• Ted Galen Carpenter, Antiwar. com, May 02, 2023

All governments produce deceptive propaganda about aspects of their foreign policy. However, Joe Biden’s administration seems intent on setting some kind of record for both the number of falsehoods and their brazenness. Three of them stand out with respect to the latter feature.

Falsehood: The world is united in opposing Russia and supporting Ukraine. This boast had scant credibility even at the outset of the Russia-Ukraine war, and it has grown more frayed with the passage of time. The administration’s assertion is based on two UN General Assembly votes, one in March 2022 and the other in February 2023. Those measures did criticize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but they were purely symbolic, since they did not commit UN members to take any actions. Even so, more than 20 percent of the countries represented in the General Assembly cast negative votes or abstentions, despite knowing that such a stance would anger the powerful United States.

In terms of substantive policies, there has been little support for an anti-Russia policy outside of the NATO bloc and Washington’s long-standing security dependents in East Asia. Not only have major powers such as India and China refused to impose sanctions against Moscow, the overwhelming majority of countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America also have maintained that posture. In terms of providing financial (much less military) aid to Kyiv, the ranks of supporters are even thinner. Contrary to the smug assertions of Biden administration officials, it is a case of the West versus the rest on such issues.

Falsehood: The Russia-Ukraine war is part of an existential global fight between democracy and authoritarianism. Administration leaders and their supporters in the West’s news media echo chamber have made that argument on numerous occasions. It is false on several grounds, not the least of which is the reality that Ukraine is not a democracy by any reasonable standard. Even before Volodymyr Zelensky’s government adopted additional repressive measures following Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Ukraine received poor marks from Transparency International because of pervasive corruption and a mediocre rating from Freedom House with respect to political liberties.

Since then, Zelensky has outlawed opposition parties and media outlets, imposed rigorous censorship on the rest of the press, effectively banned the Russian Orthodox Church and other religious organizations with “links to Russia,” and jailed numerous individuals (including former top aides) on allegations of treason. The regime even created a “blacklist” of both domestic and foreign critics, accusing them of being “disinformation terrorists” and “war criminals.”

It is absurd for the Biden administration to portray the Russia-Ukraine war as a crucial struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, when neither country is a democracy. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was far closer to the mark when he initially described the conflict as a mundane “territorial dispute” that did not warrant U.S. involvement. Unfortunately, it was a measure of how effectively the Ukraine lobby intimidates anyone who disputes the dominant pro-Kyiv narrative about the war that DeSantis later walked back that accurate characterization.

Falsehood: The United States is not directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine war. When the Russian invasion began, Biden administration officials quickly assured the American people that, while the United States and its NATO allies would assist Kyiv’s defense efforts, there would be no US”boots on the ground” in Ukraine. However, leaked Pentagon documents in April 2023 confirmed that the United States and several other NATO countries had dozens of Special Forces personnel in Ukraine. In a sarcastic comment about that revelation, one wag speculated that perhaps the US troops were wearing slippers instead of boots.

Even without a ground troop presence, the United States (along with other NATO members) has been deeply involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Washington’s official status as a non-belligerentis farcical. NATO, led by the United States, has been waging a full-blown proxy war against Russia. Moreover, the apparent objective goes far beyond helping Ukraine fend off Russia’s aggression. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin candidly confirmed that point when he stated that Washington’s goal was to “weaken Russia” to the point that it could no longer pose a security threat to Ukraine or any other nation. The United States has pushed the International Criminal Court to prosecute Vladimir Putin for war crimes. Administration officials, including Biden, have hinted that NATO’s underlying goal is regime change in Moscow.

The Western powers have supplied Ukraine with increasingly powerful weapons, including longer-range missiles and heavy battle tanks. It is apparent that the United States also has given Ukraine battlefield intelligence, including targeting data. That assistance has enabled Kyiv’s forces to shoot down a Russian troop transport plane with hundreds aboard, kill numerous Russian generals, and sink the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, among other victories. Such involvement makes the United States a belligerent in the war, risking an incredibly dangerous clash with a nuclear-armed Russia.

The American people should not have to worry about being deceived by their own government. With respect to the Russia-Ukraine war, however, the Biden administration and its allies have systematically misled the public about several important issues. Such behavior exhibits utter contempt for fundamental democratic norms.

–

Ted Galen Carpenter is a senior fellow at the Randolph Bourne Institute and a senior fellow at the Libertarian Institute. He also served in various policy positions during a 37-year career at the Cato Institute. Dr. Carpenter is the author of 13 books and more than 1,100 articles on international affairs. His latest book is Unreliable Watchdog: The News Media and U.S. Foreign Policy (2022).

Julia Conley, Apr 27, 2023

From greenhouse gas emissions stemming from rocket attacks to the threat of “the ultimate environmental crime” of nuclear war, U.S anti-war and climate action groups on Thursday told President Joe Biden and members of Congress that the long-standing call for peace talks in Ukraine is “all the more urgent” as the damage the Russian invasion has done to the planet so far becomes clearer.

CodePink led more than 2,300 “people of conscience” and groups including Amazon Watch, 350.org North America, and Extinction Rebellion U.S. in a letter to Biden saying that “based on climate justice reasons alone,” the U.S. government can and must use its power to ensure that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine happen swiftly.

The groups detailed a number of harmful effects the war has had on the planet in its first 14 months, including the apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which the United Nations Environment Program said may have caused the largest-ever single leak of methane, the potent greenhouse gas that can trap 87 times more heat than carbon dioxide in its first two decades in the atmosphere.

On a day-to-day basis, the war is contributing to further fossil fuel emissions as hundreds of thousands of soldiers, their munitions, and people who have been forced to flee their homes make millions of trips across Ukraine. The conflict has also had a considerable impact on public health as communities face the long-lasting byproducts of war even after soldiers retreat from their cities and towns.

“As the fighting has now gone on for a year with no end in sight, Ukraine braces itself for further disruption of local ecosystems, forest fires, blackened trees, air pollution, sewage leaks, and chemical contamination of rivers and groundwater in Ukraine,” said the groups in the letter.

“If any leader of a nation is even remotely serious about protecting the sanctity of life, they would push for a cease-fire and use their influence to establish peace talks.”

Lennard de Klerk, a Dutch carbon accounting expert who is preparing a report on the war’s climate impact that’s expected to be presented to the U.N. in June, toldTime in February that the carbon footprint of the conflict in its first year was an estimated 155 million metric tons—the equivalent of the Netherlands’ yearly output—due to explosions, the reconstruction of buildings, transportation, forest fires, and other factors.

The Thursday letter also points out that Western sanctions on Russian oil have led the U.S. to increase its energy exports to Europe, doubling liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from 2021 to 2022 and sending 1.75 million barrels of crude oil across the Atlantic Ocean daily—a 70% increase from 2021.

CodePink reported that when organizers delivered the letter to congressional offices on Thursday, they encountered Capitol Hill staffers who “were unaware of the deadly environmental consequences of militarism and active war.”

“We will continue to educate, organize, and disrupt until not only the connection is made but action is taken to save people and the planet,” said CodePink organizer Teddy Ogborn. “War can no longer be a policy option for nations. If any leader of a nation is even remotely serious about protecting the sanctity of life, they would push for a cease-fire and use their influence to establish peace talks.”

The more than $100 billion the U.S. has spent on aid to Ukraine in the last year—and billions more spent by European countries—has come with an opportunity cost, said the groups, as the Global South has been left waiting for wealthy countries to fulfill “their 2009 promise to invest $100 billion a year to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.”

“Now the world is looking to the wealthier nations for a loss and damage fund,” they wrote. “Instead of pouring our resources into war, we should be investing these resources into seriously addressing the climate crisis.”

The letter was delivered to the White House and Congress a day after CodePink co-founder Diane Wilson received the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work to hold petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics accountable for illegally dumping toxic waste on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

During the award ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., CodePink organizer Olivia DiNucci walked onto the stage as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) addressed the crowd. DiNucci carried a sign that read, “War Is Not Green,” while other activists chanted: “Stop the war in Ukraine. We need peace talks.”

“It’s a huge hypocrisy to have Nancy Pelosi speak at an environmental ceremony,” said DiNucci. “Pelosi voted for almost a trillion-dollar Pentagon budget. That money should go for climate justice. The people awarded today represent communities that have been devastated by our war machine.”

Prior to the event Pelosi had explicitly told CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin, “We don’t need peace talks. We need victory.”

U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency documents leaked earlier this month showed that American officials believe that “negotiations to end the conflict are unlikely during 2023 in all considered scenarios.”

“We must stop this madness before it’s too late!” said the groups in their letter on Thursday. “For the sake of future life on this
planet, we urge you to initiate peace talks to end this war now.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Julia Conley

Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

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Raid on Nazareth HQ seized flags and arrested city party secretary, Communist Party of Israel warns

ISRAEL’S Communist Party is calling for mass mobilisation for May Day marches to defy growing police repression in the country.

The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) said demonstrations should “rise against the occupation, against fascism, against class oppression and against exploitation” given Israel’s far-right government’s bid to weaken the judiciary and accelerate the colonisation of Palestine.

The party appealed for international solidarity after police raided its Nazareth headquarters on Wednesday, arresting the city’s party secretary and illegally seizing flags.

“A large force of Israeli police and its gendarmerie, the ‘Israel Border Police,’ raided the headquarters … demanding we take down the Palestinian flag,” the party said in a statement.

The CPI, which sits in the Knesset as part of the Hadash coalition, is the only party in Israel with both Jewish and Arab members.

“Comrades of Nazareth confronted the police forces and refused them access to the building. The police did not possess any warrant, and called for back-up, climbed walls, removed the Palestinian flag and the red flags, and confiscated them, all while arresting the secretary,” the party said.

Following complaints from the party leadership the police returned the flags, which were raised again over the building.

But the CPI warned that the “outrageous provocation and intimidation” is aimed at “suppressing and attacking political freedoms in implementation of the orders of the settler [National Security Minister] Itamar Ben-Gvir.”

The CPI says government plans to form a national guard organisation under Mr Ben-Gvir — which even former Israeli prime minister Benny Gantz says will be a “private army” — would amount to a “fascist militia” for the suppression of democracy activists and terrorising Israeli Arabs.

The weekend was expected to see more mass demonstrations against the Benjamin Netanyahu government’s judicial reforms, which would allow the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court rulings.

But a huge far-right demonstration on Thursday night — estimated by organisers at half a million in size, while police put the figure at 200,000 — called on ministers not to back down on the legislation, which has been paused because of widespread opposition.

“We will not give up,” Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a self-described “fascist homophobe,” told crowds who trampled on portraits of Israel’s Supreme Court president.

Source: https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/israeli-communists-call-mass-may-day-mobilisation-face-worsening-police-repression

Greetings to all those people who uphold the cause of peace and work for human rights. The struggle for peace is also a struggle against war and war-mongers. After the collapse of the USSR, the US imperialism and its allies had a free hand to unleash genocidal wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places. It killed millions of people, made millions homeless, made millions orphans and widows. All peace-loving people condemn these crimes and violations of international law.

The people of Palestine under Israeli occupation have struggled to survive in dire circumstances. They have continued their struggle against Israeli occupation and to end the siege of Gaza, the largest concentration camp in modern times. The Israeli occupation, the expansion of illegal settlements in occupied land and oppression against the defenseless people of Palestine continues. The American government and the US Congress support whatever Israel chooses to do with the people of Palestine.

We can only ask our friends, comrades and peace-loving people to oppose the militaristic policies of Washington and its allies and stand for the rights of the victims of wars and violence.

—Nasir Khan

RUSSIA’S top diplomat warned on Tuesday that the European Union “is becoming militarised at a record rate.”

Roger McKenzie, Morning Star, April 26, 2023

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference he has no doubts that there is now “very little difference” between the EU and Nato, following closer co-operation agreements between the political and military blocs.

Mr Lavrov said a recently signed joint declaration essentially states that the 31-member Nato military alliance will ensure the security of the 27-member EU.

The foreign minister was referring to a January 19 EU-Nato declaration on their “strategic partnership” which calls last year’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia “the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades.”

The declaration calls the present moment “a key juncture for Euro-Atlantic security and stability” and urges closer EU-Nato co-operation to confront evolving security threats, saying this will contribute to strengthening security in Europe and beyond.

And it encourages the fullest possible involvement of Nato members that don’t belong to the EU and EU members that aren’t part of Nato.

Irish communists have warned that participation in military exercises under an EU umbrella has undermined their country’s longstanding neutrality and non-membership of Nato.

Ukraine is seeking EU membership but has been offered no firm timetable for talks on joining the organisation.

Mr Lavrov was asked whether the war in Ukraine was a miscalculation given the invasion prompted Finland to join, with Sweden next and Ukraine pushing for a roadmap to do so.

“Nato never had any intention of stopping,” Mr Lavrov replied.

He said that Sweden and Finland were “increasingly taking part in Nato military exercises and other actions that were meant to synchronise the military programmes of Nato members and neutral states.”

by Kyle Anzalone, The Libertarian Institute, Apr 26, 2023

Ambassador David Pressman’s Introductory Remarks at the Hungary-Ukraine Relations Panel Discussion

The top American diplomat in Hungary attacked Budapest for insufficient commitment to the NATO proxy war against Russia, with the ambassador claiming that support for a ceasefire in Ukraine was “cynical.”

US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman made the remarks during the opening of the Hungary-Ukraine Relations Panel on Wednesday. “It is cynical to call for a ceasefire when it is not your country that is almost 20 percent occupied by a foreign invading army,” he said. “The United States wants peace, one that is just and lasting. And that is precisely why we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the victims, with Ukraine.”

In February, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for a truce. “[Russia] cannot win because the entire Western world has lined up behind [Ukraine],” he tweeted, “At the same time, [Russia] is a nuclear power and a nuclear power cannot be cornered because they may trigger a nuclear war. We need a ceasefire and peace talks. The sooner the better.”

“[Ukraine] is fighting valiantly and they have our full sympathy. But the only thing that can save lives in the [Ukraine War] is a ceasefire,” the PM added.

Pressman went on to accuse Budapest of hindering dialogue between the North Atlantic alliance and Kiev. “Amidst a land war in Europe, consultations with our partner Ukraine are vitally important to our shared security as Allies, and Hungary’s policy of standing alone in an effort to block high-level meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Commission is untenable,” he said in his speech on Wednesday, adding that this “will no longer be accepted.”

Hungary has taken issue with Ukrainian language laws which impact the 150,000 Hungarians living in the country, even vowing to block Kiev’s bid to join NATO over the legislation. The NATO-Ukraine Commission has not met since 2019 because of Budapest’s objections.

Last month, NATO civilian head Jens Stoltenberg declared that the alliance would go through with another meeting despite Hungary’s protests. “This is an established framework. I have the mandate to convene it,” he said. “In respect for the issues that Hungary has raised I have not convened that for some time, but now I will continue to convene the meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.”

About Kyle Anzalone Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.

— by Nasir Khan

Our material existence has also mental, psychological and occasionally psychic conditions. We think, imagine, visualize and fantasize. Our ways of looking at the world as sentient beings can include all such mental conditions and much more.

To be a materialist pertains to a philosophical view of looking at the world. Some thinkers have held such views since the ancient times, where matter (in all its various forms, including energy) is seen as the foundation on which everything rests.

Speaking only about human beings, their ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., take place within their physical bodies. Without bodies, their thoughts and ideas cannot float as disembodied things in the air. In other words, without a living body, there is no mind or its activities. On our physical death, mind and its activities cease.

China is appointing a special envoy to Ukraine to push for peace talks

by Dave DeCamp Posted on April 27, 2023

The Kremlin said Thursday that it would welcome any steps toward a settlement to the war in Ukraine following the call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We are ready to welcome anything that could help bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine closer and, actually, also help Russia achieve all of its goals. We are ready to welcome that,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

“As for the fact of their communication, it is a sovereign matter for each of the two counties that pertains exclusively to their bilateral dialogue,” Peskov added.

During the call, Xi stressed to Zelensky that China will work to push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Beijing announced it will send a seasoned diplomat to Ukraine to speak with “all parties” in the region to resolve the crisis.

The envoy China is sending is Li Hui, Beijing’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, who served as the Chinese ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019. “The Chinese-appointed special envoy will be the candidate best able to handle the progress of the peace talks,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Beijing wants to work with Central Asian nations to bring Russia and Ukraine to the table. “China and the Central Asian countries share a similar view and stance on the crisis in Ukraine,” he said after meeting with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

While Russia and Ukraine are expressing openness to China’s efforts, both sides’ demands remain very far apart. Zelensky and his top aides have maintained peace talks can’t happen until Russia is expelled from all the territory it controls, including Crimea. For their part, Moscow says any settlement must recognize the territory it annexed last fall as Russian.

by Kyle Anzalone | Apr 26, 2023

Ambassador David Pressman’s Introductory Remarks at the Hungary-Ukraine Relations Panel Discussion

The top American diplomat in Hungary attacked Budapest for insufficient commitment to the NATO proxy war against Russia, with the ambassador claiming that support for a ceasefire in Ukraine was “cynical.”

US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman made the remarks during the opening of the Hungary-Ukraine Relations Panel on Wednesday. “It is cynical to call for a ceasefire when it is not your country that is almost 20 percent occupied by a foreign invading army,” he said. “The United States wants peace, one that is just and lasting. And that is precisely why we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the victims, with Ukraine.”

In February, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for a truce. “[Russia] cannot win because the entire Western world has lined up behind [Ukraine],” he tweeted, “At the same time, [Russia] is a nuclear power and a nuclear power cannot be cornered because they may trigger a nuclear war. We need a ceasefire and peace talks. The sooner the better.”

“[Ukraine] is fighting valiantly and they have our full sympathy. But the only thing that can save lives in the [Ukraine War] is a ceasefire,” the PM added.   

Pressman went on to accuse Budapest of hindering dialogue between the North Atlantic alliance and Kiev. “Amidst a land war in Europe, consultations with our partner Ukraine are vitally important to our shared security as Allies, and Hungary’s policy of standing alone in an effort to block high-level meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Commission is untenable,” he said in his speech on Wednesday, adding that this “will no longer be accepted.”

Hungary has taken issue with Ukrainian language laws which impact the 150,000 Hungarians living in the country, even vowing to block Kiev’s bid to join NATO over the legislation. The NATO-Ukraine Commission has not met since 2019 because of Budapest’s objections.

Last month, NATO civilian head Jens Stoltenberg declared that the alliance would go through with another meeting despite Hungary’s protests. “This is an established framework. I have the mandate to convene it,” he said. “In respect for the issues that Hungary has raised I have not convened that for some time, but now I will continue to convene the meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.”

About Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.