not been on air strikes. It is not under discussion at the moment,” a Uk government spokeperson says….”
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1627183
What UK doesn’t want in on the ISIL war-whore created orgy to take place in Syria? Maybe the UK is reserving its air power for Ukraine. Who knows so many war-whore created choices…

Posted by: really | Aug 28 2014 15:04 utc | 95

anyone else having flashbacks on child-suicide-bombers and deadly madrassas child terrorist training camps wrt current ISIS news …
CNN: ISIS school for boys: Beheadings, stonings
umm, yeah sure … maybe …

Posted by: Susan Sunflower | Aug 28 2014 16:26 utc | 97

I am watching Obama and he looks like a kid who was told eat something that they really don’t want to eat. It could be an act but I don’t think it is. Maybe I am giving him the benefit of the doubt, but for some reason I think he is just feeling what is going down. He looks haggard. If he does like what is happening, get him an Oscar….

Posted by: really | Aug 28 2014 20:30 utc | 99