RE: UKRAINE... Here is the latest from journalist PEPE ESCOBAR: UKRAINE UPDATE: WHERE WE STAND Based on a wealth of info already in the open, let’s follow the facts. Washington said it was Putin’s missile. They swore they had evidence. Like in “We know. Trust us”. Sorry, no trust (just look at the historical record). So, no evidence. Just spin. Moscow, via the Defense Ministry, presented hard evidence. And called for an unbiased international investigation. Washington ignored it all – the call and the hard evidence. The US Navy, crammed with state of the art missile defense radars, has been in the Black Sea for weeks now. As much as the Russians, they have tracked every particle flying over Ukraine. And they had a dedicated satellite. Still no evidence. The only risible “evidence” presented so far pictures the acronym salad of US intel agencies spending their time reading blogs and Twitter. They even had to admit on the record they have no proof whatsoever about “Putin’s missile”. Top probability causing the MH17 tragedy: R-60M air-to-air missile shot from a Ukrainian Su-25 – not a Buk (there’s also the possibility of a double down; first a R-60M and THEN a Buk). The missile is very fast. Ideal engagement distance: up to 5 km. That’s how far the Su-25 detected by the Russians (they showed the graphics) was from MH17. SBU – Ukrainian intel – confiscated the recording of Kiev control tower talking to MH17. That would explain why MH17 was overflying a war zone (Malaysian Airlines revealed they were forced to). Then there are the black boxes, which will not de decoded by the Malaysians or by the Dutch, but by the Brits – under Washington’s orders. As The Saker summed up the view of top Russian experts, “the Brits will now let the NSA falsify the data and that falsification will be coordinated with the SBU in Kiev which will eventually release the recordings who will fully ‘confirm’ the ‘authenticity’ of the NSA-doctored recordings from the UK.” To make it more palatable, and erase suspicions about Anglo-American foul play, the Dutch will announce it. Be forewarned. NATO. Chocolateshenko’s forces/militias will hold “joint exercises” with NATO in Ukraine in slightly over a month from now, on September 1; red alert applies, because this is when Chocolateshenko said the slow motion ethnic cleansing of Donbass will be finished (although the cleansers are currently having their asses kicked.) As for the working hypothesis that MH17 was a false flag planned by Washington and botched by Kiev, it remains valid. But still it must be conclusively proved. So far, Moscow, at a minimum, has completely debunked Kiev’s spin. The R2P angle (which I find improbable): Moscow can say that unless the slow motion ethnic cleansing of Donbass stops, they will recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics. So Moscow would be replaying Abkhazia and South Ossetia; a de facto R2P backed by military muscle. True; under international law – which the US NEVER respects, by the way – this is not the same as “invading” Ukraine. Batshit crazy Samantha Power would obviously freak out – but that’s a dose of her own medicine. It would indeed be comparable to what the Americans are doing to the benefit of those Salafi-jihadis in Syria; and better yet, to what the US did in Kosovo. Sanctions; I address this in my upcoming RT piece. Whatever Moscow does, there will be more sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. The key is Europe; as the EU hasn’t a shred of a Plan B to cut Gazprom off the map, European sanctions won’t really bite. Pic: Luhansk = Gaza (this morning)
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:45:42 +0000