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'Nobody in Poland cares about WWII anymore', 75th anniversary of liberation from fascism ignored


RT
Fri, 17 Jan 2020 13:23 UTC
Soviet war memorial
© Sputnik/Alexey Vitvitsky
A Soviet war memorial in Warsaw
The Polish people aren't interested in the events of the past, being fully consumed by their daily hassles, and the country's authorities are using this to their advantage, freely rewriting WWII history, academics told RT.

Warsaw was taken from the Nazis on January 17, 1945, after a large-scale offensive by the Red Army and the Polish forces. The 75th anniversary of the historic victory is marked on Friday, but the capital of Poland isn't preparing for any celebrations.

The fact that the USSR liberated Warsaw from the Nazis is "diminished" in schoolbooks and ignored by Polish media "because we live in country where Russophobia is one of the pillars," military historian Michal Glock said.

The capital's Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and his liberal Civic Platform party are
"responsible for destroying monuments dedicated to Polish and Soviet soldiers and partly [responsible] for erasing the information that Warsaw was liberated by the Red Army and its allies, such as the Polish 1st and 2nd Armies, from the memory of the residents. Older people are aware [of] who liberated our capital city, but the younger generation lives in ignorance."

Comment: Another applicable term is negationism: Notable examples include: Holocaust denial, Armenian Genocide denial, the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, Japanese war crime denial and the denial of Soviet crimes - a societal misappropriation of history to fuel a current political and societal platform to undergird specific responses from government and the people. History doesn't rewrite itself, people do.

RT, 17/1/2020: Former Polish president Walesa slams failure to commemorate
While the anniversary of Warsaw's liberation is largely overlooked in modern-day Poland, it's worth paying respect to the sacrifice of the Red Army, former president and democracy hero Lech Walesa acknowledged on RT.

It's been exactly 75 years since the Soviet Union's 1st Byelorussian Front and the allied Polish 1st Army defeated the last remaining pocket of Nazi resistance, ending the five-year occupation of Warsaw. But the milestone event, in which 22,000 Soviet and 3,100 Polish soldiers lost their lives, is no longer an occasion for Poland to celebrate, it seems.

Remarkably, this policy didn't sit well with Walesa, Poland's first post-communist president and recipient of multiple Western awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize.
"If I were in power, I would allow myself to be invited - I would invite myself because we must remember the past, respect the past, remember that many people have died, and deserved gratitude and recognition. I would look for positive solutions so that both countries benefited and сould prevent other powers from capitalizing on our mistakes."
Poland has been trying to wipe out certain parts of its history for quite some time. Last year, it went so far as to invite Angela Merkel to the commemoration of the 1939 Nazi invasion, but refused to invite Vladimir Putin to the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet forces.

The former president, who rose to prominence as leader of the Western-backed, anti-communist Solidarity movement, claimed, however, that there was "another perspective of World War II" under which Poland had fallen "into the captivity of the Soviet Union for 50 years."

The Soviet operation to liberate Warsaw began on January 14, 1945, when the 61st Army crossed the Vistula River and crushed German defenses on the outskirts of the city. Days later, it emerged that the capital stood empty and deserted as the Nazi command had ordered its destruction.

Many civilians had to flee Warsaw, others were persecuted or displaced by the retreating Germans. Those who survived say they rejoiced at the liberation and cheerfully greeted Soviet and Polish soldiers as they entered the city.


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Star of David

Israel intentionally drowns half-million dollars worth of Gaza crops


The New Arab
Mon, 13 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Israel blockade map
© The New Arab
Israel's recent destruction of crops in food-strapped Gaza has resulted in around half-a-million dollars of damage, Palestine has said.

Over the weekend, Israeli forces poisoned crops in the besieged Gaza Strip by pumping large amounts of rainwater into its farm land. They turned on the rainwater collection dams along the border with the besieged enclave, causing around one square kilometre of agricultural land planted with wheat, barley, peas, cabbage, and cauliflower to sink.

According to a statement released by the Palestinian agriculture ministry on Sunday, Israel's uncontrolled opening of a water dam's gates has caused $500,000 worth of damage to agricultural areas in the besieged territory.

Large strips of farmland in Gaza's eastern Jabalia and Beit Hanoun were damaged, the statement said.

Animals were also affected by Israel's while chickens and bees in beehives drowned in the occupation-imposed flooding. Desperately needed food, including potatoes and onions were completely destroyed on nearly 4 square km of flooded land.

Comment: Israel has many effective 'Palestinian eradication' modalities in implementation. Destroying the food supply is only one of them.

See also:

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Chess

Pakistan Supreme Court will consider Musharraf's plea against death sentence only if he surrenders


Business Standard
Sat, 18 Jan 2020 20:28 UTC
Pervez Musharraf pakistan

Pervez Musharraf
On Thursday, 74-year-old retired general, now based in Dubai, approached the court to challenge the ruling of the special tribunal that had handed him death sentence on charges of high treason.

Pakistan's Supreme Court has returned the petition of self-exiled former dictator Pervez Musharraf against his conviction and sentencing by a special tribunal with objection that he is not allowed to appeal without surrendering to the law, according to a media report.

On Thursday, 74-year-old retired general, now based in Dubai, approached the court to challenge the ruling of the special tribunal that had handed him death sentence on charges of high treason.

Comment:

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Yellow Vest

Torches and pitchforks next? Emmanuel Macron evacuated from theatre as protesters storm entrance trying to find him

Maya Oppenheim
The Independent
Sat, 18 Jan 2020 20:05 UTC
macron theater protest

Police tried to stop the demonstrators but some entered the building
Journalist watching play arrested after joke about hurling his shoes at president

Emmanuel Macron was evacuated from a Parisian theatre as dozens of demonstrators tried to get inside the building to find him.

Critics of the French president's pension reforms assembled at the Bouffes du Nord theatre on Friday evening where Mr Macron was seeing a play with his wife Brigitte Macron.

Protesters overrode police efforts to block them going into the building and managed to storm inside as they chanted "Macron, resign!" and "We are here, even if Macron does not want us, we are here".

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Megaphone

Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez angry US-Mexico-Canada agreement doesn't contain 'a single damn mention of climate change'

Hannah Bleau
Breitbart
Sat, 18 Jan 2020 00:01 UTC
ocasio-cortez sanders
© Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are upset that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement, which passed in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, does not contain "a single damn mention of 'climate change.'"

Sanders wrote on Twitter, "250 pages. 37,500 words. Not a single damn mention of 'climate change,'" then proclaimed that "Trump's NAFTA is a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry."

"I voted NO because the future of our planet is more important than the short-term profits of Exxon Mobil and Chevron," he asserted alongside a video detailing his decision.

Comment: See also:

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Question

Iran military suggests US disruption of radar caused downing of Ukraine airliner


Radio Farda
Wed, 15 Jan 2020 18:05 UTC
Ukraine plane crash Iran body bags
© ISNA
Body bags after Ukrainian plane crash outside Tehran. January 8, 2020
Several high-ranking officials have made statements about possible American "disruption of Iran's radar network" and "cyberattacks" that appear to be in preparation of a new official scenario to explain the missile attack on a Ukrainian airliner on January 8.

Ahmad Jannati, the hardliner Chairman of the Guardian Council on Wednesday said the possibility of "enemy sabotage" is being investigated by authorities.

Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi, the Coordinating Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces General Headquarters, on Wednesday said a team has been formed to probe the possibility of an American cyberattack that could have disabled the Iranian radar system.

Comment: Let it be noted that Radio Farha is affiliated with the US mouthpiece RFE/RL and therefore toes the Western line in amplifying its propagandists, such as the New York Times. The article contains no links, assuming that most readers will not bother to check its assertions.

As to the claim by Rouhani that the crash could have been caused by interference with, and 'spoofing' of transponder communications, that is a valid question. The technology has existed for quite some time. Nine planes had previously taken off (however unadvisedly) from Tehran's airport. Why would THIS one be different?

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Newspaper

Pakistan's PM Khan says escalation of Iran conflict would be "disastrous" in exclusive interview with Deutsche Welle


Deutsche Welle
Sat, 18 Jan 2020 18:02 UTC
Pohl Khan

DW Editor-in-Chief Ines Pohl interviews Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan
In an exclusive interview with DW Editor-in-Chief Ines Pohl, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan talks about the Iran crisis and the international community's "lukewarm" response to the Kashmir dispute.

Ines Pohl: Mr. Khan, you probably have one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Your country has to balance ties with the United States and China. Beijing wants to invest in Pakistan, but that, of course, strains your relationship with Washington. Your country also shares a border with conflict-ridden countries like Afghanistan and Iran. How are you managing all that?

Imran Khan: I joined politics because I felt that Pakistan has tremendous potential. When I was growing up, Pakistan had the fastest growing economy in Asia, which served as a model for development in the 1960s. But we lost our way. My objective for coming into politics was to regain that potential.
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Black Cat

Britain in mourning for its favourite Middle Eastern dictator, Oman's Sultan Qaboos

Khalfan al-Badwawi and Phil Miller
The Daily Maverick
Sat, 18 Jan 2020 17:26 UTC
Sultan Qaboos Oman
© EPA-EFE/Hamid al-Qasmi/File
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman, holds the opening session of the annual Council Meeting in Muscat, Oman, 31 October 2011.
Not one UK national newspaper has described Sultan Qaboos as a dictator, despite his being the Middle East's longest-serving autocrat, having taken power in 1970. Qaboos' half century in power was more than twice as long as Saddam Hussein's 24-year-rule in Iraq and even surpassed Muammar Gaddafi's 42 years in Libya.

Qaboos acted as Oman's prime minister, defence minister, finance minister, foreign minister and head of the judiciary. If the Sultan had been as popular as some commentators claim, then he could have successfully run for office. Yet he was never elected by the people of Oman and instead ruled by decree with absolute power for 50 years, suppressing all opposition.

Political parties were banned, independent media muzzled and it was a criminal offence to insult the sultan.

Comment: It seems Oman has been quietly sidling up to the West for some time. It's playing a dangerous game of attempting to steer a middle ground in the Middle East as the Great Powers jockey for hegemony.

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Dominoes

Unintended consequences of the Soleimani assassination: Did Trump just gift the Middle East to China and Russia?

F. William Engdahl
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 14 Jan 2020 15:34 UTC
china iraq oil deal

After waiting 15 years too long, Iraqi PM Abdul-Mahdi signs over his country's reconstruction to China, October 2019
By the series of actions in recent months in Iraq and across the Middle East, Washington has forced a strategic shift towards China, and to an extent Russia, and away from the United States. If events continue on their present trajectory it could well be that a main reason why Washington backed the destabilization of Assad in Syria - to block a planned Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline - will now happen, unless Washington initiates full scorched-earth politics in the region. This is what we can call unintended consequences.

If nature abhors a vacuum, so too does geopolitics. When President Trump months ago announced plans to pull US troops out of Syria and the Middle East generally, Russia and especially China began quietly intensifying contacts with key states in the region.

Chinese involvement with Iraqi oil development and other infrastructure projects, though large, was significantly disrupted by the ISIS occupation of some one third of Iraqi territory. In September, 2019 Washington demanded that Iraq pay for completion of key infrastructure projects destroyed by the ISIS war - a war where Washington as well as Ankara, Israel and Saudi Arabia played the key hidden role — by giving the US government 50% of Iraqi oil revenues, an outrageous demand, to put it politely.
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Jet2

Iranian Air Force commander fired for concealing violation of Iranian airspace by multiple Israeli F-35s - Kuwaiti daily

Dario Leone
The National Interest
Mon, 01 Jul 2019 13:46 UTC
Israeli F-35

An Israeli F-35
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) commander Brigadier General Farzad Ismaili, who had been in office since 2010, has been fired by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after he kept secret that Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35 stealth fighters had violated Iran's airspace, the Kuwaiti daily Al Jarida reported on Saturday.


Comment: This article was originally published on 13 March 2019, so the Arabic-language Al Jarida report was published sometime in early March last year.


The newspaper emphasized that it was the original media source that exposed the Israeli raids, which had taken place in March 2018. Al Jarida cited senior Iranian military who said that only following its March report did the intelligence services of the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian intelligence ministry begin to investigate the case, under Khamenei's direct orders.

According to the newspaper's investigation, "the IAF F-35 "Adir" planes penetrated Iran's airspace, circled high above Tehran, Karajrak, Isfahan, Shiraz and Bandar Abbas - and photographed Iran's air defense system."

One of the sources reported that Iran's air defense system, including its Russian radar, did not detect the entry and exit of the fighter planes, and that Ismaili hid this information from the supreme leader to cover his service failure. However Iranian intelligence discovered that the Israeli fighter jets had carried out this sortie as a test of the possibility of an undetected attack on Iranian outposts and bases, during which they photographed those sensitive bases, evading the Russian S-300 missile system's radar.

Comment: If true, this would be another indication of how advanced the covert Israel-Iran war is.

Does the US really want to get caught up in the middle of that?

Is this what Trump was referring to when he said he wanted to "stop another war"?

See also:

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