US Likely to Proceed With INF Pullout Even if UN Backs Treaty - Russian Envoy

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The United States will likely press ahead with its plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) regardless of whether the United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopts a Russian-drafted resolution to preserve the historic accord, Russian Envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told reporters.

"If the US has set their mind to leave the deal at any cost, the adoption of the resolution per se will not stop them," Nebenzia told reporters on Thursday.

In early December, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States would suspend its adherence to the INF Treaty within 60 days unless Russia returned to full compliance with the agreement. Russia denies violating the accord.

Russia on December 14 introduced a resolution to the General Assembly calling for the preservation of and compliance with the INF Treaty.

The draft calls on Moscow and Washington to continue bilateral consultations on adherence to their INF Treaty obligations and renew constructive dialogue on strategic issues for further progress in nuclear disarmament and cementing international stability.

https://sputniknews.com/us/201812211070880668-usa-russia-inf-treaty-pullout/

Former Blackwater Contractor's Sentencing Sheds Light on US War Crimes

The recent conviction of Nicholas Slatten, a former Blackwater Worldwide employee, is just one of many incidents in which the private security company was implicated in US war crimes, Kevin Zeese, co-coordinator of Popular Resistance, told Sputnik.

Slatten was found guilty on Wednesday of first-degree murder in the slaying of Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia'y. The murder took place in September 2007, when Slatten, working alongside three other men in a Blackwater security team, discharged his firearm at dozens of unarmed Iraqi civilians.

At the time, the Blackwater employees were escorting a US embassy envoy through Nisour Square in Baghdad, Iraq. Firearms were discharged after it was reportedly suspected that a vehicle carrying explosives was approaching the envoy.

"It's an amazingly important case," Zeese told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear on Thursday. "It's impressive that the prosecutors stayed with it after it was overturned and continued to prosecute."

Slatten first saw charges in 2008 before the case was initially thrown out. He landed back in court in 2013, was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison in 2015. However, that ruling didn't stick, as the US Court of Appeals decided in 2017 that Slatten deserved a new trial, according to NBC News.

"This got a lot of attention because this was such a blatant, massive attack into an area where lots of people were walking and driving. These kinds of attacks happened regularly," Zeese told hosts Brian Becker and John Kiriakou.

"This is part of a series of US war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries."

In September, John Bolton, the national security advisor to US President Donald Trump, threatened sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) following reports that it was considering prosecuting US servicemembers over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201812211070881262-blackwater-sentencing-us-war-crimes/

December 21

1991 Soviet Union formally dissolves as 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States

>>4400420

Romans 9:27

And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,