Tag: perpetual war

Deadly Blaze Rips Through US-Sanctioned Moscow Electronics Research Building

A huge and deadly fire is raging at a defense technology research center outside of Moscow, which has so far reportedly taken the lives of at least eight people (per BBC citing state media updates, though the casualty count is conflicting).

A building of the Platan Research Institute has been engulfed in flames, widespread social media videos show. It is located in the town of Fryazino in the Moscow region. Importantly, Platan develops radio-electronic systems for Russia’s Defense Ministry, raising suspicion that this could be the result of sabotage or covert attack connected to the war in Ukraine.

Governor Moscow oblast, Andrei Vorobyov, confirmed in a Monday statement that three floors of the building have been overwhelmed by flames. “The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors are on fire,” Mash said Monday.

TASS has cited an eyewitness who saw two people tragically fall to their deaths after they jumped from a window trying to escape the flames and thick smoke. BBC writes:

There are conflicting reports about the building’s purpose. It once homed the Platan Research Institute and defence industry, according to Tass.

A statement to the agency from Ruselectronics, a Russia-owned electronics organisation, said the building has been privately owned since the 1990s. However, opposition media outlets recently reported that Platan was based in the building as late as 2023.

It is not immediately clear what caused the fire, but one eyewitness told Tass that it broke out on the sixth floor before spreading.

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Ukraine’s Attacks on Freedom of Expression Continue

U.S. officials routinely portray Ukraine as a democratic ally and the symbol of an existential fight between freedom and authoritarianism. That simplistic portrayal has intensified since Russia launched its large-scale attack in February 2022. The reality is that Ukraine is a corrupt authoritarian state similar to Russia. Not only does Volodymyr Zelensky’s government not respect civil liberties at home, but also it has tried to impinge on such liberties in the United States.

On three separate occasions since the Russia-Ukraine war began, Kyiv published an “enemies list” of critics with implicitly threatening overtones.   Zelensky and his colleagues clearly have no tolerance for critics, domestic or foreign. Their willingness to target and attempt to intimidate foreign critics became abundantly clear in the summer of 2022, when Zelensky’s government’s Center for Countering Disinformation (partly funded by U.S. taxpayers) published a “blacklist” of such opponents.  Numerous prominent Americans were on that list including University of Chicago professor (and the dean of foreign policy realists) John Mearsheimer, journalist Tucker Carlson, former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Doug Bandow. The ominous, threatening nature of the blacklist became even clearer later in 2022, when the CCD issued a revised roster (including addresses) of the top 35 targets. That narrower, high-priority list denounced those critics as “disinformation terrorists” and “war criminals.” Such conduct definitely is not that of a liberal democracy. Yet official Washington and its media echo chamber continue to ignore Kyiv’s contempt for democratic norms.

The latest attack takes the form of a report “Roller Coaster: From Trumpists to Communists. The forces in the U.S. impeding aid to Ukraine and how they do it.” That report’s author was the U.S. government-supported Ukraine’s “Data Journalism Agency, (TEXTY),” which is listed as an “implementing partner” of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services/TPAS Project.

A devastating analysis by the Spectator’s Ella Johnson noted that the new report listed Americans who were accused of nothing more than “impeding aid to Ukraine.” There were 391 individuals and 76 organizations on the list, including members of the conservative media and even several members of Congress.

The title of the report “oversells the product: it is a substantively thin piece, largely an excuse to smear a large group of Americans who have been skeptical of aid to Ukraine in one form or another,” Senator J.D. Vance and Representative Matt Gaetz wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “The accusations are laughable on their face,” Nation journalist James Carden, who is included on the list, told the Spectator. “And they should be treated with absolute contempt.

The Spectator reached out to several other people named on Ukraine’s TEXTY site. “All I can say is that I am proud to be on the list,” said Dr. Sumatra Maitra, senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America.  “It’s clarifying to see the State Department-funded Ukrainian NGO’s showing their true colors and creating blacklists, demonstrating how utterly Soviet they still are.”

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Russia summons the American ambassador over a deadly attack that Moscow says used US-made missiles

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the American ambassador on Monday to protest what it says was the use of U.S.-made advanced missiles in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-annexed Crimea that reportedly killed four people and wounded more than 150.

Washington “has effectively become a party” to the war on Ukraine’s side, the ministry said in a statement, adding, “Retaliatory measures will certainly follow.” It did not elaborate.

There was no immediate comment from U.S. or Ukrainian officials. The Associated Press could not independently verify Russia’s claims about the missiles used.

Kyiv’s forces have relied heavily on Western-supplied weaponry since Russia’s invasion more than three years ago. The military aid has been crucial in allowing Ukraine to hold the Kremlin’s army at bay, with few major changes along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine for many months.

Some Western countries have hesitated over providing more — and more sophisticated — help for Kyiv’s army because of concerns about potentially provoking the Kremlin. But as Ukraine has at times struggled to hold the line against Russia’s bigger and better-equipped military, Western leaders have gradually relented and granted more support.

In the latest key development, the Pentagon said last week that Ukraine’s military is being allowed to use longer-range missiles provided by the U.S. to strike targets inside Russia if it is acting in self-defense. Since the outset of the war, the U.S. had maintained a policy of not allowing Ukraine to use the weapons it provided to hit targets on Russian soil for fear of further escalating the conflict.

Crimea, which Russian annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that most of the world rejected as unlawful, long had been declared a fair target for Ukraine by its Western allies.

Russian authorities said that the dead in Sunday’s attack included two children who were hit by falling debris from Ukrainian missiles that were shot down over a coastal area in Sevastopol, a port city in Crimea. It said cluster munitions, which critics say harm more civilians than combatants, were also used.

Russia said the missiles were U.S.-made ATACMS, a long-range, guided missile. It summoned U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy to the Foreign Ministry.

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Israel bombed southern Lebanon with banned white phosphorus munitions: Report

Israeli forces in recent months have targeted forests and populated areas in southern Lebanon with internationally banned white phosphorus bombs and munitions, local media reports say.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the most recent attacks occurred near the town of Kfar Kila.

Israeli forces are also carrying out “a search operation” near Kfar Kila from their base in Metula, a town on the northern side of the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories.

The report further says the attacks endangered civilians’ lives and caused massive fires in the region.

Israel continues to use white phosphorus munitions in south Lebanon, causing lasting damage and driving villagers away.

A series of reports have said that white phosphorus attacks are “putting civilians at grave risk” and “contributing to displacement”.

A recent investigation by Qatar-based al-Jazeera found that Israel had dropped 117 phosphoric bombs on southern Lebanon, striking at least 32 towns and villages between October and March.

The impacted area spanned nearly the entirety of Lebanon’s 100km southern border with the occupied territories. Israel’s repeated use of white phosphorous has drawn the ire of international humanitarian organizations.

On March 19, Oxfam called on the administration of US President Joe Biden to “immediately suspend arms transfers to Israel.”

Israel reportedly used US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon, according to a Washington Post investigation in December.

Photos and videos verified by international rights groups and reviewed by The Post show the characteristic ribbons of white phosphorus smoke falling over Dheira, a southern Lebanese village, on October 16.

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Appetite for Destruction: US Gambles on New Texas Factory to Churn Out Ammo for Ukraine

The Ukraine proxy conflict continues to feed the insatiable US cycle of arms spending and production, with yet another newly-unveiled manufacturing facility joining its ranks.

A Texas factory that reportedly cost US$500 million to build is geared towards boosting the gravy train of US warmongers.

NATO’s proxy conflict in Ukraine has an avid appetite for ammunition and has eaten its way into both US and EU stocks with lackluster results to show for it. The Pentagon is hoping the General Dynamics facility in Mesquite, Texas, will help satiate this ammo craving.

American factories in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, together produce about 36,000 155mm shells per month. Managed by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD.N), the new Universal Artillery Projectile Lines facility jam-packed with cutting-edge machinery can churn out 30,000 units per month for the Kiev regime.

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New evidence US blocked Ukraine-Russia peace deal, and a new Ukrainian excuse for walking away

Since the collapse of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in April-May 2022, the Biden administration and establishment US media have maintained a near-total vow of silence.

Even as Russian President Vladmir Putin has directly accused the US and UK of sabotaging the negotiations in Istanbul, President Biden and his top principals have never offered a rebuttal, and no major US outlet has bothered to seek one. The lone exception was an anonymous senior administration official, who told the Wall Street Journal’s Yaroslav Trofimov that Russian complaints were “Utter bulls—.” The official added: “I know for a fact the United States didn’t pull the plug on that. We were watching it carefully.”

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Top US Law Schools Present Undeniable Evidence Of Israel’s Gaza Genocide

On May 15, the University Network for Human Rights (UNHR), a U.S.-based advocacy group training undergraduates in human rights law at colleges and universities worldwide to counter abusive state, corporate, or private conduct, published a 105-page analysis of international law and its application to Israel’s military actions since October 7, 2023. Drawing on extensive evidence and historical legal precedents, the findings leave no doubt that Israel has committed horrific breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention in Gaza.

A collaborative effort by some of the West’s most prestigious law schools, the report has now been submitted to the United Nations. The institution has yet to comment on the UNHR investigation’s irrefutable, bombshell contents. The mainstream media has also remained silent. Given the complicity of Western journalists in whitewashing and justifying unconscionable crimes in Gaza, this is not surprising. However, the silence has been so pervasive that the report may have even gone unnoticed by committed Palestine solidarity activists.

This silence is itself an injustice, as the UNHR has produced a singular, indispensable resource for factually, legally, and morally refuting the arguments and assertions of Zionists and their allies, old and new. The report details, in devastating forensic detail, the variety of deplorable, murderous ways in which the Israeli state and its operatives at every level are culpable for committing genocide in Gaza, from public expressions of “blatant and unequivocal dehumanization and cruelty” to military actions explicitly designed to maximize Palestinian slaughter.

As defined in the Genocide Convention of 1948 and interpreted by international courts and tribunals, the crime of genocide requires that a perpetrator kill, seriously harm, or inflict conditions of life calculated to destroy a group, in whole or in part, with the intent to destroy that group. Thomas Becker, UNHR’s legal director, tells MintPress News: “What’s happening now is both unprecedented and, in many ways, a textbook case of genocide.”

Five days after the publication of the UNHR’s landmark investigation, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan announced his intent to indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for numerous crimes against humanity and atrocities committed since October 7, 2023. While it remains uncertain whether they will ever face justice, the Network’s report should inspire governments and citizens worldwide to work relentlessly towards achieving that righteous goal.

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Here’s Why the World is Falling Apart (and What You Can Do About It!)

Do you ever get the feeling that everything is breaking down all at once?

Forget about starting a family or buying a house. It’s becoming harder and harder for young men and women just to put food on the table.

And those lucky ones who defy the odds and manage to start a family sure aren’t spending their time at neighbourhood barbecues while the kids play a game of pick-up street hockey. Today, they’d be lucky to pry the kids away from their device long enough for them to notice that there are other kids in their neighbourhood. Not that the parents are any better at living life.

What’s everyone doing on those devices? Scrolling through their never-ending social media feeds of doom porn and ragebait, of course! They’re busy watching Israel holocaust Palestine and NATO inch closer to nuclear war with Russia and people at home engaging in public freakouts as society disintegrates and the world devolves into madness.

That faith in the ability of hard work and determination to help us all improve the planet and leave a better place for our children? Gone. Replaced by a sinking feeling that the world is heading to hell in a handbasket and that maybe it isn’t worth saving anyway.

Yes, from the macrocosm of geopolitical crises and financial trickery to the microcosm of economic disintegration and spiritual malaise, it seems like everything that could go wrong is going wrong. Increasingly, it feels like we’re just bystanders watching the messy spectacle play out on our screens, digital drivers rubbernecking at the car crash of chaos unfolding on the information superhighway.

But did you know that there’s a name for this phenomenon? And that it’s part of a years-long plan by the powers-that-shouldn’t-be to destabilize the world and move their agenda forward? And did you also know that by merely watching this disaster taking place, we’re actually helping that plan along?

No? Well, you’re about to learn all about it! Let’s dig in.

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Is Joe Biden Issuing Legal Orders to the US Military?

Is it legal for a U.S. president to order American troops to take action that enables a genocide? I should think not. The president takes essentially the same oath of office as military members do. Its essential thrust is supporting and defending the U.S. Constitution. As the civilian commander-in-chief, the President issues orders to the military that are of course authoritative, that must be obeyed, except when those orders are illegal. So, for example, U.S. presidents shouldn’t be able to order torture, nor should they be able to issue orders that contribute to genocide, and, if they do, service members are within their rights to refuse to obey such orders. Indeed, if they put “integrity first” (the leading Air Force core value) as well as the U.S. Constitution, one might argue that should feel compelled by conscience to disobey.

It’s not an easy issue for sure, because the Biden administration claims that Israel is not prosecuting a genocide in Gaza. In fact, the Biden administration sees Israel as a vital ally to America, fully deserving of near-total U.S. support, therefore any service member who objects to orders on legal or moral grounds runs up against the full authority and weight of the chain of command.

Honestly, I’m glad I was never put in this position when I was in the U.S. military. Yet I still think about it. How would I feel as an Air Force officer loading or flying 2000-pound bombs to Israel to be dropped on Palestinians in Gaza? How would I feel as a Navy officer covering the flanks of Israel so that the IDF can concentrate its forces in murderous assaults on Gaza? How would these and similar actions be in the cause of defending America and supporting the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic?

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People Surprised and Worried by UK Army Ad Showing Exclusively White People

People have expressed ominous surprise that the British military is once again targeting white men in recruitment ads, with some seeing it as a sign that war is coming.

“After being totally dismissed from adverts for years now, the lesser spotted white male is now seemingly making quite the comeback for UK Military Ads,” commented an X user.

The UK Army clip in question appears to feature exclusively white people and features no diversity whatsoever, despite previous military ads and TV commercials in general being full of it.

It shows a white British soldier and his comrades, who all appear to be white too, helping a group of anguished people, who are also entirely white, evacuate an area.

“What’s your gut saying? Do nothing? Or help? You’ve got the instincts. Now get the training,” says a voiceover.

“When the UK Military start putting out new adverts, actually featuring White Men, you best believe they’re taking us to war,” commented one individual.

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