Open Thread 2015-06
News & views ...
Posted by b on February 1, 2015 at 17:56 UTC | Permalink
next page »Debate about whether Russian should mount a 'humanitarian intervention', 'peace making operation', in Ukraine: http://rocksolidpolitics.blogspot.ca/2015/01/why-russia-should-invade-ukraine.html; and also https://irrussianality.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/r2p-in-ukraine/
Posted by: KMF | Feb 1 2015 19:04 utc | 2
Obama Admits US Role in 2014 Ukraine Coup / Sputnik International
US President Obama stated that the United States took an active part in the February 2014 coup in Ukraine, which installed pro-Western authorities.
Has anyone more detailed sources for this? I could not find the interview on CNN - but that does not mean anything, as my Google-Skills are not great.
Posted by: Fran | Feb 1 2015 19:23 utc | 4
I repeatedly tried to post a comment with a link to Sputnik - about Obama on CNN: "US President Obama stated that the United States took an active part in the February 2014 coup in Ukraine, which installed pro-Western authorities." But it does not show up - is the problem the Sputnik-link?
I can not find the original story on CNN, but my google-skill are not to great.
Posted by: Fran | Feb 1 2015 19:29 utc | 5
Posted by: Fran | Feb 1, 2015 2:29:07 PM | 4
well, he said "we brokered a transition".
Posted by: somebody | Feb 1 2015 19:32 utc | 6
Posted by: Fran | Feb 1, 2015 2:29:07 PM | 4
well, he said "we brokered a transition".
Posted by: somebody | Feb 1 2015 19:32 utc | 7
Antidote - for German speakers
German State Television - Panorama - "The mistakes of the West"
Posted by: somebody | Feb 1 2015 19:46 utc | 8
I am still trying to get the Young Turks to issue a correction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMxWxdR-1ao&list=PLfrlsC1yJ2dTrrP7mJxjnrt9VoZsx5I2_
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Feb 1 2015 19:47 utc | 9
@Fran #4:
Yeah, I tried to post a Sputnik story about the Muslim Brotherhood, but it got blocked, so I had to use Strategic Culture instead, which reprinted the story.
Sputnik getting blocked is pretty scary.
somebody - thanks for the link - I guess it must be it. I tried to listen to it, but I am hearing impaired, so I am not sure I got him correctly. What I understood sounded like the usual bla, bla, bla.
Posted by: Fran | Feb 1 2015 19:56 utc | 11
Demian @9 - so much for living in the free world and all that free speech etc.
Posted by: Fran | Feb 1 2015 19:57 utc | 12
Posted by: Fran | Feb 1, 2015 2:56:14 PM | 10
He is incredibly arrogant. Very personal. He is basically telling Putin he is taking the wrong decisions and all was well for Russia when Obama had that special relationship with Medwedew.
Says "war no option" but will "raise the costs" for Russia. Says Putin missed any "off ramps".
It is clear he plans to keep destabilizing Ukraine with the intention to "raise the costs".
Posted by: somebody | Feb 1 2015 20:16 utc | 13
It is clear he plans to keep destabilizing Ukraine with the intention to "raise the costs".
somebody, that's my take too. (On every point you made btw)
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 1 2015 20:37 utc | 14
@ fran http://rt.com/op-edge/228379-obama-power-transition-ukraine/
Posted by: ruralito | Feb 1 2015 20:53 utc | 15
@14 h/t The Kremlin Stooge, one of the best English language blogs on Russia. IMHO
Posted by: ruralito | Feb 1 2015 20:55 utc | 16
Here's a link to the latest from Timothy Garton Ash; it seems to represent a new level of desperation - and madness- among those who supposedly rule our roost.
I don't know why the piece should be so troubling with the great amount of crap flying about the media these days.. scares the hell out of me anyway. Maybe Gorbachov's comments on the US looking for a hot war with Russia were not misplaced.
Posted by: bassalt | Feb 1 2015 20:57 utc | 17
The Debaltseve Encirclement Complete- 9000 Ukrainian Soldiers Trapped! Mercy Offered!
Posted on February 1, 2015 by George Eliason
Debaltseve is a key transportation city in Donbass and is now the scene of the largest battles of the Ukrainian war.
Forces from Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR) and Lugansk Peoples Republic(LNR) moved in surrounding Ukrainian infantry, artillery, and tank divisions over the last few days.
A few days ago one Ukrainian tank and armored personnel carrier(BMP) group tried to break through at the village of Elenovka near Donetsk. Ukrainian troops stormed the village killing 9 DNR infantry. The tanks and BMP’s then attacked civilians trying to escape.
Civilians were killed by the heavy machine guns on the Ukrainian tanks and BMPs as they drove through firing on the houses. Eighteen civilians were killed trying to escape.The DNR destroyed the small mechanized group which left 10 Ukrainian soldiers dead. The BBC reported the operation was successful for Ukraine.
In reality the Debaltseve encirclement of the Ukrainian army was completed in the early hours on January 30th. Inside are close to 9000 Ukrainian troops. This is twice the number of people captured in the encirclement or cauldron around Ilovaisk.
This encirclement was designed to be controlled from the outside. The Ukrainian soldiers can no longer get supplies, equipment, or troops in or out. Surrounding them is enough technical equipment including Grad and other launching systems to make fighting their way out suicide. It is literally a shooting gallery should the DNR and LNR decide it needs to end that way. They have not and both republics are taking heavy losses because of it.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/02/debaltseve-encirclement-complete-9000-ukrainian-soldiers-trapped-mercy-offered.html
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 1 2015 20:59 utc | 18
bassalt, Timothy Garton Ash is maybe the most anti-Russia/anti-Putin columnist at the Guardian. Still, I'm surprised he's such a warmonger in that article.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 1 2015 21:18 utc | 19
Latest two Varoufakis blog posts take on the BBC and other mainstream media distortions over Greece, including another disgusting display by the scumbags at BBC Newsnight
Posted by: guest77 | Feb 1 2015 21:19 utc | 20
Putin's comeback as President was especially cheered during the Syria crisis. Had Medvedev been there, another area under Russian influence would have been "sold out" to the West.
In this rapidly deteriorating climate, a pro-Western prime minister is simply not the right man for the job. With the likely demise of Medvedev, the West has again done its cause yet another disservice.
"Medvedev himself has tight relationships with the West. And the West plays on them to advance its desires.
Medvedev's eventual resignation could follow , because in Moscow don't wash the dirty laundry in public".
it would be something if every time i slapped my sister, my parents penalized her! in a nutshell this is the wests answer to russia - russia = my sister... of course it wouldn't help if i was being egged on by my parents either which is exactly what the usa and to a lesser extent europe thru nato is doing in ukraine..
the western media are foot soldiers for this same agenda that is fueling the madness... it's bought and paid for by corporations like lockheed martin, monsanto and etc. and individuals like sorry ass soros, who hope to profit off of it all.. hopefully more will wake up to this.. hard to know. many seem to remain in the dark about much of it..
Posted by: james | Feb 1 2015 21:55 utc | 22
Well, comments have dried up here. I guess everyone is watching the super bowl.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 1 2015 23:04 utc | 23
Today's Washington Post has a post calling Assad delusional because he thinks he can maintain power within Syria. Makes you wonder just who is delusional.
Posted by: lysias | Feb 1 2015 23:11 utc | 24
The State Department just can't help itself:
Tony Cartalucci: US-backed Mobs Back in Hong Kong's Streets
Google search results for "Hong Kong protests" are topped by sponsored ads posted by the US State Department's Freedom House - raising the absurdity and transparency of American meddling abroad and their attempts to misinform and manipulate people's perception at home.
Hey call me crazy but I'm going to pull for the Seahawks just because Pete Carroll is a 9/11 Truther. He's ripped for it by the no-nothing media. But that's good enough for me. I lived in Oregon for a year and never liked the Seahawks and can't stand the Patriots...but since I'm going to watch...I may as well pull for someone...and a 9/11 Truther gets my vote.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 1 2015 23:29 utc | 26
German links - the separation of Ukraine has been discussed in German military circles since 2009.
Should Ukraine join NATO Eastern Ukraine would split off, they estimated, like Abchasia, only Western Ukraine would join.
Western Ukraine according to them would include Odessa, the important oil ports and pipelines.
All those crocodile tears ....
Nato's Eastern extension was a German idea first. Washington followed later.
Posted by: somebody | Feb 1 2015 23:30 utc | 27
@somebody #26::
Georgia and Ukraine split NATO members
At the NATO summit meeting in Bucharest last April, Germany and France blocked a last-minute push by Bush and some newer NATO members - those with experience under Soviet rule - to give Georgia and Ukraine immediate membership action plans. Berlin and Paris argued that Ukraine was politically divided and that neither it nor Georgia was ready.I'm sure Washington was capable of coming up with the idea of NATO expansion on its own.They also argued that a membership action plan for Ukraine would outrage Russia, which regards Ukraine as a crucial part of its mental and physical landscape, and that a plan for Georgia could destabilize the Caucasus.
Bush fought hard but lost, after annoying Merkel, who thought she had received a promise from Bush not to press for membership plans.
Re #22:
I guess I should have read the heise story before posting that. Yes, indeed expanding NATO eastward was Germany's idea; the US was initially skeptical.
But it should be noted that at least the German military realized that bringing the Ukraine into NATO would break the country up. The US, in contrast, clearly thought it could get all of the Ukraine, including Crimea.
@26
Going by that map, dated 2009, the 'plan' even then was for a pipeline terminating at Black Sea ports, to import LNG?
What is the conceptual difference between the map's orange and yellow sectors of West Ukraine?
I got the docs ... but I can't read 'em. And Google just makes it worse ... a random bunch of words to which I am 'allowed' to assign meaning.
Thanks though. My fault and certainly not yours. You do as well in English as I do ... and certainly better in German and other languages.
It used to be the Soviet that was, but now it's the European that is, the 'evil empire/union'.
@27
Your anti- post was from the NYTimes for crissakes. No truth there, ever.
Ukraine: "We Target Civilians." Separatists: "Their Targeting Maps Prove It."
The actual reason why this southeast-Ukrainian ethnic-cleansing campaign is necessary for Obama... is that ... if the people who lived and voted in the Donbass region (Ukraine’s far-east) were ... allowed to vote there as being citizens of Ukraine, then they would vote at least 90% against the regime’s candidates ... Now, after this extermination-campaign, the vote there against the Obama stooges would be virtually 100% — not just 90%.In other words: Obama needs to get rid of those people. They can die, or else they can flee to Russia, but Obama needs them gone from Ukraine.
As regards why Obama had wanted their land to begin with ... unless the gas and other assets in the ground there can be privatized or sold off by the Ukrainian Government to pay its debts, the Ukrainian Government will go bankrupt and become an enormous drag on everyone who had previously lent to it, including the U.S., IMF, EU, World Bank, and others (ironically including even Russia).
Now that ... this land will not be able to be controlled by the Ukrainian Government, Obama’s best bet ... is to allow the war simply to end with Ukraine’s defeat, so that no more good money will go to Ukraine ... just cut the losses and bring this ... western half of Ukraine into NATO ... surrounding Russia with U.S. nuclear missiles and with regimes that hate Russia, in order to get Russia’s capitulation to America’s aristocracy.
The only beneficiaries of today’s NATO are the West’s arms-merchants and other military suppliers. For everybody else, it’s catastrophe ...
[T]hat’s the reason why the United States has been supporting (and, until now, even demanding) an ethnic-cleansing campaign in the former Ukraine. It’s part of the evil and supremely dangerous insanity that is NATO.
The reports are all of the NAZIs beating the drums for the overthrow of the coup regime as well as Poroshenko. Will Obama overtly support the NAZIs? If not ... what will he do?
Posted by: jfl | Feb 1, 2015 7:28:24 PM | 29
This here is the german-foreign-policy.com article in English.
Posted by: somebody | Feb 2 2015 0:53 utc | 32
Posted by: jfl | Feb 1, 2015 7:28:24 PM | 29
Yellow means "wrongly claimed by East Ukraine".
Posted by: somebody | Feb 2 2015 0:59 utc | 33
@somebody #32:
Is that a joke? The caption for yellow means "Additional part of East Ukraine to which the West lays claim".
It's interesting that what the map calls "East Ukraine" is considerably larger than the Donbass plus Crimea. It includes Kharkov and a land route to Crimea. So even the German military realizes that its not just the people of Donbass who don't want their region to be part of Ukraine.
@33 That map is about 5 years old. I imagine the German military tacticians would like to revise it in light of current events.
Posted by: dh | Feb 2 2015 1:50 utc | 35
jfl@30- Joaquin Flores scenario is looking eerily prescient:
The US stages a coup ousting Poroshenko and installs Pravy Sektor in order to build international support for a Human Rights intervention against Pravy Sektor and to restore ‘democracy’ and ‘order'; the real aim being to create a failed state, perpetuate indefinite war on Russia’s door and even World War … and beyond
Posted by: Nana2007 | Feb 2 2015 1:51 utc | 36
@okie farmer@17
The Debaltseve Encirclement Complete- 9000 Ukrainian Soldiers Trapped! Mercy Offered!
Thanks, okie farmer, for the report. The Ukinazis have gone totally mad, scorched-earth policies a-la Nazi. It is probably time for DNR/LNR to evaluate the need to decimate this rag-tag Ukinazi "army" a-la Viet Cong, instead of sending back to Ukraine for R&R and get them back shooting civilians in Donbass. There has to be a way to push back the artillery ravaging Donetsk. Civilian casualties are the main loss in Donetsk and other areas. Time to focus on these criminals once and for all.
@okie farmer@22
Well, comments have dried up here. I guess everyone is watching the super bowl.
Either you join the conversation about "pretaliatory" or you're out of the loop.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 2 2015 2:19 utc | 37
Lone Wolf@36 I humbly disagree about 'decimating" the Ukies that are in danger of being trapped. First, while I agree that their targeting civilians and scorched earth policies elicit a visceral desire for revenge...to act on that desire is to act just like them. And if you act just like them...how do you differentiate yourself FROM them? No. I suggest holding the ones responsible for war crimes and release the others to their mothers just as Zakhachenko has been doing. That is a very powerful visual. If you commit any atrocities, you can count on ABCNNBCBSFOXBBC to spew all kinds of crap justifying more war. With Poroshenko about to be the victim of a coup...let the Fourth Reich either support the neo-Nazis or walk away. Intervention is highly doubtful. The Russians would see to it you are bogged down in a nightmare you can't wake up from. As to artillery hitting Donetsk? I am certain they are trying to push it back. If you were them wouldn't you be trying? Far easier said than done. Remember...artillery is mobile. Airstrikes would help but they don't have the planes. Be patient...so far so good...
Posted by: Scott | Feb 2 2015 2:40 utc | 38
@okie farmer #17:
According to Colonel Cassad, the encirclement is not yet complete. There is one road going north that supplies can still be sent through, although the Armed Forces of Novorossiya periodically shell it.
The Saker also has a post about this, although I can't give the link.
@36 okie made a precomment, but it appears it was preobliterated by the presorrid atmosphere here at guru premoon b's site..
Posted by: james | Feb 2 2015 3:34 utc | 40
@25 Seahawks were a good choice. Patriots Owner is a big fat Zionist and so is Tom Brady. http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-super-bowl-matchup-pats-have-israel-connections-cornered/#ixzz3QYUMzAqC Too bad they won. ;(
Posted by: Linda J | Feb 2 2015 4:13 utc | 41
02/02/2015-00:52
Summary for the day from Information Center of Novorossia combatants’:
Clashes were taking place in areas of settlements Uglegorsk, Debal`tsevo and Chernukhino.
The defenders of Donbass conducted raid-style battles for retaining control over the strategically important route Artemovsk-Debal`tsevo.
Combatant units, having partially blocked Chernukhino from north-east, were fighting for full capture of the settlement.
02/02/2015-00:03
Deputy of Defense Ministry of Donetsk Republic Eduard Basurin discussed operative situation on Republic’s fronts (video):
…
Today casualties among combatants of Donetsk Republic army totaled 7 killed and 23 wounded…
01/31/2015-11:02
In the morning of January 31, military journalist “Borisich” informed that the combatants had taken the positions of the Ukrainian occupants in hamlet Nikishino (bottom of Debal`tsevo pocket) after a night battle:
“Received a call… saying, our people are dancing on Ukrainian positions at the gas station. It is over! Ours!
Information is still scarce … During night attacked from two sides, a combat followed. Currently our people are on the Ukrainian positions.
As usual, Ukrainians retreated in hurry … the combatants harvesting great crops…
Posted by: Fete | Feb 2 2015 4:26 utc | 42
@Scott@37
Be patient...so far so good...
Besides a healthy dose of condescension, you may have never seen the face of war, and hopefully you never will, you will lose. Most conflicts at early stages have the likes of Zakharchenko doing some PR job about their humane treatment of their enemies. As the conflict deepens and prolongs, atrocities kick in as a general tool to terrorize the enemy, a war to the psyche, and enemies work outdoing each other at instilling terror. This conflict is still at its early stages, and DNR/LNR can afford the luxury of showing the human face of war. Problem with the other side, Banderastan, is the presence of neo-nazis from the beginning, the backbone of the Maiden charade, the Ukinazi Death Squads. They were behind several massacres of civilians protesting/resisting the CIA/MI5/Brussels mafia junta, and they are now behind the civilian carnage taking place in Donbass oblast. I used the term "decimation" purposely, instead of "annihilation." To decimate is to kill about one in every ten, which I think is about the proportion of neo-nazis vis-a-vis the conscripted Ukinazi rag-tag army. According to many reports, the neo-nazis are killing regular soldiers who refuse to fight or beat a retreat, that means, there will be plenty of neo-nazis inside the Debaltsevo cauldron. None of those should leave without being held accountable for their crimes. This is not about petty revenge, just sticking to the book of sound military tactics. I celebrate Zakharchenko making mothers cry, lecturing their children about humanitarian principles, but he can't be doing that forever, and I certainly hope he is doing a triage of who is going back to their relatives. War, unfortunately, is the imposition of one's will over one's enemy, and no bleeding hearts have ever won a war. None so far. As for the MSM accusing the Novorossiya federalist (as per b) army of atrocities, they are already doing so, despite all Zhakarchenko videos. That shouldn't be your concern.
Remember...artillery is mobile.
No shit.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 2 2015 4:45 utc | 43
@james@39
@36 okie made a precomment, but it appears it was preobliterated by the presorrid atmosphere here at guru premoon b's site..
okie's premonition of a preemptive precalculation preventing the precatatonic precondition of the premoonies to present a precomment was certainly preoccupying.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 2 2015 5:02 utc | 44
D@28
If what I have read about NATO is correct Ukraine cannot join so long as there is an active conflict occurring in the country seeking admission.
This means that the likelihood of them being incorporated into NATO is about as likely as the Seahawks winning a Super Bowl.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Feb 2 2015 5:21 utc | 45
Two analytical pieces over at FortRus:
The Bird's Eye View on the Donbass. January 2015
Nikishino: Novorossia's "Extraordinary Force" in Action?
J.Hawk observes that Novorossiyan forces appear to be deliberately holding back their advance, and gives two possible reasons for that. (No, one of them is not that Putin is selling out Novorossiya.)
He also notes that the two main military bloggers on the Donbass are YuraSumy and Colonel Cassad. I only learned about YaruSumy last month. I have never seen the Saker mention him, although he mentions Colonel Cassad all the time.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Feb 2, 2015 12:21:25 AM | 44
Defacto they already are incorporated in NATO - without the all for one defense clause. Russia is not paranoid. There are also plans to build a European common defense.
Europe/US tried/tries to build a "European (Union) security structure" without Russia.
Posted by: somebody | Feb 2 2015 6:24 utc | 47
Posted by: dh | Feb 1, 2015 8:50:44 PM | 34
That is the fascinating part. At the beginning of the conflict I could have sworn that the West was aiming at a Yugoslav scenario splitting Ukraine. Then this suddenly switched with the West insisting on territorial integrity and Russia on a soft Yugoslav scenario.
I guess, the military people had forgotten about the accounting economic stuff.
Posted by: somebody | Feb 2 2015 6:38 utc | 48
@Demian@45
I really thank you for those two links, and for introducing YuraSumy to us. Great catch.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Feb 2 2015 6:59 utc | 49
Three great posts:
Patrick Smith on target (as usual)
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/30/greece-the-us-and-the-neo-liberal-coup/
just about sums it up
http://www.cirsd.org/publications/magazines_article_view_short/english/28
for. minister Lavrov on current state of affairs
Posted by: GoraDiva | Feb 2 2015 7:40 utc | 50
I just watched The Iron Curtain, which is about the defection of Igor Gouzenko. Wikipedia says, "The 'Gouzenko Affair' is often credited as a triggering event of the Cold War,[1] with historian Jack Granatstein stating 'Gouzenko was the beginning of the Cold War for public opinion' and journalist Robert Fulford writing 'I am absolutely certain the Cold War began in Ottawa'." It turns out Gouzenko was Ukrainian. Why am I not surprised? So a Ukrainian traitor played a major role in getting the Cold War started.
According to the movie, the Soviets were most interested in nuclear secrets. That is understandable, given that one of the reasons the US dropped the Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to make a threat against the USSR.
#31
Thanks very much. So the Yellow part of Ukraine is inhabited by Russian speakers? And the German plan is that it's too valuable to let slip through its fingers?
The tenor of the article is that grabbing Western Ukraine - and parts south to the sea - was the thing to do. 1993. But Clinton didn't think so, although apparently the US 'deep state' did and so then, over time, the roles reversed, with Germany 'liking' Russia more, and trying to do a separate deal there. Now - many interventions and outright aggressions later - they both think it's a good idea whose time has come? In fact they have made their move and smashed and grabbed and the deed has been done.
The putative difference between the two gangsters, US and DE, at this point is that it suits the US' purposes just fine to have another Iraq-Libya-Syria where the Ukriane used to by while DE wants much more than that : Yugoslavia redux, starting with just three pieces : the (allied, at least. federalism DE style) Orange and Yellow, and Donbas with the blues in the Blue Southeast?
And Russia, with its talk of federalism, is not that far from the DE scenario, is she? Of course she has the Yellow and the Blue making Green.
Posted by: jfl | Feb 2 2015 10:43 utc | 52
36
So I'm cross training and cross reading this weekend, trying to
stay one e-FOB ahead of Mil.Gov and their action plan to steal
all America's passport savings for the EuroTrash BailIn, and to
steal Americans' health and human services trust fund for DoD.
'Trust Fund', now there's a funny word in the 21st Century.
Remember when it meant something, back in the idyllic 1960s?
Now 'All MIC, All The Time' seems to be our immediate future.
Let's recall a happy '60's song, as we go merrily marching:
Silver Cross
Fighting snipers from Maidan,
Fearless men who shoot and lie.
Men who mean just what they say.
The brave men of the MIC Beret.
Silver cross upon their chest,
These are men America's best.
Five thousand men will fight and die,
And none will know, the reason why.
Trained to live at MICs command,
Red circle is in their right hand.
Men who shoot by night and day,
Why they kill, not one can say.
Back at home a young wife waits,
Her MIC Beret has met his fate.
He has died for Rich possessed,
Leaving Them his last bequest.
Keep your cross off my son's chest,
Leave him one of America's best.
Take all the chiefs in High Command
Exile them in the Land of the Damned.
So I'm reading Middle East accounts of McCain's visit to Syria
last summer, sneaking in through Israel to arm and fund the
mercenary terrorists of Al Nusra AQ and The Caliph ISIS, and
getting a little hot he's such a Jacobin forked-tongue liar.
Got up to put on a pot of tea, then got distracted thinking
of what Haaretz might have said re McCain, and his NeoSyrian
War to fight the ISIS mercenaries he just armed and funded,
then too his call for more sanctions against Russia and Iran.
And I find an article that Israel is openly offering free trade
zones and special favor deals to ... Russia and Iran!! There
it is! Bibi is coming to lecture Americans about the 'Cry-ISIS'
in Ukraine and terrible threat from Russia, and the 'Cry-ISIS'
in Syria and terrible threat from Iran, but he's cutting deals!!
The Israelis are openly advertising sanction-breaking trades!!
They are bleeding US, EU, IR and RU with economic sanctions,
while the Zionists are making inside Madison Avenue deals!!
I started feeling really sick just then, as the smell of Hades
filled my small room. My mind was swimming, I wanted to vomit,
that these Zio-Satanists have so destroyed our world in just a
scant few years, after eons of careful artisanal agriculture art,
centuries of brilliant craftsman design development and decades
of the hardest labor that's ever been done to keep civilization
alive ... and the Ukies and the Likudniks are openly laughing!
So I went and laid down, the smell of Satan stronger and
stronger. Felt myself drifting off, sensation gone, like
when you're drowning, if any of you have ever drowned too.
A sense of being pressed by stones in an inevitable death.
Don't know how long I was gone out, but woke up when the
neighbor's dog had pushed the door open, and was licking
my face, whining. The place stunk like hot sulphur pits,
... that's when I remembered the forgotten pot of tea.
I'd turned on the gas but forget to light fhe flame, so enraged
by McCain, Ukies and Likud's perfidy, treason and high crimes.
From now on, I don't want to know. I want it to hit me like a
Ukie mortar shell, crossing the street in a pedestrian path,
thinking my life is good, I'm safe and OK, ... then kabaam.
We will rise up, in Iceland, in Argentina, in Greece, in
Ukraine, in Syria, across the world we will rise up and
destroy them utterly and entirely, as though they were
wiped off the map of history, and never spoken of again.
Kerry-Kohn is the Heinz fortune. Boycott Heinz...hard.
McCain is the Budweiser fortune. Boycott Bud...hard.
There are e-lists of Zionist firms. Boycott them...hard.
Monsanto, Dow, Wyeth, Pfizer, Novartis,
BOYCOTT!
Boycott is the only power on earth that destroys them.
And too, boycott is the only power that we have left.
Like Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, step away!
'Whatever you do, ...stop Zio-shopping!'
Posted by: ChipNikh | Feb 2 2015 10:46 utc | 53
Greece. On Syriza and sanctions against Russia. Mercouris gets it right as usual.
http://www.therussophile.org/russia/eu-sanctions-meeting.html/
Pessimism on the energy scene. By Steve from Virginia, at Economic undertow. What he doesn’t say (his readers would know) is that Greece’s no 1 import is crude oil, and its no 1 export is refined petroleum, plus derivatives.
http://www.economic-undertow.com/2015/01/29/voting-with-empty-wallets/
Charles Hugh Smith reckons the oligarchs blew it.
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjan15/Greece-oligarchs1-15.html
The World Socialist website has it in for Syriza. (I don’t agree with much of this.)
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/01/30/pers-j30.html
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 2 2015 10:54 utc | 54
@53
They are so doctrinaire at wsws.org, aren't they? I read an obit there wherein, after a few 'kind words', they lit into the deceased's 'pseudo-left' essence. Made my skin crawl. The analysis is often (usually) good at wsws.org ... unless it's one of there 'fellow travelers' ... then its shiv between the ribs and a twist of the handle. I've gotta give the Greeks a chance to blow it on their own, at least.
@50
Wonder where in the Ukraine the Gouzenkos were from? A lot of Ukrainian fascists settled in Canada, I understand. That would explain the tender of Communist secrets by an OUN spy/double agent ... and possibly King's refusal to have anything to do with an 'ex'-'NAZI.
The start of the Cold War would have been the US at work ... the Hollywood film was made just the year after the CIA was invented ... while the over propaganda machine was still oiled up and cranking.
Posted by: jfl | Feb 2 2015 11:20 utc | 55
After Libya, Syria, Iraq redux, and Ukraine ... what's next? US AFRICOM commander calls for “huge” military campaign in West Africa, says the wsws.org.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) head General David Rodriguez called for a large-scale US-led “counterinsurgency” campaign against groups in West Africa during remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC last week.Rodriguez’s statements are part of a coordinated campaign by the US to massively expand its military operations in the resource-rich region, as it combats the influence of China and other powers.
The US should prepare for operations in at least four West African countries as part of a “huge international and multinational” response aimed at forces affiliated with Boko Haram, Rodriguez said.
Think France will be part of that 'huge international and multinational'? Was Clement VII a Catholic? Let the Germans have Ukraine, Afrique is for la France!
Have a look at the map.
Posted by: jfl | Feb 2 2015 11:36 utc | 56
What, no blog post on the Super Bowl? I'm disappointed. Games within The Game are still important despite the carnage. If you cover soccer, you should cover American football — it's only fair. You do have a significant American following afterall. All these intelligence goons love their American football so throw them a bone — or I should say another bone on the heaping pile you've already thrown them.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Feb 2 2015 11:46 utc | 57
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 2, 2015 5:54:40 AM | 53
There I was, wondering for weeks that Syriza's economic policy sounded a lot like George Soros ... so I finally turned to Google and look what I came up with from 2013 :-))
George Soros funds Greek opposition
German journalists suppose that Soros wants to use Cipras’s party to bring pressure on Germany. The SYRIZA coalition has for long time been famous for its anti-German rhetoric; and the speech of the SYRIZA delegation in the USA was full of severe criticism of Angela Merkel’s policy."Why is Soros funding such anti-capitalist instigators like Cipras with his tirades against Germany? No one talks aloud about this out of fear before the powerful billionaire. But one manager confidentially supposed that, "Soros wants to revenge against Germany."
People close to family circles note that Soros has a "love-hate relationship to Germany. He has personal interests concerning development of events in Europe and Germany," state German journalists.
However, some Greek analysts see in Soros' interest in Greek left-wing radicals another hidden motive. SYRIZA has been actively collaborating for long time with nongovernmental organizations in Greece, funded by Soros. The coalition of left-wing radicals actively supports sexual, ethnic and religious minorities. Many call the policy of this party anti-national as its leaders deny the genocide of Greeks in Asia Minor and stand for territorial concessions for Greece’s neighbors. The SYRIZA coalition is a consistent opponent of preserving the Church's influence on Greek society. It supports the removal of chaplains from the army, opposes the funding of priests' salaries from the state budget, and demands full separation of the Church from the state.
Source in German - WirtschaftsWoche
:-))
They will make it, those guys ...
Posted by: somebody | Feb 2 2015 12:37 utc | 58
Demian at 45 --
Behind on my reading after working the weekend, Super Bowl. Fort Russ had YuraSumy's work once or twice since the Rada elections. Until recently, when they've been posting his work almost daily. J. Hawk has it on the ball as well. I think "Nishino" is the first stand-alone analysis. I think the delay is a mix of prudence (forces limited, no overstrech, consolidate control) and a desire to see the junta implode. Warring mini-Banderastans pose less of a threat than a consolidated fascist regime. More minor annoyances, no serious threat. Either outcome exposes DC's policy.
ps. Outcome should put paid to "Deflategate."
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 2 2015 12:51 utc | 59
France. Orwell re-born.
Educational program from state TV, F 4.
Supposedly kiddos write in w. questions - answered in comic-graphic format. Title: One day, one question.
Not a joke. See TV station:
http://www.france4.fr/emission/un-jour-une-question
A compendium of q-a (i can view it, not sure about other countries)
Description of the 4 min. Youtube vid below:
Some critical pix and comments are inserted, but the original is there. Summary good enough to understand the vid:
What is 9/11? Al Q. are radical terrorists who attacked the twin towers. The US thus invaded Afghanistan suspected of being Al Q.
What use is the President of the European Commission? (from a 9-yr. old !) - Reinforce European solidarity! So that they, we!, become stronger!
Who is Bachar Al-Assad? No free democratic election! He is a dictator, who governs in an authoritarian way, without taking the ppl’s opinion into acccount.
Why are some ppl against marriage for all? Some ppl are embarassed. To settle the issue, ALL opinions had to be consulted.
How do countries fight terrorism? Saudi Arabia gives money to humanitarian orgs to support ppl persecuted by the Islamic State. Sometimes the terrorists are French, they went to Iraq to fight war. The F Gvmt has thus voted in a law to stop these ppl from leaving the territory. This law also ups surveillance of internet sites that promote terrorism.
What use is a Region? The project is to reduce regions (in F) from 22 to 14. Super Regions will be created! They will be stronger economically and will be able to ‘have more weight’ facing other European regions. (err??) // Relates to a long time project within the EU to Balkanize the EU itself - F has moved forward//
Who is Putin? There is no place in Russia for ppl who have a different opinion! He is accused of taking over part of Ukraine. So Europeans took sanctions against Russia.
What does it mean right and left in politics? There are two main pol. forces in F and it is important that all the ideas can be expressed! in a Democracy! //attempt to reinforce a US type 2-party kabuki//
Many millions of F children watch. The last child to be arrested for ‘apologie du terrorisme’ is aged 8. When asked "what is terrorism" he said he didn't know.
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 2 2015 13:05 utc | 61
More idiotic bs from Poland
http://rt.com/news/228547-poland-wwii-celebration-moscow/
Posted by: Anonymous | Feb 2 2015 13:18 utc | 62
They will go far, these guys :-))
Obama signals support to loosen Greece's austerity program
Posted by: somebody | Feb 2 2015 13:57 utc | 63
Plutocrats and their puppets expose themselves in every level
Posted by: nmb | Feb 2 2015 14:05 utc | 64
Mike "Mish" Shedlock's take on the situation in eastern Ukraine:
"Ukraine lost the war but the west won't admit it (yet)"
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.nl/2015/02/cyborg-silliness-no-glory-in-stupidity.html
Posted by: Willy2 | Feb 2 2015 15:21 utc | 65
Posted by: jfl | Feb 2, 2015 6:36:00 AM | 55
I hope wsws is right about AFRICOM's Stupid White Men.
China has a shorter fuse than Russia and several "red lines" in Africa.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 2 2015 16:09 utc | 66
If you go back far enough in Yanis Varoufakis' blog, you will discover he had (has?) a plan to have the EU kick Greece out of the EU as well as the Eurozone. His refusal to meet with the Troika could be a part of that plan. His reasoning was something like, 'because Greeks love the Euro, there's no way to stay in power long enough to effect change with immediate withdrawal from the Eurozone - on the other hand if Greece get's kicked out, Greece can recover (slowly) and regain economic sovereignty.'
His willingness to meet with individual countries rather than with the Troika means he's trying to show cooperation, but it's a cynical game intended, in my opinion, to fool the Greek public, but more importantly Europe as a whole - that is if the Syriza govt seeks getting "kicked out".
Well, maybe not cynical, just "smart" politics.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 2 2015 17:19 utc | 67
Hillary, BHL and Libya
http://rt.com/usa/228663-libya-nato-armed-rebels/
Posted by: Mina | Feb 2 2015 17:35 utc | 68
Is there any more updates on what is going on in Debaltsevo? Last I heard the national guard fled and 7000 troops surrounded. I looked in RT but there is nothing new. Also any thoughts on what is going on in Venezuela? Maduro accused Biden of being behind the coup attempt. Theres talk of some high ranking military guy seeking asylum in NYC and evidence he was behind the violent protests. Why doesn't Venezuela expel the US diplomats?
Posted by: Amber Carey | Feb 2 2015 17:55 utc | 69
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 2, 2015 12:19:38 PM | 66
I think, he has got a full hand. If I understand the situation -
1) At present, the Greek state takes in enough taxes to survive financially,
he wants to reduce the part of the surplus that goes to the creditors.
2) As Greece does not need new money to survive, just to pay off the interest rate of their debt,
creditors have no leverage except to declare Greece bankrupt/not give any more credit.
3) If Greece defaults European banks - on the forefront German banks - will have to write off a lot of money in their books.
This probably means they would need another government bailout - much more damaging than to give Greece some relieve they can use to appease their voters.
4) Italy, France, Spain and Portugal are in the same boat as Greece - they need investment not austerity.
5) The US would be interested in - not - to have to kickstart the World Economy but let somebody else kickstart it.
6) Everybody will cheer them on forcing their oligarchy to pay taxes.
7) I don't think the oligarchy will be able to fight back with a military dictatorship this time.
The choice of defense minister probably was good.
Keynes is back.
Posted by: somebody | Feb 2 2015 18:03 utc | 70
Six Veterans of Stalingrad Write Open Letter to Angela Merkel
The truth is, Frau Merkel, that in Ukraine an all-out orgy of fascism is going on. It’s not just some anti-semitic remarks in Parliament or by dropouts about the superiority of one “race” over another. It is a matter of full-scale bloody crimes, whose victims now number in the hundreds and in the thousands.I would be really surprised if Merkel does not ignore this completely. And the German media has so far ignored it, too. I did a German Google News search for "angela merkel brief stalingrad", and nothing relevant came up. Doing a plain Google search on <"angela merkel" brief stalingrad> produces one hit, to Sputnik news: Stalingrad-Veteranen rufen Merkel zu gemeinsamem Kampf gegen Nazismus in Ukraine auf.But the west has taken a very strange position, and we do not understand it. The position can be understood as accommodating Ukrainian Nazis. It is understood in Ukraine as the position of Europe, and it is beginning to be perceived as such in Russia. And we would like to know what the German people would say about it from the vantage point of their historic national experience.
It is important for us to know your view, the view of the leader of the great people that once suffered the Brown Plague, but at the cost of terrible sacrifice, recovered from it. We are aware of how they struggle in your country with any manifestations of Nazism, and believe us, we appreciate it. All the more, it makes us wonder why, cleaning out any possible germs of nazism in you country, you are unconcerned about a full-scale outbreak of it in another part of Europe?
Why do European leaders march in support of French caricaturists murdered by Islamic terrorists, but do not march against fascism in Ukraine? Why did the head of state, who ordered annihilation of part of his own population, participate in this march? Why do 12 French victims deserve attention, but thousands of Ukrainian and Russian victims do not?
There can be little doubt that the de-Nazification of Germany has failed.
Six Veterans of Stalingrad Write Open Letter to Angela Merkel
The truth is, Frau Merkel, that in Ukraine an all-out orgy of fascism is going on. It’s not just some anti-semitic remarks in Parliament or by dropouts about the superiority of one “race” over another. It is a matter of full-scale bloody crimes, whose victims now number in the hundreds and in the thousands.I would be really surprised if Merkel does not ignore this completely. And the German media has so far ignored it, too. I did a German Google News search for "angela merkel brief stalingrad", and nothing relevant came up. Doing a plain Google search on <"angela merkel" brief stalingrad> produces one hit, to Sputnik News: "Stalingrad-Veteranen rufen Merkel zu gemeinsamem Kampf gegen Nazismus in Ukraine auf". (I can't give the link because Sputnik gets blocked.)But the west has taken a very strange position, and we do not understand it. The position can be understood as accommodating Ukrainian Nazis. It is understood in Ukraine as the position of Europe, and it is beginning to be perceived as such in Russia. And we would like to know what the German people would say about it from the vantage point of their historic national experience.
It is important for us to know your view, the view of the leader of the great people that once suffered the Brown Plague, but at the cost of terrible sacrifice, recovered from it. We are aware of how they struggle in your country with any manifestations of Nazism, and believe us, we appreciate it. All the more, it makes us wonder why, cleaning out any possible germs of nazism in you country, you are unconcerned about a full-scale outbreak of it in another part of Europe?
Why do European leaders march in support of French caricaturists murdered by Islamic terrorists, but do not march against fascism in Ukraine? Why did the head of state, who ordered annihilation of part of his own population, participate in this march? Why do 12 French victims deserve attention, but thousands of Ukrainian and Russian victims do not?
There can be little doubt that the de-Nazification of Germany has failed.
Amazing how the EU has backed away in horror at Syriza's election. The Greeks democratically declare that they will not be debt-sponged slaves to banks and the EU and even Obama immediately shift to a renegotiating tone.
If Ukraine can stay together, discontinue the sectarian politics, gain competent, strong and sensible leadership they could certainly leverage it for significant economic gains, on its own terms. I hope that the Ukrainians will seize the opportunity after the absolute tragedy that's unfolded over the past two years.
Posted by: PeteCaroll | Feb 2 2015 18:14 utc | 73
@68
ITAR TASS News Agency reports…
“There was an attempt of a breakthrough near Debaltsevo, which was successfully curbed,” spokesman Eduard Barusin was quoted by the Donetsk news agency as saying.
Barusin said so far at least four similar attempts by major military units have been seen in the area.
On Sunday, DPR’s militias nipped an attempted breakthrough of two convoys with munitions for the Ukrainian troops trapped in Debaltsevo but let vehicles with the wounded leave the area.
Russia Insider reports…
There seems to be a number of sources (from both sides) now confirming what everyone long suspected: that it was just a matter of time before the NAF closed the Debaltsevo Cauldron. An LPR commander claims:
The militia has fully encircled Debaltsevo. Road to Artemovsk is under Novorossia control. It is impossible to travel on it, we are about to put up roadblocks. Ukrainian forces will attempt to break out, but they have relatively few forces left, they have problems with ammunition and food. The annihilation of the Debaltsevo pocket will occur in the near future.
Compare this report to an urgent plea from Rada Deputy Taras Pastukh, who is currently participating in the fighting at Debaltsevo:
“Greetings from the still-Ukrainian Debaltsevo. We just repelled an attack on our base camp. Earlier it could barely be reached by artillery, but today enemy infantry had arrived. The National Guard had left the city, thus leaving us open to attack. All blocking positions report constant shelling and tank attacks. We never received any reinforcement. It went to the CTO zone, but never went where it was needed.”
“We are being abandoned here, while at the same time others are simply running away,” he added.
He also asked the country’s leaders for support.
“I ask for your help. Tell everyone you can about the critical situation here. Maybe someone got the idea I was excessively panicked, because the President had said that he had everything under control.
Unfortunately, I was only wrong about the time, because I could not believe they would come at us with such force, while we continued to hope to abide by the Minsk Agreement and discuss whether a martial law is needed,” noted the deputy.
In his words, “this is genuine betrayal of the country by the entire military command, including our so-called ‘president’.”
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 2 2015 18:15 utc | 74
Sorry, forgot the link.
http://redpilltimes.com/useu-backed-ukraine-army-now-trapped-debaltsevo-pocket/
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 2 2015 18:17 utc | 75
Any idea why Ukraine army quite frankly.. sucks as it do? Any military analysts here?
Posted by: Anonymous | Feb 2 2015 19:13 utc | 76
@74 Let's see:
-fascists are by nature un-creative
-the rebels are fighting defense
-air superiority has weakened Western understanding of tactics, they simply don't know how to fight
-Soviet Era weapons seem to actually function for defensive purposes
-the Ukraine rump population really has no reason to fight after a coup. They can't bring force to bear.
-Kiev politicians are pushing for a time table resolution instead of adjusting the time table to fit the goals (D-Day in May would have been a disaster; Market Garden, Galipoli were disasters for similar reasons.
-mercs are thugs not soldiers; when the going gets tough they get the hell out and don't incorporate the Ukrainian recruits
-as far as Western weapons, U.S. defense contracting is rife with inefficiency and fraud. Who knows what works?
-Fascists view their enemy as subhuman even the kinder, gentler fascists of the West. The idea the rebels could fight back is an absurd notion. In their minds, there must be Russian troops because Pentagon generals can't be this stupid.
-there were a number of Veterans in the combat of last year in the NAF, as opposed to raw recruits. The NAF didn't send the kids signing up to fight with these guys because young men do stupid stuff and can't be trusted without people checking over their soldier. Old soldiers know to dig in. Recruits run around aimlessly.
-The Ukrainian military was already in serious decay, and I suspect much of their munitions factories and depots were under rebel control.
I wouldn't say any one issue is impossible to overcome for Kiev, but it's a operation of clowns. Sam Grant went from a drunk who despite combat experience couldn't join the regular army in April 1861 to crushing the once invincible R.E. Lee, the pride of West Point four years later. Grant was promoted because almost everyone ahead of him was stupid. Not much has changed. A bad naval officer will probably run his ship on a reef before he gets promoted to admiral, but the Western ground forces haven't faced much since Vietnam, an Iraqi army which retreated in '91 and chose not to fight in '03 after a decade of decay.
Posted by: NotTimothyGeithner | Feb 2 2015 19:42 utc | 77
NotTimothyGeithner
Yes "they dont know how to fight" seems to sum it up, still thats weird since they are well equipped and gets aid by nato/U.S they should be better and could have finished off this 2-3 months at most and most every assault they have done havent led to any real gains. Just take the pathetic assault on the aistrip some weeks ago.
Posted by: Anonymous | Feb 2 2015 20:09 utc | 79
@NotTimothyGeithner #77:
Nice answer.
@Anonymous #79:
The problem with those repeated assaults on the New Terminal was that they were militarily pointless and were ordered by the junta for political reasons of symbolism. The AFN are good at defense, so the junta basically sent the soldiers who they ordered to recapture the New Terminal on suicide missions. Indeed, in the case of the last attempt, the junta lied to the soldiers, telling them that the mission was to recover wounded Yukies. The reason the junta told them this lie is that Ukie fighters weren't willing to make advances on the airport anymore.
The problem with Ukie forces is that the conscripts are poorly trained (only for three weeks or so, and then sent straight to the front) and poorly motivated. Punitive batallions are well motivated, but they do not know how to fight, and can only kill civilians or friendlies in the process of retreating against orders or deserting. The Ukie command is incompetent because officers are chosen on the basis of ideological conformism as opposed to military ability.
Since we are discussing military capabilities here, I might as well mention J. Hawk's speculation as to how AFN conduct their advances:
this heavily defended and well fortified town [Nikishino] … was clearly overrun by a conventional ground assault, and overrun so quickly its defenders in effect had to flee for their lives. This is far from the only engagement that seems to have unfolded in this manner. The Donetsk Airport, strongpoint 31 on the Bakhmutka, possibly the initial assault on Peski that led to the capture of the city, the initial assault on Popasnaya, definitely Uglegorsk, all are strikingly similar in their execution. A short but violent artillery preparation, followed by an overwhelming assault that overruns a well fortified position (and they all were) with apparent ease and minimal own casualties. However, the initial assault completed, the "extraordinary force" withdraws, and the "ordinary force" takes its place, digs in, and repels Ukrainian counter-attacks which are moreover attrited by artillery fire.
@ Posted by: somebody | Feb 2, 2015 1:03:57 PM | 70
Have you overlooked that every loan imposed on Greece by the troika was covered every which way from Sunday by derivatives in the financial casino? Greek default will bring down the house; recall the derivative panic by Lehman's bankruptcy (for example). It is the derivative casino that is being protected, no? Lehman's bankruptcy was what? a few billions? and the cost to the public purse? Greece debt is about €240 billions which on a similar scale will be in the tens of trillions to hide. May you live in interesting times.
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Feb 2 2015 20:44 utc | 81
@80 Demian,
This is a good point. The regime's political standing is also a problem for their strategy because they want sexy targets for the voters and media. The NAF fielding any kind of air support operation is a major symbolic defeat for the Kiev government no matter how inconsequential the air power might be.
A long recognized government can survive the problem.
Posted by: NotTimothyGeithner | Feb 2 2015 22:22 utc | 82
@80 There is one other issue. When the war abated in the fall, the NAF front line units, not the kids carrying guns and bags for the elderly, had been fighting for six months. Even though the regime was on the run, the NAF was tired and needed to absorb the recruits into cohesive units. A replacement unit of recruits is basically useless, so they need to spread the Frontline fighters into the leadership. This might have forced Kiev's hand because victory is possible against 20,000, but if the NAF can field 100,000 solid fighters over a relatively small area they can't be moved. As long as they have ammo, the NAF could have respond to a full Kiev mobilization by the Spring given that fascist regimes tend to become less popular over time.
I imagine either Kiev or Langley said they had to stop the NAF from reorganizing and turning the "home guard", yahoos, those with gumption into frontline units.
Posted by: NotTimothyGeithner | Feb 2 2015 23:00 utc | 83
"Pentagon asks for record (military) budget"
http://news.antiwar.com/2015/02/02/pentagon-releases-record-2016-military-budget-proposal/
The Pentaon says the "sequester" of early 2013 has decreased the budget by 21%. Complete nonsense. According to David Stockman (former budget director of the Reagan administration), the Pentagon budget was cut only by ~ 3 billion in 2013. Remember the Pentagon budget is at ~ $ 700 billion.
The Pentagon budget is the achilles heel of the US Empire.
Is there a campaign going on in Israel to destroy Netanjahu ?
http://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-sara-netanyahu-bottle-scandal-is-left-wing-plot-to-bring-down-pm
(No, I would say there's a RIGHT wing plot to bring down Netanjahu. Think Naftali Bennett)
(Although they regularly completely continue to miss the "financial point", ANTIWAR.com (http://antiwar.com) remains an excellent source for those who dislike the "US Empire", who wants to see what the US Empire is up to.)
Posted by: Willy2 | Feb 2 2015 23:30 utc | 84
@70
' 3) If Greece defaults European banks - on the forefront German banks - will have to write off a lot of money in their books.
This probably means they would need another government bailout - much more damaging than to give Greece some relief they can use to appease their voters. '
Isn't this the reason behind the EU's new QE? Aren't they going to have ALL Europe's taxpayers fund the German banks after Greece grexits - and Portugal, Ireland, and Spain PIS on them?
Posted by: jfl | Feb 2 2015 23:51 utc | 85
With reference to the Stalingrad veterans' letter to Merkel ...
Germany Houses Refugees in Nazi Concentration Camps
German authorities in the city of Augsburg are planning to house refugees in a part of the Nazi's Dachau concentration camp called Hall 116.Augsburg city official Stefan Kiefer said to local newspaper, Augsburger Allgemeine, that "One cannot only commemorate (at this memorial site), one also has to act," referring to the need to find shelter for refugees.
Earlier in January, the German city of Schwerte moved asylum seekers into a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
"They say that they have much more space there compared to the building they had previously lived in," said Dachau [? or Birgin Naujoks, a spokesperson for the local council of asylum seekers].
Ukraine wants peace while Kiev junta wants war
80% in Odessa region are for ending the war by any means.In Kiev this number is near 60%.
In Western Ukraine it is approaching 70%.
The mood in the Ukrainian society is shifting towards pacifism. But those who are in charge will continue to push for war.
Well, they are going to have to remove the fascist war-mongers from power if they want peace then, aren't they? Where have all the young men gone ... ?
"According to the Federal Migration Service there are 2 million 430 thousand citizens of Ukraine now in Russia, including 1 million 172 thousand men of military age".
“Kiev should not expect military superiority” - Zakharchenko
He [Zakharchenko] reminded that, in view of another wave of Ukrainian mobilization, DPR and LPR made a decision to start the recruitment of volunteers into the militia, and called on the people of Ukraine to turn against the unnecessary war.
... might not Russia arm them and help them back to Ukraine to answer Zakharchenko's call for volunteers? Presumably a good part of them are from the Yellow zone in the 2009 German Wehrmacht's map of Ukraine, and just as eager at this point - 80% in Odessa region are for ending the war by any means - to regain controi of their homelands as are those in Donbas.
@jfl #86:
Now do you understand why Russians denounce Europe for being decadent and postmodern? You can't make this stuff up.
This is not to imply that I do not agree with PEGIDA. Jürgen Elsässer, the editor of Germany's main anti-Atlanticist magazine, Compact and a leftist, supports PEGIDA. Permissive immigration policies are part of the neoliberal project to destroy the distinctiveness of national cultures.
Nice to see that as frontline losses and internal bickering mount, folks are paying more attention to Fort Russ and Russia Insider. A quick look at the other side is in order.
Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukrania has mostly human interest stories, including tales of the refugees from Debaltsevo. But they do have yesterday's communique from "anti-terrorist operation" spokesman, Andrei Lysenko, who "considers that the decision of so-called leadership "DNR" & "LNR" declaring mobilization in the Donbass to be an indicator of the lack of manpower.... [It is] the end of the militants as a living force, as they have not been able to fulfill its mission to the last few days to take the city Debaltsevo, which is a strategic railway point that our military successfully held." He went on to say that the UAF are not going to surrender Debaltsevo, and their manpower is sufficient.
And everyone is thinking -- duh, yeah, 'cuz y'all just announced, what is it, the fourth mobilization? KPvU reports elsewhere on their "Situation in the East" tab, that you need official permission to travel if you've been called up.
With regard to the situation in Debaltseve, Lysenko said that Ukrainian military is not going to give up the city and that they have a sufficient number of soldiers.
They also have a very intriguing report -- police checkpoints, covered by snipers, are being thrown up around the city. This is a expansion of a program begun in late April, which was primarily directed against traffic coming from Russia. Citizens are asked to be patient.
One has to wonder, who's being kept in, and who out? And more vitally, who will be permitted to pass? Will it include volunteer units under order for the General Staff to be somewhere else?
Over at the Kyiv Post, the story is Ukraine throws reinforcements at Debaltseve. They too discuss the mobilization.
Army generals appeared to have responded on Feb. 2 with reinforcements, but it may yet prove too little, too late for the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers battling to repel the Russian-backed forces’ offensive at Debaltseve. They now find themselves surrounded but for a single supply road under constant threat of attack.Military officials were tight-lipped about the battle, with Ukrainian army spokesperson Colonel Andriy Lysenko refusing to comment beyond “all attacks were repelled”....
The Post cites a fig. for the regions pop. (3.3 mil. total; source, accuracy?) and states that the 100K mobiization "is considered by many as a thinly veiled threat to bring more Russian troops into the region." Again, sources unnamed.
It does accurately report growing interest in at least some quarters of Congress (including Sen. R. Menendez, D-NJ) in providing US/NATO "lethal aid" to the Banderaists. We've armed the jihadis, wny not the brownshirts, eh?
I'd like to send this one out to all you draftees in Banderastan -- Uncle Joe says, you don't have to heed The Call Up.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 3 2015 1:23 utc | 89
Demian at 80 --
Speaking of Fort Russ, I see you, like the NAF artillery, are pounding Nikishino.
And why not? Even though I couldn't spell it right this am (at 59) it's an excellent piece. I had a closer read just now, I was struck by this:
The Red Army of the Great Patriotic War used the Guards and Shock Armies to spearhead breakthrough operations (which in turn would be exploited by Tank Armies), while the mass of ordinary infantry armies bore the brunt of defensive operations and positional fighting in general. Since Novorossia forces are steeped in that tradition, it's not surprising they resorted to a similar organization, particularly under conditions resembling that of the Great Patriotic War, namely a continuous front line.
I would add for those unfamiliar them, that the Guards Regiments had their origins with Peter I and the Imperial Army; they were revived as Guards Divisions & Armies by the Soviets.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 3 2015 1:40 utc | 90
Cranking up the pressure for escalation. Same old strategy....president looks weak and indecisive....Kiev needs help.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31013452
Posted by: dh | Feb 3 2015 2:22 utc | 91
Demian at 88 --
Elsaesser is a familiar name, but I can't place him. So I Wikipedia'd him.
While he opposed the Iraq War, and got booted as an editor at konkret magazine in 2003 over it, I'm unsure if he's kept up the good fight. They don't provide chapter and verse, but they do say that former writer for Arbeiterkampf (Workers Struggle) "changed his political views to the right... Elsässer's current political position is widely considered as right-wing populism."
Compact certainly looks slick enough. Their bit on "Indulgences in the organic market" (via googletrans, Ablasshandel im Biomarkt) certainly looks compatible with a right-populist orientation.
After decades of romanticizing the lower class in socialist culture, [the] upper-middle class and upper class are finally back [as] the good guys. It [this class] is located in [a] climate-friendly townhouse, generates electricity through solar panels, eats organic food, practicing waste separation, drives an electric car and uses recycled products. The extent to really use organic and fair trade products, whether they actually improve the world, is only partly true. Rather, the quiet conscience itself has become for intangible goods. For [the] prestige factor.
I did not need GoogleTrans to catch their subtitle, "the Magazine for Sovereignty" (Magazin fur Souveranitat -- interesting looking words those, both French or Latin origins, no?). National sovereignty is not typically thought of as a leftist issue, though many ex-leftists do favor variants. Whatever their merits, I would not agree with a characterization of his views as leftist.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 3 2015 2:36 utc | 92
further to 92 -- There we go, seen the byline at Russia Insider, German politics, usually, as here.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 3 2015 2:58 utc | 93
@rufus magister #90:
Ah, I'd forgotten about that passage. It is certainly the key passage of the article. And it's very interesting that that tactic goes all the way back to Peter the Great. As I like to say since the Ukrainian crisis broke out, there is continuity in Russian history.
@#92:
I avoided looking up Elsasser in Wikipedia. I did read an interview with him in which he says he tries to mediate between left and right. "Left" doesn't mean much anymore: it has shifted from being about social justice to making an orthodoxy out of multiculturalism and postmodernism. But the old meaning of "the Left" still exists, and I believe that being pro-Russia is inherently leftist in that sense. This is because of the reason that guest77 gives: social justice and preservation of the planet require shifting to a multipolar world, whereas if Russia is subdued, the Empire would have consolidated its unipolar hold on the planet, and China will be next.
02/03/2015-00:33
Combatant Prokhorov provided insight into situation and clashes in Donbass on Monday, February 2:
“Yesterday, by “Grads”, blasted a battery of “Gvozdikas” (“Carnation” – self-propelled howitzer) of 80th (brigade ?) in sector “A” (?). Three units less. Ukrainians have just confirmed.
Has it been written about activities of air force of Novorossia? Today was first combat flight. Have even heard it flying in the sky.
Reportedly in Kurakhovo (?), positions of 28th were blasted well, so were a Ukrainian battery in Kurakhovo.
Near Debal`tsevo, an APC delivering ammo to besieged Ukrainians was liquidated. One killed and 4 wounded”.
“Street clashes in Stanitsa-Lugankaya have been launched”, Prokhorov reported later.
02/02/2015-20:13
Ex-Minister of Donetsk Republic Defense Igor` Strelkov incurred enforcement structures of Donetsk and Lugansk Republics to offer him a position:
“Within a framework of announced mobilization. For my spouse being a native of Donbass (born on territory of Donetsk Republic), please consider a possibility of having me mobilized in the ranks of the military forces of Donetsk Republic.
44 years old, suitable for combat service in 3rd medical category.
Have the following military specialization: a marksman, a commander of infantry detachment, a second in command of platoon, a commander of cannon crew (2S3 “Akatsia”), a gun aimer and main loader of 2S3 “Akatsia”, a loader of 82 mm mortar. In addition, have significant experience in operations, combat operations and leadership in reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance work in near-front and behind front zones, also – in combat against neo-fascist formations and bandit underground.
Ready for call to serve in any of above qualifications in military forces or security services of Donetsk or Lugansk Republics.”
Posted by: Fete | Feb 3 2015 5:03 utc | 95
D. at 84 --
I meant the Guards as a formation, I don't know enough about Peter's battlefield skills to say; I was more interested in the development of the manufacturing infrastructure and modernization of the organization of state and military. And all the palace intrigue with the streltsy (a sort of urban militia of musketeers) and his in-laws.
As a military tactic, it's pretty old, I'd say (e.g., "Sacred Band" of Thebes). But of course as weapons and transport evolve, so do tactics, re-striking the balance btw. power and mobility, offense and defense.
As I understand it, Soviet doctrine developed out of their study of Guderian's blitzkrieg -- the training and equipping for which they saw, due to their cooperation with Weimar. The Germans had earlier pioneered the use of shock troops, used to try punch through the lines in "The Great War." The blitz integrated armor and replicated it on a larger scale.
If had recalled seeing Elsasser on Russia Insider earlier, I might not have Wiki'd him. But curiosity got the cat, as they say.
When it comes to the left, I'm largely "old school" and downright "workerist." So I stole somenone crack about the academic "ineffectual left." No sympathy with post-modernism, disliked it's brief earlier iteration, "deconstruction." Nor have I gone in for the current fad of "post-ideological," "beyond left and right."
If a just and sustainable, cooperative planet is to made (and I agree, demian & g77, it has to be), job one is not doing stupid stuff, like starting a pointless war in Eastern Europe. Amongst other currently operative stupid-ideas-that-could-get-us-all-blown-up-or-killed.
I would not see "Putinism" as a long-term solution, but it does seem to be doing well as a stabilizer.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 3 2015 5:09 utc | 96
-the Ukraine rump population really has no reason to fight after a coup. They can't bring force to bear.
Exactly, and why the Nazis will lose.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 3 2015 5:35 utc | 97
@jfl, 87:
"... might not Russia arm them and help them back to Ukraine to answer Zakharchenko's call for volunteers?"
That would be the best kind of poetic justice. After all, the junta can't complain--they *did* want the conscripts to see action at the front...
A fitting sequel to Zakharchenko's helping Poroshenko keep his promise that his troops would parade in Donetsk on Independence Day.
Posted by: Vintage Red | Feb 3 2015 6:58 utc | 98
@91 dh.. a view into herbst who was quoted in the article from bbc you posted..
1 - "Following the Orange Revolution, Ambassador Herbst facilitated funding of objective sources of news in Ukraine. His efforts led to the United States Agency of International Development funding $2.4 million to be spent towards the development of mass media in the country." ... i get a kick out of the use of that word "objective'..
Posted by: james | Feb 3 2015 7:16 utc | 99
@88
' This is not to imply that I do not agree with PEGIDA. '
Nor that I thought you weren't hard-core nationalist, monoculturist, and authoritarian yourself.
Posted by: jfl | Feb 3 2015 7:52 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
John Pilger - The Quiet Mutiny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-eVbJbgUpE
"1970. In his iconic documentary debut 'The Quiet Mutiny', Pilger reports from the front line in Vietnam where he finds disillusioned American troops in open rebellion against the war."
Thought I'd post this oldie for the journalistic credibility, and how well Pilger gets the banality of the US war machine in a report with little combat footage - It's like a Coen Bros creation.. except of course it's not fiction.
Posted by: nobodee | Feb 1 2015 19:03 utc | 1