Ukraine Watch...

[biffvernon]

Allegedly there are some 400 American troops in Ukraine fighting under the banner of Academi (formally known as Blackwater Security).

I read it somewhere on the Internet so it must be true.

However, it is completely false according to http://academi.com/news_room/press_releases/94

[Mr. Fox]

Well, Biff, I hope you've got a grainy undated piece of youtube footage to back that claim up.

[Mr. Fox]

lol - and they took their 'press release' (link in body below) down.

The private security contractor known as Blackwater renamed itself Xe Services nearly three years ago. Now, the firm is rebranding itself again.

On Monday, Xe announced that it was changing its name to Academi, part of a years-long effort by the company to shed a troubled legacy that critics said made the firm a symbol for mercenaries and impunity in Iraq and elsewhere.

Washington Post

Pity for them that the internet never forgets.

This one's worth keeping out of the memory hole, so I'll post it in full:

2011-12-12

USTC HOLDINGS LLC
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: John Procter
Gibraltar Associates, LLC
+1 (202) 213-7233
Leading Training and Security Services Provider Xe Services Announces Name Change to ACADEMI,
New name draws on company legacy while building on new leadership, governance and strategy

December 12, 2011 – Arlington, Va. – USTC Holdings, LLC, the investor consortium that acquired Xe Services, LLC, including its main holding U.S. Training Center, Inc. (USTC) in December 2010, today announced ACADEMI as the new name and brand for Xe Services. The name ACADEMI (pronounced “academy”) was selected to better communicate the new company’s focus on future growth.

“We have had a year of extraordinary changes that have resulted in a new, better company,” President and CEO Ted Wright said in a statement. The ACADEMI name communicates both our legacy and where we are going as a company in the future. This is more than a simple name change,” Wright continued. “Rather it is a reflection of the changes we have made while retaining those elements that made us who we are today – the best in our industry.”

The announcement of ACADEMI is the culmination of a year of change as part of the company’s new chapter of growth. Upon acquiring Xe Services and its core operating subsidiaries in December 2010, USTC Holdings, LLC indicated that it would form a new Board of Directors, including independent unaffiliated directors, to manage the company and enhance its governance and oversight capabilities. Now complete and led by Chairman Red McCombs, the Board is made up of an exceptional team with diverse backgrounds, including former White House Counsel Jack Quinn and former Attorney General John Ashcroft, to help guide company decisions and operations.

A new senior leadership team led by President and CEO Ted Wright was put in place, comprising experts with both government and private sector experience to develop a culture of operational excellence, governance, accountability and strategic growth.

Central to the company’s new focus, Suzanne Folsom was named the company’s first chief regulatory and compliance officer with a core company mandate to create an industry-leading governance and compliance program.

In July, the company relocated its headquarters to Arlington, Va., in order to foster even stronger relationships and exchanges with customers in and around Washington.

Back to Press Releases

So if they can't even be honest about who they are, why should we be trusting them to tell us what they're doing?

[biffvernon]

I love the way they call their troops/fighters/soldiers/mercenaries 'contractors'. It makes us think there core activity is drain maintenance or some-such

Anyway, they're all part of Constellis now. http://constellisgroup.com/

[RenewableCandy]

Meaningless quasi-Latin sounding names are as popular as ever, then

[Mr. Fox]

Hang on, Biff... you don't suppose..?

"He was still alive as they were arresting him - but then the paramedics, called to the scene, found that he had died,"

or, as one account had it, hands cuffed behind his back, he shot himself, twice - once in the chest, once in the head. Sure sounds like he had help.

Meanwhile, the big snory is from "The United States Mission to NATO - Official Tumblr", no less.

Mons, BELGIUM – NATO released new satellite images on Thursday, 28 August 2014, that show Russian combat forces engaged in military operations inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine. The images, captured in late August, depict Russian self-propelled artillery units moving in a convoy through the Ukrainian countryside and then preparing for action by establishing firing positions in the area of Krasnodon, Ukraine.

Alas, upon viewing, you can only conclude that these images were "captured in late August" of 1974 and consequently do not add much to the picture.

Seriously, wtf? Is this supposed to be funny? The Luftwaffe had better images 75 years ago. I might have to start a petition to have all the money ever spent on spy satellites refunded.

Thankfully, Dmitry Orlov's here to tell us what he thinks regarding 'Propaganda and the lack thereof':

With regard to the goings-on in Ukraine, I have heard quite a few European and American voices piping in, saying that, yes, Washington and Kiev are fabricating an entirely fictional version of events for propaganda purposes, but then so are the Russians. They appear to assume that if their corporate media is infested with mendacious, incompetent buffoons who are only too happy to repeat the party line, then the Russians must be same or worse.

The reality is quite different...

But then he would say that.

[Little John]

The bullshit is starting to be warmed over again in our MSM, I've noticed over the last couple of days.

[Tarrel]

If one thinks about it, TPTB in the US are acting entirely logically. Their global hegemony is threatened, the dollar's position as global reserve currency is beginning to unravel and civil unrest on US soil is on the rise. They either sit back and preside over the collapse of the US, and the consequent loss of their financial IV drips, or they come out fighting. Not saying it's right - just logical.

What I find illogical is our, and Europe's, blind following of this policy. Europe doesn't have hegemony to protect (it's already gone), and is less reliant on dollar reserve currency "life support". However it does have an awful lot to lose as a result of the metaphorical fallout from escalating sanctions and the literal fallout from nuclear conflict with the East.

[Little John]

This is what I also don't understand Tarrel. Why the hell are our governments so meekly playing the the USA's bitch? It seems we are going to get all the blow-back economically (since the USA trades far less with Russia than does Europe). What on earth have the Yanks threatened us with if we don't tow the US line? Or is it, merely, that EU elites and US elites are more or less one and the same and that the disparate interests of the various citizens of these two regions are neither here nor there as far as they are concerned?

[Tarrel]

This is what I also don't understand Tarrel. Why the hell are our governments so meekly playing the the USA's bitch? It seems we are going to get all the blow-back economically (since the USA trades far less with Russia than does Europe). What on earth have the Yanks threatened us with if we don't tow the US line? Or is it, merely, that EU elites and US elites are more or less one and the same and that the disparate interests of the various citizens of these two regions are neither here nor there as far as they are concerned?

Yes, probably.

[Mr. Fox]

If one thinks about it, TPTB in the US are acting entirely logically. Their global hegemony is threatened, the dollar's position as global reserve currency is beginning to unravel and civil unrest on US soil is on the rise. They either sit back and preside over the collapse of the US, and the consequent loss of their financial IV drips, or they come out fighting.

Yes. It has been said that Empires are at their most dangerous just before they collapse. Like some clucking smackheed, deprived of a fix, flailing and thrashing around, lashing out at self-created media hallucinations.

Or is it, merely, that EU elites and US elites are more or less one and the same and that the disparate interests of the various citizens of these two regions are neither here nor there as far as they are concerned?

Jackson would probably agree. Cocker too.

Back in Ukraine, it's starting to look like the Kiev junta are on their last legs. Mariupol (a port city about twice the size of Southampton) surrounded (or about to be) by Novorussian forces, Junta forces deserting, over 1000 prosecutions in Kiev for 'disobedience, unauthorized abandonment of a military unit or place of service, desertion, evasion of military service in another way, and so on'.

So we can expect 'our' media to ramp up the warmongering propaganda from 'hysterical' to 'totally batshit'.

If anyone's interested in following the carnage in detail, militarymaps.info is now actually working. It emits a subtle 'beep-beep' noise every time an update is posted (in case you're wondering what that damn noise is!)

Another site that appears to be pretty up to date (besides the already mentioned sakerofthevineyard) is that of Canadian Brad Caban: 'rocksolidpolitics' - or rather his twitter feed.

Here's hoping for a swift end to this, with as few casualties as possible.

[Mr. Fox]

Western media now (finally) reporting 'Ukraine forces lose more ground'.

BBC refer only to 'setbacks', and continue to regurgitate crap found on facebook as fact:

Valery Heletey said on his Facebook page that the rebels had been defeated and Russia had been forced to begin a full-scale invasion of the region with regular forces.

..which is, of course, horseshit.

To give the BBC some credit, they have finally reported the shelling of civilians in Donetsk ('Parts of Donetsk are continuing to come under artillery fire') - yet neglect to tell us WHO is doing the shelling!

[Little John]

Or how many civilians have actually been killed by Kiev forces or have been starving from lack of supplies.

[raspberry-blower]

Or how many civilians have actually been killed by Kiev forces or have been starving from lack of supplies.

Your question was answered in The Automatic Earth today:

Which is where I think: really, Ukraine has killed over 2000 of its own citizens ‘on behalf of Europe’?

The entire conflict could be solved in a heartbeat if Kiev would simply tell the Donbass leadership that they can be autonomous. But that’s not what Poroshenko wants, or Yatsenyuk, and certainly not Washington and Brussels. Because the Donbass is by far the richest region in Ukraine. Which however happens to be home to people who don’t want to be ruled by the present Kiev leadership. Well, so you kill a bunch of them and instill fear in the rest, right?

These clowns are dragging us to war

TAE has been rightly scathing of western MSM coverage of events in Ukraine recently.
Western MSM has been complicit in trying to hoodwink us into a totally unnecessary conflict - all out of sheer and unadulterated greed

[Mr. Fox]

Cheers, RB - For some reason I keep forgetting to read Raúl's posts.

This just came out of 'The Prime Minister's Office': Policy paper - Our 5 priorities for the NATO Summit Wales 2014

1. Crisis in Ukraine and our relationship with Russia

6 months after Russia illegally violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of her neighbour Ukraine, we must agree on long-term measures to strengthen our ability to respond quickly to any threat, to reassure those allies who fear for their own country’s security and to deter any Russian aggression.

All NATO allies have already contributed to the alliance’s response to this crisis to reassure our eastern members. Now, we should agree how we can sustain a robust presence in Eastern Europe, consistent with the NATO Russia Founding Act, to make clear to Russia that neither NATO nor its members will be intimidated.

We should agree specific actions including:

* a new exercise schedule adapted to the new security environment
* the necessary infrastructure
* pre-positioning of equipment and supplies
* an enhanced NATO Response Force

This should be part of a broader action plan that enables us to respond more quickly to any threat against any member of the alliance, including when we have little warning.

We must also accept that the co-operation with Russia over recent years is not currently possible because of Russia’s own illegal actions in NATO’s neighbourhood and we must therefore revisit the principles that guide our relationship with Russia.

These psychopaths will stop at nothing.