Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts

Monday, November 9, 2015

Israel hosts its largest-ever international air force exercise. Until November 3rd, local media reports. Not far from where the Russian Airbus 321 flight crashed. Tragic coincidence?

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Photo essay / Drill aims to test the mettle of the men and women at the controls, rather than the technical capabilities of their fighter jets

Israel hosts its largest-ever international air force exercise

Israeli, American, Greek, and Polish air personnel square off against a fictional enemy state in two-week drill

October 30, 2015, 12:53 am 46


Israeli and foreign fighter jets fly in formation through cloudy skies over the Negev desert during the 'Blue Flag' exercise at Ovda Airfield near Eilat on Oct. 27, 2015. (Israel Air Force)


Israeli and foreign fighter jets fly in formation through cloudy skies over the Negev desert during the ‘Blue Flag’ exercise at Ovda Airfield near Eilat on October 27, 2015. (Israeli Air Force)



  Air forces from around the world have gathered deep in the Arava desert in the south of Israel for the past week and a half to take part in the largest aerial exercise in the history of the Israeli Air Force. The “Blue Flag” exercise, which is continuing through November 3, pits the Israeli Air Force, the United States Air Force, Greece’s Hellenic Air Force and the Polish Air Force against a fictional enemy state, the captain in charge of all IAF exercises told The Times of Israel Thursday night. A number of other countries, including Germany, also sent pilots and officers to observe the exercise, but did not take part. This joint drill is the second “Blue Flag” exercise; the first took place in 2013 and was the largest multi-lateral exercise the IAF had ever hosted. The various air forces collaborated closely through every step of the current exercise, the IAF captain said, from planning to execution and finally to debriefing.








Though the exercise began on October 18, planning for it started nearly eight months ago, the Israeli official said, with an IAF representative contacting each participating country and initially asking, “What do you want to train for?” Those requests came together to form the plan for “Blue Flag,” which sent Israeli and American F-15 squadrons, along with Israeli, Hellenic and Polish F-16 squadrons, flying through nearly all of Israel’s air space, firing simulated weapons against fictional enemy missile launchers, convoys and aircraft, he said.  



 Read More Here


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Israel hosts largest-ever intl air force drill, pitting troops against fictional enemy

© Israeli Air Force
Israel is hosting its largest-ever international air force exercise. The two-week 'Blue Flag' drill features Israeli, American, Greek and Polish troops in a battle against a fictional enemy state.
The Blue Flag drill consists of Israeli and American F-15 squadrons, as well as Israeli, Hellenic, and Polish F-16 squadrons flying through Israeli airspace while firing simulated weapons against fictional enemy missile launchers, convoys, and aircraft, the Israeli Air Force captain in charge of the exercise told the Times of Israel.


© Israeli Air Force
However, the captain said the exercise is designed to test the capabilities of the troops involved, rather than the military equipment itself. “We wanted it to be challenging for the airmen, rather than for the machines,” said the IAF captain, who could not be named due to security reasons.  

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The following maps are presented  simply to put the sheer proximity  of the  military exercises and the  Russian Airbus A321 crash.


FinanceTwitter Home

Russian Airbus A321 Crash – Can Putin Feel What Malaysians & Dutch Felt?

Russian Airbus A321-200 Flight 7K9268 Crash - FlightRadar24 Map
However, the Egyptian government has rubbished that the plane was shot down by missile. The Russian concluded that the Russian Airbus A321 that crashed in the Sinai broke up in mid-air at 36,000-feet. The plane had been heading from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to the Russian city of St Petersburg before the crash.

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CULTUREEL WOORDENBOEK

Suez-crisis map of Troop Movements

http://www.cultureelwoordenboek.nl/images/suez_war.gif

Suez-crisis

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Euroflights.info

Eilat with airports


Eilat Israel Port On a Map

 

Eilat is the southernmost city in Israel. Eilat is located on the Red Sea and is an important port for Israel and a popular resort town

Ovda Airport

Ovda Airport is located 45 km to the north from Eilat.

King Hussein International Airport, Jordan

King Hussein International Airport is located 10 km to the north east from Eilat.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

The Supreme Court upheld the centuries-old tradition of offering prayers at the start of government meetings

Supreme Court upholds prayer at government meetings

Supreme Court upholds prayer at government meetings
Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
On November 6, 2013, the Court heard oral arguments in the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway dealing with whether holding a prayer prior to the monthly public meetings in the New York town of Greece violates the Constitution by endorsing a single faith.

by Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
Posted on May 5, 2014 at 9:13 AM
Updated today at 9:13 AM


WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the centuries-old tradition of offering prayers at the start of government meetings, even if those prayers are overwhelmingly Christian.
The 5-4 decision in favor of the any-prayer-goes policy in the town of Greece, N.Y., avoided two alternatives that the justices clearly found abhorrent: having government leaders parse prayers for sectarian content, or outlawing them altogether.
It was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, with the court's conservatives agreeing and its liberals, led by Justice Elena Kagan, dissenting.
The long-awaited ruling following oral arguments in November was a victory for the the town, which was taken to court by two women who argued that a plethora of overtly Christian prayers at town board meetings violated their rights.
While the court had upheld the practice of legislative prayer, most recently in a 1983 case involving the Nebraska legislature, the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway presented the justices with a new twist: mostly Christian clergy delivering frequently sectarian prayers before an audience that often includes average citizens with business to conduct.
The court's ruling said that the alternative -- having the town board act as supervisors and censors of religious speech -- would involve the government far more than Greece was doing by inviting any clergy to deliver the prayers.
"An insistence on nonsectarian or ecumenical prayer as a single, fixed standard is not consistent with the tradition of legislative prayer outlined in the court's cases," Kennedy said.
Kagan, joined by the court's other three liberal justices, said the town's prayers differed from those delivered to legislators about to undertake the people's business. In Greece, she said, sectarian prayers were delivered to "ordinary citizens," and their participation was encouraged.
"No one can fairly read the prayers from Greece's town meetings as anything other than explicitly Christian -- constantly and exclusively so," Kagan said. "The prayers betray no understanding that the American community is today, as it long has been, a rich mosaic of religious faiths."
The legal tussle began in 2007, following eight years of nothing but Christian prayers in the town of nearly 100,000 people outside Rochester. Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens, a Jew and an atheist, took the board to federal court and won by contending that its prayers – often spiced with references to Jesus, Christ and the Holy Spirit -- aligned the town with one religion.
Once the legal battle was joined, town officials canvassed widely for volunteer prayer-givers and added a Jewish layman, a Wiccan priestess and a member of the Baha'i faith to the mix. Stephens, meanwhile, awoke one morning to find her mailbox on top of her car, and part of a fire hydrant turned up in her swimming pool.
The two women contended that the prayers in Greece were unconstitutional because they pressured those in attendance to participate. They noted that unlike federal and state government sessions, town board meetings are frequented by residents who must appear for everything from business permits to zoning changes.

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Monday, March 10, 2014

Ignorance is not bliss when it directly endangers the life of another. What will it take for Americans to UNDERSTAND their government LIES to them about almost everything ?

It saddens  me to see the mindless knee  jerk  reactions  that  takes  place  within the citizenry  of this  country every time the US government  cries  boogeyman. 
Is it because  they  need  someone to  lash  out  at? 
Or is it  because the  angst  from the  cold  war still persists? 
Do the  American  people  need someone  to  hate ,  someone to  blame to feel that they have a  purpose? 
Or is it  simply a need to  justify  their lack of backbone against their  own  government?
Do they  justify  it  because  their  cowardice  or ignorance does not allow  them to  fight  back?

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Getting it Right

Tennessee liquor store bans vodka over Ukraine situation


, Rare Staff
Posted on  
BiPTyEHCIAADiZ2
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Can  we  as a  people  not  open  our  eyes  and  understand that  our  government  is  responsible  for veiled  terrorism  throughout  the  world?
Can we  not  see that  the War  on Terror  is  not  against  an  unknown  enemy  out  to get  us .  But  rather a war  against  us to achieve  not only  our   subjugation through  fear.  It  strives to bring us to our  knees slowly  removing  our  rights at  our  behest  in exchange  for their  protection from terror  they  manufacture.
With  all the  evidence  that has  been  made  available worldwide of  the  role   the  US  government  played  in the  fabrication of  evidence to enter into  illegal  wars  abroad.   The  evidence  pointing  to  black  ops to destabilize other  countries.  The wanton disregard for  human  life in  drone  attacks.  The lies being told  abroad  and  at  home  by a  government  that  violates  not only   International  Law  but the very  Constitution  they  swore  to  protect  and  defend here  at  home.
What  is  wrong  with  Americans  who rush  to  believe  the  lies of  this  government  and their  mouthpiece  mainstream  media? 
Do you  not have eyes  to  see  and  ears  to hear what is  truly  going on around  you?
You  play into the  media  propaganda they have  set  up  for  you  and  you  gladly fall into the  trap.
You  ignore the  cries   of the  People  of  Crimea  and hear  only  the  battle  cries  of  the Ukrainian  Opposition .  An  opposition  that  has  now  proven their true  intent  by  selling the  Ukrainian  people  up the river , delivering  them  into  European  style  Austerity. 
Is  that  what your  democratic  dreams  for the Ukraine  consist  of ?
Is that  what  you  will allow  to  happen  here  at  home  when they  paint  you a  picture  of a false  boogeyman  coming to  get  your freedom unless  you  allow  the   big bad   government  to  play bodyguard  for  you?
How  much  proof  do  you  need  of  their  treachery to get a  clue?
How much innocent  blood  needs to  be  shed  for  you  to  face  the truth?
What  lies  will you  tell yourself  when they  come  for  our  freedom?
It is a  sad  day when  scenes  like the  one  that has  taken place in  Tennessee are considered  righteous while ignoring the  voice of a  people who understand  the  true  consequences for their country and  very  lives.
Freedom and  Democracy  are  not  for  you to  define for others.  The cries for  respect  of  National Sovereignty should be  respected  by  all sides not  just  Russia.  But if  memory  serves  the people  of  Crimea asked  Russia  to  defend  them.  Russia  is there  legitimately invited by a  people endangered by a coup that  has  been  proven to have  been  set  up  by the   west.  The  US  government  and  it's Nato allies serving the  interests  of t he   Central Banks  and  Corporations.  Helping  them  loot  an  pillage  the   resources  of  the  Ukraine at the expense  of  it's  people.  You  want to see the  future  of  Ukraine  then  take  a good  look at  Greece and  you  will understand  what  you are  defending.

~Desert Rose~

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How William Hague Deceived the House of Commons on Ukraine

Posted: 10/03/2014 10:05 



In a statement on 4 March 2014, Foreign Minister William Hague deceived the House of Commons about the legitimacy of the new regime in Ukraine.

He led the House to believe that the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, had removed President Yanukovich from power on 22 February in accordance with the Ukrainian constitution.

"It is wrong to question the legitimacy of the new authorities", he said.

It is simply untrue that the Rada followed the procedure laid down in the Ukrainian constitution to impeach and remove a president from power.

Article 108 of the constitution specifies four circumstances in which a president may cease to exercise power before the end of his term. Those are:

  • resignation;
  • inability to exercise his or her powers for reasons of health;
  • removal from office by the procedure of impeachment;
  • death.

The procedure for removal from office by impeachment is laid down in Article 111. It is not unlike that required for the impeachment and removal from power of a US president, which could take months.

Thus, Article 111 obliges the Rada to establish a special investigatory commission to formulate charges against the president, seek evidence to justify the charges and come to conclusions about the president's guilt for the Rada to consider. To find the president guilty, at least two-thirds of Rada members must assent.

Prior to a final vote to remove the president from power, the procedure requires

  • the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to review the case and certify that the constitutional procedure of investigation and consideration has been followed, and
  • the Supreme Court of Ukraine to certify that the acts of which the President is accused are worthy of impeachment.

To remove the president from power, at least three-quarters of Rada members must assent.

Read More Here

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Big Lies Drown Out Truth


March 9th, 2014

by Stephen Lendman

Propaganda war on Russia rages. It exceeds the worst of Cold War bluster.

Scurrilous reporting is featured. Media scoundrels scream Russian aggression. Putin is outrageously compared to Hitler.

Hypocrisy is shameless. It's shocking. It's disgusting. Western-supported neo-Nazi putschists usurped power in Kiev.

It was the most brazen post-WW II coup. Legitimate Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was blamed for their crimes. They continue. They're ignored.

Headlines call them democrats. Incendiary conditions exist. Open conflict is threatened.

Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh is unapologetically fascist. "I'll be fighting Jews and Russians til I die," he said.

He has presidential aspirations. He'll run to head Ukraine in so-called May elections. They'll be farcical when held. They'll be illegitimate.

Russia issued an international arrest warrant for Yarosh. He publicly supports terrorism. According to Russia's Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin:

"The investigators believe (he) has been publicly calling upon anti-Russian forces for extreme actions and terror on the territory of Russia."

Doku Umarov is Russia's most wanted terrorist. Yarosh urged him to "activate his fight (and) take a unique opportunity to win" against Russia.

He issued an ultimatum. He demands access to Ukraine's military arsenals. Itar Tass said he "doesn't rule out more decisive action on Ukraine if the government doesn't comply with (his) demands."

He and likeminded fascists run Ukraine. Washington supports them. So do EU partners. Media scoundrels ignore their lawlessness. Ukraine's crisis escalates.

Dubious reports circulate. On March 7, Time magazine headlined "Ukrainian Base in Crimea Resists Russian Raid."

It claimed Russian troops attempt to seize the base failed. It cited an anonymous Kiev coup d'etat defense ministry spokesman saying:

"The base is now in full control of the Ukrainian armed forces."

He claimed two Russian military trucks rammed the base's gate. Several dozen Russian troops were allegedly involved, he said.

"Russian forces...surround(ed) all of the Ukrainian bases in Crimea and barricade(d) their servicemen inside," said Time.
"By slamming through the gates with a military vehicle, the Russian forces initiated an escalation of the ongoing conflict over Crimea between Russia and Ukraine that could easily have led to bloodshed and a full-scale war."

Read More Here

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Business Insider

This Is An Actual Billboard In Crimea



RTR3GEGK
REUTERS/Baz Ratner
A man walking by looks up at a poster calling for people to vote against fascism in the upcoming referendum in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol March 10, 2014.
These images reveal a lot about the Russian occupation of Crimea and the March 16 referendum that will decide if the Ukrainian peninsula formally secedes to Russia. It is all but a foregone conclusion.
The above poster reads, "On 16 March, we are choosing," on top and the placement of "or" between a Nazi-themed Crimea and a Russia-themed Crimea on the bottom. The sentiment echoes Kremlin propaganda about Ukraine's new government.

Read More Here

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America world knows today engineered

US President Barack Obama
US President Barack Obama
Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:34PM
By Gordon Duff
People around the world are reeling in shock as America is calling for sanctions against Russia for its military buildup in Crimea in response to the overthrow of the Ukrainian government by ultra-nationalist extremist elements aided by Western intelligence agencies.
Not a single word has come from America, no leader, no “talking head” from the press, nothing but silence at what is clearly a demonstration of unimaginably immense hypocrisy.
Recent events in Ukraine have exposed something of the “dark underbelly” of America.  When President Obama speaks of the Russian military presence in Crimea as being a violation of international law, the entire world is aghast.
A nation that, at one time, referred to itself as “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” though still admired in many ways is also greatly feared and mistrusted over much of the world.
America hasn’t entirely killed its credibility; however, to those of us who live in America and have fought in her wars, especially those of us who remember John F. Kennedy, the country we live in today is “unrecognizable.”
There is another question “out there.”  Are Americans simply monsters, are they stupid, robotic, propagandized or something else?  Why is America “unrecognizable?”
BACKGROUND
After the Vietnam War, where a majority of not only civilians but military as well turned against the war in Vietnam, a “new age” of freedom and justice seemed to be taking root.  That was not to be.
What is startling is how the government and President Nixon, at the time considered one of the “dark characters” of history, responded.  The American government declared war on the American people, bringing to bear weapons developed during the darkest years of the Cold War.
Science had targeted the human mind, exceeding any of the rudimentary “brainwashing” efforts of many countries.  Memories, reality, perceptions, all became a playground for “war science.”
These “programs” left America a nation “unrecognizable” to those who have retained an unstained recollection of the “real” past.  As we will learn, even memories can’t be trusted.  A day never passes when the people of the world ask:  “Why would the American people allow these things their government does?”  We will attempt to address that issue here.

Read More Here

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'West lie machine, incompetent and bankrupt'

West lie machine, incompetent and bankrupt
West lie machine, incompetent and bankrupt

Sun Mar 9, 2014 12:46PM GMT
 
By Finian Cunningham
 
The US spooks are on the defensive over escalating geopolitical tensions between America and Russia over Ukraine. This weekend, the leaders of the 6! or so US intelligence agencies are having to explain to their political masters why they are called "intelligence" given that they failed to foresee the Russian security measures that Moscow has deployed in Ukraine's southern Crimean Peninsula over the past week.
Now Washington is scrambling fighter jets to the Balkans and warships to the Black Sea in a desperate show of purposefulness, having been caught rudely asleep as the self-appointed global police thug.
So much for the $50-billion-a-year American spy industry, including the National Security Agency, which came to prominence this past year with revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden that the agency...[extracted] zillions of data from computers and phones in every country of the world.
Given the evident surprise in Washington over Russian military moves in the Crimea this past week, the US spook industry has got some serious explaining to do for their extraordinary lapse and atrociously
poor value for tax-payer money.
The fallback claim by US director of intelligence, James Clapper, and other spy bosses, as well as President Obama himself, is that the NSA's violation of privacy laws has been necessary because it keeps Americans safe from terrorism and other threats.

Now, with Washington spectacularly wrong-footed by Russia in Crimea, that assurance of alleged vigilance looks even more threadbare. How incompetent can American spooks and their multi-billion-dollar activities be?
For some light relief comes the news that the Pentagon has now taken to "reading the body language" of Russian President Vladimir Putin for guidance.

Read More Here

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Family Survival Protocol
Ukraine : EU Style Austerity and The Plunder of Natural Resources. For Those Defending The Intentions of The West Have Now Been Educated.

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Family Survival Protocol
Obama The Poster Boy For Duplicity Speaks : Crimea’s Secession Referendum a Violation of International Law

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Family Survival Protocol
Ukraine blueprint for a Syria 2.0 ? Evidence would point to the US and EU as the root of the destabilization that has taken place.

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Ukraine : EU Style Austerity and The Plunder of Natural Resources. For Those Defending The Intentions of The West Have Now Been Educated.


DAHBOO77


Published on Mar 7, 2014
Let the world learn from this. The ukraine people got a reward for joining the EU,...That reward was a %50 cut in their pension and forced into an IMF Plan!
http://www.kommersant.ua/doc/2424454
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/1...
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Paul Craig Roberts

Institute for Political Economy

The Looting Of Ukraine Has Begun

The Looting Of Ukraine Has Begun
Paul Craig Roberts
ukrainian woman
This supporter of the Ukraine joining the EU has received her reward: a 50% cut in her pension.
According to a report in Kommersant-Ukraine, the finance ministry of Washington’s stooges in Kiev who are pretending to be a government has prepared an economic austerity plan that will cut Ukrainian pensions from $160 to $80 so that Western bankers who lent money to Ukraine can be repaid at the expense of Ukraine’s poor. http://www.kommersant.ua/doc/2424454 It is Greece all over again.
Before anything approaching stability and legitimacy has been obtained for the puppet government put in power by the Washington orchestrated coup against the legitimate, elected Ukraine government, the Western looters are already at work. Naive protesters who believed the propaganda that EU membership offered a better life are due to lose half of their pension by April. But this is only the beginning.
The corrupt Western media describes loans as “aid.” However, the 11 billion euros that the EU is offering Kiev is not aid. It is a loan. Moreover, it comes with many strings, including Kiev’s acceptance of an IMF austerity plan.
Remember now, gullible Ukrainians participated in the protests that were used to overthrow their elected government, because they believed the lies told to them by Washington-financed NGOs that once they joined the EU they would have streets paved with gold. Instead they are getting cuts in their pensions and an IMF austerity plan.
Read More Here
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Ukraine signs $10 billion shale gas deal with Chevron


KIEV Tue Nov 5, 2013 9:11am EST

(L-R, front) Chevron Exploration and Production Europe Derek Magness, Ukraine's Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky, Chairman of the National Joint Stock Company ''Nadra Ukrayny'' Viktor Ponomarenko, (L-R, back) U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Payette, Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich and President of Chevron Europe, Eurasia and Middle East Exploration and Production James Johnson attend a signing ceremony in Kiev, November 5, 2013. REUTERS/Mykhailo Markiv/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
(L-R, front) Chevron Exploration and Production Europe Derek Magness, Ukraine's Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky, Chairman of the National Joint Stock Company ''Nadra Ukrayny'' Viktor Ponomarenko, (L-R, back) U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Payette, Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich and President of Chevron Europe, Eurasia and Middle East Exploration and Production James Johnson attend a signing ceremony in Kiev, November 5, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Mykhailo Markiv/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters


(Reuters) - Ukraine signed a $10 billion shale gas production-sharing agreement with U.S. Chevron (CVX.N) on Tuesday, another step in a drive for more energy independence from Russia.
The deal to develop its western Olesska field followed a similar shale gas agreement with Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) in January and boosts Ukraine's leadership at a time of fraught relations with Moscow over gas supplies.
"The agreements with Shell and Chevron ... will enable us to have full sufficiency in gas by 2020 and, under an optimistic scenario, even enable us to export energy," President Viktor Yanukovich told investors shortly before the signing.
The highest end of expectations for Olesska's potential reserves would match around three years of European Union gas demand, but similarly sunny hopes for shale reserves in neighboring Poland have been very sharply downsized.
Shale development in Europe is far behind the booming U.S. sector and progress is patchy. Chevron pulled out of a shale exploration tender in Lithuania and has suspended work at a Romanian shale well after local protests.
Ukraine Energy Minister Eduart Stavytsky, who signed the deal with Chevron executive Derek Magness, set it in the context of a high price Ukraine pays Russia for its gas.

Read More Here


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US, EU begin looting Ukraine resources: Analyst

French President Francois Hollande (L) welcomes the head of the Ukrainian opposition UDAR party Vitali Klitschko (R), and the Ukrainian MP Petro Poroshenko at the Elysee Palace in Paris on March 7, 2014.
French President Francois Hollande (L) welcomes the head of the Ukrainian opposition UDAR party Vitali Klitschko (R), and the Ukrainian MP Petro Poroshenko at the Elysee Palace in Paris on March 7, 2014.
Sat Mar 8, 2014 12:18AM
The United States and the European Union have begun “looting” Ukraine’s resources to obtain stability and legitimacy for their new “puppet government” in Kiev, an analyst writes in a column for the Press TV website.
“Before anything approaching stability and legitimacy has been obtained for the puppet government put in power by the Washington orchestrated coup against the legitimate, elected Ukraine government, the Western looters are already at work,”  Dr. Paul Craig Roberts wrote on Friday.
Roberts pointed to the EU plan to grant Ukraine an 11-billion-euro ($15 billion) aid package over the coming years. The plan was announced by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday.
“The corrupt Western media describes loans as “aid.” However, the 11 billion euros that the EU is offering Kiev is not aid. It is a loan. Moreover, it comes with many strings, including Kiev’s acceptance of an IMF (International Monetary Fund) austerity plan,” he added.

Read More Here

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