RT News - February 18th 2023

Russia/United Nations: It was eight years ago that the United Nations mandated the Minsk accords between the two republics of Donbass, Donetsk and Lugansk, and the Kiev, Ukraine governments. (Minsk 2 was signed on Feb 12th 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_agreements )
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's UN envoy spoke at the UN Security Council in New York on Friday. He took aim at Western leaders for undermining the 2015 Minsk peace agreements, saying their disregard for the accords directly led to the Ukraine conflict. He said their actions have promoted Russia-phobia and that their driving ambitions were to destroy Russia (from 41:10 here https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1k/k1kf0x1hbw). Caleb Maupin reports on the sheer hypocrisy and falseness of the UN Security Council (QS: And the lies and denials more like, when I watch these meetings it's "cringeworthy" with what they come out with) France's Hollande, Germany's Merkel and Ukraine's Poroshenko (the three other signatories, along with Russia) have all admitted that they had no intention of keeping or implementing either agreement/protocol, all whilst leading Russia up the garden path with lie after lie after lie.
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Jimmy Dore speaks with Afshin Rattansi on "Going Underground" (here's the link for Rumble https://rumble.com/v29x6ae-jimmy-dore-on-russia-vs-nato-the-us-war-machine-is-out-of-control-the-usa-a.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=6) Peace and truth are the last thing on the minds of the war-hawks which have overtaken western governments entirely, to the point of censoring Russian media, to allow them to feed the public only one narrative. How can the public ever know what is going on in reality?
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Donbass, Donetsk: Russian troops advance towards the major, Ukrainian-held city of Artyomovsk in the Donetsk Republic, by taking a key village and cutting off Kiev's supply routes. It also paves the way for Russia to advance in this critical area.
Donbass, Lugansk: Specially trained doctors, used to dealing with the wounds caused by war wounds, shrapnel etc from an airborne unit are treating the wounded amid the conflict in the local hospitals, treating both military and civilian casualties. RT speaks with some of them.
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Africa, Nigeria: Nigerian authorities have called upon Finland to stop an anti-government activist accused of inciting unrest in the African country from abroad, ahead of next week's presidential election. Violent unrest is the last thing the country needs. It's not the first time Simon Ekpa has caused trouble in Nigeria from afar with serious and wounding consequences.

Africa, Burkina Faso and Benin: The president of Benin, Patrice Talon, is visiting Burkina Faso where the two countries hope to address the ongoing security issues with terrorism. There's a problem as Talon wants to maintain links with France, who Burkina Faso have expelled (for, amongst other things, aiding and abetting the terrorists). RT speaks to some locals in Ouagougou about how they feel about Talon's visit.

Africa, South Africa: Joint military drills are to take place again, the last joint exercises were in 2019. Russia's Navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov arrived in Durban from Cape Town for the exercises/drills with S.A. along with China on 17th-27th February. There is great delight in South Africa but dismay from "the western powers". Anna Knishenko reports. (QS this is the 2nd time in this post that "Russia's brutal war" has been mentioned by western officialdom. The UNSC being the first. I did a search for news to include the phrase "Russia's brutal war" just last week. It rendered 11 million results in the past year. It's the go-to phrase for the press too, re the conflict in Ukraine). Joe Mhlanga also reports.
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India/USA/Russia relations: Victoria Nuland said Russia's weapons stink and that Russia can barely supply themselves, let alone others and that USA would be a better option for India.
India does buy from USA but chooses her suppliers as it wants with her own interests paramount. Ranjeet Rai reports
---- (QS: on the 28th January 2022, ahead of Victoria Nuland's visit to India she said "we're working on fixing India's dependencies on Russia's energy and weapons" - I hope she doesn't mean this in the same way as Pres. Biden's fixing of Europe's dependency on (what was) Russia's dirt cheap, reliable, available for 25 years solid, without a single trouble, gas supply to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline pair and set to double it's reliability with the commissioning of Nord Stream 2, built at the request of Germany. Something worth noting here which is never mentioned in public (taboo?) is this : In January 2019, the US ambassador in Germany, Richard Grenell, sent letters to companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2 telling them to stop working on the Nord Stream 2 and threatened them with the possibility of sanctions. In December 2019, USA Senators TeD Cruz and Ron Johnson TOLD "Allseas Pipelines" owner Edward Heerema to suspend the works on the pipeline, telling him that USA would impose sanctions. https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-on-the-senate-floor-i-will-use-all-options-to-stop-biden-putin-nord-stream-2-pipeline ) Allseas complied and left the project. Akademik Cherskiy (Russian pipeline firm) took over and work recommenced. In July 2021, the work had finished and was ready to be "commissioned" and filled with gas. The rest is history, as they say and easy to find details of. USA had no intention of ever letting Europe, especially Germany have their dirt cheap gas continue from Russia. )
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Indian SC, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka is eager to work with Russia for energy, according to the Russian ambassador Janitha Abeywickrema Liyanage) and that Sri Lanka isn't worried about sanctions. Mourad talks with her.
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As Bill Gates plans to fight misinformation through artificial intelligence, Elon Musk says the emerging technology is one of the biggest threats to humankind. RT hears from a panel of guests.

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18 Feb, 2023 08:11

1) --- Betting on Ukraine victory was ‘suicidal’ – Seymour Hersh

The West didn’t even want Kiev in NATO because of corruption concerns, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist says

The US and its allies should have attempted to reach an agreement with Moscow as their belief that Ukraine can win a conflict against Russia is “suicidal,” iconic American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has argued.

Speaking in a YouTube interview with the Consortium News outlet on Friday, Hersh accused the Biden administration of making “so many bad mistakes,” adding that “it’s impossible to believe how just dumb this leadership was.”

“It was suicidal to think you can win that war, that Ukraine can win the war [against Russia]. There’s just too much corruption. That was a very, very bad decision. We should have been pushing for peace, we should have made an agreement,” the former Pulitzer Prize winner insisted.

US President Joe Biden basically “blew off NATO in Europe” by telling allies that he is backing Ukraine with its “totally corrupt government,” Hersh added. The journalist also said Kiev glorifies Stepan Bandera, “the great pro-Nazi who killed Jews like crazy during World War II.”

“It’s just silly not to right away assure the Russian government that we weren’t interested in making Ukraine a member of NATO,” Hersh stated, referring to long-standing concerns in Moscow. “NATO didn’t want Ukraine anyway because of the corruption.”

Hersh recently published a bombshell report which accused the US of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines last year. He cited an informed source as explaining that explosives were planted on the bottom of the Baltic Sea by US Navy divers under the guise of a NATO exercise back in June 2022. They were detonated in late September, rendering the pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian gas to Europe through Germany, inoperable.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, are all “very hawkish,” according to the journalist. The trio “pushed Biden very hard” to go ahead with the sabotage because “they have long-standing incredible hatred for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. It’s almost personal, I would guess,” Hersh claimed.

US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson branded Hersh’s bombshell report “utterly false and complete fiction.” The journalist has promised even more revelations on how the pipelines were blown up.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571690-hersh-ukraine-nato-corruption/
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18 Feb, 2023 00:25

2) --- Ukrainian troops finish crash course on US ‘tank killers’

The first Bradley battalion has completed its training in Germany, the Pentagon announced

The first group of Ukrainian soldiers has completed their “battalion combined-arms training” at the US Army Grafenwoehr training area in Germany, the Pentagon told reporters on Friday. The training focused on using M2 Bradley armored vehicles, which were promised in early January and began to arrive in Germany this week.

“Approximately 635 Ukrainians completed the approximately five-week period of instruction,” Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder said in a statement. The training included “basic soldier tasks like marksmanship, along with medical training, squad, platoon and company training, and a battalion force-on-force exercise,” he added.

The second group began training at the start of February, Ryder said, while another 700 Ukrainians were being taught how to operate M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery. Another 900 or so Ukrainians will start training on field artillery and M1126 Stryker armored vehicles next week.

Located in eastern Bavaria, Grafenwoehr was originally built by Imperial Germany ahead of the First World War and expanded by the Wehrmacht in 1938 to practice Blitzkrieg tactics. The US military occupied it in 1945 and has operated it ever since.

The Pentagon began training Ukrainian forces at Grafenwoehr last May, and expanded the program in December. The program has not been limited to Europe, however; an unspecified number of Ukrainians were also flown over to Fort Sill in Oklahoma, to be trained on Patriot missile systems.

Meanwhile, the first batch of Bradleys arrived at the US Army depot near Mannheim, Germany on Friday. A ship with 60 or so vehicles left Charleston, South Carolina three weeks ago, shortly after the Pentagon’s announcement it would send the “tank killers” to Kiev. Since then, President Joe Biden has also promised Ukraine a batch of M1 Abrams main battle tanks, though they may not arrive before 2024.

Moscow has warned the US and its allies that further shipments of weapons to Kiev only delay the inevitable and risk direct confrontation. Washington and NATO insist they are not a party to the conflict, though they have sent over $100 billion worth of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine over the past 12 months.
https://www.rt.com/news/571674-ukraine-troops-bradley-training/
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17 Feb, 2023 18:42

3) --- US auditors headed to Ukraine – WSJ

The State Department, Pentagon and USAID want to put inspector boots on the ground

After sending $110 billion worth of military and financial aid to Ukraine for a year, the US is making plans to send auditors and inspectors to Kiev so they don’t have to rely on second-hand reports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing Pentagon, State Department and USAID officials.

The inspectors-general from the three respective agencies told the outlet that so far, oversight was conducted using staff in Poland and Germany. After going to Kiev last month and meeting Ukrainian officials, they decided to send some of their 177 auditors and investigators into Ukraine itself.

The trio met with Ukraine’s prime minister, ministers of defense and finance, and the prosecutor general, Defense Department IG Robert Storch told the Journal, adding that they emphasized the US “expectations for accountability, and also the importance of cooperation with our oversight work.”

Diana Shaw, deputy IG at the State Department, said the US has given Ukraine “an incredibly large amount of assistance” in a “very short time” and that “Any fraud, waste, abuse that would divert that funding from its intended purpose risks jeopardizing the continued flow of that assistance.”

The US Congress appropriated more than $113 billion for aid to Ukraine in 2022. In addition to pricey weapons systems and ammunition, Washington has sent Kiev cash so the Ukrainian government can continue to operate. To monitor this flow, the Journal revealed, Washington has relied on staff in nearby countries, the small staff of the US embassy in Kiev, EU officials in Ukraine, and World Bank personnel.

“I think we have been as creative and you know, out of the box, forward-leaning with the oversight we’ve been able to accomplish so far. But for real comprehensive, robust oversight, it can’t be done remotely,” said Nicole Angarella, acting deputy USAID inspector general.

Shaw explained that the Kiev trip was intended to “assess whether we felt that we needed to have an on-site presence in-country. And so coming back from that trip, I think we feel that we do and so we’re now in the process of pursuing that.”

The inspectors have “thus far received no reports of major fraud or illegality” regarding the US aid, according to the Journal. President Vladimir Zelensky’s recent purges of Ukrainian officials as part of an anti-corruption campaign had nothing to do with US aid, they insisted.

While Storch and Shaw are mainly concerned with the military aid, Angarella is primarily concerned with more than $20 billion the US is sending through the World Bank to pay the salaries of Ukrainian government officials.

Cash payments are “the greatest risk for oversight,” she said. “Cash is fungible, and, you know, is always at a higher risk.” According to Angarella, USAID has assessed that “proper controls” were in place to detect any misuse of funding.

While both the ruling Democrats and the leadership of the opposition Republicans maintain the most important thing for the US to do is continue funding Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” recent polls have shown Americans growing tired of the ever-increasing aid to Kiev while problems mount at home.
https://www.rt.com/news/571660-us-auditors-ukraine-aid/
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18 Feb, 2023 00:24 --- OP ED ---

4) --- George Soros is defending the unipolar world order, not freedom

In his latest speech, the aging billionaire took potshots at world leaders who fell out of step with his liberal fantasy. (OP ED by Bradley Blankenship)

Billionaire George Soros spoke on the eve of this year’s Munich Security Conference on February 16, taking a particular shot this time at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in addition to the usual targets.

Soros, who runs the Open Society Foundation, defined an ongoing war between so-called open societies and closed societies. He said that India’s Modi is “no democrat” and pointed to “violence against Muslims” as part of his “meteoric rise”. He also blasted Modi’s government for buying Russian oil. He expressed hope for a “democratic revival” in India, pointing to the latest presidential election in Brazil (where left-wing ex-president Lula da Silva was voted back into power) as an example of what could happen.

The billionaire also took a shot at Erdogan, accusing him of mismanaging the Turkish economy while also becoming “more autocratic at home” by “jailing his most powerful political opponents”. He even accused Erdogan’s government of politicizing aid relief in the wake of the devastating earthquake that just rocked the country.

He also said that Russia was planning to defeat Ukraine once and for all and plotting a regime-change operation in Moldova. But, if Kiev can withstand this, Soros believes it can turn the tide of war and ultimately win. By his account, all the former Soviet countries want to see this happen to bring an end to the “Russian Empire”.

He argued that China will suffer from what he predicts to be Russia's ensuing failure while making unscientific inferences that Beijing’s zero-Covid policy was a failure. Soros’ verdict on China is that it will not become a superpower anytime soon.

Finally, he mentioned former US President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine American democracy by challenging the peaceful transition of power and insisting that he is the legitimate president after the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s “narcissism”, Soros said, could lead to a Democratic Party landslide in the future and destroy the Republican Party by forcing it to reform with Trump’s poisonous influence.

This speech was one of the most boring ones I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Another old intellectual of a similar age and kindred use of vocal fry, who I greatly admire, is Noam Chomsky. The American dissident also has a habit of verbally destroying the leadership of countries he visits – but his tirades are based on rigorous knowledge and facts, not petty idealism.

Almost exactly a year ago, Soros gave a speech on China that was similarly fraught with either deception or an outright lack of knowledge. Then, he said China was walking back on its Opening Up and Reform policies and undermined its own companies’ innovative potential. He also said that China’s government was becoming communist, as if it wasn’t already ruled by the Communist Party of China since the foundation of the People’s Republic. And he said that he hoped it would change course. https://youtu.be/suMviHNNk2U

Beijing’s government has a trust rating of 89% from its citizens as of 2022 (down just two percentage points from 91% the previous year), which means Soros is in for a long wait before the hoped-for change comes to pass. As for opening up, China helped usher in the largest free-trade zone in the world, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP), a Chinese-led initiative in the Asia-Pacific region, in 2021. This zone encompasses some 30% of both the world’s population and GDP. In terms of Chinese companies’ innovative potential, one crucial metric could be an indication — the UN’s intellectual property agency posted China as having the highest number of patents filed in the world in 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1116013/china-trust-in-government-2020/
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https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2021/article_0002.html
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Contrary to the causes Soros claims to champion, his vision is more likely to usher in a third World War – not prevent one. There’s no credible evidence of a Russian regime-change operation in Moldova. China’s global position has little to do with Russia’s success or failure in Ukraine — the two are partners, but not a unified entity, or even allies; their societies and economies are distinct.

What Soros was really rambling against wasn’t corruption or anti-democratic behavior — but the emerging multipolar world order, of which India and Türkiye are, to various degrees, becoming a part. I will not waste my time defending the likes of Modi or Erdogan, as their records are, in my opinion, indefensible. But it’s not their autocratic leanings that Soros hates about them — it’s their flickers of independence.

He may, in this respect, ultimately come to be disappointed by Brazil’s turn to democracy, as it will lead to more development in multipolarism and visibility in multilateral institutions. I also believe he seriously underestimates the US Republican Party’s sheer lack of principles and its willingness to tap into even the most wretched sources of untamed hatred for political support.

Despite what the aging “philanthropist” desires, the era of unipolar liberal hegemony is over. The world is entering a new era of multilateralism and anti-hegemony. Soros’ speech before the Munich Security Conference may, in this way, be a symbol. A symbol of how the old way of doing things dies with the ramblings of an old man while the emerging multipolar world order is born in the thunderous cry of billions of youth across the Global South.

" ... The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.... "

Bradley Blankenship is an American journalist, columnist and political commentator. He has a syndicated column at CGTN and is a freelance reporter for international news agencies including Xinhua News Agency.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/548133-soros-china-xi-ignorant/
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18 Feb, 2023 02:37

5) --- Pentagon sends its China point man to Taiwan – media

Both US and Taiwanese military officials declined to comment on the reported trip

The Pentagon’s top China official has arrived in Taiwan to meet with counterparts on the island, according to multiple media outlets. The reported visit is the first high-level defense delegation sent by Washington in several years, and comes at a time of soaring tensions with Beijing.

Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, traveled to Taiwan on Friday following meetings in Mongolia, the Financial Times reported, citing four unnamed officials. The Pentagon refused to confirm the visit, only saying that America’s “support for, and defense relationship with, Taiwan remains aligned against the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China.”

“Our commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region,” Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners told the outlet.

The trip was corroborated by two sources reached by Reuters later on Friday, who discussed the visit on condition of anonymity and offered no further details about the junket.

Asked to comment on Chase’s purported travel, Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng claimed he was “not very certain” that any visit would take place, but added that “those who are friendly to us are very welcome.”

“I won't explain the details. I won't explain until I get formal notification,” the minister said.

Chase would be the most senior US military official to travel to the island since 2019, when Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Heino Klinck met with Taiwanese officials for another quiet round of talks. He was the highest-level defense official to visit in some 40 years.

According to the Defense Department, Chase previously worked as a senior political scientist for the RAND corporation, where his research focused on “Chinese military modernization” and Taiwanese defense policy, among other things. https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/2532656/michael-s-chase/

Relations between the United States and Beijing took a downturn in August 2022, when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taiwan. Though China considers Taiwan part of its own sovereign territory and demands that foreign nations keep no direct ties with the island, Washington has arranged countless meetings with Taiwanese officials and continues to greenlight arms sales for Taipei’s military.

On Thursday, Beijing imposed sanctions on US arms manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon over weapons sales to Taiwan, just one day after Chinese officials vowed to take “countermeasures” against “US entities that undermine China's sovereignty and security.”

Hostilities between the two powers have continued to escalate since a Chinese high-altitude balloon crossed into American airspace without permission in late January, with US officials insisting the craft was used for espionage. Beijing has denied the charge, arguing the balloon was meant for scientific research and accidentally drifted off course.
https://www.rt.com/news/571676-pentagon-china-official-taiwan/
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18 Feb, 2023 00:07

6) --- Children illegally work at US slaughterhouses

A contractor has been fined for hiring minors as young as 13 to clean meatpacking equipment

US cleaning contractor Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) has been busted for illegally employing children, including some as young as 13, to work in slaughterhouses, one of the country’s most dangerous labor environments.

The Wisconsin-based company employed at least 102 children from ages 13 to 17 and assigned them to work overnight shifts at 13 meatpacking plants in eight states, the US Department of Labor said on Friday. PSSI, which is one of the largest US providers of food safety and sanitation services, paid more than $1.5 million in fines, amounting to $15,138 for each child that it illegally employed.

Federal investigators found that the minors hired by PSSI worked with dangerous chemicals and cleaned slaughterhouse equipment, such as back saws and head splitters. At least three of the children were injured, including a 14-year-old who worked from 11pm to 5am as many as six days a week, and missed school after suffering a chemical burn.

Meatpacking is one of the most dangerous industries in the US, with workers three times more likely to suffer serious injury than the average American laborer, according to government data. With saws, grinders, hooks and extruders all around, common injuries include finger or hand amputations, fractures, burns and head trauma.

“These children should never have been employed in meatpacking plants, and this can only happen when employers do not take responsibility to prevent child labor violations from occurring in the first place,” said Jessica Loman, a deputy administrator with the Department of Labor.

The department found that PSSI ignored the notices it received when its own systems flagged some of its hires as minors. When investigators arrived with warrants, company officials allegedly tried to derail their probe.

“No child should be subjected to the conditions found in this investigation,” said Seema Nanda, solicitor at the Department of Labor. US labor law permits companies to hire minors for some jobs, but not those that are considered hazardous.
https://www.rt.com/news/571673-us-slaughterhouses-child-labor/
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18 Feb, 2023 01:38

7) --- FBI admits its network was hacked

The US agency charged with fighting cybercrime is investigating an intrusion into its own system

The FBI, the lead federal agency for investigating cybercrime in the US, has itself been hacked. The bureau confirmed on Friday that it’s probing an “isolated” breach of its computer network.

Hackers compromised a computer system at the agency’s New York field office, CNN reported earlier on Friday, citing unidentified sources who had been briefed on the matter. The system had been used in investigations of child sexual exploitation.

“The FBI is aware of the incident and is working to gain additional information,” the agency said in a statement to multiple media outlets. “This is an isolated incident that has been contained. As this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI does not have further comment to provide at this time.”

It’s not clear when the hack occurred, how the system was breached or what the perpetrators aimed to achieve. The FBI is reportedly still trying to determine the origin of the intrusion.

Terry Cutler, CEO of Montreal-based cybersecurity firm Cyology Labs, said the hacker in the latest incident may have breached the FBI system to sell access to it.

US government agencies, including the FBI, have frequently been targeted for system breaches. For instance, in November 2021, a vulnerability in the FBI’s email system was exploited to send out a fake cyberattack warning from an FBI address to thousands of recipients. The agency responded by saying it had fixed the software flaw that made the hoax possible.
https://www.rt.com/news/571675-fbi-system-hack-investigation/
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17 Feb, 2023 22:38

8) --- "Islamist" attack on police station leaves seven dead
(QS phoney jihads, phoney Muslims - they aren't real Muslims)

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for Friday’s storming of a law enforcement compound in Karachi

The Pakistani Taliban has attacked the police headquarters in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi, murdering three officers and a civilian before the militants were killed in an hours-long gun battle with security forces.

The three assailants, armed with grenades and other weapons, stormed the police compound on Friday, targeting a heavily guarded facility that houses the city’s most senior officers. Some reports suggest that the attackers wore police uniforms, just as was the case in a Pakistani Taliban mosque bombing last month that killed over 100 people, including more than 80 officers.

In Friday’s attack, witnesses reported hearing a large explosion from inside the station, following multiple smaller blasts and hail of gunfire. The Islamists were killed as security forces retook control of a five-story office building, going from floor to floor and room to room to find them.

The incident left 18 people wounded. Deputy Inspector General Irfan Baloch told Reuters that there could have been as many as 30 police at the station at the time of the attack.

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has stepped up its attacks against Pakistan’s government in recent months. TTP has become more active since the Afghan Taliban regained control of neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021.

watch https://rumble.com/v29yt32-militants-attack-police-station-in-pakistan.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=9
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https://www.rt.com/news/571671-taliban-attacks-pakistani-police-station/
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