'http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?s=8beec292db27eb9d6d3d8816574ecc0d&p=153082#post153082'> SmallWars Journal discussion on the fire, Tartars and Crimea
More army movements have been spotted, this time in Tatarstan, Russia. This video was shot on 03-03-2014, on a road in Tatarstan. Also, in response to this posted video another poster (commenter) added: And just fifteen minutes ago, there was a train full of tanks headed to Moscow.
A Mayer Brown [Chicago law firm] spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The Times report quoted Mayer Brown lawyer Duane Layton, who was involved in the trade talks, as saying that he did not have any evidence that he or his firm had been under scrutiny by Australian or U.S. intelligence agencies.
"I always wonder if someone is listening, because you would have to be an idiot not to wonder in this day and age," he told the Times. "But I've never really thought I was being spied on."
Commenting on the report, Kent Zimmermann, a consultant at law firm consulting firm Zeughauser Group, told Reuters:
"It was only a matter of time before this happened to a U.S. law firm and was publicly reported ... There is a widely held perception that U.S. law firms are the soft underbelly of corporate America when it comes to vulnerability of spying and hacking."
#3
Is this the same Indonesian government, as we mentioned earlier, hauling off young Papuan children to be converted to Islam so they could be preacher/beggars in the street?
[An Nahar] A student was killed in protests in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott in the early hours of Monday, a hospital source said, as hundreds erupted into the streets to protest against an alleged desecration of the Koran. Oh, noze upon noze! Are we at it again?
The man, a literature student at the University of Nouakchott, according to the source, pegged out as police struggled to contain demonstrators demanding the arrest of a group they accused of seizing copies of the text from a mosque. Zionist agents, no doubt. I'd recognize their spoor anywhere!
A local government source confirmed the death "Ayep! Deader than a rock!"
but said the circumstances and cause were yet to be clarified. "The scent doesn't seem to lead to Tel Aviv!"
Hundreds of protesters had gathered to march on the presidential palace and were shouting slogans including "holy shit! Allahu akbar" -- Arabic for "God is greatest" -- and "orf wid dere heads! death to the criminal desecrators" when they were dispersed by police using tear gas, an Agence La Belle France Presse news hound witnessed. "You may gas when ready, Mahmoud!"
[POP! FIZZ! GASP!]
The violence began after four people dressed in turbans were reported to have driven to a mosque in the north of Nouakchott and taken copies of the Koran to destroy. Wait a minnit! Zionists don't wear turbans!
One of them "took four copies of the Koran which he shredded before throwing them in the toilet," the local imam told AFP. "Dis is what I think about your Koran! Mine's way holier!"
Several sources told AFP there had been a number of arrests "Drop the Koran and step away witcher hands up!"
and people maimed, without being able to give figures. "Owwww! My tibia!"
"Whoa! That's gotta hurt! I shin boned myself once and..."
"Shuddup! Call an ambulance!"
The protests spread to smaller settlements across the west African nation including the towns of Kiffa and Aioun, local media reported. "What're we protesting about?"
"I dunno. Zionists, likely. Grab a sign and holler!"
The Koran, the holy book of Islam, is treated with great reverence by Moslems and its desecration can cause grave offense in deeply-conservative Mauritania. The country operates sharia law courts but the death penalty has not been applied for blasphemy since the 1980s. That's why the guys with the turbans think they can get away with that sort of thing.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Reminds me of an Episcopal Prayer Book riot.
Of course that was a long time ago. Things were different then.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's prosecutor-general has released Abdullah Mohamed Morsi, the son of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, a day after he was arrested for alleged possession of hashish. Morsi and his friend, Mohamed Emad El-Shamy, were arrested on Saturday afternoon at a security checkpoint in the Nile Delta's Obour City, Qalyubia governorate, where officials say they found two joints of hashish in their car.
Both men were released pending investigation after they agreed to give blood and urine samples for a drug test, a top prosecutor said. The results are due on Monday, state news agency MENA reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
drug teat:
*cough* yeah. It's the good shit *cough*
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2014 21:28 Comments ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Family members of journalist Shah Alam Sarkar, who worked at local magazines, yesterday alleged that he had been killed by officials of Uttara west cop shoppe for publishing a news report on corruption by an influential person.
They also brushed aside the police's claim that Shah Alam had died on Sunday evening falling from the rooftop of the cop shoppe as he wanted to flee from the police custody.
"Shah Alam had no cases against him, so why would he want to escape? This is nothing but a pre-planned killing of police," the victim's elder brother Kamal Mollah said yesterday. Shah Alam, 36, used to work at little-known local magazines and newspapers named "Aparadh Daman," "Asia Barta" and "PhotoJatra."
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune at Dhaka Medical College morgue, Kamal said police were involved in killing his brother "as when we went to the cop shoppe for filing a case, they not only rejected to take our complaint but also forced us to leave the station."
Shah Alam published a corruption report against Uttara Trust College Principal Bashir Uddin Ahmed recently. Following this, police called him at the station and killed him after torture, Kamal said.
Contacted, Nisarul Arif, deputy commissioner of police (Uttara division), told the Dhaka Tribune that following the report, Principal Bashir filed a general diary with the cop shoppe. The investigation officer of the GD called both of them at the cop shoppe on Sunday for enquiry.
When the IO started interrogating both of them, Shah Alam suspected that he might be incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! . He ran to the rooftop of the building and tried to get down using a pipe. But he fell down and was struck down in his prime, said Nisarul.
On the other hand, the first information report (FIR) of police mentioned that Shah Alam died falling from the sunshade of the building's seventh floor as he tried to escape from the cop shoppe using the space created for air condition.
Kamal also said there were marks of injury on the victim's knees and hands "which clearly means that he was tortured by the police."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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The U.S and major allies strained on Monday to rally a strong Western front to persuade Russia to step back from a military takeover of Ukraine's strategic Crimea region. But several acknowledged there are few options beyond already-threatened economic and diplomatic penalties, and critics said Obama administration efforts were too little, too late after years of pressing for friendlier relations with Moscow. Here's a good one: Expose Russian Oligarchs' holdings in Western banks.
President Barack Obama called the Russian advance in Crimea a violation of international law. He urged Congress to approve an aid package for the Ukrainian government, and repeated earlier threats that the U.S. would take steps to hurt Russia's economy and isolate it diplomatically if President Vladimir Putin does not back down.
The Pentagon announced late Monday it was suspending engagements with the Russian military, and a senior U.S. official said the U.S. would not move forward with meetings designed to deepen the trade relationship between the two countries. Lacking authorization to speak publicly about the trade meetings, the official requested anonymity.
Obama met Monday evening with his national security team, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, to discuss Ukraine. Hours later, Kerry was to leave for Kiev to reinforce U.S. support for the new Ukrainian government that only weeks ago ousted its pro-Russian president.
But French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Russia's control of Crimea would not be easy to reverse. And the suggestions he offered sending in observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation, questioning Russia's membership in the Group of Eight economic organization and holding out for a diplomatic dialogue proposed by Germany were an indication of how limited the options were for the U.S. and Europe.
Still, alternately threatening and cajoling Putin, Western leaders pointed to the damage that his nation's natural gas, uranium and coal industries could suffer if sanctions cut off exports to the European Union, its largest customer.
Britain's prime minister warned of diplomatic, political, economic "and other pressures" that could be brought against Moscow. And the European Union's foreign ministers issued a Thursday deadline for Putin to pull back his troops or face a rejection of visa-liberalization and economic cooperation negotiations that have long been in the works.
"I think the situation is relatively clear, you need to see a return to barracks," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in Brussels, where ministers also froze preparations for the G-8 summit of major economies that is set for June in Sochi, Russia.
In Washington, Obama declared, "The strong condemnation that has proceeded from countries around the world indicates the degree to which Russia is on the wrong side of history."
"So there are really two paths that Russia can take at this point," Obama said. "Over time, this will be a costly proposition for Russia, and now is the time for them to consider whether they can serve their interests in a way that resorts to diplomacy as opposed to force."
The White House said Obama met for more than two hours Monday night with the National Security Council and the other cabinet members, discussing what steps the United States can take with international partners to further isolate Russia and persuade them to de-escalate the situation.
The Defense Department announced late Monday it was suspending military-to-military engagements with Russia, including exercises, bilateral meetings, port visits and conferences. But the West stopped far short of suggesting that its own military force might be used to push Putin's troops out of Crimea even as Ukrainian officials reported that four Russian navy ships in Sevastopol's harbor had blocked two vessels controlled by Kiev.
Russia, too, tried to steer the world debate.
At a U.N. session in Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine should return to a Feb. 21 agreement that sought to end months of unrest in Kiev by addressing an array of issues at the heart of the dispute between protesters and the government of then-President Viktor Yanukovych. However, that agreement did not address the grievances that caused the protests, and the pro-Russian Yanukovych fled Kiev for protective sanctuary near Moscow within days of signing it.
"Instead of a promised national unity government," Lavrov said, "a 'government of the victors' has been created."
U.S. officials say the Feb. 21 agreement could form the basis for a political resolution to the crisis but would have to be significantly altered.
Both Kerry and Lavrov are to attend meetings in Paris on Wednesday about refugee spillover in Lebanon from the other war on a NATO border the three-year bloody conflict in Syria. It is likely they will discuss the crisis in Ukraine.
Obama for years tried to cultivate Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the former president, as a friend of the United States. Significant changes were made to Bush administration plans for a European missile defense to try to ease Russian concerns, and a new arms control treaty was signed, as part of Washington's hopes to "reset" U.S.-Russia relations.
"When you implement a policy of appeasement toward Moscow, that policy is going to spectacularly backfire," said scholar Nile Gardiner of the conservative Heritage Foundation. "We've seen that with regards to Crimea and Ukraine."
American Enterprise Institute security expert Gary Schmitt outlined a number of steps that he said the West should embrace to pressure Putin. Among them, he said, is the buildup of NATO forces in neighboring nations to make clear to Russia that there is a line it cannot cross in Europe. He also said Navy ships and assets should be moved to the Mediterranean Sea, and possibly the Black Sea, "to remind Russia there is a military cost for its activities."
He noted that Russia paid little for invading Georgia in 2008.
Just keep in mind the currents of history where a country seeks to reestablish it's 'greatness' usually leads in the end to a lot of pain and suffering for all.
Moreover, he doesn't need to. Who's going to stop him?
There is nothing we can do at this point to persuade the Russians to "reverse course" on the Crimea. It's theirs, they just took it. The Euros need Russian natural gas, and the Russians have too many ways of causing trouble for the U.S., for us to stand up to this.
Indeed, if Russia were to take all of eastern Ukraine there's precious little we could do to stop them.
Long term: we could improve our independent energy production, export LNG to Europe, get Europe to fracking on their own continent, help Israel and Cyprus export NG to Europe, and persuade the Euros to reverse the decline in their military capacity (and reverse the decline in our own). Then we could make Russian oligarchs uncomfortable, track Russian funny money in the west, and counter Russian propaganda.
All that presumes that we have the will to stand up to the Russians, something our current administration does not have.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2014 11:39 Comments ||
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#5
Long term: we could improve our independent energy production, export LNG to Europe, get Europe to fracking on their own continent, help Israel and Cyprus export NG to Europe, and persuade the Euros to reverse the decline in their military capacity (and reverse the decline in our own). Then we could make Russian oligarchs uncomfortable, track Russian funny money in the west, and counter Russian propaganda.
And that Zero does none of that (or the other things I mentioned this weekend) shows which side he's really on.
#6
Somebody is behind Obama and always has been: Who? Is he part of a communist 'long game?' The facts are more consistent than other explanations. If so, Ukraine could even be an arranged venture.
#7
Putin won't back down over the Crimea and can't back down because it represents a major strategic interest for Russia. They would go to war over this. Serious shooting war, way beyond that holiday in Georgia thing.
They would *like* to have a friendly regime on their doorstep (eastern Ukraine), especially if they can get it with threats alone - chess is all about maneuver and threats. Personally, I think Ukraine will end up in two parts ala Czechoslovakia, with the Crimea under Russian control in whatever form that takes.
#8
As for Obama, I don't think he really gives a rat's ass about the international scene. Sure, it's a nice opportunity to give serious speeches and moralize, but for him, it's all about grabbing and holding power here at home. And vacations. The man does love his perks.
#9
Champ uses any international crisis to help 'run out the clock' and provide a diversion from the sordid events of his failed presidency. Otherwise, I'm with you SteveS.
#10
All will be sweet in the short term. The Russ have thrown up a demobilization scheme. All will quieten in the Crimea proper, then it's just a matter of waiting a year or 2 for the unhappy Russian majority in the East to explode in a nationalistic outrage that must not be stopped. Then the Tartars and Ukrainians move to the rump state and the board is cleared for the next round.
#12
Again, wid Germany now as Russia's strategic ally + BFF, IMO Putin's focii are the Muslim powers across the pond, i.e. Islamist-pressured Turkey [Neo-Ottoman?] + Bammer, Globalist-desired future OWG Global Co-Superpower Rising Iran.
Iff post-1991 Russia wanted to keep the Ukraine including the Crimea, it would never had allowed the Ukraine to become independent - AFAIK, as per the MSM-Net, Putin semingly wants a sovereign Ukraine to become part of his proposed Eurasian Union or Customs Union, not to return to Mama Russia as another $$$-costly SSR/RFR.
IMO Putin's best bet is to convert + lease the Crimea into Russia's version of Guantanamo Bay US Base in Cuba, where Russia-n-only-Russia has sovereignty on the Crimean Milbases despite being in official "leasehold", + Russia-n-only-Russia decides when to vacate the bases in some future time. All land outside the Russian Milbases are sovereign Ukrainian territory.
In return, Ukraine on its part will be allowed to base NATO forces on its soil wid Russia's assent.
Wid Radical Islam's soon-to-be-nuclear Hard Boyz/Jihadis planing andor beginning to penetrate into Europe, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR WESTERN JUDEOCHRISTIANITY TO FORM A PREEMPTIVE, MULTI-BLOC/ OWG GLOBAL FED UNION SECURITY ALLIANCE AGZ THE COMING [Nuclear = Nuke-WMD] EURO-JIHAD, + ENTRENCH ITSELF FIRMLY + POTENTLY.
Before its too late, before traditional inter-Christian competition + geopol rivalry lends itself once again to unified, Jihadi-led Euro, Global Muslim conquest, save this time wid Nukulaar = Nuke-WMD goodness.
ITS NOTSOMUCH WHAT PUTIN DOES PARTICULARLY THAT MATTERS, BUT THE COUNTER-RESPONSE FROM THE US-WEST.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Turner Radio Network] US AIRCRAFT BATTLE GROUP NEARS BLACK SEA.
USS George W. Bush CVN CBG + 3 Missle Subs + Other.
* JAPAN TIMES > US PREPARES US$1.0BILYUHN AID TO UKRAINE [Energy], PUTIN RESERVES RIGHT TO USE FORCE.
versus
* WORLD NEWS > RUSSIA SAYS WILL BUILD BRIDGE TO UKRAINE'S CRIMEA.
* RUSSIA TODAY > RUSSIA ALLOWED [by Treaty] TO HAVE [up to] 25,000 TROOPS IN CRIMEA, + OTHER FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW.
RELATED BHARAT RAKSHAK > BRITISH FM HAGUE SAYS RUSSIA ENTITLED TO HAVE TROPS AND NAVAL FORCES AT ITS BASES IN CRIMEA.
TOPIX, WORLD NEWS = BRITAIN WILL NOT SUPPORT MILITARY ACTION AGZ RUSSIA IN CRIMEA.
* DRUDGEREPORT > PUTIN FIRES WARNING SHOTS AGZ THE WEST, vee pre-scheduled LR ICBM test.
* SAME > [Times of Israel = Fars News Agency] IRANIAN GENERAL: OBAMA'S THREATS ARE "JOKE OF THE YEAR".
GEN. Masuoud Jazayeri, whom also labels POTUS Obama as a "LOW-IQ" US PRESIDENT.
* TOPIX, BHARAT RAKSHAK > OFFICIAL: WEST MUST PRESUME RUSSIA CONTROLS CRIMEA.
* Also from SAME = ... ...
> NEW POWERS {conspicuously] ABSENT DURING UKRAINE CRISIS.
> UKRAINE CRISIS AS 1962 CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS: WILL OBAMA HOLD THE LINE LIKE KENNEDY, OR BLINK LIKE KHRUSCHEV?
RELATED TOPIX > OBAMA FACES MAJOR FOREIGN POLICY TEST IN SHOWDOWN WID PUTIN.
At "High Noon" not-starring Gary Cooper + Grace Kelly???
As goes the CRIMEA, so goes East Asia + Pacific + Persian Gulf, Other???
* SAME > JAPAN TIMES > JAPAN EMBRACE OF RUSSIA [agz China] UNDER THREAT WID UKRAINE CRISIS | ABE BETWEEN ROCK + A HARD PLACE AFTER PUTIN NABS CRIMEA.
[Globes] AFI Development is down 6% in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange.
The Moscow Stock Market fell at the opening today in response to the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine following last week's ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and fears of a Russian invasion of the country. The benchmark MICEX Index fell 9% at the opening today, the largest one-day drop since 2009. Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia has raised the interest rate by 150 basis points to 7%.
Leading European markets are down sharply by up to 2.5%.
AFI Development plc (LSE:AFID), the Russian development arm of Lev Leviev, has fallen 6% in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange.
Psagot Investment House Ltd. chief economist Ori Greenfeld says, "The purpose of raising the Russian interest rate is to bring Russian money back home, support financial stability, and prevent a sharp devaluation of the ruble. As for the exchange rate, the measure has not been effective, and, at the moment, the ruble has weakened 1.5% against the euro and 1.7% against the dollar. Yields on ten-year Russian government bonds have risen 52 basis points since the beginning of the month.
"Anyone who does not own Russian stocks should (for the time being) stay calm. Stock markets in Europe, emerging markets, and Israel are falling, but so long as there is no war that will cause a global intervention, the heightened fears are probably only short term. The effect on the global economy is fairly low, as well as the effect on Israel, as Russia and Ukraine each account for just 0.3% of Israeli exports."
Most Asian markets fell today. Stock futures on Wall Street are falling 0.8-09%. Russian economic vulnerability clearly visible only a few days into the conflict.
#1
Ronald Reagan employed an economic approach that was very successful. An easing of EPA restrictions on Keystone, drilling, and coal production will enable increased trade and assistance to the Europeans as well assist our own economy.
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... took another swipe at Russia on Monday, saying that Moscow "has put pressure on Moldova," as he backed the former Soviet state in seeking closer ties with the West.
Jahwn coming out to defend Moldova? They're doomed, doomed...
Kerry, who has lambasted Russia over its military actions in Ukraine, another former Soviet state and neighbor, was speaking after meeting in Washington Moldovan Prime Minister Lurie Leanca, who is seeking closer ties with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
"I regret to say that Russia, in some of the challenges we're seeing right now in Ukraine, has put pressure on Moldova," said Kerry. "There are challenges with respect to their energy sources and also their ability to trade. We are committed firmly to the direction that Moldova has chosen for itself."
Russia has strong ties with separatist movements in Moldova's Russian-speaking region of Transdniestr and has not met long-standing pledges to withdraw its soldiers from the country, which it committed to do in 1999. Russia also keeps a large amount of armaments there.
Pledging additional funding to Moldova, the top U.S. diplomat added: "The prime minister is leading a transformation effort in Moldova. We are very pleased with the fact that they continue their efforts to move towards their association agreement with Europe."
The new U.S. funding will help support the Swiss and Cayman banking industries...
Leanca said: "Moldova is keen to build an energy interconnection with the European Union and American support is critical in this perspective."
So the EU, dependent on Russian natural gas, can help the Moldovans become less dependent on Russian natural gas. Shrewd, these Europeans...
"Same about the security cooperation. We see right now in the region some very negative developments unfolding," Leanca added, referring to Ukraine, which has accused Russia of pouring troops into Crimea, in Europe's worst standoff since the Cold War.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#2
Kerry is spreading trouble. He failed to produce even a hint of any Israeli - Palestinian solution, so he's moved on to the next shiny object and populist neo-con diversion. There is absolutely no strategic threat to the security of the U.S. in any of these Ukrainian events.
The Germans and the British see it for what it is, an internal struggle on the Russian buffer zone. Let the rabid McShame rant on and stay the hell out of it !
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/04/2014 11:20 Comments ||
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#5
Moldvia has a large Russian population but they are pretty far removed from Russian Territory. If I were Ukraine that would make me nervous because it indicates that maybe Putin is looking at swallowing all of Ukraine rather than just Crimea.
Wonder what other Russian enclaves are sitting out there waiting.
Reminds me of one of Hitler's excuses for going into the Ukraine, to protect ethnic Germnas.
[Al Ahram] The Russian Black Sea fleet based in Crimea denied Monday there were plans to storm Ukrainian military positions on the peninsula, calling reports of an ultimatum "nonsense," Interfax said.
"That is complete nonsense," a representative of the fleet was quoted as saying after Ukraine's regional military said it had received an ultimatum to surrender early Tuesday or face attack.
"We are used to daily accusations about using force against our Ukrainian colleagues," he said. "Efforts to make us clash won't work."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#3
The regime in Washington sees this as yet another crisis which should not be wasted. A global conflict which prompts a 'national emergency' would be just what the doctor ordered.
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/04/2014 14:59 Comments ||
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#7
I giggled a bit too, but the boyfriends and messianics won't like Barry get bullied, and that McCain is trying to get his tv time, and barry is caught with his oh snap! line vs. Romney. The polling house may suggest a ramp in rhetoric, Kerry says something stupid, and suddenly we blunder off to war.
I believe this whole operation has not only been gamed a few times, but ready to go within 24 hours of decision time. The lack of drama seems to be a major point in the plan - no Russian flags on uniforms, use of local irregulars, a few helicopters and transport planes is kinda ho hum for we think of as Invasion!
The US administration response is the typical warm butter rhetoric to be expected, what was that line undocumented workers, unobstructed tourists? I bet right now Kerry the Purse is finalizing a price with whoever is in charge at the moment in Ukraine, in exchange that person will be in charge post Maiden. So long as the Russian behave themselves like 19th century gentlemen I think DV is right, the check clears.
I picture three deal breakers (I'm sure there are more): Ukraine/Russian irregulars get at each other, bringing troops into a fight. Ukrainian military calling BS and starting a fight. Somebody in the US administration continuing their streak of own goals.
[Al Ahram] Russia has effectively "declared war" on Britannia and the United States through its actions in Crimea, Ukraine's newly-freed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko warned on Monday.
Umm no, Julia, he didn't declare war on us, he declared war on YOU...
"Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... is fully conscious that by declaring war (on Ukraine), he is also declaring war on the guarantors of our security, the United States and Britannia," the former prime minister said in a video address posted on her website.
"They have occupied our Crimea," Tymoshenko said of the pro-Russian gunnies who have taken control of the Black Sea peninsula since Putin won a green light to use force in Ukraine.
Under a 1994 Budapest memorandum on security assurances, Washington and London agreed to guarantee Ukraine's safety in exchange for its giving up nuclear weapons.
Tymoshenko's comments coincided with a Kiev visit by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who warned of "consequences and costs" for Russia.
Ukraine accused Russia Monday of pouring extra troops and planes into Crimea, adding to the worst standoff between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Some 300 pro-Russian demonstrators occupied on Monday the regional government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, stronghold of former president Viktor Yanukovych, an AFP reporter witnessed. Between 3,000 and 4,000 protesters had gathered earlier in front of the building brandishing Russian flags and chanting "Russia, Russia!", before a smaller group broke into it, smashing windows and occupying several floors.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#2
This is an area that is ethnic Russian, but not overwhelmingly pro-Rusian - there is a significant minority here that might fight if Russian Army troops show up.
[Al Ahram] Armed men wielding assault rifles took up fresh positions outside military installations in Crimea Monday as authorities said all of Ukraine's bases in the flashpoint peninsula were surrounded by pro-Russian forces.
Kiev said Russian troops were continuing to pour into Crimea and a regional defence ministry front man told AFP that gunnies had surrounded all of its facilities.
But the front man, Vladislav Seleznev, insisted that Ukraine was still in control of all of its bases after defiant troops refused to hand over control.
"All of the bases in Crimea are still under Ukrainian control but are surrounded," he said, adding that despite the tensions so far no violence had erupted.
"There have been no shots fired, except for one warning shot in the air yesterday at Belbek (near Sevastopol) by the Ukrainians," Seleznev said.
AFP news hounds in various parts of the peninsula saw gunnies believed to be Russian soldiers taking up or cementing positions outside Ukrainian military installations.
The Ukrainian defence ministry says some 6,000 Russian troops have been sent by the Kremlin to Crimea -- a Russian-speaking autonomous region that has been thrown into disarray since the ouster of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Ukraine's military said Monday that Russia had given its forces an ultimatum to surrender in Crimea or face an all-out assault on the strategic Black Sea peninsula that has been overrun by Kremlin-backed troops.
But Russia's Black Fleet swiftly denied any such demand and the country's parliament speaker said there was no need yet for Moscow to use its "right" to launch military action in Ukraine.
"The ultimatum is to recognise the new Crimean authorities, lay down our weapons and leave, or be ready for an assault," regional Ukrainian defence ministry front man Vladyslav Seleznyov told AFP in the Crimean capital Simferopol.
"It may be at 1:00 am, 2:00 am, 3:00 am (Tuesday). There are different times," he said.
Ukraine has accused Russia of pouring more troops into Crimea as world leaders grappled with Europe's worst standoff since the Cold War.
Crimea -- the strategic host to tsarist and Kremlin navies since the 18th century -- has been under de facto occupation by Moscow-backed forces who have raised Russian flag over government buildings and blocked Ukrainians troops inside their barracks across the peninsula.
The new leaders in Kiev branded Russia's actions a declaration of "war" and jittery global markets plunged on Monday over fears of a conflict while the price of oil surged.
The Moscow market alone at one stage lost 13 percent on a Black Monday of trading that saw the ruble hit historic lows.
World leaders were holding a series of urgent meetings and telephone conversations to try to avert a conflict and also to help Ukraine avert a possible catastrophic debt default.
The UN Security Council also agreed to hold the latest in a series of emergency meetings on standoff at 2030 GMT at Russia's request.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday harshly criticised threats of "sanctions and boycotts" over his country's role in the spiralling crisis in Ukraine, as Western powers ponder whether to kick Moscow out of the G8.
"Those who try to interpret the situation as a type of aggression and threaten sanctions and boycotts, are the same who consistently have encouraged (Ukrainians to) refuse dialogue and have ultimately polarised Ukrainian society," he told the opening of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
"I call upon them to show responsibility and to set aside pure political calculations and put the interest of the Ukrainian people above all," he added.
Since Putin won the Russian parliament's blessing Saturday to use force in Ukraine, including in Crimea -- a strategic Black Sea peninsula with a majority ethnic Russian population -- outraged Western powers have threatened to expel Russia from the Group of Eight leading industrial countries it joined with great fanfare in 1997 as it returned to global respectability after years lost in post-Soviet chaos.
UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... , who met Lavrov for a "working lunch" Monday, also chimed in, urging Russia "to refrain from any acts and rhetoric that could further escalate the situation."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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It's a new feeling, this envy of Canada's political leadership. A pity PM Harper could never come south to take over our presidency.
[Al Ahram] Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday added his name to warnings that Russia could be stripped of membership in the Group of Eight industrialized nations if it doesn't reverse course in Ukraine.
The move is being considered by Canada and other G8 members as part of a basket of sanctions targeting Russia over its military intervention in the Crimea region of Ukraine.
On Sunday, the group withdrew from preparations for June's G8 summit in Sochi to protest Russia's violation of Ukraine's illusory sovereignty.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin's action has put his country on a course of diplomatic and economic isolation, and that could well see Russia exit the G8 entirely," Harper said.
Earlier, Harper spoke by telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, pledging his support and Canada's assistance "during this important period of transition, including related to the upcoming elections."
Canada was the first Western nation to recognize an independent Ukraine in 1991.
Canada has a large Ukrainian community -- there are 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian descent, according to the latest census.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Canada exerting its leadership ahead of the US. God will this president ever leave? He is making me miss Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/04/2014 0:47 Comments ||
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#2
Canada is using Reagan economic power, a power Putin understands.
#6
I'd be happy if 0 reminded me of Carter. Carter at least learned his lesson after Afghanistan. 0 appears not to have learned his. Buchanan, James not Pat. That's who 0 reminds me of.
[Al Ahram] US President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... warned on Monday that most of the world believes that Russia has violated international law by intervening in Ukraine.
The American leader said Moscow had put itself "on the wrong side of history" by mobilizing forces within Ukraine after the country's pro-Russian president was ousted in a popular revolt.
"I think the world is largely united in recognizing the steps Russia has taken are a violation of Ukranian illusory sovereignty ... a violation of international law," Obama said.
Ukraine's new westward-leaning government has accused Russia of mounting a de facto invasion by deploying troops on Ukrainian soil in the Crimean peninsula.
But Moscow protests it may be forced to act to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine amid the chaos following the uprising against runaway former president Viktor Yanukovych.
Western powers are mulling sanctions to punish Russia for its intervention.
Obama said he had told Russia that "if in fact they continue on the current trajectory, that we are examining a whole series of steps -- economic, diplomatic -- that will isolate Russia." All the alternatives available to limp power.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The Crimea was incorporated into the then-Ukrainian SSR back in 1954, + was still so after Ukraine went formally independent after the breakup of the USSR.
The Crimea is now a sovereign part of Ukraine, which is one of the reasons why I believe Putin's best bet is to convert the Crimea, wid Ukraine's assent, into its version of Gitmo in the Black Sea.
Russia's historical fear has not been so much an independent Ukraine as the Muslim powers [read, Turkey = Ottomans, now Rising Iran] + Teutonic-later-Nazi Germany across the pond. As post-Cold War, post-9-11 Germany is now Russia's strategic ally + BFF, that leaves Islamist-pressured Turkey + already Islamist Iran, + the latters' claims to areas of the Black Sea.
#2
See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [NATO.int] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL ANNOUNCES NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL TO MEET FOLLOWING POLAND'S REQUEST FOR ARTICLE 4 CONSULTATIONS.
POLAND requesting NATO forces on its borders as portection agz any cross-border shennanigans by Putin's Boyz.
* ION WORLD NEWS > [CBC] UKRAINE SAYS RUSSIA SENT 16,000 TROOPS INTO CRIMEA.
and
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > RUSSIA HAS NOW MADE TWO MAJOR MILITARY MOVES INTO GEORGIA AND NOW UKRAINE, BUT YET CHINA DOES NOTHING.
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [World Bulletin] TURKEY TO BLOCK NATO SHIPS FROM BLACK SEA, REPORT SAYS, as due to alleged pressure on Turkey PM Erdogan by Chinese Diplomats.
Not exactly Beijing = "post-US", "Mahanist" Rising China sending in the PLA to defend Yuan Dynasty [Mongols] interests, but will it get the job done for China???
#5
Cuba, Lebanon, El Salvador, Granada, Panama, Somalia, Haiti, (paratroopers recalled to Bragg mid-flight) Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya.....we're just delivering democracy all around the world and it sure is catching on nicely.
#9
Yes JFM, while I cannot speak first-hand, the CIDG campaign was effective, then the big army and the politicians stepped in to tidy things up. Had we stayed in Vietnam like we did in the Germany, Japan, and the ROK, it might have ended better. But staying on has it's downsides as well.
#11
No, Besoeker. The Us didn't need to stay in Vietnam. The RVN had just beaten up a Communist Offensive with merely some Navy And Air Force assistance (1). It only nedded ammo and weaponry. the people (I think John Kerry was one of them) who handled victoryn to the Communistas are responsible for the Vietnamese and Cambodian genocides.
(1) The Air Force didn't fare that well against Noth Vietnamese planes. At the same time Top Gun trained Navy pilots using navalized (ie heavier and with somewhat inferior performance) versions of the same planes were mopping the floor with the Northvienamese Air Force. It was a tough pill to swallow for Air Force brass.
#12
Yes JFM, the Pol Pot era seems to have gone unnoticed by the MSM. The Atlanta area has a larger number of Cambodian residents and refugees from that period. None of their memories and stories from that period are good.
#14
I completely forgot our Vietnam experience, which cost nearly 60,000 American lives and achieved virtually nothing.
It attrited the communist to the point that they couldn't keep Greater Indochina under Hanoi's control and stopped grandiose designs on the rest of SE Asia.
Had Congress not cut the funding to the South, they probably would have been able to defend themselves from that final assault.
#15
My view as well P2k, but as you may recall, there was a huge anti-war outcry from the liberal media and communist sympathizers here at home. Similar to Afghanistan, the conflict was del>led 'managed' so poorly by Washington that everyone just wanted out.
#17
Obamasaid he had told Russia that "if in fact they continue on the current trajectory, that we are examining a whole series of steps -- economic, diplomatic -- that will isolate Russia."
The Russians used to love living behind the Iron Curtain. So I am sure they got a huge laugh out of THAT threat.
[ZEENEWS.INDIA] Russia's foreign ministry said today that warnings by United States Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... over Russian military intervention in Ukraine were "unacceptable" threats.
"We consider the threats against Russia made in a series of public statements by US Secretary of State John Kerry over the latest events in Ukraine and in Crimea to be unacceptable," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.
Moscow accused Kerry of relying on "Cold War cliches", saying that he had not bothered to understand the complex processes taking place in Ukrainian society.
Kerry failed to "objectively assess the situation that is continuing to deteriorate after the forcible seizure of power in Kiev by radical bad boys," the ministry said.
It accused the United States and its allies of turning a blind eye to the "rampant Russophobia and anti-Semitism" of the opposition protesters who took power in Kiev.
"The West's allies now are outright neo-Nazis who wreck Orthodox churches and synagogues," the ministry said.
Kerry, who is set to visit Kiev tomorrow to meet the new leadership, bluntly warned Russia yesterday that it risked exclusion from the Group of Eight nations and faced possible sanctions for sending troops into Ukraine's southern Crimea region.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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This is all just another useful diversion from the Obama regime's domestic scandals and failures. The best thing we can do is stay out of it !
[Al Ahram] With local polls imminent, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... can still draw tens of thousands to rallies on the campaign trail, but a mounting corruption scandal is doing unprecedented damage to his image.
Voice recordings published online last week -- allegedly of Erdogan and his son discussing how to hide large amounts of money -- have sparked mass protests and creating rifts within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Analysts say the tapes have the potential to hurt the prime minister at local polls on March 30, a key test of Erdogan's popularity ahead of a presidential election in August and parliamentary elections next year.
"Even if their authenticity is still challenged, those tapes have definitively put the whole crisis in a different perspective by placing Erdogan personally in the middle of the storm," said Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies.
"They will have a major impact on the prime minister's popularity," he told AFP.
If the party's vote share drops too far, say observers, he may start losing critical support within his own camp.
"Centre-right Islamists within the party are very angry at the prime minister," said Mehmet Akif Okur, associate professor at the Ankara-based Gazi University.
"If the AKP wins less than 40 percent, we could see mass resignations," he told AFP.
Eight politicians including a former culture minister have already resigned from the party, lowering the number of AKP seats in parliament to 318 out of 550.
"The Erdogan government has lost its legitimacy completely in the wake of the leaks," said Dani Rodrik, professor of social sciences at the US-based Institute for Advanced Study.
"It is not just about the magnitude of the corruption, which still needs to be established by impartial courts, but also the manner in which he has responded: by further polarising the nation and inciting social conflict."
The leaked tapes, which Erdogan insists are fake, surfaced just as the premier appeared to be regaining control over a far-reaching corruption probe launched in December against some of his key allies.
Erdogan characterised the probe as a direct attack by a former ally, the US-exiled Mohammedanholy man Fethullah Gulen, whose associates hold key positions in the police and the judiciary.
The combative premier responded ferociously, sacking hundreds of police and prosecutors and pushing through draconian laws tightening control over the judiciary and the Internet.
But the leaked tapes are the first time that Erdogan, who turned 60 last week, has been directly implicated.
The scandal has played out like a soap opera across the country, with Turks glued to Twitter in anticipation of new revelations.
In the first and most spectacular recording, a voice purporting to be that of Erdogan is heard telling his son Bilal to dispose of large sums of cash stashed in several houses.
"There is 30 million euros ($41 million) more," Bilal responds at one point.
Erdogan has remained defiant, describing the tapes as fake and "vile" and "immoral" montage concocted by the so-called Gulenists.
Opinion polls show the scandal is hurting the AKP, whose image had already been dented by mass anti-government protests in June.
A January survey by the Metropoll research company showed support for the AKP at 36.3 percent, far below the 50 percent it garnered in 2011's parliamentary elections.
Erdogan however can still call on a huge following, particularly among poorer and more pious voters, who hail him for overseeing a decade of roaring growth, and bringing Islam back into the heart of government.
"We have built 17,000 kilometres of roads," he boasted during a rally in the eastern city of Sivas last month. "Could you do that in a country where corruption is widespread?"
"Stand tall, don't bow," the crowd called back, saying they were "ready to die" for him.
The tapes prompted fresh calls for the beleaguered government to resign, with Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), calling the prime minister the "prime thief".
Thousands of people have taken to the streets across the country in protest over the corruption scandal, with police on occasion firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators.
But some believe that Erdogan's political future, particularly his ambitions to become the president, will ultimately rest on the strength of the economy, which has taken a battering in recent months, partly as a result of the scandal.
"If the economy shrinks, it will definitely affect the presidential election, because economic progress has been the main achievement of Erdogan since 2002," Ulgen said.
Ates Ilyas Bassoy, author of "Why the AKP wins, why the CHP loses", said voters may turn a blind eye to corruption allegations as long as the economy does not deteriorate.
"The most honest governments in Turkey's history were toppled in times of economic crisis," he told AFP.
"But the most corrupt ones managed to retain their votes if the economy was stable."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
on the economic front, the Turkish stork market was going well as late as summer 2013 but has lost about 30% of market cap since then
the turkish lira is also down about 20% since mid 2013
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/04/2014 9:06 Comments ||
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And I can't even work up any indignation.
The highest court in Iran has ordered a man's eyes to be gouged out and his ears and nose to be chopped off for pouring acid on a girl.
The convict, identified only by his first name Jamshid, was found guilty of throwing acid on a girl named Shirin in October.
The victim lost her eyes and one of her ears in the attack, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Iran's so-called parliament-in-exile which is based in France.
The Iranian government has defended such harsh punishments, often prompting severe condemnation from rights groups.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[An Nahar] A student was killed in protests in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott in the early hours of Monday, a hospital source said, as hundreds 
The U.S and major allies strained on Monday to rally a strong Western front to persuade Russia to step back from a military takeover of Ukraine's strategic Crimea region. But several acknowledged there are few options beyond already-threatened economic and diplomatic penalties, and critics said Obama administration efforts were too little, too late after years of pressing for friendlier relations with Moscow.
[Globes] AFI Development is down 6% in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange.
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State 
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[Al Ahram] Some 300 pro-Russian demonstrators occupied on Monday the regional government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, stronghold of former president Viktor Yanukovych, an AFP reporter witnessed. Between 3,000 and 4,000 protesters had gathered earlier in front of the building brandishing Russian flags and chanting "Russia, Russia!", before a smaller group broke into it, smashing windows and occupying several floors.
[Al Ahram] Armed men wielding assault rifles took up fresh positions outside military installations in Crimea Monday as authorities said all of Ukraine's bases in the flashpoint peninsula were surrounded by pro-Russian forces. 
[Al Ahram] Ukraine's military said Monday that Russia had given its forces an ultimatum to surrender in Crimea or face an all-out assault on the strategic Black Sea peninsula that has been overrun by Kremlin-backed troops. 
[Al Ahram] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday harshly criticised threats of "sanctions and boycotts" over his country's role in the spiralling crisis in Ukraine, as Western powers ponder whether to kick Moscow out of the G8. 
[Al Ahram] Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday added his name to warnings that Russia could be stripped of membership in the Group of Eight industrialized nations if it doesn't reverse course in Ukraine. 
[Al Ahram] US President 
[ZEENEWS.INDIA] Russia's foreign ministry said today that warnings by United States Secretary of State 
[Al Ahram] With local polls imminent, Turkish Prime Minister 
