Exclusive: In the up-is-down Orwellian world that is now The New York Times’ editorial page, there was no coup in Ukraine in 2014, no U.S.-driven “regime change,” no provocation on Russia’s border, just Moscow’s aggression — a sign of how propaganda has taken over mainstream U.S. media, writes Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
In George Orwell’s 1984, the leaders of Oceania presented “Two Minutes Hate” in which the image of an enemy was put on display and loyal Oceanianians expressed their rage, all the better to prepare them for the country’s endless wars and their own surrender of freedom. And, now, in America, you have The New York Times.
Surely the Times is a bit more subtle than the powers-that-be in Orwell’s Oceania, but the point is the same. The “paper of record” decides who our rotating foreign enemy is and depicts its leader as a demon corrupting whatever he touches. The rest of us aren’t supposed to think for ourselves. We’re just supposed to hate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Russian government photo)
As the Times has degenerated from a relatively decent newspaper into a fount of neocon propaganda, its editors also have descended into the practice of simply inventing a narrative of events that serves an ideological purpose, its own version of “Two Minutes Hate.” Like the leaders of Orwell’s Oceania, the Times has become increasingly heavy-handed in its propaganda.
Excluding alternative explanations of events, even if supported by solid evidence, the Times arrogantly creates its own reality and tells us who to hate.
In assessing the Times’s downward spiral into this unethical journalism, one could look back on its false reporting regarding Iraq, Iran, Syria or other Middle East hotspots. But now the Times is putting the lives of ourselves, our children and our grandchildren at risk with its reckless reporting on the Ukraine crisis by setting up an unnecessary confrontation between nuclear-armed powers, the United States and Russia.
At the center of the Times’ propaganda on Ukraine has been its uncritical indeed its anti-journalistic embrace of the Ukrainians coup-makers in late 2013 and early 2014 as they collaborated with neo-Nazi militias to violently overthrow elected President Viktor Yanukovych and hurl Ukraine into a bloody civil war.
Rather than display journalistic professionalism, the Times’ propagandists ignored the evidence of a coup including an intercepted phone call in which U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt discussed how to “mid-wife” the regime change and handpick the new leaders. “Yats is the guy,” declared Nuland, referring to Arseniy Yatsenyuk who emerged as prime minister.
The Times even ignored a national security expert, Statfor founder George Friedman, when he termed the ouster of Ukraine’s elected president “the most blatant coup in history.” The Times just waved a magic wand and pronounced that there was no coup and anyone who thought so must reside inside “the Russian propaganda bubble.” [See Consortiumnews.com’s “NYT Still Pretends No Coup in Ukraine.”]
Perhaps even more egregiously, the Times has pretended that there were no neo-Nazi militias spearheading the Feb. 22, 2014 coup and then leading the bloody “anti-terrorist operation” against ethnic Russians in the south and east who resisted the coup. The Times explained all this bloodshed as simply “Russian aggression.”
It didn’t even matter when the U.S. House of Representatives of all groups unanimously acknowledged the neo-Nazi problem when it prohibited U.S. collaboration in military training of Ukrainian Nazis. The Times simply expunged the vote from its “official history” of the crisis. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “US House Admits Nazi Role in Ukraine.”]
Orwell’s Putin
Yet, for an Orwellian “Two Minute Hate” to work properly, you need to have a villain whose face you can put on display. And, in the case of Ukraine at least after Yanukovych was driven from the scene that villain has been Russian President Vladimir Putin, who embodies all evil in the intense hatred sold to the American public.
So, when Putin presents a narrative of the Ukraine crisis, which notes the history of the U.S.-driven expansion of NATO up to Russia’s borders and the evidence of the U.S.-directed Ukrainian coup, the Times editors must dismiss it all as “mythology,” as they did in Monday’s editorial regarding Putin’s remarks to an international economic conference in St. Petersburg.
“President Vladimir Putin of Russia is not veering from the mythology he created to explain away the crisis over Ukraine,” the Times’ editors wrote. “It is one that wholly blames the West for provoking a new Cold War and insists that international sanctions have not grievously wounded his country’s flagging economy.”
Without acknowledging any Western guilt in the coup that overthrew the elected Ukrainian government in 2014, the Times’ editors simply reveled in the harm that the Obama administration and the European Union have inflicted on Russia’s economy for its support of the Yanukovych government and its continued backers in eastern and southern Ukraine.
For nearly a year and a half, the New York Times and other major U.S. news organizations have simply refused to acknowledge the reality of what happened in Ukraine. In the Western fantasy, the elected Yanukovych government simply disappeared and was replaced by a U.S.-backed regime that then treated any resistance to its rule as “terrorism.” The new regime even dispatched neo-Nazi militias to kill ethnic Russians and other Ukrainians who resisted and thus were deemed “terrorists.”
The upside-down narrative of what happened in Ukraine has become the conventional wisdom in Official Washington and has been imposed on America’s European allies as well. According to The New York Times’ Orwellian storyline, anyone who notes the reality of a U.S.-backed coup in Ukraine is engaging in “fantasy” and must be some kind of Putin pawn.
To the Times’ editors, all the justice is on their side, even as Ukraine’s new regime has deployed neo-Nazi militias to kill eastern Ukrainians who resisted the anti-Yanukovych coup. To the Times’ editors, the only possible reason to object to Ukraine’s new order is that the Russians must be bribing European dissidents to resist the U.S. version of events. The Times wrote:
“The Europeans are indeed divided over the extent to which Russia, with its huge oil and gas resources, should be isolated, but Mr. Putin’s aggression so far has ensured their unity when it counts. In addition to extending existing sanctions, the allies have prepared a new round of sanctions that could be imposed if Russian-backed separatists seized more territory in Ukraine. …
“Although Mr. Putin insisted on Friday that Russia had found the ‘inner strength’ to weather sanctions and a drop in oil prices, investment has slowed, capital has fled the country and the economy has been sliding into recession. Even the business forum was not all that it seemed: The heads of many Western companies stayed away for a second year.”
An Orwellian World
In the up-is-down world that has become the New York Times’ editorial page, the Western coup-making on Russia’s border with the implicit threat of U.S. and NATO nuclear weapons within easy range of Moscow is transformed into a case of “Russian aggression.” The Times’ editors wrote: “One of the most alarming aspects of the crisis has been Mr. Putin’s willingness to brandish nuclear weapons.”
Though it would appear objectively that the United States was engaged in serious mischief-making on Russia’s border, the Times editors flip it around to make Russian military maneuvers inside Russia a sign of aggression against the West.
“Given Mr. Putin’s aggressive behavior, including pouring troops and weapons into Kaliningrad, a Russian city located between NATO members Lithuania and Poland, the allies have begun taking their own military steps. In recent months, NATO approved a rapid-reaction force in case an ally needs to be defended. It also pre-positioned some weapons in front-line countries, is rotating troops there and is conducting many more exercises. There are also plans to store battle tanks and other heavy weapons in several Baltic and Eastern European countries.
“If he is not careful, Mr. Putin may end up facing exactly what he has railed against, a NATO more firmly parked on Russia’s borders, not because the alliance wanted to go in that direction, but because Russian behavior left it little choice. That is neither in Russia’s interest, nor the West’s.”
There is something truly 1984-ish about reading that kind of propagandistic writing in The New York Times and other Western publications. But it has become the pattern, not the exception.
The Words of the ‘Demon’
Though the Times and the rest of the Western media insist on demonizing Putin, we still should hear the Russian president’s version of events, as simply a matter of journalistic fairness. Here is how Putin explained the situation to American TV talk show host Charlie Rose on June 19:
“Why did we arrive at the crisis in Ukraine? I am convinced that after the so-called bipolar system ceased to exist, after the Soviet Union was gone from the political map of the world, some of our partners in the West, including and primarily the United States, of course, were in a state of euphoria of sorts. Instead of developing good neighborly relations and partnerships, they began to develop the new geopolitical space that they thought was unoccupied. This, for instance, is what caused the North Atlantic bloc, NATO, to go east, along with many other developments.
“I have been thinking a lot about why this is happening and eventually came to the conclusion that some of our partners [Putin’s way of describing Americans] seem to have gotten the illusion that the world order that was created after World War II, with such a global center as the Soviet Union, does not exist anymore, that a vacuum of sorts has developed that needs to be filled quickly.
“I think such an approach is a mistake. This is how we got Iraq, and we know that even today there are people in the United States who think that mistakes were made in Iraq. Many admit that there were mistakes in Iraq, and nevertheless they repeat it all in Libya. Now they got to Ukraine. We did not bring about the crisis in Ukraine. There was no need to support, as I have said many times, the anti-state, anti-constitutional takeover that eventually led to a sharp resistance on the territory of Ukraine, to a civil war in fact.
“Where do we go from here?” Putin asked. “Today we primarily need to comply with all the agreements reached in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. … At the same time, I would like to draw your attention and the attention of all our partners to the fact that we cannot do it unilaterally. We keep hearing the same thing, repeated like a mantra that Russia should influence the southeast of Ukraine. We are. However, it is impossible to resolve the problem through our influence on the southeast alone.
“There has to be influence on the current official authorities in Kiev, which is something we cannot do. This is a road our Western partners have to take those in Europe and America. Let us work together. … We believe that to resolve the situation we need to implement the Minsk agreements, as I said. The elements of a political settlement are key here. There are several.”
Putin continued: “The first one is constitutional reform, and the Minsk agreements say clearly: to provide autonomy or, as they say decentralization of power, let it be decentralization. This is quite clear, our European partners, France and Germany have spelled it out and we are quite satisfied with it, just as the representatives of Donbass [eastern Ukraine where ethnic Russians who had supported Yanukovych have declared independence] are. This is one component.
“The second thing that has to be done the law passed earlier on the special status of these territories Luhansk and Donetsk, the unrecognized republics, should be enacted. It was passed, but still not acted upon. This requires a resolution of the Supreme Rada the Ukrainian Parliament which is also covered in the Minsk agreements. Our friends in Kiev have formally complied with this decision, but simultaneously with the passing by the Rada of the resolution to enact the law they amended the law itself … which practically renders the action null and void. This is a mere manipulation, and they have to move from manipulations to real action.
“The third thing is a law on amnesty. It is impossible to have a political dialogue with people who are threatened with criminal persecution. And finally, they need to pass a law on municipal elections on these territories and to have the elections themselves. All this is spelled out in the Minsk agreements, this is something I would like to draw your attention to, and all this should be done with the agreement of Donetsk and Luhansk.
“Unfortunately, we still see no direct dialogue, only some signs of it, but too much time has passed after the Minsk agreements were signed. I repeat, it is important now to have a direct dialogue between Luhansk, Donetsk and Kiev this is missing.”
Also missing is any objective and professional explanation of this crisis in the mainstream American press. Instead, The New York Times and other major U.S. news organizations have continued with their pattern of 1984-ish propaganda.
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 or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com). You also can order Robert Parry’s trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America’s Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.
Another place for the countering and exposure of Kremlin lies, since Mr. Parry will not tell you about their lies because he is to interested in expressing his DC hatred and conspiracy theories, even though he lives just outside of DC in Arlington VA one of the more expensive places to live in America, would be this site.
Enjoy.
http://ukraine-truth.com/2015/02/russias-top-100-lies-ukraine/
Fare thee well
Comrade boggled has “Kremlin” Tourette’s, a neuropsychiatric disorder induced by US/NATO funding.
His current “Kremlin” count for this article is 11 times.
Comrade boggled’s unique symptom profile includes mindless repetition of the phrase “conspiracy theories” and uncontrollable WORD CAPITALIZATION.
Anyone who reads your wiki page can see that you received funding from RT America.
RT and RT America are Kremlin sponsored mouthpieces and propaganda spreaders.
How much did you receive this year?
The Ukraine-truth propaganda website was registered in Ukraine on February 21, 2014. That was the day when elected Ukrainian President Yanukovych signed a compromise deal with opposition leaders which would implement constitutional changes to hand powers back to parliament and early elections, to be held by December.
Ignoring the terms of the agreement, armed neo-Nazi forces in central Kiev took full control of the city’s government district; the parliament, the president’s administration quarters, the cabinet, and the Interior Ministry.
Ever since the coup d’etat in Kiev, the Ukraine-truth site has served as a disinformation outlet. Most recently, it eagerly disseminates Bellingcat “Investigation” reports and US/NATO propaganda from the Atlantic Council.
The Stopfake website was registered in Ukraine on March 2, 2014. Stopfake belongs to the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy,†an all-too-eager recipients of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) cash that poured into Ukraine in March 2014.
Allied with Bellingcat, Stopfake uses the same faux fact-check disinformation strategy that Eliot Higgins employs.
Comrade boggled copy-and-pastes his rants largely from these sources.
Damn those “Kremlin sponsored mouthpieces” for reporting the facts” —
The Right Sector movement which was formed as a coalition of nationalist and neo-Nazi paramilitary organizations during the Maidan protests in Kiev at the end of 2013, decided to become a political party in March 2014. At the same time, it nominated its ultranationalist leader and a member of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovnaya Rada) Dmitry Yarosh for the presidency.
Yarosh rejected the Minsk peace deal right after it was agreed upon by Kiev and eastern rebel forces in February. He published a statement on his Facebook page on February 13 saying that the agreement had “no legal force.â€
He stated that the Minsk deal is contrary to Ukraine’s constitution, so Ukrainian citizens are not obliged to abide by it. Thus if the army receives orders to cease military activity and withdraw heavy weaponry from the eastern regions, the Right Sector paramilitaries, who are also fighting there, “reserve the right†to continue the war, he said.
The Right Sector has refused to acknowledge the authority of the current coup-imposed Kiev government. In September 2014, Yarosh threatened Poroshenko, saying he could oust him “like Yanukovich.†Meanwhile, in January presidential aide Yury Biryukov told national TV that Right Sector paramilitary units had refused to come under the command of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.
Ukraine’s Right Sector rejects Minsk deal, calls for renewed offensive in E. Ukraine
http://rt.com/news/268723-ukraine-right-sector-war/
For you to use the word propaganda and fail to even connect the Kremlin sponsored media with any of it is laughable.
Anyone with a keyboard can go to stopfake * o r g and see the plethora of lies that are pervasive in Kremlin sponsored media.
For those of you who scream about the USA’s 5 billion in aid to Ukraine since 1993, please take the unbiased approach and look at what what the Kremlin has given to Ukraine since then to promote the ‘Russian way of looking at things’ with their own NGO’s.
Well over 20 billion. At least as much as 4 times the amount authorized by the USA government.
For those of you who like to point out Western Ukraine’s ties to Hitler, let me remind you of Stalin’s agreement to divide up Eastern Europe with Hitler.
That is a alliance and undisputed ties between those two Imperialist nations.
Ukraine after the events of Moscow’s created famine in many regions of the CCCP, yes some of them sought to throw off the yokes of Stalin and Moscow oppression by hoping Hitler’s armies would be liberators, they found out the truth and they fought against BOTH Moscow and Hitler.
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/sovietunion.html
That is why today, Russia is considered the neonazi capital of the world.
Over FIFTY percent of the worlds various neonazi groups are based in Russia.
HMM, wonder why?
Why does the Kremlin turn a blind eye to their activities?
Most likely because they want to use them for their own purposes.
A majority of those fighting in Donbas are RUSSIAN citizens, not Ukrainians.
A majority of those fighting in Donbas are using RUSSIAN military equipment driven to them across RUSSIAN HIGHWAYS.
The internet is full of the proof of the Kremlin lies, however Parry tends to focus his hatred on the USA and USA government, and turns a blind eye to Kremlin activities as long as he can promote his antiDC and NeoCon conspiracy theories.
As to the reason NATO is getting closer towards Russian Imperialist borders, i.e. Russian World, is because it is shrinking because NO ONE WANTS TO BE ASSOCIATED with a nation that has a totalitarian dictator in charge.
They throw of the yokes of Moscow influence and seek some protection from their blackmail, money laundering, organized crime, and finally, their use of military threats and provocations such as the nukes they flew in their bombers over the English Channel just last year.
The Kremlin and Moscow’s government with its hate and nuke blackmail is pushing everyone away and isolating itself and its citizens to a future of stereotyping and further degradation.
This article is just another example of conspiracy theorists who are paid somehow by the Kremlin to degrade Democracy, the West, the USA, and DC because they want to see the Kremlin arise again to being more relevant then it actually is.
Bunch of nutty anarchists.
Fare thee well
Comrade boggled is a pro-Eliot Higgins troll residing at Bellingcat.com.
A conspicuous denizen of the comments section at Bellingcat, much loved by its site administration, boggled launches hasbara-style assaults on anyone questioning Higgins’ “Investigation” reports.
Commenters who aren’t intimidated by boggled and his buds are simply banned by the Bellingcat site admin, and then further attacked by boggled in absentia.
Comrade boggled has been trolling here at Consortium News ever since Robert Parry outed Australian “60 Minutes” as a blatant, unabashed shill for Eliot Higgins.
I think none of you have ever been to Ukraine including the author of this propaganda article.
FACT:: There was a revolution in Ukraine because of the overt corruption of the government which was destroying the country (just ask the people). In 2004 it was completely peaceful. The last one was not because the corrupt politicians chose to shoot the protesters rather than let them protest.
FACT: Because the country was unsettled and the leadership was in crisis mode in Russia invaded Crimea. It used propaganda on the TV stations in the east that it controlled to create further unrest in the east and staged a revolt in the east much like they did in Moldova and Georgia.
INTERPRETATION: This is just history repeating itself using the Russian playbook.
Because NATO and the US ignored both Moldova and Georgia invasions, Putin was confident that they would ignore Ukraine as well. He was mostly correct; however, with the memory of WWII still in many minds, countries began to see a pattern and respond to this blatant and repeated Russian aggression.
Now that NATO as been awakened to the threat, expect a cold war again – create solely by Russia.
Malaysia, frustrated by the refusal of the official international investigation-team to produce any clear evidence yet of whom to blame for the downing of the MH17 Malaysian airliner over the Ukrainian civil-war zone on 17 July 2014, has finally forced the team to request the UN to investigate. They’ve forced the original four nations on the team to accept UN adjudication of any final report. This will enable a court-proceeding to make the ultimate determination of guilt (upon which judgment penalties and compensation will be assessed), and this court-determination would inevitably allow whatever party is being blamed by the five-member official investigating team, to present its own evidence in the case, so that the court will make the ultimate determination — the official investigating team will not be performing that crucial judgmental function.
Malaysia was long prohibited from even participating in this investigational team, but on 5 November 2014, a deal was finally reached with the four nations that did comprise the team — four U.S. allies: Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, and (a suspect in possibly having downed the MH17) Ukraine itself (though it had lost none of its citizens in the disaster) — so, the next day, Malaysia’s New Straits Times headlined “Malaysia to join MH17 criminal probe team,†and reported that, “The prime minister said the country had been invited to play a bigger role in the recovery and investigation of the ill-fated aircraft, believed to have been downed by a missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17.†The Malaysian report went on then, pointedly, to note: “In July, the Dutch and Ukrainian authorities agreed that the bulk of the operations would be carried out by the Netherlands, with assistance from countries whose citizens were on board the flight. Malaysia had repeatedly asked to be part of the joint investigation team, currently comprising investigators from the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and Ukraine.†Implicitly, that phrase “Malaysia had repeatedly asked to be part of the investigating team†said that Malaysia had consistently been refused membership until 5 November 2014. In fact, even by late November of 2014, Malaysia continued to be refused membership, and I headlined on November 30th, “Malaysia Becomes Angry About Exclusion from MH17 Investigation.†That refusal was especially outrageous because, like three of the four nations that already were on the team, Malaysia had lost (44) citizens from the downing. But in addition, Malaysia had lost the plane, from it. There was no excuse for the four pro-Western nations to exclude Malaysia, and for their limiting the investigating-team to only Ukraine (a key suspect in the downing) and three of its allies. And, between November and now, Malaysia has finally become so fed-up with the team’s continuing refusal to act, and to declare the culprit, so that the rest of the team finally consented to Malaysia’s demand to transfer the investigation over to the UN.
Malaysian Pressure Forces MH17 Investigation to UN
By Eric Zuesse
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/06/malaysian-pressure-forces-mh17-investigation-to-un.html
The logic of this “investigation” is that if there was a shred of evidence that Russia was to blame, the results would have long been brought to light. What’s just amazing is that very few really care about the truth one year later.
I read with the help of google translate.
A low bow to you for a real island of journalism in the West.
(sory for my bad english)
This resourse is about trying to really understand why it is happening. Is it for real? I long ago lost even the slightest hope of finding unbiased news-site in English. Respect!
How much does The New York Times owe the banks?
What compromises have the Sulzbergers chosen in order to retain control of their stock and the Board of Directors?
“there was no coup in Ukraine in 2014, no U.S.-driven “regime change,†no provocation”
And anyone who reminds readers of reality is called wild names, “Putinbot” or “comrade” and the like. It is no different from the treatment of any critics of Israeli right wing policy being called anti-semites or self-hating. This has grown so obnoxious in the NYT comments that it has become a large proportion of comments.
Apparently New York Times staffers are too busy pulling pranks regarding mass shootings and mass death events to bother doing serious, hard-hitting and objective journalism:
http://rt.com/usa/269233-nyt-joke-mass-killings/
Kiev is still a coup that has not really consolidated its power. The people trust this government less than the former. They know they were sold a bill of goods. Most are powerless but not all, like Kiev’s Deputy Minister of Defense, Major-General Alexander Kolomiets who defected to Donbass this week. He has this to say:
“The potential of the Ukrainian army is at a very low level. From a moral point of view, all the generals and officers who understand that the government’s actions are criminal, don’t want to fight. Only volunteers from nationalist troops are fighting. In the near future the Armed forces of Ukraine will be rocked by uprisings. Officers do not understand the commands to kill civilians. We will see it sometime in the fall. Everything will change very soon.â€
While Kiev plays its waiting game, it is somewhat tied to that of the US and NATO, where the 6,000-man ready reaction force could be increase to 40,000 at the NATO conference next week. Four divisions is a major offensive move. Much of this force is headed to the Baltic States who have made a huge strategic blunder by offering themselves up for Western cannon fodder. The citizens there need some new and better leadership, and quickly, like most of the rest of us do.
Moscow is also buying time to complete its military modernization and to complete building with China and India the Eurasian integrated economic and military defensive Great Wall of Asia that will be able to defend itself via mutually assured destruction. Yes, the Western leaders are taking us backwards to that situation.
The Western Coup in Ukraine May Self Destruct Yet
By Jim Dean
http://journal-neo.org/2015/06/24/the-western-coup-in-ukraine-may-self-destruct-yet/
Excellent analysis of the blatant ideological nonsense and misinformation that is coming from the editorial page of the Times. Their foreign desk has been pedaling the same lies from the beginning of the orchestrated coup, by the U.S., in the Ukraine.
George McGlynn
“U.S. to E.U.: Sanctions Are For Suckers!”:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42225.htm
quoting the article:
The unprecedented militarisation of international relations and the standoff with Russia has proven to be an absolute boon for Washington’s military-industrial complex. To be sure, the Americans are not defending Europe and the other NATO members out of chivalry.
Each new expenditure by NATO states – under the impetus of an alleged “threat of Russian expansion†– is a boost for sales of US-made fighter jets, missiles, tanks, warships and much else.
There are a Million of them and 7.5 Billion of us and they’re still winning. Please, do not spend your money on the NYT.
The NYT writes: “If he is not careful, Mr. Putin may end up facing exactly what he has railed against — a NATO more firmly parked on Russia’s borders — not because the alliance wanted to go in that direction, but because Russian behavior left it little choice.” Not because the Alliance wanted to go in that direction???? Well, how did Russia “provoke” NATO expansion then in the last 15 years? How then? Usually the NYT and others make the claim that any free country is free to join whatever alliance it wants to, on a sudden Poland, Latvia etc. have been driven in NATO by Russian threats? Which threats? How has the Russian sphare of influence then expanded in the last 20 years?And the US had to place the missiles officially aimed at Iran in such a way that they also aim at Russia? And now after the Iranian agreement there is not even remotely any suggestion that perhaps they are redundant and could be removed? How is the Kremlin to understand that? There is obviously something the NYT knows which we don’t know….
Terrific comment.
Terrific comment.
Propaganda can hide the means and the motives. It can obfuscate the ideology that informs the strategy. It can parade a figurehead and disguise the prime movers. It can deflect attention from incompetent blunders and lionize the perpetrators. But in the end, it cannot hide utter failure. Every thinking General Officer – and despite the best efforts of military indoctrination there are always a few – is by now having grave doubts. We have seen purges of late based on dubious charges. Experts have been replaced by political hacks, and resignations have been tendered out of a clear blue sky. Months ago, there was talk of a 5,000 strong “rapid reaction force” in the Baltics. Then, it was upped to 10,000. Now, we are hearing of prepositioned war materiel, and a force of 40,000. In terms of a conventional force deterrent, this is laughable. A real conventional threat from Russia would require a counterforce of 10,000 tanks and 250,000 troops. Nobody is tossing around those numbers, but there must be a few realistic analysts who realize they are accurate. So…what’s the game afoot? In the absence of defections from the current lunatic cabal, it’s hard to know for sure. But it certainly seems likely that there must be some dissenters. Hollywood versions of reality aside, there were on the order of 27 plots against Hitler, and Admiral Canaris’s was among the least ambitious. (I believe some are still classified.) It is not difficult to imagine that there is currently a crisis of loyalty in the halls of power. In order to generate propaganda effectively, one must also have a grasp of the truth. Even among sycophants, complete reversal of the truth is sometimes abhorrent. In this ‘Alice in Wonderland’ reality, it is tempting to speculate that the plan is to “lose” with as small a force as possible in order to create a new strategic reality. If it goes wrong, there’s always the ‘nuclear option’. Propaganda will not be able to hide that.
The reality today is that the NSA operates a global surveillance apparatus undreamed of even by Abwehr chief Admiral Canaris’ rival, SS-Obergruppenführer Heydrich of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt.
Even without a Führer oath, the Empire of Chaos is no less prepared to battle all “enemies of the Reich”, both foreign and domestic.
After the 193 Dutch airline passengers, surely no one will mind if the Empire sacrifices a few hundred Lithuanians and Estonians on the altar of “collective security”. Heck, why not throw in a few Swedes. Europe will remain snug as a bug beneath its “Iron Dome” without the need for American troops, sure as hot summer and hotter autumn is followed by nuclear winter.
Reinhard Heydrich also was the coordinator of the Endlösung der Judenfrage (the Final Solution of the Jewish Question) which meant the systematic extermination of the Jews living in the European countries occupied by the Third Reich during the Second World War.
The plans for the Final Solution were outlined by Heydrich at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. Later in 1942, Heydrich was assassinated by British-trained Czechoslovak agents in Prague in Operation Anthropoid.
Heydrich’s death led to a wave of merciless reprisals by German SS troops, including the destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky, and the killing of civilians.
In January 1943, Himmler delegated the office to SS-Obergruppenführer and General of Police Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner, who headed the RSHA for the rest of World War II.
During the The International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg, Kaltenbrunner argued in his defense that his position as RSHA chief existed only in title. He claimed that all decrees and legal documents which bore his signature were “rubber-stamped” and filed by his adjutants.
Kaltenbrunner maintained that SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, as his superior, was the person actually culpable for the atrocities committed during his tenure as chief of the RSHA.
The IMT noted that Kaltenbrunner was a keen functionary in matters involving the sphere of the RSHA’s intelligence network, but the evidence also showed that Kaltenbrunner was an active authority and participant in many instances of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The IMT found Kaltenbrunner not guilty of crimes against peace. However, Kaltenbrunner was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and sentenced him to death by hanging.
Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, was originally founded in 1923 as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC). Its headquarters were in Vienna.
Following Anschluss, the invasion and forced incorporation of Austria in 1938, the organization fell under the control of Nazi Germany. Its headquarters were eventually moved to Berlin in 1942.
Between 1938 and 1945, the organization’s presidents included Reinhard Heydrich and Ernst Kaltenbrunner. All were generals in the SS, and Kaltenbrunner was the highest ranking SS officer executed after the Nuremberg Trials.
After the end of World War II in 1945, the organization was revived as Interpol by officials from Belgium, France, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. The new Interpol headquarters were established in France.
Until the 1980s, Interpol did not intervene in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in accordance with Article 3 of its Charter, which prohibited intervention in “political” matters.
It is singularly amazing me, the degree to which the Times has descended into sheer propaganda. Even during the run-up to the Iraq War, which was an absolute low point in Times’ history, the editorial board was not as over-the-top propagandistic as it is today. As it stands now, the Times really has no credibility on Russia or Ukraine, nothing published on these matters by the Times can really be taken seriously.
They and our puppeticians have gotten everything wrong about everything,and still spew their swill with no pushback.Revolting!
Small mistake – not her father – her brother. There is his personal “page” on some sort of Russian “Facebook”: https://vk.com/slava_banderi
Proud father teaches his daughter to “cut Russians” and after that slogan she says: Sieg Heil
http://news-front.info/2015/06/23/ya-budu-rezat-rusnyu-papa-uchit-dochku-zigovat-i-rezat-russkix/
Is there no fascism in Ukraine?
U.S. is ratcheting up the rhetoric now with talk of Putin being Hitler and the times now feeling like the 1930’s:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/unite-against-moscow-aggression-us-nuclear-missile-commander-says-vladimir-putins-actions-echo-those-of-nazi-germany-in-the-1930s-10337983.html
Time for Robert Parry to get his journalist friends together (Scheer, Hedges etc.) for a little “show and tell” at the National Press Club.
This is all getting waaaayyy out of hand.
Saner heads must prevail and simply “writing” about all this isn’t cutting it.
PLEASE organize the press conference I have suggested and get David Swanson to join:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42207.htm
Yep
Putin is like Hitler in that international Jewry has declared economic warfare with their sanctions, reminiscent of 1933.
This is anti-Semitic lying carefully designed to destroy this blog.
Whoa there.Are you in denial that every Zionist paper and troll on the web is anti-Russian?The Zionists are in favor of every terrible decision by American puppeticians,and have laid US low.
Serial liars all.
As far as those so called “Neo -Nazi” battalions are concerned, they appear to be criminal gangs who have adopted Waffen S.S. insignia as their symbols.
And, judging by whose side they are fighting on, they appear to be quite kosher “Nazis” indeed.
One of Cass Sunstein’s cognitive infiltration trolls assigned to Consortium News takes a break from porn surfing to chime in. Gotta keep earning that guv’mint paycheck.
LOL, so true
It is quite perceptive of you to say so – that is indeed what is really at play here.
The BRICS are a direct threat to Atlanticist Zionist financial hegemony in the same way that National Socialist Germany was.
Long before Germany invaded Poland, the war parties in Britain and the F.D.R. administration had decided that the German nation had to be destroyed; the issue of currency backed only by the productive power of physical labor – much like Lincoln’s “Greenbacks” – was a huge blow against the central banks, and the barter trade – the exchange of German industrial goods in exchange for raw materials – was a potential fatal blow to the hegemony of Wall St. and the City of London. A “Barter Bloc” of nations including the Soviet Union, Iran, Turkey and much of Latin America would have obviated the need for an international reserve currency.
We’re seeing much the same situation here. The difference, of course, is that Putin has time and space on his side, not to mention the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
Shout, shout…
shout out his name!
Putin!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vvvPZd6_D8
USA won over Iran
In a race, volleyball
USA and Iran, in Tehran
The guest won all the hearts.
Lost the game, three-none.
This is what sport does
Builds bridge between minds.
Muslims fast till Iftar
In month of Ramadhan.
Water came in bottles
The guest held throttle
Did not pick and stopped
For respect; it was nice.
That is why won the hearts
Let’s lift hats with a bow.
What a shame, I must say
To world of media, a blind
To the facts, beauties, games of hearts
All they write is money; power, Wars.
Americans, my friends
These men are your soldiers
Not Army, not Navy, not plane
Ignore the NSA, CIA; Pentagon.
Here are the facts on the last 100 years of ukrainian and russians relations. Ukraine was conquered and incorporated into the russian empire in the late 1700’s. After the russian revolution, soviet troops made sure a puppet government was established and exterminated any opposition creating the soviet republic of ukraine. In the 30’s accused ukraine farmers of stealing food supplies and not distributing through Moscow. Took all their food for a few years and created a man made famine that killed 6 million ukrainians. Skipping the war atrocities stuff in ww2, which russians do not call ww2 bevause the were allies with hitler for the first part. They then expanded ukraines border into poland, deported all the polish creating a ukrainian west and encouraged russian migration to the east and made russian compulsory everywhere. Fast forward to now. The russians invade ukraine openly and anex crimea. They deny invading the other parts for now but are doing it anyway. They blame all the other soviet block coutries which they forcibly occupied for 50 years as being under some duress from the west to join them. Geopolitical theories might be true, and newspapers can be biased, but the ukraines arent russias brothers. And if they are they need to flee the domestic violence and get a step family.
You may want to submit this to the NY Times for publishing as it conspicuously lacks any mention of the US engineering the 2014 coup as well as the fact that NATO has repeatedly violated the agreements that ended the Cold War.
Seems that Russia learned its lessons from the Cold War while the US never stopped trying to “win” the original Cold War by overthrowing anyone that puts their own interests and sovereignty in front of the Wests neocon/banking cabal just as the Ukraine did before the 2014 US engineered coup.
Why this nonsense about “russians invade ukraine openly and anex crimea”? We all know that this is propaganda for which zero evidence has emerged. If you have an historical point it is lost in this plain attempt to deceive. There often are historical trends which may continue, but causes in the present must be argued: it is careless to assert that there is such a thing as “the russians” over such a long period.
Factional grievances are solved only by recognizing the legitimate interests and rights of all factions, not by looking for devils and refusing to see faults on other sides. This balance is clear in the Putin remarks. Opposition requires good reasoning and evidence.
You really should try to learn history more ant stop tear facts from a context. For example, Ukraine didn’t actually exist like a state before 1918. By centuries modern Ukraine’s territories were included into Lithuania, Poland, Moldavia, Hungary. Russian Empire not the only one here, you know.
About famine just wiki’s quote: “The Soviet famine of 1932–33 affected the major grain-producing areas of the Soviet Union, leading to the deaths of millions in those areas and severe food insecurity throughout the USSR. These areas included Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, Volga Region and Kazakhstan, the South Urals, and West Siberiaâ€. I don’t really understand why famine in Ukraine more tragic and more terrible than famine in Mordovia or Ural.
By the way, new family doesn’t rush to hug and love new step kid. More likely it enjoys watching kid’s suicide.
Your post is sadly funny – such a crazy interpretation on Russian- Ukrainian history. Are you really “Tom” or you ” Tom” from west Ukraine? Who occupied Ukraine in 1700????!!!!!! Ukraine was straggling to survive from Polish and Turkish aggression and asked Russia to take Ukraine as a part of Russia in order to be protected. Under Polish-Turkish occupation they were not allowed to speak Ukrainian language and get married without permission. When it comes to that ” cry” about Ukrainian farmers who died without food that was taken forcefully or were sent away from home, why you do not mention that the same situation was over all Soviet Union? How about Povolzh’e https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_famine_of_1921 ? Who “forcefully” occupied other Soviet Union Republics?.All of them were in Russian borders before 1917. What about England who occupied Ireland and Scotland or US occupied Texas and so on? One more thing – we are brothers and sisters and it is not your business to decide identification of our ethnicity. We all have mixed blood and we do not deny any part of it.
“Skipping the war atrocities stuff” is a popular pastime in Ukraine. Unless, of course, one is enthusiastically commemorating the 1941 liberation of Lviv by the “heroic” Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the 1943 liberation of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the “heroic” Ukrainian insurgent Army (UPA), the 1944 exploits of the “heroic” Waffen-SS Galicia Division, or the 1945 exploits of the “heroic” Ukrainian National Army (UNA).
Not to mention the 2014 exploits of the “heroic” Ukrainian territorial defense battalions and special police battalions. In November 2014, all 37 volunteer battalions to be integrated into Ukraine’s regular forces, thus they were officially inducted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Minister of Internal Affairs and National Guard of Ukraine as National Guard battalions.
We’ll just skip the “heroic” exploits of Azov, Aidar, and Tornado battalions.
A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat, eh? Know what I mean? Say no more.
“Geopolitical theories might be true, and newspapers can be biased, but the ukraines arent russias [sic] brothers. And if they are they need to flee the domestic violence and get a step family.”
Sure, just like in 1941, Ukraine can get a Nazi step family (NATO) and reenact the “Battle of the European SS”.
‘Cause crazy uncle Adolf’s got this great plan for Ukraine’s future https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Generalplan_Ost
Dear Tom, you probably meant to leave your comment at a different site (like Euromaidan, Mirotvorec, etc). Here you’re facing a different kind of audience. It does not take a rocket scientist to go to the wiki and find that you wrote blatant lies. E.g. that Bohdan Khmelniskiy asked for Russian protection and Tsar’s favours in 1654 after he had been annihilated by the Poles. And it went on from there. For instance, Stalin gave parts of Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia to Ukraine, Khruschev donated Crimea, etc. such that Ukraine actually has grown a lot under the Soviet rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Ukraine#/media/File:Ukraine-growth.png
Not to mention that many USSR leaders were Ukranian.
Tom- your knowledge of history is lacking, somewhat. Might I point out that the eastern portion of what you call Ukraine historically belongs to Russia? That Ukraine has been more of a middle ground and borderland between for East & West Europe for centuries, continually being carved up & never really becoming a nation until recently. While I do not approve of Stalin’s modernization programs in Ukraine and purges & other acts of violence, you leave out the growth of the OUN-B, the nazi-like nazi collaborators who were trained by both British & Germany to attack Russia/Soviets. Then there is the genocide the Ukranian nationalists participated in and with such a ferocity, the Nazis were ashamed….post-WWII: Bandera OUN to the US, largely working in CIA and Washington….1991& on: back to Ukraine to help foment a break from Rusdia & color revolution….,
Odessa- Putin was in his legal rights to bring a force that size, where the port is controlled by Russia. Moreover, repeated poling by independent sources reveal 90+% of Crimeans residents want to be part of Ukraine…. Condortium and other award winning independent outlets have already turned the “Russia invasion” mythology of its head.
“Ukrainian’s aren’t Russia’s brothers” …sorry, but at least half of Ukraine would disagree, especially those fighting for agency in Donbass. You really can’t peddle that stuff here.
Tomfoolery.
This creative “history” will do well for New York Times — it is so biased and untrue, that it will take pages to get the lies covered. As for your concluding thought — that Ukrainians need another family, you may have a point. It is very important that a country grows up. Ukraine has been on a crossroads of many battles, and was source of slaves for hundreds of years before Russia put an end to this lucrative “business”. Those that hunted slaves and those that then sold them making hefty profits — until today feel some sort of superiority over those Slavs. Ukraine must grow up, and what it does not kill it, will make it stronger. Its people will go through horrendous pains as the new relations will take all they can carry out of the country, and what cannot be carried, will be destroyed. But it must be so. Some will discover that they are Russians after all, while others will gravitate to the world that they were most familiar with — such as Galicia gravitating to Poland. What this country called for a long time is an amicable divorce. Now, it will happen anyway, but after much suffering.
As you chose to start your twisted history full of lies and innuendos in 1700 — you may have mentioned that Kiev was capital of Russia before Mongol invasion, and it is because of the invasion of Mongols and Tatars that the capital was moved to Moscow.
Also, West has not shown itself to be CAPABLE of offering any path, any successful economic model for all the countries they happen to bestow their “love” upon. There is no country in Eastern Europe that is successful, contrary to propaganda. Most are in fact in horrible shape, and its population fled to other countries in search of jobs or just to save themselves from bank imposed slavery. Check out Baltic countries, as an example. Countries like Poland are tired as well — the theme of the latest elections was “we look good on paper”. That is what Europe is — good on paper. Most countries of the former Eastern block are now economically depressed, their education and health care decimated. Life in countries like Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Moldavia, etc. is well below their former socialist existence. Yet, they MUST implement “reforms” that harm them, they must fulfill all the orders from their European masters, yet year after year they are poorer. Masses od emigrants are flooding Europe — from the regions were Western wars destroyed entire countries, Middle East, Central and North Africa, and now from poor European countries. Greece has not caused its own misery — no matter what White West has to say about it. Loans have been forced down their throats for “reforms”, that nobody ever knew how exactly will those “reforms” work. The banks just wanted politicians to take loans, White West companies were in line to get the money for various “needs”, and in the end, instead of punishing the greedy bankers that had no business giving loans to feather western companies pockets — all the loans have been magically transferred to Greek taxpayer, and if they do not pay, to European taxpayer — as the utterly incompetent EU Bank and politically motivated IMF managed to fool the European public. Ukraine is quite welcome to this mess — for as long as they remember not to blame Russia. People must be allowed to make their mistakes. And if some regions of Ukraine are not eager to go there, why force them? After all — what is wrong with some competition. Let pro-Russian regions stay to trade with Russia, and pro-Western go to EU, and build their fortune there.
Учите иÑторию , Тома ! Факты и только факты. РоÑÑийÑких войÑк на Украине ÐЕТ ! РоÑтольное пропаганда и Ñлухи . Учите иÑторию ….
This is all completely Wall Street/City-of-London vs. BRICS. The City and the Street are on the verge of bankruptcy. Greece has until the end of June to make an impossible payment for a fraudulent debt, and The Western Empire’s own financial shenanigans have “checkmated” them. BRICS is the obvious alternative for World development & progress, which has driven The Western Empire MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction…”if we can’t reign, nobody will”). I’ve read where powerful, institutional forces are pushing back against this madness…it’s going to be a long, dreadfully hot, summer.
I was in Ukraine for 18 months before and after the overthrow of Yanukovych. The reason why he was overthrown is simple . . . people were upset at the corruption and string of broken promises. Many people believe a shift toward Europe will force the government to make structural economic reforms that will reduce corruption and improve efficiency and competitiveness. One main reason SOME people in the east are pro-Russian is because of the strong economic ties with Russia; Russia is the only country that will buy Ukrainian goods because they are of better quality in many cases (and less expensive) than Russian produced products.
You might be glossing over the fact that most of them are ethnically Russian, born on land of their ancestors that did not belong to Ukraine until Lenin gave it. AND that they know what western Ukrainians are capable of. And that those western Ukrainians were the the stormtroopers that, with the help of US, violently overthrew the elected government. And that the austerity that will come, imposed by IMF and European Bank along with de-industrialization of Ukraine will make any and all imaginable “abuse” by Russia pale in comparison.
Just a few of reality bites you chose to skip over. Unless those 18 months in Ukraine were in employ of some “freedom and democracy” promoting NGO’s.
If Yanukovich was corrupt then it would appear likely that all those working as ministers for his government were corrupt as well, wouldn’t you agree? No have a look who was Ukraine’s minister of economy from December 2012 until February 2014? So what has changed then since Feb. 2014? Obviously, absolutely nothing, and if then, only for the worse because the current regime appears more repressive than Yanukovich ever was.
If Ukrainian goods “are of better quality in many cases (and less expensive) than Russian produced products,” why would Russia be “the only country that will buy them?”
Ukrainian products are shit, Russians have pity on ukrs
Steph- so the 5 Billion the US spent on Maiden had nothing to do with it? How about the propaganda? Prior attempts at color revolution? The paramilitaries? A deal was brokered to let the president stand a little longer with a new election around the corner. After this, the protesters (a minority in Ukraine, by the way) appeared content & started home. It was at this point that paramilitaries kicked in & the US officials did nothing to stop it, nor invalidate the coup. It does not seem that you understand what is going on, here,
Yeah,my toaster has made in Ukraine.Sheesh.The only products Ukraine sells are weapons,from factories probably left over from the SU.The Russians seem to have rockets and many other weapons that are modern and formidable,and effective,so they must make some good stuff,eh?
You are mixing up the reasons for protest and the reasons for overthrow of elected president. There is no doubt that the economy was bad, and people had reasons to be unhappy. But the protests — no matter how large, are still representing a tiny portion of the country’s population. Kiev had already had a pro-Western revolution, “Orange” as it was called. Yet, the country fell apart during the rule of pro-western politicians, and Yanukovich inherited the mess. The reason for coup was external intelligence meddling, busing in thousands of openly and proudly Nazi groups from the Western Ukraine, primarily from Lvov. And the key reason for coup was the false agreement that the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland struck between the President and the “opposition”. The President agreed to elections, and to withdraw police from the streets. The Europeans barely left the airport, when the armed coup perpetrators started shooting into police and protesters. They pushed in with iron bars and Molotov coctails into Rada, and blocked those parliamentarians that tried to flee — forcing them to stay inside and “vote”. They went immediately to the homes of politicians, president and other leaders of the regime, and killed many in the process. The President fled. In Rada, the vote was forced that appointed the new government, and the old one was disbanded. All of this evidence is recorded — including violence against delegates of Yanukovic party that were forced to vote for the coup. Thousands upon thousands of recorded evidence exists of the violence against Russians, Jews, Bulgarians, Poles, Hungarians, Romanians and Tatars. Yet, all it was cleaned up for the Western audience, and even Jewish leadership in US declared that Jews are not threatened in Ukraine. Thousands have however, fled the country. OPEN and RECORDED debate was held on what to do with the Russian population in Ukraine. “Yatz’s” boss, Yulia Tymoshenko recommended “nuking them”, while more practical Right Sector Leadership, and the leadership of Svoboda (nowdays in deep hiding, getting ready to be transformed into legitimate party of the right) recommended giving authority to local military commanders to round up all prominent Russians — businessmen, lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers — and killing them WITHOUT requiring a prior approval from the authorities. Tymoshenko, being the head of a large political party with presence throughout Ukraine, offered her offices for such initiative. Now, which one of the options is West subscribing to? Looks like it could be both: first they declare Russian population “terrorists”, then launch indiscriminate bombing campaign against their cities and villages. The “nuking” option may be needed in the end, as the “response” to “Russian aggression”. Even though US Congress prevented arms to go to neo-Nazis — it is merely a shell game. Training centers and arming is happening in Lvov region. That is where the core Nazi elements are. US is thus training Nazis in order to create “National Guard”. Why is this “Guard” needed when Ukraine has military? Because US and West do not trust military — they are unfortunately still guided by professional military training and code of conduct. What is needed is army of head-choppers and people-burners, those that will have no emotional barriers to committing heinous crimes. This is why Georgian Saakashvili has been put in charge of Odessa — as this is a region full of Russians and other “non loyal” minorities. Besides Odessa, such “punitive” squads will be dispatched to: Zaporozye, Kharkov, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, and Mikolayev.
Just because people are unhappy with their lives, it does not entitle them to change government by force, and to trash institutions upon which ordinary people rely in their daily lives. Such “revolutions’ usually bring scum to power, and the suffering of people is invariably greater. We have to stop believing in revolutions, supporting them, and recognizing their ill gains. Political process may be slow, but it is up to people to organize and build political parties that will do better job. I hope that if ever any revolutionary comes to my streets that my country will do everything in its power to destroy them. As much as I do not approve of many things in politics, I am — like most people, and I am sure majority of Ukrainians, grateful for the order that allows us to lead normal life and our children to grow up in peace. No revolution is worth one child’s tear.
It is not just English language media. In Sweden, both the main national dailies, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet run with the same propaganda about Russian aggression and Putin’s expansionist plans. Both are also stridently calling for Sweden to join NATO, damning 200 years of Swedish neutrality and in a belligerant tone of faux outrage at anyone who suggests this is not a good idea as it would further antagonise relationships across the Baltic, ‘how dare Putin (aks Hitler II) interfere in Swedish politics’.
As Russia is strengthening its naval port defences in Kaliningrad, probably also a NATO target like Crimea, the US/NATO must be licking its lips at taking over the Swedish naval base at Karlskrona, pretty much opposite Kaliningrad on the Baltic.
Mamma Mia!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTbL1hH19BE
On June 13, NATO conducted a preliminary amphibious landing exercise at Ravlunda, Sweden as part of BALTOPS 2015.
Video of the Ravlunda landing includes aerial support by two B-52 bombers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq9HHQ22jW4 (see minutes 26:34 – 27:40)
On June 17, Swedish troops participated in the major landing exercise at Ustka, Poland, 300 kilometers east of Kaliningrad oblast.
On June 18, in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Viktor Tatarintsev, Russian ambassador to Sweden, criticized the “aggressive propaganda campaign†by Swedish media.
“Russia is often described as an attacker who only thinks of conducting wars and threatening others. But I can guarantee that Sweden, which is an alliance-free nation, is not part of any military plans by Russian authorities. Sweden is not a target for our armed troops,†he said.
However, he underlined that “consequences” if Sweden were to abandon its alliance neutrality and join NATO.
“I don’t think it will become relevant in the near future, even though there has been a certain swing in public opinion. But if it happens there will be counter measures. Putin pointed out that there will be consequences, that Russia will have to resort to a response of the military kind and re-orientate our troops and missiles. The country that joins NATO needs to be aware of the risks it is exposing itself to†he said.
A ballyhooed October 2014 weekend survey conducted by pollsters Novus for TV4, Sweden’s largest commercial television channel, showed 37% of Swedes were in favor of joining NATO with 36% of Swedes against. This was the first time that more Swedes have favored joining the alliance than not.
And take note how Nuland got Saakashvili appointed as head of Odessa:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/30/ukraine-appoints-georgia-ex-president-mikheil-saakashvili-governor-of-odessa
The ex-president of Georgia and a criminal who was holed up in NYC prior to taking off for Ukraine:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/mikheil_saakashvili/index.html
Let’s see, we also got an American citizen to be the new “Foreign Minister” in Ukraine.
The New York Times has lost ALL credibility.
now, finally, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court is faced with the shocking predicament of Ukraine’s own President, who won his post as a result of this coup, requesting them to “acknowledge†that it was a coup, much as the founder of the “private CIA†firm Stratfor had even called it, “the most blatant coup in history.â€
Ukraine’s Pres. Poroshenko Says Overthrow of Yanukovych Was a Coup
By Eric Zuesse
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/06/ukraines-pres-poroshenko-says-overthrow-of-yanukovych-was-a-coup.html
we hear ever-shriller charges that Moscow has mounted a dangerous, security-threatening propaganda campaign to destroy the truth—our truth, we can say. It is nothing short of “the weaponization of information,†we are provocatively warned. Let us be on notice: Our truth and our air are now as polluted with propaganda as during the Cold War decades, and the only apparent plan is to make it worse.
O.K., let us do what sorting can be done.
[…]
Details. The Times described “Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin’s War in Ukraine†as “an independent report.†I imagine [New York Times’ State Department correspondent Michael] Gordon—he seems to do all the blurry stuff these days—had a straight face when he wrote three paragraphs later that John Herbst, one of the Atlantic Council’s authors, is a former ambassador to Ukraine.
I do not know what kind of a face Gordon wore when he reported later on that the Atlantic Council paper rests on research done by Bellingcat.com, “an investigative website.†Or when he let Herbst get away with calling Bellingcat, which appears to operate from a third-floor office in Leicester, a city in the English Midlands, “independent researchers.â€
I wonder, honestly, if correspondents look sad when they write such things—sad their work has come to this.
One, Bellingcat did its work using Google, YouTube and other readily available social media technologies, and this we are supposed to think is the cleverest thing under the sun. Are you kidding?
Manipulating social media “evidence†has been a parlor game in Kiev; Washington; Langley, Virginia, and at NATO since the Ukraine crisis broke open. Look at the graphics included in the presentation. I do not think technical expertise is required to see that these images prove what all others offered as evidence since last year prove: nothing. It looks like the usual hocus-pocus.
Two, examine the Bellingcat web site and try to figure out who runs it. I tried the about page and it was blank. The site consists of badly supported anti-Russian “reportsâ€â€”no “investigation†aimed in any other direction.
We are the propagandists: The real story about how The New York Times and the White House has turned truth in the Ukraine on its head
By Patrick L. Smith
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/03/we_are_the_propagandists_the_real_story_about_how_the_new_york_times_and_the_white_house_has_turned_truth_in_the_ukraine_on_its_head/
How Bellingcat unmasked the Russians!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv7R1IAmWT8
Abe-
Bellingcat has already been unmasked as a fraud; just a blogger for hire hiding out in a dark corner. I thought all Condortium readers knew that…unless, is that you, Bellingcat?
Hmmm. Drew, I flashed you an appreciative grin but it didn’t print.
THANKS TO R PARRY…AGAIN!
With no substantive points to add to your article I can only
mourn that I wish I had written it myself.
In addition to NYT, NPR has taken the same line
with proofs of Russian evil and in the same spirit
as the NYT totally fails to address any other points
such as the coup, the increasing US bases
and so forth. And all in the name of their
so called “ballanced”, “objective” journalism.
(This was on NPR’s national radio broadcast
for “All Things Considered” which might be
renamed “Not Very Much Considered”. I
felt like screaming except that on topics I
care about deeply I have come to expect this
kind of reporting from NPR).
—-Peter Loeb, Boston, MA, USA