The California Legislature honored the California National Guard with Resolution 45, July 8, 2014 —

“I am honored to author a resolution that highlights how the California National Guard is helping partner nations reinforce military respect for civilian control, rule of law and create stable regions,” said Assemblymember Matt Dababneh, author of the resolution. “This partnership with Ukraine, which has been in place for more than 20 years, is a true testament to the professionalism and dedication of the California National Guard, its 22,900 soldiers and airmen currently in uniform, and the expertise they offer military personnel abroad. ”

Joining Dababneh on the floor were Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, Deputy Adjutant General for the CNG; Igor Pasternak, CEO of Aeroscraft and a leader in California’s Ukrainian-American community; and Oleksandr Savostianov, Consul for the Consulate General of Ukraine.

“We are grateful to the State Legislature and the global Ukrainian community for supporting this vital program,” said Beevers. “Our exchange not only strengthens the security and democratic institutions of both nations, but also benefits our armed forces through the sharing of best practices.” [i]

Huffington Post, 8-1-14

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) – The Obama administration has notified Congress of its plans to train and arm the Ukrainian national guard next year, the Pentagon said on Friday, as Washington continues to intensify its response to Moscow’s support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

“The Defense Department and State Department have notified Congress of our intent to use $19 million in global security contingency fund authority to train and equip four companies and one tactical headquarters of the Ukrainian national guard as part of their efforts to build their capacity for internal defense,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.

The training, which requires congressional approval, would occur at a location within Ukraine that hosts multilateral exercises, Kirby said. The trainers would be provided by U.S. Army Europe and by the California National Guard, he added.

While Kirby did not link the training to the West’s deepening standoff with Russia over Ukraine. The announcement comes as the United States and other Western nations seek to tighten pressure on Moscow after the July 17 downing of a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held territory in Ukraine by what Western nations say was a Russia-supplied missile.

Earlier on Friday, President Barack Obama urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine and to seek a diplomatic end to the crisis. . Washington and European nations announced new sanctions against Russia earlier this week.

While the United States has repeatedly slammed Russia’s troop buildup along the border with Ukraine and its support for the rebels, the Obama administration has limited military assistance to non lethal aid such as medical supplies and helmets.

Also on Friday, the United States pledged about $8 million in new aid to bolster the Ukrainian border guard service.

(Reporting By Missy Ryan. Editing by Andre Grenon)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/01/us-ukraine-train-arm_n_5643192.html
U.S. Plans To Train, Arm Ukraine National Guard In 2015

[i] http://www.calguard.ca.gov/PA/Pages/Assembly-Resolution-Recognizes-national-Guard-Ukraine-Partnership.aspx

Eric Zuesse, Global Research, August 19, 2014  

A report on August 15th from Russian Television alleged that the Ukrainian government that the U.S. installed in February of this year was resorting to internationally banned white phosphorous firebombs in order to help destroy the million people who lived in the now Ukrainian separatist capital of Donetsk. It lands super-hot and starts fires and burns to death almost anyone it touches.

The Ukrainian separatists are the residents in Ukraine’s southeast, where Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian President, was elected overwhelmingly by the votes of the people in this region in 2010. They reject the government that Obama installed, and are therefore seeking independence from it. They reject that government not so much because Obama is forcing it on them, as because that government is trying to exterminate them.

Here is the original televised news report on the alleged August 14th firebombing of the Leninsky District in Donetsk:

And here is a raw video of this August 14th firebombing, taken from the distance:

A separate local Donetsk video of it is here:

That video opens with this picture, but doesn’t say whether the fire shown in it resulted from the apparent firebombing:

And here is alleged to be a picture of the resulting burnt rubble.

Since this type of thing has been going on for months, there has been a mass-evacuation of the area by the families, leaving only their fathers who are the resistance fighters, and when an OSCE official from the western “democracies” came to visit the former residents, at refugee camps in Russia, these refugees were asking why only Russia is offering them any help.

Meanwhile, Russia opens more refugee camps, and the West blocks Russia from sending aid into the Ukrainian cities that are being bombed: food, water, and medicines.

But then, a news report on August 16th from eturbonews was headlined “Alleged War Crime: White Phosphorus Used in Residential Areas of Donetsk?” and it reported why there had not been immediate news-reporting of the results of this firebombing, if it had indeed occurred:

“According to eTN sources in Donetsk, WP bombs landed in residential areas in Donetsk at the Lenin district of Donetsk city, Petrovski district of Donetsk city and near the railway station Mandrykino. … The situation in Luhansk without electricity, water and food can be compared with activities used when committing genocide. Ukrainian forces isolated [the] East Ukrainian city and are not allowing water, food and medicine through after destroying electricity and communication services. According to an eyewitness statement Ukrainian army check points let travelers drive to the Eastern Ukraine, but no one is able to leave the Eastern part of the country. It’s like a big prison with hundred[s of] thousands of people and without food, water and electricity. … Scenes of devastation are emerging from across the city, with many buildings burned out or riddled with shell-holes. A large number of private homes in Donetsk have been burned down as firefighters fail to extinguish fires caused by shelling.” So, their source confirmed it.

A report had, indeed, been uploaded on August 14th, the very night of the attack, indicating that “the Lenin district of Donetsk” was among the specific areas firebombed, and it’s the second one shown above:

So: the Ukrainian regime that the U.S. installed has simply been blocking off any ability of official ‘news’ media into Donetsk to report on the massacre. In other words: anyone who is still waiting for ‘news’ media to tell them about this firebombing will be waiting until everyone is dead and no one even cares, because it’ll then no longer be even ‘news’ at all — by then it’ll be only history. But that’s what it indeed will be.

And so will the people who had lived in Donetsk, just history, like the people who lived in Hiroshima, or in Dresden, or who were bombed to death by Germany’s Nazis in London, etc. Of course, the determinant of whether the victims here will be viewed sympathetically by history will be which side ultimately writes the history books on this war. But did the residents of Dresden and Hiroshima have any guilt that justified their being destroyed in this way? Perhaps one might say that most of them were either fascists or nazis and supported such barbarians, who would do such things.

However, one can’t even assert that here, because these victims in southeast Ukraine were instead trying to protect themselves from Ukraine’s nazis, who are our people in Ukraine. It’s “our side” that are the barbarians, the nazis, here. The victims are trying to protect themselves from us — from the people that the U.S. installed into power.

Are we guilty? If we support this government, we certainly are. Those of us who support it are the guilty ones here; those are the people who willingly share in Obama’s clear guilt on this matter (Obama being the person who appointed the persons, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, who appointed the person, Victoria Nuland, who appointed the person, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who appointed the new Ukrainian Defense Minister, Mikhail Koval, who designed this ethnic-cleansing program and who even announced it to the public. And anyone in the U.S. House of Representatives who fails to introduce an impeachment resolution against Obama for his nazism in this regard is certainly guilty, along with Obama. If Obama isn’t even impeached and removed from office for bringing about and endorsing the perpetrators of this and other such atrocities in Ukraine, as he has done, then Americans have no reason to expect ultimately to be treated any better by the nazis that we then allow to remain in power  over us Americans. Nazism is profoundly un-American.

Any member of the U.S. House of Representatives who opposes impeaching Obama over this should certainly be removed by his or her voters this fall. That’s crystal clear, because Obama is the first-ever U.S. President to install a nazi regime anywhere in the world. He is veritably spitting not only onto the graves of all U.S. soldiers who died fighting nazis in World War II; he is even spitting onto the graves of America’s Founders, who would be shocked and appalled that between America’s greatness in WW II and today, America has descended so, from heaven, into hell.

What we do now will determine whether that’s where we will stay and where we belong. Because any country that continues to back this, belongs in hell. That’s for sure.

As to why Obama is doing that, I have written many articles about that, such as here and here. And that produces this, which produces this.

As they used to say: “Never again.” But this time, it’s up to us, not up to Germans or anybody else. It’s up to us, alone, to stop doing this.

On which side of this will the American people be? America’s heroic Founders, and our heroic soldiers who were killed in WWII, ask us this question from the beyond. Are we on this side, or on Obama’s? Each American, and especially each member of the U.S. House of Representatives, must ask and answer  that question.

These are extraordinary times, if for no other reason that this is the first U.S. President who has ever been (despite his deceptively liberal rhetoric) a nazi in the White House. No other one has ever done this.

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of  They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010,  and of  CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-atrocities-the-illegal-use-of-white-phosphorous-fire-bombs-against-the-donetsk-civilians/5396497

Ukraine Atrocities: The Illegal Use of White Phosphorous Fire Bombs Against Donetsk Civilians, Global Research, August 19, 2014

Paul Craig Roberts, August 29, 2014

The latest Washington lie, this one coming from NATO, is that Russia has invaded Ukraine with 1,000 troops and self-propelled artillery.  

How do we know that this is a lie?  Is it because we have heard nothing but lies about Russia from NATO, from US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, from assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland, from Obama and his entire regime of pathological liars, and from the British, German, and French governments along with the BBC and the entirety of the Western media?

This, of course, is a good reason for knowing that the latest Western propaganda is a lie.  Those who are pathological liars don’t suddenly start telling the truth.

 But there are even better rasons for understanding that Russia has not invaded Ukraine with 1,000 troops.

One reason is that Putin has invested heavily in diplomacy backed by unprovocative behavior.  He would not risk his bet on diplomacy by sending in troops too few in number to have a decisive effect on the outcome.

Another reason is that if Putin decides he has no alternative to sending the Russian military to protect the Russian residents in eastern and southern Ukraine, Putin will send in enough troops to do the job quickly as he did in Georgia when the American and Israeli trained Georgian army invaded South Ossetia and was destroyed in a few hours by the Russian response.  If you hear that 100,000 Russian troops accompanied by air cover have invaded Ukraine, it would be a more believable claim.

A third reason is that the Russian military does not need to send troops into Ukraine in order to stop the bombing and artillery shelling of the Russian populations by Washington’s puppet government in Kiev.  The Russian air force can easily and quickly destroy the Ukrainian air force and artillery and, thereby, stop the Ukrainian attack on the secessionist provinces.

 It was only two weeks ago that a fabricated report spread by the UK Guardian and the BBC that a Russian armored convoy entered Ukraine and was destroyed by the Ukrainian Military. And two weeks prior to that we had the hoax of the satellite images allegedly released by the US State Department that the corrupt US ambassador in Kiev spread around the world on social media allegedly showing that Russian forces were firing into Ukraine. One or two weeks from now we will have another lie, and another a week or two after that, and so on.

The cumulative effect of lie piled upon lie for most people is to build the view that the Russians are up to no good.  Once this view is established, Western governments can take more serious moves against Russia.

The alleged entry of 1,000 Russian soldiers into Ukraine has been declared by NATO Brigadier General Niko Tak to be a “significant escalation in Russia’s military interference in Ukraine.”  The champion liar Samantha Power told the US Security Council that “Russia has to stop lying.” The UK ambassador to the UN said that Russia was guilty of “a clear violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory.” UK prime minister Cameron warned Russia of “further consequences.”  German chancellor Merkel announced that there would be more sanctions. A German Security Council advisor declared that “war with Russia is an option.” Polish foreign minister Sikorski called it Russian aggression that required international action. French president Hollande declared Russia’s behavior to be “intolerable.”  Ukraine’s security council imposed mandatory conscription.

 This suicidal drive toward war with Russia by Europe’s leaders is based entirely on a transparent lie that 1,000 Russian troops crossed into Ukraine

 Of course the Western media followed in lock-step. The BBC, CNN, and Die Welt are among the most reckless and irresponsible.

 The mountain of lies piled up by Western governments and media has obscured the true story.  The US government orchestrated the overthrow of the elected government in Ukraine and imposed a US puppet in Kiev.  Washington’s puppet government began issuing threats and committing violent acts against the Russian populations in the former Russian territories that Soviet leaders attached to Ukraine.  The Russian people in eastern and southern Ukraine resisted the threat brought to them by Washington’s puppet government in Kiev.

 Washington continually accuses the Russian government of supporting the people in the territories who have voted their separation from Ukraine.  There would be no war, Washington alleges, except for Russian support.  But, of course, Washington could easily stop the violence by ordering its puppet government in Kiev to stop the bombing and shelling of the former Russian provinces.  If Russia can tell the “separatists” not to fight, Washington can tell Kiev not to fight.

The only possible conclusion from the facts is that Washington is determined to involve Europe in a war with Russia or at least in an armed standoff in order to break up Europe’s political and economic relations with Russia.

Europe’s leaders are going along with this because European countries, except for Charles de Gaulle’s France, have not had independent foreign policies since the end of World War II. They follow Washington’s lead and are well paid for doing so.

The inability of Europe to produce independent leadership dooms Russian President Putin’s diplomacy to failure.  If European capitals cannot make decisions independently of Washington, there is no scope for Putin’s diplomacy.

Notice that the very day after Putin met with Washington’s Ukrainian vassal in an effort to resolve the situation, the new lie of Russian invasion was issued in order to ensure that no good can come of the meeting in which Putin invested his time and energy.

Washington’s only interest is in hegemony.  Washington has no interest in resolving the situation that Washington itself created in order to bring discomfort and confusion to Russia.  With the caveat that the situation could be resolved by Ukrainian economic collapse, otherwise the longer Putin waits to resolve the situation by force, the more difficult the task will be.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/08/28/washington-piles-lie-upon-lie-paul-craig-roberts/

Reprinted in:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/washington-piles-lie-upon-lie-accuses-russia-of-having-invaded-ukraine/5398142

Do you support Nazis?

I don’t !

Fax this letter to your federal elected officials.

Fax this letter to state and local officials.

Fax this letter to the news media.

Tell the US government and news media:

• Stop lying about Russia and the Ukrainian situation.
• Stop the “Russian Aggression Prevention Act” (RAPA) which authorizes military support and $100 million in weapons.
• Stop the NATO summit in Wales Sept. 4-5.
• Stop the US-NATO FLEETEX exercises in Atlantic.
• Stop US troops going to Ukraine.
• Fire NATO’s Europe Commander General Philip Breedlove.

There is also room for you to write your comments.

Sign and fax this letter to national, state, and local officials, and your news media today.

It’s up to us to stop lies, bloodshed, and atrocities.

Take action today!

Former CIA analyst and Army officer Ray McGovern worked in intelligence for 30 years.  He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

Russia’s Humanitarian ‘Invasion’

By Ray McGovern
August 23, 2014
consortiumnews.com

Official Washington’s war-hysteria machine is running at full speed again after Russia unilaterally dispatched a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies to the blockaded Ukrainian city of Luhansk, writes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

Excerpts:

Before dawn broke in Washington on Saturday, “Ukrainian pro-Russian separatists” – more accurately described as federalists of southeast Ukraine who oppose last February’s coup in Kiev – unloaded desperately needed provisions from some 280 Russian trucks in Lugansk, Ukraine. The West accused those trucks of “invading” Ukraine on Friday, but it was a record short invasion; after delivering their loads of humanitarian supplies, many of the trucks promptly returned to Russia.

I happen to know what a Russian invasion looks like, and this isn’t it.

…

Despite the fury expressed by U.S. and NATO officials about Russia’s unilateral delivery of the supplies after weeks of frustrating negotiations with Ukrainian authorities, there was clearly a humanitarian need. An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team that visited Luhansk on Aug. 21 to make arrangements for the delivery of aid found water and electricity supplies cut off because of damage to essential infrastructure.

The Ukrainian army has been directing artillery fire into the city in an effort to dislodge the ethnic Russian federalists, many of whom had supported elected President Viktor Yanukovych who was ousted in the Feb. 22 coup.

The Red Cross team reported that people in Luhansk do not leave their homes for fear of being caught in the middle of ongoing fighting, with intermittent shelling into residential areas placing civilians at risk. Laurent Corbaz, ICRC head of operations for Europe and Central Asia, reported “an urgent need for essentials like food and medical supplies.”

The ICRC stated that it had “taken all necessary administrative and preparatory steps for the passage of the Russian convoy,” and that, “pending customs checks,” the organization was “therefore ready to deliver the aid to Luhansk … provided assurances of safe passage are respected.”

The “safe passage” requirement, however, was the Catch-22. The Kiev regime and its Western supporters have resisted a ceasefire or a political settlement until the federalists – deemed “terrorists” by Kiev – lay down their arms and surrender.

Accusing the West of repeatedly blocking a “humanitarian armistice,” a Russian Foreign Ministry statement cited both Kiev’s obstructionist diplomacy and “much more intensive bombardment of Luhansk” on Aug. 21, the day after some progress had been made on the ground regarding customs clearance and border control procedures: “In other words, the Ukrainian authorities are bombing the destination [Luhansk] and are using this as a pretext to stop the delivery of humanitarian relief aid.”

…

The coup regime in Kiev knows which side its bread is buttered on, so to speak, and can be expected to heed the advice from the U.S. and the EU if it is expressed forcefully and clearly. Not so the fanatics of the extreme right party Svoboda and the armed “militia” comprised of the Right Sector. Moreover, there are influential neo-fascist officials in key Kiev ministries who dream of cleansing eastern Ukraine of as many ethnic Russians as possible.

Thus, the potential for serious mischief and escalation has grown considerably. Even if Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wants to restrain his hardliners, he may be hard-pressed to do so. Thus, the U.S. government could be put in the unenviable position of being blamed for provocations – even military attacks on unarmed Russian truck drivers – over which it has little or no control.

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/08/23/russias-humanitarian-invasion/

Reprinted in

http://www.globalresearch.ca/russias-humanitarian-invasion/5397391

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington.  As an Army officer and CIA analyst, he worked in intelligence for 30 years.  He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).