savchenko ends her fast, very sensibly… but the nadezhda cult of fasting is having unlikely results

FSIN: Hope Savchenko agreed to end her hunger strike
TASS, Mar 5 2015

MOSCOW – Starving since mid-December in jail, citizen of Ukraine Nadia Savchenko on Thursday agreed to stop the hunger strike. As reported by TASS FSIN of Russia, today persuaded Savchenko to implement their recommendations to maintain her health, and consented to the admission of chicken soup. “Nadia Savchenko remains under constant medical care and continues to receive necessary supportive therapy,” added FSIN.

Igor Moseychuk (former “Azov” commander, now member
of Rada) vows to fast in solidarity with Savchenko ;-)

terror in odessa – the dreaded strelkov reported in the city – reporter actually uses word “panic”

Meanwhile, also in Odessa… :-)

In Odessa there was a mass slaughter of the Right Sector. “Sho, again?”
Sergey Zaharchenko, Journalistskaya Pravda, Mar 5 2015

In Odessa again broke Right Sector. They attacked en masse, in the place right next to Deribasovskaya street. Does this mean that Odessa rose again? Possible. Is exactly what it means, is that Right Sector in Odessa, not love, not loved and not love. It is difficult to calculate that time Bandarevskaya Army gets the horns in South Palmyra. The first time Siri patriots were aligned by steel rods happened under the walls of the base Odessa Golden Eagle on Feb 18 2014, when about 30 guys came to block security forces, but faced with the guys from Odessa Squads. The next violent confrontation with the “patriots of Galicia” took place on Apr 10 2014, at 11 station of Big Fountain, during a visit by Oleg Tsarev to Odessa. Then Right Sector was bit, several curators were detained Odessa Team, but later released under pressure from the police. Not so long ago at all Odessa e-democracy forums, Dogs lamented that they were beaten in the area of the Mound, while the police stood and looked on. In the other case, all potentially dangerous moments ended with the retreat of the forces of the order of Witnesses Bandera.

On Mar 30, Odessa anti-Maidan just drove the “patriots” from the monument to Duc de Richelieu. No one was killed, nobody was burned or cut up. Although the ratio of 1:10 is quite allowed. Obviously in vain. And if you already show how and what happened on Mar 30, Maidan shamefully fled, leaving all their shrines, impromptu memorial to the heavenly hundreds and other relics of the Maidan. Months later, the descendants of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War died but did not give up, trying to hold back on the streets variegated unrealistical bastard ultras, 1,400 Maidan, militants of the Right sector from all over Galicia. With a ratio of 1:15, Odessa Squad several hours defended at Rymarska and Greek. Here is the difference between “us” and “them”.

Tonight banderovskaya bastards again tried to restore order in the city. This time they announced attacked underground casino. But first broke into the legal cafe, beating bystanders with sticks, and then were beaten by driving up the mighty men, which quite possibly refers to the criminal world of Odessa. Conflict of Witnesses Bandera with the criminal world of Odessa itself may not cause sympathy for either of the parties, but it is very revealing. This clash clearly shows that the Bandar-log are not welcome in Odessa and will not be happy. And to obey them none too is not going from top to bottom, in all strata of society. Well, that evening was particularly languid, some good people in the night of Mar 5 blew up the headquarters of the Right Sector in Odessa. So to say, the tradition.

first of two stories underneath which are the usual CIA/ Mafia/ Mossad drug rackets

I recommend Douglas Valentine’s books “The Strength of the Wolf” and “The Strength of the Pack” on this. Based on the picture that they present, I would estimate what’s happening here as follows: the CIA will always find someone they can corrupt, in any given government; they will keep trying until they do. But in a government like this (or Cuba’s) the likelihood is that at least one of the people they find is only pretending to agree to be corrupted, and in reality is reporting back directly to Morales (or Castro, as the case may be). So you get some very complicated double- or triple-agent games, and obviously before too long the CIA will decide to frame one or more of their targets, since any trouble is better than none – RB

Former Chief of Bolivia Drug Police Under Investigation
Carlos Valdez, AP, Mar 4 2015

LA PAZ, Bolivia — The retired police general who reorganized Bolivia’s counter-narcotics force after President Evo Morales expelled Pindosi drug agents is under investigation for illicit enrichment and drug trafficking ties. A judge was to decide Wednesday whether Gen Oscar Nina should be jailed. Nina’s wife and two children were ordered jailed late Tuesday for suspected laundering of illicit earnings. Interior Minister Hugo Moldiz cited “serious suspicions” that Nina and his family had links to drug trafficking. Prosecutor Gomer Padilla said investigators had discovered assets unsubstantiated by income but did not disclose their nature. Bolivia is the world’s #3 cocaine-producing country and a major transit and processing conduit for Peruvian cocaine. Morales claims Bolivia’s counter-narcotics efforts have improved since he expelled the Pindosi DEA (nowadays a mere CIA cover – RB) in 2008. The president, who rose to political prominence as head of a coca-growers’ federation, named Nina anti-drug police chief in Jan 2009 shortly after he ordered the expulsion of the DEA for alleged espionage and incitement of the political opposition. Nina was given the task of reorganizing the FELCN counter-narcotics force, which prior to Morales’ presidency had close ties to the DEA and received everything from boots to gasoline lots of pretty plastic beads by airlift from Pindostan. Nina was promoted to national police commander a year later. He was retired a year later, however, after another former drug czar, Gen Rene Sanabria, was arrested in Panama on cocaine smuggling charges and extradited to Pindostan. Sanabria was a top government adviser on drug trafficking at the time of his arrest. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in a Pindosi court and is now serving a 14-year sentence.

CIA obviously feels that this man is raking off too much of their drug money

Mexican ruling party insiders fear embattled president a liability
Dave Graham, Anahi Rama, Reuters, Mar 4 2015

MEXICO CITY – Mexican ruling party MPs fear President Enrique Pena Nieto’s lurch into scandal, weak economic record and struggle to tame corruption could hurt them in upcoming elections, raising pressure on him to take bold steps or shake up the cabinet. Pena Nieto’s approval rating has slumped to as low as 25% since events began to spiral out of control with the September abduction and apparent massacre of 43 trainee teachers by corrupt police and a drug gang in south-west Mexico. Slow to respond to the crisis, Pena Nieto never visited the scene. He was then caught in a separate row over conflicts of interest when it emerged that he, his wife and his finance minister had all bought or used homes built by a firm that has won millions of dollars in government contracts on his watch. Patricio Flores, an MP for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), said tersely of the homes scandal, even as he tried to deflect blame from Pena Nieto:

It shouldn’t have happened. It’s a fact that it’s helped other parties.

In public, PRI officials are reluctant to criticize their president, who insists he has broken no laws. But privately, many are exasperated at his handling of the crisis, which has hit support for the party ahead of mid-term legislative elections in June. Around two dozen PRI MPs and government officials consulted by Reuters said Pena Nieto needs to make a move to reassert his leadership, if necessary by removing trusted aides from his cabinet. Pena Nieto and his PRI MPs in Congress started well, working with the opposition to pass a string of reforms to overhaul the economy, culminating in an energy overhaul that ended Mexico’s 75-year-old oil and gas monopoly. But Pena Nieto’s ability to implement those reforms and make Mexico’s economy more competitive will suffer if he cannot restore his credibility. One PRI federal MP with an eye on the next presidential election in 2018, said:

We can’t carry on as before or we’re going to lose the presidency.

As recently as November, the PRI was way ahead of its closest rival, the center-right National Action Party (PAN), according to polling firm Buendia & Laredo. It said the PRI then had 42% support, with the PAN back on 23%. By mid-February, the PRI had slipped to 30% while the PAN had risen to 26%. PRI MPs say their party would still have a comfortable lead were it not for the government blunders. The scandal over the homes rankles particularly. A veteran PRI politician said:

It was a schoolboy error. Never has a president been this isolated.

Officials say cabinet changes will come, and Pena Nieto made a start last Friday, pushing out Attorney General Jesus Murillo, who had become a target of public frustration over the government’s failure to clear up the case of the 43 students abducted by local police then handed over to cartel henchmen in the city of Iguala. Only one set of remains has been identified. PRI MP Francisco Arroyo, deputy speaker of the lower house, said:

We have a serious problem perception-wise (sic – RB) nationally about levels of government corruption.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong is also under pressure over security lapses and for failing to contain months of protests by teachers. Still, in his favor, security forces have in the past week arrested two drug lords, Servando Gomez of the Knights Templar cartel and Zetas leader Omar Trevino. Both Osorio Chong and Finance Minister Luis Videgaray, whose stewardship of the economy has fallen short of expectations, have clouded Pena Nieto’s judgment by painting too rosy a picture of the situation, one senior government official said. Another PRI federal MP said:

They should both go.

Many PRI lawmakers see a replacement for Osorio Chong in Manlio Fabio Beltrones, the party’s leader in the lower house and driving force of the legislative successes. Beltrones is out of a job when the current Congress ends this summer, and he is also eyeing the PRI party leadership. One PRI MP said:

The president still has the authority, but Beltrones has surpassed him in leadership.

Pena Nieto could make up ground if he can persuade voters he is serious about tackling corruption. But he was ridiculed last month when he announced an investigation into whether the homes linking him to the government contractor constituted a conflict of interest. Immediately afterwards, the official named to lead the probe said the homes would not be part of it. After killing off an earlier anti-corruption bill, the lower house last week finally approved a new initiative. It still needs Senate backing. Two former PRI state governors are already wanted in Pindostan on corruption charges, though they are not facing trial in Mexico. Two high-ranking government officials said they doubted Pena Nieto planned a major crackdown. A senior PRI official said:

Everyone is too interconnected. If you have a corrupt former governor, the guy who’s in power now is there because of what the one before did for him.

Asked how Pena Nieto should respond to the challenges, and if more cabinet changes were needed, his spokesman Eduardo Sanchez pointed to government efforts to pass anti-corruption measures and said it would be speculation to comment further.

as you can see, the radical group originally called ‘cage prisoners’ is being sat on hard by official london

Charities that funded Cage, one time supporter of ISIS’ Emwazi, under pressure
Ahmed Aboulenein, Michael Holden, Simon Falush, Reuters, Mar 4 2015

The financial backers of a campaign group that had contact with the man later known as ‘Jihadi John’ are under pressure from British politicians and a regulator’s investigation to explain why they gave it several hundred thousand pounds. The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, a Quaker foundation, and The Roddick Foundation, set up by the late founder of beauty retailer Body Shop, are among those now being asked how they came to fund Cage, a small activist group that called Mohammed Emwazi, killer of Pindosi, British and Syrian hostages, a once “beautiful young man.” British interior minister Theresa May told parliament in response to the comment by Cage’s research boss Asim Qureshi to media last week:

I condemn anybody who attempts to excuse that barbarism away in the way that has been done by Cage.

Cage was set up by a group of London Muslims with the aim of supporting British suspects being held by Pindostan in Gitmo. Its activists blame Pindosi and British foreign policy for radicalizing Muslims and accuse the security services of harassing those who refuse to be informants. Britain’s Charity Commission, a government-backed regulator, has launched an investigation into whether Cage’s funders had ensured that their money was only used for purposes in line with their objectives. The Commission said in a statement on Monday that it had compliance cases open into the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation and the Roddick Foundation. It said:

In both cases the commission’s regulatory concerns revolve around how the trustees have ensured that charitable grants made to non-charitable bodies are only used for exclusively charitable purposes in line with their objects.

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust said in a statement that it had made three grants to Cage in 2007, 2008 and 2011, making a combined total of £305k. It said its last grant payment to them was in Jan2014. The Roddick Foundation, set up to “support those who change the world,” gave Cage £35k/yr in the financial years ending in Mar 2012 and 2013, and £25k/yr in the financial years ending in Mar 2010 and 2011, according to accounts made public by the Charity Commission. The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust said it stood by its funding. It said in a statement:

We believe (Cage) has played an important role in highlighting the ongoing abuses at Gitmo and at many other sites around the world, including many instances of torture.

The Roddick Foundation could not be reached for comment as its listed phone number was disconnected and emails to its public email address bounced back. Attempts to reach trustee Gordon Roddick via other organisations to which he is connected yielded no response. The relationship between Emwazi and Cage began in 2009, when he visited its drab office block in a back street behind the East London Mosque. Cage held a news conference last week to publish emails sent to it from Emwazi over several years during which time he complained of being regularly harassed by security services. On its Website, the group says:

Cage has been campaigning against the GWOT for more than a decade.

Public information about Cage’s finances is scant. It is listed in the UK companies register, but has filed accounts only for 2008 and as a small company it is not obliged to report each year. According to Qureshi and its website, Cage is a non-profit making company limited by guarantee, a structure without share capital that is usually used to protect the people running the company from personal liability for its debts. The group’s other main funder, according to Qureshi, is the Network for Social Change, which describes itself as “a group of individuals providing funding for progressive social change.” The Network for Social Change Charitable Trust said its vehicle for donating to non charitable projects, Funding for Social Change Limited, had not funded Cage since 2008. A spokesperson for the organisation said in an email:

Funding for Social Change Limited is not and never has been a main funder of Cage. It provided Cage with a non-charitable grant of £15k in 2008 and has not funded it since.

A British MP told Reuters all of the charities that had funded Cage should dissociate from it after the group’s comments at last week’s news conference. John Spellar, a spokesman on foreign affairs for the opposition Labour Party, said:

It was both extraordinary and disgraceful. They were very clearly coming out as apologists for terrorism. Those that have provided them with support must very seriously question not only their support for Cage, but how they got to make such a decision to support an organisation like this. I think there needs to be some very serious rethinking done by a number of these charities and NGOs about how they got into a position.

Cage’s Qureshi said the group would continue its work regardless of the criticism levelled at it. He told Reuters:

Certain media organisations, right-wing think tanks, don’t like our narrative as it goes against the prevailing national security paradigm. Even though we aren’t a proselytizing organisation, we are a Muslim response to a problem that largely affects Muslims.

PM Cameron’s spokesman told reporters:

The prime minister thinks that it’s absolutely right that the Charity Commission is undertaking the work that it is with regard to the funding of the organisation.

If the cases are escalated to inquiry level, and it is found that wrongdoing has occurred, the trustees of each charity can be suspended, an interim manager could be appointed to run the organisation or bank accounts could be frozen, said Sarah Hitchings, press officer at the Charity Commission. She added that the investigation so far had found nothing to suggest that this would happen. Cage’s Qureshi said funding from such organisations paled in comparison with the money from individuals, though he said he did not have the figures available to share with Reuters. He said:

Every year in Ramadan we have a big fundraiser and people come, they pledge their support for the organisation and we collect the money from that, it helps keep us going. The vast majority comes from Muslim communities in the UK. They love our work. The community trusts us and believes in what we do.

The group’s website invites donors to pledge money online, or arrange for someone to pick up a cash donation. Rafik Aziz, who describes himself as the group’s bookkeeper, said this arrangement was reached after British banks Barclays and the Cooperative closed the group’s accounts last March, in a move he said was triggered by the arrest of Moazzam Begg, Cage’s Outreach Director, who both Britain and Pindostan have accused of terrorism offences. Begg, the group’s most high-profile figure, spent nearly three years in Gitmo after being seized in Pakistan in 2002. In 2014, Begg was charged by British police with terrorism offences, including providing training and funding terrorism in Syria. He denied the charges. After being held for seven months in custody and with his trial about to start, the charges against him were dropped. Police said at the time the decision to drop the charges came because new material had come to light which meant police and prosecution lawyers had concluded there was no realistic chance of securing a conviction. Aziz said that since the bank account closures, the group had no success with other banks they approached, though he did not name the banks. In addition to the Charity Commission investigation, Cage said last May that two of its board members were being investigated for fraud and tax evasion, although it did not name them and Reuters was unable to identify them. A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said that it was unable to confirm or deny any probe was happening, due to rules about taxpayer confidentiality.

generally, by the time these interminable discussions about arming ‘allies’ begin, the arms have been flowing covertly for a couple of years

Dempsey: Washington Should Consider Arming Ukraine
David Stout, Time Magazine, Mar 4 2015

JCoS Dempsey says Washington should now consider providing Ukrainian forces with lethal aid to help combat the nation’s pro-Kremlin insurgency (sic! – RB). Dempsey argued during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the allegedly Russian-backed rebellion threatens to undo more than six decades of peace in Europe and could potentially splinter the NATO alliance. Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee:

I think we should absolutely consider lethal aid, and it ought to be in the context of NATO allies, because Putin’s ultimate objective is to fracture NATO.

Dempsey’s remarks echo similar pleas made in recent months by a plethora of top Pindosi foreign policy officials. Pindostan has already provided approximately $100m in nonlethal aid to Ukraine, but has refrained thus far from directly arming the country. However, experts question whether supplying Kiev with advanced weaponry would force the Kremlin to reassess its policy goals in Ukraine. Alexander Korolev, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, tells Time:

Russia is not going to give up in Ukraine, because it is protecting its strategic interests in Ukraine. Even if the costs of the conflict are very high for Russia, Russia will be willing to bear those costs.

On Monday, the UN published a report claiming that an estimated 6,000 people have been killed and at least 1 million displaced since the pro-Russian uprising erupted in south-eastern Ukraine last April. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of the UNHRC said in a statement:

All aspects of people’s lives are being negatively affected, and the situation is increasingly untenable for the local inhabitants, especially in areas controlled by the armed groups (clever ambiguity there – RB).

Representatives from the OSCE reported this week that fighting in rebel strongholds in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions appears to be waning, after a tenuous ceasefire was inked in Belarus last month. But during a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said lasting peace wouldn’t be achievable until Moscow returns the Crimea peninsula, which was annexed by Russian forces last March. He said:

There could be no slightest way of normalizing or getting back to business in the relations between Ukraine and Russia without returning to status quo and establishing full Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea.

a bit of detail on the new cold war (which is unlikely to stay cold much longer)

If you look carefully at the second quote, which is almost gibberish, I think you can discern that what Foster intends by ‘training’ is that his ‘trainers’ will become the tactical and strategic directors of operations in the field, ie they will take over the functions of general staff and battalion and brigade level command – RB

‘Atlantic Resolve’ May Expand
Joe Gould, Defense News, Mar 4 2015

WASHINGTON — The Pindosi military’s plans to send troops into Romania and Bulgaria as a deterrence to Russian aggression could expand to include Hungary, the Czech Republic and Russia’s southern neighbor, Georgia, according to an Army official spearheading the effort. Exercises between Pindosi troops with Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, which began last April, will expand through the summer, said Col Michael Foster of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vincenza, Italy. The exercises are part of the Pindosi Army Europe-led land force assurance training mission, known as Operation Atlantic Resolve, now expanded into “north” and “south” components. Speaking at CSIS here on Monday, Foster said:

By the end of the summer, you could very well see an operation that stretches from the Baltics all the way down to the Black Sea. As you connect countries, there is almost a line of Pindosi troops.

The 173rd this week will also be sending nearly a battalion’s worth of soldiers to the Ukraine to train troops from its national guard, apart from ‘Atlantic Resolve’, Foster said, “but certainly tied into deterring Russian aggression.” At the request of Ukrainian officials, the training will focus on the gamut of small-unit skills, from first aid to basic ambush operations, aimed at limiting the advantage of Russian forces, Foster said. Through October, three Pindosi Army company units will be paired with three Ukrainian elements who have been fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Foster said:

What we have been asked to do, and the issue that exists in the fight, is not an issue of teaching the Ukrainians things they don’t know, but refining their processes and pushing them forward. The fight, from my perspective only, is not an imbalance of capability, it’s an imbalance of capacity in some places, or a refinement in one area that’s giving Russia tactical overmatch in a few specific areas.

Those units would be overseen by a battalion headquarters, the 4th Infantry Division’s tactical command post, which has control of ‘Atlantic Resolve’. In the event of a crisis, the host nations would be in charge. Foster said:

We have had some great discussions about what do we do in case of Russian aggression, in case of kinetic, lethal activity in the vicinity of our soldiers. I think we’ve got a good plan in place.

The European-brokered ceasefire deal signed in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Feb 12 calls for tanks and artillery to be withdrawn from a buffer zone of between 50 and 140 km. Though both sides say the process is underway, The OSCE, which is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire, said Monday it was not yet in a position to provide verification of withdrawals, AFP reported. In April, paratroopers from the 173rd will jump into Romania and Bulgaria. They will be replaced by about 1,000 soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, according to a report in Army Times. ‘Operation Atlantic Resolve’ will continue in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with about 900 soldiers from 1st BCT, 3rd Infantry, who are rotating in from Fort Stewart, Georgia, as part of the Army’s regionally aligned forces concept. On Tuesday, the Army said that 450 soldiers from 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, will deploy to the Ansbach, Germany area from Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia by mid-March for a nine-month deployment. The soldiers, with about 25 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, will participate in ‘Operation Atlantic Resolve’ training exercises as well.