Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 CNN3/5/14(CNN) -- Another member of state-funded Russia Today made waves on Wednesday -- not by standing behind Moscow, as the news network is wont to do, but by bucking it.From the anchor chair, Liz Wahl closed a show -- as seen in video which she later tweeted -- talking about the "ethical and moral challenges" she faces working for Russia Today, also known as RT. She spoke of being from a family who fled to America to escape Soviet forces during the 1956 Hungarian revolution, being the daughter of a U.S. military veteran and being the partner of a physician who works at a U.S. military base."And that is why, personally, I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin," Wahl said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.(Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 CNN 3/5/14 (CNN) -- Another member of state-funded Russia Today made waves on Wednesday -- not by standing behind Moscow, as the news network is wont to do, but by bucking it. Well Before we get all warm and fuzzy about her...... 0318 GMT: Liz Wahl, anchor of the Kremlin’s propaganda arm RT.com dramatically resigned on air today from her position. She mentioned the statement yesterday by Abby Martin, another RT host, that “Russian intervention in Crimea is wrong.” Wahl said her grandparents came as refugees to the US after the 1956 Hungary Revolution; she is the daughter of a veteran; and her partner is a physician in a US military hospital “where he sees everyday the ultimate prices that people pay for this country.” “That is why I personally cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin. I’m proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth. And that is why, after this newscast, I’m resigning.” But only last week on 28 February, Wahl unabashedly hosted a show on the “costs” indicated by President Barack Obama for Russia’s military action in Ukraine, featuring Brian Becker, national coordinator of International ANSWER, a coalition of leftist, anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist organizations that have taken a pro-Saddam position. Becker spoke of Obama’s “vivid demonstration of unrestrained arrogance” regarding “hypocritical” US statements about Putin’s “interference in internal affairs” when the US has ostensibly “interfered over and over again in the internal affairs of Ukraine, promoting a coup d’etat” that put in power a “semi-fascist government…installed…by a rump session of parliament.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 http://youtu.be/74s9N4i5PEw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Mar 4, 2014 Russia's violation of Ukrainian sovereignty late Friday reminds Americans that we live in a dangerous world. Russia now controls the Crimean Peninsula, but the struggle for control over the region is far from over. Speakers James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. James Jay Carafano, a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, is The Heritage Foundations Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. Christopher J. Griffin Executive Director, Foreign Policy Initiative Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D. Distinguished Fellow, The Heritage Foundation Michael E. O'Hanlon, Ph.D. Director of Research, Foreign Policy, and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, Brookings Institution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Ukraine Liveblog Day 17: Crimean Parliament Votes to Join Russia March 6 2014 1355 GMT: US President Barack Obama has announced visa bans on individuals who have taken steps to undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The names of the officials have not been released, and the US is prepared to take additional measures to seize assets of responsible individuals, though there is a process that must be carried out to ensure that the seizures would hold up in court. The New York Times reports: President Obama also issued an executive order that provides the legal basis for imposing additional penalties on individuals and entities who have undermined Ukraines territorial integrity, misappropriated Ukraines assets or have asserted authority over parts of Ukraine without the approval of the Ukrainian government, a reference to officials in Crimea who claim they have broken free of Ukraine and are seeking Russian protection. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Ukraine Liveblog Day 17: 1405 GMT: The new Ukrainian government has put 24 former government and law enforcement officials on a list of suspected mass murderers. The list is in direct response to the killing of 100 people in the first five days of the Ukrainian revolution which started just 17 days ago. The top of the list — ousted president Viktor Yanukovych. Also on the list: Andriy Klyuyev, the former presidential chief of staff; Oleksandr Yakymenko, the former chief of the Security Services of Ukraine; Viktor Pshonka, the former prosecutor general; Vitaly Zakharchenko, the former interior minister; and Sergiy Kosiuk, the former head of the now-infamous Berkut riot police. The full list can be read here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Kissinger has a good article in the Washington Post today with a brief history of the long and close connection between Ukraine and Russia, plus ideas/suggestions of how the West should proceed. But does anyone listen to this old man anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Kissinger has a good article in the Washington Post today with a brief history of the long and close connection between Ukraine and Russia, plus ideas/suggestions of how the West should proceed. But does anyone listen to this old man anymore? Link? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Kissinger has a good article in the Washington Post today with a brief history of the long and close connection between Ukraine and Russia, plus ideas/suggestions of how the West should proceed. But does anyone listen to this old man anymore? Link? Thanks It was sent to me by email. I have forwarded it to you as I don't know how to get it here. (I guess it was in yesterday's WaPo.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Kissinger has a good article in the Washington Post today with a brief history of the long and close connection between Ukraine and Russia, plus ideas/suggestions of how the West should proceed. But does anyone listen to this old man anymore? Link? Thanks It was sent to me by email. I have forwarded it to you as I don't know how to get it here. (I guess it was in yesterday's WaPo.) How the Ukraine crisis ends Henry A. Kissinger (Snip) Leaders of all sides should return to examining outcomes, not compete in posturing. Here is my notion of an outcome compatible with the values and security interests of all sides: 1. Ukraine should have the right to choose freely its economic and political associations, including with Europe. 2. Ukraine should not join NATO, a position I took seven years ago, when it last came up. 3. Ukraine should be free to create any government compatible with the expressed will of its people. Wise Ukrainian leaders would then opt for a policy of reconciliation between the various parts of their country. Internationally, they should pursue a posture comparable to that of Finland. That nation leaves no doubt about its fierce independence and cooperates with the West in most fields but carefully avoids institutional hostility toward Russia. 4. It is incompatible with the rules of the existing world order for Russia to annex Crimea. But it should be possible to put Crimea’s relationship to Ukraine on a less fraught basis. To that end, Russia would recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. Ukraine should reinforce Crimea’s autonomy in elections held in the presence of international observers. The process would include removing any ambiguities about the status of the Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol. (Snip) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearvision Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Very rich of Obama to say Crimea vote to leave Ukraine is against the law... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Very rich of Obama to say Crimea vote to leave Ukraine is against the law... It depends on what the meaning of the word 'law' is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 LibertyPoet @LibertyPoet 1m #RonPaul: #Crimea Has Right to Join #Russia #Obama's Sanctions Criminal http://www.dailypaul.com/313846/ron-paul-crimea-has-right-to-join-russia-obamas-sanctions-criminal … via @dailypaul #euromaidan #maidan #war #ww3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Stars and Stripes @starsandstripes 1h Lakenheath fighters headed to Baltics to beef up air space patrolling: http://www.stripes.com/1.271434 #Ukraine @usairforce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SrWoodchuck Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 How Ukraine Spillover Could Complicate the US Withdrawal From Afghanistan http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/how-ukraine-spillover-could-complicate-the-us-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/ Putin has an ace up his sleeve: shutting down the Northern Distribution Network. Sometimes timing in international politics can be really bad – at least this is what those dealing with the Afghan withdrawal plans at the Pentagon must be feeling at this point. After much uncertainty, the zero option for Afghanistan – a complete withdrawal by the end of the year – is being taken seriously. The White House and the Pentagon both see it as a viable endgame situation should the Bilateral Security Agreement remain in eternal limbo. Unfortunately, with recent developments in Ukraine, executing on the zero option might get significantly more expensive for the United States. The key to pulling off a successful and manageable withdrawal is the Northern Distribution Network – a route established in 2008 to get supplies in and out of Afghanistan while bypassing the risky (but cheaper) Pakistan-based routes entirely. Unfortunately, despite its massive defense R&D spending, the U.S. never quite figured out a way to teleport its equipment in and out of landlocked war zones. The original Pakistan-based routes provided a quick, sea-based route into Afghanistan, over the Durand line. As the situation on the Afghan-Pakistan border destabilized, it became apparent that approaching Afghanistan via the northern frontier was preferable. In this route, equipment came to Afghanistan from sea, docking first in the Baltic, then on the Georgian and Turkish shores of the Black Sea, and eventually transiting via land to Afghanistan. For the equipment that entered the Eurasian landmass via the Baltic, there was no way around Russia. And it is likely that when American hardware leaves Afghanistan, it will do so via the Northern Distribution Network. There is also an eastern extension of the network that traverses Kazakhstan and eventually ends up in Vladivostok, on the Russian Pacific Coast. Now what does this have to do with Ukraine? Well, Russia’s prized geography places it at the center of the network. In the event that the United States and Europe decide to severely punish Russia for its actions in Crimea, Putin won’t be hesitant to play his hand by shutting down U.S. and NATO use of the network’s Russian component – effectively rendering it useless (apart from the Georgia and Turkey-based Black Sea routes, which also require a Caspian Sea crossing given Iran’s geography). Russia’s acquiescence to the network isn’t a no-strings attached proposition though. The Kremlin rakes in around $1 billion a year for allowing the transit of supplies via its land routes. For Putin, the benefits of maintaining a pro-Russian Crimean peninsula certainly outweigh the potential lost revenue from the closure of the Northern Distribution Network. Additionally, surely when Russia agreed to permit the use of its supply routes for the Afghan war effort, it know that it had acquired a powerful card. TheDiplomat via TheoSpark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 @SrWoodchuck Putin, devious? Naahhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Stars and Stripes @starsandstripes 1h Lakenheath fighters headed to Baltics to beef up air space patrolling: http://www.stripes.com/1.271434 #Ukraine @usairforce I wondered where they came from, but I thought the news said they were F-16's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Yatseniuk: Ukraine to sign deal with EU within weeks Olga Rudenko March 7, 2014 Ukraine will sign the political part of an association agreement with European Union within the next few weeks, according to Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, with the free trade agreement coming later. On March 6, Yatseniuk participated in a European Union summit in Brussels and discussed the conditions and terms for signing. “We are now making technical consultations to agree about the date. (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel told me that it is the matter of weeks now,” Yatseniuk said, speaking to journalists on March 7 in Kyiv. “This is the most important decision that the whole country has been waiting for. This is what people were going to the streets for.” (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 1033 GMT: ATR, the Crimean Tatar TV channel in Simferopol which is still on the air, ran a poll yesterday regarding public opinion on the issue of joining the Russian Federation. To be sure, this is not a scientific poll, as it is a call-in show, and the audience mainly Crimean Tatars is a population group that has generally supported the new government in Kiev. Even so, its interesting. Results for the question, Are you for the annexation of the Crimea to Russia? For: 16% Against: 83% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 1033 GMT: ATR, the Crimean Tatar TV channel in Simferopol which is still on the air, ran a poll yesterday regarding public opinion on the issue of joining the Russian Federation. To be sure, this is not a scientific poll, as it is a call-in show, and the audience mainly Crimean Tatars is a population group that has generally supported the new government in Kiev. Even so, its interesting. Results for the question, Are you for the annexation of the Crimea to Russia? For: 16% Against: 83% There are only 2 choices -- stay with Ukraine or join the Russian federation. Significantly, no third choice to be independent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 1033 GMT: ATR, the Crimean Tatar TV channel in Simferopol which is still on the air, ran a poll yesterday regarding public opinion on the issue of joining the Russian Federation. To be sure, this is not a scientific poll, as it is a call-in show, and the audience mainly Crimean Tatars is a population group that has generally supported the new government in Kiev. Even so, its interesting. Results for the question, Are you for the annexation of the Crimea to Russia? For: 16% Against: 83% There are only 2 choices -- stay with Ukraine or join the Russian federation. Significantly, no third choice to be independent. Alas, you are correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggingtree Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Ukraine: Sticking Our Nose & Our Money Where It Doesn’t Belong… Again Ed Wood 3 hours agoDidn't we get enough Arab Spring type uprisings in our support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, in our "leading from the rear" in Libya that got our Ambassador and three other Americans killed, in spending billions of dollars and thousands of American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, then pulling out with no accomplishments whatsoever, and in drawing a line in Syria we couldn't defend? Really, haven't we had enough? This week our news is filled with the now familiar sights of the fires, the bombings, the riotings and the killings in the Ukraine as "freedom fighters" sought to overthrow the established Ukranian government. The duly elected president, But while our politicians were trying to figure out whose side we should be on, if any, Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Victoria Nuland, revealed that, "Since the declaration of Ukrainian independence [from the USSR] in 1991, the United States has supported the Ukrainians in the development of democratic institutions and skills in promoting a civil society and a good form http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/03/ukraine-sticking-nose-money-doesnt-belong/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Watch RT, Putin's TV Network, Call the Cops on Me That's what happens, it seems, when you ask some simple questions outside RT's Washington headquarters. James Kirchick 03.07.14 What would possess an American to work for a Russian propaganda outlet, especially now that the world is on the brink of a potential war in Eastern Europe? I asked that question of about two dozen people coming in and out of the Washington headquarters of RT, the Kremlin-funded television network that has become infamous in recent days for whitewashing Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. No one would answer me directly. Instead, RT called the local cops on me. (More about that in a minute.) (Snip) RT has become the go-to network for a particular species of disillusioned American, fed-up with what the “corporate media” is telling them about the world. According to the channel, the new, Western-friendly government in Kiev is chock full of fascists and neo-Nazis. Meanwhile, Russia’s blatantly unjustified and illegal occupation of Crimea—and its potential invasion of eastern Ukraine—is portrayed as a humanitarian mission. RT’s view of the situation has been indistinguishable from that of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s, which is what you would expect of a “news” network that is the personal pet project of Vladimir Putin. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Ukraine Liveblog Day 18: Moscow and Washington Are Far Apart on CrimeaMarch 7 20141513 GMT: Armed gunmen have been caught on camera roughing up and pointing a gun at the head of journalists in Simferopol. The incident was caught on CCTV. Channel 4 reports: “This was clearly television studio equipment. I quickly took a few photos on my phone, as they carried the equipment. One of the masked men approached me, put me on the ground, put a gun to his head to me and just took my phone and my friend’s camera.“Then they returned to the van, the vehicle had no licence plate, and they left.” He added; “Here now, the military situation there is no law. People who do this, clearly are not subject to any laws.”_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1604 GMT: Since last Friday, free press has been under attack in Crimea. Earlier we shared video of reporters being attacked in Simferopol, a gun was put to their head and their equipment was stolen. Yesterday, a BBC journalist was detained — and sexually harassed — outside the surrounded Belbek airbase. Most concerning perhaps was when armed gunmen stormed a Crimean television station and representatives of the Russian government reportedly took over, replacing the independent news broadcasts with Russian state TV. Now, Ukrainian television may be under cyber-attack: Euromaidan PR @EuromaidanPR Follow ATR tv channel in Crimea is having problem with brodcasting via internet. Probable internet attack: http://www.atr.ua/live | PR News 9:36 AM - 7 Mar 2014from Ukraine, Ukraine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Simon Shuster @shustry 35m BREAKING: Crimea TV reporting that Russians have begun storming Ukraine air-force base on the peninsula, ramming the gates with a truck Simon Shuster @shustry 30m CONFIRMED: Russian forces storming Ukraine base near Sevastopol, home of anti-aircraft commander center #Crimea http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2014/03/7/7018108/ … Simon Shuster @shustry 25m 20 Russian troops inside, moving toward command post of Crimea base, guarded by 100 Ukrainian troops, reports @ukrpravda_news Simon Shuster @shustry 10m 15 trucks of Russian troops descend from Black Sea fleet warship, report Ukraine media, citing Ukraine MoD http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2014/03/7/7018113/ … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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