Discussion:
fantastic negative result (F*ck the EU)
(trop ancien pour répondre)
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-10 14:03:09 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hb3ndo2> washingtonpost.com

The Dutch just showed the world how Russia influences Western European
elections
Anne Applebaum (OS: <http://tinyurl.com/zhuheuv>) | April 8

In a vague sort of way, many people are aware that the Russian government
provides material and moral support to extremist political groups in Europe.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked her security officials to look into Russian
influence in German online media. Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's
far-right National Front, has taken loans from a Russian bank to fund her
party, and is asking for more.
But until last week's Dutch referendum, we hadn't seen a good example of how
Russian influence actually works in a Western European election. ..

OS: 'Russia' is such a scarecrow, you know, children.

.. whatever it turns out to be, it's not as important as the lesson we've just
learned: Small minorities of angry people, when well organized, can out shout
the divided, fearful, apathetic centrist majority in Western Europe ..

OS: This is a nice example of the orwellian substitution of notions ('war
is peace' and 'ignorance is strength'). It's much more relevant to use the
'out-shout' metaphor when you're talking about the mainstream mass media.
It's namely the MSM that is able to 'out-shout' those who disagree with it.
In turn: the majority of the regular people is somewhat voiceless and
faceless, it's able to express its opinion only in the cases of public vote
like the public elections and referendums (and also through [credible]
surveys of public opinion). The writer dishonestly tries to misrepresent
such a rare case of the referendum in the Netherlands as if those 'small
minorities of angry people' 'out-shout' the MSM's wishful thinking about
(and / or deliberately false image of) the majority.

...

Actually, the anti-constitutional, unlawful and anti-democratic 'regime
change' in the Ukraine, in February 2014, may serve as a pretty clear example
of how the 'small minorities of angry people, when well organized, could out
shout' the 'apathetic centrist majority' - since about two weeks before the
coup, surveys of public opinion in the country clearly indicated the majority
of the Ukrainians supported the decision of their government to postpone the
EU association agreement.

For example, this (pro-EU) outlet <http://archive.is/Ed5X1> reported numbers
in February 7: 45% for the postponement, 42% against, and 13% are not sure.
45% vs. 42% was a small majority, but it would certainly be larger if the
people were not misled about what the agreement really promises to them (read
more here <http://archive.is/AzfoW>). Western public didn't know such numbers,
rather the Western mass media reported something like 60% pro-EU vs 40% pro-
Custom-Union in the Ukraine at the time. The latter figures were seen in the
surveys as well, but that were the answers about more abstract 'direction of
development' rather than about the very specific decision of the postponement.
This means, a noticeable part of the 'basically pro-EU' camp realistically
considered the postponement justified in the current (then) situation - mainly
due to economic reasons. Besides that, even lesser minority, according to then
surveys - about 25-30%, iirc - supported the 'Maidan' protest as such, and
even lesser part supported the violent militancy of the far right / neo-Nazi
groups (which in the end committed the coup d'etat by force).

You may notice, this picture of the public sentiment in the Ukraine at the
time shortly before the coup does not correspond to the primitive narrative
the (pro-)Atlanticist mass media promoted: those poor, oppressed Ukrainians
struggledly crave to stick to Europe but the evil tyrant does not allow them
to do it! In deed, the small angry minority really was able to outshout more
balanced but more apathetic centrist majority in the country, and the MSM in
the West (including namely Ms. Applebaum) greatly contributed to this outshout
as well as to maintenance of 'proper' anger and insanity. From this, the
Ukrainians might learn that the lawful democratic vote means a little against
loud shout / violence, and it greatly contributed to the desire of people in
Crimea and Donbas to separate themselves from 'the new' Kiev.
<http://tinyurl.com/jbojryo>
A Media Unmoored from Facts
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-11 09:10:41 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5> elsevier.nl

Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens

As in 2005, this referendum shows again that voters think very
differently about Europe than the people's representatives. As
long as they do not realize this ..

...

People's representatives are supposed to represent people.
Don't you think? If there's such a gap then something is wrong
with implementation of democracy.
<http://tinyurl.com/jbojryo>
A Media Unmoored from Facts
Ghingis Khan
2016-04-11 10:18:11 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5> elsevier.nl
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
As in 2005, this referendum shows again that voters think very
differently about Europe than the people's representatives. As long as
they do not realize this ..
...
People's representatives are supposed to represent people.
Don't you think? If there's such a gap then something is wrong
with implementation of democracy.
Democracy ? LOL

Partycracy !!!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particracy


Partycracy dictatorship of the majority
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/jbojryo>
A Media Unmoored from Facts
--
Ghingis Khan
http://www.lotuschild.org
http://www.lotuschild.org/guesthouse/
http://www.snowleopard.org
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-11 13:56:36 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ghingis Khan
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5> elsevier.nl
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
As in 2005, this referendum shows again that voters
think very differently about Europe than the people's
representatives. As long as they do not realize this ..
...
People's representatives are supposed to represent
people. Don't you think? If there's such a gap then
something is wrong with implementation of democracy.
Democracy ? LOL
Partycracy !!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particracy
Partycracy dictatorship of the majority
Let it be particracy, but such a situation when there's a large
gap between the establishment's agenda and public opinion is not
normal anyway, and it makes the idea of democracy look feigned.

It would be curious to trace and detect where's a flaw.
Ghingis Khan
2016-04-11 14:32:30 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Post by Ghingis Khan
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5> elsevier.nl
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
As in 2005, this referendum shows again that voters
think very differently about Europe than the people's
representatives. As long as they do not realize this ..
...
People's representatives are supposed to represent
people. Don't you think? If there's such a gap then
something is wrong with implementation of democracy.
Democracy ? LOL
Partycracy !!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particracy
Partycracy dictatorship of the majority
Let it be particracy, but such a situation when there's a large
gap between the establishment's agenda and public opinion is not normal
anyway, and it makes the idea of democracy look feigned.
It would be curious to trace and detect where's a flaw.
Yes so it is.
--
Ghingis Khan
http://www.lotuschild.org
http://www.lotuschild.org/guesthouse/
http://www.snowleopard.org
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-13 17:02:53 UTC
Permalink
<http://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/CC-20160406_07.pdf>

Impact of Mrs Merkel's open-door policy

With her call to allow Syrian refugees to enter Germany without restrictions,
German Chancellor Merkel has violated individual regulations and triggered
several implications. In the first place, she has not only overridden the
right of control of the German parliament with her one-sided exhortation, but
she has also arbitrarily rendered the two agreements of Schengen and Dublin
inoperative. ..

Possible causal agents of Mrs Merkel's call

Two years ago, Mrs Merkel still uncompromisingly refused any German concession
to Italy in receiving refugees from Africa. Her turnaround is rather strange.
Unfortunately, at this time we can only speculate about what caused this
turnaround. It is conceivable that the Obama administration recommended her to
make her call. Through its wars in the Middle East, the US is responsible for
the suffering, the tragedies, and the refugee drama in this region. Perhaps
the Obama administration was hoping to evade the United States' responsibility
for the disaster it has caused, if Germany received the Syrian refugees from
Turkey. ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5>
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-16 05:30:17 UTC
Permalink
Yemen is a country of about 20 million population, - destabilization of it
means that the Europeans will receive a little bit more refugees whereas the
jihadist formations will receive a little bit more members within their ranks.

<http://tinyurl.com/jfgo955> independent.co.uk

Thanks to UK and US intervention, al-Qaeda now has a mini-state in Yemen. ..

Patrick Cockburn | 2016-04-15

They have done it again. The US, Britain and regional allies led by Saudi
Arabia have come together to intervene in another country with calamitous
results. Instead of achieving their aims, they have produced chaos, ruining
the lives of millions of people and creating ideal conditions for
salafi-jihadi movements like al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

The latest self-inflicted failure in the "war on terror" is in Yemen, where
Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Sunni states intervened on one side in a civil
war in March 2015. .. has made a bad situation far worse. ..

The real winners in this war are al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
which has taken advantage of the collapse of central government to create its
own mini-state. This now stretches for 340 miles - longer than the distance
from London to Edinburgh - along the south coast of Yemen .. has an organised
administration with its own tax revenues. ..

The Saudi intervention turned a crisis into a catastrophe. Some 6,427 people
are known to have been killed in the fighting, but these are only the figures
for casualties known to the health authorities. ..

The disaster is not only humanitarian, but political, and does not only affect
Yemen. .. I have been struck, ever since the US and British invasion of Iraq
in 2003, by the extent to which their whole strategy depends on wishful
thinking about the strength and popularity of their local ally who usually, on
the contrary, is feared and hated. .. As has happened repeatedly since 9/11,
the US and countries like Britain fail to combat terrorism because they give
priority to retaining their alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
monarchies, even when their policies - as in Yemen - wreck a whole country and
enable al Qaeda and Isis to use the chaos to establish safe havens.

Read it in full <http://tinyurl.com/jfgo955>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/CC-20160406_07.pdf>
Impact of Mrs Merkel's open-door policy
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-30 07:38:31 UTC
Permalink
<http://on.rt.com/7b48>

Obama went to Germany to deliver Europe's latest report card

Danielle Ryan | 26 Apr, 2016

.. Overall, it was a bit like a teacher having to deliver a report to the
parents of a child who's doing fairly okay, but could be doing better. They
start with the good news: Well, little Johnny is really doing well in English
and History, but Science and Geography need serious work. Last year, Johnny's
report card was fantastic - and he mustn't forget what he can do when he
really puts his mind to it!

Well, some might say the United States could be doing a little better too, but
they're probably not going to invite us on a whistle stop tour of the state
capitals to give lectures about what Europe feels is and is not working for
American citizens. We certainly won't find Merkel or Cameron arriving in
Washington to relay a laundry list of things Americans are not doing right.
But wouldn't it be fun, all the same? Maybe Cameron could join Obama on the
Truman Balcony to urge Congress to pass some decent gun control. Or maybe
Merkel could make a speech in downtown Chicago, urging the police to stop
shooting unarmed black people. Hollande could show up in Flint, Michigan and
urge the provision of clean, safe water for citizens. You know, just as a
friendly gesture. ..

Read more <http://on.rt.com/7b48>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/jfgo955>
Thanks to UK and US intervention, al-Qaeda now has a mini-state in Yemen. ..
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-10 11:20:41 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/horpntz> gianalytics.org

EU BLACKMAILED BY TURKEY, MEMBER STATES BLACKMAILED BY EU

The crème-de-la-crème efforts of the EU to address the refugee crisis are
pathetic.

Valerijus Simulik | 03 June 2016

The much-touted agreement between the EU and Turkey, according to which the
latter country should take back the refugees reaching Europe in exchange for
financial injections amounting to billions of euros and visa-free EU travel
for Turkish citizens, seems to be at the end of its tether.

The EU claims that Turkey has failed to fulfill all the obligations, and
therefore the visa waiver will not be signed. Take, for example, the Turkish
legislation on the fight against terrorism. The EU claims it is superfluous
and could turn anyone into a terrorist, be it a journalist or an ordinary
citizen.

The Turkish President retorts to this that there are no intentions to change
anything and that the EU has no right to govern his country. Or something to
this effect.

Members of the European Parliament, which has stalled the negotiations on a
visa-free regime with Turkey, are already openly proclaiming that nothing will
come of this - that such an agreement will never be signed. The agreement was
previously agreed to be signed by the end of June but, if it won't be, then
the President of Turkey threatens to stop accepting refugees back and will let
them flock to Europe unrestrained.

The process unfolding before us is a kind of a hot potato game in the public
sphere. The head of the European Commission purports that Turkey still needs
to make progress, put an effort, and carry out whatever orders of the EU. The
Turkish President also demonstrates in public that the EU wants too much and,
all things considered, interferes where it should not.

An extremely productive and promising path, is it not? In such cases, one
wonders what the diplomats of both sides are doing, whose work is it to forge
agreements skillfully, silently, without unnecessary uproar and public
accusations.

While the public hot potato game continues, the EU grapples with other
measures ostensibly aimed at addressing the refugee crisis. Apparently, the
feeling or awareness that reaching an agreement with Turkey is set to fail is
very strong, so strong that the EU is resorting to decisions directed against
its member states. Not all of them, though, only the 'disobedient' ones.

The Commission is in the midst of drawing up procedures under which EU member
states refusing to accept refugees will have to pay financial penalties. Not
just any penalties: fines that willy-nilly leave you aghast: about 250
thousand euro per person! ..

...

American "humanitarian interventions" / military invasions have produced the
refugees, and Europe should accept this burden because the present day Europe
exists under US mastership.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://on.rt.com/7b48>
Obama went to Germany to deliver Europe's latest report card
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-10 15:06:45 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/jo9dws6>

United Nations A/HRC/32/39/Add.1
General Assembly Distr.: General
4 May 2016

Human Rights Council ..
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions on his mission to Ukraine ..

VII. Conclusions and recommendations

A. Overall remarks

89. The challenges faced by Ukrainian society are real. There are fundamental
divisions concerning its geopolitical orientation, which have polarized
national identities. A brutal armed conflict with strong international
dimensions is further undermining the young national fabric that Ukraine has
achieved since its independence.

OS: Their national fabric was not 'achieved since its independence'.

In recent years, against a background of deteriorating economic, social and
political conditions, the country has experienced massive demonstrations,
which have been manipulated by various political forces and resulted in
bloodshed.

OS: The main political forces which manipulations resulted in the
bloodshed are the US and EU policy makers - under reluctance on the
part of the UN.

90. The Special Rapporteur shares the concerns expressed by the families of
the victims, the Council of Europe and the United Nations Assistant
Secretary-General for Human Rights, who, in remarks to the Human Rights
Council on 22 March 2016, expressed particular concern about "the lack of
progress in the investigations and proceedings into the killings that happened
[in Maidan], as well as the killings on 2 May 2014 in Odesa and 9 May 2014 in
Mariupol," adding that "the slow progress in these cases undermines public
confidence in the criminal justice system. It is essential that they be
addressed promptly and with impartiality." 41

OS: No chance 'that they be addressed promptly and with impartiality'
because it would break the big lies and the false narratives by which the
anti-constitutional coup was justified. The UN morons are rambling.

91. Long-term security will depend on the extent to which a fully functioning
system of rule of law, based on the effective protection of the human rights
of all persons living in Ukraine, without discrimination, is gradually
established. ..

OS: The UN Special Rapporteur should have been spat upon their face after
writing this because after the unlawful regime change there just can not
be any question about 'a fully functioning system of rule of law' etc.

C. Recommendations to the Government of Ukraine

99. All remaining illegal volunteer battalions and militias must be disbanded
and disarmed, or effectively integrated into the regular armed forces, with
effective control and accountability.

OS: How can they be disbanded and disarmed if they are the heroes of the
'revolution'? Indeed the young UN morons have no idea about what they are
rambling.

100. Likewise, ultranationalist groups and other armed militias, such as
Pravvy Sektor, Svoboda and "Self-defence", should be declared illegal and
effectively disarmed, disbanded and prosecuted, or brought under the control
of the law. Acts of violence or intimidation by leaders and members of these
groups must not be tolerated by the Government at any level, and their
incitement to violence and hatred against other communities should be
sanctioned.

OS: How can they 'be declared illegal and effectively disarmed, disbanded
and prosecuted' if they are heroes of the 'revolution of dignity' whose
militant 'violence and hatred against other communities' was the main
propulsive force of the anti-constitutional coup d'etat? No doubt, the UN
Special Rapporteur have no idea about what they're rambling.

101. A system of independent oversight of all those who perform law
enforcement functions must be established, focusing in particular on
allegations of ill-treatment by the Security Service of Ukraine. ..

OS: The Security Service of the Ukraine after the coup represents just
another 'wing' of those 'ultranationalist groups and other armed militias'.
The UN have no idea once more.

...

'Human Rights Council' is full of shit.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/horpntz>
EU BLACKMAILED BY TURKEY, MEMBER STATES BLACKMAILED BY EU
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-20 03:54:39 UTC
Permalink
<http://moderntokyotimes.com/?p=4960>

Arrests Show Jihadists Infiltrating Syrian Refugees

Abigail R. Esman | JUNE 17, 2016

IPT News / Investigative Project on Terrorism <http://bit.ly/218k154>

When Europe agreed to open its borders to Syrian refugees in response to one
of the greatest humanitarian crises of our age, officials assured the Western
world: we've got this. There will be no jihadists among them; and if there
are, we'll be sure they won't get in.

But it wasn't exactly true. Jihadists, we now know, have been among them. They
have gotten through. And now those same officials are starting to admit things
might get even worse.

On Saturday, only weeks after Germany's national security agency confessed it
had been alerted to the presence of jihadists <http://bit.ly/1rVhmjq> who
posed as asylum-seekers, German police arrested three Syrians on charges of
planning a major attack in Dusseldorf. The arrests followed a confession by a
fourth suspect, arrested earlier in France, who had informed officials there
about the plot. All four suspects, reported <http://wapo.st/1RQzOPs> the
Washington Post, had traveled to Europe along the well-worn, so-called Balkan
Route. Prosecutors say the attack aimed to kill "as many bystanders as
possible with guns and other explosives," as had a plot foiled days earlier in
Antwerp <http://bit.ly/21uoPlx>.

Europeans already are on edge as a result of the multiple terrorist attacks in
Paris and Brussels over the past 18 months. But news of these arrests, coupled
with heightened concerns among German intelligence officials, alarmed
communities both in Germany and in neighboring countries. Yet despite this
development, intelligence officials in the Netherlands, which shares a border
with Germany, maintained <http://bit.ly/28PFw0e> until just last week that
there is minimal chance that any asylum seeker there is a terrorist.

That changed suddenly on Tuesday, with the disclosure <http://bit.ly/21unifd>
by the same French suspect that the militants arrested in Dusseldorf had been
part of a group of 20, divided between asylum centers there and in the Dutch
city of Nijmegen.

Not that this should be a surprise. Since the beginning of the crisis,
Holland's screening of migrants has been sloppy. A report released in May
<http://bit.ly/266pmk8> by Holland's Ministry of Security and Justice noted
that several screening centers were careless and inadequate, failing to meet
established standards. Perhaps as a result of hastened procedural demands as
the stream of refugees has increased, neither computer systems nor inspectors
seems prepared to meet the challenges: as Dutch daily the Telegraaf observed
<http://bit.ly/266noAw>, the system for checking fingerprints crashes daily;
document screeners fail several times a week; and "it is unclear whether all
baggage of the asylum-seekers is being properly inspected."

Moreover, documents are rarely examined for authenticity - a risky oversight
given the huge ISIS-based industry in falsified Syrian passports, a business
which, in turn, helps fill Islamic State coffers. Indeed, one of the Paris
bombers used such a passport to enter Europe, leading the former French
intelligent chief to remark, "It's obvious now: amongst the migrants, there
are terrorists." <http://wapo.st/1WiRF8p>

These problems are not limited to Europe. In Canada, a $16 million effort to
screen refugees was recently termed <http://bit.ly/1MxMhMC> an "expensive
security flop." An internal evaluation of the effort, CBC News reported,
determined that "the screening project delivered information too late, strayed
beyond its mandate, and in the end did almost nothing to catch refugees who
might be linked to criminal or terrorist groups."

Such errors have not gone unnoticed by American intelligence. As early as
November 2015, a Homeland Security report <http://1.usa.gov/1UJ90Tl> called
Europe's open borders a "cause célèbre for jihadists" and described Europe's
asylum and refugee screening processes as "rife with security holes."

"Foreign officials in Western Europe . said that already some asylum seekers
had been identified as having potential terrorism ties," the report notes,
"but by the time they were flagged the individuals had already left the area."
As a result, "Europe's 26-country Schengen area is ground zero for the
continent's terrorist travel woes."

True, the United States enjoys elements of security that Europe does not.
While nationals and citizens of EU countries can travel to the U.S. visa-free,
those who are also nationals or citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, or the Sudan
can not. And all foreign visitors are required to register with the Homeland
Security Department's Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior
to arrival <http://1.usa.gov/1hkF0QW>.

Still, even with such measures in place, the Homeland Security report
recommended a temporary suspension of the Syrian refugee program in the U.S.
"until the nation's leading intelligence and law enforcement agencies can
certify the refugee screening process is adequate to detect individuals with
terrorist ties." In January, however, Democratic senators blocked a bill
<http://nyti.ms/1KsSVgm> that would do just that.

Now the country faces a crossroads. In the first half of 2016, only a fraction
of the 9,000 refugees America agreed to take in this year had actually been
accepted, in part, NBC News reported, because "a lack of preparedness for the
sudden increase in refugee applicants and resources to vet them has led to
backlogs in the process." To rectify the situation, "the administration has
begun to ramp up operations, both at home and abroad, to review a greater
volume of refugee applicants and stay on track to meet its commitments." Since
then, the number of refugees approved for resettlement has increased markedly,
to almost 5,000 <http://reut.rs/1TRQKN6>.

But at least as important as its commitments to refugees is America's
commitment to the safety and security of its own people. And if Europe's
example is anything to judge by - and Homeland Security agents seem to believe
it is - then "ramping up operations" likely will put the country at an
increased risk of terrorism. After all, if the U.S. suffered a "lack of
preparedness and resources to vet" the refugees until now, it is hard to
imagine that speeding the procedure would in any way benefit the nation's
security. And "haste," as a Moroccan proverb says, "is the sister of
repentance."

We save no one, not even the refugees, from danger, if we only increase our
own.

Abigail R. Esman is an award-winning freelance writer based in New York and
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with more than 20 years of experience writing for
national and international magazines including Salon.com, Vogue, Esquire
(Holland), Town & Country, Art & Auction (where she is a contributing editor),
The Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, Artnews and
others.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/horpntz>
EU BLACKMAILED BY TURKEY, MEMBER STATES BLACKMAILED BY EU
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-25 10:58:18 UTC
Permalink
<http://on.rt.com/7go9>

Putin on Brexit: No one wants to support weak economies

Published time: 24 Jun, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin says 'Brexit' is the choice made by the
British nation and is a comprehensible one, as "no one wants to feed weak
economies." Russia has not and does not plan to interfere with the results of
the referendum, he added.

"I think it's comprehensible why this happened: first, no one wants to
feed and subsidize poorer economies, to support other states, support
entire nations," the Russian president said at the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization summit in Tashkent. (OS: <http://u.to/5ScJDw>)

"Apparently the British people are not satisfied with the way problems are
being solved in the security sphere, these problems have become more acute
lately with the migration processes," Putin said, suggesting the second
reason for the British people to have voted 'out.'

The Russian president's comments come in reply to UK Prime Minister David
Cameron's claims that "Putin would be happy if the UK left the EU."

The president says such claims were an ill-posed attempt to influence the
general opinion of the British public.

"But as we see now, even claims like these have not had the effect desired
by those who made them. No one has the right to make claims on Russia's
position, especially after the votes were counted. This is nothing but an
example of a low level of political culture," Putin said. ..

...

I do not see the British exit as a fait accompli. There will be big efforts to
coerce the British think twice. In any case it would mean the UK will obtain a
special status against Europe regardless of whether it's enshrined as a
membership with the special status or through a set of agreeements between the
the UK and the EU.
So this middle finger is not only to the EU but also to the US.
Of course, not to the US as such, but to the Obama regime and policies,
since the EU largely follows the Atlanticist globalist agenda, and the wars
initiated by them produce refugees that contribute to the immigration etc.
<http://tinyurl.com/zs83uvt> consortiumnews.com
A 'Brexit' Blow to the Establishment
Exclusive: British voters turned a deaf ear to scary warnings about leaving
the E.U. and struck a blow against an out-of-touch, self-interested and
incompetent Western Establishment, a message to the U.S., too, writes Robert
Parry. ..
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-28 20:42:07 UTC
Permalink
Since the current establishment feel they are losing ground, there may be
desperate moves on their part in attempt to save themselves, and among other
things they may try to escalate conflict with Russia in this situation.

<http://tinyurl.com/z8z4rv9> theintercept.com

Brexit Is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western
Establishment Institutions

Glenn Greenwald | June 25 2016

THE DECISION BY U.K. voters to leave the EU is such a glaring repudiation of
the wisdom and relevance of elite political and media institutions that - for
once - their failures have become a prominent part of the storyline. Media
reaction to the Brexit vote falls into two general categories: (1) earnest,
candid attempts to understand what motivated voters to make this choice, even
if that means indicting their own establishment circles, and (2) petulant,
self-serving, simple-minded attacks on disobedient pro-Leave voters for being
primitive, xenophobic bigots (and stupid to boot), all to evade any reckoning
with their own responsibility. Virtually every reaction that falls into the
former category emphasizes the profound failures of Western establishment
factions; these institutions have spawned pervasive misery and inequality,
only to spew condescending scorn at their victims when they object. ..

Though there were some exceptions <http://u.to/Hz8PDw>, establishment
political and media elites in the U.K. were vehemently united against Brexit,
but their decreed wisdom was ignored, even scorned. That has happened time and
again. As their fundamental failures become more evident to all, these elites
have lost credibility, influence, and the ability to dictate outcomes.

Just last year in the U.K., Labour members chose someone to lead Tony Blair's
party - the authentically left-wing Jeremy Corbyn - who could not have been
more intensely despised and patronized by almost every leading light of the
British media and political class. In the U.S., the joyful rejection by Trump
voters of the collective wisdom of the conservative establishment evidenced
the same contempt for elite consensus. The enthusiastic and sustained
rallying, especially by young voters, against beloved-by-the-establishment
Hillary Clinton in favor of a 74-year-old socialist taken seriously by almost
no D.C. elites reflected the same dynamic. Elite denunciations of the
right-wing parties of Europe fall on deaf ears. Elites can't stop, or even
affect, any of these movements because they are, at bottom, revolts against
their wisdom, authority, and virtue.

IN SUM, THE West's establishment credibility is dying, and its influence is
precipitously eroding - all deservedly so. The frenetic pace of online media
makes even the most recent events feel distant, like ancient history. That, in
turn, makes it easy to lose sight of how many catastrophic and devastating
failures Western elites have produced in a remarkably short period of time.

In 2003, U.S. and British elites joined together to advocate one of the most
heinous and immoral aggressive wars in decades: the destruction of Iraq; that
it turned out to be centrally based on falsehoods <http://u.to/xz8PDw> that
were ratified by the most trusted institutions, as well as a complete policy
failure even on its own terms, gutted public trust.

In 2008, their economic worldview and unrestrained corruption precipitated a
global economic crisis that literally caused, and is still causing, billions
of people to suffer - in response, they quickly protected the plutocrats who
caused the crisis while leaving the victimized masses to cope with the
generational fallout. Even now, Western elites continue to proselytize markets
and impose free trade and globalization without the slightest concern for the
vast inequality and destruction of economic security those policies generate.

In 2011, NATO bombed Libya by pretending it was motivated by humanitarianism,
only to ignore that country once the fun military triumph was celebrated, thus
leaving a vacuum of anarchy and militia rule for years that spread instability
through the region and fueled the refugee crisis. The U.S. and its European
allies continue to invade, occupy, and bomb predominantly Muslim countries
while propping up their most brutal tyrants, then feign befuddlement about why
anyone would want to attack them back, justifying erosions of basic liberties
and more bombing campaigns and ratcheting up fear levels each time someone
does. The rise of ISIS and the foothold it seized in Iraq and Libya were the
direct byproducts <http://u.to/a0gPDw> of the West's military actions
<http://u.to/nkgPDw> (as even Tony Blair admitted regarding Iraq). Western
societies continue to divert massive resources into military weaponry and
prisons for their citizens, enriching the most powerful factions in the
process, all while imposing harsh austerity on already suffering masses. In
sum, Western elites thrive while everyone else loses hope.

These are not random, isolated mistakes. They are the byproduct of fundamental
cultural pathologies within Western elite circles - a deep rot. ..

Read it in full <http://tinyurl.com/z8z4rv9>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/horpntz>
EU BLACKMAILED BY TURKEY, MEMBER STATES BLACKMAILED BY EU
Oleg Smirnov
2016-07-13 10:51:13 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/h45jd3m> svd.se

"The West's actions have strengthened the Russian regime"

Stefan Hedlund | 11 Jul

.. My point was about the danger that lies in basing practical policies on the
assumption that regular citizens actually encompass the values the politicians
believe they must cover. ..

The notion of universal values looks beautiful in itself, but it is also a
myth. As it was clearly shown by the refugee crisis, there is no common values
even within Europe. Every country now cares about protecting their national
interests. Those who most cherished about values - Germany and Sweden - are
also the ones who have paid the highest price.

The Ukraine's tragedy must be seen against this background. .. In the case of
the Ukraine, the Russian stance has consistently been that's just a conflict
of interests, and so a negotiation is necessary. The attitude of the West has
been that it's a conflict of values, and Russia has no right to interfere. The
end result was the war and destruction.

The response from the West was to impose sanctions, which never had a minimal
impact to change Russia's behavior. For politicians in the West the sanction
policy was rather a way to obtain a sense of moral superiority, at the expense
of a huge price due to reduction of trade and collapse of the entire European
security architecture. ..

...

So they developed a self-delusion about their nice selves being full of nice
values and then they decided to play a zero sum game about the Ukraine which
turned out a negative sum game eventually.

Thus, according to the Ukraine facts, the modern European values are: support
for anti-democratic violence, disregard for the rule of law, encouragement of
extremist far right militancy, oppression of minorities and so on.

The backing of the unconstitutional / anti-democratic Ukraine 'regime change'
revealed the fact that their main value is shit, so if they believe they are
full of something then the latter is what they are actually full of.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/z8z4rv9>
Brexit Is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western
Establishment Institutions
Oleg Smirnov
2016-07-26 14:50:44 UTC
Permalink
<http://davidswanson.org/node/5232>

David Swanson | 24 Jul

.. The U.S. role was discussed
in Ukraine's
parliament pre-coup.

The United States Congress has officially acknowledged <http://bit.ly/2a8zx2A>
what is beyond dispute: the role of neo-Nazis in the coup government.
According to widespread allegations, coup snipers were trained in Poland
<http://bit.ly/2atJpAb> on behalf of the United States
<http://bit.ly/2abTt1E>.

President Obama took credit for the U.S. role in the regime change on CNN
<http://cnn.it/2aqJnec>: "And since Mr. Putin made this decision around Crimea
and Ukraine - not because of some grand strategy, but essentially because he
was caught off-balance by the protests in the Maidan and Yanukovych then
fleeing after we had brokered a deal to transition power in Ukraine - since
that time, this improvisation that he's been doing has getting - has gotten
him deeper and deeper into a situation that is a violation of international
law, that violates the integrity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of
Ukraine." As if facilitating a neo-Nazi coup doesn't do that! ..

Even imagining that the United States did not play a role in the coup, the
fact of the coup would still render what Crimea and Russia did in response
very different from the "aggression" alleged by U.S. media, the resulting myth
permeating U.S. understanding, and the worldview of Congress members acting on
that mythical basis.

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/zfh4rdl>

...

Their backing of the unconstitutional and anti-democratic 'regime change' in
the Ukraine revealed the fact that the modern 'Western values' are: support
for anti-democratic violence, disregard for the rule of law, encouragement of
extremist far right militancy, oppression of minorities and so on. That's not
a joke nor an exaggeration. This is what the EU and US really are.
<http://tinyurl.com/gw8xpyy> | <http://archive.is/heBiS>
Intentional Deception
Oleg Smirnov
2016-08-02 07:18:02 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/j7quqkj> spiegel.de

.. Network Close To NATO Military Leader Fueled Ukraine Conflict

Christoph Schult, Klaus Wiegrefe | July 28, 2016

Working with dubious sourcing, a group close to NATO's chief military
commander Philip Breedlove sought to secure weapons deliveries for Ukraine, a
trove of newly released emails revealed. The efforts served to intensify the
conflict between the West and Russia.

The newly leaked emails reveal a clandestine network of Western agitators
around the NATO military chief, whose presence fueled the conflict in Ukraine.
Many allies found in Breedlove's alarmist public statements about alleged
large Russian troop movements cause for concern early on. Earlier this year,
the general was assuring the world that US European Command was "deterring
Russia now and preparing to fight and win if necessary."

The emails document for the first time the questionable sources from whom
Breedlove was getting his information. He had exaggerated Russian activities
in eastern Ukraine with the overt goal of delivering weapons to Kiev.

The general and his likeminded colleagues perceived US President Barack Obama,
the commander-in-chief of all American forces, as well as German Chancellor
Angela Merkel as obstacles. ..

Breedlove sought counsel from some very prominent people, his emails show.
Among them were Wesley Clark, Breedlove's predecessor at NATO, Victoria
Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs at
the State Department, and Geoffrey Pyatt, the US ambassador to Kiev. One name
that kept popping up was Phillip Karber, an adjunct assistant professor at
Georgetown University in Washington DC and president of the Potomac Foundation
.. (OS: All these figures, except maybe Wesley Clark, are strongly associated
with the American Neocon Order.) ..

Surreptitious Channels

On February 16, 2015, when the Ukraine crisis had reached its climax, Karber
wrote an email to Breedlove, Clark, Pyatt and Rose Gottemoeller, the under
secretary for arms control and international security at the State Department,
who will be moving to Brussels this fall to take up the post of deputy
secretary general of NATO. Karber was in Warsaw, and he said he had found
surreptitious channels to get weapons to Ukraine -- without the US being
directly involved.

According to the email, Pakistan had offered, "under the table," to sell
Ukraine 500 portable TOW-II launchers and 8,000 TOW-II missiles. The
deliveries could begin within two weeks. Even the Poles were willing to start
sending "well maintained T-72 tanks, plus several hundred SP 122mm guns, and
SP-122 howitzers (along with copious amounts of artillery ammunition for
both)" that they had leftover from the Soviet era. The sales would likely go
unnoticed, Karber said, because Poland's old weapons were "virtually
undistinguishable from those of Ukraine." ..

In March, Karber traveled again to Warsaw in order to, as he told Breedlove,
consult with leading members of the ruling party, on the need to "quietly
supply arty (eds: artillery) and antitank munitions to Ukraine." ..

'The Front Is Now Everywhere'

Karber's emails constantly made it sound as though the apocalypse was only a
few weeks away. "The front is now everywhere," he told Breedlove in an email
at the beginning of 2015, adding that Russian agents and their proxies "have
begun launching a series of terrorist attacks, assassinations, kidnappings and
infrastructure bombings," in an effort to destabilize Kiev and other Ukrainian
cities.

In an email to Breedlove, Clark described defense expert Karber as
"brilliant." After a first visit, Breedlove indicated he had also been
impressed. "GREAT visit," he wrote. Karber, an extremely enterprising man,
appeared at first glance to be a valuable informant because he often -- at
least a dozen times by his own account -- traveled to the front and spoke with
Ukrainian commanders. The US embassy in Kiev also relied on Karber for
information because it lacked its own sources. "We're largely blind," the
embassy's defense attaché wrote in an email.

At times, Karber's missives read like prose. In one, he wrote about the 2014
Christmas celebrations he had spent together with Dnipro-1, the
ultranationalist volunteer battalion. "The toasts and vodka flow, the women
sing the Ukrainian national anthem -- no one has a dry eye."

Karber had only good things to report about the unit, which had already been
discredited as a private oligarch army. ..

...

German Spiegel is itself a pro-Atlanticist outlet, and I see this article as
a part of the effort to whitewash Obama and Merkel off the Ukraine-related
crimes and shift the main responsibility to the second-tier figures.

Their initial crime was to misrepresent the anti-constitutional coup in Kiev,
implemented by the far right militant gangs as a popular uprising against a
dictatorship. It was a very big lie and an insult to the human intelligence.
Nevertheless, the Atlanticist propaganda had to support the false narrative,
and to support it properly it was necessary to exaggerate the false idea of
the alleged Russian intention to 'restore' something 'awful' and invade those
Baltics and Polands. The far the more it leads them to a dead end. The neocons
are shit, but the main responsibility for the war still lies with Obama and
the current EU-cracy, which includes Merkel as a key figure.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://davidswanson.org/node/5232>
The United States Congress has officially acknowledged what is beyond
dispute: the role of neo-Nazis in the coup government. ..
Ghingis Khan
2016-08-02 09:10:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/j7quqkj> spiegel.de
... Network Close To NATO Military Leader Fueled Ukraine Conflict
Christoph Schult, Klaus Wiegrefe | July 28, 2016
Working with dubious sourcing, a group close to NATO's chief military
commander Philip Breedlove sought to secure weapons deliveries for Ukraine, a
trove of newly released emails revealed. The efforts served to intensify the
conflict between the West and Russia.
The newly leaked emails reveal a clandestine network of Western agitators
around the NATO military chief, whose presence fueled the conflict in Ukraine.
Many allies found in Breedlove's alarmist public statements about alleged
large Russian troop movements cause for concern early on. Earlier this year,
the general was assuring the world that US European Command was "deterring
Russia now and preparing to fight and win if necessary."
The emails document for the first time the questionable sources from whom
Breedlove was getting his information. He had exaggerated Russian activities
in eastern Ukraine with the overt goal of delivering weapons to Kiev.
The general and his likeminded colleagues perceived US President Barack Obama,
the commander-in-chief of all American forces, as well as German Chancellor
Angela Merkel as obstacles. ..
Breedlove sought counsel from some very prominent people, his emails show.
Among them were Wesley Clark, Breedlove's predecessor at NATO, Victoria
Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs at
the State Department, and Geoffrey Pyatt, the US ambassador to Kiev. One name
that kept popping up was Phillip Karber, an adjunct assistant professor at
Georgetown University in Washington DC and president of the Potomac Foundation
... (OS: All these figures, except maybe Wesley Clark, are strongly
associated
with the American Neocon Order.) ..
Surreptitious Channels
On February 16, 2015, when the Ukraine crisis had reached its climax, Karber
wrote an email to Breedlove, Clark, Pyatt and Rose Gottemoeller, the under
secretary for arms control and international security at the State Department,
who will be moving to Brussels this fall to take up the post of deputy
secretary general of NATO. Karber was in Warsaw, and he said he had found
surreptitious channels to get weapons to Ukraine -- without the US being
directly involved.
According to the email, Pakistan had offered, "under the table," to sell
Ukraine 500 portable TOW-II launchers and 8,000 TOW-II missiles. The
deliveries could begin within two weeks. Even the Poles were willing to start
sending "well maintained T-72 tanks, plus several hundred SP 122mm guns, and
SP-122 howitzers (along with copious amounts of artillery ammunition for
both)" that they had leftover from the Soviet era. The sales would likely go
unnoticed, Karber said, because Poland's old weapons were "virtually
undistinguishable from those of Ukraine." ..
In March, Karber traveled again to Warsaw in order to, as he told Breedlove,
consult with leading members of the ruling party, on the need to "quietly
supply arty (eds: artillery) and antitank munitions to Ukraine." ..
'The Front Is Now Everywhere'
Karber's emails constantly made it sound as though the apocalypse was only a
few weeks away. "The front is now everywhere," he told Breedlove in an email
at the beginning of 2015, adding that Russian agents and their proxies "have
begun launching a series of terrorist attacks, assassinations,
kidnappings and
infrastructure bombings," in an effort to destabilize Kiev and other Ukrainian
cities.
In an email to Breedlove, Clark described defense expert Karber as
"brilliant." After a first visit, Breedlove indicated he had also been
impressed. "GREAT visit," he wrote. Karber, an extremely enterprising man,
appeared at first glance to be a valuable informant because he often -- at
least a dozen times by his own account -- traveled to the front and spoke with
Ukrainian commanders. The US embassy in Kiev also relied on Karber for
information because it lacked its own sources. "We're largely blind," the
embassy's defense attaché wrote in an email.
At times, Karber's missives read like prose. In one, he wrote about the 2014
Christmas celebrations he had spent together with Dnipro-1, the
ultranationalist volunteer battalion. "The toasts and vodka flow, the women
sing the Ukrainian national anthem -- no one has a dry eye."
Karber had only good things to report about the unit, which had already been
discredited as a private oligarch army. ..
....
German Spiegel is itself a pro-Atlanticist outlet, and I see this article as
a part of the effort to whitewash Obama and Merkel off the Ukraine-related
crimes and shift the main responsibility to the second-tier figures.
Their initial crime was to misrepresent the anti-constitutional coup in Kiev,
implemented by the far right militant gangs as a popular uprising against a
dictatorship. It was a very big lie and an insult to the human
intelligence.
Nevertheless, the Atlanticist propaganda had to support the false narrative,
and to support it properly it was necessary to exaggerate the false idea of
the alleged Russian intention to 'restore' something 'awful' and invade those
Baltics and Polands. The far the more it leads them to a dead end. The neocons
are shit, but the main responsibility for the war still lies with Obama and
the current EU-cracy, which includes Merkel as a key figure.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://davidswanson.org/node/5232>
The United States Congress has officially acknowledged what is beyond
dispute: the role of neo-Nazis in the coup government. ..
Niets nieuws Oleg, de WW 3 zal en moet er komen, en net zoals
1 en 2 uitgevochten op Europese bodem.
--
Ghingis Khan
http://www.lotuschild.org
http://www.lotuschild.org/guesthouse/
http://www.snowleopard.org
Oleg Smirnov
2016-09-20 04:43:51 UTC
Permalink
Julia Timoshenko <http://vurl.com/g5qJr> speaking in the parliament.

Lvov residents are today completely disillusioned about the politicians that
came to power in the Ukraine as a result of 'Maidan'. I talked with the people
in the shops and on the streets. I've never seen so many tears and curses and
so much hopelessness! People demand 'democratic forces', who are now in power,
to go away. They want 'criminal power' of Yanukovych back. The previous gov't
did for the people much better. The Ukrainians believe that the current policy
of the Kiev authorities is a systemic and deliberate genocide of them. If the
residents of Galicia think so then you can imagine what people in other
regions think. Etc.

Video of the speech:


References:
<http://tinyurl.com/jj3zfxy> ukranews.com
<http://tinyurl.com/jnq9kvb> strana.ua

...

The Lvov (Lviv, Galicia) region is the core of the most radical West Ukrainian
nationalism which sentiment drove the violent 'Maidan' protests that ended up
with the unlawful and anti-democratic 'regime change' supported by the US / EU
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/j7quqkj>
... Network Close To NATO Military Leader Fueled Ukraine Conflict
Oleg Smirnov
2016-09-27 23:18:37 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zqz7nzt> independent.co.uk

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said the UK will support Turkey's bid to
join the European Union despite voting to leave the bloc.
"We may be leaving the European Union but we are not leaving Europe," Mr
Johnson said on his first official visit to Ankara.
"And Britain," the foreign secretary added, "will help Turkey in any way."

<http://tinyurl.com/h73bxpu> spectator.co.uk

So good to see Boris Johnson making the obvious case for Brexit, namely that
the Turks are at the door. .. Mr Johnson put his finger on the nub of the
problem.. : 'I am very pro-Turkish but what I certainly can't imagine is a
situation in which 77 million [his estimate] of my fellow Turks and those of
Turkish origin can come here without any checks at all. That is really mad.'

...

The British are the most smart and bold :)
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/z8z4rv9>
Brexit Is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western
Establishment Institutions
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-06 19:46:21 UTC
Permalink
<http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950713001725>

Refugee Crisis: The Foreseeable Consequence of Shortsighted Interventions in
Middle East
Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:47

TEHRAN (FNA)- At a time when United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
praises Tehran's continued support for millions of Afghan refugees residing in
Iran, Amnesty International says selfish wealthy nations are still shirking
their responsibilities on refugees.

In its annual report released on Tuesday, the human rights body says just 10
countries are sheltering 56 percent of the world's refugees and they are among
the poorest nations. It goes on to state that the richest countries in the
world, who can absorb many more refugees, are doing close to nothing.

According to Amnesty International, the top refugee hosting countries are
Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Kenya, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic
of Congo, and Chad. What Amnesty forgets to mention in its report, however, is
that the wealthy Arab monarchs in the Persian Gulf have also done close to
nothing to host any Syrian refugees. Here, the Saudis make no secret about not
welcoming refugees, even though they are a primary instigator of the wars that
are forcing people to flee their homelands.

The point is, across the world, many observers blame the policies of Western
powers and their regional vassals on a surge in terrorism and war in the
Middle East and North Africa that have forced people to flee their homes. This
has been particularly the case for several years in Iraq and Syria, where the
refugee crisis has been a predictable outcome. And it's a notion that cannot
deflect blame away from the regime changers and factors that deserve it.

They need to realise that their interventions have only destabilised the
heartlands of the Muslim world. Thanks to the "Assad Must Go" gang, the war on
Syria has turned the country into a top refugee-maker; Syria's neighbours have
reached their physical limit on their ability to absorb refugees; and that's
just one of the reasons so many Syrians are heading to the West.

The troubling part of this tragedy is that the United States and its allies
refuse to take any responsibility for the current mess, much less end the
disastrous war on Syria. On the contrary, they say they are withdrawing from
talks related to the ceasefire process, all while holding Russia, Syria and
Iran wholly responsible for the failure of the effort. Lest they forget, if
the war goes on, there will be more refugees. Nobody should be surprised when
that happens.

Had the Western governments not wanted a refugee crisis, they shouldn't have
been so eager to topple those governments and destabilize those countries.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the UEA are not totally
blameless either. They were, and still are, very much involved in the ongoing
wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.

They have devoted themselves to supporting various terrorist groups in the
hope to oust the Syrian government for geopolitical and sectarian reasons.
They are also sponsoring and actively involved in the war on Yemen. Like it or
not, all these dirty wars are going to produce even more refugees - peace
talks and ceasefire notwithstanding.

Long story short, the whole refugee crisis was easily predictable. It was the
foreseeable consequence of shortsighted interventions in the Middle East and
the colonial policies of Europe and the United States. The authors of the
current mess should face facts and accept responsibility. If they really
wanted to solve the refugee problem, they would end the war on Syria and stay
out of the Middle East free-for-all. It's really as simple as that.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/zqz7nzt>
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said the UK will support Turkey's bid to
join the European Union despite voting to leave the bloc.
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-07 15:55:40 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/z56vw7o> visegradpost.com

Václav Klaus (1/2): the EU is a threat to Europe

This interview was published in the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Hírlap
<http://migre.me/vav2w> the 22nd of July, 2016.
The interview was made by István Lovas and published originally in Hungarian.

a.. The EU is a threat to Europe
b.. Brexit is the victory of every European freethinkers
c.. Today's liberals can be considered mostly as camouflaged communists

Václav Klaus is a graduated economist, he was the President for ten years and
the Prime Minister for five years of Czech Republic. He was deprived of his
membership of Academy of Sciences in 1968 after Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia. He was one of the founders of Civic Forum during the 1989
"Velvet Revolution", he was also the first non-communist Finance Minister of
the country. He founded Czech Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and led it as its
president. He is the leader of the eponymous think tank called Institute
Václav Klaus in Prague, where we were talking with him because of the German
release of his highly acclaimed book Migration [Völkerwanderung - Kurze
Erläuterung der aktuellen Migrationskrise; co-author Jirí Weigl - translator's
notice], about the crisis afflicting the continent.

...

IL: In a recent interview, referring to the disposal of Soros's CEU you
mentioned, that you were working always on the restriction of presence of him.
Can we say, that apart of some minor entities, your country is free from
Soros?

Václav Klaus: We are not. There are many non-governmental organizations, which
are very similar regarding of their mentality. But if I am not wrong, there is
no direct activity in the Czech Republic. At the time you mentioned, we were
taking care for not to grant a real status for his University.

IL: In the same interview you also told, that your mind was not changed about
Soros during the past quarter-century. You added wholeheartedly also, that he
is the embodiment of evil.

Václav Klaus: We wanted to make the transition happen according to our
intentions. To realize our ideas during the process of the transformation of a
communist society. While Mr. Soros wanted to tell us how to do that. Which was
unacceptable for us. We wanted to establish a normal system of political
parties. He wanted to fulfill changes that are beneficial for him without
political parties, trough non-governmental organizations, which are
representing nobody. Least of the voters. So this was the political debate
with him. ..

IL: Brussels said, there will be penalty for each country for every rejected
migrants, it will be E250,000 per person. But if the migration is such a good
business, then why should punish anyone, who does not want to be a part of it?

Václav Klaus: This is a very good question. Definitely, this is a tool with
which they want to force the countries to admit the migrants. But I do not
think that they believe that migrants could mean any productive potency to the
European societies in the foreseeable future. They understood that their
calling for migrants was a mistake, and now, they don't know how to handle
their presence in Germany. This is why they want to distribute them in Europe.
They want to punish the Hungarians and the Czechs, who don't want to accept
them. ..

IL: I was the witness of your speech a few years ago [19th of February 2009. -
translator's notice] in the European Parliament during the Czech presidency of
the European Union, when the delegates run out from the chamber in hordes.
While Mr Pöttering, the then President of the European Parliament, was
listening that you call them communists as referring to their intolerant
behaviour while being criticized, in parallel with the Soviet Dictatorship,
his face turned red from anger, and almost choking with rage. Were your views
softened since that time?

Václav Klaus: No. They remained the same. Perhaps they had even hardened. I
believe that the EU is a threat to Europe and the cause of its continuous,
steady decline, nowadays. ..

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/z56vw7o>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950713001725>
Refugee Crisis: The Foreseeable Consequence of Shortsighted Interventions in
Middle East
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-11 10:19:50 UTC
Permalink
<http://archive.ec/GtriJ> the BBC

Recently, the ultra-nationalist (west-)Ukrainian activists launched a vocal
campaign for introduction of visa regime with Russia. The Ukrainian MFA
strongly opposes this initiative. The BBC reports why it is so.

According to the Ukrainian MFA, the visa regime will lead to a huge loss of
the population of the Ukraine. The fact is that many of the citizens of the
Ukraine have links to Russia and / or are persistently residing within Russia,
so in the tit-for-tat case they will simply prefer to change their citizenship
to the Russian one. Only in one 2015 year, 4.1 million of the Ukrainians have
moved to live and work in Russia (OS: This is not 'my' number, this is the
BBC referring to the Ukrainian official sources.)

...

According to my knowledge, about 5 million of the Ukrainians are in Russia
now. It includes about 1-1.5 million refugees from E. Ukraine, but most part
of the Ukrainians in Russia are here due to economic reasons, a part of them
are illegal immigrants. It means that - among the working age Ukrainians - one
in five or one in six are living in Russia now (of course, it doesn't include
Crimea, which is Russia). Nobody oppresses/ harasses the Ukrainians in Russia,
in contrast to, for example, Poland <http://archive.is/23Jxr>.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/z56vw7o>
Václav Klaus (1/2): the EU is a threat to Europe
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-14 16:08:39 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/j3rl92a> agra-net.com

Italy to invest in Crimean wine industry

Ecologia e Ambiente, one of Italian largest agricultural holdings, has
announced its intention to invest up to EUR300 million (USD336 mln) in
winemaking in Crimea.

<http://sptnkne.ws/cyWP>

Italian Lawmakers' Visit to Crimea Paves Way for Economic Cooperation

A visit of the Italian lawmakers and businessmen to Crimea on October 13-16
lays the groundwork for concrete agreements in infrastructure and winemaking
.. The lawmakers and delegates representing Italian regions of Veneto,
Liguria, Lombardy, Toscana and Emilia-Romagna are expected to visit three
cities of the Black Sea peninsula - Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yalta.
The delegation plans to sign an agreement on establishing sister city
relations between the Crimean city of Simferopol and the Italian city of
Padua. They also plan to visit the Massandra winery where the Crimean and the
Italian businessmen will discuss prospects of joint wine production ..

<http://tinyurl.com/j2qz3xn> ilgazzettino.it

The visitors represent a few northern regions of Italy. Most of these regions
already have expressed their stance to recognize the self-determination of
Crimea and their negative attitude towards sanctions against Russia. The
Ukrainian Embassy issued threats, but the Italians did not let themselves be
intimidated.

...
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/z56vw7o>
Václav Klaus (1/2): the EU is a threat to Europe
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-16 12:41:53 UTC
Permalink
<https://aeon.co/ideas/american-exceptionalism-from-stalin-with-love>

American exceptionalism, from Stalin with love

Ian Tyrrell | 10 October, 2016

Ian Tyrrell is emeritus professor of history at the University of New South
Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Every time a public figure uses the term 'American exceptionalism', ordinary
Americans turn to my website. It's number one for a quick answer to the
question: 'What is American exceptionalism?' .. Until about 2010, few
Americans had heard the term. Since then, its use has expanded exponentially.
..

American exceptionalism is not the same as saying the United States is
'different' from other countries. It doesn't just mean that the US is
'unique'. Countries, like people, are all different and unique, even if many
share some underlying characteristics. Exceptionalism requires something far
more: a belief that the US follows a path of history different from the laws
or norms that govern other countries. That's the essence of American
exceptionalism: the US is not just a bigger and more powerful country - but an
exception. It is the bearer of freedom and liberty, and morally superior ..

Some presume that the Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville invented the term in the
1830s, but only once did de Tocqueville actually call American society
'exceptional'. He argued that Americans lacked culture and science, but could
rely on the Anglo-Saxons in Britain to supply the higher forms of
civilisation. This is not what Americans mean by 'exceptionalism' today.

American exceptionalism is an ideology. The 'ism' is the giveaway. ..

It was actually Joseph Stalin, or his minions, who, in 1929, gave the idea its
name. It is surely one of the ironies of modern history that both major US
political parties now compete to endorse a Stalinist term. / Orthodox
communists used the term to condemn the heretical views of the American
communist Jay Lovestone .. Without question, Reagan saw the US as an
exceptional nation. The language of exceptionalism, however, derived from
Marxism, not God. ..

Decline is, in fact, the midwife to the ideology of American exceptionalism.
The less exceptional that circumstances in the US appear, the louder defenders
of exceptionalism insist on orthodoxy. ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://sptnkne.ws/cyWP>
Italian Lawmakers' Visit to Crimea Paves Way for Economic Cooperation
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-18 22:00:30 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zor6ct7> lefigaro.fr

Renaud Girard: "Let's bring Russia into the European family!"

Renaud Girarda | 18/10/2016

Rather than feeding the paranoia in the Russian sanctioning, it is vital for
Europe to engage in a real dialogue with Vladimir Putin in a reconciliation
objective. ..

Russia is a Western country. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Turgenev contributed to
Western culture. Nevertheless, our steadfastness pushes it in China, our
opponent's arms. ..

It is necessary to bring Russia back into the European family. ..

...

This naive French guy would have to ask Russia does it really want to be
in the 'European family'. Answer is not, it doesn't. The modern Russia is
interested to have a peaceful economic relation with Europe - this does not
suggest anything about this notoriously obsessive 'European family'. Russia
is *not* a sort of Europe, it never was and it will never be. Moreover the
present day Europe is no way a self-substantive entity, it's rather a bunch
of petty nations in a slave appendage to the EU / NATO under US patronage,
which makes the 'family' idea even more ludicrous and delusional.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<https://aeon.co/ideas/american-exceptionalism-from-stalin-with-love>
American exceptionalism, from Stalin with love
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-27 20:43:20 UTC
Permalink
<http://theantimedia.org/putin-warn-us-syria/>

Putin Tried to Warn Us About Syria Three Years Ago, but Nobody Listened

Darius Shahtahmasebi | October 25, 2016

.. In a live interview
with RT in June 2013,
Putin was asked for an explanation regarding Russia's support for Bashar
al-Assad in Syria, even though this support has made some people very angry at
Russia. Putin's response was that Russia does not support the Assad government
or Assad himself, but before defining Russia's official position, he explained
what Russia does not want to do within Syria or across the Middle East:

"We do not want to interfere into the internal schism of Islam, between
Shias and Sunnis. These are internal issues of the Islamic world. We have
very good relations with much of the Arabic world, Iran for example, and
others."

However, according to Putin, what worries Russia can be identified by having a
look "at what is going on in the Middle East in general."

"Egypt is not calm. Iraq is not calm - and it is not assured in its
continued existence as one state. Yemen is not calm; Tunisia is not calm.
Libya is witnessing inter-ethnic, inter-tribal conflict. So the entire
region has been engulfed, at a minimum, into a state of conflict and
undecidedness. And now Syria, down the same path."

In Putin's eyes, these events are no accident. As he puts it, these events
happened for a reason:

"Some people, from the outside, think that if they can 'comb' the region to
how they see fit - some of them call this 'democracy' - then the region will
come into calmness and order. That's not how it is. Without taking into
account the history, the traditions, religious particularities, you must not
do anything in the Middle East, especially as an outsider." ..

Unsurprisingly, supporting radical militant groups <http://u.to/7v5LDw> to
overthrow regimes in the Middle East has been a key hallmark of Obama's
foreign policy. As Putin notes:

"So they interfered in the internal affairs of Libya. Whether the [Gaddafi]
regime was good or bad - but Libya used to have the highest standard of
living <http://u.to/Gf9LDw> in the Middle East. And what's happening there
now? There's a war for resources; an endless inter-tribal war. How is this
all going to end - nobody knows."

What happened to Libya resonated strongly with Russia due to the fact that in
that situation, the West convinced <http://archive.is/t5ZEY> Russia and China
not to use their veto power at the U.N. Security Council level - they were
told regime change was not part of NATO's agenda in Libya. As it turned out,
however, this was one of the first things that happened as soon as
authorization was granted for NATO to bomb Libyan territory. Putin immediately
questioned
why NATO was attacking Muammar
Gaddafi directly despite their promises they would not do so.

Putin has therefore drawn the following conclusion:

"What worries us is that if the same is done in Syria, then it will be in
the same state as Libya. Is it not enough that we already have a small
lawless territory between Afghanistan and Pakistan? Nobody governs the area,
it's just groups of rebels. This is very close to our borders, do we want
another?"

The role of al-Nusra in the Syrian conflict continues
to be the main issue today, as Russia has
repeatedly asked for the United States to differentiate between terrorist
groups and moderate groups on the ground in Syria.

As Putin said:

"You know what [the Americans] can't answer us? The key armed opposition
group... al-Nusra... Yes, this organization is one of the key ones in the
armed opposition [against Assad]. The U.S. State Department has confirmed
it is a terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda. Al-Nusra does not hide
that fact. And - what are [the Americans suggesting]? For al-Nusra to be in
the future parliament?"

"Or, here's another example. They support certain organizations that are
fighting against Assad in Syria, yet those same countries [who support them
in Syria] fight against these organizations in Mali."

Putin's reference to fighters in Mali is a direct attack on France's role in
the war on terror. France has been actively bombing <http://u.to/z-9LDw> Mali
since 2013, though this is rarely covered by the mainstream media. As Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has noted <http://u.to/2P9LDw>, the fighters
France supported in Libya to overthrow Gaddafi were the same fighters they
have supposedly been fighting in Mali.

"Often, not only are they the same organizations - they are the same
individuals," Putin added.

"They simply leave Syria and go to fight in Mali - where western states do
not support them. Then the same people go back to Syria and there they are
supported."

"Where is the logic? How will it all end? These are not just empty words."
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<https://aeon.co/ideas/american-exceptionalism-from-stalin-with-love>
American exceptionalism, from Stalin with love
Thomas Schmidt
2016-10-28 09:32:06 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://theantimedia.org/putin-warn-us-syria/>
The EU consists of 28 nations, 27 in the near future, you want to fuck
27 nations?
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Putin Tried to Warn Us About Syria Three Years Ago, but Nobody Listened
That's not right.
You want to be called a liar?
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Darius Shahtahmasebi | October 25, 2016
?????
Post by Oleg Smirnov
.. In a live interview http://youtu.be/jy5F5nDuXYY with RT in June 2013,
??????
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Putin was asked for an explanation regarding Russia's support for Bashar
al-Assad in Syria, even though this support has made some people very angry at
Russia. Putin's response was that Russia does not support the Assad government
or Assad himself, but before defining Russia's official position, he explained
"We do not want to interfere into the internal schism of Islam, between
Shias and Sunnis. These are internal issues of the Islamic world. We have
very good relations with much of the Arabic world, Iran for example, and
others."
Tha father of Bashar had very godd connections to Russia and all others states
around Syria were supported by US-ministery af Aggression which is occupied by
jews since second world war. Al these states were occupied by US-Soldiers when
they didn't sell oil to US or tried to be not very friendly to Westpalestina
(some constantly try to call is Israel). So Syrians were deeply influenced by
modern, nonislamic ideas and by the caught by the ideas of a very liberal
version of islam. The same effect took place as in Iran, the population of
Syria had the benefit of modern life but only in the cities. The large mass
of people on the open land had no chance to get the benefit of people of the
cities but from the extrem idiots of imame who told that the kind of life
of the people in the cities isn't islamic enough.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
However, according to Putin, what worries Russia can be identified by having a
look "at what is going on in the Middle East in general."
"Egypt is not calm. Iraq is not calm - and it is not assured in its
continued existence as one state. Yemen is not calm; Tunisia is not calm.
Libya is witnessing inter-ethnic, inter-tribal conflict. So the entire
region has been engulfed, at a minimum, into a state of conflict and
undecidedness. And now Syria, down the same path."
Nobody cares about calm countries. US is not interested at all in coutries
which are calm but of governements paid of USA and perfectly following the
USA. The money for corruptes leaders of egypt for instance is part of the
enormous amount of money paid for that oil which is stolen by USA.

Just lokk! Russia is building the next serie of gas lines from Russia to Germany.
Who is against it. Poland of course, polish leaders are doing al the things
USians like e.g. placing rockets against Russia saying that rockets are against
Iran. And Polland is agains gas pipes from Russia to Germany because USians
want to sell the stolen oil. So Putin is angry about these rockets and the
US-ministray of Agression telling evrybody that Russia again want to occupy
all countries of the sowiet union..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
In Putin's eyes, these events are no accident. As he puts it, these events
"Some people, from the outside, think that if they can 'comb' the region to
how they see fit - some of them call this 'democracy' - then the region will
come into calmness and order. That's not how it is. Without taking into
account the history, the traditions, religious particularities, you must not
do anything in the Middle East, especially as an outsider." ..
Gods nation and the holy nation of democracy ist USA. You will see this by the next
elections. Only those can vote who do have a passport and only these are counted.
About 20 to 25 percent go to the elections and the half of that vote for one
of the two candidates. Both candidates are exrtemly rich and don#t have a idea
what's really going on in the USA. So most soldiers are in the army to get
some money for their hungry children. So USA lost every war. Oh! Not all!
The occupation of Grenada by the navy was a whole success. Especially against
the drunken russian engineers building an airport.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Unsurprisingly, supporting radical militant groups <http://u.to/7v5LDw> to
overthrow regimes in the Middle East has been a key hallmark of Obama's
"So they interfered in the internal affairs of Libya. Whether the [Gaddafi]
regime was good or bad - but Libya used to have the highest standard of
living <http://u.to/Gf9LDw> in the Middle East. And what's happening there
now? There's a war for resources; an endless inter-tribal war. How is this
all going to end - nobody knows."
But Obama did say it before! That he wanted a change! And he succeeded.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
What happened to Libya resonated strongly with Russia due to the fact that in
that situation, the West convinced <http://archive.is/t5ZEY> Russia and China
not to use their veto power at the U.N. Security Council level - they were
told regime change was not part of NATO's agenda in Libya. As it turned out,
however, this was one of the first things that happened as soon as
authorization was granted for NATO to bomb Libyan territory. Putin immediately
questioned http://youtu.be/Iw5Ij_RFJ1Q why NATO was attacking Muammar
Gaddafi directly despite their promises they would not do so.
"What worries us is that if the same is done in Syria, then it will be in
the same state as Libya. Is it not enough that we already have a small
lawless territory between Afghanistan and Pakistan? Nobody governs the area,
it's just groups of rebels. This is very close to our borders, do we want
another?"
If any country around westpalestina without the Gaza-strip is saying any word
against the hundret of atomic bombs there will be bombed by the USA. If any state
doesn't sell its oil to USA or doesn't want to be paid wit $ it will be bombed.
If any state seems to be agressive against Westpalesina will be occupied.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
The role of al-Nusra in the Syrian conflict continues
http://youtu.be/NVoLgD1RIxE to be the main issue today, as Russia has
repeatedly asked for the United States to differentiate between terrorist
groups and moderate groups on the ground in Syria.
"You know what [the Americans] can't answer us? The key armed opposition
group... al-Nusra... Yes, this organization is one of the key ones in the
armed opposition [against Assad]. The U.S. State Department has confirmed
it is a terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda. Al-Nusra does not hide
that fact. And - what are [the Americans suggesting]? For al-Nusra to be in
the future parliament?"
"Or, here's another example. They support certain organizations that are
fighting against Assad in Syria, yet those same countries [who support them
in Syria] fight against these organizations in Mali."
The one who is against US is a terrorist. The one who is against Westpalästina
is a terrorist. Tha one who crashed in the "world-trade-tower" is no terrorist
because he helped to bomb down all terrorist coutries, caused assurances to pay
a new westpalestinian cathedal avoidind the enormouse costs of demontage. No
westpalästinian US-idiot was hurt. Great, wasn't that?
USian-idiot hardly can write their name or can read it afterward. They believe
earth being a disk. They don't know absolutly anything except nothing about
geagrophy, history, musik, art, philosophy, economy, politics. So never try to
talk to them like human beings. their newspapers only report nothing, their TV
only shows USian stupidity. They can't read books because they can#t open it
beleaving it being a smartphone. They know everything about god ans sins but
at a level of stupid babies. If their priests tells them Putin being a devil
they believe it forever.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Putin's reference to fighters in Mali is a direct attack on France's role in
the war on terror. France has been actively bombing <http://u.to/z-9LDw> Mali
since 2013, though this is rarely covered by the mainstream media. As Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has noted <http://u.to/2P9LDw>, the fighters
France supported in Libya to overthrow Gaddafi were the same fighters they
have supposedly been fighting in Mali.
Mainstream media are controlled. By US. This seems curious but the bosses of
journalists believe in USA so nothing can be written what can hurt the souls
of US-idiots. All armies as a part of NATO have to believe in USA, even the
french ones. Got it?
Post by Oleg Smirnov
"Often, not only are they the same organizations - they are the same
individuals," Putin added.
"They simply leave Syria and go to fight in Mali - where western states do
not support them. Then the same people go back to Syria and there they are
supported."
"Where is the logic? How will it all end? These are not just empty words."
Well there is hope. Internet can't be controlled and if some bastards like the
Khalif of Byzanz try to controll it, there darknet cen be used, In darknet
many, many Russians are writing allthough it's hard to read that. If anyone
want's information, it can be gotten.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<https://aeon.co/ideas/american-exceptionalism-from-stalin-with-love>
American exceptionalism, from Stalin with love
Stalin, Lenin, Chrutschow, all stupid, Putin is not stupid, He gives the
population of Russia the illusion of being an important nation. Why is this
important for Russian Nation? It isn't. Loosing many neigborrows around a
central state ist hard for those livinig there. It was hard for Austria
for it tried hard to get connected to Germany. It was hard for France loosing
all theri colonies. It is not hard for England fo they don't think they have
lost anything, not even India. Canada still has the german granny on their money.
And is extremly hard for Russia. What a nonsence! Did you ever walk from
Kaliningrad to Wladiwostok? To really learn to know, how large Russia is?
Why care about lost occupied contries? Now Putin makes Russians believe
that Russia really is large and important. The real importance of Russia
has to be made by Russians. So start it!

Don't post to at.gesellschaft.politik there are only merited, proved and
complet idiots there, like USians :-)
--
Wer nichts weiß - muß alles glauben!
Oleg Smirnov
2016-11-16 17:06:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by Thomas Schmidt
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://theantimedia.org/putin-warn-us-syria/>
The EU consists of 28 nations, 27 in the near future, you
want to fuck 27 nations?
"F*ck the EU" is a Frau. Vickie Nuland's expression, not mine.
Post by Thomas Schmidt
Post by Oleg Smirnov
Putin Tried to Warn Us About Syria Three Years Ago, but Nobody Listened
That's not right.
You want to be called a liar?
Call me a liar only due to what I was claiming myself, please. The sentence
above was not written by me. I post excerpts from articles which I might not
fully agree with, but just find them somewhat interesting nevertheless.
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-30 14:31:53 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zncsh9g> peakprosperity.com

We Risk Being Collateral Damage In The Neocon Lust For War

So much so that I've upped my personal preparations

Chris Martenson | October 28, 2016

.. Eventually, finally, people slowly wake up to the fact that their rituals
and the weather never had anything to do with each other. But by then, society
has usually torn itself apart, unable to align the contradictions.
This is what's happening now. The narrative we live by is breaking down, and
increasingly, our desperate ruling elites simply don't know what to do.
People are confused and so they want to either return to the past "Make
America Great Again!") or they want to cling to the present ("Stronger
Together"... as in don't rock the boat, preserve the status quo!). ..

Among the many conflicts that are boiling over, the one that concerns me the
most -- by far -- is the West's very intentional efforts to demonize Putin
specifically, and Russia generally.

The tactics being used are no different from those used to disparage Saddam
and his regime right before the invasion of Iraq. We've been down this path
before; the playbook is literally exactly the same.

Blatantly obvious propaganda is being used, most heavily by the very same (and
unrepentant) main stream media outlets that were used the last time around --
when we ended up commencing a 'pre-emptive' war based on ginned-up
intelligence that turned out to be wholly false. We owe it to ourselves not be
so easily led this time around. ..

The Winds Of War ..

The blackballing of Putin and Russia started years ago, in 2013, when Putin
managed to convince then-president of Ukraine Yanukovych to back out of the
agreement intended to bring Ukraine into the EU fold as the final NATO brick
in the wall.

That set-back enraged the neocons in Washington DC mightily and they've been
rapidly anti-Putin ever since. This neocon grudge has found help and support
ever since from the UK, US, and EU press which were also willing partners in
selling the fraudulent "evidence" that led to the Iraq war -- and Libya, too,
and now Yemen and Syria. ..

So the demonization began a long time ago, well before it's reasonable to
suspect HRCs advance team could start scheming about how to use an anti-Putin
stance against Trump, or any other opponent.

But the media has continued to beat the Putin=bad drums, and with increasingly
volume. ..

The message: Putin is manipulating us, and anybody who falls for it is a
sucker. And if you dare to question the integrity of the US elections, which
there is ample evidence that it is vulnerable to fraud & manipulation (listen
to our podcast with election integrity analyst Brad Friedman
<http://bit.ly/2eaVg8U>), you are Putin's patsy. ..

I just know propaganda when I see it. And I see it in the examples above, and
in the media pervasively today. So where does this lead us? ..

The real question is: Why? What's the plan here, if any exists? Who's behind
all this and why? If we can answer any of these, then perhaps we can assess
the risks regular people like us and our loved ones may be facing as potential
"collateral damage" of this warmongering. ..

Read it in full <http://tinyurl.com/zncsh9g>

...

The answer to the 'why?' is a combination of rational and irrational issues.

The irrational thing is, the US policymakers are, in a large part, possessed
maniacs living within the bubble of their dense delusion and with baser and
desperate lust for global hegemony. They consider Russia an obstacle. The so
called liberals and progressives greatly contributed to this insanity because
their bogus narratives produce specious justifications for the wars.

The rational thing is that the 'image of enemy' is required to continue the
social management in the US via habitual patterns that had been formed during
the Cold War. Another rational thing are the interests of the military-
industrial complex. Yet one reason is that the demonization of Russia helps
the US keep the Europeans on a short leash. All this is aside from what the
majority of the regular Americans is really concerned about (moreover the US
establishment's policy produces more terrorist threats and refugees at home).

The writer is incorrectly claiming that 'blackballing' of Russia started in
2013 due to the Ukraine. Actually, it begun earlier with the insane 'pussy
riot' / 'gays' hysteria in the Atlanticist MSM that was intended to demonize
Russia in the mind of the sheep. Here <http://archive.is/ijV9Q> another writer
hinted, in 2012, the US administration issued an implicit call to 'oust' Putin
and "after Putin's decision to stand for election in March 2012, the goal of
isolating Russia with an eye toward regime change became default US policy."
In turn, the Putin's 2012 decision to come back, as some analysts speculate,
was largely due to the example of what the US and NATO had done in Libya. Ie.
it became clear the American policymakers and their lackeys in Europe began
behaving like rampant maniacs so Russia needed a strong leadership to resist.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950713001725>
Refugee Crisis: The Foreseeable Consequence of Shortsighted Interventions in
Middle East
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-30 14:32:38 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zd6w7rk> russia-insider.com

The Crisis of the European Union Is Irreversible

The political-economic block and its common currency cannot be salvaged

Giancarlo Elia Valori
The author is an Italian industrialist and honorary member of the Academy of
Science of the Institut de France

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/zd6w7rk>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950713001725>
Refugee Crisis: The Foreseeable Consequence of Shortsighted Interventions in
Middle East
Oleg Smirnov
2016-10-30 19:43:28 UTC
Permalink
<http://archive.is/KccC6> opendemocracy.net

Totalitarian tendencies in post-Maidan Ukraine
In Ukraine, the state apparatus, far-right movements and patriotic citizens
are working together to shut down debate and silence criticism.

VOLODYMYR CHEMERYS | 26 October 2016

.. In post-Maidan Ukraine, temnyky (OS: "the authorities' secret instructions
to the press"), arrests and censorship have become commonplace. What's more,
repression against dissidents and even murder have become socially acceptable.
The murder of the journalist Oles Buzyna in April 2015 or the burning of
dozens of people in Odesa in May 2014 now find their justification in the
speeches of "patriots". Meanwhile, former opposition journalists who gained
seats as parliamentary deputies refuse to defend their colleague Ruslan
Kotsaba, the blogger who spent a year and a half in jail for his views. In
all, over 100 journalists, bloggers and indeed ordinary people who expressed
their views about the war in the Donbas, conscription, the constitutional
order of Ukraine (law enforcement authorities qualify such views as
"separatism") and other issues have been criminally prosecuted in Ukraine for
their publications.

The boldest predictions of George Orwell's 1984 have come to pass - phrases
like "civil war" have become taboo. In their place, we have newspeak. In
particular, the newspeak term "hybrid war", which means everything in our mass
media from military action in the east to an article
(OS: <http://archive.is/1H0jk>) in the New York Times.

To be fair, it should be noted that justifications of violence and murder of
"enemies" have not been accepted by society as a whole - only by one segment
of social media, the mass media and those who call themselves "Maidan
activists". However, that fact does not bestow a rosier vista of Ukraine
today. Critics of the current state of affairs generally remain silent for
fear of repression or they censor themselves. Meanwhile, our mass media
presents the postings of the "Facebook Hundred" or the speeches of "patriots"
as though they were the voice of the entirety of Ukrainian society. (OS: To
be fair, the majority of the Ukrainians don't share the ultra-nationalistic
enthisiasm today, but they prefer to be silent or very careful about anything
that may be against the party line, since a punishment will be real.) ..

The practice of "five minutes of hatred" (again reminiscent of Orwell) has
become commonplace. True, these "five minutes" - mass attacks in social media
and the news media against Nadia Savchenko, Tetiana Montian, Stanislav
Serhienko, Volodymyr Zelensky as well as "anti-corruption activists" and
"euro-optimists" - last not for five minutes, but often weeks on end. (OS:
Nadia Savchenko is that ridiculous 'heroic' 'pilot' that helped kill Russian
journalists and then she was released by Putin - today she becomes closer and
closer to 'the enemy of the state' status in the Ukraine - because she is
stupid and affords to be vocal independently. Other names in the list are also
not 'pro-Russian'.) The initiators of such campaigns (the authors of the first
posts) are advisors to the president (Yuri Biriukov), public officials (Anton
Herashchenko, Georgy Tuka) or structures that belong to representatives of the
pro-government People's Front (Mykola Kniazhytsky, Serhiy Pashynsky).

Informing has become socially acceptable in post-Maidan Ukraine. The State
Security Agency (SBU) encourages it. The website Myrotvorets ("Peacemaker")
collects informers' reports and regularly publishes lists of "enemies" -
journalists and civic activists. These lists often become an instruction of
sorts for the actions of ultra-right paramilitary groups, who use violence
against "traitors", attacking participants in social protests, anti-war,
anti-fascist meetings, threatening and even beating up journalists. ..

Something really has happened to us - Ukraine has changed after the last
Maidan. From a country that stood out for its level of civic freedoms on the
territory of the former USSR, it is transforming into a copy of the Russian
Federation in terms of the suppression of those freedoms. (OS: The latter is
an utter BS since Russia is in no comparison with the post-coup Ukraine's
fascist shit. And the Ukrainian 'dissidents' in contrast to the vocal Russian
ones know well 'the West' will not help them. That's why the hapless loser is
complaining through a little-known minor outlet, neither 'The New York Times'
nor 'The Guardian' would not publish such complaints.) ..

The facts above show that several aspects of civic life in today's Ukraine are
under the control either of state organs or non-state far-right formations.
And citizens who want to express views that are not approved by these
formations face threats, violence or criminal prosecutions. A number of NGOs
and internet resources monitor what bloggers say on social media, the
publications and activities of journalists and civic activists, appearances by
actors and singers (both Ukrainian and Russian), television broadcasts, films
and peaceful gatherings. The result of this "monitoring" is usually an appeal
to state bodies such as the SBU, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of
Information (the "Ministry of Truth" as it is called by many journalists),
National Council for Television and Radio, State Film Agency, demanding that
criminal charges be brought against certain people, that broadcast of certain
television programmes or films be prohibited, that television broadcast
licences be revoked. ..

In other incidents, ultra-right activists, openly racist and Nazi (such as
Azov) formations have themselves attacked television stations such as Ukraina
and Inter, social protests, anti-war meetings, meetings with left wing and
antifascist banners and symbols, actions of the LGBT community. As a rule,
these attacks take place with the police passively standing by.During these
attacks on mass media outlets, the attackers demand changes to their editorial
policy and the portrayal of events in Ukraine according to their "patriotic"
point of view only. As a result of this pressure, attacks and criminal
prosecutions citizens refrain from stating their views in public and the mass
media censors itself. ..

The initiators of campaigns against dissent are typically the representatives
of ultra-right formations, as well as those civic activists who previously
presented themselves and currently do so as people with a liberal and
democratic outlook. However, these campaigns succeed primarily as a result of
either the support or the inactivity of state institutions.

Read the whining in full <http://tinyurl.com/hscp5nd>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/zd6w7rk>
The Crisis of the European Union Is Irreversible
Oleg Smirnov
2016-11-08 20:35:35 UTC
Permalink
<http://archive.is/HcThh> wsj.com

Anti-Americanism Across the Continent

Affection for Russia unites French presidential candidates-and many other
European politicians.

JOHN VINOCUR | Nov. 7, 2016

.. Anti-Americanism appears increasingly like a common denominator. ..

Read it in full <http://archive.is/HcThh>

...

The indispensable American exceptionalists seem to be unhappy due to that.

The Europeans should thank their overseas patron's policy and agenda for the
refugees as well as for their economic losses due to the anti-constitutional
anti-democratic coup in the Ukraine.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://archive.is/KccC6>
Totalitarian tendencies in post-Maidan Ukraine
Oleg Smirnov
2016-11-16 12:23:26 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/h5m85yy> ronpaulinstitute.org

Bulgaria & Moldova Switch from Hillary's Euro-Atlantic Column

mark almond | monday november 14, 2016

.. In both Bulgaria and Moldova, the voters rejected candidates for president
who had been openly endorsed by Washington and Brussels. .. Even cash
inducements like the IMF's sudden dole of US $36 million to the Moldovan
regime just six days before the poll could not buy enough support. Even more
striking was the Bulgarian public's rejection of the pro-EU candidate who had
boasted about how much EU aid to the poverty- stricken Balkan EU member was at
stake. ..

Until Trump's election, the USA and EU deployed their massive power and
influence to making any vote against their policy-options seem futile despite
popular recognition of how they had gutted the productive aspects of both the
Bulgarian and the Moldovan economies. Sunday's elections in both countries may
be straws in the wind. They are victories for the genuine people power ..

No-one has died in these tremors in Bulgaria and Moldova. But the fact that
the upheaval has been peaceful through the ballot-box leaves only violence as
a viable way of reversing the will of the people. Both Bulgaria in 1997 and
Moldova in 2009 saw violent Putsches from the street enthusiastically endorsed
in Brussels and Washington as "People Power". ..

What should worry the US-EU establishment is that elections are coming in
countries which won't be so easy to ignore as small East European states. Next
spring, the Dutch and the French vote. ..

...

This is once again about the phenomenon that real democracy works differently
than what's suggested by those who build their cultism on the basis of slogans
about democracy / values.

Maybe it's time to start European Spring against the Corrupt Establishment.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://archive.is/KccC6>
Totalitarian tendencies in post-Maidan Ukraine
Oleg Smirnov
2016-11-16 17:03:51 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hr5nqts> cnn.com

Angela Merkel to run for 4th term as Chancellor, politician says

Mick Krever, Frederik Pleitgen and Joe Sterling | November 16, 2016

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will run for a fourth term in elections next
year, a senior politician in her party told CNN on Tuesday. ..

"She is absolutely determined, willing, and ready to contribute to strengthen
the international liberal order. But we can't see the Chancellor or Germany as
last man standing." ..

If she pursues the position, she'll be the favorite to win, political experts
say, even though she is facing some backlash over Germany's refugee policies
and the acceptance of hundreds of thousands ..

...

Please, Germans, elect some one less hypocrite and less delusional instead of
this ridiculous person. Merkel represents the rotten trend in the 'western'
politics whose proponents make heavily extensive use of the sonorous 'values'
rhetoric, which is a sort of unhealthy cult. Meanwhile something different
happens under such a cover, at the expense of the ordinary people in the end.

Only very dishonest or / and deeply delusional person can afford to rant about
"values - democracy, freedom, respect for the law" after the bold, blatant and
shameless lawlessness that had happened in the Ukraine.

In the recent decade, the 'international liberal order' and the institutions
related to it, have lost a large part of moral authority and legitimacy due to
the fact that all this hypocrisy becomes increasingly prominent and visible.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://archive.is/KccC6>
Totalitarian tendencies in post-Maidan Ukraine
Oleg Smirnov
2016-11-17 13:54:32 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hcafhc8> irrussianality.wordpress.com

THE ENEMY WITHIN

Paul Robinson | NOVEMBER 17, 2016

In democratic countries, disagreeing with government policy is nothing
unusual. But Russophobic paranoia has reached such a peak that those who dare
to propose better relations with Russia are increasingly facing pressure to be
silent. Even daring to suggest that Russian-Western tensions are not entirely
Russia's fault is enough to get one labelled 'pro-Russian' and a possible
threat to national security. The struggle with the enemy without has now
turned into a struggle against the 'enemy within'.

A report <http://bit.ly/2fzML8u> published this week by the Atlantic Council
entitled The Kremlin's Trojan Horses. denounces the 'Putinverstehern [Putin
understanderers], useful idiots, agents of influence, or Trojan Horses' who
are allegedly subverting European democracy, and proposes various measures
which European governments should take against them.

Russia, says the report, is aiming 'to sow discord among European Union (EU)
member states, destabilize European polities, and undermine Western liberal
values - democracy, freedom of expression, and transparency'. ..
The Atlantic Council urges European governments to take action against these
fifth columnists. ..

...


<http://tinyurl.com/j93byc4>
The real Trump-Putin connection
Oleg Smirnov
2016-11-17 20:15:09 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/gm3twj2> spiked-online.com

MEET THE NEW COLD WARRIORS

TIM BLACK | 15 NOVEMBER 2016

Evil Empire-bashing is no longer the preserve of the right.

During the old Cold War, it tended to be right-wing Western politicians who
were most comfortable stoking the fires of anti-Russian fear and loathing.
Think of McCarthyite warnings of reds under the beds in 1950s America or of US
president Ronald Reagan's attacks on the 'evil empire' in the 1980s. But no
more. Today, conjuring up Russia as the nefarious demiurge of world affairs,
with Vlad the Bad Putin as demon-in-chief, has almost become the self-styled
progressive's stock-in-trade. .. While there are of course still plenty on the
right of Western politics (to the extent that a right exists) who cling to the
certainties of the old Cold War, it's the liberals, the left-leaning, the now
frayed and frazzled establishment, who seem most keen to fuel the fires of the
new Cold War, in an attempt to rediscover some sense of moral purpose. ..

In fact, Clinton has been an orchestrator-in-chief of the anti-Russian forces.
She has spoken of seeking to 'confine, contain, [and] deter Russian aggression
in Europe and beyond'; she said Russia's annexation of Crimea after the
West/EU-stoked unrest in Ukraine, was reminiscent of Hitler's justification
for taking over parts of Eastern Europe; and, in the run-up to her failed
election bid, she declared, 'I remain convinced that we need a concerted
effort to really up the costs on Russia and in particular on Putin'.

This is not just rhetoric. .. This is the effect the new liberal, right-
thinking purveyors of the Cold War have been having on world affairs. They
have been destabilising relationships, exacerbating tensions and prompting
Russia to retroactively aggress, act out, protect itself. ..

...

Atlanticism is a world bully, and its right and left wings - their mainstream
factions - support the basic bullying agenda. The right wing represents more
'classical', barefaced imperialistic stance. The left wing seeks to justify
subversion and aggression as a mission to promote progressive democracy and
'responsibility to protect' someone somewhere from tyranny and dictatorship.

The left-wing-related issues are somewhat more orwellian.

There are, of course, peaceful left and peaceful right, but not in dominance.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hcafhc8>
THE ENEMY WITHIN
Oleg Smirnov
2016-11-25 02:22:06 UTC
Permalink
Meanwhile in Kiev ..

Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gm3twj2>
MEET THE NEW COLD WARRIORS
Oleg Smirnov
2016-12-29 21:43:45 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/gq9jhgw> novinite.com

Moscow Court Rules Change in Power in Ukraine in 2014 Is Coup

December 27, 2016

A Moscow court has ruled that the events in February 2014 in Ukraine
constitute a state coup .. The decision .. came after a request on behalf of
former Ukrainian deputy Vladimir Oleynik. ..

"There are armed extremist groupings in Ukraine which partake in power and
persecute people in accordance with the principle of social and ideological
hate," reads the ruling.

The support of the USA and the EU for the "anti-constitutional" coup led to a
schism in society and an armed conflict. .. During the court sessions, judge
.. heard the testimony of former employees of the administration, of President
Viktor Yanukovych, the chief Prosecutor's Office, the Interior Ministry and
the security forces who described unanimously the change in power as a coup ..

...

Anyone may learn the facts and laws, and the only possible conclusion from
that is that all this was clearly unlawful. The European politicians chose not
to notice the lawlessness while the US ambassador and other US emissaries were
boldly and brazenly lying that all goes within legal field. Only a silly one
might believe it'd remain without bad consequences.

Now, the Ukraine is a time bomb that will inevitably explode some day.

If someone believes that 'sanctions' etc against Russia might prevent it then
this one must be even more silly then those 'community of values' morons that
supported the anti-democratic coup in the country.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gm3twj2>
MEET THE NEW COLD WARRIORS
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-10 13:24:24 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hprxg5d> consortiumnews.com

The 'Post-Truth' Mainstream Media

Nicolas J S Davies | January 9, 2017

.. For several months, Western officials and media outlets repeated thousands
of times that there were between 250,000 and 300,000 civilians trapped under
Syrian and Russian bombardment in East Aleppo. Western reports rarely
mentioned the Syrian government's estimate that there were only one-third that
number of civilians in the rebel-controlled enclave - nor that its estimates
were solidly based on what it had found in Homs and other rebel-held areas
after it restored state control.

Once East Aleppo fell to government forces, it turned out that there were less
than 90,000 people there <http://bit.ly/2i9EFkA>, about what the Syrian
government estimated but only a fraction of the much higher numbers
confidently repeated ad nauseam by Western officials and media.

Part of the reason for this misreporting was that Syrian rebels had publicly
killed Western and independent journalists to secure a monopoly on information
coming out of rebel-controlled areas. Given the West's disdain for Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, and sympathy for his opponents, the mainstream
Western media then became reliant on anti-government rebels and allied
activists for what was going on in those parts of Syria.

Now the complicity of Western media in the success of this strategy has been
exposed as a systematic and deadly lapse in journalistic standards. So we
should by now have seen widespread corrections and retractions from mainstream
media that helped the rebels broadcast propaganda that conveyed a misleading,
one-sided picture of the crisis in Aleppo.

The absence of corrections or retractions reflects a "new normal" in Western
media practice. The mainstream media reports propaganda, usually produced by
Western governments but in this case even by Al Qaeda splinter groups, as
uncontested fact. Then, when the bubble bursts and the propaganda is exposed,
it is quickly swept down the memory hole as the same reporters, editors and
producers who got it all wrong unapologetically move on to other equally
unsubstantiated narratives, in this case, "Russia hacked the election," and
even, "Russia hacked the electric grid."

'Post-Truth' Media ..
Al Qaeda's Social Media ..
'Russian Aggression' ..
Imbalanced Accusations ..
Three Minutes to Doomsday ..

Read it in full <http://tinyurl.com/hprxg5d>

...

The UN officials also zealously promoted these lies <http://u.to/2g6iDw>,
and if the Syrian army was not able to liberate the al-Qaeda-held part of the
city then these lies might never be refuted.

One more notable thing, it was said that there're about 1.5 - 2 million people
in the government-held part of Aleppo, then, if you compare the sizes of the
al-Qaeda-held part and the gov't-held part, you can easily come to conclusion
that the 'population density' in the Qaeda-held part was very much less than
the one in the rest of Aleppo. The latter means, most of the civilians clearly
preferred to move to the government-held part from the al-Qaeda-held part even
before the Syrian army started the offensive to liberate East Aleppo. All this
is in a striking contradiction with the bold false narratives so importunately
promoted by the Atlanticist officials and the mainstream media.

Why do you allow your officials and the media to be so boldly blatant liars?
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gq9jhgw>
Moscow Court Rules Change in Power in Ukraine in 2014 Is Coup
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-10 16:47:07 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/grtkpa8> antiwar.com

NATO Report Blames Russia for Populism Worldwide

Blames Russians for Trump, Brexit

Jason Ditz | January 09, 2017

A new report from NATO is following a narrative trend which began in the US
and has since spread across Western Europe, accusing Russia of being to blame
for the rise of populism worldwide, as an effort to undermine NATO and the
European Union.

This report blames Russia for the election of Donald Trump in November, as
well as last summer's Brexit vote, in which Britain decided to withdraw from
the European Union. It goes on to blame them for growing anti-EU movements in
several other union nations, and for improving polling numbers in Germany and
France for Euroskeptic parties. ..

...

The morons have f*cked up, and now they try to use 'Russia' as something that
is supposed to cause the knee-jerk reaction of the populace which is supposed
to be well-brainwashed.

Regular 'western' people should get smarter and figure out what exactly their
corrupt, delusional and degenerative establishments are trying to sell them
under the guise of this desperate hysteria about Russia.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hprxg5d>
The 'Post-Truth' Mainstream Media
MAIxxx
2017-01-10 22:15:49 UTC
Permalink
[snip]
Post by Oleg Smirnov
The 'Post-Truth' Mainstream Media
On est arrivé au point où la propagande/désinformation US et occidentale
atteint la perversion, c'est à dire devient anti-productive et se
retourne contre ceux qui en faisaient usage.

Le principe de "plus c'est gros mieux ça passe" ne fonctionne plus très
bien avec des des moyens d'information, internet en particulier qui
permettent de mettre en balance les plus gros mensonges avec les plus
terrifiantes réalités, et une quantité de bobards impressionnante qui
peut pousser l'internaute moyen à ne pas trop croire à tout et n'importe
quoi, y compris ce que racontent les media mainstream (pourquoi elles ne
mentiraient pas, tout le monde le fait bien).

D'où l'élection de Trump, du brexit etc. Les USA n'avaient qu'à s'en
prendre à eux-même, on était dans une situation métastable un peu comme
dans le cas du retard à l'ébullition, où on chauffe un verre d'eau dans
un microonde au delà de 100° sans qu'il bout et si on le titille un peu,
tout saute en l'air !
http://www.terredisrael.com/Prevention17.php
--
Si vous mettez deux Français ensemble, et s'ils sont d'accord sur tout,
c'est qu'un des deux est un étranger.
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-20 15:34:13 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zlj92e4> zerohedge.com

Facebook Launches 'Fake News' Filtering Service Ahead Of German Elections

Tyler Durden | Jan 16, 2017

Because the rise in popularity of alternative and populist candidates in
Germany and elsewhere around the world can't possibly by a legitimate
rejection of politicians who simply skewed policies too far to the left over
the past decade, Germany and Facebook have announced an accelerated effort to
crack down on "Fake News" ..

...

Some may try VK instead of / in addition to Facebook.

Initially developed as a (near-)Russian network it attracts today more users
from various countries. There's no doubt that the VK administration (it's a
private company) would have to cooperate with authorities of specific
countries with regard to specific national regulations. It still can turn out
that their policies may be more sane in comparison with.

<https://vk.com/page-47200950_44237911>
Over 370 million registered accounts
Over 80 000 000 average daily users

According to Alexa, VK.com ranks 13th in the global world ranking.

Here are VK's national ranks (vs Facebook's ranks) for some countries.

Russia 1 (128)
Belarus 1 (95)
Ukraine 1 (36)
Kazakhstan 2 (138)
Moldova 4 (21)
Estonia 4 (15)
Latvia 5 (19)
Georgia 5 (9)
Azerbaijan 5 (13)
Armenia 6 (16)
Lithuania 6 (5)
Finland 6 (4)
Netherlands 6 (4)
Poland 10 (4)
Czechia 11 (5)
Israel 11 (4)
Germany 13 (6)
Austria 17 (5)
Belgium 20 (4)
Norway 25 (4)
Denmark 26 (4)
Italy 27 (4)
France 30 (4)
United Kingdom 35 (4)
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hprxg5d>
The 'Post-Truth' Mainstream Media
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-26 11:44:12 UTC
Permalink
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_van_Wolferen>

<http://tinyurl.com/gul4kry> unz.com

Karl Rove's Prophecy

KAREL VAN WOLFEREN | JANUARY 23, 2017

In a famous exchange between a high official at the court of George W. Bush
and journalist Ron Suskind, the official - later acknowledged to have been
Karl Rove - takes the journalist to task for working in "the reality-based
community." He defined that as believing "that solutions emerge from your
judicious study of discernible reality." Rove then asserted that this was no
longer the way in which the world worked:

"We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And
while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll
act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and
that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you,
all of you, will be left to just study what we do." (Ron Suskind,
NYTimes Magazine, Oct. 17, 2004).
(OS: <http://tinyurl.com/huedkm3>)

This declaration became popular as an illustration of the hubris of the
Bush-Cheney government. But we could also see it as fulfilled prophecy.
Fulfilled in a manner that no journalist at that time would have deemed
possible. Yes, the neoconservatives brought disrepute upon themselves because
of the disaster in Iraq. Sure, opposition to the reality Rove had helped
create in that devastated country became a first rung on the ladder that could
lead to the presidency, as it did for Barack Obama. But the neocons stayed put
in the State Department and other positions closely linked to the Obama White
House, where they became allies with the liberal hawks in continuing
'spreading democracy' by overthrowing regimes. America's mainstream news and
opinion purveyors, without demurring, accommodated the architects of reality
production overseen by Dick Cheney.

This did not end when Obama became president, but in fact with seemingly ever
greater eagerness they gradually made the CIA/neocon-neoliberal created
reality appear unshakably substantial in the minds of most newspaper readers
and among TV audiences in the Atlantic basin. .. With President Obama as a
mere spectator, the neocon/liberals could - without being ridiculed - pass off
as a popular revolution the coup d'état they fomented in the Ukraine. And
because of an unquestioned Atlanticist faith, which holds that without the
policies of the United States the world cannot be safe for people of the
Atlantic basin, the European elites that determine policy or comment on it
joined their American counterparts in endorsing that reality. ..

As the fighting in Syria reached a phase when contradictions in the official
Washington/NATO story demanded a stepping back for a fresh look, editors were
forced into contortions to make sure that the baddies stayed bad, and that no
matter how cruel and murderously they went about their occupation in Aleppo
and elsewhere, the jihadi groups fighting to overthrow the secular Assad
government in Damascus remained strictly labeled as moderate dissidents worthy
of Western support, and the Russians as violators of Western values.
Architects of an official reality that diverges widely from the facts you
thought you knew must rely on faits accompli they achieve through military or
police violence and intimidation, in combination with a fitting interpretation
or a news blackout delivered by mainstream media.

These conditions have been widely obtained in the Atlantic basin through a
gradual loss of political accountability at top levels, and through government
agencies protected by venerated secrecy that are allowed to live lives of
their own. As a result American and European populations have been dropped
into a fantasy world, one under constant threat from terrorists and an evil
dictator in Moscow. ..

A disadvantage of being part of the elite is that you must stick to the
accepted story. If you deviate from it, and have your thoughts run rather far
away from it, which is quite inevitable once you begin with your deviation,
you can no longer be trusted by those around you. If you are a journalist and
depend for your income on a mainstream newspaper or are hired by a TV company,
you run the risk of losing your job if you do not engage in self-censorship.

Consequently, publications that used to be rightly known as quality newspapers
have turned into unreadable rags. .. The realities Rove predicted have
infantilized parliamentary debates, current affairs discussion and lecture
events, and anything of a supposedly serious nature on TV. These now conform
to comic book simplicities of evil, heroes and baddies. ..

How could Rove's predictions so totally materialize? There's a simple answer:
'they' got away with momentous lies at an early stage. The more authorities
lie successfully the more they are likely to lie again in a big way to serve
the purposes of earlier lies. The 'they' stands for those individuals and
groups in the power system who operate beyond legal limits as a hydra-headed
entity, whose coordination depends on the project, campaign, mission, or
operation at hand. Those with much power got away with excessive extralegal
use of it since the beginning of this century because systems of holding the
powerful to account have crumbled on both sides of the Atlantic. ..

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/gul4kry>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hprxg5d>
The 'Post-Truth' Mainstream Media
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-27 19:32:08 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/gmfrhca> realcleardefense.com

Ukraine's Problem is Ukraine

James D. Durso | January 24, 2017

Ukraine's government has hired Washington lobbyists <http://u.to/oAuvDw> to
fix its problems with the Trump Administration, but would do better to fix
its internal problems, instead. Ukraine's problems are in four categories: a
structural problem caused by the multiple overlapping entities involved in
military strategy and procurement; the absence of a unified strategic vision
for ordering equipment and supplies; a "Fifth Column" of pro-Russian
officials; and a staggering corruption that divides the self-interest of the
elites from the national interest. ..

In Ukraine, citizens are played for suckers: local militias fight to preserve
home and liberty (OS: ???), while the leaders focus on procedure, personal
prestige, and offshore bank accounts. Ukroboronprom is infamous
<http://u.to/-gyvDw> for selling arms to the black market, and domestic
contracts are given to factories <http://u.to/UQ2vDw> indirectly owned
<http://u.to/eg2vDw> by President Petro Poroshenko, who still hadn't divested
his business interests as he promised to do when he took office in 2014.

However, Ukraine's political leaders are not fiddling while their country
burns, they are busy stealing their military budgets -- nearly half, in the
estimate of a former Ukrainian senior military officer who requested not to be
identified. They reason that when the rest of Ukraine is swallowed up by
Russia, they will have a well-funded Plan B. ..

Complicating these issues is the presence of the Russian Fifth Column. Many
of the senior leadership -- military as well as political -- are loyal to
President Putin, and they work actively to undermine Ukrainian independence.

.. It is time for President Poroshenko, the Defense Minister, the Chief of
Staff and their deputies to put Ukraine's interests above their own, resign
their positions, and let someone who cares about defending Ukraine manage the
defense effort. (OS: LOL) .. Honest Ukrainian patriots should .. force out the
kleptocrats, and lead the reform. ..

...

The 'Fifth Column' narrative demands special clarification. The Ukraine was in
independent development since the end of the USSR, and the Ukraine officials
is overwhelmingly a product of solely domestic origin. Neither Yeltsyn in the
1990s nor Putin in the 2000s nor some else from Russia noticeably influenced
the appointment of officials in the country.

The reason for the 'Fifth Column' is that many in the Ukraine are somehow
linked to Russia and v.v., - and it's not about the officials, it's about the
population in general - and they aren't 'loyal to President Putin' personally.
About 8 millions of the Ukrainians (ie. about a third of the Ukrainian adults)
per year are visiting Russia in the recent years, mostly due to their work as
well as private and family affairs. The Ukraine was / is the N1 source of the
visitors in Russia. 0.5 million of the Ukrainians spent their summer 2016 time
in 'occupied' Crimea. The sick Atlanticist propaganda cannot recognize the
fact of the close natural connection between Russia and the Ukraine because it
would destroy their very basic lies. But if you staged an anti-democratic coup
in favor of minority then it's natural to obtain a huge 'Fifth Column' as a
result. Such a 'column' can be suppressed only by heavy hateful propaganda in
combination with regular intimidation and terror against the people - whether
it's performed by the neo-Nazi groups of through the draconian oppressive
laws. The American writer promotes misconception of 'pro-Russian officials'
(that allegedly owe something to Putin) obviously alluding to the idea that a
greater terror against the Fifth Column would be justified. All this indicates
the savagery anti-humanism and immorality of the Atlanticist propaganda and
illustrates how much sick and disgusting those notorious 'values' really are.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gul4kry>
Karl Rove's Prophecy
Oleg Smirnov
2017-02-01 10:13:57 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hlwmbxg> 21stcenturywire.com

ALEPPO: Open Letter to French President Hollande ~ from Pierre Le Corf

Pierre Le Corf <https://twitter.com/pierrelecorf> | JANUARY 27, 2017

Mr President,

Today, I question all the values I have been raised with, the values of a
country I love, my country: France. I am writing to you as a French citizen
who arrived without any preconceived ideas in Syrian territory and lives in
what was previously known as Western Aleppo, now Aleppo. I am a politically
neutral humanitarian, and I have been here for a year.

The situation I am in is tough. ..

Today, the Syrian people stands united to fight not against the government but
against terrorist groups, no matter what we call them to hold them accountable
for their actions or the reason they have to exist. These terrorist groups are
named Al-jaïch al-hour (Free Syrian Army), Jabhat al-Nosra (or Fatah al-Cham,
branch of Al-Qaïda), Jaïch al-Islam, Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, Brigade
Sultan Mourad, etc. An anti governmental opposition exists, as for every
government. This opposition is more or less peaceful, but represents a
minority of the population. Since the beginning of the conflict and until now,
almost all the forces on the ground that have kept bombarding Aleppo are armed
fighters belonging to terrorist groups.

I use the term « terrorist » because there are no rebels in Aleppo, at least
nothing that could allow us to consider them as such. It is irresponsible to
continue qualifying them as rebelsin Syria while we list them as terrorist
organizations in France. ..

I have evidence for everything I am writing. For months I have been gathering
the testimonies of civilians on video and on paper, independently of their
religion or political opinion and without any member of the military or
government around. I publish these testimonies and occasionally give them to a
UN Commission of Inquiry in charge of studying terrorist attacks and crimes,
while putting the commission in contact with witnesses. ..

Terrorist groups on the ground have never testified for their so called
«moderation » towards civilians. I saw with my own eyes that terrorists had
weapons and ammunitions that had been manufactured in diverse countries
including France, the United States, the United Kingdom or Saudi Arabia, to
name only a few of them. These weapons are used on a daily basis against
civilians of Eastern and Western Aleppo by recognized terrorist groups under
the banner of the Free Syrian Army. This group is majoritarily made of
jihadists that we try to picture as fighting for freedom. ..

I have met civilians who were displaced within the borders of the country, and
their testimonies are unanimous. In Eastern Aleppo, sharia law was enforced
through « islamic courts » conducted by fighters and Sheikhs who felt free to
detain, torture, execute arbitrarily, and marry children relying on the most
appropriate fatwa (religious decree) for the occasion. ..

Infrastructures, hospitals and schools were often used by these groups as
headquarters along with prisons and warehouses to station weapons. In one of
those schools, I was able to see that they were making chemical weapons with
products imported from foreign countries. In the past few months, when combats
were raging, I saw people who had been wounded by chlorine and their skin was
literally burning. ..

The « White Helmets » the French government financed among others like UK and
that we received at the Élysée are, for most of them, first aid workers by day
and terrorists by night, or vice versa. They pledge allegiance to Jabhat
al-Nosra (Al-Qaeda), as shown by documents found after their departure and as
civilians testify. The majority of their teams rescued fighters first, and
civilians every once in a while. ..

This past year has truly been the year of disinformation.

A fight for the « freedom » of the Syrian people. We use this catch-all word
without ever having defined or justified it. What freedom? Which Syrian
people? .. The political and social programs of these terrorist groups is in
complete opposition with freedom, democracy and our values or those of the
majority of countries around the world. ..

Mr President, we have, as other countries, a big responsibility in this war we
have attempted to end - term used to signify the overthrowing of the Syrian
government at all costs. These past few years we have, along with other
countries, taken part in the destruction of Syria, a country that is for a
large part francophone and whose people loves France. As far from perfection
its government might be, even if it made many mistakes across time - and
remember we did too - we are at the moment supporting the installation of a
true dictatorship in a country where a real opposition exists while armed
factions are motivated only by bigotry, frustration, resentment and hate. ..

Let's ask the Syrian people what they want for their country instead of
talking in their name ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gmfrhca>
Ukraine's Problem is Ukraine
Oleg Smirnov
2017-02-09 13:00:25 UTC
Permalink
A poet, novelist, culturologist, philosopher, translator, PhD, Professor of
Cultural Studies Faculty of philosophy of Education National Pedagogical
Dragomanov University <http://clck.ru/AZMeS> (wikipaedia).

She participated actively in the Maidan protests, in 2014 the RFE/RL (the US
Congress funded and CIA-controlled news media for Russia's and post-Soviet
audience) advertised her poems glorifying 'Euromaidan' <http://clck.ru/AZMhq>

In 2015, the Ukrainian media presented her as 'the leader of the volunteer
movement to help soldiers in ATO' (ie. support to the military terror against
the people of Donbas) <http://clck.ru/AZMsH>

Here is what the silly woman is writing today.

<http://tinyurl.com/h6nlmjb> ukrainian blogs

My message is addressed that part of the Ukrainian intelligentsia who haven't
lost remnants of the common sense, my colleagues and like-minded people in the
kitchens (OS: The 'kitchens' is a popular, among the intelligentsia, cultural
reference to the Soviet-times totalitarianism, when it was impossible to say
openly what you think in public, and people discussed issues in the kitchens
of their private apartments.) .. And I know well that a huge number of people
do not agree with what's going on today in the country.

What I've been watching now: the fear and talks in the kitchen, half-whisper,
the cringe people call for caution and justify themselves by saying that they
have something to lose.

Why are you afraid to tell the truth? The simple truth is that in our country
there's a totalitarian regime. Just a dumb provincial, deceitful totalitarian
regime keen to prolong the war and making profit from that. They utilize the
soldiers for the sake of a cheap PR, and subject the civilians to repression.
Their bombing kills not so the separatists but rather women and children. See
lists of the dead from the morgue at a 2014. The censorship in the media, the
arrests of the dissidents. A total ban to discuss the war, of which the only
allowed thing is to say that it is 'Russian terrorist army'. ..

The Ukrainian government does not want peace and is willing to spend hundreds
of young men under the guise of the myths about 'liberation' and 'bravery' ..
The regime uses the far right extremists when it is necessary to remove the
dissidents. Why are you afraid to say that we were deceived on the Maidan, and
they used the democratic idea to bring the oligarchy to power? In a strange
combination with the Nazis. Yes, the Nazis, it's not a hyperbole. Don't you
know they disrupt the art exhibitions if the arts contain humanistic ideas? ..

.. and so on ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gmfrhca>
Ukraine's Problem is Ukraine
Oleg Smirnov
2017-03-13 19:37:10 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zk4p4eq> consortiumnews.com

When 'Disinformation' Is Truth

Robert Parry | March 13, 2017

The anti-Russian McCarthyism that has spread out from the United States to
encompass the European Union, Canada and Australia has at its core an implicit
recognition that neoliberal economics and neoconservative foreign policy have
failed.

When I recently asked a European journalist why this anti-Russian hysteria had
taken root among mainstream European political parties, he answered with a
question: "Do you think they can run on their success in handling the
recession and the refugees?"

In other words, European voters are angry about the painful economic
conditions that followed the Wall Street crash of 2008 and the destabilizing
surge of immigrants fleeing from Western "regime change" wars in Iraq, Syria,
Libya and Afghanistan.

So, like the Democratic Party that doesn't want to engage in a soul-searching
self-examination about Donald Trump's victory, the European "establishment"
parties need a handy excuse to divert criticism - and that excuse is Russia, a
blame-shifting that has allowed nearly every recent criticism of an
establishment government official to be sloughed off as "Russian
disinformation."

It doesn't even matter anymore that the criticism may be based on solid fact.
Even truthful information is now deemed "Russian disinformation" or
Russian-inspired "fake news." ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gmfrhca>
Ukraine's Problem is Ukraine
Oleg Smirnov
2017-03-17 17:38:04 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/mcpbyzm> moonofalabama.org

Third Time's The Charm - These Neocons Want Another Sunni Insurgency

March 15, 2017

When the U.S. was confronted with an insurgency in Iraq it did not find fault
with own behavior but identified Syria and Iran as the culprits. It decided to
attack them too. As Seymour Hersh reported in 2007 <http://u.to/hvu4Dw>:

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration
has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East.
In Lebanon, the Administration has cooperated with Saudi Arabia's
government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to
weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S.
has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally
Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni
extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile
to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

Four years later the U.S. used the Sunni militants it created to first attack
Libya and then Syria. With U.S. support the militants destroyed the
independent Libyan state under Ghaddafi. The country is now in total chaos. In
Syria the militants, with clandestine support from the U.S. and its allies,
waged a six year long war to overthrow the government. Many of them joined the
Islamic State and al-Qaeda, the Takfiri offsprings of the U.S. program and
Saudi money that went (somewhat) rogue. These groups did not limit, as the
U.S. wished, their attacks to U.S. enemies but committed several larger scale
attacks against U.S. allied countries. Now the groups themselves are enemies.

The project of creating a controllable "Sunni Arab force" to destroy Syria had
failed. The Pentagon made another attempts, spending tens of millions of
dollars, to train a new Sunni Arab force in Syria to attack the Syrian
government as well as the Takfiris. As soon as these new groups entered into
Syria they joined the Takfiris and handed over the weapons the U.S. army had
given them. ..

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/mcpbyzm>

...

The Muslim haters in the US are too stupid to recognize the links between such
policies and what directly causes their discomfort, which is similar to the
anti-immigrant European activists, among which, not everyone can understand
well the fact that 'the migrant crisis' is largely a result of the policies of
their grand Atlanticist patrons (the US and the UK).
<http://tinyurl.com/zgcjzt7>
CIA Honors Major Terrorist Financier For Successful Cooperation
Oleg Smirnov
2017-04-11 07:54:09 UTC
Permalink
Meanwhile, a presidential election in South Ossetia has happened.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ossetian_presidential_election,_2017>

<https://sptnkne.ws/ebBw>

The breakaway republic of South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence
from Georgia in the early 1990s. In August 2008, Georgia launched a military
offensive against South Ossetia. Trying to protect local residents, many of
whom had Russian citizenship, Russia sent troops to South Ossetia and engaged
in a five-day war with Georgia. As a result, Russia managed to expel Georgian
troops from the breakaway region and recognized independence of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. Tbilisi does not recognize the republics' independence ..

Georgian (Sorosoyite outlet) article, day before the election 2017-04-09.

<http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=30005>

According to local election administration, 72 polling stations will be opened
in the region, while five more will function in other places, including three
in the Russian province of North Ossetia-Alania, one in Moscow, and another
one in Sokhum (OS: The Abkhazia's capital).
.. The election is going to be monitored by observers from the Russian
Federation, as well as from the regions of Abkhazia, Donbas, Nagorno-Karabakh
and Transnistria. ..

Candidates

Three candidates are running in the polls: the incumbent Leonid Tibilov;
Parliamentary Chairman Anatoly Bibilov and the State Security Committee
(security service) (OS: KGB/FSB) officer Alan Gagloev. ..

Eduard Kokoity's Unsuccessful Comeback

An attempt by the former South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity to join the fray
was unsuccessful. .. Kokoity held protest rallies .. None of that has helped
him to become a candidate, however. Kokoity remains out of the race.

Moscow's Choice

Meanwhile, the Kremlin apparently knows who its favorite is.
On March 21 Vladimir Putin met with .. incumbent Leonid Tibilov in Moscow.
During the meeting, Putin wished Tibilov "good luck" ..

Will Russia Annex the Region?

All three candidates support the region's entry into the Russian Federation.

Bibilov said .. Tibilov, however, responded .. Gagloyev said that Russia
itself was not ready yet to make this decision, while people in Tskhinval
supported it.

<https://lenta.ru/news/2017/04/10/oset/> 2017-04-11

"Putin congratulated Mr. Bibilov on winning the presidential election."

58% Bibilov
30% Tibilov
11% Gagloyev

The Kremlin did not meddle into the democratic process in South Ossetia.

Putin met with Mr. Tibilov primarily because Tibilov was the current president
of South Ossetia at the time, which gave the Georgian analysts a reason to
misinterpret it as an indication of "Moscow' choice".

Simultaneously with the vote for the president there was a referendum in South
Ossetia to rename it to State of Alania, which was supported by voters 78% pro
vs 20% contra.

Read more about the Alan people <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alans>

...

Where Russia intervened, there's a decent democratic development and no more
wars, - but where the US / UK / EU intervened, there's now a chaos, extremism,
sectarian/ethnic hostilities, civil wars, refugees etc etc

About a half of the asylum seekers in the EU comes from Syria, Afghanistan and
Iraq - the places where the Atlanticist powers intervened in order to bring ..
Bring what exactly? Wars, extremism, sectarian/ethnic hostilities, ISIS ..

Even small European region of Kosovo, which population is less than 2 million,
still generates a large number of the asylum seekers, - many years after NATO
intervened savagely into the post-Yugoslavia mess.
<http://tinyurl.com/ny3y2tk>
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Russia
Oleg Smirnov
2017-04-23 09:48:35 UTC
Permalink
<https://sptnkne.ws/ehwe>

.. Why Eastern Europe Vehemently Opposes EU Migrant Policy

POLITICS | 20.04.2017

Eastern European countries continue to resist the EU's migrant policy
prompting bewilderment and irritation in Brussels. ..

Since it was believed that "internationalism" was exerted by the Soviet Union
upon its Eastern European satellites, the anti-Communist struggle backed by
Western Europe brought together nationalist parties and movements, Marakhovksy
explained.

"In the Eastern European states, the 'national memory institutes' were
established one after the other (they are present in Latvia and Poland,
and even in Ukraine.) forming whole 'empires' of bad memories, and
collecting evidence of crimes the Reds committed against 'national values',"
the journalist noted.

As a result, Western Europe facilitated the emergence of "xenophobic
democracies," he argues.

"By the 2000s, a sort of 'double-standard European morality' had emerged.
Western Europe was actively implementing tolerance and multiculturalism,
at the same time allowing xenophobic theories and practices to flourish in
the eastern part of the EU. Deprivation of 'Russian' citizenship in the
Baltic countries, the demolition of 'Russian' monuments in Poland, ethnic
cleansing in Croatia - all these, unthinkable in the West, was possible in
the East. Because it provided a reliable confrontation with Russia - the
heiress of the USSR," Marakhovksy elaborated.

At long last Brussels has faced with the consequences of its own policy.

The problem is that right-wing Eastern European regimes view the EU
multiculturalism and open-door policy as a new iteration of Communist-style
"internationalism," the journalist explained.

"And since the 'xenophobic democracy' was introduced in Eastern Europe
in order to effectively resist the 'Russian communism' one can say that
it is Russia to blame, again, for today's East European riot against
migrants," Marakhovksy said ironically.

...

No, it is not just about 'communism'. Basic Atlanticist strategy was/is to
keep Europe isolated from Russia regardless of any ideology. For the US,
the goal is to better keep West Europe in their vassalage, and the British
policymakers are especially jealous about Russia as well. Due to that, the
Atlanticism encouraged nationalist movements / tolerated extremist groups
in E.Europe, because it guaranteed that the east-European countries will be
better alienated from Russia. Such a policy culminated recently in the form
of 'western' support to the openly Nazist groups in the Ukraine. One of the
by-effects of such a policy is the fact that it's now impossible to force
the east-European regimes to take the refugees [in non-symbolic quantities].
The westerners have to manage this issue by themselves.

More irony is due to the fact that the refugees - most part of them comes
from Syria and Afghanistan - is also largely a product of the Atlanticist
interventionism, so the mainland westerners have to bear the brunt of the
consequences of the US/UK actions, - while the UK leaves the EU box timely,
and the new US government refuses to deal with the refugees etc etc
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-13 11:52:41 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hm3ndst> ukrainian outlet

In the three years since the adoption of the Yanukovich's 'dictatorial laws',
the power have restored similar restrictions, or proposed new restrictions,
and in some cases tightened previous laws.

...

Those who followed the Ukrainian events in the early 2014, would have to
remember that one of the 'arguments' about 'tyranny' was related to those
'draconian laws'. There was a big hysteria and a righteous indignation due to
those 'draconian laws'. The laws were adopted at the time when it became clear
that the violent protests came to frenzied insanity (thanks to the hateful
propaganda disseminated by a few Ukrainian outlets funded by the US and other
'western' powers) and something needs to be done with that.

Right after the anti-democratic / anti-constitutional coup, the news regime
in Kiev became more oppressive against 'dissidents' and 'dissenters', but
their oppression was implemented mainly in an informal way, by those far-right
neo-Nazi gangs, to which the 'formal' authorities as well as the 'western'
liberal mass media turned a blind eye.

Now the Kiev regime seeks for a way to rely less on the neo-Nazis and more on
the 'lawful' mechanisms of the state oppression, which is understandable since
the regime is now very unpopular, and their approval ratings are extremely
low. They are very much afraid of 'new' popular protests, and it explains why
the laws in the Ukraine become more 'draconian' in comparison to those
'Yanukovich's dictatorship', but this time the 'western' MSM do not fall into
hysterics and don't label the Kiev regime as 'tyranny'.

Read more about the regime here <https://goo.gl/g9wCXE>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gq9jhgw>
Moscow Court Rules Change in Power in Ukraine in 2014 Is Coup
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-13 11:52:45 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hy98y4v> consortiumnews.com

How Obama Spread the Mideast Fires

Daniel Lazare | January 11, 2017

.. Not since the Vietnam War, we can safely say, has an administration left a
region in ruins the way Obama has left the Middle East (although it's true
that George W. Bush contributed mightily to the mess).

But Obama has expanded the chaos outward from Bush's legacy wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, now including Libya, Syria and Yemen with ripple effects from the
refugee flows extending into Turkey and even into Europe. Terrorism is
exploding, entire nations have been reduced to war zones, while religious
sectarianism is raging out of control. ..

How did someone so charming and seemingly so progressive wreak such havoc? The
answer is through a combination of weakness, complacency, and taking the easy
way out. ..

Enlisting the Autocracies

But not only did Obama shield the other oil autocracies from criticism, but,
on the theory that only Arabs can solve Arab problems, he encouraged them to
become more active abroad. The results were uniformly disastrous. Despite
Al-Thani's well-established record as a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood
and similar forces <http://nyti.ms/2iehBX6>, Hillary Clinton spent much of
late March 2011 persuading him to take part in the U.S.-led military effort to
overthrow Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, according to an internal State
Department memo <http://bit.ly/1VMUc8n>. When he said yes, the Obama
administration was overjoyed.

But Al-Thani took advantage of the deal to distribute some $400 million
<http://bit.ly/2jFmVD3> to Salafist rebels in the form of machine guns,
automatic rifles, and ammunition <http://nyti.ms/1Nm2sGt> so that they could
do to Libya what an earlier generation of U.S.-backed jihadis had done to
Afghanistan, i.e. reduce it to chaos.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Sunni-run states responded the same way when the
U.S. invited them to fund the uprising against Syria's leader Bashar al-Assad,
an Alawite, a branch of Shi'a Islam. These "friends of Syria" channeled
billions of dollars in aid <http://nyti.ms/1lFjit3> to Salafist rebels
determined to impose Saudi-style fundamentalism.

In August 2012, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency warned
<http://bit.ly/2emPjIC> that Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Qaeda
were "the major forces driving the insurgency," that rebels were seeking to
establish a "Salafist principality in eastern Syria," and that "western
countries, the gulf states, and Turkey are supporting these efforts" in order
to counter the Shi'ite threat.

In September 2014, Clinton wrote <http://bit.ly/2el8IbQ> in an email that
Saudi Arabia and Qatar were "providing clandestine financial and logistic
support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups" while Vice President Joe Biden
admitted the same thing a month later at a talk at Harvard's Kennedy School:
..

A Spreading Fire

Yet President Obama did nothing to stop this pouring of gasoline on this
regional sectarian war. Rather than tamping down the sectarianism, the U.S.
facilitated its spread. ..

...

The American policymakers intentionally supported incitement of sectarian
hatred in the Middle East. This is itself a sort of crime against humanity.
The incitement of sectarian hatred in the Ukraine, that led to the
anti-democratic coup and to establishment of the oppressive regime in the
country is also largely the result of such a 'promotion of democracy'.

The ME flame is the main reason why Europe has to take in more immigrants.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gq9jhgw>
Moscow Court Rules Change in Power in Ukraine in 2014 Is Coup
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-16 14:32:46 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hsoubav> welt.de

Trump confused Tusk and Juncker

"I've talked to the head of the European Union, a very pleasant gentleman
called me": the future US President Donald Trump does not even know the names
of the EU leaders. Poor Europe.

...

All these European aborigines look alike and the same.

Simply difficult to tell who is who.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hy98y4v>
How Obama Spread the Mideast Fires
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-28 02:07:33 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/jo4rcs5> lowyinstitute.org

.. For all of the high internationalist rhetoric, the European Union is a
protectionist club <http://clck.ru/AWVL4> that has devastated the economies of
some of the poorest countries in the world, especially in Africa. ..
Since the Brexit vote, many countries around the world have declared an
interest in forging trade agreements with the UK. <http://clck.ru/AWVNp> ..
Putting aside his many faults, Donald Trump has committed to putting Britain
at the front of the queue <http://clck.ru/AWVP7>. Trump's election, in some
ways, provides a unique opportunity for the British government. Unlike recent
US presidents, Trump is not committed to the EU project; indeed, he has
expressed his open disdain for it <http://clck.ru/AWVPN>. He, therefore, will
not be concerned about damaging relations with the EU by forging a strong
trade deal with the United Kingdom; he might even seek to sign a favourable
deal with the UK in order to embarrass the EU. ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hsoubav>
Trump confused Tusk and Juncker
Oleg Smirnov
2017-03-26 22:43:19 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/lxoonul> independent.co.uk

Donald Trump printed out made-up £300bn Nato invoice and handed it to Angela
Merkel

President estimated Germany's underspend on alliance over the past 12 years,
then added interest

Rebecca Flood | 2017-03-26

.. Mr Trump reportedly instructed aides to calculate how much German spending
fell below two per cent over the past 12 years, then added interest.

Estimates suggest the total came to £300bn, with official figures citing the
shortfall to be around £250bn plus £50bn in interest added on. ..

...

This is a natural addition to the US-made refugees.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hsoubav>
Trump confused Tusk and Juncker
Oleg Smirnov
2017-04-07 20:01:39 UTC
Permalink
<http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1041329.shtml>

US airstrike on Syrian base a show of force

Global Times | 2017/4/7

.. The US military attack on Friday took place despite no definitive results
from the investigation by an international organization, and was carried out
in the absence of a UN Security Council resolution. The Trump administration
wasted little time in striking its targets, marking a stark contrast with its
predecessor.

The US' decision to attack the Assad government is a show of force from the US
president. He wants to prove that he dares to do what Obama dared not. He
wants to prove to the world that he is no "businessman president" and that he
will use US military force without hesitation when he considers it necessary.

US military action opens the door for other direct foreign military attacks on
the Assad government, a signal that outside interference in Syria is rapidly
escalating. Before US airstrike, Assad's forces had gained an obvious
advantage in the civil war, but foreign military interference could change the
situation.

The US military strikes could lead to a "falling out" between the US and
Russia. Conflict between the two countries will once again emerge.

Not too long ago, Trump said that simultaneously attacking the Islamic State
and the Syrian government would be foolish. But now he has ordered an attack
despite affording himself only a narrow window in which to make his decision.
This is Trump's first major move in international affairs, and it leaves an
impression that the decision was made in haste and is not without
contradictions.

Neither Russia nor Iran will remain silent on the attack nor sit idly by and
accept the fallout. The Syrian civil war is entering a new phase. More
refugees will flee the region and Europe may have to pay the price.

Read more <http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1041329.shtml>

...
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/lxoonul>
Donald Trump printed out made-up £300bn Nato invoice and handed it to Angela
Merkel
Archibald Holycow
2017-04-07 20:24:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1041329.shtml>
The US military strikes could lead to a "falling out" between the US and
Russia. Conflict between the two countries will once again emerge.
Well, if such a conflict could ripe the FSB-Putin dictatorship, it would
be a bonus. Though I'm afraid the Russian people loving tsars and knout
would be the poor victim as usual.
Herisson grognon
2017-04-07 20:39:18 UTC
Permalink
Post by Archibald Holycow
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1041329.shtml>
The US military strikes could lead to a "falling out" between the US and
Russia. Conflict between the two countries will once again emerge.
Well, if such a conflict could ripe the FSB-Putin dictatorship, it would
be a bonus. Though I'm afraid the Russian people loving tsars and knout
would be the poor victim as usual.
Une éventuelle défaite de la Syrie, et de la Russie, seraient une
défaite pour toutes les populations n'ayant plus qu'un oppresseur
incontournable, Washington, c'est vraiment cela que vous désirez ?

Alain
Oleg Smirnov
2017-04-08 06:44:43 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1041329.shtml>
The US military strikes could lead to a "falling out" between the US and
Russia. Conflict between the two countries will once again emerge.
Well, if such a conflict could ripe the FSB-Putin dictatorship, it would be
a bonus. Though I'm afraid the Russian people loving tsars and knout would
be the poor victim as usual.
You will get more refugees from the Middle East.
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-16 16:02:11 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hh5ubep> thehindu.com

Respite, not reconciliation

Vijay Prashad | JANUARY 10, 2017

.. For the past five years, the main slogan from the Syrian opposition and its
Gulf Arab, Turkish and Western allies was 'Assad Must Go'. It now turns out
that the government of Bashar al-Assad will remain. ..

Direct Western military intervention was curtailed - thanks to the fiasco in
Iraq .. Regime change in Libya and its disastrous aftermath closed the door
for a UN authorisation for war on Syria. By 2012, this meant that the Assad
government could not be easily defeated. The policy shifted from direct
overthrow to a much more cynical use of power. Covert shipments of arms went
to rebels of various stripes to help delegitimise the government. Al-Qaeda and
other extremist groups came ..

The West miscalculated. On September 22, 2016, U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry .. indicated that the U.S. had watched the growth of IS, and had hoped
to use it as a bargaining chip against the Assad government. ..

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/hh5ubep>

...
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hy98y4v>
How Obama Spread the Mideast Fires
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-20 02:25:49 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hfhgk8q> lefigaro.fr

Eric Delbecque | 17/01/2017

.. The Democrat's president is finalizing his second term by amplifying the
perception of the disastrous record of the US foreign policy in the 21
century. After 2003, Uncle Sam continued to appear as a power which is unable
to understand the rest of the planet, multiplying opportunities for
geopolitical instability rather than trying to appease them. The unilateralist
obsession of the White House with George W. Bush and the neoconservatives was
blamed, but the Democrats had no intention of breaking with the bad habits ..

What do the Americans offer to the rest of the world? To contribute to the
comfort of the United States ... Instead of being a peacemaking leader, they
exacerbate global fractures by refusing to consider the legitimate aspirations
of peoples to retain strategic independence and ideological autonomy. The same
logic of subordination appears in the economic field. ..

It is not a question of privileging Russia over the US, of "preferring" Putin
to Obama or Trump, but of ceasing to stick to the wheel of the Americans and
ending this permanent moralistic posture while international politics requires
nuance and consideration of long-term equilibrium (while spontaneous emotions
make us vulnerable to manipulation of information and influence operations) ..

The sclerosis of the Uncle Sam's diplomatic and security thinking negatively
affects the entire planet. Barack Obama was a magnificent symbol that aroused
an immense hope, but his political testament brings a disillusionment.

...
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hy98y4v>
How Obama Spread the Mideast Fires
Oleg Smirnov
2017-01-26 05:03:25 UTC
Permalink
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsi_Gabbard>

<http://tinyurl.com/jzt2crc> medium.com

The Syrian People Desperately Want Peace

Tulsi Gabbard | 2017-01-23

As much of Washington prepared for the inauguration of President Donald Trump,
I spent last week on a fact-finding mission in Syria and Lebanon to see and
hear directly from the Syrian people. .. It is clear now more than ever: this
regime change war does not serve America's interest, and it certainly isn't in
the interest of the Syrian people.

I traveled throughout Damascus and Aleppo, listening to Syrians from different
parts of the country. I met with displaced families from the eastern part of
Aleppo, Raqqah, Zabadani, Latakia, and the outskirts of Damascus. I met Syrian
opposition leaders who led protests in 2011, widows and children of men
fighting for the government and widows of those fighting against the
government. I met Lebanon's newly-elected President Aoun and Prime Minister
Hariri, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard, Syrian President Assad,
Grand Mufti Hassoun, Archbishop Denys Antoine Chahda of Syrian Catholic Church
of Aleppo, Muslim and Christian religious leaders, humanitarian workers,
academics, college students, small business owners, and more.

Their message to the American people was powerful and consistent: There is no
difference between "moderate" rebels and al-Qaeda (al-Nusra) or ISIS - they
are all the same. This is a war between terrorists under the command of groups
like ISIS and al-Qaeda and the Syrian government. They cry out for the U.S.
and other countries to stop supporting those who are destroying Syria and her
people. ..

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/jzt2crc>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hy98y4v>
How Obama Spread the Mideast Fires
Oleg Smirnov
2017-04-11 05:51:04 UTC
Permalink
<https://sptnkne.ws/eceV>

.. 'Syria Civil Defense' Caught Faking Rescues, Doctoring Dead Children ..

MIDDLE EAST | 10.04.2017

The Swedish NGO Doctors for Human Rights (SWEDHR) has accused the Syria Civil
Defense, better known as the White Helmets, of falsifying information about
its alleged work in Syria. According to the Swedish human rights activists,
so-called "rescue" procedures captured in White Helmets videos had been
staged; they were carried out on a dead child.

SWEDHR findings have raised serious questions about the ethical integrity of
the White Helmets regarding the anti-medical procedures they advertise in
their videos. They behaved as war criminals when they used dead children for
propaganda purposes when staging fake rescue attempts, Professor Marcello
Ferrada de Noli wrote in the Indicter magazine. <http://clck.ru/Awbd9>. ..

...
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/jzt2crc>
The Syrian People Desperately Want Peace
Oleg Smirnov
2017-06-14 21:14:09 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/ybvptvwx> ratinggroup.ua <http://archive.is/Ypqfl>

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SITUATION IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE EYES OF CITIZENS

14.06.2017

According to the research carried out by the Sociological Group "Rating", more
than 60% of the polled stated the worsening of their financial situation over
the last year .. More than 60% cannot afford to pay the bills for housing and
communal services .. (97%) of the respondents have personally experienced the
higher prices for consumer goods and services this year.

According to 65% of the respondents, the main reasons for the current
socio-economic situation in the country are corruption and incompetence of the
current government. ..

85% of the respondents agree with the thesis that Ukraine today is in a state
of chaos (10% - disagree, 4% - undecided), in a state of collapse - 75% agree
(17% - disagree, 7% - undecided) ..

70% of the polled believe that the situation now prevailing in Ukraine could
lead to massive nationwide protests ..

...

Everything is not good, and it will be worse.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<https://sptnkne.ws/eceV>
.. 'Syria Civil Defense' Caught Faking Rescues, Doctoring Dead Children ..
Oleg Smirnov
2017-06-17 04:26:46 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/y8puhll5> strategic-culture.org

.. The problem of Islamic terrorism has become a subject of focussed attention
for European and American citizens because of frequent attacks. Security
agencies are incapable of preventing terrorist attacks from the same elements
they have for years funded and supported as part of their anti-Iranian and
anti-Syrian strategy. .. Citizens, increasingly frightened and angry with
their governments for the lack of security, are beginning to realize that the
extremists receive their financial support from the Gulf countries, who are
known to be in business with many European capitals. The last thing that the
governments of France, Italy, Germany, the UK and the US want is the
revelation that they are in league with Islamic terrorism for geopolitical
purposes. ..

...
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/ybvptvwx> ratinggroup.ua <http://archive.is/Ypqfl>
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SITUATION IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE EYES OF CITIZENS
Oleg Smirnov
2017-06-21 05:42:29 UTC
Permalink
<http://p.dw.com/p/2ezrh>

"Case of Lisa F": the defendant has been sentenced to a suspended term

20.06.2017

24-year-old Berlin resident Ismet S., accused of aggravated sexual abuse
of a minor, was sentenced to one year and nine months' suspended
imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 euros ..

...

'Case of Lisa' has become close to a kind of tiresome morning prayer of
the Atlanticist propaganda. They put it everywhere regardless of relevance.
Here's, for example, NATO righteous rants <http://clck.ru/BKDDY>.

More balanced description in the wikipaedia <http://clck.ru/BKDHz>.

It happened in the community of the Germans of Russia origin in Berlin.
2016-01-12, a teenage girl, about 14 year old, after a day of absence,
came home in a disheveled state and said that she was kidnapped and raped
by three men of 'southern' appearance. Her parents said she came with a
scratched face, blood on her lips and a bruise on her nose, without money
etc. Before she appeared, her parents had already managed to sound the
alarm in the local community and file her disappearance to the police.

Subsequent events created 'the case'.

The police interrogated the girl a few times in a forcible isolation from her
parents. Then they called parents in and said them roughly 'shame on you, your
daughter is such a liar'. In such a situation, the parents, relatives, friends
suspected that something goes wrong. There's a known situation with regard to
British Rotherham. Besides that, shortly before the Lisa case the New Year Eve
sexual assaults happened in Cologne and the police were proven to be initially
reluctant. Besides that, German [perverted] left were known to have specific
links to paedophile rings previously. Combination of these items gave the
people a reason to suspect that the police seek to burke the investigation.

So a few local protests happened in the area. The case was enthusiastically
picked up by anti-immigrant groups. Their narrative was that it's likely the
refugees did it (however, the girl's family didn't claim anything about the
refugees nor about specific ethnicity of the alleged rapists). After all, in
the end it became clear that the teenage girl invented the kidnapping and rape
in her fantasy. However, she did it not from scratch. It turned out that about
a few months ago she became a victim of a sexual manipulation by a German
paedophile man of Turkish ethnicity (see the link above), and such a traumatic
experience contributed to her lies / fantasies.

What does 'Russian propaganda' have to do with it?

The 'Russian German' community in the present day Germany was formed due to
migration of the Germanic people from the post-Soviet space to Germany. It's
a specific community (for example, some of them tend to demand from the
Russian government to restore German Republic in the Volga region as a member
of the Russian federation). Anyway, these people keep links to Russia and to
other post-Soviet states, many of them have relatives and friends in Russia,
many have dual German and Russian citizenship. So at the initial stage it
turned out that the Russian outlets were the only ones who told about the
case and gave the floor to the representatives of the family and the concerned
local community. So far as the police refused to comment on the case, these
people were the only source, - and they sincerely believed their narrative.

'Russian propaganda' can be certainly blamed for a lack of professionalism, as
they picked up the believable narrative but didn't take enough care of proper
reservations. However, it was certainly not a pre-planned deliberate 'attack'
on the German government, as the Atlanticist propaganda misrepresents it now.
The Russian media gave the floor to the people to whom the German authorities
and police refused to talk in a decent way with regard to the case. If the
German authorities weren't so obsessed with what may turn out to be
politically incorrect etc, if the police investigators were less rough and
arrogant then the family and their local community would not have suspicions.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/ybvptvwx> ratinggroup.ua <http://archive.is/Ypqfl>
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SITUATION IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE EYES OF CITIZENS
Oleg Smirnov
2017-07-23 08:09:27 UTC
Permalink
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-russia-sanctions-idUKKBN1A70KY>

.. In Brussels, the European Union sounded an alarm about the U.S. moves to
step up sanctions on Russia, urging Washington to coordinate with its Group of
7 partners.

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, warned of possibly "wide and
indiscriminate" "unintended consequences," notably on the EU's efforts to
diversify energy sources away from Russia. ..

...

The Euromorons should have thought something in the 2014.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/ybvptvwx> ratinggroup.ua <http://archive.is/Ypqfl>
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SITUATION IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE EYES OF CITIZENS
Oleg Smirnov
2017-07-30 00:33:52 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/ycj845d2> buzzfeed.com

Russia Would Very Much Like You To Visit Crimea, Please

"Seize the day."

Rose Troup Buchanan | July 25, 2017

Several (OS: It means 'two'.) Russian embassies are encouraging tourists to
visit Crimea.

Russia in USA | @RusEmbUSA
880 thousands of Ukrainian tourists visited Crimea in 2016
As they say, better once to see, than 100 times to hear ...
<http://www.visitcrimea.guide/en/>
05:42 PM - 23 Jul 2017 <http://durl.me/f48jpi>

The pitch in one tweet from the Russian embassy in Canada implored English-
speakers to "seize the day" and book a trip now.

Russia in Canada | @RussianEmbassyC
880,000 Ukrainians visited Crimea in 2016.
Seize the day, book a tour to see this beautiful peninsula for yourself
<http://www.visitcrimea.guide/en/>
03:12 PM - 24 Jul 2017 <http://durl.me/f48m7c>

That's slightly awkward because the Russian government took control of the
region from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that was condemned internationally.
(OS: The US and its European lackeys doesn't mean 'internationally' as such.)

Pro-Russian Crimean leadership called for a referendum on Russian
reunification in March of that year - and 95% of the population voted in
favor. (OS: 97% of those who came to the voting stations - 83% of the total
number of voters - voted so, while a small pro-coup minority largely just
ignored the referendum. In the terms of 'population', it means no less than
80% of the population voted for the reunification. Later, independent polls
<http://clck.ru/BXFzK> confirmed this number well.)

But the referendum's result was condemned by the West and the crisis in
Ukraine only spiraled further out of control. (OS: 'Western' unwise refusal to
recognize the reality significantly contributed to the crisis, of course. And
the ongoing unwise stubbornness of 'the west' about recognizing their mistakes
and misdeeds also contributes to the further development of the crisis. In the
Ukraine case, 'the west' has no civilized option other than to recognize their
mistakes and try to compensate it in some way.)

After the Crimea referendum, Russia-backed rebels in the east began pushing to
separate from the federal government, launching a war that led to a crisis
that has cost thousands of lives. (OS: 'Rebels in the east' initially did not
do anything much different against what the Maidan rebels did before the coup,
- to 'western' applause btw. The self-imposed post-coup 'government' launched
the war in order to suppress the anti-coup protest movement in the east by a
brute military force.) The US and EU have squared up against Russian President
Vladimir Putin over Russian military support for the rebels, levying economic
sanctions against Russia in response. (OS: Russian support for the rebels is
humanitarian. As the 'new' Kiev, the Obama admin and the Euromorons chose to
brazenly ignore the legitimate interest of the east-Ukrainian people, Russia
is the only power they can rely on.) More than three years later, Russia still
has total control of Crimea. (OS: It's not 'still', it will be forever.)

Despite this, both the embassies in Canada and the US claim in their tweets
that around 880,000 Ukrainians visited Crimea last year. (OS: There's nothing
strange that the Russia's embassies advertize the fact that so many Ukrainians
are currently visiting Crimea, - it simply means that Crimea welcomes regular
Ukrainian tourists in the peninsula, as well as everybody else.)

Prior to the Russian occupation (OS: No, it's not an occupation.), Ukrainians
did form roughly 67% of Crimea's tourism industry. Now, not so much. (OS: It's
natural, since the Ukrainians in average have become about twice poorer after
the anti-democratic coup in their country, whereas Crimea has adjusted itself
to the Russian prices, which were noticeably higher against the Ukrainian ones
even before the anti-democratic violent regime change in the Ukraine, unwisely
and immorally backed by the US and EU.)

In the years after the invasion (OS: No, there was no invasion.), the number
of Ukrainians visiting has plummeted - although reliable data on exact figures
is hard to come by. Meanwhile, even the number of Russians visiting the Crimea
could go down as much as 15-25%, according to some tourism websites. (OS: Some
decrease in flow of the Russian tourists to Crimea in this year is due to the
fact that now Turkey is again available to the Russians after the known crisis
in the Russia-Turkey affairs.)

And internationally, most Western nations - including the US and major
European countries - warn their citizens against all but essential travel to
the region. (OS: Simply f*ck those who speak on behalf of 'Western nations'.)

Which is less than great in Moscow's eyes, because Crimea needs the money.
(OS: Everybody needs the money, but the fact that the Russia's embassies tell
about Crimea is not about money, of course. In the current situation, the
foreign tourists could not cause a significant impact on the Crimean budget
anyway. However, they can see firsthand what's going on in Crimea.)

The local economy was damaged (OS: It's a wishful thinking.) by the occupation
(OS: It's not an occupation, again.), and although Russia promised in 2016 to
invest 680 billion roubles (roughly $13 billion) into the region by 2020, many
businesses who relied on tourism are struggling. (OS: A wishful thinking.) The
gaudy centerpiece of Russian funding is a bridge linking mainland Russia with
Crimea. It's not finished yet. (OS: It will be finished in time, - nothing to
worry about.)

Finally, the tweets link to a tourism website (available in Russian, English,
and Chinese) that lists a whole load of activities you can try while you're
out there. There's also an extensive FAQ section ..

Read more <http://tinyurl.com/ycj845d2>

...
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/ybvptvwx> ratinggroup.ua <http://archive.is/Ypqfl>
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SITUATION IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE EYES OF CITIZENS
Seldon, Hari
2017-07-30 07:31:31 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/ycj845d2> buzzfeed.com
Russia Would Very Much Like You To Visit Crimea, Please
"Seize the day."
Rose Troup Buchanan | July 25, 2017
Several (OS: It means 'two'.) Russian embassies are encouraging tourists to
visit Crimea.
I would very much like to go there, if only to separate facts from
propaganda. And as far as I am concerned, the Crimea is russian territory.

Apart from that, the Crimea has an immense strategic value and Russia
would commit strategic suicide if it gave the peninsula away.

Of course Europa and the USA would like that very much and it obviously
shapes their propaganda.

Oleg Smirnov
2017-07-25 18:20:16 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/y8ryen6g> clarityofsignal.com

.. Definitive Chronological Timeline Video of Ukrainian War ..
.. Between 2013 and 2017, the Watch Dog Media Institute compiled and archived
the largest known video volumes of first-person video related to the Ukraine
war, as well as the largest and most substantial amount of all mainstream
media footage related to such. ..

...

So far, 17 videos, one-two hours each, quite a spectacular sight.


Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/ybvptvwx> ratinggroup.ua <http://archive.is/Ypqfl>
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SITUATION IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE EYES OF CITIZENS
Oleg Smirnov
2017-07-29 21:01:33 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/y83987ws> france24.com

'The whole thing stinks': Saakashvili slams Ukraine ..

.. Speaking to FRANCE 24 from the US, where he is currently on a visit,
Saakashvili accused Poroshenko of corruption. "Poroshenko has been doing more
than enough to help corruption together with his fellow oligarchs," he said.

"The whole thing stinks," he added, accusing Poroshenko of behaving exactly
like his predecessor, former Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, who was
close to Moscow before he was ousted in 2014. "It's reminiscent of what
Yankovich did... Poroshenko is replicating exactly what Yanukovich did. One
has to remind him that Yanukovich finished very badly."

...

Poroshenko stinks indeed.

Saakashvili stinks too, - he's wanted at home, in Georgia, for domestic
crimes that have absolutely nothing to do with 'Russia' or to other things
the 'western' public might have in their ignorant imagination. Saakashvili's
crimes is a well know fact, and the post-coup Kiev regime knew it well when
they granted the Ukrainian citizenship to him. Now they claim that he was
deprived of the Ukrainian citizenship for the fact that he hid his Georgian
criminal records when applying for citizenship.

France24 stinks too, when they claim that Yanukovich was 'ousted' whereas he
was removed from power as a result of an anti-democratic violent 'regime
change', backed by the Obama administration as well as by the Euromorons.

The whole 'community of values' (Merkel) stinks big time: they have 'changed'
- in an unlawful, violent way, - absolutely legitimate and democratically
elected (and moderately corrupt) government in the country with a profoundly
corrupt illegitimate 'government', and soon they might be unable to know what
to do about it.

It's what happens when the degenerative 'community of values' tries to pick
a rotten shit up and fashion out of it something like a fetishist 'democracy'
they would like.
<http://tinyurl.com/y7cduo54>
Democracy, rule of law thrown under bus by Ukraine dictator Poroshenko
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-17 20:02:02 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/z6bevzy> bloomberg.com

Putin's Reliance on American Commerce Has Never Been Greater

Jake Rudnitsky Rudnit Ilya Arkhipov | June 15, 2016

a.. U.S. becomes Russia's No. 5 partner as trade war hits EU worse
b.. Boeing, Cargill, Yum! lead U.S. companies expanding in Russia

.. While European Union members bear the brunt of the trade war -- sanctions
and counter-sanctions have cut the bloc's bilateral trade with Russia by an
estimated 100 billion euros ($112 billion) -- U.S. companies led by Boeing
Co., Cargill Inc. and Yum! Brands Inc. have been investing for the long-haul
and gaining market share. ..
Boeing, whose design bureau in Moscow is its largest outside the U.S., this
month opened a training and research center at the government-backed Skolkovo
technology park with a ceremony that was attended by Deputy Prime Minister
Arkady Dvorkovich and U.S. Ambassador John Tefft. ..

...

The US in no way seeks to 'isolate' Russia from itself, it seeks to isolate
Europe from Russia (since Europe is subordinate to America, the Euros are not
allowed to make affairs with Russia without American permission).

As I said repeatedly, American goal is to maintain atmosphere of hatred and
fear in Europe - because it helps preserve American control over it. And
the Atlanticist policymakers perform this agenda. And along with the fear-
mongering, the military build-ups in Europe increase likelihood of outbreak
of the WW3 in Europe (the scared Euros are the most stupid in this situation).
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://on.rt.com/7b48>
Obama went to Germany to deliver Europe's latest report card
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-15 18:17:28 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/jgc5nd5> russia-insider.com

.. The initiatives of the European Union raised at a referendum almost
irrevocably fail. There were a few significant exclusions when one and the
same issue formulated in a little way different were brought up for the second
or third time until they forced citizens to put up with the planned results.
But apparently these tactics didn't work this time. The surveys show that if
the existence of the European Union itself was brought up to a popular vote,
this union would be doomed in most European countries .. The population taking
part in the decision-making process today is becoming the main threat for
liberal democracy because the priorities, values and even ideas of the good
and evil of intellectual and political class and most of other people in
Europe are not just different but exactly the opposite.

That's why avoiding the direct discussion of the issues with the people and
especially preventing them from having referendums is the most important
condition for supporting the systemic stability nowadays. ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5>
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-19 05:23:23 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/junch4k> journal-neo.org

Poland: A New Route for ISIS Weapons Smuggling Operations?

Konrad Stachnio | 18.04.2016

After bringing Ukraine to the stage of complete disintegration, the country
has fallen into mired corruption, ruled by oligarchs and extremist groups.
This all brings Ukraine towards the final steps of 'democracy' and closer EU
and NATO structures. Namely, it changes Ukraine into an open mafia territory
where one of the primary forms of trade is selling weapons (about 2 million
weapons have recently been acquired by the Ukrainian Maidan extremists) to
ISIS cells in Western Europe. Poland at this stage will be the territory of
smuggling routes and logistics. ..

'It is estimated that there are over two million weapons outside of the
control of the State in Ukraine. At such a time of large scale immigration
across the Polish-Ukrainian border, there will be a large amount of smuggled
weapons being sent to Islamists in Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands,
etc. ..
I am afraid that the collapse of the Ukrainian state, with which we have to
deal with, now causes that the Ukrainians will create massive criminal
organizations, which will then attract illegal immigrants. They have to make
a living off something, and this is avery good business'.

Andrzej Zapalowski, Ph.D and expert in Polish national security, said to me in
an interview. ..

.. rather interesting conclusion made by Thierry Meyssan <http://is.gd/AmwrKh>

'If my analysis is correct, over the next decade we will see more «Islamist»
attacks linked to the greater Middle East and Africa, doubled with «Nazi»
attacks linked to Ukraine. We will then discover that al-Qaïda and the
Ukrainian Nazis have been connected since their common inception, in 2007 at
Ternopol (Ukraine).'

'The 8th May 2007 (the anniversary of the fall of the German Nazi régime),
in Ternopol (West Ukraine), Nazi and Islamist groupuscules created a
so-called Anti-Imperialist Front in order to fight against Russia.
Organisations from Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia also participated,
including Islamist separatists .. Blocked by international sanctions, Dokka
Umarov asked for his contribution to be read. The Front is presided by
Dmytro Yarosh, who is now an advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.'

...

There really was a meeting in the 2007 <http://archive.is/IXb1B> where a few
sorts of fellows - radical intelligentsia from Baltic states and Poland (eg.
<http://tinyurl.com/h5hvnxw>), west-Ukrainian neo-Nazi like Yarosh (now 'the
Right Sector') and islamists from the North Caucasus established a union.
Umarov <http://archive.is/5YvDz> praised the meeting with a greeting message.
In the 2008, during the short military conflict with the Saakashvili regime,
Ukrainian news media reported <http://archive.is/J0om6> about
'Anti-Imperialist Front's effort to establish a coordination between Georgian
troops and the militants of 'Caucasus Emirate' <http://is.gd/vgg0RW>.

A particular story is linked to this stuff (just for illustration). In 2010,
a man, Ahmed Chataev, had been detained in the Ukraine on request of Russian
authorities for aiding terrorist activities. 'Anti-Imperialist Front'
campaigned in the Ukraine <http://archive.is/dUJBU> against transferring him
to Russia. Amnesty International also demanded <http://archive.is/V1e9o> to
free him at the time. Before that, in 2007 - 2008, Mr Chataev spent a year in
a Swedish prison for illicit arms trafficking. Next year, 2011, Bulgarian
authorities arrested him <http://tinyurl.com/jshepg6> while he was trying to
go to Turkey. There was again human rights protests etc, and Bulgaria refused
to give him. Next year, 2012, Mr Chataev was wounded and arrested in Georgia
in relation to 'Lopota incident' <http://is.gd/sQ48Uk>. Georgia released him
as well. In autumn 2015, the US authorities had included Chataev in their
black list <http://archive.is/7JIpb> as a person linked to ISIS. In January
2016 the EU recognized his affiliation with al-Qaeda <http://is.gd/ZrNHhu>.
Russia's authorities say <http://sptnkne.ws/a6K4>, <http://archive.is/pUasX>
he is engaged in recruitment of the jihadists from ex-USSR for ISIS, as well
as in training of terrorist groups for the terrorist actions in Europe.

Today a large part of the jihadists from North Caucasus are engaged within
ISIS as well as within 'moderate' terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, but
their old ties with the west-Ukrainian, Baltic and Polish etc radicals and
neo-Nazis likely remain, and they can use these links to achieve their goals
in Europe.

Rise of the global jihadism is a natural product of the Atlanticist policies.
It comes from the idea to utilize extremist fighters for use against 'regimes'
the Atlanticism dislikes <http://tinyurl.com/p44ywad>. It seems likely that
the use of the neo-Nazis in the Ukraine for similar purpose will also strike
back sometime in the future.
<http://tinyurl.com/hrgh7gp>
Meet Andriy Parubiy, the Former Neo-Nazi Leader Turned Speaker ..
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-27 13:46:18 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/z35gy7b> forbes.com

Nearly Two Years Into Sanctions, Can Russia Live Without Europe?

Kenneth Rapoza | APR 19, 2016

.. For the Russian food industry and agricultural policy makers, import
substitution may very well be the ultimate goal. Russian has been talking
about expanding its industrial base beyond oil and gas for years and have
moved at a tortoise's pace. Replacing consumer staples at the supermarket
with stuff from Russian farms might be costly for Russian consumers stuck
paying more during another year of economic recession; but for the big
picture, living without European food imports could end up being worse for
some European exporters than it is for the Russian companies who now see
themselves as benefiting from it.

The fact that Russia's government, and an important sector of its economy,
feel that it can succeed with import substitution of European goods means it
is unlikely Moscow will move first on sanctions. The government will wait
for Europe to lift first, and Europe will wait for the U.S. to lift, which
is unlikely to happen until after the 2016 presidential election. ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/junch4k>
Poland: A New Route for ISIS Weapons Smuggling Operations?
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-29 17:39:03 UTC
Permalink
<http://archive.is/gOkmq> FT.com

No, Russia is not in decline - at least not any more and not yet

Simon Saradzhyan, Belfer Center, Harvard | Apr 28

A survey of recent writings on Russia by western scholars reveals a
widely-held view that the largest of the 15 post-Soviet republics has
continued to decline in the 21st century.
Yet an examination of the data suggests that Russia has actually risen
in comparison with some of its western competitors. ..

Conclusion

Taken together, these measures suggest strongly that Russia has either
risen or retained its position relative to its five competitors and
the world as a whole so far in the 21st century. ..

...

It means some foully means should had been turned on 'to contain' it.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/junch4k>
Poland: A New Route for ISIS Weapons Smuggling Operations?
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-29 04:38:40 UTC
Permalink
<http://www.dw.com/en/a-19223170>

French lawmakers vote for lifting EU sanctions against Russia

France's lower house of parliament has voted in favor of not
extending EU sanctions against Russia imposed after it annexed Crimea
in 2014. The vote is echoed in other parts of Europe. ..

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy's Republican party - alongside center-
right and far-left groups - voted for a lifting of sanctions, while the
Socialists and Greens voted against. ..

...

I think the split is essentially about parties driven by common sense
and rationality (which may perform under 'right' or 'left' banners
depending on national specificity) and parties which attitudes are
largely based on a fundamentalist agenda and ideological doctrinarism
(the latter are usually more pro-American, because the modern American
lust for global hegemony seeks to justify itself through promotion of
ideologized globalist falsehoods).
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5>
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-07 12:33:24 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hqvhfxp> consortiumnews.com

Europe Sleepwalks toward World War III

The West's scary new catch phrase for anything the diabolical Russians do is
"hybrid war," accusing Moscow of spreading propaganda and funding NGOs, pretty
much what the West has been doing for decades, as Gilbert Doctorow explains.

Gilbert Doctorow | June 6, 2016

The momentum into a new Cold War - and possibly toward World War III - is
growing stronger, a process in Europe that has the look of a brain-dead
continent sleepwalking toward the abyss, unwilling or unable to resist the
accumulation of harsh propaganda against Russia.

Indeed, the new buzz word in the West - directed against anyone who challenges
whatever extreme charge is made against Moscow - is that you're part of
Russia's "hybrid war" against the West. In other words, silencing these few
voices of dissent is portrayed as a defensive measure against "Russian
aggression."

Of course, this intimidation of those speaking up against a new Cold War is
reminiscent of the old Cold War when people who urged peaceful coexistence
were smeared as communist stooges. Now, you can expect to be dismissed as a
fifth columnist serving your Kremlin masters as they wage "hybrid war," a
vague concept that suggests that criticizing the West's policies is just one
element of a hostile strategy hatched in Moscow. ..

Yet, the record shows unequivocally that the Kremlin's foreign policy follows
one principle only, Realism, meaning defense of national strategic interests,
and is not subject to Romantic nationalist visions of any kind. ..

While individual countries in Europe have reputations for ingrained
individualism and divergence of opinion, Europe as a whole has a reputation
for consensus or going with the flow, even if the flow is heading over the
cliff. ..

Read the long article in full <http://tinyurl.com/hqvhfxp>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8189/social-media-censorship>
European Union Declares War on Internet Free Speech
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-08 20:34:01 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zuax4gl> washingtonpost.com

Before a new iron curtain falls

Editorial Board | June 7

.. A different kind of curtain is descending, denying billions of people those
basic "title deeds" of freedom. No longer is it about communism, but rather
the rise of despots who rule by force and coercion, from Russia to China,
across the Middle East and Central Asia, to Latin America and Africa. In the
past decade, these leaders have become more adept - and daring - at building a
parallel universe to the liberal democratic order. ..

Surprisingly, some of these leaders, particularly in Russia and China, have
been wielding a sophisticated and deceptive soft power beyond their borders
that is proving more enduring and effective than in the past. Their tactics
are asymmetrical and subversive, using deception and disinformation, not
easily confronted.

The United States and other democracies need a strategy to counter this new
wave of authoritarianism, including with 21st-century versions of the
soft-power weapons that worked for the West during the Cold War.

Just as the U.S.-sponsored radio stations beamed truth behind the Iron
Curtain, the West today should build a powerful digital "transmitter" that can
reach billions of people trapped in dictator-land. It should help people
circumvent digital firewalls and take advantage of new social media. ..

A global democracy strategy must draw on more familiar tactics, too, including
public diplomacy, selective pressure on authoritarian regimes and what
Churchill called "fearless tones" of reproach. The West needs to contest more
vigorously the battle for ideas, a struggle in which Russia and China have
become adroit, flooding the international media space with toxic propaganda,
from broadcast outlets such as Russia's RT and China's CCTV News to armies of
Internet trolls. The West's strategy cannot and should not mimic odious
big-state propaganda. Rather, it should showcase liberal values and ideals.

The U.S. government in recent years has a poor track record in such attempts.
In some quarters, the United States is a discredited exponent of democracy.
But these are problems to be solved rather than reasons to avoid action. A new
presidency is a good moment to develop and launch a strategy to defend
democracy. Without it, freedom will continue to lose ground.

...

It was translated to Russian and published in the Russian popular state-
sponsored web-site <http://tinyurl.com/jujucf6> in order to make it available
to those in Russia who can't read English well.

This writing is actually a yet one example of orwellian effort. The morons -
the Editorial Board of the Washington Post - believe / pretend to believe that
the people(s) elsewhere "don't know" something, and thus America needs just a
more powerful "transmitter" to "beam the truth". Not the case. The truth is
that the outlets like WP don't transmit the truth, they transmit lies. And so
their masterminds are unhappy of the fact that their lies meet aversion from
the public that's able to think independently.

The modern US doesn't have 'soft power' against Russia. We understand well the
American propaganda lies. We also understand well the tricks the mainstream US
corporate media use to brainwash the regular Americans.

...

This is also mostly valid about the European media and puplic.
<http://tinyurl.com/j9e9rla>
On the Second Anniversary of Maidan, the Truth Starts to Come Out
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-10 10:36:38 UTC
Permalink
<https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Mettan>

<http://tinyurl.com/gsojvtg> russia-insider.com

The Long History of Rusophobia, Starting With Its Religious Roots

Russia, for one reason or the other, has always been portrayed as a threat by
the West.

Guy Mettan

Originally appeared at Izvestia <http://izvestia.ru/news/615672> - Russian
daily news. Translated by Julia Rakhmetova

The former editor of the Tribune de Genève, [Guy Mettan-RI] visited Moscow and
presented his new book Russia and the West: A Thousand Year War, which reviews
the phenomenon of Russophobia: its roots, historical evolution and modern
incarnations. Izvestia had a chance to interview him.

Q. What inspired you to write about this?

There are two reasons why I began this work. The first is a personal, family
reason. In 1994, my wife and I adopted a Russian girl, who now is now 25. Her
name is Oksana, and she is from the Vladimir region. After we adopted her, I
became interested in learning as much as possible about Russia and becoming
familiar with this large country. In the 1990's, one could obtain Russian
citizenship after adopting a Russian child. So we did that: my wife and I are
citizens of Russia and Switzerland, and Russia became part of our family's
life and history. I am a citizen of Russia, but I pay taxes in Switzerland.

The second reason why I started this work is professional. My trips to Russia
gave me an opportunity to learn what this country was all about. I understood
how big the difference was between the Russia presented in the Western media
and the one I saw myself. I just couldn't bear to watch this situation, and
decided to investigate the reasons.

What made me actually start this project was the events in Ukraine in 2014. I
saw the Western press systematically supporting one side, expressing only one
point of view - that of the government that usurped power in Kiev. And I
decided to figure out why this happened.

It's important to understand that I wasn't trying to answer the question of
who was to blame for the events in Ukraine. I was interested in why the
Western media presented this story in their own way. What was at the root of
such a heightened negative relation to Russia?

Q. Could you tell us a little about the main thrust of your book?

I looked at history and concluded that all this Russophobia started when
Charlemagne created the Western Empire 1,200 years ago, laying the foundation
for the Great Religious Split in 1054. Charlemagne created his empire in
opposition to the existing situation, when the center of the civilized world
was Byzantium.

The most shocking thing I realized was that everything they taught us in
school was wrong. They claimed that the dissidents belonged to the Eastern
Church, who split from Rome. Now I know that what happened was just the
opposite: it was the Western Catholic Church that dissented from the universal
church, while the Eastern Church remained and still is Orthodox.

In order to shift the blame from themselves, Western theologians of that time
launched a campaign to justify putting the onus on the Eastern Church. They
used arguments that returned again and again as part of the confrontation
between the West and Russia. Back then, in the Middle Ages, they began
referring to the Greek world, i.e. Byzantium, as a "territory of tyranny and
barbarism" in order to disavow responsibility for the schism.

After the fall of Constantinople, when Byzantium ended, and Russia took the
place of Byzantium as the Third Rome, all those superstitions, all those lies
about the desacralization of the Hellenic World, were automatically
transferred to Russia.

It's strange to see the notes of Western travelers through Russia starting in
the 15th century: they all describe Russia in the same terms they had used to
describe Byzantium. These fabrications, this criticism considerably increased
after the reforms of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, when Russia
became powerful on the European political scene. And by the end of the 18th
century, it had become Russophobia.

Born in France under Louis XV, it was used for a while by Napoleon to justify
animosity toward Russia, which stood in the way of France's expansionist
policy. The "Will of Peter the Great" was used by Napoleon as a justification
for his Russian campaign.

We can compare this with modern times, when in order to achieve their goals,
Americans invented the lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass
destruction. Russophobia existed in France as a political ideology up until
the 19th century, when after losing the Franco-Prussian War, France realized
that its main enemy was no longer Russia but Germany, becoming Russia's ally.

As for England, Russophobia appeared there around 1815, when Great Britain, in
alliance with Russia, beat Napoleon. Once the common enemy defeated, England
reversed course and made Russia its enemy, feeding Russophobia. Since the
1820's, London has used an anti-Russian ideology to mask its expansionist
policies, both in the Mediterranean and in other regions - Egypt, India and
China.

In Germany, the situation didn't change until the end of the 19th century,
when the German Empire was created. It had no colonies, and there was no place
to get any from, since England, France, Spain and Portugal had got a head
start. All the colonies having been allocated without Russia, a political
movement appeared in Germany that sought "'expansion toward the East", i.e.,
modern Ukraine and Russia. This attempt failed during the First World War, and
later, Hitler used the same ideology.

It's no accident that German historians were at the origin of what is known as
"revisionism", the tendency to understate the USSR's contribution to the
victory over the Third Reich, overestimating the contribution of the US and
Britain.

The third type of Russophobia is American, and it began in 1945. As soon as
they defeated Germany through joint efforts with the USSR, at the cost of
millions of Soviet lives, the same story born after the victory over Napoleon
in 1815 was disseminated. The US reversed course and yesterday's ally became
its major enemy. This is how the Cold War started.

The Americans used the same arguments as the English in 1815, claiming that
they "fought against communism, tyranny, expansionism", their arguments hardly
differing, except for the so-called fight against communism. This turned out
to be a gimmick, because when the Soviet Union collapsed, the confrontation
between the West and Russia didn't end.

The nineteenth century story is repeating itself: the US keeps talking about a
"threat" supposedly emanating from Russia, in order to achieve its own goals,
promote its own interests, and pursue its own expansion. Today it demonizes
Russia in order to place NATO missiles in Poland, using the same words and
arguments that Napoleon used 200 years ago.

Q. Once at an international conference in the mid 1990s, I spoke to a
journalist from Denmark. He told me why Europe was so afraid of Russia: "See
how big Russia is, and how small Denmark is. We were always afraid of you. We
are still afraid of your aggression."

If you look at the map, you will see that the territory of Russia dominates
all of Europe. So when Europeans look at the map, they feel anxious and
concerned, because "such a huge country cannot be anything other than a
threat." Besides, European maps deliberately depict Russia as even bigger than
it really is, increasing Russophobia. Its immense size is great for European
cartoonists, who traditionally draw Russia as a huge bear standing over a tiny
Europe. (OS: The usual Western abuse of the 'bear' image, which is supposed to
oppose to 'humanoid' characters - eg. 'Uncle Sam' - is a kind of deliberate
effort to dehumanize Russia.)

Q. Recently, I read the following statement by a French author: "Europe is a
peninsula in Eurasia." What would you say to that?

Today Europe is frustrated. As a colonial power, it dominated the world for
two and a half centuries. Today the situation is totally different, and Europe
is uneasy. It's used to playing a different role. That's why it's anxious. On
the one hand, the European ego finds itself in this uncomfortable situation;
on the other, the European Union has reached the limits of its development and
has internal problems. That's why it's easy to blame Russia for everything.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hqvhfxp>
Europe Sleepwalks toward World War III
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-12 04:25:49 UTC
Permalink
Now the Swedish officials recognize the fact that the whole 2014 hysteria
about the alleged Russian submarine arose out of nowhere. Hardly the
Atlanticist MSM will spread this news as actively as they did spread the
allegations in the 2014. Many will retain their false belief that there was a
Russian submarine but the Swedish military just could not catch it.

<http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=6451552>

The minister of defence, comments on the detection of submarine

Posted on Saturday 11 June, 12.30 pm

Defense minister Peter Hultqvist comments now Echo the data on submarine hunt
in 2014.

That which from the beginning was described as the decisive proof that a
foreign submarine violated Sweden was in fact the sound from a Swedish
objects, reveal the Echo of the day.

- They have also previously reported, in september 2015, it was a change that
took place in their analysis, " says minister for defence Peter Hultqvist.

But they did not say that it was a Swedish sound. And the government has
chosen not to tell you either, then why?

- It is, after all, so this is the armed forces ' responsibilities. And it is
also so that I have a confidentiality that I have to take into account.

But how can it be classified that it was a Swedish sound?

- I want to refer to the armed Forces when it comes to all these issues. I am
not breaking any confidentiality rules or hemligstämplar.

It can not damage the armed forces ' reputation?

- Because it is the armed forces 'responsibility as a public authority as it
is they who have to answer the questions," says minister for defence Peter
Hultqvist.

... another machine translation ...

Defense Minister comments on disclosure of submarine

Saturday, June 11 at 12:30

Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist comments now echo data on submarine hunt in
2014.

What initially was described as crucial evidence that a foreign submarine
violated Sweden was in fact sound from a Swedish objects, revealing echo
today.

- They have also previously reported, in September 2015 there was a change
that occurred in their analysis, says Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist.

But they did not tell me that it was a Swedish sound. And the government has
chosen not to tell either, then why?

- It is the case here that this is the Armed Forces' responsibility. And it is
also true that I have a privacy I have to consider.

But how can it be confidential, that it was a Swedish sound?

- I refer to the Armed Forces when it comes to all these questions. I am not
violating any confidentiality or secret stamps.

Can not hurt the reputation of the Armed Forces?

- Because it is the Armed Forces of responsibility as an authority, it is they
who must answer the questions, says Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gsojvtg>
The Long History of Rusophobia, Starting With Its Religious Roots
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-18 17:31:23 UTC
Permalink
<http://www.b.dk/kronikker/rusland-en-ny-trussel-fra-fortiden>

.. The Cold War is remembered today as a conflict between two ideologies, but
was essentially a conflict between two western perceptions of the road to
justice and peace. Both had their roots in the political struggle in the West
for better society, from the middle of the 19th century was divided into two
main streams. A liberal who weighted freedom, and the less patient communist
who would like through coercion.

The ideological challenge from Russia is now much more basic. As the
Nazi-Fascist threat from the 1930s are now from Putin talk about a complete
rejection of the Western liberal development since the Renaissance. Today, the
reaction is the same as 80 years ago.

Many in the West was then no will to defend the liberal ideals against
anti-democrats who fought to destroy the 'unfashionable' and capitalist
liberal democracies and would replace democracies muddy political and
'inefficient' processes with logical simplicity and hardness.

The spirit of the West requires us in blind faith that peace and democracy are
steadfast natural conditions, forgetting all experience. Welcome to a world
ruled by dementia and mafia bosses with nuclear weapons. ..

...

When someone begins to rant about the Renaissance (and also about the Epoch of
Enlightenment etc) the first thing I immediately recall is the Nazi (obsession
with the Renaissance is a part of the mythology that produced the Nazism).
<ttp://tinyurl.com/gsojvtg>
The Long History of Rusophobia, Starting With Its Religious Roots
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-15 16:12:02 UTC
Permalink
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Nekrasov>
<http://on.rt.com/7fgy>
'He was not killed, he died': Kremlin critic's Magnitsky movie
premiers in US, exposing Browder
Links to learn more about what it's all about
<http://tinyurl.com/hkqgjna>
<http://huff.to/1TqdzY0>
<http://tinyurl.com/h3lbqzt>
<http://archive.is/mTWQE> Browder's site

New Version of Andrei Nekrasov's Anti-Magnitsky Film Attempts to Absolve
Putin's Friend Roldugin from Laundering the $230 Million Fraud Proceeds

June 14, 2016

PRESS RELEASE / For Immediate distribution

New Version of Andrei Nekrasov's Anti-Magnitsky Film Attempts to Absolve
Putin's Friend Roldugin from Laundering the $230 Million Fraud Proceeds ..

<http://tinyurl.com/zzho48a> nytimes.com

Film About Russian Lawyer's Death Creates an Uproar

MARK LANDLER | JUNE 9, 2016

WASHINGTON - Six years after his mysterious death in a Moscow prison cell,
Sergei L. Magnitsky has become a byword for brutality in President Vladimir V.
Putin's Russia. Now, a documentary film that paints Mr. Magnitsky as an
accomplice rather than a victim is generating a furor, with critics trying to
block a screening of it next week in Washington. ..

Mr. Nekrasov is an experienced documentary maker .. Speaking from Berlin, Mr.
Nekrasov said he had not begun the project intending to undermine the account
of Mr. Magnitsky's death. He said that he viewed it more as a docudrama about
Mr. Magnitsky's last days, and that he had consulted Mr. Browder, whom he
envisioned as the film's narrator. But as he began scrutinizing original
documents in the case, Mr. Nekrasov said, he began to doubt Mr. Browder's
version of events.

"It's difficult to pin down the moment when I thought it was a lie, it's a
made-up story," he said. One clue, he said, was that "there was no sign of
whistle-blowing" on the part of Mr. Magnitsky. ..

Mr. Browder was once the largest foreign investor in Russia's stock market. He
defended Mr. Putin .. Since he was expelled from Russia, however, Mr. Browder
has become a fierce crusader against official corruption there. ..

<http://tinyurl.com/gmeojbp> politico.eu

MEPs dragged into Russia film row
Screening of documentary about whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky pulled at the
last minute.

TARA PALMERI | 4/27/16

.. Nekrasov's film argues that Magnitsky, rather than revealing details of a
Russian plot to steal billions of dollars from taxpayers and dying at the
hands of police, as most of the world believes, was in fact a criminal
himself. ..

Nekrasov said he may take legal action against Browder for halting the
screening and calling his film defamatory.

"Mr. Browder's lawyers are so powerful that they can halt the screening, which
I find to be scandalous," Nekrasov said. "What about freedom of speech? What
is this, North Korea?"

Nekrasov said that he had no agenda and had believed Magnitsky to be a "hero"
until he came across evidence in police reports that changed his mind.

"I have ... no political statement to make," he said. "I've been a staunch
defender of human rights and I've been a staunch critic of Putin. I've made
films about Russian brutality in Chechnya and that's why I started making
Magnitsky, another film about another human rights defender."

"It's the sheer facts on these elaborate financial scams. It's all about the
money," he added. ..

<https://euobserver.com/foreign/133221>

EU and US duped on Russia corruption, film-maker claims

ANDREW RETTMAN | 27 APR

A Russian film-maker claims to have unmasked what would be the most audacious
deception of EU and US institutions in modern times.

Andrei Nekrasov, who is better known as a critic of the Russian regime, put
forward the accusations in a documentary to be screened in the European
Parliament (EP) on Wednesday (27 April). (OS: This screening was cancelled.)
The film says that Bill Browder, a British businessman, fraudulently convinced
politicians and investigators on both sides of the Atlantic that Russian
officials stole $230 million from Russian taxpayers and murdered the man,
Sergei Magnitsky, who reported the crime.

...

The modern Atlanticism, led by the US, especially in the age of Obama rule in
the US, has actually come to orwellian level of virtuality, so one does not
need a great effort to 'deceive' the Atlanticist policymakers about what they
would like to be 'deceived' themselves (and then everything else is an enemy
propaganda).

I can't know for sure what really happened when Mr. Magnitsky was in jail, but
it's clear to me that he was not a 'prominent whistleblower', and his boss Mr.
Browder was not saintly in his commercial activities in Russia.

Mr. Browder is a grandson of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of
USA, his grandmother was living in the USSR, so it's likely that he has some
'special' links in the modern Russia. In 2005, Browder made a strong effort to
campaign for promotion of Western investments in the Russian industries. He
claimed that there's a favorable investment climate in Russia, and Putin does
all right. Maybe it may be explained by the fact that by that time he owned a
large stake in the Russian stocks, so he was interested to raise prices on the
Russian stock exchange. Later he was accused of violating Russian laws due to
his businesses, and maybe these investigations led him on the warpath.
<http://tinyurl.com/hqvhfxp>
Europe Sleepwalks toward World War III
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-19 11:15:24 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/hcr9xfj> russia-insider.com

.. Review of Devastating Film About Bill Browder Which He Tried to Suppress

Gilbert Doctorow

Despite all the threats of lawsuits and physical intimidation which William
Browder brought to bear over the past couple of months to ensure that this
film would not be screened anywhere, on Monday, 13 June, it was shown
privately in a museum of journalism in Washington, D.C. ..

The Magnitsky Act. Behind the Scenes is an amazing film which takes us through
the thought processes, the evidence sorting of the well-known independent film
maker Andrei Nekrasov as he approached an assignment that was at the outset
meant to be one more public confirmation of the narrative Browder has sold to
the US Congress and to the American and European political elites.

That story was all about a 36 year old whistleblower "attorney" (actually a
bookkeeper) named Sergei Magnitsky who denounced on Browder's behalf the theft
of Russian taxes to his boss's companies amounting to $230 million and who
was rewarded for his efforts by arrest, torture and murder in detainment by
the officials who perpetrated the theft.

This shocking tale drove legislation that was a major landmark in the descent
of US-Russian relations under President Barack Obama to a level rivaling the
worst days of the Cold War.

At the end of the film we understand that this story was concocted by William
Browder to cover up his own criminal theft of the money in question, that
Magnitsky was not a whistleblower, but on the contrary was likely an assistant
and abettor to the fraud and theft that Browder organized, that he was not
murdered by corrupt Russian police but died in prison from banal neglect of
his medical condition.

The cinematic qualities of the film are evident. Nekrasov is highly
experienced as a maker of documentaries enjoying a Europe-wide reputation.
What sets this work apart from the "trade" is the honesty, the integrity of
the film-maker as he discovers midway into his project that key assumptions of
his script are faulty and begins an independent investigation to get at the
truth.

It is an inconvenient truth that he stumbles upon, because it takes him out of
his familiar milieu of 'creative people' who are instinctively critical of the
Putin regime and of its widely assumed violation of human rights and civil
liberties. We see how well-known names in the European Parliament, in the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in NGOs that are reputed to
be watchdogs, in the team of court investigators in New York have taken on
faith the arguments and documentation (largely in Russian and inaccessible to
them) which they received from William Browder and then rubber-stamped his
story as validated without making any attempt to weigh the evidence.

Their intellectual laziness and complacency is captured fully on film and
requires no commentary by the director. One of those especially skewered by
her own words is German Bundestag deputy (Greens) Marieluise Beck. It is
understandable to me now that I have viewed the film why she was one of the
two individuals whose objections to its showing scuttled the screening in the
European Parliament in April. By the end of The Magnitsky Act, Nekrasov finds
that he has become a dissident in his own subculture within Russia and in
European liberal circles.

Another exceptional and striking characteristic of the filmmaker is his
energetic pursuit of all imaginable leads in his investigative reporting. Some
leads end in "no comment" while others result in exposing whole new ranges of
lies and deception in the Browder narrative. Nekrasov's diligence is
exemplary even as he takes us into the more arcane aspects of the case such as
the course of money flow from the alleged tax fraud. These bits and pieces are
essential to his methodology and justify the length of the movie, which
approaches two hours.

Nekrasov largely allows William Browder to self-destruct under the weight of
his own lies and the contradictions in his story-telling at various times. His
camera is always running, even if his subjects are not thinking about the
consequences of being taped. Browder's supposed lapses of memory, set in the
context of involuntary facial expressions of stress and nervousness, will be
used against him by the viewer even if they would be thrown out by a judge in
a court of law.

At the end of the twists and turns in this expose, the viewer is ready to see
Browder sink through the floor on a direct transfer to hell like Don Giovanni
in the closing scene of Mozart's opera.

Nothing so colorful occurs, but it is hard to see how Browder can survive the
onslaught of this film if and when it gets wide public viewing.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<https://euobserver.com/foreign/133221>
EU and US duped on Russia corruption, film-maker claims
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-10 16:43:13 UTC
Permalink
<http://sptnkne.ws/b2fR>

German Politician Recognizes Crimea as Part of Russia

EUROPE | 15:36 10.06.2016

Andreas Maurer, chairman of the Die Linke party branch in the town of
Quakenbrück in Lower Saxony, became the first German politician to publicly
advocate recognizing Crimea as a part of Russia.

Maurer, who recently returned from his trip to the Crimean Peninsula, told
Sputnik that because high-level politicians refuse to visit Crimea, the goal
of his trip was to promote people's diplomacy.

"I was able to meet with representatives of the ethnic minorities - with
Crimean Tatars, Armenians, Greeks. And I learned that these people feel
themselves safe and secure," he said.

The politician added that he was also somewhat surprised by the actions of the
Ukrainian ambassador to Germany who called the German Foreign Minister to
condemn Maurer's visit.

"It shows how nervous the Ukrainian side is. It means that Kiev is afraid
of losing the ability to maintain the current sentiment towards Crimea,"
Maurer said.

He also remarked that during his trip to Crimea he failed to notice any effect
from the anti-Russian sanctions, save perhaps for the fact that the local's
ability to travel abroad was effectively denied.

"It means that the West essentially punishes the people of Crimea for the
referendum, and it worries me. But here in Germany the sanctions are also
hurting us. The local businessmen are worried by sanctions, and are
beginning to claim that the sanctions are pointless. Not a single sector of
the German economy can afford to deprive itself of the Russian market in
the long-term," he explained.

All in all, Maurer said that hopefully the politicians will eventually see
reason and realize that simply ignoring the current situation in Crimea will
get them nowhere.

"A popular vote is the highest form of legitimization. Personally, I have
no doubts that the people made their decision voluntarily. And sooner or
later the Western politicians will have to recognize this," Maurer surmised.

...

'The West' believes the Crimeans are subhumen that can't be allowed to vote.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5>
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-13 17:40:53 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/ze66s6l> nos.nl

Rutte: rash Ukraine referendum disastrous

Prime Minister Rutte will the outcome of the referendum on the association
agreement with Ukraine disastrous. "The referendum produced a disastrous
result," he said during a meeting with parliamentarians from EU countries.

Rutte reiterated that it is still possible that the Netherlands does not sign
the treaty, as negotiated in Europe and out of Dutch political parties on
anything.

Totally, totally, totally against

Rutte stressed that he hopes it will not have come this far. In conversation
with the parliamentarians, he also reiterated his position on referendums. "I
am totally against referendums. And I am totally, totally, totally against
referendums on multilateral agreements, Because it makes no sense."

According to Rutte shows Ukraine referendum that it is impossible to separate
the State deciding on an agreement that has been taken as a whole by the EU.
In the referendum last April voted 61 percent of voters against the
association agreement. ..

Furthermore Rutte stressed that it is high time to switch to a higher gear of
European market integration. Rules of different countries should be more
connected to each other, says Rutte, eg when shopping online. ..

...

Your play in the game of democracy means a little, kids. We rather have a
high time here to switch to a higher gear. You are silly, silly, silly, kids,
you don't actually understand what you really need, but we do.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/h2t44w5>
Referendum shows gap between politicians and citizens
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-12 18:04:17 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/gwlll68> consortiumnews.com

'Yats' Is No Longer the Guy

Exclusive: Several weeks before Ukraine's 2014 coup, U.S. Assistant Secretary
of State Nuland had already picked Arseniy Yatsenyuk to be the future leader,
but now "Yats" is no longer the guy, writes Robert Parry.

Robert Parry | April 11, 2016

In reporting on the resignation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk,
the major U.S. newspapers either ignored or distorted Assistant Secretary of
State Victoria Nuland's infamous intercepted phone call <http://qr.de/bbwZ>
before the 2014 coup in which she declared "Yats is the guy!"

Though Nuland's phone call introduced many Americans to the previously obscure
Yatsenyuk, its timing - a few weeks before the ouster of elected Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovych - was never helpful to Washington's desired
narrative of the Ukrainian people rising up on their own to oust a corrupt
leader.

Instead, the conversation between Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Geoffrey Pyatt sounded like two proconsuls picking which Ukrainian politicians
would lead the new government. Nuland also disparaged the less aggressive
approach of the European Union with the pithy put-down: "Fuck the E.U.!"

More importantly, the intercepted call, released onto YouTube in early
February 2014, represented powerful evidence that these senior U.S. officials
were plotting - or at least collaborating in - a coup d'etat against Ukraine's
democratically elected president. So, the U.S. government and the mainstream
U.S. media have since consigned this revealing discussion to the Great Memory
Hole.

On Monday, in reporting on Yatsenyuk's Sunday speech in which he announced
that he is stepping down, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal
didn't mention the Nuland-Pyatt conversation at all.

The New York Times did mention the call but misled its readers regarding its
timing, making it appear as if the call followed rather than preceded the
coup. That way the call sounded like two American officials routinely
appraising Ukraine's future leaders, not plotting to oust one government and
install another.

The Times article <http://durl.me/bxs9wn> by Andrew E. Kramer said: "Before
Mr. Yatsenyuk's appointment as prime minister in 2014, a leaked recording of a
telephone conversation between Victoria J. Nuland, a United States assistant
secretary of state, and the American ambassador in Ukraine, Geoffrey R. Pyatt,
seemed to underscore the West's support for his candidacy. 'Yats is the guy,'
Ms. Nuland had said."

Notice, however, that if you didn't know that the conversation occurred in
late January or early February 2014, you wouldn't know that it preceded the
Feb. 22, 2014 coup. You might have thought that it was just a supportive chat
before Yatsenyuk got his new job.

You also wouldn't know that much of the Nuland-Pyatt conversation focused on
how they were going to "glue this thing" or "midwife this thing," comments
sounding like prima facie evidence that the U.S. government was engaged in
"regime change" in Ukraine, on Russia's border.

The 'No Coup' Conclusion

But Kramer's lack of specificity about the timing and substance of the call
fits with a long pattern of New York Times' bias in its coverage of the
Ukraine crisis. On Jan. 4, 2015, nearly a year after the U.S.-backed coup, the
Times published an "investigation" article declaring that there never had been
a coup. It was just a case of President Yanukovych deciding to leave and not
coming back.

That article reached its conclusion, in part, by ignoring the evidence of a
coup, including the Nuland-Pyatt phone call. The story was co-written by
Kramer and so it is interesting to know that he was at least aware of the
"Yats is the guy" reference although it was ignored in last year's long-form
article.

Instead, Kramer and his co-author Andrew Higgins took pains to mock anyone who
actually looked at the evidence and dared reach the disfavored conclusion
about a coup. If you did, you were some rube deluded by Russian propaganda.

"Russia has attributed Mr. Yanukovych's ouster to what it portrays as a
violent, 'neo-fascist' coup supported and even choreographed by the West and
dressed up as a popular uprising," Higgins and Kramer wrote
<http://durl.me/bxsabg>. "Few outside the Russian propaganda bubble ever
seriously entertained the Kremlin's line. But almost a year after the fall of
Mr. Yanukovych's government, questions remain about how and why it collapsed
so quickly and completely."

The Times' article concluded that Yanukovych "was not so much overthrown as
cast adrift by his own allies, and that Western officials were just as
surprised by the meltdown as anyone else. The allies' desertion, fueled in
large part by fear, was accelerated by the seizing by protesters of a large
stock of weapons in the west of the country. But just as important, the review
of the final hours shows, was the panic in government ranks created by Mr.
Yanukovych's own efforts to make peace."

Yet, one might wonder what the Times thinks a coup looks like. Indeed, the
Ukrainian coup had many of the same earmarks as such classics as the
CIA-engineered regime changes in Iran in 1953 and in Guatemala in 1954.

The way those coups played out is now historically well known. Secret U.S.
government operatives planted nasty propaganda about the targeted leader,
stirred up political and economic chaos, conspired with rival political
leaders, spread rumors of worse violence to come and then - as political
institutions collapsed - watched as the scared but duly elected leader made a
hasty departure.

In Iran, the coup reinstalled the autocratic Shah who then ruled with a heavy
hand for the next quarter century; in Guatemala, the coup led to more than
three decades of brutal military regimes and the killing of some 200,000
Guatemalans.

Coups don't have to involve army tanks occupying the public squares, although
that is an alternative model which follows many of the same initial steps
except that the military is brought in at the end. The military coup was a
common approach especially in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s.

'Color Revolutions'

But the preferred method in more recent years has been the "color revolution,"
which operates behind the façade of a "peaceful" popular uprising and
international pressure on the targeted leader to show restraint until it's too
late to stop the coup. Despite the restraint, the leader is still accused of
gross human rights violations, all the better to justify his removal.

Later, the ousted leader may get an image makeover; instead of a cruel bully,
he is ridiculed for not showing sufficient resolve and letting his base of
support melt away, as happened with Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran and Jacobo
Arbenz in Guatemala.

But the reality of what happened in Ukraine was never hard to figure out. Nor
did you have to be inside "the Russian propaganda bubble" to recognize it.
George Friedman, the founder of the global intelligence firm Stratfor, called
<http://chilp.it/23d3c52> Yanukovych's overthrow "the most blatant coup in
history."

Which is what it appears if you consider the evidence. The first step in the
process was to create tensions around the issue of pulling Ukraine out of
Russia's economic orbit and capturing it in the European Union's gravity, a
plan defined by influential American neocons in 2013.

On Sept. 26, 2013, National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman,
who has been a major neocon paymaster for decades, took to the op-ed page of
the neocon Washington Post and called Ukraine "the biggest prize" and an
important interim step toward toppling Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At the time, Gershman, whose NED is funded by the U.S. Congress to the tune of
about $100 million a year, was financing scores of projects inside Ukraine
training activists, paying for journalists and organizing business groups.

As for the even bigger prize - Putin - Gershman wrote: "Ukraine's choice to
join Europe will accelerate the demise of the ideology of Russian imperialism
that Putin represents. Russians, too, face a choice, and Putin may find
himself on the losing end not just in the near abroad but within Russia
itself."

At that time, in early fall 2013, Ukraine's President Yanukovych was exploring
the idea of reaching out to Europe with an association agreement. But he got
cold feet in November 2013 when economic experts in Kiev advised him that the
Ukrainian economy would suffer a $160 billion hit if it separated from Russia,
its eastern neighbor and major trading partner. There was also the West's
demand that Ukraine accept a harsh austerity plan from the International
Monetary Fund.

Yanukovych wanted more time for the E.U. negotiations, but his decision
angered many western Ukrainians who saw their future more attached to Europe
than Russia. Tens of thousands of protesters began camping out at Maidan
Square in Kiev, with Yanukovych ordering the police to show restraint.

Meanwhile, with Yanukovych shifting back toward Russia, which was offering a
more generous $15 billion loan and discounted natural gas, he soon became the
target of American neocons and the U.S. media, which portrayed Ukraine's
political unrest as a black-and-white case of a brutal and corrupt Yanukovych
opposed by a saintly "pro-democracy" movement.

Cheering an Uprising

The Maidan uprising was urged on by American neocons, including Assistant
Secretary of State for European Affairs Nuland, who passed out cookies at the
Maidan and reminded Ukrainian business leaders that the United States had
invested $5 billion in their "European aspirations."

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, also showed up, standing on stage with right-wing
extremists from the Svoboda Party and telling the crowd that the United States
was with them in their challenge to the Ukrainian government.

As the winter progressed, the protests grew more violent. Neo-Nazi and other
extremist elements from Lviv and other western Ukrainian cities began arriving
in well-organized brigades or "sotins" of 100 trained street fighters. Police
were attacked with firebombs and other weapons as the violent protesters began
seizing government buildings and unfurling Nazi banners and even a Confederate
flag.

Though Yanukovych continued to order his police to show restraint, he was
still depicted in the major U.S. news media as a brutal thug who was callously
murdering his own people. The chaos reached a climax on Feb. 20 when
mysterious snipers opened fire, killing both police and protesters. As the
police retreated, the militants advanced brandishing firearms and other
weapons. The confrontation led to significant loss of life, pushing the death
toll to around 80 including more than a dozen police.

U.S. diplomats and the mainstream U.S. press immediately blamed Yanukovych for
the sniper attack, though the circumstances remain murky to this day and some
investigations have suggested that the lethal sniper fire came from buildings
controlled by Right Sektor extremists.

To tamp down the worsening violence, a shaken Yanukovych signed a
European-brokered deal on Feb. 21, in which he accepted reduced powers and an
early election so he could be voted out of office. He also agreed to requests
from Vice President Joe Biden to pull back the police.

The precipitous police withdrawal opened the path for the neo-Nazis and other
street fighters to seize presidential offices and force Yanukovych and his
officials to flee for their lives. The new coup regime was immediately
declared "legitimate" by the U.S. State Department with Yanukovych sought on
murder charges. Nuland's favorite, Yatsenyuk, became the new prime minister.

Throughout the crisis, the mainstream U.S. press hammered home the theme of
white-hatted protesters versus a black-hatted president. The police were
portrayed as brutal killers who fired on unarmed supporters of "democracy."
The good-guy/bad-guy narrative was all the American people heard from the
major media.

The New York Times went so far as to delete the slain policemen from the
narrative and simply report that the police had killed all those who died in
the Maidan. A typical Times report on March 5, 2014, summed up the storyline:
"More than 80 protesters were shot to death by the police as an uprising
spiraled out of control in mid-February."

The mainstream U.S. media also sought to discredit anyone who observed the
obvious fact that an unconstitutional coup had just occurred. A new theme
emerged that portrayed Yanukovych as simply deciding to abandon his government
because of the moral pressure from the noble and peaceful Maidan protests.

Any reference to a "coup" was dismissed as "Russian propaganda." There was a
parallel determination in the U.S. media to discredit or ignore evidence that
neo-Nazi militias had played an important role in ousting Yanukovych and in
the subsequent suppression of anti-coup resistance in eastern and southern
Ukraine. That opposition among ethnic-Russian Ukrainians simply became
"Russian aggression."

This refusal to notice what was actually a remarkable story - the willful
unleashing of Nazi storm troopers on a European population for the first time
since World War II - reached absurd levels as The New York Times and The
Washington Post buried references to the neo-Nazis at the end of stories,
almost as afterthoughts.

The Washington Post went to the extreme of rationalizing Swastikas and other
Nazi symbols by quoting one militia commander as calling them "romantic"
gestures by impressionable young men. [See Consortiumnews.com's "Ukraine's
'Romantic' Neo-Nazi Storm Troopers." <http://qr.de/bbw2>]

But today - more than two years after what U.S. and Ukrainian officials like
to call "the Revolution of Dignity" - the U.S.-backed Ukrainian government is
sinking into dysfunction, reliant on handouts from the IMF and Western
governments.

And, in a move perhaps now more symbolic than substantive, Prime Minister
Yatsenyuk is stepping down. Yats is no longer the guy.

Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for
The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book,
America's Stolen Narrative, either in print here <http://qr.de/bbw3> or as an
e-book (from Amazon <http://migre.me/tuydE> and barnesandnoble.com
<http://migre.me/tuyeE>).
<http://tinyurl.com/he8y3pp>
How US-Backed War on Syria Helped ISIS
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-14 17:11:21 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/j2nszr8> foreignpolicy.com

The Toxic Coddling of Petro Poroshenko
Only a sharp rebuke from the West can save Ukraine from itself now. Too bad
that won't happen

LEV GOLINKIN | APRIL 13, 2016

For the few people out there who think that the resignation of Ukraine Prime
Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will stop the ongoing slide in Ukraine toward
political crisis, let's clear something up: It won't. In fact, the most likely
outcome is that the country will continue on its trajectory toward chaos. The
man at the center of Kiev's problems, President Petro Poroshenko, still
refuses to combat the endemic corruption that infuriates Ukrainians and
strangles their economy. And thanks to the West, which continues to back him,
Poroshenko is more deeply entrenched in power than ever before. ..

Poroshenko - a billionaire with a decades-long track record of being neither
reliably pro-Russian, nor pro-Western, but pro-his own money - has lost
whatever little credibility he may have once had as a reformer. ..

While the West is distracted by U.S. elections and the migrant crisis, Ukraine
is turning into a 45 million person, Texas-sized pressure cooker in the middle
of Europe. With every new scandal, with every editorial comparing Poroshenko
to his overthrown predecessor, with every reformer resigning in frustration,
the pressure grows. Sooner or later, Poroshenko, or someone in his circle,
will do something so unforgivable and outrageous that it'll ignite a new wave
of protests. The difference between Ukraine in 2013 and 2016, however, is two
years of war, nearly 10,000 casualties, and over 2 million refugees and
internally displaced persons. Ukraine is flooded with weapons, has a hostile
population in the southeastern regions, a disillusioned military, an economy
fresh from teetering on the brink of collapse, and, most importantly, heavily
armed battalions of far-right fighters. Another uprising is likely to push the
country toward disintegration. ..

The West must recognize this danger, drop its charade of portraying Poroshenko
as a paladin of democracy, and start forcing him to enact visible, tangible
reforms. Anemic recommendations, such as the State Department's vague wish for
"a new cabinet that is committed to implementing needed reforms," aren't going
to cut it. Syria and Libya are straining Europe to the breaking point -
imagine what a failed state of 45 million people in the middle of Europe will
do.

...

The main Atlanticist objective was to make trouble in the region near Russia,
and this goal has been achieved. Everything else is for show. The fact the
Europeans have obtained yet one gift from the US, in addition to the refugees,
doesn't matter much as far as the lackeys have been accustomed to endure whims
of their overseas patron and follow the party line.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/gwlll68>
'Yats' Is No Longer the Guy
Oleg Smirnov
2016-04-15 13:58:57 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/z8bgevr> <http://archive.is/NU4Ew>

Latest data of opinion polls in the Ukraine

"The survey was conducted by Rating Group Ukraine on order of the
International Republican Institute. The survey was conducted throughout
all Ukraine territory (except for occupied territories of Crimea and
Donbas) from 18 February till 4 March 2016. .. The survey was financed
by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)."


President Mr. Parashenko

2% definitely approve \
15% moderately approve / 17%
32% moderately disapprove \
43% definitely disapprove / 75%
8% no opinion

Yaytsenykh (recently resigned)

1% definitely approve \
6% moderately approve / 7%
25% moderately disapprove \
64% definitely disapprove / 89%
4% no opinion

Parliament

5% moderately approve > 5%
29% tend to disapprove \
59% definitely disapprove / 88%
6% no opinion


76% believe the contry is going in wrong direction (against 11% opposite).
55% (against 7%) expect further economic deterioration / rise of poverty.
62% (against 25%) don't trust to 'our politicians', entirely.

The main source of information for 88% of the respondents is Ukrainian TV.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/j2nszr8>
The Toxic Coddling of Petro Poroshenko
Oleg Smirnov
2016-05-02 20:44:38 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/j5jl9wk> sueddeutsche.de

Secret TTIP Papers Revealed

Alexander Hagelüken and Alexander Mühlauer | May 1, 2016

a.. Secret TTIP papers show: The pressure of the US government to the EU is
more and more far-reaching than previously known.
b.. Washington is threatening to block, facilitating exports for Europe's
car industry to achieve in return for the EU decreases more US agricultural
products.
c.. At the same time the Americans attack the basic precautionary principle
in European consumer protection.

The US government sets Europe significantly stronger and more far-reaching
under pressure than previously known in the negotiations on the transatlantic
trade agreement TTIP. ..

Thus Washington is threatening to block, facilitating exports for the European
car industry to achieve in return for the EU decreases more US agricultural
products. At the same time the US government attacked the basic precautionary
principle in EU consumer protection , the 500 million Europeans currently
before genetic engineering and hormone meat preserved in food. ..

.. So far there has been often - both on the part of the United States as well
as from the EU circles - told, Washington respected here the concerns of
Europeans. Europe's citizens should not have to worry. The secret papers paint
a different picture. ..
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/a-1088013.html>
Vibrant, Noisy and Booming: Welcome to the New Moscow
Oleg Smirnov
2016-05-05 17:42:04 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/j6k6d9k> spectator.co.uk

How Recep Erdogan became the most powerful man in Europe

Turkey's thuggish president has European leaders exactly where he wants them

Douglas Murray | 7 May 2016

.. But today, the question has become academic - first because Turkey's
liberal trajectory long ago halted and began rolling backwards. And secondly
because the country is now coming into Europe anyway. Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
the Turkish president, has persuaded the EU to grant visa-free travel to his
75 million countrymen inside Europe's passport-free Schengen area. In so
doing, he has made more progress than any of his predecessors. Using a
combination of intimidation, threats and blackmail, he has succeeded in
opening wide the doors of Europe. ..

Formal accession negotiations began in 2005, but by then something important
had happened to Turkey. That something was Recep Tayyip Erdogan. First elected
with his 'Justice and Development' party (AKP) as prime minister in 2003, the
man who is now president set about fundamentally altering Turkey's direction
of travel. He was not some proud moderniser. While mayor of Istanbul, he was
imprisoned for inciting religious hatred .. The extent to which Erdogan has
been able to take Turkey backwards is a modern tragedy. .. Every time Erdogan
and his circle are judged by the normal standards of the law, he responds with
such hysterical counter-attacks. ..

In 2013, protests against the government spread to 60 cities. But the police
crushed them brutally, and laws were later passed to restrict future protests.
Since then the government has acted to further crush press freedom and the
country regularly tops world league tables for the number of imprisoned
journalists. ..

While the suppression of freedoms within Turkey is a tragedy, the extension of
Erdogan's repression inside the EU is a -scandal. .. Erdogan was calling
Angela Merkel to heel. And successfully: she approved prosecution of the
offending comedian .. Erdogan himself said, 'The European Union needs Turkey
more than Turkey needs the European Union.' ..

And so the EU has accepted Turkey's abominable treatment of Kurds. It has
ignored the ongoing illegal occupation of north Cyprus. And it has ignored
every single one of its own putative 'criteria'. ..

Erdogan, prince of Europe: quite a title to confer upon a wretched Islamist
bully who regards refugees as human bargaining chips and stands poised to
destroy our continent. ..

...

Europe largely supported the American interventions in the MidEast. This gave
Erdogan a tool 'to blackmail' the community of values (!tm) with the refugees.
But the root isn't Mr Erdogan, it's the US policies and European obedience.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/j5jl9wk>
Secret TTIP Papers Revealed
Oleg Smirnov
2016-05-06 20:49:16 UTC
Permalink
<http://moderntokyotimes.com/?p=4674>

How Radicalization Was Allowed to Fester in Belgium

Abigail R. Esman | APRIL 22, 2016

Squeezed into a corner bounded by France, Germany and the Netherlands, tiny
Belgium has produced more jihadists than any other Western country (relative
to its population) since 9/11. .. But the other hard fact is that there is
nothing especially new about any of this. Belgium has been a center for
Islamic terrorism for more than 20 years, .. Indeed, most of the earlier
Islamist terror attacks in Belgium and France were committed by Algerian GIA
members, .. But not all these 1990s jihadists were strictly GIA .. But most
notable is a report <http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/892> that Belgium
repeatedly did little to combat the threat. Rather, according to journalist
Paul Belien <http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/530>, Belgian authorities
"made a deal with the GIA terrorists, agreeing to turn a blind eye to
conspiracies hatched on Belgian soil in exchange for immunity from attack."
If the deal was real, it did nothing to protect Belgian Muslims from
radicalization. .. Moreover, the radicalization of Belgian Muslims has become
nearly a local institution ..

Read it in full <http://moderntokyotimes.com/?p=4674>
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/j6k6d9k>
Turkey's thuggish president has European leaders exactly where he wants them
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-05 03:13:11 UTC
Permalink
<http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8189/social-media-censorship>

European Union Declares War on Internet Free Speech

Soeren Kern | June 3, 2016

The European Union (EU), in partnership with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and
Microsoft, has unveiled a "code of conduct" to combat the spread of "illegal
hate speech" online in Europe. ..
Some Members of the European Parliament have characterized the EU's code of
online conduct - which requires "offensive" material to be removed from the
Internet within 24 hours, and replaced with "counter-narratives" - as
"Orwellian." ..

...

Those from the Facebook, can migrate to the Russian VK network.

It's somewhat similar to the Facebook, and operates under Russian legislation
where the fuzzy 'hate speech' concept is not used, but the kinds of abuse are
listed more specifically, as well as in the VK's terms <http://vk.com/terms>.

Moderation policy of the VK administration allows great freedom of expression
and often tolerates content that may be considered offensive by some. Despite
the fact it's owned by a Russian company, it doesn't discriminate users that
post content that is unwelcome in Russia. For example, a lot of the Ukrainian
nationalists and Russia haters have their accounts and communities in VK.

In what case may you be banned? VK itself can ban you - for violation of their
terms. If VK doesn't find your content bannable then you still may be banned
by request of national authorities. In such a case, if your content is illegal
under Russian law then your page(s) will not be available in Russia but still
may be available elsewhere. If your content is acceptable by VK but illegal
under law of some another country then their ban policy depends on what the VK
administration has agreed with authorities / regulators of that country.

What they say.

<http://tinyurl.com/jnf4v34>

So, for now VK - is the best social network and the largest in the Europe ..
It has the best functionality, UI and the fastest performance: it works from
the USA much faster than all other SNSes do. ..

<http://tinyurl.com/hpp3fvf>

What is VK?
Put very simply, VK is a much larger and more efficient version of Facebook.
..

<http://tinyurl.com/zloxo93>

One thing you will quickly notice with VK is that the platform is incredibly
smooth running and very quick in responsiveness. You won't find any dreaded
lag here and all of the features work amazing precision. ..
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://moderntokyotimes.com/?p=4674>
How Radicalization Was Allowed to Fester in Belgium
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-05 15:37:38 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/zwzrbaf> oilprice.com

Russia Almost Doubles Gas Exports to the U.K.

Gazprom has dramatically increased its exports to the United Kingdom during
the first five months of 2016, nearly doubling shipments.

The 91.5-percent increase in natural gas exports to the UK -- which equates to
3.85 billion cubic meters -- was reported by the company's CEO Alexei Miller
on Wednesday.

Other countries in the European Union .. have also begun importing more energy
supplies from Russia.

Gazprom's business with Poland jumped by 35.6 percent from January to May
2016, while Germany (10.4 percent), France (35 percent), Austria (21.3
percent), Greece (85.8 percent), the Netherlands (103.8 percent) and Denmark
(139.3 percent) also upped their orders by significant amounts. ..

...

Every time when you use the gas, you send a message of love to Russia & Putin.

Let it be a new fetishist cult.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8189/social-media-censorship>
European Union Declares War on Internet Free Speech
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-20 10:00:59 UTC
Permalink
<http://tinyurl.com/jqlzqh4> spiked-online.com
<http://tinyurl.com/zk7ljzs> csmonitor.com
<http://tinyurl.com/ju9net7> dailycaller.com
<http://tinyurl.com/gpgw6qa> breitbart.com
<http://tinyurl.com/hn8fgtn> indystar.com
The main point here is that you can 'outsource' regulation of something to
the 'technical' staff only if the thing is defined clearly enough and its
regulation is manageable by clear formal rules. Otherwise it would require
a qualified expertise. The European concepts related to the 'hate speech'
topic are not clearly defined. So the tech staff's 'regulation' will be
highly subjective and / or will tend to be used at a slight suspicion.
It will cause folks to migrate to alternative networks. The EU will have a
need to outlaw these networks etc. Thus the indispensable EU bureaucracy
will be able to secure more work for dear self.
KPGH
2016-06-20 11:24:57 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/jqlzqh4> spiked-online.com
<http://tinyurl.com/zk7ljzs> csmonitor.com
<http://tinyurl.com/ju9net7> dailycaller.com
<http://tinyurl.com/gpgw6qa> breitbart.com
<http://tinyurl.com/hn8fgtn> indystar.com
The main point here is that you can 'outsource' regulation
of something to the 'technical' staff only if the thing is
defined clearly enough and its regulation is manageable by
clear formal rules. Otherwise it would require a qualified
expertise. The European concepts related to the 'hate
speech' topic are not clearly defined. So the tech staff's
'regulation' will be highly subjective and / or will tend
to be used at a slight suspicion. It will cause folks to
migrate to alternative networks.
Being vague is a prerequisite for passing of censoring
polemics inconveniencing local oligarchical establishments as
'hate speech'.

As balanced and informative mass-media either never existed or
are in decline (Britain, France, Germany) all over Europe, the
remaining means open to dissident opinions to counter a
swelling torrent of propaganda and infotainment, is by means
of polemics balancing between an appeal to reason and
ridicule.

The logical next step is therfore to repress ridicule so that
associated appeals to reason can more easily be ignored since
they will never reach more than a very marginal audience.

It seems however that the apparent bias of this gatestone
institute aligns with interests that seem to dominate European
politics. So their particular complaining might than indeed be
disingenuous -- as well? :-)
Walter
2016-06-05 16:32:09 UTC
Permalink
Anne Applebaum -- another goddamned jew
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hb3ndo2> washingtonpost.com
The Dutch just showed the world how Russia influences Western European
elections
Anne Applebaum (OS: <http://tinyurl.com/zhuheuv>) | April 8
In a vague sort of way, many people are aware that the Russian government
provides material and moral support to extremist political groups in Europe.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked her security officials to look into Russian
influence in German online media.
zoef
2016-06-05 19:45:31 UTC
Permalink
Post by Walter
Anne Applebaum -- another goddamned jew
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hb3ndo2> washingtonpost.com
The Dutch just showed the world how Russia influences Western European
elections
Anne Applebaum (OS: <http://tinyurl.com/zhuheuv>) | April 8
In a vague sort of way, many people are aware that the Russian government
provides material and moral support to extremist political groups in Europe.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked her security officials to look into Russian
influence in German online media.
Gehen Sie selbst ficken auf den Stufen des Reichstags, Arschloch.

zoef
RVG
2016-06-14 20:40:40 UTC
Permalink
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/hb3ndo2> washingtonpost.com
Stop shitting in English on fr.* groups.
--
Ne travaillez jamais/Never work.


http://jamen.do/l/154722
http://bluedusk.blogspot.fr/
http://soundcloud.com/rvgronoff
http://www.toutelapoesie.com/salons/user/18908-guillaume-daquile/
Oleg Smirnov
2016-06-30 15:15:42 UTC
Permalink
Turkish news <http://tinyurl.com/joahpaa>

".. Istanbul airport attack ..

Ahmet Chatayev, a Chechen terrorist, is thought to be the planner of the
attack. Chatayev had been working for Dokko Umarov, founder of the Chechen
Islamic Emirates. He joined Daesh in 2013 after the death of Umarov."

Read more below.

While they were engaged in terrorism in Russia, they were basically good guys
and freedom fighters, Turkey itself supported the radical islamists in Russia
ih the 90-00s, and today they explode in Turkey.
Post by Oleg Smirnov
<http://tinyurl.com/junch4k> journal-neo.org
Poland: A New Route for ISIS Weapons Smuggling Operations?
...
There really was a meeting in the 2007 <http://archive.is/IXb1B> where a few
sorts of fellows - radical intelligentsia from Baltic states and Poland (eg.
<http://tinyurl.com/h5hvnxw>), west-Ukrainian neo-Nazi like Yarosh (now 'the
Right Sector') and islamists from the North Caucasus established a union.
Umarov <http://archive.is/5YvDz> praised the meeting with a greeting message
In the 2008, during the short military conflict with the Saakashvili regime,
Ukrainian news media reported <http://archive.is/J0om6> about
'Anti-Imperialist Front's effort to establish a coordination between
Georgian troops and the militants of 'Caucasus Emirate'
<http://is.gd/vgg0RW>.
A particular story is linked to this stuff (just for illustration). In 2010,
a man, Ahmed Chataev, had been detained in the Ukraine on request of Russian
authorities for aiding terrorist activities. 'Anti-Imperialist Front'
campaigned in the Ukraine <http://archive.is/dUJBU> against transferring him
to Russia. Amnesty International also demanded <http://archive.is/V1e9o> to
free him at the time. Before that, in 2007 - 2008, Mr Chataev spent a year
in a Swedish prison for illicit arms trafficking. Next year, 2011, Bulgarian
authorities arrested him <http://tinyurl.com/jshepg6> while he was trying to
go to Turkey. There was again human rights protests etc, and Bulgaria
refused to give him. Next year, 2012, Mr Chataev was wounded and arrested in
Georgia in relation to 'Lopota incident' <http://is.gd/sQ48Uk>. Georgia
released him as well. In autumn 2015, the US authorities had included
Chataev in their black list <http://archive.is/7JIpb> as a person linked to
ISIS. In January 2016 the EU recognized his affiliation with al-Qaeda
<http://is.gd/ZrNHhu>. Russia's authorities say <http://sptnkne.ws/a6K4>,
<http://archive.is/pUasX> he is engaged in recruitment of the jihadists from
ex-USSR for ISIS, as well as in training of terrorist groups for the
terrorist actions in Europe.
Today a large part of the jihadists from North Caucasus are engaged within
ISIS as well as within 'moderate' terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, but
their old ties with the west-Ukrainian, Baltic and Polish etc radicals and
neo-Nazis likely remain, and they can use these links to achieve their goals
in Europe.
Rise of the global jihadism is a natural product of the Atlanticist
policies. It comes from the idea to utilize extremist fighters for use
against 'regimes' the Atlanticism dislikes <http://tinyurl.com/p44ywad>. It
seems likely that the use of the neo-Nazis in the Ukraine for similar
purpose will also strike back sometime in the future.
<http://tinyurl.com/hrgh7gp>
Meet Andriy Parubiy, the Former Neo-Nazi Leader Turned Speaker ..
Continuer la lecture sur narkive:
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