Ukraine Watch...

[raspberry-blower]

Fort Russ is reporting that the Ukrainian forces in Debaltsevo have collapsed

[emordnilap]

Interesting piece from John Wight. Whatever you think of RT, JW writes good pieces which get syndicated on several sites. RT was just the first in this case.

The British political class and its media allies have made a virtue out of attaching themselves to the US Empire’s coattails. It is a sordid and eminently dishonorable relationship that has allowed the UK to parade itself as a first rate power when in truth it hardly qualifies as third rate. While Britain may no longer have an empire, an empire attitude towards the rest of the world continues to poison the minds of its leaders and proponents of the ideology of ‘democratization’, which is not to be confused with democracy.

Vladimir Putin and Russia’s crime is to dare to resist this US Empire, taking a stand against the hypocrisy, double standards, and complete lack of respect for other countries, cultures, and values it represents. The concerted attempt to expand NATO and an ever more militant EU all the way up to Russia’s border has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with the projection of imperial power masquerading as democracy.

It ties in neatly with the recent John Pilger interview.

[raspberry-blower]

Alexander Mercouris on the German position at Minsk - and its limitations:

In every other respect it was the Russians who got what they wanted and who basically dictated the terms.

The Minsk agreements make no mention of Crimea, implicitly confirming that Merkel now accepts it as Russian and that for Ukraine it is irretrievably lost.

Ukraine is obliged to pass a law before the end of March granting the rebel regions in the Donbass special status within Ukraine. Ukraine is obliged to enact a new Constitution before the end of the year. As I have previously said, this provides a time line for the settlement of the conflict that did not exist previously.

Far more importantly, Der Spiegel says that Ukraine is obliged to agree with the rebels the terms of the new law for the special status of their regions within Ukraine and is also obliged to agree the provisions of the new Constitution with them as well.

Der Spiegel chalks it up as a “success” for Poroshenko that he refused to talk to the rebel leaders directly. If however Der Spiegel is right and Poroshenko and the Ukrainian government are now required to agree with the rebels the terms of the law on the special status of their regions and the terms of the new Constitution, then this “success” looks extremely hollow.

The real crux of the matter:

Even more importantly, Der Spiegel says the two rebel regions are to have a veto over Ukraine’s future political orientation, including its joining either NATO or the EU. In Der Spiegel’s words:


“Russia has likely already achieved its minimum goal, that of preventing Ukraine from joining NATO or the European Union.

The deal agreed to in Minsk includes a kind of veto right for separatist areas in eastern Ukraine on important fundamental issues.

That right would apply to membership in military alliances and to membership in economic blocks such as the EU or Putin's Eurasian Economic Union”.

These provisions do not appear in writing in the Minsk agreements. If they exist (which, given that the Der Spiegel article is sourced from Merkel’s office, they surely do) they must have been agreed verbally by Putin and Merkel, almost certainly during the talks in Moscow that preceded the ones in Minsk.

That blows all EU & NATO plans out of the water.

The EuroMaidan “revolution”, so determinedly supported by the West, will have lost its point and will have failed.

The important question - will hostilities cease in the near term?

Does this however mean that the Ukrainian conflict is coming to an end?

The short answer unfortunately is almost certainly no.

Though it does appear that Putin and Merkel have finally reached an understanding, it is far from certain that they can impose it on the two sides so as to end the war. What happened in Minsk shows why.

Merkel in Moscow & Minsk: Der Spiegel says Putin won

[3rdRock]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 68003.html

British troops will be deployed to Ukraine in the next few weeks to train soldiers fighting Russian separatists, David Cameron said yesterday, as he warned of “deeply damaging” consequences for the whole of Europe if the EU fails to stand up to Vladimir Putin.

Up to 75 military personnel will take part in the six-month mission, which will include medical, intelligence, logistics and infantry training to compliment the range of “non-lethal” equipment Britain has already supplied, the Prime Minister said.

The 'shock doctrine' at work again.

Nothing beats a conflict when it comes to making a few quid, eh?

[raspberry-blower]

The 'shock doctrine' at work again.

Nothing beats a conflict when it comes to making a few quid, eh?

Even worse than that US Launders Weapons through UAE to Kiev

These bastards won't stop at anything

[raspberry-blower]

Ukraine is entering hyperinflation - Zero Hedge: "Soon we will walk round with suitcases of cash"

This has led to protests in Kiev and a harsh response from the authorities.
From The Saker Police Brutality, Ukraine style

Apologies for this but a stand has to be taken:
Petition time: No to British involvement in Ukraine

[Little John]

signed...for all the good it will do

[3rdRock]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 74294.html

Putin's gas threat: What happens if Russia cuts the gas to Europe?

[kenneal - lagger]

The Germans and a few others get cold!

Oh! and Angela Merkell jumps up and down a bit!!

[biffvernon]

Putin's gas threat: What happens if Russia cuts the gas to Europe?

Russia doesn't get paid.

[fuzzy]

What happens if Russia cuts the gas to Europe?

UK residents will pay a higher rate.

[3rdRock]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 76848.html

Boris Nemtsov shot dead: Outspoken Putin critic who had expressed fears for his life is killed near the Kremlin

So, did Mr. P have a hand in this?

[Little John]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 76848.html

Boris Nemtsov shot dead: Outspoken Putin critic who had expressed fears for his life is killed near the Kremlin

So, did Mr. P have a hand in this?

If it's being reported and bigged up as a story by the Western MSM, then our intelligence forces are no less likely to have had a hand in it. I have no doubt that the intelligence wars will have hotted up considerably in recent months and years and that there will be agents, double agents and all the rest at play in these kinds of scenarios. One simple rule of thumb I have come to rely on,however, is that whatever our MSM tell us is the truth, we should immediately consider the complete reverse to be the actual case.

[raspberry-blower]

The Saker: Nemtsov murder: Putin warned about this type of "false flag" event 2 years ago

Meanwhile the lamestream media are cranking up the anti Putin hysteria - with none of their stories being based on fact or proper critical analysis.
Remember that fraudster Elliot Higgins a.k.a. Brown Moses? (Should really have replaced the letter M with N IMO )
The fraudster who tried to get NATO into an ill advised and illegal in International Law attack on Syria with guesswork based on Youtube videos of an apparent chemical attack in East Ghouta? Well he's at it again with more disreputable cack that the Guardian have seized upon:

Despite the declaration in the headline, a close reader encounters phrases such as “near conclusive proof,” “estimated trajectories,” “likely firing positions,” and other ambiguous phrases that are more suggestive than they are declarative. In other words, these are mere rhetorical flourishes designed to lead casual, uninformed readers to make conclusions that are simply not backed up by the evidence.

The so called study relied heavily on “crater patterns from satellite photos of three battlefields,” and it is from these crater patterns, and the equally dubious “tyre tracks” that the authors of the study drew their conclusions. However, even the independent military forensics expert contacted by The Guardian “warned that the accuracy of crater analysis in determining direction of fire on the basis of satellite photography was scientifically unproven.”

Indeed, conveniently buried at the end of the long article is the key quote from Stephen Johnson, a weapons expert at the Cranfield Forensic Institute, part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom who said quite clearly that crater analysis is “highly experimental and prone to inaccuracy.” Mr. Johnson added that “This does not mean there is no value to the method, but that any results must be considered with caution and require corroboration.”

The Guardian parroting something as conclusive when it is anything but. No surprise there

And so we return to the new “study” by Higgins and his Bellingcat group of “digital detectives.” They are obviously front-and-center in the western media because their conclusions are aligned with the US-NATO political agenda. They are a de facto arm of the western corporate media and military-industrial complex, providing the veneer of “independent analysis” in order to penetrate the blogosphere and social media platforms where the mainstream narrative is being questioned, scrutinized, and discredited. Bellingcat and Higgins’ names should be known to everyone, but not because their analysis is worthwhile. Rather, they need to become household names so that those who understand how western propaganda and soft power actually works, will be on the lookout for more of their disinformation.

Perhaps The Guardian should also be more careful in how it presents its information. By promoting Higgins and his discredited outfit, they are once again promoting disinformation for the purposes of selling war. The US almost went to war with Syria (which it is doing now anyway) based on the flawed intelligence and “analysis” of people like Higgins. Naturally, everyone remembers how The Guardian, like all of its corporate media brethren, helped to sell the Iraq War based on complete lies. Have they learned nothing? It would seem so.

Eric Draitser There goes the Guardian, Lying about Ukraine Again
The whole purpose of this misinformation appears to be dragging the West into an unnecessary conflict in a desperate attempt to save the Petrodollar

[3rdRock]

One simple rule of thumb I have come to rely on,however, is that whatever our MSM tell us is the truth, we should immediately consider the complete reverse to be the actual case.

Wise councel indeed.

What is it somebody once said? - "When we turn to one another for counsel, we reduce the number of our enemies"