Russia in the News

 This article is critical to understanding certain undercurrents of US and Russian politics: The Happy-Go-Lucky Jewish Group That Connects Trump and Putin  4/9/2017 Politico: "This third way may explain the affinity Trump has found with a number of Chabad enthusiasts—Jews who shun liberal reform Judaism in favor of traditionalism but are not strictly devout. “It’s not a surprise that Trump-minded people are involved with Chabad,” said Torossian. “Chabad is a place that tough, strong Jews feel comfortable. Chabad is a nonjudgmental place where people that are not traditional and not by-the-book feel comfortable.”"

Russia News Archive 2009 - 2014

2014 - A Russian Viewpoint  12/31/2014 Zero Hedge: "The US is now facing a paradox: "victory" in the Ukraine, "victory" in Europe, but failure to stop a rapidly rising Russia. Worse, these "victories" came at a very high price which included creating tensions inside the EU, threatening the future of the US shale gas industry, alienating many countries at the UN, being deeply involved with a Nazi regime, becoming the prime suspect in the shooting down of MH17 and paying the costs for an artificially low price of gold. But the single worst consequence of the US foreign policy in the Ukraine has been the establishment of a joint Russian-Chinese strategic alliance clearly directed against the United States (more about that later)."

"Donbass under fire: Separatists"  12/27/2014 YouTube: Max Fadeyev documentary.

China Prepares To Bailout Russia  12/17/2014 Zero Hedge: "Earlier this evening China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange's (SAFE) Wang Yungui noted "the impact of the Russian Ruble depreciation was unclear yet, and, as Bloomberg reported, "SAFE is closely watching Ruble's depreciation and encouraging companies to hedge Ruble risks." His comments also echoed the ongoing FX reform agenda aimed at increasing Yuan flexibility which The South China Morning Post then hinted in a story entitled "Russia may seek China help to deal with crisis," which which noted that Russia could fall back on its 150 billion yuan ($24 billion) currency swap agreement with China if the ruble continues to plunge, that was signed in October. Furthermore, two bankers close to the PBOC reportedly said the swap-line was meant to reduce the role of the US dollar if China and Russia need to help each other overcome a liquidity squeeze."

Study: Russia’s Economy Resilient in Face of Sanctions  12/10/2014 Russia Insider: "Having researched the development of key indicators of the economy from 2000 to 2013, the authors of the study want to debunk the media story that Russia’s governments under Putin have been supposedly exclusively relying on an economic model based on oil and gas rents while neglecting the need to modernize and diversify the economy."

Washington’s Frozen War Against Russia  12/9/2014 CounterPunch: "As of last May, R. Hunter Biden, son of the U.S. Vice President, is on the Board of Directors of Burisma Holdings, Ukraine’s largest private gas producer. The young Biden will be in charge of the Holdings’ legal unit and contribute to its “international expansion”. Ukraine has rich soil as well as shale oil reserves. The U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill is particularly active in Ukraine, investing in grain elevators, animal feed, a major egg producer and agribusiness firm, UkrLandFarming, as well as the Black Sea port at Novorossiysk. The very active U.S.-Ukraine Business Council includes executives of Monsanto, John Deere, agriculture equipment-maker CNH Industrial, DuPont Pioneer, Eli Lilly & Company. Monsanto plans to build a $140 million “non-GMO corn seed plant in Ukraine”, evidently targeting the GMO-shy European market."

Russia and Ukraine: Not the Military Balance You Think  11/10/2014 War on the Rocks: "His key insight is that “the Russian government took no serious measures to support separatist movements in Crimea” prior to its invasion of the peninsula last February. This illustrates that Russian actions during the crisis were not the culmination of a plan to dismember Ukraine, but a reaction to the perceived security threat coming from the Maidan protests that culminated in the overthrow of the Yanukovych government."

Chief MH17 Investigator on German Claims: 'We Will Need Evidence'  10/27/2014 Der Spiegel: "SPIEGEL: So you're saying there hasn't been any watertight evidence so far? Westerbeke: No. If you read the newspapers, though, they suggest it has always been obvious what happened to the airplane and who is responsible. But if we in fact do want to try the perpetrators in court, then we will need evidence and more than a recorded phone call from the Internet or photos from the crash site. That's why we are considering several scenarios and not just one."

MH-17 Report False Flag Exposed After Revelation Passenger Was Wearing Oxygen Mask  10/9/2014 Zero Hedge: "When exactly a month ago the supposedly objective, impartial Netherlands released its official, 34-page preliminary report of the MH-17 crash over Ukraine, presumably based on black box data, air traffic control records, and other "authentic, verified" information, there were precisely zero mentions of "oxygen", "mask" or "oxygen mask." "

Organ Harvesting in Ukraine: Troubling Revelations  10/3/2014 Russia Insider: "You will have to dig deep, though, to find any information on that, or at least that is my prediction. Because the U.S. State Department, in a move which would be outrageous if it were not so predictable, has turned the investigation of these allegations over to the very authority which was in all likelihood behind it – the Ukrainian government."

As the Dollar Fades, Russia and Other BRICs Benefit  10/3/2014 Russia Insider: "An article in The Financial Times recently quoted Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore, an emerging markets investment manager, as saying: “I’ll eat my hat if the renminbi isn’t the strongest currency on the planet over the next 10 years.” Indeed, as the renminbi strengthens, Brics will be the one to gain - and Russia will most certainly be one of the big winners of dropping the dollar and adopting the rouble or the renminbi as its trade currency."

Top German Editor: CIA Bribing Journalists  10/3/2014 Russia Insider 

Ukraine’s ‘Romantic’ Nazi Storm Troopers  9/15/2014 Consortium News: "This curious description of these symbols for unspeakable evil – the human devastation of the Holocaust and World War II — can be found in the last three paragraphs of the lead story in the Post’s Saturday editions, an article about Ukraine’s Azov battalion which has become best known for waging brutal warfare under Nazi and neo-Nazi insignia."

Former BP CEO Warns "Sanctions Will Bite West" As US Gives Majors 14 Days To Wind Down Russian Activities  9/14/2014 Zero Hedge: "at the end of the day, Russia still has all the leverage in the long-run: "key among Russian tight oil reserves are the Bazhenov formations, which are located beneath existing mature west Siberian fields. They are estimated to contain as much as a trillion barrels of oil - four times the reserves of Saudi Arabia. Rosneft and Gazprom Neft are working on Bazhenov with Exxon and Shell."

Leaders talk peace, some Ukrainians contemplate guerrilla war  9/12/2014 WaPo: "In one room, a recruit had emblazoned a swastika above his bed. But Kirt, a former hospitality worker, dismissed questions of ideology, saying that the volunteers — many of them still teenagers — embrace symbols and espouse extremist notions as part of some kind of “romantic” idea."

Amnesty International report confirms major crimes committed by Aidar battalion in Luhansk  9/10/2014 Itar Tass: "The Aidar special unit was formed in May of activists of the radical nationalistic political forces of Ukraine for the participation in the punitive operation in the southeast of Ukraine. According to some information, Aidar is controlled by the leader of the Radical Party of Ukraine, Oleg Lyashko."

Media says Ukraine’s Rada report on probe to Odessa massacre fabricated  9/9/2014 Itar Tass 

MH17 Was Struck By Multiple "High-Energy Objects From Outside The Aircraft", Crash Report Reveals  9/9/2014 Zero Hedge: "Finally, we are stunned that nobody has observed the obvious: "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft" like for example... bullets? As in a warplane-fired volley of high-powered bullets. Curiously, there is not even a single mention of the word "bullet" in the entire 34 page report: apparently even the mere possibility of such an "high-energy object" is too inconceivable to even consider?"

Europe Goes "All In": Will Sanction Rosneft, Gazprom Neft And Transneft  9/7/2014 Zero Hedge: "What China's president will do, now that he has all the leverage in the world to call shots both to the West, the East, and of course, Africa, remains unknown, although those thousands of tons of gold imports that mysteriously enter the country and are never heard from again, may provide a hint."

New EU Sanctions to Stop Fundraising by 3 Russian Oil Giants  9/7/2014 WSJ: "New European Union sanctions on Russia will expand the number of Russian companies unable to raise money in the bloc's capital markets to include three major state-owned oil companies, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal."

Sidestepping Ukraine’s ‘N-Word’ for Nazi  9/6/2014 Consortium News: "The mainstream U.S. media is hazing German Chancellor Merkel and President Obama for sidestepping the “I-word” – invasion – in reference to Russia and Ukraine. But the MSM goes mute on Ukraine’s “N-word” for “Nazi” so as not to disrupt the pro-Kiev “group think,” says Robert Parry."

Russians at the Gate: The Barbarians Are Coming  9/4/2014 AntiWar: "The capture of several Russian soldiers who could have come to the area by accident, was a sign for the White House that Russia has invaded and was subsequently "unwillingness to tell the truth" although Ukrainian soldiers numbering in hundreds crossed the border into Russia in the past. Whereas earlier, the White House has constantly struggled to provide evidence of a Russian invasion, this time the physical proof has been found."

The Whys Behind the Ukraine Crisis  9/3/2014 Consortium News: "Given the very high stakes of a nuclear confrontation with Russia, some analysts wonder what’s the real motive for taking this extraordinary risk over Ukraine. Is it about natural gas, protection of the U.S. dollar’s dominance, or an outgrowth of neocon extremism, asks Robert Parry."

Obama Issues Demands Over Ukraine Ceasefire Deal  9/3/2014 AntiWar: "Obama insisted no deal was possible unless Russia “stopped pretending” that it isn’t in control of the rebels, and agreed to “stop meddling” in internal Ukrainian affairs. The comments are in keeping with the administration’s narrative of the Ukrainian war, but issuing demands to Russia is still bizarre, since the US isn’t a party to the ceasefire, and Russia’s only involvement in it is as a broker, not a signatory."

U.S., allies to stage exercises in West Ukraine as battles rage in East  9/2/2014 Reuters: "As fighting between the army and Russian-backed rebels rages in eastern Ukraine, preparations are under way near its western border for a joint military exercise this month with more than 1,000 troops from the United States and its allies."

Who’s Telling the ‘Big Lie’ on Ukraine?  9/2/2014 Consortium News: "If you wonder how the world could stumble into World War III – much as it did into World War I a century ago – all you need to do is look at the madness that has enveloped virtually the entire U.S. political/media structure over Ukraine where a false narrative of white hats vs. black hats took hold early and has proved impervious to facts or reason."

China Warns European Union Against Fresh Sanctions on Russia  9/1/2014 IBT 

Obama’s “Catastrophic Defeat” in Ukraine  8/29/2014 CounterPunch 

Summarizing The West's Russia-Ukraine Propaganda  8/28/2014 Zero Hedge: "While there is a virtual news blackout with regard to Ukraine in the West, with little being shown beyond pictures of talking heads in Washington and Kiev, the media coverage in Russia is relentless, with daily bulletins describing troop movements, up-to-date maps of the conflict zones, and lots of eye-witness testimony, commentary and analysis. There is also a lively rumor mill on Russian and international social networks, which I tend to disregard because it's mostly just that: rumor. In this environment, those who would attempt to fabricate a fictional narrative, as the officials in Washington and Kiev attempt to do, do not survive very long."

Kiev Independence Day Parade Flaunts Artillery and Armor: Russian Roulette  8/27/2014 Vice News: "Despite the high spirits at the Kiev parade, the display of equipment and artillery was perceived as a slap in the face to those fighting for Ukraine on the frontline — many of who are dying because they don't have the artillery and military equipment they need to put up a fight."

The Southern Front Catastrophe – August 27, 2014  8/27/2014 Slavyangrad.org: "In the meantime, the once-solid front, which stretched from Marinovka to Yelenovka has now broken up into separate pockets of resistance with intercepted supply lines. After this disaster it became absolutely clear that the Junta does not have the capacity to destroy Novorossiya. By squandering the most combat-capable brigades in systematic offensive operations, the Junta sustained enormous losses and at the same time suffered a crushing, purely military defeat. The southern front has collapsed. Novorossiya shall exist!"

Ukrainian Government's Neo-Nazi Links  8/26/2014 Telesur: "The key leaders of the Euromaidan movement were former professional boxer Vitaly Klitschko, now mayor of Kiev; Arseniy Yatsenyuk current Prime Minister and member of the Fatherland party and Oleg Tyahnybok, leader of the far-right Svoboda party. Svoboda, Klitschko's Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) and the Fatherland party have been the greatest political winners from the ousting of Yanukovich, taking over 36 percent of seats in the Rada – Ukraine´s parliament - and becoming the major political alliance backing President Poroshenko."

The Collapsing Syria-Sarin Case  8/20/2014 Consortium News: "The one Sarin-laden rocket, which struck in the Zamalka/Ein Tarma neighborhood, was found to be crudely made and had a maximum range of about 2 to 3 kilometers, meaning that it would have been launched from rebel-controlled areas, not from a government zone. But conventional wisdom is a difficult thing to shake once many “very important people” have embraced its certainties. Such VIPs don’t like to admit that they were suckered and there are always some aspiring operatives who hope to earn some brownie points by attacking anyone who deviates from the “group think.”"

Why Have the Media and Obama Administration Gone Silent on MH17?  8/18/2014 World Socialist 

Did Iran Just Knife Putin in the Back?  8/18/2014 CounterPunch: "Got that? So, now they not only SAW the phantom convoy they also blew it up. Not bad for a day’s work. Okay, so where are the prisoners? Where are the blown up hulks of the armored vehicles? Where are the casualties? Where’s eyewitness testimony of the people who first appeared on the scene? Where’s the photographic proof from US satellites that were combing the area at the time? There’s has to be something to substantiate a claim as serious as this; a claim that could lead to a declaration of war on Russia. Nothing. They have nothing; not a shred of hard evidence. It’s all just fluff."

American Pravda: Who Shot Down Flight MH17 in Ukraine?  8/14/2014 Unz Review 

Putin is Winning the New Cold War  8/13/2014 Market Oracle: "Lehmann notes that he had a conversation with “a top-NATO admiral from a northern European country” who clarified the situation in a terse, two-sentence summary of US foreign policy. He said: “American colleagues at the Pentagon told me, unequivocally, that the US and UK never would allow European – Soviet relations to develop to such a degree that they would challenge the US/UK’s political, economic or military primacy and hegemony on the European continent. Such a development will be prevented by all necessary means, if necessary by provoking a war in central Europe”."

Ignoring Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Storm Troopers  8/13/2014 Consortium News: "The U.S.-backed Ukrainian government is knowingly sending neo-Nazi paramilitaries into eastern Ukrainian neighborhoods to attack ethnic Russians who are regarded by some of these storm troopers as “Untermenschen” or subhuman, according to Western press reports."

NYT Discovers Ukraine’s Neo-Nazis at War  8/10/2014 Consortium News: "The New York Times reported almost in passing on Sunday that the Ukrainian government’s offensive against ethnic Russian rebels in the east has unleashed far-right paramilitary militias that have even raised a neo-Nazi banner over the conquered town of Marinka, just west of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. That might seem like a big story – a U.S.-backed military operation, which has inflicted thousands of mostly civilian casualties, is being spearheaded by neo-Nazis. But the consistent pattern of the mainstream U.S. news media has been – since the start of the Ukraine crisis – to white-out the role of Ukraine’s brown-shirts."

This Is How Putin's Advisor Sees The Ukraine Crisis Playing Out  8/9/2014 Zero Hedge: "To further insulate its economy, Russia should abandon the use of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency, according to Glazyev. Russia, which international reserves are the world’s fifth-biggest, needs to diversify its holdings to include China’s yuan, India’s rupee and Brazil’s real. “If a country aspires to reserve status for its currency, it should behave properly, and that isn’t the case today,” Glazyev said. And this is how Putin sees the world. De-escalation? Good luck."

America’s Recruitment of Nazis–Then and Now  8/8/2014 CounterPunch: "Declassified in the 1980s, a 1949 statement by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to President Harry Truman reveals aspects of this plan, which integrated conventional and nuclear weapons with “counter-insurgency” operations. The US army, air force, CIA, and other intelligence agencies proposed a three-stage strategy to take out the Soviet Union, should open war become the desirable option: 1) mounting a campaign of propaganda, disinformation, and false-flag operations to provoke a confrontation with the Soviet Union, in which the US would appear to have to act in self-defense or in defense of X-group of Soviet-oppressed peoples; 2) conducting a military campaign lasting thirty days, during which seventy atomic bombs would be dropped on select targets in the Soviet Union from long-range planes to destroy 40% of Soviet industrial capacity, including its crucial petroleum sector; 3) launching post-nuclear, mop-op, “counter-insurgency” operations on the radioactive ground to prevent the Red Army from reassembling and the Soviet political system from reemerging. This last phase was to be entrusted to the “secret armies”—the Eastern European and Russian émigré groups, inherited from the Germans."

It's about time for a Sino-Russia alliance  8/8/2014 Want China Times: "Qiu is senior political commentator in China. Translated by Want China Times"

Russia’s food czar goes shopping in South America  8/7/2014 Progresso Weekly: "Ambassador Tettamanti, who assumed his post in March, told Dankvert that Argentina is ready to begin supplying Russia immediately, without waiting for the ICT summit. Dankvert also met Thursday with Ambassador Aníbal Cabral Segalerba of Uruguay, who expressed his government’s willingness to supply animal and vegetable food products to Russia in exchange for agricultural technology and equipment. Dankvert outlined Russia’s needs as Uruguayan beef, pork, lamb, seafood, dairy products, citrus fruits and vegetables. The export of live cattle was also mentioned.Segalerba informed Dankvert that Uruguay’s minister of Agriculture, Tabaré Aguerre Lombardo, will visit Moscow in September, at which time a formal agreement on cooperation may be finalized. Next on Dankvert’s list of visitors was Ecuadorean Ambassador Patricio Alberto Chávez Zavala, with whom Dankvert discussed increased exports of seafood, dairy products, fruits, vegetables and flowers. Dankvert said that the direct delivery of flowers, bypassing European middlemen, is of particular interest to him."

Russia’s ban on American food imports is going to hit the U.S. poultry, pork and nut industries the hardest  8/7/2014 WaPo 

US analysts conclude MH17 downed by aircraft  8/7/2014 NewStraits Times 

Europe Furious That Putin Dares To Retaliate To Sanctions, Blames Economic Slide On Kremlin  8/7/2014 Zero Hedge: "After blindly doing the US' bidding over all propaganda matters Ukraine-related, and following just as blindly into round after round of US-inspired sanctions, sanctions to whose retaliation Europe would be on the frontline unlike the largely insulated US, Europe appears to be absolutely shocked and is apoplectic that after several rounds of sanction escalations, Russia finally unleashed its own round of sanctions and yesterday announced a 1 year ban on all European food imports, something which will further push Europe into a triple-dip recession as already hinted by Italy yesterday."

LatAm stands to profit from Russia’s food ban  8/7/2014 Progresso Weekly: "“Brazil’s meat industry is ready to take advantage of Moscow’s ban of farm imports from the United States and will send more poultry to Russia,” said the association’s president, Francisco Turra, to the press. “We have a very large capacity to do so,” he said. He added that 20 poultry farms in Brazil have already been cleared to do business with Russia. Ninety-one Brazilian food manufacturers were authorized by Moscow as suppliers and it’s expected that many more will join the list. According to Turra, Brazil plans to send 210,000 tons of poultry this year. Last year’s export volume was 60,000 tons."

De-Dollarization Continues: Russian Oligarchs Shift Cash To Hong Kong Dollars On Sanctions Concerns  8/4/2014 Zero Hedge 

Flight 17 Shoot-Down Scenario Shifts  8/3/2014 Consortium News: "The Los Angeles Times article on the briefing took note of the uncertainties: “U.S. intelligence agencies have so far been unable to determine the nationalities or identities of the crew that launched the missile. U.S. officials said it was possible the SA-11 [the Buk anti-aircraft missile] was launched by a defector from the Ukrainian military who was trained to use similar missile systems.” That reference to a possible “defector” may have been an attempt to reconcile the U.S. government’s narrative with the still-unreleased satellite imagery of the missile battery controlled by soldiers appearing to wear Ukrainian uniforms. But I’m now told that U.S. intelligence analysts have largely dismissed the “defector” possibility and are concentrating on the scenario of a willful Ukrainian shoot-down of the plane, albeit possibly not knowing its actual identity."

The Unanswered Questions of MH17  8/1/2014 CounterPunch 

‘Wrong time, altered images’ Moscow slams Kiev’s MH17 satellite data  8/1/2014 RT: "Satellite images Kiev published as ‘proof’ it didn’t deploy anti-aircraft batteries around the MH17 crash site carry altered time-stamps and are from days after the MH17 tragedy, the Russian Defense Ministry has revealed. The images, which Kiev claims were taken by its satellites at the same time as those taken by Russian satellites, are neither Ukrainian nor authentic, according to a Moscow statement. The Defense Ministry said the images were apparently made by an American KeyHole reconnaissance satellite, because the two Ukrainian satellites currently in orbit, Sich-1 and Sich-2, were not positioned over the part of Ukraine’s Donetsk Region shown in the pictures. Moscow claims weather and lighting conditions in the images were not be possible at the dates and times Ukraine claims they were made, the Russian military said. At least one of the images published by Ukraine shows signs of being altered by an image editor, the statement added. The Russian ministry also criticized images published by Kiev to back its allegations Russia smuggled heavy weapons over the border and shelled Ukrainian army positions. The images lack proper timestamps and coordinates, while Kiev didn’t bother to explain why it believes that whatever vehicles are shown in them are Russian, the statement pointed out."

Western plutocracy goes bear hunting  8/1/2014 Asia Times: by Pepe Escobar - "If the US deep state, guided by those nullities who pass for leadership, in desperation, goes one step beyond - it could be a genocide in Donbass; a NATO attack on Crimea; or worst case scenario, an attack against Russia itself - watch out. The Bear will strike."

"US Will Feel Tangible Losses," Russia Prepares To Unleash Retaliatory Trade Wars  7/30/2014 Zero Hedge 

Russian Lawmaker Says US Fails to Understand Sanctions Beneficial to Russia  7/30/2014 RiaNovosti: "The United Stated does not understand that it is supporting the Russian economy by imposing new sanctions, Sergei Ryabukhin, the head of the budgetary committee of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said Wednesday. “They are nothing but a benefit for the Russian economy, including for the revenue part of all budget levels,” the parliamentarian said. The new US restrictions let Russia focus on developing its own production efficiently using its internal reserves to balance the national economy, Ryabukhin added."

Shocking Analysis of the ‘Shooting Down’ of Malaysian MH17  7/30/2014 AndwerWelt Online 

Malaysia says Ukraine must bear responsibility for MH17  7/29/2014 Want China Times: "Malaysia has stated for the first time that it believes the Ukrainian government ought to bear responsibility for the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, according to a report from Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobao. Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai was quoted by the paper as saying that the Ukrainian government needs to take responsibility for the disaster because it was Ukrainian air traffic controllers who permitted MH17 to fly over the country's airspace when it was shot down on July 17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. Ukraine's air traffic controllers did not notify MH17 that it was not permitted to fly in the region, Liow said, adding that the Ukrainian government had a responsibility to tell the Boeing 777-200ER airliner if it was in any danger."

NEW MH17 SENSATION: German experts point finger at Ukrainian air-force jets. Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/new-mh17-sensation-german-experts-point-finger-at-ukrainian-air-force-jets/#AZvKekBTbouemWUv.99  7/28/2014 Investment Watch 

White House Expects ‘Strong’ EU Sanctions Against Russia  7/27/2014 AntiWar: "According to White House officials, the Obama Administration believes the European Union will agree to “strong sanctions” against Russia in the coming days, with a focus primarily on the arms sector and financial sector."

Admitted Liar Claims Russia Is Shooting Artillery Into Ukraine  7/27/2014 Zero Hedge: "National Intelligence Director James Clapper appeared before Congress and lied about the program. He later said that he gave the least untruthful statement he could think of. But it was nevertheless untrue and potentially a crime for which he could be prosecuted. And a huge majority of Americans agree that Clapper should be prosecuted for perjury."

Multiple Reports: Ukrainian Fighter Jets Were with Malaysian Flight 17 When It Was Shot Down  7/27/2014 Zero Hedge: "Terrible things are happening. For example, an incident that happened recently: passenger plane was flying by, and Ukrainian attack aircraft hid behind it. Then he lowered his altitude a bit and dropped bombs on residential sector of Semenovka town. Then he regained the altitude and hid behind the passenger plane again. Then he left."

Blaming Russia as ‘Flat Fact’  7/27/2014 Consortium News: "As nuclear-armed America hurtles into a completely avoidable crash with nuclear-armed Russia over Ukraine, you can now see the dangers of “information warfare” when facts give way to propaganda and the press fails to act as an impartial arbiter. In this sorry affair, one of the worst offenders of journalistic principles has been the New York Times, generally regarded as America’s premier newspaper. During the Ukraine crisis, the Times has been little more than a propaganda conveyor belt delivering what the U.S. government wants out via shoddy and biased reporting from the likes of Michael R. Gordon and David Herszenhorn."

U.S. releases images showing Russia firing into Ukraine  7/27/2014 USA Today: [They release these but not the alleged photos of the rebel buk.]

Under Military Plan, U.S. Could Help Ukraine Target Rebels’ Missiles  7/26/2014 NYT: "The Pentagon and American intelligence agencies are developing plans that would enable the Obama administration to provide specific locations of surface-to-air missiles controlled by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine so the Ukrainian government could target them for destruction, American officials said. But the proposal has not yet been debated in the White House, a senior administration official said. It is unclear whether President Obama, who has already approved limited intelligence sharing with Ukraine, will agree to give more precise information about potential military targets, a step that would involve the United States more deeply in the conflict."

The Malaysian Airline MH17 Crash: Sixteen Central Issues Which Cannot be Ignored  7/26/2014 Global Research 

Censorship or error? Internet criticism for BBC removal of MH17 report  7/25/2014 RT: "BBC Russian has come under fire from internet users after deleting its report on the MH17 crash for not meeting ‘editorial values.’ The reporter questioned says that local militia fired the missile, with locals talking about Ukrainian army planes."

At Crimean Holocaust event, a chance to burnish Russia’s image as defender of minorities  7/25/2014 Jewish Post: "“It’s to be expected that now that we are in Russia, there will be more emphasis on the war on fascism,” said Genady Tebankin, a local Jew who attended the ceremony. “That’s the Kremlin line.”"

A Ukrainian Rebel Commander Veers Off-Script  7/25/2014 NYT: "Reuters responded by releasing audio of the interview, in which the commander could be clearly heard saying that he was told on the day of the crash that another separatist unit, from Lugansk, had in fact deployed an SA-11 Buk missile system to the rebel-held town of Snizhne, six miles west of the spot where Flight 17 crashed." [What about the video?]

Ukraine hides highly important evidence related to Boeing crash  7/24/2014 Pravda: "The records of the talks between the officers, the plane crew and the crews of air defense systems are highly important. The Ukrainian military have all those records, this is absolutely for sure as the work of the missile system has not changed since Soviet times and has always worked like a clock," he told reporters on Thursday, July 24. Maslov claims that "Ukraine is hiding in behind the walls of the Security Bureau, which confirms that the situation is developing according to the scenario of 2001, when Ukraine accidentally shot down a Russian airliner over the Black Sea during military drills," RIA Novosti reports. "Why doesn't anyone, but Russia, demand this evidence should be unveiled immediately? This is strange," Alexander Maslov concluded."

U.S. Officials: MH17 Missile May Have Been Launched By a “Defector from The Ukrainian Military Who Was Trained To Use Similar Missile Systems”  7/23/2014 Naked Capitalism 

Exclusive: Ukraine rebel commander acknowledges fighters had BUK missile  7/23/2014 Reuters: When Reuters quotes the interviewee, the assertion is not as strong: "What resources our partners have, we cannot be entirely certain. Was there (a BUK)? Wasn’t there? If there was proof that there was, then there can be no question."

Is US bent on bringing down Russia? Some in Kremlin say yes.  7/23/2014 CSM: "It's an illusion to believe that there are some specific steps we could take in connection with Ukraine to mollify the US, and they would lift this blockade and return to normal," says Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political analyst. "No, just watch, they will keep moving the goal posts." The real reasons that US-Russia acrimony has been inexorably building, they say, is that Russia is at the leading edge of emerging countries that are challenging the US-run global financial and political order."

Ukraine, MH 17, and the Charge of the Atlanticist Brigade  7/23/2014 CounterPunch: "So one consequence of the singleminded US campaign against Russia is that it is being driven into the arms of the PRC; another is that the PRC is making its ability to resist sanctions a national priority. The US Atlanticists may succeed in either subduing Russia to Western tutelage or simply expelling it from the European sphere; but what about the Pacific?"

Cockpit of MH17 found sawed in half at crash site  7/23/2014 USA Today: with video

The Mystery of a Ukrainian Army ‘Defector’  7/22/2014 Consortium News: "U.S. intelligence officials suggest that the person who fired the missile that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 may have been “a defector” from the Ukrainian army, an apparent attempt to explain why some CIA analysts thought satellite images revealed men in Ukrainian army uniforms manning the missile battery, writes Robert Parry."

The West may be feeling the chill of a new Cold War. But for Ukraine and Russia, no era or actor is more omnipresent in today’s crisis than World War II and Stepan Bandera.  7/22/2014 AntiWar: "People who have been on social media for more than a few minutes know how much nonsense is presented as absolute truth there, and the Obama Administration’s decision to base its entire case on stuff they read there, going to the extent of arguing with a dubious press, has clearly not served them well."

It’s Putin’s Missile!  7/22/2014 CounterPunch: by Pepe Escobar, summarizing current knowledge.

Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash: Was a Russian-made missile really parked in this quiet square?  7/22/2014 Independent: "At the weekend, Ukraine’s security services (SBU) released photographs and videos it said proved that Russian-made BUK-M1 surface-to-air missile systems were inside the rebel-held area shortly before Malaysian Airlines MH17 crashed to the ground. Among the images, said to have been taken on the day of the tragedy, was one of a missile system, either parked or passing through the rebel-controlled town of Torez, barely five miles from where Boeing 777 tore into fields of wheat and sunflowers. According to Vitaliy Nayda, head of the SBU’s counterintelligence unit, the image was “evidence” of Russia’s involvement."

What Putin Knows  7/22/2014 CounterPunch: "It’s also worth noting that the journalist who co-authored Sunday’s piece on Kerry in the New York Times was none other than Michael R. Gordon. In 2002 Gordon co-wrote a piece about aluminum tubes with Judith Miller which was intended to scare readers “with images of mushroom clouds” into supporting the war in Iraq. The story turned out to be complete baloney, but it helped to pave the way for the US invasion as it was intended to do. Gordon escaped blame for the article, while the discredited Miller was released."

10 more questions Russian military pose to Ukraine, US over MH17 crash  7/21/2014 RT: "“For example, media circulated a video supposedly showing a Buk system being moved from Ukraine to Russia. This is clearly a fabrication. This video was made in the town of Krasnoarmeisk, as evidenced by the billboard you see in the background, advertising a car dealership at 34 Dnepropetrovsk Street. Krasnoarmeysk has been controlled by the Ukrainian military since May 11.”

Russia Says Has Photos Of Ukraine Deploying BUK Missiles In East, Radar Proof Of Warplanes In MH17 Vicinity  7/21/2014 Zero Hedge: "Ukraine hasn’t said how it immediately knew rebels downed Malaysian plane, notes the Russian Foreign Ministry, as it unveils 10 awkward questions for Ukraine (and perhaps the US 'snap judgment') to answer about the MH17 disaster. However, what is perhaps more concerning for the hordes of finger-pointers is that: •RUSSIA HAS IMAGES OF UKRAINE DEPLOYING BUK ROCKETS IN EAST: IFX •RUSSIA: UKRAINE MOVED BUK NEAR REBELS IN DONETSK JULY 17: IFX •RUSSIA DETECTED UKRAINIAN FIGHTER JET PICK UP SPEED TOWARD MH17"

Perverted truth: How rebel mourning MH17 victims was turned into looter with trophy  7/21/2014 RT: "The footage shows that one of the members of self-defense troops suddenly saw a teddy bear which apparently belonged to a child who was among the 298 passenger on board the Malaysian jet. “We want those bastards to see whom they shot down,” the man said, “Do you see?” meaning that there were innocent children who died in the crash. Then he carefully put the toy back to a heap of other items that used to belong to the passengers. After that he took off his cap and marked himself with a sign of the cross paying the tribute to the memory of the victims of the catastrophe."

Key Piece of Video “Evidence” for Russian Responsibility for Malaysian Plane Shootdown Debunked  7/21/2014 Zero Hedge: "In fact, the billboard is supposedly advertising a Krasnoarmeisk car dealership. Also, one of the structures in the background is said to be a construction materials store on Gorkii Street, Krasnoarmeisk. Please note that this town is (very roughly) 120 kilometers from the Russian border and 80 kilometers from where the Malaysian 777 went down. And again, it has been under Kiev’s control since May."

Russia Presents Its Account of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Crash  7/21/2014 Wall Street Journal 

Neo-Nazis Comment on MH17 Crash, Call Death of AIDS Researchers “Good News”  7/21/2014 INSITE: "Users responded with a remarkably unified tone of celebration to story, attesting that the death of the AIDS researchers was a victory for the disease, one which they view as an exterminatory necessity. User “Serbian” wrote: Why can't AIDS once again be a certain death sentence for junkies freaks and deviants like it was in the good old days of the early to mid 80's? Because of people like these."

Theresa May Raises an Old and Discredited Canard  7/21/2014 Strategic Culture: by Wayne Madsen - "The Litvinenko story is one that exposes the deep ties of the Russian-Israeli mafia and its longstanding operations against Russia."

State Dept. Annoyed at Press Questioning MH17 Narrative  7/21/2014 AntiWar: "When pressed on the array of theories on social media, and why the US is embracing just the one, Harf insisted that none of the other theories made any sense, because the State Department totally knows it was Russia’s fault. When pressed further on Russia’s denial, Harf turned visible hostile toward the press members at the briefing, angrily insisting that it was unfair for the media to even consider Russian statements that contradict the State Department, when everyone is supposed to know the US is more credible. When pressed further on that line of reasoning, Harf angrily barked “I’m not even dignifying that question with a response.”"

Kiev’s evidence of militia’s responsibility for airliner crash faked - expert  7/20/2014 ITAR-PASS: "A tape posted by Ukrainian security services in the Internet and allegedly recording a talk between self-defense fighters about the destruction of a Malaysian airliner is a fake, experts said on Sunday. A group of experts studied the tape and came to the conclusion that it was made up of numerous unrelated recordings. “This audio recording is not an integral file and is made up of several fragments,” said Nikolai Popov, a reputable expert in sound and voice analysis… But the most indicative moment is that the audio tape clearly shows that it was created almost a day before the airliner crash, the expert said."

MH17 crash: Ukraine rebels 'to allow access to site'  7/19/2014 Guardian Mobile: "The separatists were said to have seized the Buk after overrunning a Ukrainian military base. However, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Vitaliy Yarema cast doubt on this, telling local media on Friday: "The military told the president after the passenger plane had been shot down that the terrorists did not possess our Buk missile systems.""

Airline Horror Spurs New Rush to Judgment  7/19/2014 Consortium News: "Regarding the shoot-down of the Malaysian jetliner on Thursday, I’m told that some CIA analysts cite U.S. satellite reconnaissance photos suggesting that the anti-aircraft missile that brought down Flight 17 was fired by Ukrainian troops from a government battery, not by ethnic Russian rebels who have been resisting the regime in Kiev since elected President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown on Feb. 22. According to a source briefed on the tentative findings, the soldiers manning the battery appeared to be wearing Ukrainian uniforms and may have been drinking, since what looked like beer bottles were scattered around the site. But the source added that the information was still incomplete and the analysts did not rule out the possibility of rebel responsibility."

Part II: Evidence Continues to Emerge #MH17 Is a False Flag Operation  7/18/2014 No Limit to Our Anger: various testimony on a pro-Russian Militia site from Eastern Ukraine

Separatists said to have received antiaircraft training in Russia  7/18/2014 Washington Post: "Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, the U.S. commander of NATO forces in Europe, said late last month that there was clear evidence that Ukrainian rebels were being trained on Russian territory on how to operate “vehicle-borne” antiaircraft batteries. “We have not seen any of the air-defense vehicles across the border yet, but we’ve seen them training in the western part of Russia,” he said at a Pentagon news conference."

Putin’s Deadly Doctrine  7/18/2014 NYT: "Russia, he said, had voluntarily given up “huge territories” to the former republics of the Soviet Union, including areas “which historically have always belonged to Russia.” He was thinking “not only about Crimea and northern Kazakhstan, but also for example about the Kaliningrad area.” Russia could not simply abandon to their fate those “25 million Russians” who now lived abroad. The world had to respect the interests of the Russian state “and of the Russian people as a great nation.” The name of this irritating little man was — you guessed it — Vladimir V. Putin, and I know exactly what he said back in 1994 because the organizers, the Körber Foundation of Hamburg, Germany, published a full transcript."

Understanding the Crisis in Ukraine  5/11/2014 Christopher Bollyn: "Added recent video of U.S. Asst. Secretary of State Victoria Nuland (wife of Neo-Con Robert Kagan, founder of the PNAC group that called for a U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2000) being grilled by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) about the role of Neo-Nazis in the violent putsch in Kiev in which the elected Ukrainian government was ousted on February 21-22, 2014. Nuland tries to avoid answering Rohrabacher by saying the majority of the people in the Maidan were "peaceful protestors" - but it was certainly not peaceful protestors who overthrew the elected government in Kiev using fire-bombs and trained snipers.'

Neo-Nazis march in Lvov 'in honor' of Ukrainian Waffen SS division (PHOTOS)  4/28/2014 RT: "Around five hundred neo-Nazi supporters took to the streets in the center of the city on Sunday to celebrate the creation of the 14th SS-Volunteer Division ‘Galician’ on April 28, 1943. Many of the participants wore embroidered national Ukrainian shirts and held SS Galician divisional insignias (a yellow lion and three crowns on a blue background) in their hands."

Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Imperative  4/20/2014 Consortium News: "Although real-time reports from the scene in February chronicled armed and organized militias associated with the neo-Nazi Svoboda party and the Right Sektor attacking police with firebombs and light weapons, that information soon became a threat to the Western propaganda theme that Yanukovych fled simply because peaceful protesters occupied the Maidan square. So, the more troubling history soon disappeared into the memory hole, dismissed as “Russian propaganda.” The focus of the biased U.S. news media is now on the anti-Kiev militants in the Russian-ethnic areas of eastern Ukraine who have rejected the authority of the coup regime and are insisting on regional autonomy."

The Red Line and the Rat Line - Seymour M. Hersh on Obama, Erdogan and the Syrian rebels  4/17/2014 London Review of Books: "Obama’s change of mind had its origins at Porton Down, the defence laboratory in Wiltshire. British intelligence had obtained a sample of the sarin used in the 21 August attack and analysis demonstrated that the gas used didn’t match the batches known to exist in the Syrian army’s chemical weapons arsenal. The message that the case against Syria wouldn’t hold up was quickly relayed to the US joint chiefs of staff. The British report heightened doubts inside the Pentagon; the joint chiefs were already preparing to warn Obama that his plans for a far-reaching bomb and missile attack on Syria’s infrastructure could lead to a wider war in the Middle East. As a consequence the American officers delivered a last-minute caution to the president, which, in their view, eventually led to his cancelling the attack."

Behind Russia's 'Neo-Nazi' Propaganda Campaign in Ukraine  4/1/2014 US News: "The Russian government’s assertions that Ukraine is falling into the hands of violent and widespread neo-Nazi thugs is not just an exaggeration, but entirely baseless, according to observers in Kiev."

Ukraine’s Inconvenient Neo-Nazis  3/30/2014 Consortium News: "When Ukrainian neo-Nazis – infuriated over the killing of an ultranationalist leader – surrounded the Parliament in Kiev, the incident presented a problem for the U.S. news media which has been trying to airbrush the neo-Nazis out of the Ukraine narrative, Robert Parry reports."

Seven Decades of Nazi Collaboration: America’s Dirty Little Ukraine Secret  3/28/2014 The Nation: Interview with Russ Bellant - "As the Ukrainian crisis has unfolded over the past few weeks, it’s hard for Americans not to see Vladimir Putin as the big villain. But the history of the region is a history of competing villains vying against one another; and one school of villains—the Nazis—have a long history of engagement with the United States, mostly below the radar, but occasionally exposed, as they were by Russ Bellant in his book Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party (South End Press, 1991). Bellant's exposure of émigré Nazi leaders from Germany's World War II allies in the 1988 Bush presidential campaign was the driving force in the announced resignation of nine individuals, two of them from Ukraine, which is why he was the logical choice to illuminate the scattered mentions of Nazi and fascist elements among the Ukrainian nationalists, which somehow never seems to warrant further comment or explanation."

Ukraine's Phantom Neo-Nazi Menace  3/26/2014 Atlantic: “When was the last time you personally experienced anti-Semitism?” I asked the executive director of the organized Jewish community for the city of Kiev. He gave me a puzzled look. “You mean, called me a Zhid or something like that?” “Anything.” He thought for a moment. “Back in Soviet times.”

A ghost of World War II history haunts Ukraine’s standoff with Russia  3/25/2014 Washington Post: "The West may be feeling the chill of a new Cold War. But for Ukraine and Russia, no era or actor is more omnipresent in today’s crisis than World War II and Stepan Bandera."

Is the U.S. Backing Neo-Nazis in Ukraine?  3/24/2014 Alternet: "“There are lots of Nationalists here, including Nazis,” the anti-fascist continued. “They came from all over Ukraine, and they make up about 30% of protesters.” One of the “Big Three” political parties behind the protests is the ultra-nationalist Svoboda, whose leader, Oleh Tyahnybok, has called for the liberation of his country from the “Muscovite-Jewish mafia.” After the 2010 conviction of the Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk for his supporting role in the death of nearly 30,000 people at the Sobibor camp, Tyahnybok rushed to Germany to declare him a hero who was “fighting for truth.” In the Ukrainian parliament, where Svoboda holds an unprecedented 37 seats, Tyahnybok’s deputy Yuriy Mykhalchyshyn is fond of quoting Joseph Goebbels – he has even founded a think tank originally called “the Joseph Goebbels Political Research Center.” According to Per Anders Rudling, a leading academic expert on European neo-fascism, the self-described “socialist nationalist” Mykhalchyshyn is the main link between Svoboda’s official wing and neo-Nazi militias like Right Sector."

EU's acceptance of Ukraine's radical Svoboda party is shameful  3/24/2014 Euractiv: "Dieter Spöri is a former member of the SPD-group in the German Bundestag. From 1992 to 1996 Spöri served as minister of economic affairs and deputy prime minister of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. He is honorary president of the European Movement Germany."

Putin looks to Asia as West threatens to isolate Russia  3/21/2014 Reuters 

The Neo-Nazi Question in Ukraine  3/11/2014 Huffington Post: "The Obama administration has vehemently denied charges that Ukraine's nascent regime is stock full of neo-fascists despite clear evidence suggesting otherwise. Such categorical repudiations lend credence to the notion the U.S. facilitated the anti-Russian cabal's rise to power as part of a broader strategy to draw Ukraine into the West's sphere of influence. Even more disturbing are apologists, from the American left and right, who seem willing accomplices in this obfuscation of reality, when just a cursory glance at the profiles of Ukraine's new leaders should give pause to the most zealous of Russophobes."

How the far-right took top posts in Ukraine's power vacuum  3/5/2014 Channel 4: "In the new Ukrainian government politicians linked to the far-right have taken posts from deputy prime minister to head of defence. We profile the nationalists filling the power vacuum."

The Dark Side of the Ukraine Revolt  3/3/2014 CounterPunch 

Russia, Crimea and the Consequences of NATO Policy Ukrainian Hangovers  3/3/2014 CounterPunch 

Neo-Nazis Pour Into Kiev  2/28/2014 Daily Beast: "Amongst the fascists, ultra-nationalists, and racists in Europe, there has been much griping that the revolt in Ukraine has been overtaken, if not controlled from the outset, by “CIA/ZOG [Zionist Occupied Government]/Soros-sponsored” forces. The Euroscepticism of the continent’s far-right movements has produced a skepticism of the uprising’s much-discussed Europhile mainstream. But Pro-Yanukovych forces and the former president’s Kremlin allies have heavily promoted an alternative narrative—one that Hagberg and his allies happily embrace—suggesting that the protest movement is in fact honeycombed with dangerous neo-Nazis affiliated with the extremist Ukrainian political parties Svoboda and Right Sector. Therefore, Western supporters of the protests, like John Mccain, are agitating on behalf of violent Ukrainian fascism."

Neo-Nazi threat in new Ukraine: NEWSNIGHT  2/28/2014 BBC 

Is the US backing neo-Nazis in Ukraine?  2/25/2014 Salon: "As the Euromaidan protests in the Ukrainian capitol of Kiev culminated this week, displays of open fascism and neo-Nazi extremism became too glaring to ignore. Since demonstrators filled the downtown square to battle Ukrainian riot police and demand the ouster of the corruption-stained, pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, it has been filled with far-right streetfighting men pledging to defend their country’s ethnic purity. White supremacist banners and Confederate flags were draped inside Kiev’s occupied City Hall, and demonstrators have hoisted Nazi SS and white power symbols over a toppled memorial to V.I. Lenin. After Yanukovich fled his palatial estate by helicopter, EuroMaidan protesters destroyed a memorial to Ukrainians who died battling German occupation during World War II. Sieg heil salutes and the Nazi Wolfsangel symbol have become an increasingly common site in Maidan Square, and neo-Nazi forces have established “autonomous zones” in and around Kiev."

The Geopolitics of Ukraine's Schism  2/15/2014 Binghampton 

The Russian-Saudi Showdown at Sochi  12/31/2013 Consortium News: "I was told by a source close to the Russian government that this mix of overt inducements and implied threats infuriated Putin who barely kept his anger in check through the end of the meeting with Bandar. Putin viewed Bandar’s offer to protect the Sochi Olympics as something akin to a Mafia don shaking down a shopkeeper for protection money by saying, “nice little business you got here, I’d hate to see anything happen to it.” Putin then redoubled his support for the Syrian government in response to Bandar’s blend of bribes and warnings. The source said Russia also issued its own thinly veiled threats against the Saudis. The Saudis may have substantial “soft power” – with their oil and money – but Russia has its own formidable “hard power,” including a huge military, the source said."

Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria  8/27/2013 Telegraph: "Prince Bandar, head of Saudi intelligence, allegedly confronted the Kremlin with a mix of inducements and threats in a bid to break the deadlock over Syria. “Let us examine how to put together a unified Russian-Saudi strategy on the subject of oil. The aim is to agree on the price of oil and production quantities that keep the price stable in global oil markets,” he said at the four-hour meeting with Mr Putin. They met at Mr Putin’s dacha outside Moscow three weeks ago."

Russian President, Saudi Spy Chief Discussed Syria, Egypt  8/22/2013 AL Monitor: "At the bilateral level, Bandar relayed the Saudi king’s greetings to Putin and the king’s emphasis on the importance of developing the bilateral relationship. He also told Putin that the king would bless any understanding reached during the visit. Bandar also said, however, that “any understanding we reach in this meeting will not only be a Saudi-Russian understanding, but will also be an American-Russian understanding. I have spoken with the Americans before the visit, and they pledged to commit to any understandings that we may reach, especially if we agree on the approach to the Syrian issue.”

Russian President, Saudi Spy Chief Discussed Syria, Egypt  8/21/2013 Al Monitor: "Putin thanked King Abdullah for his greetings and Bandar for his exposition, but then he said to Bandar, “We know that you have supported the Chechen terrorist groups for a decade. And that support, which you have frankly talked about just now, is completely incompatible with the common objectives of fighting global terrorism that you mentioned. We are interested in developing friendly relations according to clear and strong principles.”

President Vladimir Putin declared war on russian mafia.  6/1/2013 European Security News: "According to the Ministry of Interior in Russia, the mobsters meeting should decide the issue of the ‘coronation’ of three kingpins from Belarus to the mobster status of ‘vor v zakonye‘(thief in law, who obeys the thieves code)."

Drugs An Instrument of Global Policy  8/5/2012 Strategic Culture: "Russian drug control agency chief V. Ivanov said in 2010 that Russia tipped off the US and the Afghan administration about 175 drug factories in Afghanistan, but neither ended up being bulldozed. Consequently, funds continue to pile up on the bank accounts of those running them. It is clear that calls for a broad anti-narcotics front sound naïve. Moscow will only waste time and see more Russians perish if it waits for the West to subscribe to such initiatives – the time is coming for it to take drastic measures against those who disseminate death packaged in dozes."

The Real Grand Chessboard and the Profiteers of War (Part Two)  1/10/2010 Foreign Policy Journal: by Peter Dale Scott

EU report: Georgian attack started war with Russia  9/30/2009 AP 

The Real Grand Chessboard and the Profiteers of War  8/11/2009 Global Research: by Peter Dale Scott

Saidov's “Bagram Group” May Have Been Involved in Afghan Attacks Aimed at Steinmeier  5/2/2009 Left.ru 

Berezovsky financed terrorists by paying ransoms – Chechen prez  4/8/2009 Russia Today: "He couldn’t just give money to the militants, so he invented this mechanism. In my presence, Berezovsky suggested to Raduyev and Basayev: ‘Capture people and I’ll ransom them. I’ll get good publicity and you’ll get money.’ He paid millions of dollars to Basayev,” Ramzan Kadyrov said."

US-Russia tensions escalate over closure of Afghan supply base  2/6/2009 Uruknet: "Finally, Cuban leader Raul Castro secured a $354 million aid package during an eight-day visit to Moscow, the first high-level contact between Russia and Cuba since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which ended decades of Soviet subsidies to Havana. It is evident that Moscow sees renewed ties with Cuba—90 miles off US shores—as a rebuke to Washington’s own interventions in the former Soviet republics."