NATO Summit Day One

by Stephen Lendman

On Thursday, a joint NATO/Ukraine Commission press release included a litany of Big Lies vilifying Russia. In part it said:

Russian Federation "armed forces are engaged in direct military operations in Ukraine."

"Russia continues to supply weapons to militants in eastern Ukraine."

"(I)t maintains thousands of combat-ready troops on its border with Ukraine."

"These developments undermine the security of Ukraine and have serious implications for the stability and security of the entire Euro-Atlantic area."

"Allies welcome the commitments made by all parties, including in Geneva and Berlin, and other ongoing negotiations to work toward establishing the conditions for a peaceful solution."

"However, despite the commitments it has made, Russia has, in fact, carried out direct military intervention inside Ukraine and increased its support to the militants."

"We call on Russia to change course and to take active steps to de-escalate the crisis, including to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities."

"Allies recognise Ukraine's right to restore peace and order and to defend its people and territory and encourage the Ukrainian Armed Forces and security services to continue to exercise the utmost restraint in their ongoing operation to avoid casualties among the local population."

"Allies commend the Ukrainian people's commitment to freedom and democracy and their determination to decide their own future free from outside interference."

"We reiterate our firm commitment to further develop the Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine which will contribute to building a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe."

Fact: NATO claims are Big Lies.

Fact: No verifiable proof supports them.

Fact: Russia remains discretely neutral.

Fact: It deplores war.

Fact: It's gone all-out for diplomatic conflict resolution.

Fact: Washington sabotaged its good faith efforts.

Fact: It continues doing so.

Fact: It uses Ukraine as a convenient proxy to further its regional goals.

Fact: Both countries wage war on freedom.

Fact: They deplore democracy.

Fact: They consider it a four-letter word.

Fact: They want it avoided at all costs.

Fact: Russia didn't invade Ukraine.

Fact: Its troops aren't involved in fighting.

Fact: It hasn't armed Southeastern Ukrainian self-defense forces.

Fact: US-led NATO bears full responsibility for global instability, lack of security and high crimes against peace.

Fact: It's a monster.

Fact: It's a killing machine.

Fact: It's a humanity-threatening cancer.

Fact: It deplores peace.

Fact: It ravages one country after another.

Fact: It's guilty of genocidal crimes of war and against humanity.

Fact: Claiming NATO's Distinctive Partnership with Ukraine "contribute(s) to building a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe" is pure fantasy.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel praised Kiev's war without mercy on its own citizens.

John Kerry held bilateral talks with Ukraine's oligarch president Petro Poroshenko. He lied claiming Washington and Kiev want peace.

"So that's our goal," he said. Poroshenko is a convenient US imperial tool. He's waging dirty war while claiming "all of us want peace…"

It depends on "two main things," he said. "First, that Russia withdraw (its) troops, and second, to close the border."

Poroshenko prioritizes nationwide hardline rule. He wants freedom crushed.

He wants his own people exploited. He wants NATO membership. He wants what Russia won't tolerate.

Sergey Lavrov warned Washington against imposing its will on Russia. Any attempts to end Ukraine's non-aligned status will "derail all efforts at initiating dialogue with the aim of ensuring national security," he said.

Washington is Russia's strategic adversary. It's on a fast track toward direct confrontation.

Events today are uncomfortably similar to those preceding WW I. Few then imagined world war. History has a way of repeating.

On Thursday, deputy national security advisor Benjamin Rhodes said Obama and European leaders "expressed their very strong support for Ukraine and for its sovereignty and territorial integrity…"

He repeated the Big Lie about "Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity through its support for the Russian-backed separatists, the provision of arms, the presence of Russian personnel inside of Ukraine."

Obama and European leaders "agreed that there needs to be additional costs imposed on Russia for what they’ve done in Ukraine."  

"The European Council has been developing options for additional sanctions. The United States has been preparing our own package for additional sanctions."

"If Russia escalates, we stand prepared to escalate our pressure."

"When we move together, it has the maximum impact."

Day one in Wales featured warmongering. British Prime Minister David Cameron accusing Moscow of "ripping up the rulebook."

"We face new and evolving dangers," he claimed. UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond urged imposing new sanctions on Russia.

"We hoped we were building a constructive, new relationship with a Russia that would be part of the international community of nations."

He lied saying "(t)hat doesn’t appear to be happening because President Putin has decided that to go down this course of confrontation, making the west an adversary rather than a partner."

NATO members pledged support for Ukraine. They'll provide 15 million euros in military aid.

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called doing so a "comprehensive and tailored package of measures (designed to) improv(e) logistics…improv(e) command and control…improv(e) communications, and (help) cyber defense."

Aid includes "high precision weapons." NATO prioritizes war, not peace.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Philip Breedlove said lethal and nonlethal aid are coming soon.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez urged urged Obama "to provide additional military support to assist the Ukrainian military in its fight against an onslaught of Russian troops."

Day one featured hyperbole and Big Lies. The BBC called NATO "the world's most powerful regional defense alliance."

Its diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus said the summit comes during the most serious European security crisis since the end of the Cold War.

He left unexplained that US-led NATO bears full responsibility. Russia is wrongfully blamed.

Senior Defense Ministry General Yury Yakubov wants Moscow's military doctrine updated to reflect current threats.

They include positioning thousands of NATO troops close to Russia's border, establishing a brigade-sized rapid reaction force, assuring it can be deployed on short notice, and expanding NATO to include all former Soviet Republics and Warsaw Pact countries.

"First and foremost, the likely enemy of Russia should be clearly identified in this strategic document, something absent from the 2010 military doctrine," said Yakubov.

"In my view, our primary enemy is the US and the North Atlantic bloc."

They represent humanity's greatest threat.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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