russia-insider--2020-06-23--BLM Endorses Sodomy, Abortion, Atheism and Is Anti-Family - No Christian Should Go Anywhere Near It

`` As a priest in the Church , in good conscience I can not give Holy Communion to anyone who is a member of a group that has so clearly sold itself to Satan . ''
Black Lives Matter is a terrorist , Marxist organization which promotes abortion and homosexuality .
This wicked group was founded by lesbian feminists , and has received tens of millions of dollars in funding from the atheist George Soros .
To support Black Lives Matter is to turn away from Christ , and rejection of Christ makes a person unworthy to take Holy Communion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Orthodox Church , it is my duty to ban all members of Black Lives Matter from receiving Communion .
I will not desecrate the precious Body and Blood of Christ , by allowing it to touch the unclean lips of those who are members of that satanic organization .
If you are willing to renounce that organization , and to cancel your membership in that group , then you can come to confession .
You can be absolved of the sin you committed by joining Black Lives Matter .
After that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — not before .
Until you demonstrate repentance , you will not receive the Eucharist .
Black Lives Matter is rotten to the core , and has been since the moment it began .
This can be demonstrated by considering the founders of the movement , the activities of the organization , and the published statements on the group 's website .
Black Lives Matter was founded by Patrisse Khan-Cullers , Opal Tometi , & Alicia Garza .
Two of them are neo-marxist community organizers in the tradition of Saul Alinsky .
All @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are lesbians .
And these low-class women have made it a point to include their perversions at the very heart of the Black Lives Matter movement : Black Lives Matter advocates the murder of unborn children .
An article in Color Lines described how Black Lives Matter Partners with Reproductive Justice Groups to Fight for Black Women .
In this article , one of the BLM founders says that abortion rights are an integral part of BLM itself .
As she herself states : She also joined forces with Cecile Richards — former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to start the political activist group , Supermajority , promoting an array of liberal feminist agendas , including abortion .
Black Lives Matter advocates Marxist theory via the guise of the Black Liberation movement .
A Marxist history archive on Black Liberation is available on the Marxists.org website .
One of the founders of BLM explicitly states her desire to use Black Lives Matter as a tactic for furthering this Marxist agenda : Garza and Cullors are two of the founders of BLM .
One of the most infamous members of the Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ideological inspiration for Black Lives Matter , with Garza and Cullors both admitting that she is one of their heroes .
A Marxist revolutionary and also a member of the Black Liberation Army , Shakur is on the FBI 's most wanted terrorists list , and she has a two million dollar bounty on her head .
In 1972 she shot and killed a New Jersey state trooper .
She was convicted of eight felonies , including murder , robbery , and assault .
Then she managed to escape prison in 1979 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continues to live there to this day .
This terrorist is someone who BLM holds up as a role model and inspiration , and they quote her at all their events .
For example , on one video of a Black Lives Matter event , they said : `` So this is how we close out every meeting , every event , every action , every freeway we 've shut down , every mall we 've shut down , you 'll hear this chant .
.
.
this is from our beloved Assata @ @ @ @ @ @ @ honor an FBI-most-wanted terrorist at every BLM event that they hold .
They themselves admit it .
In numerous cities , Black Lives Matter has had a consistent presence in numerous homosexual `` pride '' parades , incessantly pushing their godless agenda .
The two loathsome groups worked hand-in-hand in Los Angeles : And they worked together in numerous other cities as well .
The reasons for their activism are not hard to figure out .
In this article , Why Black Lives Matter is Toronto 's most effective LGBT movement , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lives Matter official website makes no secret of its support for homosexuality , feminism , and transgenderism .
And true to their Marxist beliefs , they favor community rule , openly attacking the traditional family : As a priest in the Church , in good conscience I can not give Holy Communion to anyone who is a member of a group that has so clearly sold itself to Satan .
While I am grateful to live in a peaceful location where BLM members are extremely rare , I believe it is important to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serious .
And if any BLM members happen to go on a trip , and find their way into the church where I serve , I do not want them to attempt taking communion , unless they are first willing to repent of their sins , including their sinful affiliation with BLM .
Anyone who joins Black Lives Matter does so either out of ignorance , or out of extreme impiety .
After reading this article , a person can claim ignorance no longer .
Black Lives Matter actively promotes evil , promoting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And no one who promotes these things has any business approaching the Lord 's Table .
Members of Black Lives Matter need to get on their knees , and ask forgiveness for their participation in this godless movement .

"As a priest in the Church, in good conscience I cannot give Holy Communion to anyone who is a member of a group that has so clearly sold itself to Satan."
Black Lives Matter is a terrorist, Marxist organization which promotes abortion and homosexuality. This wicked group was founded by lesbian feminists, and has received tens of millions of dollars in funding from the atheist George Soros.
To support Black Lives Matter is to turn away from Christ, and rejection of Christ makes a person unworthy to take Holy Communion.
Therefore, as a priest in the Orthodox Church, it is my duty to ban all members of Black Lives Matter from receiving Communion. I will not desecrate the precious Body and Blood of Christ, by allowing it to touch the unclean lips of those who are members of that satanic organization.
If you are willing to renounce that organization, and to cancel your membership in that group, then you can come to confession. You can be absolved of the sin you committed by joining Black Lives Matter. After that, you can take Holy Communion. After — not before. Until you demonstrate repentance, you will not receive the Eucharist.
Black Lives Matter is rotten to the core, and has been since the moment it began. This can be demonstrated by considering the founders of the movement, the activities of the organization, and the published statements on the group's website.
The Unholy Founders of BLM — Lesbian, Feminist, Marxist
Black Lives Matter was founded by Patrisse Khan-Cullers, Opal Tometi, & Alicia Garza. Two of them are neo-marxist community organizers in the tradition of Saul Alinsky. All three are feminists. Two of them are lesbians. And these low-class women have made it a point to include their perversions at the very heart of the Black Lives Matter movement:
"it is not a coincidence that this iteration of the black freedom movement is led by queer folks. It's not a coincidence, but that doesn't mean that it's any less challenging" — Alicia Garza (cofounder of Black Lives Matter)
"My queerness, my blackness, my womanness, shaped Black Lives Matter." — Patrice Cullors (cofounder of Black Lives Matter)
Patrisse Khan-Cullers, Opal Tometi, & Alicia Garza
"Black Lives Matter affirms the lives of Black queer and trans folks . . . and all Black lives along the gender spectrum." — Alicia Garza (cofounder of Black Lives Matter), The Feminist Wire
"We have to look at queerness as a means towards challenging normativity.” — Patrice Cullors (cofounder of Black Lives Matter), HuffPost
"BLM is inherently a movement sustained by a politics of blackness that is... unapologetically feminist, womanist, and queer." — David Green, Hearing the Queer Roots of Black Lives Matter
The Unholy Activities of BLM — Promoting Abortion, Marxism, & Homosexuality
Promoting Abortion
Black Lives Matter advocates the murder of unborn children. An article in Color Lines described how Black Lives Matter Partners with Reproductive Justice Groups to Fight for Black Women.
In this article, one of the BLM founders says that abortion rights are an integral part of BLM itself. As she herself states:
"reproductive justice is very much situated within the Black Lives Matter movement . . . So we certainly understand that BLM and reproductive justice go hand in hand." — Alicia Garza (cofounder of Black Lives Matter), Color Lines
She also joined forces with Cecile Richards — former CEO of Planned Parenthood — in order to start the political activist group, Supermajority, promoting an array of liberal feminist agendas, including abortion.
Alicia Garza & Cecile Richards
Promoting Marxism
Black Lives Matter advocates Marxist theory via the guise of the Black Liberation movement. A Marxist history archive on Black Liberation is available on the Marxists.org website. One of the founders of BLM explicitly states her desire to use Black Lives Matter as a tactic for furthering this Marxist agenda:
"Black Lives Matter . . . centers those that have been marginalized within Black liberation movements. It is a tactic to (re)build the Black liberation movement." — Alicia Garza (cofounder of Black Lives Matter), The Feminist Wire
As stated by a Socialist Alternative article on Black Lives Matter and Marxism , Socialist Alternative
"To go forward, this movement needs to connect racism, police brutality, and economic demands."
Garza and Cullors are two of the founders of BLM. One of the most infamous members of the Black Panthers, Assata Shakur, serves as the ideological inspiration for Black Lives Matter, with Garza and Cullors both admitting that she is one of their heroes. A Marxist revolutionary and also a member of the Black Liberation Army, Shakur is on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list, and she has a two million dollar bounty on her head. In 1972 she shot and killed a New Jersey state trooper. She was convicted of eight felonies, including murder, robbery, and assault. Then she managed to escape prison in 1979. She escaped to Cuba, and continues to live there to this day. This terrorist is someone who BLM holds up as a role model and inspiration, and they quote her at all their events. For example, on one video of a Black Lives Matter event, they said: "So this is how we close out every meeting, every event, every action, every freeway we've shut down, every mall we've shut down, you'll hear this chant . . . this is from our beloved Assata Shakur." The BLM founders actually honor an FBI-most-wanted terrorist at every BLM event that they hold. They themselves admit it.
Promoting Homosexuality
In numerous cities, Black Lives Matter has had a consistent presence in numerous homosexual "pride" parades, incessantly pushing their godless agenda.
The two loathsome groups worked hand-in-hand in Los Angeles:
And in Toronto:
And they worked together in numerous other cities as well. The reasons for their activism are not hard to figure out. In this article, Why Black Lives Matter is Toronto's most effective LGBT movement, the author makes it clear:
"The group, like many other Black Lives Matter chapters, is organized mostly by queer and trans people..."
Unholy Statements Published on the BLM Website
The Black Lives Matter official website makes no secret of its support for homosexuality, feminism, and transgenderism. And true to their Marxist beliefs, they favor community rule, openly attacking the traditional family:
"We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and 'villages' that collectively care for one another" — Black Lives Matter official website - "What We Believe"
"As a network we have always recognized the need to Center the leadership of women and queer and trans people." — Black Lives Matter official website - The History of BLM
"We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual" — Black Lives Matter official website - "What We Believe"
We... do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women... We engage comrades with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts. — Black Lives Matter official website - "What We Believe"
Homosexuality + Marxism + Abortion = Excommunication
As a priest in the Church, in good conscience I cannot give Holy Communion to anyone who is a member of a group that has so clearly sold itself to Satan. While I am grateful to live in a peaceful location where BLM members are extremely rare, I believe it is important to speak publicly on issues that are this serious. And if any BLM members happen to go on a trip, and find their way into the church where I serve, I do not want them to attempt taking communion, unless they are first willing to repent of their sins, including their sinful affiliation with BLM.
The author is an American Orthodox priest living with his family of 10 in Russia. Learn about his inspiring story at www.russian-faith.com
Anyone who joins Black Lives Matter does so either out of ignorance, or out of extreme impiety.
After reading this article, a person can claim ignorance no longer. Black Lives Matter actively promotes evil, promoting abortion, Marxism, and homosexual perversion. And no one who promotes these things has any business approaching the Lord's Table.
Members of Black Lives Matter need to get on their knees, and ask forgiveness for their participation in this godless movement.


russia-insider--2020-06-25--China Snaps Up Russia's Expensive Urals Oil

China ’ s refiners have purchased a quarter of Russia ’ s Urals oil exports planned for June in the Baltic despite record high premiums for the grade due to a lack of sour barrels as result of the OPEC+ output cuts , traders said and shipping data showed .
Rising demand for Russian barrels will likely make oil firms more reluctant to extend the record oil cuts in tandem with OPEC+ for a prolonged period of time .
Russia has to decide shortly as OPEC+ countries may meet this week .
Asian refiners , including those in China , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s decision to slash supplies in June , causing them to seek replacements .
Some 1.1 million tonnes of Urals oil loading in the very end of May and during the first half of June will be shipped to China by Unipec , trading arm of Sinopec , and Shell , according to traders and shipping data in Refinitiv Eikon .
Urals loadings from Russia ’ s Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga are planned at 4.4 million tonnes of June .
In June , Urals oil supplies to China will reach a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Refinitiv Eikon flows data showed .
Most of the Urals barrels to arrive in Chinese ports in June were loaded in April , when the Russian grade traded at discount below $ 3 per barrel to dated Brent , while European benchmark was discounted by more than $ 4 per barrel to Dubai .

China’s refiners have purchased a quarter of Russia’s Urals oil exports planned for June in the Baltic despite record high premiums for the grade due to a lack of sour barrels as result of the OPEC+ output cuts, traders said and shipping data showed.
Rising demand for Russian barrels will likely make oil firms more reluctant to extend the record oil cuts in tandem with OPEC+ for a prolonged period of time. Russia has to decide shortly as OPEC+ countries may meet this week.
Asian refiners, including those in China, have been hit by Saudi Arabia’s decision to slash supplies in June, causing them to seek replacements.
Some 1.1 million tonnes of Urals oil loading in the very end of May and during the first half of June will be shipped to China by Unipec, trading arm of Sinopec, and Shell, according to traders and shipping data in Refinitiv Eikon.
Urals loadings from Russia’s Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga are planned at 4.4 million tonnes of June.
In June, Urals oil supplies to China will reach a record 2.2 million tonnes per month, Refinitiv Eikon flows data showed.
Most of the Urals barrels to arrive in Chinese ports in June were loaded in April, when the Russian grade traded at discount below $3 per barrel to dated Brent, while European benchmark was discounted by more than $4 per barrel to Dubai.


russia-insider--2020-06-25--Hague War Crimes Court Threatens to Try Israel, US for Relentless Murder, Brutality, and Wars of Agg

Hague War Crimes Court Threatens to Try Israel, US for Relentless Murder, Brutality, and Wars of Aggression

In the near-two decades since the International Criminal Court was set up to try the worst violations of international human rights law , it has faced harsh criticism for its highly selective approach to the question of who should be put on trial .
Created in 2002 , the court , it was imagined , would act as a deterrent against the erosion of an international order designed to prevent a repetition of the atrocities of the Second World War .
Such hopes did not survive long .
The court , which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether it dared to confront the world ’ s leading superpower , the United States , as it launched a “ war on terror ” .
The ICC ’ s prosecutors refused to grasp the nettle posed by the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq .
Instead , they chose the easiest targets : for too long , it looked as though war crimes were only ever committed by Africans .
Now , the ICC ’ s chief prosecutor , Fatou Bensouda , looks poised finally to give the court some teeth .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ – the US and Israel – whose actions have been particularly damaging to international law in the modern era .
The court is considering examining widespread human rights abuses perpetrated by US soldiers in Afghanistan , and crimes committed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied Palestinian territories , especially Gaza , as well as the officials responsible for Israel ’ s illegal settlement programme .
An investigation of both is critically important : the US has crafted for itself a role as global policeman , while Israel ’ s flagrant violations of international @ @ @ @ @ @ @ half a century .
The US is the most powerful offender , and Israel the most persistent .
Both states have long dreaded this moment – the reason they refused to ratify the Rome Statute that established the ICC .
Last week Mike Pompeo , the US Secretary of State , stepped up US attacks on the court , saying its administration was “ determined to prevent having Americans and our friends and allies in Israel and elsewhere hauled in by this corrupt ICC ” .
A large , bipartisan majority of US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month urging him to ensure “ vigorous support ” for Israel against the Hague court .
Israel and the US have each tried to claim an exemption from international law on the grounds that they did not sign up to the court .
But this only underscores the problem .
International law is there to protect the weak from abuses committed by the strong .
The victim from the bully .
A criminal suspect does not get to decide whether their victim can make a complaint , or whether the legal system should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ international law if it is to have any meaningful application .
Even under Bensouda , the process has dragged out interminably .
It has taken years for her office to conduct a preliminary investigation and to determine , as she did in late April , that Palestine falls under the ICC ’ s jurisdiction because it qualifies as a state .
The delay made little sense , given that the State of Palestine is recognised by the United Nations , and it was able to ratify the Rome Statute five years ago .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the normal features of a sovereign state .
However , as the Israeli human rights group B ’ Tselem recently noted , this is precisely because Israel has occupied the Palestinians ’ territory and illegally transferred settlers onto their land .
Israel is claiming an exemption by citing the very crimes that need investigating .
Bensouda has asked the court ’ s judges to rule on her view that the ICC ’ s jurisdiction extends to Palestine .
It is not clear how soon they will issue a verdict .
Pompeo ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US will soon make clear how it will retaliate – are intended to intimidate the court .
Bensouda has warned that her office is being subjected to “ misinformation and smear campaigns ” .
In January , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the court of being “ antisemitic ” .
In the past , Washington has denied Bensouda a travel visa , and threatened to confiscate her and the ICC judges ’ assets and put them on trial .
The US has also vowed to use force to liberate any Americans put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the judges may now be searching for a bolt hole .
They have asked Israel and the Palestinian Authority to respond urgently to questions about whether the temporary Oslo accords , signed more than 25 years ago , are still legally binding .
Israel has argued that the lack of resolution to the Oslo process precludes the Palestinians from claiming statehood .
That would leave Israel , not the ICC , with jurisdiction over the territories .
On Monday Bensouda was reported to have given her view that the Oslo accords should have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Mahmoud Abbas , the Palestinian president , told the ICC last week that the PA considers itself exempt from its Oslo obligations , given that Israel has announced imminent plans to annex swaths of Palestinian territory in the West Bank .
Annexation was given a green light under President Trump ’ s “ peace plan ” unveiled earlier in the year .
Bensouda ’ s term as prosecutor finishes next year .
Israel may hope to continue stonewalling until she is gone .
Elyakim Rubinstein , a former Israeli Supreme Court judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to ensure that her successor is more sympathetic to Israel .
But if Bensouda does get the go-ahead , Netanyahu and an array of former generals , including his Defence Minister Benny Gantz , would likely be summoned for questioning .
If they refuse , an international arrest warrant could be issued , theoretically enforceable in the 123 countries that ratified the court .
Neither Israel nor the US is willing to let things reach that point .
They have recruited major allies to the fight , including Australia , Canada , Brazil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the court ’ s second largest donor , has threatened to revoke its contributions if the ICC proceeds .
Maurice Hirsch , a former legal adviser to the Israeli army , wrote a column last month in Israel Hayom , a newspaper widely seen as Netanyahu ’ s mouthpiece , accusing Bensouda of being a “ hapless pawn of Palestinian terrorists ” .
He suggested that other states threaten to pull their contributions , deny ICC staff the travel visas necessary for their investigations and even quit the court .
That would destroy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an outcome that would delight both Israel and the US .
It would render ICC little more than a dead letter , just as Israel , backed by the US , prepares to press ahead with the West Bank ’ s annexation .
A version of this article first appeared in the National , Abu Dhabi .
Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism .
His books include “ Israel and the Clash of Civilisations : Iraq , Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East ” ( Pluto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Israel ’ s Experiments in Human Despair ” ( Zed Books ) .
His website is www.jonathan-cook.net .

In the near-two decades since the International Criminal Court was set up to try the worst violations of international human rights law, it has faced harsh criticism for its highly selective approach to the question of who should be put on trial.
Created in 2002, the court, it was imagined, would act as a deterrent against the erosion of an international order designed to prevent a repetition of the atrocities of the Second World War.
The Hague war crimes court will long be remembered for that amazing scene when Serbian patriot, Slobodan Praljak, hauled up before the court on fake charges of war crimes, told them on the stand that he was innocent, that he rejected their charges with great contempt, and then slugged back a vial of poison, and died on the spot. An honorable death.
Such hopes did not survive long.
The court, which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, almost immediately faced a difficult test: whether it dared to confront the world’s leading superpower, the United States, as it launched a “war on terror”.
The ICC’s prosecutors refused to grasp the nettle posed by the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead, they chose the easiest targets: for too long, it looked as though war crimes were only ever committed by Africans.
Now, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, looks poised finally to give the court some teeth. She is threatening to investigate two states – the US and Israel – whose actions have been particularly damaging to international law in the modern era.
The court is considering examining widespread human rights abuses perpetrated by US soldiers in Afghanistan, and crimes committed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially Gaza, as well as the officials responsible for Israel’s illegal settlement programme.
An investigation of both is critically important: the US has crafted for itself a role as global policeman, while Israel’s flagrant violations of international law have been ongoing for more than half a century.
The US is the most powerful offender, and Israel the most persistent.
Both states have long dreaded this moment – the reason they refused to ratify the Rome Statute that established the ICC.
Last week Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, stepped up US attacks on the court, saying its administration was “determined to prevent having Americans and our friends and allies in Israel and elsewhere hauled in by this corrupt ICC”.
A large, bipartisan majority of US Senators sent a letter to Pompeo last month urging him to ensure “vigorous support” for Israel against the Hague court.
Israel and the US have each tried to claim an exemption from international law on the grounds that they did not sign up to the court.
But this only underscores the problem. International law is there to protect the weak from abuses committed by the strong. The victim from the bully.
A criminal suspect does not get to decide whether their victim can make a complaint, or whether the legal system should investigate. The same must apply in international law if it is to have any meaningful application.
Even under Bensouda, the process has dragged out interminably. It has taken years for her office to conduct a preliminary investigation and to determine, as she did in late April, that Palestine falls under the ICC’s jurisdiction because it qualifies as a state.
The delay made little sense, given that the State of Palestine is recognised by the United Nations, and it was able to ratify the Rome Statute five years ago.
The Israeli argument is that Palestine lacks the normal features of a sovereign state. However, as the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem recently noted, this is precisely because Israel has occupied the Palestinians’ territory and illegally transferred settlers onto their land.
Israel is claiming an exemption by citing the very crimes that need investigating.
Bensouda has asked the court’s judges to rule on her view that the ICC’s jurisdiction extends to Palestine. It is not clear how soon they will issue a verdict.
Pompeo’s threats last week – he said the US will soon make clear how it will retaliate – are intended to intimidate the court.
Bensouda has warned that her office is being subjected to “misinformation and smear campaigns”. In January, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the court of being “antisemitic”.
In the past, Washington has denied Bensouda a travel visa, and threatened to confiscate her and the ICC judges’ assets and put them on trial. The US has also vowed to use force to liberate any Americans put in the dock.
There are indications the judges may now be searching for a bolt hole. They have asked Israel and the Palestinian Authority to respond urgently to questions about whether the temporary Oslo accords, signed more than 25 years ago, are still legally binding.
Israel has argued that the lack of resolution to the Oslo process precludes the Palestinians from claiming statehood. That would leave Israel, not the ICC, with jurisdiction over the territories.
On Monday Bensouda was reported to have given her view that the Oslo accords should have no bearing on whether an investigation proceeds.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told the ICC last week that the PA considers itself exempt from its Oslo obligations, given that Israel has announced imminent plans to annex swaths of Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
Annexation was given a green light under President Trump’s “peace plan” unveiled earlier in the year.
Bensouda’s term as prosecutor finishes next year. Israel may hope to continue stonewalling until she is gone. Elyakim Rubinstein, a former Israeli Supreme Court judge, called last month for a campaign to ensure that her successor is more sympathetic to Israel.
But if Bensouda does get the go-ahead, Netanyahu and an array of former generals, including his Defence Minister Benny Gantz, would likely be summoned for questioning. If they refuse, an international arrest warrant could be issued, theoretically enforceable in the 123 countries that ratified the court.
Neither Israel nor the US is willing to let things reach that point.
They have recruited major allies to the fight, including Australia, Canada, Brazil and several European states. Germany, the court’s second largest donor, has threatened to revoke its contributions if the ICC proceeds.
Maurice Hirsch, a former legal adviser to the Israeli army, wrote a column last month in Israel Hayom, a newspaper widely seen as Netanyahu’s mouthpiece, accusing Bensouda of being a “hapless pawn of Palestinian terrorists”.
He suggested that other states threaten to pull their contributions, deny ICC staff the travel visas necessary for their investigations and even quit the court.
That would destroy any possibility of enforcing international law – an outcome that would delight both Israel and the US.
It would render ICC little more than a dead letter, just as Israel, backed by the US, prepares to press ahead with the West Bank’s annexation.
A version of this article first appeared in the National, Abu Dhabi.
Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His books include “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). His website is www.jonathan-cook.net.


russia-insider--2020-06-25--On V-Day, Russia Vows To Prevent US-Led 'Regime Change' In Venezuela

On Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used the occasion of Moscow 's 75th anniversary V-Day parade commemorating the end of WWII to warn Washington against pushing regime change in Venezuela .
Among other foreign dignitaries , Caracas ' top diplomat Jorge Arreaza was in Moscow for the events .
Lavrov issued public statements of solidarity expressing support to the socialist country , calling it `` a mainstay for countering the attempts to draw the region back into the 19th century and to impose the Monroe Doctrine . ''
`` We strongly support your commitment to combating foreign diktat and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ domestic affairs of a sovereign state , opposing any attempts at a forced regime change , '' Lavrov said , as reported in Newsweek .
Given that only within the last year-and-a-half of multiple failed coup attempts backed by Washington , which saw 'opposition ' military officers attempt to stir popular revolt , and more recently the bizarre small 'invasion ' attempt by a group of ex-Green Berets turned security contractors , two of which were attempting to enter the country on small boats , Lavrov 's reference to attempts at regime change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ further underscored in his Wednesday comments that Maduro and Venezuela are a `` reliable friend '' of Russia , and praised that `` bilateral relations are progressing in such spheres as energy , industry , agriculture , high technology , pharmaceutics and military-technical cooperation . ''
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry responded by emphasizing `` strengthened the ties of brotherhood and cooperation , '' in a statement .
The Russian-Venezuelan expression of solidarity also appear aimed at the US heightened naval presence in the Caribbean , also following a series of Iranian fuel tanker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebrations took place on June 24 , instead of May 9 , due to coronavirus concerns : This week the US has warships patrolling near Venezuela 's coast conducting what US Southern Command calls `` freedom of navigation '' operations .
“ Today , while peacefully operating in the Caribbean Sea , the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Nitze ( DDG 94 ) conducted a freedom of navigation operation , contesting an excessive maritime claim by Venezuela , ” the US military said Tuesday .

On Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used the occasion of Moscow's 75th anniversary V-Day parade commemorating the end of WWII to warn Washington against pushing regime change in Venezuela.
Among other foreign dignitaries, Caracas' top diplomat Jorge Arreaza was in Moscow for the events. Lavrov issued public statements of solidarity expressing support to the socialist country, calling it "a mainstay for countering the attempts to draw the region back into the 19th century and to impose the Monroe Doctrine."
"We strongly support your commitment to combating foreign diktat and any attempts at blatant interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state, opposing any attempts at a forced regime change," Lavrov said, as reported in Newsweek.
Image: Venezuelan Ministry of People's Power for Foreign Affairs/Newsweek
Given that only within the last year-and-a-half of multiple failed coup attempts backed by Washington, which saw 'opposition' military officers attempt to stir popular revolt, and more recently the bizarre small 'invasion' attempt by a group of ex-Green Berets turned security contractors, two of which were attempting to enter the country on small boats, Lavrov's reference to attempts at regime change aren't mere inflated accusations.
Lavrov further underscored in his Wednesday comments that Maduro and Venezuela are a "reliable friend" of Russia, and praised that "bilateral relations are progressing in such spheres as energy, industry, agriculture, high technology, pharmaceutics and military-technical cooperation."
Image via Xinhua: Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to troops after the Victory Day parade in Moscow's Red Square, Russia on June 24, 2020.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry responded by emphasizing "strengthened the ties of brotherhood and cooperation," in a statement.
The Russian-Venezuelan expression of solidarity also appear aimed at the US heightened naval presence in the Caribbean, also following a series of Iranian fuel tanker deliveries to Maduro's Venezuela.
V-day celebrations took place on June 24, instead of May 9, due to coronavirus concerns:
Via Reuters
This week the US has warships patrolling near Venezuela's coast conducting what US Southern Command calls "freedom of navigation" operations.
“Today, while peacefully operating in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94) conducted a freedom of navigation operation, contesting an excessive maritime claim by Venezuela,” the US military said Tuesday.


Victoria Nuland Alert

It is difficult to find anything good to say about Donald Trump , but the reality is that he has not started any new wars , though he has come dangerously close in the cases of Venezuela and Iran and there would be considerable incentive in the next four months to begin something to bolster his “ strong president ” credentials and to serve as a distraction from coronavirus and black lives matter .
Be that as it may , Trump will have to run hard to catch up to the record set by his three predecessors Bill Clinton , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bush was an out-and-out neoconservative , or at least someone who was easily led , including in his administration Donald Rumsfeld , Richard Perle , Michael Ledeen , Reuel Gerecht , Paul Wolfowitz , Doug Feith , Eliot Abrams , Dan Senor and Scooter Libby .
He also had the misfortune of having to endure Vice President Dick Cheney , who thought he was actually the man in charge .
All were hawks who believed that the United States had the right to do whatever it considered necessary to enhance its own security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which led to Afghanistan and Iraq , where the U.S. still has forces stationed nearly twenty years later .
Clinton and Obama were so-called liberal interventionists who sought to export something called democracy to other countries in an attempt to make them more like Peoria .
Clinton bombed Afghanistan and Sudan as a diversion when the press somehow caught wind of his arrangement with Monica Lewinsky and Obama , aided by Mrs. Clinton , chose to destroy Libya .
Obama was also the first president to set up a regular Tuesday morning session @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who would benefit from being killed by drone .
So the difference between neocons and liberal interventionists is one of style rather than substance .
And , by either yardstick all-in-all , Trump looks pretty good , but there has nevertheless been a resurgence of neocon-think in his administration .
The America the exceptional mindset is best exemplified currently by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , who personifies the belief that the United States is empowered by God to play only by its own rules when dealing with other nations .
That would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attributed to leading neocon Michael Ledeen , “ Every ten years or so , the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall , just to show the world we mean business.
” One of the first families within the neocon/liberal interventionist firmament is the Kagans , Robert and Frederick .
Frederick is a Senior Fellow at the neocon American Enterprise Institute and his wife Kimberly heads the bizarrely named Institute for the Study of War .
Victoria Nuland , wife of Robert , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Albright Stonebridge Group and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution .
That means that Victoria aligns primarily as a liberal interventionist , as does her husband , who is also at Brookings .
She is regarded as a protégé of Hillary Clinton and currently works with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright , who once declared that killing 500,000 Iraqi children using sanctions was “ worth it.
” Nuland also has significant neocon connections through her having been a member of the staff assembled by Dick Cheney .
Nuland , many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behind efforts to destabilize the Ukrainian government of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2013-2014 .
Yanukovych , an admittedly corrupt autocrat , nevertheless became Prime Minister after a free election .
Nuland , who was the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department , provided open support to the Maidan Square demonstrators opposed to Yanukovych ’ s government , to include media friendly appearances passing out cookies on the square to encourage the protesters .
Nuland openly sought regime change for Ukraine by brazenly supporting government opponents in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kiev had ostensibly friendly relations .
It is hard to imagine that any U.S. administration would tolerate a similar attempt by a foreign nation to interfere in U.S. domestic politics , particularly if it were backed by a $ 5 billion budget , but Washington has long believed in a global double standard for evaluating its own behavior .
Nuland is most famous for her foul language when referring to the potential European role in managing the unrest that she and the National Endowment for Democracy had helped create in Ukraine .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Kiev was only the prelude to a sharp break and escalating conflict with the real enemy , Moscow , over Russia ’ s attempts to protect its own interests in Ukraine , most particularly in Crimea .
And make no mistake about Nuland ’ s broader intention at that time to expand the conflict and directly confront Russia .
In Senate testimony she cited how the administration was “ providing support to other frontline states like Moldova and Georgia.
” Her use of the word “ frontline ” is suggestive .
Victoria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as the only nation with the military capability to destroy the U.S. , was and is not a sideshow like Saddam Hussein ’ s Iraq or the Taliban ’ s Afghanistan .
Backing Moscow into a corner with no way out by using threats and sanctions is not good policy .
Washington has many excellent reasons to maintain a stable relationship with Moscow , including counter-terrorism efforts , and little to gain from moving in the opposite direction .
Russia is not about to reconstitute the Warsaw Pact and there is no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ War footing by either arming Ukraine or permitting it to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) .
Victoria Nuland has just written a long article for July/August issue of Foreign Affairs magazine on the proper way for the United States manage what she sees as the Russian “ threat.
” It is entitled “ How a Confident America Should Deal With Russia.
” Foreign Affairs , it should be observed , is an establishment house organ produced by the Council on Foreign Relations which provides a comfortable perch for both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s view is that the United States lost confidence in its own “ ability to change the game ” against Vladimir Putin , who has been able to play “ a weak hand well because the United States and its allies have let him , allowing Russia to violate arms control treaties , international law , the sovereignty of its neighbors , and the integrity of elections in the United States and Europe… Washington and its allies have forgotten the statecraft that won the Cold War and continued to yield results for many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. leadership at the presidential level , unity with democratic allies and partners , and a shared resolve to deter and roll back dangerous behavior by the Kremlin .
It also included incentives for Moscow to cooperate and , at times , direct appeals to the Russian people about the benefits of a better relationship .
Yet that approach has fallen into disuse , even as Russia ’ s threat to the liberal world has grown.
” What Nuland writes would make perfect sense if one were to share her perception of Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ liberal world.
” She sees Russian rearmament under Putin as a threat even though it was dwarfed by the spending of NATO and the U.S. She shares her fear that Putin might seek “ …reestablishing a Russian sphere of influence in eastern Europe and from vetoing the security arrangements of his neighbors .
Here , a chasm soon opened between liberal democracies and the still very Soviet man leading Russia , especially on the subject of NATO enlargement .
No matter how hard Washington and its allies tried to persuade Moscow that NATO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no threat to Russia , it continued to serve Putin ’ s agenda to see Europe in zero-sum terms.
” Nuland ’ s view of NATO enlargement is so wide of the mark that it borders on being a fantasy .
Of course , Russia would consider a military alliance on its doorstep to be a threat , particularly as a U.S. Administration had provided assurances that expansion would not take place .
She goes on to suggest utter nonsense , that Putin ’ s great fear over the NATO expansion derives from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ belt of increasingly democratic , prosperous states around Russia would pose a direct challenge to his leadership model and risk re-infecting his own people with democratic aspirations.
” Nuland goes on and on in a similar vein , but her central theme is that Russia must be confronted to deter Vladimir Putin , a man that she clearly hates and depicts as if he were a comic book version of evil .
Some of her analysis is ridiculous , as “ Russian troops regularly test the few U.S. forces left in Syria to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s oil fields and smuggling routes .
If these U.S. troops left , nothing would prevent Moscow and Tehran from financing their operations with Syrian oil or smuggled drugs and weapons.
” Like most zealots , Nuland is notably lacking in any sense of self-criticism .
She conspired to overthrow a legitimately elected democratic government in Ukraine because it was considered too friendly to Russia .
She accuses the Kremlin of having “ seized ” Crimea , but fails to see the heavy footprint of the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Saudi war crimes .
One wonders if she is aware that Russia , which she sees as expansionistic , has only one overseas military base while the United States has more than a thousand .
Nuland clearly chooses not to notice the White House ’ s threats against countries that do not toe the American line , most recently Iran and Venezuela , but increasingly also China on top of perennial enemy Russia .
None of those nations threaten the United States and all the kinetic activity and warnings are forthcoming from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Washington , not from “ undemocratic ” leaders in the Kremlin , Tehran , Caracas or Beijing .
Victoria Nuland recommends that “ The challenge for the United States in 2021 will be to lead the democracies of the world in crafting a more effective approach to Russia—one that builds on their strengths and puts stress on Putin where he is vulnerable , including among his own citizens.
” Interestingly , that might be regarded as seeking to interfere in the workings of a foreign government , reminiscent of the phony case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is precisely what Nuland did in fact do in Ukraine .
Nuland has a lot more to say in her article and those who are interested in the current state of interventionism in Washington should not ignore her .
Confronting Russia as some kind of ideological enemy is a never-ending process that leaves both sides poorer and less free .
It is appropriate for Moscow to have an interest in what goes on right on top of its border while the United States five thousand miles away and possessing both a vastly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one would think , relax a bit and unload the burden of being the world ’ s self-appointed policeman .
Philip M. Giraldi , Ph.D. , is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest , a 501 ( c ) 3 tax deductible educational foundation ( Federal ID Number # 52-1739023 ) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East .
Website is https : //councilforthenationalinterest.org , address is P.O .
Box 2157 , Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [ email protected ] .

It is difficult to find anything good to say about Donald Trump, but the reality is that he has not started any new wars, though he has come dangerously close in the cases of Venezuela and Iran and there would be considerable incentive in the next four months to begin something to bolster his “strong president” credentials and to serve as a distraction from coronavirus and black lives matter.
Be that as it may, Trump will have to run hard to catch up to the record set by his three predecessors Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Bush was an out-and-out neoconservative, or at least someone who was easily led, including in his administration Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen, Reuel Gerecht, Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, Eliot Abrams, Dan Senor and Scooter Libby. He also had the misfortune of having to endure Vice President Dick Cheney, who thought he was actually the man in charge. All were hawks who believed that the United States had the right to do whatever it considered necessary to enhance its own security, to include invading other countries, which led to Afghanistan and Iraq, where the U.S. still has forces stationed nearly twenty years later.
Clinton and Obama were so-called liberal interventionists who sought to export something called democracy to other countries in an attempt to make them more like Peoria. Clinton bombed Afghanistan and Sudan as a diversion when the press somehow caught wind of his arrangement with Monica Lewinsky and Obama, aided by Mrs. Clinton, chose to destroy Libya. Obama was also the first president to set up a regular Tuesday morning session to review a list of American citizens who would benefit from being killed by drone.
So the difference between neocons and liberal interventionists is one of style rather than substance. And, by either yardstick all-in-all, Trump looks pretty good, but there has nevertheless been a resurgence of neocon-think in his administration. The America the exceptional mindset is best exemplified currently by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who personifies the belief that the United States is empowered by God to play only by its own rules when dealing with other nations. That would include following the advice that has been attributed to leading neocon Michael Ledeen, “Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business.”
One of the first families within the neocon/liberal interventionist firmament is the Kagans, Robert and Frederick. Frederick is a Senior Fellow at the neocon American Enterprise Institute and his wife Kimberly heads the bizarrely named Institute for the Study of War. Victoria Nuland, wife of Robert, is currently the Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. That means that Victoria aligns primarily as a liberal interventionist, as does her husband, who is also at Brookings. She is regarded as a protégé of Hillary Clinton and currently works with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who once declared that killing 500,000 Iraqi children using sanctions was “worth it.” Nuland also has significant neocon connections through her having been a member of the staff assembled by Dick Cheney.
Nuland, many will recall, was the driving force behind efforts to destabilize the Ukrainian government of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2013-2014. Yanukovych, an admittedly corrupt autocrat, nevertheless became Prime Minister after a free election. Nuland, who was the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department, provided open support to the Maidan Square demonstrators opposed to Yanukovych’s government, to include media friendly appearances passing out cookies on the square to encourage the protesters.
Nuland openly sought regime change for Ukraine by brazenly supporting government opponents in spite of the fact that Washington and Kiev had ostensibly friendly relations. It is hard to imagine that any U.S. administration would tolerate a similar attempt by a foreign nation to interfere in U.S. domestic politics, particularly if it were backed by a $5 billion budget, but Washington has long believed in a global double standard for evaluating its own behavior.
Nuland is most famous for her foul language when referring to the potential European role in managing the unrest that she and the National Endowment for Democracy had helped create in Ukraine. For Nuland, the replacement of the government in Kiev was only the prelude to a sharp break and escalating conflict with the real enemy, Moscow, over Russia’s attempts to protect its own interests in Ukraine, most particularly in Crimea.
And make no mistake about Nuland’s broader intention at that time to expand the conflict and directly confront Russia. In Senate testimony she cited how the administration was “providing support to other frontline states like Moldova and Georgia.” Her use of the word “frontline” is suggestive.
Victoria Nuland was playing with fire. Russia, as the only nation with the military capability to destroy the U.S., was and is not a sideshow like Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or the Taliban’s Afghanistan. Backing Moscow into a corner with no way out by using threats and sanctions is not good policy. Washington has many excellent reasons to maintain a stable relationship with Moscow, including counter-terrorism efforts, and little to gain from moving in the opposite direction. Russia is not about to reconstitute the Warsaw Pact and there is no compelling reason to return to a Cold War footing by either arming Ukraine or permitting it to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Victoria Nuland has just written a long article for July/August issue of Foreign Affairs magazine on the proper way for the United States manage what she sees as the Russian “threat.” It is entitled “How a Confident America Should Deal With Russia.” Foreign Affairs, it should be observed, is an establishment house organ produced by the Council on Foreign Relations which provides a comfortable perch for both neocons and liberal interventionists.
Nuland’s view is that the United States lost confidence in its own “ability to change the game” against Vladimir Putin, who has been able to play “a weak hand well because the United States and its allies have let him, allowing Russia to violate arms control treaties, international law, the sovereignty of its neighbors, and the integrity of elections in the United States and Europe… Washington and its allies have forgotten the statecraft that won the Cold War and continued to yield results for many years after. That strategy required consistent U.S. leadership at the presidential level, unity with democratic allies and partners, and a shared resolve to deter and roll back dangerous behavior by the Kremlin. It also included incentives for Moscow to cooperate and, at times, direct appeals to the Russian people about the benefits of a better relationship. Yet that approach has fallen into disuse, even as Russia’s threat to the liberal world has grown.”
What Nuland writes would make perfect sense if one were to share her perception of Russia as a rogue state threatening the “liberal world.” She sees Russian rearmament under Putin as a threat even though it was dwarfed by the spending of NATO and the U.S. She shares her fear that Putin might seek “…reestablishing a Russian sphere of influence in eastern Europe and from vetoing the security arrangements of his neighbors. Here, a chasm soon opened between liberal democracies and the still very Soviet man leading Russia, especially on the subject of NATO enlargement. No matter how hard Washington and its allies tried to persuade Moscow that NATO was a purely defensive alliance that posed no threat to Russia, it continued to serve Putin’s agenda to see Europe in zero-sum terms.”
Nuland’s view of NATO enlargement is so wide of the mark that it borders on being a fantasy. Of course, Russia would consider a military alliance on its doorstep to be a threat, particularly as a U.S. Administration had provided assurances that expansion would not take place. She goes on to suggest utter nonsense, that Putin’s great fear over the NATO expansion derives from his having “…always understood that a belt of increasingly democratic, prosperous states around Russia would pose a direct challenge to his leadership model and risk re-infecting his own people with democratic aspirations.”
Nuland goes on and on in a similar vein, but her central theme is that Russia must be confronted to deter Vladimir Putin, a man that she clearly hates and depicts as if he were a comic book version of evil. Some of her analysis is ridiculous, as “Russian troops regularly test the few U.S. forces left in Syria to try to gain access to the country’s oil fields and smuggling routes. If these U.S. troops left, nothing would prevent Moscow and Tehran from financing their operations with Syrian oil or smuggled drugs and weapons.”
Like most zealots, Nuland is notably lacking in any sense of self-criticism. She conspired to overthrow a legitimately elected democratic government in Ukraine because it was considered too friendly to Russia. She accuses the Kremlin of having “seized” Crimea, but fails to see the heavy footprint of the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq and as a regional enabler of Israeli and Saudi war crimes. One wonders if she is aware that Russia, which she sees as expansionistic, has only one overseas military base while the United States has more than a thousand.
Nuland clearly chooses not to notice the White House’s threats against countries that do not toe the American line, most recently Iran and Venezuela, but increasingly also China on top of perennial enemy Russia. None of those nations threaten the United States and all the kinetic activity and warnings are forthcoming from a gentleman named Mike Pompeo, speaking from Washington, not from “undemocratic” leaders in the Kremlin, Tehran, Caracas or Beijing.
Victoria Nuland recommends that “The challenge for the United States in 2021 will be to lead the democracies of the world in crafting a more effective approach to Russia—one that builds on their strengths and puts stress on Putin where he is vulnerable, including among his own citizens.” Interestingly, that might be regarded as seeking to interfere in the workings of a foreign government, reminiscent of the phony case made against Russia in 2016. And it is precisely what Nuland did in fact do in Ukraine.
Nuland has a lot more to say in her article and those who are interested in the current state of interventionism in Washington should not ignore her. Confronting Russia as some kind of ideological enemy is a never-ending process that leaves both sides poorer and less free. It is appropriate for Moscow to have an interest in what goes on right on top of its border while the United States five thousand miles away and possessing both a vastly larger economy and armed forces can, one would think, relax a bit and unload the burden of being the world’s self-appointed policeman.
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is https://councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.


russia-insider--2020-06-26--Russia Unblocks World's Largest Free-Speech Messaging and Social Media Platform (Telegram)

Telegram is far better than Whatsapp , which is owned by the widely hated , Jewish censorship organization , Facebook .
Roskomnadzor , the Russian Internet and telecom authority , announced today that it is lifting restrictions on access to Telegram .
The regulator cited “ Telegram ’ s readiness to combat terrorism and extremism ” and referred to an agreement with the federal prosecutors .
Earlier this month , as reported by Meduza , Telegram ’ s founder Pavel Durov urged the authorities to unblock Telegram and let its “ 30 million users in Russia to use the service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia on April 13 , 2018 , following its refusal to let the Russian secret service FSB to decipher user messengers as required by law .
However , the instant messenger never stopped being widely accessible from Russia .
Adopted in 2016 , a Russian legislation ( dubbed ‘ Yarovaya law ’ or ‘ Big Brother law ’ ) requires messenger apps and other “ organizers of information distribution ” to add additional coding to transmitted electronic messages so that the the FSB can decipher them .
Telegram agreed to register its service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the secret service under “ laws incompatible with Telegram ’ s privacy policy.
” As a consequence , a Moscow court ruled to block access to Telegram in a trial which Durov called “ an open farce.
” The authorities ’ failed attempts to block access to the service in 2018 caused substantial damages to a number of online services which saw their IP address blocked even though they had no relation to Telegram .

Telegram is far better than Whatsapp, which is owned by the widely hated, Jewish censorship organization, Facebook.
Roskomnadzor, the Russian Internet and telecom authority, announced today that it is lifting restrictions on access to Telegram.
The regulator cited “Telegram’s readiness to combat terrorism and extremism” and referred to an agreement with the federal prosecutors.
Earlier this month, as reported by Meduza, Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov urged the authorities to unblock Telegram and let its “30 million users in Russia to use the service more comfortably.”
Telegram was banned in Russia on April 13, 2018, following its refusal to let the Russian secret service FSB to decipher user messengers as required by law. However, the instant messenger never stopped being widely accessible from Russia.
Why telegram was blocked
Adopted in 2016, a Russian legislation (dubbed ‘Yarovaya law’ or ‘Big Brother law’) requires messenger apps and other “organizers of information distribution” to add additional coding to transmitted electronic messages so that the the FSB can decipher them.
Telegram agreed to register its service in Russia, but refused to cooperate with the secret service under “laws incompatible with Telegram’s privacy policy.”
As a consequence, a Moscow court ruled to block access to Telegram in a trial which Durov called “an open farce.”
The authorities’ failed attempts to block access to the service in 2018 caused substantial damages to a number of online services which saw their IP address blocked even though they had no relation to Telegram.


russia-insider--2020-06-26--WATCH: US Ambassador to Moscow, John Sullivan Explains Why He Supports Sodomy and Degeneracy

Today , the U.S. Embassy in Russia displays the LGBTI Pride Flag .
The LGBTI flag was created by American @ @ @ @ @ and was first raised as a symbol of hope and diversity on June 25 , @ @ @ @ @ Freedom Day parade in San Francisco .
June is Pride Month and we celebrate that @ @ @ @ @ life free from hatred , prejudice , and persecution .
As Ambassador Sullivan has said @ @ @ @ @ human rights .
And human rights are universal .
It ’ s as simple as @ @ @

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russia-insider--2020-06-26--US Moscow Embassy Flies Sodomite Flag in Violation of Law, to Protest Constitutional Amendment Banni

US Moscow Embassy Flies Sodomite Flag in Violation of Law, to Protest Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has hung a rainbow flag on its front facade , photos posted on social media Thursday show .
Starting Thursday , Russians will vote on a set of constitutional amendments that would add language defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman to Russia ’ s basic law .
The provision has been criticized by Russian LGBT activists , who say it would effectively prevent gay marriage from ever being legalized .
`` LGBTI rights are human rights .
Human rights are universal , '' the embassy wrote on its Instagram .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ hatred , prejudice and persecution . ''
Thursday also marks the 42nd anniversary of the rainbow flag ’ s first appearance as a gay pride symbol at the 1978 Pride parade in San Francisco .
Displays of the rainbow flag are uncommon in Russia , where the display of “ homosexual propaganda toward minors ” is outlawed and intolerant attitudes toward the LGBT community persist .
The U.S. has long been critical of Russia 's gay rights record .
President Vladimir Putin 's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Kremlin staff had n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but added that `` in any event , any display of propaganda of non-traditional sexual minorities in our country is not allowed by law . ''
Earlier this month , U.S. President Donald Trump banned the country ’ s embassies from flying the rainbow flag during June , which is celebrated as LGBT Pride month around the world .
Because the ban only applies to official flagpoles , embassies have placed the flag inside their buildings and hung it on exterior walls as workarounds .

The U.S. has long been critical of Russia's gay rights record. usembru / Instagram
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has hung a rainbow flag on its front facade, photos posted on social media Thursday show.
Starting Thursday, Russians will vote on a set of constitutional amendments that would add language defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman to Russia’s basic law. The provision has been criticized by Russian LGBT activists, who say it would effectively prevent gay marriage from ever being legalized.
"LGBTI rights are human rights. Human rights are universal," the embassy wrote on its Instagram. "Everyone deserves to live free from hatred, prejudice and persecution."
Thursday also marks the 42nd anniversary of the rainbow flag’s first appearance as a gay pride symbol at the 1978 Pride parade in San Francisco.
Displays of the rainbow flag are uncommon in Russia, where the display of “homosexual propaganda toward minors” is outlawed and intolerant attitudes toward the LGBT community persist. The U.S. has long been critical of Russia's gay rights record.
Ого! Посольство США в Москве сегодня утро вывесило огромный флаг ЛГБТ ?? со стороны Садового кольца.
По Венской конвенции 1961 года, территория посольства экстерриториальна и на ней не действуют законы РФ pic.twitter.com/3g3a0T5N5C — Ilya Klishin (@Vorewig) June 25, 2020
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Kremlin staff hadn't noticed the flag at the U.S. embassy, but added that "in any event, any display of propaganda of non-traditional sexual minorities in our country is not allowed by law."
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump banned the country’s embassies from flying the rainbow flag during June, which is celebrated as LGBT Pride month around the world. Because the ban only applies to official flagpoles, embassies have placed the flag inside their buildings and hung it on exterior walls as workarounds.


russia-insider--2020-06-30--The Incineration of Hamburg - Another Terrifying and Completely Unnecessary US/UK War Crime

PLEASE SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA : The total destruction of the German city of Dresden in February 1945 has never been justified .
There are squalid attempts to downplay the numbers of martyred civilians .
Over three days of infamy , 1,249 USAAF and RAF bombers removed from the face of the earth a once-great city .
The holocaust , to give the inferno its proper term , is falsely claimed to have led to the loss of 22,000 to 25,000 lives .
Such figures are so absurd that those who recycle loss of human ( civilian ) life amounting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long prison sentences for defamation of the dead and holocaust denial .
The fact is , whatever their losses in the RAF and USAAF , those responsible for the quite uneccasry carnage , compared with the stoicism of the defenceless German population below , were cowards .
It was , in their own words , terror bombing for the purpose of instilling terror .
There is nothing heroic about that .
Apologist would have us believe that 1,249 bombers , each of the bombers armed with high explosive bombs , incendiaries and outlawed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of just seventeen civilians ?
Red Army soldiers with Kalashnikovs accounted for more dead civilians than each of the allied bombers ?
Common-sense , a formula that palace-publishers never waste their time with and think we won ’ t either , exposes the propagandists whitewash .
Records reveal that before the outbreak of war the population of Dresden was 650,000 .
Records go on to reveal that in 1945 , the population was 450,000 .
So , what happened to the 200,000 people no longer living in Dresden ?
By late 1944 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , British , Soviet and American , had all but overwhelmed a nation half the size of Texas .
Dresden was an undefended city without means of contributing to the war effort .
For this reason , many , included hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from the American and British armed Red Army also added to the distressed city ’ s population .
By any estimate , it is perfectly reasonable to assume a population of 1.5 million mostly defenceless civilians was present in Dresden in February 1945 .
The entire city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of day and night carpet-bombing by the RAF and USAAF .
The most cursory glance at postwar pictures of Dresden reveals a catastrophic panorama of total ruination .
Yet , we expected to believe that so few people died their numbers wouldn ’ t wouldn ’ t fill a small town ’ s sports stadium ?
Subterfuge and deception , fake news , a state media , censorship and armies of palace publishers ensure secrecy of the history ’ s most horrific holocausts .
There is the usual excuse that ‘ they , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so , WITNESS TO HISTORY by historian Michael Walsh ( Amazon ) holds a compilation of concessions by British and RAF commanders that admit it was Britain , not Germany that initiated the illegal bombing of non-strategic cities .
This treacherous strategy was used to draw Reich attention from Bolshevik Russia .
It is acknowledged that London , Liverpool , Birmingham , Coventry and other British cities were sacrificed to save Soviet cities .
The British who died in retaliatory bombing raids died not for Britain or their country ’ s way of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the terrifying Soviet Union and its abhorrent way of life .
Yet Dresden was only one of the hundreds of European cities and towns cremated by the Allies .
When on April 4 , 1945 , the City of Kassel surrendered , of a population of 250,000 , just 15,000 were left alive .
The All Lies Invasion by Mike Walsh .
Airbrushed from the palace publishers story is the account of the equally horrific total destruction of Hamburg , one of the world ’ s most cultured , Christian , ancient @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( see video ) .
DEATH OF A CITY by Michael Walsh details the effects of carpet bombing on a civilian population in such horrifying detail that caution when reading is recommended .
The horrendous allied attacks on Hamburg between July 24 and August 3 , 1943 , reduced to rubble more than 6,000 acres of Hamburg .
An estimated 100,000 people lost their lives .
When a thousand-year-old city of 1,000,000 souls is incinerated with the loss of so many lives what effect does it have on survivors ?
An official German @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eyewitnesses were unable to report without succumbing to their nerves and weeping hysterically .
They would try to speak , they would break down and cry : ‘ I can ’ t stand seeing it again ; I can ’ t stand it.
’ Many weeks later , a woman who did survive was interviewed .
She had still not recovered from the experience : ‘ I saw people killed by falling bricks and heard the screams of others dying in the fire .
I dragged my best friend from a burning building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I saw others who went stark mad .
The shock to the nerves and the soul , one can never erase.
’ The Police President of Hamburg reported : ‘ Its horror is revealed in the howling and raging of the firestorms , the hellish noise of exploding bombs and the death cries of martyred human beings as well as the big silence after the raids .
Speech is impotent to portray the measure of the horror , which shook the people for ten days and nights and the traces of which were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city and its inhabitants .
No flight of imagination will ever succeed in measuring and describing the gruesome scenes of horror in the many buried air raid shelters .
Posterity can only bow its head in honour of the fate of these innocents , sacrificed by the murderous lust of a sadistic enemy.
’ Martin Caidin is one of the world ’ s leading authorities on military science subjects .
The high-ranking U.S. Government official was an expert on bombing effects and author of many related books .
He described the bombing of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the worst of the disasters visited upon civilisation during the insanity of the Second World War.
’ The incineration of Hamburg is not a story for the faint-hearted .
It is , however , a story that needs to be told so that now and in the future war and profiteering from war is the only enemies of mankind .

PLEASE SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA: The total destruction of the German city of Dresden in February 1945 has never been justified. There are squalid attempts to downplay the numbers of martyred civilians. Over three days of infamy, 1,249 USAAF and RAF bombers removed from the face of the earth a once-great city. The holocaust, to give the inferno its proper term, is falsely claimed to have led to the loss of 22,000 to 25,000 lives.
Such figures are so absurd that those who recycle loss of human (civilian) life amounting to less than 100,000 should be handed long prison sentences for defamation of the dead and holocaust denial.
The fact is, whatever their losses in the RAF and USAAF, those responsible for the quite uneccasry carnage, compared with the stoicism of the defenceless German population below, were cowards. It was, in their own words, terror bombing for the purpose of instilling terror. There is nothing heroic about that.
Apologist would have us believe that 1,249 bombers, each of the bombers armed with high explosive bombs, incendiaries and outlawed phosphorous bombs, accounted for the incineration of just seventeen civilians? Red Army soldiers with Kalashnikovs accounted for more dead civilians than each of the allied bombers?
Common-sense, a formula that palace-publishers never waste their time with and think we won’t either, exposes the propagandists whitewash.
Records reveal that before the outbreak of war the population of Dresden was 650,000. Records go on to reveal that in 1945, the population was 450,000. So, what happened to the 200,000 people no longer living in Dresden?
By late 1944, the armed forces of three world empires, British, Soviet and American, had all but overwhelmed a nation half the size of Texas. Dresden was an undefended city without means of contributing to the war effort. For this reason, many, included hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from the American and British armed Red Army also added to the distressed city’s population.
By any estimate, it is perfectly reasonable to assume a population of 1.5 million mostly defenceless civilians was present in Dresden in February 1945.
The entire city was consumed by flames as a consequence of day and night carpet-bombing by the RAF and USAAF. The most cursory glance at postwar pictures of Dresden reveals a catastrophic panorama of total ruination. Yet, we expected to believe that so few people died their numbers wouldn’t wouldn’t fill a small town’s sports stadium?
Subterfuge and deception, fake news, a state media, censorship and armies of palace publishers ensure secrecy of the history’s most horrific holocausts.
There is the usual excuse that ‘they, the Germans started it’. Not so, WITNESS TO HISTORY by historian Michael Walsh (Amazon) holds a compilation of concessions by British and RAF commanders that admit it was Britain, not Germany that initiated the illegal bombing of non-strategic cities.
This treacherous strategy was used to draw Reich attention from Bolshevik Russia. It is acknowledged that London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Coventry and other British cities were sacrificed to save Soviet cities.
The British who died in retaliatory bombing raids died not for Britain or their country’s way of life but they did suffer and die for the terrifying Soviet Union and its abhorrent way of life.
Yet Dresden was only one of the hundreds of European cities and towns cremated by the Allies. When on April 4, 1945, the City of Kassel surrendered, of a population of 250,000, just 15,000 were left alive. The All Lies Invasion by Mike Walsh.
Airbrushed from the palace publishers story is the account of the equally horrific total destruction of Hamburg, one of the world’s most cultured, Christian, ancient and architecturally beautiful cities in the world (see video).
DEATH OF A CITY by Michael Walsh details the effects of carpet bombing on a civilian population in such horrifying detail that caution when reading is recommended.
The horrendous allied attacks on Hamburg between July 24 and August 3, 1943, reduced to rubble more than 6,000 acres of Hamburg. An estimated 100,000 people lost their lives. When a thousand-year-old city of 1,000,000 souls is incinerated with the loss of so many lives what effect does it have on survivors?
An official German document states: ‘For weeks afterwards eyewitnesses were unable to report without succumbing to their nerves and weeping hysterically. They would try to speak, they would break down and cry: ‘I can’t stand seeing it again; I can’t stand it.’
Many weeks later, a woman who did survive was interviewed. She had still not recovered from the experience: ‘I saw people killed by falling bricks and heard the screams of others dying in the fire. I dragged my best friend from a burning building and she died in my arms. I saw others who went stark mad. The shock to the nerves and the soul, one can never erase.’
The Police President of Hamburg reported: ‘Its horror is revealed in the howling and raging of the firestorms, the hellish noise of exploding bombs and the death cries of martyred human beings as well as the big silence after the raids.
Speech is impotent to portray the measure of the horror, which shook the people for ten days and nights and the traces of which were written indelibly on the face of the city and its inhabitants. No flight of imagination will ever succeed in measuring and describing the gruesome scenes of horror in the many buried air raid shelters. Posterity can only bow its head in honour of the fate of these innocents, sacrificed by the murderous lust of a sadistic enemy.’
Martin Caidin is one of the world’s leading authorities on military science subjects. The high-ranking U.S. Government official was an expert on bombing effects and author of many related books. He described the bombing of Hamburg as: ‘Standing out as the worst of the disasters visited upon civilisation during the insanity of the Second World War.’
The incineration of Hamburg is not a story for the faint-hearted. It is, however, a story that needs to be told so that now and in the future war and profiteering from war is the only enemies of mankind.


russia-insider--2020-06-30--Truly Shameful BBC Israeli Propaganda

Truly Shameful BBC Israeli Propaganda

In a genuinely outrageous piece of victim blaming , BBC News just blamed Palestinian intransigence in refusing to accept Israeli annexation of the West Bank for the deaths of Palestinian children caused by the Israeli blockade of medical supplies to Gaza .
This is a precise quote from the BBC TV News presenter headline at 10.30am : “ The lives of hundreds of sick Palestinian children are being put at risk because of the latest downturn in relations between their leaders and Israel last month .
The Palestinian President said his government was giving up on past peace agreements because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the West Bank .
That decision stopped co-operation on many security and civil matters including medical and travel permits.
” There followed a heart rending piece by BBC Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell featuring Palestinian children in Gaza dying of varous medical conditions and their distraught mothers .
The entire piece very plainly blamed Palestinian officials for the situation .
The BBC did not blame Israel for placing a blockade illegally preventing pharmaceuticals and medical supplies from entering Gaza – the basic reason the children can not be treated at home .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in illegally the civilian population of Gaza , so that these children can not freely leave for treatment in Europe without Israeli clearance .
The BBC did not point out that the proposed annexation of the West Bank is illegal , has been condemned by the UN Secretary General and by 95 % of the governments of the world , and will precipitate great violence .
No , the BBC blamed the Palestinians .
“ Accept the illegal annexation of still more of your land , or small children will die and it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a line the BBC are perfectly happy to push out on behalf of Israel .
It is an astonishing moment for the UK state propagandist .
It is important we do not ourselves become complacent at this absolutely unacceptable behaviour .

In a genuinely outrageous piece of victim blaming, BBC News just blamed Palestinian intransigence in refusing to accept Israeli annexation of the West Bank for the deaths of Palestinian children caused by the Israeli blockade of medical supplies to Gaza.
This is a precise quote from the BBC TV News presenter headline at 10.30am:
“The lives of hundreds of sick Palestinian children are being put at risk because of the latest downturn in relations between their leaders and Israel last month. The Palestinian President said his government was giving up on past peace agreements because of Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank. That decision stopped co-operation on many security and civil matters including medical and travel permits.”
There followed a heart rending piece by BBC Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell featuring Palestinian children in Gaza dying of varous medical conditions and their distraught mothers.
The entire piece very plainly blamed Palestinian officials for the situation.
The BBC did not blame Israel for placing a blockade illegally preventing pharmaceuticals and medical supplies from entering Gaza – the basic reason the children cannot be treated at home.
The BBC did not blame Israel for blockading in illegally the civilian population of Gaza, so that these children cannot freely leave for treatment in Europe without Israeli clearance.
The BBC did not point out that the proposed annexation of the West Bank is illegal, has been condemned by the UN Secretary General and by 95% of the governments of the world, and will precipitate great violence.
No, the BBC blamed the Palestinians.
“Accept the illegal annexation of still more of your land, or small children will die and it will be your fault”.
That is a line the BBC are perfectly happy to push out on behalf of Israel. It is an astonishing moment for the UK state propagandist. It is important we do not ourselves become complacent at this absolutely unacceptable behaviour.


russia-insider--2020-06-30--Just As Trump Resumes Cooperation with Russia His Rogue Spy Agencies Strike Again With Afghan Lies

The sensational disclosure by the New York Times on June 26 that Russia ’ s military intelligence agency paid bounties to Afghan militants to kill American and NATO troops in Afghanistan , opens a can of worms .
It pollutes the air of US-Russian relations with a powerful stench .
The ramifications are going to be felt far and wide .
The scandal has overnight reached the centre stage of US domestic politics .
A first-rate controversy has erupted in Washington just when President Trump began a determined attempt in the recent weeks , in the final lap of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Vladimir Putin .
No doubt , the scandal puts paid to the Kremlin ’ s fond hopes of calming down Russia ’ s tense relations with the US while Trump is still in charge in the White House .
Trump and Putin have lately agreed on the need to balance supply and demand in the world oil market ; they have kickstarted the talks on arms control ; they are collaborating on Afghanistan .
Indeed , the old narrative reappears now — that Russia is a wily , duplicitous and unworthy partner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s hostile power projection in the Eurasian theatre and complicate Russia ’ s relations with the major EU countries .
Yet , the curious part is that the Times story essentially devolves upon an assessment by US spy agencies based on what spooks call ‘ raw ’ intelligence .
No clinching evidence or proof has been presented — at least , so far .
The Taliban has called the Times report to be ‘ baseless ’ .
But then , it is one of those situations where evidences and proofs do not really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that matters , the dust it raises on the political and diplomatic turf .
The focus is on whether Trump actually knew months ago about this intelligence assessment of Russian bounty and , equally , why the White House National Security Council didn ’ t act on it by punishing Russia with more sanctions .
In a second report on June 28 , Times has claimed that the intelligence assessment was based on the interrogation of militants and terrorists who were taken into custody in Afghanistan and , specifically , from a large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found stashed away in a Taliban hideout .
The Afghan security agencies presumably played a key role in the unearthing of the unholy Russia-Taliban nexus .
Ashraf Ghani ’ s government in Kabul was never friendly toward Moscow and had all along resented Russia ’ s attempts to muzzle its way into the intra-Afghan peace talks .
The Times controversy will ensure that Russia is kept out of the intra-Afghan peace talks , which are due to begin in a near future .
Paradoxically , the US-Russia collaboration was fostered by two veteran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ representative on Afghan reconciliation , and Zamir Kabulov , Russia ’ s presidential envoy on Afghanistan .
Now , Khalilzad is known to have close links with the US intelligence and the Pentagon .
And it is a fair surmise that when he recently invited Kabulov to join a new US-Russia-Afghan trilateral forum to spur the intra-Afghan talks , he was very much in the know of the devious dealings between the GRU and the Taliban on bounty killings in Afghanistan .
Presumably , Washington was never genuinely interested in working with Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dissimulating the partnership with Kabulov , who of course looks rather naive and foolish in the Afghan bazaar .
The Afghan media has begun to poke fun at the Russians .
How come Moscow fell into this bear trap ?
It can only be attributed to Moscow ’ s burning desire to partner with the US and make itself useful in facilitating an orderly departure of American troops in Afghanistan — something which Trump hopes to highlight during his election campaign as a foreign-policy success .
Moscow probably hoped to extract a quid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as in Syria , for example , where the US intransigence is blocking Putin ’ s path to end the conflict and wrap up a final settlement .
In the final analysis , what the Times controversy underscores is the deeply entrenched hostility toward Russia across the political aisle in Washington and within the ‘ Deep State ’ and the strategic community at large .
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has pounced on the White House ’ s failure to act on the intelligence assessment of Russian bounty killings to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the words of the House speaker Nancy Pelosi , “ Just as I have said to the president : With him , all roads lead to Putin .
I don ’ t know what the Russians have on the president , politically , personally , or financially.
” This is exceptionally harsh language meant to ensure that Russia and Putin remain toxic subjects in the Washington Beltway for the foreseeable future .
The Times controversy flags once again that notwithstanding the polarisation in US domestic politics , when it comes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consensus among the political elites .
In fact , a host of prominent Republican lawmakers have also demanded that the Congress should look into the Times report ( which has since been picked up by the Washington Post , Politico , CNN , etc ) .
We haven ’ t heard the last word on the Russia-Taliban nexus over bounty killings .
The US agencies have reportedly shared the intelligence with Britain recently , arguing that the bounty killings might have taken British lives , too .
This is like a throw to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between the British and American spy agencies over Russia .
Remember , John le Carré ’ s novels were required reading for the KGB ’ s England desk .
Trust the MI6 to dig deep .
Spy agencies are egotistic , and MI6 has old scores to settle with the GRU .
At the very least , Trump ’ s G7 expansion plan now faces sudden death .
In this backdrop , an invitation from Trump to Putin to visit the US is simply unthinkable .
The spy agencies in the US and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the West even as the post-pandemic world order is taking shape .
They have vast experience in wire pulling to reset the narrative on Russia .
The flip side , of course , is that Russia ’ s ‘ pivot ’ to China might acquire a new air of gravitas now that Moscow ’ s hopes of becoming a ‘ balancer ’ between Washington and Beijing prove to be a pipedream .

FILE PHOTO: US troops patrol in Logar province, Afghanistan.
The sensational disclosure by the New York Times on June 26 that Russia’s military intelligence agency paid bounties to Afghan militants to kill American and NATO troops in Afghanistan, opens a can of worms.
It pollutes the air of US-Russian relations with a powerful stench. The ramifications are going to be felt far and wide. The scandal has overnight reached the centre stage of US domestic politics.
A first-rate controversy has erupted in Washington just when President Trump began a determined attempt in the recent weeks, in the final lap of his first term, to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin. No doubt, the scandal puts paid to the Kremlin’s fond hopes of calming down Russia’s tense relations with the US while Trump is still in charge in the White House.
Trump and Putin have lately agreed on the need to balance supply and demand in the world oil market; they have kickstarted the talks on arms control; they are collaborating on Afghanistan. Indeed, the old narrative reappears now — that Russia is a wily, duplicitous and unworthy partner — which would rationalise the NATO’s hostile power projection in the Eurasian theatre and complicate Russia’s relations with the major EU countries.
Yet, the curious part is that the Times story essentially devolves upon an assessment by US spy agencies based on what spooks call ‘raw’ intelligence. No clinching evidence or proof has been presented — at least, so far. The Taliban has called the Times report to be ‘baseless’.
But then, it is one of those situations where evidences and proofs do not really matter. It is the controversy itself that matters, the dust it raises on the political and diplomatic turf. The focus is on whether Trump actually knew months ago about this intelligence assessment of Russian bounty and, equally, why the White House National Security Council didn’t act on it by punishing Russia with more sanctions.
In a second report on June 28, Times has claimed that the intelligence assessment was based on the interrogation of militants and terrorists who were taken into custody in Afghanistan and, specifically, from a large amount of US dollar bills that was found stashed away in a Taliban hideout.
The Afghan security agencies presumably played a key role in the unearthing of the unholy Russia-Taliban nexus. Ashraf Ghani’s government in Kabul was never friendly toward Moscow and had all along resented Russia’s attempts to muzzle its way into the intra-Afghan peace talks.
The Times controversy will ensure that Russia is kept out of the intra-Afghan peace talks, which are due to begin in a near future. Paradoxically, the US-Russia collaboration was fostered by two veteran interlocutors — Zalmay Khalilzad, US special representative on Afghan reconciliation, and Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s presidential envoy on Afghanistan.
Now, Khalilzad is known to have close links with the US intelligence and the Pentagon. And it is a fair surmise that when he recently invited Kabulov to join a new US-Russia-Afghan trilateral forum to spur the intra-Afghan talks, he was very much in the know of the devious dealings between the GRU and the Taliban on bounty killings in Afghanistan.
Presumably, Washington was never genuinely interested in working with Russia in Afghanistan, and Khalilzad was merely dissimulating the partnership with Kabulov, who of course looks rather naive and foolish in the Afghan bazaar. The Afghan media has begun to poke fun at the Russians.
How come Moscow fell into this bear trap? It can only be attributed to Moscow’s burning desire to partner with the US and make itself useful in facilitating an orderly departure of American troops in Afghanistan — something which Trump hopes to highlight during his election campaign as a foreign-policy success. Moscow probably hoped to extract a quid pro quo from Washington somewhere else — such as in Syria, for example, where the US intransigence is blocking Putin’s path to end the conflict and wrap up a final settlement.
In the final analysis, what the Times controversy underscores is the deeply entrenched hostility toward Russia across the political aisle in Washington and within the ‘Deep State’ and the strategic community at large. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has pounced on the White House’s failure to act on the intelligence assessment of Russian bounty killings to allege that Putin has dirt on Trump.
In the words of the House speaker Nancy Pelosi, “Just as I have said to the president: With him, all roads lead to Putin. I don’t know what the Russians have on the president, politically, personally, or financially.” This is exceptionally harsh language meant to ensure that Russia and Putin remain toxic subjects in the Washington Beltway for the foreseeable future.
The Times controversy flags once again that notwithstanding the polarisation in US domestic politics, when it comes to Russia, there is an enduring bilateral consensus among the political elites. In fact, a host of prominent Republican lawmakers have also demanded that the Congress should look into the Times report (which has since been picked up by the Washington Post, Politico, CNN, etc).
We haven’t heard the last word on the Russia-Taliban nexus over bounty killings. The US agencies have reportedly shared the intelligence with Britain recently, arguing that the bounty killings might have taken British lives, too.
This is like a throw to the wolves. There is no daylight between the British and American spy agencies over Russia. Remember, John le Carré’s novels were required reading for the KGB’s England desk. Trust the MI6 to dig deep. Spy agencies are egotistic, and MI6 has old scores to settle with the GRU.
At the very least, Trump’s G7 expansion plan now faces sudden death. In this backdrop, an invitation from Trump to Putin to visit the US is simply unthinkable. The spy agencies in the US and UK will ensure that Russia remains ostracised by the West even as the post-pandemic world order is taking shape.
They have vast experience in wire pulling to reset the narrative on Russia. The flip side, of course, is that Russia’s ‘pivot’ to China might acquire a new air of gravitas now that Moscow’s hopes of becoming a ‘balancer’ between Washington and Beijing prove to be a pipedream.