Russia and Putin, the Nonexistent Threat. Who is the Aggressor; the US or Russia?

Russia is fast becoming our latest bogyman with neocons, war hawks, and a complicit corporate media, all beating the preliminary war drums, rapidly convincing a duped public that the Russian threat is real.  The record shows the Russian threat is nonsense, but the record also shows there is a threat, not from Russia, but from the US.

A couple of years ago the US was foaming at the mouth anticipating being able to bomb Syria into oblivion, claiming as pretext Assad was using chemical weapons.  Once again the US was using the tired argument that it was necessary to save the people by bombing them.  Ask the “people” of Libya, and Iraq, and Yemen, if they felt saved by being bombed?  We laid waste to Libya with 77 days of bombing and devastated that country, along with the complete destruction of Iraq, and now, with our invaluable assistance and weapons, we are doing likewise to “save” the people of Yemen.

Our thirst to bomb Syria a few years ago was foiled by those evil Russians, who stepped in diplomatically and got Assad to get rid of all Syria’s chemical weapons.  Those nasty Russians would not let us have our bombing and prevented it by using diplomacy. Is that why they now are our enemy?

Naturally we would not be stopped, and found the pretext to bomb Syria anyway.  Using ISIS as an excuse, we are currently bombing Syria trying to usher in the same kind of anarchy we brought to Iraq and Libya. Corporate media, shill mouthpiece of the US government, would have you believe that the US is part of a world coalition that is bombing Syria, when the fact is 99% of the bombing is done by the US alone. In any case the end game is to reduce Syria to chaos, death, destruction, and violence, which is well under way.  Those nasty Russians are again interfering by sending weapons to support the Assad regime.  It appears that our thirst to bomb, has forced the nasty Russians to draw a line in the sand.  They will support Assad and not tolerate his overthrow by the US.

We now know, thanks to the Guardian and other UK news outlets, but relatively unreported in the US, that apparently the Russians had negotiated a deal in 2012, in which Assad would either share power or would step down, but the deal was ignored and brushed aside by the US.  Why?  Because we wanted to rain down anarchy on Syria by bombing it to oblivion. We did not want a diplomatic solution, we wanted to bomb and cause pure anarchy, which is what we are currently doing. Those nasty Russians were diplomatically trying to prevent this from happening for the second time. They could not stop our desire to bomb.

The US orchestrated a coup of a democratically elected leader of the Ukraine and installed a US puppet, but blamed the next door neighbor Russia for the troubles in the Ukraine. We also inflamed the US public by accusing Russia of expanding by taking the Crimea by force, even though 99% of Crimeans wanted to belong to Russia, and this was achieved not by invasion, and not one single death in the Crimea.  Corporate media convinced the US public that Russia had invaded militarily, and taken over the Crimea.  Not so; there was no invasion and not one person died in a popular turn to Russia by the people of Crimea.

There are now various news reports that have the US planning to place nuclear weapons to Germany. That’s right, nuclear weapons on Russia’s front doorstep! First, how would you like it as a German citizen, and then how you like it as a Russian living next door?  This is a provocative, foolish, dangerous, militarily aggressive act by the US, but the media shills will depict the Russians as the bad guys.
So who is the aggressor nation? How many nations has Russia bombed in the past 25 years?  How many nations has the US bombed in the past 25 years? Russia has 2 military bases outside its borders, while the US has over 700. So which nation is the most aggressive? The US has killed approximately 4-5 million people since 1963. How many innocents has Russia killed during that time? The annual US military budget is 10 times higher than Russia’s, so who is the aggressor nation? There are US Special Forces operating in 81 foreign nations. Special Forces budget has increased fivefold since 2001 and their numbers have doubled.  So who is the aggressor nation? The US is planning to deploy nuclear weapons to Germany, and since 1776 the US has been at war for 93% of its history. The US with its bombings of 14 nations in the Middle East, has unleashed one of the biggest refugee crises in human history as people flee from US bombs and destruction.  So who is the aggressor; the US or Russia? Pay no attention to corporate media, get your own facts.

Joe Clifford lives in Rhode Island and writes for two online sites and regularly submits articles to Rhode Island newspapers. He writes mostly about US foreign policy but occasionally will venture into other venues.

Copyright © Joe Clifford, Global Research, 2015

Source: Global Research

CIA Officer Clair Lopez: Obama is a Muslim Terrorist with Brotherhood Ties to Take Down USA

Clare Lopez is a former CIA officer, and she is risking her professional career to call out President Barack Obama in the biggest way possible.

 Lopez is well respected in the intelligence community and worked in the Reagan White House. After two decades in the field with the CIA, and as an instructor for special forces and intelligence students, Lopez is now with the Center for Security Policy managing the counter-jihad and Shariah programs.

Now, she is claiming Obama is why America has completely “switched sides” during the war on terrorism. America is now supporting the enemy, especially through the Muslim Brotherhood.

Lopez has been unwilling to speak in public, but has confined with a few members of the House of Representatives her serious concerns about Obama’s motivations about foreign policy decisions.

Lopez noted that the war on terrorism has always been about stopping the spread of Shariah Islamic law, until Obama started to make major changes which clearly supported the Muslim Brotherhood’s jihadist interests.

She said the global war on terror had been an effort to “stay free of Shariah,” or repressive Islamic law, until the Obama administration began siding with such jihadist groups as the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates.

The transition was easy for Obama, who already hates American values and principles as an ideologically radical…

Why the switch?
Lopez explained, when the so-called Arab Spring appeared in late 2010, “It was time to bring down the secular Muslim rulers who did not enforce Islamic law. And America helped.”
And why would Obama want to do that?
As she told WND earlier this month, Lopez believed the Muslim Brotherhood has thoroughly infiltrated the Obama administration and other branches of the federal government.
She also came to the conclusion Obama had essentially the same goals in the Mideast as the late Osama bin Laden: “to remove American power and influence, including military forces, from Islamic lands.”

And,

The former CIA operative said, “as Israel fought enemies on all sides to remain free, secure and Jewish, America began to move away from Israel and toward its Muslim enemies. And, as Iran moved inexorably toward a deliverable nuclear weapons capability, America helped.”

via WND

In addition, Lopez claims that the only reason Obama approved of the killing of Osama bin Laden is he simply couldn’t ignore the chance without looking suspicious. The opportunity presented himself, and he “couldn’t delay it any longer.”

Please share this post with friends on Facebook and Twitter. Every patriot should learn just what side our President is on!

Source: The Conservatives Papers

Azov fighters are Ukraine’s greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat

“I have nothing against Russian nationalists, or a great Russia,” said Dmitry, as we sped through the dark Mariupol night in a pickup truck, a machine gunner positioned in the back. “But Putin’s not even a Russian. Putin’s a Jew.”Dmitry – which he said is not his real name – is a native of east Ukraine and a member of the Azov battalion, a volunteer grouping that has been doing much of the frontline fighting in Ukraine’s war with pro-Russia separatists. The Azov, one of many volunteer brigades to fight alongside the Ukrainian army in the east of the country, has developed a reputation for fearlessness in battle.

But there is an increasing worry that while the Azov and other volunteer battalions might be Ukraine’s most potent and reliable force on the battlefield against the separatists, they also pose the most serious threat to the Ukrainian government, and perhaps even the state, when the conflict in the east is over. The Azov causes particular concern due to the far right, even neo-Nazi, leanings of many of its members.

Dmitry claimed not to be a Nazi, but waxed lyrical about Adolf Hitler as a military leader, and believes the Holocaust never happened. Not everyone in the Azov battalion thinks like Dmitry, but after speaking with dozens of its fighters and embedding on several missions during the past week in and around the strategic port city of Mariupol, the Guardian found many of them to have disturbing political views, and almost all to be intent on “bringing the fight to Kiev” when the war in the east is over.

The battalion’s symbol is reminiscent of the Nazi Wolfsangel, though the battalion claims it is in fact meant to be the letters N and I crossed over each other, standing for “national idea”. Many of its members have links with neo-Nazi groups, and even those who laughed off the idea that they are neo-Nazis did not give the most convincing denials.

“Of course not, it’s all made up, there are just a lot of people who are interested in Nordic mythology,” said one fighter when asked if there were neo-Nazis in the battalion. When asked what his own political views were, however, he said “national socialist”. As for the swastika tattoos on at least one man seen at the Azov base, “the swastika has nothing to do with the Nazis, it was an ancient sun symbol,” he claimed.

The battalion has drawn far-right volunteers from abroad, such as Mikael Skillt, a 37-year-old Swede, trained as a sniper in the Swedish army, who described himself as an “ethnic nationalist” and fights on the front line with the battalion.

Despite the presence of these elements, Russian propaganda that claims Kiev’s “fascist junta” wants to cleanse east Ukraine of Russian speakers is overblown. The Azov are a minority among the Ukrainian forces, and even they, however unpleasant their views may be, are not anti-Russian; in fact the lingua franca of the battalion is Russian, and most have Russian as their first language.

Indeed, much of what Azov members say about race and nationalism is strikingly similar to the views of the more radical Russian nationalists fighting with the separatist side. The battalion even has a Russian volunteer, a 30-year-old from St Petersburg who refused to give his name. He said he views many of the Russian rebel commanders positively, especially Igor Strelkov, a former FSB officer who has a passion for military re-enactments and appears to see himself as a tsarist officer. He “wants to resurrect a great Russia, said the volunteer; but Strelkov is “only a pawn in Putin’s game,” he said, and he hoped that Russia would some time have a “nationalist, violent Maidan” of its own.

On one afternoon earlier this week the Guardian travelled with a group of Azov fighters to hand over several boxes of bullets to Ukrainian border guards. During an artillery attack outside Mariupol in the days before, the border guards had come to the rescue of a group of Azov fighters, and the bullets were their way of saying thank you. “Everything in this war is based on personal links; Kiev does nothing,” explained the Azov’s Russian volunteer, as we sped towards a checkpoint in a civilian Chevrolet; the boot full with the boxes of bullets and rocket-propelled grenade launchers; one of the windows shot out by gunfire during a recent battle.

“This is how it works. You go to some hot spot, they see you’re really brave, you exchange phone numbers, and next time you can call in a favour. If you need an artillery strike you can call a general and it will take three hours and you’ll be dead. Or you can call the captain or major commanding the artillery battalion and they will help you out straight away. We are Azov and they know that if they ever needed it, we would be there for them.”

For the commanders and the generals in Kiev, who many in Azov and other volunteer battalions see as responsible for the awful losses the Ukrainian army has suffered in recent weeks, especially in the ill-fated retreat from Ilovaysk, there was only contempt. “Generals like those in charge of Ilovaysk should be imprisoned for treason,” said Skillt. “Heads are going to roll for sure, I think there will be a battle for power.”

The Ukrainian armed forces are “an army of lions led by a sheep”, said Dmitry, and there is only so long that dynamic can continue. With so many armed, battle-hardened and angry young men coming back from the front, there is a danger that the rolling of heads could be more than a metaphor. Dmitry said he believes that Ukraine needs “a strong dictator to come to power who could shed plenty of blood but unite the nation in the process”.

Many in the Azov battalion with whom the Guardian spoke shared this view, which is a long way from the drive for European ideals and democracy that drove the protests in Kiev at the beginning. The Russian volunteer fighting with the Azov said he believes Ukraine needs “a junta that will restrict civil rights for a while but help bring order and unite the country”. This disciplinarian streak was visible in the battalion. Drinking is strictly forbidden. “One time there was a guy who got drunk, but the commander beat him in his face and legs until he could not move; then he was kicked out,” recalled one fighter proudly.

Other volunteer battalions have also come under the spotlight. This week, Amnesty International called on the Ukrainian government to investigate rights abuses and possible executions by the Aidar, another battalion.

“The failure to stop abuses and possible war crimes by volunteer battalions risks significantly aggravating tensions in the east of the country and undermining the proclaimed intentions of the new Ukrainian authorities to strengthen and uphold the rule of law more broadly,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International secretary general, in Kiev.

Fighters from the battalion told the Guardian last month they expected a “new revolution” in Ukraine that would bring a more decisive military leader to power, in sentiments similar to those of many Azov fighters.

Despite the desire of many in the Azov to bring violence to Kiev when the war in the east is over, the battalion receives funding and assistance from the governor of Donetsk region, the oligarch Serhiy Taruta. An aide to Taruta, Alex Kovzhun, said the political views of individual members of Azov were not an issue, and denied that the battalion’s symbol had Nazi undertones.

“The views of some of them is their own affair as long as they do not break the law,” said Kovzhun in written answers to questions. “And the symbol is not Nazi. Trust me – some of my family died in concentration camps, so I have a well-developed nose for Nazi shit.”

As well as their frontline duties, the Azov battalion also functions as “a kind of police unit”, said a platoon commander who goes by the nom de guerre Kirt. A medieval history buff who takes part in Viking battle reenactments and once ran a tour firm in Thailand, Kirt returned to east Ukraine to join the Azov. He took the Guardian on an overnight patrol through the outskirts of Mariupol and the villages around the front line.

Part separatist hunters, part city cops with no rules to restrain them, they travelled in a convoy of three vehicles, all heavily armed. As midnight approached we set off across the bumpy tarmac roads to the outskirts of Mariupol, and soon came across a parked car by the side of the road that the men found suspicious.

Fighters dashed from the front two cars and rushed at the vehicle pointing their guns at it. A startled man got out of the passenger seat, then a sheepish looking woman in a cocktail dress and holding a half-smoked cigarette emerged, smoothing her hair. The Azov fighters apologised, but only after demanding documents and thoroughly searching the car.

As we edged closer to the front line, Kirt and the others scanned the skyline with binoculars, on the lookout for snipers and separatists. Later, fighters sprinted towards a suspicious jeep parked on the beach while the sea was scanned for hostile support vessels, but it turned out that again the men had stumbled upon people just trying to have a good time: a group of women drinking sparkling wine out of plastic cups on the beachfront.

The Azov have been partially brought into the military and officially function as a special police unit. There are discussions that Azov and other battalions could be integrated into the army or special forces when the conflict is over.

Some of them, however, are hoping Ukraine will look very different in the not-so-distant future. And while they may be a tiny minority when it comes to Ukraine as a whole, they have a lot of weapons.

President Petro Poroshenko will be killed in a matter of months, Dmitry said, and a dictator will come to power.

“What are the police going to do? They could not do anything against the peaceful protesters on Maidan; they are hardly going to withstand armed fighting units.”

Source: The Guardian

It’s his personal ideology’: USA Today finds Nazis among Kiev’s volunteer brigade

An Azov Battalion sergeant has confessed to USA Today of praising Nazi ideology. He also pledged a march on the Ukrainian capital after the war. A spokesman for the pro-Kiev brigade insists this is a ‘personal choice’ of no more than a fifth of the unit.

USA Today visited the Azov Battalion stationed in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol and spoke to a number of servicemen of the unit, which is sponsored by Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky.

A drill sergeant who identified himself as Alex told the newspaper that he supports Nazi-style strong leadership for Ukraine but does not share Nazis’ genocide agenda against Jews, as long as minorities “don’t demand special privileges.”

Alex insisted that once the war is over, he and others from the Azov Battalion will go back to Kiev to oust the corrupt government and nationalize the property of wealthy oligarchs.

0 years after D-Day US #EU #ForeignPolicy perfidiously backs #Ukraine unit with #Nazi insignia, ideology, volunteers Ukraine-Azov-brigade-nazis-abuses-separatists

Officers of higher ranks in the battalion denied the presence of a large number of neo-Nazis among servicemen.

I know Alex is a Nazi, but it’s his personal ideology. It has nothing to do with the official ideology of the Azov,” said Andrey Dyachenko, a spokesman for the Azov Battalion. However, he did state that “only 10 percent to 20 percent of the group’s members are Nazis.”

The Azov Battalion’s deputy commander, Oleg Odnorozhenko, insisted that the drill sergeant does not speak for the group. “If he has his own sympathies, it’s his own matter,” Odnorozhenko said, adding that Alex “will be dealt with severely for his lack of discipline.”

“Ideas like going to Kiev to change the government in an illegal way should be nipped in the bud,” Odnorozhenko said, adding that Alex is a “good drill sergeant and a good instructor for tactics and weapons skills,” so his future in the unit is probably as bright as it gets.

A member of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kiev, Col. Oleksy Nozdrachov, defended the Azov fighters as patriots. “They are volunteers who decided to sacrifice their lives to the country,” he said.

“They are tough and fierce in battle who stand and fight and won’t give up soil.”

Kiev-controlled volunteer battalions and the Ukrainian Security Service are involved in an increasing number of human rights violations, including torture and forced disappearances of those suspected of “separatism,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a December 2014 report.

The report – which covered a period of just one month, from November 1-30 – said the Office of the Military Prosecutor had not taken any actions to investigate the “considerable” number of allegations of human rights violations, “including looting, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment by members of certain voluntary battalions such as Aidar, Azov, Slobozhanshchina and Shakhtarsk.”

In September last year, another international report confirmed that war crimes – including abductions, executions, and extortion – were committed by the Ukrainian Aidar volunteer battalion in the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine.

READ MORE: Crimes of Ukrainian Aidar battalion confirmed in Amnesty Int’l report – Russia

The recent interview is not the first time that Ukraine battalion volunteers have openly supported Nazi ideology. Last year, troops from the Ukrainian Azov and Donbass battalions were reportedly noticed wearing swastikas and SS badges.

According to a video on German TV station ZDF, Ukrainian soldiers were shown wearing swastikas and the “SS runes” of Adolph Hitler’s elite corps. The footage was shot by a camera team from Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

A year ago, BBC Newsnight journalist Gabriel Gatehouse visited Kiev to investigate the links between the new Ukrainian government and Neo-nazis. Having reported “groups of armed men strut through the [Maidan] square with dubious iconography” – including German symbols used by SS divisions during WWII – the British journalistic investigation found that “the most organized and perhaps the most effective were a small number of far right groups,” adding that “when it came to confrontation with the police, it was often the nationalists who were the loudest and the most violent.”

READ MORE: Ukraine ultranationalist leader rejects Minsk peace deal, vows ‘to continue war’

“National Socialist themes are popular amongst some of us…I like the idea of one nation. A clean nation…Not like under Hitler, but in our own way, a little bit like that,” a member of Ukraine’s Right Sector told the BBC reporter, who concluded that “the influence of the far right in Ukraine is growing.”

In February, Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh said the party’s paramilitary units in eastern Ukraine will continue “active fighting” despite the ceasefire, as the radical movement did not recognize the Minsk peace deal agreed upon by Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia after 16 hours of talks.

Source: RT. Question more

Putin suggests discussing resolution on coordination of forces fighting against IS

Addressing the UN General Assembly, the Russian leader has warned against flirting with terrorists

UNITED NATIONS, September 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the global community to establish an international anti-terrorist coalition with participation of Islamic countries.

“In reality, we propose to be guided not by ambition, but by common values and common interests. We call for joining efforts on the basis of international law for solving new challenges and create a broad international anti-terrorist coalition,” Putin told the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.

“Like the anti-Hitler coalition, it can bring together different forces that will decisively fight against those who, like Nazis, sow evil and antihumanism,” he added noting that “Muslim countries should become key participants of the coalition.”

“The Islamic State [terrorist organization] does not only represent a direct threat, but also desecrates the greatest world religion by its bloody crimes. Ideologists of militants are mocking Islam, distorting its true humanistic values,” the Russian leader said.

Putin called on “Muslim spiritual leaders”, saying that their authority and educating words are very important now. “It is necessary to protect people whom militants are trying to recruit from reckless steps. Those who were deceived and ended among terrorists for different reasons should be assisted in finding a way back to normal life, lay down arms and stop fratricidal war,” Putin stressed.

Putin warns of dangers of playing games with terrorists

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned about dangers of playing games with terrorists in his speech at the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

He said that some countries tried to use terrorists for achieving their own goals in the hope of “dealing with them or ,in other words, liquidating them later.”

“To those who do so I would like to say: dear Sirs, no doubt, you are dealing with rough and cruel people, but they are in no way primitive. They are just as clever as you are and you never know who is manipulating whom. The recent data on arms transfer to this most “moderate” opposition is the best proof of it.

“We believe that any attempts to play games with terrorists, let alone to arm them, are not just short-sighted, but “fire-hazardous”. This may result in the global terrorist threat increasing dramatically and engulfing new regions. Especially given that Islamic State camps train militants from many countries, including the European countries,” Putin said.

“Unfortunately, Russia is not an exception,” the Russian president went on to say.

“We cannot allow these criminals who have already felt the smell of blood to return back home and continue their evil doings. No one wants this to happen, does he?” Putin said posing a rhetorical question.

Putin calls statements about fighting terrorism on the part of those who use extremists for achieving their own goals hypocritical

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described as hypocritical loud-spoken statements about fighting terrorism when they come from those who use extremists for achieving their own goals.

The Russian president told the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly that the situation in the Middle East was more than dangerous.

“Under these circumstances, it is hypocritical and irresponsible to make loud-spoken declarations about an international terrorist threat and keep turning a blind eye to the channels of financial support for terrorists, including drug trafficking, illegal trade in oil and weapons or attempts to manipulate and harness extremist groups for achieving one’s own political goals,” Putin said.

“Russia has always stood against all forms and manifestations of terrorism staunchly and consistently,” the Russian president said adding that Russia was rendering military and technological assistance to Iraq, Syria and other regional states, which are fighting against terrorist groups.

“We consider it to be a great mistake to give up cooperation with the Syrian authorities, the government army and those who are bravely fighting against terrorists face to face,” the Russian leader stressed.

Putin hopes for agreement with partners in anti-terror struggle

Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to reach an agreement with partners in anti-terror struggle, including the United States.

“As for the most critical global situations, among which struggle against terrorism occupies a special place, we really hope that we will manage to find points of convergence with all our partners – the Arab countries, Turkey, the United States and European countries with an aim to find a common platform for fighting terrorism. It is necessary to take all regional contradictions out of context and work on them together with all the countries concerned by promoting political transformations in the states of the region, including Syria,” Putin said at a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Naturally, we will be unable to solve any of these tasks without strengthening state structures in countries of the region, including Syria. If we miss time, terrorism will simply celebrate its victory. Today, we will have a chance to discuss it with President Obama and other colleagues. Hopefully, we will be able to agree on positive agenda,” the Russian president stressed.

For his part, Putin thanked the UN secretary-general for positive assessment of his speech at the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Putin calls refusal to cooperate with Syria authorities ‘huge mistake’

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday it was a huge mistake not to work together with Syria’s authorities.

“Today, we provide military-technical assistance to Iraq, Syria and other countries of the region which are fighting terrorist groups,” Putin told the United Nations General Assembly.

“We regard it as a huge mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face,” he said. “We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad’s armed forces and Kurdish militia are truly fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist organisations in Syria.”

“We know all problems of the region, all contradictions,” the president said, noting the need “to proceed from realities”.

Source: TASS. Russian News

Russians to Get Rocket Fuel, Water, Oxygen from Ice on the Moon

Russian scientists are currently studying lunar ice, hoping to get hydrogen rocket fuel, water and oxygen from the moon, Igor Mitrofanov from the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) told Radio Sputnik.

The Russian space robot Lend is currently exploring both moon poles that have large reserves of ice. Studies have shown that there is enough hydrogen to produce rocket fuel. Furthermore, both water and oxygen could be extracted from lunar ice, the scientist said.A processing factory to derive hydrogen rocket fuel, water and oxygen from lunar ice might start as early as 2035, Mitrofanov said.

“Many people, myself included, think that the Moon will be the next continent [planet] that humans will conquer. And if it’s so, then the presence of such an important resource like water is very important,” Mitrofanov told Radio Sputnik.

To function properly, the International Space Station (ISS) needs a constant delivery of water, oxygen and fuel. But if Russia builds a base on the Moon, then astronauts will already have these essential resources, Mitrofanov shared his optimistic view.

By 2018, Russia’s reconnaissance spacecraft Luna-25 should land on the south pole of the Moon. Construction of Luna 25 is already underway, and once finished, the spacecraft will carry eight cameras to help it navigate and take pictures. It will also feature a drill tool capable of digging into the moon’s surface.

After landing another lunar robot during 2020-2021 Russia will try to bring back a piece of lunar ice to the Earth by 2025. Following a thorough study, a group of Russian astronauts will fly to the Moon by the beginning of the 2030s. Then, within the next 5-10 years, a processing plant for rocket fuel, water and oxygen could be set up, the Russian scientist said.

Source: Sputnik News

Russia has accused the U.S. of reluctance to make «Islamic state» in the black list of the UN security Council

In the Ministry of foreign Affairs of Russia complained that the US blocked the proposal of the Russian diplomats to include the terrorist group «Islamic state» (banned in Russia. — Approx. NEWSru.com) in the sanctions list of the UN security Council. The American press claims that the US does not support other anti-terrorism initiatives of Russia, in particular with regard to Russian troops in Syria.

«For anybody not a secret that IG is an independent structure that protrudes to some extent a rival of al-Qaida. Thus in the anti-terrorist sanctions list of the UN security Council, it is labeled as one of the names of al-Qaida in Iraq,» said RIA «Novosti» Director of the Department on new challenges and threats of the Russian foreign Ministry Ilya Rogachev.

«We have already proposed to include IG in the sanctions list of the UN as an independent helper. But our proposals are blocked Western members of the security Council, especially the US, under various pretexts,» — said the Russian diplomat.

«We believe that the Americans are saying so only because of one circumstance: the desire to show that the power set of the IG, its current success in no way connected with the fact that Westerners, especially the US, is very unintelligible cultivated opposition to the Assad government, including significant resources fall into the hands of extremists. This is a purely politically calculated stance that has almost nothing to do with fighting terror. Therefore, we persistently put this question and will continue to bet aggressively», said Rogachev.

However, it is worth noting that, apparently, now the US is blocking any anti-terrorism initiatives of the Russian Federation, especially during the jubilee 70th session of the UN General Assembly, which meets in new York. As the newspaper writes Foreign Policy, which quotes InoPressa, in 10 years the first visit of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin in the UN General Assembly was to provide international approval for actions of the Russian Federation in Syria through the adoption of the Declaration of the UN security Council, which would maintain the universal fight against terrorism.

«However, American diplomats rejected the offer, dashing the hopes of Russia to come to new York next week in the odor of sanctity,» reads the article.

Journalists noted that the Russian diplomats in the past month worked on the document in which fighter jets, drones airbase and Moscow in Syria appeared as part of a benevolent plan to bring stability in the war-torn region, but hopes to get support for Russia was developed by the Declaration in the UN security Council destroyed the USA.

There were several versions of the resolution from the Russian Federation: in the first draft, diplomats said, has emphasized «the need to provide serious military support and strengthen the combat potential of the countries-UN members in the region, actively involved in counter-terrorism operations».

The document also called for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, expressed «deep concern» about the alleged use of the «Islamic state» chemical weapons and supported Russian efforts to include Syria and Iran in the counter-terrorism front.

However, this version of the document was rejected. The demarche of the USA took place after more than a week of negotiations behind closed doors with the participation of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. After that Russia has proposed to exclude some of the most controversial conditions, including a reference to the need to provide military support for countries fighting terrorism. «The second project was not outrageous, and we were ready to discuss it, said a diplomat from the UN security Council. But the Americans showed much greater restraint».

We will add that Putin may for the first time in almost a year to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the UN General Assembly. According to the American press, the meeting may be held next week, «on Monday (September 28th) or Tuesday (29 September)». Note that on 28 September the Russian and American leaders will have to speak at the 70th anniversary session of the UN General Assembly.

Source: TASS. Russian News

Lavrov says Washington more ‘receptive’ to Moscow position on Syria

Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the United States was increasingly receptive towards Moscow’s position on the conflict in Syria.

Lavrov referred to comments by US Secretary of State John Kerry after military talks restarted between Washington and Moscow on Syria, where a war shows no signs of abating after four and a half years.
A Russian diplomatic source said on Wednesday that Moscow sees a growing chance to reach international agreement on fighting terrorism in Syria and resolving a conflict which has killed a quarter of a million people.
Diplomacy has so far failed to find a solution to the crisis, now in its fifth year, with international powers supporting rival sides and unable to overcome their differences over the fate of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

With Al Assad facing increasing pressure from Daesh and Western-backed rebels, Moscow has stepped up support for its long-time ally at the same time as it pushes a new diplomatic offensive on Syria.
It has increased arms supplies to the Syrian army and increased its military presence inside Syria, drawing warnings from Western nations — which oppose Al Assad — that it was destabilising the situation further.

It is not clear what agreement could be reached on the main sticking points in the conflict, but the Russian diplomatic source said the growing threat posed by Daesh was driving new international efforts for a deal “Moscow now has an optimistic view of chances for a settlement on Syria and uniting efforts to combat [Daesh],” the source said.

The drive may culminate later this month when world leaders meet in New York at the annual UN General Assembly summit.
Syria is also the key theme in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan.

Moscow and Washington restarted talks between their defence officials on Syria last week after a long pause in any such contacts amid chilly bilateral ties over another conflict — Ukraine.

Source: Gulf News Russia

A Chinese aircraft carrier docks at Tartus to support Russian-Iranian military buildup

As US President Barack Obama welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Friday, Sept. 25, and spoke of the friendship between the two countries, the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning-CV-16 docked at the Syrian port of Tartus, accompanied by a guided missile cruiser. This is revealed exclusively by debkafile.

Beijing is not finding it hard to dance at two weddings, wooing the US for better relations, while at the same time backing Russia in its military intervention in Syria. Coupled with the warm smiles and handshakes exchanged at the lavish reception on the White House lawn, Beijing was clearly bent on showing muscle – not just in the South China Sea, but by allying itself with the Russian-Iranian political and military buildup in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime.

debkafile’s military sources report that the Chinese aircraft carrier passed through the Suez Canal on Sept. 22, one day after the summit in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

When they talked, Putin made no mention of the Chinese warship entering the eastern Mediterranean or its destination. Its arrival has upended the entire strategic situation surrounding the Syrian conflict, adding a new global dimension to Moscow and Tehran’s military support for Assad.
This was grasped at length by US Secretary of State John Kerry. On Sept. 25, he sent Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who also led the US negotiating team for the nuclear talks with Iran, to announce that the Obama administration is ready for dialogue with Iran about the situation in Syria, and this topic would be raised when Kerry’s met Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Jawad Zarif in New York on Sept. 26.
But if the top US diplomat hoped to bypass the Russian initiative in Syria by going straight to Tehran, he was too late. Iran is already moving forward fast to augment its military presence in the war-torn country, buttressed by the ground, air and sea support of two world powers, Russia and China.

This turn of evens has a highly detrimental effect on Israel’s strategic and military position. It also strengthens Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his determination to turn the nuclear deal concluded in July into a tool for isolating the US politically, militarily and economically in the Middle East, rather than a milestone on the road to a breakthrough in ties with Iran, as the Obama administration had hoped.

Our military sources find evidence that the Chinese forces are digging in for a prolonged stay in Syria. The carrier put into Tartus minus its aircraft contingent. The warplanes and helicopters should be in place on its decks by mid-November – flying in directly from China via Iran or transported by giant Russian transports from China through Iranian and Iraqi airspace.
This explains the urgency of establishing a Russian–Syria-Iranian “military coordination cell” in Baghdad in the last couple of days. This mechanism, plus the Russian officers sighted in Baghdad, indicates that the Russian military presence is not limited to Syria but is beginning to spill over into Iraq as well.

The coordination cell – or war room – was presented as necessary to begin working with Iranian-backed Shiite militias fighting the Islamic State in both places. But more immediately, it is urgently needed to control the heavy traffic of Russian, Iranian and Chinese military flights transiting Iraqi air space.

Our sources report that the Chinese will be sending out to Syria a squadron of J-15 Flying Shark fighters, some for takeoff positions on the carrier’s decks, the rest to be stationed at the Russian airbase near Latakia. The Chinese will also deploy Z-18F anti-submarine helicopters and Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters. In addition, Beijing will consign at least 1,000 marines to fight alongside their counterparts from Russia and Iran against terrorist groups, including ISIS.
debkafile’s counterterrorism sources point out that just as Russian marines will be instructed to single out rebel militias with recruits from Chechnya and the Caucasus, the Chinese marines will seek out and destroy Uighur fighters from the northern predominantly Muslim Chinese province of Xinjiang.

In the same way that Putin has no wish to see the Chechen fighters back in Russia, so too Chinese President Xi wants to prevent the Uighurs from returning home from the Syrian battlefields.

Source: DEBKA File

Russian ‘visitors’ receive warm welcome in coastal Syria

For pro-regime Syrians, there is nothing ‘more marvellous than the sound of Russian planes’ above their skies

Latakia: In a hotel lobby in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, five muscular Russian men sit around two small tables, scowling and fiddling with their mobile phones.

“We are visitors, that’s all,” one of them says, his back covered in tattoos including a large cross.

Asked to be more forthcoming, another member of the group signals they do not want to be disturbed.

A manager at the hotel, where Syrian families were gathered to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha, is equally terse.

“I’m not allowed to tell you that there are Russians here, but you can tell they’re not tourists. They say they are freight pilots. The only tourists we have here are Syrians,” he says.

Moscow, a decades-long backer of the Damascus regime, has remained a steadfast ally of President Bashar Al Assad in Syria’s nearly five-year war that has left more than 240,000 people dead.

It upped the ante in recent weeks with deliveries of fighter jets, aerial defence systems, drones and other modern military equipment – some of which has been handed over to the Syrian military.

In Latakia, Al Assad’s seaside bastion province, the growing Russian military involvement has received a warm welcome.

“Every morning, between 6 and 7, I see several Russian planes flying, and I really feel better,” says Ahmad, who lives near Bassel Al Assad International Airport in Hmeimim, 25 kilometres south of Latakia city.

The airport, along with Russia’s naval facility in nearby Tartus, have seen a major build-up in recent weeks.

“They were our friends, and now they have become our brothers – much more than many Arabs,” says Rima, a 25-year-old student.

“All of the ultra-sophisticated equipment is operated by the Russians, like flying the drones. They’re the ones who train the Syrian pilots, and they’re in command,” says a Syrian military expert on condition of anonymity.

When rockets crashed into the airport this week, Russian forces detected the firing location and jets flew off towards rebel-held territory to “neutralise the threat”, the expert adds.

The show of force has reassured residents worried about any rebel advance, including by Al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate Al Nusra Front.

“I’m secular and I belong to a religious minority. For me, it’s the best thing that can happen because the Russians will keep the extremists from advancing,” says 40-year old engineer Fadi at a cafe in the Shaikh Daher commercial district.

Latakia is the heartland of Syria’s Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam from which the Al Assad clan hails.

Alawites make up about half of Latakia city’s 400,000 residents and two-thirds of the provincial population.

Rebels regularly fire rockets into Latakia city and a powerful alliance including Al Nusra has battled to push into the province from its stronghold in adjacent Idlib.

“There is nothing more marvellous in the morning than drinking my coffee and smoking my arghileh (water pipe) on the balcony while listening to the melody of Russian planes,” says Nafaa, a 46-year old businessman in Sharashir, three kilometres from the airport.

Adnan, an engineer aged 53, says: “Most Syrians prefer the Russians to the Iranians, because so many of them have family ties to Russia – especially Syrian diplomats who studied in Russia and married Russians.”

The flurry of Russian activity, both military and diplomatic, appears to have already prompted a significant shift in global efforts to end Syria’s conflict.

In the space of just 24 hours, both Ankara and Berlin announced this week that Assad could be a part of the solution to the civil war.

And US President Barack Obama, who first said back in August 2011 that Assad “must step down”, is to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks on Monday.

A senior official in Syria described Russia’s military involvement as a “turning point” for the war.

“Russia intends to show that there is no solution without Al Assad and his army must be part of the fight against Daesh,” he said.

“Moscow wants to remind the United States that its relationship with Damascus dates back more than 50 years,” he said. “It’s also a message to regional countries that Russia intends to become a central player again.”

Source: Gulf News Russia