Land Destroyer: Did a Russian Parliamentarian Just Commit Treason?

PowerPoint given by Russian opposition leader blueprints US-backed violent overthrow of Russian government.

January 19, 2015 (Eric Draitser - LD) - An interesting thing happened in Washington recently, and it had nothing to do with Beltway politics, Democrats vs. Republicans, or any of the other standard fare for the middle of the week in mid-January. Rather, a relatively small, little publicized event took place at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a prominent liberal-leaning think tank in Washington.



Image: Ilya Ponomarev prepared an entire PowerPoint detailing his contempt for Russia and his best advice for its ruination. The entire presentation can be viewed here.

The event, “Russia’s Opposition in a Time of War and Crisis,” featured prominent Russian liberal opposition parliamentarian (member of the Russian Duma) Ilya Ponomarev, a noted critic of Russian President Putin, providing a detailed presentation regarding the current political climate in Russia, and the potential for the ousting or overthrow of the Russian government. Yes, you heard that right. A Russian elected official came to the United States to give a talk about how best to effect regime change in his own country.

At this point, the question is not so much whether what Ponomarev did was improper. The much more pressing issue is whether or not, by making this presentation in Washington precisely at the moment of heightened tensions between the US and Russia, Ponomarev has committed treason. While this may seem a rather extreme characterization, it is in fact quite appropriate.

What Is Treason and Does It Apply?

If we define treason as “the offense of acting to overthrow one’s government or to kill or harm its sovereign,” then Ponomarev’s actions seem to tread very close to the threshold for treason. Moreover, the fact that such a presentation was delivered at CSIS – a think tank rife with “strategic planners” and proponents of the use of “soft power” to expand US hegemony – is instructive as it provides a window into both Ponomarev’s thinking and, perhaps more importantly, that of the political establishment in the US.

During his presentation, Ponomarev touched on a number of critical issues related to Russia’s domestic political situation, trying to illustrate for the attendees that the political reality in Russia, despite the simplicity of the western corporate media narrative, is rather complex. Though he described the Putin-led government as “Bonapartist,” he noted that “Putin is Russia’s only reliably working institution.” While the veracity of that statement is debatable, it does seem interesting that an elected Russian lawmaker would go to a foreign country under the auspices of wanting to help his country move forward, and then proceed to advocate the overthrow of the “only reliable institution.” Would this not be a thinly veiled attempt to advocate for destabilization, putsch, or something similar?

Complete story at - Land Destroyer: Did a Russian Parliamentarian Just Commit Treason?

Obama outraged at Oliver Stone’s statements on Ukrainian coup | Ukraina.ru

The White House makes no secret of its indignation over Oliver Stone’s narrative of the coup in Ukraine after his interview with Viktor Yanukovych, Ron Paul Institute Director Daniel McAdams said.

Filmmaker Oliver Stone’s statements about the United States’ involvement in the February coup in Ukraine have caused a surge of indignation in the US government, followed by a media storm targeted at the film director, McAdams said.

According to McAdams, Stone, whose statements about the February coup in Ukraine have been met with hostility in the United States, is clearly aware of how the Washington mechanism of changing political regimes works, with US politicians, institutions and US-financed NGOs working in unison to achieve the goal set by the US government.

McAdams admitted that Stone is aware of the role that social media plays in overthrowing regimes, and suggested remembering the fact the representatives of the US Department of State cited social networks when presenting their disputable accusations against Russia. McAdams stressed that the main thing in Stone’s conclusions is the United States’ interference into Ukraine’s internal affairs.

Previously, Stone announced that he is working on a documentary on former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Stone is widely acclaimed for his films on acute political issues whose array of characters includes US presidents Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush.

Complete story at - Obama outraged at Oliver Stone’s statements on Ukrainian coup | Ukraina.ru

The Neocons — Masters of Chaos | Consortiumnews

By Robert Parry

If you’re nervously watching the stock market gyrations and worrying about your declining portfolio or pension fund, part of the blame should go to America’s neocons who continue to be masters of chaos, endangering the world’s economy by instigating geopolitical confrontations in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Of course, there are other factors pushing Europe’s economy to the brink of a triple-dip recession and threatening to stop America’s fragile recovery, too. But the neocons’ “regime change” strategies, which have unleashed violence and confrontations across Iraq, Syria, Libya, Iran and most recently Ukraine, have added to the economic uncertainty.

This neocon destabilization of the world economy began with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 under President George W. Bush who squandered some $1 trillion on the bloody folly. But the neocons’ strategies have continued through their still-pervasive influence in Official Washington during President Barack Obama’s administration.

The neocons and their “liberal interventionist” junior partners have kept the “regime change” pot boiling with the Western-orchestrated overthrow and killing of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the proxy civil war in Syria to oust Bashar al-Assad, the costly economic embargoes against Iran, and the U.S.-backed coup that ousted Ukraine’s elected President Viktor Yanukovych last February.

All these targeted governments were first ostracized by the neocons and the major U.S. news organizations, such as the Washington Post and the New York Times, which have become what amounts to neocon mouthpieces. Whenever the neocons decide that it’s time for another “regime change,” the mainstream U.S. media enlists in the propaganda wars.

Complete story at - The Neocons — Masters of Chaos | Consortiumnews

Washington Wants Maduro Dead

He's Venezuela's democratically elected president. It doesn't matter. Washington's dirty war continues.

It's done so since Chavez's December 1998 election. He became president in February 1999. He served until his March 5, 2013 death. He survived Washington's April 2002 coup attempt. A 64-day 2002 - 03 general strike and oil management lockout. A failed August 2004 national recall referendum. He was Washington's main hemispheric enemy. It wanted him ousted. It wanted him dead. Obama killed him. Most likely by poison or cancer causing substances. Four major surgeries in 18 months couldn't save him.

He knew he was marked for death. He said so numerous times. So did Maduro, saying he "was poisoned by dark forces in order to hit at the Venezuelan people and Latin America."

Washington targets all independent nations for regime change. It wants subservient pro-Western governance replacing them. It wants convenient stooges it controls empowered. Venezuela made a client state. Bolivarianism crushed. State-owned enterprises privatized. Predatory capitalist harshness replacing economic and social justice. Control of Venezuela's vast hydrocarbon resources. By far the world's largest. Proved mostly light sweet reserves are around 300 billion barrels.

Complete story at - Washington Wants Maduro Dead

Why Neocons Seek to Destabilize Russia | The Smirking Chimp

Now that the demonization of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is in full swing, one has to wonder when the neocons will unveil their plan for “regime change” in Moscow, despite the risks that overthrowing Putin and turning Russia into a super-sized version of Ukraine might entail for the survival of the planet.

There is a “little-old-lady-who-swallowed-the-fly” quality to neocon thinking. When one of their schemes goes bad, they simply move to a bigger, more dangerous scheme.

If the Palestinians and Lebanon’s Hezbollah persist in annoying you and troubling Israel, you target their sponsors with “regime change” – in Iraq, Syria and Iran. If your “regime change” in Iraq goes badly, you escalate the subversion of Syria and the bankrupting of Iran. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “The Mysterious Why of the Iraq War.”]

Just when you think you’ve cornered President Barack Obama into a massive bombing campaign against Syria – with a possible follow-on war against Iran – Putin steps in to give Obama a peaceful path out, getting Syria to surrender its chemical weapons and Iran to agree to constraints on its nuclear program.

So, this Obama-Putin collaboration has become your new threat. That means you take aim at Ukraine, knowing its sensitivity to Russia. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com’s “What Neocons Want from Ukraine Crisis.”]

Complete story at - Why Neocons Seek to Destabilize Russia | The Smirking Chimp



CC Photo by Flickr User x-ray_delta_one Subject is strangelove.