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Russia comments on possibility of sending troops
to Latin America
The remarks come after Putin agreed to increase military cooperation
with Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela
By Layla Guest
© Sputnik / Georgiy Zimarev
Russian soldiers could be sent to Nicaragua under laws already in place in the Central American nation, Moscow’s ambassador in Managua has argued amid a new standoff with Washington over the prospect of the Kremlin stepping up its military presence in the region.
Speaking to RIA Novosti on Friday, Alexander Khokholikov, who also serves as the envoy to Honduras and El Salvador, commented on the possibility of hosting overseas forces within Nicaragua's borders.
“The government passes a law annually on the foreign military presence in Nicaraguan territory,” he explained. “It provides for the possibility of the transit and presence of servicemen, as well as military equipment from a number of countries, including Russia and, incidentally, the US, for the exchange of experience in the field of military cooperation, joint exercises, and activities in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.”
According to the diplomat, military cooperation between Moscow and Managua “is not directed against third countries,” despite a worsening row with the US over the potential deployments.
Khokholikov added that “regardless of the current political situation in the world and the opportunistic outbursts of tension by the West in relations with Moscow, an increase in Russian-Nicaraguan cooperation in trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres, as well as in the military field is envisaged.”
His remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed last month to strengthen partnerships with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua in a range of spheres, including stepping up military cooperation.
Earlier that month, Moscow’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov refused to rule out sending troops to Latin America, saying only that “it’s the American style to have several options for its foreign and military policy.”
“The president of Russia has spoken multiple times on the subject of what the measures could be, for example involving the Russian Navy, if things are set on the course of provoking Russia, and further increasing the military pressure on us by the US,” he added.
Washington, however, hit out at the suggestion that Moscow’s troops could be stationed in Venezuela and Cuba, which is barely 100 miles off the US coast. In mid-January, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned that “If Russia were to move in that direction, we would deal with it decisively.”
Oh! The hypocrisy!
Tensions between the US and Russia have been strained in recent months, with Western leaders sounding the alarm that Moscow’s armed forces are gearing up to invade Ukraine. The Kremlin, however, has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of attacking its neighbor, and has instead looked to gain written guarantees ruling out NATO expansion closer to the country’s borders - a request which has since been turned down.
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God forgive me for agreeing with Ben and Jerry's on anything other than their ice cream.
Ben & Jerry's issues Russia warning
The ice cream maker decried NATO’s buildup in Eastern Europe, pointing out to the US president that one “cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war”
Politically-charged ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s has decided to make its stance on the ongoing tensions over Ukraine known, slamming an apparent lack of logic in US President Joe Biden’s approach to the crisis.
“You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war,” the makers of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet and non-dairy products tweeted on Friday.
Logic is not the strong suit for left-leaning people, but this makes good sense. Go figure!
Ben & Jerry’s addressed Biden directly, calling on him to “de-escalate tensions and work for peace rather than prepare for war.”
“Sending thousands more US troops to Europe in response to Russia’s threats against Ukraine only fans the flame of war,” the left-leaning company insisted.
Earlier this week, the White House authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 American troops to Eastern Europe in order to reassure its allies in the face of a claimed Russian ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. The first cargo planes with American soldiers and hardware began arriving in Germany on Saturday.
Contrary to what Ben & Jerry’s has said, Moscow hasn’t been making any actual threats towards Ukraine, and has denied all allegations that it’s planning to attack its neighbor as groundless attempts to provoke “hysteria.”
According to Russia, Washington and its allies are to blame for the escalation as their deliveries of arms to Ukraine, and NATO’s continued eastward expansion, have only encouraged Kiev to search for a military way out of its ‘frozen’ conflict with the secessionist Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in the country’s south-east.
The new deployments of US troops to Eastern Europe is a “destructive step” that would only “delight” the government in Kiev and “reduce the margin for political solutions,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.
On Sunday, Israel’s Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he’d decided to use the country’s boycott law to sanction Ben & Jerry's and its parent company, Unilever, amid a growing row with the ice cream producer.
The move, which still needs approval from the Knesset, is mooted as a response to Ben & Jerry's decision last year to stop selling its ice cream in the ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“The State of Israel must fight against boycott attempts, which are part of a broader strategy to delegitimize the Jewish state,” Sa’ar declared.
The 2011 legislation allows Israeli authorities to deny benefits, including tax exemptions or participation in government contracts, to individuals and organizations responsible for boycotting Israel or for urging others to do so.
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There is no such thing as a moral war, when the purpose of that war is to move war inventories.
US explains ‘moral responsibility’ of weapons producers
General blames Iran for Yemeni drones striking UAE
General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, has accused Iran of being “morally responsible” for drone and missile strikes by the Houthi militia of Yemen against the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
McKenzie is currently visiting the United Arab Emirates to give Abu Dhabi “assurance” that the US stands with the Gulf country against what he described as a threat from Tehran.
The US ordered a squadron of F-22 fighters and the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole to the Emirates last week, after a series of strikes by drones and missiles launched by the Houthis.
“The equipment they are firing is certainly Iranian,” McKenzie said, referring to the Houthis. “If Iran didn’t approve this specific attack, they’re certainly morally responsible for it.”
The Houthis have taken responsibility for the strikes, calling them reprisals for the bombing of Yemen conducted by Saudi Arabia and the UAE since March 2015 and saying they will continue until the invaders withdraw.
The US has backed the Saudi-led coalition, echoing its allegation that the Houthis – who are Shia Muslims, just like Iranians – are a “proxy” of Tehran. McKenzie’s choice of words opened him up to criticism of the US role in the Yemen conflict, however.
“Logically then, the US is also morally responsible for the [tens of thousands] killed with US weapons, since the US sells +$60 [billion] of weapons to the UAE and Saudi,” tweeted Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, an anti-interventionist think tank in Washington.
In the minds of American war oligarchs, what're a few tens of thousands of lives compared to the billions of dollars weapons manufacturers profit?
Bombs and missiles supplied by the US have been repeatedly used by the Saudi-led coalition to bomb Yemen. A video filmed after the January 21 attack that killed dozens, including children, showed a munition fragment bearing the manufacturer code for Raytheon, a major US missile-maker. The current US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin took a seat on Raytheon’s board after retiring from Central Command in 2016.
Lloyd Austin - from Raytheon's Board to Secretary of Defence!!!??? Seriously??? Shouldn't he be Secretary of Offence?
McKenzie’s theory about the Houthi attacks was that Iran was blaming the UAE for losing influence in Iraq after the recent elections. “Iran thought they had a political way forward to eject the United States from Iraq … now I think they’re grasping at alternatives, and some of those alternatives may be kinetic and violent,” he said, according to the Washington Post.
However, the Post also described blaming Iran as a way of bypassing objections in the US Congress to supporting the Saudi-led war in Yemen, saying there was “greater acceptance” among lawmakers of deploying US troops, ships and airplanes to “monitor and stave off Iranian aggression.”
Beijing responds to $100mn US-Taiwan arms deal
Taiwan missile upgrades pose a threat to China’s “sovereignty and security,”
officials say
Beijing strongly condemned a possible $100mn deal between the US and Taiwan, aimed at improving and sustaining its missile system.
During a Tuesday press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the US government should immediately ditch its plans to sell military equipment and services to Taiwan.
He urged Washington to respect the “one China” principle and stressed that an arms deal between the US and Taiwan is a threat to China’s sovereignty and security interests, as well as ties between China and the US.
“China will take appropriate and forceful measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and security interests,” he stated, as quoted by Reuters. While asked about concrete measures China could take, he told the reporters to “wait and see.”
On Monday, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it had approved and delivered the required certification for a sale of $100mn worth of equipment and services to Taiwan in order to “sustain, maintain, and improve” its Patriot Air Defense System. The agency said the sale would “help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability” in the region.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry highly welcomed the decision, saying that the island would strengthen its national security and deepen its cooperation with the United States “in the face of China’s continued military expansion and provocative actions.”
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has repeatedly accused ‘secessionists’ of ramping up tensions by receiving military aid from abroad. Like most countries, the US has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but acts as its biggest backer, and provides the island nation with various means of defense.
The US sold weapons systems, including missiles, sensors, and artillery with a total value of $1.8 billion, to Taiwan in 2020. As a response, Chinese officials sanctioned US weapons companies, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense, and Raytheon. However, what form these sanctions had taken was not disclosed to the media.
US military ordered to pay $230 million to mass shooting victims
A judge has accused the US government of trying to eschew responsibility
for a mass shooting in a church perpetrated by an ex-airman
Baptist Church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. © AP / Eric Gay
A judge has ordered the US military to hand over more than $230 million to survivors and family members of those killed in a 2017 mass shooting in Texas, in which a former Air Force member took the lives of 26 people. The incident became the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history.
In a Monday ruling, US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez said the government must pay out the sum over its failure to report prior domestic violence charges for ex-airman Devin Patrick Kelley, adding that this allowed him to go on to purchase firearms and commit the lethal shooting spree in the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in November 2017 without tipping off a violent offenders database.
“The losses and pain these families have experienced is immeasurable,” Rodriguez said in the decision, accusing the government of attempting to “obfuscate its responsibility.”
The same judge previously ruled in July that the Air Force was 60% responsible for the shooting and Kelley only 40%, arguing the service branch did not enter the man’s charge into the database, which is used for background checks for firearms buyers and could have prevented him from obtaining a weapon.
Military records show Kelley was court-martialed for domestic violence – including striking and choking his wife, as well as abusing his stepson using “force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm” – to which he pleaded guilty in 2012. He was later admitted to a mental health facility in New Mexico and briefly escaped before he was finally convicted and sentenced, ultimately being discharged from the military in 2014.
Kelley killed 26 people and injured another 22 in the shooting, which erupted during a Sunday church service in a town outside San Antonio, Texas. Following a police chase, he later took his own life.
A 2018 Defense Department Inspector General’s report concluded that the Air Force missed no fewer than six separate opportunities to alert authorities to Kelley’s history of violence, acknowledging that the military’s “failures had drastic consequences and should not have occurred.”
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