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Circus or civil war? Poroshenko aide trolls election frontrunner Zelensky with Pinochet picture


RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 11:26 UTC
Poroshenko/Pinochet
© REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi; Global Look Press/ZUMAPRESS.com/Marcelo MonteciaoUkraine president Petro Poroshenko • Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
Political life in Kiev was invigorated this week with a promise of a debate between two presidential election frontrunners in a stadium. Less amusing were vibes of a potential coup coming from the camp that's lagging behind.

Sport venues and debates between presidential hopefuls don't usually mix, but Ukraine is set to become an exception. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and frontrunner Volodymyr Zelensky are expected to have a verbal bout sometime before the second round of presidential race at the Olympiysky stadium, one of Ukraine's biggest arenas.

Or it can be used by the Poroshenko-loyal henchmen to slaughter supporters of his opponent in their dozens and hundreds. At least that's the implication of a picture posted by one of the president's aides after Zelensky made a public challenge for a debate on Wednesday.

The picture shows the face of Poroshenko photoshopped over that of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. His government notoriously used the national stadium in Santiago to execute political opponents in the aftermath of the 1973 military coup. The words written under Poroshenko's smiling face paraphrase his actual video response to Zelensky's challenge and roughly translate as "Let it happen at the stadium then."

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

US revokes visa for ICC prosecutor over investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan


Reuters
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 03:52 UTC
Fatou Bensouda
© Diplomat MagazineICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda
The United States has revoked the entry visa of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, her office said on Thursday, a response to her inquiry into possible war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month the U.S. would withdraw or deny visas to ICC staff investigating such allegations against U.S. forces or their allies.

United Nations human rights experts called the reaction "improper interference" in the work of the world's permanent war crimes court. It also drew criticism from within the European Union.

"We can confirm that the U.S. authorities have revoked the prosecutor's visa for entry into the U.S.," Bensouda's office told Reuters in an e-mail. It said it understood the move should not impact Bensouda's travel to the U.S. to meet her United Nations obligations.

The ICC is not a U.N. court, but Bensouda travels regularly to brief the U.N. Security Council on cases referred to The Hague by the UN body. The U.S. in not a member of the ICC, along with other major powers Russia and China.

Comment: See also:

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MIB

Russian historian says she was manipulated into helping FBI, Stephan Halper to entrap General Flynn

Catherine Herridge, Cyd Upson
Fox News
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 18:00 UTC
Svetlana Lokhova
© Fox NewsSvetlana Lokhova
A Russian-born academic who was at the center of attention in 2017 for past contact with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn told Fox News in an exclusive interview that she is not a spy for Moscow - and, to the contrary, believes she was "used" to smear Flynn.

"I think there's a high chance that it was coordinated, and I believe it needs to be properly investigated," Svetlana Lokhova told Fox News.

Lokhova entered the political firestorm in early 2017, as Flynn was forced out of the Trump administration over lying about his contact with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. At the time, Lokhova was contacted by three American media outlets over a four-day period - and was promptly hit with claims in the press and on social media that she was a Russian operative for Moscow.

The allegations involved her contact with Flynn three years prior at a 2014 dinner at the University of Cambridge, England, when Flynn was Defense Intelligence Agency director.

"I'm not a Russian spy and I have never worked for the Russian government," the 38-year old historian and academic said, in an interview first broadcast on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "I believe that General Flynn was targeted and I was used to do it."

Comment:


More on Halper's role in Russiagate:

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Gingerbread

'Let's not make weapons': Trump laments military spending by US, China and Russia


RT
Thu, 04 Apr 2019 21:57 UTC
Trump/Liu He
© Twitter/Donald J. TrumpUS President Donald Trump • Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He
Having drastically increased the Pentagon budget and demanded more spending by NATO, US President Donald Trump is now, seriously (?), complaining that all that money could be better spent elsewhere.

Trump lamented the levels of US, Chinese and Russian military spending at a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Thursday, part of the ongoing talks to resolve the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

"As you know China is spending a lot of money on military, so are we, so is Russia and those three countries I think can come together and stop the spending and spend on things that maybe are more productive toward long-term peace," Trump said.

"I think it's much better if we all got together and we didn't make these weapons."

Comment: Trump's statement may be a flippant comment or one of those fleeting candid moments that reflects a different vision. Regardless of what Trump may or may not want, the US war machine will not be denied.

See also:

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Pistol

US claims Iran is behind the killing of hundreds of US troops in Iraq


Sputnik
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 14:22 UTC
C-17 Globemaster
© CC0C-17 Globemaster at Joint Base Balad, Iraq
Back in February 2019, US President Donald Trump announced that the US was planning to maintain its presence in Iraq in a bid to monitor the country's neighbour and one of its key trade partners - Iran.

US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, has leveled criticism at Iran's alleged actions in the Middle East region, specifically blaming Tehran for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq since the start of the invasion in the Middle East state, citing previously classified information.
"In Iraq, I can announce today, based on declassified US military reports, that Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 608 American service members. This accounts for 17 percent of all deaths of US personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011".
The US special envoy also claimed that "IRGC's proxies" are responsible for killing many more Iraqi citizens. What is more, Hook alleged that Tehran is attempting to bring Iraq "under Iranian control" and that the most recent visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was part of these efforts. Tehran has not commented on the allegations, claimed by Hook.

Comment: The fault for American deaths in Iraq lies squarely with the US for initiating a needless war knowingly based on a false accusation. Deaths of Iraqi soldiers and civilians at the hands of the US? Estimates from 2003-2011 are a whopping half million. How many have died in Syria by US proxies? Estimates are 220,000. There are no comparisons that even begin to justify Hook's statements.

See also:

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Document

Best of the Web: Russiagate hysteria alive and well: The DETER election meddling bill has its day in the Senate


RT
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 16:25 UTC
Van Hollen/Rubio
© Carroll County Times/Getty ImagesSenators Chris Van Hollen and Marco Rubio
Mueller may have had his day, but the specter of Russian meddling still hangs over Washington. A bill newly introduced in the Senate promises to slap harsh sanctions on Russia should future election interference be discovered.

The 'Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines' (DETER) Act is the latest attempt by US lawmakers to squeeze Russia for a range of perceived election-related offenses. Introduced on Wednesday by Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida), it would require the Director of National Intelligence to determine within 30 days after every federal election whether Russia or any foreign government attempted to interfere.

If the DNI were to find such interference, it would require sanctions to be imposed on a list of Russian banks and energy companies. It would also prohibit US citizens from engaging in business with any entity owned by the Russian government, and freeze the assets of Russian political and business leaders targeted for sanction in the US.

The bill's text, seen by Reuters, appears to be a carbon copy of a bill introduced by Van Hollen and Rubio in January 2018. That iteration of the DETER Act never made it past introduction, and has languished in Congressional limbo ever since.

Comment: A groveling apology to Russia (and to President Trump) would be more appropriate.

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Hourglass

Magnier: Syria won't be able to liberate Golan for decades to come

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Wed, 03 Apr 2019 17:48 UTC
druze golan
© JALAA MAREY/AFP/Getty ImagesDruze men at the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights flash the V for victory sign as they look out across the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra, visible across the border on July 7, 2018
The Syrian state will not be in a position to liberate the occupied Golan for decades to come. US President Donald Trump made a gift of the territory to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu last month. The move was Trump's support for Netanyahu's domestic election campaign; Netanyahu is facing severe accusations of bribery and corruption. No government in Damascus can regain the occupied Golan in the next decades due to the hefty price the Syrian government would pay for any war with Israel to recover the territory. The only hope for Syria would be to copy the Lebanese experience and delegate power to a Syrian resistance. However, the Lebanese experience is unique and would be difficult to imitate, unless Syria were to regain good ties with the west and with Arab countries allied to the US.

Yes, the Lebanese resistance managed to impose on Israel in the year 2000 a humiliated unconditional unilateral withdrawal of most occupied territories. Ehud Barak, then the Prime Minister, decided to end over two decades of occupation and abandon his allies in the "South Lebanese Army" (SLA), withdrawing from Lebanon following repetitive attacks of the resistance that left over 1000 Israeli officers and soldiers killed.

Moreover, in the second Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006 (the first war was the 1982 invasion), Israel refrained from destroying the capital Beirut, the Ministry of Defence and many official institutions and infrastructure (bombing some official targets and destroying many bridges). The reason Israel held back from using its destructive firepower from these and other targets - even if it failed to achieve its goal of limiting Hezbollah's military capabilities - is also due to the split within the Lebanese government between friends and enemies of the hegemony and dominance of the US and its allies.
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Better Earth

German MP: Time for NATO to retire - 'security risk & lawbreaker'


RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:55 UTC
nato flag
© Reuters / Ints Kalnins
German lawmaker Alexander Neu lambasted NATO for conducting aggressive wars and raking up defense spending, suggesting Germany should quit its military command, and the bloc be dissolved altogether.

NATO's 70th birthday is "not a reason to celebrate, but rather an occasion to finally rethink it, before it's too late," Neu wrote in Die Freiheitsliebe blog on Thursday.

The lawmaker from the opposition Left Party slammed the US-led military bloc as an organization that poses "significant security risk to the world" and "systematically violates international law."

NATO revealed its true colors when it waged an "aggressive war" against Yugoslavia without the UN's approval, and carried out numerous interventions, which claimed the lives of "countless victims," Neu argued.

He pointed out that last year NATO's member states spent more than $1 trillion on defense, which is far more than the defense budgets of its rivals, China and Russia, combined.
The imperialist competition and the fear of losing economic and ideological supremacy drive NATO towards more rearmament and confrontation.
In order to avoid global escalation, the lawmaker proposed that Germany should leave the alliance's "military structures," and then NATO itself should be dissolved and replaced by a new "collective security system," which would include Russia.

Comment: Neu isn't wrong! Which is why countries like Germany, and Turkey, are probably better off out of NATO, threats from the American hegemon notwithstanding:

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Attention

Philippines President Duterte warns China to back off disputed island in South China Sea


The Guardian
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:53 UTC
Thitu Pag-asa island china philippines
© PAO,AFP,GHQ/HandoutPag-asa island, also known as Thitu.
Philippine military warns that hundreds of Chinese vessels have 'swarmed' the Manila-held Pag-asa island

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned Beijing to back off from a disputed island in the South China Sea, warning of "suicide missions" if China touches it.

Duterte, aiming to attract trade and investment from China, has mostly withheld his early criticism of Beijing's expansive claims to the sea - a point of regional contention because trillions of dollars of goods pass through it.

But as the Philippine military warned this week that hundreds of Chinese coastguard and fishing vessels had "swarmed" the Manila-held Pag-asa island, also known as Thitu, the Philippine president spoke out late on Thursday.

Comment: Bloomberg adds:
The president's comments came hours after his Foreign Affairs Department said the presence of about 275 Chinese vessels near Thitu Island is "illegal" and violates Philippine sovereignty. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said on Wednesday the Philippines had filed a diplomatic protest on the latest incident.

Duterte, who pivoted the nation's foreign policy toward China almost three years ago when he took office, has said the Philippines can't afford to go to war against China, even after a July 2016 arbitral ruling on the sea dispute favored the Philippines. He's been under pressure to make a stronger stance against China's incursions in the South China Sea.

He would never allow China, which has "gobbled up the whole of China Sea" to occupy Thitu -- where the Philippines is constructing a ramp and repairing a runway, Duterte told reporters separately on Thursday. The president said he will tell his soldiers to "prepare for suicide missions" if China moves into Thitu.

Chinese Foreign Ministry officials have said this week the nations should settle disputes peacefully, while asserting their country's claim over the disputed island which it calls Zhongye.


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Che Guevara

Best of the Web: Venezuela's pro-Maduro 'colectivos': True grass-roots organizations demonized by the West


RT
Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:26 UTC
colectivos militia venezuela revolution
© Redfish
Ever since the US recognized Venezuela's wannabe coup leader, pro-government activists have been bracing for possible military intervention. Western media have been for years portraying them as thugs of the dictatorship.

So-called 'colectivos' caught the eye of the Western mainstream media around 2011, depicted as government-sanctioned gangs who are allowed to commit crimes in their neighborhoods with impunity as long as they serve as vigilantes against the opposition.

The term comes from much earlier times in the 1960s, when it was used to describe self-organized local political action groups banding together for various causes. An indigenous tribe opposing logging on its ancestral land, a local volunteer radio station going on air to discuss local politics, or an ad hoc labor union negotiating better conditions are all examples of colectivos.


Comment: The War on Venezuela is Built on Lies

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