22 Mar, 2022 11:09

HomeWorld News

19 years since the US invasion of Iraq, has the West learned any lessons?

Almost two decades and an estimated million deaths later, the media is beating the drums of war again

The US-led invasion of Iraq in March, 2003 was a war now accepted to have been built on lies and is said to have killed as many as one million Iraqis. However, despite the horrific bloodshed inflicted on the Iraqi people, the Western public seem to have forgotten so many of the lessons that should have been taken away from the disaster that was the Iraq War.

In the build-up to the war on Iraq, Americans were told that eliminating Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, was necessary for world peace. This was due to his alleged possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) as well as his alleged links with Al-Qaeda, among a number of other claims about Hussein’s genocidal ambitions. Britain’s then-prime minister, Tony Blair, even likened Saddam Hussein to Adolf Hitler; this was at a time when anti-Middle Eastern sentiment was high and the 9/11 attacks were ripe in the minds of the Western public, who had been informed by then-US President George W. Bush that the ‘war on terror’ was akin to a ‘crusade’.

It turned out that almost none of the major allegations about Saddam Hussein were true, despite the Iraqi president’s other crimes against humanity. Yet, with no evidence, Western media fell in line and presented the invasion of Iraq as a just war, despite the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva stating that it constituted a war of aggression and a flagrant violation of international law prior to the invasion occurring.

Likely due in large part to the media coverage at the time, which had demonized everything Middle Eastern and Muslim, US public support for invading Iraq prior to ‘Operation Iraqi Liberation’ was between 52-64%, jumping up to 72% support on invasion day.

In the first two months of the ‘Shock and Awe’ invasion of Iraq, more than 7,186 Iraqi civilians were said to have been killed. Yet, at the time, Western media outlets were celebrating the US-UK victory as if none of this death and destruction had taken place, never truly asking where the alleged WMD were. A BBC reporter, Andrew Marr, said on April 9 of British PM Tony Blair that “He said they would be able to take Baghdad without a bloodbath and in the end the Iraqis would be celebrating. And on both of those points he has been proven conclusively right.”

The blindly pro-US-UK government coverage went on, despite reports of US and UK war crimes. For example, on April 2, 2003, US aircraft struck a Red Crescent maternity hospital in Baghdad, resulting in a massacre according to The Guardian.

Within less than two years of the invasion, it is said that as many as 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians were killed, yet George W. Bush still managed to get re-elected in 2004. This was with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) not granting permission for the invasion, countless reports of civilian targets being hit, and calls from anti-war voices for the prosecution of Bush and Blair for war crimes.

On October 6, 2003, Time Magazine was still running cover for the Bush administration, only offering small criticisms of how President Bush miscalculated “fixing Iraq,” whilst The Economist went with a headline in May that read: ‘Now, the waging of peace’, which was endorsing the idea of nation-building in Iraq and ignoring the alleged war crimes.

Eventually, all the major news outlets in the West, including the likes of CNN, BBC, Fox News, and others, bowed their heads in shame of their one-sided reporting on what had occurred in Iraq and what Noam Chomsky called their participation in ‘manufacturing consent’….

https://www.rt.com/news/552455-us-invasion-iraq-war/

22 Mar, 2022 11:57

HomeWorld News

US to send Soviet missiles to Ukraine – media

The anti-aircraft systems were obtained by Washington to study Russian capabilities and train American troops to defeat them

The US is planning to deliver to Ukraine medium anti-aircraft systems taken from its own stockpile of Soviet military hardware, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed US officials.

The anti-aircraft systems were obtained through a clandestine program to study them and teach American troops how to counter them. Ukrainian forces are trained in the use of these systems, which they have operated for decades.

At least some of the supplies will be withdrawn from the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, officials told the newspaper, adding that C-17 Globemaster cargo planes recently flew to a nearby airfield in Huntsville.

Washington “is hoping that the provision of additional air defenses will enable Ukraine to create a de facto no-fly zone,” the newspaper said. NATO members have repeatedly rebuffed Kiev’s call to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, stating that it would draw them directly into the hostilities and could lead to a world war.

The list of equipment slated for delivery does not include the S-300 long-range missiles, the report said. The US reportedly purchased at least one such battery from Belarus in the 1990s in a clandestine operation. But Washington plans to supply shorter-range 9K33 Osa systems, according to WSJ sources.

Last Wednesday, CNN’s Jim Sciutto reported that the US and NATO allies were going to send to Ukraine an array of Soviet air defense systems with capabilities better than the shoulder-launched Stinger missiles delivered in the hundreds in the weeks before the Russian attack.

He was referring to a potential deal with Slovakia, which later confirmed it was willing to share its own S-300 systems with Ukraine. Slovakia’s defense minister, Jaroslav Nad, told a news conference on Thursday that he discussed the plan with his visiting US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, and that his country wanted to receive “a proper replacement” first.

The Russian military reported destroying multiple Ukrainian S-300 batteries over the nearly month-long attack. One of the stated goals of the Russian incursion is to demilitarize Ukraine and ensure that it will not pose any threat to the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Moscow recognized as independent states prior to the attack.

Moscow has warned that it will consider convoys delivering arms to Ukraine as legitimate targets for its armed forces. The WSJ didn’t explain the proposed logistics of the delivery of the US-owned anti-aircraft systems.

https://www.rt.com/news/552459-washington-air-defense-ukraine/

22 Mar, 2022 11:27

Gypsies tied to lamp posts and sprayed with dye in Ukraine– reports

The harsh treatment is reportedly punishment for robbery or persecution based on nationality

Photos of people in Ukraine being tied to lamp posts and sprayed with green antiseptic dye appeared on social media on Monday. According to reports, they were taken in the western city of Lviv. The victims are reportedly gypsies.

Several people, including teenagers and families with women and children, were reportedly tied to lamp posts with duct tape, their faces sprayed with antiseptic dye known as ‘zelyonka’ in former Soviet countries.

The green-colored substance is very difficult to wash away and can cause chemical burns to the eyes.

According to local media, the gypsies were punished for trying to steal from passengers on a bus. However, there are claims on social media that they were only trying to steal food, as they were starving after escaping from Kiev.

Some social media users say the harsh punishment was due to the victims’ nationality. The atrocious act has been blamed on members of Territorial Defense Forces, a recently established volunteer branch of the Ukrainian military. Masked uniformed men are present in pictures from the site.

Lviv, which is located in western Ukraine near the Polish border, has so far been mostly spared by the ongoing conflict in the country. In mid-March, Russia bombed a mercenary base at the Yavoriv range outside the city, saying that up to 180 foreigners who went to fight for Kiev were killed there. Ukraine put the death toll at 35.

Reports of persecution of foreigners and minorities by radicals have also come from other parts of Ukraine since the Russian attack began in late February.

There were incidents of African students being denied entrance to trains and buses carrying refugees out of country. Those who managed to reach the border with Poland were forbidden by border guards from standing in the same lines with Ukrainian nationals, called the N-word, and even beaten up. The African Union has decried these incidents as “shockingly racist and in breach of international law.”

Indians studying in the country told Russian media about similar treatment. They also complained about being kicked out of bomb shelters, with locals telling them they wouldn’t help them because India isn’t helping Kiev in the conflict.

https://www.rt.com/news/552452-ukraine-lviv-gypsies-persecution/

22 Mar, 2022 05:54

Split opens in EU over Russia energy sanctions

Hungary said its energy supply is not an “ideological question” after it declined to back potential embargoes on Russian oil

Hungary’s top diplomat has indicated that his country will not support new economic sanctions on Russian energy firms, arguing the move could backfire. Peter Szijjarto also warned that no-fly zone proposals for Ukraine risk sparking a larger regional conflict.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting with fellow European Union members in Brussels on Monday, the Hungarian foreign minister said Budapest is unlikely to back penalties targeting Russian gas and oil, as they are liable to harm its own interests.

“An agreement on possible EU sanctions against Russian energy supplies or their interruption will most likely not be reached,” he said, adding that “We will not support any sanctions that could pose a risk to energy supplies to Hungary.”

Some countries are dependent on Russian energy supplies.We don't do this for fun. Energy supply is not a philosophical or ideological question, but a physical, mathematical one.

The FM’s comments follow reports that the EU would meet to consider an all-out embargo on Russian energy, though the body was “split” on the issue after Monday’s summit, according to Reuters.

While Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney argued that it’s “very hard to make the case that we shouldn't be moving in on [Russia’s] energy sector” given “the extent of the destruction in Ukraine,” he faced pushback from not only Hungary, but Germany and the Netherlands as well.

“The question of an oil embargo is not a question of whether we want or don't want [it], but a question of how much we depend on oil,” Berlin’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, told reporters, noting that some EU states cannot simply “stop the oil imports from one day to the other.”

Szijjarto also voiced concerns over other plans floated by EU and NATO members in recent weeks, including calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine and an armed ‘peacekeeping’ mission to end fighting there, saying those issues must be discussed “clearly” as there is a “new war risk.”

“We must avoid that. Hungary’s interest is clear: Hungary wants to stay out of this war, we will stick to NATO’s common position and reject proposals that risk either an air war or an extended war on the ground,” he added.

The FM stated that while Hungary would not attempt to block other EU members from shipping additional weapons to Ukrainian forces, it also would not take part in such transfers itself, nor allow arms to cross its territory.

Though the Hungarian government has condemned Moscow’s attack on Ukraine and agreed to some sanctions, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has insisted that his country must “stay out” of the conflict and has repeatedly refused to support weapons shipments.

https://www.rt.com/russia/552431-split-opens-in-eu-over/

21 Mar, 2022 19:20

HomeRussia & FSU

Zelensky says Russia deal would face referendum

This is Zelensky’s way of sabotaging the deal, after he eliminates all political parties and reduces media down to one.

Any historic agreements reached during negotiations would have to be approved by all Ukrainians, President Zelensky says

While hinting at progress in talks with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that any “historic” compromises his negotiators may agree upon will be subject to approval by the entire country in a referendum.

Zelensky was answering a question about Russia’s demands for security guarantees for the two Donbass republics and for recognition of Crimea – the peninsula that Moscow reabsorbed in 2014, which Kiev and the West continue to consider Ukrainian territory.

“I explained to all the negotiating groups: when you talk about all these changes, and they might be historic, we will not go anywhere, we will come to a referendum,” Zelensky told the Ukrainian public broadcaster in an interview.

“The people will have their say and give their answers to some kind of compromises or another. As to what they will be, that is a matter of our conversations between Ukraine and Russia,” the president added.

Earlier in the day, Russia rejected Zelensky’s offer of a direct meeting with President Vladimir Putin, saying the talks had made “no significant progress.”

“For us to speak of a meeting between the two presidents, homework has to be done. Talks have to be held and their results agreed upon,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russia has also rejected calls for a ceasefire, saying such pauses had been used by Kiev to regroup and launch attacks on its troops.

Monday was the first occasion on which Zelensky had raised the idea of a referendum since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine almost a month ago. Back in December, following a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, he said he would “not rule out a referendum” of all Ukrainians regarding the disputed Donbass republics, Crimea, “and maybe, in general, on halting the war” that has been ongoing in the east of the country since 2014.

https://www.rt.com/russia/552425-zelensky-proposes-referendum/

22 Mar, 2022 06:00

Liz Cheney suggests ‘red line’ for US intervention in Ukraine

The lawmaker said the use of chemical weapons would “alter our calculations” for direct involvement in the conflict

Republican Representative Liz Cheney has proposed a “red line” for intervention in Ukraine, arguing that the use of chemical weapons should trigger a response from US forces and the NATO alliance.

Speaking with NBC’s Chuck Todd, the Wyoming congresswoman agreed that Washington should lay down a chemical weapons “red line” for Ukraine, despite efforts by the Biden administration to avoid direct involvement in the conflict over concerns it could spark a third world war.

“I think that we in the West, the United States and NATO – we need to stop telling the Russians what we won’t do,” she said. “We need to be very clear that we are considering all options, that the use of chemical weapons is certainly something that would alter our calculations.”

Washington’s United Nations envoy, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also declared that the US would “respond aggressively” to any use of chemical weapons during a recent sit-down with CNN, though stopped short of threatening armed intervention.

Pressed on the issue during a separate NBC interview, NATOSecretary General Jens Stoltenberg declined to adopt the more hawkish stance, instead warning that Western involvement could escalate the conflict into a larger and deadlier war.

While Stoltenberg argued that “any use of chemical weapons would be a blatant and brutal violation of international law,” he added: “we need to act in a way that prevents this conflict” from becoming “a full fledged war between NATO and Russia in Europe, and also potentially involving, of course, the United States directly.”

Moscow has accused the Ukrainian government of harboring a biological weapons program backed by the Pentagon, charges rejected by both Kiev and US officials. While the Russian military has released a trove of documents purporting to outline the weapons program, Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council that Washington does not support any foreign bioweapon initiatives.

The White House has instead accused Russia of planning a “false flag” attack using chemical or biological weapons, after fielding similar allegations in early February that Moscow would release a “fake video” of a Ukrainian attack in order to justify military action.

The video never materialized, though Russia did send troops into Ukraine late last month on a mission to “denazify” and “demilitarize” the country. Russia demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join NATO. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

https://www.rt.com/news/552432-liz-cheney-ukraine-intervention/

https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1506225899187884034?s=20&t=8pr5rzs-ZKHEw0fv4kfyPw

Well its not like the dementia riddled President is up to the task either

https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1506220614327181315?s=20&t=8pr5rzs-ZKHEw0fv4kfyPw

In Ukraine and Syria, Alluring ‘False Flags’ Demand Strategic Skepticism

In Ukraine and Syria, Alluring ‘False Flags’ Demand Strategic Skepticism

Just days into the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022, Russian forces began a campaign to seize nuclear power plants throughout Ukraine. The Russian objective, most likely, is to establish control over much of the power supply in that country, which could be used as diplomatic leverage and to increase the pressure on the Ukrainian government. Securing the infamous Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which lies on the route from Belarus to Kiev, was only the first phase in this strategy.

Last week, fighting in the south of the country resulted in the takeover of the (operational) Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station—the largest power plant in Europe—after some kind of skirmish. Immediately upon the outbreak of the fighting, many international observers claimed the power plant was on fire. Russian media outlets agreed but claimed the Ukrainians had set the plant on fire to pin the chaos on the invading army. In the end, it turned out that the building struck by shell fire was a training center at some distance from the plant’s reactors. While immensely concerning, the actual events that transpired matched with neither narrative that originally contested the breaking story.

Following these reports came another back and forth, this time between Moscow and Washington: Russia accused Ukraine of harboring biological weapons facilities operated with U.S. direction, while the United States countered that Russian claims about such facilities were themselves a “false flag” in preparation for chemical weapons use by the desperate invading army.

These are just the most dramatic examples in an ongoing battle to control the narrative that is currently playing out across the media and especially social media. Unlike many other conflict zones, such as Yemen, smartphones are commonplace in Ukraine allowing all kinds of footage and internet posting to leak out of the combat zone. This creates a particularly muddied environment that makes it ever so difficult to uncover the facts on the ground and understand what is happening without being unduly manipulated. It is also a fertile ground for a perpetually recurring phenomenon of history: the false flag operation. Looking back into the past, it becomes easy to see how such contested narratives can shape the decisions of policymakers regardless of the facticity of the claims.

In 1731, the British brig Rebecca was sailing in the Caribbean waters near what is now the state of Florida. It was intercepted by the Spanish ship La Isabella and boarded under suspicion of being either a pirate or a smuggler. In the ensuing action, where the Spanish would determine that Rebecca was in fact a legitimate vessel under the flag of a then non-belligerent power, there was a confrontation between the two captains which ended up with Robert Jenkins’ ear sliced off with a sword stroke. The incident, just one in the generally chaotic maritime environment of the eighteenth-century Caribbean, failed to reach major prominence within the British government. That was, until eight years later when it became expedient to mention. So it was that in 1739 a faction in parliament that sought a naval war with Spain called Captain Jenkins to testify before them and help build their case. Jenkins, it was claimed by some, brought the preserved remains of his severed ear with him and the object was shown before the politicians who would decide the issue. “The War of Jenkin’s Ear” would hence commence—an indecisive but costly struggle that would eventually merge with the subsequent War of Austrian Succession years later….

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/ukraine-and-syria-alluring-‘false-flags’-demand-strategic-skepticism-201220

Mollie reminds us frequently,never forget what they did to Kavanaugh

https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1506025934163435527?s=20&t=8pr5rzs-ZKHEw0fv4kfyPw

Why would they, the resident didnt even mention the dead Christmas revellers in Waukesha?

They hate all of us!

https://twitter.com/KatiePavlich/status/1505987685411958789?s=20&t=8pr5rzs-ZKHEw0fv4kfyPw

I agree with him, or shes being forced to be the idiot she is, thats more likely!

https://twitter.com/johnddavidson/status/1506003883109326849?s=20&t=8pr5rzs-ZKHEw0fv4kfyPw

Good, stop injecting children

https://twitter.com/DrJBhattacharya/status/1506028360656293890?s=20&t=xYgfMqhVExGZ9_WdatDezA

So they want to make low wage workers to not get tips because its raciissst, makes sense.

https://twitter.com/SecretsBedard/status/1506248676120965128?s=20&t=xYgfMqhVExGZ9_WdatDezA

Saurabh Sharma

@ssharmaUS

Biggest dividing line on the right between DC and the base right now is election integrity.

Almost no one in DC gives a shit.

But when I visit red states and talk to normal primary voters it is one of their absolute litmus tests.

9:10 PM · Mar 21, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/ssharmaUS/status/1506075911870894082?s=20&t=xYgfMqhVExGZ9_WdatDezA

3 Corporate Media Gimmicks About Ukraine You Should Absolutely Ignore

For much of the national news media, the situation in Ukraine isn’t about a deadly war involving a dangerous nuclear power so much as an opportunity to romanticize foreign conflict and signal their virtue.

That’s why it’s best to ignore a lot of what the media are saying, lest we find ourselves needlessly and irreversibly entangled in another costly, unwinnable struggle. Pro-war columnists and cable news people on the left and right are as excited as ever to push America to “do more” for Ukraine, even if it does nothing to advance our own national interests.

Avoiding that kind of manipulation isn’t hard if you simply ignore these three things:

• Any journalist or talking head swept up by the sight of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a T-shirt. Zelensky has become an emotional hero for so many of these people and the mere image of him apparently makes their insides ache for more war. Last week, after Zelensky’s televised address to Congress pleading for additional military support, MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire, who is also White House bureau chief for Politico, could hardly contain himself. “Zelensky there, who has emerged as this really heroic figure,” he said, “there in his trademark t-shirt, on the front lines, a wartime leader…” The Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker has been similarly worked into a gooey mess, referring to the Ukrainian president as “the modern-day warrior-artist,” and “an Everyman in his trademark T-shirt and half-zip.” People who think about war in corny feel-good symbols can’t be taken seriously.

• All appeals to ideals of “democracy” and “freedom.” That much of Ukraine’s population is truly trying to be a free and democratic country is a good thing but that doesn’t make that nation’s problems our problems by default and it’s not a reason for America to promise unlimited military support in the fight. On March 10, the New Republic ran the headline, “We Must Defend Democracy in Ukraine—and Win It at Home Too.” E.J. Dionne Jr. in The Washington Post suggested that “Vladimir Putin’s aggression has, at long last, unleashed a come-to-democracy moment.” It’s all an attempt to assert that our own affairs are inextricably linked with the fate of Ukraine and that to suggest otherwise is anti-democratic. Well, no, it might just be an admission that we can’t recreate the world in our image and attempts of the very recent past have been disastrous.

•Every TV segment featuring Alexander Vindman. For weeks now, news shows have invited Vindman on air to say we should “do more” in Ukraine, or some variation thereof. You’ll recall Vindman as the government worker who took it upon himself to instigate a president’s impeachment because he didn’t think that president was sufficiently dedicated to the wellbeing of Ukraine. What else would he say? At the start of Russia’s invasion, he said on CBS, “There’s more that we need to be doing.” Last week, he said on MSNBC, “Our approach to supporting Ukraine is too incremental. … They need more.” Vindman has long made clear his personal devotion to Ukraine. He has signaled a desire for the U.S., along with NATO allies, to institute a no-fly zone, which would involve shooting down Russian aircraft. There is nothing he isn’t willing to risk, despite being in no position to risk anything himself.

Pay no attention to those three things, and what our position should be on the Ukraine-Russia war is a lot clearer.

https://thefederalist.com/2022/03/21/3-corporate-media-shticks-about-ukraine-that-you-should-absolutely-ignore/