Lukashenko's Revenge (Served Cold)
On yesterday's threat Petri Krohn wrote of:
LUKASHENKO'S REVENGE (Best served cold)Last summer Ukraine's security service SBU tried to play dirty trick on Lukashenko. Russian volunteers, who had fought on the Novorossiyan side in the Ukrainian civil war were made a fake job offer, "security" work on Syrian oil fields. The Wagnerites (as private military contractors are called in Russia) were to gather in Minsk. A Turkish airways flight would then take them to Syria.
SBU's secret plan was to intercept the Turkish plane while in Ukrainian airspace, force it to land and arrest the "terrorists". Something went wrong. Plan B was to claim the mercenaries had been sent by Russia and Putin to stage a coup against Lukashenko. The Belarusians in fact believed this lie for a week.
Moon of Alabama reported on the events here:
The 'Russian Coup' Plot In Belarus Was Faked By UkraineAlso remember, that the plane of Bolivian president Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria in July 2013, after France, Spain, Portugal and Italy had closed their airspace on American orders.
Now read this:
‘Hijacked’: President uses fighter jet to force Ryanair flight to land in Belarus – Sidney Morning HeraldMoscow: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday personally ordered a fighter jet to intercept a Ryanair flight carrying a young opposition blogger, forcing it to redirect and land in Belarus.
The Boeing aircraft, flying from the Greek capital Athens to Vilnius, had almost reached Lithuania when it changed direction and was escorted to the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
On arrival, police detained activist Roman Protasevich, 26, who had been on a wanted list after last year’s mass street protests in the wake of an election in which Lukashenko claimed a landslide but disputed victory.
While the incident unfolded yesterday I amused myself with reading the know-nothing responses from several European prime minister and officials.
The President of Lithuania:
Gitanas Nausėda @GitanasNauseda - 13:14 utc · May 23, 2021Unprecedented event! A civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forcibly landed in #Minsk. Belarusian political activist & founder of @NEXTA_EN was on the plane. He is arrested. 🇧🇾 regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevič urgently!
The President of the Nordic Council of Ministers:
Mateusz Morawiecki @MorawieckiM - 15:20 utc · May 23, 2021I have asked @eucopresident to expand tomorrow's #EUCO agenda and discuss immediate sanctions against A. Lukashenka regime. Hijacking of a civilian plane is an unprecedented act of state terrorism. It cannot go unpunished.
The Prime Minister of Greece:
Prime Minister GR @PrimeministerGR - 15:43 utc · May 23, 2021The forced landing of a commercial plane to detain a journalist is an unprecedented, shocking act. We demand all passengers’ immediate release. Tomorrow’s #EUCO must address the need to step up pressure on Belarus. Enough is enough.
The incident is totally NOT unprecedented.
In 1954 Israel forced a Syrian passenger plane to land to gain hostages which it hoped to exchange for captured Israeli soldiers.
France behaved similarly.
Conor Daly @ConorAJDaly - 15:32 utc · May 23, 2021In 1957 French authorities diverted a Morocco-Spain Air Maroc flight to Algiers. Algerian independence leader Ahmed Ben Bella (based in MA) was on board. Air Maroc was mostly French-owned. ABB was jailed in Algiers but became the first President of Algeria 5 years later.
In 2010 the U.S. wanted to arrest a man who was on a flight from France to Mexico. On U.S. instigation the plane was diverted to Canada where the man was arrested and later transferred to the U.S.
In 2012 Turkey forced down a Syrian passenger plane flying from Moscow to Damascus to search it for weapons. None were found.
In 2013 U.S. allies shut down their airspace for a flight carrying the Bolivian President Evo Morales from Moscow. The plane had to divert to Austria where the authorities insisted on searching the plane for the "fugitive" Edward Snowden before letting it fly again. Snowden was not on board.
In 2016 the Ukraine sent military jets to force a plane flying from Kiev to Minsk to return to Kiev. The authorities were looking for a certain passenger on board who was later found to have be the wrong man.
As Petri Krohn notes above the Ukraine in 2020 had planned to abduct Russian mercenaries on a flight from Minsk to Turkey by forcing the plane to land in Kiev. The plot failed.
Barfingcat 'investigator' Christo Grozev also marveled the similarity:
Christo Grozev @christogrozev - 12:34 utc · May 23, 2021Shit. Lukashenko copied part of Ukraine's 2020 (unfinished) sting operation, forced a @Ryanair plane to land in Minsk under a false bomb threat pretense, and arrested the former chief editor of opposition platform NEXTA.
Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times notes that the 'west' can hardly complain about yesterday's incident when I behaves in even more egregious ways:
That thought raises the unfortunate precedent set by the US through its policies of drone strikes and “extraordinary renditions”, during its “war on terror”. The Americans can point out that this kind of treatment was reserved for those who used or planned actual violence against the US or its allies. But, to invert the old saying, one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. Belarus had placed Protasevich on a terrorist watchlist.Nobody reasonable should accept the Belarusian (or Chinese or Russian) equation of peaceful dissent with terrorism. But America has encouraged the idea that powerful countries can reach out beyond their borders and grab people.
Belarus did not even reach beyond its borders but acted fully within its rights under international law.
Roman Protasevich is, like his partner the Atlantic Council fellow Franak Viačorka, a U.S. trained and financed regime operator who tried to violently overthrow the government of Belarus to then install a neoliberal U.S. client regime:
Franak Viačorka @franakviacorka - 10:38 utc · May 24, 2021I know Raman Pratasevich for 8 years as principled, brave journalist. He is always on the frontline. Raman, Ihar Losik & I — we were Havel fellows at @rferl. When Ihar Losik was imprisoned last summer, Raman kindly took over Ihar’s project @belamova. He may be tortured by KGB now
When the color revolution in Belarus failed we wrote about the Viačorka/Protasevich run Telegram channel Nexta which directed the protests in Minsk:
Nexta is led by anti-Lukashenko pro-Western 'activists' in Poland. The editor in chief is one Roman Protasevich. He was perviously a journalist for the Polish-Lithuanian-funded Euroradio, as well as for the CIA's Radio Liberty. Nexta was founded by Stepan Putila who earlier worked for the Polish-Belarusian channel Belsat which is based in Warsaw and is funded by the Polish Foreign Ministry. Both currently live in Warsaw.As these media produce fresh videos 24 by 7 and do many online post there must be a sizeable staff behind Nexta, in Poland as well as on the ground in Belarus. This is certainly not a cheep operation and it certainly has nation state backing. Obama's deputy national security advisor left little doubt about who is behind this game.
(There is more about Nexta in this open thread.)
Protasevich is by the way no heart bleeding liberal. Ivan Katchanowski of the University of Ottawa notes that his political leanings are quite dubious:
Ivan Katchanovski @I_Katchanovski - 13:15 utc · May 24, 2021Google searches show no references in Western media to past service in neo-Nazi-led Azov battalion in Ukraine of Belarusian opposition blogger, who was arrested by Belarus KGB after it diverted Irish Ryanair passenger plane that was flying over Belarus
Ukrainian media reports that Protasevich served in the press-service of the neo-Nazi-led Azov battalion in Ukraine during the war in Donbas: "... украинскую страницу в биографии Протасевича: белорус одно время работал в пресс-службе «Азова»."
Promoting fascists in the Ukraine, working for U.S. government regime change media, collaborating with various secret services in east Europe and directing a color revolution attempt in Belarus from abroad should be enough reason for Belarus to put the man into jail. Protasevich clearly worked against the interest of his country.
The 'west' is of course furious that one of its regime change operators has been taken down in a way it similar uses. It will try to think up some sanctions or other measures it can impose on Belarus. But the only effect such pressure has is to push Belarus further into the Union State with Russia. It was the Union State that saved Belarus and will do so again.
Measures like the one below are counterproductive to their real aim and only hurt people who are not involved in the game:
Ivan Katchanovski @I_Katchanovski - 15:16 utc · May 24, 2021Zelensky bans Ukrainian flights to #Belarus & over Belarus. Ukrainian secret services last year planned to divert Belarusian passenger #plane flying over #Ukraine to Turkey to arrest lured in false flag op #Russian mercenaries, who fought in #Donbas war.
https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/...
Posted by b on May 24, 2021 at 16:40 UTC | Permalink
next page »great coverage and overview b! thanks.... this msm outrage is so typical... if they were to report like you, the world would be a more informed world... good for Lukashenko and belarus!!
Posted by: james | May 24 2021 17:08 utc | 2
Hybrid Wars have casualties as in this example. As implied, the West somehow thinks itself immune, but in reality it's quite vulnerable. Those nations not bought and controlled by the Outlaw US Empire need to do some serious thinking about their relations with Russia and the Empire as it's their citizens that will suffer as their Neoliberal economies continue to contract.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 24 2021 17:15 utc | 3
I thought to myself when all this unfolded: "If the entire western media goes into hysterics over this obscure activist, then he absolutely is an asset of a western intelligence agency."
Sure enough, all the hysterics, hand-wringing and pearl-clutching by so many media outlets and governments all over the western world can only mean Lukashenko got the right man.
Posted by: Mar man | May 24 2021 17:42 utc | 4
I don't know - I may be wrong but this whole thing stinks of a classic "pawn sacrifice"
operation like the Nemtsov and Litvinenko cases. We'll know soon enough, if he unexpectedly "dies of mistreatment" then it will definitely have been a setup. I hope I'm wrong, and he starts singing.
Posted by: Cosham | May 24 2021 17:54 utc | 5
Great post b. The hypocrisy of the West knows no bounds.
Posted by: ftmntf | May 24 2021 18:01 utc | 6
Looking for Suzan Petrov & Bochirov?
CNN is claiming for a FSB plot.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/24/europe/belarus-ryanair-flight-raman-pratasevich-hijacking-intl/index.html
5 or 6 people don't reembark after the "Minsk Stop". Only two were arrested. It' FSB agent. Wonder who?
Belarus doesn't need "bomb scare" and "a MiG-29 fighter jet" to divert Ryannair Flight FR4978. If secret agent on board, why not simply a fake hearth attack or any emergency in the toilet?
If it's Lukashenko's, it's a kind of "GFY!"
-///-
I claim this morning for French innovation.
1956 Hijacking of civilian airplane
with a useful link to Algerian document in English. Once again https://www.calameo.com/read/0007815969f106c3072eb
Posted by: Rêver | May 24 2021 18:05 utc | 7
Mar man @4 <- This poster demonstrates the proper way to parse the Mockingbird mass media. You can have the utmost trust in what you learn from the "Free Press©" if you approach it this way.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 24 2021 18:06 utc | 8
Looking for Suzan Petrov & Bochirov?
CNN is claiming for a FSB plot.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/24/europe/belarus-ryanair-flight-raman-pratasevich-hijacking-intl/index.html
5 or 6 people don't reembark after the "Minsk Stop". Only two were arrested. It' FSB agent. Wonder who?
Belarus doesn't need "bomb scare" and "a MiG-29 fighter jet" to divert Ryannair Flight FR4978. If secret agent on board, why not simply a fake hearth attack or any emergency in the toilet?
If it's Lukashenko's, it's a kind of "GFY!"
-///-
I claim this morning for French innovation.
1956 Hijacking of civilian airplane
with a useful link to Algerian document in English. Once again https://www.calameo.com/read/0007815969f106c3072eb
Posted by: Rêve | May 24 2021 18:12 utc | 9
The overarching revelation from various global events is the HYPOCRISY of the Financial Empire’s entities and institutions. The Empire’s CREDIBILITY continue to decline in the negative region. Without credibility there is no legitimacy.
Russia, did well by accusing the West of hypocrisy in its response. Its spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said it well, “Either (they) should be shocked by … the forced (landing) in Austria of the Bolivian president’s plane at the request of the United States … Or (they) should not be shocked by similar behaviour by others.” World’s reaction... Any statements from Asia, LATAM, Africa, the Middle East... Hypocrisies are being unmasked!
Let’s see if there are more sanctions on Belarus and the Empire is still pursuing regime change. Russia has a red line with regards to Belarus.
Posted by: Max | May 24 2021 18:14 utc | 10
You'll know them by their spelling. Radio Svoboda plus Blinken plus the Baltics will insist in Raman instead of Roman, and Tsikhanouskaya or something like it, instead of Juanita© as Rozhin smartly named her. But then again, minorities rule, that's the new woke religion.
Posted by: Paco | May 24 2021 18:34 utc | 12
The attempt to kidnap Snowden was probably the most grievous "attempted violation", given lack of any "terrorist angle", violation of diplomatic privilege and the pack of hounds approach. Obama at his multilateral best.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 24 2021 18:44 utc | 14
The photos of Protasevich at the airport show him without a mask !! OOOHH. No wonder the Belarussians arrested him as a dangerous individual. He probably didn't even keep the 2 metres distance required by the EU/US Rules-based-order.
****
So the UK has followed up by sanctioning 99 individuals (according to the guardian - as reported by another person). How, in the space of an evening, did they get a list so quickly UNLESS they were the ones organising the FF? Nobody in the UK works that fast normally.
Posted by: Stonebird | May 24 2021 18:57 utc | 15
The editorial highlight to Finian Cunningham's report on this event is quite apt:
"Washington runs its global air piracy with the full, silent complicity of European governments. If the Europeans expressed opposition to that global piracy then they might just have a bit of moral authority to comment on the Belarus incident."
Cunningham rightly says:
"If we are genuinely interested in condemning air piracy then the European governments should be far more concerned by the systematic abuse of their airspace by the American CIA and its 'extraordinary rendition' program. Countless 'terrorist suspects' unlawfully kidnapped by American military forces operating illegally all over the world have been transited covertly through European airports on their way to Guantanamo Bay or some black site for torture." [My Emphasis]
Just my bolded highlight ought to be enough to shut all the Poodles's mouths, but that's clearly not the case. IMO, all NATO nations are complicit in those Outlaw US Empire crimes and require prosecution.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 24 2021 18:58 utc | 16
@ Posted by: Cosham | May 24 2021 17:54 utc | 5
Doesn't look like a pawn sacrifice. The West clearly had grandiose plans for that kid, it certainly intended to use him for a lot of damage against Belarus and Russia.
Those color revolutionaries have very low morale. They're very fragile against hardships and are very easy to crack under pressure (i.e. prison and interrogation) if you know how to do it (and the KGB certainly knows it). They will get everything from the nerd.
You can accuse Lukashenko from whatever kind of things, but one thing he is not is an amateur. As a Soviet citizen and experienced politician, he certainly knows how to neutralize those subversives by heart. For example, he botched the color revolutionaries true pawn sacrifice at the beginning of the coup: Tikhanovskaya was to be burnt alive in her HQ by some carefully chosen (probably neonazis) gangsters disguised as protesters, rescuing her sending her to Lithuania. Lithuanian government thought it had struck gold but is was actually a Trojan Horse. Europe now has their own Guaidó, losing face day by day with embarrassing propaganda moves like offering her Head of State titles, credentials and receptions every time she visits an EU country + UK. She will fuck everything up with her greed, idiocy and shortsightedness before Europe has even a chance to set up another color revolution in Belarus.
m @ 12
The leader of Azov, Arsen Avakov, is open about his homosexuality. Less open about his status as a Soviet born Armenian Jew. Azov has a lot of Jews, a lot of homosexuals, lots of actors, nearly all middle class and well off.
Perfect match with their woke superiors in Langley.
Posted by: oldhippie | May 24 2021 19:16 utc | 18
Yeah, this sounds like a big deal.
...in the sense that Luka probably won't be able to play both sides anymore. Consequently, merging with the RF now seems like a distinct possibility...
We'll see.
Posted by: Mao Cheng Ji | May 24 2021 19:18 utc | 19
Not quite the same, but in the category of interfering with civilian flights:
In the campaign to keep Huawei out of the North American market, Canada, at the behest of Washington, arrested a Huawei executive beginning of December of 2019. She was in transit, moving from an inbound flight to a flight to Mexico for a business meeting. End of January 2020, Washington gave us the charges against her requesting extradition to US. The charges were breach of US snactions on Iran in a 2013 incident at a business meeting in Iran. She is still under house arrest here in Canada, as the court hearings continue.
US knew passenger list on the right flight to have our authorities carry out the arrest.
Posted by: dave constable | May 24 2021 19:23 utc | 20
karlof1 @ 15.. you assume an enforceable international law exist? nation states are armed sovereign immunes.. explains why Israel was formed in the middle of oil rich Palestine.. without a nation state the oligarchs could not turn private terrorism (Palin Commission) into a nation state licensed war. Without a nation state, it would have been impossible for Palestine to be occupied and seduced. The nation state passes and its armed forces enforce the laws, the private oligarchs need, to own everything and to use military force to enforce their private ownership of property and expressions of the human mind [copy writes and patents] and to make sweetheart government contract deals possible. Sovereignty is the oligarch private protection shield. When need be: the Oligrach or its corporate knee-breaker can jump from one to another of any of the 256 or so nation states to avoid responsibility demanded by one nation state the protection of sovereign immunity, the oligarch enjoys in another nation state.
Posted by: snake | May 24 2021 19:40 utc | 22
Excellent job exposing the breathtaking hypocrisy of the west in general and Europe in particular. Immediate and hard pushback by all the alternative press is the best treatment for it. European press sources quoting Tikhanouskaya's squealing for an air blockade of Belarus are particularly amusing and showcase Europe's moral bankruptcy even as they signal its intent to keep trying to overthrow Lukashenko. I'd be interested to hear unedited commentary from airline executives when they hear suggestions from some Belarusian housewife that they route their underoccupied flights around Belarus, paying even more for fuel - keep it up, and crazy-rich people will not have to sign on for space tourism to flaunt their wealth. They can just fly coach from New York to Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne without asking for a bailout from the IMF.
To the list of clear violations by western countries in their pursuit of unchecked power, add the CIA's practice of transiting around Europe during the Iraq-war era, extraordinary-renditioning people snatched off the streets using fake callsigns which belonged to a defunct Canadian passenger airline.
I probably do not have to point out that is illegal on many levels. But interpreting the law means not having to obey it.
MoA forgot to mention the 2014 incident, when EU-members Bulgaria and Romania tried to force the plane carrying the then Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government Dmitry Rogozin to land. Condemnation, indignation, demand for sanctions against Romania and Bulgaria? C'mon, what are you talking about. Just an "innocent" trick of two European countries.
The inadequate hysterical reaction of a number of Western leaders is caused, among other things, by the value of the detained person. Roman Protasevich, ex-editor in chief of the extremist channel Nexta. This character will tell the Belarusian special services (the Russian ones will probably also get access to this information) a lot of interesting things, a lot of things that ordinary citizens are not supposed to know. Specific names and positions will be named. Who oversees the Nexta channel, representatives of which Western special services. Which of these people was involved in the development and implementation of a plan for information sabotage against Belarus in August 2020. How does Nexta receive funding, through which people, where and how. What amounts are we talking about. Probably, the Belarusian special services will uncover the "sleeping cells" of the opposition, identify agents of Western countries. The structure and peculiarities of the subversive activities of the Western special services against Belarus and Russia will probably be revealed. Information will be received about the connections of the Belarusian and Russian "non-systemic oppositionists" (it is no coincidence that a number of these characters in Russia instantly raised hysteria almost more than Western politicians), about the financing channels. Probably, information will be received, including about Navalny and his work for the Western special services...
Heh, the detained "journalist" of Nexta will tell a lot of interesting things.
This explains the hysterical reaction of a number of Western political elites. That's wonderful. By the way, recently Russian prankers once again played a trick on Western doers by talking to a representative of the odious American NED.
Again, a lot of interesting information was received.
Gradually and steadily, the entire network of subversive activities of Western intelligence services against Russia is being revealed.
This is a report in TASS.
MINSK, May 12. /TASS/. Those who sent a message about a bomb on board a Ryanair flight that made an emergency landing in Minsk on Sunday threatened to blow the plane up above the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, Director of the Belarusian Transport Ministry’s Aviation Department Artem Sikorsky said at a briefing on Monday.
According to him, the perpetrators put forward political demands related to tensions in the Gaza Strip.
If true, then it was a set-up
Posted by: Stonebird | May 24 2021 19:43 utc | 25
Let's give Peter Lee a hand....perhaps the EU will hear it?
chinahand
@chinahand
The alacrity with which west has moved beyond outrage at 10 days of Israeli massacre in Gaza to outrage that Belarus grabbed a us journo asset is, well, interesting. . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | May 24 2021 19:48 utc | 26
@MoA
Sydney Morning Herald?? LOL
I knew some of their staff, met many of them, the few lucky ones who survived since Fairfax had to 'retire' all competent senior journos from Michael West to Paul McGeough to cut costs from over 15 years ago. Things are even worse today. Like most other Aussie outlets, it is not worth the pixels it is lit with. Second hand news, third rate provincial garbage.
Only redeeming feature is not yet owned by Murder-cock... like nearly the rest of the Aussie media. If anyone is tired of American accents on Fox, just look for Sky Australia. Same narrative, longer vowels.
Posted by: Et Tu | May 24 2021 19:52 utc | 28
snake @21--
It would be great if an individual could employ that sort of "anarchy" defense in a court of law. Someone recently tried just that in Oregon and got nowhere aside from a jail cell. However, its lack of proper usage does provide a good measure of the level of civilization existing and the distance required to arrive at that level.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 24 2021 19:53 utc | 29
I smell a setup:
Belarus points to Hamas bomb threat in plane
"We don't resort to these methods, which could be the doing of some suspicious parties that aim to denounce Hamas and fail the state of world sympathy with our Palestinian people and their legitimate resistance,' the Hamas spokesman said."
Posted by: John Gilberts | May 24 2021 20:11 utc | 30
The first video appearance of Roman, and as the poster Cassad ironically says nobody has put a welding rod up his Avakov..... yet. The boy looks firmly in control of himself and ready to collaborate, no surprise there, seems like a notebook and a phone are part of the catch, a big one according to Cassad who suggests Roman is a way more valuable one than Tikhanovskaya herself since she was supposed to fly the same route, but Juanita is so clumsy and frequents such dubious characters that she is a better asset traveling around and showing the world what a poor alternative she is to Batka Luka.
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/
The video is embedded at the end of the article.
Here a quick translation of the first the world will know about the detained RAmAn.
Good day, I am Roman Protasyevich, I was detained by members of the Interior Ministry yesterday at Minsk airport, now I am at the Detention Center number 1 in Minsk, I declared that I have no health problems, including heart or any other organ, the attitude of the Interior Police has been absolutely correct and according to law. now I continue collaborating with the investigation and give declarations concerning the organization of mass riots in the city of Minsk.
Posted by: Paco | May 24 2021 20:18 utc | 31
Brilliant, b! Thx to Petri, as well.
For those that have been given the time to pay attention to world events, you sure use that time given to its fullest. We appreciate it very much, us prisoners behind the neoliberal curtain.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | May 24 2021 20:19 utc | 32
And "obviously", MH17 and MH370 does not even count.
Posted by: Norwegian | May 24 2021 20:32 utc | 33
The correct link, the previous one is generic.
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/6794219.html
Posted by: Paco | May 24 2021 20:33 utc | 34
damn, Norwegian @ 32 beat me to it.
From here, see here and here. 1st link is on OPCW and Syria with lots of MH17 discussion in comments. 2nd link is part of b's earlier discussion of MH17.
if they do this in a green shrubbery, what will they do in a dry shrubbery? throw gasoline around to make it smell everywhere even more like victory?
Posted by: jason | May 24 2021 20:54 utc | 36
that Operation Gladio type activities are going on is not news around here.
how quickly European gov'ts can be beaten into rallying around some cause clearly not in the interest of the EU or any member nation may be testimony to how effective Gladio type ops have been.
pretty damn is how.
Posted by: jason | May 24 2021 21:00 utc | 37
you can have your plane shot down by the beacons of democracy or have your plane diverted by those commie bastards from hell.
just remember: if you float, you are a witch.
Go, go, Godzilla! creative destruction is creation, not destruction. or are you on the side of the people shooting at Godzilla? where's the fun, or patriotism, in that? incidentally, as this song shows, the audience is on Godzilla's side. important principle for managing the society of the spectacular.
Posted by: jason | May 24 2021 21:14 utc | 38
Very good operation by Lukashenko.
The hypocrisy of the West is as usual at its disgusting intensity.
Posted by: AriusArmenian | May 24 2021 21:14 utc | 39
Et Tu #27
Too true. There is something truly ridiculous about the Oz media but 'not worth the pixels' was divine.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 24 2021 21:20 utc | 40
Thanks b, for supplying, once again,solid evidence, of the ongoing hypocrisy committed by Govts. whenever it suits their purposes...
Posted by: vetinLA | May 24 2021 21:29 utc | 41
>>The 'west' is of course furious that one of its regime change operators has been taken down in a way it similar uses. It will try to think up some sanctions or other measures it can impose on Belarus. But the only effect such pressure has is to push Belarus further into the Union State with Russia.
They will push Lukashenko more towards Russia, but they hate so much that they can not stop themselves. They need to lash out. Hatred blinds them.
Posted by: Passer by | May 24 2021 21:33 utc | 42
Interesting!
But a mid level tyrant, no matter how brutal, is going to have international problems, and will need to hide behind Russian backs.
I know little about Protasyevich, but the risk was pretty extreme.
Let's see how this unfolds.
That degree in Russian History might come in handy.
Posted by: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 21:43 utc | 43
And, of course, the elephant in the room:
the shoot down of MH-17 over Ukraine, in airspace Ukraine is culpable for not closing, and which may well have been an attempt by Ukraine to shoot down a plane carrying Putin, or more likely, to implicate Russia...
Posted by: Paul Damascene | May 24 2021 21:55 utc | 44
Watch the video that Paco linked to, and you will see that on Roman Protasevich's table there is a box of matches and a packet of cigarettes, and, it seems, on this packet there is no warning that cigarettes are a DEADLY POISON!
Novichok having failed, they use NICOTINE!
Posted by: Leuk | May 24 2021 21:55 utc | 45
m@12 "So the people from Azov battalion tolerate homosexuals?" This seems to come out of the m's fevered imagination. The only possible excuse I can imagine is those mainstream media reports that merely mentioned the detention of Protasevich's "partner." A delirious homophobe with crazy ideas about media indoctrination may have assumed this meant a male partner. (No, it's a female.)
oldhippie@17 "The leader of Azov, Arsen Avakov, is open about his homosexuality. Less open about his status as a Soviet born Armenian Jew. Azov has a lot of Jews, a lot of homosexuals, lots of actors, nearly all middle class and well off." Arsen Avakov is not the "leader" of Azov, a man named Biletsky has a better claim. Avakov is the interior minster who incorporated fascist paramilitaries into the Ukrainian armed forces, which is awful but not the same thing. Avakov is married with a son who volunteered for fascist police duty, which also means he is *not* open about his homosexuality, if there is any such thing outside oldhippie's fevered homophobic imagination. Trying to queerbait people you don't like is as reactionary as it is irrelevant. It's as stupid as trying to redbait reactionaries. (You know, as in writing "Moscow Mitch" or similar twaddle.)
"Perfect match with their woke superiors in Langley." oldhippie's rage that his CIA is left-wing woke inadvertently shows oldhippie as a rabid reactionary who wants to a more powerful American imperialism, that can conquer like real men. At best, oldhippie is either too silly to understand that a lot of woke is not left, or of no political importance for dividing the neurotic prudes from any hint of actual left politics, or can't understand how much of the work has to be done by people with real skills and intelligence...and while the inclusive grunts actually wrestle data, the real decisions about coups and assasinations and so on will still be made by the blue bloods with the proper manliness and color and so on, just like oldhippie wants. Neither explanation is a good look.
The chances that Protasevich will provide enough intel to justify the political cost seem to me to be exceedingly low. Protasevich's Polish handlers have clerks for the details of the work. It is almost certain Protasevich is largely a recruiter and highly unlikely he is believed to be competent to be the operator of the Color Revolution.
I suppose in principle seizing Protasevich was a transgression, but as a US national it seems much more important for "my" government to get it's own house in order first. It is also much truer that calling on your supposedly good-guy friends to genuinely do good is much, much more important than calling on your supposedly bad-guy enemies, since they aren't going to listen anyway.
Posted by: steven t johnson | May 24 2021 22:07 utc | 46
Posted by: Passer by | May 24 2021 21:33 utc | 41
>>But a mid level tyrant, no matter how brutal
How "brutal" is he? The West has killed far, far more than him in the 21st century, we are talking about probably millions. Sanctions on Iraq alone could have killed half a million people.
What is the West then? Uber brutal bloodthirsty psycho serial killer?
>>is going to have international problems
Dear western supremacist, are you aware that the vast majority of the planet's population lives outside of the West? Moreover, are you aware that non-western countries are rising and the West is declining? I really like the self-obsessed racism of a small group of people calling themselves "The International Community". The nerve of it.
Posted by: Passer by | May 24 2021 22:11 utc | 47
That reply was to: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 21:43 utc | 42
Posted by: Passer by | May 24 2021 22:12 utc | 48
Sadly, both our major newspapers have disabled comments on this matter.
Posted by: Bart Hansen | May 24 2021 22:13 utc | 49
"are you aware that the vast majority of the planet's population lives outside of the West?"
lol
Yep, so have I .
Posted by: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 22:17 utc | 50
Posted by: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 22:17 utc | 49
Then there is no need to denigrate yourself, by automatically asuming that the West is the International Community, or represents international opinion.
Because the REAL International Community (160 countries outside the West - which is the vast majority of the world) does not have a problem with Belarus.
Posted by: Passer by | May 24 2021 22:26 utc | 51
Posted by: tucenz | May 24 2021 19:49 utc | 26:
'Arsen -(un)fortunate name for a homosexual...'
Enough of this innuendo....
Posted by: Paul | May 24 2021 22:29 utc | 52
I'd guess this Roman fellow was neck deep in the planned May 9th assassination/coup. He would have been an instrumental part in creating cover for the hard core special ops types trying to seize important security nodes and capturing enough of the state apparatus to successfully install a puppet regime or at least spin Belarus into a failed state.
This is why he is worried he will face the death penalty. I am guessing he will get a lighter sentence than that if he provides enough valuable information.
Posted by: ArthurDent | May 24 2021 22:34 utc | 53
Enough of this innuendo....
Posted by: Paul | May 24 2021 22:29 utc | 51
the Italian suppository? the punnishing will continue...
Posted by: tucenz | May 24 2021 22:49 utc | 54
Enough of this innuendo....
Posted by: Paul | May 24 2021 22:29 utc | 51
the Italian suppository? the punnishing will continue...
Posted by: tucenz | May 24 2021 22:49 utc | 55
The 2013 bringing down of the plane with Evo Morales on board by the EU looking for Snowden is karma in process.
Posted by: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 23:02 utc | 56
Double standards are always fun.
If we are to believe CNN, the January 6th incident was supposed to be the most horrible, unforgivable rebellion ever, and any participants must be jailed or worse. Yet CNN also sees nothing wrong with far more violent and dangerous coup attempts, so long as they happen in other countries.
Posted by: Donbass Lives Matter | May 24 2021 23:05 utc | 57
I know that Guardian article are mostly disinformation and Luke Harding articles are all disinformation so I guess some sub-editor is having fun.
Belarus ‘hijacking’ is test for international community
‘Air piracy’ is just latest act of Alexander Lukashenko’s brutal campaign against his opponents
Posted by: Ghost Ship | May 24 2021 23:07 utc | 58
You forgot to mention the kidnapping of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei, from an airport where she was in transit to Mexico, on US orders.
Posted by: Orville | May 24 2021 23:15 utc | 59
I'd guess this Roman fellow was neck deep in the planned May 9th assassination/coup.
Posted by: ArthurDent | May 24 2021 22:34 utc | 52
For several reasons, this is doubtful. Protasevich is 26 years old, and lacking stature and track record to be trusted with such sensitive plans. However, he could be implicated in more mundane terrorisms like instigating attacks on homes of policemen and on their families. A smaller series of incidents were attempts to derail trains. Both would count as terrorism in the West, if perpetrated in the West.
--------
Europe now has their own Guaidó, losing face day by day with embarrassing propaganda moves ...
Posted by: vk | May 24 2021 19:12 utc | 16
If I recall, Guaidó completed training in rabble rousing in Europe, I forgot if the training for "activists" was in Bosnia or in Kosovo. And Europe partook in sanctions on Venezuela and brazen robbery (at least, UK "froze" Venezuelan gold reserve). So they "own" Guaidó as much as USA and Canada. Color revolutionists (colour revolutionists, if in Europe?) are nihilist with no higher principle than raising mayhem with ANY slogans that can get traction. And doing total reverse when they get to power, which occasionally happens.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 24 2021 23:16 utc | 60
27-year rule of President Alexander Lukashenko:
“Europe’s last dictator”
The country has huge economic problems, but Russia will let it hide in back of its behind.
Last dictator? Not so sure---- but defiantly learned from our right wing friends in Central America.
I spent too much time there.
Posted by: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 23:20 utc | 61
If Julian Assange ever overcomes his UK fit-up, he might want to take note.
Posted by: Dim sim | May 24 2021 23:37 utc | 62
Posted by: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 23:20 utc | 60
>>Not so sure - but defiantly learned from our right wing friends in Central America.
With one of the lowest Gini (income inequality) indexes in the world?
Yes, you are not so sure.
But one thing is for sure: Belarus is not your Central America.
Posted by: Passer by | May 24 2021 23:42 utc | 63
Posted by: tucenz | May 24 2021 22:49 utc | 54:
'the Italian suppository? the punnishing will continue...'
Touche
Posted by: Paul | May 24 2021 23:45 utc | 64
"Inflation hit 109% and the average wage decreased by 38% from US$530 to US$330. Further declines in its currency have followed."
Hint:
"To prevent this, Lukashenko needs money. It will be challenging for him to obtain funds from the IMF, as he failed to implement the agreed economic reforms that came with borrowing in 2011. Loans from Russia or China will not lead to reforms but more dependence."
Lucky he has his head under Russia's azz.
Posted by: Duncan Idaho | May 24 2021 23:57 utc | 65
I'm very sure a lot of warmonger propagandist "journalists" like Jihadi Julian Röpcke of Bild (who considers Assange a "terrorist") are shaking in their shoes at the thought that any flight they take from now on over Russian, Belarusian, or even Chinese territory could be intercepted and they finally get the punishment that they deserve.
Röpcke - who is a foaming mouthed supporter of jihadi headchoppers in Syria and Uighuristan - of course, and quite predictably, completely took the side of the zionist entity against Gaza, by the way.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | May 25 2021 0:03 utc | 66
"On 1 July 2013, president Evo Morales of Bolivia, who had been attending a conference of gas-exporting countries in Russia, gave an interview to the RT television network in which he appeared predisposed to offer asylum to Edward Snowden.The day after his TV interview, Morales' Dassault Falcon 900 FAB-001, carrying him back to Bolivia from Russia, took off from Vnukovo Airport, flew uninterrupted over Poland and Czechia, and landed in Vienna after pilots requested emergency landing due to issues with fuel level indicators and thus inability to confirm sufficient amount of fuel to continue flight.
A number of contradictory statements and accusations were then voiced by different parties. According to Bolivia, the flight was rerouted to Austria when France, Spain, Portugal and Italy
On 3 July, Jen Psaki , spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, acknowledged that the U.S. had been "in contact with a range of countries across the world who had any chance of having Mr. Snowden land or even transit through their countries".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident
Posted by: daffyDuct | May 25 2021 0:06 utc | 67
rachman tries to point out hypocrisy yet ends up sounding like a hypocrite:
Nobody reasonable should accept the Belarusian (or Chinese or Russian) equation of peaceful dissent with terrorism.
yes...because the US would never designate non-violent political protest as "terrorism". that would be as crazy and unheard of as droning a guy in another country because he made youtube videos and then - i dunno - killing his teenage son with a drone after that. i mean can you imagine!?!??!
but then i guess if he wasn't a dumb fuck he wouldn't be writing for the "financial times".
Posted by: the pair | May 25 2021 0:28 utc | 68
Protasevich pal Franak Viačorka is darn right that his friend is "always on the frontline".
Care to say just where on the frontline and with whom was Protasevich always, Franak? Oh dearie me, Protasevich was on the frontline with ... Azov Battalion in eastern Ukraine about this time seven years ago.
"... In 2014 Protasevich is reported to have travelled to eastern Ukraine, where he joined the Azov Battalion, a far-right group that fought Russian-backed separatists.“He did not participate in hostilities but he was with the battalion in the Donbas [sic]. He was a photographer and, as I understand it, a volunteer,” a Belarusian journalist said ..."
And what was Protasevich doing in Greece before he boarded the RyanAir jet that was to take him to Vilnius? Why, he was photographer for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in the company of US Ambassador to Greece who is none other than ... Geoffrey Pyatt.
Minsk will be very interested to know what Protasevich was up to in Greece (besides taking pretty pictures of Tikhanovskaya in the "birthplace" of democracy) and what he was planning to do in Vilnius if he had not been detained.
Posted by: Jen | May 25 2021 0:47 utc | 69
I got a kick, and had a good laugh, over the sensation surrounding the incidence of this man's arrest.
I had an even bigger laugh when I read the tass article (earlier today) which said that this blogger (or whatever) has already given a full confession to his role in inciting the riots in Belarus.
Will MoA write about Wuhangate? (sorry for making it sound like an assignment)
My take, the U.S. MSM was given the 'smoking gun' that there was a lab leak by our vaunted CIA, that 3 lab workers had Covid like symptoms in November 2019. The WHO report explicitly said that there were no illnesses matching Sars2 in that time frame. Our MSM did not read the WHO report, they were spoon fed CIA garbage and are repeating it as if they are Leonard Skynyrd, Woodward and Bernstein.
The WSJ was a bit less sensational but our CIA knows that our dumb news anchors will twist the story the way they want, there's the WSJ snippet ...
The WSJ article (not the URL)
"Team members also said they asked for access to a Wuhan blood bank to test samples from before December 2019 for antibodies. Chinese authorities declined at first, citing privacy concerns, then agreed, but have yet to provide that access, team members say."
Here is the relevant portion of the WHO report,
"level (BSL3 or 4) facilities [the Wuhan Virology Institute] ... were well-managed, with a staff health monitoring program with no reporting of COVID-19 compatible respiratory illness during the weeks/months prior to December 2019, and no ... evidence of infection ... through SARS-CoV-2-specific serology-screening"
Notice how willing the CIA is to destroy global institutions like WHO and undermine a rules base world order
Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | May 25 2021 0:58 utc | 71
MONEY, more on...a startling truthiness...
Stonebird | May 23 2021 19:57 utc | 290...
gave a vital datum re: the extermination of the Cathars :
"...Others who denounced their faith were tried and received light penalties, as they were needed to work in the fields if the rich were not to starve. ...".
That is a most telling observation of "the rich". Namely, above all else, "the rich" must have FOOD, which can only sourced as the product of field labor...and field-labor is anathema to "the rich".
The total aversion to the thought of doing field-labor takes at least 1 generation after attaining status of "the rich". After that time lapse, the mere thought of doing field-labor ...well, it is nearly unthought-able.
So now some truthiness...
FOOD IS MONEY; all else is derivative. This holds for human life on Earth.
Posted by: chu teh | May 25 2021 1:06 utc | 72
I'm impressed with Lukashenko.
The man is decisive for sure.
Posted by: Smith | May 25 2021 1:17 utc | 73
Also I hope this would put to the ridiculous "US-Russia" thaw that Blinken - Lavrov are doing.
Posted by: Smith | May 25 2021 1:28 utc | 74
@71 chu teh - "FOOD IS MONEY; all else is derivative."
Yes. Money is anything that serves to buy and sell food (and all its derivatives). And anything will do, because money is basically just an agreement.
And it's so simple that only a demon would charge interest for that money - because where would that extra money (interest) come from, if not from cheating someone out of their share of the food? So that would never happen - oh, wait..
I had wanted to answer this point in the last open thread, especially after psychohistorian chimed in and made it a discussion, but I lost the window.
It's off topic now so I resist - but please keep on with this point and perhaps in the next open thread...
Posted by: Grieved | May 25 2021 1:37 utc | 75
Pepe Escobar on his VK page cites a comment from somewhere that said, about Lukashenko:
HE GOT HIMSELF A NO-FLY ZONE FOR FREE
Had to laugh, had to share...
Posted by: Grieved | May 25 2021 1:42 utc | 76
This could be quite significant if it results in serious 5-eyes outings more than this youngster.
And using the tactics of empire against them is precious. I hope more agents of empire are flushed out with this incident and that the thin edge of the wedge of narrative control it has the potential to shatter drives in deeper.
Citizens of nations in the West need to understand how much they are lied to and events manipulated for geo-political ends that are imperialistic instead of humanistic.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 25 2021 1:43 utc | 77
Rêve #8
Thank you for the cnn link. They sure are hyperventilating.
I liked this small vignette:
When the Ryanair pilot announced that the plane would be diverting to nearby Minsk on Sunday, Protasevich reacted immediately, standing up from his seat, reaching into the overhead locker, pulling a laptop computer from his hand luggage and passing it to a female companion along with his mobile phone, witnesses told Reuters."When it was announced they were going to land in Minsk, Roman stood up, opened the luggage compartment, took luggage and was trying to split things," said a Lithuanian passenger, who gave his name only as Mantas, Reuters reported.
"I think he made a mistake. There were plenty of people so he could give the things to me or other passengers and not the girlfriend, who was also I think arrested."
He sure did make a few mistakes!! Good of this 'freedom fighter' to hand the entire network over to the Russian comrades. All his 'free press' reports to Barfingcat, his payments from Integrity Initiative etc., will no doubt be included. It only takes a minute to wipe a phone and a few more to wipe a laptop ~ bad training at the western school of hubris.
This will be better than Skripal and the west will respond as if an echidna crawled into its rs.
Has Blinken taken the hint yet?
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 25 2021 1:43 utc | 78
Posted by: Smith | May 25 2021 1:28 utc | 73
Hopefully. It seems that Russia has to ratchet up its own response. The hypocrisy is mindnumbing and the neo-colonialist westerners don't feel there are consequences to their criminal actions and are therefore emboldened.
Posted by: Constantine | May 25 2021 1:56 utc | 79
Hi,
might be a trap. The original reason for the plane's diversion was a bomb threat so the pilots had to land in Minsk. Petrov was a wanted man in Belarus and was automatically arrested. He may have been sacrificed or sacrificed himself as a pretext for more sanctions. I would have let him go -- there are other ways to deal with Fascists.
Posted by: cj | May 25 2021 2:10 utc | 80
I just read the BBC's version of who Roman is and they portray him as a well meaning dissident with a father who taught military ideology, whatever that is/was....any barflies know about this father thing and his connections to 5-eyes?
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 25 2021 2:11 utc | 81
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 25 2021 2:11 utc | 80
At this point, all that is known is that his father was disgracefully dscharged by Lukashenko or something like that in 2019 and now lives in exile (Poland or Lithuania, I think). He may have not been involved in actual subterfuge, but he may have been supportive of his son's activities etc. Of course, Protasevich Sr. may have gone full far-right anti-Russian, anti-Soviet cretin and instilled his "values" to Roman. The latter inevitably ended a minion of Mordor-on-the-Potomac.
Posted by: Constantine | May 25 2021 2:53 utc | 82
If Roman Protasevich has a laptop and smartphone(s) with him then it might provide significant information about various people involved in the regime change, backers and bankers. It will be great if they can make that information public to expose the crooks.
On March 26, 2021, Foreign Policy at Brookings hosted Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and in this interview she shares good insights about players and ploys. One learns how regime change happens. Who are her OWNERS?
Posted by: Max | May 25 2021 3:05 utc | 83
@ jen, daffyduct, passerby and etc... great comments from so many.. thanks... @ chu teh.. ditto grieveds comment to you.. lets talk about it on an open thread..
Posted by: james | May 25 2021 4:09 utc | 84
@ max... he tried passing it off to his girlfriend.. not sure how that worked, as she was also held up and might not have gone beyond as well.. hard to know, but i suspect the intel folks in belarus would spend the 5 or more hours making sure they indeed had romans laptop and cell phone or etc before they let the plane continue on..
see @ alaff | May 24 2021 19:42 utc | 23, to appreciate the importance of this...
thanks alaff .. forget to mention your name.. your posts are always informative...
Posted by: james | May 25 2021 4:14 utc | 85
My understanding is that Protasevich had a meeting in Greece with Jeffrey Pyatt, my guess would be with Nuland participating as well. The old gang's back and up to their old, looser tricks. But considering this, it is possible young Roman had some interesting information on upcoming plans on his computer, indeed.
Posted by: J Swift | May 25 2021 4:21 utc | 86
Lukashenko will be keen to learn some of the details of the USAi plot to murder him.
Yet another laptop caper, first there was the Awan spy and blackmail gang with Debbie Wasserman Shultz laptop, then Hunter Biden and now we have one in Russian hands. Careless capers and useful idiots ;)
I wonder if this one will contain formulas for Novichok? That would be perversely convenient. I sure don't think that old gag is worn out yet.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 25 2021 5:30 utc | 87
Unprecidented .... Shocking .... Abhorrent ..... A furious Outcry ... Illegal Behavior ... State Terrorism
sounds to me like they were all reading from the same Ministry of Truth sheet
can someone please jog my memory. I certainly don't recall this level of fake 'outrage' coming from the european capitals and press when Julian's protection under the vienna conventions was shattered by a rigged election in Ecuador and the new imbecile I mean stooge I mean "strong man" was put into power by the OAS and US, and then revoked Julian's embassy protection, and Julian of course being herded off and basically held in solitary etc for many many months now - hardly a peep or massive virtue signaling from those european capitals, now was there?
They say in this article below "global outrage" but actually it appears to me to only be US vassal states in europe that are making hay out of this minor incident
really, it galls to even hear anyone from some euopean neo-colonial imperial capital go on and on about "illegal behavior" or even worse "state terrorism" after the last 20-some odd years of rendition, torture, drone strikes, coup d'etats, felonious sanctions, and the outright smashing and attempted starvation of one nation after another in North Africa and the Middle East
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/24/world/belarus-journalist-arrest/
Global outrage as Belarus diverts flight and arrests opposition activist
...European leaders reacted with fury. In Athens, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted, "The forced landing of a commercial plane to detain a journalist is an unprecedented, shocking act."....
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda described Belarus's actions as "abhorrent" and prosecutors said they had opened a criminal investigation for the hijacking of a plane....
Posted by: michaelj72 | May 25 2021 5:46 utc | 88
A one hour live stream by the Duran on this
Belarus: Lukashenko, Ryanair and Raman Protasevich (Live)
They make a point that there was some kind of globalist conference in Athens, where the US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt was a speaker and Protasevich also took part. What a coincidence. Obviously, everyone remember Pyatt as the US ambassador to Ukraine during the Maidan coup in 2014, and the infamous phone call with Victoria "F* the EU" Nuland. Both of them are again "in play" as they surely would put it. Pyatt is in Greece to make sure any Greek relations with Russia are ruined.
The speculation goes that Protasevich was a courier with information from Pyatt going to Vilnius, probably some other scheme to "regime change" Belarus. Bit it all fell apart .... again.
Posted by: Norwegian | May 25 2021 5:51 utc | 89
Although unreported in the MSM, the empire has been at war with Belarus for over a year because Belarus refuses to FOLLOW THE COVID NARRATIVE.
Never had a lockdown, never forced masks on anyone, and never even implemented social distancing. IMF tried to bribe Lukashenko with 900 million(!) euros last year and it failed.
EU got into a snit in August 2020 because Belarus refused to impose facemasks, so the EU election observers "didn't feel safe" and thus couldn't rule that elections were fair/unfair.
Belarus is the empire's #1 enemy at the moment, even if there isn't a lot of talk about it in the MSM.
Posted by: Sam | May 25 2021 6:56 utc | 90
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | May 25 2021 0:03 utc | 65
One of the most dominant publishing groups in Germany, Axel Springer Verlag, to which BILD belongs has under its guidelines the following principles and values listed:
2. We support the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.
3. We advocate the transatlantic alliance between the United States of America and Europe.
Posted by: vato | May 25 2021 7:30 utc | 91
The only unprecedented here is the level of butthurtness among the Eurofag states who themselves are happy to carry out whatever order US demands of them.
Why not minding your own business and go back to what you do best: sexual perversion parades, Gay marriages and sniffing up eachothers asses.
Posted by: Mikhas | May 25 2021 7:53 utc | 92
Ever since the Australian Hawke Labor government changed The Charter of the national broadcaster, the ABC, from impartial truth and accuracy to "reflect, 'community standards" it has been a downhill spiral down the memory hole for quality journalism at the ABC.
Added to this have been a series of funding cuts and a series of [political] changes to the board of the ABC, under successive governments. Today we hear on the ABC PM radiio program 'PM': Roman Prostasevich is a 'Journalist' not a regime change operative.
When we know:
'Roman Protasevich is, like his partner the Atlantic Council fellow Franak Viačorka, a U.S. trained and financed regime operator who tried to violently overthrow the government of Belarus to then install a neoliberal U.S. client regime'
Of course, by contrast, the case of Australian journalist Julian Assange is largely ignored by 'your ABC.'
Thanks to b, and MoA we have a free speech forum where these important issues can be aired. Thankfully hasbara has been minimised.
Posted by: Paul | May 25 2021 7:58 utc | 93
I must have taken too many crazy pills, because it appears that I hallucinated the events of 1985 when four - count 'em, four - US Navy F-14 jets intercepted an Egyptian passenger plane that was on its way to Tunisia and forced it to divert to Sicily.
You know, so they could arrest some dudes on that plane.
Now, obviously that never happened. Even though it did.
But if it had happened (which it didn't, though it did) then that would be an infinitely more outrageous act since it would have involved an interception in international airspace for the purpose of forcing a foreign plane to divert to another 3rd country where the USA would attempt to invoke a jurisdiction that it did not possess.
Whew! Good thing it was only a bad dream.....
Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 25 2021 8:26 utc | 94
Expecting Luka declarations today, but boy oh boy did he hurt some feelings. A quick morning check and the usual stuff, Juanita© talking about "unprecedented", Khodorkovsky suggesting more sanctions boomerang since the Baltics are losing transit fees and port activities, well this genius suggests to curtail the trickle left. Watch the spellings, RaMan and Tsikhanouuuuuskaya is State Dep. talk, and here something that really hurts the woke crowd, Luka's answer to some German minister that called him dictator, "Better to be a dictator than a faggot". They found their match with Luka.
https://youtu.be/maoEO4M9yoU?t=22
Posted by: Paco | May 25 2021 9:00 utc | 95
Can anybody explain the miracle of Belarus?
No lockdown, no mask, little to no vaccination, yet very low death rate?
Is it the cold weather or something?
Posted by: Smith | May 25 2021 9:14 utc | 96
Don't know if it has been mentioned already, but in 1985 there was the Sigonella crisis when the US hijacked an Egyptian commercial airliner and forced it to land at Sigonella airbase in Sicily in order to capture some alleged terrorists. The Italian government was not amused and had the military police surround the Delta Force surrounding the airplane.
Posted by: SumGuy | May 25 2021 10:53 utc | 97
Posted by: Smith | May 25 2021 9:14 utc | 95
Intact Soviet health care system, not much tourism. not much commercial traffic. It is obvious that the disease likes people travelling around a lot. This is one reason the West got it worse, all those rich people are super-spreaders when they get it, and there was just no way they were going to give up jetting around for meetings and conferences and other important stuff. Consumer culture has big consequences.
Lightly populated areas naturally get lightly hit by the virus. When I was working I travelled a lot and I got sick a lot. Now I avoid travel and prefer to stay home and I never get sick. (Well, last time was 14 months ago, which I think was COVID.)
The virus needs help to get around. It is easy to stomp out, but you have to have some social discipline to do it, as the Chinese have shown repeatedly, and various others too.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 25 2021 10:55 utc | 98
You forgot to mention the kidnapping of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei, from an airport where she was in transit to Mexico, on US orders. by: Orville | May 24 2021 23:15 utc | 58 <=the Meng Wanzhou incident is one example of Oligarch use the nation state to drive their profit making ventures.
The biggest threat to humanity today is the nation state system because it is ready made for robotic drivers that are each day getting more and more capable to self perform. Instead of the first woman, black, Catholic, Jew, Asian to be President we will soon have the last human to be president as the first robot to be president is sworn in. u think finding a human to talk to is difficult now, just wait.
Rerouting a plane to arrest persons in transit(by boat, plane, bike, foot or car) proves sovereign immunity does not extend beyond the borders of nation states. What would happen if the airline refused to reroute?
Posted by: snake | May 25 2021 11:14 utc | 99
"The biggest threat to humanity today is the nation state system..."
Posted by: snake | May 25 2021 11:14 utc | 98
That seems an odd assertion to me as the globalist Anglo-American regime is activelly undermining the institution. The countries of the Anglo-sphere themselves are only nominally sovereign nation-states in order to maintain the pretense that they are not run by the various factions of the otherwise combined Anglo-American oligarchy. Indeed, the whole point of the political globalization western style is to transform sovereign countries into corporate exploitation zones.
Still, if you have some better alternative to the current mess created by neoliberal globalists/imperialists, feel free to share.
Posted by: Constantine | May 25 2021 11:31 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
The ridiculous statements by the west is a bit over the top, HIJACKING!.. TERRRORISM!... UNPRECEDENTED! All meant to scare people, all meant to get people on board for war.
Why is that the baltic nations whine the most in situations like this? Their warmongering is always over the top.
They are always trying to drag NATO in with their warmongering agenda too, trying to get other nations to fight the (belo)russians for them.
Posted by: Zanon | May 24 2021 16:54 utc | 1