Pompeo ordered by Spanish court to explain alleged US government plot to assassinate Julian Assange

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has been summoned by a Spanish court to explain an alleged CIA plot to assassinate Julian Assange

byBarry White

 07-06-2022 

"Support Wikileaks - Free Julian Assange" by John Englart (Takver) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Donald Trump’s former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has been summoned by a Spanish court to explain an alleged CIA plot to assassinate Julian Assange, according to a Spanish national daily newspaper ABC.

A court is probing whether a Spanish security firm, UC Global spied on Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy during his time there between 2012 and 2019. Pompeo is being asked to testify whether the US received information from the firm.

Pompeo called to give evidence in Assange assassination plot

According to ABC, Pompeo has been called to appear in June. It is not clear whether he will attend in person or via video link. The judge at the National High Court, Santiago Pedraz also summoned former US counterintelligence official William Evaninia as a witness. He is reported to have made statements supporting the assassination reports.

The assassination plot was first revealed by Yahoo News last year and was reported in Yorkshire Bylines in September. Since the revelations were reported, the UK government and intelligence services have refused to comment; failing to confirm or deny their involvement.

Aitor Martinez, a lawyer for Assange, previously claimed in court documents that the alleged spying plot “would have been orchestrated from the United States”.

Assange still awaiting deportation decision

Meanwhile Home Secretary Priti Patel is currently considering Assange’s deportation to the US where he faces trial under the Espionage Act. WikiLeaks stated on Twitter on 5 June that Patel will imminently announce whether she is granting an extradition order. Given the intense hostility of the British government to Assange, many believe that the outcome is all but a formality. On paper, he has one other avenue of appeal within the legal system, but more than a decade of arbitrary attacks on his rights means that even this is not guaranteed.

In Australia, the newly elected Labor government gives the impression that it will do nothing to defend the WikiLeaks publisher, despite Assange being an Australian citizen.

Johnson heads for certain defeat in final showdown over the Northern Ireland protocol

The prime minister's self-made problem over the Northern Ireland protocol is turning into another crisis

byAnthony Robinson
08-06-2022 


For a man still reeling from a body blow delivered by his own side, Boris Johnson seems oblivious to the freight train he is about to stumble headlong into, over plans to unilaterally override parts of the Northern Ireland protocol. It’s hard to know if it’s hubris or if he’s just punch drunk.

Fresh from a humiliatingly narrow win on a vote of no confidence, the crisis-prone prime minister is shortly expected to table what is by all accounts a piece of badly drafted legislation deliberately designed to further antagonise Brussels and what remains of his dwindling supporter base, but which seems doomed to failure before it’s even published.

This is after he told his rebellious MPs on Monday that he had “created a new and friendly relationship with the European Union”, demonstrating a level of personal credulity that is well beyond most ordinary mortals.

Only he could write it with a semi-straight face, perhaps just the faintest trace of his usual smirk betraying some inner amusement.

The proposed UK legislation is ‘unworkable’

According to Tony Connelly, Europe editor at the Irish broadcaster RTE, the new bill will create a “dual regulatory regime” in Northern Ireland, allowing imports from Great Britain to arrive without checks and circulate internally with “robust” in-market surveillance. Incredibly, the plan is to simply “create a high level concept” and then “ask industry stakeholders to come up with ideas as to how it would work which can then be tested and challenged”.

Industry stakeholders seem less than enamoured with the idea, some immediately claiming it would be “unworkable” as reported by The Irish Times. One business figure is quoted as saying, “You cannot produce to two different standards on one farm in Northern Ireland”.

The legislation may not be legal

Attorney General Suella Braverman is said to have offered advice that the government’s plans are legal, but others suggest they are not. Sky News for example claims that First Treasury Counsel Sir James Eadie, the government’s senior independent barrister on nationally important legal issues, has not even been consulted on the question of whether or not plans to override the protocol will break international law.

He is nevertheless understood to have indicated he believes it will be “very hard for the UK to argue it is not breaching international law” if it goes ahead as currently proposed.

It seems to me that the “senior figure” mentioned in this report by Politics Home is probably Sir James who represented the government when the Gina Miller case was argued at the Supreme Court.

In leaked correspondence this person is said hold the view that it cannot be “credibly” argued on legal grounds there is currently no alternative to unilaterally disapplying the treaty, and that it is “very difficult” for the ministers to make that case.

One does not need to ponder very long to understand why he has been left out of the loop.

Parliament may not pass the bill

Many commentators believe it will be very difficult if not impossible to get parliament in its current fractious mood to pass the bill unamended, or even at all. A government source told Sky News that there are now fears there could be “a significant Tory rebellion against any legislation to [unilaterally] change the protocol amongst the 148 who voted no confidence in Mr Johnson”.

Half of the Tory benches seem to be lawyers and the upper House is notoriously picky when it comes to the niceties of international law, choosing usually to stick to the letter of what has been agreed rather than Johnson’s somewhat, shall we say, less-purist view of such matters.

EU preparing to retaliate

A few days ago the EU published a draft proposal to implement legislation enabling retaliation to be taken by the commission if the UK fails to honour the protocol. The draft contains provisions which were set out in the withdrawal and trade agreements and explains that, “the two Agreements allow a Party to take [remedial and rebalancing] measures without having to first resort to the relevant dispute settlement mechanism”.

The draft says the EU may take various remedial, rebalancing, counter and safeguarding measures under the agreements as well as the:

“Suspension of obligations under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement or any supplementing agreement in case of breach of certain provisions of this Agreement or any supplementing agreement or non-fulfilment of certain conditions, in particular with regard to trade in goods, air transport, road transport, fisheries or Union programmes.”

Note the specific reference to air and road transport. Article 1 of the draft proposal says the regulation would apply to a list of the various measures adopted by the Union, including (paragraph 2(d)):

“The refusal, revocation, suspension, limitation of and the imposition of conditions on the operating authorisations of air carriers of the United Kingdom, as well as the refusal, revocation, suspension, limitation of and the imposition of conditions on the operation of those air carriers, as set out in Articles 434(4) and 435(12) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.”

The measures, if implemented, look like ones that could seriously damage EU-UK trade at a time when the UK is already in danger of entering a period of stagflation. The timing could hardly be worse.



Lord Frost and the ‘relative weakness’ of the UK

Lord Frost recently wrote a foreword to a report from the right-wing think tank Policy Exchange, in which he criticised the Irish government’s focus on the “all-island” economy, saying that was wrong and had become a political tool. He added:

“And that is what creates the problem – or one of the many problems – with the current Northern Ireland Protocol or indeed its predecessor. Shaped as the Protocol is by relative UK weakness and EU predominance in the Withdrawal Agreement negotiations, it enshrines a concept, the all-island economy, which suits the EU, Ireland, and their allies politically but which does not exist in real life. Hence the grinding tensions, the economic frictions, and the political turbulence caused by the Protocol.”

It is not clear what has changed to alter the UK’s “relative weakness” or the EU’s “predominance” since the protocol was signed in 2019. If anything, we seem to be in a weaker position now. Giving evidence to the public administration and constitutional affairs committee this week he provided a long list of explanations for why the Brexit deal isn’t working, none of which could apparently be attributed to the person who negotiated it.

Horizon Europe research and innovation funding

The continuing row over the Northern Ireland protocol is putting at risk the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5bn.

UK universities have benefited disproportionately from Horizon funding in the past and British negotiators in the trade talks pressed for our continued membership.

The EU has not yet ratified British involvement in the programme because of the government’s intransigence in implementing the provisions in the protocol. The Guardian reported recently that the British government is close to giving up on the idea of participation, with representatives of Universities UK (UUK) claiming ministers were “at an advanced stage” of planning a British alternative to Horizon Europe.
The DUP ‘feel no pressure’ to return to Stormont

According to the FT the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who have refused to take their place in the power-sharing executive at Stormont following last month’s elections until the protocol is ditched, are unlikely to be persuaded to change their stance.

Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis had advised Johnson that tabling legislation would “do the trick” and see the DUP back in Stormont, but the DUP apparently say they feel “no pressure” to move until the bill is enacted and on the statute book, a process that could take months and may never happen at all.
Summary

To summarise, Johnson’s plan probably won’t get through parliament, will be challenged legally if it did, isn’t wanted in Northern Ireland generally, would be unworkable in practise and won’t persuade the DUP to join the power-sharing executive anytime soon. It will infuriate the EU and the USA, trigger trade retaliations and block the UK’s participation in the €95bn Horizon research scheme.

Apart from that, it’s all fine.

WHO warns of 'real' risk that monkeypox will become established outside Africa

Disease experts worry that the window to contain monkeypox in many countries where it's not already endemic is closing, but they said it's not too late.
A medical laboratory technician picks up a reactive agent to test suspected monkeypox samples Sunday at the microbiology laboratory of La Paz Hospital in Madrid.Pablo Blazquez Dominguez / Getty Images

June 8, 2022
By Aria Bendix

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned Wednesday that the window to contain the global monkeypox outbreak may be narrowing.

"The risk of monkeypox becoming established in non-endemic countries is real," he said at a briefing in Geneva.

Since the start of May, the WHO has confirmed more than 1,000 monkeypox cases across 29 countries outside West and Central Africa, where the virus is endemic.

If outbreaks aren't contained and the virus does gain a foothold in new regions, it could simmer indefinitely at low levels. It's also possible cases would rise to epidemic proportions in some places, meaning large numbers of people would get sick in a short time frame.

"As you keep moving forward into the future and more and more individuals become infected, you do start to worry," said Amira Albert Roess, a professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University. "Is this going to become something that is just going to keep on moving from person to person and then we will not be able to control it?"

Multiple epidemics around the world would constitute a pandemic. But experts aren’t betting on that outcome — WHO leaders and disease experts agree it's not too late to reverse the trend.

"There’s still a window of opportunity to prevent the onward spread of monkeypox in those at highest risk right now," Dr. Rosamund Lewis, the WHO's technical lead on monkeypox, said at the briefing.

Two versions of monkeypox are circulating in the U.S., CDC says

JUNE 6, 202203:17

Two smallpox vaccines — both approved by the Food and Drug Administration — may be key to the prevention effort. The U.S. government's preferred shot, called Jynneos, is specifically approved for use against monkeypox.

"This is one of the rare diseases in which you can vaccinate somebody after they’ve been infected, before they have symptoms, and block the disease," said Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

"We would have to really screw things up not to be able to contain this," he added.
Could monkeypox become endemic in new countries?

Historically, monkeypox hasn’t passed easily from person to person. The largest outbreak in the Western Hemisphere before now was a cluster of 47 U.S. monkeypox cases in 2003. But there was no documented person-to-person transmission that time; everyone infected had been in contact with sick prairie dogs.

In the current outbreak, the primary driver of transmission seems to be skin-to-skin contact between people, often involving exposure to infected people’s rashes or lesions.

"Right now we’re more at risk for the virus maybe becoming endemic due to ongoing human-to-human transmission and our inability to stop the transmission cycle," Roess said.

Several factors are involved in that cycle. For one, some monkeypox cases are hard to identify. Patients develop rashes that can be confused with chickenpox, syphilis or herpes, but in some cases it may be limited to the genital area, making it harder to detect.

Second, disease experts worry that the U.S. isn’t processing tests quickly enough to identify new cases in a timely manner.

"It still does take a few days from the time someone is identified to the time that we can confirm their diagnosis," Roess said.

Dr. Stuart Isaacs, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said the virus could have "epidemic potential" in the U.S. — meaning there would be a major surge in cases — if a single infected person spread monkeypox to more than one other person on average. That hasn’t been the case in the past, and the U.S. has recorded fewer than 40 cases thus far.

"We’re still too early to really say definitively that this [outbreak] isn’t going to explode, although the likelihood is still very low," Isaacs said.

"The reason this is endemic in Africa is there’s animal reservoirs," he added. "The virus is propagating and spreading among animals, and then it jumps into humans or nonhuman primates every now and then."
Debates about declaring monkeypox a pandemic

In the past, Roess said, countries outside Africa quickly halted monkeypox outbreaks through testing and contact tracing, but the current outbreak is unprecedentedly large and widespread.

Experts don’t yet know whether its scale is a clue that monkeypox has evolved to get better at human-to-human transmission or whether countries are simply uncovering the extent of an outbreak that went undetected for some time.

Already, the monkeypox outbreak may meet the formal definition of a pandemic: The virus is spreading from person to person in at least two countries, and there are community-level outbreaks in several parts of the world.

"But generally, when we talk about pandemics, we talk about diseases in which everyone is significantly at risk in every country or almost every country," Toner said. "So far, this has not reached that threshold, and I don’t think it ever will."

Roess said the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic isn't over likely makes global health leaders wary of an emergency declaration.

"There’s a lot of hesitation to declare this a pandemic," she said.

A reason for optimism, however, is that this version of monkeypox isn’t usually life-threatening. Although monkeypox rashes can be painful and cause scarring, experts said, doctors know how to treat them with smallpox antivirals and supportive care. No deaths have been reported in non-endemic countries thus far.

"We should be raising alarms and studying this and understanding this," Isaacs said. "But we're not at a panic stage yet."
Aria Bendix

Better pay key to solving NHS staffing crisis

Ministers must do their bit and put NHS pay right



Commenting on the NHS Reality Check report published today (Wednesday) by NHS Providers, looking at the pressures facing trusts as they struggle to provide patient care, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“Shortages of staff across the NHS are nothing new. But the pandemic has taken the stress and strain caused by huge vacancy rates to a whole new level.

“Without more midwives, porters, healthcare assistants, paramedics, nurses and other health workers crucial to the NHS, delays to patient treatment, long waits for ambulances and cancelled operations will remain the norm.

“Better pay could stop experienced staff leaving for jobs in hospitality and retail where wages are higher and the work much less stressful.

“The government really should help resolve these shortages. With the pay review body due to hand over its evidence this week, ministers must do their bit and put NHS pay right.

“Otherwise, the staffing crisis continues, and more ​people will be ​anxiously waiting in pain for treatment.”

Notes to editors:
-UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

 

South Korean truckers' strike enters third day

 

A rise in fuel costs, disrupting production and slowing activity at ports has prompted thousands of South Korean truckers to go on strike for a third day, posing new risks to a strained global supply chain.

Australia planned to buy US nuclear subs, says ex minister

Former defence minister Peter Dutton said he had planned to buy two Virginia-class submarines from the United States by 2030 and build another eight to bring the total fleet strength to 10. — AFP pic

Thursday, 09 Jun 2022 

SYDNEY, June 9 — Australia planned to acquire US nuclear-powered submarines over their rival British vessels, the former defence minister said Thursday, revealing usually secretive deliberations on the multi-billion dollar deal.

Peter Dutton said he had planned to buy two Virginia-class submarines from the United States by 2030 and build another eight to bring the total fleet strength to 10.

The project is the centrepiece of Australian efforts to toughen its defences in the face of a more belligerent China under President Xi Jinping.

The choice of contractor — Britain or the US — will have a significant economic impact and would closely immesh the Australian navy with that of the winning nation.

Dutton, who leads the opposition after his conservative coalition lost May elections, said it became “obvious” to him as defence minister that the US submarines were a better choice.

Dutton’s disclosure in an article for The Australian appeared to be aimed at pushing the new government into following his plan.

Australia’s former government had agreed to acquire either US or British nuclear-powered but conventionally armed submarines as part of a three-way defence alliance sealed last September, known as Aukus.

Australia is still conducting an 18-month study of its nuclear-powered submarine options as part of the Aukus deal.

The cost of building even a smaller fleet of eight — Australia’s original plan — has been estimated at A$70 billion (RM220 billion) at an “absolute minimum” and before accounting for inflation, by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank.

‘Very unusual’

“Clearly these were confidential discussions that he had with the Americans which he was not prepared to disclose while he was in office, and yet he did so afterwards,” said Sam Roggeveen, director of the Lowy Institute’s international security programme.

“It’s very unusual.”

The US submarines were capable of launching missiles vertically and were based on a “mature design”, Dutton wrote.

The British Astute-class option, however, involved a new design with “inevitable” cost blowouts and design faults, he said.

Dutton said nuclear-powered submarines are needed to compete with China because they are stealthier than Australia’s diesel-electric vessels, with no need to surface to recharge batteries.

To avoid a gap in replacing Australia’s ageing fleet of six Collins-class submarines, Dutton said he had planned to directly buy two of the US submarines “this decade”.

The purchase would avoid having to wait until 2038 for the first US-designed submarines to be built in Australia, as the government had promised, he said.

Under the plan, another eight of the US submarines would be built in South Australia, however, bringing the total fleet strength to 10, Dutton said.

To “honour and respect” the losing British side, Dutton said he would have ordered more Hunter-class frigates or other defence material from Britain.

Dutton said he feared the new government was “on the cusp of making a very dangerous decision” such as building a new class of diesel-electric submarines.

Australia’s defence ministry has been asked to comment. — AFP

Thailand makes marijuana legal, but those smoking it in public still could still be fined



Tassanee Vejpongsa
June 09 2022 


Marijuana cultivation and possession in Thailand has decriminalised, but smoking it is still being discouraged, with the development of the medical cannabis industry the aim of new laws.

The stated intention of the country’s public health minister to distribute 1 million marijuana seedlings for cultivation has added to the impression that Thailand is turning into a weed wonderland.

But for the time being, would-be marijuana tourists will be disappointed. Thailand has become the first nation in Asia to decriminalize marijuana — also known as cannabis, or ganja in the local lingo — but it is not following the examples of Uruguay and Canada, the only two countries so far that have legalized recreational marijuana on a national basis.

The government has said it is promoting cannabis for medical use only, warning those eager to light up for fun that smoking in public could still considered to be a nuisance subject to a potential 3-month sentence and 25,000 Thai baht (€675) fine. And extracted content remains illegal if it contains more than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that makes people high.

That’s roughly the same amount that might be found in hemp, a cannabis variety mostly grown for fibres that are used for industrial purposes.

Thailand is seeking to make a splash in the market for medical marijuana, whose benefits are generally derived from other cannabinol chemicals the plant contains. Thailand already has a well developed medical tourism industry, and its climate is ideal for growing cannabis.

“We should know how to use cannabis,” Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the country’s biggest marijuana booster, said recently. “If we have the right awareness, cannabis is like gold, something valuable, and should be promoted.”

But he added, “We will have additional Ministry of Health Notifications, by the Department of Health. If it causes nuisances, we can use that law (to stop people from smoking)."

He said the government prefers to “build an awareness" that would be better than patrolling to check on people and using the law to punish them.

“Everything should be on the middle path,” Anutin said during a news conference ahead of the decriminalization Thursday.


Daily Digest Newsletter

Thailand legalises cultivation and possession of marijuana

9 June 2022

Thailand Marijuana. Picture: PA

The status of marijuana is still in considerable legal limbo because Thai legislators have yet to pass legislation to regulate its trade.

Thailand has made it legal to cultivate and possess marijuana.

The stated intention of the country’s public health minister to distribute one million marijuana seedlings, beginning on Friday, has added to the impression that Thailand is turning into a weed wonderland.

Some Thai advocates celebrated on Thursday morning by buying marijuana at a cafe that had previously been limited to selling products made from the parts of the plant that do not get people high.

The dozen or so people who turned up at the Highland Cafe in Bangkok were able to choose from a variety of buds with names such as Sugarcane, Bubblegum, Purple Afghani, and UFO.

A staff member at the Highland Cafe selects portions of marijuana for a customer in Bangkok, Thailand (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

“I can say it out loud that I am a cannabis smoker. I don’t need to hide like in the past when it was branded as an illegal drug,” said 24-year-old Rittipong Bachkul, the day’s first customer.

So far, it appears there would be no effort to police what people can grow and smoke at home, aside from registering to do so, and declaring it is for medical purposes.

For the time being, however, would-be marijuana tourists might want to proceed with caution.

Thailand’s government has said it is promoting cannabis for medical use only, warning those eager to light up for fun that smoking in public could still be considered a nuisance, subject to a potential three-month sentence and 25,000 Thai baht (£580) fine.

And extracted content, such as oil, remains illegal if it contains more than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical that makes people high.

The status of marijuana is still in considerable legal limbo because while it is no longer treated as a dangerous drug, Thai legislators have yet to pass legislation to regulate its trade.

Thailand has become the first nation in Asia to decriminalise marijuana – also known as cannabis, or ganja in the local lingo – but it is not following the examples of Uruguay and Canada, the only two countries so far that have legalised recreational marijuana on a national basis.  

A customer views an array of paraphernalia used to smoke marijuana at the Highland Cafe (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

Thailand mainly wants to make a splash in the market for medical marijuana.

It already has a well developed medical tourism industry and its tropical climate is ideal for growing cannabis.

“We should know how to use cannabis,” public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the country’s biggest marijuana booster, said recently.

“If we have the right awareness, cannabis is like gold, something valuable, and should be promoted.”

But he added: “We will have additional Ministry of Health notifications, by the Department of Health. If it causes nuisances, we can use that law (to stop people from smoking).”

The minister said the government prefers to “build an awareness” that would be better than patrolling to check on people and using the law to punish them.

Some immediate beneficiaries of the change are people who have been locked up for breaking the old law.

The first customer of the day celebrates after buying legal marijuana at the Highland Cafe (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

“From our perspective, a major positive outcome of the legal changes is that at least 4,000 people imprisoned for offences relating to cannabis will be released,” Gloria Lai, Asia regional director of the International Drug Policy Consortium, said.

“People facing cannabis-related charges will see them dropped, and money and cannabis seized from people charged with cannabis-related offences will be returned to their owners.”

Her organisation is a network of civil society organisations worldwide advocating drug policies “grounded in principles of human rights, health and development”.

However, economic benefits are at the heart of the marijuana reforms, projected to boost everything from national income to small farmers’ livelihoods.

There is concern over whether the benefits will be distributed equitably.

Containers of marijuana flower buds are displayed at the Highland Cafe (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

One fear is that giant corporations could be unfairly served by proposed regulations involving complicated licensing processes and expensive fees for commercial use that would handicap small producers.

“We have seen what happened with the alcohol business in Thailand. Only large-scale producers are allowed to monopolise the market,” said Taopiphop Limjittrakorn, a legislator from the opposition Move Forward party.

“We are worried the similar thing will happen to the cannabis industry if the rules are in favour of big business.”

His party wants laws now being drafted to tackle the problem.

Small operators are keen to move into the marijuana sector anyway.

On a hot afternoon in eastern Thailand’s Sri Racha district, Ittisug Hanjichan, owner of Goldenleaf Hemp, a cannabis farm, led his fifth training course for 40 entrepreneurs, farmers, and retirees.

Workers tend to cannabis plants at a farm in Chonburi province, eastern Thailand (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

They each paid about 150 dollars (£120) to learn tips on nicking seed coats and tending the plants to get quality yields.

One of the attendees was 18-year-old Chanadech Sonboon, who said his parents used to scold him for trying to secretly grow marijuana plants.

He said his father has changed his mind and now sees marijuana as a medication rather than something to be abused.

The family runs a small homestay and cafe and hopes to one day provide cannabis to its guests.


By Press Association

Faced With Donbass Defeat, US & UK Up the Ante in Ukraine

As Russia presses victory in the Donbass, U.S. and U.K. missiles threaten a new stage in the conflict, writes Christopher Nineham.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, meeting Urkaine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev, April 9. (Ukraine government)

By Christopher Nineham
Stop the War

June 8, 2022

The British government, as ever following the U.S. lead, is sending longer range missile systems to Ukraine for the first time. The government described the M270 weapon system they are despatching as a “cutting edge” military asset which can strike targets up to 80 kilometres away “with pinpoint accuracy.” Ukrainian soldiers are due to be brought to Britain for training in how to use the missiles.

As even some of the mainstream media point out, on top of the four precision-guided, medium-range rocket systems sent by the U.S. last week, this decision marks a new stage in the war in which the West is prepared to provide the Ukrainian military with the capacity to strike deep in to Russian territory, something they previously carefully avoided.

This is one in a series of escalations on the part of the Western powers. It provoked immediate retaliation in words and deeds from Russian President Vladimir Putin — including the first bombardment of Kiev for five weeks — as Western leaders must have known it would.

It underlines the fact that the West is still pushing for nothing less than the complete defeat of Russia while Russian troops continue their offensive.

As British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement announcing the new weapons shipment, “If the international community continues its support, I believe Ukraine can win.”


U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace during a press conference at the British Embassy in Moscow on Feb. 11. (U.K. government)

As part of this policy of proxy war, the West has been deliberately trying to head off moves towards serious negotiations. The leading pro–Western Ukrainian newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda reported recently that U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself appeared in Kiev early in May almost without warning, urging Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky not to negotiate with Putin.

“If you are ready to sign some guarantee agreements with him, we are not,” Johnson said, insisting it was instead the time to “press him.” Johnson later confirmed to French President Emmanuel Macron that he had “urged against any negotiations with Russia on terms that gave credence to the Kremlin’s false narrative for the invasion.”

It is first and foremost the Ukrainians who will suffer from this approach, as the conflict turns into a terrible war of attrition. But the war has global implications and the risks of a frightening military clash between nuclear armed great powers are higher than at any time for half a century.

To understand this situation and to be able to challenge it, we have to see beyond the West’s simplistic story that this is a war between the Western values of freedom and democracy and Russian despotism.

The anti-war movement opposed the Russian invasion from the start. But the West bears a heavy responsibility for this disaster. Senior U.S. foreign policy figures from Henry Kissinger to Madeline Albright and from George Kennan to William J. Burns, the current head of the C.I.A., have advised that the eastward expansion of NATO up to the Russian borders would be deeply provocative to the Russian ruling class. NATO decision makers knew this, but carried on regardless.

Last minute diplomacy might well have averted the war. Many senior former U.S. diplomats and Russia experts urged the U.S. to accept Vladimir Putin’s offer of talks before the invasion took place in January. The advice was rejected. As Ivan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian professor of political studies at the University of Ottawa argues, “The U.S. and U.K. governments show no efforts or desire to achieve peaceful settlement of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”

Now Britain and the U.S. appear to have abandoned even the limited military restraint they showed early on in the war. Their policy of pumping in the weapons and pushing for outright victory risks disaster.



Christopher Mark Nineham is a British political activist and founder member of the Stop the War Coalition serving as national officer and deputy chair of the Stop the War Coalition in the U.K. He served under Jeremy Corbyn from 2011 to 2015.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.

Zelensky: Fate of Donbas rests in battleground Ukraine city

Smoke and dirt rise in the city of Severodonetsk during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops at the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 2, 2022. — AFP pic

Thursday, 09 Jun 2022 

LYSYCHANSK, June 9 — Ukrainian soldiers in Severodonetsk are fighting “one of the most difficult” battles against Russian troops since the start of the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding the fate of the whole Donbas region rests in the eastern city.

Moscow’s forces are concentrating their firepower on the strategically important industrial hub as part of efforts to capture a swathe of eastern Ukraine.

After days of raging street battles, Ukrainian officials conceded that Russian troops control a large part of Severodonetsk, and that their forces might have to pull back due to constant shelling.

In his evening address to the nation, Zelensky said the battle for the city was “very fierce... very difficult. Probably one of the most difficult throughout this war.

“In many ways, the fate of our Donbas is being decided there.”

After being repelled from Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine following their February invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops have refocused their offensive on the Donbas region, comprising Lugansk and Donetsk.

The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, were the last areas still under Ukrainian control in Lugansk.

Lysychansk is still in Ukrainian hands but under fierce Russian bombardment.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added his voice to increasingly dire warnings about the conflict’s impact.

“For people around the world, the war is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake,” he said.

Little progress on grain

At talks in Ankara, Russia and Turkey made little headway in striking a deal to secure safe passage for grain exports stuck in Ukraine due to a Russian sea blockade.

At the request of the United Nations, Turkey has offered its services to escort maritime convoys from Ukrainian ports, despite the presence of mines — some of which have been detected near the Turkish coast.

“We are ready to do this in cooperation with our Turkish colleagues,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Ankara.

Kyiv said it would not demine waters around the Black Sea port of Odessa to allow grain exports, citing the threat of Russian attacks on the city.

Lavrov’s Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu called Russian demands for an end to sanctions to help grain onto the world market “legitimate”.

“If we need to open up the international market to Ukrainian grain, we see the removal of obstacles standing in the way of Russia’s exports as a legitimate demand,” he said.

But Kyiv, which was not represented at the Ankara talks, pushed back against claims that Western sanctions on Moscow had sent prices soaring.

“We have been actively communicating, the president and myself, about the true cause of this crisis: it is Russian aggression, not sanctions,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

Before the war, Ukraine was a major exporter of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Russia’s blockade has been blamed for contributing to soaring prices, stoking fears of a looming food crisis in poor countries.

As he hosted Mediterranean ministers for talks on the global food crisis, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio warned “millions” could die unless Russia unblocked Ukraine’s ports.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected suggestions that grain stuck in Ukrainian ports was fuelling the problem.

“As far as we know, there is much less grain than the Ukrainians say. There is no need to exaggerate the importance of these grain reserves,” he told reporters.

‘Bombings every day’

Severodonetsk appeared close to being captured just days ago but Ukrainian forces launched counterattacks and managed to hold out, despite warnings they were outnumbered by superior forces.

About 800 civilians trapped by the fighting have taken refuge in the city’s Azot chemical factory in the city, according to the lawyer of a Ukrainian tycoon whose company owns the facility.

Ukrainian authorities have yet to confirm the report.

The situation was also increasingly desperate in other parts of the Donbas.

In the city of Bakhmut, an unoccupied school building was reduced to a smouldering wreck after being shelled Wednesday, with burnt books visible among the rubble, according to AFP journalists. No injuries or deaths were reported.

In Severodonetsk’s twin city Lysychansk, residents who had chosen to stay were facing fierce Russian bombardments.

“Every day there are bombings and every day something burns. A house, a flat... And there is nobody to help me,” 70-year-old Yuriy Krasnikov told AFP.

“I tried to go to the city authorities, but nobody’s there, everyone has run away.”

There was some rare good news for Ukraine, as their football side clinched a 1-0 Nations League victory over the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday.

The victory — thanks to a free kick from Viktor Tsygankov — lifted the country’s spirits after their painful failure to qualify for the World Cup. — AFP

Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion attempts rebranding

Jason Melanovski
3 June 2022

WSWS.ORG

Following the surrender of hundreds of its members to Russian forces in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine’s Azov Battalion has undertaken a PR rebranding effort to distance itself from its neo-Nazi background by introducing a new chevron which Azov refers to as “Three Swords,” or a golden trident. The symbol will be used by the newly created Azov Special Forces Unit based in Kharkov.

The “Three Swords” refers specifically to a monument installed at the Azov Regiment’s base in Mariupol. Oleksyi Reins, a member of the Azov Battalion described it as a “symbol of military glory and promise of revenge on its enemies.”

Previously, Azov forces used a Nazi-linked Wolfsangel symbol that Azov claims represents the “idea of the nation,” and which unites the letters “I” and “N” in old cyrillic script. In reality, the insignia is a blatant copy of the Wolfsangel symbol, which was widely used by various Nazi military formations, including several SS divisions that committed massacres during World War II.

Azov Battalion fighters with Nazi flag (WikiCommons)

While Mariupol was the main headquarters of the original Azov Battalion, various forces operating under the Azov umbrella exist in several other major Ukrainian cities, namely Kharkov and Kiev.

The logo swap was first reported widely in English by The Times in an article entitled “Azov Battalion drops neo-Nazi symbol exploited by Russian propagandists,” suggesting the use of neo-Nazi imagery by a Western-backed military organization is only of note due to ubiquitous “Russian disinformation.”

The article tried to deny that the Ukrainian government is attempting any conspicuous rebranding effort by pointing out that the new logo was unveiled for the Azov Special Forces Kharkov and is supposedly separate from the Azov Battalion formerly based in Mariupol.

However, in reality, as Azov member Oleksyi Reins acknowledged, Azov Special Forces Kharkov was “founded by veterans of the Azov Battalion.”

Furthermore, during the unveiling of the new “Three Swords” logo in Kharkov, the commander of the new unit, Maksym Zhorin, stated, “On the same principles and ideological basis as the legendary Azov Battalion, we form new divisions. Every day they become more numerous and professional.”

According to the Ukrainian government, the supposedly new “Azov” was formed as part of the Territorial Defense Forces on February 24, 2022—the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine—and is now part of the Ukrainian Special Forces.

The various shifts in Azov’s naming, logos and official status within the Ukrainian state are an obvious attempt to obfuscate its neo-Nazi ties.

These efforts are no doubt coordinated with Washington as part of an attempt at “damage control” amid growing suspicion and wariness about Western propaganda on the war in Ukraine and the “democratic” pretenses of the imperialist powers, in particular. The imperialist powers, with the US taking the lead, have been funding these neo-Nazi militias with billions of dollars as COVID-relief measures have been scrapped and inflation at home is tearing away at basic living standards.

As for Azov’s history and ideology, it is clearly a fascist organization that traces its heritage back both to Nazism and far-right Ukrainian nationalist organizations such as Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B) and the Ukrainian Insurgency Army (UPA), which were responsible for the massacres of tens of thousands of Jews, Poles as well as Ukrainians during World War II.

Its founder Andriy Biletsky, previously the leader of the fascist paramilitary Patriot of Ukraine organization, is an outright white supremacist who in 2010 stated that the mission of Ukraine is to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade … against Semite-led Untermenschen[subhumans].”

In 2014, far-right thugs, including many future members of Azov, helped carry out a US-backed coup against the elected, pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. The Azov Battalion was formed right after the coup. Following the outbreak of civil war in the eastern Donbass region, it was systematically built up and supported with military aid and training primarily coming from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In November of 2014, with the official Ukrainian Army in shambles and plagued by mass desertions, Azov was incorporated into the newly created National Guard of Ukraine. In the following years, Ukraine received billions in funding and training from Western military officers and played an essential role in carrying out the war against pro-Russian separatists in the east, often with notoriously brutal tactics.

Between 2015 and 2016, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights connected Azov with war crimes, including mass looting, unlawful detention and torture.

Despite its minimal electoral support within Ukraine, Azov became so powerful within the Ukrainian state that in October 2019 Azov effectively shut down the recently elected President Voldymyr Zelensky’s initial attempts to withdraw Ukrainian forces from the frontlines in the Donbass and implement the 2015 Minsk peace accords.

During a visit to the demarcation line near the village of Zolotoye, Zelensky was confronted by Azov veterans who warned him against withdrawing troops and continuing the peace process as outlined by the Minsk accords. Azov’s leader, Biletsky ominously threatened at the time, “If the President and the Government do not fulfill their direct duty to protect every inch of the Ukrainian land, then we, the volunteer veterans, will do it again.”

Zelensky, originally elected in 2019due to widespread disillusionment with the war and widespread poverty, would subsequently go on to adopt increasingly pro-war nationalist policies in agreement with Washington and the far-right, helping create the conditions that led to the current disastrous war that has already killed tens of thousands and ruined the lives of millions.

Following the initial Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, Azov soldiers were shown carrying out war crimes using cruel tactics in line with their neo-Nazi ideology and history.

Despite a massive propaganda campaign aimed at legitimizing the Azov Battalion in the Western media, more and more reports have surfaced, including in the bourgeois media, that clearly show Azov’s fascist orientation, and explode the “democratic” pretenses of imperialist propaganda over the war.

In Mariupol, civilians have accused Azov forces of deliberately shooting at fleeing cars and kidnapping residents in order to have them serve as human shields while they bunkered within the Azovstal plant and hid from Russian forces.

According to the French newspaper Le Monde, in a video recently shared on social media, Azov members can be identified shooting the knees of defenseless Russian soldiers. Former French soldier Adrien Bocquet, who traveled to Ukraine to serve as a volunteer medic with the Azov Battalion in Kiev and then Lviv, has said that he witnessed Azov troops shelling civilian areas in Bucha, where Russian forces have been accused of killing ordinary people.

Kiev’s half-hearted efforts to rebrand Azov make clear that the Ukrainian government will continue to heavily rely on these fascist forces as it functions as a proxy for an ever more direct war by the imperialist powers with Russia.

Mapping the complexities of Turkey's new Syria offensive

Analysis: Driven by domestic concerns and shifting geopolitics, any large-scale Turkish military operation in Syria comes with risks and complications.


James Snell
08 June, 2022

For months, even years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened that Turkey's armed forces and their Syrian rebel allies will launch a new attack on areas currently controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The group is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed forces of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK is locked in an armed struggle with Turkey, and for Erdogan, the existence of any PKK enclave in Syria is a threat to Turkey and to his government.

Similarly, within Turkey, domestic politics is affected by the continued presence of Syrian refugees, who live in Turkey in their millions.

"Erdogan has announced a policy of securing and developing rebel-held parts of Idlib, Hama, and Aleppo provinces in Syria's northwest, with the intention of deporting Syrians resident in Turkey there"

Domestic opponents of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) blame the government's Syria policy for the continued presence of refugees, who are targets for harassment and attacks within Turkey.

Erdogan has announced a policy of securing and developing rebel-held parts of Idlib, Hama, and Aleppo provinces in Syria's northwest, with the intention of deporting Syrians resident in Turkey there.

Millions of displaced Syrians from other parts of the country now controlled by the regime of Bashar al-Assad already inhabit Idlib.

These areas are not safe, with an Islamic State (IS) insurgency and resistance from YPG-affiliated groups. Similarly, the residents of Turkish-occupied Syria have in recent weeks protested against the presence of Turkish troops, poor governance, and high food and fuel prices, which affect all of Syria.

Turkish military planners believe that the Kurdish-occupied northwest is the wellspring of some of these tensions and that increasing the Turkish buffer zone within Syria will pacify its border, and provide more territory into which Syrians currently resident in Turkey can be sent.

As a measure of the pressure on both northwest and northeast Syria on refugee movement, in January, the SDF administration attempted to expel Syrian Arabs from portions of its territory, if they did not have a card vouching for their presence.

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“Some AKP supporters are trying to square the circle by framing an operation on Tel Rifaat as creating space for the refugees to go home, but you only have to look at a map to see how small the area is; this is rationalisation, not reasoning,” Kyle Orton, an independent analyst, told The New Arab.

“Turkey has had chronic problems establishing governance in the areas of Syria it holds, and it seems unlikely adding to them will help that. The hopes from supporters of the Syrian revolution that this is a ‘first step’ towards restarting the anti-Assad war are, of course, delusion. Turkey ended its anti-Assad policy in 2016, and the ‘SNA’ will continue to be banned from engaging in offensive operations against the regime,” he added.

According to Suhail al-Ghazi, a Syrian researcher in Turkey, this is mainly happening because of internal Turkish politics.

“It helps with the Turkish plan to send refugees back and reduce the attack on TSK [Turkish armed forces]. Also, no political party except HDP doesn't support an operation against PKK\YPG elements,” al-Ghazi told TNA.

“However, Turkey and Russia didn't include their disagreements on other issues (Libya and Azerbaijan-Armenia) when discussing Syria so I don't think now there's a deal of Syria for Ukraine.”

Geopolitics have also created an opening for new Turkish movement. With Syria balanced between the forces and proxies of Russia, Iran, and Turkey, the country's civil war had largely frozen in place.

Turkey's armed forces have launched previous interventions against the YPG in Syria. [Getty]

But with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the defeating and bogging down of its forces, the Russian leg of the stool has weakened and sagged. Russian forces have reportedly been withdrawn from Syria to fight in Ukraine, as have its allied mercenaries of the Wagner Group and other private military companies.

With Russia less able to resist and with no power to renegotiate, Turkey is freer to pursue an armed solution to what its leaders consider intractable problems.

Turkey's armed forces have launched previous interventions against the YPG in Syria. In 2018, Turkey launched an operation in Afrin canton, followed in the year after by an operation into YPG-controlled northern Syria which established Turkish and allied control of a buffer zone south of the Turkish border.

Overt hostilities have decreased since, but low-level violence is constant. In parts of the region which remain YPG-ruled, including Manbij, Arab residents have protested and fought with authorities. Peace has never reigned.

Because Erdogan's threats to mount further military operations have been near-constant, it has been possible for the possible targets of a new offensive to believe that one might not come.

"Despite the scope of the Turkish operation apparently being mapped out by Erdogan, in practice, confusion predominates - not least geographically"

But now, after a formal announcement of a new Turkish attack on Manbij and Tel Rifaat in the northeast, Kurdish forces are scrambling to arm themselves and to court further international support.

The military leader of the SDF, the YPG general Mazloum Abdi, has claimed that the SDF would willingly ally with the Assad regime against any Turkish encroachment. This alignment has been possible for years; it is now more than likely.

Despite the scope of the Turkish operation apparently being mapped out by Erdogan, in practice, confusion predominates - not least geographically.

“I think this operation will only include Tel Rifaat where most of the attacks against the Turkish army are happening. Whether it will include Manbij it's still unlikely to happen,” al-Ghazi said.

Similarly unpredictable is the nature of resistance which may be offered by the YPG.

“The YPG doesn't have a big chance to resist because of the terrain and the available weapons and military resources. And the YPG-affiliated resistance is not going to have a chance because it doesn't have a base or big support in the Arab-majority areas,” al-Ghazi said.

The populations in Manbij and Tel Rifaat are unhappy amid rising prices and what they consider unrepresentative rule. But that does not mean they would welcome new conflict.

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Militarily, the involvement of the coalition fighting on the Assad regime's behalf also complicates matters. Militias like Lebanese Hezbollah have long fought Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria.

If they were to support the YPG against a Turkish and rebel advance, these groups may not turn back the advance, but they could complicate it.

“But TSK and SNA [Syrian National Army - a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel army] will be on the frontlines with Hezbollah-backed militias in Nubul and Zahraa towns and it may cause a few incidents like in Erbil where Turkish base has been shelled by IRGC-affiliated militias,” said al-Ghazi.

But the situation remains uncertain.

“With Erdogan all things are possible, and he has previously undertaken incursions into Syria after saying he would - despite a broad analytical consensus that this was hot air. So perhaps we are at such a moment again,” said Orton.

“The factors that make one doubt the Turks are about to launch another Syrian operation are: most fundamentally, the Turks have no actual interest in acquiring more Syrian territory - had they wanted Tel Rifaat, for example, they could have taken it at any time over the last half-decade - and with the Syrian issue flaring up in Turkish politics, especially over the refugees, drawing more attention to it is a risky business.”


"Erdogan's bet if he does this is on a swift demonstration of force, for an internal boost as the elections approach and to burnish himself internationally - with the Americans, with NATO [...] and even, more quietly and indirectly, with the Russians"

Any gains could be felt only in domestic politics, and also short-lived. Turkey is mired in other geopolitical controversies, including the request from Sweden and Finland to join NATO due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey has indicated it will oppose those states' membership because of Swedish bans on exporting weapons to Turkey, and Swedish support for the YPG.

“Erdogan's bet if he does this is on a swift demonstration of force, for an internal boost as the elections approach and to burnish himself internationally - with the Americans, with NATO during this showdown with the Swedes and Finns, and even, more quietly and indirectly, with the Russians,” Orton said.

“But in war things can easily go wrong, and if it bogs down or there is some terrible incident leading to a significant loss of life for Turkish soldiers, then it will backfire spectacularly. And, again, given that the benefits of this are minimal, these are high risks.”

James Snell is a writer whose work has appeared in numerous international publications including The Telegraph, Prospect, National Review, NOW News, Middle East Eye and History Today.
Follow him on Twitter: @James_P_Snell