As Congress still swoons over the anti-Kremlin Magnitsky narrative, Western political and media leaders refuse to let their people view a documentary that debunks the fable, reports Robert Parry.
Prof. Stephen F. Cohen Talks With John Batchelor
Earlier in the week ACEWA Board Member Dr. Stephen F. Cohen continued his weekly conversation with radio host John Batchelor. The conversation helped to shed much need light on recent developments in the Donbas, and the discussants delved into the wide ranging implications of Russia’s recent intervention into the Syrian civil war.
The Russia Mess Sucks in Democrats, Too (John Batchelor)
Two modest Russiagate puzzles that do not fit easily into any case for or against President Trump, took new turns in recent days…
Ukraine leader says he hopes ‘fragile truce’ will hold
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko struck a conciliatory tone on Friday in his comments on Russia and Moscow-backed rebels during his visit to Kazakhstan, the Kremlin’s ally in Central Asia.
“Few had believed this (but) we did our best and, as a result of our efforts, guns have been silent for more than two weeks and this gives grounds for cautious optimism with regard to the implementation of other parts of the Minsk agreements,” Poroshenko said at a meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, referring to a ceasefire in Ukraine’s east.
Sending ‘Defensive’ Arms to Ukraine Would Be Deadly (Leonid Bershidsky)
Both Russian and U.S. generals have an interest in testing their newer weapons against each other.
Syria air strikes: US and Russia expected to hold talks over risk of planes clashing
The Pentagon has said it expects to hold new talks with Russia’s military on pilot safety in Syria’s war as soon as this weekend as the US and the Kremlin seek to avoid accidental clashes as they carry out separate bombing campaigns.
Russia’s entry into Syria’s civil war has complicated America’s more than year-old campaign of air strikes against Islamic State. At least one US jet had to change course to avoid an incident.
Russia Signals Tough Pragmatism toward the United States (George Beebe)
Beyond foreshadowing what they might do in response to U.S. retaliation, the Russians are also signaling the depth of their resolve to oppose U.S. actions that they believe threaten Russian security.
How Russia outplayed America in the Middle East’s great game
The cliché of the Russian chessmaster strategist might be a cliché for a reason. The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin might have feet of clay, but the man is smart.
By going all-in on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the war in Syria, he has put Russia at the center of the great game in the Middle East.
Washington’s Addictive Foreign-Policy Drug (Ted Galen Carpenter)
…sanctions will only inflame Moscow and intensify an already worrisome new cold war.
In Assad’s heartland, villagers see Russians as saviours
The village of Jebleh is a good place for plane-spotters. Last week dozens of Russian fighter-bombers – Sukhoi Su-24s, 25s and 35s – took off from the Bassel al-Assad airbase less than a mile away, roaring through the cloudy autumn skies towards their targets in Syria’s north and east.
Here, people see the Russians as loyal friends who have supported the Assad dynasty for 45 years and who have finally, after four years of civil war, come to their aid.
President George HW Bush: Remarks to the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of the Ukraine in Kiev, Soviet Union
26 years ago, on August 1, 1991 US President George HW Bush delivered a prescient warning on the dangers of Ukrainian ethno-nationalism in an address in Kiev. Bush told the assembled that “Americans will not support those who seek independence in order to replace a far-off tyranny with a local despotism. They will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism based upon ethnic hatred.” Bush’s wise pragmatism and caution enraged American neocons like New York Times columnist William Safire who unfairly dubbed Bush’s remarks “the Chicken Kiev speech.”
Former economic adviser to Reagan and Thatcher hired by Ukrainian government
Ukraine’s Minister of Finance, Natalie Jaresko, has hired the prominent U.S. economist, Arthur Laffer, to advise her on tax policy. Laffer, widely considered the father of supply-side economics, was a member of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board from 1981-89. He also advised former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on fiscal policy.
Lawmakers Need a Russia Sanctions Strategy with an Exit Plan (Nikolas Gvosdev)
History shows that the lack of flexibility or graduation mechanisms in congressional sanctions can create unnecessary complications for the United States.
Saudi Clerics Call for Jihad Against Iran and Russia in Syria
News out of our great “ally” Saudi Arabia from a joint Reuters, Vice report notes that “dozens of conservative Saudi Arabian clerics have called for Arab and Muslim countries to “give all moral, material, political and military” support to what they term a jihad, or holy war, against Syria’s government and its Iranian and Russian backers.
Although the clerics who signed the online statement are not affiliated with the government, their strong sectarian and anti-Christian language reflects a growing anger among many Saudis over Russian and Iranian involvement in Syria’s civil war.”
Kremlin frets U.S. sanctions may hurt European projects like Nord Stream 2 (Reuters)
The Kremlin said on Monday it was worried that proposed new U.S. sanctions against Moscow could hurt major investment projects with European partners, but said it was premature to say if and how it would retaliate.
Ukraine Is Being Told to Live With Putin
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has long had trouble understanding that the Western support of his government is conditional. Now the leaders of France and Germany have told him that in no uncertain terms: The ceasefire agreement for eastern Ukraine has just been recast to put the onus on Poroshenko, rather than on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
You gotta send those weapons somewhere….(Paul Robinson)
It was that less than a week after the US said it would no longer supply arms to the Syrians that the new US ‘special representative for Ukraine’, Kurt Volker, said that the American government was reviewing whether to send weapons to Ukraine. American foreign policy thinking is clearly in a state of confusion.
Which side are we really on in this war of the awful against the evil?
The White House and Downing Street both seethe with genuine outrage about Russia’s bombing raids on Syria.
Yet the people Vladimir Putin bombed have views and aims that would get them rounded up as dangerous Islamist extremists if they turned up in Manchester. So why do British politicians call them ‘moderates’ when Russia bombs them?
New US Russia sanctions bill risks EU anger (DW)
The US Senate has passed a bill to slap new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea. In addition to straining ties between the US and Russia, it could also raise tensions with the EU.
Ukraine local polls postponed to ensure ‘undisputed’ vote
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany agreed Friday to delay contentious local elections in Ukraine to ensure that they meet international standards, despite fighting having all but stopped in the country’s separatist east.
Peace appears closer than ever in the 17-month conflict, which has plunged relations between Moscow and the West to post-Cold War lows, with the latest ceasefire called last month having largely been observed by both pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.