Thursday, December 12, 2013

Ukraine target of EU/NATO subversion

EU/NATO TARGETS
UKRAINE FOR
"REGIME CHANGE"

The current wave of protests in Ukraine are the outward expression of the most brazen attempt at interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign European country by the EU/NATO bloc since the conspiracy to destroy Federal Yugoslavia in the 1990’s where armed rebellion against the Belgrade Government was organised and financed by EU/NATO with the US, West Germany and Austria openly supplying arms to Croatian separatists provoking the most disastrous civil conflict in Europe since WW2.
The Western whore press has gone to great lengths to portray the demonstrations in Kiev as a struggle for democracy and the rule of law. In fact, they are part of a geopolitical strategy of the EU/NATO imperialist expansion in Eastern Europe in an attempt to reduce Russian influence and subordinate the Ukrainian State to the domination of Germany, the European Union and NATO.
Nine years ago, the so-called “Orange Revolution” was organised with massive political and financial support from the US government and American NGOs such as the “Open Society Institute” of billionaire George Soros. Other usual suspects include the National Endowment of Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Freedom House,   and other corporate groups such as the Rockefeller Foundation. They serve US imperial and corporate interests. They exploit ordinary people doing so. Various activities are ongoing in different countries. These forces were able to annul the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election and ensure that the pro-EU and pro-US tandem of Viktor Yushchenko and Julia Tymoshenko took over as head of state and head of government in place of Viktor Yanukovich, who was considered to be in the pocket of Russia. The muppet duo quickly fell out, however, and Yanukovich was able to assume the post of president in the 2010 election.

Queen Julia, convicted in October, 2011 of embezzlement and abuse of power by a Ukrainian Court  and sentenced to seven years imprisonment, willingly prostitutes herself as EU/NATO propaganda muppet, the victim of persecution by allegedly unfair legal proceedings. Tymoshenko is currently being held in the Kharkiv-based Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 under police surveillance, where since May 2012 she has been receiving treatment after being diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation. The EU has repeatedly called for release of Julia Tymoshenko as a main condition for signing the EU Association Agreement thus compounding its blatant political interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs, something which they would absolutely reject if applied to themselves. EU Foreign Affairs representative, Baroness Catherine Ashton, a Washington and NATO stooge who owes her title to war-monger Tony Blair for supporting the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 and probably the most stupid individual ever to hold a senior position in the Brussels bureaucracy, daily calls for Tymoshenko’s release. Former Irish MEP and onetime president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, former deputy leader of Irish neo-liberal right-wing caucus, the so-called “Progressive Democrats”, also interests himself in the campaign for Tymoshenko’s release. Derogatorily referred to as “Cat Pox” in Irish blogs, the despised ratbag enriched himself as an MEP and “advisor” for US and European corporate monopolies and was cheerleader for the privatisation and anti-worker policies of the previous Irish Government which landed our country in its worst ever economic crisis.

Now another, more serious attempt, is being made to bring a regime to power in Kiev that will subordinate the former Soviet Republic and granary of the Russian Empire to the EU.  The tactics have all the hallmarks of what was engineered against Socialist Yugoslavia in the 1990’s; the existing elected government is declared “undemocratic” and “dictatorial”; internal tensions and political and religious divisions are ruthlessly exploited with massively financed propaganda campaigns with traitorous opportunists who value euros and dollars above their own countries’ interests.  
An examination of the political leadership of the current protests reveals their totally reactionary character. They are led by three parties, two of which have close relations with the conservative camps in the EU, while the third is openly fascist. The Batkivshchyna (Homeland) party, led by the imprisoned Julia Tymoshenko, has observer status with the European People’s Party, the association of Europe’s Christian-Democratic and conservative parties. UDAR (Punch), headed by boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, who lives in  Germany, is a creation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its think tank, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The latter publicly advertises on its web site seminars devoted to the political education of UDAR members.
According to a study entitled “The Extreme Right in the Ukraine” by the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the third party, Svoboda (Freedom), is “the flagship of core extreme-right ideology.” The party’s original name was the Social-National Party of Ukraine. It used as its emblem a logo reminiscent of the Nazi swastika. On the advice of the extreme right-wing (Le Pen) French National Front (FN), with which it works closely, it adopted a less provocative name.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Homeland) and Vitali Klitschko regularly appear at press conferences together with Oleh Tyahnybok from Svoboda. Tyahnybok is a neo-Nazi notorious for his ultranationalist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic outbursts.
 A WARNING TO OUR UKRAINIAN FRIENDS!
Leading European and American politicians have expressed their solidarity with the protests in Ukraine. The EU is no earthly paradise. The same forces that have tacitly supported the brutality of their own police and para-military forces in mercilessly beating and oppressing those opposing EU austerity policies in Athens, Madrid, Lisbon and elsewhere, now proclaim their “outrage” at the brutality of the Ukrainian police. The appalling “austerity” policies imposed on Greece by the IMF and Brussels Dictatorship, the unelected EU Commission, which amount to nothing less than the forced impoverishment of the majority of the Greek population and are a living example of what is in store for Ukrainians if they foolishly allow themselves to be duped by the EU/NATO gang of hypocrites and liars. Likewise, the scandalous robbery of the savings of the people of Cyprus to satisfy the extortionate demands of the EU Banking cartel, which is now the official policy of the Brussels Dictatorship, is another example of what is in store for Ukrainians if these parasites get their way and abolish Ukraine’s sovereignty under the guise of a “trade agreement” with the EU/NATO bloc.

EU so-called “democracy” is a total sham. In 2009, when the Irish people rejected by a 60% majority the reactionary “Lisbon Treaty” which has imposed the failed economic dogma of neo-liberalism on EU countries, the people were forced to vote again in order to give the “right answer” the second time. In the second referendum on the Treaty, in 2010, the US Corporate monopolies based in Ireland spent €40 Million providing funds for “Yes” vote propaganda while the “NO” opposition had only a budget of €4,000. In a criminal manoeuvre, the second referendum was allocated the same number as the first, “28th amendment to the Constitution” allowing saved “yes” ballot papers from the first vote to be “recycled” (contrary to electoral law which states they must be destroyed within six months of the vote) and stuffed in the ballot boxes of the second vote thus providing the required “correct “ answer. In addition, empty ballot boxes were illegally delivered to private houses of election officials two days before the second referendum, again contrary to Irish electoral law, which provides that ballot boxes must be held in police stations or military barracks, under guard, until the morning of the vote. Further, and also contrary to Irish electoral law, agents of the “No” Campaign were refused permission to inspect and survey the ballot boxes being held overnight in count centres around the country.
In a disgraceful incident, from the first referendum in 2009, seen here:
 An unknown individual is filmed entering the Count Centre at Cork City Hall and re-emerging with a ballot box which he walks away with into the night. The Irish Government and police have consistently refused to investigate this incident despite numerous requests from concerned citizens.

US State Secretary, public liar John Kerry, urges the Ukrainian government to “listen to the voice of their people,” while in the US itself the “voice of the people”, the popular Occupy Movement, which organised street protests against the corporate robbery of the American people by the bandits of Wall Street, was violently suppressed by brutal State Police action throughout the country. The German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, intervened personally to mix with demonstrators in Kiev. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has demanded that the Ukrainian government guarantee the right to freedom of expression and assembly. The German government, which has just commenced new proceedings against the neo-fascist National Democratic Party of Germany, defends the right of the Ukrainian fascists to demonstrate. Yesterday, US Deputy Secretary of State, Nuland, turned up in the streets of Kiev handing out bread to protesters.
Though it is calling for the resignation of the President and new elections, the opposition does not enjoy the support of the majority of Ukrainians. A motion of censure against the Government failed last week  in parliament. The Association and Free Trade Agreement with the European Union that the opposition wants to implement would have a devastating impact on large sections of the Ukrainian population.
The EU Agreement excludes simultaneous membership in a Russian-led customs union and would thus cut off Ukraine from its main trading partner, with which Ukraine’s industry and transport routes are closely connected. The abolition of customs duties on European goods would also mean bankruptcy for many Ukrainian industries.
The terms of the agreement, which include the introduction of EU rules for labour market deregulation, reducing workers’ rights and limiting the right to strike, the privatisation of state enterprises and a reduction in the public debt, would have a social impact similar to the EU austerity programs imposed on Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania and other countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is already denying Ukraine a much-needed credit because the government refuses to hike the price of gas by 40 percent—a move that would inevitably result in the death of many unemployed people and pensioners unable to pay their heating bills as happens in the USA and EU countries every winter. The social and economic gains made by working people in the aftermath of WW2 are being systematically dismantled throughout the EU by the US invented “neo-liberalism” economic dogma of selling off state and public assets to private monopolies and abolishing social welfare, public health services and education services and replacing these with high-priced profit making rackets. The privatisation of public water supply further leaves the general population totally dependent on the whims of greedy profit-mongers and EU/US corporate vultures.
The Association Agreement would turn the country into an extended sweatshop workplace for German and European companies, which could produce at deliberately lowered wage rates than those in China. At the same time, the country’s natural resources, its vast and fertile landmass, agriculture and its domestic market of 46 million inhabitants make Ukraine a mouthwatering prospect for German and European corporate exploiters. The EU especially covets Ukrainian agricultural production as part of its policy of “food security” in reducing imports from developing countries in favour of production on the continent of Europe.
The agreement would also strengthen the EU’s hand against Russia. A customs union or Eurasian Union comprising Russia and the Ukraine would have had a significantly stronger position in trade negotiations with the EU than an isolated Russia. Separation of Ukraine from Russian trade links would leave that country in a much weakened position of reduced sovereignty, as has been imposed on the smaller EU countries by Britain, France and Germany who themselves blatantly ignore the rules they impose on others through the Brussels Dictatorship.
Germany, the EU and the US are pursuing not only economic, but also geopolitical, objectives in Ukraine. Given Russia’s loss of influence in Eastern Europe since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the incorporation of Ukraine into the EU would push Russia off to the edge of Europe and with the extreme pressure now being exerted on the remaining neutral countries in Europe, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Macedonia and Montenegro to join the aggressive NATO military alliance, responsible for all current major conflicts in the world, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia, supporting Israel’s oppression of Palestine, they want to consolidate their position on the frontiers of Russia at the expense of the peoples of those countries.
Kiev Rus, the first organised Slavic state in Europe, was a creation of the Ukrainian people. Since the end of the 18th Century, Ukraine formed an important part of the Russian and Soviet state. Moreover, the Russian Black Sea Naval Fleet is located in Crimea at a port leased to Russia by Ukraine. Both the US and the EU have an interest in weakening Russia, which is considered to be an important ally of China. Immediately after his election in March, Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to Moscow to strengthen the two countries’ “strategic partnership.” Both countries feel threatened economically and strategically by the aggressive incursions of the US and its allies in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
China is also expanding its economic links with Ukraine, which currently conducts about 5 percent of its foreign trade with China. In October, the South China Morning Post reported that the Chinese state-owned enterprise XPCC had struck a deal with the Ukrainian agricultural company KSG Agro to gain access to 100,000 hectares of arable land for the production of food for China. This area is to be expanded to three million hectares—the size of Belgium or Massachusetts.
China has already given the country loans of $10 billion. Ukraine considers its economic relations with China to be so important that President Yanukovich set off for a four-day state visit to Beijing, despite the continuing political crisis. This is the background to the attempts by the EU and the German government to use the protests in Kiev to destabilise the Ukrainian government. Their initiative has been launched in tandem with the US, which is systematically expanding its military presence in Asia to encircle China and undermine its influence in the region. To this end, the US has massively intensified its pressure on China in recent weeks.
The offensive against Ukraine raises profound historical questions. In two world wars, Germany sought to bring Ukraine under its control and committed abominable crimes in the process. The current brazenness of the German government is fraught with new dangers. The growing international tensions can quickly turn into armed conflict similar to what was imposed on Socialist Yugoslavia and being imposed on Syria today. The EU/NATO bloc cares nothing about the destruction imposed on countries where they seek “regime change” as their long-term strategy includes profiting from the required “reconstruction” business in the aftermath of each conflict and acquiring the resources of the target country for globalised monopoly capitalism.
This danger can only be countered by a strong independent movement of international working class solidarity fighting for a united, democratic socialist Europe against the inhuman neo liberalism economic dogma of the Wall Street and Frankfurt Banking monopolies.






Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Farewell to Madiba!


FAREWELL TO MADIBA
BUT NOT TO HIS
NOBLE LEGACY:

SOUTH AFRICA MOURNS
AND CELEBRATES ITS
GREATEST LEADER:

The death of Nelson Mandela, the first black and democratically elected
President of the Republic of South Africa, after a lifetime of struggle and unjust imprisonment by one of the most despised and vicious regimes of any Continent, united the world in tribute and honour for his unique and unparalleled achievements in liberating not only his own people but also their oppressors, the white Afrikaans who instituted the vicious and inhuman Apartheid regime. For this, the memory and presence of Madiba will never be
forgotten and will stand as a permanent guide to the necessity of always
placing the dignity and inalienable rights of each human being, Child, Woman or Man, ahead of any personal political or economic interest now or in the future.

The gathering of world leaders at Tuesday's Memorial Service shows the prestige and regard for Madiba which he deservedly attracted across the globe but, more significant and lasting is the regard of his own people of all races in South Africa and millions around the world who watched and admired his achievements both as President and later world statesman.

Nelson Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtatu, then a part of South Africa’s Cape Province. Given the name Rolihlahla,  he later came to be known as “Madiba”, a traditional clan name. Both his parents were devout Christians and sent him to a local Methodist school, where he came to be known as “ Nelson”, a name given to him by his schoolteacher, largely due to  biased British  Colonial educational system in Africa which tried to Anglisise the black population .He was also one of the first in his family to have attended school.
His father, who was destined to be a chief, lost his title and fortune over a dispute with a local magistrate, forcing the family to move to Qunu, a small village north of Mvezo. The village had no roads, only footpaths and the family lived in huts common in the tribal villages of the area. When Mandela was 9 years old, his father died of lung disease, changing his life forever. He later said he inherited his father’s “proud rebelliousness” and “stubborn sense of fairness”.
                                  The village of Qunu, Madiba's childhood home.

He  was adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, an acting regent of the Thembu people. He left his life in Qunu and quickly adapted to the new, more sophisticated surroundings of Mqhekezweni. Mandela took classes in a one room school, studying English, Xhosa history, and geography. It was during this time he developed his interest in South African History and the oppression by the British.  Listening to the tales told by elderly visitors he became influenced by the anti-imperialist rhetoric of Chief Joyi
Mandela acquired a Bachelors in arts (B.A.) degree from the University of Fort Hare, the prestigious and elite black institution in Alice, a town in South Africa. He currently holds the record of having honorary degrees from over 50 international universities. In his spare time, he also studied to be a lawyer. His Alma maters include, University of London External System, University of South Africa and University of the Witwatersrand. He also got a bachelor of Law degree through a university of London correspondence program. He was the first black person to become a lawyers clerk in the South African legal system.
In Johannesburg, he became actively involved in the Anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress in 1942 and becoming a founding member of its Youth League.. For 20 years, Mandela followed peaceful, nonviolent acts of defiance against the South African government and its racist policies of Apartheid. After the South African National Party came to power in 1948, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was appointed superintendent of the organisation's Transvaal chapter and presided over the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961.
Although initially committed to non-violent protest, after the brutal Sharpville Massacre* of unarmed protesters by the South African  Police, he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961 in association with the South African Communist Party, leading a sabotage campaign against the Apartheid regime. In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.

Mandela served over 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. A worldwide Anti-Apartheid Campaign lobbied for his release and the end of the apartheid system. Increasingly isolated by political, sporting and trade boycotts, the Pretoria Government was forced to release him in 1990, during a time of escalating civil strife. Mandela joined negotiations with President F. W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory and became South Africa's first black president.



*[ On the 21st of March, 1960, a group of between 5,000 and 7,000 people converged on the local police station in the township of Sharpeville, in then Transvaal, offering themselves up for arrest for not carrying their pass books. The Sharpeville Police were not completely unprepared for the demonstration, as they had already been forced to drive smaller gangs of more militant activists away the previous night.


By 10:00 am, a large crowd had gathered, and the atmosphere was initially peaceful and festive. Fewer than 20 police officers were present in the station at the start of the protest. Later the crowd grew to about 19,000, and the mood began turning hostile. The increasingly agitated crowd now adopted a common attitude which was later described as "insulting, menacing, and provocative", prompting about 130 police reinforcements, supported by four Saracen armoured cars (supplied by Britain) to be rushed in. The police were armed with firearms, including Sten sub-machine guns. There was no evidence that anyone in the gathering was armed with anything other than rocks.

                               South African Police survey the dead after their massacre of unarmed
                                 protesters, Sharpville, 21 March 1960.
South African Airforce jets approached to within a hundred feet of the ground, flying low over the crowd in an attempt to scatter it. The protestors responded by hurling a few stones (striking three people) and confronting  the police barricades. Tear gas and police baton charges failed to quell the crowd and at about 1:00 pm the Police tried to arrest an alleged ringleader. There was a scuffle, and the throng surged forward. The Police began random shooting shortly thereafter killing 69 people and 180 were injured, including 31 women and 19 children. Many were shot in the back as they turned to flee, causing worldwide condemnation from which the Apartheid regime never recovered and it became an international pariah. UNESCO marks March 21 as the yearly International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in memory of the massacre].

.





Thursday, December 05, 2013

Shannon Peace Activists Face court action:

       Margaretta d'Arcy and Niall Farrell, Galway Alliance Against War,
     outside Ennis Courthouse on Tuesday, December 3, 2013.

SHANNON PEACE
ACTIVISTS AGAIN
IN COURT:

Two peace activists protesting at the use of Shannon Airport by the US military “endangered the lives of passengers on board two aircraft last year”, Ennis District Court was told  Tuesday, December 3, 2013. Airport police officer Richard Moloney said authorities had to act quickly after learning that two people were lying and sitting down on the main runway at Shannon as two aircraft were due to land on Oct 7, 2012.

Mr Moloney told Margaretta D’Arcy and Niall Farrell, Galway Alliance Against War, both dressed in orange jump suits: "You were on the runway. There were two aircraft holding overhead while you were on the runway. It was dangerous and you were in a very dangerous position."

In response to the incursion, Mr Moloney stated, authorities blocked an Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow and a Ryanair flight from Stansted from landing and put them into a holding pattern. Mr Moloney produced no documents or reports of Air Traffic Control to validate his evidence.

An author and playwright, Ms d'Arcy, aged 79, of St Bridget’s Place, Woodquay, Galway, said they were on the runway 20 minutes before airport authorities arrived to remove them. She said the authorities only arrived after the peace activists phoned them to alert them that they were there.
Judge Patrick Durcan remarked: "Ms dArcy, when I listen to all that took place, it is lucky that your mobile phone was working, otherwise you may not be here today."

Airport police officer Joe Noonan said he found Ms d'Arcy lying on the runway and Mr Farrell sitting down, with each holding placards reading "Stop Killer Drones via Shannon". Mr Farrell, aged 60, of Ballynacloghy, Maree, Oranmore, Co Galway, told the court: "We went on the runway assuming that there was proper security at the airport." The two deny the charge of the illegal incursion onto the airfield. Ms d'Arcy called a number of witnesses in her defence including TDs
Mick Wallace and Clare Daly.

Mick Wallace, TD, said what is going on at Shannon, allowing US military planes use the airport, is unconstitutional. Clare Daly,TD, said the two activists were performing the role of whistleblowers by going onto the runway.

Judge Durcan reserved judgment and adjourned the matter to Wednesday, December 4 at Ennis District Court to fix a date on which he will deliver his judgment.

 
 
JUDGE’S COMPETENCE QUESTIONED:
A spokesperson for the Galway peace group, Galway Alliance Against War, Breege Burke, has queried the suitability of Judge Durcan to hear the case:
"In the group's opinion Judge Durcan comes to this case with far too much political baggage. Two years ago, he was appointed to the post by his former running-mate Enda Kenny and at the last election he was Michael Ring's election agent, so he is unashamedly Fine Gael. Indeed, the local media in Mayo was reporting claims of "cronyism and political favouritism" at the time of his elevation. In these circumstances, to prevent accusations of political bias, he should have stood aside from this highly political case or sent it to the Circuit Court where it could have been heard before a jury.
"Fine Gael is virulently opposed to Irish neutrality. Margaretta and Niall's actions were to re-affirm our neutrality and oppose the US Military's use of Shannon airport to wage war.

A US Airforce Hercules C130 landing at Shannon, 02.12.13
 
"Their first action was part of an international week of protest against US killer drones. The GAAW believes these weapons are transported via Shannon in Hercules planes. Drones have become President Obama's weapon of choice in the ever-expanding 'War on Terror'. Flown by pilots sitting safely in Nevada, these remotely-piloted aircraft have the ability to hover over communities twenty-four hours a day and to target those below at the mere push of a button. Thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen have been executed without trial by these drones and thousands more have been injured and badly mutilated.
"On September 1, this year, it looked very likely that Washington was about to declare war on Syria. Throughout the world there was considerable fear that there would be an even more dangerous escalation of the conflict. While Pope Francis was leading the faithful in prayer for an end to war in Syria in the Vatican's St Peter's Square, Margaretta D'Arcy and Niall Farrell were making their way down to Shannon to express their opposition to a US war against Syria. Their actions may have been somewhat different, but their goal was the same."

Further charges have been brought against Ms d'Arcy and Mr Farrell for separate incidents which will involve further court appearances early next year. Margaretta d'Arcy and Niall Farrell deserve
support for their continuing efforts to highlight the illegalities at Shannon Airport with the collusion and assistance of the Irish Government and Irish police for over 12 years now contrary to international law, human rights conventions and their own declared policy of Neutrality.

HYPOCRISY WRIT LARGE

Government hypocrisy was on show again today when both the Minister for Justice & Defence, Alan Shatter, and the Commissioner of Police, Martin Callinan, were hogging the TV screens to express their condemnation of the murder, in 1989, of two senior Royal Ulster Constabulary officers by the IRA during the brutal conflict in Northern Ireland at that time and the finding of a Judicial Inquiry released this week that the murders were assisted by information from a police source in Dundalk, a town close to the Northern Ireland border which the officers had been visiting on cross-border police business. Mr Callinan, in particular, stated that he was "horrified" that "members of my force" had been involved with the IRA at any level. Now, these murders were despicable and deserving of condemnation but, Mr Callinan has never expressed any "horror" at members of "his force" aiding and abetting horrific war crimes by offering protection and assistance to the transit of illegal drones used to murder THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN in a horrific manner in the various countries mentioned above where the US Military engages in such criminal warfare against civilian populations on a daily basis, not just one murderous act 24 years ago.

Thus, the slaughter of thousands of human beings is ignored, made invisible to public scrutiny, no judicial inquiries, no apologies, no condolences to their grieving families, all for the sleazy political expediency of a Government and police force which prefers toadying to the interests of a foreign military power than the upholding of human rights and international law which they are all sworn to do. Hypocrites, the lot.



See also: