Saturday, April 5, 2014

Slow Saturday Special: Absence of Ukraine

You can see for yourself because I have not talked about it for a couple of days:

"NATO general says Russian force poised to invade Ukraine" by Michael R. Gordon | New York Times   April 03, 2014

BRUSSELS — NATO’s top commander said Wednesday that the 40,000 troops Russia has within striking distance of Ukraine are poised to attack on 12 hours’ notice and could accomplish their military objectives within three to five days.

And Saddam's nukes can be here in 45 minutes.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia told Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Monday that the Kremlin was beginning to withdraw troops from the border area near Ukraine.

But the NATO commander, General Philip M. Breedlove, said in an interview with The New York Times that only a single battalion, a force of 400 to 500 troops, was on the move and that NATO intelligence could not say whether it was actually being withdrawn....

I'm tired of garbage intelligence being used to advance empire and start wars for bankers.

Breedlove, of the US Air Force, said the Russian force that remains is a potent mix of warplanes, helicopter units, artillery, infantry, and commandos with field hospitals and sufficient logistics to sustain an incursion into Ukraine....

Meanwhile, the U.S. and NATO are moving men and material to the region and are doing jet overflights.

Breedlove said the Russian presence might be intended as a “coercive force” during the West’s talks with Russia about Ukraine’s future.

Like AmeriKa's is, right?

If the Kremlin decides to intervene militarily, Breedlove added, the force could be used to establish a land link to Crimea, the peninsula in southern Ukraine that Russia annexed last month, so that it does not have to supply it by sea.

Nothing about the vote, but then again, the omissions are really no surprise anymore. All part of the shallowness and superficiality of the AmeriKan media.

The Russian force is also capable, he said, of carrying out a thrust to Odessa, moving to Transnistria, the Russian enclave in Moldova, or intervening in areas in eastern Ukraine.

“I think they have all the opportunities and they can make whatever decision they want,” Breedlove added. “This is a very large, very well-equipped force to be called an exercise.”

Tell it to Korea.

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Another Ukrainian absence that was broken:

"Deposed Ukrainian leader admits mistakes on Crimea" by Caro Kriel and Vladimir Isachenkov | Associated Press   April 03, 2014

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — Defensive and at times tearful, Ukraine’s ousted president conceded Wednesday that he made a mistake when he invited Russian troops into Crimea and vowed to try to negotiate with Vladimir Putin to get the coveted Black Sea peninsula back.

‘‘Crimea is a tragedy, a major tragedy,’’ Viktor Yanukovych told the Associated Press in his first interview since fleeing to Russia in February, following months-long protests focused on corruption and his decision to seek closer ties to Russia instead of the European Union.

Putin said last month that Yanukovych had asked Russia to send its troops to Crimea to protect its people — a request seen as treason by many Ukrainians.

And justified by many others.

Russian troops quickly overran Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian majority, taking over government and military facilities on the pretext of protecting Russians. 

Did the war-pimping propaganda pre$$ really use that word?

Asked about the move, Yanukovych said he made a mistake.

‘‘I was wrong,’’ he told the AP and Russia’s state NTV television, speaking in Russian. ‘‘I acted on my emotions.’’

Still, Yanukovych insisted that Russia’s takeover of Crimea wouldn’t have happened if he had stayed in power. He also denied responsibility for the sniper deaths of about 80 protesters in Kiev in February, for which he has been charged by Ukraine’s interim government. 

Related: Leaked EU’s Ashton Phone Tape: Kiev Snipers Were Hired by US Supported Opposition Leaders 

That's along the lines of Nuland and the "F*** the EU" tape.

As the world has watched the tumultuous events in Ukraine, the 63-year-old Yanukovych has rarely been seen, even as he has insisted he is still the country’s true leader. While Putin has been openly dismissive of Yanukovych, the Russian president has also described him as the legitimate leader and his ouster as illegal.

Yanukovych said he has spoken with Putin only twice by phone and once in person since he arrived in Russia, describing their talks as ‘‘difficult.’’ He said he hopes to have more meetings with the Russian leader to negotiate Crimea’s return to Ukraine.

‘‘We must search for ways . . . so that Crimea may have the maximum degree of independence possible . . . but be part of Ukraine,’’ he said.

I'm wondering if he really said this or whether is is another AmeriKan media mistranslation. They did exercise independence by voting to join Russia with 97% of the vote!

Russia annexed Crimea last month following a hastily called referendum held two weeks after Russian troops took control of the region. Ukraine and the West have rejected the vote and the annexation as illegal.

Yeah, somehow it's not a legitimate referendum like Kosovo or Sudan. 

At least they got a vote; Palestinians and Kashmiris never have.

Yanukovych’s comments on the Black Sea peninsula appeared to represent an attempt to shore up at least some support in his homeland, where even his backers have deserted him.

While there is no expectation that Russia will roll back its annexation, Yanukovych’s statements could widen Putin’s options in talks on settling the Ukrainian crisis by creating an impression that Moscow could be open for discussions on Crimea’s status in the future.

I think they have used that word annexed more in the last month regarding Russia than they have in sixty years of Israeli annexations, and I'm tired of my propaganda pre$$ creating impressions!

Echoing the Kremlin’s position, Yanukovych said the Crimean referendum, in which residents overwhelmingly voted to join Russia, was a response to threats posed by radical nationalists in Ukraine.

The radical nationalists are the Nazi fringe that are the good guys we placed in power.

However, he did not answer several questions about whether he would support a move by Russia, which has deployed tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border, to move into other areas of the country on the pretext of protecting ethnic Russians.

There is that word again. 

So Ukraine has WMDs and nukes, huh?

Yanukovych echoed the key Kremlin demand for settling the Ukrainian crisis, pushing for a referendum that could turn Ukraine into a loosely knit federation....

But this whole article has been nettling me he is on the outs with his Russian sponsor. 

WTF?!

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"Viktor Yanukovych ordered bloodbath, Ukraine says" by Maria Danilova | Associated Press   April 04, 2014

KIEV — Ukraine’s interim authorities on Thursday accused fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych of ordering snipers to open fire on protesters and getting help from Russian security agents to battle his own people, but they provided no evidence....

That's because there is none; in fact, the evidence indicates the exact opposite. If anything, the guy was too reluctant to use force.

Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov also accused former interior minister Vitali Zakharchenko, who was in charge of police, of recruiting gangs of killers, kidnappers, and thugs to terrorize and undermine the opposition during the monthslong protests.

Those are the people the U.S. put in power.

The inquiry revealed by Kiev’s new leadership examined the months of antigovernment protests that culminated in the bloodshed of Feb. 20, just days before Yanukovych fled to Russia.

With NO EVIDENCE! That's kind of important.

Speaking at a televised news conference, Avakov said police snipers shot at demonstrators near Kiev’s Independence Square, also known as the Maidan, as they walked toward the government district. He said that 17 people were killed by snipers positioned at the October Palace cultural center and that one sniper alone killed as many as eight people.

Then why were victims shot in the back?

Security officials then moved to cover up and destroy evidence to ensure that any investigations would be impossible, Avakov said.

‘‘Clothes were burned, weapons discarded, and documents destroyed,’’ he said....

At least phone class were taped.

‘‘What was planned under the guise of an antiterrorist operation, and which was in fact an operation of mass killing of people, took place under the immediate and direct leadership of former president Yanukovych,’’ Security Service chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said. He did not elaborate on where he got his information.

And he expects to be believed?

In an interview, Yanukovych firmly denied that he gave orders to shoot demonstrators, saying that members of his inner circle even criticized him for his reluctance to use force during the monthslong protests.

Nalyvaichenko also said there was evidence that Russia’s FSB security service assisted in attempts to suppress the antigovernment protests.

Where is the "evidence?"

He said that FSB members were deployed at a Ukrainian security facility and that they took part in planning and implementing antiprotest measures. He said the Russians even interrogated the Ukrainian security chief.

Well, we know who took part in planning the protests.

Nalyvaichenko contended that in late January, when peaceful protests turned into bloody street clashes with police, Russia sent planes to Kiev carrying explosives, arms, and crowd control devices ‘‘to organize executions and the extermination of our protesters on the Maidan.’’

Russia’s FSB swiftly dismissed the claims....

My propaganda pre$$ didn't; they presented it as true and have emphasized the falsehoods.

Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky said 12 members of an elite riot police unit called ‘‘Black Squadron’’ have been detained on suspicion of shooting protesters.

The identity of the snipers believed to be responsible for most of the deaths is the subject of bitter disagreement.

Opponents of Ukraine’s new leadership deny that only police were to blame, contending some snipers were organized by opposition leaders trying to whip up outrage.

Within every log of propaganda poop is a corn kernel of truth. We just found it.

The new health minister, Oleh Musiy, who previously served as the protesters’ top medic, has said he treated both protesters and riot police with similar types of sniper wounds.

On Thursday, officials skirted a question on whether snipers also shot at police.

That's the kind of thing GUILTY PEOPLE DO!

Avakov said establishing who was responsible for the deaths of law enforcement officers would be part of the broad investigation, which is still ongoing.

Avakov also detailed what he described as overwhelming evidence linking Zakharchenko, the former interior minister, to a person coordinating hired thugs who beat and intimidated opposition activists.

Avakov said another underworld figure operating under the patronage of Yanukovych and Zakharchenko ran a group of 10 people carrying out beatings and kidnappings of protest organizers, including the kidnapping of a prominent activist and his colleague, who was killed in the attack.

I need more than this vague bulls***, sorry.

In the weeks since the February killings, Russia seized and then formally annexed Crimea, Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea peninsula, and the United States and the European Union slapped sanctions on those responsible, mainly Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

There they go again, seized and annexed, and slap is a good way to describe those toothless sanctions.

On Wednesday, President Obama signed into law a bill providing $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine.

This as you live under service-cutting austerity that is locked in for the next two years, Americans. I guess that's why the propaganda pre$$ is being so quiet about it.

In his interview, Yanukovych said he was wrong to invite Russian troops into Crimea, which was swiftly annexed by Moscow after a referendum in which the vast majority of residents backed a reunion with Russia.

Yeah, but that vote, that democracy, that self-determination is no good.

Ukraine’s fledgling government and Western leaders have expressed concern about a buildup of tens of thousands of Russian forces near the Ukrainian border. On Thursday, the European Aviation Safety Agency advised planes to avoid the airspace over Crimea because of possible risks posed by the two countries seeking to control the sky in the region.

A false flag in the works? Russians shot down civilian airliner? Made Malaysia 370 disappear?

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