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Open Thread 2015-24
Some news & views from me. Please add yours in the comments.
The Ukrainian government intensifies the economic war against the people in the area of Luhansk and Donetsk:
Luhansk Oblast Governor Hennadiy Moskal has completely cut off the water supply to Russian-occupied territories in retaliation for shelling by the Kremlin-separatist forces.
More general this in the NYT!
Senior officials in Kiev, complaining about Russian violations of the agreement and knowing their army can never defeat the Russian-backed separatists militarily, have decided simply to cut off the eastern regions from the rest of the country.
That policy would violate the Minsk accord, …
The Ukrainian government never adhered to the Minsk agreements but now its official policy.
Don't ever give money to these folks until they completely changed their leadership: How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti and Built Six Homes.
The U.S. seems to (again) move the goal posts in the nuclear negotiations with Iran. China (and Russia) do not agree with this: China urges no new demands at Iran nuclear talks. My bet is still that the U.S. wants the talks to fail.
Did you know?
- Number of genuine terrorist plots in the US since 9/11: 6
- Number of terrorist plots manipulated by the FBI since 9/11: 175
But they need to spy on you because … terrorism!!!
To defend against these revelations of illegal surveillance the administration is pulling out stories it has obviously held back especially for this purpose: Federal Government Suffers Massive Hacking Attack. The claim is "the Chinese did it" but there is zero proof (and no good motive) for that. But claiming so helps to justify the illegal NSA activities.
Last but not least: A good one for its historic background by Gary Sick: Saudi Arabia's Widening War
While the fighting seems to have subsided, for now, problems and tensions continue to accumulate in the Ukraine.
New Cold War has a report on a draft labor code, Ukraine’s labour reforms threaten workers’ rights. Though extensively revised in 1971, the core dates from the Soviet era (1922); can’t that now, can we? “The exploitation of workers, it seems, is an issue where the interests of the Ukrainian elite trump all other political and personal differences.” Here’s a surprise — workers will have fewer rights, and under present conditions of economic decline and political instability, few if any ability to vindicated them.
Sunset and/or Sunrise of the Ukrainian Oligarchs After the Euromaidan Revolution? discusses the various oligarchs, their rivalries, and their political allies. Author Serhiy Leshchenko, presently an MP and a former Ukrainska Pravda editor, takes his turn as Captain Obvious: “More than anything, Ukraine needs to find a way of reducing the influence that oligarchs have on all aspects of life. This might take years, but if it does not happen, it will be impossible to build a fair and just society without corruption at the highest levels of government.” Thanks, Captain!
On one level, I hope this is a little wishful thinking on the part of the NAF, but sadly it rings true. I pity the poor conscripts. The Dysfunctional Ukrainian Military is a failure on so many levels. To cite just one problem, though a fairly depressing one:
Ukrainian soldiers aren’t trained to evacuate their wounded and dead. “The command considers this training unpractical as evacuation attempts result in mounting death(s) among the personnel,” a Kiev report said.
Mass desertion by the poorly trained conscripts is thought likely, and the difficulties with conscription noted. “In contrast, Donbass freedom fighters are highly motivated. They reject fascist rule. They want real democracy. They routed Ukrainian forces earlier. They’re prepared to do it again if necessary.”
Finally, Rostislav Ishchenko considers that It’s Just a Question of Time Before War Resumes in Ukraine. But the outcome he predicts and the reasons for it might surprise you.
[T]he US is pushing Kiev to the escalation of the armed conflict knowing full well that any more or less serious Kiev offensive would be used by Novorossia to inflict yet another catastrophic defeat on the Ukrainian army. Washington also understands that the next catastrophe would be the last – even if the militia lacked the numbers to occupy the whole territory of Ukraine at once, a coup in Kiev and subsequent free for all anarchy on the territories not controlled by the Novorossian militia would become inevitable. In any case, there would not be any Ukraine (united or split).
In other words, everybody is preparing for the war with the full understanding of the outcome of that war. The maneuvers of the actual players in the conflict hiding behind the leaders in Kiev, Donetsk, and Lugansk are aimed at being able to convincingly blame the opponent for the renewal of the fighting, its inevitable escalation and increased gore.
Yes, Moscow and Brussels do not need the war in Ukraine. Yes, it would be desirable to find a peaceful solution. But because Washington is intent on fighting, and Kiev has no choice but to fight, the start of the second phase of the civil war in Ukraine could be postponed, the army of Novorossia could be prepared so that to avoid officially deployment of the Russian army, but the war cannot be canceled.
The outcome will not be independence for Novorossiya. “Novorossia remains a geographic and historic term but is not becoming a political reality. The army was needed – it had been organized, whereas the government structures are not needed – and they have not emerged. This means that Novorossia is not planned.” NATO is already on Russian borders in the Baltic, a buffer state is superfluous, he believes.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jun 6 2015 0:30 utc | 12
What is former Georgian clown, now Ukrainian clown Saakashvili real role as a, ehem, “governor” of Odessa? What is his assigned task as member of the Ukrainian circus troupe? In a deeply insightful article, Russian analyst yurasumy coalesce the Donbass conflict with the squeezing of Transnistria by Ukraine and Moldova into a
(…)one big civil war in the Former Soviet Union, which, like last time (1917-1921)*, is initiated from abroad, conducted with foreign money, and done for the sake of foreign interests. And, in fact, from the same playbook.
CIA clown Saakashvili is to prepare Odessa for an onslaught against Transnistria, turning the blockade into a squeeze between Moldova and Ukraine, forcing the landlocked PMR for a breakout in the direction of Odessa.
(…)What is the meaning of this operation? The blockade, which Ukraine is now setting out in due form, very soon may force Transnistria to action. “Do something — or die” – that is the choice the “neighbors” want to leave Transnistria. Once in such a situation, the leadership of the unrecognized republic may decide to take a desperate step – a blow in the direction of Odessa. That would cue the junta units, counting on their built-up fortifications, to intervene. And further, proclaiming the Transnistrians “aggressors and terrorists,” Kiev will help Moldovan army to deal with them.
For this, so that the blockade would be solid and so that no Odessa citizens would try playing cat and mouse with the state, the oversight of the Odessa region had to be firm, unscrupulous, and ruthless to the people. The man to do it has been found. Anyone who could embroil his own people in a suicidal war will not tremble at the prospect of doing the same thing in a foreign land.
His task is to clarify for the smugglers that they mustn’t interfere with Kiev in its dealings with the DMR. And anyone who does not get it will be stripped. To this end, there has been a decree about replacing almost all local leaders. It seems to me that they been replaced by certain individuals of the Maidan participants. Their hands don’t falter, as has been repeatedly proved. All the more since many of them are not local.(…)
Ukrainians started preparations to blockade PNR weeks ago under orders from the US/Eurostan, denouncing the Ukraine/Russia agreement over transit of Russian military equipment to the PNR, and deploying S-300 complexes to Odessa suburbs. Russia has threatened to open a no-fly zone over the Odessa region by means of electronic warfare.
(…) According to the expert, the modern electronic warfare equipment, which Ukraine does not possess, but Russia does, is able to simply “turn off” and close for Ukrainian aviation the district from Ishmael to Kherson. And devices able to arrange such electronic “mayhem”, will be located in international waters. If any Russian aircraft will fly 70 miles in the airspace of Ukraine and land in Tiraspol — then who can blame the “lost” crews? The most important thing in this scenario is that we have crews able to navigate and fly in conditions of radio blackout and lack of communication, and Ukrainian air force doesn’t have such pilots.
With regards to S-300, the expert assured that in such circumstances the “fossil” system S-300PS just won’t work, especially against our aircraft. (…)
In the meantime, in anticipation of the upcoming G-7 meeting (June 7/8), and of the Eurostan Council meeting (June 25/26), both of which will treat the future of sanctions against Russia, warmonger US Sec. of Def. Ashton Carter is meeting with US brass and Euro diplomats in Germany,
(…) to “assess and strategize on how the United States and key allies should think about heightened tensions with Russia over the past year.” The official also said Carter was open to providing the Ukrainian regime with lethal weapons, a proposal which had been put forward earlier in the year.
Most provocatively, a report published by the Associated Press yesterday reports that the Pentagon has been actively considering the use of nuclear missiles against military targets inside Russia, in response to what it alleges are violations of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. Russia denies US claims that it has violated the INF by flight-testing ground-launched cruise missiles with a prohibited range. (…)
We can be sure that Transnistria is high in their short-term planning on how to deal with “heightened tensions with Russia,” which they create, exacerbate, and then use as a pretext to heighten them even more. Since every crisis is an opportunity, and the Russians are ready to counter US/Eurostan threats, Ukraine might end up a landlocked country, or not a country at all, if as Molotov’s grandson recently warned, Russian deputy/Molotov’s grandson doesn’t guarantee territorial integrity of Ukraine
Can someone be so kind and send a copy of Churchill’s quotes on Russia to the WH, the DoD, Eurostan Union, and the Ukrainian circus? Please send a copy to the clown “governor” in Odessa.
Russian may seem narrow-minded, impudent, or even stupid people, but can only pray for those who are against them.
Winston Churchill
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Jun 6 2015 7:49 utc | 23
What is former Georgian clown, now Ukrainian clown Saakashvili real role as a, ehem, “governor” of Odessa? What is his assigned task as member of the Ukrainian circus troupe? In a deeply insightful article, Russian analyst yurasumy coalesce the Donbass conflict with the squeezing of Transnistria by Ukraine and Moldova into a
(…)one big civil war in the Former Soviet Union, which, like last time (1917-1921)*, is initiated from abroad, conducted with foreign money, and done for the sake of foreign interests. And, in fact, from the same playbook.
CIA clown Saakashvili is to prepare Odessa for an onslaught against Transnistria, turning the blockade into a squeeze between Moldova and Ukraine, forcing the landlocked PMR for a breakout in the direction of Odessa.
(…)What is the meaning of this operation? The blockade, which Ukraine is now setting out in due form, very soon may force Transnistria to action. “Do something — or die” – that is the choice the “neighbors” want to leave Transnistria. Once in such a situation, the leadership of the unrecognized republic may decide to take a desperate step – a blow in the direction of Odessa. That would cue the junta units, counting on their built-up fortifications, to intervene. And further, proclaiming the Transnistrians “aggressors and terrorists,” Kiev will help Moldovan army to deal with them.
For this, so that the blockade would be solid and so that no Odessa citizens would try playing cat and mouse with the state, the oversight of the Odessa region had to be firm, unscrupulous, and ruthless to the people. The man to do it has been found. Anyone who could embroil his own people in a suicidal war will not tremble at the prospect of doing the same thing in a foreign land.
His task is to clarify for the smugglers that they mustn’t interfere with Kiev in its dealings with the DMR. And anyone who does not get it will be stripped. To this end, there has been a decree about replacing almost all local leaders. It seems to me that they been replaced by certain individuals of the Maidan participants. Their hands don’t falter, as has been repeatedly proved. All the more since many of them are not local.(…)
Ukrainians started preparations to blockade PNR weeks ago under orders from the US/Eurostan, denouncing the Ukraine/Russia agreement over transit of Russian military equipment to the PNR, and deploying S-300 complexes to Odessa suburbs. Russia has threatened to open a no-fly zone over the Odessa region by means of electronic warfare.
(…) According to the expert, the modern electronic warfare equipment, which Ukraine does not possess, but Russia does, is able to simply “turn off” and close for Ukrainian aviation the district from Ishmael to Kherson. And devices able to arrange such electronic “mayhem”, will be located in international waters. If any Russian aircraft will fly 70 miles in the airspace of Ukraine and land in Tiraspol — then who can blame the “lost” crews? The most important thing in this scenario is that we have crews able to navigate and fly in conditions of radio blackout and lack of communication, and Ukrainian air force doesn’t have such pilots.
With regards to S-300, the expert assured that in such circumstances the “fossil” system S-300PS just won’t work, especially against our aircraft. (…)
In the meantime, in anticipation of the upcoming G-7 meeting (June 7/8), and of the Eurostan Council meeting (June 25/26), both of which will treat the future of sanctions against Russia, warmonger US Sec. of Def. Ashton Carter is meeting with US brass and Euro diplomats in Germany,
(…) to “assess and strategize on how the United States and key allies should think about heightened tensions with Russia over the past year.” The official also said Carter was open to providing the Ukrainian regime with lethal weapons, a proposal which had been put forward earlier in the year.
Most provocatively, a report published by the Associated Press yesterday reports that the Pentagon has been actively considering the use of nuclear missiles against military targets inside Russia, in response to what it alleges are violations of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. Russia denies US claims that it has violated the INF by flight-testing ground-launched cruise missiles with a prohibited range. (…)
We can be sure that Transnistria is high in their short-term planning on how to deal with “heightened tensions with Russia,” which they create, exacerbate, and then use as a pretext to heighten them even more. Since every crisis is an opportunity, and the Russians are ready to counter US/Eurostan threats, Ukraine might end up a landlocked country, or not a country at all, if as Molotov’s grandson recently warned, Russian deputy/Molotov’s grandson doesn’t guarantee territorial integrity of Ukraine
Can someone be so kind as to send a copy of Churchill’s quotes on Russia to the WH, DoD, Eurostan Union, and the Ukrainian circus? Please don’t forget to send one to the clown on show as Odessa “governor.”
Russian may seem narrow-minded, impudent, or even stupid people, but can only pray for those who are against them.
Winston Churchill
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Jun 6 2015 7:59 utc | 24
b wrote: My bet is still that the U.S. wants the talks to fail. (about US-Iran nukulear.)
For once, I can disagree with b.
I think what happened here is that the Iranian leaders, Mollahs, were, are, divided, with some wanting more collaboration with the US, others a more radical stance against. (Big Bad Satan is essential in a way for maintaining their hold.) The latter won out with Ahmedinejad, but economically the results were near disastrous; this may be one of cases where sanctions did actually have an effect.
Came a change of heart and strategy, and the ‘nomination’ of Rouhani, who was, wildly guessing here, charged with getting the sanctions lifted, although ‘secret talks’ have been ongoing for at least 7 years (here in Switz.) By all accounts, he is the right man for this job, the media here have unanimously painted him as amiable, easy-going, conciliatory, and tireless. He and Kerry get along great, though Rouhani’s sport (walking) is not compatible and less dangerous…
I’m taking it for granted that the Iranians don’t care about nuclear matters beyond civil development and national pride – it is a bargaining chip. Now, it appears to me, although the content aren’t really known (or, I have not read them only some descriptions and comments etc.), that what has been agreed to so far is not favorable for Iran.
It implies giving up a lot in terms of civil development, centrifuges, research, and the like, plus submitting to more consequent, arbitrary, and rigid inspections and controls, beyond the usual, ‘normal’ IAEA procedures.
The sticking point – again in my interpretation – is the lifting of sanctions, which ones, and when. Iran and its supporters (Russia..) appear to insist that if Iran agrees to this (imho unfair?) deal, some of the sanctions, those resting on the arms/nuclear etc. issue, should be lifted immediately and without a clause specifying (or hinting etc.) that they could be applied at will by the US at any time. Because that is what the US is trying to do: lift sanctions but remain in control by having the right to instore them once more! (At the slightest mis-step, suspect thingie, etc. one can imagine how that goes.)
Naturally neo-cons and Benyamin N. scream at ANY dealings with Iran. This isn’t too important imho, it is for the pol gallery (funds and corruption etc.) and the tv-watching public, and only means that Israel will have an excuse to ask for more arms/money from the US…!
To sum up, the US wants the deal to succeed, but on its own terms. Iran wants it to succeed as well — in Iran the ‘agreement’ has been presented as a fantastic victory of innovative, smart, diplomacy, the whole of Teheran was partying like mad. What we see here is a real negotiation, that may yet fail, naturally. I give it middling to highish probability that ‘the deal,’ or some form, version of it, will see the light of day.
Remember, there are also extremely powerful business interests that see great money-making opportunities, delegations from all over the world are already pouring money into Teheran, vying to grab contracts, partnerships, influence, contacts (pre-agreements) etc. That includes banksters / finance I presume though no word about them in the news.
In a way, for these negotiations to fail would be a bad loss of face for the US – as well as for the Iranian directorate. The US does not enter negotiations that are publicised, if weakly and inaccurately, lightly. It is expected that the negotiations reinforce US position and control, that they succeed. It is a show of power. Failure is loss, miscalculation, effort and money spent, etc. Therefore, the US, in case of failure, needs to do everything to maintain the “Iran crazy unreasonable treacherous islamists” image, to blame them if it fails.
(see also Willy2 at 22)
Posted by: Noirette | Jun 6 2015 15:44 utc | 36
Wayout at 47 —
Let me begin by saying, I would agree, when he returned to Afghanistan (having been driven there from the Sudan) his interest was primarily, if not exclusively, on developing his network. It was a convenient refuge amongst appreciative fans.
As you might know, I am not in the habit of making statements I can’t back up. My intent was to emphasize the shortsightedness of American promotion of Islamic fundamentalism. Bin Laden evolved from a bit player in that effort, to a leading figure in its expansion.
From the Wiki on the mujahideen:
Many Muslims from other countries assisted the various mujahideen groups in Afghanistan. Some groups of these veterans became significant players in later conflicts in and around the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden, originally from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia, was a prominent organizer and financier of an all-Arab Islamist group of foreign volunteers; his Maktab al-Khadamat funneled money, arms, and Muslim fighters from around the Muslim world into Afghanistan, with the assistance and support of the Saudi and Pakistani governments.
See also this item from The Guardian, dated Jan. 1999, on the Frankenstein the CIA created. It notes some 15,000 foreign fighters flowed into Afghanistan from 1982, most prior to 1992. Bin Laden fought at Jalabad, but his talents lay in logistics.
From his base in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, he used his experience of the construction trade, and his money, to build a series of bases where the mujahideen could be trained by their Pakistani, American and, if some recent press reports are to be believed, British advisers….
Afghan veterans have now joined bin Laden’s al-Qaeda group.
Some have returned to former battlegrounds, like the university-educated Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, a key figure in the Egyptian al-Jihad terrorist group. Al-Zawahiri ran his own operation during the Afghan war, bringing in and training volunteers from the Middle East. Some of the $500 million the CIA poured into Afghanistan reached his group. Al-Zawahiri has become a close aide of bin Laden and has now returned to Afghanistan to work with him….
Despite reports that bin Laden was effectively funded by the Americans, it is impossible to gauge how much American aid he received. He was not a major figure in the Afghan war. Most American weapons, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, were channelled by the Pakistanis to the Hezb-i-Islami faction of the mujahideen led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Bin Laden was only loosely connected with the group, serving under another Hezb-i-Islami commander known as Engineer Machmud. However, bin Laden’s Office of Services, set up to recruit overseas for the war, received some US cash.
But according to one American official, concentrating on bin Laden is a mistake. ‘The point is not the individuals,’ he said last week. ‘The point is that we created a whole cadre of trained and motivated people who turned against us. It’s a classic Frankenstein’s monster situation.’
So at a minimum, he worked with people with whom we worked closely; I did originally note the leading role our Saudi and Pakistani allies. Without our promotion of the conflict, there would not have been mujahideen there for him to aid. The experience and connections he gained aiding us in developing them – even if only indirectly – certainly permitted him to undertake more independent action once the mujahideen were no longer of use to us. Their success in Afghanistan inspired imitation in Chechnaya, the Balkans, Nigeria, and elsewhere.
There is a separate Wiki on the CIA/al-Qaeda controversy. Weigh the official Washington denials (quoted at some length) against the statements former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and especially Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who told Larry King:
In the mid-’80s, if you remember, we and the United – Saudi Arabia and the United States were supporting the Mujahideen to liberate Afghanistan from the Soviets. He [Osama bin Laden] came to thank me for my efforts to bring the Americans, our friends, to help us against the atheists, he said the communists. Isn’t it ironic?
As an atheist and socialist who drinks liquor, eats pork, listens to music, and is regularly in mixed company, I do try to keep an eye on those who might do me harm on one or all of those counts.
And on a separate vice, as one who occasionally plays the ponies, I’m glad to report that American Phaorah has won the Triple Crown. I missed the race, but Mrs. M. says he took it easily by five lengths.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jun 7 2015 0:45 utc | 56
The Ukraine is taking the opportunity to remind us of its commitment to peace and Western values.
Poroshenko promises to do all in his power to liquidate the Transnistrian Republic. “Ukraine, for my part, perhaps with my participation, will do everything to restore the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova,” he said. His bang-up job defending Banderastan’s territorial integrity vouches for his skills.
Today’s New York Times reports that he is also trolling for support independent of the Nuland/Obama/Kerry Axis, meeting with Harper and Abe in Kiev. Ahead of the G-7 meeting, “President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine tried on Friday to rally international support for his country and to maintain pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, including economic sanctions.” It quotes his remarks “to a small group of foreign journalists”
We will defend our country, our territorial integrity and our independence by ourselves…. We have weapons for that. But unfortunately we are fighting with the weapons from the 20th century, from the time of the Soviet Union, against the Russian — most modern — weapons of the 21st century…..
Here we are defending freedom, we are defending democracy, we are defending European values, and the actual reason of this war is the right of the Ukrainian people to live under European standards, with European values, in the European Union.
This may account for the handling of the recent Gay Pride parade in Kiev. Kiev Mayor Klitschko Gives in to Neo-Nazis: Opposes Gay Parade.
Did he publicly complain about Right Sector’s blackmail and demand action against them?
Did he say that putting public pressure on him to ban a peaceful parade was totally unacceptable?…
No, what he did was ask the organisers of the parade to call it off.
What about the Western media, vigilant defenders as they are of LGBT rights everywhere but especially in Russia? Are they loudly denouncing Right Sector for its homophobia and Klitschko for his weakness?
No. They are saying nothing.
The organizers declined, and the parade went off with police protection. But I’m sure you’re glad to know, Pravyi Sektor was as good as its word. New Cold War has coverage via RT of their attack on the March of Dignity.
The march of around 300 LGBT supporters reportedly lasted for only half an hour and came under attack despite the presence of police in riot gear. The attackers hurled flares, smoke bombs and teargas at the crowd walking along bank of the Dnipro River….
With the conflict in eastern Ukraine under way, Kiev has been seeking a closer alliance with Europe to promote civil liberties widely enjoyed overseas. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told a press conference on Friday that although he won’t participate in the “March of Equality,” he doesn’t “see any reason to impede this march because it’s a constitutional right of every citizen of Ukraine.”
Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh, in contrast, complained on his Facebook post on Thursday that LGBT communities have been boosting the scale of their activities in Ukraine.
“Even as the fighting in the East has intensified, they plan a series of measures including their ‘mini gay parade’ – “March of Equality”. It’s not just an activity aimed at the moral decay of the Ukrainian people, it’s spitting on the graves of those who died fighting for Ukraine, and on the living defenders of the Motherland too…. Thank God, we remain a rather conservative nation,” Yarosh wrote, adding that “propaganda of homosexuality and gender ideology has been reinforced by the West.”
I’m a little unclear why allowing a modicum of visibility and respect amounts to dissing the defenders of the Ukraine. After all, People are People, no?
Posted by: rufus magister | Jun 7 2015 3:15 utc | 58
Saakashvili’s a two-fer. Not only can he be counted on, as an outsider, to do the political dirty work of brutally repressing Odessa and, when the time comes, launching an unsuccessful assault on Transnistria (Georgian style), he talks smack too.
Newsweek favors us with his vocal stylings, singing the praises of his boss, with this lovely aria, Poroshenko’s First Year Has Set Ukraine On The Road to Reform.
Poroshenko has succeeded in nation-building, at a rapid pace, where previous presidents have failed. In a recent speech before the Rada, he explained that getting rid of Soviet monuments wouldn’t be enough to get rid of a communist mindset….
The dual goals of victory remain the same: the containment of Russian neo-imperialism and the defeat of neo-sovietism as an anti-model of society and governance.
For 24 years, Ukraine has been plundered and hijacked by a nihilistic elite—dubbed as oligarchs. They were serving their own interests, and, occasionally, when it mattered, Moscow’s as well. The civil service was cumbersome, its rules Kafkaesque, designed explicitly to create a labyrinth inside which corruption flourished.
The Maidan totally changed the equation. For the first time since 1991, a comprehensive reform agenda has been shaped that makes legitimate rule of law achievable. Oligarchs will be confronted; corruption will be tackled; regulation will be simplified; the civil service will be drastically down-sized; and local government will be empowered.
On this front, there have been many successes—many aided and led by the international experts [read: foreign hacks like me – rm] Poroshenko has recruited to bring an outsider’s perspective to Ukraine’s internal challenges.
In the midst of war, Ukraine has rebuilt its armed forces and halted a military offensive by the largest army in Europe. Defense reforms are underway—with the help of the RAND Corporation….
The Ukrainian people have rallied around the potential of the post-Maidan nation—coming together to contribute to the supply, support and combat-readiness of the military and volunteer forces; being demanding, but patient, as President Poroshenko pushes forward his reforms.
That’s why folks are fleeing conscription and economic collapse, and even the right is on the streets decrying the ruined economy; see this from New Cold War.
I’ve been seeing a clip of former Polish PM and present EU Council head Tusk saying, “Russia isn’t at the G-7 because they don’t share our values.”
Let’s look at some recent activities and parse what those values might include. That would be illegal wars of aggression (Iraq), destabilizing legitimate governments even though they cooperated with you (Libya), or simply that your regional satrap (Israel) dislikes them (Syria). It also includes torture, rendition (Poles very helpful on both counts), mass surveillance of population and leaders, friend and foe, drone strikes, illegal and abusive detention (Abu Ghraib, Gitmo), and the police killing and assaulting citizens ’cause they don’t like any backtalk or somehow cause large nos. of heavily armed paramilitary police to fear for their lives from unarmed minority citizens (examples too numerous to mention). Not to mention stripping workers of their jobs, security, and dignity though secret trade treaties and telling them they’re better off, so stop the bellyaching and just suck it up.
Because, freedom.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jun 8 2015 0:59 utc | 73
Wayout —
Thanks for the reference.
Since we’ve shifted to the question of putative Chinese responsibility, I presume that we have settled the question of Washington’s involvement with Osama bin Laden. The exact dollar amount and degree of separation may be unclear (and in whose interest is that, do you think?), but the association is not.
I did a little checking yesterday in advance. The assertion appears not only in the Wiki for the Peoples Liberation Army, it also appears in that on the Soviet-Afghan War. Both cite (incorrectly) the same underlying source.
It is an essay by Israeli academic in S.F. Starr, ed., Xinjiang: China’s Muslim Borderland (M.E. Sharpe, 2004). Yitzhak Shichor’s “Great Wall of Steel: Military & Strategy in Xinjiang,” (available on line here) discusses it breifly at pp. 157-158.
He cites a number of works for this section, but the most on point is Ahmad Lufti’s “Blowback: China & the Afghan Arabs,” Issues & Studies, v.37 n.1 (Jan.-Feb. 2001, pp. 202-204). I was unable to find the text online, but I was able to find Lufti and the journal.
A former employee of the British Council in Yemen (see here) Lufti has produced a number of items for the Jamestown Foundation, and repeated the accusation (with no documentation) in their China Brief, v.4 n.3 of February 4, 2004 in a short piece on Uyghur Separatism And China’s Crisis Of Credibility In The War On Terror. Jamestown describes him as “a political and terrorism analyst.”
Voltaire.net describes the The Jamestown Foundation as follows:
Created by the CIA to publicly unveil the communist rogues of Reagan’s times [providing them with publicity and additional income – rm], the Jamestown Foundation has resumed its services in the Bush Administration. It publishes specialized bulletins on both the post-communist world and terrorism, which serve as reference for Washington’s think tanks. University scholars and journalists are dedicated to depict a ghost-filled world whose very same hostility justifies the U.S. empire.
The Institute for Policy Studies profiled it as part of its Right Web.
The organization prides itself on using “indigenous and primary sources” and it claims that its material is “delivered without political bias, filter, or agenda.” At various times in its history, however, the group has been dogged by allegations that it secretly works with the CIA or governments allied with the United States….
Jamestown’s work in the Caucasus region became the subject of scrutiny in April 2013 when Russian news sources reported that key Boston marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev—an ethnic Chechen who was raised in the United States but reportedly visited with Islamic militants in the restive Russian state of Dagestan—had attended Jamestown-funded workshops in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in 2011. The workshops were hosted by an organization called the Caucasian Fund (sometimes rendered as Fund for the Caucasus or the Kavkazsky Fund), which has an office in Boston and has been linked to the Georgian government.
Documents released by the Georgian Interior Ministry in 2013 suggest that at the time of Tsarnaev’s alleged visit, the Georgian government was actively training and ferrying militants into neighboring Dagestan as part of its rivalry with Russia, with whom it fought a brief war in 2008. Some observers have speculated that the Jamestown-sponsored workshops may have been part of this effort. Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has denied the claims.
All of sudden Saakashvili is turning up everywhere. And apparently, for Jamestown, like other inside-the-Beltway institutions, there are good Islamic terrorists and bad Islamic terrorists. Anti-Russian, anti-Syrian, good. Anti-Iraqi, bad.
Issues & Studies for its part is a publication of Taipeh’s Institute of International Relations of National Chengchi University, which Wikipedia describes as “founded by the Kuomintang-dominated Nationalist government of Nanjing in 1927 as an incubator for senior civil service in China…. [It] specializes in Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Management, Politics, and International Affairs programs. A great number of graduate students work in government departments.”
Given the links of the sources to Western intelligence and Taiwan, I cannot consider the information presented as either unbiased or reliable.
The most I would venture to say that China, urged on by its long-time regional protege Pakistan and its new-found (ca. 1980) friend in Washington, permitted Chinese arms shipped to Pakistan to be supplied to the mujaheddin, and gave permission for supply overflights by their Western and Arabic patrons. Given that the Taliban, if not the mujaheddin themselves, supplied Uighur separatists with arms, training, and bases for their own terror campaign in China, Peking is paying the price for the errors of its friends.
Primary responsibility still resides in Washington, whose idea it was, as well as in Islamabad and Riyadh.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jun 8 2015 23:57 utc | 83
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