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Demonizing Russia: Silent Collusion by John Robles

19 June, 2014 07:06

Part of the demonization that has allowed the Kiev junta to wage a war against ethnic Russians and the Russian speaking population in Ukraine is a very carefully planned and intense campaign of demonization and dehumanization. Another aspect is the silence and non-coverage in the western media of war crimes and atrocities being committed against innocent civilians. This was no more evident than in Victoria Nuland's recent visit to Odessa at a time when there was a ceremony being held for the victims who died at the House of Unions. While Nuland paid US officials paid respects to those who died on the Maidan she ignored the event and reportedly met with Kolomoisky or his representatives.

The Language of Silent Collusion in the Media

With the unprecedented media campaign being waged by the West in support of the junta, with White House spokes tool Psaki, who confuses Iran and Iraq, uses phrases she does not understand like "carousel" and denied that she had any information that two Russian reporters were killed, anyone who attempts to ignore or chooses not to report the reality of what is happening in Ukraine is guilty of silent collusion.

It is this silent collusion that allowed the neo-nazi lunatics to come to power in Ukraine in the first place and this silent collusion serves the interests of fascist groups in any country when they begin to gain power. They may start by demonizing foreigners and immigrants, and this is allowed get by unchallenged, and once such a precedent is set they gain force, as they did in Ukraine. So it is the responsibility of any media outlet or journalist to document the truth, and not flee from it to please an audience. The responsibility of a journalist is to get the truth to the audience, not pander to it. The tactic of psychological transference, where the victim becomes the aggressor is being used in Ukraine and I have written about this before. This goes with the demonization and dehumanization and serves to remove all blame from the true aggressor.

Call it what it is

The western-backed Ukrainian government which is trying to claim it is legitimate and represents western and European values is engaged in a punitive war of genocide against ethnic Russians and anyone opposed to it. The regime is also engaged in a war against the media and any reporter, including writers like myself, who dare to present the truth are targets and a danger to the nazi junta whose greatest enemy is the truth. They have proven this. They will kill anyone who publishes the truth or attempts to report the truth. Is this what they mean by European and "Western Values"?

If we look at the price that Julian Assange has had to pay for telling the truth and the war being waged on "hackers", bloggers, reporters, sources, whistle blowers and even anyone who simply links to content the US Government does not approve of, then perhaps Nuland is right in supporters the nazis in Ukraine? Perhaps as the United States was founded on genocide the real western value is genocide? That would explain why Nuland still has her job and the American media are marching lock step with the narrative, which is enabling genocide.

Two honorable young men, with families and friends and a group of innocent refugees were killed by some lunatic peering through the sights of an artillery weapon. The junta has forbidden refugees from fleeing the conflict zone as it continues to eradicate them. And the "West" is silent as the US continues to sugar coat genocide, which has become, as seems to be the case, official US policy.

Demonizing Russia: Formula for Extermination by John Robles

19 June, 2014 07:05

How is it that in our age of information technologies, the internet and lightning fast communications that a nazi junta has been allowed not only to come to power but has been allowed to legitimize itself and then engage in a war to (in their own words) clear out half of the country of those who are opposed to them?

The answer to the question I have posed is quite simple really and the formula works for almost every state and grouping. It begins with nationalism or patriotism or some other reason why a certain policy or group is better than the rest. This usually proceeds by the enabling of those who would promote hate or racist polices and even in the extreme, genocide. Finally when the polices or campaigns are begun they are allowed to grow and flourish by quiet or passive collusion (perhaps out of fear of reprisal or loss of social status) and by the subtle or outright demonization of the target group. As the campaign grows to the point where to all thinking people there is something obviously wrong (this may occur at any time during the process) then the campaign to terrorize or demonize or outright eradicate those who would express dissent, the press, the academic community or even religious bodies. Finally there is institutionalized denial and historical revisionism, either by rewriting the history or by omission.

From the genocide of the American Indians, to the genocide of the Jews, the Serbs, the Tutsis and the Slavs, these elements have always existed. In order to facilitate the genocide of the Indians they were classified as animals, the Jews as genetically inferior and sly manipulators and architects of control and repression and for the Slavs ignorant or godless invaders and aggressors, not exactly in that order and not only limited to those areas, but you get the idea.

Determining the Target, Unleashing the Tool

Why would Ukrainians want to commit genocide on their fellow Ukrainians? In reality few of them would, which is where the foreign hands come in and this is the dirtiest part of the situation in Ukraine and one which no one wants to talk about. The US wants NATO in Ukraine and they want to fulfill their other objectives which include turning Ukraine against Russia. Politically and with the use of billions of dollars turning Ukrainians against Russia did not work out so well. Organizing multiple "color revolutions" and installing puppet governments also did not work out, so the need arose to eliminate the pro-Russian part of the population. Since this was the majority and the Russian speaking part of the population was immune from western manipulation, elimination was the only solution. With that in mind backing and unleashing Ukrainian nationalists was the natural choice. Who else?

Demonization and Dehumanization: the Language of Death

What normal Ukrainian man, enlisted in the army and sworn to uphold his constitution and protect his country and his people would kill his own women and children? None. Therefore the targets have to be demonized and more importantly dehumanized.

Operation Ukraine has a component that non-Russian speakers are not very aware about, Stevan Gajich pointed out to me in an interview recently. This component is one that I also elaborated on with journalist Sergey Bolous who recently spent over a month in Slavyansk Ukraine and other areas of Donbas where the junta is engaged in punitive military operations. This component is one which has allowed the nazi junta to demonize a large segment of the population to the point where there are thousands who are convinced that it is okay to literally exterminate them.

The Kiev junta with the advice of Soros, US NGOs and the entire US propaganda, war and intelligence machine set about demonizing those who would support Ukraine's historic affinity for Russia. The US wants Ukraine in its orbit and will do anything to bring that about, including genocide. Genocide is not a problem for America. It is a country founded on it and dependent on it for its continued existence. Just ask an American Indian.

Official Kiev (which officially we have to call them), in other words, the junta is currently engaged in what the Russian government and media are calling a punitive war against the people in the eastern part of Ukraine. More and more evidence, including statements by the junta regarding "clearing the regions", is pointing to it being in fact a scorched-earth genocide of the entire populations in the east, again semantics.

This war is being facilitated by officially calling and labelling everyone in these regions as terrorists, terrorist supporters and enablers and separatists. Just like the US justified invading Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and the attempt on Iran and extinguishing millions of lives, this label is working for the Ukrainian army, even though it has nothing to do with reality. Officially that is the label, unofficially it is worse. Just like the US habituated US racists to calling Muslims ragheads, sand niggers and the like and portraying them as backward, uncivilized and worst of all "non-Western" Ukraine has also waged a campaign of dehumanization.

While the Maidan Defense Forces and Right Sector were burning people alive in Odessa the crowd was chanting "burn, Colorado, burn" and "glory to Ukrainian patriots". Although primitive the labels employed by Ukraine's murderous nationalists are effective. According to journalist Sergey Belous Colorado is a reference to the Colorado Potato Beetle and this phrase is used by many public speakers in the media and those wishing to demonize those in the east. The children of the Ukrainians who are against the junta are called Colorado larvae which actually look like worms. Of course it is psychologically possible or easy for the lunatics doing the bidding to brutally kill a woman or child if you can plant in their minds that they are mere insects or worms.

The term Colorado comes from the colors of the St. George's Ribbon which the Svoboda Party wants outlawed. The St. George's Ribbon symbolizes Russia's historic victory over nazi Germany. As Svoboda sees itself as a nazi party it members see the defeat of Nazi Germany as a day of shame. Even Victory Day was changed in very carefully coded language by the Ukrainian authorities to a day of "memory of the victims" rather than a celebration of the victors, in effect turning the holiday into one where the "victims", the Banderavites and the nazis, are remembered.

In general those wishing federalization or simply against the regime are called insects. There are other words such as Rashisty and a combination of Putin and Hitler which attempt to paint the pro-federalization Ukrainians as somehow being nazis. This is clearly for the western audience as well. Rashisty is a combination of natsisty (nazist) and Russian.

In order to facilitate eradicating the people in the east the junta has also come to calling the residents of these regions "okupanty" or occupiers. How one can "occupy" one's own country is beyond me but that is the logic here. This demonization goes hand in hand with the demonization of Russia as well which anyone can see on any western media outlet.

Although the populations in the east and in particular Lugansk and Donetsk which held referendums, had initially merely wanted federalization as they saw this as the only way to have their language and religion respected, they were immediately labelled as separatists by the junta. It is important to note that the junta and their neo-Nazi paramilitaries, now organized as the "National Guard" (a name which gives them credibility), are not only engaged in an illegal (Geneva Conventions) campaign of collective retribution and "clearing" operation but have also regularly targeted not only schools and hospitals but churches. The destruction of churches and the killing of journalists are almost unprecedented events in world history, in fact I do not recall any regular "army" which literally bombed and targeted churches. Other than CIA created Al-Qaeda and the western-backed Islamic lunatics in Syria no other "force" in recent history has targeted churches.

Back to the language. Another term being used is Moskal(i) a derogatory for (Muscovite), Sovki and Sovok (derogatory terms which plays on the word Soviet and the Russian word for dustpan "sovok").

All of the terms and the stirring of nationalist sentiment while targeting Russia and ethnic Russians and others whom the regime does not find to their liking is simply a common trick used by all nationalist/fascist movements to justify what normal people know is wrong.

US Russophobia Approaching Pathological Transference by John Robles

21 April, 2014 08:14

The headline in the Boston Globe reads: "Obama focuses updated Cold War approach on Putin" and the New York Times article by one Peter Baker that follows is one of the one of the most acidic, fact-starved, sanctimonious, self-righteous, chest beating, Russophobic, war-propagandistic, Putin-envious, out-of-touch diatribes to come out of the western media in the current tidal wave of Gleichschaltung-like anti-Russian war-propaganda. 

The attack is almost criminal in its eschewing of the truth and if you dear reader ever entertained the idea that Boston was a bastion of liberal truth and that the first black American president was some sort of Martin Luther King, you may now group Boston with the vilest redneck burgs in Alabama and the president to the right of the farthest right of the neo-conservative war profiteers.

Rarely does an article deserve to be taken apart at the seams but this one does as the outright lies and vitriol are so blatant that there is a danger if even a small portion of the masses believe even 10% of it.That danger is not to the world, or to us over here in Moscow (we are unfortunately used to these kinds of attacks from the Russophobic lunatic fringe), that danger is to the American public, who continue to have the wool pulled over their eyes by a president and a government that is ready to send them off to die and force countless generations to come into slavery to pay for their maniacal excesses.

Openly Reviving the Cold War

To begin with the headline and the first paragraph take no issue with the fact the Cold War is over. However it does serve to announce to the world that what even three months ago was a well kept secret and something denied by politicians and those in power in Washington, namely that the US/NATO were pursuing a continuation of the Cold War, is now official policy and neither Obama and his henchmen nor the US media establishment have the slightest reservation (due to their delusional architecture) in admitting to what is in fact the complete and utter failure that is forcing the US to cling to a desperate outdated recidivist strategy that it now hopes to apply to a democratic country.

Baker writes: "The crisis in Ukraine defies easy resolution and President Obama and his national security team are looking to forge a new long-term approach to Russia that applies an updated version of the Cold War strategy of containment."

The outright idiocy of the first sentence (as if the US is actually looking for a resolution) denies the fact that it is the US that destabilized Ukraine in the first place and that they continue to support the illegitimate coup government and the neo-nazis who brought the junta to power.

"... updated version of the Cold War strategy of containment."

We must recall that this strategy was supposed to be against the Soviet Union and in order to stop the spread of Communism. Yet like bringing nazis back to power in Europe, we can see that the US never learns history's lessons and continues to pursue dangerous, confrontational, aggressive caveman policies on the international stage

The US Pariah's Psychotic Transference

Let read the next installment:

"Just as the United States resolved in the aftermath of World War II to counter the Soviet Union and its global ambitions, Obama is focused on isolating President Vladimir Putin’s Russia by cutting off its economic and political ties to the outside world, limiting its expansionist ambitions in its own neighborhood and effectively making it a pariah state."

Clearly the pathological transference of those directing the writer and the manipulation in the above is aimed at painting Obama as some sort of great "war president" when in fact he is a cowardly puppet who gets pleasure from authorizing extra-judicial executions and destroying countries.

The pathological transference of applying outdated policies designed as tools against the Soviet Union to Russia and accusing Russia of having "expansionist ambitions" is stunning. Just the fact that Obama and the US think they have some right to meddle and dictate to Russia and Europe, what they can do in their own neighborhood is a sign of their own expansionist mindset.

The unbelievable arrogance, hypocrisy and self-serving historical revisionism is also stunning in the above as we know that it was the US that destabilized Ukraine, organized the armed takeover of a democratic European nation and brought nazis to power in Europe who are calling for killing Russians.

The truest pariah and rogue criminal state in the world is the United States of America. Guilty of multiple acts of aggressive war, continuing to maintain an illegal torture prison, continuing to execute its own citizens, executing people worldwide without trial or charge and overthrowing governments and killing leaders whenever the whim pleases them makes the US the most dangerous pariah nation in the history of mankind.

Now tell me. In what way is Russia a pariah nation?

Obama Stomps His Feet and Holds His Breath

The writer says Obama has "concluded he will never have a constructive relationship with Putin" no matter what. I dare say after the campaign by the US to ruin the Sochi Olympics, Obama running around the world trying to implement sanctions against Russia for the coup d'état he himself signed off on, the non-stop placing of NATO war elements closer and closer to Russia and the fiasco in Syria, I think it would be safe to say that it is President Putin, who has continuously tried to work with Obama, who should refuse to have anything to do with Nobel-Peace-Prize-fraud president.

Ignore the Master?

"Obama will try to minimize the disruption Putin can cause. .. ignore the master of the Kremlin."

The disruption Putin might cause? What "disruption" is the writer talking about? Disrupting plans by Washington to violate further the sovereign state of Ukraine or NATO continuing to surround Russia and the People's Republic of China or perhaps the extermination of Russians in Ukraine and the attempted destruction of the Slavic World or the invasion of the next country that Washington is planning to destroy?

And what is with the "master" thing? This is a new one. Is this another transference of endemic US racism and an attempt to conjugate and/or elicit slave/master images?

“That is the strategy we ought to be pursuing,” said Ivo H. Daalder, formerly Obama’s ambassador to NATO, "... it may solve your Russia problem.”

Your "Russia problem"? Perhaps Mr. Daalder has also lost it? Maybe he will enlighten us with a "final solution"? Unbelievable!

McFaul 2.0: Dangerous Russophobe

The article states that John F. Tefft, a Russia hater who served as US Ambassador to Ukraine, Georgia and Lithuania and promoted the invasion of South Ossetia while in Georgia, the current crisis and the resurgence of fascist forces in Ukraine and the rabid Russophobia and demonization of Russia in Lithuania, has been chosen to be the next US Ambassador to Russia. Tefft was extremely active and involved and one might say instrumental in bringing about the aforementioned anti-Russian events. As McFaul failed to organize the destabilization of Russia and the ouster of President Putin, apparently Obama is seeking more experiences hands.

Dangerous rhetoric

With regard to the assignment the article states: "... now there is no reluctance to offend the Kremlin."

The US insists on isolating itself even further, for such a policy will backfire as Russian diplomats and leaders continue to stay open to dialogue and diplomacy. Again the arrogance is stunning.

An International Consensus: Coalition of the Willing 2.0

The US is becoming more and more hated every day. As Europeans and the world realize that Obama and his myopic, knuckle-dragging foreign policy elites vetted (like Obama himself) by senile-rabid-Russophobe Brezhinsky are only interested in resources and expanding their own caveman hegemony by force, the consensus against the US will grow thousand-fold. The writer tries to say China is against Russia, this is while China and Russia are discussing plans for tighter military cooperation against the ongoing provocation that is the placing of NATO war elements around both countries.

"The administration’s priority is to hold together an international consensus against Russia, including even China, its longtime supporter on the UN Security Council."

The US is Broke

The writer revealed a little too much I think with the following statement:

"... economic advisers and White House aides urging a measured approach have won out, prevailing upon a cautious president to take one incremental step at a time out of fear of getting too far ahead of skittish Europeans and risking damage to still-fragile economies on both sides of the Atlantic."

We know the US economy is about to collapse and we know that in contrast to the $15 billion Russia was ready to single-handedly hand Ukraine, the entire US/NATO/Eu could only come up with a $1 billion "loan".

Money talks, as they say.

More Sanctions Blackmail: Outright Lies

"The White House has prepared another list of Russian figures and institutions to sanction in the next few days..."

The first round did not phase Russia and was laughed off. I doubt this round will be more successful. Washington might take heed: Your sanctions will backfire I can promise you that.

"... while Putin seems for now to be enjoying the glow of success, he will eventually discover how much economic harm he has brought on his country. Obama’s aides noted the fall of the Russian stock market and the ruble, capital flight from the country and increasing reluctance of foreign investors to expand dealings in Russia."

Again Washington must be delusional, the Russian economy is going strong, the country is in the black and unlike almost all of Europe which is suffering from austerity measures, and the US with forced austerity where the public pay approximately 33% of their income in taxes and are enslaved to the military industrial complex for the next 1,000 years or more, Russia is growing stronger by the day.

Oops! Did I let the cat out of the bag? But then again, that is the real "Russia problem" isn't it?

American Insult to WWII Monument a Sign of Ignorance and Demonization of Russia

7 February, 2014 11:06

US broadcaster CNN, which for all intents and purposes has been leading the anti-Russia US propaganda effort to denigrate and attempt to take away Russia's prestige as the Russian Federation hosts the Olympic Games in Sochi is apparently stopping at nothing in their effort to insult Russia and the Russian people.

The latest offending remarks came in a "list" of the world's ugliest monuments and concerns the Courage Monument at the Brest Hero-Fortress Complex in the Republic of Belarus.

The objective of such egregious comments is clear, as is the bad taste, and indignation over the blasphemous remarks is also completely understandable but what may be hard for Russians and the international audience to understand is the psychology of the American people and their own lack of any normal respect or indignation over such offensive remarks.

Quite frankly the pathetic ignorant American propaganda effort to demonize Russia is something that shows that they are to be pitied and points to the lack of intelligence prevalent in their mindless society.

CNN has in fact apologized for the listing, giving a glib reasoning but has not removed the proud and heroic monument from its ridiculous list showing the recalcitrant and transparently obtuse endemic American penchant for unapologetically "sticking to their guns" even when what they are doing is offensive and has been proven to be wrong and in this case absolutely callously ignorant.

The reaction to the "listing" has been almost completely united against the broadcaster across the board with bloggers condemning CNN for their "bile" and "ignorance," the Head of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council Mikhail Fedotov saying it was an inappropriate joke and that such things cannot be joked about, the administration of the Brest Hero-Fortress complex saying the listing was blasphemy and demanding CNN officially apologize and the even the Moscow Helsinki Group's head Lyudmila Alexeyeva saying that the monument is one to heroes whom we cherish greatly and that she was sorry it is seen this way.

CNN should remove the listing and apologize to every country on it but that is not the American way. They are recalcitrant in their own self-propagated endemic exceptionalism which is such an integral part of American society that perhaps it cannot be removed without killing the patient and they will certainly never sincerely apologize.

Having been raised and educated from elementary school to the university level in the US and in fact being an educator myself for almost two decades I can say with utmost certainty that the American educational system and the US media promotes myths, institutionally implements omissions and spreads falsehoods about the Great Patriotic War, known in the West as World War II. Hence it is normal for the populace to see their broadcasters insulting monuments to WWII heroes in other countries. But this is not the sole reason and I will get into that in a minute.

To hide US collusion with the Nazis, even after the war when over 40,000 of them were given refuge in the US, and to glorify their own small effort in the war, Americans and many countries in the West are taught and continue to believe that it was the US and its "allies" that won World War II on the Western Front. Nowhere do American historical textbooks (and if I am wrong and some have been updated please e-mail me) fairly portray the effort of the USSR in winning the war on the Eastern Front. For it was won on the Eastern Front, the West's D-Day was for all intents and purposes a mopping up operation on the Western Front and mere support for the Soviet Forces, I would boldly state with the historical record on my side and the numbers clearly support and prove this point.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) lost more than 28 million people in their heroic effort to rid the world of the nazi [sic] scourge and blood flowed all over its territory. In contrast the US lost about 400 thousand which is about how many Italy lost and less than half of what Yugoslavia lost but is still worthy of mentioning, but to say they won the war is an egregious lie and historical revisionism. Of which the US is clearly unapologetically guilty but which follows the endemic US belief that for some reason their lives are worth more than the lives of others. This belief is founded on their own exceptionalism, the genocidal nature of the basis of the “American” state, their endemic racism and their long history of enslavement and exploitation of other peoples.

Another key reason why Americans can be so callous as to ignorantly insult monuments to heroes who defeated the nazi scourge is that for Americans war is an abstraction, something that happens to others, in faraway lands and to strange and "foreign" people. And this fact can be no more clearer than the American outcry when "American boys" start coming home in body bags or beautifully flag covered coffins. Rarely if ever is there an outcry if some poor Afghan family is droned into oblivion, this on the other hand is seen as normal.

Americans have never faced and enemy on "their" territory (other than fighting the French, English and Spanish for stolen Indian lands) and they have never seen their cities destroyed, or their neighbors butchered, or their daughters raped, or their people slaughtered. Blood has never flown on their territory as it did in Belarus and Russia and all of Europe and as it is flowing in Iraq and Afghanistan and as it has flowed in all of the other places where the US has committed it "sanitary" remote "humanitarian" wars such as Yugoslavia, Serbia, Libya and the over 70 other countries the US has destroyed.

Yes there is a complete disconnect in America, for them war is something that they wage from bunkers in California, from hundreds of miles away, using robotic drones where there is not even a real pilot involved in the process. No real witness to the murder and bloodshed they are carrying out and absolutely no risk to themselves.

Which is why 9/11 was such a shock for Americans that even to this day they refuse to believe that it was their own government who committed or was complicit in the "events" of that fateful day.

The world has looked away from the fact that America is a country founded by invaders who stole the lands and committed genocide on the peaceful Indian Nations that called it their home for thousands of years. "America" is a stolen country founded on the blood of over 400 million Indian lives, so their callousness towards other peoples is understandable and their disregard for the lives of the people they eradicate in their “humanitarian” wars is also understandable. But that does not make anything about it right or justifiable.

"Americans" have never had to fight for or defend their homeland, on the contrary the ancestors of "Americans" cowardly fled their own homelands and committed genocide to steal a new one. So it is understandable that the ancestors of British filth and genocidal maniacs are taught to ignore and even glorify the deeds of their forefathers who built a country on blood and used slaves to do it. But that also does not make it right.

America is a nation that feeds on and glorifies violence and death and destruction, even from the cartoons children watch from the earliest of ages, so it is also understandable why they can denigrate a monument to heroes who died and gave their lives to fight the nazi scourge. One might say that the nazis and their racist genocidal war of extermination is much closer to American history than any American is comfortable admitting. Just change the names and the era around a little bit and the situations are the same.

As for monuments I personally think Mount Rushmore is an abomination, the complete defacement of a mountain on land where the Indians put up one of their last and most heroic fights. Completely inappropriate and historically egregious, but of course a sign of the "victors."

As for other American monuments in my personal opinion the Washington Monument is completely lacking in any creative, artistic or appealing esthetics, a boring overbearing obelisk polluting the sky, but again that is my opinion. The Statue of Liberty on the other hand is quite appealing but that was a gift from the French. The St. Louis arch is also not much of a wonder and the stench inside is enough to make the eyes water and the most memorable thing about being inside of it, I could go on but I won’t. I would not want the Americans to demand I apologize. Which I will do now in advance as I am sure "Americans" are sorry for committing genocide on my people. I am sorry the designers of your monuments were so austere and lacking in creativity. As for your monuments to those killed in your wars I will not have the bad taste to denigrate them, but perhaps you do not care America, after all you built new buildings on the site where 3,000 of your own countrymen died.

Iskander-Ms deployed by Russia along western border (years ago)

17 December, 2013 05:45

The Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation has confirmed reports regarding the deployment of a significant quantity of short-range Iskander-M (NATO classification "SS-26 Stone") tactical ballistic missile systems near Russian borders with Baltic states and countries that are members of NATO, including along borders shared with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and at least 10 more complete Iskander-M systems into the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, the westernmost territory of the Russian Federation.

Various sources including one quoted by Izvestia in the Defense Ministry have stated that the missiles have been in position for at least 18 months. Izvestia quotes the official as questioning the timing of the publication of the reports and why Germany has chosen now to raise an alarm. Judging from the current situation in Ukraine, US/NATO need to raise any outcry they can against Russia in order to continue their infringement on Ukraine. This is a particularly insidious tactic and must be called out for what it is.

Russian intelligence has long known of the first strike capabilities of US/NATO "defense" elements and this has forced Russia to defend itself. Although it is typical for the West to demonize and spread propaganda which is against any country, state or power which can defend itself and/or attempts to do so, as we have seen in country after country that the West has demanded disarm, these claims do not change the fact that every state has the right to defend itself against any threat. This includes any threat to sovereignty, territorial integrity or any other from US/NATO. Yes dear reader, despite what US/NATO want the world to believe, countries do in fact have a right to defend themselves against US/NATO.

The Iskander tactical missiles systems which were cited by the German "Bild" newspaper are capable of delivering nuclear payloads and have been deployed for time in response to long term and long-running threats by US/NATO in their continuing placement of, and surrounding of Russian territory with, so-called European missile "shield" elements. Missile infrastructure which US/NATO have attempted to claim from the outset were in response to a self-conceived and endlessly self-promoted yet entirely non-existent threat to Europe from the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that the deployment of the Iskander missile battalions in the Western Military District does not violate any international treaties. An official spokesman for the Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov stated to Russian media that: "The deployment of Iskander missile battalions on the territory of the Western Military District does not violate any respective international agreements."

Despite being nuclear capable but due to their effective range of only 400 kilometers the Iskander systems cannot be classified as intermediate-range nuclear missiles which were banned by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between Russia and the United States. The Iskander-M is an advanced mobile theater missile system and a battalion includes the launch vehicle equipped with two solid-propellant single-stage 9M723K1 guided missiles with "quasi-ballistic" capability and the necessary support vehicles including transporter and loading vehicles carrying extra missiles, data processing and command vehicles and the like.

Russia’s response to US/NATO missile, fighter aircraft, radar installations, military personnel and all of the infrastructure to support them has been extremely low keyed and symmetrical. Politically the announcement by German media and confirming statements coincide with recent reports and public statements by high-level Russian officials regarding the offensive nature of the US/NATO "shield". Again and I have been saying this for years; despite the fact that US/NATO claim their technology is defensive and was against some phantom threat from Iran this has clearly proven without a doubt to be false and the new claim by US/NATO that they need to keep surrounding Russia with missiles because of a new phantom threat by a whopping 30 more countries, is ridiculous propaganda and rhetoric based on fantasy.

In 2008, during his first State of the Nation Address, then President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev stated that Russia would place the Iskander-M systems in Kaliningrad and in fact did so. These latest reports are based on satellite imagery which was released by US/NATO and leaked to the German press and claim 10 installations. Again the timing must be questioned.

Given the length of time that has passed since 2008 Russia could have installed hundreds of Iskander-M missile batteries and deployed them all along Russia’s Western borders and in fact along Northern and Southern and Eastern borders as well, but has not done so. So the big uproar over 10 installations seems ridiculous and self-serving in promoting Russophobia and demonizing Russia yet is understandable with another US/NATO loss on the horizon in Ukraine.

In reality no matter the amount missiles it has on its own territory, this is legal and normal and Russia has the right to defend itself, its territory and its citizens from any threat, including the direct and in your face threat that is posed by US/NATO who have proven almost hell-bent on provoking Russia, at times it seems, to the brink of World War III with constant bellicose rhetoric and provocative military escalation in Russia’s own backyard and around the world.

Russia’s reaction to US/NATO has been refrained, measured and intelligently thought out and even though official Moscow states that all moves will be symmetrical one might argue, and I would put forth, that a true "symmetrical" response would be Russia placing missiles and military infrastructure throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and throughout Canada. While this is impossible given the current geo-political climate, that would be the true "symmetrical response". Of course this has not been said by official Moscow nor by Russian officials, but such a response would in fact be symmetrical.

In the upcoming days officials from countries which are now technically in the range of Russian Iskander-M missiles, may be making a show of seeking "advice" from NATO, as has Lithuania but I would also put forward that it is in fact the populations of these countries who should be questioning the true intentions of NATO and whether their interests are best served in continuing to provoke Russia by allowing US/NATO free reign on their territories to install military infrastructure which for the large part they themselves are paying for.

The governments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and all of the other countries that have been pulled into NATO have willingly given up a large portion of their sovereignty in joining EU/NATO and it is this lost sovereignty that has allowed US/NATO geopolitical planners to continue their outdated Cold War strategy of surrounding Russia, provoking a response and guaranteeing an escalation.

It is in this escalation that US/NATO and the US military industrial complex that is driving them, will continue to make billions upon billions of dollars at the cost of the societies of the countries that are foolish enough or too weak to stand up to the US/NATO war machine and simply say no.

The irrationality of joining US/NATO and their desperation to expand at any cost can be made no clearer than in the current situation in Ukraine. US/NATO, and this has been proven time and again, will attempt to destroy any country and any government that does not give up its sovereignty and allow them to exploit and violate its territorial integrity to further US/NATO’s own geopolitical goals. Calls by western backed oppositionist for a new government and the resignation of the president of Ukraine for refusing to sign what was reportedly a simple "economic agreement" should be sounding off warning bells but apparently this is not the case.

Again the hysteria in the West over some Iskander-Ms is ridiculous, given that they were placed in direct response to US/NATO actions. US/NATO maintains American tactical nuclear weapons all over Europe and has recently conducted various war games envisaging different scenarios of war with Russia. The true hysteria should be directed toward US/NATO who continue provoking Russia, seeking new wars all over the world in which to pull in NATO member countries and expanding militarily.

In reality there is no need for NATO anymore. That is a fact. It is an outdated dinosaur which continues to attempt to make itself relevant. The creation of "threats" and continued lies and propaganda being spread by NATO only serve their own interests which is guaranteeing their own continued existence and profiteering. Russia would have never installed such weapons in Kaliningrad had it not been for NATO’s own buildup. This is also true of the Arctic and other regions.

President Putin recently said that the West will never be able to prevail over Russia militarily and this is true. One reason is that US/NATO are technically, financially bankrupt, another is that US/NATO are over-extended in every meaning of that word, from financially to politically, and another is the simple fact that their "shield" does not work. There are also the technological considerations and Russia has the technology to counter US/NATO and even dominate in a war scenario, and the final reason is that it is known that US/NATO defense installations are in fact offensive and hence will be responded to symmetrically. The US/NATO Trojan Horse of a missile "defense" shield therefore has no chance of succeeding. The cat is out of the bag and has been for some time. All they can do is scream bogeyman and demonize and shake and rattle their sabers endlessly now. The dream of installing all of the missiles in their "shield" and then one day flicking a switch and making it first strike capable, is over. They have been exposed.

To underline the ridiculousness of the West’s current hysteria we can recall that in November 2011, when US/NATO refused to make the missile "defense" shield a joint project with Russia, then President Dmitry Medvedev announced plans to deal with a threat to Russia’s national security. Again almost saying the same thing he said in 2008 regarding the deployment of defensive and other elements in the west and south of the country, as well as the current Iskander missiles installed in the Kaliningrad region.

Almost since day one Moscow has been calling for US/NATO to sign legally-binding guarantees that its missile "defense" system will not be aimed against Russia, but US/NATO have refused to sign any legal guarantees, meaning they have no interest in peace but only in escalation.

In his State of the Nation address to the Federal Assembly President Vladimir Putin recently stated: "We realize clearly that the anti-missile defense system is only called defensive, while in fact it is a significant part of the strategic offensive potential."

Rather than attempting to continue to surround Russia and China with their missiles, something that will never be allowed to work given the fact that now the world knows that the "defensive" nature of the "shield" is a lie, US/NATO might begin to work for peace and security, something which of course they are incapable of given that they are outdated, irrelevant, controlled by the military industrial complex and willing to do anything to continue along the path they seek of endless war and military buildup.

The only way that people in the West and around the world are ever going to be safe and secure and free of war is if war machines such as US/NATO are disbanded and no longer allowed to control policy and self-perpetuate. However this is unlikely to happen. The West has been taken over by the military industrial complex and they are bent on taking over the world.

There can be no question that they only way we, citizens of the world can have peace is to disband them and that can only be done when their money is cut off. Something which we may not have to worry about much longer for they are already over-extended and as I said earlier, with a real debt of over $200 trillion the US is already completely bankrupt, if they can be prevented from starting World War III a little longer, then perhaps they will implode into oblivion and the world will finally have the peace and security it deserves.

As for the Iskander-Ms, if those of you in the West who are concerned by such developments really want to improve security and stop a military escalation, please fight for peace and tell US/NATO to stop provoking sovereign nations into defending themselves. You cannot keep pointing your gun at your neighbor and not expect him to arm himself and then blame him for attempting to defend himself, and in exactly this manner US/NATO must stop their military escalation because their own well being is at risk. Economically, unless they can pull more countries in NATO, US/NATO do not have the resources to buy a bigger gun, and when their neighbor buys a bazooka, while they are still holding their pistol, they will have lost forever.

US/NATO are the largest threat to security and safety in Europe and in the world, and even in space, the only way we can all be safe and secure and enjoy peace is when they are stopped and the US military industrial complex is dismantled. Will that happen? Unfortunately the answer to that questions is almost a definite no. Does US/NATO want peace? The answer to that is also in the negative.

About the Iskanders? Nothing to see here. Really. Move along.

The views and opinions expressed here are my own, I can be reached at  

Russia Modernizing and Building its Defenses in Response to Modern Threats

11 December, 2013  

The Russian Federation is responding to developing and current threats to its security and attempts by the West to shift the global strategic military balance in its favor, with US/NATO's missile "defense" shield being cited as one of the key threats faced by Russia in maintaining a strategic balance and one for which against which measures are being taken. Attempts by the US/NATO to militarize the Arctic are also being addressed as well as attempts by US/NATO to tip the balance of the nuclear deterrence and project its "force" globally, in particular with regard to the Middle East.

President Vladimir Putin, speaking to an expanded meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday stated that plans by US/NATO to expand its missile defense plans in Europe have not stopped and continue unabated, hence Russia is forced to respond. Speaking of the continuation of US/NATO missile "defense" plans is clearly in response to statements by US/NATO that despite the supposed threat of Iran (the pretext for the ABM shield) being eliminated they will not change their plans for installing missiles in Europe.

President Putin has publically stated and now confirmed what many have been saying for years regarding the ABM shield being installed in order to neutralize any response from Russia. The fact that with minor modifications the missiles making up the shield could be converted into first strike weapons were not touched upon by the president but given the context this is clear and is something he is no doubt aware of.

President Putin said that the West is attempting bring about a shift in the strategic balance.

" There are ongoing attempts to violate, "blur " the strategic balance . First of all, they are related, of course, with plans to build a US missile defense," President Putin said.

With regard to the massive modernization taking place in the Russian military and across the entire spectrum of the Russian armed forces President Putin underlined the fact that leading countries are actively modernizing their arsenals, investing heavily in the development of weapons including in are where new generation technologies are being used. He stated that Russia is no exception .

Regarding exercises that have been held in 2013, President Putin said confirmed the reliability of Russia's nuclear shield and he spoke highly of the increased combat capabilities of the aerospace defense forces, especially with regard to Russia's own missile defense warning and interception systems.

Regarding continued upgrades the President stated that in 2014, the Armed Forces will receive more than 40 most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles, more than 210 aircraft and helicopters and more than 250 armored vehicles . In response to threats the nuclear missile carriers Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir Monomakh and part of a constellation of six new satellites, will be deployed and on active watch.

Recently the Head of the Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Alexei Pushkov also spoke about the US/NATO "shield" and said that NATO will now have nothing to justify the need for the creation of a European missile defense shield if the Iranian "problem" is solved.

Mr. Pushkov stated the: "The NATO missile defense system in Europe needs the so-called " Iranian threat to explain its existence. If the Iranian problem is solved, there will be nothing to explain (missile) defense."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also recently made a similar statement at a media forum in Rome, stating that "… if an agreement on Iran will be realized, the reason for the creation of a missile defense system in Europe will disappear."

US/NATO are recalcitrant however with a source in NATO recently stating that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization sees no reason to revise plans for a European missile defense arrangements in relation to Iran's nuclear program. Despite claiming for years that the ABM shield was being built against an Iranian threat US/NATO has regrouped and updated their clearly false claims taking them one step further.

A NATO spokesperson in Brussels recently told Interfax that: "We know that more than 30 countries have or are acquiring ballistic missile technology that could eventually be used as carriers of not only conventional warheads, but also weapons of mass destruction".

One might ask US/NATO if it is possible for countries with more primitive technologies to change their configurations to deliver, even nuclear payloads, why are we supposed to believe that US/NATO cannot do the same with their Advanced Capability 3 interceptor missiles and their own missile defense elements. The answer is that they can be quickly changed into first strike weapons and Russia knows this. Who these now "30" countries are that US/NATO needs to defend itself against are in not clear nor was it stated, but clearly it is a disingenuous argument needed to justify their continued plans to surround Russia with missiles.

President Putin made the connection between diplomatic efforts and military strength underling Russia's staunch position in always seeking a diplomatic solution to conflicts. He noted in his speech that Russia has consistently advocated settlement of international and regional issues exclusively by diplomatic means, adding that the "factor of military deterrence" often plays a significant role.

It is important to recall that President Putin also recently disbanded the Kremlin working group which was seeking to find ways of cooperation with US/NATO on missile defense. Clearly surrounding Russian and oneself with US/NATO rockets is not something that the Kremlin is too keen on being a party to.

Attack on diplomats outrageous: Russia reacts, Netherlands apologizes

12 October, 2013 13:15 http://jar2.com/VOR/Volume_08.html

sIt is the year of the Netherlands in Russia and the year of Russia in the Netherlands, which may make it seem even stranger that relations between the countries appeared to be under threat by two events that had nothing to do with friendship but appear to be possible provocations aimed at ruining Russian-Dutch relations as they are warming and improving. The recent attacks, now two, and actions against Russia may also be tied to Russia’s recent diplomatic successes in averting war in Syria and are possibly being carried out by western provocateurs.

Provocations?

One might ask questions about who would benefit from the souring of relations between the Russian Federation and the Netherlands or who might want to see a stronger building of ties railroaded before it has a chance to get off the ground, and the answer is of course the West. However can this proven? Probably not but questions need to be raised as to whether the two recent events were provocations staged to ruin relation between the two states by those who would do anything to not allow the Netherlands to become too friendly with Russia.

Event one

The first event was a carefully planned provocation by the questionable group Greenpeace, an organization with huge western funding whose targets are usually those who damage the ecological balance of the planet, of course a noble fight, but who sometimes stage events that are truly questionable and violate sovereignty, private property and even territorial integrity.

The timing of the event near Murmansk when the crew of the Greenpeace ship "Arctic Sunrise" attempted to board the "Prirazlomnaja" Russian oil platform, seems odd to say the least. With the West hungry to consolidate their control of the oil reserves in the Arctic, the recent victory by Russia in averting a war in Syria, and the fact that the above mentioned year of friendship is taking place, point to a motive in giving Russia a black eye.

There is also the fact that even much more egregious damage to the environment is currently taking place at the hands of the West than a simple oil platform in the Arctic that is operating perfectly normally and without incident. These include the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the pipeline tearing through virgin forests in North America, fracking in North America and the nuclear disaster from General Electric designed nuclear power plants in Fukushima which continue to spew radiation into the Pacific. So why isn’t Greenpeace spending tens of thousands of dollars to protest those calamities?

On September 8th the "Arctic Sunrise" approached the offshore platform "Prirazlomnaja " and the "activists" attempted to board the platform. They were stopped by Federal Security Service (FSB) border control officers from the Murmansk region, who performed their job flawlessly. The vessel was then towed to the port of Murmansk.

At a court hearing last week, at the request of Russian investigative and prosecution bodies all of the 30 people who had been on the ship were charged with piracy and ordered detained for 2 months in several detention centers in the Murmansk region .

The Arctic Sunrise is a Dutch registered and based ship, which connects it and some say may be the reason for event two.

Event two

The Greenpeace provocation was clearly just that, plain and simple, a provocation, but what happened to Russian diplomat Dmitry Borodin is much worse because it involved representatives of the Dutch state (law enforcement officers) attacking a Diplomatic Representative of the Russian Federation, an individual with diplomatic immunity, in his home. Not only was the attack a violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations but it took place in the Hague which is supposed to be the bastion of "rule of law" for the western world.

According to Itar-Tass on the night of Sunday, October 6, the Minister and Counselor of the Russian Embassy in the Netherlands was beaten by police at his apartment in The Hague. Four men in police uniform forcibly entered the apartment of the diplomat under a false pretext, saying they wanted to provide the diplomat with information about an accident involving his wife and then when they were let in they accused him of child abuse .

The diplomat advised the home invaders that he was a member of the diplomatic staff of the Embassy of Russia, and stated that the charges are groundless and that they did not have the right to invade the home of a diplomat . However they used, as Mr. Borodin said: "harshly coercive measures", including the use of physical force and the use of batons to beat him, throw him on the ground and without explanation, handcuff him and take him to a police station where he was held for several hours.

The diplomats two children, aged 2 and 4, were also brought to the police station, where they spent most of the night. At about 3 am Borodin was released along with the children and the police did not provide and explanation or offer an apology .

Event 3

While reports are just now coming in, according to media reports the Vice Consul of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Panama was attacked and stabbed and taken to a nearby hospital. Official information is still coming in as well as reaction.

Reactions

President of Russia Vladimir Putin

President Putin demanded that the perpetrators of the attack on Mr. Borodino be punished and added that; "we will respond to the situation depending on how the Dutch side handles the situation."

Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov

Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Russia should get an apology and information regarding the "penalties to be applied to the perpetrators. Then we will decide which in which direction to further develop relations with our Dutch partners."

Leader of Liberal Democrats Vladimir Zhirinovsky

The harshest reaction so far has come from the leader of the Liberal Democrats Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who blasted the Netherlands for their offensive actions against property on Russian territory and Russia’s diplomat.

Speaking at the beginning of the plenary session of the State Duma Zhirinovsky stated: "The Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) fully supports the actions of Russian law enforcement agencies against the detained activists. It had nothing to do with ecology. This violence, the seizure of another's property (by Greenpeace) is the real piracy. Our law enforcement agencies, border guards, coast guard, platform security, the Investigative Committee, and everyone involved operated absolutely correctly, they performed their duties. We must strongly oppose any attack on Russian law enforcement agencies in this matter. They should have acted even more harshly, they acted gently," said Zhirinovsky.

The leader of LDPR also said that the Moscow branch of the party is planning to hold a rally tomorrow, October 12th, at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Moscow. "We are staging a protest against the actions of the Dutch police against our diplomat and what happened in the Pechora Sea. They are links of one chain," said Zhirinovsky.

Chairman of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin

At a State Duma meeting Sergei Naryshkin said that it is impossible for Russia to not respond to hostile actions similar to the incident diplomat Borodin in the Netherlands.

"Vladimir Zhirinovsky rightly drew attention to the unacceptable illegal actions of the authorities of Holland and its law enforcement services in relation to our diplomats and then the non-critical and inadequate response by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands in response to these actions. That is how it really is," said Naryshkin.

At the same time Mr. Naryshkin said that: "between our two countries there are generally friendly and mutually beneficial relations, a large volume of trade and good economic relations, cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, and as confirmation of all this a lot of events are taking place this year, during the year of Russia in the Netherlands and the Year of the Netherlands in Russia."

Naryshkin hoped that: "… these isolated unfriendly actions will not spoil the overall business atmosphere and friendly cooperation." However even though this is the case, "… we can not ignore such hostile actions."

Minister of Russian Embassy Dmitry Borodin

The victim of the attack, Mr. Borodin, believes that by the apologizing to Russia for the incident against him, the Netherlands did the right thing in keeping with their obligations under international law. According to Itar-Tass the diplomat said: "I hope that the Year of the Netherlands in Russia and Russia in the Netherlands, which we named the "year of friendship," will in reality be thus. He also commented on gossip going through the Dutch press: "I hope that the torrents of mud that have been pouring onto my family from the pages of the Dutch press will now cease to flow."

Foreign Minister of the Netherlands

The Netherlands has apologized but will this be enough?

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans came to the conclusion that: "… the arrest and detention of the Russian diplomat, who has full diplomatic immunity violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and in that regard, the Netherlands apologizes to the Russian Federation."

Brief history of attacks on Russian Foreign Service personnel

On October 8, 2013 the Russian Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to the Netherlands in connection with an attack by uniformed police on a Russian diplomat in his home in the Hague. The Minister of the Embassy of the Russian Federation Dmitry Borodin was beaten, handcuffed, taken to the police station and released without explanation or apology.

On September 9, 2013 in Sukhum the First Secretary of the Embassy of Russia in Abkhazia vice-consul Dmitry Vishernev was murdered. His wife, an employee of the Russian embassy, was also seriously injured and later died in the hospital.

On November 29, 2011 at the international airport of Doha, Qatar, multiple injuries were inflicted to the Head of the Russian Embassy in Qatar, Vladimir Titorenko and two accompanying embassy personnel. Airport security officials, customs agents and police used force in an attempt to seize a diplomatic pouch.

In August 2011, in the province of Hangzhou, China, Russian citizens were forcibly held by Chinese business partners in the office of a company. While attempting to assist a Russian diplomat was bullied while being filmed.

On May 9, 2011 in Lviv, Ukraine, Russian diplomat Oleg Astakhov was attacked and the criminals trampled on a wreath of flowers, which he was about to lay at the tomb of the unknown soldier on the Hill of Glory.

On April 1, 2011 in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, Russian Diplomat Pavel Ershov was injured in an attack by religious zealots on the UN Mission.

On June 23, 2007 Russian diplomat Vladimir Rashitko was killed near the capital Bujumbura, Burundi during an attack involving the shelling of his car by soldiers guarding a checkpoint on a road.

On October 28, 2006 in Skopje, Macedonia, four Russian embassy staff were beaten up by unknown attackers . The incident occurred when the diplomats left a cafe. The Russians diplomats were seriously injured in the attack.

On August 20, 2006 in Kenya, two unidentified men attacked and robbed Russian Ambassador Valery Yegoshkin and his attache Paul Strelkova. The Russian diplomats were stabbed during the attack.

On June 3, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq, a Russian Embassy car in which five people were travelling, was attacked by gunmen in El Mansour far from the building of the diplomatic mission. During the attack, Embassy Security Officer Vitaly Titov was killed and four Russians: the Third Secretary Fyodor Zaitsev, embassy employees Rinat Agliulin, Anatoly Smirnov and Oleg Fedoseyev were taken to an unknown location by terrorists. On June 26, 2006 news was received that the four Russian diplomats had been killed.

On July 31, 2005 in Warsaw, three children of Russian diplomats were beaten as well as one teenager from Kazakhstan. The victims suffered numerous bruises, injuries and concussions. The attackers were shouting anti-Russian epithets.

On April 6, 2003 in Iraq during the shelling of a convoy of vehicles from the Russian Embassy a diplomat was injured .

On May 1, 1996 in Guatemala, an attack occurred on the Second Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Nicaragua, Mr. Trushkina, who was in Guatemala conducting a study trip. He died of his injuries on May 13, 1996 .

On March 28, 1994 in a suburb of Algiers, Russian Embassy employee, driver K.Kukushkin was murdered by reported "Islamic militants."

Conclusion

Many of these incidents took place in conflict zones and during periods of unrest, so an attack on a Russian Diplomat, in his home, in a stable European Country, even more alarming in the "astion of rule of law", the Hague, by none other than uniformed police, is truly an alarming precedent and one which, in light of recent western interference into the travels of presidents, must be responded to with the utmost urgency and seriousness.

Depardieu is a friend of Russia - Putin

03 January, 2013 20:58  

As part of France's austerity measures an attempt was made to introduce a 75% tax on the richest French citizens. One target of this tax was famous French actor Gerard Depardieu who was then embroiled in a row with the French authorities. In the end Depardieu renounced his French citizenship and was granted Russian citizenship by President Putin. Is this the beginning of a mass-migration of wealthy Europeans to Russia?

The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to French actor Gerard Xavier Depardieu under Article 89 of the Russian Constitution according to a brief statement issued on the Official Site of the President of Russia.

Under Article 89, point (a) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation the President of the Russian Federation has the right to grant citizenship and political asylum to Russian nationals, foreign citizens and stateless individuals.

Further powers and more specific laws defining the president’s authority come under a November 28, 1991 “Federal Law On Citizenship of the Russian Federation", amended by the Judiciary on the 17th of June 1993 and a Federal Law dated February 6th 1995. Article 33 of the Act defines the specific powers of the President and states that the President decides on: granting Russian citizenship to foreign nationals, citizens of the former Soviet Union and stateless persons. The President also decides on the restoration of Russian citizenship, the revocation of citizenship, permission to have dual citizenship and the issuing of honorary citizenship. The President exercises these powers by issuing Presidential Decrees.

Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has stated that the decision by President Putin to grant Mr. Depardieu Russian Citizenship was due to his substantial contributions to the development of Russian culture and cinema. Mr. Peskov stated that Depardieu played in a number of very famous feature films about Russian history and performed many roles depicting important Russian historical figures, including work depicting Grigory Rasputin.

A promise to grant the French actor Russian citizenship was made during a recent press conference given by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said the promise was made due to the significant contributions to Russia’s national culture by Depardieu and his films.

After being granted citizenship the Depardieu camp has not yet issued an official statement but the story began with attempts by France to institute a 75% tax on the super-rich. Russia’s flat rate of 13% tax for all citizens was then seen as an attractive option for Depardieu who has stated publically that during his life he has paid over $191 million in taxes to the French state over the past 45 years. Something the state apparently does not value.

The new French tax which was to target people making more than €1 million a year was thrown out by France’s highest constitutional authority because it was to only target individuals and not households, meaning the law would only apply to 1,500 people and not affect those making just under €1 million a year.

Mr. Depardieu’s problems with the French authorities came to a boil when after announcing his plans to renounce French citizenship, his only recourse in the row, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault publically called Mr. Depardieu's actions "pathetic." To which Mr. Depardieu answered "I've no place to complain or to boast, but I refuse to be described as pathetic."

During a press conference that was covered by the VOR in December, President Putin called Mr. Depardieu a “friend” and said that "If Gérard really wants to have either a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we will assume that this matter is settled and settled positively.”

Mr. Depardieu is very well known and loved in Russia and appears on billboards around Moscow and in ads forSovetsky Bank. His films are some of the most popular in Russia and he has been very active in the Russian cultural scene over the years.

Russian media reports that Mr. Depardieu will soon begin working on several projects where he will star in adaptations Russian literary classics including the Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment and The Captain's Daughter by Alexander Pushkin.

In related news, upon hearing that Mr. Depardieu received Russian Citizenship, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin predicted the beginning of the migration of wealthy Europeans to the Russian Federation. Mr. Rogozin stated on his Twitter page that “In the West people have very poor knowledge of the Russian tax system but when they learn about it we can expect the mass migration of wealthy Europeans to Russia". 

Russia is Closed for You Mr. Harding - By John Robles

4 December 2012, 18:37  

The UK’s Guardian is in our sights as this week’s most anti-Russian biased media outlet in the world. Once again we see Russia demonized and tired cold war stereotypes and fears brought out to this time attack people who are doing their most to improve relations between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation. A Russian Embassy response , a writer  who has been barred from entering Russia in the past and a newspaper with questionable motives are all part of this week’s media-bias counter bias report.

Hello dear reader, it has been a while since we looked at Western anti-Russian media bias, by no means is this because it has become less, it has in fact, become more widespread and even bolder. Unfortunately I have been busy covering other subjects and fulfilling other duties but this screams for attention and as the saying goes the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

This week I would like to take a look at a smear campaign being carried out by the UK’s Guardian against Russia , the elected president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Russian Embassy in London and a UK political group called Conservative Friends of Russia.

When the subject first came to my attention my first question was why? There is always a reason for everything and my article is no exception. I am interested in getting the truth out and countering lies, I think everything I have ever written would back that up, and I am not afraid to call a spade a spade when the case in question calls for it. In this case the “why” appears to be gratuitous pandering to the anti-Russian sentiments of many of the Guardian's readers and Russophobes worldwide in an attempt to increase the publication’s readership.

The author of the article in question, one Luke Harding, has made a career of demonizing Russia. To the right of his columns deriding Russia, the Guardian shamelessly hawks his latest work, “Mafia State: How one reporter became an enemy of the brutal new Russia”, a book they published themselves and which claims to prove its title with US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. As if the Russophobic US State Department is somehow a reliable un-biased source capable of honestly assessing their self-declared geo-political enemy.

If all of that was not bad enough it gets worse. Mr. Harding was not allowed to enter Russia , and had his visa revoked on arrival and was immediately sent back to London due to a lack of credentials as a journalist and according to the Russian Internal Ministry for: “… a series of violations of the rules concerning foreign correspondents which were approved by the Government of the Russian Federation in 1994 and are well known to all journalists"

Mr. Harding obviously suffers from a delusional architecture full of spies and persecution by the “KGB” and that everything Russian is somehow evil and controlled by omnipotent evil dark forces. This is evident even in the portrayal of his denial of entry into Russia. He paints a picture of being deported unfairly as if he became an “enemy of the state”, while conveniently omitting the fact that he was in violation of many Russian laws and rules including being in an area where anti-terrorist operations were taking place without permission.

The fact that his delusions of persecution are real might be backed up by the fact that even the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation publicly stated in an interview with the BBC that Mr. Harding is welcome back in Russia when he gets his documents in order and that his accreditation was waiting for him to come and pick it up.

Harding maintaining his “legend” of persecution by Russia is something that he needs to do to keep his readers believing what he writes and helps the Guardian sell papers, which is what it is all about for the Guardian.

For an organization such as the Guardian and a writer such as Mr. Harding, who needs Cold War thinking and Russophobia to continue in order to remain relevant, it is then obvious why they have chosen to attack the way they have.

It is sad that such people would attack a group such as the Conservative Friends of Russia, who were interested in advancing and promoting positive ties between the two countries. Yet for someone who wants to paint Russia as being evil and anyone who wants to advance anything positive with regard to Russia as being manipulated by the evil non-existent “KGB”, the choice of attack was obvious.

Let’s look at the article in question , obviously written for the gullible and easily influenced: namely tose who would not see through the attempt to paint a picture not keeping with reality, or in keeping with a reality they themselves have created, are you with me? It begins with a provocative headline: “How Kremlin got diplomats to woo Tories”, obviously the Guardian does not support the Tories, and shows a picture of two young serious looking men, one of them Sergey Nalobin the First Secretary of the Russian Embassy’s Political Section, who the Guardian takes issue with because they claim “Nalobin's father was a high-ranking officer in the FSB, Vladimir Putin's spy service.”

Okay stop. First off since when does what one’s father did affect what ones does now. The Guardian obviously wants to portray the fact that his father was in the Federal Security Service (FSB) as something evil and that as a result the son is just some sort of puppet. Calling the FSB “Vladimir Putin's spy service” is also ridiculous, as if President Putin created it and owns it. Maybe Mr. Harding would tell us what his father did and we could ponder his credibility as a “journalist”.

Mr. Harding continues his attack on Sergey Nalobin by writing a paragraph on his father and attempts to portray something sinister in the fact that he achieved a high position in the FSB. Harding keeps repeating Alexander Litvinenko so much that he gives the impression he really believes that that is all that the FSB is about. Lest Harding not be aware, the FSB is a part of the government of the biggest country in the world and it is charged with guaranteeing the security of the Russian Federation, due to this its roles are extremely diversified and widespread. Their jurisdiction does not include Britain or territories outside the Russian Federation except for the exception of hot pursuits of terrorists and they can not operate outside of Russia. Also for Mr. Harding the Border Service, which revoked your visa and “deported” you are under the FSB, but this does not mean you are being persecuted by the FSB.

Mr. Harding continues in the same vein saying Sergey Nalobin’s brother was FSB and throwing President Putin into the mix because he was the head of the FSB. Apparently and it is really sad, Harding and many of his audience and editors believe the FSB is some evil organization due to their xenophobia.

The FSB, MI-6, the CIA, Mossad and other intelligence agencies all work to promote their country’s interests and guarantee the security of their citizens and respective motherlands, this is normal and as it should be. Why then is it that any connection with the FSB is seen as something evil by the West.

Why isn’t the same standard used regarding, for example, US president’s ties to the CIA? Those are enough to fill volumes, or British politician’s ties to MI-5/6, those would also be worth noting if we wanted to engage in similar attack journalism. Should we all assume now that every British functionary at the embassy here in Moscow is working for MI-6, or at the US Embassy for the CIA?

I personally find offensive Harding’s portrayals of Russia, Russian diplomats, the Russian President, the Russian people and the FSB and would ban him from ever entering Russia if I could. This is not the first time his bias has entered the cross-hairs. The FSB is an honorable organization whose members follow the law and the constitution to the letter and take their oaths seriously, it members rarely seek recognition for their deeds and their successes are rarely ever heard about, it is offensive that a hack like Harding can be allowed to disgrace and vilify anything he wants because it sells some papers.

The Russian Embassy in London published a response to the article in question, the following is an excerpt, challenging the Guardian to publish their response:

“We are well aware of the existing bias, instincts and prejudices of some who would like any progress in our relationship to wait for the moment when we see eye to eye on issues of democratic development. Such an approach smacks of self-righteousness. Do we need to say that no country is now in good shape in terms of economy, fiscal situation, state of democracy, quality of political elites and, finally, the media? Russia is also far from perfect, and whatever problems we have we are willing to discuss those with our partners, including the British. That is, in fact, done at all levels. After all, Russia, naturally, is in a momentous transition, sort of goods in process, not finished goods in a state of end of history rot. We don’t claim moral high ground, but ask for a reasoned debate.”

“Since the state of the British media is a topical issue, it would be only fair to say that Britain’s international partners have a huge interest in their health, Russia being no exception. We did have those problems with the British mainstream press in the past.”, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in UK’s website says .

“We hope, the media, the Fourth Estate will exercise its freedom responsibly for the good of Great Britain and its international relationships which are a major source of economic growth and prosperity in our interdependent world. Hopefully, the blame for parts of British media’s blatant disregard for common decency won’t be put at our Embassy’s door.”

Russia Day 2012

12 June 2012, 20:25  

The Russian Federation is the largest country on the face of the Earth; a country with a long, rich and great history full of upheavals, wars, tragedies and great victories.

Russia is a country that unites Asia and Europe and has a total area of 17,075,400 square kilometers (6,592,800 sq mi), covering more than a ninth of the Earth’s land area. The Russian Federation extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe and is a country that spans nine time zones with times ranging from UTC+03:00 to UTC+12:00.

On the 12th of June Russia celebrates Russia Day. The holiday is still a new one for Russia, and has only been celebrated since 1992. June 12th 1990 was the day when the First Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the country’s new name was the Russian Federation, adopted on December 25, 1991. Among other changes after the collapse of the USSR was the introduction of the post of president, a new national flag, a new national emblem and a new anthem.

June 12th the day when the declaration was adopted was proclaimed a national holiday by the Supreme Soviet in 1992 and again proclaimed a national holiday Presidential decree of June 2, 1994. Under the presidential decree of June 16, 1998, it was renamed Russia Day, from the previous name of Independence Day, a name which did not really reflect the nature of the holiday.

For many June 12th was a day when, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were thrown into poverty, when all of the social guarantees of the Soviet State were taken away and when the greatest country on the planet, the USSR was officially dissolved, for this reason at the beginning many Russians did not celebrate the holiday.  Holiday many did not even understand.

In the last few years many people have begun to celebrate the holiday as a day to demonstrate national pride in their great country. It is a day when the president gives state awards for achievements in science and technology, literature and art, and humanitarian activities. It is also a day when people can watch firework displays, concerts and entertainment events.

This year President Vladimir Putin presented awards in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace and according to the press office of the president the recipients were many and the awards were as follows:

In the scientific spheres: for the discovery of large deposits of platinum-palladium on the Kola Peninsula Felix Mitrofanov received the State Prize in Science and Technology, for achievements in Immunology Rem Petrov and Khaitov Rahim received an award, an award was given to Boris Trofimov for a major contribution to the development of organic synthesis along with Valery Charushin and Oleg Chupakhin, for the development and creation of a missile warning Sergey Boev, Sergei Saprykin and Valery Karasev.

The Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and the Arts was awarded to Oleg Dobrodeyev, Sergey Shumakov, and Svyatoslav Belza for the popularization of culture and science achievement and outstanding educational activities; Oleg Zharov, Elena Ankudinov, Nikolai Mukhin for their contribution to the revival and development of traditional cultural and historical values, and Galina Malanicheva for her contribution to the preservation of the national cultural heritage.

A State Award for outstanding achievements in the field of humanitarian work was awarded to Vladimir Spivakov.  

According to the Voice of Russia festival activities include some 1,550 events,  with 20 being held in Moscow, culminating in a five hour concert on Red Square in the evening and ending with a spectacular fireworks exhibition. One of Moscow’s parks has also been used as a venue for a festival of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation with participants including traditional folk and dance ensembles and craftsmen.

This year another event that the country’s football fans are focused on is the match between Dick Advocaat’s national team and Poland, with a win guaranteeing Russia moving on to the quarterfinals after tromping the Czech Republic 4-1.

After the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the country has remarkably pulled itself up by its own bootstraps, an upheaval that would have led many countries to fall into anarchy and something that must be applauded and something that points to the resilience and strength of the Russian people.

In this regard alone I believe we must be grateful to President Putin and the pivotal role he has played in doing everything he can to return the country to greatness in the face of truly Machiavellian machinations. He has also made an increase in the living standards and the quality of life possible for all Russians.

Russia is a great country and on Mother Russia’s day we can celebrate her sportsmen and women, like Maria Sharapova (my favorite), her great scientists, her great victories; such as that over nazi Germany, her wonderful food and culture, her music and musicians, her great and beautiful lands, from the Urals to her spectacular Pacific coasts, the great and long religious history, people who are open and seek peace with others and for many the most beautiful women on earth.  

Personally Russia Day has taken a deeper meaning for me as I celebrate the history and greatness of a country that took me and my family in 15 years ago. As a Taino Indian who was born on a small island in the Caribbean I am proud and honored to be a able to write to all of you on this great day here on the Voice of Russia and for me it would be an honor to be called Russian.

Have a great RUSSIA DAY!!!

John Robles II 

Kremlin to Launch Social Networking Site

21 June 2012, 06:46

Mikhail Abyzov the Minister of the Russian Federation responsible for the work of the Government Commission for Coordination of the "Open Government" initiative has told Izvestia that the Kremlin, along with financers from the private sector, is planning to open a Facebook like site sometime in June.

Mikhail Abyzov the Minister of the Russian Federation responsible for the work of the Government Commission for Coordination of the "Open Government" initiative has told Izvestia that the Kremlin, along with financers from the private sector, is planning to open a Facebook like site sometime in June.

According to Russian media reports the site is to replace a site currently at the url: russiawithoutidiots.rf, which was developed under an initiative from former president Dmitry Medvedev and was designed to accept complaints about the actions of Russia’s civil servants.

One reason for the needed development of such a site was best summed up by President Vladimir Putin last year when asked about the internet in the context of its manipulation by the so called “opposition”. The Russian president said: "On the same internet platform you have to propose different answers … and collect a larger amount of supporters."

This is particularly true in Russian since the internet in extremely popular and has more users than any European country. Also due to the lack of strict regulation of the Russian net and the popularity of the internet with the more affluent Russians and for other reasons, any type of Chinese or even American style censorship is not something the government sees as feasible or as an option to be considered.

The big question is will users flock to a Kremlin based social network? Some officials and critics of the project are skeptical saying no, yet there are millions of people in Russia and I am sure around the world, who support the Kremlin, love Vladimir Putin and would love to have a place to meet people they can share similar views with.

As part of the “E-Government” and “Open Government” initiatives of the Russian Federation such a network makes sense and would allow the Kremlin a unique, real time and useful interface with the masses and could become an indispensable tool for testing the waters when drawing up policy changes or getting a truer reaction to the work of government.

Once again, as with the on-line web cams and streaming video during the last presidential elections, the Russian Government is using the internet as a tool to reach out to the people and to truly provide the people an open and transparent government.

Such a network is seen as an asset if not as necessary for the reason that the “opposition” has manipulated the internet to their own ends, abusing social media to plan actions and spread ant-government propaganda with many “opposition’ leaders having gained their fame through their internet blogs and other activities.

Any government in the world should stand up and pay attention, if they have not already, after social media was used recently to organize the wide-spread so called “color revolutions” and the “Arab Spring”. This should have made it clear to anyone who had doubts that social media has also become a tool by certain government’s intelligence services to foment mass unrest and promote their own agendas in foreign countries.

From an intelligence viewpoint it may be dangerous as any such open public forum would leave open the possibility for the targeting, monitoring and intelligence gathering, by foreign bodies and individuals, of the activities of people who may be innocently expressing their views or partaking information. Such information might be used by trained intelligence operatives or possibly by those want to cause social unrest. But of course this depends on what they are posting, and it is going on anyway on other social networking sites.

Most internet users in Russia today are very savvy and may be hard to manipulate but there is always that danger and it is obvious that this is already taking place all over the world if we look at the abovementioned events.

Things are not all bad and scary however, another good reason for introducing such a project is the unifying quality it may have for the country, as people from all over Russia, and let’s not forget it is a huge country, could have a place to “meet”. People who may differ in everything except perhaps their love or “like” or just plain curiosity of the Kremlin or have similar problems or complaints may finally have a common location to share their views.

So far the government has not released too many details about the interface and how exactly the whole site will work, but we do know users will be able to meet each, share their views, upload media, and chat with other users. There is also no news about what will happen to the current site at that address. Will it be eliminated completely or will it be integrated into the new project? I guess we will have to wait and see.

As for me I hope they have more options than Facebook, for example a “hate” or “indifferent” or a “love” button”, now that would be neat. I will be signing up as soon as it is possible, so see you there and happy networking. Hmmm, I wonder, will President Putin be on-line?

Best wishes, wherever you may be.

s

Around Red Square, Moscow, Russia

http://jar2.com/4/Commercial/Red%20Square%20Fall%202008.htm