Month: November 2015

Syrian Army closes in on M5 highway

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From Fort Russ

By Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
13th November, 2015

The strategic Aleppo-Idlib highway, the M5, is on the horizon for the Syrian Arab Army just west of Al Hadher. Since the capture of the Keweires airbase in Aleppo, the momentum has not stopped, with various villages being captured:
  • Al-Hadher 
  • Al-Eis + hill 
  • Tel Hadiya 
  • Banes. 
  • Tel Bajir 
  • Birnah 
  • Al-Barqoum

Of course, the Russian airstrikes have made this advance possible by driving the Takfiri rats backwards away from the Highway, with al-Nusra vehicles going up in smoke. With this section of the highway secured, Obama’s goons will lose a key supply route, and will suffer a huge blow to morale. Of course, this will anger Turkey too who cannot smuggle weapons to their proxies so easily either. With the recent suicide attacks in Beirut – one would imagine Hezbollah’s determination will be amplified somewhat.

Here is an example from October of an airstrike in Teir Maalah, a village nearby the M5 highway.

<iframe width=”600″ height=”500″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/iX0rAcFlFFU&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen><!–iframe>
SAA storming Al-Eis:

Vladimir Putin talks to Interfax and Anadalu; Syria, lack of U.S. cooperation, Ukraine, TTP and TTIP

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From the Kremlin

In the run-up to the G20 summit, Vladimir Putin gave an interview to Russia’s Interfax news agency and Turkish Anadolu Agency.

November 13, 2015

Question: During the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, the G20 became a popular format, a platform for solving global problems. Do you think that it still plays the same role? What problems that could really be solved in this format rather than in statements or declarations do you think are the most pressing today?

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: The role of the G20 in the global economic and financial governance is becoming increasingly important. Thanks to the decisions made by the G20, we have managed to create conditions not only for coping with the consequences of the 2008‑2009 crisis, but also for enhancing sustainability and transparency of the global financial markets.

However, nowadays, global economy is still unstable and cannot get onto a path towards sustainable and balanced development. In this context, the work that the G20 does is especially needed.

First and foremost, it is necessary to continue improving the international monetary and financial system; to impartially and equally redistribute quotas and voting shares among IMF members in favour of those developing economies that have gained greater weight; to improve the efficiency and legitimacy of the Fund’s activities. Besides, we see more often how politically motivated restrictions are imposed on the entry of sovereign borrowers and companies into the global financial markets. We consider G20 to be the main platform for dialogue on all of these issues.

The reform of international tax rules launched at the G20 Summit in St Petersburg is another important issue. The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan should be finally adopted in Antalya. The next step is to introduce in practice the new rules in the G20 countries and beyond.

I would like to highlight such an important achievement made this year by the G20 as the development by our countries of investment strategies, which include specific commitments to encourage domestic demand through investment. Thus, the initiatives launched by Russia during its G20 Presidency have translated into practice.

Question: Western sanctions have substantially challenged Russia’s ability to attract funds from the Western capital markets. In these circumstances the ‘tilt towards the East’ seemed reasonable, however, it feels as though the East itself is reluctant to replace the West as a source of external capital for developing Russian economy. Is this notion right?

Vladimir Putin: Let me stress that Russia pursues multidimensional foreign policy. We seek to have as many equal partners as possible both in the West and in the East.

Russia’s geography and history determines the Asia-Pacific dimension as one of our foreign policy priorities. Therefore, cooperation between Russia and the Asia-Pacific region is a strategic and long-term one. It is worth mentioning that this region is the linchpin of global economy and politics. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for about 60 percent of global GDP, fifty percent of international trade and direct cross-border investment. Obviously, the role of this region in global affairs will be growing and we do take it into account.

As for the restrictive measures imposed against Russia in March 2014, they have, indeed, complicated the process of attracting investments from certain Western markets. Nevertheless, our domestic banking sector proved its resilience to external shocks. We managed to keep Russian stock market attractive. CEOs of the major multinational companies admit that investing in Russia’s economy is promising.

Obviously, cooperation with Asian partners in attracting funds gains special relevance in the current situation. In 2015, approximately 90 percent of investments in the Russian market came from Asia. Several large Russian enterprises are financed by China and we analyse the prospects of public borrowings from China. International investment mechanisms have been developed – the New Development Bank BRICS and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, each with an authorised capital of $100 billion. Pooled funds and investment platforms have been created with China, India, South Korea and the Gulf states to channel foreign investments into the real sector of Russia’s economy.

In order to strengthen our cooperation, we are streamlining taxation of profits from project financing in Russia and also propose new promising initiatives. Many opportunities for cooperation are now available under our programmes for developing Siberia and the Far East, which have been presented, among other things, in September 2015 at the first Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, including the creation of Priority Development Areas (PDAs) and a free port in Vladivostok that would enjoy preferential tax and administrative regimes, modernisation of the Trans-Siberian and the Baikal-Amur mainline railways, the revival of the Northern Sea Route, and building the Power of Siberia pipeline.

Question: Did you expect such unanimous negative reaction in the West, in particular, the NATO countries, some of which are major Russian partners, to the start of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ operation in Syria, and is it possible that the Western partners’ negative reaction would affect the time frame of Russia’s military operation in Syria? Is there any risk that Russia could be dragged into a long-term conflict in Syria and how much will the costs of carrying out this operation affect the Russian Federation budget, which has been already cut?

Vladimir Putin: We officially informed the US and NATO leadership of the start of military actions in a reasonable time.

We hoped at least for the natural in such cases close military and expert coordination with the US‑led Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, even taking into account all the fundamental differences between the Russian and US approaches to the Syrian crisis.

However, the reaction of the United States and Western partners was quite restrained, although it would seem obvious that ISIL and other similar extremist groups operating in Syria represent a clear common threat to our countries.

We still have not managed to go beyond the joint approval of the Memorandum of Understanding on Prevention of Flight Safety Incidents in the Course of Operations in Syria, and even then with a reservation by the US that by no means such interaction should be regarded as the normalisation of military contacts, which were frozen on the US initiative.

The United States has been also reluctant to respond positively to our proposal to sign a special agreement for the rescue of military aircraft crews, notwithstanding the fact that at the time when the US operation in Afghanistan started, we immediately responded to their similar request.

Neither have we received any response to our request to provide Russia with relevant US intelligence data for planning operations of our Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria, although we have repeatedly asked the United States for such information.

However, in the course of our activities, we are ready to take into account any reliable information on the location of terrorist groups. We have even worked together with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The Russian aviation has conducted several strikes on the targets identified by the FSA. We excluded areas, which had been indicated by FSA commanders as being under their control. By the way, this fact proves once again that we are not bombing the so‑called moderate opposition or the civilian population.

We are ready to cooperate with Washington despite the fact that the US operations in Syria are in violation of international law – without the resolution of the UN Security Council, without the request from the official Syrian government.

As for the time frame of the operation in Syria, a clear objective is set before the Russian forces – they should provide air support for the Syrian army’s offensive against the terrorists, that is why the duration of stay of our servicemen will be determined solely depending on the time this objective is achieved.

And the last thing. Our activities in Syria as well as potential risks and consequences have been carefully calculated many times, and all the resources needed for the operation, both financial and technological, have been allocated in advance.

Question: At the G20 meetings with the Western leaders the settlement of the situation in Southeast Ukraine might be touched upon along with other issues. Taking into account the decision of the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LPR (Lugansk People’s Republic) to put off local elections until 2016, does it mean that the implementation of other items of the Minsk Agreements would be automatically prolonged as well? Are you concerned that procrastination in implementing the Minsk Agreements could bring about another frozen conflict close to Russian borders similar to the Transnistrian issue? You have repeatedly mentioned that Kiev does not comply with the Minsk Agreements, including its economic part. Does it mean that Russia is now actually responsible for supporting Donbass?

Vladimir Putin: The decision of Donetsk and Lugansk to put off the local elections until next year is a last-choice measure. They could have been held this year, had Kiev fulfilled strictly the Minsk Agreements of February 12 and agreed with the DPR and LPR on organising the elections, and also enacted the Law on the special status of Donbass in its original form.

Now, when a ceasefire in the region has finally been established, it is important that the parties to the conflict start looking for the points of contact together so that they can move on towards their common goal. They need to learn to listen to each other and hear each other. Compromise solutions depend on this.

Given the fact that the hostilities have ceased and cases of shelling are rare, it is unclear why would the US Congress adopt resolutions making it possible to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons. The question arises as to whether there is a desire to spark a war or provoke hostilities.

I would not overdramatize the delay in implementing the Minsk Agreements. Despite some difficulties, they are being implemented and, which is most important, their provisions, principles and logic are not questioned. We are talking simply about technical prolongation of the time frame.

However, the threat of Donbass turning into another frozen conflict is still there. It stems from Kiev’s policy, which continues to strengthen the blockade of the Southeast and has stopped the supply of food and money there. Kiev has eliminated the banking system there and is blocking exports.

I would like to recall that, during the talks as far back as in September 2014, the parties to the conflict agreed not only on a ceasefire, but also on the steps to restore livelihoods in the region. It was fixed that a programme for economic revival of Donbass should be adopted. This issue was discussed last February in Minsk, where our partners from the Normandy Four group – Germany and France – agreed to provide technical assistance in the recovery of the banking and financial infrastructure in the conflict-affected areas.

It is fair to say that there is certain progress. The parties restored railway communication, making it possible now to deliver Donbass coal to other regions of Ukraine. Works are underway to restore energy supply. Ways to restore water supply are also being analysed.

Russia, for its part, continues to support Donbass, which is in a difficult humanitarian situation. Since August 2014, more than 50,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid has been delivered there. First of all, we think about people that were abandoned by Kiev authorities and put to the brink of survival. It is our duty to provide them with the necessary assistance.

Question: The US and the EU have imposed sanctions against Russia. But despite Western countries’ criticism, Turkey continues to maintain its economic and political ties with Moscow. In this context, what future do you see for Russian-Turkish relations? To what extent do the differences on the Syrian issue affect the bilateral relations?

Vladimir Putin: While the US and the European Union unilaterally introduced sanctions, Turkey took an independent stand. Such an independent policy pursued by Ankara to meet its national foreign policy interests deserves great respect.

Such a pragmatic approach opens up new horizons for the development of Russian-Turkish relations – first of all, their business dimension. Turkey is our major partner in foreign economic collaboration. Last year our bilateral trade exceeded $31 billion. We have been building up industrial cooperation by implementing major projects in construction, light industry, metallurgy and agriculture. We focus primarily on such knowledge-intensive and hi-tech industries as energy – including nuclear power – and telecommunications. Tourism is another important field of collaboration. Last year over 3.3 million Russian citizens visited Turkish resorts. But generally, the potential for our trade and economic interaction is far from being fully unlocked.

It is true that the two countries have different views on the ways to resolve the crisis in Syria. But the important thing is that Russia and Turkey share the same priorities – we both stand for settling the situation in the region and effectively combating terrorism. With this in mind, the existing differences should not hamper our bilateral relations. On the contrary, in looking for the common ground, we draw upon vast experience of constructive cooperation between our countries.

Question: Last December, you made a state visit to Turkey during which, among other things, the launch of the TurkStream project was announced. Since then, no progress in its implementation has been observed, and there has also been certain information that the pipeline capacity would be halved and only two instead of four strings would be built. What are the reasons behind the project’s downsizing? Does it have anything to do with some serious political discords between Russia and Turkey, or is it for economic reasons alone?

Vladimir Putin: I cannot agree with your opinion that the TurkStream is slowing down. Such a large-scale project cannot be developed and agreed overnight. There are many legal, technical and economic, technological and organisational issues – including the number of the pipeline strings taking into account the actual need in gas acquisition and pumping volumes – which we have to decide together with our Turkish colleagues. The better we resolve these issues, the faster and with fewer risks and resources we will be able to implement our plans and ensure an uninterrupted delivery of Russian gas directly to Turkish consumers. The main thing is that this project is fully in the interests of both Russia and Turkey. We are one on this with my Turkish colleague Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

We passed our ideas on the bilateral intergovernmental agreement, which should provide legal basis for project implementation, to the Turkish side last July. We expect that the new Turkish government would be able to organise work on the key aspects of the above-mentioned agreement in a short period of time.

The pace of the negotiation process has been definitely affected by the political situation on the eve of the elections in Turkey. We understood that and did not force the events.

It is known that the EU and Bulgaria torpedoed the implementation of the South Stream and did not let us implement this project. Though it was clearly in the interests of Bulgaria and the entire southern Europe. The TurkStream would make it possible to deliver the Russian natural gas to the border between Turkey and Greece, virtually to the border of the EU. European consumers would be able to buy it there. But the countries that refused to take part in constructing the new pipeline would have to count lost profits.

I would like to note that we will continue to be a strategic and reliable energy supplier to Turkey and Europe, and that we have everything necessary for this.

Question: On Syria, Russia maintains that only the Syrian people can determine the future of Syria and Bashar al‑Assad. Which road map does Russia propose to settle the Syrian crisis? How do you see the future of that country? Was the resignation of Bashar al‑Assad from the post of president discussed at the meeting in Moscow? Did you make an arrangement with the United States to launch the operation in Syria?

Besides, Western countries have repeatedly accused Russia that the aircraft of its Aerospace Forces bomb not only the Islamic State and Jabhat al‑Nusra but also other groups in Syria. Do you think that all armed groups currently fighting in Syria against al-Assad’s army are terrorists?

Vladimir Putin: Indeed, from the very outset we have insisted, and we still insist today, that it is the Syrian people who should determine its future. It is good to know that at the Vienna talks on Syria on October 30, foreign ministers of seventeen states and representatives of the United Nations and the European Union supported this approach and expressed it in their final statement as their collective opinion.

As for the elaboration of a detailed road map to settle the conflict in Syria, that is not our task. The map should be developed and adopted by the Syrians themselves. Yet, we have a few ideas about how external forces could help the Syrians to defeat the terrorists and resolve the crisis. At present, the Russian diplomacy is actively advancing these proposals. They are not a dogma; rather they encourage the partners to continue a serious dialogue. Its constructive nature would to a large extent determine how successful we would be in translating the proposals into decisive joint actions which would help defeat ISIL and restore Syria as a unified, sovereign and secular state, create safe living conditions for everyone regardless of their ethnicity or faith, and open prospects for social and economic revival of the country. Let me repeat it once again – only the Syrians themselves should choose their future and their government leaders.

We were guided by this very logic – the logic of international law – when receiving Syrian President Bashar al‑Assad in Moscow. Let’s think how legitimate or ethical would it be if we invited the leader of a friendly state to Moscow and demanded him/her to resign? Syria is a sovereign country and Bashar al‑Assad is its President elected by the people. So do we have any right to discuss such issues with him? Of course, we do not. Only those who believe in their exceptionality allow themselves to act in such a shameless manner and impose their will on others.

It is based on the official request from the Syrian government that Russia is carrying out a military operation involving its Aerospace Forces in Syria. Let me repeat once again that the main purpose of this operation is not to support President al-Assad but to fight international terrorism. They are constantly trying to accuse us of bombing the so-called ‘moderate’ opposition but no evidence was provided so far. Moreover, we are already cooperating with that ‘moderate’ opposition, including the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The Russian aviation has attacked several targets indicated by the FSA.

To make the fight against terrorism more effective, the global community needs to develop a common framework as to whom to consider terrorists. It is not about the name of an organisation, which can seem quite ‘innocent,’ it is about whether it uses terrorist methods. So we need to compile a single list of extremist organisations. And Russia has already submitted its suggestions on this account – this was done during the Vienna meeting of the Syrian Support Group.

Question: It is expected that there would be a discussion on combating international terrorism at the G20 Summit under the Turkish Presidency. What do you think of the Turkish Presidency in the G20? What are you planning to put on the Antalya Summit agenda? Has the schedule of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Summit been set?

Vladimir Putin: Indeed, at the proposal of the Turkish Presidency, the fight against terrorism and the problem of refugees will be discussed at the G20 Summit. This is not surprising. In our opinion, there is a direct relationship between these issues and the Summit’s agenda. Sustainable development, economic growth, global trade expansion, investments, and employment greatly depend on how successful the international community is in responding to today’s most urgent challenge – terrorism, and the problem of refugees that stems from chaos and violence. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are already in Europe and other countries, who are trying to save their lives and the lives of their close ones, and still more are on their way.

I am sure that the coming discussion would contribute to the practical solution of these issues and would be backed by a final document reflecting our common approaches to combating terrorism and resolving the refugee crisis.

As for the work of the Summit itself, we propose focusing the G20 on tackling major financial and economic problems, for example, measures for sustainable and balanced economic growth, and strengthening the stability of the financial system.

At the Summit, we will discuss the implementation of what our countries endorsed last year – the Growth Strategies and Country Employment Plans, the reform of international tax rules and promoting investments and decisions on financial regulation.

I expect that in Antalya we will manage to substantively discuss the future of the world trade and existing mechanisms of multilateral trade and economic cooperation. We will exchange our views on the prospects of creating closed integration associations in the Asia-Pacific region and in the Atlantic (I mean the Trans‑Pacific Partnership – on October 5, 2015, it was announced that the agreement was reached, 12 countries participate in the Partnership – Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States – and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that is a proposed agreement between the European Union and the United States). We are concerned that the process of their creation is not transparent for business circles and for the public both in the member states and in their economic partners. It is in our common interests to make sure that these associations indeed supplement the multilateral trade system, work for the development of all economies in the world and do not produce new barriers and risks.

We have high expectations for the WTO Ministerial Conference that will take place in Nairobi in December. We hope that it will contribute to the strengthening of the multilateral trade system and propose concrete steps to finalise the Doha Round of trade negotiations.

We will focus our attention on sustainable development, as well as climate change. The UN summit for the adoption of the post‑2015 development agenda has recently finished in New York. Now, the world is looking forward to the UN Climate Change Conference that will be held in Paris in December 2015 and, hopefully, a new agreement on climate will be adopted.

On the whole, we are satisfied with the Turkish G20 Presidency which managed to preserve the succession in complying with the decisions taken at the G20 summits in Saint-Petersburg and Brisbane, add new ideas to the current agenda, including establishing the Women‑20 and launching the World SME Forum.

The first G20 Energy Ministers Meeting in the history of the G20 has become an important Turkish initiative. At the meeting, the ministers discussed access to modern energy in Sub-Saharan Africa, improved energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources, and most importantly, promotion of investments into energy infrastructure development and introduction of clean technology.

As for the schedule of bilateral meetings, it is now being formed. I intend to meet with the President of the People’s Republic of China, presidents of Turkey, the Republic of South Africa and Argentina, the prime ministers of the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan. Before the start of the G20 Antalya Summit, we will traditionally hold an informal meeting of the BRICS leaders where Russia currently holds chair. We will compare notes on the key issues of the G20 agenda and important international and regional problems.

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50682

Congresswoman calls U.S. effort to oust Assad “illegal,” accuses CIA of backing terrorists

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By Tyler Durden
Global Research, November 01, 2015
Zero Hedge 31 October 2015

One point we’ve been particularly keen on driving home since the beginning of Russian airstrikes in Syria is that The Kremlin’s move to step in on behalf of Bashar al-Assad along with Vladimir Putin’s open “invitation” to Washington with regard to joining forces in the fight against terrorism effectively let the cat out of the proverbial bag. 

That is, it simply wasn’t possible for the US to explain why the Pentagon refused to partner with the Russians without admitting that i) the government views Assad, Russia, and Iran as a greater threat than ISIS, and ii) Washington and its regional allies don’t necessarily want to see Sunni extremism wiped out in Syria and Iraq.

Admitting either one of those points would be devastating from a PR perspective. No amount of Russophobic propaganda and/or looped video clips of the Ayatollah ranting against the US would be enough to convince the public that Moscow and Tehran are a greater threat than the black flag-waving jihadists beheading Westerners and burning Jordanian pilots alive in Hollywood-esque video clips, and so, The White House has been forced to scramble around in a desperate attempt to salvage the narrative. 

Well, it hasn’t worked.

With each passing week, more and more people are beginning to ask the kinds of questions the Pentagon and CIA most assuredly do not want to answer and now,  US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is out calling Washington’s effort to oust Assad both “counterproductive” and “illegal.” In the following priceless video clip, Gabbard accuses the CIA of arming the very same terrorists who The White House insists are “our sworn enemy” and all but tells the American public that the government is lying to them and may end up inadvertently starting “World War III.”

 

 

Wikileaks Ucraina: McCain e Saakashvili stanno complottando…

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Di Come Don Chisciotte 

…PER ABBATTERE UN AEREO AMERICANO E DARE LA COLPA ALLA RUSSIA

19-mikheil-saakashviliPrefazione di Gordon Duff, Senior Editor di Veterans Today
veteranstoday.com

Quella che segue è una trascrizione che abbiamo ricevuto da alcuni amici russi. E’ stata pubblicata dal sito FortRuss e non è stata verificata. Non possiamo dire che sia tutto vero ma certo è che, ben conoscendo i personaggi coinvolti, questi comportamenti li abbiamo già ripetutamente osservati. Potrete trarne una vostra personale opinione.

Wikileaks Ucraina tradotta dal russo da Kristina Rus

“M.”: Mikhail Saakashvili, ex Presidente della Georgia ed attuale Governatore della regione ucraina di Odessa.
“K.”: David Kezerashvili, ex comandante della Polizia Finanziaria e Ministro della Difesa della Georgia. Ricercato per appropriazione indebita di fondi statali.
“G.”: Anton Gerashenko, Deputato del partito ucraino ‘Fronte Popolare’ e segretario del comitato ‘Verkhovnaya Rada’. Consigliere del Ministro degli Interni Arsen Avakov, resident-agent dei servizi segreti statunitensi.
“R.”: Ramzan Machelikashvili, cugino di Ruslan Machelikashvili, detto Seyfullakh, è il famigerato ‘comandante sul campo’ sia dello Stato Islamico che dell’unità speciale anti-aerea. Ha ricevuto una formazione specifica nell’’Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone’ [Donbass].

M. – Fatelo entrare ……. siediti, David. Ricorda che tutto deve essere fatto per tempo, secondo quanto abbiamo concordato. Ne comprendi senz’altro l’importanza! Aspetta un secondo, attivo l’anti-sorveglianza …..

McCain ha confermato il piano. Come già sai è tutto a posto. Abbiamo ottenuto la copertura dal Senato degli Stati Uniti. In Siria i russi devono essere colpiti altrimenti, se si mettono d’accordo con gli americani, getteranno l’Ucraina in una discarica. Il Donbass è in una fase di stallo e anche il progetto Transnistria è sospeso. Se si va avanti in questo modo ‘abbiamo chiuso’! Dobbiamo accelerare le cose, in Siria. Avete preparato i nostri ragazzi?

K. – Sì, è tutto fatto. Oggi volano ad Antalya e poi vanno in Siria. Hanno ricevuto una buona formazione e trascineranno tutti con il loro spirito. Questi sono i nostri Kistintsy [ceceni georgiani che vivono nella Gola di Pankisi, in Georgia], dei ragazzi veramente tosti. Ramzan Machelikashvili è stato nominato comandante, gli altri quattro gli obbediscono. Sparano con tutte le armi e sono dei professionisti della contraerea. Sono in attesa di istruzioni specifiche.

M. – Date a Ramzan questo numero di telefono e questo cellulare. All’arrivo è necessario che invii un messaggio all’uomo di Warren, un agente della CIA, che li andrà a prendere. I Turchi sono stati avvertiti e permetterà il loro passaggio. In breve, l’agente di Steve Warren [Direttore dell’ufficio-stampa del Pentagono] sa tutto e parla russo. Dopo l’incontro Ramzan dovrebbe consegnargli il cellulare. Lo disattiverà.

K. – E’ tutto chiaro, ma per quanto riguarda le attrezzature e le armi?

M. – Aspetta, aspetta! Devo prendere la chiamata da Gerashchenko.

[M. parla con G.]

M. – Ciao Anton! I nostri ragazzi partiranno oggi. E’ tutto pronto?

G. – Mikhail, è tutto a posto laggiù! ….. Non si sente bene ….. ecco, ora puoi sentirmi di nuovo. Avakov [Ministro ucraino degli Interni] ha trasportato tutto, ci sono cinque missili antiaereo ‘Willow’ e ‘Needle S’ , il pieno di munizioni e di attrezzature. I cannoni antiaereo sono per strada. Non appena passeranno il confine il tuo capotribù – com’è che si chiama? – Ash-Shushani, incontrerà i ragazzi e li porterà sul luogo concordato.

M. – Eccellente! Eccellente! Bé, parlerò con te più tardi.

[M. interrompe la conversazione telefonica con G. e parla di nuovo con K]

M. – David! Tutto ciò che serve loro è già sul posto e, quando il materiale attraverserà la frontiera, lo riceveranno. Lì saranno accolti da Tarhan Batirashvili. Lo sapete chi è, vero? Ha una grande influenza nello Stato Islamico. Tutti i ceceni passano attraverso di lui, il suo soprannome è Ash-Shushani. Anche il cugino di Ramzan, Ruslan Machelikashvili, andrà ad incontrarli. Gli americani mi hanno detto che è un criminale spietato.

Bene. Tutto il gruppo sarà presto a Latakia, nella zona di Al-Nusra. L’obbiettivo è quello di abbattere un aereo americano. Riceveranno informazioni sui voli, c’è un curdo locale per questo scopo. Il piano è veramente fantastico! L’aereo americano sarà abbattuto dai militari russi. E’ questo ciò che sarà raccontato, che l’obiettivo è stato abbattuto da un missile russo. La scena sarà divertente, tutto il mondo ne parlerà.

Dopodiché il gruppo andrà ad Hasaka, una città vicina alla zona curda, e distruggerà un loro villaggio. Anche questa volta saranno incolpati i Russi. Come risposta i curdi abbatteranno un aereo russo con gli Stingers. L’obiettivo è quello di mettere contro americani e russi, in Siria. I turchi ce ne saranno grati, hanno promesso di ‘dare la sveglia’ ai Tartari della Crimea.

Dopo che in Siria tutto sarà stato fatto, vedrai se gli americani non porteranno le loro truppe in Ucraina e se tutti i nostri progetti non cominceranno ad essere operativi! McCain è in attesa delle nostre azioni altrimenti Obama non alzerà le chiappe. Le elezioni sono in arrivo e [senza quelle azioni] non farebbe niente. Vedi? Anche Poroshenko ha cominciato a scodinzolare davanti a Putin.

K. – Non lo so Misha. Il piano è tuo, sei tu quello che lo conosce meglio. Spiegherò tutto ai ragazzi e li manderò laggiù. E’ fantastico che Tarhan Batirashvili possa incontrarli, lui sa com’è che si combatte e supervisionerà il tutto. Molto tempo fa lo accettai nell’esercito. Sua madre è kistinka e suo padre è un georgiano.

M. – Quello che ho detto è di fare tutto per tempo, date ad ognuno dei cinque ragazzi 10.000 dollari e 20.000 dollari al padre di Tarhan, Ahmet.

K. – I ragazzi li ho già pagati e la mia gente consegnerà i 20.000 dollari a Tbilisi. Ma Machelikashvili è in attesa nella reception. Vuoi scambiare un paio di parole con lui?

M. – Certo! ….. Sveta, c’è un uomo con la barba che è venuto con David, si chiama Ramzan, fallo entrare.

S. – Lo faccio subito Mikhail.

M. – Come stai Ramzan! Come vanno le cose?

R. – Batono Misha! Siamo pronti a tutto [batono è un titolo onorifico georgiano].

M. – Molto bene! La pace nel mondo dipende da te! Io e Dato [?] supporteremo in tutto voi e le vostre famiglie.

R. – Grazie. David è molto utile. Dopo aver completato le operazioni in Siria ti riporteremo indietro [al potere], in Georgia. Sarà questo il nostro prossimo obbiettivo. Faremo saltare in aria l’intera Georgia, se necessario!

M. – Grazie Ramzan, arriverà quel tempo, ma per ora dobbiamo prenderci cura dell’Ucraina. Dato ti spiegherà, tutto è pronto. I ragazzi che verranno ad incontrarvi [in Siria] sono tuo cugino Ruslan, Aslan Margoshvili, Tarhan Batirashvili ed altri. Sarai in buone mani. Salutami gli altri ragazzi e state attenti. Prenditi cura di te.

R. – Mi fai sentire meglio, Misha batono. Non sapevo che avrei incontrato mio cugino. Faremo tutto al 100%. Pensavo che Tarhan fosse morto, avevo sentito che era ‘saltato’ insieme a El-Baghdadi. Inshallah, egli è ancora vivo.

M. – Prendi, Ramzan! E’ un pugnale, un mio regalo.

R. – Che Allah ti protegga, batono Misha! Non disonoreremo noi stessi e porteremo tutto a termine, te lo giuro!

K. – Ok Ramzan, aspettami nella sala d’attesa, io verrò presto!

[R. esce e M. ricomincia a parlare con K.]

M. – Ramzan è veramente un duro, vero? Dimmi, i conti in Svizzera sono già disponibili?

K. – Il Tribunale ha chiuso tutti i miei casi ed i conti sono ora disponibili, bisogna solo presentare i documenti alla banca. Adeishvili è stato molto utile. I suoi ragazzi hanno fatto ogni cosa per bene presso la ‘Corte’. Ho mandato loro dei soldi, ma dovremo inviargliene di più.

M. – Anche Kama deve ancora essere pagato. Avevi detto che avevi trasferito tutte le azioni agli uomini di Kakha [Kaladze, Ministro dell’Energia della Georgia] e che la questione era chiusa. Che c…o ho fatto di sbagliato per buttare via i miei soldi in questo modo!

K. – Non gridare! Te l’ho già detto, ho dato il 35% [delle azioni] delle attività portuali e delle infrastrutture per il petrolio. Ho dato il 10% [delle azioni] del gas e ho aggiunto il 10% per Bezhuashvili. In caso contrario non sarebbero stati d’accordo. E in Tribunale hanno fatto tutto loro. Per Meishvili, Shavliashili e Levna Murusidze devo inviare il cinquanta [percento, non viene detto di che cosa], a loro non ho ancora dato niente, prima devo pagare i Giudici del mio caso. Ti ho detto tutto in anticipo. In caso contrario avrei avuto un giudizio come quello di Ugulava e sarebbe stato bloccato l’accesso ai conti [Giorgi Ugulava, un politico già Sindaco di Tblisi].

M. – Vadano a farsi fottere con le loro madri, quelle pu…ne! Questi fottutissimi magistrati hanno venduto a Kolomoisky il video [Igor Kolomoisky, oligarca e politico ucraino]. Il Penguin lo ha preso e ha fatto pubblicare le foto di quel fr…io di Bacho [Bachana Akhalaia, già Ministro dell’Interno georgiano]. Per questo motivo tutte le azioni che avevamo previsto contro la Gazprom e in difesa di ‘Rustavi 2’ [canale televisivo privato georgiano] hanno dovuto essere fermate. L’ho detto mille volte. Rimuovete questo Kardav [?] oppure pagatelo, questo bastardo. Anche Ilham [Ilham Aliyev, Presidente azero] potrebbe risentirsi e farci fuori dalla SOCAR [State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic]. La questione deve essere risolta in un qualche modo. Quando vai a Zurigo?

K. – Intanto manderò i nostri ragazzi. Io domani andrò a Kiev e da lì in Svizzera. Dopo andrò a Baku, dove ci sarà da affrontare la questione della SOCAR.

M. – Fai attenzione ai nostri ragazzi di Pankisi [località georgiana di confine], fa in modo che siano felici. E’ questa la cosa più importante in questo momento. Non appena avremo tracciato un solco fra Mosca e Washington ci trasferiremo senza problemi a Kiev. Ok a dopo!

….. aspetta, aspetta. Sono contento di essermi ricordato. Tina ci ha detto che i suoi familiari hanno bisogno di un aiuto per le elezioni a Sagarejo [città georgiana]. I nostri ragazzi stanno facendo di tutto e Tina coinvolgerà anche i militari, ma Azersky Muganlo è fondamentale. Il nostro deputato, Azik, ti contatterà e quando arrivi a Baku egli verrà a trovarti. Dagli i soldi per corrompere il mufti Muganloisk. Chiedete un aiuto anche all’elite di Baku. [A Sagarejo] c’è una cagna, Iniashvili, che non deve vincere le elezioni. La supportano i Senatori della California, ma non me ne frega molto.

Hai capito cosa devi fare? Prima di andare a Kiev incontra Adeishvili, egli ti spiegherà tutti i dettagli.

K. – Sì, lascia che Zura [Adeishvili] mi spieghi tutto. Sono in ballo tante cose, potrei perdermi. Ho bisogno del suo aiuto.

M. – Bene. Non appena i ragazzi partono fammelo sapere, devo informare McCain. Sta aspettando!

K. Ok, Misha! Devo andare, c’è molto da fare.

 

Fonte: ww.veteranstoday.com

Link: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/10/30/ukrainian-wikileaks-mccain-and-saakashvili-are-plotting-to-shoot-down-american-plane-in-syria-to-blame-russia-transcript

30.10.2015

http://www.comedonchisciotte.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4475

Operation Northwoods — Pentagon planned to carry out terrorism and blame Cuba

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False-flag terrorism — repeatedly done by the United States. This is the pattern John McCain and the CIA are following in plotting against Russia, Syria, Ukraine, and other countries. Here it was done against Cuba.

This article came out four months before September 11, 2001.

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From ABC News

U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba

By DAVID RUPPE
New York, May 1, 2001

In the early 1960s, America’s top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba.

Code named Operation Northwoods, the plans reportedly included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities.

The plans were developed as ways to trick the American public and the international community into supporting a war to oust Cuba’s then new leader, communist Fidel Castro.

America’s top military brass even contemplated causing U.S. military casualties, writing: “We could blow up a U.S. ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba,” and, “casualty lists in U.S. newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.”

Details of the plans are described in Body of Secrets (Doubleday), a new book by investigative reporter James Bamford about the history of America’s largest spy agency, the National Security Agency. However, the plans were not connected to the agency, he notes.

The plans had the written approval of all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and were presented to President Kennedy’s defense secretary, Robert McNamara, in March 1962. But they apparently were rejected by the civilian leadership and have gone undisclosed for nearly 40 years.

“These were Joint Chiefs of Staff documents. The reason these were held secret for so long is the Joint Chiefs never wanted to give these up because they were so embarrassing,” Bamford told ABCNEWS.com.

“The whole point of a democracy is to have leaders responding to the public will, and here this is the complete reverse, the military trying to trick the American people into a war that they want but that nobody else wants.”

Gunning for War

The documents show “the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans for what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. government,” writes Bamford.

The Joint Chiefs even proposed using the potential death of astronaut John Glenn during the first attempt to put an American into orbit as a false pretext for war with Cuba, the documents show.

Should the rocket explode and kill Glenn, they wrote, “the objective is to provide irrevocable proof … that the fault lies with the Communists et all Cuba [sic].”

The plans were motivated by an intense desire among senior military leaders to depose Castro, who seized power in 1959 to become the first communist leader in the Western Hemisphere — only 90 miles from U.S. shores.

The earlier CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles had been a disastrous failure, in which the military was not allowed to provide firepower. The military leaders now wanted a shot at it.

“The whole thing was so bizarre,” says Bamford, noting public and international support would be needed for an invasion, but apparently neither the American public, nor the Cuban public, wanted to see U.S. troops deployed to drive out Castro.

Reflecting this, the U.S. plan called for establishing prolonged military — not democratic — control over the island nation after the invasion.

“That’s what we’re supposed to be freeing them from,” Bamford says. “The only way we would have succeeded is by doing exactly what the Russians were doing all over the world, by imposing a government by tyranny [??? — exactly where was Russia doing this all over the world?], basically what we were accusing Castro himself of doing.”

‘Over the Edge’

The Joint Chiefs at the time were headed by Eisenhower appointee Army Gen. Lyman L. Lemnitzer, who, with the signed plans in hand made a pitch to McNamara on March 13, 1962, recommending Operation Northwoods be run by the military.

Whether the Joint Chiefs’ plans were rejected by McNamara in the meeting is not clear. But three days later, President Kennedy told Lemnitzer directly there was virtually no possibility of ever using overt force to take Cuba, Bamford reports. Within months, Lemnitzer would be denied another term as chairman and transferred to another job.

The secret plans came at a time when there was distrust in the military leadership about their civilian leadership, with leaders in the Kennedy administration viewed as too liberal, insufficiently experienced and soft on communism. At the same time, however, there were real concerns in American society about their military overstepping its bounds.

There were reports U.S. military leaders had encouraged their subordinates to vote conservative during the election.

And at least two popular books were published focusing on a right-wing military leadership pushing the limits against government policy of the day.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee published its own report on right-wing extremism in the military, warning a “considerable danger” in the “education and propaganda activities of military personnel” had been uncovered. The committee even called for an examination of any ties between Lemnitzer and right-wing groups. But Congress didn’t get wind of Northwoods, says Bamford.

“Although no one in Congress could have known at the time,” he writes, “Lemnitzer and the Joint Chiefs had quietly slipped over the edge.”

Even after Lemnitzer was gone, he writes, the Joint Chiefs continued to plan “pretext” operations at least through 1963.

One idea was to create a war between Cuba and another Latin American country so that the United States could intervene. Another was to pay someone in the Castro government to attack U.S. forces at the Guantanamo naval base — an act, which Bamford notes, would have amounted to treason. And another was to fly low level U-2 flights over Cuba, with the intention of having one shot down as a pretext for a war.

“There really was a worry at the time about the military going off crazy and they did, but they never succeeded, but it wasn’t for lack of trying,” he says.

After 40 Years

Ironically, the documents came to light, says Bamford, in part because of the 1992 Oliver Stone film JFK, which examined the possibility of a conspiracy behind the assassination of President Kennedy.

As public interest in the assassination swelled after JFK’s release, Congress passed a law designed to increase the public’s access to government records related to the assassination.

The author says a friend on the board tipped him off to the documents.

Afraid of a congressional investigation, Lemnitzer had ordered all Joint Chiefs documents related to the Bay of Pigs destroyed, says Bamford. But somehow, these remained.

“The scary thing is none of this stuff comes out until 40 years after,” says Bamford.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662

James Bamford is a former investigative reporter for ABC News.

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Michael Parenti: What the US did to Iraq prior to 9-11 and why the US did it

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Defying the Sanctions: A Flight to Iraq
January 2001 [written 8 months before 9-11]

Upon disembarking from the Olympic Airways plane that brought me to Iraq in November 2000, I could see some of the effects of the Western-imposed sanctions. What was once a busy international airport is now a desolate strip. Two lonely planes sit as if abandoned on the vast tarmac. There are no airport personnel to speak of, no baggage carts or utility vehicles, not even any visible security. On a wall inside the empty terminal is a handmade sign in Arabic and imperfect English; it reads: “Down USA.” A large portrait of Saddam Hussein gazes down upon us. His image can be found along the road to the city, in the hotel, and on various public buildings.

 I am part of an international delegation of Greeks, Britons, Canadians, and Americans. Included are journalists, peace advocates, and members of the Greek parliament. Margarita Papandreou, former first lady of Greece and devoted political activist, leads the group. It is an especially moving moment for her. It has been her dream for ten years to be able to fly directly to Baghdad. And ours is the first flight to Iraq by a state-owned commercial airline from the West in defiance of US/UN sanctions. The Iraqi officials who greet us do not try to hide how pleased they are about our arrival. “Your presence is a statement against the inhuman means used against us. Iraq is a prosperous country capable of fulfilling the basic needs of the people but we are being prevented from doing so by the UN sanctions,” one of them says. “Feel free to go anywhere and speak to anyone.”

Killing Iraq

Most Americans do not know that Saddam Hussein was put into power by a CIA-engineered coup to stop the Iraqi revolution—which he did by massacring the communists and the left-wing of his own Baath party. But in time Saddam proved to be a disappointment to his mentors in Washington. Instead of becoming the comprador ruler who opened his country to free-market capital penetration on terms that were thoroughly favorable to Western investors, he devoted a substantial portion of Iraq’s export earnings to human services and economic development. In 1972, Iraq nationalized its oil industry, and was immediately denounced by US leaders as a “terrorist” nation.

Before the six weeks of air attacks known as the Gulf War (which ended in February 1991), Iraq’s standard of living was the highest in the Middle East. Iraqis enjoyed free medical care and free education. Literacy had reached about 80 percent. Most Iraqi youth were educated up through secondary school. University students of both genders received scholarships to study at home and abroad. In the eyes of Western leaders, Saddam was that penultimate evil, an economic nationalist, little better than a communist. He would have to be taught a lesson. His country needed to be bombed back into the Third World from which it was emerging.

The high explosive tonnage delivered upon Iraq during the Gulf War was more than twice the combined Allied air offensive of World War II. Within the first few days of bombing, there was no running water in the country. More than 90 percent of Iraq’s electrical capacity was destroyed. Its telecommunication systems, including television and radio stations, were demolished, as were its flood control, irrigation, sewage treatment, water purification, and hydroelectic systems. Farm herds and poultry farms suffered heavy losses. US planes burned wheat and grain fields with incendiary bombs, and hit hundreds of schools, hospitals, rail stations, bus stations, air-raid shelters, mosques, and historic sites. Factories that produced textiles, cement, chlorine, petrochemicals, and phosphate were hit repeatedly. So were the refineries, pipelines, and storage tanks of Iraq’s oil industry. Iraqi civilians and soldiers fleeing Kuwait were slaughtered by the thousands on what became known as the “Highway of Death.” Also massacred were Iraqi soldiers who tried to surrender to US forces on a number of occasions. In all, some 200,000 Iraqis were killed in those six weeks. Nearly all US planes, Ramsey Clark notes, “employed laser-guided depleted-uranium missiles, leaving 900 tons of radioactive waste spread over much of Iraq with no concern for the consequences to future life.”

Our delegation got a grim glimpse of the war’s aftermath. We visited the Al-Amerya bomb shelter where over four hundred civilians, mostly women and children were incinerated by two US missiles. Blackened ossified body parts, including a child’s hand can still be seen melded into the ceiling. Along one wall is the irradiated shadow of a woman holding a baby in her arms, a ghoulish fresco created by the heat blast of the missiles. The shadow of another figure can be seen on the cement floor. The shelter has been made into a shrine, with candles, plastic flowers, and pictures of the victims. The guide notes that US reconnaissance saw civilians using the shelter on a nightly basis during the early days of the bombing, yet it was still chosen as a target.

In the ten years of “peace” since February 1991, an additional 400 tons of explosives have been dropped on Iraq, three hundred people have been killed and many hundreds wounded. The United States and United Kingdom, with the participation of France, imposed a no-fly zone over the northern region of the country, ostensibly to protect the Kurds. This newly found humanitarian concern did not extend to the Kurds residing on the Turkish side of the border. The next year, another no-fly zone was imposed in the south, reputedly to protect Shiite settlements, effectively dividing the country into three parts. By 1998, the French had withdrawn from both zones, but US and British air attacks on military and civilian targets have continued almost on a daily basis, including strafing raids against Iraqi agricultural developments. Baghdad’s repeated protests to the United Nations have gone unheeded. Since 1998, three members of the Security Council—Russia, China, and France; and various nonpermanent members have condemned the raids as illegal and unauthorized by the Security Council.

To drive the point home to us, on the second day of our visit, US warplanes fired four missiles at the village of Hmaidi in the southern province of Basra, one of which struck the Ali Al-Hayaini school, wounding four children and three teachers. Several homes were also hit.

Picking Up the Pieces

Despite the years of bombings and the even greater toll on human life taken by the sanctions, visitors to Baghdad do not see a city in ruins. Much of the wreckage has been cleared away, much has been repaired. In our hotel there is running water throughout the day, hot water in the morning. Various streets in Baghdad are lined with little stores, surprisingly well-stocked with household appliances, hardware goods, furniture, and clothes (much of which has a second-hand look).

We see no derelicts or homeless people on the streets of Baghdad, no prostitutes or ragged bands of abandoned children, though there are occasional youngsters eager to shine shoes or solicit spare change. But even they seem to be well-fed and decently clothed. Obviously, despite all the destruction wrought by the sanctions, Iraq still has not undergone sufficient free-market “structural adjustment.”

A British member of our delegation who has made more than a dozen trips to Iraq over the past decade sees some changes for the better. A few years ago, the cars all looked like “death traps”; tires were patched beyond recognition, windows were cracked, and doors were falling off the hinges, she tells me. Now the Iraqis seem to have procured vehicles that are in better repair. In addition, large swaths of the city used to be shrouded in complete darkness; now there are lights just about everywhere, though mostly on the dim side. There are more shops with more goods, “although 70 percent of the people can’t buy anything.” Still, “people used to feel hopelessly isolated and now there seems to be more hope and better morale,”[and the worst was to come in two years — Shock and Awe] she concludes.

The Silent Cries of Children

 Not everyone shows better morale. It is said that the most depressed officials in Iraq can be found in the Ministry of Health, not surprisingly given the tragedies they confront. Aside from the 200,000 Iraqis slaughtered during the Gulf War, an additional 1.5 million civilians have died since 1991 as a result of the sanctions, according to UNICEF reports and the Red Cross, many from what normally would be treatable and curable illnesses. Of these victims, 600,000 are children under 5 years of age. Maternal mortality rates have more than doubled, and 70 percent of Iraqi women suffer from anemia. Given the tons of depleted uranium used during the Allied attacks, cancer rates have skyrocketed: the childhood leukemia rate is now the highest in the world. Most of the leukemia increase is in southern Iraq where the bombing was heaviest.

We visit a children’s hospital in Baghdad. The familiar sight of skeletal-looking infants, racked with diseases that make it impossible for them to retain or digest nutrients are no longer evident. Such dying children still can be found in parts of Iraq but not at this hospital. Instead we encounter something equally ominous: children suffering from acute forms of multiple malignancies. Shrouded mothers stand by the beds like mournful sentinels, their eyes filled with unspoken grief. The journalists, photographers, and TV crews in our delegation descend upon these sad people, clicking and flashing away with that intrusive irreverence that is the press’s modus operandi. A mother weeps quietly against the wall. One of the doomed children smiles up at us—which almost causes me to start weeping.

Things are getting worse, a doctor tells us; more and more children are turning up with leukemia. The medical staff is overwhelmed. One doctor says he sees three hundred patients in three hours: “We cannot treat them properly.” Some of the hospital rooms are lined with incubators that contain what look like premature births. These turn out to be infants who are the products of depleted uranium, born with serious deformities and malfunctions, urgently in need of surgical intervention. The hospital lacks the special instruments needed to operate on infants, not to mention ordinary medications, anesthetics, antibiotics, bandages, intravenous sets, and diagnostic equipment. Iraq’s excellent national health care system, with its universal coverage, is now in shambles because of the embargo.

Things were supposed to get better when the sanctions were eased in 1996, allowing Iraq to make “oil for food” sales. Since then, $32 billion in oil was sold abroad but only $8 billion worth of materials has reached Iraq, less than $5 or $6 a month per person. Another $10 billion has been allocated for “war compensation,” in effect forcing the Iraqis to pay the costs incurred by the UN aggressors when destroying Iraq. Another $11 billion in cash sits in Western banks. Worse still, many essential things needed to rebuild the infrastructure—including the technological, medical, educational, communicational, and industrial systems of the nation—are still not available. Under the deleterious “dual use” doctrine, many vital commodities and materials needed for humanitarian and civilian purposes are banned because they conceivably could also be used by the military: computers, components for electrical transmitters and water pumps, even glycerin tablets needed for heart ailments. (It would take millions of glycerin tablets mixed with nitrogen to make one small explosive.)

The Foreign Minister Speaks

 Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tariq Aziz, a calm congenial man, meets with our delegation. [Tariq Aziz died June 5, 2015, in prison, convicted on trumped up charges. His abusive treatment in prison included being denied visitation, adequate food, and access to medication. His imprisonment and death at the hands of the U.S. and “interim” Iraq vassal government are chronicled here] In clear and precise English, he makes the following points: Before 1990, the United Nations had placed sanctions upon only a few nations, such as Rhodesia and South Africa, on a voluntary basis. “It was left to the countries themselves and the world to implement those sanctions or not implement them.” Hence the effects were mild. But since 1990,US leaders with their so-called New World Order have imposed the severest embargo, “encircling Iraq with warships and airplanes that prevent even ordinary trips and ordinary cargoes.” As with the sanctions against Yugoslavia, the minister notes, this policy has created a lot of suffering. “Therefore, when we say that this embargo is an international issue, it’s not just anti-American propaganda. It’s the truth. And it is quit horrid.” The collapse of the Soviet Union has created a different international scene, he adds. With the end of the Cold War, “a new hot war and warm war” has been imposed on many nations, with Iraq as a prime target.

 In spite of all the reports made by United Nations agencies themselves “informing the Security Council about the sufferings of the Iraqi people, and the deaths of so many children, and the deterioration of the Iraqi economy,” Aziz reminds us, there is no likelihood of any change in UN policy on sanctions because of the Security Council veto wielded by the United States and Britain. Still the people of Iraq have not been merely passive victims. They have “refused to yield to American pressure and American blackmail.” In addition, there is “the will of other peoples, the free women and men in this world” who refuse to support injustice and imperialism. After ten years, US propaganda “is wearing thin,” and “a lot of facts have become known to the peoples of the world” bringing a dramatic increase in support for Iraq—as measured by the growing number of air flights from various nations in defiance of the sanctions. Not only Iraq but its trading partners have sustained substantial commercial losses because of the ten-year embargo. In 2000, more than 1,500 international companies from forty-five countries participated in the Iraqi trade fair. So, for both moral and legitimate commercial reasons, “the embargo is beginning to crack.”

Ten years ago, concludes Aziz, we were told: history is over; from now on we will live according to the diktat of US leaders in a Pax Americana. And those who do not accept this are “rogue nations.” But US leaders are beginning to realize “that this new imperialism is not working. . . . Despite all its power, the United States is not God. It’s not the Almighty. It’s an imperialist force.” And “when a nation succeeds in refusing the dictate of imperialists, [and] succeeds in preserving its sovereignty, and its independence and dignity, that is an achievement.” Aziz’s closing plea was that we not rely on “the manipulated media” of the United States, Britain and Canada. “One of the basic human rights is that you have the right to make your own judgment, not to buy judgments made by others that might not be honest and true. So I hope that you will use this short visit to know what is going on in this country and what the realities are.”

The “Realities”

On the closing day of our trip, members of our delegation lay plans to carry on the battle against sanctions. These include: lobbying the UN Compensation Committee, which refuses to release the $11 billion in Iraqi oil-for-food earnings; joining with Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and other NGOs to lobby the UN Security Council; lobbying the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva and the parliament of the European Union; lobbying elected representatives and religious leaders in various countries; and sending messages through the Internet.

The sanctions wall is not about to crumble but it is showing cracks. In 1998 Scott Ritter, chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq since 1991, resigned and accused the US government of undercutting UN weapons inspectors. Meanwhile US leaders and the press continued to portray Iraq as bent on nuclear aggression, despite the fact that Baghdad cooperated fully with UN inspectors who scoured the country in a vain search for weapons of mass destruction or the capacity to build them.

Also in 1998, Denis Halliday, UN Assistant Secretary General and Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, resigned in protest of what the sanctions were doing to that country. In early 2000, Hans von Sponeck, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq and Jutta Burghart, head of UN World Food Program in Baghdad, resigned in protest of the sanctions.

Still, the State Department and the US media continue to blame Saddam, not the sanctions, for the misery endured by the Iraqi people. The claim that sanctions hurt ordinary Iraqis “is outweighed by the sad truth that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep portions of his population in poverty,” intones a Washington Post editorial reprinted in the International Herald Tribune (November 14, 2000). The Iraqi leader, the Post assures us, is a “warmongering dictator” who needs to be contained by a still more severe application of sanctions. Upon being selected as the new US Secretary of State in December 2000, General Colin Powell echoed this position, announcing that he would strive to “reenergize” the sanctions against Iraq.

 The Iraqi leadership could turn US policy completely around by uttering just two magic words: “free market.” All they would have to do is invite the IMF and World Bank into Iraq, eliminate free education and free medical care, abolish the minimal food ration that goes to every Iraqi, abolish the housing subsidies and transportation subsidies, and hand over the country’s oil industry to the corporate cartels. To lift the sanctions, Iraq must surrender to the tender mercies of the free-market paradise as Yugoslavia has recently done under the newly minted, Western-sponsored president, Kostunica, and as so many other nations have done. Until then, Iraq will continue to be designated a “rogue nation” by those policymakers in Washington who themselves are the meanest profit-driven, power-mongering rogues on earth.

*     *     * Michael Parenti’s most recent books are To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia (Verso) and History as Mystery (City Lights).

http://www.michaelparenti.org/DefyingSanctions.html

Russian passenger jet crashes in Sinai, killing all 224 on board; search and salvage mission underway

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Nothing is known yet about why the plane went down. All passengers and crew were killed. It was flying from  Egypt to Russia.

Several planeloads of Russian specialists have flown to Egypt to take part in the search and salvage. The black boxes have been recovered. Officials plan to begin flying the remains of passengers that have been found back to Russia today.

Today, Sunday, is a national day of mourning in Russia for this tragedy.

Check RT.com for updates on the situation

Sen. John McCain and Mikhail Saakashvili are plotting with CIA to shoot down American plane in Syria to blame on Russia — Wikileaks

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Gordon Duff, Veterans Today, remarks

This was received from friends in Russia.  It had been published on the FortRuss website and has not been verified.
I have no idea if any of this is true but we have more than adequate evidence that, knowing those claimed to be involved, it fits a pattern of observed behavior.

From Fort Russ

October 28, 2015
Ukrainian WikiLeaks
Translated from Russian by Kristina Rus


“M.”: Mikhail Saakashvili, ex-president of Georgia, Odessa region governor


“K.”: David Kezerashvili – former head of financial police and minister of defense of Georgia. Wanted for embezzling state funds


“G”: Anton Gerashenko – people’s deputy of Ukraine in faction “People’s Front”, secretary of Verkhovnaya Rada committee on issues of legal basis of law enforcement. Advisor to the minister of interior, Arsen Avakov, resident agent of US special services


“R.”: Ramzan Machelikashvili – cousin of Ruslan Machelikashvili, infamous field commander of Islamic State, callsign Seyfullakh. Commander of special anti-aircraft unit, received special training in the ATO zone. Anti-aircraft specialist sent to Syria.

————————————————

Transcript:

M. Let him come in!

M. Sit down, David! Everything should be done on time, as we discussed. You understand the importance of everything! Wait a second, I will turn on anti-surveillance.

McCain confirmed the plan, everything is in place so you know. We got cover from the US Senate. In Syria, Russians must be hit, or else if Russians and Americans fundamentally agree, they will really dump Ukraine. Donbass is on conservation, project Transnistria is suspended. If it goes on, we are done! We should speed things up in Syria!

Have you prepared our guys?

K: Yes, everything is done. Today, they fly to Antalya and then go to Syria.

They received good training and will tear everything with their spirit. These are our Kistintsy (Georgian Chechens living in the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia), tough guys. Ramzan Machelikashvili was appointed a commander, all four obey him. They shoot from all weapons, they are anti-aircraft professionals. They are waiting for specific instructions.

M. Give Ramzan this phone number and cell phone. Upon arrival it is necessary to send a message, there is Warren’s man from the CIA, he will greet and take the guys. Turks are warned and will let them through. In short, this agent of Steve Warren knows everything and speaks Russian. After, Ramzan should give him this phone.

M. Yes, yes, will turn it off.

K. It’s all clear, but what about equipment and weapons?

M. Wait, wait! I have to pick up the call from Gerashchenko .
M. Hello Anton! Our guys are leaving today. Is it all ready?

G. Mr. Mikhail Nikolayevich! It is loud over there!

G. Now I can hear! Avakov (Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine) transported everything, there are five anti-aircraft [PZRK – rus.] “Willow” [Verba” – rus.] and “Needle S” [“Igla S” – rus.], full ammunition and equipment. Large anti-aircraft guns are on the road. As soon as they pass the border, your chieftain, what’s his name,  Ash-Shushani will meet them, the guys will be on the case.

M. Excellent! Excellent! Well, talk to you later.

M. David! All you need is already in place and when they cross the border they will get everything. There they will be greeted by Tarhan Batirashvili. You know who he is? He has great influence in the Islamic State, all Chechens pass through him, his nickname is Ash-Shushani. Also ​​Ramzan’s cousin, Ruslan Machelikashvili will also meet them. He is a ruthless thug, Americans told me.

So, the whole group will be in Latakia, in the Al-Nusra zone, the goal is to shoot down American plane. They will get flight information, there is a local Kurd there for that. The plan is turning out very cool! American plane will be shot down by Russian military. This will be told by the Prisoner, that the target was shot down from PZRK. The scene will be amusing, the whole world will talk about it.

After this group will go to Hasaka, it is a city near the Kurds and there they will destroy a Kurdish village,  the Russians will do everything. In return, the Kurds will shoot down a Russian plane with Stingers. The goal is to pit the Americans and Russians in Syria. The Turks will be grateful, they promise to rouse the Crimean Tatars.

After it is done in Syria, you will see, if Americans don’t bring troops to Ukraine and all our projects will begin operating. McCain is waiting for our actions. Otherwise, Obama will not raise his ass, elections are coming soon and he will do nothing. You see, Poroshenko also began to wag his tail in front of Putin.

C. I don’t know, Misha! It’s your plans, you know better. I’ll explain everything to the guys and will send them on the way. It’s great that Tarhan Batirashvili will meet them, he knows how to fight and will supervise everything. At one time I accepted him into the Army. His mother is Kistinka, and a Georgian father.

M. What I said, do in time, give each one of the five $10 thousand. Give $20,000 to Tarhan’s father in Ahmet.

K. I already paid the guys, and my people will pass $20 thousand to Tbilisi.

Machelikashvili is waiting in the reception, want to have a couple words with him?!

M. Sure!

Sveta! There’s a man with a beard who came with David, named Ramzan, let him in.

S. Of course, Mikhail Nikolayevich

M. How are you Ramzan! How are things?

R. Batono Misha! We are ready to execute all the tasks.

M. Very good! The peace in the whole world depends on you! I and Dato will support you and your families in everything.

R. Thank you very much. David is very helpful. After completing the tasks in Syria, we will bring you back to Georgia, this is our next task. We will blow up the entire Georgia, if necessary!

M. Thank you Ramzan, this time will come, but for now we should take care of Ukraine. Dato will explain, everything is ready. Our guys will meet, Ruslan is your cousin, Aslan Margoshvili, Tarhan Batirashvili and others. You will be in good hands. Say hello to the guys and be careful. Take care of yourself.

R. You make me feel better, Misha batono. I did not know that the brother will meet, we will do everything 100%. I thought Tarhan died, I heard he was blown up along with El-Baghdadi. Insha Allah, he is alive.

M. Ramzan, take it! This is a dagger from me.

R. May Allah protect you, batono Misha! We will not disgrace ourselves and do everything, I swear to you!

K. Ok, Ramzan, wait in the waiting room, I will come out soon!

M. Ramzan is a tough man, right?! Tell me, are the Swiss accounts already available ?!

K. The court has closed my cases and the accounts are available, just need to submit documents to the bank. Adeishvili was very helpful. His guys did everything at the court. I sent them some, and will have to send more.

M. Kama still has to be paid. You said that you transferred the shares to Kakha’s people [Kaladze, Minister of Energy of Georgia] and it was closed. What is f#cken wrong with everyone to throw my money away like that!

K. Don’t yell! I told you, 35% I gave from the port and oil infrastructure. From gas I gave 10%, and added 10% for Bezhuashvili. Otherwise they didn’t agree. And in court they did everything, for Meishvili, Shavliashili and Levna Murusidze I must send fifty, I gave nothing to them yet, first just to pay the judges who were on my case. I told you everything in advance. If not, I would get a judgement like Ugulava, and would block access to the accounts.

M. F#ck their mother, b#tch! This f#cking Magis sold Kolomoisky the video. Penguin caught it and they posted the frames with Bacho f#ggots. For this reason, all the planned actions had to be stopped, against Gazprom and in defense of Rustavi 2. I said a thousand times, remove this Kardav or pay the money to this bastard. Ilham too can be offended and cut off our debt in SOCAR. It must be solved somehow. When are you going to Zurich?

K. I will send our guys, tomorrow I’ll go to Kiev and from there to Switzerland. After going to Baku, there I will tackle SOCAR issues.

M. Watch out for our Pankisi guys, so they are happy. This is the most important thing right now. As soon as we pit Moscow and Washington, then smoothly will move to Kiev. Ok, later!

M. Wait, wait. Glad I remembered! Tina asked, in Sagarejo, that her relative needs help with elections. Our guys are doing everything, and Tina will involve the military but Azersky Muganlo is crucial. Our deputy, Azik, he will contact you and when you will arrive to Baku, he will come, give him the money to bribe Muganloisk muftis. Also ask the Baku elite, to help me in this regard. There is a bitch Iniashvili, she should not win elections, California Senators support her, but I don’t care.

Do you understand what to do ?! Prior to going to Kiev meet with Adeishvili, and he will explain all the details.

K. Yes, let Zura explain everything, there are so many things, I can get lost, I need his help.

M. Good. As soon as you send the guys, let me know, I have to inform McCain, he is waiting!

K. Ok, Misha! I must go, a lot to do.

http://www.fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/10/ukrainian-wikileaks-mccain-and.html