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Stalemate Endures, Pessimism Grows, Deaths Mount | 84 comments (84 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
US #1 Top Exporter of Arms Supplying the World (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Mar 15th, 2023 at 05:17:41 PM EST
Biden: Wanted Dead or Alive (none / 0)
ICC has a backlog of many years ...

Did Palestinians seek ICJ opinion to restart stalled int'l cases? -expert

Head prosecutor Khan from the UK had a different priority ...

Passed by Russia's Duma and signed by president Putin ahead of visit next week of CCP leader Xi Jinping from China. "Гаагский акт о вторжении" No reaction from Dutch PM Mark Rutte yet.

Likely theme of talks, transition from an Unipolar to a Multipolar Global Order.

Why the United States Rejects International Criminal Justice: Looking Back at Nuremberg

Losing the air of impartiality after 1945 with the horror of wars and the use of atomic bombs to end all wars.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 05:25:29 PM EST
Re: Biden: Wanted Dead or Alive (none / 0)

Israel-Palestine: Al-Haq human rights lawyer based in The Hague receives death threats, as attacks against the organisation escalate

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 05:26:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
A Threat to Arrest ICC Judges In The Hague (none / 1)

Oops ... not the year 2002 and threats from president George Bush, but repeated by Trump and Pompeo ahead of retreat from Afghanistan. No shame.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 10:01:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: A Threat to Arrest ICC Judges In The Hague (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 10:57:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Former US Ambassador to UN: ICC Is Illegitimate (none / 0)
From the man who helped draft the The Hague Invasion Act ... 😊)



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 11:23:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Dutch and UK Fund ICC for Russia Prosecution (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 11:57:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Dutch and UK Fund ICC for Russia Prosecution (none / 0)
"The United Kingdom, together with the rest of the international community, will provide the International Criminal Court with the money, people, and expertise it needs to ensure that justice is done," UK Minister Raab said. Raab also pledged an extra million pounds, over 1.1 million euros, for the ICC this year.


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 11:59:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Dutch and UK Fund ICC for Russia Prosecution (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 12:00:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
ICC Karim Khan (UK) On Sponsoring Summit (none / 0)
Only cash buys Justice in the Western world

So many issues not funded ...

  • War crimes and human rights abuse from Nakba '48 to present day Palestine
  • Afghanistan bombings, assassinations, torture, executions 2001 - 2022
  • Iraq War invasion, occupation, torture, rendition, assassinations 2003 - 2015


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 04:32:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ICC Karim Khan (UK) On Sponsoring Summit (none / 0)
ICC and Politics West's NWO



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 at 10:08:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Geopolitical Failure and Domestic Political Disast (none / 0)
.

In the two decades since the second Iraq war, the United States appears like the Bourbon kings who had learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq was a story of geopolitical failure and domestic political disaster. To understand the foolhardy decision to launch the war, one must first understand the US grand strategy of global hegemony, which Washington has pursued since 1945.

The "war on terror" provided political cover for the further pursuit of supremacy, despite threatening democratic government with lies, fraud and violence. George W Bush's rash actions did provoke some murmurs of concern about the damage being inflicted but these faded from the corridors of power. Instead the US has refused to move on, believing that countries are "either with us or against us".

American so-called "unity" ... "either with us or with the terrorist" ... a copy-cat punch-line from Ariel Sharon and Bibi Netanyahu to dehumanize Palestinians fighting for their right of an independent state.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 09:53:57 PM EST
Geopolitical Failure and Domestic Political Disast (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 09:56:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Bakhmut Stalemate Killing Fields (none / 0)
No clear answers from warmongers and years of ugly war propaganda to destroy Russia.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 07:02:25 AM EST
Vietnam: Complimentary Act by USA Today (none / 0)
Conscription not an argument for asylum, we've had worse cases at our borders 🥲



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 01:59:54 PM EST
Stalemate Endures, Pessimism Grows, Deaths Mount (none / 1)
by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 04:19:33 PM EST
SIDEBAR Kirby-content (none / 1)
Politico | Russia and China want to disrupt the world order, NSC spokesperson says to FOX News
[...]
"What we have said before," Kirby said, "and we'll say it again today, that if coming out of this meeting, there's some sort of call for a ceasefire, well, that's just going to be unacceptable because all that's going to do, Mike, is ratify Russian's conquest to date."

Kirby said he hoped China's president would keep OPEN "LINES OF COMMUNICATION" with President Joe Biden and also seek out the Ukrainian side of the story through discussions with President Volodymyr Zelensk*.

"We hope, and we've said this before, that President Xi will call and talk to President Zelenskyy because we believe that the Chinese need to get the Ukrainian perspective here," Kirby said.

Or BUY THE BOOK! It is FREE with Audible trial

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 04:31:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
translations don't write themselves, yo (none / 1)
Asia Times | Xi and Putin to meet after Chinese drone* shot down, 18 Mar story stitch up
Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow between March 20 and 22, aiming to strengthen China-Russia economic ties and look for a solution to end the war in Ukraine....
[machine translation]On March 16, 2023, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba.

Qin Gang said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations 31 years ago, China-Uzbekistan relations have maintained a momentum of development. Uzbekistan expressed its commitment to establish a sincere relationship with China on the basis of mutual respect. China appreciates it and is willing to work with Uzbekistan to promote the sustained and stable development of bilateral relations with a long-term perspective....

Qin Gang Has a Phone Call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, 16 Mar fmprc translation
On March 16, 2023, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang had a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Qin Gang said that China-Ukraine relations have maintained the momentum of growth since the establishment of diplomatic ties 31 years; China appreciates Ukraine's commitment to establishing sincere relations with China on the basis of mutual respect, and stands ready to work with Ukraine to promote sustained and stable development of bilateral relations with a long-term perspective. ...

archived BBC Ukraine "perspective" 17 Mar

* another sketchy reference: CNN retail sales desk

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 11:03:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
16 Mar CNN retail sales promotion: (none / 1)
"Exclusive: Chinese-made drone, retrofitted, and weaponized [by IR, CN, RU, US, RO, PL, or ES?], downed in eastern Ukraine"
[CAPTION:A Mugin-5, a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by a Chinese manufacturer, is seen downed in eastern Ukraine.]
...Ukrainian soldiers eventually brought us to a clearing where they showed us the wreckage of a weaponized drone which they said they shot down with their AK-47 automatic weapons over the weekend. A Mugin-5, a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by a Chinese manufacturer, is seen downed in eastern Ukraine...
archived What else would you describe as lethal assistance?, potential dual-use in The cost of doing business

16 Mar
Politico.eu.com | China ships assault weapons and body armor to Russia, 16 Mar

The shipments took place between June and December 2022, according to the data provided by ImportGenius, a customs data aggregator.
ImportGenius provides complete real-time shipment records for all imports and exports of the United States, Russia, India and 15 other countries. ImportGenius users can view the importer, overseas factory, product, date of arrival, port of entry, and other essential details for every shipment.
North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the country's largest state-owned defense contractors, sent the rifles in June 2022 to a Russian company called Tekhkrim that also does business with the Russian state and military.
[...]
Russian entities also received 12 shipments of drone parts by Chinese companies and over 12 tons [or "80 tons of body armor worth around $10 million in December last year"] of Chinese body armor routed via Turkey in late 2022, according to [ImportGenius].

Although the [ImportGenius] data does not show that Beijing is selling a large amount of weapons to Moscow specifically to aid its war effort, it reveals that China is supplying Russian companies with previously unreported [?] "dual-use" equipment
[...]
[ImportGenius] data also shows that Russian state defense company Rosoboronexport has imported microchips, thermal vision devices, and spare parts like a gas turbine engine from a variety of countries ranging from China to Serbia and Myanmar since 2022.
[...]

18 Mar
POLITICO Confidential: China ships Russia weapons
...Some of our sources suggest the small volumes we have found are merely the tip of a much larger iceberg....
21 Mar
@GraphicW5
There was another drone strike in Crimea. The drones are commercial Mugin-5 drones modified with hardware to be kamikaze drones...
[...]
defense-ua | What Kamikaze Drones Were Used to Hit Targets in the Temporarily Occupied Dzhankoi in Crimea (21.03.23)
On Monday, March 20, an effective attack using kamikaze drones was carried out on objects in the still-occupied Dzhankoi. According to the statement of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, as a result of the strike, the Kalibr cruise missiles, which were being transported by railway, were destroyed.
[..]
The photo above shows part of the drone's tail beam and fins, which are very similar to those of the Mugin-5 PRO UAV. It was this drone that attacked the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the russian federation in occupied Sevastopol and the Novoshakhtinsk Oil Refinery in the summer

Note that the Mugin-5 PRO is not a specialized military drone and is freely [sic] sold, including [to UA?] through AliExprepess [HKSAR], as an ordinary civilian UAV. At the same time, the russian federation is already actively promoting the message that they were attacked by American drones [?] and, as proof, they are showing a part of part of a propeller blade with the markings of Sail Propeller USA[GmbH?], an online store of parts for drones and aircraft models.
[...]

- Information support
After the first sounds of the explosion and the activation of air defense in the Dzhankoy city chat rooms, Ukrainian information desks began to work actively, misinforming the population and causing panic.

Various Telegram channels (for example, Trukha and Insider) published posts about a dozen explosions in various parts of the city. These reports were accompanied by criticism of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in Moscow the day before.

At the same time, the Western agenda was worked out with the condemnation of the activities of the Chinese government. The attempted strike on the Crimea was presented as a "punishment for friendship with China."

Politico.eu.com | Russian [Kalibr] cruise missiles destroyed in drone attack on Crimea, Ukraine says
[...]
Ukrainian Military Intelligence reported that an explosion had destroyed a cargo of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles -- which Moscow has used to hammer Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Ukraine has not officially taken responsibility for the attack [or the drones].

"The mysterious series of blasts continues the process of Russia's demilitarization and prepares the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for de-occupation," Ukrainian Military Intelligence said in a statement.
[...]

Politico.eu.com | [Drone] me anytime: Zelensk* plays the long game with Xi Jinping
"Ukraine is conspicuously diplomatic in its dealings with Vladimir Putin's top ally."

"diplomatic"? That's not the word I would choose. Let's recap ... Motor Sich.

by Cat on Wed Mar 22nd, 2023 at 05:10:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
21 Mar NY Yella Cake sales promotion: (none / 0)
Ukrinform | China sells $12M worth of drones to Russia since war began - NYT 98% syndicate copy
That's according to The New York Times, Ukrinform reports.
[...]
It is hard to determine whether the Chinese drones contain American technologies that would violate the U.S. rules or whether they are legal. The shipments, a mix of products from DJI, the world's best-known drone maker, and an array of smaller companies, often came through small-time middlemen and exporters.
[...]
"Like any consumer electronics company with products sold at many different electronics stores, we cannot influence how all our products are being used once they leave our control," the spokesman added in an emailed statement.

Autel said in an emailed statement that it was not aware of any sales to Russia and was conducting an internal investigation about the issue.

Although popular for years with photography enthusiasts and tourists, hovering quadcopter drones now constitute a major advantage for Russian and Ukrainian troops on the front line, who use them for battlefield reconnaissance. They need to be regularly resupplied, since both sides are shooting down the unmanned vehicles with increasing efficiency.

Ukraine has relied on donations of drones from third-party organizations and individuals, which has meant their troops use DJI drones on the front lines, too. Advisers estimate that about half of Ukrainian troops' stocks are made up of Ukrainian drones and half are foreign ones, mostly those made by DJI.
[...]
"What we've seen from the Chinese is high-level statements about wanting an end to the war, but behind the scenes they've used the opportunity to take over trade channels that once went through Europe and the United States," said James Hodson, a member of the Yermak-McFaul [!] International Expert Group on Russian Sanctions and chief executive of the A.I. for Good Foundation.

Often, he said, the goal of sanctions is not to wipe out shipments, but to cut off "90 percent of the blood flow."

[...]
The direct sales by Chinese exporters, industry experts say, are only one part of a wider effort to procure the drones from nearby markets, where they can be bought off the shelves of retail stores.

According to experts, refilling stockpiles of even the most basic unmanned aerial vehicles has become as critical as other basic necessities, such as procuring artillery shells and bullets.

de basement of ...
Chinese Intrigue Behind Ukraine's Seizure of Aviation Firm Motor Sich, 10 Nov 2022
since 2021
When the US Department of Commerce added the Chinese company Skyrizon, which was trying to acquire Motor Sich, to the list of military end users
by Cat on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 12:24:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: 21 Mar NY Yella Cake sales promotion: (none / 0)
Chinese Intrigue Behind Ukraine's Seizure of Aviation Firm Motor Sich | Nov. 10, 2022 |

The loan "meant that if Skyrizon went bankrupt, the Chinese government would gain control over the Ukrainian aerospace giant," Hurska wrote in a November 2020 account for the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C.

Hurska wrote that Russia had accounted for an estimated 75 percent of Motor Sich's exports until 2014, when the Kremlin annexed Crimea and instigated a war in eastern Ukraine. That created pressure on Ukraine to help Motor Sich find other markets, Hurska said, "inadvertently playing into China's hand."

In 2016, she wrote, Boguslayev sold a controlling stake in Motor Sich to companies controlled by Chinese entrepreneur Wang Jing, the wealthy founder of Beijing Xinwei Technology Group, a telecommunications company:

Citing leaked documents from the Pandora Papers expose about secret offshore financial deals, the OCCRP report said that DLA Piper helped structure the acquisition via a complex web of shell companies, allegedly to avoid running afoul of Ukraine's anti-trust laws.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 01:06:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: 21 Mar NY Yella Cake sales promotion: (none / 1)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rode to power on pledges to clean up the Eastern European country, but the Pandora Papers reveal he and his close circle were the beneficiaries of a network of offshore companies, including some that owned expensive London property | OCCRP - Oct. 3, 2021 |

Fortunately, Zelensky and his oligarchs are Ukrainian and not Russian citizens ...

Zelensky vulnerable to blackmail ... hint, hint ...

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 01:08:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: 21 Mar NY Yella Cake sales promotion: (none / 0)
Zelensk* slaps sanctions on 'Hero of Ukraine', 1 Apr
Vyacheslav Boguslaev, a former president of Ukrainian aerospace giant Motor Sich, was included on a sanctions list by President Vladimir Zelensky on Saturday. He was recently fired as the head of the aircraft-engine manufacturer and had been accused of treason by Kiev.

Boguslaev, 83, who had been at the helm of Motor Sich since 1991, was awarded the 'Hero of Ukraine' honor for his accomplishments back in 2000. He is also a former politician, who served as an MP for several terms and held various advisory positions under a number of Ukrainian presidents, from Leonid Kravchuk to Viktor Yanukovich.
[...]
The EU also imposed restrictions on Boguslaev in its tenth sanctions package in late February 2023.
[...]

by Cat on Sat Apr 1st, 2023 at 10:47:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
DARPA and Antonov Design and Motor Sich (none / 0)
From the diaries ...

Introduced the former Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk appointed in the first cabinet of Zelensky and Party Servant of the People. He now holds a high post at the Atlantic Council.As minister he was responsible for the defense giant Ukroboronprom.

DARPA and Ukroboronprom | Dec. 17, 2022 |

Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine have detained Vyacheslav Boguslayev, president of Motor Sich JSC, who is suspected of collaborating and working for the Russian Federation, the press center of the SBU reported. In addition, law enforcement officers detained the head of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity of this enterprise.


The suspects were announced on suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular, Art. 111-1 (collaboration activity) and art. 111-2 (complicity with the aggressor state).

The SBU noted that the detention took place within the framework of criminal proceedings on the illegal supply by Motor Sich of military goods for Russian attack aircraft.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 01:14:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: DARPA and Antonov Design and Motor Sich (none / 0)
NATO preparations for war with Russia took years ...

NATO's Battleground Ukraine v. Russia | Nov. 8, 2021 |

Saving Ukraine's Defense Industry | Aug. 17, 2014 |

Russia's military depends on Motor Sich in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia for helicopter engines and on the Russian company Antonov's plant in Kyiv for transport planes. Most importantly, the Russian army relies on the Southern Machine Building Plant Association, known as Yuzhmash, in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, which designs, manufactures, and services rockets and missiles.

Some of the most important ties between the two countries' military industries relate to Russia's strategic nuclear forces. More than half of the components of Russia's ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles come from Ukraine.

Honored test pilots hope Poroshenko supports protection of Antonov chief designer Kiva | July 4, 2014 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 01:15:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: DARPA and Antonov Design and Motor Sich (none / 1)
Antonov Design Bureau remained a state-owned company after Ukraine achieved its independence in 1991 and is since regarded as a strategic national asset. On 18 April 2014, the company issued a statement protesting the removal of its president Dmytro Kiva by the Ukranian government.

    In the former USSR, aircraft design and manufacture have historically been carried out by separate organisations. Antonov aircraft are made at plants in Russia, Uzbekistan and Iran (the IrAn-140) as well as in Ukraine.


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 01:17:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: DARPA and Antonov Design and Motor Sich (none / 1)
Erik Prince Offer to Kyiv to Build Aircraft Industry | Aug. 31, 2019 |

The U.S. administration aims to block the sale of a strategically important Ukrainian engine manufacturer for aircraft and missiles to China. During his recent visit to Kyiv, John Boltonhas probably warned the Ukrainians about the consequences of finalising such a transaction. The White House has already sent a warning signal, delaying the transfer of $250 million worth of military aid to Ukraine.

Exclusive: Documents Reveal Erik Prince's $10 Billion Plan to Make Weapons and Create a Private Army in Ukraine | TIME - July 7, 2021 |

At least one of Prince's offers to Ukraine appeared to be in line with U.S. geopolitical interests. As the Wall Street Journal first reported in Nov. 2019, Prince has been competing against a Chinese firm to buy a Ukrainian factory called Motor Sich, which produces advanced aircraft engines.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 01:18:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: SIDEBAR Kirby-content (none / 0)
Politico.eu.com | Ukraine sees no way to negotiate peace with Putin after war crimes warrant
...[Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy] Danilov argued Putin should have been put on trial for shooting down the Malaysian airliner MH17 in 2014.

"It's 2023 and this motherfucker still bears no responsibility. Now we have to talk to him after he killed 500 of our own children? What is the world we live in?"...

alrighty, then.
Sino-Heroem tête-a-tête cancelled 22 Mar 2023.
by Cat on Wed Mar 22nd, 2023 at 08:05:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Biden sidekick Kirby blah-blah (none / 1)
😡 😡 fu*king Nazi idiots ... no problem with hero Bandera for participating in Jewish pogroms, Babi Yar massacre and other locations ... the worst perpetrators of WW2 war crimes in Ukraine ... want a replay of the Great Patriotic War .... want revenge for the division of Europe at Yalta on the Black Sea after the Liberation of Nazi Germany and its hundreds of thousands of collaborators. Neo-Nazis staging a rebirth with rightwing policies of the Atlantic Alliance across the "Second German Empire" supported by terrorist acts for a Freistaat Preußen.

Even their war propaganda is foolish. Sitting on Biden's lap, the Ukrainian leadership is quite outspoken as their citizens suffer. Ideals of Four Freedoms shredded by Biden & company of neocons and warmongers. Diplomacy

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Mar 23rd, 2023 at 02:10:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Stalemate Endures, Pessimism Grows, Deaths Mount (none / 1)
by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 06:59:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Too Big to Fail ... Credit Suisse Gone (none / 0)
Ukraine War, finances, inflation, post pandemic instability ... overall failure to solve crisis. Turmoil spreading ... further risk austerity measures, increased inequality and poverty.

The Credit Suisse leaks expose an industry that has got away with too much for too long | The Guardian - 21 Feb. 2022 |

How do the banks continue to get away with it? The latest revelations about Credit Suisse provide yet another glimpse into the corrosive nexus of banks, corporations, accountants, lawyers and financial intermediaries that enables the wealthy and political elites to profit from illicit practices.

The bank itself is no stranger to predatory practices. Since 2001 it has been fined at least 47 times by the US authorities and paid fines totalling $10.7bn. Since 2010, it has also been fined on at least six occasions by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and paid fines totalling more than £300m. The fines have become just another cost of doing business, and are passed on to customers.

Credit Suisse is not alone. The roll of dishonour shown by the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Pandora Papers, HSBC leaks, Luxembourg leaks and others shows that virtually every major bank is involved in predatory practices. All these leaks have provoked a public debate - but have drawn a minimal response from governments.

Pandora Papers: adding some headaches for personal investments UA Zelenskyy.

German bonds are suffering too as Deutsche Bank feels the jitters. No fear, politicians usually trail a short lightyear on reality in the world outside their bubble.

ABC business reporter David Taylor deleted tweet that a "major international investment bank was on the brink" | Oct. 4, 2022 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 08:44:11 AM EST
Credit Suisse Casino Aficionados (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 01:07:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Stalemate Endures, Pessimism Grows, Deaths Mount (none / 0)

UK will send armor piercing munitions of depleted uranium to Ukraine ... Russia would consider its use as a "dirty bomb".

UK to Send Armour Piercing Rounds with Depleted Uranium to Ukraine

"Alongside our granting of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, we will be providing ammunition including armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium," Annabel Goldie, Minister of State for Defence of United Kingdom, responded to the request of Lord Raymond Jolliffe, member of the House of Lords, on the website of the British parliament.

According to Goldi, such rounds are highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armoured vehicles.

US Congress urges shipment of illegal war munitions ... provide cluster munitions such as advanced dual-use conventional munitions (DPICM) to the Ukrainian Armed Forces," said Senators Jim Rish and Roger Wicker,

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 06:13:08 PM EST
Dutch Minister of War Visits HCSS (none / 0)

HCSS is not Institute Clingendael, nor a Peace Institute and Rob de Wijk is a poor successor to Henk Neumann, a scholar professing the science of peace.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 06:24:34 PM EST
NWO Trump's UN Goal of Int'l Peace (none / 0)

Translation:
In this piece, I review recent international legal action concerning Bush, Obama, Biden, Netanyahu. There is no doubt that United States' formal role at the UN has provided cover for its crimes over decades, so the crimes are as good a reason as any to reconsider that formal UNSC role.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 05:20:16 PM EST
Re: NWO Trump's UN Goal of Int'l Peace (none / 0)
Earlier post on historian Timothy Snyder ...

US historian Timothy Snyder has compared Russia's blockade of grain supplies from Ukraine with Stalin's terror of hunger

Newsguard is "deeply connected to the U.S. government, neoconservatives and powerful monied interests... working overtime since the 2016 election to silence dissent to American forever-wars and corporate-led oligarchy"

Lessons learned by the neocon cabal and John Bolton. Joe Biden is standing next to John McCain, Joe Lieberman, HRC and Lindsey Graham.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 05:21:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Censorship a Sign of Weakness In a Democracy (none / 0)
Censorship in Ukraine related to the ongoing war with Russia | UCLA |

Ukrainian intellectual Mykola Riabchuk defended current limitations on the freedom of speech in Ukraine as legitimate policies to counter disinformation in a time of war.

UCLA International Institute, May 7, 2019 -- "There is an inevitable limitation of freedom of speech during times of war. Any country which is at war has some restrictions, and Ukraine is not an exception," said Mykola Riabchuck, senior research fellow at the Ukrainian Center for Cultural Studies in Kyiv and and co-founder and member of the editorial board of Krytyka, a leading Ukrainian intellectual magazine.

Riabchuk spoke at recent event sponsored by the Center for European and Russian Studies and the Department of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Languages and Cultures. He addressed the international perception of Ukraine as a practitioner of media censorship due to the country's ban Russian state-funded media outlets, their journalists and books.

In recent years, Ukraine has been rated as one of the top countries practicing media censorship, with international organizations criticizing the Ukrainian government for inhibiting freedom of the press. The government and its supporters, however, argue that this censorship has helped protect democracy from Russian intervention and the spread of false propaganda, noted the speaker.

Riabchuk specifically denounced international criticism of the ban on Russian-language books [many by Russian nationalist authors] printed in Russia, contending that many countries around the world impose restrictions on the freedom of expression during times of war. 

[False comparisons ...]

Not only did the United States introduce some restrictions during the Cold War, it also detained Japanese and German citizens during World War II, he said. Today, he added, countries around the world are cautious of Russian propaganda and interference. For example, France has banned Russian media from events on certain occasions.

Ukraine, he explained, has banned the commercialization of works that its government believes help spread Russian propaganda. People can still possess and bring up to ten copies of such works into the country from Russia without incurring arrest or harassment by the government. "This restriction applies to Russian propaganda, products which undermine Ukrainian identity and integrity and [promote] hate speech," noted Riabchuck.

Complete censorship occurs, he continued, when a government retaliates against people who read prohibited works or watch prohibited media. In Ukraine, people can still access such sources, even though it takes a little bit more work.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 27th, 2023 at 10:34:33 AM EST
Re: Censorship a Sign of Weakness In a Democracy (none / 0)
Opinion piece from April 2014 ...

Ukraine: Russian propaganda and three disaster scenarios

Kremlin's window of opportunity for invading the country and derailing its European course is gradually narrowing. The rhetoric of Russian President Vladimir Putin justifying the Anschluss of Crimea and unscrupulous meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs has been based on the premises that there is no legitimate government in Kiev, that it is being run by a gang of Nazis and anti-Semites who took power by coup d'état and terrorised Russians and Russophones all over the country.

Ukraine's Holodomor of 1933 and the Maidan Revolution | Feb. 22, 2014 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 27th, 2023 at 10:35:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Stalemate Endures, Pessimism Grows, Deaths Mount (none / 0)

The long war journal ...

Battle for Avdiivka reveals bigger power game in eastern Ukraine | FT - Feb. 6, 2017 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Mar 28th, 2023 at 10:05:59 PM EST
Food Will Win the War (none / 0)
Charles Chambers (1883-1941). Food Will Win the War

This World War I poster, published by the United States Food Administration, appeals in Yiddish to the patriotic spirit and gratitude of the new arrivals to America. Its message reads, "Food Will Win the War! You came here seeking freedom, now you must help to preserve it. We must provide the Allies with wheat. Let Nothing Go To Waste!" Versions of this poster were issued in English and Italian as well.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 07:42:23 AM EST
Estonia Asks EU Reimbursement UA Arms (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Mar 30th, 2023 at 07:02:53 PM EST
Re: Estonia Asks EU Reimbursement UA Arms (none / 1)
< wipes tears >

Yesterday, Politico.eu.com's editorial "adjustment bureau" called this CRM meaure a "refund", presumably of purchase price paid to either Soviet or US arms manufacturers, like, 30 years ago.

MEANWHILE...
Politico.eu.com | Kyiv says ["]Big Oil["] should pay to rebuild Ukraine's shattered infrastructure, 29 Mar monomania

[...]
"A lot of energy companies get enormous windfall profits due to the war. So we estimated this at more than $200 billion," [UA Energy Minister German] Galushchenko said on a visit to Brussels. "They get this money because we are fighting, because of the war."
archived Who gets what from a litre of oil?
The $200 billion figure given by Galushchenko has been widely cited as the profits of five top companies -- BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total[,] and Shell -- in 2022. The Kyiv School of < wipes tears > Economics estimates the damage to Ukrainian infrastructure at close to $140 billion.
archived Kyiv School of Economics, World Bank estimate
Calculations by Bloomberg [!] on March 3 suggested that tax revenues from oil almost halved in February from a year ago, while gas revenue dropped 42 percent from a year earlier given reduced sales to Europe. The EU's ban on [seaborne] Russian oil [imports] has been a key factor is torpedoing the price of Urals crude.
[...]
NEW! value proposition
Rather than continuing to rely on Russia, they could soon buy their supplies off [sic] Kyiv, he said.
Ukrinform | Minister Galushchenko: Ukraine can export electricity to EU countries in view of capacity surplus (28.03.23)
Ukrenergo can now receive emergency energy aid from 15 EU countries (29.03.23)
Ukraine is in the process of making specially-tailored replacement nuclear fuel along with Westinghouse of the U.S. that could be ready by < wipes tears > "the beginning of next year."
[...]
Ukrinform | Group of Creditors of Ukraine [GCU] provides assurances to support IMF steps to help Ukraine, 25 Mar
The Group of Creditors of Ukraine (GCU), which includes all G7 nations [alias Price Cap Coalition], has agreed to postpone payments on loans granted to Ukraine until 2027, when the current IMF program for Ukraine expires.
Ukrinform | Lithuania to join IMF program for Ukraine (30.03.23)
Representatives of the IMF and the Ukrainian authorities this week reached a staff-level agreement on a set of macroeconomic and financial policies that would be supported by a NEW! 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement. The EFF, with requested access of SDR 11.6 billion (about USD 15.6 billion), aims to support the Ukrainian authorities anchor policies that sustain fiscal, external, price and financial stability, and support the ongoing gradual economic recovery, while promoting long-term growth in the context of post-war reconstruction and Ukraine's path to EU accession.
[...]
archived moral hazard v book value v replacement cost v NPV adjustment bureau
by Cat on Thu Mar 30th, 2023 at 09:33:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Medvedev Warns of NATO Escalation (none / 0)
A Tentative First Look at Options for Peace Operations in Ukraine



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 31st, 2023 at 10:30:16 PM EST
Milley Talking Problems: Russia, China, Iran (none / 0)



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Apr 1st, 2023 at 07:15:55 PM EST
Military Blogger Killed in St. Petersburg Blast (none / 0)
War correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky dies in cafe blast in central St. Petersburg | TASS |

Vladlen Tatarsky (real name Maxim Fomin) was a vocal supporter of Russia's war in Ukraine. The frontline blogger was presented with a statue which had a bomb hidden inside, according to Interior Ministry sources quoted by Russian state media.

He was a guest speaker at an event hosted by the cafe when the bomb went off.

Darya Trepova, a resident of St. Petersburg, has been detained on suspicion of murdering war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, Interfax reported.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 2nd, 2023 at 09:03:11 PM EST
NBC Reporter Keir Simmons On Ukraine's Kill List (none / 0)
NBC journalist added to Kiev's 'kill list' | March 2022 |

NBC News correspondent Keir Simmons has been placed on the 'Mirotvorets' (Peacemaker) blacklist for "crimes" against Ukraine, and the government in Kiev announced it was investigating him for illegal conduct, after the British reporter filed a report from Crimea.

"Visiting the temporarily occupied Crimea from the territory of the Russian Federation is a violation of the legislation of Ukraine," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Wednesday. Violators are subject to legal liability, such as being "also banned from entering Ukraine for such actions," he added.

Meanwhile, 'Mirotvorets' has published a photo of Simmons and his personal details, accusing the reporter of "violating Ukraine's sovereignty," participating in Russian propaganda, and "attempted legalization of the occupation."

Keir Simmons: Putin may do 'pretty much anything' to keep Crimea

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 2nd, 2023 at 10:58:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
NBC Reporter Keir Simmons On Ukraine's Kill List (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 4th, 2023 at 10:05:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"West reluctant"? (none / 0)
That's odd. Rumor from the innerboobs is, NY Yella Cake published Ukraine's DOD-approved, extra-ordinarily detailed counter-offensive strategy. I didn't bother looking into it myself, because I gather, the salient point. It is that the 1,200 km front line is vulnerable to amass regular and volunteer infantry for a push maneuver with fresh artillery and jet cover. That is to divide RU into N-S defensive positions.
by Cat on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 at 12:14:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "West reluctant"? (none / 1)
NY Yella Cake, Ukraine War Plans Leak Prompts Pentagon Investigation, 6 Apr
Classified documents detailing [formerly not so] secret American and NATO plans have appeared on Twitter and Telegram.
[...]
The documents do not provide specific battle plans, like how, when, and where Ukraine intends to launch its offensive, which American officials say is likely coming in the next month [03.03.23] or so.
...Ukraine is seen as planning to drive a wedge through Russian occupied territory along the southern coasts of the Black and Azov Seas, near Crimea, or to seek a humiliating turnabout in the fighting in the eastern Donbas region -- or both....
And because the documents are five weeks old, they offer a snapshot of time -- the American and Ukrainian view, as of March 1, of what Ukrainian troops might need for the campaign.
[...]
by Cat on Fri Apr 7th, 2023 at 05:26:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
trending: "West reluctant"? (none / 1)
Russo-Ukrainian War: Leak Biopsy
by Cat on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 08:52:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "West reluctant"? The Discord Leaks (none / 0)
WaPoo | Leaker of U.S. secret documents worked on military base, friend says, 12 Mar 4chan Gen
United by their mutual love of guns, military gear, and God, the group of roughly two dozen -- mostly men and boys—formed an invitation-only clubhouse in 2020 on Discord, an online platform popular with gamers. But they paid little attention last year when the man some call "OG" posted a message laden with strange acronyms and jargon. The words were unfamiliar, and few people read the long note, one of the members explained. But he revered OG, the elder leader of their tiny tribe, who claimed to know secrets that the government withheld from ordinary people.
[...]
< wipes tears >
WaPoo INCEL Pepe Encyclopedia, 2014
"Absolutely everything you need to know to understand 4chan, the Internet's own bogeyman"
by Cat on Thu Apr 13th, 2023 at 12:05:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "West reluctant"? The Discord Leaks (none / 1)
WaPoo
By Samuel Oakford
Samuel Oakford is a ["]video reporter["] for The Washington Post's ["]Visual Forensics["] team. Before joining The Post, he worked as a senior journalist at Storyful and a reporter for Vice News at the United Nations. He was also a reporter for the civilian harm monitor Airwars and conducted ["]open source["] investigations for Bellingcat's Yemen Project.
origin story deduced by MoA
bellingcat | From Discord to 4chan: The Improbable Journey of a US Intelligence Leak,
9 April 2023 Ukraine USA
[...]
These documents appeared to be dated to early March, around the time they were first posted online on Discord, a messaging platform popular with gamers.

However, Bellingcat has seen evidence that some documents dated to January could have been posted online even earlier, although it is unclear exactly when. Bellingcat also spoke to three members of the Discord community where the images had been posted who claimed that many more documents had been shared across other Discord servers in recent months.
[...]
Bellingcat contacted Discord to ask about the existence of the Thug Shaker Central, WowMao[,] and Minecraft Earth Map servers, as well as whether Discord had any knowledge that "Top Secret" documents were apparently being shared there

Bellingcat also asked the Department of Defense (DoD) whether the documents shared in the channels were genuine and if it was aware of the source of the apparent leak.

Discord said it was not able to provide comment at this time when contacted by Bellingcat.

The DoD told Bellingcat in an email that it was "actively reviewing the matter, and has made a formal referral to the Department of Justice for investigation".

by Cat on Sat Apr 15th, 2023 at 03:10:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "West reluctant"? The Discord Leaks (none / 0)
WaPoo | U.S. eavesdropped on U.N. secretary general, leaks reveal, 18 Apr
Try to act surprise.
by Cat on Tue Apr 18th, 2023 at 03:47:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "West reluctant"? (none / 1)
by Cat on Fri Apr 14th, 2023 at 11:26:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Military Blogger Killed in St. Petersburg Blast (none / 0)

#stopallwars #stopabusehumanrights #stopnato

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 3rd, 2023 at 04:09:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What We know About Daria Trepova (none / 0)
What we know about Daria Trepova, the woman accused of killing pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky

According to the Telegram channel Baza, Daria Trepova is known in St. Petersburg feminist and political activist circles as "Dasha Tykovka," which was also her name on Twitter. She previously worked as a cashier at a vintage clothing store. Some time ago, she moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow, but she returned to St. Petersburg on the day before the explosion. According to preliminary reports, she planned to leave the country on Sunday evening.

The human rights project OVD-Info has reported that Daria Trepova and Dmitry Rylov were both arrested at an anti-war protest on February 24, 2022, and Trepova was jailed for 10 days. Rylov is a member of the St. Petersburg chapter of Russia's Libertarian Party. A party representative reportedly told the Telegram channel Sota that Rylov is currently living outside of Russia and was not involved in the explosion.

Translation of her social media message after blast killing blogger ...

At the disposal of the Cheka-OGPU was the correspondence of Daria Trepova with a close friend on the eve of the explosion in the cafe. She invites her friend to the apartment on Vasilyevsky Island, where she is staying. In the same place, she reports that she does not plan to return to Moscow, from where she arrived in St. Petersburg, and calls to take her to the airport. Daria was going to Istanbul, and from there to Georgia. [A common flight route taken by terrorists] Not very similar to the actions of a "terrorist".

After the explosion, as reported by the Cheka-OGPU, Daria wrote to her friend already in a secret chat "I could die there, it would be better if I died there, they framed me." Then I deleted the chat.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Apr 3rd, 2023 at 09:47:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: What We know About Daria Trepova (none / 1)
New details emerge from questioning of Tatarsky murder suspect - media, 4 Apr
The main suspect in the murder of prominent Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, Darya Trepova, has confessed details of her involvement in the bomb attack, according to [tabloid] Fontanka news outlet.
[...]
The suspect reportedly insisted that she did not know the figurine contained a bomb, and has repeatedly claimed that she was set up. Fontanka claims that those arguments appear plausible as Trepova did not leave the building after handing over the statuette, and did not hesitate to sit next to it when Tatarsky invited her to join him on stage not long before it detonated. Fontanka reports that experts are now examining the blast site to confirm that the bomb was activated via SIM card, which would have made it possible to detonate it from anywhere in the world.
[...]
'Guerilla group' claims responsibility for Tatarsky bombing, 5 Apr
The St. Petersburg division of the so-called National Republican Army (NRA) has claimed it was behind the murder of military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, according to a Telegram statement shared by former Russian State Duma Deputy Ilya Ponomarev. Ponomarev, who has been branded a "foreign agent" by Moscow, previously claimed to be the mouthpiece of the NRA, although there is no conclusive evidence that the group actually exists.

According to the statement, the NRA carried out the attack against "a group of Z-activists and personally against the well-known arsonist and propagandist, war criminal Maksim Fomin," referring to Tatarsky's real name.  

The group insisted that the bombing was "prepared and carried out by us autonomously," and without assistance from foreign forces or special services. The NRA also denied the involvement of Darya Trepova, who is the main suspect in the blogger's assassination.  
[...]

archived a generation of unrequited "terrorist" activity
by Cat on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 at 12:51:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Fontanka telegram message (none / 1)
is sympathetic

run it through a translator

by Cat on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 at 02:40:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Journalist, CIA Spy or Frontline Warrior (none / 0)

I wonder what the outcry from the West would be if Evan Gershkovich is executed for espionage, below the death of a Russian journalist is celebrated.


    "Christo Grozev of the US government-sponsored Bellingcat endorsed the terror attack that killed a Russian war reporter and injured many others during a public event in St. Petersburg."

Christo Grozev of the US government-sponsored Bellingcat endorsed the terror attack that killed a Russian war reporter and injured many others

MoA h/t RepublicofScotland | Apr 4 2023 14:39 |

From the "Grayzone" article:

    "Throughout his eight-minute interview with Sky News, Bellingcat's lead Russia investigator Christo Grozev offered an unapologetic, de facto endorsement of the terror attack at a public event at the Street Food Bar № 1 cafe in St. Petersburg"

Further ...

    "... he was a legitimate target, he was an officer and a propagandist at the same time," Grozev confidently told Sky News.

    Asked by the presenter why Ukraine would not confine its operations to military sites "rather than a cafe in Russia's second city," Grozev argued: "but this is a war of little resemblance to what we've seen before. It's a hybrid war in addition to being a hot war."



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 4th, 2023 at 08:17:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Journalist, CIA Spy or Frontline Warrior (none / 0)
Suspect in Russia cafe bombing that killed pro-Putin blogger charged with terror offences | The Independent |

On Tuesday, Russian investigators said they had charged Trepova with committing "a terrorist act by an organised group that caused intentional death" and the "illegal possession of explosive devices by an organised group".

The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and were levied by Russia's Investigative Committee - responsible for probing major crimes - which claimed Ms Trepova had acted under instructions from people working on behalf of Ukraine.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 4th, 2023 at 09:06:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
War and the Missing Generation (none / 0)

The demographic situation of France, profoundly altered since before the 1914-1918 war and then stripped of 1,350,000 war dead, was undoubtedly one of the causes of the collapse of 1940 due to direct effects - crisis of numbers of soldiers and lack of workers - and more indirect effects - economic weakness, skittish state of mind, timid external politics and strategy.


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 2nd, 2023 at 09:55:40 PM EST
and so... (none / 0)
the women in France finally got to vote?
by Cat on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 at 12:18:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: and so... (none / 1)
the women widows in France finally got to vote?

In late 1960s traveled the route from Verdun to Charleville-Mézières, the fields of fallen soldiers of the First World War. Every small village had their monument with endless lists of fallen soldiers. The inhabitants were a clear majority of women and elderly men.

To face the number of battle deaths in Ukraine for the world to see, will we have to wait for the next census? Likely the data will be kept as a state secret.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 at 12:54:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Fulfilling the Cultural Division Started in 2014 (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 2nd, 2023 at 10:22:34 PM EST
Zelenskyy No Negotiations, Crimea Is Ours (none / 0)
y

'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Apr 8th, 2023 at 04:22:10 PM EST
Time opens old wounds - police action (none / 0)
Dutch to send 150 marines to Bosnia and Herzegovina, letter to EP
Besides the 150 marines, 10 additional soldiers will be sent to Bosnia to gather intelligence as part of a so-called "Human Intelligence" unit. While the marines will serve in the country for a year starting in October, the intelligence unit will arrive in Bosnia in June
[...]
"States such as Russia and China are trying to increase their influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia benefits from an unstable Bosnia and Herzegovina to prevent further rapprochement with the EU and NATO and to increase its own influence in the Balkans. [...] China can use economic power to pressure countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina to create a more favourable environment for achieving its strategic goals," the letter states.

Recently, tensions have flared in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, who fosters close ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin, promoted several controversial law proposals and threatened secession from Bosnia.

criminalise defamation, enact foreign agent registry, ban LGBTQ groups in schools and universities
The Netherlands have a difficult history regarding military deployments in Bosnia: In 1995, the Dutch battalion responsible for safeguarding the population of the Bosnian town of Srebrenica retreated, leading to the Srebrenica massacre, during which roughly 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men were killed.
by Cat on Sun Apr 9th, 2023 at 12:43:52 AM EST
Re: Time opens old wounds - police action (none / 1)
Statement on "retreat" is totally inadequate to describe the event and UN failures under joint British-French military command.

HRC's experience from visit to Tuzla under fire in war torn  Bosnia.

Croatian pipeline - Pentagon armed Bosnian Mujahedeen, the first Al Qaeda foothold in Europe. Saudi funding for arms as Türkiye provided the aircraft for secret transport.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Apr 9th, 2023 at 08:21:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Pentagon Secrets Leaked On Ukraine War Plans (none / 0)

Ukraine SitRep: Leaked Briefings | MoA |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:15:31 PM EST
Re: Pentagon Secrets Leaked On Ukraine War Plans (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:16:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Pentagon Secrets Leaked On Ukraine War Plans (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:16:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Pentagon Secrets Leaked On Ukraine War Plans (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:17:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
NATO Special Forces On the Ground In Ukraine (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:17:46 PM EST
Re: NATO Special Forces On the Ground In Ukraine (none / 0)



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:18:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: NATO Special Forces On the Ground In Ukraine (none / 0)
Britain has three times more special ops soldiers in Ukraine than any other NATO ally, leaked Pentagon papers indicate

Rishi Sunak has secretly deployed dozens of special operations forces (SOF) in Ukraine without telling parliament, leaked US intelligence files appear to show.

Britain had 50 SOF personnel in the war zone last month according to a slide marked "secret" and "not releasable to foreign nationals".

The UK contingent was the largest of any NATO member by a factor of three. Latvia had 17, France 15, the US 14 and the Dutch just one.

The 14 US operators were among 29 Pentagon personnel in Ukraine, including defence attachés and embassy guards.

Another 71 foreign affairs staff from its state department were also on the ground, bringing the total US footprint to 100 personnel.

It is not clear from the leaked documents whether the 50 British SOF personnel are drawn exclusively from the UK's most elite tier 1 units such as the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service.

Members of the Royal Marines and Parachute Regiment could have been among them too.

The US military uses a broader definition of SOF to include its marines and army rangers, not just SEALs and Delta Force.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:19:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Stalemate Endures, Pessimism Grows, Deaths Mount (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 at 11:42:29 PM EST
Ukraine Corruption Fueling the Frontline Army (none / 0)

What also is unknown is that Zalensky has been buying the fuel from Russia, the country with which it, and Washington, are at war, and the Ukrainian president and many in his entourage have been skimming untold millions from the American dollars earmarked for diesel fuel payments.

One estimate by analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency put the embezzled funds at $400 million last year, at least; another expert compared the level of corruption in Kiev as approaching that of the Afghan war, "although there will be no professional audit reports emerging from the Ukraine."

"Zelensky's been buying discount diesel from the Russians," one knowledgeable American intelligence official told me. "And who's paying for the gas and oil? We are. Putin and his oligarchs are making millions" on it.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 12th, 2023 at 07:46:40 PM EST
Biden's History of Wars and the Wrong Call (none / 0)

Joe Biden's History of Making the Wrong Call | The Atlantic - Jan. 31, 2012 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 12th, 2023 at 07:55:43 PM EST
Re: Biden's History of Wars and the Wrong Call (none / 0)
Noam Chomsky and Jeremy Scahill on the Russia-Ukraine War -Day 50- the Media, Propaganda, and Accountability | The Intercept |

J.S. We're going to be discussing today, the Russian government's invasion of Ukraine, the horrors that we've seen coming out of Ukraine, the bloodshed, the massacres, the killings. 

But also we are witnessing a major assertion of power by the United States in Europe, calls for expanding U.S. militarism in Europe, European governments pledging to spend more money on weapons systems and to increase their activities as arms brokers. The United States, at present, is the largest weapons dealer in the world. 

N.C. The right question is: What is the best thing to do to save Ukraine from a grim fate, from further destruction? And that's to move towards a negotiated settlement. 

There are some simple facts that aren't really controversial. There are two ways for a war to end: One way is for one side or the other to be basically destroyed. And the Russians are not going to be destroyed. So that means one way is for Ukraine to be destroyed. 

The other way is some negotiated settlement. If there's a third way, no one's ever figured it out. So what we should be doing is devoting all the things you mentioned, if properly shaped, but primarily moving towards a possible negotiated settlement that will save Ukrainians from further disaster. That should be the prime focus. 

[...]
Before the invasion, the U.S. basically had two choices: One was to pursue its official stance, which I just reviewed, which makes the negotiations impossible and may have led to war; the other possibility was to pursue the options that were available. To an extent, they're still somewhat available, attenuated by the war, but the basic terms are pretty clear. 



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Apr 12th, 2023 at 07:56:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Food Price Spike War Profiteers (none / 0)
Top 10 hedge funds made £1.5bn profit from Ukraine war food price spike | The Guardian |

Doug Parr, the chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said governments must put into action the measures they had already agreed during the last food price crisis in 2008-09. "Windfall profits causing misery to millions are not confined to price spikes from fossil fuels," he said. "Badly regulated food commodities, and their trading, are also engines of economic, social and environmental destruction. It's 14 years since G20 governments committed to improve the regulation and transparency of commodity markets and yet still we have a trading system driven by profit rather than purpose, and an international market with, essentially, no rules."



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Apr 14th, 2023 at 02:43:43 PM EST
NATO and War: Dangling the Carrot for Zelensky (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Apr 15th, 2023 at 06:16:47 PM EST
Re: NATO and War: Dangling the Carrot for Zelensky (none / 0)

Best option for Russia to block NATO membership for Ukraine is forever war and a disputed border ... diplomacy and peace talks is not a option for either side. Forever hatred ... decades ahead.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Apr 15th, 2023 at 06:23:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Manufacturing Consent: Unprovoked War on Ukraine (none / 0)
Archive: Eric Zuesse on Noam Chomsky and Walter Lippman ...

Herman's "Propaganda model of communication" to "Manufacturing consent"

Noam Chomsky and Human Revolution

The creation of consent is not a new art. It is a very old one which was supposed to have died out with the appearance of democracy. But it has not died out. It has, in fact, improved enormously in technic, because it is now based on analysis rather than on rule of thumb. And so, as a result of psychological research, coupled with the modern means of communication, the practice of democracy has turned a corner. A revolution is taking place, infinitely more significant than any shifting of economic power.

Within the life of the generation now in control of affairs, persuasion has become a self-conscious art and a regular organ of popular government. None of us begins to understand the consequences, but it is no daring prophecy to say that the knowledge of how to create consent will alter every political calculation and modify every political premise.

Under the impact of propaganda, not necessarily in the sinister meaning of the word alone, the old constants of our thinking have become variables. It is no longer possible, for example, to believe in the original dogma of democracy; that the knowledge needed for the management of human affairs comes up spontaneously from the human heart. Where we act on that theory we expose ourselves to self-deception, and to forms of persuasion that we cannot verify.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Apr 15th, 2023 at 09:10:58 PM EST
Ukrainian Airmen Under Arrest for Treason (none / 0)

In undisclosed number of Ukrainian service members have been charged with treason, the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) announced, after a bizarre plot to convince Russian pilots to steal their aircraft apparently backfired. As a result of the ensuing Russian investigation, its forces launched a "massive missile attack" on Ukraine's "Kanatove airfield on July 23, 2022." It killed a commander, wounded 17 airmen, destroyed two fighter jets and caused "significant damage" to the airstrip and several buildings, SBU stated in a release.


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Apr 22nd, 2023 at 02:40:46 PM EST
Joe Got Himself Into Another Unwinnable War (none / 0)

The Biden Agenda -- Reckoning with Ukraine and Iraq, and keeping an eye on 2016 | The New Yorker - July 28, 2014 Issue |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Apr 22nd, 2023 at 07:13:25 PM EST

Stalemate Endures, Pessimism Grows, Deaths Mount | 84 comments (84 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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Incident Ukrainian War Display Gets Int'l Attention

by Oui - May 27
42 comments

German Climate Activists Group Outlawed

by Oui - May 24

Leinster's demise and Munster's hope

by Frank Schnittger - May 23
3 comments

Joe Biden. America's Interventionist Hero

by Oui - May 13
66 comments

Targeted Assassinations: a Bankrupt Strategy

by Oui - May 9
28 comments

Hijacking Peace by Zelensky for War Escalation

by Oui - May 4
50 comments

May 2023

by Oui - Apr 30
273 comments

U.S. Provoked Conflict In Europe

by Oui - Apr 26
66 comments

U.S. Will Be Ousted From Middle-East

by Oui - Apr 8
108 comments

Settler Extremism Blessed by Jerusalem Leaders

by Oui - Mar 19
145 comments

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