Стоит ли Азербайджану опасаться Виктории Нуланд

From moscow-baku.ru, 26-02-15

English translation: http://orientalreview.org/2015/03/01/azerbaijan-should-be-very-afraid-of-nuland/

Помощник Госсекретаря США по Европе и Евразии Виктория Нуланд 16 февраля 2015 года побывала в Баку в рамках своего закавказского турне, включавшего в себя также остановки в Грузии и Армении.

Хотя у Азербайджана с момента обретения им независимости отношения с США развиваются в положительном направлении, в последнее время они обострились из-за «демократической» риторики Вашингтона и его ь вмешательства во внутриполитическую жизнь.

Визит Нуланд, несмотря на все ее теплые заверения в дружбе, должен рассматриваться в Азербайджане с максимальной подозрительностью – поскольку неясно, какие скрытые мотивы правительства США кроются за ее заявлениями и шагами.

Черная метка

Нуланд скандально известна своим выражением «Пошел ЕС на …!», которое было обнародовано благодаря секретной записи ее разговора с Послом США в Киеве Джеффри Пайеттом.

Эти двое замышляли создать новое украинское правительство еще до того, как демократически избранный (однако непопулярный и коррумпированный) президент Украины Виктор Янукович был свергнут в ходе переворота, осуществленного Евромайданом при поддержке США.

Нуланд сыграла непосредственную роль в этих событиях, причем не только в кулуарах, но и прямо на улицах столицы Украины – она горделиво раздавала печенье и другую еду «протестующим», которые всего два месяца спустя насильственным путем захватили власть. Ее роль в украинских событиях навсегда «пометила» помощника Госсекретаря как орудие поддерживаемой США стратегии смены режима на территории постсоветской сферы влияния, и ее приезд в любую точку этой «сферы» должен рассматриваться как плохая примета – каковой он, по сути, и является.

Муж и жена – одна сатана

Обычно личная жизнь человека не имеет никакого отношения к его профессиональной деятельности. Однако в случае с Нуланд дело обстоит ровно наоборот, ведь ее супруг – ведущий неоконсервативный идеолог Роберт Каган. Он и ему подобные известны своим умением эксплуатировать зарубежную географию ради увеличения могущества США, невзирая на региональные «жертвы».

Также он в 2000-м году назвал Азербайджан «диктатурой» и заявил, что США «дорого заплатит» за отношения с этой страной. А во время интерактивного сеанса с читателями Financial Times (тогда же) ему пришлось ответить на следующий вопрос:

«Во время «холодной войны» и европейцам, и американцам приходилось искать компромисс с диктатурами по всему миру, чтобы ослабить Советский Союз и коммунистический режим. На Ваш взгляд, господин Каган, с помощью какого нового компромисса правительство США собирается бороться с терроризмом? (Корнелиу, Бухарест).

Роберт Каган ответил, что «разумеется, мы осуществляем подобные виды компромиссов повсюду, где есть проявления терроризма, хотя должен сказать, что лично я сомневаюсь в их эффективности».

«Мы практически закрываем глаза на диктаторский режим Мубарака в Египте, несмотря на то, что, с другой стороны, много говорим о нем – так же, как же и в отношении Саудовской Аравии. Мы «прощаем» диктатуры в Азербайджане и Казахстане. Точно также мы не слишком критиковали диктаторский режим Путина в России, невзирая на то, сколько убийств по политическим мотивам тот совершает».

«Все это в значительной степени помогает бороться с терроризмом. Во время «холодной войны» я на самом деле верил, что мы (США – прим. пер.) неправы, поддерживая столько диктаторов, поскольку от этой поддержки не всегда бывал толк, хотя она и помогала в нашей борьбе против коммунизма – уже не говоря о том, что эта поддержка шла вразрез с теми принципами, которые мы стремились защищать».

«Так же и сегодня я в равной степени не убежден, что наша поддержка этих диктаторских режимов поможет нам в борьбе с терроризмом – то есть мы вновь платим за нашу моральную и идеологическую непоследовательность».

С учетом идеологического контекста, в котором Нуланд, скорее, всего думает так же, как и ее муж,
а также учитывая ее опыт в разжигании «оранжевой» революции на Украине, непохоже, что она приехала в Баку с добрыми намерениями или, как минимум, с положительным отношением к этой стране. Это тем боле вероятно, если учесть недавний скандал с закрытием в Азербайджане радиостанции «Свободная Европа/Свобода».

Агент – иностранный, наказание – «домашнее»

Спонсируемое США информационное агентство было закрыто в Азербайджане в конце декабря 2014 года по обвинению в осуществлении деятельности в качестве «иностранного агента».

В то время, как США подвергли резкой критике за этот шаг правительство Азербайджана, в конце концов, нужно понимать, что эта страна имеет полное суверенное право разбираться с «иностранными агентами» так, как считает нужным.

Азербайджанское законодательство в отношении «иностранных агентов» сродни российскому, которое предусматривает регистрацию НКО, получающих зарубежное финансирование, как «иностранных агентов», и, что также весьма интересно, оба этих закона (в России и в Азербайджане – прим. пер.) напрямую соотносятся с законом США «О регистрации иностранных агентов» от 1938 года.

В таком случае почему же Соединенные Штаты претендуют на единоличное право регистрировать иностранных агентов и организации, и если нужно, наказывая тех из них, кто действует на их территории незаконно? В то время как Азербайджану в таком проявлении суверенности отказано…

Причина довольно проста – по сути, именно Соединенные Штаты, а не кто-то иной, предпочитают использовать «иностранных агентов» для дестабилизации и потенциального свержения неугодных правительств (как было на Украине совсем недавно), в то время, как азербайджанские «агенты» в США – если бы даже они когда-либо и существовали – были бы ничем иным, как бессильной помехой, не способной нанести реальный ущерб интересам страны.

Подобные двойные стандарты лежат в основе отношений США со всеми странами – не только с Азербайджаном. Просто этот пример ярко характеризует, с какой силой Вашингтон пытается взять контроль над Баку – и наиболее заметно это по зубодробительной критике, которой США подвергли правительство Азербайджана в связи с закрытием им радио «Свободная Европа/Свобода» – закрытием в полном соответствии с действующим в стране законодательством.

Двуличные игры

Continue reading →

Azerbaijan should be very afraid of Victoria Nuland

[Victoria Nuland’s] role in the Ukrainian events forever marks her as an agent for US-supported regime change in the former Soviet sphere, and her visit anywhere in that space should be seen as the bad omen that it is.

By Andrew Korybko, March 1, 2015
Posted on Oriental Review

The US’ Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, visited Baku on 16 February as part of her trip to the Caucasus, which also saw her paying stops in Georgia and Armenia. While Azerbaijan has had positive relations with the US since independence, they’ve lately been complicated by Washington’s ‘pro-democracy’ rhetoric and subversive actions in the country. Nuland’s visit, despite her warm words of friendship, must be looked at with maximum suspicion, since it’s not known what larger ulterior motives she represents on behalf of the US government.

A Bad Omen

Nuland is most infamously known for her “Fuck the EU!” comment that was uncovered during a secretly recorded conversation with the American Ambassador in Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. The two were conspiring to build a new Ukrainian government even before democratically elected (but unpopular and corrupt) president Viktor Yanukovich was overthrown by the US-supported EuroMaidan coup. Nuland played a direct role in events, not only behind the scenes, but also on the streets, since she proudly handed out cookies and other foodstuffs to the ‘protesters’ that would violently seize power just over two months later. Her role in the Ukrainian events forever marks her as an agent for US-supported regime change in the former Soviet sphere, and her visit anywhere in that space should be seen as the bad omen that it is.

Like Husband, Like Wife

Normally an individual’s personal life doesn’t have any bearing on their professional one, but in the case of Nuland, it’s the opposite because her husband is the leading neo-conservative thinker Robert Kagan. He and his ilk are known for their expertise in exploiting foreign geography to maximize US power, regardless of the regional cost. Also, he previously referred to Azerbaijan in 2006 as a “dictatorship” and said the US will “pay the price” for dealing with it when responding to a user-submitted Q&A session with the Financial Times:

“During the Cold War, both Europeans and Americans had to compromise with dictators around the world in order to weaken the Soviet Union and communism. What would be, in your view Mr Kagan, the new sort of compromises that the US government is willing to make to defeat terrorism?
Corneliu, Bucharest

Robert Kagan: Clearly we are making such kinds of compromises all over the place in the war on terrorism, although I must say I doubt they are proving very useful.

We are turning a mostly blind eye to the Mubarak dictatorship in Egypt, despite much rhetoric to the contrary, as well in Saudi Arabia. We have been forgiving of the dictatorships in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Nor have we been very critical of the Putin dictatorship in Russia, no matter how many people he assassinates.

This is all largely in the service of the war on terror. During the Cold War I actually believed that we wrong to support so many dictators, for it often did not help but hurt in the struggle against communism, in addition to being a violation of the principles we were struggling to defend.

I am equally unpersuaded today that our support for these dictatorships will help us fight terrorism, and once again we pay the price of moral and ideological inconsistency.”

revolution-starts-in-the-streets-110007-500-381_large_0Given the ideological context in which Nuland likely sees eye-to-eye on with her husband, plus her experience in instigating the Color Revolution in Ukraine, it is not likely that she came to Baku with positive intentions, or even with a positive image of the country in her mind. This is all the more so due to the recent scandal over Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Foreign Agent, Domestic Punishment

The US-government-sponsored information agency was closed down at the end of December under accusations that it was operating as a foreign agent. While the US has harshly chided the Azeri government for this, at the end of the day, it remains the country’s sovereign decision and right to handle suspected foreign agents as it sees fit. Azerbaijan’s law is similar to Russia’s, in that entities receiving foreign funds must register as foreign agents, and interestingly enough, both of these laws parallel the US’ own 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Continue reading →

Washington stalks its next victim, sends color revolution expert “male Nuland” to Kyrgyzstan

From Oriental Review, March 5, 2015
By Andrew Korybko

Charge-Miles

Image: Richard Miles a.k.a father of Color Revolution

One of the most prominent Color Revolution experts in America’s coup d’état toolkit has been hurriedly recalled from retirement for immediate deployment to Kyrgyzstan. Richard Miles, the engineer of the first Color Revolution in Serbia and the Rose Revolution in Georgia, has been appointed as charge d’affaires in Kyrgyzstan until a new ambassador is confirmed by the Senate, because the former one, Pamela Spratlen, has been reassigned as the US Ambassador to Uzbekistan. While it is not known how long Miles will remain in Kyrgyzstan, which will be the Eurasian Union’s weakest economy when it joins in May of this year, ordinary citizens there already suspect that foul play is being planned against their country and have protested his arrival. Given that Miles’ track record of regime change makes him worthy of the ‘Male Nuland’ moniker, it’s appropriate to investigate what tricks the US may be up to in Central Asia, and how it may be trying to force the Ukrainian scenario onto Russia’s southern doorstep.

“The Male Nuland”

Richard Miles has kept a relatively low profile throughout the years and hasn’t garnered the notoriety that his ideological protégé Nuland has, but this doesn’t mean that he’s any less dangerous for the countries he visits. In fact, since he’s the individual who spearheaded the Color Revolution tactic in the first place, he can even be referred to as a ‘proto Nuland’, owing to his ‘successes’ in Serbia and Georgia that helped make EuroMaidan possible in the first place. While he was no longer the American Ambassador to Yugoslavia when the 2000 Bulldozer Revolution overthrow Slobodan Milosevic, he certainly paved the way for its implementation during his work over the three years prior, including overseeing the NATO War on Serbia. As regards Georgia, he served as US Ambassador from 2002-2005 and repeated the Belgrade template in Tbilisi.

Afterwards, he became the Executive Director for the Open World Leadership Center for most of 2006, during which he fostered the creation of thousands of pro-American ‘leaders’ in the former Soviet Union. To Center’s own mission statement concisely describes the type of work that it does:

“Begun as a pilot program in 1999 and established as a permanent agency in late 2000, the Center conducts the first and only international exchange agency in the U.S. Legislative Branch and, as such, has enabled more than 17,000 current and future leaders from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan to meaningfully engage and interact with Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and thousands of other Americans, many of whom are the delegates’ direct professional counterparts.”

The above statement can be read as an admission that the Center’s purpose is to create pro-American proxies that can seamlessly interact with and do the bidding of their Washington patrons, thereby essentially making it an NGO front for the US intelligence community’s cultivation of Color Revolution assets. The organization doesn’t hide the fact that its purpose is to promote American interests and profit, brazenly bragging that:

“Open World offers an extraordinary “bang for the buck” in terms of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and value. The Center boasts an overhead rate of about 7 percent, every grant contains cost-shared elements, and more than 75 percent of our appropriation is plowed back into the American economy every year. The Center might best be described as both a mini-stimulus plan as well as a true international exchange program.”

Bearing in mind Miles’ experience in running this Color Revolution recruitment front, as well as his contribution to managing two ‘successful’ regime change operations in Serbia and Georgia, he can easily be identified as one of the most dangerous people in the US deep state establishment, and the fact that he was recalled from retirement to urgently take the ‘temporary’ post in Kyrgyzstan during these tense geopolitical times must absolutely be seen as a warning about Washington’s nefarious intentions.

Uzbekistan’s Role In The US’ Central Asian Strategy

While Washington is poised to destabilize Kyrgyzstan, it’s showing strong signals that it’s ready to do the opposite in neighboring Uzbekistan, and has been reingratiating itself with Tashkent over the past couple of years in a bid to shore up what it intends to become its Lead From Behind proxy in the region. Continue reading →

Victoria Nuland lied to US Congress this week — phantom Russian hoards in Ukraine

This hearing is available on C-Span for those who can stomach it: http://www.c-span.org/video/?324656-1/victoria-nuland-testimony-us-policy-toward-ukraine-Russia

This hearing dramatically shows the state of United States leaders — their willful ignorance, their staunch prejudices, their pompous outrage, their narrow education, and their appetite for war against Russia. The hearing played like theatre — completely orchestrated.

By Stephen Lendman, March 7, 2015
Posted on Global Research

On March 4, Nuland addressed House Foreign Affairs Committee members.

She called murdered US-funded, Boris Nemtsov a “freedom fighter, Russian patriot and friend.”

She absurdly called Ukraine “central to our 25 year Transatlantic quest for a ‘Europe whole, free and at peace.’ ”

Fact: Washington wants Ukraine used as a dagger against Russia’s heartland – with menacing US bases on its borders threatening is sovereign independence.

Nuland called US planned and implements year ago Maidan violence using well-trained Nazi thugs “peaceful protest(s) by ordinary Ukrainians.”

“They braved frigid temperatures, brutal beatings and sniper bullets…Ukraine began to forge a new nation…holding free and fair election…and undertaking deep and comprehensive economic and political reforms.”

Fact: US-deposed President Viktor Yanukovych’s police showed remarkable restraint.

Fact: Washington-supported Nazi thugs bore full responsibility for beatings, sniper killings and other violence.

Fact: Ukrainian parliamentary and presidential elections were farcical – with no legitimacy whatever.

Fact: So-called economic reforms involve crushing hardships on already impoverished Ukrainians in return for loan-shark-of-last-resort IMF blood money.

Fact: No responsible political reforms exist. None are planned. It bears repeating. Ukraine is a US-installed fascist dictatorship.

Nuland lied claiming

“enhance(d) (Ukrainian) transparency in public procurement, reduce(d) government inefficiency and corruption, (laws) making the banking system more transparent, and measures to improve the climate for business and…foreign investment.”

Ukrainian banking is a black hole of grand theft. State farmland and enterprises are being sold to Western predators at fire sale prices.

Corruption is worse than ever. Government and military officials are stealing everything they can get their dirty hands on – at the expense of imposing crushing austerity on deeply impoverished millions.

Hyperinflation grips the country. The “breadbasket” of Europe can’t feed its people. Rationing was imposed.

Energy prices skyrocketed to unaffordable levels. Ukraine symbolizes humanitarian disastrous conditions wherever America shows up.

Nuland recited a litany of Big Lies about the “new Ukraine,” – a Nazified menace to its people

Claiming it’s “building a peaceful, democratic, independent” nation is polar opposite truth.

She aimed the worst of her rant at Russia and Donbass freedom fighters.

She lied about Crimea “under illegal occupation” – ignoring near Crimean unanimity to reverse a historic mistake and rejoin Russia.

She turned truth on its head claiming

“(i)n eastern Ukraine, Russia and its separatist puppets unleashed unspeakable violence and pillage.”

“MH17 was shot down. Hundreds of Russian heavy weapons and troops poured across the border, fueling the conflict.”

“Sixteen Russian uninspected ‘humanitarian convoys’ entered Ukraine in violation of agreements with the Ukrainian government, the ICRC and the international community.”

“Donetsk airport was obliterated…Debaltseve, a key rail hub beyond the ceasefire lines, fell to separatist and Russian forces six days after Minsk was signed…”

“This is a manufactured conflict controlled by the Kremlin, fueled by Russian tanks and heavy weapons; financed at Russian taxpayers’ expense and costing the lives of young Russians…”

Fact: Kiev collaboratively with Washington launched naked aggression against Donbass residents wanting democratic rights everyone deserves – wanting to live free from the scourge of fascism.

Fact: No Russian hoards “poured across (Ukraine’s) border.” Kiev’s own military chief said so.

No evidence whatever shows Russian involvement. None exists except photos exposed as fakes.

Fact: Washington and Kiev bear full responsibility for unleashing unspeakable violence against Donbass residents.

Fact: One or more Ukrainian warplanes downed MH17- a US/Kiev false flag. Russia and rebels had nothing to do with it.

Fact: Russia is the only nation delivering vitally needed humanitarian aid – inspected by ICRC representatives.

Fact: Minsk ceasefire terms included nothing about Debastseve.

Fact: Washington and Kiev “manufactured” Donbass’ conflict – not Moscow or rebels.

Not a single House Foreign Affairs Committee member challenged Nuland’s obvious and outrageous Big Lies.

They accepted them as gospel. They let an unindicted war criminal insult them.

Russia and rebels are consistently and wrongfully blamed for US/Kiev crimes.

Obama wants war, not peace. He wants unchallenged control over America’s newest colony. He wants it pillaged for profit.

He wants it as a stepping-stone toward long sought regime change in Russia – replacing its sovereign independence with pro-Western puppet governance.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net . His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/victoria-nuland-lied-to-us-congress-about-phantom-russian-hoards-in-ukraine/5435233

 

Leading the anti-ISIL war: Iraq finds Iran a preferable ally

From Farsi News Agency, March 6, 2015

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq’s regular army is liberating Tikrit without Pentagon involvement and without any consultation with the US administration.

It is one of the biggest offensives yet against the terrorist group of ISIL, and Iraq isn’t going it alone. Iran is taking a key role in the offensive, backed by allied Sunni-Shia forces, artillery and air power. With the liberation of Tikrit going well, the US is still on the outside looking in, leaving the Pentagon complaining that Iran is taking their role as leader of the anti-ISIL war.

This has further irritated US officials, admitting that the Iraqis did not inform them in advance of the operation and have yet to request assistance. To do some damage control, they are now claiming that the battle could have a sectarian tenor – despite the fact that “allied Sunni-Shia irregular troops” have taken the lead!

Credible reports indicate Iranian military advisers are coordinating the attacks and helping them to operate artillery, rocket-launcher systems and surveillance drones. It’s all the reason why US Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says Iran’s involvement is a positive thing…

Still, those who destabilised the region for nefarious reasons and ignited the powder keg of sectarianism should take note:

1. Sunni and Shia irregular troops are fighting together to liberate Tikrit, which is a Sunni-dominated town. Repeat, Sunni and Shia volunteer forces are sacrificing their lives to help liberate a Sunni-dominated area. This is not a sectarian battle or proxy warfare to assert hegemony over neighbors. It’s a battle against ISIL and its evil ideology. Else, Iran would have never bothered to take the lead.

2. Under a special political arrangement, good governance is the ensuing strategy. Once the allied forces evict the death cult, a local government will be formed to involve all the inhabitants of the city, regardless of their ethnic, religious and ideological differences. They will control and manage their areas while the army and allied forces continue their next push: Liberation of Mosul. The large-scale progress will not result in sectarianism.

3. For those who claim it is not the military but the political consequences of the fighting that worry them, it suffices to remind that the Iraqi government and parliament comprise of Sunni, Shia and Kurdish politicians and representatives. Subsequently, liberation is not dead on arrival as the central government has begun promoting good governance. The liberated cities and towns will accept rule by a central government. This is not a long shot.

Indeed, the Iraqis have what it takes to liberate their country and enhance democratic governance and human rights, particularly when it comes to promoting Sunni-Shia participation in security, encouraging transparency and accountability, and addressing reform and leadership.

As for those who cannot stand the idea that Iran is now the leader of the anti-ISIL war, the message is this: Iran is now the leader of the anti-ISIL war and there is little Washington can do to influence the course of events.

Iran has become the preeminent strategic player in the region to the increasing disadvantage of the US and its allies. And it is not just Iraq that finds Iran a preferable ally. Syria also finds Iran a preferable ally, which means the liberation of Iraq will be followed by the liberation of Syria.

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931215000915

The TTIP and TPP power grab: handing the corporate thieves the key to your home

The time to stop these two agreements is now. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the other agreement affecting Pacific nations.

President Obama wants fast-track authorization in the U.S., which eliminates normal Congressional oversight, and speeds the authorization.

These agreements are still secret, though portions have been leaked. They signal the end of freedom, and the rule of corporations over virtually everything. Even lawmakers are not permitted to know the content of these agreements.

A group in the U.S. Congress is working to stop fast-track authorization. It will take a loud and active public to stop these agreements in every country.

Go here to access the open letter (also available as PDF in English with all the signatures and in French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Greek, Danish, Italian, Slovenian, Bulgarian and Portuguese) sent to MEPs, and send it to your officials with your letter of support.

From Global Research, March 5, 2015
By Colin Todhunter

Some 375 civil society organisations from across Europe have today called on EU decision-makers to protect citizens, workers, and the environment from threats the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) it poses.  

The call comes as European Parliament committees are discussing a draft resolution on the TTIP negotiations to be voted upon in May. It will not be legally binding on negotiators but will be a significant political signal, as any final TTIP deal would have to pass a vote in the European Parliament.

In an open letter sent to MEPs today, groups from 25 countries – including trade unions, consumer, environmental, and civil rights organizations – warn that TTIP could strengthen the influence of big business and undermine public services, the protection of public health, the environment, food and workers’ rights.

For a TTIP resolution that puts people and the environment before short-term profit and disproportionate corporate rights, the letter calls on all MEPs to agree on a strong resolution that makes clear that the European Parliament will reject any future trade or investment agreements that will not serve the public interest and threaten important rights acquired by ordinary people in long struggles in the EU, US and the rest of the world.

The letter forwards the following key demands:

1) Transparency now: all documents relating to the TTIP negotiations, including draft consolidated texts, must be made public to allow for an open and critical public debate on the TTIP.

2) A democratic process to allow for the scrutiny and assessment of the negotiation texts and which would ensure that policies are in the public interest.

3) No ISDS: any provision containing Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms must be taken permanently out of the negotiations.

4) No regulatory cooperation council: all regulation must be fully in the hands of democratically controlled bodies and processes.

5) No deregulation of standards which safeguard and serve the public interest: EU standards need to be respected and not “harmonised” down to the lowest common denominator.

6) No further deregulation and privatisation of public services.

7) The promotion of humane and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices and protection of small family farming.

8) Public authorities must keep the political power and structures necessary to protect certain sensitive sectors and safeguard standards important to our quality of life. Internationally-agreed labour and environmental standards must be respected and enforced. The continuous violation of labour standards should be addressed by imposing monetary fines.

Go here to access the letter sent to MEPs today and to see the full list of signatories.

A blatant corporate power grab in secret  

Negotiations over the TTIP are happening behind closed doors, without comprehensive and effective public consultation. The lack of transparency makes it impossible for citizens and civil society to monitor the negotiations in order to ensure that public interests are being protected. Business lobby groups are given privileged access to information and opportunities to influence the negotiations.

The proposed investment protection chapter, particularly the inclusion of an Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision, would give investors exclusive rights to sue states when decisions made by public institutions are considered to have negative impacts on their anticipated profits. These mechanisms rely on rulings by tribunals that operate outside the national court systems and thereby undermine national and EU legal systems and existing structures for formulating laws and policies.

The creation of new governance structures and procedures that aim to ‘harmonise regulations’ like the proposed regulatory cooperation council would make the TTIP and other agreements a moving target, constantly developed in secret by unelected bureaucrats and big businesses. These structures threaten to lower important standards and rules designed for the protection of public interests or prohibit future improvements, regardless of necessity and public mandate.

Evidence from business and industry lobbying documents reveals that the focus on non-tariff barriers and regulatory convergence is being used to push for deregulation, further investment guarantees, intellectual property rights’ monopolies and ultimately a race to the bottom.

Pia Eberhardt of lobby-watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory says:

“TTIP is an attempted corporate coup d’etat where big business on both sides of the Atlantic is trying to achieve in secret negotiations what it could not get in open and democratic processes – from watering down food safety standards to rolling back regulations in the financial sector.”

Paul de Clerk of Europe’s largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth Europe says:

 “TTIP is like a Trojan horse. In the end we find out that it results in lower food, environmental, labour standards and the sacrificing of democratic rights for corporate interests. MEPs have to clearly reject the dangerous provisions in TTIP, such as giving corporations vast new powers to sue governments in corporate biased tribunals and regulatory cooperation as the ultimate tool for business lobby groups to stop new regulation.”

More than 1.5 million people in Europe have signed a self-organised European Citizens’ Initiative calling on EU decision-makers to stop the TTIP negotiations and to not ratify the EU-Canada trade deal CETA.

Erich Foglar of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) says:

 “Trade unions will not support trade deals that lead to job losses, increase inequalities and undermine democracy. But the negotiation texts and independent studies we see, show that this is exactly what TTIP is about. What we need is a trade policy which respects democracy, helps generate decent jobs and enhances workers’ rights.”

For a thorough outline of the history of the negotiations concerning the TTIP, see ‘A Brief History of an Agenda for Corporate Plunder’.

If you want your food poisoned even further with like likes of chlorinated chicken, hormone-treated beef, GMOs and even lower thresholds for pesticides, do nothing.

If you want Monsanto or Syngenta determining policies (more than they do already) in secretive meetings in Brussels, do nothing.

If you want Unilever, Kraft or Nestle determining what is allowed in your food, do nothing.

If you want governments to be made even more spineless and compelled to further bend to the threats, demands and power of corporations and unscrupulous speculators, do nothing.

In the UK, do not let the main parties sideline TTIP during the general election campaign.

Be informed and take action:

https://stop-ttip.org/

http://corporateeurope.org/

http://www.foeeurope.org/

http://www.s2bnetwork.org/

https://www.lobbycontrol.de/schwerpunkt/ttip/

http://www.alter-eu.org/

http://www.tradejustice.ca/take-action/

Letter is here;

http://corporateeurope.org/international-trade/2015/03/meps-must-protect-public-eu-us-trade-deal-threat

Website on TPP is here:
http://stoptpp.org/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-ttip-power-grab-handing-the-corporate-thieves-the-key-to-your-home/5434894

 

The CIA secret prisons in Europe — Washington’s “European partners in crime”

The West pontificates about “rule of law”. The question is: whose law?

From Global Research, March 4, 2015
By Nako Minchev

secret prison poland

It is common knowledge that at end-January 2015 the global movement Amnesty International published a report, titled “Breaking the conspiracy of silence: USA’s European “partners in crime” must act after Senate torture report”, which throws further light upon the information gathered within the US Senate investigation into torture methods, applied by the Central Intelligence Agency, by referring to media reports on the way CIA-operated secret detention sites were run in Europe – in particular, on the territory of Lithuania, Poland and Romania. As a matter of fact, it was several years ago when it first became known that CIA tortured terror suspects not only in these countries but also on the territory of another EU Member State – namely, Great Britain. According to the Lawrence Wilkinson, former Chief of Staff to the US Secretary of State, after the terror attack of 11th September 2001 the CIA used the US military base on the island of Diego Garcia, located in the British Indian Ocean Territory, to conduct interrogations and torture terror suspects who had been abducted from various countries without any court order whatsoever.

After the US Senate report got published, the European Parliament adopted a special resolution on 11th February 2015 in which it:

“expresses its deep condemnation of the gruesome interrogation practices that characterized these illegal counterterrorism operations; underlines the fundamental conclusion by the US Senate that the violent methods applied by the CIA failed to generate intelligence that prevented further terrorist attacks; recalls its absolute condemnation of torture”.

The resolution also highlights the fact that:

“the climate of impunity regarding the CIA programme has enabled the continuation of fundamental rights violations, as further revealed by the mass surveillance programmes of the US National Security Agency and secret services of various EU Member States”.

In this context, the US Government is called on:

“to investigate and prosecute the multiple human rights violations resulting from the CIA rendition and secret detention programmes, and to cooperate with all requests from EU Member States for information, extradition or effective remedies for victims in connection with the CIA programme”.

The European Parliament also:

“reiterates its calls on Member States to investigate the allegations that there were secret prisons on their territory where people were held under the CIA programme, and to prosecute those involved in these operations, taking into account all the new evidence that has come to light”.

At the same time it:

“expresses concerns regarding the obstacles encountered by national parliamentary and judicial investigations into some Member States’ involvement in the CIA programme, the abuse of state secrecy, and the undue classification of documents resulting in the termination of criminal proceedings and leading to de facto impunity of perpetrators of human rights violations”.

Furthermore, the resolution “calls for the findings of existing inquiries relating to Member States’ involvement in the CIA programme, in particular the Chilcot inquiry, to be published without further delay”.

Considering the above, we are unpleasantly impressed by the fact that the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) have hitherto failed to demonstrate the due will to discuss the refusal of the governmental authorities in Vilnius, Warsaw and Bucharest to investigate the multiple occasions of human rights violations, ensuing from the agreement of these countries to host the establishment of CIA black sites on their territory. Such an attitude erodes the very foundations of the European Union, weakens the belief of European citizens that their fundamental rights are truly guaranteed, divests the EU of its moral authority and discredits its allegiance to the universal human values.

The US Senate report and the one issued by Amnesty International, unequivocally point out that the above three EU Member States, as well as Great Britain, played a key role in the implementation of this CIA “operation” on the territory of the Old Continent. Without the help of these governments the USA would not have been in the position to detain and torture people for so many years, applying such inhumane methods as waterboarding and mock execution, sleep deprivation, use of coffin-sized confinement boxes or sexual threats.

It is high time that Europe became aware of the fact that the time for paying lip service to the condemnation of these crimes or the attempts at their covering up is over for good. The governments of Lithuania , Poland and Romania can no longer hide behind the unconvincing “national security reasons” and “state secret” arguments, thus refusing to bring to light the entire truth about their role for the torture and abduction of people in their countries. Jozef Pinior, one of the legendary leaders of the Polish “Solidarity” trade union, member of the European Parliament in the period 2004 – 2009 and of the Parliamentary committee on secret CIA prisons in Europe, now a Polish senator, points out:

“The information in the Washington Post about the fact that Polish intelligence services received USD 15 million to “host” a secret CIA prison in the country compromises the entire Polish state which should elucidate this issue as quickly as possible. This unquestionably confirmed the grimmest hypothesis that under Leszek Miller Poland turned into a “banana republic” to the USA . Another deplorable fact is that our national services have contributed in no way whatsoever to the disclosure of this conspiracy. This is an extremely disgraceful situation. The Polish state, the judicial system and the Government should publish the investigation findings as soon as possible. Otherwise we are going to become Europe ’s laughing stock. It turns out that we while we give lessons in democracy to countries like the Ukraine , we take money from the US to allow them to practice illicit torture of people on our territory”.

In its turn the Bulgarian Government should state its official support for the appeal of Amnesty International and the European Parliament and urge the authorities in Vilnius , Bucharest and Warsaw to undertake an immediate and full investigation of this case and to prosecute those involved in the tortures. Let us be reminded that most of the victims of these malpractices are Muslims and in the context of surging anti-Islam mood after the terror attacks in Paris and Copenhagen it becomes even more important to find out the truth about the secret CIA “black sites” in Europe.

 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-cia-secret-prisons-in-europe-political-camouflage-in-the-eu-washingtons-european-partners-in-crime/5434762

Nemtsov wire taps: how to organize Russian Maidan on the phone. Part 1

Posted on Fort Russ

<iframe width=”480″ height=”270″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/ohlxHWfzvBo&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>

Recorded in 2012

Translated on February 28, 2015 by Kristina Rus
Nemtsov’s statements are highlighted in bold
———————————————————————————–
Hello!
Hello! Are you coming at 1 o’clock? 
Of course, I am trying to dry my hair. While I was washing my hair, I got called five times.
Do you dry your hair in front of the computer?
What would you like?
I want to write in your Live Journal, on Facebook, write about the situation with this place, so this scum will stop to… last night they were having fun all night on Twitter, as you know, right?
Yes, I know, today we will get together at Udaltsov, and at 2 o’clock at Ilya Ponomarev and Udaltsov. We will send someone from Solidarnost, for a press conference at the independent press center. Delyagin wrote that the meeting is coordinated between Solidarnost and the Left front
So they stopped squealing already? 
Yes.
Bastards, f%ck. Is the scum Chirikova  still barking?
The scum Chirikova continues to bark along with Limonov.
Limonov I don’t care about at all. Ok, I am suggesting to write a short post in Live Journal. 
 
Can I tell Misha to write that?
 
Where is Misha?
 
He is at the computer
———————————————————————————–

Panyechka!

Borya! Hello dear!

Hi!

Why couldn’t you convince Chirikova, a chick! Jesus!

She is f%cked up, how can I convince her?

Yes she is f$cked up, of course

No, she doesn’t want to hear anything. Do you understand the point? At least do you understand it? 

I read something online…

Those who will come to the Revolution square, for them a passage, a march will be organized to Bolotnaya. They are cretins! They should put up a monument for me instead of Dzerzhinsky on Lubyanka! What?

Continue reading →

Nemtsov wire taps. Russian Maidan. Part 2: “Who does a revolution at the Ritz?”

Posted on Fort Russ
Part 1 can be found here

This recording was made on the eve of Russian opposition protests in 2012

Translated on March 2, 2015 by Kristina Rus

Nemtsov’s statements are in bold

18:00 – 27:00 Nemtsov and Tikhomirova:

<iframe width=”480″ height=”270″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/ohlxHWfzvBo&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>

Hello!

We have a meeting at 3:30 in the lobby of hotel National

Hotel “National” lobby?

There is a cafe

How about, what do you call it … I think Hyatt is closer to me

I think “National” is convenient, because I told them – near the Central Telegraph

Yes, Telegraph on Tverskaya. Ritz, how about Ritz?

No, we don’t want to go to Ritz. Who does a revolution at the Ritz? (laughter)

And who does a revolution at the “National”? (laughter)

Ok, try to talk them into my offer, I can tell you, their offer is simply unacceptable, I will simply be against it, it will turn the event into boring crap.

I understand, again, we don’t have any aggressive desires to steal anything from anyone, we all have a desire to continue this wave.
I am just asking to consider this. Rykhlin is coming, who is categorically against their offer, but I am simply suggesting … I am offering to discuss this calmly

And we need a schedule, we have one hour for the discussion, they need to be constructive,  they are normal smart guys, aren’t they?

They are absolutely constructive, they are relaxed and calm

It’s just that they are euphoric… As always, when people achieve something they get euphoric. 

Of course, of course

But I have been there done that. I know everything about this life, totally everything

Besides they are ready to find money

That’s true, money is important, but do you think whose money was used to organize the rally?

I know whose money was used to organize it

A search for money in this situation is a secondary issue (laughs) No, I am very glad, that they are in the same boat with us, as far as I understand they don’t ahve a problem with me?

Absolutely not, they are absolutely adequate, they are just afraid that it will turn into … because according to their opinion, the speeches of the politicians are boring crap, do you understand?

Nevertheless, the reaction to me was good

The reaction to you was good, but for example the reaction to Nastya Dontsova was not so good,

And Yavlinsky was not so good

And Yavlinsky was not so good, and the communists weren’t so good

Wait, may be it depends on the politician?

May be, may be

Wait, I think, they don’t understand anything. I will fix their brains. Politics is the same profession as journalism

Listen, they will share their impressions, and what is written and said in Facebook about the results of the meeting, they will tell you all of this, this is important, so you know about it

Ok, is it very negative about the politicians?

No, anyway the best performance was Akunin

Ok, what did he say, I left…

You left, I will let you listen to it

What did he say?

He said that we should make up a committee of 15 people, which would present demands to the Kremlin about what we want to do, and how concretely

Ok, so it turned into our demands, what else? 

Akunin was excellent, besides he now wants to participate in everything

Akunin is a smart dude, of course he was good. I don’t want to see writers in the organizing committee, because its a destructive element

This is not the organizing committee for the rally, it’s a different committee

He can participate in a different one

Anyway, Rykhlin is coming too at 3:30, on your side

Can you tell me the participants

Tikhon, Ilya Krasilshyk

Parkhom?

Parkhom is not around, he is in Piter. Rykhlin, you and I

Ok, I like that. Do they have clout with Parkhom or is he going to say, go f%ck yourself? 

Yes, they have clout with Parkhom, besides Rykhlin has clout with Parkhom, because they are friends

I know that, Parkhom is my friend too

Ok, are they internet moderators?

Yes, they are moderators. Besides, look, Ilya Krasilshik has absolutely apolitical readers, him and his magazine, however the rally became the main topic of everything.

Ok

The magazine “Big City”, Phillip Didko, Tikhon’s brother… the same thing

Is Phillip going to be there? 

No, Phillip will not be there, Tikhon will be there

Tikhon is a good guy

Tikhon is great

What is Tikhon in charge of, what does he do?

First of all they invite everyone, second of all, they look like an absolutely neutral side from the perspective of any politician.

I understand, Olya

They decide everything together, there is a group: Ilya, Tikhon, Kashin, Phillip

Is Kashin with them?

 Kashin is with them

Excellent, I like that, ok

But there will be two, with whom we actively worked, Tikhon and Ilya, Philip

And their idol is Navalny, as far as I understand?

No, only Kashin

What about Tikhon and Ilya?

Absolutely no idols

So they have no political goal to endorse anyone?

No

That’s not good, by the way, do you know why?

Why?

It’s a loss of horizons. Again, not bad for us, but in general

I understand

Let me explain, they represent the internet crowd, which …

Yes, which turns out to be very numerous….

Yes it’s very numerous, but is an absolutely amorphous mass. What they f$cken tell them, they will go there. 

 Hmmm…

It’s a crowd … Yes, yes, yes… It is very inert, it is very vulnerable to different conferences … to consolidate it you need a will. Such will has Navalny, listen, who is a specialist in manipulating internet crowds, and politicians, who don’t cause a very strong rejection, like myself

You should talk to them about this Internet crowd, about who these people are, I think we don’t understand them somewhat, because we live in the different world, talk to them…

Don’t overestimate it

I am not overestimating, I don’t know, I don’t have an answer to that question, I don’t know

Ok, fine

Ok, 3:30 National cafe, bye
———————————————————————————–

Check back soon for Part 3 …

Ukraine’s iron and steel production fall sharply

Posted on Fort Russ

3/3/2015

Ukraine’s steel production falls by 29%

Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

Ukrainian steel mills reduced their output of steel in January and February of 2015 by 19% in comparison with January and February of 2014, to 3,462 million tons.

The overall production of rolled iron dropped by 30% , to 3,058 million tons, and cast iron fell by 31%, to 3,153 million tons.

Pipe output fell by 36%, and coke output by 42%.

The decline is continuing. While in January Ukraine produced 1,874 million tons of steel, in February that figure was only 1,588 million tons. In January produced 78 thousand tons of pipe, but in February only 51 thousand tons. For cast iron the figures for January and February are 1,720 million tons and 1,433 million tons.

Idle plants include the Yenakievo mill and its associated Makeevka plant, the Alchevsk mill, the Donetsk Electro-Metallurgical Plant, and the Donetsk Metal Rolling Plant.

J.Hawk’s Comment: Let’s not forget this was Ukraine’s big source of foreign currency, and one of the bright spots in an otherwise fairly dismal economy. That that bright spot is fading very, very rapidly. The January-February collapse is particularly startling. Ukraine’s problems with coal supply no doubt has had an impact on steel production as well, and may account for the rapid fall in production during the first two months of the year.

 

http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/03/ukraines-iron-and-steel-production-fall.html