Thread: WORLD BRACES FOR WAR: Canada send Jetfighters to Poland to Bolster NATO Forces

Bob Dole Talks About Starting World War Three

Former Senate Majority leader, presidential candidate and Republican establishment icon Bob Dole has come out in favor of sending the fascist junta in Ukraine weapons, including tanks.

“There are a lot of things we could do. We could give the poor Ukrainians some weapons,” Dole told about 75 people in Kansas. “I think I would first of all send some tanks and some weapons to help the Ukrainian people. Putin would understand then that we’re serious. Those would be consequences.”

Drudge Report

AMERICAN TROOPS ARRIVE IN POLAND...

Dutch Scramble Jets After Bombers Approach...

BRIT JETS CHASE OFF RUSSIAN SPY PLANES



RAF Jet Chases Russian Planes Away From UK

Two Russian planes are turned back as they approach Scotland, with jets from the Netherlands and Denmark also scrambled. Sky News



AMERICAN TROOPS ARRIVE IN POLAND...

RUSSIA WARGAMES UKRAINE...

Dutch Scramble Jets After Bombers Approach...


BRIT JETS CHASE OFF RUSSIAN SPY PLANES





http://drudgereport.com/

WND EXCLUSIVE

'Provocative' Putin reacts to U.S. presence

Puts U.S. warship on notice as Washington moves troops

Published: 22 hours ago
F. Michael Maloof, staff writer for WND and G2Bulletin, is a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the secretary of defense.

Vladimir Putin

WASHINGTON – Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun to react to subtle U.S. military deployments in the periphery of Russia.


The U.S. has sailed an Aegis anti-ballistic warship into the Black Sea, and the Pentagon announced Tuesday that U.S. troops would be sent for exercises in Eastern Europe to reassure allies on Russia’s border.

In an act deemed by the Pentagon as “provocative,” a Russian Sukhoi-24 fighter jet repeatedly buzzed the U.S.S. Donald Cook as low as 500 feet over a 90-minute period April 12 as the U.S. warship trolled the Black Sea in international waters near Crimea.

With enhanced Russian military presence in Crimea, the prospect of further provocations against ships and military aircraft from the U.S. and its partners of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is expected to increase, sources say.
In turn, such an episode would only increase Russian surveillance of Western military assets, possibly affecting their ability to conduct normal reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering operations.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is considering the deployment of up to 10,000 ground troops to Poland to show U.S. commitment to allied security in the area.
After a meeting with Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Poland would play a major role in the NATO buildup of troops in Eastern Europe “under U.S. patronage.”

Signaling a change in overall strategic defense policy, Hagel said the U.S. needs to “re-pivot back to Europe from Asia to confront “Russian aggression” in Ukraine.
One of the options for the U.S. is to move a 4,500-member combat brigade from Fort Hood, Texas, to Europe.

A forward contingent already is on the ground in Poland to oversee what may become a series of military exercises with NATO allies in the region. It’s a response to Putin’s apparent intention of taking over all of Ukraine and possibly other areas of Eastern Europe where there is a concentration of ethnic Russians.
The prospect has prompted concern among NATO countries in the region, which have assessed that the Russian military is stronger than all of their militaries combined. Consequently, the NATO members are hoping the U.S. will increase its presence to confront what they consider “Russian aggression.”

Regional sources have told WND that Putin’s motive is to set up buffer zones against the eastern encroachment of NATO, as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia seek to join the Western alliance.

Putin, however, has reacted forcibly, in 2008 with the Russian invasion of Georgia and now the movement of Russian special forces into Crimea. The annexation of the peninsula came after a disputed referendum of its citizens, which are predominantly ethnic Russian.

The sources believe Putin will remain assertive in his determination to set up buffers while keeping out elements of NATO. For that reason, the Russian president last week reacted forcibly against the deployment of NATO anti-missile defenses, including the U.S.S. Cole, an Aegis-equipped missile warship, near Crimea.

Putin views the moves as a threat to the nuclear defenses of southwestern Russia, which include Crimea for the first time in Russia’s strategic doctrine.
The Cole actually was to head to the Ukrainian city of Odessa for a port call but canceled due to demonstrations and after Putin referred to the U.S. deployment as a threat.

The U.S. warship reportedly then pulled out of the area and headed toward Turkey and Georgia.

Russia expert John Helmer said that the use of the ships in the Black Sea is of particular concern to Putin.

A U.S. warship, the U.S.S. Mount Whitney, was in the Black Sea during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, to assist Putin in counter-terrorism activities. But it also secretly monitored Russian reaction to demonstrations in Ukraine at the time that led to the ouster of its pro-Russian president.

The Mount Whitney is described as a floating headquarters for NATO strike forces aimed at Russia. It was present in the Black Sea during the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia.

The ship has the capability of intercepting signals intelligence and listening in on Russian command communications.

According to Helmer, who said he was quoting European military observers, the actual purpose of the Mount Whitney during the Olympic Games was to monitor how far Putin’s attention was distracted by the Olympics “while the U.S. worked to transform the situation in Kiev, overthrowing the government of (Ukrainian) President Viktor Yanukovych, if it could.”

Putin was distracted by the Olympics, the Europeans believe, and so he was taken by surprise by the Feb. 21 coup in Kiev, prompting him to act first in Crimea to create the buffer against NATO.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/provocati...iedJLe6zcVm.99

Lavrov: Russia Will Respond If Eastern Ukraine is Attacked

Cites example of South Ossetia and war between Georgia and Russia

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
April 23, 2014

Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned during an interview with Russia Today his government will not stand idly by as the junta in Kyiv attacks its opposition in eastern Ukraine.



“If we are attacked, we would certainly respond,” Lavrov said. “If our interests, our legitimate interests, the interests of Russians have been attacked directly, like they were in South Ossetia for example, I do not see any other way but to respond in accordance with international law.”

During the interview, Lavrov characterized the junta’s use of forces against activists in eastern Ukraine as “criminal.” He accused the coup government of violating the Geneva agreement. “In Geneva we agreed there must be an end of all violence. Next afternoon [interim Ukrainian President Aleksandr] Turchinov declared almost a state of emergency and ordered the army to shoot at the people,” he said.

South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia in 1990 which resulted in three wars. During the third conflict in 2008, Russia responded after Georgia amassed a large number of troops and equipment in the enclave and shelled villages. Prior to the conflict, both the United States and Russia conducted war games in the region.

State Department documents released by Wikileaks in 2010 reveal the United States was well aware of the Georgian plan to invade and reclaim South Ossetia. Despite knowledge of a Georgian military build-up, then U.S. ambassador, John Tefft, said Russia was the aggressor.

The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, was installed following the Rose Revolution in 2003. Michael Barker writes that the United States “had applied its entire panoply of ‘democracy promoting’ devices to ensure that the revolution was successful on their terms (these of course, included the NED and USAID).” After the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze and the election of Saakashvili, the IMF and the World Bank resumed funding the government and the State Department pledge $100 million.

This article was posted: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 9:15 am

Related Articles

• Russia warns of civil war if Ukraine uses force to quell eastern revolts
• US ‘Blackmails’ Russia over Syria Resolution – Lavrov
• Eastern Ukraine Moves to Join Russia
• Russia Urges Syrian Rebels to Destroy Chemical Weapons – Lavrov
• The ‘Crackdown’ Begins: Ukraine Launches “Anti-Terrorist” Operations In Eastern Ukraine, Arrests 70

http://www.infowars.com/lavrov-russi...e-is-attacked/

Ukraine foreign minister: Ready to fight Russia

PRAGUE (AP) — Ukraine's foreign minister has blasted the Russian decision to start military maneuvers along their border and said Thursday his country will fight any invading troops.

Andriy Deshchytisa told The Associated Press in Prague that Russia's decision to launch the military exercises "very much escalates the situation in the region."

Deshchytisa said his country had been taught a lesson by Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

"We will now fight with Russian troops if ... they invade Ukraine," he said. "The Ukrainian people and Ukrainian army are ready to do this. Ukraine will confront Russia. We will defend our land. We will defend our territory."

Ukrainian authorities have renewed a push to force pro-Russia armed insurgents out of occupied buildings in eastern cities. Reacting to the killing of at least two pro-Russian insurgents Thursday, Moscow announced the military exercises.

"What are the Russian plans?" Deshchytisa asked. "Will they invade Ukraine or not? I think it would be a very big mistake for the Russian government to send troops to Ukrainian territory to protect Russians."

Deshchytisa said the new Russian military exercises are taking place "even closer to the Ukrainian border than it was planned earlier" and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Deshchytisa was visiting Prague for a two-day summit of presidents of post-Soviet nations with their European Union counterpart, with the Ukraine crisis topping the agenda.

Commenting on the launch of the Ukrainian military operation in the east, Deshchstiya said that "there was no other way, but to restore order" after the recent bloodshed in the town of Slovyansk, where the bodies of two civilian activists were found with signs of torture.

The foreign minister also called on the EU to impose new sanctions on Russia.

http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-foreig...180601909.html

Drudge Report

Russian spy ship detected off Florida coast...



Pentagon: Russian Spy Ship, Tug Operating Near U.S.

A Russian intelligence-gathering ship has been operating off the U.S. East Coast and near the Gulf of Mexico for the past month, the Pentagon said Thursday. “We are aware that the Russian ships V

FREEBEACON.COM





http://drudgereport.com/


Pentagon: Russian Spy Ship, Tug Operating Near U.S.

Ships near nuclear submarine base at Kings Bay, Ga.

A Russian submarine / AP

BY: Bill Gertz
April 25, 2014 5:00 am

A Russian intelligence-gathering ship has been operating off the U.S. East Coast and near the Gulf of Mexico for the past month, the Pentagon said Thursday.
“We are aware that the Russian ships Viktor Leonov and Nikolay Chiker are currently operating in waters that are beyond U.S. territorial seas but near Cuba,” said Lt. Col. Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman. “We respect the freedom of all nations, as reflected in international law, to operate military vessels beyond the territorial seas of other nations.”
The Leonov is an intelligence gathering ship outfitted with high-tech electronic spying gear. The Chiker is an ocean-going naval tug that has been accompanying the spy ship on its mission.
Pentagon officials suspect the ships were part of a spying operation since March against the U.S. nuclear missile submarine base at Kings Bay, Ga. and other U.S. military facilities
Both ships were detected operating off the coast of Florida near the U.S. Naval Station Mayport, Fla., which is south of the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.
The Russian intelligence gathering coincides with heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over Moscow’s recent military annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea.
An official said it is possible that the electronic spying is related to watching U.S. nuclear missile submarines as part of a Russian nuclear exercise.
According to Russian military press reports, some 10,000 Russian troops and 1,000 pieces of military equipment of the Strategic Missile Forces took part in an exercise April 17 to 19—coinciding with the transit of one of the ships, the Chiker, to Cuba from the coast off northern Florida on April 19.
“The exercises will test the cohesiveness and skills of units and commands in the process of alerting and the achievement of training objectives under various circumstances and in any time of the day,” Russian defense spokesman told Interfax.
The Chiker also is known to support submarines and is equipped with lift capability for servicing Russian submarines.
U.S. officials said in 2012 a Russian Akula attack submarine was detected operating near the East Coast. The Navy denied the sub sailed undetected in the Gulf of Mexico.
Crosson declined to comment further on the Russian naval activities. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to talk about the operations of non-U.S. vessels operating beyond U.S. territorial seas,” he said.
According to military enthusiast websites, the Leonov is a Vishnya-class medium intelligence ship home ported in Severomorsk and is part of the Kola Peninsula naval forces.
The ship was commissioned in 1988.
The ships are designed for signals and communications intelligence gathering through an array of ship-borne sensors. It also is equipped with two 30-millimeter guns and anti-aircraft missiles.
Wire services reports indicated the Leonov docked in Havana in February and March, and again this month.

This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Russia. Bookmark the permalink.


http://freebeacon.com/national-secur...ting-near-u-s/

Taking Down the Global Economy to Punish Russia

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
April 29, 2014

The United States and the unelected European Union nomenklatura have decided to sacrifice the world economy in a bid to punish Russia for its response to the crisis in Ukraine.



British Finance Minister says economic pain suffered by sanctions price worth paying.
On Monday, the U.S. announced tightened sanctions on Russian officials and a number of Russian banks and companies, including Sobinbank and energy company Stroytransgaz Group.
On Tuesday the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, told MSNBC imposing a new round of sanctions on the Russian banking sector and gas industries will reverberate negatively throughout the global economy.
“The debate is between those that want to deter Putin and punish him versus those that worry about the global economy,” McFaul said.
He added that more comprehensive economic sanctions are “going to hurt, first and foremost, the Europeans, and maybe our economy. On the one hand, [Obama] wants to push back on Putin. On the other, he doesn’t want to precipitate a global recession.”
The Russian natural gas exporter, Gazprom, warned on Tuesday new sanctions will adversely impact its operation and economic status. Gazprom provides thirty percent of Europe’s natural gas. Gazprom issued the warning after Ukraine said it will take the company to court in response to a doubling of prices after the February coup. Ukraine owes the gas giant more than $2 billion.
“The European economy is barely now recovering from a recession,” Nouriel Roubini told Bloomberg TV on Monday. The noted economist said further escalation of the crisis in Ukraine “could tip back the eurozone into a recession.”
“There’s the beginning of an economic recovery, but this is a recovery that’s fragile, it’s anemic, it’s uneven, especially in the periphery of the eurozone. I would say the last thing that the eurozone can afford and need right now is another shock coming from an increase in gas prices and or even a cut off of supply of gas coming from Russia to the Western European economies. That would tip the European economies back into a recession if that were to occur,” he said.
Due to the interconnectedness of the globalist economy, a continuation of recession in the eurozone would ultimately affect economic growth around the world.

This article was posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at 11:23 am

http://www.infowars.com/taking-down-...punish-russia/

IMF Demands Ukraine Risk World War 3 in Return For Bailout Money

Globalists desperate to loan shark another country into debt slavery

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
May 1, 2014

Image: Christine Lagarde (Wiki Commons).

The IMF has told Kiev that if it doesn’t defend eastern areas of Ukraine against pro-Russian forces, or in other words risk going to war with Russia and starting World War 3, that a planned $17 billion dollar bailout package will have to be “redesigned”.

IMF head Christine Lagarde said that the global body would “check regularly” to see if Ukraine was keeping up with its commitments on which the loan deal is dependent. One of those commitments includes a vow to use military forces to repel Russian influence in the east of the country.

The IMF has told Kiev that the money spigot could be cut off if Kiev “loses control over (the) East of the country”.

“Which, roughly translated, appears to mean go to war with pro-Russian forces (and thus Russia itself if Putin sees his apparent countrymen in trouble) or you don’t get your money!,” notes Zero Hedge.

Innumerable analysts have warned that if Russia and Ukraine engage in a full blown conflict, regional and even world war could eventually ensue. The IMF is seemingly so desperate to make Ukraine another one of its loan shark client states that it is willing to risk the annihilation of billions of people to achieve such a scenario.

The fantastic “deal” that the Ukrainian people are getting in allowing the post-coup government to sell out to the IMF vampires includes a 50% hike in energy prices, a halving in pensions, crippling inflation, huge tax hikes and a freeze in the minimum wage.

Ironically, a huge chunk of that money will be used to pay Russian-owned natural gas supplier Gazprom, with whom Kiev is behind on its bills.

As we have documented, asset stripping of troubled countries, achieved by means of onerous austerity measures imposed on the poor and middle class, is standard operating procedure for the IMF, which pulled the same stunt in numerous other countries including Greece and Cyprus.

Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71

FOLLOW Paul Joseph Watson @ https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

This article was posted: Thursday, May 1, 2014 at 11:03 am

Tags: foreign affairs, war

http://www.infowars.com/imf-demands-...bailout-money/

Ukraine Admits "Helpless" Against Pro-Russian Forces; Reinstates Military Conscription

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/01/2014 18:59 -0400

International Monetary Fund
Ukraine

Days after acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval warned "the Armed Forces are not ready for this," Ukraine has announced the return of military conscription. After Mr Turchynov admitted his security forces were 'helpless' to quash the pro-Moscow insurgency that has tightened its grip on the increasingly chaotic east of the country, Koval believes "if there were conscripts in military units, then the situation might be different." Of course, this is exactly what the IMF 'demanded' as yet more cities in the East fall to pro-Russian separatists. We can only imagine how pro-Russian 20-23 year old men will feel when they get their call-up papers to fight... against themselves.

As NRCU reports,

The Armed Forces of Ukraine could return military conscription, acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval has stated. "The army will be professional - this is the future of the Armed Forces. But now the Armed Forces are not ready for this. Therefore we might have to return 21-23-years-old men for a while, and they will serve the state," he told reporters in Kyiv on April 26.
According to Koval, the reckless policy of transition to contract service showed its negative sides, in particular, in Crimea. "If there were conscripts in military units, then the situation might be different," the minister said.In addition, the minister said the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not created a good base for training and life-support of contract soldiers.

And then today, The Daily Mail confirms...

Embattled Ukraine today announced it was bringing back conscription as a mob of some 300 pro-Russian militants seized control of the prosecutor's office in Donetsk after overrunning police.

Coming on the heels of this...

But Mr Turchynov admitted his security forces were 'helpless' to quash the pro-Moscow insurgency that has tightened its grip on the increasingly chaotic east of the country.

And the previous details of the conscription plan...

The Ukrainian parliament has adopted a resolution recommending that acting President Oleksandr Turchynov resume mandatory drafting of conscripts into the country's army.
The resolution "on additional measures for strengthening Ukraine's defense capability in connection with Russia's aggression against Ukraine" was adopted on April 17.

Kyiv announced the last mandatory drafting of conscripts into the Ukrainian Army in October, saying that by the end of 2014 the Ukrainian armed forces would be comprised of professional soldiers only.
Ukraine -- which currently has the fifth-largest army in Europe, with 180,000 soldiers -- planned to decrease the total to 122,000 soldiers by 2017.

According to the old law, all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 27 must serve for one year in the national army or for 18 months in the Ukrainian Navy.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...y-conscription

France Plays Russian Roulette: Why Europe Is Scared Of Sanctions Against Russia

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/01/2014 18:01 -0400

• European Union
• Eurozone
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Obama Administration
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom

While everyone is by now fully aware just how dependent Europe is on Russia's energy supplies (and most are aware of the "nonsense" that the US will fill any gap if Russia steps up its actions - which Barroso said wouldn't happen because "Russia has self-interest not to play the energy card") but few are truly aware of the scale of contagious debt-driven defaults that could occur if the US (and a reluctant Europe) decide to undertake more aggressive economic sanctions, which, as Germany's Europe minister stated today, "are on the table." As the following chart of Europe's domestic bank exposure to Russia show, Roth's warning that Russia's retaliation could mean "anything is possible," is a major problem for the Germans, Italians, and most of all - The French.

Germany is nervous...

• *ECONOMIC SANCTIONS `ON THE TABLE'; RUSSIA COULD RETALIATE: ROTH
• *GERMANY'S ROTH SAYS `ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE' IN UKRAINE CRISIS

Because they know what happens if this house of cards falls down...
As The Council for Foreign Relations notes, in the fourth quarter of last year, with tensions rising between Russia and the West over Ukraine, U.S., German, UK, and Swedish banks aggressively dialed down their credit exposures in Russia... but levels remain huge...

But as the graphic above shows, French banks, which have by far the highest exposures to Russia, barely touched theirs. At $50 billion, this exposure is not far off the $70 billion exposure they had to Greece in 2010. At that time, they took advantage of the European Central Bank’s generous Securities Market Programme (SMP) to fob off Greek bonds, effectively mutualizing their Greek exposures across the Eurozone. No such program will be available for Russian debt.

And much of France’s Russia exposure is illiquid, such as Société Générale’s ownership of Rosbank, Russia’s 9th largest bank by net-asset value ($22 billion).

With the Obama Administration and the European Union threatening to dial up sanctions on Russia, is it time for U.S. money market funds and others to start worrying about their French bank exposures?

The bottom line - it's all well and good to let the people starve, freeze, or stagnate amid a lack of energy supplies... but start ****ing our banking exposure and Russian sanctions just got real

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...against-russia