Below: Demo in Poland protesting this weeks NATO summit in Wales In an article published in Cuban state media iconic revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, calls out NATO and imperialist war mongering. He compares statements by NATO representatives with Nazi SS talk. Castro: “Many people are astonished when they hear the
Continue readingTag: NATO
drive-by planet: NATO summit targets Russia: nuclear threat increases with risk of war
Protest in Newport, Wales, against NATO aggression Government leaders of NATO countries meet in Wales this week to make plans for the escalation of military preparedness, with Russia squarely in the cross hairs. This includes the likely endorsement of a rapid response force made up of as many as 4,000
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: NATO – You’re Not the Master of the Universe. Now, Stand Down.
NATO’s outgoing CEO, er Secretary-General, Anders ‘Foggy’ Rasmussen, should really send caviar and roses to Vladimir Putin. NATO hasn’t done all that well on Foggy’s watch – the cock-up in Libya, the hapless adventure in Afghanistan everybody would rather forget, the absorption of new members from eastern Europe more eager
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: NATO Leaders Huddle and Fume While Putin Chuckles
NATO’s Drang Nach Osten There’ll be an absolute glut of righteous indignation when NATO leaders convene this week in Wales to decide whatever to do with that big bad bully, the Russian Bear, Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, as The Guardian’s Simon Jenkins writes, Putin will be kicking back in Red Square laughing
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: NATO’s New Legion – Is Canada In?
NATO is organizing a 10,000 strong “expeditionary force” with an eye clearly on the Ukraine. The aim is to create a fully functioning, division-sized force for rapid deployment and regular, frequent exercises. Officials involved in the planning say it will have the capacity to increase significantly in size. The force
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Oh, Crap! Sorry, I Meant the Ukraine.
Vlad Putin, it seems, has a response to the hectoring recently from the likes of Sideshow Steve Harper and John Baird and others – “meet me in the Arctic.” The Guardian reports that Putin has had enough of Western criticism of Russian involvement in the Ukraine whose government he likens to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Big Summit Next Week – Maybe the Biggest in Years
NATO leaders gather in Wales next week for what could be the alliance’s most important summit in years. Instead of focusing on housekeeping issues to tidy up the not very successful adventure in Afghanistan, alliance members will find their plates full with developing approaches to the Ukrainian chaos and the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Inching Ever Closer to a Shooting War with Russia
Foggy Rasmussen Why do I get the feeling that there are some in the West who would welcome a conflict with Russia? I watched a documentary last night on the final two years of the Soviet Union, the Gorbachev-George H.W. Bush years. Some great commentary came from Bush Sr.’s Soviet-affairs
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Russian Army Now Fighting in Ukraine
NATO claims that Russian army artillery units manned by Russian soldiers have entered Ukraine and are firing on Ukrainian forces. The Russian move represents a significant escalation of the Kremlin’s involvement in the fighting there and comes as a convoy of Russian trucks with humanitarian provisions has crossed into Ukrainian
Continue readingLibya—another dictator replaced with chaos
Political use of the term “blowback” first appeared in the CIA’s internal history of the 1953 Iranian coup. Orchestrated by Britain and the U.S., the coup replaced the democratically-elected Mosaddegh government with the Shah. The term proved most appropriate as the big power mischief ultimately led to the Iranian Revolution
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Avoiding Another Imbroglio: A Mound Of Sound Guest Post
This note from the Mound of Sound accompanied the post that follows: Some of the course material I’ve been going through lately got me thinking about the conflicts raging in Syria and Iraq. I got thinking about them in the context of water and food security as well as climate
Continue readingAlberta Diary: On the centenary of Gavrilo Princip’s fateful shot in Sarajevo, let’s learn the right lessons from history
Gavrilo Princip under arrest. Below: Princip and the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Today is the centenary of the day Gavrilo Princip took his little Belgian pistol to Sarajevo and blew the heir presumptive to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire into history. As is well known, not long after young Princip
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Mound Of Sound Guest Post: Libya – We Screwed Up Good, Real Good
Libya, remember that place? That’s where NATO waged a bombing campaign against the forces of the late dictator, Muamar Gaddafi. When Gaddafi was ousted we figured we’d done real good. If you judge our warfighting prowess by the outcomes, Libya ranks right up there with Afghanistan. The country has become
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: John Pilger – A World War is Beckoning
I’m frightened for the wrong reasons. If I listened and believed what I was supposed to believe I would be afraid that the Russians are provoking the West into military conflict in Ukraine. The problem is that I’m more of afraid of what We are doing to destabilize the
Continue readingdrive-by planet: US corporate media propaganda: NYT’s misleading photo ‘evidence’ of Russian soldiers in east Ukraine
Back in 2003, when Colin Powell presented “evidence” at the UN to back up the White House claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, major US news outlets ran the story believing the Bush administration had the goods. During the UN presentation Russia’s ambassador at the time, Sergei
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: One possible Russian-driven solution
Bill Clinton: Ukraine Saviour? Ukraine is in turmoil, with positions apparently hardening on all sides, since the Geneva Agreement outlining a method of resolution was agreed upon a short while ago. The level of support for the anti-Kiev position in eastern Ukraine is unclear at the moment: Armed men have
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Predictable
In the department of “no big surprise here”, we have The Taliban mocking the departure of Canadian troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban’s information arm issued a statement Thursday to followers in Kandahar congratulating its fighters in the rural districts of Panjwaii, Zharey, Dand, Maiwand and Shah Wali Kot claiming that
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Nukes, world war, Dr. Strangelove and global showdown – Where’s Slim Pickins when you need him?
So the end-game plan for the US/NATO/EU alliance and the Western oligarchs and plutocratic elite who control it, in their bid to consolidate their present and highly precarious global dominance, seems to be, after encircling Russia and China with military bases and nuclear missiles, to eliminate Russia’s first strike response
Continue readingLeft Over: Intervention and Dissention…
The Ukraine crisis: John Kerry and NATO must calm down and back off The Guardian 2 Mar 2014: Jonathan Steele: The hysterical reaction to Russian military movements in Crimea won’t help. Only Kiev can stop this crisis becoming a catastrophe This was a great analysis of the real issues in the Ukraine,
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