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June 5, 2015
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

Posted by b on June 5, 2015 at 18:31 UTC | Permalink
Comments

hey mcohen!
that first week of June came and went! WTF! the world’s still turning!

Posted by: john | Jun 10 2015 8:16 utc | 101

Massi
Something opposite? Did you even read the osce report?
It doesnt say DNR started, why do you lie?

Posted by: Anonymous | Jun 10 2015 10:19 utc | 102

guest77 at 96 —
I don’t recall that you mentioned any specific reforms, so I cited those two areas. You would have to specify how much of the land reform was handled in the manner that you mentioned. That it was going to lessen control of local landlords was certainly a factor in their support for the mujahedin.
Massi at 98 —
You cite a single incident report, from the day hostilities escalated. It is consistent with an NAF response to Ukrainian provocations. It says nothing about the development of the situation. Various Kiev militia commanders openly announced, when Minks-2 was signed, that they had no intention of complying.
You might recall that I posted a lengthy edit from a contemporaneous State Dept. briefing; confirmed violations by both sides were roughly equal, with unattributed violations outnumbering them. State’s PR hack, citing “our experts,” asserted it was all Novorossiya’s fault and refused to acknowledge the junta’s complicity.
Russia has been questioning bias in OSCE’s activities since at least last November. I recall reading recently that the observer mission is dominated by representatives from Kiev’s assorted backers and patrons.
I don’t seem to recall any reports of civilians being shelled by DNR/LPR, but plenty of damage in the Donbass.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jun 10 2015 11:44 utc | 103

Young lizard
“Guccifer Letter from Prison”  Entertaining and informative throughout, mostly on the Sid Blumenthal/Hillary Clinton connection, with Blumenthal running the under-the-table intelligence operation for Clinton (an operation which provided her with enough information that she should have been prepared for the attack at Benghazi), based on Blumenthal’s connections to various private military contractors.  Note the early reference to John O’Neill, and the description of (fake Anti-Zio) Max [Blumenthal] :

“The eight hours were sufficient to extract the “sap” from the safe-box of information of Vicious Sid. If I had a frustration, it was that I hadn’t managed to also penetrate the Yahoo account of his son, Max, a young lizard, maker of dirty games, journalist and blogger, “righteous heir” of his father’s, known whippersnapper in Chicago’s high-life.”

Posted by: Ted’s Cruising | Jun 10 2015 14:55 utc | 104

re 99

No, I was ridiculing your position, since the three _major_ recent moves by the Saudis and their unofficial armies have all been major positive moves for American imperial interests as well.

Have it your own way. You can’t argue with people who fundamentally believe in the omnipotence and all-seeing planning of the US, albeit evil. I would have thought that fighting both for and against ISIS is a highly risky policy, likely to not turn out well. Those 200 Marines surrounded at al-Asad airbase are certainly at risk. Not in being taken, but being forced to make a desperate helicopter evacuation, much in the style of Saigon. Not good headlines. But have it your own way.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 10 2015 18:09 utc | 105

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