I Can Shoot You In A Kneecap!!

          Across this capitalist controlled planet, while the far right grows, the various states are coming down hard on anarchists. You can pick you state controlled patch, and you will find anarchists at the receiving end of repression, no where more so than Russia.

      This info from Pramen, Anarchist Group:

“I can shoot you in a kneecap” – how Belarusian cops intimidate youth for alleged contacting with anarchists

       We already wrote about a case of a “The network”, in which Russian secret service FSB is fabricating the case about “terrorist anarchists”, knocking out false evidence from the accused by beatings and tortures.

        Apparently, the punishers in our country, having seen enough of the methods of work of their colleagues from Russia, decided that they can act in the same way: in Stolin, Brest region, the cops decided to become famous in the field of struggle against anarchists with the help of firearms. The ABC-Belarus received anonymous information about the intimidation of a young man from Stolin by Brest policemen. The man was threatened with a gun as the cops tried to force him to be a snitch for money. Here is his story.

       “Today, on February 23, 2018, at 11-50 am a call came in, the Investigative Committee of the city of Brest introduced themselves and asked where I was? Also they said that they were coming.

I went to the car, my father came out from there, they had taken him from work. My father was told that he was free, and they asked me to sit in the car.

– Tell me
– Tell you what?
– You know everything, tell me!
– I do not understand what’s going on.
– Who are you in life?
– Human.
– In what subculture are you, man?
– Punk.
– Anarchist?
– No.
– Do you know any of the anarchists?
– No.

          Then they took the mobile phone and began to flip through the photos, simultaneously asking who was on them. During the conversation they started asking about some leaflets.

I said that I did not know anything about them. To this the answer followed:

– Do not turn on the fool!
– I really do not know and I have nothing to do with this at all.

          Further, a policeman named Alexander said that he could shoot me a knee, and he has this authority. I did not react to this in any way.

Then they started asking questions about other people I know. We did not have a dialogue, they demanded from me the names of anarchists, to which I replied that I do not know anyone.

One of them (Alexander Nikolaevich) ordered: “We’re going to the forest.”

            They told me to fasten my belt and put my hands on the glove box. In the wood he told me to get out of the car and keep my hands in sight, later he gave me a cigarette and said to walk slowly forward, I listened to his orders.

         Soon he stopped and said: “Your last words?” I said nothing. There was a click (it seemed to me that he removed the gun from the fuse), I felt that a muzzle was leaning against my back.
– Any questions?
– No.

         For some time we stood in this pose and he tried to find out something I vaguely remember what it was. Then we got into the car and drove 100-200 meters away. We stopped and they began to threaten me with my relatives’ dismissal from work and apply other psychological pressure. Alexander Nikolayevich took me out of the car and said he wanted to talk to me “honestly.” He said that I’m a normal guy, and he does not want to make normal people suffer because of the Anarchists. Then they asked me to leak information to them, to which I replied that I was not going to leak.

-How much time do you need to find anarchists in your town?

           They said that they would contact me later and, while foisting me off 10 rubles so that I would remain silent about everything that was happening between us.

I did not answer.

           If you happen to have such stories, you are summoned to talk to the authorities, offered cooperation or if they try to put pressure, be sure to write to us at belarus_abc@riseup.net »

Source: www.abc-belarus.org

         Using such an “excellent” reason, you can contact the Investigation Committee on Brest and ask them questions about the incident, as well as express their opinion on the police system as a whole.

br@sk.gov.by – e-mail

(80162) 27-37-00 – telephone of the duty station
(80162) 27-37-24 – group on work with citizens’ appeals in the Brest region
(80162) 27-37-15 – Chief Inspector for Information and Public Relations (e-mail m.drankova@sledcom.by)

224016, city of Brest, ul. Pushkinskaya, 63 – address

(801655) 6-04-69, 6-16-71 – Stolin District Department of the Investigation Committee

225510, Stolin, ul. Tereshkova, 47 – the address

• ← Criminal case allegedly started for “the insult of Lukashenko” against a 19-year old vlogger
• 15 March — International Day Against Police Brutality

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Unbalanced Scales Of Justice.

 

 

        The idea that justice is blind, and all are treated the same before the scales of justice, is one of those enduring illusions and fantasies of the modern society. Justice has never been equal to all in society, wealth, privilege, and position in the ranks of society, all play their part on how that so called blind justice will deal with you. More and more, the modern state sees anarchists as needing a different type of justice from others, the state fears most, those who see another world beyond the authoritarian system of state/capitalism, and are prepare to struggle for that better world. A world that would destroy the privileges, wealth and power of the parasitic leeches that hold the reins of power in present day society.

Greece: 

            Letter from anarchist prisoner Kostantinos Giagtzoglou, on hunger strike since 21/2/18, and updates. 

         This moment I am in the prison of Larissa after the operation that the Special Anti-Terrorist Police Unit carried out early this morning in the isle “A” of Korydallos prison where I had been transferred for court reasons. The cops invaded the isle and the cell I was in, while I was bed-ridden as I was in hunger strike, after a faint episode I had last night, they pulled me out of prison, they hit me and they threw me into the transport vehicle. I tried to resist as much as I could and at the same time I was demanding to take my personal items (shoes, clothes, medicines, etc.) which never happened. They did not allow me to even take a bottle of water I had in my cell although they were aware of my hunger strike and my burdened health condition. As far as I am concerned, I declare that the regime’s attempt to bend my morals will not work.
        “At the moment of dedication, the whole universe conspires to help you”- Johann Wolfgang Goethe
       “Those who oppress their desires, they do so, because their desires are so weak, that can be oppressed” – William Blake
        First of all my captivity does not in any way mean that I am defeated morally or politically. As long as I stand on my feet and my lungs are able to breath, my values and my principles are not negotiable, because my decision to revolt against authority will not be stopped by dungeons and “exiles”. And this is a promise to all comrades.
          It seems though, that my imprisonment alone, as well as my long standing conviction, which has been announced by the police investigation authorities (in the indictment prepared, it is stated that the acts for which I am accused of, seek life sentence) are not enough for the regime. The statists desire to impose on me an unofficial “exile”, apart from the deprivation of my physical freedom. Therefore prosecutor Raikou, instead of ordering my preventive detention in Korydallos Jail, where people arrested in Athens and are awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, she decided to exile me in Larissa jail. An “exile” that aims to:

1. Keep me apart from my familiar faces, making visits practically impossible by forcing my relatives to travel enormous distances crossing half the country with the expected financial and physical burden, to be able to see me just for a few minutes behind a window glass.
2. Alienate me from the complex and massive file of the case that keeps me imprisoned, as my lawyers are not able to travel to Larissa so as to have frequent and uninterrupted communication with me. Also the very nature of the case file (thousands of pages in electronic form, video, etc.) makes it impossible for me to access it, even after so many months, from Larissa’s prison as there is no proper equipment.
   
3. Facilitate the supervision, control and severe restriction of my contact with comrades who stand in solidarity and other imprisoned anarchists, by trying to isolate me.

        Ultimately they are aiming to convict me before the court decision does, in a forgetfulness regime, “forgotten in a depository of defective and human leftovers” …
      This practice of authority is not something new. However, its strong imposition by the Greek state was evident during 2010-2011, when dozens of anarchist comrades were arrested and then dispersed in several greek prisons (Grevena, Malandrino, Corfu, Trikala, Komotini, Domokos etc.) while they were facing common accusations for the same cases. A role model to this practice was the anti-rebellion repressive method applied by other states abroad, for example in Spain, with the isolation of the separatist ETA fighters at distances of 700 kilometers from the Basque country so that they cannot have any visits and any form of communication between them.
       In my case, the unofficial “exile” (which is not the only one that has taken place recently) seems like and experiment on the authority’s behalf , in view of the adoption of the new correctional Code, since in some way this is a condition for some of its provisions. In particular, authority reopens the exception regime for anarchist prisoners. It has not been many months since the anti-criminal policy secretary, Eftihis Fytrakis of the ministry of justice, declared that “Anarchist prisoners will not be accepted in Korydallos prison”. Today I face my “exile” in Larissa, in the future we’ll see specialized isles for all political and disobedient prisoners. Of course, the experimentation previously mentioned is based on the calculation of our reactions, and especially of the anarchists’ reflexes outside the walls and the solidarity movements to the struggles of the prisoners.
       Also, my transfer to Korydallos prison for another court case of mine (arrest in clashes with the police after an anti-memorandum demonstration on 11 May 2011) took place just one day before, and this did not happen accidentally. It is indicative of the fast track procedures they want to apply in my case, as it seems that there are political pressures from high levels of the regime and their “justice” works on demand …
      “The moral determination of who attacks and gives up on the structures of power is a perception, a moment in which he perceives the beauty of his comrades and the misery of obedience and submission.” I rebel, therefore i exist ” is a phrase of Camus that never ceases to fascinate me, in a way that only a reason to stay alive could. In a world that presents ethics as an area of power and law, I think there is no other moral dimension than rebellion, risk, and dream. The survival in which we are imprisoned is unfair because it is abusive and disfiguring”
Massimo Passamani

        For all these reasons, I REFUSE to passively accept the regime of “exile” and the transfers – abductions in one night. Against these practices I become a 90 degree barrier with my words and actions. As my deep belief is that our actions and attitude should not be orientated in the repression-antirepression dipole, but penetrate every aspect of our being, I wish my struggle will be seen as one more base to attack and open cracks of freedom in the multiple and multiform cells within society – prison. An attack, a result of the rebellion, which, if it doesn’t take place now, it will never be a future option…
       The fact that I am a prisoner of war of the greek democracy does not mean that I left my dignity at the prison’s entrance and backed away. On the contrary, in prison, in the yard, in the cell, in the transport van, I carry with me the pure lust for freedom, every gesture of solidarity, every act of revolutionary complicity that lowers the walls of the prison and the decision to fight for anarchy UNTIL THE END.
      This is the reason why, I started a hunger strike from 21/02/2018, with a request that my transfer to Korydallos prison will be official and the regime of “exile” in which I am in, will be terminated. The transfer request I had applied since my first week in jail of Larissa was rejected, confirming the decision of the authority to put me in a “political quarantine” in Larissa’s prisons and to “be forgotten” there. But the power and the will for a constant anarchist rebellion is capable of reversing every decision made by those who think they can have power over our lives without consequences. Not a single enemy of freedom stays on the safe side and not a single imprisoned comrade is alone…
       I also announce that from tomorrow, Sunday 25/2, I will begin a thirst strike as an escalation to the hunger strike I’m already undergoing. I thank from the heart the thousands of Korydallos prisoners who reminded all of us, today, with their mobilization, that when they hit and treat unfairly one of us it is like hitting all of us. United we will win. Their strength gives me the power to reach to the end in order to win my struggle.

MIND, BODY AND SOUL FOR EVER IN THE STRUGGLE

SOLIDARITY TO ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN GREECE

STRENGTH TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO CHILE AND ITALY

STRENGTH TO ANARCHISTS WHO FACE THE REPRESSIVE OBSESSION OF THE RUSSIAN STATE

THE RIGHT IS ON THE SIDE OF THOSE WHO REBEL

VICTORY TO PRISONERS’ STRUGGLE

AGAINST THE NEW CORRECTIONAL CODE

Konstantinos Giagtzoglou. 24/02/2018

All political prisoners deserve our unfailing support and solidarity.

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Imperialists Trying To Extinguish The Flame Of Freedom.

        The region of the Middle East seems doomed to be the battle ground of the world's imperialists as the carve up the region and crush any attempt by the people to foster freedom and democracy. This latest imperialist plundering adventure by Turkish dictator, Erdogan is nothing less than a savage attack on people trying to create a society freed from the capitalist authoritarian system, our imperialist masters will not tolerate areas where people act and think for themselves in the interests of all.

       The following is an extract from an article by Dilar Dirik, from Roar Magazine, calling for active support for the people of the region around Afrin, a call to come together and stop this imperialist slaughter of the ideals of freedom and justice for all.

         As I write, the Turkish army is engaged in an illegal cross-border invasion of the Syrian-Kurdish region of Afrin. Claiming to fight “terrorists,” the Turkish state — an EU candidate, ally of the West and second-largest NATO army — launched an act of aggression against the same people who earned the world’s respect for defeating ISIS with their courageous sacrifices and historic resistance. The military campaign includes pro-Erdogan Free Syrian Army (FSA) troops and poses a threat to 800,000 civilians, half of whom are internally displaced people who sought refuge in Afrin from regions like Idlib and Aleppo.
       The targeting of Afrin exposes every letter in the ABC of imperialism. The attack could not have been launched without the approval of Russia, which controls the airspace over Afrin, as well as the consent of Iran and Assad. According to officials in Afrin, Russia proposed to protect Afrin in return for handing over control to the Assad regime. But as the offer was rejected, Russia gave green light to Turkey’s invasion.
      The United States, meanwhile, which conveniently used the Kurds as “reliable boots on the ground” in Syria for the last years in the international anti-ISIS coalition, stays quiet over their NATO ally’s ambitions to sacrifice the heroes of the ISIS war, merely warning Turkey to “avoid civilian casualties.” European governments, especially Germany, have their own stakes in the game, as mostly European weapons and tanks are used by the Turkish army; weapons in the hands of fascists, which drive millions of people to leave their homes and risk death to become refugees in Europe.
       Seven years into the war, Syria is destroyed; ISIS came, killed and left; genocide and massacres have been committed; the region’s demography and ecology have changed; Assad seems to be here to stay. The legitimate demands of all Syrians who took to the streets and risked their lives to call for dignity, freedom and justice against the Assad regime have been betrayed bitterly. Meanwhile, the powerful state actors in the region and beyond seem to have come full circle, as more than half a million people died and around 6 million have been displaced. Activists speak of the Third World War taking place in this region.
        It is within this context that Turkey launches its war on Afrin, far exceeding the historical hostility of the Turkish state towards the Kurdish people. The battle symbolizes the two options that the peoples and communities of the Middle East face today: between militarist, patriarchal, fascist dictatorships on the one hand, controlled by foreign imperialist interests and capital, or the solidarity between autonomous, self-determined, free and equal communities on the other. The defense of Afrin is an opportunity for the left to unite against fascism and mobilize against militarism, occupation and war.

What is at stake

        Within the context of the war on ISIS, the same states that are known to have fueled jihadist forces inside Syria — especially Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — became part of a coalition led by the same powers which invaded the Middle East for imperial interests, committed war crimes in the name of “fighting terrorism,” and thus established the ground on which ISIS would eventually flourish. The forces that represent systems of capitalism, authoritarian statism, religious fundamentalism and in some cases pure fascism, were put in charge of establishing democracy and peace.
       Meanwhile, as ISIS captured the attention of the international community, the initial issue of Assad’s dictatorial and bloodthirsty rule was side-lined, as were any notions of a lasting and just peace for Syria. With the entrance of Russia on the Syrian war scene and the role of Iran, the false binary of Sunni-Shiite animosity — a commonly used trope to disable just solutions in the Middle East — was reinforced. Regardless of all the conflicting interests of the involved powers, their common practice was the suppression of meaningful dissent, grassroots resistance and projects for genuine democratic alternatives. On the ground, this led to the mobilization of fascist and sectarian ideologies for which people were willing to die and kill.
      By default, any attempts at popular self-determination and self-defense against colonialism and capitalist exploitation would need to be annihilated for this concept to work. That explains all the hostility campaigns towards the liberationist Rojava revolution, including the attempts of big powers such as the US to use Rojava militarily and try to empty its politics of its revolutionary principles. Taking advantage of the contradictions emerging within the imperialist power games, the Kurds, trying to stay true to revolutionary ideals while being literally surrounded by fire and in temporary tactical alliances with some actors, have constantly been accused of being puppets of imperialism in their attempt to establish radical democratic systems of self-governance, while defending millions of lives from certain death by ISIS fascists.
      Sadly, the sectarian and dogmatic sections of the international left were unable to read these emancipatory politics and act accordingly, allowing imperialism to go ahead by refusing to extend vital solidarity to the Kurds when it was most needed. There is still time to correct this mistake.

Continue reading: 

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Break The Silence.

        In this world there is no peace, there never has been. The violence of empires have ravaged millions of people, as power mongers savaged neighbours and far flung countries. In the modern world it continues, we either have “big” wars, that kill millions, or what I call “pygmy” wars, that kill hundreds of thousands. Bombs, drones and missiles rain down on Africa and the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are peppered with drone kills. While in Europe and America the talk is of having peace since 1945. In the usual sabre rattling and tough talking about the threat from Russia and China, the West parades its military might along the borders of Russia and surrounds the coasts of China with America’s naval arsenal. It would appear that our lords and masters, armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons of mass destruction, are spoiling for a fight. 

      This from:

     A World War has begun. Break the silence, by John Pilger:

       How many people are aware that a world war has begun? At present, it is a war of propaganda, of lies and distraction, but this can change instantaneously with the first mistaken order, the first missile.
       In 2009, President Obama stood before an adoring crowd in the centre of Prague, in the heart of Europe. He pledged himself to make "the world free from nuclear weapons". People cheered and some cried. A torrent of platitudes flowed from the media. Obama was subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
       It was all fake. He was lying.
      The Obama administration has built more nuclear weapons, more nuclear warheads, more nuclear delivery systems, more nuclear factories. Nuclear warhead spending alone rose higher under Obama than under any American president. The cost over thirty years is more than $1 trillion.
        A mini nuclear bomb is planned. It is known as the B61 Model 12. There has never been anything like it. General James Cartwright, a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said, "Going smaller [makes using this nuclear] weapon more thinkable." 

        The perception that somehow the Democrats in America are more liberal than the Republicans doesn't seem to stand up to scrutiny. 

          This is the country where toddlers shoot their mothers and the police wage a murderous war against black Americans. This is the country that has attacked and sought to overthrow more than 50 governments, many of them democracies, and bombed from Asia to the Middle East, causing the deaths and dispossession of millions of people.
        No country can equal this systemic record of violence. Most of America's wars (almost all of them against defenceless countries) have been launched not by Republican presidents but by liberal Democrats: Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama.

        When will we ever learn, when will we finally rid ourselves of this army of power hungry, greed drive parasites, that control all aspects of our lives. When will we bury in the dustbin of history, this group that sees all humanity as expendable in their pursuit for power, control and wealth.

         Today, the long sleep may be over. The young are stirring again. Gradually. The thousands in Britain who supported Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader are part of this awakening - as are those who rallied to support Senator Bernie Sanders.
        In Britain last week, Jeremy Corbyn's closest ally, his shadow treasurer John McDonnell, committed a Labour government to pay off the debts of piratical banks and, in effect, to continue so-called austerity.
          In the US, Bernie Sanders has promised to support Clinton if or when she's nominated. He, too, has voted for America's use of violence against countries when he thinks it's "right". He says Obama has done "a great job".
          In Australia, there is a kind of mortuary politics, in which tedious parliamentary games are played out in the media while refugees and Indigenous people are persecuted and inequality grows, along with the danger of war. The government of Malcolm Turnbull has just announced a so-called defence budget of $195 billion that is a drive to war. There was no debate. Silence.
          What has happened to the great tradition of popular direct action, unfettered to parties? Where is the courage, imagination and commitment required to begin the long journey to a better, just and peaceful world? Where are the dissidents in art, film, the theatre, literature?
           Where are those who will shatter the silence? Or do we wait until the first nuclear missile is fired?

Read the full article HERE:

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Are We Loking At WW3?

      The American war party is on the march, their aim, war with Russia, as usual, Europe will be the battlefield, not America. How do you stop the hawks from devouring the doves, it is the eternal struggle and requires the mobilisation of all the people in all the countries. War is never to the advantage of, nor does it benefit, the people, it is always a battle of power mongers for control of resources, territory and markets, it is always for the defence of those warmongering power moguls. In wars, the people gain nothing, the rich and powerful cement their position, and we the people pay for that in blood.

WINTER.

Dark malefic clouds crowd the sky

winds carry the stench of carrion to every nostril,

the crazy ape has followed the faculty of hawks.

All around stand crows, magpies, jackdaws, vultures,

edacious eyes anticipating their putrid feast.

A weary Cassandra laments;

doves, hearts weeping for a better yesterday

forsake their olive branches.

This from The International Journal of Socialist Renewal:

     February 6, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Kyiv and NATO-driven civil war in Ukraine is taking new and dangerous turns. The United States is threatening to significantly increase its military support to Kyiv's army and the extreme-right militias allied with it, notably in the form of advanced heavy weapons, including artillery systems and anti-tank weaponry. The NATO countries as a whole are increasing their military presence in eastern Europe, including creating rapid-deployment infantry bases.

      Increased sanctions against Russia are also on the agenda, although Russia's capacity to withstand sanctions as well as the harmful consequences of sanctions on European countries are cooling the enthusiasm for more sanctions and propelling parallel, military options.

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In Capitalism, Oil = Blood.

       Is the root of Ukraine’s problem the fact that rich oil and gas deposits were discovered there early in 2013. So naturally, opposing imperialist camps vie for control, and once again as imperialists squabble over control of a country's rich resources, it's the people that suffer. Though oil could and probably will, transform Ukraine, it is at present one of the poorest countries in Europe. Sadly it has recently been given the kiss of death, by the usual vampire, the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers). That means it takes on a massive debt to hand to the corporations to exploit its country, and proceeds to pay back that debt, by massive cuts in social spending, and massive privatisation of public assets. It has to decimate the lives of its people and destroy what social fabric exists, in order to satisfy the blood suckers in the bank of Western imperialists, the IMF.
 

      Imperialists, of what ever shade, always manage to get workers to pick up guns against workers, they always get some to run with one flag and others to run with yet another. They manage to play the patriotic game, or the ethnic game, in an endeavour to gain control. Though they themselves are never patriotic, the sink their ill gotten wealth in any country that will pay the right dividend. You'll not see many “oligarchs” running in the streets with a Kalashnikov, They tend to be sitting with their banker guarding their thieved pile.
 

      And so it is at the moment in Ukraine, ordinary worker fighting and killing ordinary worker, to see which imperialist gets the goodies.

This from FREEDOM SOCIALIST (Voice of Revolutionary Feminism).

       The truth is Ukraine’s economy depends on both Russia and Europe. But each side wants to exclude the other. Meanwhile, Ukraine has signed its new loan deal with the IMF, accepting severe cuts to public spending, privatization of public resources, and other austerity measures. Ultra-rich oligarchs continue to loot the country.

     Volodymyr Ishchenko, an anti-capitalist sociologist in Kiev, puts it in a nutshell. “The crazy, irrational capitalist system that inevitably produces competing imperialisms … this is the root of the problem — not only for Ukraine, but for the entire world.”

Read the full article HERE:

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Through The Fog In Ukraine.

         Through the fog that surrounds Ukraine, a fog that is created by that Western babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, it is difficult to grasp what is really going on on the ground. We are fed a foul broth of Western imperialist belligerent rhetoric, of tales of a handful of armed thugs controlling the eastern part of Ukraine, and how this threatens the happy smiling, but nervous democratic loving groups, in the rest of Ukraine. No mention of neo-nazi groups, fascist gangs and beatings being handed out by those happy smiling, but nervous democratic loving people in and around Kiev. 

       It is obvious that the people of Ukraine are caught up in an imperialist land grab and the conditions on the ground are being influenced and manipulated by the two empires squabbling over territory. What is being played out on the babbling brook of bullshit, the media, has nothing to do with the welfare of the people of Ukraine, justice, democracy, or peace, it is a propaganda exercise on behalf of the Western empire, preparing the ground for whatever action it might deem fit, for its purpose of expansion. Listening to the war of words between the two empires conjures up pictures of kettles and pots and the word black. 

An extract from an article, though with a bias, does through some light on what is going on  in that tortured country:

For many months the Western media has attempted to portray the so-called Maidan movement in rosy colours as a movement for “democracy”. The Western media has shamelessly concealed the leading role played by open fascist and Nazis organisations in the overthrow of Yanukovich. Fascist elements are present in the Kiev government and dictate many of its policies, including the attempt to ban the Russian language. They have begun to rewrite history presenting the Banderaists, who collaborated with the Nazis and perpetrated atrocities against Russians, Poles and Jews during the Second World War, as nationalist heroes. The reactionaries in Kiev brand anyone who does not agree with them as “slaves” or Russian lackeys. The deputy from Lviv in Western Ukraine, Iryna Farion, likes to refer to Russian speakers as “creatures”.
No Western politician could get away with such language. Yet people in the West, who rely on news reports in the media, can have no idea of how far reaction has gone in the Ukraine. Therefore, when they see reports of armed men seizing government buildings in the South East of the country, the only explanation given to them is that it is all the work of sinister forces sent from Moscow.
Kiev, Lviv and other Western Ukrainian cities are in the grip of a White Terror. Communists are beaten up and their officers ransacked and burnt down by fascist gangs. For instance, the Kiev offices of the Communist Party (KPU) were ransacked by extreme right wing thugs from the neo-nazi Right Sector and the Maidan “Self Defence” on April 9 and later that night suffered an arson attack. Offices of the KPU were also attacked in Lviv and other cities. Members of Parliament for the extreme right wing party Svoboda (part of the new government) beat up the state TV station director and forced him to resign. The same Svoboda Members of Parliament beat up Communist Party leader Symonenko as he was addressing the Rada criticising Ukranian right wing nationalists. Oleg Tsarev, a presidential candidate who claims to represent the South and Eastern regions, was beaten up by extreme right wing thugs after a TV appearance and then again as he visited Mikolayiv.-------

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The Smoke And Mirrors Of Ukraine.

      It is difficult to get the truth of what is going on in the Ukraine, at work are vested interests, each with their own hidden agenda, the propaganda machines are at full throttle. On Ukraine, the mainstream media, that babbling brook of bullshit, has become a raging torrent of sewage. Figures and maps are thrown around, and all of them prove anything you want, or nothing at all. America accuses Russia of destabilising the country for its own interests, something the Americans should know something about, since they have been doing it across the globe for decades. Whatever information we may get from Ukraine, you can rest assured that it will not be the voice of the people of Ukraine. That story will not come through our corrupt, biased and corporate controlled media. 

       There is a very informative article by William Boardman, who writes for Reader Supported News, the article is worth a read, below is just a couple of short quotes:

     Before the Maidan began in Kiev in the fall of 2013, the Russians were allowed by treaty to have 25,000 troops in Ukraine, all in bases in Crimea. Once Russia controlled Crimea, early reports of Russian troops in Ukraine often confused this reality with other things that may or may not have been real, such as the March 7 report that the Pentagon estimated the presence of “20,000 Russian troops in Ukraine.” If true, the Russians would seem to have been under-massed by about 5,000 troops.  Whatever else was true during the Crimea takeover, there were no pictures of massive Russian troop movements. Video of Russian tanks moving to Crimea on trains were, if real, showing those tanks moving unmolested through southern Ukraine, the only rail route from Russia to Crimea.

      And there’s another constituency with a clear vested interested in pushing the Russian threat toward a new Cold War: arms makers (excuse me: “defense contractors”). As the NATO secretary general said quite plainly at the NATO Transformation Seminar, April 8:

“The reality is that Europeans have disarmed too much and for too long In NATO, we have agreed a defence spending guideline of 2% of Gross Domestic Product. Too few Allies meet this guideline. And too many have moved too far in the other direction. This is the time to stop the cuts and start reversing the trend.”

You can read the full article HERE:

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Shades Of 1914!!

       The Ukraine, two empires squabbling over territory, each wants it in their sphere of interest, each prepared to slaughter the people in their quest for control, shades of 1914!! If you are in or near London this week, a date for your diary.

This from Stop The War Coalition

6.30pm, Tuesday 15 April

· The Wesley Hotel, Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ

       The crisis in the Ukraine continues, with tensions between the big powers growing day by day. There are several factors militating against war in the immediate future, including Russia’s nuclear arsenal and trade links with EU countries. But as the establishment think-tank Stratfor has argued, it would be naive to rule out a conflagration.

• Join us for a discussion about the forces behind the Ukraine conflict
• Speakers include: Jonathan Steele, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Carol Turner and John Rees
• Share the event with your Facebook contacts

        Already NATO air drills are taking place over the Baltics, and the UK and US are sending extra jets to patrol the skies. Poland has requested 10,000 NATO troops to be stationed on its territory and MPs in Kiev have voted to hold joint military exercises with NATO. In the medium to long term, NATO is looking at establishing permanent military bases in Ukraine.

• Read Stop the War's statement on the crisis in Ukraine

And for today----

A NEW DAWN,

Today we live in a peace

midst a thousand pygmy wars;

a humanity bankrupt by its past

dragged wearily through darkness and despair

yearns for a day that's cast

long, warm and fair,

a dawn that sees humankind discard

its class, its nation and prepare

to grind outworn creeds to dust,

so mankind naked is revealed,

then moving with common cause,

share

what such a dawn may yield. 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Next Chapter In The Philosophy Of Endless War??

 

      Destroyed Iraq, busted Libya, smashed Afghanistan, now it's Russia. Western war mongers prepare for the next chapter in their philosophy of endless war.

This appeal from Stop The War Coalition:  

As Crimea war talk escalates, here's how you can help

     Yesterday Nato's top military commander Philip Breedlove called on the West to prepare for military action "in the Baltics and other places". And in Britain Lord Dannatt, former chief of general staff of the British army, called for 3,000 soldiers to be maintained in Germany to send a clear signal to Russia.
      As the crisis is intensified, in no small part by the rhetoric of a growing number of war mongers in the West, help us reach our 2014 Appeal target so that we are ready to respond.
We have now raised £7568, which is over half of our target. That's a fantastic response to our call for support and thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.
      If you haven't already donated to the 2014 Appeal, please consider making a contribution now by clicking the donate button:

     Alternatively you can make a donation by phoning 020 7561 4830 or send a cheque made payable to Stop the War Coalition to Stop the War, 86 Durham Road, London N7 7DT

Stop the War Coalition | office@stopwar.org.uk | 020 7561 4830

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

No War In The Ukraine.

        We should have no illusions, what is being played out in the Ukraine is a clash of two empires. Since the break up of the Soviet Union, the Western corporate empire has grabbed more and more of the Russian empire, and they want Ukraine. Just as the First World War, with its unbelievable slaughter of young lives, was a land grab between empires, and the Second World War more of the same, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, wars fought on lies, we surely aren't foolish enough to swallow the present crap that is being pumped out by that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media. State wars are fought for power and wealth, never for freedom and democracy, and this present conflict is no different. The Western corporate states don't give a shit about the lives of the ordinary Ukrainians, it is all about expansion, and control of resources. If it comes to a war, and we the people, mustn't let it, it is the ordinary people that will shed their blood and it is the corporate war mongers that will fatten their bank accounts with the plunder. 

UKRAINE
Say NO to another U.S. war!

Urgent call for anti-war actions

March 10 to March 17

      The threat is real. Sanctions, war build up, warships with guided missiles to the Black Sea, F-15 fighter jets on Russia's border are dangerous provocations. Washington has recognized and committed more than $10 billion to an illegal right-wing government that seized power from elected officials.

     Actions large and small are urgently needed -- informational picket lines, visits to congressional offices, protests at media centers against war propaganda, vigils, and challenges to government officials. Let's make our voices heard.

   In NEW YORK CITY 

No new U.S. war! Stop media lies about Ukraine
March from CNN to Fox News
Friday, March 14
5 pm to 6 pm -
Rally at CNN, 10 Columbus Circle
(Broadway & 59th St)6 pm
March down Broadway to FOX News,
49th St. & 6th Ave.

Facebook event: facebook.com/events/226160010906938

UKRAINE: What the media isn't telling you
WAR ALERT

      Corporate media have always lied about the reasons for war, from Vietnam and Iraq to Libya and Syria. If you turn on CNN or FOX News, read the New York Times or listen to NPR, you aren't getting the real story. Here are 10 things the U.S. corporate media won't tell you about what's happening in Ukraine.

1. Washington planned the coup in Ukraine.
      U.S. State Department official Victoria Nuland was caught on tape plotting who would be the next head of Ukraine. She bragged that the U.S. had spent $5 billion funding the so-called democracy movement there. Senator John McCain went to Kiev, spoke at rallies and was photographed with the leader of the fascist Svoboda party. Neo-Nazi forces took over buildings and threw out the elected government in a coup d'etat, then passed new laws with no quorum in the parliament.

2. There has been no Russian invasion.
      Washington officials have threatened Russia for "invading" Ukraine. It's a Big Lie meant to cover up U.S. involvement in the coup. Russia has a military base in Crimea, a predominately Russian ethnic area, and is legally allowed to station up to 25,000 troops in the country. Russia has said it may act to protect civilians if they are threatened by the neo-Nazis in Kiev. That is all.

3. The U.S. war buildup.  
      The Navy has deployed the USS Truxton, a warship armed with guided missiles, to the Black Sea. Six F-15 fighter jets and 60 military personnel have been sent to Lithuania, in addition to those already stationed there. The U.S. and EU are imposing sanctions and travel bans on Russian officials. Politicians from Hillary Clinton to John McCain have compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hitler. When preparing for war, the U.S. always uses this bogus comparison to demonize leaders of opponent countries.

4. Neo-Nazis dominate the new government.
     The openly racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Hitler Svoboda party is one of three major parties in the government. Svoboda led the street actions that forced elected President Yanukovych to flee. The Right Sector, armed fascists who have beaten opponents and vandalized public property, are now in charge of the military. Immediately after the coup, Ukraine's chief rabbi, Moshe Reuven Azman, urged Jews to flee Kiev. The government's first act was to ban the use of Russian and other minority languages. Opponents of the coup have been beaten, disappeared, or had their offices and homes vandalized and burned.

5. Coup leaders hired snipers to justify their takeover.
     A leaked call between Estonian and European Union officials reveals that people behind the new government hired snipers to kill protesters and police in Kiev. President Yanukovych was blamed for the killings and this was used to justify the coup.

6. Wall Street and Big Oil want to control Ukraine - and Russia.
      Oil and gas pipelines in Ukraine bring fuel from Russia to Europe. Big Oil wants to control the pipelines to cut the flow from Russia and hike their own profits. The U.S. has even offered the new government gas from dangerous fracking drilling here! Russia is the world's largest producer of gas, oil and industrial minerals. They want to break up Russia too. Wall Street would love to get its claws deeper into Ukraine and Russia - to drive up profits and push down wages for workers here and there.

7. NATO's drive to expand.
      As part of the Western drive to dismantle Russia, the Pentagon wants to establish military bases on the Ukraine/Russia border. The U.S. dominated NATO alliance has expanded aggressively into eastern Europe in the past 20 years, adding 12 countries to its roster so far. U.S./ NATO forces continue to occupy Afghanistan to the south.

8. Billions for coup in Ukraine, cuts for food stamps in U.S.
     In early February, Congress and the Obama administration agreed to cut SNAP food assistance benefits for hungry families by $8.7 billion, claiming there's no money. Yet just weeks later, they announced $10 billion in assistance to the neo-Nazis in Kiev. Secretary of State John Kerry personally delivered the first billion on March 4.

9. Power for the 1%, misery for workers.
      The new regime has appointed wealthy oligarchs as governors of rebellious regions of Eastern Ukraine. It's also agreed to an IMF austerity plan drafted by Washington to cut workers' pensions, unemployment insurance and social programs - just like the cutbacks workers from Detroit to Greece face.

10. People across Ukraine are fighting back.
      People in Eastern Ukraine and throughout the country are organizing against the coup. Some have taken over regional and city buildings and refused to hand them over to the new authorities. Others are marching on military bases and demanding that the troops not obey the commands of the neo-Nazis in Kiev. Some are calling on the Russian government to protect and assist them. The people of Ukraine remember well what Nazi rule was like during World War II, and they will not stand for it again.

Get informed!
Find more information on Ukraine and upcoming actions at
IACenter.org

Join us! Educate, organize and protest.
Let's stop the next U.S. war before it starts.

International Action Center 

Variety of downloadable signs helpful for
Ukraine No War demonstrations
www.iactucson.org/signs

 Statements & further reading   

United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) demands
'U.S. hands off Ukraine and Venezuela"
http://nepajac.org/UNAC_030614.html

Veterans for Peace - San Diego:
"Preparing for war with Russia"
sdvfp.org/preparing-for-war-with-russia/

Glen Ford:
"Hillary and other assorted barbarians at Russia's gate"
www.blackagendareport.com/content/hillary-and-other-assorted-barbarians-russia%E2%80%99s-gate

Ajamu Baraka:
"Ukraine and the Pathology of the Liberal Worldview:
An African American Perspective"
www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/07/ukraine-and-the-pathology-of-the-liberal-worldview/

Transcript of leaked Victoria Nuland-Geoffrey Pyatt call
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957

Leak : Estonian FM says Maidan snipers were not Yanukovich's
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/05/1282285/--BREAKING-Leak-Estonian-PM-says-Maidan-snipers-were-not-Yanukovich-s

LIST EVENTS HERE
(We will include in future emails)

iacenter@iacenter.org

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk