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The paranoia of the Devil's conscience: Western Cold War ideology against Russia

Finian Cunningham
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 18:08 UTC
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In a sane world, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond should be forced to quit his post in disgrace as the country's top diplomat, following reckless remarks that Britain may henceforth site American nuclear weapons to counter the «threat from Russia». So here we have an alarming escalation of international tensions and militarism by both Washington and London - and all on the back of unproven, prejudicial words from the close Anglo-American allies, who are clearly working in tandem.

Hammond's overt reversal to Cold War mentality comes as Washington is also reportedly considering the deployment of »first-strike» nuclear missiles in various European Union countries. The Americans are claiming that move is «in response»to Russia violating the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Moscow is accused of testing land-based cruise missiles banned under the INF. Russia has flatly denied this American claim, which - as is becoming the norm in other contentious matters - has not been supported with any evidence from Washington.

This slanderous attitude toward Russia is doubly contemptible, because not only is it calumnious, the deception also serves as a political and moral cover that allows the Anglo-American rulers to take outrageous steps toward jeopardising international peace, with the unprecedented deployment of nuclear weapons.
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Play

South Front Crisis News 15 June: Will Kiev use Transnistria to provoke Russia-NATO clash?


South Front
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 18:03 UTC
south front
A France Presse journalist Alexander Gayuk was wounded in shelling of the Donetsk suburb settlement Oktyabrskiy on Sunday. The journalist was taken to a local hospital. "The shelling was very intensive. I was lucky," he told the Donetsk News Agency over the phone. Apparently, Kiev government has already prepared a statement reporting that AFP journalist has shelled himself.

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Stock Down

Top German banker: U.S. hegemony will be defeated by Russia-China-BRICS partnership


Russia Insider
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 16:35 UTC
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Hellmeyer: “The USA is not a democracy anymore, it's an oligarchy!”
Folker Hellmeyer predicts that the economic damage for Germany and the EU will be very significant if they continue to follow the US sanctions policy

The article originally appeared at German Economic News. Translated for RI by Alexander Samarkin

Folker Hellmeyer, chief economist at Bremer Landesbank, has no doubts about the future of the global economic system: The axis Moscow-Beijing-BRICS will prevail against the old hegemon USA. These countries have had enough of the West, because they want to pursue a long-term strategy and not opportunism. The EU is likely to be among the losers, due to its blind sanctions-obedience.

German Economic News: The EU-countries report continuing losses because of the sanctions against Russia. What damage have the sanctions already done, in your estimation?

Folker Hellmeyer: The damage is much more comprehensive than the statistics show. Let's start with the economy and the hitherto accumulated damage. The view on the decline of German exports of 18% year-over-year in 2014 and 34% in the first two months of 2015 includes only primary losses. There are also secondary effects. Economies of European countries with a strong Russia business, amongst others Finland and Austria, suffer massively. As a result, these countries place less orders in Germany. Moreover, in order to circumvent the sanctions, European conglomerates consider to create production facilities at the highest efficiency level in Russia. Therefore we lose this potential capital stock, which is the basis of our prosperity. Russia wins the capital stock.
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Light Saber

Donetsk leader Zakharchenko: DPR is independent state, will never be a part of Ukraine


Sputnik
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 16:31 UTC
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© Sputnik/ Sergey Averin
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is an independent state, which will never be part of Ukraine, DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko said Monday.

"Whatever happens in Minsk, DPR is an independent state and will never be a part of Ukraine," Zakharchenko said during a meeting with residents of the town of Oktyabrsky, which repeatedly has been subject to shelling by Kiev-led forces.

The region proclaimed independence from Ukraine in April 2014 amid a standoff with authorities in Kiev. Following the start of the military operation against southeast's militias the same month, the Donetsk region held a referendum in May and finalized its secession, creating a people's republic with its own government in Donetsk. The vote has not been internationally acknowledged.

A series of negotiations, brokered by Russia, Germany, France and the Organization for Security and Co-operation, has led to an agreement in early 2015 that conditioned the republic's reintegration into Ukraine on Kiev overhauling the country's constitution to grant it a special status within the nation's borders.

The recent escalation of tensions in the region has so far hindered the progress in talks between the warring parties.
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Eye 2

Rule by the sword: Saudi Arabia executes 100th prisoner this year, more than all of last year


RT
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 16:20 UTC
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© AFP Photo / STR
Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Syrian drug trafficker, rocketing the number of this year's executions in the Kingdom to 100. This figure is already more than the 87 sentenced and put to death in the country during the whole of last year.

The execution took place on Monday in the northern region of Jawf. Syrian Ismael al-Tawm smuggled"a large amount of banned amphetamine pills into the kingdom," the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement, as cited by AFP.

The man was sentenced to death according to the nation's strict version of Sharia law, under which such crimes as murder, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking are punishable by death. Public executions are mostly conducted by decapitating the accused with a sword.

The 100th execution has surpassed the 87 recorded by AFP in 2014, but is still some way below the highest figure of 192, recorded by the human rights group Amnesty International in 1995. The watchdog has been scathing of the Kingdom's human rights record, saying they "fall far short" of global norms.
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Light Sabers

Swedish Foreign Minister lashes out at UN for suspending child abuse whistleblower


RT
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 16:05 UTC
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© Reuters / Annika AF Klercker
Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom
Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has hit out at the UN for suspending Anders Kompass, who leaked documents about French peacekeepers in the Central African Republic allegedly being involved in child abuse cases.

"It hurts the credibility of the entire UN when something like this happens. You could question the whole treatment of the case in Geneva and the way they have handled Anders Kompass," Wallstrom told the Swedish television channel, SVT, as cited by the Local.

The Swedish foreign minister added she had received support for opening an independent investigation into how Kompass's case was handled by the UN. Kompass was initially suspended on April 17, before the ban was lifted on May 6.

"It is good that there will be an independent and hopefully speedy investigation of what really happened. I spoke to some of the participants [at the meeting in Johannesburg] who also say they want to make a statement on this issue. Those who take part with troops in peacekeeping efforts and policing efforts need to show that they take these kinds of signals seriously," she added.
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Chess

Top Russian politician analyzes Putin's Ukraine strategy

Nikolai Starikov
Russia Insider
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 15:16 UTC
russia ukraine strategy startikov

Nikolai Starikov, one of Russia's most popular politicians
As usual, Starikov is very enlightening and incisive.

Among other things he says that Ukraine will attack Russia at the behest of the US if they are successful in subduing the rebellious East - so Russia has no choice but to support the rebels.

Starikov is a fixture on Russian TV - and is a very popular author and speaker who has started a conservative party called "The great fatherland party". One of his more controversial positions (to westerners) is that Stalin was a great leader, unfairly maligned and misunderstood.

Interesting note: the intellectual level of discourse in Russia in politics is head and shoulders above what it is in the US. Starikov is a classic example of this.


Transcript below:

Comment: Starikov's take on the West's intentions has a lot of support:

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Bad Guys

'Inventing new dragon to slay': Clinton's archaic campaign tactics slammed by Russian FM spokesperson


RT
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 13:40 UTC
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© Reuters / Jim Young
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Hillary Clinton is running for US president on promises to protect Americans from "traditional threats" like Russia and a "rising" China, which Russia's FM spokeswoman described as coming directly from populist pamphlets of the last century.

"No other country is better equipped to meet traditional threats from countries like Russia, North Korea, and Iran - and to deal with the rise of new powers like China," the candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, said during her first major campaign speech on Saturday. "As your President, I'll do whatever it takes to keep Americans safe."

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Press and Information Department, Maria Zakharova, struck back at the ex-US Secretary of State and former first lady, saying that the Democrats were apparently trying to create a "new dragon" in order to gloriously slay it.

"In order to defeat a dragon, the Democrats first needed to create it, which they have been doing successfully in recent years," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page, adding that a proper election campaign required a new and worthy global enemy.

Comment: The real threat is Hillary herself: Hillary Clinton's lucrative life of crime
"Behind every great fortune," Balzac maintained, "lies a crime." If there were any justice, the Clintons would be in prison for a generation of criminal activity that has left America a corrupted, Third Worldified nation, poorer for having been looted by the companies and banks whose criminality they aided and abetted.


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Chess

US, China strike deal to strengthen ties and hold joint military drills


RT
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 13:13 UTC
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© Reuters / China Daily
The US and China have signed a rare agreement to strengthen ties and develop a more productive military relationship. However, mistrust still remains, with Beijing saying progress can only be made if Washington respects China's South China Sea ambitions.

The understanding mainly concerns a deepening of cooperation between the two nations, following a meeting between Fan Changlong, the vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission and US Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter.

Fan and US army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno witnessed the signing of the dialogue understanding at the National Defense University in Washington, DC.

Comment: Wonder what US has up its sleeve?

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Eagle

American Conservative magazine: Why the U.S. needs endless war, not victory

Jon Basil Utiley
The American Conservative
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 17:30 UTC
us troops
© Sputnik/ Vladimir Pirogov
Freedom and democracy is a warm gun.
America doesn't "win" its wars, because winning a war is secondary to other goals in our war making. Winning or losing has little immediate consequence for the United States, because the wars we start, Wars of Choice, are not of vital national interest; losing doesn't mean getting invaded or our cities being destroyed. The following are some of the interests Washington has in not winning, reasons for our unending wars.

1) War sustains the (very) profitable log-rolling contracts for supplies in key congressional districts, grants for university faculties to study strategy, new funding for new weapons. During wartime who dares question almost any Pentagon cost "to defend America?"

2) Continued conflict postpones hard decisions about cutting defense spending such as closing surplus bases, cutting duplicate systems, and focusing on waste. See 16 Ways to Cut Defense. Shakespeare put it well, advising a king to have lots of foreign wars in order to have tranquility at home.

3) Starting wars is the historic way for kings (and presidents) to gain popularity and avoid doing tough domestic reforms for problems that cry out for solutions. War lets them be postponed. Think of George W. Bush winning election on promises to balance the budget, have health care reform, reform our bankrupt social security commitments, tackle the EPA, take on the teachers' unions, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, and such. Instead, with war, all those issues were swept aside. He won his re-election by having even bigger deficit warfare/welfare spending and increasing the national debt by trillions.

Comment: TAC bills itself as an anti-war, 'paleoconservative' alternative to the neoconservatives. It's good to see not all American conservatives have drunk the Neocon Koolaid.

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