Another U.S. military strike inside Syria — this time, shooting down a Syrian bomber — has escalated tensions with Russia, even opening the possibility that Russian anti-aircraft missiles will target U.S. warplanes, reports Gilbert Doctorow.
Ukraine fighting at lowest level since conflict broke out
Fighting in eastern Ukraine has fallen to its lowest level since the conflict started, Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak has said. Mr Poltorak said Ukrainian forces were coming under attack just two to four times a day – the lowest rate in the past year and a half.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged fighting had died down but blamed Kiev for not moving forward on other provisions of the agreement, including greater autonomy for the rebel-held eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Eager for World War III on MSNBC (Eion Higgins)
If we’re heading toward World War III, let’s hope that some episodes of MSNBC‘s Andrea Mitchell Reports survive the nuclear winter to provide future civilizations with some clues as to how we got there.
Close to 8,000 people killed in eastern Ukraine, says UN human rights report
Close to 8,000 people have lost their lives in eastern Ukraine since mid-April 2014, according to the latest report by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country which was released today.
The report, which covers the period from 16 May to 15 August 2015, notes that the number of civilian casualties more than doubled by comparison with the previous three months, with at least 105 people killed and 308 injured compared to 60 killed and 102 injured between 16 February and 15 May.
Russia-gate Flops as Democrats’ Golden Ticket (Robert Parry)
The national Democrats saw Russia-gate and the drive to impeach President Trump as their golden ticket back to power, but so far the ticket seems to be made of fool’s gold, writes Robert Parry.
Russia and the West need closer ties to avert ‘real danger’ from military exercises and encounters, say European diplomatic leaders
VIDEO: Sen. Chris Murphy on MSNBC
Murphy tells Morning Joe that in light of the results of the recent Congressional race in Georgia, he believes that the Russia issue is a distraction that is hurting Democrats….
US warns Russia against more aid to Assad amid new violence
Anti-government violence erupted Saturday in a southern Syrian province that had largely stayed on the sidelines of the country’s civil war. Meanwhile, unconfirmed [emphasis added – ed.] reports suggesting that Russia was planning to expand its military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad prompted a warning from the U.S. that such actions could lead to a confrontation with coalition forces.
PODCAST: Was a Cuban Missile Crisis Averted in Syria, the Trans-Atlantic Alliance Ruptured, and Intelgate Exposed? (Stephen F. Cohen)
Princeton and NYU Professor Emeritus Stephen F. Cohen thinks three moments of truth about the current state of American-Russian relations were recently revealed, but so little covered in the mainstream media that he was reminded of an old routine by the comedian George Carlin. A local radio newscaster begins his report: “Nuclear war in Europe. Details after the sports.” Cohen and John Batchelor discuss each of the developments at some length
US Leads World in Credulous Reports of ‘Lagging Behind’ Russia
Ominous warnings about “gaps” with the Russians are a decades-long tradition in US and Western media. Over the past few years alone, the US has “lagged behind” the dreaded Russians in the following departments: Cyber security Online and traditional propaganda Space race “Military tactics” Nuclear technology
Now let’s remember: Russia’s military budget is one-eighth the size of the US’s—and 1/14th as large as NATO’s cumulative $1 trillion in annual military spending.
Russia cancels talks after US imposes new sanctions over Ukraine conflict (The Guardian)
Russia has canceled a planned round of talks with the US in protest at new sanctions imposed this week over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine.
Prof. Paul Robinson Comments on Timothy Snyder
I think it is fair to say that Snyder and I have very different views of the conflict in Ukraine. He has acquired a reputation as one of the more outspoken supporters of the Maidan revolution and as a fierce opponent of ‘Russian aggression’. He says a lot of silly things, in my opinion, but in this segment he outdoes himself.
4 US Ambassadors Offer a Positive Agenda for US-Russian Relations
Last month in Moscow, we gathered with a group of Russian and American policy practitioners and scholars to discuss the current dismal state of U.S.-Russian relations and possible ways forward.
West to blame for Europe’s migrant crisis, say Erdogan, Putin
Putin, speaking to the Russian news agency TASS, said he warned the West about the possible consequences of its Mideast and Africa policy several years ago.
“What is this policy about? This is imposing its standards without taking into consideration historic, religious, national and cultural specifics of these regions,” Putin told the Russian news agency TASSat the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
How Trump can show he’s tough on anti-Semitism (Josh Cohen)
Trump has good reason to speak out against Ukraine’s troubling “memory politics.” The most important is that he could counter perceptions that he’s been too tolerant of anti-Semitism.
Pushing the Edge on Nuclear War
Official Washington’s neocons and liberal hawks are ratcheting up tensions again over Ukraine with the goal of humiliating and even destabilizing nuclear-armed Russia – and there’s no modern-day JFK to tamp down the enthusiasm, an existential risk that ex-U.S. diplomat William R. Polk examines.
After the ISIS War, a US-Russia Collision? (Patrick Buchanan)
Sunday, a Navy F-18 Hornet shot down a Syrian air force jet, an act of war against a nation with which Congress has never declared or authorized a war.
Ukraine’s government bears more responsibility for ongoing conflict than the far-right
…During war violence can become trivialised, particularly when it is far from home – and far from Kiev. However, the war takes on new meaning when an angry and armed veterans come back, feeling betrayed by the government.
It is the current government that bears more responsibility for the ongoing conflict than the Ukrainian far-right and its armed groups. It is the current government who are responsible for new repressions, censorship and discriminatory measures.
How Do America and Russia Avoid a War over Syria? (Nikolas K. Gvosdev)
The United States needs to think soberly about its next steps—and not stumble into a clash with Russia that it neither foresees nor desires.
Putin urges investment in Russia’s vast Far East
President Vladimir Putin urged domestic and foreign investors on Friday to help develop Russia’s vast Far East region, promising high returns and reassuring Asia-Pacific economies about their strategic importance.
Putin, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in the city of Vladivostok, an event he initiated, told his government to increase its efforts to develop the region.