Is the Russian military superior to any other European nation?

on Diplomacy & Warfare Quora

Wes Frank answers this question

Individually, and by the numbers, yes.

Russia will always need to maintain a good-sized army and air force regardless of whether it is peaceful or belligerent towards its neighbors. Russia is twice as populous as the next-largest European nation and sustains a large army through conscription, using it to maintain the security of a vast stretch of northern Eurasia. The road and rail link between Saint Petersburg and Vladivostok is six thousand miles long and follows a strategic population corridor that borders on Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China for most of that distance. While the bulk of Russian military forces are based in European Russia, its rail transport system is as vital to the Russian Federation’s security as it was to tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union.

Beyond Russia’s security needs, Europe other then Russia or the former Yugoslavia has been peaceful for the last seventy-seven years. Most of the nations of Europe are part of the defensive alliance called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Because the NATO nations have almost no military rivalries with each other—there are a couple of minor ones in Southeastern Europe—none of the European members of the Alliance need to invest in large military forces.

Using the crudest statistical measure, Russia invests 4% of its GDP in military spending and most of the rest of Europe between 1% and 3%. Beyond that, NATO countries share the latest technological advances among themselves while Russia has to make do with its own research spending and what its extensive espionage networks can gather overseas. Russian per capita income ranks 33rd in Europe, its government is crippled by corruption, and the logistical infrastructure for its army, navy, and air forces are considered inadequate. Its core regular forces are as dangerous as any in the world, but the resources supporting them are questionable.

If Russia had the option of confronting or engaging only one European nation at a time, it would be a very intimidating opponent. However, the combined NATO forces in Europe are roughly three times as powerful as the Russia military. That advantage would be doubled if the two NATO members in North America, the United States and Canada, mobilized to support their European allies. This is why most of Europe is part of NATO.

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Appeal by the independent labor unions of Ukraine

Профспілка "Захист Праці" (UNI, IUF)

To the workers of the world: we need your help!

The Independent Trade Union of Ukraine “Zakhist Pratsi” is directly involved in the resistance to the invasion by Russian imperialism. We are fighting along side the working class and the Ukrainian people on various fronts of resistance. Some organizations of our union, such as the “Zakhista Pratsi” miners’ union at the “Selidov-ugol” firm, are protecting us and our future with weapons in their hands and in the most difficult conditions of the hostilities. Many activists of our union are now resisting the rocket and bomb attacks of the Russian troops, supporting the difficult conditions of the bomb shelters, saving their children and their families from certain death.

The war unleashed by Vladimir Putin united the trade union and labor movement in Ukraine. The invaders were counting on a quick lightning victory and on being accepted by Ukrainians as “liberators.” However…

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Make Ukraine A Buffer State Between Russia & the EU

One of the rules for joining NATO is that a country wishing to join must have no internal disputes and must be politically and militarily stable. Ukraine is not exactly a country where there would be no divisions. With three regions where rebels are active against the Ukrainian regime, it is impossible for Ukraine to become a member. Therefore, it is absurd and there is no reason for Moscow to fear it.

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Preceding

Risk of accidental war with Russia highest in decades, general warns

A lot of talk about a war beginning soon

Boris Johnson warns Putin against Ukraine invasion

Britain warns Russia over Ukraine

US bolsters Europe with 3,000 extra troops

The strategic error Putin is potentially about to make

Optical illusions

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Additional reading

1. Entering a new period of ‘Cold War’
2. Sings of the times – Difficult moments at the borders of Europe
3. The world on the very brink of conflict
4. Putin plays dangerous poker game
5. A useless but very dangerous challenge game
6. A Brief Look at NATO and Russia’s Push to Reform the Old Soviet Union
7. Interference in internal affairs
8. Prepare for Russian invasion of Ukraine, US warns European allies
9. The peoples must prevent the outbreak of war in Europe
10. Wars and Rumors of War…Russia Moves into Belarus
11. Joe Biden warns Russia could attack next month
12. Biden predicts Russia will attack Ukraine but warns Putin of a ‘stiff price’
13. President Biden threatened to impose personal sanctions on President Putin if Russia moves to invade Ukraine
14. Putin’s ‘staged atrocity’ plan to justify Russian invasion of Ukraine
15. Ukraine’s Day of Unity
16. A country willing to stand tall against any invasion
17. PM warns Vladimir Putin against ‘tragic mistake’ as tensions rise with Ukraine
18. Moscow lists demands for defusing Ukraine tensions
19. Sergey Lavrov dismisses Liz Truss meeting as ‘like talking to a deaf person’

Joyce O’Day

Photo taken by the author (Joyce O’Day) of a bronze statue of a Russian and a Ukrainian worker holding up the Soviet Order of Friendship of Peoples in Kiev.

It’s time to stop the BS, NATO doesn’t even want Ukraine.

Let’s be real, Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO or the EU. It’s too corrupt and politically unstable for NATO and too economically weak for the EU.

On February 16, 2022, Lt. Col. Daniel Davis (U.S. Army Retired) stated the obvious to host Laura Coates on CNN: the United States needs to acquiesce to Putin and agree that NATO membership is off the table for Ukraine. As he noted, President Biden has declared that the U.S. military will not send troops into Ukraine to fight the Russians. In short, Ukraine is not worth a nuclear war. This standoff needs to come to an end.

Oh no! We can’t…

View original post 444 more words

Optical illusions

delrossocartoons

Is it me, or is the Russian army smaller?

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Google Scholar: Actualization and interpretation in the Old Testament. Meaning, the rabid racism of messiah theology and its total negation of all heresy otherwise.

Conflict Resolution

GROVES, JOSEPH WHITE.Yale University. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1979. 7926245.

[[[“””Wilhelm Vischer and Hans Hellbart do not merely separate the historical and the theological, but virtually eliminate the role of historical investigation by advocating Christological exegesis. In essence their approach is a return to a pre-critical Reformation theology which views the Old and New Testaments as a unified structure. The element which creates this unity is the pervading presence of the Messiah. The New Testament interprets the Old as Messianic prophecy and this interpretation is confirmed by a study of the Old Testament as a whole. Indeed, the true nature of the Old Testament is apparently only when one recognizes the pre-existence of Christ as the head of the Old Testament church. Consequently, both the unity of the Bible and the cause of that unity are beyond the scope of historical investigation, which can only end in confusion and uncertainty…

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US bolsters Europe with 3,000 extra troops

The US is deploying an extra 3,000 troops to Germany, Poland and Romania amid fears about President Putin’s intentions as he continues to amass Russian forces around Ukraine. In his delayed phone call with the Russian president on Wednesday February 2, Boris Johnson urged Putin to stop the “current hostile activity on the Ukrainian border”. He warned that any Russian incursion would be a “tragic miscalculation”, adding that Ukraine — like all European democracies — has the right to “aspire to Nato membership”, according to a Downing Street spokesman.

“The leaders agreed that aggravation was in no one’s interest.”

The US troops are in addition to 8,500 put on standby last week. The Pentagon said they were requested by Poland and Romania, both of which have long borders with Ukraine, reflecting nervousness over Russia’s build-up amid no clear intelligence of President Putin’s plans.

The United States and Russia have both said they have no interest in fighting a war over Ukraine, yet the two nations have spent the past several weeks building up military forces and inching them closer together on the European continent. The Biden Administration had initially relied on diplomacy to resolve the deteriorating situation, but the lack of progress—and continued build-up of Russian forces—has prompted the U.S. to draw up more aggressive strategies to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Bible says that the king of the south (US/UK) will push at Gog (the king of verse 36-39 in Daniel 11). The word “push” is the Hebrew word “gore” – as in a horned animal like a goat or ram goring someone. If a goat was to “gore” you it would be extremely painful. But probably not life threatening. For this reason we see the push or the goring as a military provocation. The US sending its forces is part of the push against Putin.

And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. (Daniel 11:40)

Andy Walton

Please find this week’s Weekly World Watch

+

Preceding

Risk of accidental war with Russia highest in decades, general warns

A lot of talk about a war beginning soon

Boris Johnson warns Putin against Ukraine invasion

Britain warns Russia over Ukraine

++

Additional reading

1. PM warns Vladimir Putin against ‘tragic mistake’ as tensions rise with Ukraine
2. Moscow lists demands for defusing Ukraine tensions
3. Prepare for Russian invasion of Ukraine, US warns European allies
4. Sings of the times – Difficult moments at the borders of Europe
5. Biden predicts Russia will attack Ukraine but warns Putin of a ‘stiff price’
6. Putin is sabre-rattling at the West’s moment of maximum weakness
7. Putin’s ‘staged atrocity’ plan to justify Russian invasion of Ukraine
8. Key element to the Ukrainian-Russian conflict
9. Russian government planning a “false-flag” operation
10. Joe Biden warns Russia could attack next month
11. President Biden threatened to impose personal sanctions on President Putin if Russia moves to invade Ukraine
12. Israel weighing options amid deepening Russia-Ukraine crisis
13. A Brief Look at NATO and Russia’s Push to Reform the Old Soviet Union
14. Wars and Rumors of War…Russia Moves into Belarus
15. RAF jets in Russia warplane alert for second day

Het Volk van de Lage Landen en oorlogen

Theo Francken, Belgisch politicus voor N-VA.

Als schalkse ruiter voor de Vlaamse onafhankelijkheid die al heel wat watertjes doorzwommen heeft, en meer dan eens zeer moeilijke dossiers voorgeschoteld kreeg, heeft de heer Theo Francken ook wel zijn eigen kijk op de wereld waar hij, zoals meerderen van ons, (naar eigen zeggen) naar tuurt.

Zijn kinderen van 12 en 8 zijn de derde generatie Vlamingen die zonder oorlog opgroeien. Hierover schrijft hij

Hun kennis van oorlog in Europa beperkt zich tot Flanders Fields, de Menenpoort in Ieper, papa’s lange verhalen en uitstapjes naar militaire begraafplaatsen en wat ze leren in de school(invul!)boeken. Een onafgebroken periode van 77 jaar vrede en veiligheid op het Europees grondgebied, de wieg van de Westerse beschaving, is ongezien in onze geschiedenis. {Nooit meer oorlog}

Zij die al vele jaren in België wonen, hebben de Falkland oorlog en de Joegoslavië of Balkan oorlogen niet hoeven mee te maken. Ook al ben ik niet opgeroepen voor de Falklandoorlog, hebben wij in Groot Brittannië wel goed de gevolgen van die oorlog toen gevoeld. In de hoofdstad London gingen ook de IRA bomaanslagen ons niet voorbij en heb ik er zelf twee mogen (of moeten) meemaken. Ook ik kon toen de stukken mensenvlees zien vliegen en ruik het verbrande vlees nog altijd tot op vandaag.
Trouwens de Irak-Iran oorlogen gingen ook niet onopgemerkt voorbij en hadden ook hun weerslag op het economisch leven in ons moederland. Maar daar heeft de huidige jonge generatie in België natuurlijk helemaal geen last van gehad!

De Benelux is in wezen goed gespaard gebleven van oorlogen. Interne twisten kon het wel met een veelvoud krijgen. Vooral van hen die Belgiëland willen scheiden konden meer dan één spil van onverdraagzaamheid teweeg brengen.

De Belgisch Waalsgezinde politicus José Happart, lid van de Franstalige partij Parti Socialiste (PS) mag hierbij nog de grootste onruststoker genoemd worden. Maar die naam zal de meeste jongeren weinig zeggen. Eveneens zal weinigen de strijd rond Vlaamse en/of Duitse faciliteitengemeenten als
Ronse (Renaix), Wemmel, Wezembeek-Oppem, Kraainem en Voeren gekend in de oren klinken. De regering heeft daartoe bijgedragen door het geschiedenis en aardrijkskunde onderwijs af te bouwen, dit in een tijd waar kinderen nu juist meerdere landen kunnen gaan bezoeken (al is het gewoon maar tijdens hun vakantie). Daar konden de Belgen meestal wel lachen met die absurde ‘oorlogvoerinkjes’. Die Belgische komedies hielden dan wel dikwijls de aandacht weg van belangrijkere en van buitenlandse of internationale problemen.

Veel jongeren die hier in België wonen, zijn er zich helemaal niet bewust van dat dit piepjonge landje  vroeger de oorlogsgrond van Europa was. Eeuwen heeft het als algemeen slagveld gediend om ruzies tussen grote naties uit te vechten. Vooral Fransen, Duitsers en Oostenrijkers voelden zich goed genoeg om hier hun oorlogsspelletjes uit te voeren. En het nam jaren om niet te zeggen eeuwen in beslag voor dat die Vlamingen eindelijk eens de moeite deden om het heft in eigen handen te nemen.

Op het Groeningheslagveld (een kouter te Kortrijk in de huidige wijk Sint-Jan) durfden enkel moedigen op 11 juli 1302 als piekeniers en boogschutters het opnemen tegen strijders te paard. Zij bleken in staat te zijn een ridderleger te weerstaan.

Britse soldaten in een veroverde Duitse loopgraaf bij Ovillers-la-Boisselle in juli 1916 tijdens de slag aan de Somme.

Meer dan vijfhonderd jaar later liet het voetvolk in de loopgraven de legers met tanks verstaan dat het in de Lage Landen levende volk geen kleintje is dat met grove middelen te verslaan is. Een grove fout was dat zij na die loopgravenoorlog dachten dat er nooit meer oorlog zou komen. Nog geen dertig jaar na die Grote Oorlog stond daar weer een verschrikkelijke oorlog aan de deur, die men wel al enkele jaren had zien aankomen.

De Berlijnse Muur bij de Brandenburger Tor op 1 december 1989

Twintig jaar na de gouden jaren zestig dacht de Belgische regering misschien dat men zorgen om oorlogen op haar of rond haar grondgebied mocht vergeten, omdat men kon rekenen dat na de val van de muur in Berlijn alles nu wel goed zou komen en men met de NATO een veilig eiland had om op te vertoeven. Voor hen was het tijd om op defensie te gaan besparen.

Terwijl de vroegere bevolking van de Lage Landen goed wisten dat zij altijd moesten uitkijken en voorzichtig moesten zijn over hen die zich rondom hen begaven, probeerde de Belgische regering haar inwoners te sussen en wijs te maken dat zij zich niet ongerust hoefden te maken.

Vrede is het hoogste goed. {Nooit meer oorlog}

erkent ook minister Francken, die verder schrijft

Toch komt het niet vanzelf. ‘Vis pacem para bellum’ wist men 2000 jaar geleden al.

Om de vrede te bewaren, moet je voorbereid zijn op oorlog. {Nooit meer oorlog}

schrijft hij verder op zijn blog.

Toch sloegen we deze wijze raad van onze voorouders decennialang in de wind. Het Westen werd vadsig en zelfgenoegzaam. Zeker na de val van de Berlijnse muur voelden we ons oppermachtig. The Intouchables. Onze perfide krekelmentaliteit maakte van België dan nog de slechtste leerling van de gebuisde Europese Defensieklas. Tot Rusland Oekraïne binnenviel en de Krim bezette, tot China zijn wapenfabrieken op volle gas zette en tot president Trump ons bullebakgewijs voor onze verantwoordelijkheid plaatste. {Nooit meer oorlog}

Met die bullebak uit de Verenigde Staten is de hoop op wereldvrede nog sterker verminderd. Zijn bemoeizucht en absurde apenstreken hebben ons meermaals in heikele toestanden gebracht. Men zou dan denken dat de ogen van de regeringsleiders zouden open gaan en dat die zouden beseffen dat wij toch wat meer op eigen benen zouden moeten staan. Maar dat gebeurde niet. Alsof zij bleven denken dat wij onze dankbaarheid voor de Amerikaanse bevrijders uit 1945 eeuwig moeten tegemoet komen in alles wat zij verlangen en zeggen.

Verder zitten wij met het probleem dat het Europees Parlement, de democratische tak van de Unie,  geen toezicht kan uitoefenen op de financiering en actie van militaire activiteit. Een verontrustend gebrek aan transparantie!

In de afgelopen jaren hebben wij wel kunnen zien hoe de EU-leiders hun solidariteit hebben betuigd met het verlangen van de bevolking in de oostelijk gelegen landen van Europa, naar democratische grondrechten te leiden, en hun steun betuigd aan de OVSE-voorstellen voor bemiddeling van een proces van nationale dialoog. De EU-sancties tegen het Wit-Russische regime werden echter enkele weken uitgesteld toen Cyprus deze in verband bracht met zijn langlopend territoriaal geschil met Turkije. Wat Mali betreft, veroordeelde de EU de staatsgreep snel als een inadequate reactie op het diepe sociaal-politieke conflict in het land, schortte haar  opleidingsmissies op en steunde bemiddelingspogingen, pogingen van de Economische Gemeenschap van West-Afrikaanse Staten.

Er mogen al wel goede bedoelingen zijn bij de Europese instellingen en bij de individuele landen, maar uiteindelijk zullen zij gezamenlijk een sterk gefundeerde houding naar buiten moeten brengen. Dit hoeft niet in te houden dat elk land individueel een enorme strijdkracht nodig heeft. Men moet eerder inzien dat een goede samenwerking met elk een vergroting van middelen in hun eigen specialiteit veel meer kan opleveren dan elk landje met een apart militair apparaat.

Zij die uitkijken naar enkel de militaire macht in hun eigen land zullen ontevreden achter blijven. Zoals Francken het stelt zullen zij (zoals België)

  nog altijd achter de rest aanlopen, als één van de slechtere leerlingen van de klas. {Nooit meer oorlog}

Hij beseft ook dat bepaalde landen geen keus hebben en zullen mee moeten lopen.

De al op de NAVO-top in Wales in 2010 gehandtekende belofte dat 2% van het BBP naar defensie moet gaan, is voor veel Westerse landen binnenkort realiteit. Het afdoen als onhaalbaar of een fetisj is verleden tijd. President Trump haalt, ondanks ons dwaas gehoonlach, finaal zijn gram.

België heeft geen keuze en zal mee moeten evolueren. Uiterlijk in 2024 komt dit terug ter tafel. {Nooit meer oorlog}

Dat is de harde realiteit waar wij mee moeten leren leven. Doch geloof ik sterk dat de Europese Unie uiteindelijk zich toch wat meer zal moeten gaan bevrijden van de handboeien die de V.S.A. ons sinds 1945 heeft aan gedaan. Sindsdien denken zij dat zij de meester over de hele wereld zijn en moeien zij zich met elke wereldaangelegenheid. Maar het is juist die Amerikaanse bemoeizucht die anderen in gevaar brengt. Al meerdere keren hebben wij ook kunnen zien hoe hun hulp aan bepaalde groeperingen zich later ook tegen hen keerde (herinner hun steun aan Al Qaeda, dat dan later hun aartsvijand werd), hun kampwisseling tussen Iran en Irak, etc.. Nu ook brengt hun inmenging met de gebeurtenissen rond de Oekraïense grens geheel Europa in gevaar.

Minister Francken geeft aan

Oorlog in Zuid-Ossetië (2008) – Onderdeel van het Georgisch-Ossetisch conflict: Rusland en Georgië, beide voormalige deelrepublieken van de Sovjet-Unie eisten de gronden opvoerden daarvoor de eerste Europese oorlog van de 21e eeuw.

Twintig jaar geleden was een dergelijke agressieve houding vanwege Rusland tav een NAVO partner als Oekraïne simpelweg ondenkbaar. Maar met de komst van sterke man Vladimir Poetin durft de Russische beer terug klauwen. De inval in de Krim in 2014 en bezetting sindsdien is er een perfect voorbeeld van. Al begon het eerder met de inval in en annexatie van delen van Georgië in 2008 en Poetin’s assertieve Syriëpolitiek sinds de Arabische lente van 2011. {Is het Westen de weg kwijt?}

Het lijkt er op dat het Westen het Noorden kwijt is en niet onder Grote Broer (Amerika) wil onderuit komen. België is daarbij ook haar 14de en 19de eeuwse gedachte vergeten dat wij samen meer kunnen doen dan als enkeling. Is het door een bepaalde grootheidswaanzin dat die Belgische regeringsleiders hun landje zo machtig voelen dat het wel alles zal aankunnen? Of zijn ze gewoon blind en zien ze niet hoe de wereld evolueert en wat er mogelijk niet enkel België, maar de gehele Europese Unie schade kan toe brengen?

Vroeger wilden de bewoners van de Lage Landen juist onafhankelijkheid, terwijl hier in België de regeringsleiders zich meer en meer afhankelijk van anderen hebben gemaakt, dit terwijl er bepaalde partijen wel energie staken in het proberen het land te scheuren in belachelijk kleine entiteiten die dan onafhankelijk zouden moeten gaan regeren. Maar nu kunnen ze nog geen onafhankelijkheid van anderen genereren!

Niet enkel onze energie-afhankelijkheid is een zwak punt sinds Verhofstadt’s verkoop van Electrabel aan Frankrijk. Ook de besluitloosheid om in te zetten op wind-, water- en zonne- energie en dan nog eens de valsheid om zich niet aan beloften te houden (zoals een terugdraaiende elektriciteitsmeter) maken dat de burgers ook het vertrouwen in die regeringsleiders meer en meer verliezen, terwijl wij bij meerdere landen met biddende handjes moeten gaan aankloppen om toch maar de elektriciteit niet te laten uitvallen.

Zoals die regering haar bevolking wil bedriegen heeft ze ook zichzelf willen bedriegen met het proberen begrotingen in evenwicht te brengen. Dat ze daartoe bereid was om te snoeien in noodzakelijke uitgaven deerde hen niet, want dat zouden kopzorgen mogen zijn voor de regeringen die na hen zouden komen. Als zij maar goed in de schijnwerers konden komen te staan.

Naar het buitenland was die triestige houding wel een lachertje, daar zij enkel maar een hoopje klungelaars konden waarnemen, die bereid waren hun burgers een rad voor de ogen te draaien en daarbij nog hun gelden verkeerd investeerden. Men kan vragen stellen bij het ‘toekomstdenken’ van die regeringen. Vreemd ook dat die regeringen liever gelden in zuiderse landen investeerden terwijl deze beter konden aangewend worden in de eigen Europese omgeving waar hun hulp dan ook meer gewaardeerd zou worden terwijl het in Afrika als een ongewenste inmenging werd aanschouwd.

Betreft de republiek Mali en de vroegere sportjournaliste die alsmaar met flauwe argumenten af komt en nooit daden bij woorden voegt, schrijft minister Francken

Minister Dedonder houdt 12 miljoen euro klaar om 250 militairen naar hellegat Mali te sturen. Een operatie die volgens de grootste militaire vakbond gedoemd is te mislukken. Het Afghanistan van Afrika duldt geen Westerse inmenging. Wat hebben we er ook te zoeken? We houden deze troepen beter ter beschikking voor als het misloopt aan onze Oostgrens. {Is het Westen de weg kwijt?}

Is deze regering wel bereid om voor de spiegel te komen staan die zij al jaren mijden en die minister Francken hen nu wel graag wil voor houden?

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Vindt ook te lezen

1. 11 november, al of niet vergeten #1 Tot de Industrialisatie
2. 11 november, al of niet vergeten #2 Vanaf de Industrialisatie
3. Honderd jaar geleden toen men dacht een einde aan de gruwel te krijgen
4. Juncker waarschuwt voor nieuwe oorlog in Europa
5. Overzicht voor het jaar 2015 #2 Bezaaid met lijken en vluchtelingen
6. Breivik geen enkeling
7. Een exclusief Plan voorgesteld zonder rekening te houden met een betrokken partij
8. Energie met vergiftigd geschenk
9. Een regering die maar geen stappen wil nemen om haar burgers dure energierekening te verlagen
10. Toch een akkoord bereikt over de energiefactuur
11. Vlaams Belang en PVDA niet te spreken over het energie akkoord
12. Niet enkel hogere energie prijzen

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Aanvullende lectuur

1. Charis Shalom
2. Vrede is het pad
3. Bereiken van vrede
4. Het waardevolste bezit en het krachtigste wapen
5. Wat was de vrede mooi toen het nog oorlog was
6. Donkere periodes en het uitkijken naar vrede
7. Wanhoop in Afghanistan en Opvang in West Europa
8. . . . ongewapende waarheid en onvoorwaardelijke liefde zullen het laatste woord hebben.

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Gerelateerd

1. Oorlogen met drones
2. Noord-Ierland heeft vredestop nodig
3. Vrede heeft oefening nodig
4. Europees militarisme belemmert klimaatactie
5. Kooplieden van de dood
6. Bevrijd onze leiders uit hun focus-slavernij

Boris Johnson warns Putin against Ukraine invasion

Boris Johnson has told President Putin that any invasion of Ukraine would have “significant consequences” as Russia warned conflict was inevitable if Nato continued its expansion toward its borders. In a phone call Johnson told Putin that the UK was committed to Ukraine’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” and that any “destabilising action” by Russia would be met with a united response from the West.

In Moscow Russia’s deputy foreign minister gave the Kremlin’s first explicit warning of military action, amplifying tensions with Ukraine.

“A lack of progress towards a political-diplomatic solution would mean that our response will be military and military-technical,”

Sergei Ryabkov told the state news agency RIA Novosti.

“There will be confrontation. There’s no trust in Nato as an alliance. We’re no longer playing these kinds of games and don’t believe in Nato’s assurances.”

Last week it was president Biden warning Putin of severe sanctions if he decided to invade Ukraine. This week it is the turn of the UK prime minister Boris Johnson to phone Putin. He has given the same warnings. Boris Johnson said there would be an “extremely tough package” of sanctions and that NATO forces would build in the “periphery” of Ukraine if needed before saying such a decision would be “catastrophic” for everyone involved. The European Union is ready to scale up its sanctions and take “unprecedented measures” against Russia if it shows further aggression towards Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

Daniel 11 says that the king of the south (US/UK) will push (militarily provoke) Gog – the king of verse 36-39 of the same chapter. Ukraine could be where the push comes.

Thus shall he [Gog] do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he [Gog] shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he [Gog] shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south [US/UK] push at him [Gog]: (Daniel 11:39-40)

Andy Walton

> Weekly World Watch: for this week

A lot of talk about a war beginning soon

Today thirty years ago: 1991: Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus signed an agreement to form the Commonwealth of Independent States in the wake of the demise of the Soviet Union.

Thirty years later: Western powers have called on Russia to lower tensions with Ukraine.

Responding to fears of a Russian invasion, Mr Biden agreed with leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Italy to use “all the tools at their disposal”.

The present-day definition of Donbas or Donbass a historical, cultural, and economic region in south-eastern Ukraine overlapping territories of Sloboda Ukraine

Moscow denies it has plans to attack but said that Nato expansion into Eastern Europe risked plunging the world into a “nightmare” of military confrontation and accused Ukraine of sending more than 100,000 troops to its Donbas conflict zone. Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, issued the warning before talks in Stockholm yesterday with Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, on the spiralling crisis over Ukraine. “The alliance’s military infrastructure is being irresponsibly brought closer to Russia’s borders in Romania and Poland, deploying an anti-missile defence system that can be used as a strike complex,” Lavrov, 71, said. “American medium-range missiles are about to appear in Europe, bringing back the nightmare scenario of a military confrontation.” President Putin has warned that he will train Russia’s new hypersonic weapons on western countries if Nato moves a missile defence shield into Ukraine.

There is a lot of talk about a war beginning soon.
Both sides are not only upping the rhetoric but also their actions against each other. Ukraine sits on the border between east and west. Russia wants it in “the east” under its control – Nato says it is up to the country itself to decide if it wants to join “the west”. Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato chief, issued a stark rebuke to Russia this week, saying:

“It’s only Ukraine and 30 Nato allies that decide when Ukraine is ready to join Nato. Russia has no veto, Russia has no say and Russia has no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbours.”

These words will infuriate Putin as he sees the collapse of the Soviet Union as the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th Century. The Bible says that Gog will be pushed into coming down to Israel. Ukraine might be that push…

[Gog] will greatly honour those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price.  “At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. (Daniel 11:40 NLT)

Find our Weekly World Watch

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Preceding

UNHCR recommends measures for strengthening security and refugee protection

A genuine European Union to ensure welfare, security and democracy

We and the other – unitary idealism and tribalism

Risk of accidental war with Russia highest in decades, general warns

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Additional reading

1. “If Perestroika Fails…”: The Last Summer of the Cold War – June-July 1991.
2. Mother of Ukraine or Crimea
3. Battling Borshct in Ukraine
4. Mastery from Kiev, Ukraine
5. Ukrainians should be free to shape the future of their country
6. When Crimean people made their choice
7. Crimea votes overwhelmingly to join Russia
8. A Plan spoken of in long past times
9. 70 years later
10. Russian take-over of Crimea
11. Swallowing up Crimea, who is next
12. East Europe in 2017
13. Signs of the times – “Ukraine under pressure”
14. Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine update
15. Estonia 2021 update
16. Andy Walton’s Weekly World Watch of October 17 – 23, 2021
17. Britain in talks to sell missiles in first arms deal with Ukraine
18. Prepare for Russian invasion of Ukraine, US warns European allies
19. Iranian nuclear programme geared towards creating a bomb
20. Russia taking full advantage of energy crisis in Europe
21. Russia reacting to attempts to break ‘strategic parity’
22. Germany blocks Nord Stream 2 pipe from Russia
23. Russia not wanting it neighbours countries to cooperate with the West
24. Russia not wanting it neighbours countries to cooperate with the West
25. President Joe Biden speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin to expect a clarification about the troop build up at the Ukraine border
26. Tensions increase along Ukrainian frontlines amid Russia conflict
27. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Russian troop movements

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Related

1. Of Wretched Little Puppets of America Between Mittleuropa and Greater Russia
2. Realnaya Gazeta: Life in limbo for Donbas media
3. Ukraine’s president visits Donbass as tension mounts with Russia
4. Ukraine denies it is ‘preparing to attack Donbas’
5. German Chancellor Merkel Demands Putin Pull Back Troops From Flashpoint Border As War Between Russia And Ukraine Seems Imminent
6. Russia Amassing 100,000 Troops At The Border Of Ukraine
7. Ukrainian President Reminds Biden And U.S. Of Promise To NATO As Tensions Escalate With Russia
8. (Ukraine) President Volodymyr Zelensky to hold a crisis summit after days of bloody escalations in the war-torn Donbass region, insisting it hasn’t actually been invited to take part #AceNewsDesk report
9. March to War or Annexation?
10. Donbas Conflict Deepens: imperialist interests and working-class politics
11. 04/19/21 Antiwar: EU Walks Back Claim of 150,000 Russian Troops Near Ukraine Border
12. President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “meet anywhere in the Ukrainian Donbas, where there is a war.” #AceNewsDesk report
13. Ukrainian leader calls for revamp of peace process to end Donbas war
14. Ukraine’s president orders aide to arrange talks with Putin
15. Warmongers
16. More Info on Protosevych’s Involvement in the Donbas War
17. Writing Through Ukraine’s War: ‘Absolute Zero’ and ‘Grey Bees’
18. 08/31/21 Antiwar: Biden Pledges $60 Million in Military Aid to Ukraine
19. Tskhinvali Leader in Donbas: “We Fight for Russian World”
20. The Border Crisis Is Just The Beginning

Expecting the E.U. to stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan

Reshad Jalali and his family eventually fled for Europe in 2006. Now Jalali faces his biggest disappointment of all, watching the Taliban return to the streets of his home country while many in his adopted continent appear more consumed by the potential for another refugee crisis, rather than in the fate of the Afghan people.

“As an Afghan living in Europe, I’m shocked at what I have heard,”

says Jalali, who now lives in Brussels and works as a Policy Officer at the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, a collective of NGOs.

“I was expecting the E.U. to stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan rather than focusing on the narrow topic of migration.”

We may not overlook the fact that the European Union has a huge stake in Afghanistan’s past and future, given than most E.U. member states are also NATO allies and they have together pumped €4 billion in development aid into the country.

How its leaders now respond to the prospect of rising numbers of Afghan refugees will be a key test of how the bloc has absorbed the lessons of 2015, when the Syrian civil war sparked a movement of more than 1 million people into Europe.

writes Charlotte McDonald-Gibson in Time Magzine.

So far, the European response has oscillated between compassion for the fate of ordinary Afghans trapped under Taliban rule, and fear at the potential consequences at home. This was typified by French President Emmanuel Macron’s speech on Monday evening, when he spoke about both the need to

“protect those who are in the greatest danger” and “protect ourselves against large migratory flows”.

The tone had been set earlier in the month, when the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, and Greece sent a letter to the E.U. executive urging them to continue deportations of Afghans with rejected asylum claims, arguing that halting expulsions “sent the wrong signal”.

The six EU member states have warned the bloc’s executive against halting deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers arriving in Europe despite major advances of Taliban militants in their country. Those countries agree that

“Stopping returns sends the wrong signal and is likely to motivate even more Afghan citizens to leave their home for the EU.” {Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Germany said in an Aug. 5 letter to the European Commission.}

The insensitivity of the letter at a time when the Taliban were marching on Kabul sparked outcry, and some signatories backtracked. But it was reflective of the increasingly hostile policies in place since 2015, when Europe’s mismanagement of the crisis caused a surge in support for far-right and nationalist parties.

This new security-driven approach has seen E.U- backed missions accused of returning people to life-threatening situations in Libya and illegally pushing back boats which had reached Greek waters.

Afghans arriving in Europe bore the brunt of many of these harsher policies, with leaders reasoning that fatigue had set in about the “forever war” and Afghans could be sent back without much outcry.

Since 2015, around 570,000 Afghans have requested asylum in the EU, the letter from the six EU countries noted, 44,000 in 2020 alone, making Afghanistan the second most important country of origin last year. Strangely enough in the letter the countries admit that they

“fully recognise the sensitive situation in Afghanistan in light of the foreseen withdrawal of international troops.”

They added that an estimated 4.6 million Afghans were already displaced, many of them in the region. A senior EU official said some 400,000 Afghans have been internally displaced over recent months and in recent days there has been an increase in numbers of people fleeing to Iran.

In some cases, people forcibly returned to Afghanistan were killed within months of arriving.

It is through this prism that the Taliban takeover is viewed in much of Europe, with fierce debate over the likelihood of another refugee crisis. Former Portuguese diplomat Bruno Macaes, writing in Politico, claimed another refugee wave “now seems inevitable”, citing Afghan diplomats who told him:

“nothing can stop them – not even tanks”.

…

“We should have learned from the past crisis and be mobilized to swiftly react to the situation now,”

says Reshad Jalali. He agrees that supporting displaced people in Afghanistan and the surrounding region is key, but also points to measures that could be implemented immediately within the E.U, including approving all pending asylum decisions for Afghans, speeding up family reunions, and creating more pathways for resettlement.

 

Please read more about it: > Europe Sees a Migration Crisis in the Making in Afghanistan. Have the Lessons of the 2015 Surge Been Learned?

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Preceding

Grounded

Refugees At The Border- A Blessing Or Burden?

Bringers of agony, Trained in Belgium and Syria

The Iranian American Frieda Afary looking with (republican?) American eyes at Iran

Taliban conquest of Afghanistan a clock to turn back years

Worse Than Saigon

Afghanistan: international community statement

Afghan filmmaker Sahraa Karimi

Afghanistan — What It Tells You

A reminder to what could happen to Christians in Afghanistan

Moving heaven and earth to get every last American in Afghanistan back to American soil

++

Additional reading

1. If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for
2. Social media a destabilisation tool in the Middle East and Syrian conflict
3. Is ISIS a product of American in-action or a product of direct action
4. Refugee crisis, terrorist attacks and created fear
5. Islamophobic hate crimes rise in UK following terror attacks
6. Summary for the year 2015 #1 Threat and fear
7. 2015 In the Picture
8. At the closing hours of 2016 #1 Looking down at terror
9. 2016 in review Politics #2 Persons of the year

Afghanistan: international community statement

EUROPE DIPLOMATIC

Brussels 16.08.2021 The following is the text of a joint statement on Afghanistan initially released by the following: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta , Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Montenegro, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Togo, Tonga, Uganda, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Yemen.

🇦🇫 Afghanistan – Joint statement by @JosepBorrellF, 25 🇪🇺 Member States & more than 40 others countries: "The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity. We…

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Taliban conquest of Afghanistan a clock to turn back years

For Afghanistan, the last 24 hours have been a treacherous and sudden change in the times. Everything from the Taliban’s siege of the capital, Kabul, to Taliban control of all areas of Kabul, to President Ghani’s departure from Afghanistan, every development goes down in history.

After 9/11 2001, America persuaded the West to get on board to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban. With all their might, they tried to prepare the Afghan army to fight terrorists on its own. After more than 20 years, all the work done, lots of money spend, and the many deaths did not seem to have changed much, except for the greater freedom of the citizens, which remained endangered by the many restrictions imposed on the people by the Taliban.

It is only logical and understandable that Joe Biden wanted to pull the plug on the endless well because it had already caused so many deaths while not much had changed in terms of substance. As soon it was made public that the U.S.A. would start a withdrawal of its troops, the Taliban very easily conquered one territory after the other.

According to the latest news from foreign media, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naim told Al Jazeera on the 15th of August 2021, that the war in Afghanistan is over and the form of the regime will soon become clear. As Afghanistan’s second largest city, Kandahar is not only the economic, cultural and transport hub of southern Afghanistan, but also considered the most important city and “spiritual home” for the Taliban, therefore Taliban officials were proud to say on the 16th, that the southern Afghanistan Kandahar International Airport has been fully controlled by the Taliban. They even went to promise that Afghanistan’s domestic and international flights are expected to resume within three days.

On Mother’s Day, August 15, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai said on television and social media that people had not to worry and that Afghanistan had formed a “coordination committee” to prepare for a peaceful transition of power, and to be responsible for maintaining security, law and order. Members of the Coordinating Committee would include Karzai, Abdullah and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Islamic Party of Afghanistan and a former prime minister. The committee called on Afghan government forces and the Taliban to avoid conflict and chaos. But a few hours later thousands of Afghans who had fled to Kabul airport, on the tarmac of Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan’s national airport, 16 kilometres from the centre of Kabul, could see their head of state fleeing, boarding a very large Boeing 747.
Why couldn’t the other seats there be filled with some of the many who also tried to flee?

It became a real chaos at that airport.

The same day, Mujahid announced on social media that Taliban militants had entered the city “to keep the population safe and maintain social order” as Afghan security forces in Kabul had given up their responsibilities and dispersed.
Ghani said in a statement on social media that day that he faced a difficult choice, and that his action was to safe as many Afghans as he could. In order to avoid the killing of the people, he decided to leave Afghanistan, to go first to Tajikistan.

The U.S. military on the 15th used a number of helicopters from the embassy in Afghanistan to evacuate personnel, its embassy compound on the same day rose a plume of smoke. Some sources said it was the “urgent destruction of sensitive documents” by U.S. diplomats.

NATO said in a statement the same day, NATO will continue to maintain its diplomatic presence in Kabul, and to provide assistance to keep Kabul airport running.

I wonder how much work they shall invest to safeguard all those people, who in the last 20 years helped them in getting certain goods, having them to communicate with Afghanis, translating for the troops as well as for the press. What I could see from television reporting was that it more looked that the West abandons all those people who helped them in the past. A real shame!

At the moment it looks like the Taliban has conquered the country and soon shall be planning to bring back the sharia law as well as taking away the right for young women to study and to do a proper job. Possibly Afghanistan shall come back to be a country in the Middle ages, with the oppression of women and the impossibility of religious freedom.

NATO’s Apartheid toilets in Afghanistan

If this report is true, it is a huge embarrassment to NATO and our Western culture, where there should be no segregation and every human being is expected to be valued and treated equally regardless of colour or cultural background.

The government of Afghanistan and the international aid community says it has spent a lot of development money on projects that have improved access to drinking water, while sanitation issues have received little or no funding, according to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.

Dear Kitty. Some blog

From the Globe and Mail in Canada:

NATO’s potty rules shut out Afghans

JOE FRIESEN

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Under a bizarre policy that echoes the days of segregation in the United States, Afghans who work at the NATO base at Kandahar Airfield must use separate toilets marked “local nationals only.”

Several Afghans told The Globe and Mail the practice is insulting, but they are dependent on NATO for their livelihoods and reluctant to speak out. …

“I don’t see any reason for separate bathrooms,” he said. “Everybody is human, so it should be one [toilet].”

NATO killing Afghan civilians: here.

Afghanistan: Poor sanitation, bad toilets cause deaths, misery: here.

AFGHANISTAN-US: Military Translators Risk Low Pay, Death: here.

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