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Hegseth Replaces Deception with Reality

Washington presents the terms for a peaceful settlement

By Glenn Diesen | February 13, 2025

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth presented some realities and conditions for peace that burst the bubble of deception – which has kept the war going. Hegseth argued there would be no NATO membership for Ukraine, Ukraine would not recover its territories, and the US would not offer any security guarantees. Such a position has been criminalised across the West as a betrayal of Ukraine, but the opposite is true as ignoring reality has been the source of destruction. To quote Niccolò Machiavelli: “Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be – and are ruined”.

Hegseth outlined a painful reality that is dangerous to ignore. First, regarding territorial losses:

“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, but we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering”.

Second, NATO expansion was taken off the table:

“the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement”.

Third, the US will not participate in any security guarantees:

“Security guarantees must be backed by capable European and non-European troops. If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and should not be covered under Article 5… To be clear: As part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine”.

The End of Dangerous and Immoral Deception

They understand in Ukraine that the war has been lost and that even more men, territory and infrastructure will be lost if the war continues. Yet, there has been a belief that if Ukraine only fights a bit longer, then its determination would convince NATO to enter the war. However, this is a proxy war where Ukrainians are used to fight Russia. The efforts to keep hope alive and speak about future NATO membership have been a NATO deception to keep the long war going.

On the first point, the territorial losses are painful, humiliating and will complicate any future Ukrainian recovery. Yet, the alternative is not between losing the territories currently under Russian control or recovering them, rather it is between losing the territories currently under Russian control or losing even more.

On the second point of removing NATO membership from the table, it was always common sense that any future peace would have to be based on restoring Ukraine’s neutrality. The well-known and well-documented reality is that Russia considers NATO’s incursion into Ukraine to be an existential threat, and Russia would never accept it, much like how the US would not accept Russian military bases and missile systems in Mexico. Any appeal to allowing Ukraine to decide its membership in military alliances or appeal to international law does not change that reality. Threatening the survival of the world’s largest nuclear power was always going to trigger a fierce response, although Russia’s industrial and logistical advantage meant it would win with conventional weapons. We can remain in our bubble and denounce all common sense as Russian propaganda and treason, but refusing to accept how things are instead of how we wish them to be, will result in more devastation.

On the third point of the US not participating in offering any security guarantees, it is important in any peace agreement to remove all incentives for restarting the conflicts. Security guarantees could incentivise Ukraine to restart the conflict with NATO on its side, which would be reasonable given the humiliating and devastating peace agreement it will have to accept. The US refusing to participate and arguing that NATO’s Article 5 will not apply, suggests that the Europeans would stand alone. European leaders have already been clear that they will not place their troops in Ukraine without assurance of support from the US. In other words, there will be no serious security guarantees.

Is this an unfair and one-sided peace by taking into account Russian security concerns and largely ignoring valid security concerns of Ukraine and its great suffering? Yes, it is. But this is also the consequence of losing a war. A much more favourable peace was available in March 2022, but the US and UK sabotaged it and the Europeans remained quiet. NATO is now out of weapons, Ukraine is out of manpower, and Russia has won the war. Russia has the advantage and rejects any ceasefire in which the fighting can restart in a few years, they want a permanent favourable political settlement. The US did not give Russia “a gift” by accepting these terms as the media now suggests, the alternatives were either to accept the current Russian terms or accept much worse terms as the Ukrainan army collapses.

NATO expansionism was a manifestation of unipolarity after the Cold War. Peace in a unipolar system does not depend on mitigating mutual security concerns, on the contrary peace derives from overwhelming dominance to the extent one does not have to take into account the security concerns of adversaries. Unipolarity is over, and it is therefore necessary for the US to make priorities as it cannot dominate everywhere. Making it abundantly clear that America intends to shift strategic focus away from Europe and towards Asia, Hegseth also argued that the US was no longer “primarily focused” on European security. Shock waves go through a Europe that created an ideological bubble for itself with comfortable narratives of liberal hegemony that are divorced from reality.

The Immorality of Ignoring Reality

The Europeans have learned to speak and frame all issues in the language of morality. While this creates a sense of virtue, it is also the source of intolerance as opposing voices are always scorned as immoral. As the US has popped the bubble, it is worth reflecting on what has been done in the alternative social reality we constructed for ourselves.

The West has championed narratives that were intended to signal support for Ukraine. Fake narratives were created to preserve the war enthusiasm in the West and mobilise public support for a long war. Governments, the media and fake “NGOs” claimed for three years that Ukraine was winning, Russia was taking more losses, the Russians were running out of weapons, the Russian economy would collapse etc. These were all lies, and those who threatened the narratives with facts were smeared, censored and cancelled.

The reality is that only a small minority of Ukrainians wanted NATO membership before 2014, and NATO knew it would likely trigger a war. The Western-backed coup in 2014 that toppled the democratically elected government was unconstitutional and did not have majority support in Ukraine. The CIA, MI6 and the government they installed in Ukraine began covert operations against Russia from the first day after the coup, before Russia took Crimea and a revolt started in Donbas. NATO and Ukraine sabotaged the Minsk peace agreement from 2015 to 2022 even though they had accepted it as the only path to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Zelensky’s landslide election victory in 2019 based on a peace platform was reversed following threats from Western-funded “NGOs” and right-wing groups. The US and NATO rejected Russian demands for security guarantees in 2021 even as they knew Russia would take military action without it. The US and UK sabotaged the Istanbul negotiations in 2022 in which Russia would have pulled its troops back in return for Ukraine restoring its neutrality – something both Russia and Ukraine agreed to. Then, the NATO countries boycotted all diplomacy and rejected any negotiations to end the war for almost three years as hundreds of thousands of young men died needlessly on the battlefield. Promises of future peace and NATO membership after the war motivated both the Ukrainians and the Russians to keep fighting. Russia can, for example, accept that the historical Russian city of Odessa remains part of a neutral Ukraine, but will annex the region if it risks ending up as NATO territory and a front against Russia. Even now that the war has been lost and a majority of Ukrainians want negotiations, there is still opposition to peace negotiations in Europe. This has all been done under moral slogans and the banner of “supporting Ukraine”.

The people who called for diplomacy, mutual understanding and negotiations over the past 10 years were not propagandists for the Kremlin who had to be smeared and purged from society, they merely rejected NATO’s fake war narratives and recognised the disaster awaiting by refusing to see the world as it is, as opposed how we wish it would be.

If deception destroyed Ukraine, then perhaps reality can save it.

https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1889710026325107022

February 13, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Kiev backtracks on Tulsi Gabbard claims

Ukraine’s ‘anti-disinformation’ center has admitted to spreading disinformation

RT | February 13, 2025

The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) has publicly recognized that it previously disseminated unverified information about Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic lawmaker who now serves as the US director of national intelligence.

Established in 2021 under Ukraine’s security council, the center was designed to combat perceived information threats, primarily those attributed to Russia.

The news site Strana.ua reported in November that the CCD took down four of its bulletins mentioning Gabbard from social media, including one from April 2022 that described her as someone who “for several years, has been working for foreign audience for the Kremlin money.”

A June 2024 bulletin accused Gabbard of spreading disinformation about Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, and a February 2023 post claimed she was “espousing pro-Russian rhetoric,” according to the outlet.

On Thursday, the center admitted to past misjudgments concerning Gabbard, who has just been confirmed by the US Senate as the national intelligence director. The statement added that in 2022 and 2023, the Ukrainian organization released content about her that “had not been properly verified and thus fell short of the Center’s standards.”

An internal investigation initiated by a new CCD head last year uncovered these errors, although the center did not clarify why the findings clearing Gabbard’s name were not disclosed sooner. The CCD said those responsible for the inaccuracies were dismissed around a year ago and can no longer be penalized.

Gabbard, who previously represented Hawaii in the US Congress, rose to prominence in 2016 when she resigned as vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to endorse Bernie Sanders for president.

She pursued the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election, advocating against American military interventions abroad, which she described as harmful for both service members like herself and national interests. At the time, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disparaged Gabbard as the candidate favored by Russia.

As her discord with the Democratic Party deepened, Gabbard resigned from it in 2022. After two years as an independent, she switched to the Republican Party and endorsed Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign.

Critics raised the alarm over Trump’s selection of Gabbard as the director of national intelligence, labeling it a significant security risk. Nevertheless, her nomination was confirmed this week by a 52-48 vote, with only one Republican, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, opposing her appointment.

In Ukraine, Gabbard was also featured on Mirotvorets, a semi-official database of perceived enemies of the state. This website highlights personal information about targeted individuals, and some public figures in Ukraine have been murdered after their profiles were made available, leading critics to condemn Mirotvorets as a ‘kill list’.

February 13, 2025 Posted by | Deception, Full Spectrum Dominance, Russophobia | | Leave a comment

Retired Russian colonel claims Trump ‘has dirt’ on Zelensky that will force him to compromise

By Liz Heflin | Remix News | February 13, 2025

Retired Russian Armed Forces Intelligence Colonel Anatoly Matviychuk has come out swinging in the lead-up to the Munich Security Conference, saying the U.S. has compromising information on Zelensky that will force him to compromise, namely, that he has possibly embezzled large amounts of money from the funds sent to Ukraine for its defense against Russia.

In an interview with MK, the retired colonel said that President Trump “has long had a grudge against Zelensky,” since the head of the Kyiv regime supported his persecution and passed on compromising information about him to the previous U.S. administration under Biden.

“Today, Trump is skillfully dealing with everyone who once spoke out against him,” Matviychuk noted. “Among them are Zelensky and Yermak. I am sure that Trump has more than enough dirt on them.”

These may have to do with the embezzlement of money. “It is not surprising that it has now become clear that about 100 billion dollars have sunk into oblivion,” the intelligence officer noted. “I believe that in fact the U.S. knows very well where these billions ended up…”

Matviychuk claims the money ended up in Zelensky’s Spanish, Italian and British real estate. However, he also went after Zelensky’s wife.

“In addition, the million-dollar expenses of the First Lady of Ukraine, Elena Zelenskaya, in European boutiques have been well calculated,” the expert added.

Matviychuk added that Zelensky has also opened himself up to accusations of prolonging the conflict and numerous war crimes.

This is not the first time someone has claimed Zelensky has enriched himself from U.S. taxpayer money sent for his country’s defense against Russia.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that Zelensky and his partners owned a network of offshore companies dating back to 2012 in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and Belize.

The documents also revealed that before Zelenskyy became president in 2019, he gave his stake in an offshore company to a business partner but made an arrangement that the offshore company would continue paying dividends to a company Zelensky’s wife owned, the reporting project said.

In response, USA Today offered up its own “fact check,” stating: “The Pandora Papers – secret records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists – highlight information about Zelensky’s overseas dealings. However, the papers don’t reveal the exact amount Zelensky or his wife have in overseas accounts. Sullivan said none of the assets claimed in the social media post were in the papers.”

USA Today also cites a 2022 Forbes piece that estimated Zelensky’s real estate portfolio at some $4 million after reports that he purchased his parents an $8 million mansion — although USA Today said the claims about an $8 million mansion were false. Nor did the magazine find any proof to back up claims that Zelensky owned three private jets or five luxury yachts. The original Instagram post targeted by USA Today reportedly stating that Zelenky owned “a 35 million dollar home in Florida and has $1.2 billion in an overseas bank account” is no longer available.

Despite no hard evidence of embezzlement, allegations have continued non-stop, with many saying that now that Donald Trump is in office, a real audit will uncover the truth.

Tucker Carlson headlined a recent episode of his podcast by claiming “Ukrainian military is selling American weapons systems on the black market, including to drug cartels on the (American) border.” His guest U.S. Col. Daniel Davis said that Zelensky had even recently made a point of denying such allegations, and “the media just reports what he says.” The colonel then added that this has been “an open secret for almost the duration of (the war).”

February 13, 2025 Posted by | Corruption, Deception, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

West’s ‘project Ukraine’ should never have started – ex-US Army officer

RT | February 13, 2025

Russia and the US are “starting to make headway” in resolving the Ukraine conflict by resuming direct communication between their leaders, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and international security consultant Earl Rasmussen has told RT. The West’s “project Ukraine should never have started,” he added.

Rasmussen’s comments follow a phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday – the first direct talks between the leaders of the two powers since 2022. Trump said they agreed to have their teams start negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict “immediately.” Both Moscow and Washington have indicated that the two leaders will meet face-to-face in the near future.

“We actually have a dialogue between the two leaders… This is a major step forward, considering the previous administration, which almost did a cancel culture attempt on Russia,” Rasmussen said on Thursday.

Rasmussen also commented on Trump’s post-talk statements in which he indicated that Washington will not support Ukrainian accession to NATO as part of a peace deal with Moscow. This signifies Trump’s commitment to ending the conflict as soon as possible, he believes.

“Realistically, Ukraine, I just can never picture it being part of NATO. And I think for the Ukrainian nation and Europe and Russia… neutrality is the best place,” he said, noting that Trump’s acceptance of this fact is “a step forward and a recognition of reality.”

“I think it’s good. I think both leaders want to end the violence and the killing. But you need to recognize Russia’s valid security concerns and their reality on the ground,” he added.

Moscow has cited Kiev’s NATO aspirations and the bloc’s expansion toward its borders as root causes of the conflict, demanding that any settlement include Ukrainian neutrality and demilitarization. It also insists that Kiev recognize the new territorial realities and drop its claims to former Ukrainian regions that chose to join Russia.

Rasmussen suggested that the next step forward is to get Kiev on board with the peace plans. He indicated, however, that this process could be tricky with Vladimir Zelensky at the helm, and suggested that “maybe that’s why we’re pushing for elections” in Ukraine – “to have a transition” of power. Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May last year, but he has refused to hold elections, citing martial law.

Rasmussen also warned that there may be “issues with the political hierarchy in Ukraine,” along with “some pushback from the European leaders” regarding a resolution to the conflict, but said this can be overcome as the global public supports the idea of peace.

February 13, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

End of war in Ukraine near as Poland and Europe fear explosion of Ukrainian crime activity

By Uriel Araujo | February 13, 2025

Even a peace deal will not put an end to problems in the region or tensions in Europe. US-funded Ukrainian radical nationalism will not just go away overnight. Likewise, there is no easy way out of Ukraine’s structural problems with endemic corruption and criminality. When it comes to the Ukrainian crisis, unfortunately, the end is not the end.

The Polish, and the rest of Europe for that matter, are bracing themselves for an explosion of cross-border organized crime activity with the end of the conflict in Ukraine (which now seems closer than ever). Poland’s President Andrzej Duda is warning about such an “explosion” of crime within Ukraine with the end of the war, and is calling on Kyiv’s allies to provide it with “massive support”. Moreover, Duda is worried, as he said in an interview to the Financial Times, that this could spill across the border into his own country, and also affect the rest of Europe and even the United States, with migration waves and transnational mob activity.

The situation reminds the Polish leader of Russia in the early nineties, after Soviet collapse, when organized crime gangs of the so-called “Vor” subculture were able to recruit veterans of the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan. The Ukrainian soldiers, in the present situation, would go back home to find a ruined economy. “Just recall the times when the Soviet Union collapsed and how much the organised crime rate went up in western Europe, but also in the US”, said Duda.

Duda should be taken seriously: The Ukrainian mafia gangs are major players in international crime including the dope trade, prostitution and weapons trafficking. In addition to that, Transparency International ranked Ukraine at 104 out of 180 countries in its 2023 corruption index. Ukraine’s level of corruption is similar to what one may find in Uganda, for instance.

There is another reason why Duda’s warning makes sense: it implies that the end of the conflict could be near enough so that Poland (and Europe) should start taking measures to prepare for such a scenario. There are of course two main ways the war can come to an end: via a Ukrainian victory or via a Russian one. The former is tremendously unlikely as of now unless something extraordinarý were to happen. The latter is obviously what Duda must have in mind.

Poland, despite occasional tensions, has been a steady ally of Kyiv, but even the Polish authorities in Warsaw are saying that they have no intention of deploying their troops in the neighboring country (to help it against Russia). Other European leaders feel similarly about this – with his proposals about deploying troops in Ukraine, France’s President Emmanuel Macron is to become a lone voice.

The situation has obviously changed, largely due to Trump’s election. Even if Ukraine were to somehow obtain victory now through military or diplomatic means, the heavily armed and radicalized nationalists in the country (who can be found in the military and a number of militias) would not simply disappear and would in fact feel empowered in such an unlikely scenario, thus planting the seed for further conflicts with Russia in the future and with other neighbors, including Poland. Again this does not even seem like a possibility at all right now.

A third scenario would be some kind of negotiated peace with Russia still being most plausible. This in fact is thus just a variation of the Russian victory scenario. Here is why such victory today (more than ever) is the most likely scenario to take place pretty soon:

1. The first reason has to do with the Trump factor. The US President, in a clear departure from the previous administration’s foreign policy, has just announced that Washington-Moscow talks on ending the war are to begin “immediately.” It actually makes sense for the US to take the initiative because the whole matter has to a large degree been an American proxy attrition war against Russia.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already made Washington’s new stance clear during a meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels: he said it would not be realistic for Ukraine to expect to reclaim its pre-2014 borders and there is no point in seeking such an “illusionary goal” and thereby “prolonging” the war. Hegseth also ruled out the possibility of Ukraine becoming a NATO member.

Partly “withdrawing” from Europe (albeit still eyeing Greenland) is in any case in line with Trump’s neo-Monroeism. While focusing on the border and on Panama and other issues, Trump also has to face pressing issues with regard to the crisis in Palestine and Israeli demands. Ukraine is just not his priority, it seems.

2. One can argue that Trump’s call for peace in Ukraine could be only for show and would actually be a way of shifting the Ukrainian “burden” onto Europe. The problem is that it remains unclear whether Europe right now would be capable or willing to play this role. As Zelensky himself told European leaders last month, Europe simply cannot protect Ukraine without American help. The European members of NATO in fact face one concrete threat of aggression against a European ally today, and that comes from Washington itself, which is quite an ironic development. The US President, amazingly enough, has refused to rule out military action to conquer Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

In other words, a Russian victory, perhaps by a negotiated peace, cannot be taken for granted (nothing can) but is increasingly likely. It would in any case put an end to an unfortunate conflict which has been tremendously costly in a number of ways, including in terms of the humanitarian crisis.

The last two years of the conflict should be always seen as part of the longer one-decade crisis which started in 2014. One may be critical of Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch a military campaign in 2022. The fact remains that the current crisis has been largely driven by American interference, by pushing NATO expansion and supporting the coup d’etat which overthrew President Viktor Yanukovych, as well as backing the subsequent ultra-nationalist Maidan revolution. Washington funded and armed the Ukrainian far-right militias as well which have been integrated into the country’s military and security forces as the case of the infamous Azov regiment.

Ukrainian chauvinism (US funded or not) has in turn fueled tensions – and not only with Russia but also with other neighbors, as I wrote before. The Ukrainian far-right would be empowered even by a Russian victory, because it could promote a revengeful narrative or denounce Zelensky’s “betrayal”.

The ultra-nationalists are not the only ones who can cause problems in the aftermath of today’s crisis – mobsters are another force in itself, as mentioned. With regards to Duda’s concern about a boom in mafia activity, the truth is that Polish-Ukrainian first steps taken towards a confederacy risk blowing back and fueling anti-Ukrainian feelings in Poland, as Poland has issues with its own strand of radical nationalism. Polish ultra-nationalists in fact could also claim parts of neighboring Ukraine with the end of the war, as I’ve written.

It is said one cannot uncook an egg. Be as it may, even if Ukraine and Russia reach a peace deal, this will not put an end to problems in the region or even to tensions in Europe, more broadly. US-funded Ukrainian radical nationalism (which has roots in the new independent state of Ukraine and its attempt at nation-building since the nineties) will not just go away overnight. Likewise, there is no easy way out of Ukraine’s structural problems with endemic corruption and criminality. When it comes to the Ukrainian crisis, unfortunately, the end is not the end.

Uriel Araujo, PhD, is an anthropology researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts.

February 13, 2025 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Panic Grips European Leaders as EU Left Out of Trump-Putin Call

By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 13.02.2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, energy issues, and the exchange of citizens in a telephone call that lasted for one and a half hours, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed.

The phone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump has triggered a litany of reactions from European politicians.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy posted a joined statement by several European states that read: “Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength. Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations.”

UK Defense Secretary John Healey claimed that no peace talks could be done “about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense chief, lamented the development as “regrettable” arguing that the Trump administration had made “concessions” to Russia, while asserting that “it would have been better to speak about a possible NATO membership for Ukraine or possible losses of territory at the negotiating table.”

Joining the bandwagon, Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock added that “peace can only be achieved together. And that means: with Ukraine and with the Europeans.”

In addition, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared that “All we need is peace… Ukraine, Europe and the United States should work on this together.”

For his part, French top diplomat Jean-Noel Barrot insisted that “There will be no just and durable peace in Ukraine without Europeans.”

Meanwhile, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur chimed in, saying: “Europe is investing in Ukrainian defense, and Europe is rebuilding Ukraine with European Union money, with our bilateral aid – so we have to be there.”

And finally, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called for turbo-charging defense production among member states, adding: “We have to make sure that Ukraine is in a position of strength.”

February 13, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

NATO boss issues warning to Putin

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on February 12, 2025. © Dursun Aydemir / Anadolu via Getty Images
RT | February 12, 2025

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the US-led military bloc would deal a crushing blow to Moscow if it attacks any of its member states.

In recent years, senior officials from European NATO member states, including Rutte, have alleged that Russia is harboring aggressive plans toward the military bloc. Putin has repeatedly dismissed this speculation, calling it “nonsense” and a ruse to justify increased military spending.

Answering reporters’ questions at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, Rutte said, “At the moment, if Putin would attack NATO, the reaction will be devastating. He will lose. So, let him not try it, and he knows this. The deterrence and defense is very strong.” However, NATO needs to spend more on defense to be able to defend itself four or five years from now, he added.

Rutte urged member states to make “some difficult decisions this year about… defense spending, doing much, much more than the 2% we pledged.” He went on to say that while the West has “fantastic” arms manufacturers, “they are not producing enough,” which needs to be urgently addressed.

The question regarding supposed Russian aggression was prompted by a report issued by Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Service on Tuesday. According to the document, within five years of ending or freezing the Ukraine conflict, Moscow would be ready to conduct a large-scale onslaught on Europe, based on the assumption that NATO’s defense spending remains at the current level.

“Russia is likely to be more willing to use military force … if it perceives NATO as militarily weakened or politically divided,” the intelligence agency claimed, adding that “this is particularly true if Russia assesses that the US cannot or will not support the European NATO countries in a war.”

Last month, Rutte similarly urged NATO member states to “shift to a wartime mindset” to “prevent war.”

Those who refuse to spend more on defense might as well “get out your Russian language courses or go to New Zealand,” the NATO secretary-general warned at the time.

In December, Rutte suggested that European member states should redirect some of the funds they currently spend on welfare toward their militaries.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed that the Ukrainian special services, with Western support, were preparing a false-flag provocation in the Baltic Sea involving Russian-made naval mines, in the hope of dragging NATO into a direct military confrontation with Moscow.

February 12, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Militarism, Russophobia | | Leave a comment

Leaked documents expose US interference projects in Iran

By Kit Klarenberg | The Cradle | February 11, 2025

A bombshell leak reviewed by The Cradle exposes the depths of Washington’s long-running campaign to destabilize the Islamic Republic. 

For years, the US State Department’s Near East Regional Democracy fund (NERD) has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into covert operations aimed at toppling Tehran’s government – without success. Details on where this money goes and who benefits are typically concealed. However, this leak provides a rare glimpse into NERD’s latest regime-change blueprint.

Covert funding for Iran’s opposition

The document in question is a classified US State Department invitation for bids from private contractors and intelligence-linked entities such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and USAID. 

Circulated discreetly in August 2023, it solicited proposals to “support Iranian civil society, civic advocates, and all Iranian people in exercising their civil and political rights during and beyond” the next year’s electoral period, “in order to increase viable avenues for democratic participation.”

NERD summoned applicants to “propose activities” that would “strengthen civil society’s efforts to organize around issues of importance to the Iranian people during the election period and hold elected and unelected leaders accountable to citizen demands.” 

The State Department also wished to educate citizens on purported “flaws of Iranian electoral processes.” Submissions were to “pay special attention to developing strategies and activities that increase women’s participation in civil society, advocacy, rule of law, and good governance efforts.”

The document is filled with lofty, euphemistic language. NERD claims to champion “participatory governance, economic reform, and educational advancement,” aiming to cultivate “a more responsive and responsible Iranian government that is internally stable and externally a peaceful and productive member of the community of nations.” In other words, another compliant western client state that serves imperial interests in West Asia rather than challenging them.

NERD envisaged successful applicants coordinating with “governments, civil society organizations, community leaders, youth and women activists, and private sector groups” in these grand plans. 

State Department financing would produce “increased diversity of uncensored media” in Iran, while expanding “access to digital media through the use of secure communications infrastructure, tools, and techniques.” This would, it was forecast, improve the “ability of civil society to organize and advocate for citizens’ interests.”

‘Human subjects’

NERD viewed Iran’s 2024 election cycle and the campaigning period as “opportunities” for civil society infiltration. The plan envisioned a network of “civic actors” engaged in electoral strategies ranging from “electoral participation” to “electoral non-participation” – in other words, either mobilizing voters or undermining turnout. 

Meanwhile, “technical support and training” would be offered to aspiring female, youth, and ethnic minority leaders at all levels of governance – though no “currently serving” Iranian government official was eligible for assistance.

Once in place, this network of Iranian regime change operatives would, it was hoped, organize “mock national referendums” and other “unofficial” political action outside the Islamic Republic’s formal structures to highlight the alleged disparity between government action and public will. 

Iranians would also be assisted in drafting “manifestos” on the local population’s “unmet needs and priorities.” Reference to how crippling US and EU imposed sanctions contribute significantly to public discontent in Tehran was predictably absent. Instead, it stated:

“Activities should be nonpartisan and open to participation from a broad range of groups in order to encourage diverse actors to organize around common interests … All proposed activities must clearly demonstrate an impact upon citizens and civil society groups inside Iran. Support may be provided in-country, through third-country activities with Iranian participants, or virtually through online channels, but the applicant must demonstrate a direct link to civil society actors inside Iran and the ability to engage with these individuals safely and effectively.”

Curiously, certain expenditures were explicitly prohibited, including support for “individual political parties or attempts to advance a particular political agenda in Iran,” US-based activities, academic research, social welfare programs, commercial ventures, cultural festivals, and even “entertainment costs,” such as “receptions, social activities, ceremonies, alcoholic beverages [and] guided tours.”

Most strikingly, the embargo extended to “medical and psychological research or clinical studies using human subjects.” This raises unsettling questions about past NERD-funded projects: Have there been proposals involving human experimentation on Iranian or other foreign citizens? Were efforts to use alcohol as a destabilization tool previously entertained?

‘Rising protests’

It remains unknown which groups ultimately secured NERD funding for these regime-change efforts. The mainstream media maintains that such information is classified ostensibly due to “the risk activists face from Iran.” However, Washington’s secrecy may have less to do with security concerns and more with obscuring the questionable nature of these covert operations.

Tehran long ago wisely banned the meddlesome, subversive activities of US government agencies and intelligence fronts on its soil. However, Washington continued to support multiple western-based Iranian “exile” and diaspora groups, and associated NGOs, civil society groups, and propaganda platforms abroad. 

While US officials have publicly acknowledged these efforts, the details – including the identities of sponsored groups and individuals – are systematically concealed.

For example, since-deleted public records show NED alone invested at least $4.6 million in 51 separate counter-revolutionary efforts in Iran between 2016 and 2021. This included financing labor unions, “strengthening independent journalism,” creating a legal publication to encourage “lawyers, law students, and clerics” to agitate for “democratic” reforms, and multiple initiatives concerned with “empowering Iranian women” in business, politics, and society. 

The organization charged with delivering a specific initiative was named in just seven cases – that being the DC-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center.

The identities of the remaining 44 recipients remain unknown. Another erased NED entry reveals that in the year leading up to the September 2022 protests in Iran, the agency spent nearly $1 million on undisclosed projects focused on “human rights” advocacy. 

Not a single participating organization was named. For instance, tens of thousands of US dollars were pumped into an anonymous entity to “monitor, document, and report on human rights violations.” The organization would, moreover:

“Work closely with its network of human rights activists [in Iran] to build their capacity in reporting, advocacy, and digital security.”

Foreign influence and the hijacking of Iran’s protests

It’s unclear whether this windfall in any way influenced the September 2022 mass unrest in Iran, but NED was markedly keeping an extremely close eye on events locally from an early stage. One week after demonstrations commenced, the Endowment encouraged anyone interested in “coverage of the rising protests” to follow its aforementioned repeat grant recipient, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center. While Iranian protests initially generated blanket western media coverage, they fizzled out as rapidly and abruptly as they began.

In a bitter irony, protesters’ energies were significantly dampened due to the brazen exploitation of the upheaval by western actors. Embittered activists openly complained their cause had been “hijacked” by foreign elements. 

The most prominent of these US-based agitators is Masih Alinejad, an Iranian exile who has reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars from US government agencies for anti-Tehran propaganda operations. Falsely proclaiming herself to be “leading” the protest movement in the Islamic Republic was, it seems, sufficient to deter further action by locals on the ground.

This reveals the core reason why Washington conceals the recipients of its regime-change funding: Iran’s history of resisting western meddling makes its citizens deeply suspicious of foreign influence. Covert US backing erodes the legitimacy of opposition movements and fuels nationalist pushback.

Ironically, the Washington Post recently reported that many Iranians, across ideological lines, viewed US President Donald Trump’s administration’s freeze on regime-change funding as an opportunity for meaningful political evolution.

In former US president Joe Biden’s final year in office, the White House requested an additional $65 million for NERD’s operations, as outlined in the leaked tender. However, with this funding now in limbo, Iran’s western-backed opposition – largely dependent on foreign subsidies – finds itself in a state of paralysis. 

As a result, a significant impediment to genuine diplomatic engagement between Washington and Tehran may have been removed. The coming months could reveal whether this shift opens new avenues for dialogue – or simply marks a temporary pause in America’s longstanding quest for regime change in Iran.

February 12, 2025 Posted by | Corruption, Deception | , , , | Leave a comment

Lawyer visits Dr. Abu Safiya, reveals his exposure to torture and abuse

Palestinian Information Center – February 12, 2025

GAZA – Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights said its lawyer was able on Tuesday to visit Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya for the first time since he was kidnaped from the Gaza Strip 47 days ago.

“Around 3:00 p.m. today, al-Mezan’s lawyer visited Dr. Abu Safiya in Ofer prison, located in the unlawfully occupied West Bank. During the visit, Dr. Abu Safiya detailed the various forms of torture and abuse to which he has been subjected both during his unlawful arrest and throughout his arbitrary detention by Israeli forces and authorities,” al-Mezan explained in a statement on Tuesday.

“When he was captured from Gaza and transferred to the Sde Teiman military detention camp, he was subjected to various forms of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment — methods that are emblematic of Israeli mass arrest operations in Gaza,” al-Mezan said.

Dr. Abu Safiya told the lawyer that he was being forcibly stripped, having his hands tightly shackled, and being made to sit on sharp gravel for approximately five hours by Israeli forces.

He was also subjected to severe physical abuse, including beatings with batons and electric shock sticks, as well as repeated blows to the chest, according to the lawyer.

“In Ofer prison, where he was transferred on January 9, 2025, he was held in solitary confinement for 25 days — a period so prolonged as to constitute a form of torture in itself. During this time, he endured nearly continuous interrogation for 10 days. At one point, he lost consciousness in his cell due to severe breathing difficulties,” the lawyer said.

“During interrogation, Dr. Abu Safiya was confronted with accusations that he firmly denied, stressing that he is a doctor whose sole duty is to provide medical care to patients and the wounded,” the lawyer added.

The detained doctor also reported a severe decline in his health, with his weight dropping from 96 kilograms to 84 kilograms, a 12-kilogram loss in less than two months — further evidence of Israel’s systematic starvation policies against Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Additionally, Abu Safiya disclosed that he suffers from heart muscle enlargement. Despite repeatedly requesting medical attention from Israeli authorities, he has been systematically denied access to a specialist examination and deprived of essential care, further endangering his already deteriorating condition.

Al-Mezan has unequivocally condemned “the torture and other grave human rights abuses inflicted upon Dr. Abu Safiya by Israeli forces and authorities.”

Al-Mezan has urged the international community, particularly Israel’s allies, to take immediate action to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Abu Safiya, as well as of all Palestinians who have been unlawfully and arbitrarily detained by Israeli authorities, including hundreds of healthcare workers.

February 12, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture | , , , , | Leave a comment

Gaza ceasefire in peril as Israel’s non-compliance sparks diplomatic crisis with Qatar

MEMO | February 12, 2025

Qatar has issued a stark warning to Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct is jeopardising the current hostage deal, as mounting evidence reveals multiple violations of the ceasefire by the occupation state.

According to Haaretz, Qatar has conveyed “angry messages” to Israel after Netanyahu’s controversial statements about ethnically cleansing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and his failure to send a high-level delegation to Doha for negotiations. The Qataris emphasised that their role is guarantors of the agreement and they are not merely intermediaries between Israel and Hamas.

Israel’s violations of the ceasefire terms are extensive and well-documented. The agreed humanitarian aid target of 12,000 trucks has fallen dramatically short, with only 8,500 reaching Gaza. The shelter crisis continues as Israel has delivered just 10 per cent of the promised 200,000 tents, while none of the pledged 60,000 mobile homes have materialised.

The medical evacuation programme has largely failed, with only 120 patients permitted to leave Gaza instead of the anticipated 1,000. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports ongoing Palestinian casualties during the ceasefire period, while Israel continues to block both the return of displaced persons to northern Gaza and the entry of essential equipment needed for the removal of debris and the recovery of dead bodies. At least 48,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, mainly women and children, and thousands more are missing, believed dead, under the rubble.

Israel’s violations of the ceasefire agreement have been confirmed by three Israeli officials and two mediators. Speaking anonymously to the New York Times they said that Hamas’s claims about Israel’s non-compliance with the agreement terms were accurate.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry has taken the unusual step of publicly condemning Netanyahu’s recent television interview proposing the transfer of Gaza’s Palestinian population to Saudi Arabia, describing it as “a flagrant violation of international law.” The diplomatic crisis deepens as Hamas threatens to pause the implementation of the agreement which in turn has been met with threats by US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.

US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to visit the region, including stops in Israel and Doha, to assess the deteriorating situation first hand. Sources suggest that without swift progress in negotiations for the second stage, further delays in hostage releases could lead to a complete collapse of the agreement’s first phase.

February 12, 2025 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Trump: Madman strategy or madman actions?

By Dr Mohammad Makram Balawi | MEMO | February 11, 2025

As expected, during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit, the American president surprised everyone with reckless, unrestrained and illogical positions that align with the “madman strategy” he followed in his first term. However, this time, many people are convinced that the man is not merely feigning this strategy, but rather it is an intrinsic part of his reality. One of the most prominent indicators of this, or what cemented this belief for many, is his reckless statements about Gaza, his intention to relocate its population to neighbouring countries, seize the land and build a large tourist resort resembling the French Riviera on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.

This development even shocked the most ardent supporters of ethnic cleansing – not only because it aligns with these criminal proposals that violate international law, United Nations resolutions, and are deemed crimes against humanity by international courts, but also because such a claim requires tools for execution and practical measures that do not exist on the ground. Undoubtedly, the forced displacement of more than two million people is no simple matter, especially given that Israeli efforts to carry out displacement through all forms of violence have failed miserably. So how does Trump intend to implement these insane ideas without sufficient forces on the ground and without possessing a greater destructive capacity than that of Israel?

Israel deployed approximately 300,000 soldiers and is believed to have lost around 2,000 military armed vehicles in Gaza. So, in the absence of military forces, how can Trump achieve this unless he intends to commit another crime against humanity; starving the population to death? While such a notion is not far-fetched for a mindset of this kind, we have already seen direct rejection from the countries he mentioned as destinations for displacement, foremost among them Egypt and Jordan.

Moreover, when Trump provided clarifications regarding the rebuilding of Gaza and transforming it into another Riviera, he claimed that the Arab states, which have abundant wealth, would be the ones funding the project. This attitude reflects unprecedented arrogance and disdain, as he not only seeks to displace the Palestinian people into Arab countries and threaten their national security, but also expects Arabs, particularly Saudi Arabia, to finance a plan that would undermine their own security and potentially ignite a larger and more violent round of conflicts and confrontations. This explains the strong Saudi and Arab reaction, which categorically rejected this initiative. Saudi officials, especially Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, linked any potential diplomatic relations with Israel to the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative — which was originally a Saudi initiative.

Netanyahu’s response to this was nothing short of outrageous, as he suggested that Saudi Arabia should establish a Palestinian state on its own territory. In a continuation of the arrogance and condescension previously exhibited by Trump, these positions are not merely obstacles to Saudi-Israeli normalisation and, by extension, broader Arab and Islamic normalisation, but they could also deal a severe blow to Saudi-American relations. These relations were expected to flourish under Trump’s presidency, particularly given his demands — or rather, commands — for a trillion dollars from Saudi Arabia.

Whether Trump realises it or not, his stance represents a complete dismantling of his own foreign policy doctrine, which was ostensibly based on ending wars and exerting soft pressure. In reality, it may mark the beginning of a series of major events, next to which the 7 October war could seem like a mere excursion. Having clashed with nearly everyone, Trump now resembles an elephant in a glass shop, making it crucial for Arab states to rethink their policies — not only toward Israel but also toward its Western supporters, particularly the United States — if they wish to preserve their existence.

Needless to say, successive Israeli policies have inflicted immense suffering on the region — displacing an entire people from their homeland, occupying Arab territories, including Islamic and Christian holy sites, and denying the rights of an ancient people with a history spanning thousands of years. These policies continue to generate further suffering and tragedies, rooted in a supremacist ideology that does not recognise human equality, but rather applies one moral code to the weak while allowing the strong to enforce their own rules as they see fit.

Israel’s attacks on Syria following the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and the destruction of its military capabilities were crimes beyond imagination, costing perhaps billions of dollars, under the pretext of “pre-emptive strikes”. Israel has now assumed the right to hold others accountable for mere intentions, as seen in the Iranian nuclear project, granting itself the right to defy all logic and reason so long as it enjoys protection and support from the international community, particularly the United States, which remained silent about these crimes.

Time and again, events have proven what we have long asserted: halting cooperation with Israel, which considers itself above the law, is imperative. This policy of complicity with Israel is dragging the entire world into an endless cycle of violence that could threaten global peace, not just regional stability. The Palestinian cause has always served as a mirror for the world to see itself, yet the world has persistently chosen to turn away in favour of its own interests.

February 12, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gaza Under Siege: Aid Cut off as US President Trump’s Remarks Threaten Ceasefire

Al-Manar | February 11, 2025

As the drained Gaza Strip faces severe restrictions on humanitarian aid, including the blocking of vital fuel supplies, US President Donald Trump’s recent statements add further tension to an already volatile situation.

An article in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper describes Trump’s recent statements and interventions as ‘tempting fate’, warning that they could derail the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and disrupt the prisoner exchange process.

Zionist analyst Amos Harel, writing for Haaretz, refers to Trump as an “unpredictable force” whose actions risk intensifying the crisis. Trump’s call for the release of prisoners in a single batch, diverging from the previously agreed incremental approach, represents a radical shift in negotiations that could have dangerous consequences.

While many in the Zionist entity, particularly those supporting the prisoner exchange deal, had placed their hopes on Trump, Harel notes that they now share the “painful frustration” previously felt by critics, especially those from the right-wing factions.

Rising Right-Wing Optimism and Potential Fallout

The article further highlights how right-wing factions in the Zionist entity have embraced Trump’s remarks, seeing them as an opening for Zionist Prime Minister Netanyahu to retract his commitments and take military action against Hamas. However, Harel cautions that such action could lead to the deaths of dozens of prisoners still held in Gaza.

In conclusion, Harel dismisses the right-wing optimism surrounding Trump’s intervention, stressing that military force is unlikely to change Hamas’s stance, particularly as the group has nothing left to lose.

He suggests that Trump’s motivations may include securing a significant regional achievement, such as ending the Gaza conflict, facilitating normalization with the Israeli enemy’s regional neighbors, or even securing a Nobel Peace Prize.

Limited Aid and Severe Shortages

In a blatant escalation of restrictions, Israeli occupation forces have blocked the entry of commercial fuel into Gaza, despite clear stipulations in the humanitarian protocol.

Sources within Gaza confirmed to Al-Jazeera that the occupation has also halted the supply of fuel for essential services, including civil defense and municipal vehicles required for crucial road repairs and debris removal.

Additionally, no commercial fuel has been allowed to enter the enclave, exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

The same sources revealed that only around 53,000 tents have been allowed into Gaza out of the agreed 200,000, and none of the 60,000 caravans required for shelter have been delivered. They also noted that only 4 heavy vehicles have been permitted to enter for debris removal and body retrieval, despite the sector’s need for 500 such vehicles.

In addition, the Israeli occupation has prevented the entry of construction materials needed for rebuilding hospitals and civil defense centers. Gaza’s Rashid Street remains closed to vehicles, and crossing checks continue on Salah Al-Din Street following the expiration of the 22-day deadline. No power station equipment has been allowed to enter, hindering repairs and the restoration of the power grid.

February 12, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

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