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Hyping A Nonexistent Russian Threat |
By Stephen
Lendman |
| Western fear-mongering persists. Russia is relentlessly
bashed. Putin is irresponsibly considered public enemy number one. Cold War 2.0 rages - heading dangerously toward becoming red-hot. Top US officials consistently lie. One fabricated Russian invasion of Ukraine after another is hyped. In his January State of the Union address, Obama accused Russia of "aggression" in Ukraine despite none at any time during ongoing conflict Earlier he said "Russian combat forces and tanks" invaded Ukraine "with Russian weapons and Russian tanks." "(T)hese are the facts. They are provable. They're not subject to dispute." No proof whatever was cited. None exists. John Kerry repeats the same Big Lie. On March 2, he met with Sergey Lavrov in Geneva - days after lying about Russian involvement in Ukraine. He warned Lavrov of new sanctions. They're prepared and ready to be implemented, he said. He lied claiming Russian Minsk breaches. None whatever occurred. No Russian violations of last year's Geneva and Minsk agreements. No Russian forces operate in Ukraine. Not now. Not earlier. No planned invasion. No seizure of Ukrainian territory. No violations of international law. Big Lies claim otherwise. Kerry consistently blames Russia for US/Kiev high crimes. Retired US General Robert Scales told Fox News the only way to change things in Ukraine is "start killing Russians." Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich responded angrily, saying: "Some US military and political leaders, who, like General Scales started killing during the Vietnam War, just can’t seem to let go." "Blinded by their hatred of Russia, they are unable to see a constructive view of reality." Lukashevich called it "outrageous that the calls for killing our compatriots have been made on Fox News, a leading network in the US, (in) prime time, obviously to reach as many people as possible." "This is how the mainstream US media are creating an atmosphere of Russophobia in the country." "(T)he tune in this unbridled propaganda campaign is set in Washington where aggressive statements are made every day. We will draw adequate conclusions from this." "Mr Scales should be informed that a case has been opened against him in Russia under Article 354 of the Criminal Code." Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said using media to incite aggressive war means imprisonment for up to five years if convicted. Scales' incitement violates international law. Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states: "Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law." "Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law." Scales isn't alone. He's like many other lunatics in Washington influencing US policy. Their ideas risk nuclear war. Giving them air time on national television increases the possibility. On March 13, NORTHCOM commander Adm. Bill Gortney hyped a nonexistent Russian threat before Senate Armed Services Committee members. He lied suggesting one, saying "Russian heavy bombers flew more out-of-area patrols in 2014 than in any year since the Cold War." "We have also witnessed improved interoperability between Russian long-range aviation and other elements of the Russian military, including air and maritime intelligence collection platforms positioned to monitor NORAD responses." Throughout US supported Kiev's Donbass aggression, Pentagon commanders lied about nonexistent "Russian moves in Ukraine." Gortney went further saying NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) "face(s) increased risk in our ability to defend North America against Russian air, maritime an cruise missile threats" if their technology keeps improving. His comments and similar ones by other Pentagon commanders reflect blatant fear-mongering to get Congress to spend more for "defense." It's more than what all other nations combined spend with all categories included plus black budgets, secret intelligence ones, and regular appropriations added to annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) budgets. Pentagon chiefs want tens of billions of dollars more. They want blank check funding for war-making. They want what no responsible government should allow. Gortney lied telling Senate Armed Services Committee members America's biggest security threat is spending constraints. He ludicrously claimed it risks making America's war machine a "hollow force." He took full advantage of Senate Foreign Relations Committee time given him. He hyped nonexistent Russian, Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian homeland threats. He claimed homegrown terrorist ones. He cited what he called "a transnational criminal network" operating in "seams" between Washington's Northern, Southern and Pacific commands. He hyped a possible cyberattack able to compromise America's ability to defend itself. America's only enemies are ones it invents. Permanent wars follow - perhaps heading toward use of nuclear weapons for the first time since WW II. Far more powerful ones. A previous article explained their destructive force - enough to turn major cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to smoldering rubble. Enough to destroy life on earth. UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond sounds like John Kerry. He ludicrously claims Russia "pose(s) the single greatest threat to (British) security." He cited its nonexistent "increasingly aggressive" behavior. "The rapid pace with which Russia is seeking to modernise her military forces and weapons combined with the increasingly aggressive stance of the Russian military including Russian aircraft around the sovereign airspace of Nato states are all significant causes of concern," he claimed. He turned truth on its head saying "(w)e are now faced with a Russian leader bent not on joining the international rules-based system which keeps the peace between nations, but on subverting it." Hammond perhaps forgot Britain's alliance with Washington's wars of aggression, its proxy wars, its dirty ones, its plan for global dominance by political, economic and hot wars without end. Its global death, destruction and human misery trail. Its ravaging and destroying one country after another on the pretext of democracy building. Last month, Britain's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon absurdly warned about Putin posing a "real and present danger" to Baltic states. Irresponsible hyped hysteria makes anything possible. Washington and Ukraine plan joint war games next week. Legislation awaiting parliamentary approval permits multinational military exercises on Ukrainian territory - ahead of resumed war on Donbass. US-dominated NATO prepares for more war. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg hyped "threats (from) aggressive actions of Russia in Ukraine…" NATO commander General Philip Breedlove hypes the same Big Lie. Things get "worse every day," he claims. Angela Merkel's office debunked his comments as "dangerous propaganda." German authorities call him a "super hawk" whose comments show he's increasingly over-the-top. He has no credibility whatever. German intelligence contradicts him point for point. "I stand by all the public comments I have made during the Ukraine crisis," he says. Others call him a liar. His public statements reflect propaganda, not facts. As NATO commander, he's extremely dangerous. He could launch European war if not stopped. His public comments suggest a rage to do it. On Thursday, the Financial Times reported Sweden sending troops to Gotland island in response to nonexistent Russian saber rattling. Its Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist recommends about 150 soldiers. Gotland lies midway between Sweden and Latvia. Hultqvist calls it "a strategic location in the Baltic Sea. (A) big worry for us." A senior Estonian politician claims "(i)t could be overrun by Russia in minutes and then all of us would be vulnerable to an attack." On the one hand, no threat exists. On the other, 150 soldiers provide no defense whatever. Manufacturing nonexistent Russian threats continue. Poroshenko's web site said: "The Head of State has informed that Ukraine had contracts with a series of the EU countries on the supply of armament, inter alia, lethal one." "He has reminded that official embargo of the EU on the supply of weapons to Ukraine had been abolished." He didn't name 11 supplier countries. US heavy weapons keep pouring in. Preparations for resumed war continue. Pororshenko suggested it saying "(f)f there is a new round of aggression against Ukraine, I can surely say that we will immediately receive both lethal weaponry and new wave of sanctions against the aggressor." "We will act firmly and in a coordinated manner." If "a new round of aggression" begins, Washington and Kiev will bear full responsibility. Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) leader Igor Plotnitsky asked "why do (Kiev authorities) want weapons if they they were the first to demand peace?" Weapons are for offense, not defense. Claims otherwise are false. All signs point to renewed conflict. Donbass is Obama's war. Expect it to resume full-scale at his discretion. Expect more mass casualties and human suffering - perhaps the entire continent and beyond affected this time. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. |
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