Puppet Masters
"We agreed to introduce a bill that would establish the Right Sector as the basis for an organization similar to the Estonia Defense Union. We will have reserve units, combat units. This will be a compromise system, the golden middle which will satisfy both us and the government institutions," Yarosh told Ukrainian journalists.
The Estonia Defense Union is a volunteer paramilitary formation which is part of the national army and which is financed by the state, but which at the same time retains certain autonomy. The EDU participates in national and international military exercises, and also prepares personnel for militias that patrol assigned territory.
Moreover, EDU units have their own command. Obviously it's that aspect of the organization that persuaded the Ukrainian radicals to cooperate with the GenStaff, after all the Right Sector HQ said many times they would not accept a leader other than Yarosh. Therefore the nationalists will become an official part of the armed forces, while retaining certain autonomy.
The 386 pages report "Сritical technology assessment in Israel and Nato nations," was prepared in 1987 by the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) and examined the capabilities Israel had already had at that time to produce nuclear weapons. In particular, the study underlines the fact that Israel's secret laboratories, engaged in the development of an atomic bomb, were on par with the key research nuclear arsenals of the US: Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Comment: Thinks aren't looking too pretty for the U.S.-Israeli love affair... Speaking of nukes, Crimea's leader, Sergey Aksyonov, recently said Crimea would welcome Russia placing nuclear weapons on its soil. Nope, Ukraine ain't getting Crimea back, no matter how much they bluster and boast about doing so.
Kommersant Daily quoted sources "close to the presidential administration" as saying that Putin's trip to the United States was already in the preparatory stage. The newspaper also claimed that a source in the United Nations' secretariat confirmed this.
However, all the sources noted that Putin's plans would become clear only in early August. They also emphasized that "everything depends on the international situation."
Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov also said that no final decision has been made on the trip.
"Attending the General Assembly Session is one of the options that are being considered and in this sense it is not very important that it will be the anniversary one."
In September the United Nations will hold its 70th General Assembly session, with many world leaders expected to participate.
Comment: It would be good for Americans to hear from a real statesman for once, instead of the cardboard cutout versions that are currently running the country.
The April 1 accession to the International Criminal Court is the most substantial step to date in Palestine's international legal campaign to seek justice for Israel's operation 'Protective Edge' last summer, in which thousands of civilians were killed.
Shortly before the summer assaults, Israel insisted that Hamas was firing rockets into its territory and answered with massive bombardment, complete with a ground phase that saw destruction on a scale not seen for decades. After 50 days, a ceasefire was agreed upon.
ICC membership has been years in the making. It comes after Palestine gained UN observers status, followed by an increasing number of European countries recognizing them as an independent state or considering it. Israel's operation tipped the balance in the Palestinians' favor.
It remains unclear how soon Palestine will be filing complaints against the Israelis, but an initial probe into war crimes by both sides is already in progress. The deadly July-August assault on Gaza has never been subject to a thorough, independent investigation, and the occupation of disputed territories and settlement-building by Israel is also ongoing.
"The legal and technical committees have been extensively working on finalizing the two files" on Israel's summer operation and its illegal settlement building, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel, told reporters.
Comment: It's going to be interesting to see what happens now that Russia publicly committed to help Palestine become independent.
Putin says Russia to help Palestine become independent state
Comment: Remember, these are the actions of a government created and supported by the U.S. government. They are allowing the Nazi Ukraine government to torture innocent civilians for no purpose. Most trained military and law enforcement understand that a victim being tortured will admit to anything to end their pain and suffering. So, the purpose of their torture is clearly not to gain information, but to purposefully cause pain and suffering to innocent civilians. This is your government Americans, they are allowing this to happen under your name. How much does it take for people to stand up and say enough is enough?
On Monday March 23, the US House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 162 urging president Obama "to provide Ukraine with military assistance" in dire attempt to reignite conflict in the East of Ukraine, mainly frozen as a result of February 2015 Minsk agreements between Kiev and the outbreak Donetsk and Lugansk provinces with French, German and Russian mediation. The general presumptions of the resolution are as evident as false: it contains routine mantras about "Russian aggression", "Crimea occupation", "violent separatist proxies" and "insurrection that has resulted in over 6,000 dead, 15,000 wounded, and more than a million displaced persons", as if the insurgents are using heavy artillery against their own cities and killing their own children (to say nothing about the fact that "displaced persons" are predominantly running to Russia to seek protection and personal safety away from the conflict zone).
Meanwhile earlier this month the Foundation for the Study of Democracy (FSD) has published a new comprehensive report «War Crimes of the Armed Forces and Security Forces of Ukraine». It is based on the evidence provided since August 2014 to January 2015 by at least 200 residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk provinces who were forcefully detained and kidnapped by the Ukrainian military and security forces and later handed back to Donetsk and Lugansk authorities according to "hostages release" provisions of the September 2014 Minsk protocol. Here we provide a dozen of citations of this bone-chilling document:
The prisoners were electrocuted, beaten cruelly and for multiple days in a row with different objects (iron bars, baseball bats, sticks, rifle butts, bayonet knives, rubber batons).
Techniques widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces and security forces include waterboarding, strangling with a 'Banderist garrotte' and other types of strangling.
In a statement on Tuesday, Holder said the new policy would affect the way the government targets companies and individuals suspected of "structuring" bank transactions. Structuring involves purposefully keeping transactions from surpassing a certain threshold so they do not require banks to make a record of them or file a report regarding a possibly suspicious operation. The Justice Department said that in addition to being a crime on its own, structuring is usually linked with other illegal activity.
Previously, the government could seize bank accounts, as well as other property, without a warrant and without filing criminal charges, as long as it suspected wrongdoing. Since 2001, law enforcement agencies around the United States have confiscated $2.5 billion in cash despite never filing criminal charges or obtaining warrants, the Washington Post reported.
Comment: It will be interesting to see if this policy change will trickle down below the federal level and force local and state law enforcement to enact stricter rules for civil forfeiture cases. It's not just the federal government that has been stealing from its citizens:
- The Great American Highway Robbery Scheme: Cops in the US can legally steal your money under 'civil asset forfeiture law'
- Cash for cops: How civil forfeiture laws are used to enrich police departments
- Civil asset forfeiture: Only the rich can afford to keep their homes
- Civil forfeiture: How the police get away with taking your stuff without charging you with a crime
- Obama order creates new authority to respond to cyber threats to be used in 'targeted manner'
- Obama order allows sanctions for cyber threats
The national and economic security of the United States depends on the reliable functioning of the Nation's critical infrastructure in the face of such threats. It is the policy of the United States to enhance the security and resilience of the Nation's critical infrastructure and to maintain a cyber environment that encourages efficiency, innovation, and economic prosperity while promoting safety, security, business confidentiality, privacy, and civil liberties.
We can achieve these goals through a partnership with the owners and operators of critical infrastructure to improve cybersecurity information sharing and collaboratively develop and implement risk-based standards.
Comment: Will this go so far as to censure websites that don't go along with the 'party line'?
Beyond seeking war crimes charges against Israel at the court, the Palestinians want the U.N. Security Council to set a deadline for an Israeli troop withdrawal and hope for new momentum of a Palestinian-led international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions.The atmosphere seems ripe for international intervention after recently re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu startled the world with a pledge to voters, since withdrawn, that he would not allow a Palestinian state to be established.
But a legal and diplomatic showdown isn't inevitable as aides say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas isn't interested in an all-out confrontation with Israel. War crimes charges against Israel could be years away and Washington likely will soften any Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood.
Here is a look at what's expected:
Comment: Did Palestine attempt to raise the stakes with this move? A preliminary examination into alleged Israeli crimes is already underway and will determine the grounds to proceed with a full investigation, should the court deem it has jurisdiction. A 40-member Palestinian committee has spent the past three months looking at two areas where they believe Israel violated international law: military operations during last year's war in Gaza and Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The ICC focuses on the worst violations of international law: genocide and war crimes against humanity, and soon to be added "crimes of aggression." While the Palestinians seem to have a "no brainer" case, what we do know is the situation won't be settled any time soon. And, here's the sucky part: Israel is a non-member of the ICC and is apparently under no obligation to comply.
Comment: This is the following article from The geopolitics of Saudi aggression and the invasion of Yemen.
"Battle lines are being drawn in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country and the Middle East's latest candidate for state failure. If, as looks increasingly probable, open warfare breaks out soon, it will only be made worse by the contest for regional supremacy between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Both powers have proven eager to arm groups they believe they can control, despite the legacy this destructive rivalry has already wrought in Syria and Iraq", the magazine Foreign Policy claimed on March 6.
President Obama has lifted his arms embargo on Egypt, authorizing the deliveries of US weapons valued at over $1.3 billion, suspended after the 2013 military coup. Egyptian forces have been fighting Islamic militants in Yemen and Libya.
Among the weapons systems released are twelve F-16 aircraft, 20 "Harpoon" anti-ship missiles, and 125 upgrade kits for US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks in Egyptian service. The "executive hold" on weapons deliveries was imposed after the military overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohamed Morsi in October 2013. Egypt is the second-largest recipient of US military aid in the world.
Comment: Yup, defense contractors want money.
Comment: Proxy war; it's the American democratic way.
















Comment: Does Poroshenko think he knows what he's doing? Who in his right mind would give MORE power to a gang of nazi mercenaries who could threaten his own power? The mind boggles!