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Pentagon sends 'assessment team' to Kiev to manage MH17 investigation


RT
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 19:13 UTC
MH17 team
© Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin
Members of a group of international experts inspect wreckage at the site where the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed, near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo) in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine August 1, 2014.
The Pentagon has sent an assessment team to the embassy in Kiev to provide support in piecing together the details of the investigation into the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane.

According to the State Department's request, some 12 logistics and surveying experts arrived to the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday. The team "will assess, advise and provide recommendations to the US embassy and their staff about possible US support," Defense Department said on their website.

The experts are expected to join the existing international effort in analyzing data from the crash site. They won't actually be traveling to Ukraine's east, but operate entirely from Kiev.

The US is weighing support to the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia and other partners in their recovery work.

"Recovery operations are something - tragically and unfortunately - the US military has to do and has to be good at," Defense Department spokesman Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby said, adding that "these people have expertise in that regard and again were asked by the State Department to come help assist."

The news comes amid disagreements between NATO and the Russian mission to it, who accused the organization of being eager to rush to conclusions and place blame on the Kiev forces without waiting for the results of investigation.

Comment: Right... An "assessment team". Any guesses on why they're really there?

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Cow

Cutting off their nose to spite their face: Farmers will suffer from Russian bans, but EU storms on anyways


RT
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:59 UTC
farmer
© AFP Photo / Sam Panthaky
Russia's import ban on agricultural goods from countries that sanctioned Moscow over the Ukraine crisis may have a negative impact on European producers, farmers say. However, the EU's ambassador to Moscow insists the bloc's position will not change.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Wednesday a decree imposing a one-year ban on agricultural produce, foods, and raw materials from countries that have sanctioned Russia. The list of banned or restricted goods is expected to be approved by the government later in the week.

European agricultural businesses responded by saying they are worried that the Russian import ban may have serious negative consequences for them.

Finland may lose as much as 400 million euros (US$535 million) as a result of Russia's retaliatory sanctions. According to Heikki Juutinen, the managing director at the Finnish Food and Drink Industries' Federation, sanctions would be "very bad news" for his country, as about a quarter of Finland's exports go to Russia, local Yle radio station reported. The situation may affect such big players as Valio - Finland's biggest dairy producer.

"This has the potential - and I stress potential - to become Economic Crisis 2.0," Prime Minister Alexander Stubb told reporters in the Finnish city of Espoo, Reuters quotes.

However, Stubb also made clear the burden of retaliation had to be shared among EU members: "If sanctions hit Finland disproportionately, we will seek aid from our EU partners."

The German Farmers' Association (Deutscher Bauernverband) said the move could cause an increase of supply on the EU's internal market, which, as a result, would put additional pressure on local producers.

"Russia is an important market for our key export goods, primarily meat and dairy products," said the group's deputy head, Udo Hemmerling, as quoted by Itar-Tass.

Comment: Putin said the sanctions would backfire, and he tends to be right about these sort of things. The EU will come to regret backing the insane Americans...

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Propaganda

Russia responds to more Western propaganda: No troop build-up on Ukraine border!


RT
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:49 UTC
troops
© RIA Novosti/Pavel Lisitsyn
Moscow slammed NATO and Pentagon claims that Russia is amassing military near the border with Ukraine calling them unsubstantiated, according to a statement made by a Ministry of Defense spokesman.

"In Russia's Ministry of Defense such statements only raise sympathy for the speakers of the Pentagon, the US State Department and NATO. It seems the people are serious, but they have to constantly improvise during their speeches to somehow add seriousness to their statements," said Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the ministry Major General, on Wednesday.

Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby, told reporters on Tuesday that Russia has at least 10,000 troops on Ukraine's border.

Following this, on Wednesday, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu stated that Russia has already amassed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on the border.

Konashenkov said that "we would like to explain to the Pentagon and NATO officials that it is impossible to perform such a manoeuver with thousands of soldiers with weapons and military equipment in such a short time, all the more to keep it secret from OSCE observers now in the region."

In late July, the OSCE deployed sixteen observers to two border-crossings in Russia - Gukovo and Donetsk, following a request to the organization by the Russian government.

The regular "tales" of Russian troops amassing near the border with Ukraine are reminiscent "of an auction selling soap bubbles, where the main goal is to set the price higher before the bubble bursts."
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Bizarro Earth

U.S. 'deeply concerned' about Russian military exercises

Paul Richter
LA Times
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:09 UTC
Russian helicopters
© Andrey Kronberg / AFP/Getty Images
Russian combat helicopters take part in a military drill August 1st
The State Department on Monday warned Moscow that a large Russian military exercise underway near the border with Ukraine could sharpen tensions as Russian-backed separatists battle Ukrainian troops nearby. U.S. officials are "deeply concerned" by the aviation operation, which has already begun and is expected to continue until Friday, said Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman.

"Exercises of this kind are provocative and only serve to escalate tensions," she told reporters. The exercise is expected to involve dozens of fighters, bombers and attack helicopters.

The Obama administration has accused Russia of sending military personnel and heavy arms into Ukraine to help the separatists and of shelling Ukraine from across the border. It has also accused Russia of providing the air defense system that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last month.


Comment: It's pretty clear that it wasn't a BUK missile that brought down MH17, more likely is a combination of a bomb on board and it being shot down by an as yet unidentified fighter jet.


Comment: Calling Russia a stagnant power with a resource-dependent economy seems like a lot of projection on Obama's part.

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War Whore

Russia holds huge military exercises near Ukraine border


The Guardian
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:05 UTC
tank
© Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian troops patrol near Donetsk where they are fighting to hold positions on the edge of the city.
Russia has began major military exercises involving more than 100 aircraft near the border with Ukraine.

The war games on Monday came as the conflict intensified around Donetsk, a city of a million people held by the pro-Russian rebels who have been fighting Kiev government forces since April. Heavy artillery fire continued there on Sunday night, according to the city administration. Ukraine's national security council said on Monday that government troops had begun "liberating Donetsk from the north after encircling the city".

The headquarters of Kiev's "anti-terrorist operation" said rebels had intensified artillery fire at its positions overnight. Both sides have reportedly fired low-accuracy artillery such as Grad rockets in populated areas during the conflict, in which at least 500 civilians have been killed.

A map published by the national security council showed government forces had made significant gains, cutting the rebels in Donetsk off from those in Lugansk. Ukrainian troops had taken back three-quarters of the territory formerly controlled by the rebels, the council said.
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Eye 1

Central bankers provoking war everywhere to cover up the coming economic collapse


X22 Report
Tue, 08 Jul 2014 17:56 UTC

UK manufacturing continues to decline. Small businesses are not seeing an improvement in the economy. The jobs numbers are falling but spending is declining, Walmart is concerned that the economy is not recovering. Obama asking for 3.8 billion for the illegal immigrant problem that the administration caused. US kidnaps Russian MP, might be used to trade with Edward Snowden. Ukraine waging full out war on the Ukrainian people and the central bankers/US government approve of this action. ISIS threatening all embassies around the world. Back in May the US state department sent explosives to embassies across the world. The US has a plan for civil unrest in the United States. Be prepared for a false flag event.
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Dollar

Sanctions blowback: Russia to ban agricultural products, raw materials and food from countries imposing economic sanctions


ITAR-TASS News Agency
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 16:23 UTC
Putin
© ITAR-TASS / Alexei Nikolsky
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a decree on countermeasures to Western sanctions.

The document entitled "On the Application of Certain Special Economic Measures to Ensure the Security of the Russian Federation" prohibits or restricts, for one year, the import of certain kinds of agricultural products, raw materials and food originating in a country that has imposed economic sanctions against Russian companies and (or) individuals or has joined such sanctions.

A list of goods the import of which may be restricted in response to the Western sanctions is being prepared and will be approved by the Russian government, its spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said on Wednesday.

"The document is being prepared for signing," she told ITAR-TASS.

Comment: The Western nations were warned that Putin would institute countermeasures in reaction to economic sanctions, so it will be interesting to see how far this goes when Western profits start to really suffer.

Man of conscience: Putin wants countermeasures to Western sanctions that support domestic manufacturers without hurting consumers
Russian sanctions? You Must be Joking! Russia Holds All the Cards!
Russian sanctions and eastern turmoil already taking economic toll on Western businesses
Boomerang effect! Putin: US sanctions contradict its national interests, will backfire
Is it worth it? Sanctions against Russia affect quarter of German exporters

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Quenelle - Golden

Vladimir Putin signs historic $20bn oil deal with Iran

Andrew Trotman
The Telegraph
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 14:12 UTC
Five-year accord will see Russia help Iran organise oil sales, but government denies it has violated international obligations
Iran in Caspian
© Agence France-Presse
A picture released by the Iranian President's website shows Iran's first offshore oil platform in the Caspian Sea
Vladimir Putin has agreed a $20bn (£11.8bn) trade deal with Iran that will see Russia sidestep Western sanctions on its energy sector.

Under the terms of a five-year accord, Russia will help Iran organise oil sales as well as "cooperate in the oil-gas industry, construction of power plants, grids, supply of machinery, consumer goods and agriculture products", according to a statement by the Energy Ministry in Moscow.

The Russian government issued a new statement on Wednesday after mysteriously withdrawing a similar release on Tuesday.

Comment: Of course it is a matter of "serious concern" for Washington! It means that their economic hegemony is seeing its last days, and it's about time!

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TV

George Galloway announces public inquiry into BBC's reporting (lying) on events in Gaza


Respectparty.org
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:52 UTC
Image
© Respectparty.org
George Galloway has announced that he will establish his own public enquiry into the BBC's role in reporting the events of the past few weeks in Gaza.

The Bradford West MP had previously announced that he is refusing to pay his licence fee until the BBC demonstrated a more impartial standard of broadcasting on the conflict. Galloway has been openly critical of the its editorial standpoint on the conflict, arguing that the BBC has a duty, as a publicly funded organisation, to adopt an unbiased approach to such major stories.

Many in the country were outraged when the BBC failed to report on the July 19th national demonstration which had been attended by tens of thousands of demonstrators. It belatedly addressed this with a hastily-arranged piece on its website, for which it had to borrow an image from a rival broadcaster. It has also been commented that since the outcry, the BBC's reporting had apparently become more balanced. This was in part down to the reporting of Middle East correspondent Jeremy Bowen from the front-line in Gaza. Strangely - indeed, inexplicably - Bowen is absent from the reporting this week as he is, according to Twitter, 'on holiday'.
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Eye 1

U.S. officials: New leaker compromised national security watch list documents, post Snowden


RT
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 19:13 UTC
drawing of man w hat
© downtrend.com
A new mystery leaker...Secret Government Watchlist Rules
The United States government has concluded that a new leaker has been supplying members of the media with classified documents, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Earlier that day, The Intercept published a new article based off of disclosures provided to them by an unnamed source pertaining to the US government's use of watchlists to monitor known and suspected terrorists.

Previously, The Intercept has worked closely with top-secret National Security Agency documents admittedly provided to journalists by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the NSA. Tuesday's leak, however, is of a document dated August 2013 - weeks after Snowden chose to identify himself as the source of the NSA leak and had already arrived in Moscow where he later received asylum and remains today.

"An August 2013 slide from the National Counterterrorism Center called 'TIDE By The Numbers' lays out the scope of the Obama administration's watchlisting system, and those it is targeting," Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Devereaux wrote for The Intercept. "The documents, obtained from a source in the intelligence community, also reveal that the Obama administration has presided over an unprecedented expansion of the terrorist screening system."
Screenshot from The Intercept
© firstlook.org
Screenshot from The Intercept
Tuesday's Intercept article came one day after the agency reported on previously unpublished NSA documents, but also barely two weeks after Scahill and Devereaux wrote of another NCC document provided to them by a source within the intelligence community.

In the 14 months since Snowden's documents first began to surface online, the US intelligence community has time and time again condemned the leaking of classified information, charging the ex-contractor with espionage and reportedly going to great lengths to prevent another major breach on par with the NSA disclosures, or the release of documents a few years earlier by WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning. In less than three weeks' time, however, The Intercept has managed to obtain government documents without authorization from most presumably another source.

Comment: The "terrorist" definition de jour? Whew...how to keep up? How did we ever survive before we had the NSA, DHS, NCC, ODNI, ONSI, FPS, DIA, NGA, NRO, AFISRA, MI, MCIA, ONI, OICI, I&A, CGI, FBI, DEA, INR, TFI and the CIA taking such good care of us? Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. President. Only knowledge, truth, and un-compromised information keep us safer.

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