Ukrainian army put on combat Alert, Ukraine’s Navy flagship Defects

Update: 2014 March 02 

 

Armed servicemen wait near Russian army vehicles in the Crimean town of Balaclava on March 1, 2014

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/03/01/352841/ukraine-army-put-on-combat-alert/

The Ukrainian army has been put on a combat alert as the interim president says any Russia’s military intervention will lead to a war in the crisis-hit country.

Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov made the announcement on Saturday after meeting with the country’s security and defense chiefs.

Turchynov warned Russia against military intervention, saying such a move could lead to a war.

He also added that there was no justification for what he called Russian aggression.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s new Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said he had urged Russia, in a phone call with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, to return its troops to their base in Ukraine’s autonomous region of Crimea.

Earlier in the day, the Russian parliament approved President Vladimir Putin’s request to deploy troops into Crimea.

"The Duma Council adopted an appeal to the president of Russia, in which parliamentarians are calling on the president to take measures to stabilize the situation in Crimea and use all available means to protect the people of the Crimea from tyranny and violence," Lower House Speaker Sergey Naryshkin said.

The developments came after Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksenov asked Putin to help restore peace and calm in the region.

The mission in Crimea is necessary to protect ethnic Russians, and the troops in the peninsula known as the Black Sea Fleet, Putin said.

Putin has yet to decide on the troop deployment. But reports emerging from the region show two Russian anti-submarine warships have appeared off the Ukraine coast.

McCain to Obama: Take steps against Putin over Ukraine crisis

 

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/03/01/352835/sen-mccain-urges-obama-to-stop-putin/

US Republican Senator John McCain has called on the Obama administration to take action against Russian President Vladimir Putin over the crisis in Ukraine.

During a speech on Friday, President Barack Obama said he is “deeply concerned” by reports Moscow had sent troops into Ukraine’s Crimea region and warned that “there will be costs” for any military intervention in Ukraine.

In a statement on Saturday, the US senator said President Obama should "articulate exactly what those costs will be and to take steps urgently to impose them."

"None of us should be under any illusion about what President Putin is capable of doing in Ukraine," McCain said.

"Every moment that the United States and our allies fail to respond sends the signal to President Putin that he can be even more ambitious and aggressive in his military intervention in Ukraine," he added.

"There is a range of serious options at our disposal at this time without the use of military force," the hawkish Arizona senator said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Russian parliament approved Putin’s request to deploy troops into the autonomous region of Crimea.

According to Putin, the mission is necessary to protect ethnic Russians and the military base in Crimea known as the Black Sea Fleet.

The Russian president has yet to decide on the troop deployment, but reports emerging from the region show two Russian anti-submarine warships have appeared off the Ukraine coast.

Meanwhile, US Senator Bob Corker called for immediate sanctions against Russia.

"Vladimir Putin is seizing a neighboring territory — again — so President Obama must lead a meaningful, unified response," Corker said in a statement.

Ukrainian Navy flagship takes Russia’s side – report

 

The Ukrainian Krivak class frigate Hetman Sahaydachny (Reuters / Gleb Garanich)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/ukraine-navy-flaghsip-protest-389/

Ukraine’s Navy flagship, the Hetman Sahaidachny frigate, has reportedly refused to follow orders from Kiev, and come over to Russia’s side and is returning home after taking part in NATO operation in the Gulf of Aden flying the Russian naval flag.

There has been conflicting information on where exactly the vessel is, but a Russian senator has confirmed to Izvestia daily that the frigate defected to the Russian side.

“Ukraine’s Navy flagship the Hetman Sahaidachny has come over to our side today. It has hung out the St Andrew’s flag,” Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the committee on the international affairs, told Izvestia daily.

He said the flagship is on its way back to the Black Sea after drills in the Mediterranean. “The crew has fulfilled the order by the chief commander of Ukraine’s armed forces Viktor Yanukovich,” he added.

The move comes after the Navy command resigned Friday. Self-appointed President Aleksandr Turchinov made Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky the new Navy Chief, a statement published on the President’s website Saturday said.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Prime Minister of Ukraine had earlier asked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to let the frigate through the Bosporus strait, according to the Kiev Times. The ship captain and the head of Ukraine’s contingent in the operation, Rear Admiral Andrey Tarasov disobeyed orders from Kiev.

The Hetman Sahaidachny returns to Sevastopol, Crimea after taking part in a joint counter-piracy operation with NATO and the EU off the Horn of Africa, reported UNN on Friday, citing Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. On February 26, after crossing the Suez Canal, the ship entered the Mediterranean Sea and was expected to be in Sevastopol in early March.

 

Udated: 2014 March 02

Ukraine’s Navy Chief Swears Allegiance to Crimea

Source: Russia Today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYQvVqBZSsI

News Updates on the unfolding events in Ukraine

 

Putin faces down Obama over Ukraine

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin

By: Finian Cunningham

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/03/01/352833/putin-faces-down-obama-over-ukraine/

American exceptionalism has gone into overdrive with stern warnings from US President Barack Obama to Russia to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and to not destabilize the region.

By "American exceptionalism" we mean Washington's seemingly unlimited capacity for exceptional arrogance and double think.

Obama has not yet accused Russia outright of "military invasion" in the crisis-torn country, but that was the clear inference from his weekend press conference. In a veiled threat of military confrontation, the American president warned that there would be "costs" for Moscow.

"Any violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity will be deeply destabilizing and the US stands with the international community to affirm that there will be costs [for this violation]," said Obama in a hastily arranged media statement in Washington on Friday.

The White House is obviously rattled by reports of Russian troop movements across Ukraine's southern Crimean Peninsula. Moscow says that its military presence in the autonomous Crimean republic of Ukraine is fully in accord with a long-standing legal agreement to have its soldiers stationed there as part of its Black Sea naval base.

That agreement was renewed in 2010 between Moscow and Kiev for a further 20 years, affording Russian military presence in the Crimea, particularly the naval base at Sevastopol, which is headquarters for Russia's Black Sea fleet.

Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin denied that Russia had invaded Ukraine's territory and said, "We are operating under this agreement [with Ukraine]."

Events in Crimea took on a chaotic twist in recent days when unknown armed men took over the local parliament and the Russian flag was hoisted. There were also other reports of large troop deployments at the main civilian airport and other facilities. Soldiers were not wearing identifiable uniforms, but there were unconfirmed reports that armored vehicles bore Russian military insignia.

Under the existing military lease of the naval base at Crimea's Sevastopol, Russia is permitted to station thousands of troops on the Peninsula, and Moscow has in the past routinely engaged in maneuvers there.

However, it is stretching naivety to believe Moscow's claims that the recent surge in military movements is merely "routine". The Crimean activity coincides with other large-scale mobilization of Russian troops as well as military aircraft on Russia's broader border with Ukraine.

But here's the laughable irony of Obama's protestations. The latest apparent Russian military moves follow months of US-sponsored destabilization in Ukraine. This illegal and covert American interference has trampled all over Ukrainian sovereignty, which ironically Obama is now accusing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of doing.

Since Ukraine spurned a tentative trade agreement with the European Union at the end of last November, street protests have escalated in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Washington and its European allies, including Britain, France and Germany, have done everything to escalate these protests, from high-profile political statements to clandestine military infiltration through the organs of the CIA. The demonstrations in Kiev quickly took on a quasi-military character with sinister fascist elements using firearms and other forms of violence to seize and occupy government buildings. That rapidity betrays the pre-meditated external nature of the "protests".

There are reliable reports that many of the deaths in clashes between Ukrainian police and protesters were actually caused by Western-backed provocateurs and snipers in a deliberate attempt to inflame the crisis. Washington has infiltrated Ukraine with the CIA and a myriad other so-called "non-governmental organizations" since the early 1990s - with the objective of agitating regime change in the former Soviet Republic.

US State Department official Victoria Nuland recently disclosed that Washington has "invested" some $5 billion in "promoting democracy" (that is, subversion and sedition) in Ukraine over the past two decades.

The crisis came to a head when the embattled elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled suddenly from his office last week and went into exile in Russia. The Ukrainian parliament has since been taken over by his Western-backed opponents and a new interim government installed. Washington and Brussels swiftly moved to recognize this so-called new authority in Kiev, but Russia, with sound legal reasoning, has denounced the sacking of the elected Yanukovych and his government as a coup d'état.

The turmoil in Ukraine has therefore all the hallmarks of a Washington-led regime-change operation. Needless to say that is a wholly criminal interference that makes a mockery of international law. The ultimate target of this meddling, as has been brazenly stated over many years since the early 1990s by Zbigniew Brzezinski and other US imperial planners, is the destabilization of Russia itself.

Risibly, Washington's new puppet president in Kiev, Oleksandr Turchynov, has now accused Russian forces of "seizing and capturing" the regional parliament and other government buildings in Ukraine's southern Crimea. This complaint comes from political agitators who used violence and other crimes, including the murder of policemen, to seize government buildings in Kiev, culminating in the ousting of an elected president.

In all this, Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained a cagey silence. But the Russian leader knows only too well the depth of American deception and hypocrisy, and Washington's covert agenda for regime change - an agenda which is being ruthlessly pursued against Russia's Arab ally, Syria.

For now, Moscow seems to be effecting an air of calm legality and playing by the rules, citing that its troops in Crimea are part of its bilateral military agreement with the Ukraine.

But, off the record, the Americans know that what Putin is really saying is this: "You want to break the law, well, OK, we can break it too. Now back off!"

Rules of sovereignty and international law are out the window, and it is Washington and its European puppets who threw all norms out that window with their incessant, illegal interference in Ukraine. Ukrainian territory, and its centuries of shared history, is a vital interest for Russia.

Putin is entirely right to lay down an unspoken military marker to Washington over Ukraine, just like he did when the Americans tried to mess militarily with South Ossetia in 2008 through its NATO proxy, Georgia.

American exceptionalism of arrogance and lawlessness does not understand the language of diplomacy. The only language it responds to is blunt force talking back to force.

--------------------------------

 

Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. Originally from Belfast, Ireland, he is now located in East Africa as a freelance journalist, where he is writing a book on Bahrain and the Arab Spring, based on eyewitness experience working in the Persian Gulf as an editor of a business magazine and subsequently as a freelance news correspondent. The author was deported from Bahrain in June 2011 because of his critical journalism in which he highlighted systematic human rights violations by regime forces. He is now a columnist on international politics for Press TV and the Strategic Culture Foundation

News Updates on the unfolding events in Ukraine

 

Russian senators vote to send military forces to Ukrainian territory

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/russia-ukraine-approve-miltary-371/

Russia’s Federation Council has unanimously approved President Vladimir Putin’s request to use Russian military forces in Ukraine. The move is aimed to settle the turmoil in the split country.

The upper house of the Russian parliament has voted in favor of sending troops to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which would ensure peace and order in the region “until the socio-political situation in the country is stabilized.”

The debate in the Federation Council has revealed that Russian MPs are united on the issue, with many of them sharing concerns on the recent events in Ukraine. The common notion was that since the power was seized in Kiev, the situation has only been deteriorating with radical nationalists rapidly coming to power and threatening the lives of those opposing their actions, most notably the Russian citizens living in Ukraine.

Taking the decision to use the Armed Forces in Ukraine does not mean that it will be carried out immediately, Grigory Karasin, Putin’s official representative in the Federation Council, has said.

“The approval, which the President [Vladimir Putin] will receive, does not literally mean that this right will be used promptly,” Karasin said.
 

Violence leaves dozens of protesters injured in Kharkiv

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/03/01/352806/dozens-injured-in-ukraine-rallies/

Dozens of pro-Russian protesters have been injured in northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv amid escalation of violence between supporters and opponents of the new government.

Violence further escalated on Saturday after pro-Russia activists broke into the regional governor’s headquarters and raised the Russian flag, after which gunshots were heard both from inside and outside the building of the regional administration.

Some 20,000 people joined the protest against Kiev's new pro-Western government, which claimed power after the ouster of Kremlin-backed leader, Viktor Yanukovych.

Later, almost 300 people launched the assault on the government building, and stones and stun grenades were thrown though it was unclear by whom.

A similar pro-Russia rally has also been held in the eastern city of Donetsk, where tens of thousands of people marched in support of Crimea’s demand for the country to rejoin Russia. Leaflets were distributed in which the people were urged not to obey the new pro-western government in Kiev.

The rallies come as Crimea's new Prime Minister Sergei Aksenov has called for a referendum on March 30, instead of May 25, for the people in the 2.2 million-population region to decide whether they want to remain as part of Ukraine, join Russia or form an independent state.

This comes as Ukraine’s acting president has signed a decree, declaring the appointment of a pro-Russia premier in the Crimea region as illegal.

News Updates on the unfolding events in Ukraine

 

Gunmen from Kiev attempted to seize Crimea's Interior Ministry overnight - Russia

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/russia-crimea-sieze-gunmen-344/

Unknown armed men from Kiev have tried to seize the Crimean Interior Ministry overnight, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It's as Crimea's PM urges Russia to help cope with the crisis, ensuring "peace and calm" in the region.

“Thanks to the decisive action of self-defense squads, the attempt to seize the building of the Interior Ministry was derailed. This attempt confirms the intention of prominent political circles in Kiev to destabilize the situation on the peninsula,” the statement added.

"We believe it is extremely irresponsible to further pressure the already tense situation in the Crimea," the ministry stated stressing its concerns over the latest developments in the region.

Facts you need to know about Crimea and why it is in turmoil

Earlier, Crimea's Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov declared that firearms have been used in the clashes in the region, Itar-Tass news agency reported. The PM said the local Ministers' Council and Supreme Court came under an attack.

He said he would temporarily manage all national security forces in the region, including police, emergency services and the Interior Ministry.

“All chiefs of staff should follow my orders. As for those who disagree, I ask them to leave the service,” Aksyonov said in an urgent statement to the region’s security forces.

Aksyonov said he had asked Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to “help ensure peace and calm on the territory of the autonomous region.” The request, the premier said, was due to “the understanding of the responsibility for the life and safety of the residents.”

Russian MPs urge Putin to react to Crimea crisis

A source in the Kremlin administration replied, “Russia won’t ignore that address,” Russian news agencies reported. Later in the day, both chambers of the Russian parliament asked Putin to take measures to ensure stability in Crimea.

"The Duma Council adopted an appeal to the president of Russia, in which parliamentarians are calling on the president to take measures to stabilize the situation in Crimea and use all available means to protect the people of Crimea from tyranny and violence," said Lower House speaker Sergey Naryshkin.

The State Duma also said that currently it is impossible to conduct legitimate and democratic elections in Ukraine due to actions of “radical forces.”

The Upper Chamber of the Russian Parliament admitted a limited number of Russian troops could be brought to Crimea to ensure safety, speaker Valentina Matvienko said.

“It’s possible in this situation, complying with a request by the Crimean government, even to bring a limited contingent of our troops to ensure the safety of the Black Sea Fleet and the Russian citizens living on the Crimea territory. The decision is for the president, the chief military commander, to make of course. But today, taking the situation into account, even that variant can’t be excluded. We need to protect the people,” Matvienko said.

In their turn, Ukraine’s self-proclaimed authorities urged Moscow to “withdraw troops and comply with bilateral agreements” and “resolve the crisis peacefully and politically,” interim President Arseny Yatsenyuk said.

This comes despite Russia’s repeated statements that all military operations in the region fall within in the framework of the agreement that concerns the Russian naval base in the Black Sea.

Although Western politicians and the media have expressed concern over Russia’s alleged involvement in Crimea, they have not been able to produce any solid evidence. A US State Department spokeswoman told a press conference they have no confirmation of “intervention” in Crimea.

So far, Moscow and the Crimean authorities have agreed to guard objects belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, whose main base is located in Sevastopol, according to RIA Novosti.

Crimeans began protesting after the new self-proclaimed government in Kiev introduced a law abolishing the use of other languages in official circumstances in Ukraine. More than half the Crimean population are Russian and use only this language for their communication. The residents have announced they are going to hold a referendum on March 30 to determine the fate of the Ukrainian autonomous region.

News Updates on the unfolding events in Ukraine

 

 

Obama threatens Syrian president with more Terrorist Attacks

 

UPDATE: 2014, Feb. 16th

 

 

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/15/350819/obama-threatens-syria-with-more-pressure/

US President Barack Obama has threatened that he will step up pressure on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Obama’s threat came after he hosted King Abdullah II of Jordan at the Sunnylands retreat in Palm Springs, California, where the two discussed, among other things, the unrest in Syria.

The US president said on Friday that he and his royal guest had decided they should take steps “to apply more pressure to the Assad regime.”

“We are going to need a political transition in that region,” Obama said in what sounded like a veiled reference to the announced goal of removing President Assad.

"There will be some intermediate steps that we can take to apply more pressure to the Assad regime, and we’re going to be continuing to work with all the parties concerned to try to move forward on a diplomatic solution,” he said, without specifying what those steps might be.

Several reports have shown over the past year that the US has been covertly training insurgents in Jordan to fight against the Syrian government.

Reports have also revealed that the US shipped weapons to Jordan in order to arm the foreign-backed militant groups.

During the meeting with Jordan’s king, Obama also pledged $1 billion in loan guarantees to Jordan and a renewal of a five-year aid package, which is worth $660 million a year and expires in September.

Shortly after the Geneva II talks between representatives of the Syrian government and the foreign-backed opposition ended with no deals on February 1, insurgents said that Washington had increased direct funding to their commanders in Jordan in order to ramp up pressure on Assad’s government before the next round of talks.

“From now until the next round of talks in Geneva, Assad will be under real pressure — he will feel more pressure from opposition forces,” a militant commander cited a US official as saying.

The “next round of talks in Geneva,” to which the US official had referred, broke off without any results on Saturday as both the Syrian opposition and government officials confirmed that they have been unable to make any progress, with each side sticking to its own position.

---------------------

End arms supply to Syria militants: Iran Envoy

 

Foreign-backed militants in Syria (file photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/15/350824/end-arms-supply-to-syria-militants/

Iranian ambassador to Lebanon has renewed call for an end to foreign arms and financial aid to foreign-sponsored militants fighting against the Syrian government.

“If there is really a political will in the UN and the international community for the settlement of the Syria crisis, the flow of money and arms to terrorists in Syria from outside must be stopped so that there will be a possibility for an end to violence and the start of true negotiations,” Ghazanfar Roknabadi said in a meeting with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly.

The UN official, for his part, underlined the need for addressing issues related to the Syrian refugees, urging that practical measures should be taken to find a political solution to Syria crisis.

Syria has been plagued by deadly crisis since March 2011.

Saudi Arabia has been the main supplier of weapons and funds to foreign-backed militants inside Syria. The United States is also said to have stepped up its financial support for the militants.

This comes as the second round of negotiations between the Syrian government and the foreign-backed opposition in the Swiss city of Geneva hit a deadlock due to sharp differences between the two sides.

UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said on Saturday that talks to resolve the Syrian crisis broke off without any result and no date has been yet set for another round.

The Syrian delegation says fighting terrorism should be the top priority. But the opposition insists that formation of a transitional government and resignation of President Bashar al-Assad must come first.

--------------------------------

UPDATE: 2014 Feb 16
 

McCain urges Syria military intervention

 

 

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/16/350950/mccain-urges-syria-military-intervention/

 

Hawkish US Senator John McCain has called on the Obama administration to employ its already-devised plan of military intervention against the Syrian government.

 

“The only way to achieve success at Geneva is to change the balance of power on the ground,” McCain said in a statement on Saturday, referring to the failure of the so-called Syria peace talks in Geneva.

 

“There are options far short of an Iraq-style invasion that can, and should, be employed to change the calculation of the Syrian regime, stem the violence, and ultimately achieve a negotiated political solution,” he added.

 

The second round of negotiations ended on Saturday without any concrete results about the unrest in Syria.

 

“The second round of Syria peace talks ended today with no progress toward a negotiated political settlement to the conflict and UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi recognizing that failure is looming,” McCain said.

 

“After three weeks of talks, we are moving further and further away from a peaceful political solution,” he argued.

 

The Arizona Republican senator also criticized President Barack Obama for allowing Russia to put pressure on him.

 

“Russia has recently prevented the passage of a much-needed UN resolution on bringing aid to desperate Syrian civilians,” he said. “Such actions indicate that the Russian government is simply not a partner for peace in Syria and cannot be relied on to help secure a successful outcome.”

 

During a press conference on Friday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said there is no military solution for the crisis in Syria.

 

“The crisis in Syria is a crisis. The circumstances on the ground are horrific that is why we have to bring the parties together to try to compel them towards a negotiated political settlement because there isn’t a military solution here,” Carney said.
 

-----------------------------------------

 

 

The Demon John McCain

 

By: Stewart Brennan

 

Behold the one in power, behold the one foretold,

Know him by his actions, and the soul that he has sold.

Illusions of god like powers, decorated in blood,

Death plagues and destruction, arriving in his flood.

 

He delights in money laundered, owned by Patrician creeds

He lays siege on humanity, and tramples on peoples needs.

He praises terror minions and delights in others pain

The evil that commands it all is none other than John McCain.

 

Terror legions unleashed, bloodthirsty to the bone,

They wait for their commandments, McCain is sure to phone

“Thou shalt kill thy neighbour, do plunder and terror things”

these are just a few words that John McCain sings.

 

“Heil hail, the world is falling down,

Grinding people to the ground.

Greed, corruption, famine, and frowns

there’s death and destruction all around.”

 

McCainish demons surface, with weapons from evil dens

Sacrificing the lives of women, children, and men.

Revoke his power I say, and those that he’s defended

John McCain the traitor, must be apprehended.

 

I take no pity on monsters, nor pleasure in what is sung,

But if mankind’s to survive, then John McCain must be hung.

 

 

EU / Ukraine Agreement a NATO Trojan Horse

 

Article: Is NATO’s Trojan Horse Riding Towards the “Ukraine Spring”? 

By: Dennis Kucinich

News Source: Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-j-kucinich/ukraine-nato_b_4435637.html

Ukrainian citizens have rallied in the bitter cold at Independence Square in Kiev to demand a better economic future and to protest President Viktor Yanukovych's failure to sign an economic agreement with the EU.

But while the draft of the EU "Association Agreement" is being sold as an economic boon for Ukrainian citizens, in reality it appears to be NATO's Trojan Horse: a massive expansion of NATO's military position in the region. What's more, the Agreement occurs under the cover of nebulous economic promises for a beset population hungering for better wages.

In a country where the average monthly minimum wage stands at about $150 USD, it's not hard to understand why Ukrainians are in the streets. They do not want to be in Russia's orbit, nor do they want to be pawns of NATO.

But is the plight of Ukrainians being exploited to usher in a new military agreement under the guise of economic reform?

For NATO, the goal is expansion. The prize is access to a country that shares a 1,426-mile border with Russia. The geopolitical map would be dramatically reshaped by the Agreement, with Ukraine serving as the new front for Western missile defense at the doorstep of Russia. Should the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran fall apart, Ukraine could be employed in larger regional disputes, too.

As an EU deal appears imminent, few people are asking questions about NATO's role in the deal, which was meant to facilitate jobs and trade. Economic conditions in Ukraine are dire: $15 billion in IMF loans suspended, danger of default and a zero growth forecast.

While NATO is not specifically mentioned in the draft of the "Association Agreement," the proposal, which was posted online (and translated to English here) by the Ukrainian cabinet in August, pledges convergence of foreign and security policy.

Read: NATO expansion.

For instance, in the draft of the Agreement, foreign and security policy mandates:

“The Parties shall explore the potential of military and technological cooperation. Ukraine and the European Defence Agency (EDA) will establish close contacts to discuss military capability improvement, including technological issues.”

The draft of the Agreement's preamble links Ukraine to "ever closer convergence of positions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest" including the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) -- which underscores the military nature of the agreement.

Since 22 of 28 members of the EU have NATO membership, there is little doubt that Ukraine is being drawn into the broad military arrangement with EU nations.

If the EU Agreement is ratified, Ukraine will inevitably spend a higher percentage of its GDP for military purposes, steering critical resources from social programs and job opportunities. In 2012, Ukraine's military budget already increased 30 percent to $2 billion, representing a comparatively low 1.1 percent of GDP. NATO members agree to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.

NATO members are also under pressure to contribute more and more of their GDP to military expenditures. "It is time to move beyond the '2 percent rule,'" says the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, in his farewell remarks in June, 2013, described the sentiment:

"The gap between American and European contributions to the Alliance is widening to an unsustainable level. Something must be done. The trends need to be reversed."

When military spending goes up, domestic spending goes down. The winners are unlikely to be the people of Ukraine, but instead the "people" of Lockheed-Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and other defense interests. The Ukrainians didn't go to Independence Square to rally for NATO. Yet NATO's benefit is clear. Less clear is whether Ukrainians will receive key economic benefits they seek.

To wit, the preamble to the Agreement is hazy on the implementation of visa-free travel for citizens of Ukraine, a crucial incentive for struggling workers seeking better jobs. The draft of the Agreement is vague, calling for the visa issue to be introduced "in due course." It also asserts that EU nations could block the movement of self-employed Ukrainians to other job markets.

For Greece, Spain and others, EU membership hasn't turned out to be a shining economic savior. The return of austerity policies reminds one of Naomi Klein's warning about the perils of disaster capitalism, in which instability opens the door for exploitation from outside forces.

For the protesters in Kiev, standing tall for democracy and economic opportunity, there's suddenly a new worry: Disaster Militarism. Ukrainians may be pro-EU, but are the EU and NATO pro-Ukrainian?
---------------------------------

Dennis J. Kucinich is a former 16-year member of Congress and two-time U.S. presidential candidate.
Visit his Official website: www.kucinichaction.com

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Links:

EU / Ukraine Association Agreement (PDF)(English)

http://glavcom.ua/pub/2012_11_19_EU_Ukraine_Association_Agreement_English.pdf
Draft of the EU Association Agreement (PDF)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2013/0290/COM_COM(2013)0290(PAR2)_EN.pdf
IMF Repeats Loan Demands on Ukraine
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-31/ukraine-vows-to-curb-reserves-plunge-as-imf-repeats-loan-demands.html

 

Saudi Arabia passes draconian law that criminalizes opinion as terrorism

Saudi Arabia criminalizes ‘terrorists’ defaming state’s reputation, disturbing order

 

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/saudi-arabia-counterterrorism-law-556/

Actions that threaten Saudi Arabia’s unity, disturb public order, or defame the reputation of the state or the king – will be considered acts of terrorism under a new counterterrorism law which has come into force in the gulf kingdom.

The new legislature was ratified by King Abdullah on Sunday after being approved by the Cabinet in December, following the initial proposal by the Interior Ministry and advisory Shura Council.

It defines terrorism as “any act carried out by an offender … intended to disturb the public order…to shake the security of society… stability of the state… expose its national unity to danger… suspend the basic law of governance or some of its articles,” according to its text as cited by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Terrorists can also be considered those individuals who “insult the reputation of the state or its position… inflict damage upon one of its public utilities or its natural resources,” or those who attempt to force “governmental authority to carry out or prevent it from carrying out an action, or to threaten to carry out acts that lead to the named purposes or incite [these acts].”

The legislation, made up of 40 clauses, allows the security forces to arrest and detain suspects for up to six months with the possibility to extend the confinement for another six months. Suspects are allowed to be held incommunicado for 90 days without the presence of their lawyer during the initial questioning.

Internet surveillance and phone tracking are also allowed under the new legislature, as well as the right for the security services to raid the homes of suspected terrorists, without prior approval from a judge. People suspected of financing terrorist activities could also be prosecuted.

The interior minister, rather than any judge, is empowered to suspend sentences or drop charges and release a person on trial.

When the legislature was approved in December, HRW lashed out against the Kingdom’s strive to limit freedom of speech and criticized the monarchy over its very vague definition of terrorism.

“Vague and overbroad legal provisions cannot be the basis for overriding a broad array of fundamental rights,” HRW said in a statement in December. “Saudi Arabia’s denial of the rights to participate in public affairs, and freedom of religion, peaceful assembly, association, and expression, as well as its systematic discrimination against women greatly exceed any notion of justifiable restrictions.”

Activists are worried that the law will first of all be applied to silence the liberal opposition in the country. Saudi activist Abdulaziz Al Shubaily from the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (HASEM) described the law as a “catastrophe”.

“If I call for the release of someone from jail for being held longer than their sentence, I can be tried for “asking the state to take action,” Shubaily said. “When I call for a constitutional monarchy, I can now be charged with terrorism.”

“They characterize you as a terrorist because you ask the kingdom to do something it does not want to do,” he added.

HRW researcher Adam Coogle said, that the new law is “draconian in spirit and letter, and there is every reason to fear that the authorities will easily and eagerly use it against peaceful dissidents.”

Saudi women who are seen driving can now be accused of disturbing public order for defying a driving ban imposed on females and face punishment under a new law. In October last year, several images emerged online of women getting in cars and going around the city as part of a unified protest.

Additional Info:

The Rise and Fall of the House of Saud

http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-fall-of-house-of-saud.html