NATO: An anachronism or the cutting edge of the Arms Lobby?

2019/12/06

NATO: An anachronism or the cutting edge of the Arms Lobby?

President Emmanuel Macron has called NATO "brain dead", claiming it should focus on real threats and reinvent itself. To what point is this the case?

From the outset, NATO was a fallacy. It claimed to be a defensive organization serving to protect Western Europe and the United States of America against any attack by the Soviet Union, although the structure of the USSR's forces after the Second World War was defensive and NATO's, as we have seen, is and has always been offensive.

In the 1980s and 1990s NATO gave repeated promises to the Warsaw Pact that if the Pact dissolved, NATO would not encroach eastwards. It lied. Now looking at the map we see NATO on Russia's borders in two arenas, namely the frontier with Norway and in the Baltic, while in the south, the flank is occupied by Turkey, a stone's throw away from Russia's southern border and in the center, we have the case of Ukraine, which tomorrow will be a spear in the heart of Moscow.

We only have to look at the history of encroachment and provocation and insolence to see where the heart and mind of NATO lies. The move eastwards is an obvious attempt to station NATO forward bases on Russia's borders, otherwise why would it have lied and moved thousands of kilometers to the east, staged constant acts of provocation and followed these up with insolence and lies in its media??

The constant acts of provocation, and the ensuing lies in the media about Russian aggression. Let us see:  First was Georgia which murdered Russian peace-keeping forces in South Ossetia and was aiming to do the same thing in Abkhazia before Russia intervened with a limited operation to normalize the situation and push the invading forces back. But Russia was branded as the aggressor complete with lies on western media outlets about Russian missile salvoes flying from north to south when the missiles they were showing were Georgian ones traveling northwards.

This was after Kosovo when NATO carved out a narco-state in the heart of the Balkans where today terrorists train for operations in Syria and elsewhere, this after NATO sided with terrorists and organ traffickers (the KLA, or UÇK) and attacked Serbia, and before NATO kidnapped Serbia's President in an act which was illegal by Serbian national, Yugoslav Federal and International Law, and detained him illegally occasioning his premature death under detention in The Hague.

Next came Ukraine, a criminal act of interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State, in which the democratically elected President was ousted in an illegal coup orchestrated by Washington, before lo and behlod, the Biden family became involved in Ukraine's shale gas project.

Then a military build-up in the Baltic, more lies about "Russian aggression" and more insolence. Russia did not attack Iraq, illegally, based on lies and outside the auspices of the UN Security Council. Russia did not attack Libya, interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation, breaching UNSC Resolutions 1970 and 1973 (2011), strafing Gaddafy's grandchildren with bombs, murdering them and then saying the place they were staying at was a legitimate target in a classic NATO demonstration of a callous disregard for human life and private property, just like any other terrorist organization.

Speaking of which, suppose NATO concentrated on defeating terrorists rather than allying with them as was the case in Libya, the African country with the highest Human Development Index before being touched by the hand  of Satan, turning it into a country which is today crawling with terroristsand has open slave markets? Suppose NATO concentrated on defeating ISIS in Syria rather than stealing the oil from Syria's oil fields and using it to finance other terrorist organizations?

While NATO bickers about spending 2 per cent of GDP on the collective military budget, we must remember that the collective military budget of the NATO member states is already one point two trillion USA (or one point two thousand billion USD, or 1,200,000,000,000 USD) and we may ask how much some of them commit to development projects. A paltry zero point seven per cent of their GDP, so they prefer to spend three times more on weapons systems to murder people than on development projects which would eradicate poverty for good, creating conditions which would counter the appearance of desperation, marginalization and endemic exclusion and poverty, the breeding ground for terrorism.

So suppose NATO teamed up with Russia instead of insulting it and making puerile attempts at provocation, suppose NATO asked China to come on board rather than describing it as "dangerous" and suppose collectively, we all concentrated on development and education projects, making the world less polluted, safer, more agreeable and more propitious for us all to enjoy together, sharing our stories and cultures and beliefs and gastronomy and customs?

It will not happen any time soon because NATO is stuck in the past for one reason and one reason alone: it is an old boy's club, the cutting edge of the military-industrial complex and with one point two trillion USD of collective interests each and every year, a lot of powerful people are making a lot of money out of it in some way, shape or form.

To perpetuate itself, NATO needs to invent non-existing threats (Russia) or not to eradicate existing ones (terrorist organizations) because if the public perceived that NATO was a useless anachronism they would stand up and say hey suppose you spent that one point two trillion USD each and every year on us and why hasn't anyone told me that my country is wasting countless billions on arms contracts when there are school books to be bought and hospital beds to be made available?

For those of you whose Prime Ministers have their bedmaster in Washington, go figure.

Photo: Public Domain, https://ift.tt/2DTd5p7

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Russia to take nuclear triad as close to US borders as possible

2019/12/05

The Russian authorities take measures to ensure the country's security in case Washington does not renew the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3).

The treaty is to be terminated in February 2021. Russia intends to increase the aviation component of its Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF) and take these weapons closer to the borders of a potential enemy.

According to a source in the Russian defence industry, this goal is to be achieved through the construction of new Tu-160M aircraft, as well as through deep modernisation of Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3M strategic bombers. Supposedly, the Tu-95MS aircraft will be equipped with the modernised NK-12MPM power plant, which will extend airborne time without the need for midair refuelling and double the number of units of onboard weapons.

Tu-22M3M missile carriers will also be changed. The modified versions of the Tupolev Tu-22M3M aircraft will be able to increase their flight range from 6 to 12-15 thousand kilometres (taking into account midair refuelling). This task is relevant today - the Russian Federation has 16 strategic Tu-160 missile carriers of various modifications. Ten Tu-160M worth 15 billion rubles each are to be supplied to the Russian Air Force according to the contract signed in January 2018. Currently, two aircraft of this series get ready for trials.

This, of course, is not enough given the changing geopolitical situation near the Russian borders. Therefore, more than 60 Tu-95MS aircraft of Russian Aerospace Forces are going to be modernised as well. At the same time, the Russian Air Force will receive Tu-22M3M missile carriers in the same quantity.

It is worth noting that this type of aircraft requires refuelling in the air with the help of Ilyushin Il-78 air tankers, but Russia has just a few of these air tankers left. In Soviet times, air tankers for long-range aviation used to be produced at the Tashkent Aircraft Plant (the republic of Uzbekistan). Nowadays, Russia may launch the production of such aircraft in the city of Ulyanovsk.

It also goes about the enhancement of airbases on the example of US and NATO military infrastructure. It is possible that the question of the approximation of Russian military objects that may open a missile and nuclear attack in response to the actions of a potential enemy will be included in the Military Doctrine.

According to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, a tactical flight exercise was carried out in August of 2019 with the participation of ten Tu-160, Tu-95MS, as well as Il-78 tankers.

According to the plans, the Tu-22M3M aircraft will be based in the Crimea, near Dzhankoy, as well as in Belarus and Armenia. Negotiations are underway on the use of airfields in Cuba, Venezuela and Algeria. South Africa, Syria and Egypt are likely to join the list, but this is a matter of distant future.

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Erdogan personally ordered to shoot down Russian Su-24

2019/12/04

Turkish President Erdogan personally ordered to shoot down the Russian Su-24 fighter jet on November 24, 2015, when the aircraft was on a combat mission in Syria.

According to the Nordic Research Monitoring Network, this is evidenced by documents from NATO private briefings. At the same time, Turkey does not conceal the fact that it did not want to expose the order to strike the Russian fighter aircraft.

The information about Recep Erdogan's responsibility for the Su-24 shoot-down is contained in the report from legal adviser of the Turkish General Staff, Ercan Agin. His report analyses the legal side of the tragedy. It was the Turkish president himself, who ordered to shoot down the Russian bomber. According to Erdogan, "every military element approaching Turkey from the Syrian border ... will be seen as a military threat."

The document also says that the Turkish side had warned the Russians through emergency communication channels about the violation of Turkish airspace at least ten times before the aircraft was attacked.

From Turkey's point of view, the Russian authorities had been duly notified of the possible reaction to any military object that was approaching Turkey from the direction of Syria. In particular, the Russians should have informed their crews that they should stay at least five miles away from Turkish airspace.

This made it possible to blame Russia for the incident. The results of this act were discouraging and very expressive from the financial point of view, and seven months later Erdogan had to apologize to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, as well as to the family of pilot Oleg Peshkov, who was killed by militants during ejection.

The author of the report was later accused of helping the rebels who staged attempted coup in Turkey in 2016. Specific perpetrators of the attack on the Russian Sukhoi Su-24 were taken into custody. It is believed, however, that the serviceman was not arrested, but continued serving in the Turkish Armed Forces under enhanced security.


Kerim Khas, a political scientist, believes that the Kremlin knew about Erdogan's involvement in the order to shoot down the Russian Su-24. The Turkish President had repeatedly warned of Turkey's readiness to attack in response to repeated violations of the country's airspace. Then-prime minister Davutoglu did not conceal the fact that it was him who gave the order, but it could never be possible without the participation of the head of state. Yet, in order to achieve peace with Russia, Erdogan was forced to dismiss Davutoglu in May 2016.

Interestingly, Erdogan made his apologies to Russia a few weeks before the coup. Khas notes that Turkey's elite was behind the coup, and it was then important for them to restore channels with Russia in order to avoid dependence on the West. The political scientist also believes that Moscow knows what exactly happened both at the time of the attack on the plane, and at the time of the coup in Turkey in 2016, including about the relationship between the Turkish political elite and the Islamic State terrorist organisation* (banned in the Russian Federation).

At the same time, it is not only Russia, but also the USA, the UK and Germany, who have this information at their disposal. They use this information to blackmail Erdogan and obtain advantageous concessions. Erdogan will try to blame Davutoglu for the Su-24 shoot-down, in order to prevent him from creating his own party, and eliminate him as a possible competitor.

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Yes to peace! No to NATO!

2019/12/04

Yes to peace! No to NATO!

No to the NATO warmonger summit in London

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO - on 3 and 4 December, will hold a summit in London, marking once again the 70th anniversary of the establishment of this warmongering political-military bloc.

As in previous summits, much will be said about 'peace' and 'security', but the decisions that will be taken will reveal increased military spending, new and more sophisticated armaments, militarism and war.

Since its formation in 1949, which included Portugal, then under a fascist dictatorship, NATO has been an instrument at the service of the United States foreign policy and its military-industrial complex.

Over the decades, NATO has been responsible for and has supported coups d'état, wars of aggression and military occupations - as in Cyprus, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan or Libya - and is responsible for a huge legacy of death, suffering and destruction by millions of homeless and refugees.

NATO is not a 'defensive' organization, it is an aggressively-oriented political-military bloc that grants itself the 'right' to intervene militarily anywhere in the world, under any pretext, in violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter. and international law, which should govern relations between countries and safeguard the sovereignty and rights of peoples.

NATO is the most serious threat to peace and security in the world:

  • The overwhelming majority of foreign bases and military installations in the world are from USA/NATO (around 1,000)
  • 29 NATO members account for more than half of total world military spending; taking over the US $ 700 billion in 2019, more than a third of the total;
  • NATO follows the US Nuclear Doctrinewhich allows for a so-called 'pre-emptive' first nuclear strikeincluding against states that do not have such weapons;
  • USA/NATO have been reinforcing modern military bases, fleets, contingents and forces near the borders of Russia and China, exacerbating tension in eastern Europe and the Far East;
  • the process of militarization of the European Union constitutes itself as the 'European pillar' of NATO, sharing its bellicose purposes;
  • through subsquent enlargements, partnerships and agreements, NATO has extended its influence and area of intervention throughout the world;
  • USA/NATO are responsible for the militarization of space and 'cyberspace' and the escalation in the military use of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI);
  • NATO supported the US decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty, which poses a serious threat to peace.

Portugal must be by the side of peace and disarmament!

Portugal must reject militarism, arms race, war, including the participation of Portuguese armed forces in aggression against other peoples.

Respecting the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Portuguese Government must:

- to strive for national independence, peaceful settlement of international conflicts, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, cooperation with all other peoples for the emancipation and progress of humanity;

- advocate the abolition of imperialism, colonialism and all other forms of aggression, domination and exploitation in relations between peoples, as well as the general simultaneous and controlled disarmament, the dissolution of the political-military blocs and the establishment of a security system order to establish an international order capable of ensuring peace and justice in relations between peoples.

Nowadays, the struggle for peace, sovereignty, democracy and the rights of the peoples is pressing.

A new confrontation that would have catastrophic consequences for humanity must be avoided!

However strong those who bet on war, it is not inevitable. It is up to the peoples of the world, united in a broad and active movement in defense of peace and disarmament, to stop them!

The subscribing organizations call for participation in the actions that will take place in Lisbon and Porto, on the 3rd and 4th of December 2019, under the slogan Yes to Peace! No to NATO !, and reaffirm the importance of upholding the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and Article 7 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic - sovereignty, peace, cooperation - certain that these remain the best they serve the cause of peace and the aspirations of humanity.

 Consistently, they require:

  • thedissolution of NATO;

• the end of the aggression wars promoted by NATO and its members;

 the abolition of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction;

 the signing and ratification of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty by the Portuguese authorities;

• the dismantling of the THAAD anti-missile system that the US/NATO has installed, notably in Europe and Asia;

• the rejection of the militarization of space;

• the reversal of the militarization process of the European Union;

• the end of the arms race and the use of funds to solve the problems that plague people;

• general, simultaneous and controlled disarmament;

• the end of the use of new technologies for military purposes;

• the defense of the principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and in the Charter of the United Nations and international law, with  particular significance when the 45th anniversary of the April Revolution is marked

Subscriber Organizations (so far):

1.    Associação Água Pública

2.    Associação de Amizade Portugal - Cuba

3.    Associação Intervenção Democrática (ID)

4.    Associação Portuguesa de Amizade e Cooperação Iúri Gagárin

5.    Coletivo Andorinha - Frente Democrática Brasileira de Lisboa

6.    Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses - Intersindical Nacional (CGTP-IN)

7.    Confederação Nacional de Reformados, Pensionistas e Idosos (MURPI)

8.    Confederação Portuguesa de Quadros Técnicos e Científicos

9.    Conselho Português para a Paz e Cooperação (CPPC)

10. Ecolojovem - Os Verdes

11. Federação dos Sindicatos de Transportes e Comunicações

12. Federação Intersindical das Indústrias Metalúrgicas, Químicas, Eléctricas, Farmacêutica, Celulose, Papel, Gráfica, Imprensa, Energia e Minas

13. Federação Nacional de Sindicatos de Trabalhadores em Funções Públicas e Sociais

14. Federação Portuguesa dos Sindicatos de Comércio, Escritórios e Serviços

15. Frente Anti-Racista (FAR)

16. Fundação José Saramago

17. Inter-Reformados / CGTP-IN

18. Juventude Comunista Portuguesa (JCP)

19. Movimento Democrático de Mulheres (MDM)

20. Movimento pelos Direitos do Povo Palestino e pela Paz no Médio Oriente (MPPM)

21. Sindicato dos Trabalhadores do Comércio, Escritórios e Serviços de Portugal

22. Sindicato dos Trabalhadores do Município de Lisboa

23. União dos Sindicatos de Lisboa

24. União dos Sindicatos do Distrito de Leiria

The source of this piece is the Portuguese version of Pravda.Ru, translation by Flávio Gonçalves from the original Portuguese translation by Luisa de Vasconcellos

Photo: Public Domain, https://ift.tt/2ONiGUf

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Mystic Women of India: Karaikkal Ammaiyar

2019/12/04

Mystic Women of India: Karaikkal Ammaiyar

The Bhakti era of seer poets in India was spread over many centuries. Indeed, the role of women in this unique tradition has been exemplary. This has been a  unique channel, where this tradition has allowed, women's sexuality to be denied and transcended or conversely it has led to the sexuality being accepted but channelized towards an accepted God. In both the cases, the more interesting part to be observed is how the feminine sexuality poses a threat to the society specially when she wields it openly, even if only in surrender to the paranormal world, she considers herself to be a part of.

The narrative, interestingly, left behind by these women-poet-seers does point out, that almost all of them idealized the God as male, but it remained outside the rigidity of the patriarchal norms where the God was sometimes an equal-a lover or a husband and at others, the woman remained subservient to the "authority", as with Karaikkal Ammaiyar-who considered Lord Shiv as her father. The tradition of Bhakti, gave women the freedom to reclaim their voices by breaking through the "normal" social barriers of marriage and child bearing and rearing. The women found an ideal companionship in the divine and this, very importantly opened up the possibility of an alternative model of gender relations.

Having spoken about Akka Mahadevi, in an earlier article for this paper, I shall be taking up the life and trail of Karaikkal Ammaiyar. Little known to the people of the outside world, except for those residing in the more traditionally religious and spiritual state of India: Tamil Nadu, Karaikkal Ammaiyar is also known as the 'Saintly Mother of Karaikkal'-the place in Tamil Nadu, where she belonged.

Ammaiyar, belonged to the Nayanmar tradition in the Bhakti cult, the followers of which tradition, considered themselves and all living beings as servants of Lord Shiv. Her poems and hymns, addressed to Lord Shiv, are contained in the eleventh book  of the Tirumurai (The Holy Division)

According to the local narratives, Ammaiyar was the daughter of a rich businessman and her original name was Punitavati. Right from her childhood days, she was deeply devoted to Lord Shiv and the study of religious scriptures. Eventually, she got married to a man from Nagapattinam, but since her parents were reluctant to be parted from her, the couple was persuaded to reside in Karaikkal.

Very early in the marriage, Punitavati's devotion to Lord Shiv was tested, when she gave away one of the two choice mangoes sent home by her husband, for his consumption to a mendicant, begging for food, since she was yet to cook the midday meal. At lunch time, the husband , having eaten one of the two tasty mangoes, asked for the second one too. Punitavati was unable to reveal what had become of it and went in as if to fetch it. Distressed, she sought the feet of Lord Shiv who came to her rescue and she found a mango in her hand. She served it to her husband, but its absolutely unique taste made him to seek an explanation from Punitavati, who revealed the truth to him. Unconvinced by her explanation, the husband mockingly proceeded to test her powers. Punitavati provided him with a demonstration by giving him yet another mango, and he became absolutely frightened.

He was deeply disturbed by his wife's divine powers and was convinced that she was no ordinary woman. At the next first opportunity he ran away from home, leaving her in a lurch, to marry another woman, with whom he had a daughter, whom he named Punitavati-after his first wife!

Later on, Punitavati's family having found out his whereabouts, did take her to her husband, who fell at her feet and proclaimed to the world that she was an extraordinary woman and that, he cannot continue to have "normal" marital relations with her. Immediately, Punitavati prayed to Lord Shiv, telling Him, that since he husband did not need her anymore and that he had 'released' her, she now, no longer needed the beauty of form. She asked the Lord, to transform her into a demoness, who could 'stand by God in prayer', like the ghouls, who worship at Shiv's feet in the cremation grounds. Lord Shiv fulfilled her wish and the beautiful Punitavati was metamorphosed into the emaciated figure , now known to the world as  Karaikkal Ammaiyar.

No longer, a captive to her beauty and youth, she moved free and the world fled from her. Undaunted, she went to Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiv and Parvati and begged for an end to rebirth. She also requested, that in her present birth and form, she be devoted to the Lord. It is believed that even Parvati, Lord Shiv's consort, who had been through great austerities to gain Him as her husband, was surprised at the child like devotion of Ammaiyar.

The latter set whole new standards of renunciation and devotion, of freedom and courage, of morality and divinity. Lord Shiv, welcomed her with love and understanding and she called him appa(father). He then, directed her to go to Tiruvalankatu, the sacred banyan forest, where she would eventually see Him dancing the Tandava . She obeyed and identifying herself as a ghoul, inhabiting the cremation grounds. She sang:

"Sagging breasts and swollen veins,

Protruding eyes, bare white teeth

Skeletal legs and knobbly knees,

Has this female ghoul...

She lingers, weeps and wails

And wanders aimless in the forest---

There, holding fire , but cool of limbs

With matted hair, in all directions

Shiv dances His cosmic dance-

This forest...

This sacred  'Alankatu'

Is the home of our supreme Lord."

Her poems are not set to music, nor are they chanted in temples, having been too "strange" for inclusion in the normal rituals of worship. But the unique evolution of her consciousness to transcend the barriers of the known, to enter into what the world believes to be scary, and the courage to embrace the "ugly" in sheer love, has hugely impacted the trajectory of the mystic world, that can never ever forget Ammaiyar's contribution to itself. Ammaiyar's devotion was spiritual, not religious....and it saw love as the precondition to the evolution of the Self.

Ammaiyar lives on in the collective memory of the people, not only as one of the sixty three Nayanmar saints in the Indian Bhakti tradition, but is celebrated as the first  saint poet among them. She also has the honour of being the first woman saint poet in this tradition of India. Traced to around the sixth century.B.C, all the other women saint poets came after her. Her devotional compositions were preserved and canonized. Her statues adorn several temples in Tamil Nadu and her life is celebrated through annual festivals, held in the state.

A film was made on Karaikkal Ammaiyar in 1973, by AP Nagarajan. Though the film is commercial in nature, it yet remains a precious document, recording the life of Ammaiyar. In addition to the ritualistic commemoration her story is amply available on platforms such as YouTube, even as her works await translations to be carried forth to the world.

Photo: By Leonora Carrington, CC BY 2.0, https://ift.tt/2Yk37H0

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