The mainstream media is, without exception, repeating the unevidenced claim from the Biden administration that Russia is about to invade Ukraine. They do this with no proper journalistic questioning or scepticism. They do this despite the fact that, in the last month, not only have we had repeated cries that invasion is “imminent”, we have had specific secret intelligence sourced claims from the Americans, that a Russian staged false flag attack was about to happen, and from the British, that there was about to be a coup in Kiev led by very minor figures. Both claims turned out to be nonsense.
Perhaps more pertinently, the media do this as though the invasion of Iraq had never happened and they had never before been misled by US and UK governments, citing intelligence sources.
Last night I watched the Press Review of today’s papers on both Sky and BBC News. They showed all of today’s front pages, all of which repeated, without qualification, the warning that Russia will invade in the next few days. The discussion, like the news output all day, took the accuracy of this as certain.
Wars are of course good for the media; wars bring news viewers and sell newspapers. They are also very good for the arms industry. Pity the poor arms manufacturers and arms dealers, who haven’t had a really full-throated NATO military action since Libya. Massacring women and children in Yemen and through drone strikes throughout Middle East and Asia is a nice little business, but nothing like as profitable as proper all out war.
It’s An Ill Wind – BAE Share Price
A BBC reporter on Radio 4 this morning stated that the USA was sending troops to the Baltic States and elsewhere in Eastern Europe “to deter Russian aggression”. What a stupid thing to say. The “aggressive” Russian forces are inside Russia. The American troops are 5,000 miles from home.
One swallow doth not a summer make; I was hopeful that this reporter’s following example might lead others to engage their brains, but that was fanciful:
It is interesting that a number of people lost their jobs for not supporting the Iraq War, both in the media and civil service. Greg Dyke lost the leadership of the BBC, because the BBC had questioned the non-existence of the Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction. David Kelly was murdered for giving them information.
But not one single person suffered any career detriment at all for supporting the Iraq War and for spreading the lying narrative of the Iraqi WMD. In the UK, Blair, Campbell and Straw are treated as gurus by the media. The journalists who now shill for war with Russia are precisely the same journalists who shilled for war with Iraq. Why would they not push fake intelligence now, when pushing fake intelligence then boosted their careers, as they enabled so many of the powerful to get richer still from war?
The UK’s “Dirty dossier” on Iraqi WMD consisted more or less entirely, where it used intelligence sources, of declassified human intelligence rather than signals intelligence. “Human intelligence” simply means something an informant told us, usually for large sums of cash. The “intelligence” on Iraqi WMD did exist – there was no shortage at all of Iraqi colonels willing to make up stories about WMD in return for briefcases full of dollars or krugerrands. What Blair and Straw did, with the practical help of fellow war criminals like Sir Richard Dearlove and Sir John Scarlett, was to ignore the filters that assess such “intelligence” for credibility, in favour of presenting the picture the government wished to show to the world to justify war.
Signals intelligence, by contrast, is communications intercept, and is generally more accurate (though of course there can be planted misleading communications). I can tell you that the NSA have shared with GCHQ no communications intelligence that indicates an imminent Russian attack. As those two deeply integrated agencies share everything, this “imminent attack” knowledge is therefore human intelligence, like the Iraq dossier. Alternatively it issimply a surmise from satellite and other monitoring of the movement of Russian assets.
Biden and Johnson both have an interest in stoking the fires of conflict to try to improve (well deserved) terrible poll ratings at home. NATO has an interest in promoting Cold War, its traditional raison d’etre. The disastrous results of NATO’s attempts to expand its role in Afghanistan and Libya have led to the organisation needing an apparent success.
For all these western political interests, they see a win-win over Ukraine, because when Putin does not invade, they can claim it is a victory and that they forced Putin to back down.
There is a real problem here. By taunting Putin with the position that Johnson and Biden will claim Putin lost if he does not invade, they are effectively daring him to invade.
This is terrible diplomacy, unless the USA and UK actually want a war – and that takes us back again to the interests of the military and security services and the arms industry.
I maintain the view that Putin is far too wily to be pushed into an invasion. If Putin really wished to escalate matters, he would be much more likely to cut gas supplies than to invade Ukraine. There are two points to make on this.
Firstly, Ukraine is said to be less dependent now on Russian gas because, rather than buy direct from Russia, it buys from third countries. But it is still Russian gas, which is being sold on by another state merely on paper. The multi-invoicing may provide some diplomatic cover and some protection against price sanction, but not against the tap being turned off.
Secondly, it is argued that if Russia cut gas to Ukraine, Ukraine could cut off transit supplies to much of the rest of Europe, reducing Russian income. But that would almost certainly happen more seriously if Putin did indeed invade Ukraine, which would almost certainly trigger Ukrainian destruction of transit infrastructure.
There remains much else Putin can do before invading. NATO’s ultra-aggressive attitude to Russia, insisting on encircling it with missile systems ever creeping closer, is unlikely to be changed in the short term. But Russia has already achieved the exodus of many NATO “trainers”, diplomats and nationals from Ukraine in the last few days.
While the West was looking the wrong way, Putin has also, with a tiny use of troops, greatly increased Russian influence in Kazakhstan, a massively resource rich country. That may well prove to be the most important diplomatic move of the year.
As for Ukraine itself, I annoyed some Putin fans when I posited that Russia’s annexation of Crimea was a pyrrhic victory for Putin. After 30 years of contention, it swung Kiev much more firmly into the Western diplomatic orbit and made the coup of 2014 irreversible, when it had been shaky.
The Minsk Agreements appear to be a very sensible way forward in Ukraine; in fact the principles embodied in the Minsk agreements appear to be essential to a settlement. They are really very simple, covering Ukraine gaining control of its borders, devolution and a high degree of autonomy for the Russian speaking areas in the East, disarmament and the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Ukraine, release of prisoners and an amnesty.
The western media ignores or dismisses the Minsk agreements. But these were negotiated by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, of which both the UK and the USA are members, together with Russia and Ukraine. They were lodged with the United Nations as a binding international agreement.
The First Minsk Agreement is very short:
Upon consideration and discussion of the proposals put forward by the
participants of the consultations in Minsk on 1 September 2014, the Trilateral
Contact Group, consisting of representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), reached an
understanding with respect to the need to implement the following steps:
1. Ensure the immediate bilateral cessation of the use of weapons.
2. Ensure monitoring and verification by OSCE of the regime of non-use of
weapons.
3. Implement decentralization of power, including by enacting the Law of
Ukraine on the interim status of local self-government in certain areas of the
Donetsk and Luhansk regions (Law on Special Status).
4. Ensure permanent monitoring on the Ukrainian-Russian State border and
verification by OSCE, along with the establishment of a security area in the border
regions of Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
5. Immediately release all hostages and unlawfully detained persons.
6. Enact a law prohibiting the prosecution and punishment of persons in
connection with the events that took place in certain areas of the Donetsk and
Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
7. Continue an inclusive national dialogue.
8. Adopt measures aimed at improving the humanitarian situation in
Donbass.
9. Ensure the holding of early local elections in accordance with the Law of
Ukraine on the interim status of local self-government in certain areas of the
Donetsk and Luhansk regions (Law on Special Status).
10. Remove unlawful military formations and military hardware, as well as
militants and mercenaries, from the territory of Ukraine.
11. Adopt a programme for the economic revival of Donbass and the
resumption of vital activity in the region.
12. Provide personal security guarantees for the participants of the
consultations.
The second Minsk Agreement fleshes this out a little
Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements
1. Immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions
of Ukraine and its strict implementation starting from 00.00 AM (Kiev time) on the 15th of
February, 2015.
2. Withdrawal of heavy weapons by both sides on equal distances in order to create a security
zone at least 50 km wide from each other for the artillery systems with caliber greater than
100mm and more, a security zone of 70 km wide for MLRS and 140 km wide for MLRS
“Tornado-C”, “Uragan”, “Smerch” and Tactical missile systems “Tochka” (“Tochka U”):
– for the Ukrainian troops: from the de facto line of contact;
– for the armed formations from certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk oblast of Ukraine
from the line of contact according to the Minsk memorandum of September 19, 2014.
The withdrawal of the heavy weapons as specified above is to start on day 2 of the ceasefire at
the latest and to be completed within 14 days.
The process shall be facilitated by the OSCE and supported by the Trilateral Contact Group.
3. Ensure effective monitoring and verification of the ceasefire regime and the withdrawal of
heavy weapons by the OSCE from the day 1 of the withdrawal, using all technical equipment
necessary, including satellites, drones, radar equipment, etc.
4. Launch a dialogue, on day 1 of the withdrawal on modalities of local elections in accordance
with Ukrainian legislation and the Law of Ukraine “On interim local self-government order in
certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions” as well as on the future regime of these
areas based on this Law.
Adopt promptly, by no later than 30 days after the date of signing of the document a
resolution of the Parliament of Ukraine specifying the area enjoying the special regime, under
the Law of Ukraine On interim local self-government order in certain areas of the Donetsk and
Lugansk regions”, based on the line of the Minsk Memorandum of September 19, 2014.
5. Ensure pardon and amnesty by enacting the law prohibiting the prosecution and punishment
of persons in connection with the events that took place in certain areas of the Donetsk and
Lugansk regions of Ukraine.
6. Ensure release and exchange of all hostages and unlawfully detained persons, based on the
principle “all for all”. This process is to be finished on the day 5 after the withdrawal at the
latest.
7. Ensure safe access, delivery, storage, and distribution of humanitarian assistance to those in
need, on the basis of an international mechanism.
8. Definition of modalities of full resumption of socio-economic ties, including social transfers,
such as pension, payments and other payments (incomes and revenues, timely payments of all
utility bills, reinstating taxation within the legal framework of Ukraine).
To this end, Ukraine shall reinstate control of the segment of its banking system in the conflict
affected areas and possibly an international mechanism to facilitate such transfers shall be
established.
9. Reinstatement of full control of the state border by the government of Ukraine throughout the
conflict area, starting on day 1 after the local elections and ending after the comprehensive
political settlement (local elections in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions on the
basis of the Law of Ukraine and constitutional reform) to be finalized by the end of 2015,
provided that paragraph 11 has been implemented in consultation with and upon agreement
by representatives of certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the framework of
the Trilateral Contact Group.
10. Withdrawal of all foreign armed formations, military equipment, as well as mercenaries from
the territory of Ukraine under monitoring of the OSCE. Disarmament of all illegal groups.
11. Carrying out constitutional reform in Ukraine with a new Constitution entering into force by
the end of 2015, providing for decentralization as a key element (including a reference to the
specificities of certain areas in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, agreed with the
representatives of these areas), as well as adopting permanent legislation on the special status
of certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in line with measures as set out in the
footnote until the end of 2015
12. Based on the Law of Ukraine “On interim local self-government order in certain areas of the
Donetsk and Lugansk regions”, questions related to local elections will be discussed and
agreed upon with representatives of certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the
framework of the Trilateral Contact Group. Elections will be held in accordance with relevant
OSCE standards and monitored by OSCE/ODIHR.
13. Intensify the work of the Trilateral Contact Group including through the establishment of
working groups on the implementation of relevant aspects of the Minsk agreements. They will
reflect the composition of the Trilateral Contact Group.
The Minsk Agreements were endorsed by the UN Security Council. The UK and USA are therefore obliged in law to support them. Yet they have abandoned them in favour of the highly intransigent position of the government of Ukraine in refusing to accept any devolution to administrations in Eastern Ukraine. Instead the Ukrainian government insists on on a highly centralised Ukrainian nationalist state.
I choked on my tea two days ago when a BBC correspondent reported that Ukraine could never implement the Minsk Agreements, because it could result in some pro-Putin MPs being elected to the Ukrainian parliament from the Eastern areas. Remember that when they tell you they are starting a war for democracy.
Western warmongering is always disgusting, but still the more so when it involves abandonment of an entirely sensible framework for peace which they themselves initiated. The press and politicians all want a war. We have been here before, and we know that neither the people nor the truth can stop them.
———————————————
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None of the major European countries want war with Russia over Ukraine. Except the UK, Poland and the Baltic States. France and Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, don’t want war and are working to avoid it happening. How did the UK press become so warlike and rightwing? It’s disturbing. Turkey, for example, thinks that the West wants to force Turkey into a conflict with Russia, in order to undermine Turkey’s Islamic government and Erdogan. Yet one barely sees mention of Turkey in the UK press. It’s like the UK has become a dictatorship in regards to foreign policy. Why the fuck does that supine wanker Jeremy Corbyn not find the bottle to speak out about the country being dragged to war against the wishes of its people? He and the rest of the Labour left have been hopeless about supporting Assange, but surely they have to have something to say about WW3, or is it too much trouble for them?
“How did the UK press become so warlike and rightwing?”
Bought and paid for with security service infiltration.
“Why the fuck does that supine wanker Jeremy Corbyn not find the bottle to speak out about the country being dragged to war against the wishes of its people?”
He could be saying anything and you would never know from the MSM.
Apologies for referencing the telegraph here, but Ambrose Evans Prichard has written something well worth reading
Putin is close to winning in Ukraine: Markets bet a Western sell-out on Mr Putin’s terms is the most likely outcome (15 Feb 2022) – by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Daily Telegraph, 1231 words)
Basically indicating that the Russian economy is sound, that they’re bullet proof against sanctions, etc …..
Jimmy Riddle 16 February 2022 at 7:08. Article’s behind the Torygraph’s paywall for me. But thanks.
—
[ Mod: Click on the text “1231 words” – which has been linked to a text rendering of the article. ]
Ingwe – a little secret – you press the `escape’ button on the top left hand side of your keyboard just after the article has appeared and before their script blocking the article comes into play.
Mr Evans-Pritchard is always in front of the horse in his assumptions thus cannot be considered solid when his hypothesis is committed to print. The National Cyber Force based at Samlesbury in Lancashire is costing far too much public purse for what it achieves contrary to Pritchard’s assertions.
Vladimir Putin’s cyber warfare warning is an empty threat: The risk of retaliation from Britain makes it too dangerous a weapon to use – by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Daily Telegraph, 8 Feb 2022) – text (1279 words)
There Is No Cyber ‘Shock And Awe’: Plausible Threats In The Ukrainian Conflict – by Lennart Maschmeyer And Nadiya Kostyuk (War On The Rocks, 8 Feb 2022)
From the article:
“Mr Putin’s tight ship is a striking contrast to the prodigal socio-economic systems of the West, where money rains from helicopters and fiscal dominance prevails. “He is extremely conservative and rails against the dangers of debt,” said Chris Weafer from Macro-Advisory in Moscow.”
No wonder the banker-run states of the West don’t like him.
I’d also like to comment on this modern way of presenting news about Russia in the Western media. Such a presentation of facts, when they don’t tell the whole truth, but only part of it, without context. So, they take some event, some fact, voice it, and the rest of the article is their personal opinion on how to interpret it “correctly, in accordance with the instructions of our party.” A sort of version of the Soviet Pravda newspaper, only in English.
I really appreciate Mr. Murray’s approach to the freedom of opinion here, no matter how different it might be from his own. I also noticed, that if we observe two opposing opinions, then most likely both interlocutors don’t have complete information, but the real truth is somewhere in the middle.
We raised the issue of Crimea here in 2014 and talked about the opinion of Mr. Murray. I thought maybe he didn’t know all the information? In any case, this may be news to the commentators, so I will write anyway.
—
The coup d’état in Ukraine began in November 2013, led to armed clashes in January and February, and ended with the US and the EU recognizing as the legitimate authority those people named by Nuland in her well-known F*ck the EU phone call to Geoffrey Pyatt.
Fugitive President Yanukovych was found guilty of state treason. His trial and interrogation records put on paper what the people of Crimea knew then when they rebelled against new Ukrainian government.
Aleksander Turchynov, who acted as President of Ukraine in 2014, gave an order to use weapons in Crimea. This is stated by Arseniy Yatsenyuk, ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine. He personally attended the meeting, during which the National Guard, aviation and navy were ordered ‘in no case to hand over any objects, not to hand over and use weapons for protection’.
Yuri Ilyin, the Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that maidan leaders did not consider peaceful scenarios. Klitschko (* the mayor of Kiev) promised that they would ‘treat the peninsula even tougher than Kiev’. Oleg Tyagnibok, leader of the Svoboda party, said that the Crimeans would ‘understand better when they wash themselves with blood’ and ‘we will break them like a broom. We have strong support in this matter’.
Colonel-General Mikhail Koval was the Ukraine’s Defense Minister in 2014, he said that if the Armed Forces of Ukraine started shooting on the peninsula, Crimea could “drown in blood.”
Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea issued a statement – ‘Klitschko, Yatsenyuk, Tyahnybok and all bearers of the “Bandera” ideology will be declared persona non grata in Crimea’, for these threats, for calling to boycott the referendum and for promising criminal prosecution for participation in the referendum.
—
Mr. Murray’s opinion is that those russian troops who were legally stationed in Crimea, still had no right to participate in securing the referendum. That’s the point that I cannot agree. This would be true if the situation was peaceful and there was no threat.
To my understanding, they were morally due to prevent violence, also they knew they cannot act as Russian Army. That’s why took off their army insignia from their uniforms and just stood in the streets like a militia to prevent bloodshed.
“Colonel-General Mikhail Koval was the Ukraine’s Defense Minister in 2014…”
It’s ironic that Ukraine should have such a government post. It has absolutely no need for defence; its forces are dedicated, absolutely and always, to offence. Preferably against defenceless civilians.
And man oh man, are they ever offensive.
Tom – to be fair, name me a single nation on this planet whose defence forces are not in reality offensive forces. A case of Orwellian doublethink ‘war is peace’.
Think of the peace dividend if nations actually only concerned themselves with defence ! Oh well back to reality …
China. Russia. Iran. India. Mongolia. Argentina. Venezuela. Cuba… etc., etc.
If, to name one example, Russia, were dedicated to offence, they would possess more than 15 aerial refueling platforms. (By contrast, the United States alone has some 680).
Even if it wanted to, Russia could not go on offence more than a few hundred km from their airbases. Unless Russia not only plans to take over the world, they plan to do so with no air support.
There is beautiful expression in English.
“Lying by omission”,
Very popular strategy in many ways, not only about Russia?
I woke up this morning and check my self out to make sure I wasn’t a cloud of radioactive vapour drifting about in the stratosphere. Then I went to my PC to find out how the invasion went. Here is some anonymous Russian wag’s take on it – as conveyed by Andrei Martyanov.
In Russia. It is a daily plan of Pskov Paratroop Division (76 Guards Air Assault Division) approved by Putin himself and signed by Shoigu.
[Russian original omitted – see it at the link below]
06:00 Getting up.
07:00 Morning toilet
08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Assault on Ukraine
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Taking of Kiev
18:00 Gazmanov’s Concert
21:00 Fireworks.
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/02/classified-document-leaked-to-media.html
A propos “Gazmanov’s Concert”, he is persona moltissima non grata in Ukraine and the Baltics. This page gives the lyrics of his song “Sdelan v SSSR (Сделан в СССР)”, with a 5-minute video of him performing it. The song was released in 2005.
https://lyrics-on.net/en/1127723-sdelan-v-sssr-sdelan-v-sssr-lyrics.html
Tom.
Happy Russian invasion day to you all, not. The Western media went into a moon-howling frenzy and named today as the day that Russia would invade Ukraine. Talk about pushing a false flag op.
Meanwhile the Whitehall f*ckwits have been busy.
“Ukraine’s National Guard says that in meeting last year the UK military agreed to start training its forces, which include a thousand-strong neo-Nazi unit.”
https://declassifieduk.org/uk-commanders-in-ukraine-met-neo-nazi-linked-national-guard-to-deepen-military-cooperation/
Yesterday I was thinking that perhaps we will die here, and you will survive there. I don’t want to disappear without a trace, and I even thought about asking Mr. Murray to place my photo somewhere on this site with the inscription: “Tatyana, the best Russian troll who has been here.” Just don’t cross it with a mourning black ribbon, I prefer light blue 🙂
And so we woke up in a new day, and nothing happened! Isn’t it wonderful? Yes, it is! It would be nice to spend this day with good music 🙂 This long introduction, @TomWelsh, is to point out to the fact that Gazmanov is terrible and is inserted there for more laughs!
If you’re looking for a true patriotic song, here’s Kukushka written by popular bard Viktor Tsoi and performed by Polina Gagarina.
Polina Gagarina – The Cuckoo (OST Battle for Sevastopol) – YouTube, 3m 21s
We also may sing the anthem sometimes, especially on sport events, when our Western partners forbid Russian flag for Russian athletes. Just recently I’ve seen on TikTok hoсkey team fans singing the anthem a capella to support the players, club Bars from Kazan, Tatarstan.
If you appreciate good vocal, then I can share my recent discovery Diana Ankundinova, with an extremely low voice. She gives goosebumps performing Chris Isaac’s Wicked Games, she catches your emotions with the Indila’s Dernière Danse, and I bet you have never heard Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love in a minor version.
Can’t help falling in love (Stereo) – Diana Ankudinova @ ShowMaskGoOn, 1 ep – YouTube, 8m 55s
Please, don’t despise me for watching TikTok 🙂 It’s perfect to know what’s going on. Learn English via MCing. Wonder why the Americans ask the British to say ‘Tuesday’ and ‘Peter Parker’ and laugh at the pronunciation. Watch foreigners coming to live in Russia sharing their impressions. Know about Black Lives Matter in Russia.
TikTok maybe useful, e.g. someone here asked about our relations in this country with the people conquered by Russia, ethnic minorities. I haven’t time to explore the problem, but I watched Alexey Stakhovich on TikTok you may like a small bit
https://youtu.be/Z0mzKm-PGB0 starts at 4:40
In the US Africans come up to whites, and whites say “Oh, forgive us! You’ve been enslaved for 300 years. We feel our white guilt. Please forgive us.”
The Russians were also 300 years enslaved by the Tatar-Mongols. But I can’t approach a Tatar like “Ugh, listen, Tatar, the time has come. Are you going to apologize?”
He’ll just take me by the neck and say “Uh, Russian, are you still offended? Don’t be offended. Don’t. Hey, treat yourself to chapchak.”
Tatyana there are many who do not buy our rulers’ lies and see easily they are naked.
The indigenous Russians have resisted for centuries the claims of these Ancient Slave owners and self proclaimed masters of the Earth; resisted all the mercenaries and great generals paid to subdue or destroy as they have been able to in Europe and almost all of the RoW; resisted the threat of atomic annihilation and bankruptcy by the plan of ‘overextension’ etc
A resistance that has never been futile.
One must salute the Russian character that has survived through centuries of this regular attempt at their enslavement.
It is unbelievable that such escapades are still being undertaken by us , the western populations fed on lies and nonsense (remember the Hun bayoneting babies in Belgium at the beginning of WW1 when most wondered why we should be bothered about that Arch Duke?).
Remembering that what is happening in Ukraine, since 2014, is just a continuation of that Great Game by the same old bastards, of centuries of their ‘progress’ – is the ONLY fact needed to understand why the puppets say and do what they do.
That centuries old empire , under many changing imperial household slave royalty, is hopefully in its final crises from which it can be defanged and de-gonaded and sterilised – so that it can never again rise to inveigle our human equality and not as their forever slaves.
That is the only hopeful future for the human race and life on planet Earth and it is to begin on 22022022 ?
The Unipolar Empire is dead dead dead – now writhing at the end of the gallows that it has built for the rest of humanity – long live the multipolar human empire.
I know it doesn’t advance the debate, but I have to second this.
Thanks for that rendition of Diana Ankudinova, Tatyana, what a voice…It has reminded me of an old school friend in Hamburg, Mikolai Schevchenko, he was 6ft 8 and had a heart as open as a barn door. Strong and emotional at the same time, he was a great thinker.
I sometimes wonder what has become of him.
Thanks for the songs, really lovely.
Thank you for sharing that Tom, a bit of humour to brighten dark things is more than welcome these days. I could add:
11:00 Elevenses (optional).
Lord Dannat, General Sir ‘Mike’ Jackson and Co have lied about every foreign policy disaster and military crime going back to Bloody Sunday. However that does not mean they are lying now. I for one am reassured that their vital, experienced voices are again being broadcast on a 24hr loop. They are right to urge aid and unquestioning support for Azov Battalion as they prepare a false flag event that could summon the apocolypse.
Unfortunately it says everything about you that unlike these realists you prefer to remind people of binding international agreements signed by all parties that would avert catastrophe. As ever you prefer to align with the Anti Semites of Stop the War than with our liberal-democratic political class and the bold Wolfsangel SS men. Shame on you, Craig Murray!
?
“They are right?!” Bull-shit. The Azov Battalion we observe is as you affirm clearly identifiable by their Wolfsangel insignia used by Hitler’s SS in the Second World War. We discover the alliance with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union and the executed massacres of tens of thousands of Jews, Poles and Ukrainians sympathetic to the Soviet Union. I am disgusted and revolted by MI6 and military intelligence support at Group 13 planning to Bandera and the Ukrainian nationlists and the Ukrainian insurgent army considering the number of perished Russian fighters sacrificed defeating the Nazi war machine.
I think it’s a (well-done) piss-take Mark. Could be wrong.
You are right Lapsed but let’s think instinctively as a throwaway in our world 🙂 about 3000 children has been massacred in Eastern Ukraine by the Nazi rebels and it is still going on. Not so much of a piss-take more of a fuck-wits foible?
Ah apologies old chap. Did not intend to offend non-fuckwits like your your good self.
Thanks for your reply Mark. Most Nazis (and authoritarians in all their forms) aren’t too keen on humour – especially when it’s directed at them. Am I right in thinking you don’t currently own any Jimmy Carr DVDs?
Convenient to put a badge on it and call it Nazi atrocities/genocide but let’s not forget the 1,000s of children murdered in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere by the glorious democracy-loving western forces that still continues to this day. I guess we’re not allowed to call the western forces Nazis, but honestly I fail to see the difference most of the time ! What have we become ?
mark golding
Voltairenet has a picture of the Azov re-brand logo of a swastica, and re-brand elbow handshake for a Nazi salute. We can the US have been fighting a covert war to take control of Ukraine, using Nazi mercenaries.
This one fact alone ought to be enough to convince the naive Islamists that USUKIS uses its proxies for purely colonial gain. But they know that anyway from 250 years of the British Raj.
It’s like , the English language is war porn to South Asians. Whenever they hear it they think , this is my chance to make my fortune working for the enemy, my chance has come.
And the poor, over-proteined sods who fight for A3ob probably think the same.
Extremely well done, Carl. Respect!
mark (why not Mark?), I tried to publish this on dm, but it was blocked:
“The azov batt alion also use a sun wheel or black sun symbol which was also used by him mler in his Wewe lsburg castle. You can easily do an online search of azov to see their tattoos. This is the kind of ‘people’ the ministry of defence supports – there is NO way they do not know about this.” The gaps in words are intentional, to try & get past dm’s censorship.
Very good! Not entirely sure everyone will get it, though…
Can somebody check the spam folder. A post of mine is missing from earlier today.
Thanks…_
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[ Mod: It was suspended with an annotation explaining that it was off topic for this thread. ]
According to Biden and the USA, today was when the invasion was due to take place. Well, it’s 2pm here, so time’s marching on. I may have missed it, but did they mention a specific time this was going to take place? It might get live streamed on YouTube and I don’t want to miss it.
It was announced for 3 a.m today. Reuters were streaming video from Kiev, Maidan square. Strangely enough the video streamed the picture together with Russian anthem music playing. I was perplexed to see it, either it was an invitation, or I’ve missed the event and Kiev is Russia again already.
Apparently something went wrong. Lots of people are unhappy to set the alarm-clock and nothing happened.
Maria Zakharova asked the US to publish the invasion schedule for this year, so she can plan her vacation.
Speaking of Reuters.
CEO of the world’s biggest news agency, is on the board of Atlantic Council, the most central military-industrial/NATO think-tank.
Yesterday Reuters reported that Russia had committed a DDoS against Ukraine.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-reports-cyber-attack-defence-ministry-website-banks-tass-2022-02-15/
Also interesting is that the deputy PM of Canada Chrystia Freeland, who speaks fluent Ukrainian was Reuters global editor. Freeland is a well known Russophobe.
However.
“San Francisco-based Cloudflare, a prominent provider of denial-of-service protection, said that it had seen no evidence of “large DDoS activity” in Ukraine against its data centres or customers there.”
Oh, I do not believe these “gurus” of modern technologies, these always have an attack or Russian hackers. With massive natural traffic of people wanting to get information on such a day, their outdated equipment fails and they declare it an attack. Profanes. Now any teenager can access anything and go away unnoticed.
But especially stupid hackers always come to these, from Russian IPs and leaving comments in Russian. Yes, of course. A special breed of stupid hackers, Putin’s team, trained to work in Russophobic countries. The best he could have for his money.
Ah ha, Chrystia Freeland, the Nazi’s daughter. Say no more, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
To get a glimpse of how Reuters fits into the whole sorry spooks/dissinformation world have a read of this excellent article:
https://declassifieduk.org/cia-sidekick-gives-2-6m-to-uk-media-groups/
“Maria Zakharova asked the US to publish the invasion schedule for this year, so she can plan her vacation.”
Oh please can I quote that one…? 🙂
Thank you, Tatyana, for keeping your sense of humour in this dire mess, encouraging me to think, and making me smile as often as you have.
Maria Zakharova is quoted on TASS as stating:
“I’d like to request US and British disinformation: Bloomberg, The New York Times and The Sun media outlets to publish the schedule for our upcoming invasions for the year. I’d like to plan my vacation,”
Priceless, and classy. Thank you.
…. well, perhaps some of them did invade, they went to the fish and chip shop in downtown Kyiv, had a nice dinner and then went back home again.
Craig Murray is right – there aren’t any serious plans for an invasion.
It’s my birthday today and I’ve borrowed Vlad’s thermobaric rockets to light all 60 of the candles. The war is postponed until tomorrow.
Happy birthday, Squeeth! Enjoy it.
Happy Birthday, Squeeth!
Eythenkew all!
Greg Palast has an interesting overview of the whole mess:
https://www.gregpalast.com/7-facts-about-ukraine/
I don’t know if he is right on every point, few people in my opinion are, or have a non-partisan view of the whole farrago, but there is enough to make you think twice about whether any of us really know the whole complicated solution.
palast is full of S*** – at least, on that article – it would not surprise me if he had been sitting on ze’s lap when he wrote it…
Another dissenting, Murrayesque overview.
Tariq Ali, News from Natoland
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/news-from-natoland
That is a very good article, thanks portside.
What Kind of world are we Building..I’m terrified for the Wee ones
fascism becomes Mainstream – Aaron Mate Explains –
MSNBC Airs Neo-Nazi Propaganda (YouTube, 1m 22s)
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I just spent an hour of my life in a Telegraph “Webinar”with Roland Oliphont and Nataliya Vasilyeva. Subject: The Ukraine crisis.
Here is my short report:
I have read these two quite a lot recently and my Pre-impression of them was more or less dastardly sell-out pushers of Western Neo-liberal indoctrination. In fact they came over as seemingly reasonable, middle class semi-elite professionals. I now think they get their ideas by osmosis from the people they mix with, the dinner parties, the fee-flowing kool aid.
They set off with the fact.. that Ukraine has recently been the victim of cyber-attacks and I pointed out that they couldn’t possibly have any idea of the source and so this was not in topic.
Then they started banging on about how Putin is of a certain age where he has experiences that affect his judgement 🙂 and that Putin is isolated, with little alternate input.
So i pointed out that this was ageism and e.g. Biden is 79! Do they really think anybody is not moulded by their experiences? including them. Why is that a bad thing? And had they seen Putin at one of his twice yearly 4-5 hour conferences talking to hundreds?
One point they made without the slightest blush was that the invasion hadn’t happened because Putin had put the rumors about the manufacture hysteria and then, with great mischief, not invaded, to keep everybody off balance. Read that again.
The massive media hype about today’s Wed invasion was surreptitiously leaked to Western intelligence who had it broadcast via the Mainstream media and then, Putin had not invaded out of spite or fun or mendaciousness which was all part of his plan. I was observing such incredible group-think causing a narrative accepted by intelligent people who had somehow become separated from any logic. Jaw agape, I couldn’t even respond to that.
An eye opener was I got onto Minsk and asked them why Minsk was being discounted (I recently heard BBC’s Mark Urban state So-called Minsk being a so-called peace agreement. That guy must have an office in MI6)
These two telegraph journos said well, Minsk was forced onto Ukraine. The Russians had them over a barrel and it was an impossible pipe dream. I pointed out it was part of a UNSC Resolution and that they signed it. (Could i cancel something I signed with that excuse? My divorce settlement perhaps?)
When I pointed out that Minsk would in fact ensure that Russia would not annex the Donbass, her response was that was probably what Putin wanted, as a ticking landmine, an irritant, inside the tent. This really struck me – that they were discounting something which would be democratic compromise for the people of Donbass because Putin might be happy with that outcome. This whole insistence on zero-sum outcomes is widespread.
I pointed out that you could say giving Scotland devolution could be considered a land mine but they still had a right to self-determination.
Anyhow, I thought I would share this insight in the interests of breaking down the walls and echoing off of them.
Thanks intp1 I always appreciate reality that is not diluted by trumpery. Maybe a blog of short sensibility like yours is way to go.
Great post, intp1. I doubt whether Mark Urban has his own office in MI6, but he certainly has links to the security services. I too heard him repeatedly refer to the “so-called Minsk Agreements” on last night’s Newsshite. To be fair, the Beeb regularly come out with this type of boilerplate about things they don’t like (e.g. parroting “so-called Islamic State” ad ****ing nauseum). In my book, though, it wasn’t quite as bad as when La Wark pronounced Kiev as “Kyuh-viff”. Get tae ****!
Mate, Mark Urban was called out years ago for his obvious links to the Security Services. He served in the British Army with Pablo Miller, who was subsequently Skripal’s handler.
Urban is certainly someone whose actions should be closely evaluated as it is arguable that he should be prosecuted for conspiracy to promote mass murder in contravention of international law, based on his behaviour over a number of illegal Western wars of aggression.
One of the sadly irrefutable conclusions of this whole debacle, one which many here will have been aware of for sometime, is that the political and media classes of the UK are thoroughly rotten to the core. A pox on all their houses.
I’m a member of the Labour Party and have argued, and continue to argue, for staying in and not leaving in the face of (Sir) Keir Staliner’s malignant influence and purge of some/many of the best people in the party.
I’m now starting to think that perhaps there does need to be the formation of some form of a new political centre of gravity around which people of reason, intelligence and decency can gather to begin a thoroughgoing democratic renewal and critique of the current intolerable state of affairs.
“He made them look into their own souls and realise there was nothing there, and that made them crazy”
Alexei Sayle on why so many liberals got so angry with Jeremy Corbyn.
We are through the looking glass when truth-tellers are condemned by fabricators as being liars – Wonderland is soulless ‘portside’ and as Brian tells us our world is now noticeably sub-human.
The ‘Wonderland’ scroll on Ukraine formulated by the UK soul-less fabricators at Northwood and intended to restore Moscow’s respect for the international rules-based order without poking China in the eye is as follows:
Yes I think there is probably something in that.
More fool you Pete.
I take it you are a fan of Sir Kier
Peter , I look forward to the GKD SurKurr & his favoured cabinet lamey ducks, the Jesuit Philips’s and lapsed Labour angsty’s such as Chukka, Leslie and the other funny tingers to make the formal break from the TradLabour movement they have infiltrated to break up. just like their godfathers did postwar and tried with their SDP, that kept Maggie in power in 1983 cementing us onto the path that has led to the war mongering , civilian murdering, fascism & BrexShit of where we are today – a return back to the 30’s of Hitler loving Aristo Spodes and Mitfords and the Queen Mother and her Nazi saluting babes and her besties such as Savile and her tainted brood.
Let their Exodus begin and may all their Peoples be set free from the AS TradLab pharaohs and gypsons of the old party which can be left to suffer its demise into history in peace leaving some ancient monuments .. like JC and several hundred thousand new followers of the old tradLab religion to their ignominy…
They will Shirley succeed in their great trek back to the centrist (fascist) future they are promising. Hallelujah
Peter, I ask you stay in the party. I let my membership lapse after Blair became PM. It was a mistake. It makes it difficult to be respected from comrades I am in political agreement with, they do not take kindly to those who left them alone to fight. Understandable when you think about it.
As you will know at the moment, it’s all Russia bad, Ukraine good with the majority in the party. Have hope and optimism. For now, live with the defeats comrade.
Look what happens to groups that split off from parties. A footnote in history, in the dustbin of history. Alba will end up the same…_
In general, the Ukrainian narrative that Russia wants to invade this country reminds me of an abandoned mistress.
Like posting every day on social media: ‘I’m so happy to get out of that relationship. That was toxic. I am free now.’ *not forgetting to tag the ex’s name so that, God forbid, he can’t pass by the posting* ‘You see, Joe, how happy I am now! I’m independent! I’m strong!’ And, in private messages: ‘Joe, actually I have a problem, could you give me some money, for the sake of everything between us.’
Do US Presidents lie?
Robert Kennedy, once said of LBJ: “He just lies continually about everything. He lies even when he doesn’t have to lie.”
• Thomas Jefferson told a European naturalist who had disparaged the New World’s fauna that woolly mammoths roamed the unexplored American West.
• In 1983, President Ronald Reagan claimed he had filmed the atrocities of the Nazi death camps while serving as a US Army Signal Corps photographer in Europe.
He told this story to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir at the White House.
Reagan never left America during World War Two. Few remember this mind-boggling lie.
More…
• “If you like your healthcare plan, you’ll keep your healthcare plan, period” – Barack Obama in 2013, rated Lie of the Year by PolitiFact
• “We’ve removed an ally of al-Qaeda and… no terrorist network will gain weapons of destruction from the Iraqi regime because the regime is no more” – George W Bush in 2003
• “A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not” – Ronald Reagan in 1987 on the Iran-Contra scandal
• “No-one in the White House staff, no-one in this Administration, presently employed, was involved in this very bizarre incident” – Richard Nixon in 1972 on Watergate
• Dwight Eisenhower approved statements claiming an American U-2 spy plane shot down by the Soviets in 1960 was just a weather research aircraft, later acknowledging this was a lie and his “greatest regret”
• “The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base” – Harry Truman in 1945, but the target was actually a city and most of the 140,000 or so people who died were civilians
• “Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt to voters in 1940, even as he flexed his political muscles to confront Nazi Germany
• Mexico “has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil” – James Polk in his 1846 war message to Congress, about an attack he had provoked in what was actually disputed territory
You may be interested to know that the US has actually now declassified the U2 spy plane photographs (perhaps not all of them), so you can see what it was they were photographing. And no, it wasn’t weather patterns. If I can find the link, I’ll post it.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, another picture is painted …….
amanfromMars 1 Wed 16 Feb 17:01 [2202161701] ….. shares further novel news on https://forums.theregister.com/forum/1/2022/02/15/ukraine_cyberattack/
Re: Western Capitalism Doing ITs Department of Defense Credit and Emergency Fake Aid Thing
It’s always all about the collateral flow and direct command and demand control of a funny money and monopoly fiat printing press operation [now in the throes of wholesale transfer to remote facilities accessed with and from utilities solely based virtually online in a novel cyber controlled space] that confuses and conflates dollar supply with wealth distribution ….. https://www.rt.com/news/549450-dollar-dominance-russia-invade-ukraine/ ….. rather than it being recognised as vital asset capture for peanuts/virtually nothing of real lasting value.
’Tis a Great Deceit Conceived and Exercised in a Grand Conceit Vitally Dependent upon the Flaky Fake Media Cover Provided by Constant Ignorance and Hubristic Arrogance.
However, discovering how everything can so freely easily work at the expense of all and for nothing valuable, is not something that can stand testing for any length of time at any time, in any space, closed and elite or free and open. Decide to fight and do vain battle against it, has one enjoined to suffer the slings and arrows of grave misfortune and disastrous defeat ….. so beware, take care, be wise and don’t choose foolishly is extremely sound common sense advice to not be uncovered and realised as worthy of engaging enraged mob attention.
big anti war demos in kiev and moscow, anti putin too? I have a video but cant think how to attach to this post
There are Quite a Few videos out there on this
the one you mention could be this one
Ukraine: Kiev demo demands end to warfare (22 Jun 2014) Ruptly – YouTube, 0m 52s
According to airhead ITV news reporter Mary Nightingale, Russian tanks are being taken to a railway line for transportation, but … the railway line runs WEST!
Some of the suspected online Brigade trolls are saying wait for 3am CET?
No idea what they’re on about but …If something does happen how did they know?
Is the 3am CET deadline not from this morning Goose? Or is this another new +24 hours from the narrative managers that you’ve stumbled upon? Your post of Presidential fallacies and fibs a few posts up made a good read btw
Unphotogenic-
Well, you’d think so. But the post went up tonight at around 19:50 UK time or 20:50 CET.
Apologies correction , it was earlier, my screenshot was at 19:50.
It was before I posted here, so around 19:20, or 20:20 CET.
@Goose
It wasn’t from those morons on Alex Mercouris’s youtube thread was it? You know the “Andrew Ackerlay” ‘s and “ING BOR” ‘s of this world.
Just seemed like a strange post from someone who spews endless puerile stuff about Putin and Russia :
“You just watch and wait at 3am CET”
Maybe it’s nothing? But I fear there’ll be some provocation at some point, given all the media invasion hype.
The host country failed to provide QR-codes scanning at the border so, unfortunately, the invasion had to be rescheduled to February 29th – 30th.
Tell them that the other end of the railway line inevitably runs EAST!
Stop DERAILING their narrative, Tatyana :p
Truss was giving directions
Ladies and gentlemen,
please tell me if I’m alone to see this?
“NatSec Daily was told by a person familiar that President JOE BIDEN told Western leaders about the Feb. 16 date on an hourlong call today.
Russia will start a physical assault on Ukraine as soon as Feb. 16, multiple U.S. officials confirmed to POLITICO, and Washington communicated to allies that it could be preceded by a barrage of missile strikes and cyberattacks.”
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2022/02/11/putin-could-attack-ukraine-on-feb-16-biden-told-allies-00008344
I’m asking because Ned Price just stated that they never pointed to a specific date of an invasion
https://youtu.be/EgVPoQ78lBI at 4:35
Reportedly there have been DDoS cyberattacks today, which seems to conveniently fit with the prelude to invasion narrative.
The scary thing is, the US can shape any events it wishes.
Tatyana, unfortunately the expression ‘as soon as Feb. 16’ basically means ‘any time from Feb 16 onwards, including never’.
It’s classic slippery diplomatic language, implying that they never stated a date.
It’s like saying that ‘a good christian couple, who did not consummate their relationship before their wedding day, may have started a family from 9 months after the wedding’…..
Let’s be brutal: the USA could nuke Russia from 1 second after Joe Biden understands which button he has to press to launch nuclear missiles….that’s been true since before the Bay of Pigs crisis, and mercifully to date, no nukes have been used in anger in any war where both sides are possessed of such technologies….
Rhys,
so, now it’ll be like a weather forecast, every day “It’s sunny in Kiev today, 0% chance of invasion still feeling 100%, in the east invasion gusts 80-100 mph.”
I understood the current position in the Western media. The invasion didn’t happen because they thwarted Putin’s plans with their publications. Like shamanism, if you shout very loudly and beat the tambourines, then you can drive away evil spirits. OK.
All they achieved with their cries was that investors fled from Ukraine.
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for @Evanochka, on closed sky
https://officelife.media/news/31077-evropeyskie-lizingodateli-otzyvayut-samolety-iz-nbsp-ukrainy/
The national air carrier of Ukraine UIA is forced to take aircraft abroad at the request of lessors.
“Five aircraft have already been sent to the airports of Serbia and Spain for storage. These are Boeing 737-800s owned by SASOF III and AWAS 36820 TRUST.
The decision to recall the aircraft was made after insurance companies notified the carrier on February 12 that they would no longer cover risks when flying over Ukraine. In response, lessors began to recall aircraft.
And today this problem has affected 23 aircraft in the fleet of three carriers: UIA, SkyUp and Bees Airline.
Anticipating a collapse in transportation, the government of Ukraine urgently allocated UAH 16.6 billion to the Ministry of Infrastructure for risk insurance for 23 aircraft.
However, so far this mechanism has not brought results.”
Like the advertising phrase, “up to 50%” – meaning “at least zero”.
Where is Shoygu attacking Ukraine from?
Surely the most important fact about the chicken little Biden and Bozo Russian invasion falling sky, is where Shoygu was yesterday as the great onslaught on Ukraine didn’t materialise?
He last week met with our UK defence minister in Moscow under the giant painting of the allied WW2 generals,
https://www.rt.com/russia/549108-russia-uk-relations-risk/
For full and frank discussions – ie he told Ben to go … hide – the Russkies are coming.
Having presumably made his report and options to the Russian high command on the West’s response to the two documents sent out to them in December – He went to Syria.
‘Technical Measures’ must be underway.
He went to SYRIA!
Along with the inevitable climb down by Biden against Iran, and being chased out of Iraq; the humiliation of Afghanistan and now in Ukraine – there are some red lines that need to be enforced.
Things are going to heat up ‘technically’ ?
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Nice little report here (summary is mine)
https://thecradle.co/Article/columns/6835
Two weeks ago Russia and Syria began joint fighter patrols over Syria and its borders. Which by the way is illegally invaded by US forces who oversee the head choppers and let many hundreds ‘escape from prison’ within the territory the US controls.
Last week Israel attacked Syria again.
Now the US and the latest ‘Greenmantle’ of U.K. Crown state (some guy calls himself ‘Pole’ and his trusty lieutenants ) further adventures in the Great Game (stubbed out like a cigarette in Kazakhstan , within a couple of days by the Russian and allies rapid response and return back to their bases! ), is aimed at heating up cold vomit to throw down the ME peoples throats by the crazy Qatari moneybags and CIA effort to restart ‘protests’ in Syria and other nations who are refusing to roll over and die like they used to for the Old Empire.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/5/syrian-opposition-groups-make-new-bid-to-unite-against-assad
The Russian Technical response is coming and there are a few scores (of deaths) to be settled.
Did you see these rabbits run, absolutely hilarious – CIA leaves Kiev and moves to safe Liev! The lily livered buffoons.
The very quiet but powerful SCO hasn’t been mentioned at all as yet. I wonder why?
The SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organisation] already spoke at the beginning of the olympics. Xi said you pick a fight with one of us – you get all of us! Being Chinese they are usually nuanced. But this was in plain simple English.
Not mentioned at all – because there is no response possible ! The ultimatum requires action. A surrender even in certain battlefields- which will all be fully SCO within a few years. The message sent the West into a u-turn on actually progressing with their demented banderists and head chopper isil to die next to each other against the SCO who will do real R2P [Responsibility To Protect]!
Heck the best chance Ukraine has to become not poor and make its people wealthier is as a cruicial link between Europe and EurAsia with great infrastructure to investment of the BRI [Belt and Road Initiative] and in the SCO. That’s the only good move for Ukrainians.
That would s what the SCO is never mentioned in the media ever since it was born.
I’m finding this whole exercise is exposing the naked Kings in the court of NATO\West. It was always the boast of western powers in the Cold War, that the USSR could only be kept in it’s place if no attempt was wasted trying appeasement with the Soviets. ‘They only respond to threats of force’ was the mantra.
The courtiers are all doubling up.
This interesting piece from Consortium News points out that the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg was not the end of The Confederacy. I would interpose that the 8th armies victory did indeed show that it was the beginning of the end in WW2.
NATO/West did not rescue Georgia or Crimea. It was also humiliated in Syria. This exercise for me has shown a lot of blanks being fired at Russia. 1989 was a long time ago…_
The Ultimate End of NATO (11 Feb 2022) – by Scott Ritter (Consortium News, 3182 words)
Russia’s goal is not to destroy Ukraine—this could be accomplished at any time. Rather, the goal of Russia is to destroy NATO by exposing its impotence.
The crisis ain’t over. Liz Truss says those damn Ruskies are still occupying the Rostov and Voronezh oblasts.
I hear they are in the Moscow oblast too. Has Truss been told?
In her article for the Telegraph today, she refers to Nord Stream 2 as an oil pipeline.
Btw, remember last year incident with HM Defender sailing by Crimea? And now Rostov and Voronezh… Britain may have plans to invade Russia!
She have no education from what I reckon in foreign policy or even international relations. How on earth could these people rule the world?
Why are UK taxpayers on the hook for supplying millions of pounds worth of free weaponry to the Ukrainian Armed Forces – a substantial number of which are, not just ultra-nationalists, but incorrigible neo-Nazis?
I put that question to a recently retired colonel in the Guards Division, and showed him this:
https://pp.userapi.com/c624319/v624319338/bdee/oYSPOCYhtB0.jpg
This was his response:
“That photo must be, as it were, in some way doctored. I have no recollection of ever meeting these people. It looks like a perfectly straightforward shooting weekend – yes, just a perfectly straightforward shooting weekend.”
Sir Keir Starmer says “they look like damned fine fellows…..a stark contrast to that antisemitic Momentum scum that infected my Party.”
The point is they are not neo-Nazis but genuine Nazis, with a history going back to WW2.
Thanks for your reply, Deb. I used to think all this Ukie Nazi malarkey harked back to what the Ruskies did to their forebears in the Holodomor and/or towards the end of the second world war – that was until I read this article from 2014 in the Graun (no, honestly, trust me, it’s worth a read if you haven’t already).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis
It appears that many Azov battalion fighters used to get on quite well with their Russian compatriots, and many of them regularly speak Russian and say that they have nothing against the Russian people. No, it seems that the reason they’re fighting the Russian separatists is because they think Putin is a Jew.
” forebears in the Holodomor and/or towards the end of the second world war “
Eh?
Thanks for your reply Johnny. It’s now well established that the Holodomor was largely caused by the agricultural policies of the Soviet high command (which in Ukraine would have been seen to be mostly Russian), such as confiscating huge amounts of grain from Ukrainian farms, much of it to sell abroad. If you have substantial evidence to the contrary, it would certainly be revisionary. It is also viewed by the Ukrainian government as a genocide against the Ukrainian people by the Soviets.
War crimes against Ukrainians thought to have collaborated with the Nazis, after Ukraine was retaken by the Soviets in World War 2, will have been rarely documented, but certainly will have happened.
They don’t think – they believe – they are PAID to be dumb sitting ducks, as all these mercenaries are regardless of which side they fight for. If they stopped being paid how long would they hang around pretending to fight a enemy that really isn’t doing anything to them?
Thanks for your reply DG. Whilst there will be some in the Azov battalion/regiment just there for the money, I’d put folding money on most of them being true believers. I’d be interested in learning how they explain away Zelensky though. They probably believe that his mother kidnapped him from a neo-natal intensive care unit shortly after a free-spirited tourist from northern Sweden unexpectedly went into labour in Kiev in the late 70’s, and convinced him at an early age to always dye his hair and use a sunbed in the winter.
Lapsed Agnostic.
Foreign secretary Lizz Truss is in Kiev, and not content with supplying the Ukrainians with arms, Truss has pledged to up UK taxpayers cash sent to Ukraine to a whopping £100 million quid.
Its taxpayers cash that could be spent in the UK especially with the cost of everything going up, and families having to choose between heating and eating.
Thanks for your reply RepublicofScotland. I didn’t know about the additional cash injection. As a long-suffering taxpayer*, colour me duly appalled.
Not great for those having to choose between heating and eating. If anyone is, or knows anyone, in that sad situation, you should know that you can achieve an ultra-cheap, near-nutritionally optimized (if bland) diet – without the embarrassment/rigmarole of having to visit foodbanks – from consuming the following:
Oats (supermarket brand – roughly half a kilo per day soaked in water with salt – 4-6 grams per day & sugar to taste)
Multivitamin & minerals pills (supermarket brand – one per day)
Fish oil Omega-3 capsules (supermarket brand – 1000mg – one per day) or Milled Flaxseed (10 grams per day)
Calcium pills (supermarket brand – 200mg – two per day)
Choline & Inositol pills (Holland & Barrett – two per day)
Optional Potatoes (roughly half a kilo per day for added potassium)
Optional Vitamin D pills (25 micrograms or 1000 UI – one or two per day)
Optional Tea (for flavonoids)
People should be able to eat healthily for less than a quid a day.
* There’s tax on Stella & Buckfast and Embassy No. 1’s, ain’t there? I also pay full-whack on Amber Leaf when I’m feeling a bit strapped after a bad week on the Cryptos. My pal who sells it knock-off thinks I should be sectioned.
I had to laugh at Jens Stoltenberg’s comment at his Nato press briefing when he said we cannot go back to the days of allowing nation powers to attack or bully smaller nations.
Meanwhile as Nato push their warmongering propaganda.
Brit living in Ukraine says that Ukrainians are more concerned with the Eurovision Song Contest than a Russian invasion. Daniel Williams from the Isle of Wight (45) added that Ukrainians are more excited about champions League Football than what Russia is doing.
I am very concerned that the Labour Party seems not to be critical about the warlike announcements and provocations coming from the Prime minister, the Foreign secretary and the Defense secretary regarding the situation in Ukraine. It appears that there are no checks from the opposition on the veracity of the wild claims made and the unilateral use of our army in an area that is not a direct threat to this country and without challenge.
Why is it that the leadership of our party does not challenge the PM who is an acknowledged Liar in such grave matters but limit criticism to Christmas Parties? There is a host of other criticisms including waste of public money on ineffective PPI and giving contracts to cronies and many others. It is worrying that the only time the Labour party’s ratings changed with all the mismanages we have only related to Partygate.
The danger is that we have been here before when all parties in parliament choose a common enemy and all the papers attack that enemy but without a balanced discussion. The Labour party should stop falling into this trap and diversionary tactics and look at what is best for the citizens of this country, not the arms industry and their Tory cronies.
And all this underlines an important fact, that the Labour party does not seem to have a clear foreign policy but seems to follow that of the Tories in every field. I see this as a very serious drift of the party from being the party of the many to that of being the party that follows the few. Clear independent foreign policy for Labour, including reducing the risks of war, is a necessity for this party.
Labour/Tories: Two cheeks of the same @rse …
With the lib dumbs in the centre as the a*******.
I miss Charles Kennedy
One way to create a pretext for invasion would be for Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine to CLAIM that they had been attacked or shelled by Ukraine (maybe even toss in a real one, stolen from Ukraine, to enrich the soup of disinformation). Then Big Brother would invade to “protect” Luhansk and Donetz with its 700,000 recent Russian passport holders.
All this could happen before the end of the month. Lukashenko will be happy once democratic Ukraine is made into a puppet state of Moscow, his dictatorship will be much more secure.
That is a possibility that cannot be excluded. However the main propaganda blast is coming from the West, and it is most likely to presage a military move from the West/Ukraine, not from the Russians who have nothing to gain from and thus likely no interest in such an attack.
An incursion would bring Russia nothing except the high risk of further sanctions being imposed. Absolutely no incentive for Russia or the separatists, to provoke further conflict in the East.
Putin is even resisting calls by Russian lawmakers to start a process that could eventually incorporate Donetsk and Luhansk into the Russian Federation, the Kremlin probably sees the danger in more territorial disputes which could well end up reopening questions about Crimea’s future. I’d imagine Russia sees Crimea’s status as non-negotiable and settled. Bringing in Donetsk and Luhansk could complicate that.
The Minsk agreements promised a high-degree of autonomy and that offers enough to satisfy Russia as I understand their position. Although the US and our UK govt, seem to be trying to wreck Minsk, without providing any new alternative. The UK’s role is seemingly to combine being outrageously unhelpful, with tub-thumping bellicosity.
I don’t always agree with the stuff Simon Tisdall writes, but he gets a lot right in his piece titled : As Europe pushes for peace, clueless Johnson snipes from the sidelines
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/13/ukraine-macron-putin-johnson-feckless-windbag-no-10
“Judging by Downing Street’s reaction, Johnson would prefer war to success for the French president.
Anonymous officials and government sources variously accused Macron of betraying Nato, rewarding aggression, electioneering, and “waving a white flag” …..Francophobe commentators prating about appeasement and “Macron’s Munich moment”.
Is this because Washington and London know what’s best for Europe? No. It’s because the US, projecting its national interests through Nato…”
My understanding is that Putin will only change his current stance if he believes there is no hope or no more mileage in the Minsk agreement. The reality is that he doesn’t need to do anything whilst the stupids are tying themselves up in knots. IMO, at some point the US will abandon Ukraine and the UK and the other poodles will obediently follow suite.
The shocking treatment of the east by the govt in Kyiv post-2014 is never addressed by the UK govt, opposition, or our rightfully discredited media who only provide half the picture.
Can only imagine if Scotland had been subject to English military attacks on civilian areas, were financially cut off from the UK, not allowed to vote; no pensions, nothing. Treated like non-citizens. Would this build trust and loyalty to London? Kyiv has been its own worst enemy in terms of trying to keep Ukraine whole. They’ve pushed them into Russia’s arms.
‘The Minsk agreements promised a high-degree of autonomy’ – do you really believe those F***** in the head neo-nazis etc would EVER honour their word instead of going ahead murdering the Donbass people, just like the nazis did? They have used similar terminology to that used by the nazis, calling them Colorado beetles etc to dehumanise them, making them out to be ‘Untermensch’.
Yes. If the US insisted, Minsk would be implemented.
Peace keepers could be used to overcome the sequencing issues and votes on greater autonomy could be held.
The US could easily make continued support conditional on it. Sadly, the team around the current US administration won’t do anything they think risks being perceived as a victory, if only by proxy – for Russia, however insignificant.
The US backing Zelensky and hardline positions, is the only country that stands between Ukraine compromising for peace.
Goose, you quote & believe stuff coming out of that sewer pipe???
The Guardian still carries occasional pieces from those who are more independent-minded.
I’d agree that overall editorially it’s taken a wrong turn.
There is a an even more hidden subtext in the ‘Ukraine crisis’. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the approach was to incorporate as many former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Republics into the dual fold of the EU and NATO. There has always been a minority especially in France who favored an independent European Army and that combination of EU and EA would have given Europe a bigger clout and independence both political and economic from the US. But sadly there was no sufficient will power to extract Europe from the influence of the US and NATO is the tool by which all EU members are now subject directly to the USA.
Although I voted remain I can also see that some who voted leave were also voting against this US hegemony but sadly those who became in charge of Brexit, the Atlanticists, are not only intent in strengthening our ties with the USA, but also in scuppering all chances of an independent EU by a forced unity and increased allegiance to NATO. The imaginary ‘Russian Threat’ and the events in Ukraine are just a way of achieving these aims, to the economic detriment of the members of the EU.
A comparison of troop numbers would show just how ridiculous your claim is – NATO battle groups in eastern NATO countries – a few thousand, Russian troops around the Ukrainian border 150000 – 190000.
M.J
Russia government do not even want these regions, rather the more likely outcome of the latest tensions is that Ukraine will try to stop the rebels once and for all with their new military arms and support from the west and any russian response in turn, would be label an reaction/invasion/threat.
Ukraine is not more democratic than Russia. Not sure why Lukashenko would be more secure of the situation in Ukraine You know Lukashenko have been sitting there for like 30 years.
Jack, they are NOT rebels; there are parallels with the us declaration of independence; they had democratic referendums, the RIGHT of self-determination, they are NO LONGER ukrainian.
No need to create pretext, they are bombed
https://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/reports
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Daily Report 36/2022 issued on 16 February 2022
Report type: Daily report
Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 24 ceasefire violations, including five explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 17 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 129 ceasefire violations, including 71 explosions.
Do not hesitate to scroll the page down, M.J. you’ll see daily reports and please if you find one saying ‘calm peaceful day’ then please share.
Tatyana, the msm does NOT report all the ukrainian violations, and have – deliberately – failed to stop the ukrainian attackers. I told them to put their people (on $10 000 a month some years back) on the other side of the contact line, from where the enemy was firing from, like Dzerzhinsk, to deter them, but no, they preferred to sleep in their luxury park inn hotel in Donetsk, while the Donbass citizens had to endure the terror.
M.J., you are totally wrong. The people in the 2 independent republics are DEFENDING their lives, people, possessions and land, they are NOT doing the attacking, i.e. their capitals have been attacked by the ukrainian military – they have NEVER attacked kiev – backed by the cursed, satanic warmongering usg, what do you think FJB was doing so much in kiev as vp???
And you don’t make logical sense, Putin is NOT looking for an excuse to invade, he is trying to AVOID it, otherwise he would have done so already! His military movements are in RESPONSE to the ukrainian military moving East up to 150 000 troops, that’s why.
And it is not ‘Luhansk and Donetz’ but Lugansk and Donetsk.
M.J.
The Guardian reported such shelling at 13.33 today.
“Shelling is a ‘big provocation’, says Ukraine president
13:33
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has tweeted about the shelling of the kindergarten.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ukraine-crisis-nato-fears-russia-trying-to-stage-pretext-for-attack-after-reports-of-multiple-shelling-incidents-live/ar-AATY4WR?ocid=msedgntp
Why do you quote from the corrupt serial liars of the msm like the guardian & msn?
” democratic Ukraine “
Where is this place MJ? The only Ukraine that I can see is far from being ‘democratic.’ Which is what the Russian speakers are complaining about.
bevin, quite right. ukraine is FJB’s fiefdom, while dumbF***s like lizard & FBJ spew their lies of ukraine independence & territorial integrity.
Or the other way around.
Ukraine claiming the same and than launch counterattack and push Russia to react . With all negative implications for Russia. Russia has nothing to gain but losses financial and human. Ukraine will have financial gains(NS2 cancelled) and transit fees paid and help from West! Loss of life in the East of the country (Donbas) will be just statistics to be proud of! They are pretty sure Putin will not launch full invasion. Putin is neither crazy or stupid. There is no worry for city of Kiev IMHO.
“to CLAIM that they had been attacked or shelled by Ukraine”
Or they could just wait for the next round of Ukrainian shelling.
What the heck is going on?
Looks like west are the ones actually hurting Ukraine, I wonder if this will backfire in one way or another.
‘Every indication’ that Russia will invade Ukraine – Biden
https://www.rt.com/russia/549731-biden-ukraine-invasion-every-indication/
Meanwhile in Ukraine itself:
“Ukraine is losing billions from Western “hysteria,” a leading Zelensky ally claims ”
https://www.rt.com/russia/549596-ukraine-losing-billions-western-hysteria/
US will order Germany to pay, again.
I am sharing an article which I just read which seems to hit the nail squarely on the head.
I am therefore asking all who are seriously interested and engaged on this thread to make substantial and thoughtful comments in response:-
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/the-crisis-in-ukraine-is-not-about-ukraine-its-about-germany/
P.S. Tatyana – did you hear me?
—
[ Mod: A lengthy excerpt from that article was posted 3 days ago, and it prompted an interesting discussion. ]
Moderator,
Was not aware.
Obviously a worthy point needy of continuation.
*Seriously* interested and engaged on this thread.
Haven’t you been reading the comments here CB?
I have stated my opinion that the NS2 is a red herring.
Don’t know much about Unz but there are plenty of controlled ‘Marxists’ sites on the web showing their true colors as just the agitprop wing of Empire.
Have had good hunting of these trolls over the years …
I would think the subtext is even wider and includes the whole EU
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2022/02/cry-havoc-and-let-slip-the-dogs-of-war/comment-page-5/#comment-1009676
Our security services, the ones who robbed Libya, secretly using British troops in addition to Islamist proxies and aerial bombing, have wrecked many countries in our lifetimes. And today it seems it’s Ukraine’s turn. The one and only reason why the West is interested in Ukraine is to strangle Russian access to the sea.
I do apologise to the world for the shocking and shameful whoppers spouted today by Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. They are an absolute embarrassment because of their complete hypocrisy in pretending to be on Ukraine’s side , when they are setting in motion the complete destruction of the Ukraine.
All one can say about Johnson is at least you always know he’s lying. Consistency is a virtue because you can absolutely guarantee he never tells the truth. A long time ago we had a friend who would lie even about feeding the dog. The dog would be noisily complaining about not having had its food , but he would stick with his original flippant statement.
In the circumstances, since Nato only wants Ukraine to cease to exist , and never be used by the Russian/ Chinese continent to help them benefit from their vast land mass, Vladimir Putin will never dumbly follow the pathetic taunting of British scammers like Liz and Boris, and demolish Ukraine for them.
Not going to happen, ever. What exciting drama’s scheduled for next week ?