Category: Ukraine

  • On 25 July 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman accepted the advices from both his personal hero General Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill, to 100% reverse his predecessor Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s carefully designed plan to prevent a WW3 by creating a fully armed democratic federal government of the world to create adjudicate and enforce international laws and NO national laws, and to outlaw and end the cause that had produced both World Wars, which was imperialism and the contests between them, and so he created the basis for what he named “the United Nations” to do that, but his immediate successor Truman’s version of the U.N. was/is instead a mere talking forum, with no such powers. This would allow him and Eisenhower to create the military-industrial complex to take over the entire world starting with Russia and all of its neighbors. His plan failed, but nonetheless then the Soviet Union itself failed, because of its Marxian economics and dictatorship; and, on 24 February 1990, Truman’s successor President GHW Bush started secretly to inform America’s European colonies that though the Soviet Union and its communism and its military alliance against America’s NATO, the Warsaw Pact, would likely all soon end, the U.S. side of the Cold War would secretly continue on until Russia itself will be defeated, because, as Bush said to Helmut Kohl, “We prevailed, they didn’t!” In other words, he was telling them to continue on until Russia itself becomes just another U.S. colony like they were, because “we” can do it. He was telling them that “we” will do it, because we can. And none of them objected, because they all would be cut in on the take. But all of this was in blatant violation of repeatedly made verbal promises that the U.S. regime and its agents had made to the Soviet leader Gorbachev that NATO wouldn’t be expanded and take in Warsaw Pact nations if the Soviet Union would break up.

    Fast-forward a few more decades, and the U.S. regime invaded a nation that was friendly toward Russia, Iraq, on 20 March 2003, and destroyed it.

    On 5 January 2020, Iraq’s Government ordered the U.S. out of Iraq. The Trump regime refused. A reporter for CNN, Manu Raju, tweeted from the Air Force 1 press pool, “Trump … tells pool he will slap Iraq with ‘very big sanctions’ if they force US troops to leave. ‘We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.’ Trump added: ‘If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.’”

    The next day, on January 6, Sajad Jiyad of The Century Foundation blogged from Baghdad, “On the issue of US bases, Iraqi sovereignty and sanctions” and reported and presented the legal documents proving that (quoting now from the contract that both Iraq and U.S. had signed) “Iraq owns all the buildings and installations, the nontransferable structures on the ground that are located in the areas and installations agreed upon, including those the U.S. utilizes, constructs, changes or improves.” Furthermore, he noted that, “The US troops that are currently in Iraq are part of a request for assistance to combat ISIS that was sent in 2014. These troops are meant to advise, train and assist Iraqi troops. This request was sent by the Iraqi government and can be revoked at any time.”

    On 7 January 2020, Time magazine headlined “Iraq’s Outgoing Prime Minister Says U.S. Troops Must Leave.” Trump responded that only the U.S. Government will decide when to leave Iraq.

    On January 24, “The Chief of Police in Baghdad just estimated the number of Iraqis protesting against the US’ presence in Iraq today to be in excess of one million people.” The march in Baghdad was 5 miles long.

    On 17 February 2020, I headlined “Trump plans to keep US troops permanently in Iraq under NATO command.” On 24 November 2020, NATO headlined “Denmark assumes command of NATO Mission Iraq.” But Iraqis don’t want any alien military force occupying their country. On 24 February 2021, NATO headlined “NATO Mission in Iraq” and reported, based only upon Iraq’s having requested and received in October 2018 additional training so as to defeat ISIS — that temporary request for training became NATO’s excuse to extend permanently America’s occupation. That NATO report ignored the demand by Iraq’s parliament in January 2020 for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq immediately and ignored the millions of Iraqis who subsequently demonstrated against the U.S. and who demanded the U.S. to leave immediately. (Trump responded to that Iraqi demand by threatening to destroy Iraq if Iraq’s Government would continue its demand.)

    And, of course, America’s invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2023 was based totally on lies which the U.S.-and-allied press refused to expose at the time — or even now — to be lies, but instead trumpeted those lies to the public stenographically from the regime’s mouthpieces as being ‘news’. And, likewise, the U.S.-and-allied ‘news’-media hide from their public that the overthrow of Ukraine’s Government during 20-27 February 2014 was a U.S. coup intead of the ‘democratic’ ‘revolution’ they all trumpeted it as being. On 3 July 2023, I headlined “Comparing Two U.S.-Government Catastrophes: Bush’s 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and Obama’s 2014 Coup in Ukraine.”

    So: all of this is old news, which is never reported in the U.S.-and-allied press, which instead starts from assumptions that are false about both the Iraq and the Ukraine matters. And the U.S.-and-allied media never apologize to the public about their having lied, because they say that they make only mistakes, no lies. That’s a lie about their lying.

    The post The Dying — and Constantly Lying — U.S. Empire first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – The United States authorized the first use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes into Russia, media reported, in a response to Russia’s decision to bring North Korean troops into its war on Ukraine.

    The U.S. and South Korea said last week that North Korean troops had been fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region. The U.S. estimated more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Kursk and they had begun combat operations alongside Russian forces.

    The U.S. weapons are likely to be initially used against Russian and North Korean troops, in defense of Ukrainian forces in Kursk, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing unidentified American officials.

    The newspaper said the decision to allow Ukraine to deploy long-range missiles, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems, was made in response to Russia’s decision to involve North Korean troops in the fight.

    The officials noted that although they didn’t believe the permission for Ukraine to use the weapons would significantly impact the direction of the war, one aim was to warn North Korea that their troops are at risk and discourage them from sending more.

    Both Moscow and Pyongyang had not responded to the report by the time of publication, but some senior Russian officials warned that Russia’s response would be immediate.

    “Strikes with U.S. missiles deep into Russian regions will inevitably entail a serious escalation, which threatens to lead to much more serious consequences,” said Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma lower house’s foreign affairs committee, as cited by TASS state news agency.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday more important than lifting the restriction would be the number of missiles used to strike the Russians, without confirming the reports about the U.S. decision.

    “Today, many in the media are talking about the fact that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” said Zelenskyy. “But blows are not inflicted with words. Such things are not announced. The rockets will speak for themselves.”

    Biden-Xi talks

    The reports about the U.S. decision to let Kyiv strike deep into Russia with long-range U.S. missiles came after U.S. President Joe Biden, during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Peru, on Saturday, condemned North Korea’s decision to send its troops to Russia to assist in the war against Ukraine.

    “President Biden condemned the deployment of thousands of DPRK troops to Russia, a dangerous expansion of Russia’s unlawful war against Ukraine with serious consequences for both European and Indo-Pacific peace and security,” said the White House in a statement on Monday.

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name.

    China, one of North Korea’s few allies, faces pressure to act responsibly as the U.S. and its allies fear North Korean troop deployments could dangerously escalate the Ukraine conflict.

    Biden also “expressed deep concern over (China’s) continued support for Russia’s defense industrial base,” according to the White House.

    U.S. President Joe Biden meets with China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru, Nov. 16, 2024.
    U.S. President Joe Biden meets with China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru, Nov. 16, 2024.

    During the meeting, Xi said that China’s position regarding the war had “always been fair and square,” China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

    Xi also said China would “not allow conflict and turmoil to happen on the Korean Peninsula” and that it would “not sit idly by” while its strategic interests are endangered, Xinhua added.

    North Korean leader’s message

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un blamed the U.S. for “staging” a war against Russia using Ukraine as “shock troops”, but did not comment on reports about his country’s deployment of troops to Russia.

    “The U.S. and the West have been staging a war against Russia using Ukraine as shock troops in a bid to expand the scope of Washington’s military intervention into the world,” said Kim, as cited by the North’s state-run Korea Central News Agency, or KCNA, on Monday.

    Kim made the remark during the 4th Conference of Battalion Commanders and Political Instructors of the Korean People’s Army on Friday.

    Kim also said trilateral cooperation by the U.S, South Korea, and Japan was a “critical factor” that threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, calling for bolstering his nuclear forces “without limitation” and completing war preparations.

    “U.S.-led military alliance has been expanding into more larger areas encompassing Europe and the Asia-Pacific region,” Kim said.

    “We will strengthen our self-defense power, centered on nuclear forces, without limitation, not being content [with our current level] and ceaselessly,” he added.

    RELATED STORIES

    North Koreans in Russia in place but not in combat: Ukraine official

    US vows ‘firm response’ to North Korea for sending troops to Russia

    US confirms North Korean troops joining Russia in combat against Ukraine

    Japan on Moscow, Pyongyang

    Japan is considering tightening sanctions against North Korea and Russia in response to their military co-operation, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday.

    Japan is considering measures such as expanding a freeze on North Korean and Russian assets, as it believes that their military co-operation had “seriously affected” peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and violated international law.

    Japan already imposes various sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and missile development, and Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including import and export restrictions and asset freezes.

    Tokyo had also decided to coordinate with the G7 countries to strengthen sanctions against Moscow and Pyongyang, the broadcaster added.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – North Korean forces deployed to Russia’s Kursk have not yet been involved in Moscow’s attempts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from the region, said a senior official at Ukraine’s national security agency, contradicting reports from the United States and South Korea.

    Both Washington and Seoul said early this week that North Korean troops had been fighting against Ukrainian forces in Kursk. The U.S. estimated more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to the region, and they had begun engaging in combat operations alongside Russian forces.

    “The North Korean military has not yet been involved in assault operations, but they are positioned in place,” said Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, or NSDC, as cited by RBC Ukraine news agency.

    The NSDC is a state agency tasked with developing and coordinating security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president.

    A recent probe by Russian forces against Ukrainian positions in Kursk was unsuccessful and they had lost equipment and troops, said Kovalenko.

    He added, however, that the Russian army still had the capacity for further assaults in Kursk.

    The contradictory accounts have emerged against a backdrop of silence from both Russia and North Korea about the North Korean deployment.

    The Kremlin has not commented on the presence of North Korean troops. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council last week, Russia declined to answer questions from the U.S about its deployment of North Koreans.

    North Korea’s state media reported in October that its vice foreign minister in charge of Russian affairs, Kim Jong Gyu, said he had heard a “rumor” spread by foreign media that troops had been sent to Russia, but declined to confirm it.

    South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, which oversees inter-Korean relations, said on Thursday that the North has not informed its citizens about the deployment of troops to Russia.

    RELATED STORIES

    US vows ‘firm response’ to North Korea for sending troops to Russia

    US confirms North Korean troops joining Russia in combat against Ukraine

    Ukraine ‘holds back’ 50,000-strong force including North Koreans: Zelenskyy

    North Korean artillery system in Russia

    Photos showing what appeared to be a North Korean artillery system on a rail car have been posted in Russian media, and are circulating on social media, alongside a claim they were spotted in Russia.

    The photos show equipment that resembles a North Korean long-range 170 mm M1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery system.

    Screenshot of a photo posted on X that reportedly shows a North Korean artillery system spotted in Russia.
    Screenshot of a photo posted on X that reportedly shows a North Korean artillery system spotted in Russia.

    Radio Free Asia has not been able to independently verify the location of the photo or when it was taken but a reverse image search shows it was likely taken in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk, about 4,400 kilometers (2,700 miles) away from Kursk, where North Korean soldiers are reportedly amassed to assist Russian forces.

    The M1989 Koksan is a code name for a North Korean 40-ton self-propelled artillery system that was first seen at a parade in the North Korean city of Koksan in 1989. It is a development of the M1978 system, which was developed in the 1970s.

    Ukrainian partisans have previously said that Russian artillerymen were training on North Korean self-propelled artillery systems.

    It was also reported that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the purchase of ammunition and M-1989s from the North when he visited Pyongyang in July last year.

    Russian embassy to Pyongyang’s fundraiser

    The Russian Embassy in North Korea announced a fundraiser on Thursday to support forces fighting in Kursk.

    In a Facebook post titled “Koreans going to the Kursk region,” the embassy highlighted the efforts of a sports utility vehicle named “Varyag,” that the embassy funded this year, which has been used to deliver food and water to the front lines and evacuate casualties.

    Screenshot of a photo posted on the official Facebook page of the Russian Embassy in North Korea that shows a Russia sports utility vehicle named “Varyag”.
    Screenshot of a photo posted on the official Facebook page of the Russian Embassy in North Korea that shows a Russia sports utility vehicle named “Varyag”.

    The embassy did not explicitly say North Korean forces were going to Kursk but said it was fitting to associate the proud name of “Koreans” with the heroic “Varyag.”

    The embassy said the Russian military needed new vehicles, but South Korean media speculated it was possible that the vehicles or donations the embassy raises could support North Korean troops fighting in Russia.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • After mounting his comeback win against Kamala Harris, Donald Trump has already announced a slew of administration appointments. Compared to other presidents-elect, and to his own first term, Trump is ahead of the typical timeline in announcing these appointments, giving observers an earlier-than-usual view into how the second Trump administration could function, both in the domestic and foreign…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Following the U.S. election, European foreign policy experts are reviving ideas about strategic autonomy from 2016. They fail to understand how much has changed in the last eight years.

    This post was originally published on Dissent Magazine.


  • A boy sits in rubble in Gaza. Photo Credit: UNICEF

    When Donald Trump takes office on January 20, all his campaign promises to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and almost as quickly end Israel’s war on its neighbors will be put to the test. The choices he has made for his incoming administration so far, from Marco Rubio as Secretary of State to Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor, Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense and Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador make for a rogues gallery of saber-rattlers.

    The only conflict where peace negotiations seem to be on the agenda is Ukraine. In April, both Vice President-elect JD Vance and Senator Marco Rubio voted against a $95 billion military aid bill that included $61 billion for Ukraine.

    Rubio recently appeared on NBC’s Today Show saying, “I think the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave and strong when standing up to Russia. But at the end of the day, what we’re funding here is a stalemate war, and it needs to be brought to a conclusion… I think there has to be some common sense here.”

    On the campaign trail, Vance made a controversial suggestion that the best way to end the war was for Ukraine to cede the land Russia has seized, for a demilitarized zone to be established, and for Ukraine to become neutral, i.e. not enter NATO. He was roundly criticized by both Republicans and Democrats who argue that backing Ukraine is vitally important to U.S. security since it weakens Russia, which is closely allied with China.

    Any attempt by Trump to stop U.S. military support for Ukraine will undoubtedly face fierce opposition from the pro-war forces in his own party, particularly in Congress, as well as perhaps the entirety of the Democratic party. Two years ago, 30 progressive Democrats in Congress wrote a letter to President Biden asking him to consider promoting negotiations. The party higher ups were so incensed by their lack of party discipline that they came down on the progressives like a ton of bricks. Within 24 hours, the group had cried uncle and rescinded the letter. They have since all voted for money for Ukraine and have not uttered another word about negotiations.

    So a Trump effort to cut funds to Ukraine could run up against a bipartisan congressional effort to keep the war going. And let’s not forget the efforts by European countries, and NATO, to keep the U.S. in the fight. Still, Trump could stand up to all these forces and push for a rational policy that would restart the talking and stop the killing.

    The Middle East, however, is a more difficult situation. In his first term, Trump showed his pro-Israel cards when he brokered the Abraham accords between several Arab countries and Israel; moved the U.S. embassy to a location in Jerusalem that is partly on occupied land outside Israel’s internationally recognized borders; and recognized the occupied Golan Heights in Syria as part of Israel. Such unprecedented signals of unconditional U.S. support for Israel’s illegal occupation and settlements helped set the stage for the current crisis.

    Trump seems as unlikely as Biden to cut U.S. weapons to Israel, despite public opinion polls favoring such a halt and a recent UN human rights report showing that 70% of the people killed by those U.S. weapons are women and children.

    Meanwhile, the wily Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is already busy getting ready for a second Trump presidency. On the very day of the U.S. election, Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who opposed a lasting Israeli military occupation of Gaza and had at times argued for prioritizing the lives of the Israeli hostages over killing more Palestinians.

    Israel Katz, the new defense minister and former foreign minister, is more hawkish than Gallant, and has led a campaign to falsely blame Iran for the smuggling of weapons from Jordan into the West Bank.

    Other powerful voices, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also a “minister in the Defense Ministry,” represent extreme Zionist parties that are publicly committed to territorial expansion, annexation and ethnic cleansing. They both live in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    So Netanyahu has deliberately surrounded himself with allies who back his ever-escalating war. They are surely developing a war plan to exploit Trump’s support for Israel, but will first use the unique opportunity of the U.S. transition of power to create facts on the ground that will limit Trump’s options when he takes office.

    The Israelis will doubtless redouble their efforts to drive Palestinians out of as much of Gaza as possible, confronting President Trump with a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in which Gaza’s surviving population is crammed into an impossibly small area, with next to no food, no shelter for many, disease running rampant, and no access to needed medical care for tens of thousands of horribly wounded and dying people.

    The Israelis will count on Trump to accept whatever final solution they propose, most likely to drive Palestinians out of Gaza, into the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt and farther afield.

    Israel threatened all along to do to Lebanon the same as they have done to Gaza. Israeli forces have met fierce resistance, taken heavy casualties, and have not advanced far into Lebanon. But, as in Gaza, they are using bombing and artillery to destroy villages and towns, kill or drive people north and hope to effectively annex the part of Lebanon south of the Litani river as a so-called “buffer zone.” When Trump takes office, they may ask for greater U.S. involvement to help them “finish the job.”

    The big wild card is Iran. Trump’s first term in office was marked by a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran. He unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal, imposed severe sanctions that devastated the economy, and ordered the killing of the country’s top general. Trump did not support a war on Iran in his first term, but had to be talked out of attacking Iran in his final days in office by General Mark Milley and the Pentagon.

    Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, recently described to Chris Hedges just how catastrophic a war with Iran would be, based on U.S.military wargames he was involved in.

    Wilkerson predicts that a U.S. war on Iran could last for ten years, cost $10 trillion and still fail to conquer Iran. Airstrikes alone would not destroy all of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and ballistic missile stockpiles. So, once unleashed, the war would very likely escalate into a regime change war involving U.S. ground forces, in a country with three or four times the territory and population of Iraq, more mountainous terrain and a thousand mile long coastline bristling with missiles that can sink U.S. warships.

    But Netanyahu and his extreme Zionist allies believe that they must sooner or later fight an existential war with Iran if they are to realize their vision of a dominant Greater Israel. And they believe that the destruction they have wreaked on the Palestinians in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the assassination of their senior leaders, has given them a military advantage and a favorable opportunity for a showdown with Iran.

    By November 10, Trump and Netanyahu had reportedly spoken on the phone three times since the election, and Netanyahu said that they see “eye to eye on the Iranian threat.” Trump has already hired Iran hawk Brian Hook, who helped him sabotage the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018, to coordinate the formation of his foreign policy team.

    So far, the team that Trump and Hook have assembled seems to offer hope for peace in Ukraine, but little to none for peace in the Middle East and a rising danger of a U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

    Trump’s expected National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is best known as a China hawk. He has voted against military aid to Ukraine in Congress, but he recently tweeted that Israel should bomb Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities, the most certain path to a full-scale war.

    Trump’s new UN ambassador, Elise Stefanik, has led moves in Congress to equate criticism of Israel with anti-semitism, and she led the aggressive questioning of American university presidents at an anti-semitism hearing in Congress, after which the presidents of Harvard and Penn resigned.

    So, while Trump will have some advisors who support his desire to end the war in Ukraine, there will be few voices in his inner circle urging caution over Netanyahu’s genocidal ambitions in Palestine and his determination to cripple Iran.

    If he wanted to, President Biden could use his final two months in office to de-escalate the conflicts in the Middle East. He could impose an embargo on offensive weapons for Israel, push for serious ceasefire negotiations in both Gaza and Lebanon, and work through U.S. partners in the Gulf to de-escalate tensions with Iran.

    But Biden is unlikely to do any of that. When his own administration sent a letter to Israel last month, threatening a cut in military aid if Israel did not allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the next 30 days, Israel responded by doing just the opposite–actually cutting the number of trucks allowed in. The State Department claimed Israel was taking “steps in the right direction” and Biden refused to take any action.

    We will soon see if Trump is able to make progress in moving the Ukraine war towards negotiations, potentially saving the lives of many thousands of Ukrainians and Russians. But between the catastrophe that Trump will inherit and the warhawks he is picking for his cabinet, peace in the Middle East seems more distant than ever.

    The post Will Trump End or Escalate Biden’s Wars? first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – The United States confirmed that North Korean troops have been in combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, as China declined to comment on military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang saying it was their affair.

    The confirmation that the North Koreans were in combat, by Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, will compound concerns that their deployment to help Russia fight its war against Ukraine risks ramping up the dangers from Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

    “Today, I can confirm that over 10,000 DPRK soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,” Patel told a press briefing on Tuesday.

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name.

    “Some of the challenges they would need to overcome are interoperability, the language barrier, command and control and communications,” Patel said, adding that Russian forces have been training North Korean troops in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicle and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing operations.

    “The United States is consulting closely with our allies and partners in other countries in the region on the implications of this, on these developments,” he added.

    Separately, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Russia’s growing economic and military cooperation with China, North Korea and Iran was threatening Europe, the Indo-Pacific and North America, stressing the importance of transatlantic unity and continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

    “We need to raise the cost for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his enabling authoritarian threats by providing Ukraine with the support it needs to change the trajectory of the conflict,” said Rutte.

    “We must recommit to stay the course of the war and we must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight.”

    Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukrainian forces were holding off nearly 50,000 troops, including 11,000 North Koreans, in Kursk.

    Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region on Aug. 6 and have captured more than two dozen settlements there, according to Ukraine. While Russia has managed to reclaim some settlements, the front line has seen little change in recent months.

    The Kremlin has not commented on the presence of North Korean troops on its territory. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council last week, Russia declined to answer questions from the United States about its deployment of North Koreans.

    ‘Matter for themselves’

    China’s foreign ministry, asked to comment on a military cooperation pact between Russia and North Korea, reaffirmed Beijing’s stance that the development of their relations was solely a matter for them to decide.

    “The DPRK and Russia are two independent sovereign states. How to develop their bilateral relations is a matter for themselves,” said the ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Tuesday, without commenting on reports about North Koreans troops in Russia.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a landmark treaty on a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” on June 19 in Pyongyang after summit talks, which includes a mutual defense assistance clause that applies in the case of “aggression” against either of the signatories.

    RELATED STORIES

    Ukraine ‘holds back’ 50,000-strong force including North Koreans: Zelenskyy

    Ukraine reveals ‘intercepted’ radio communications of North Korean soldiers in Russia

    North Korean troops to battle Ukraine within days, US says

    China, one of North Korea’s few traditional allies, has recently been under growing pressure to serve as a responsible stakeholder as the U.S. and its allies worry that the deployment of said North Korean troops will dangerously escalate the Ukrainian war.

    The U.S. said in October that it had voiced concern to China over “destabilizing” actions by North Korea and Russia.

    “We have been making clear to China for some time that they have an influential voice in the region, and they should be concerned about steps that Russia has taken to undermine stability. They should be concerned about steps that North Korea has taken to undermine stability and security,” said the U.S. State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller at that time.

    Miller’s remarks came about a week after the Chinese foreign ministry said it did not have information on the North’s troop deployment to Russia and called for a multilateral solution to the conflict.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – The United States confirmed that North Korean troops have been in combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, as China declined to comment on military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang saying it was their affair.

    The confirmation that the North Koreans were in combat, by Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, will compound concerns that their deployment to help Russia fight its war against Ukraine risks ramping up the dangers from Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

    “Today, I can confirm that over 10,000 DPRK soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,” Patel told a press briefing on Tuesday.

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name.

    “Some of the challenges they would need to overcome are interoperability, the language barrier, command and control and communications,” Patel said, adding that Russian forces have been training North Korean troops in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicle and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing operations.

    “The United States is consulting closely with our allies and partners in other countries in the region on the implications of this, on these developments,” he added.

    Separately, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Russia’s growing economic and military cooperation with China, North Korea and Iran was threatening Europe, the Indo-Pacific and North America, stressing the importance of transatlantic unity and continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

    “We need to raise the cost for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his enabling authoritarian threats by providing Ukraine with the support it needs to change the trajectory of the conflict,” said Rutte.

    “We must recommit to stay the course of the war and we must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight.”

    Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukrainian forces were holding off nearly 50,000 troops, including 11,000 North Koreans, in Kursk.

    Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region on Aug. 6 and have captured more than two dozen settlements there, according to Ukraine. While Russia has managed to reclaim some settlements, the front line has seen little change in recent months.

    The Kremlin has not commented on the presence of North Korean troops on its territory. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council last week, Russia declined to answer questions from the United States about its deployment of North Koreans.

    ‘Matter for themselves’

    China’s foreign ministry, asked to comment on a military cooperation pact between Russia and North Korea, reaffirmed Beijing’s stance that the development of their relations was solely a matter for them to decide.

    “The DPRK and Russia are two independent sovereign states. How to develop their bilateral relations is a matter for themselves,” said the ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Tuesday, without commenting on reports about North Koreans troops in Russia.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a landmark treaty on a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” on June 19 in Pyongyang after summit talks, which includes a mutual defense assistance clause that applies in the case of “aggression” against either of the signatories.

    RELATED STORIES

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    China, one of North Korea’s few traditional allies, has recently been under growing pressure to serve as a responsible stakeholder as the U.S. and its allies worry that the deployment of said North Korean troops will dangerously escalate the Ukrainian war.

    The U.S. said in October that it had voiced concern to China over “destabilizing” actions by North Korea and Russia.

    “We have been making clear to China for some time that they have an influential voice in the region, and they should be concerned about steps that Russia has taken to undermine stability. They should be concerned about steps that North Korea has taken to undermine stability and security,” said the U.S. State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller at that time.

    Miller’s remarks came about a week after the Chinese foreign ministry said it did not have information on the North’s troop deployment to Russia and called for a multilateral solution to the conflict.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

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  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ukrainian forces are holding off a nearly 50,000 troops, including 11,000 North Koreans, in Russia’s Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, confirming U.S. media reports that Russia had amassed a large force including the North Koreans to push Ukrainian invaders off Russian soil.

    The deployment of the North Koreans to help Russia fight its war against Ukraine has raised fears in the West and in South Korea of a dangerous escalation of Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

    Ukrainian troops “continue to hold back” the “nearly 50,000-strong enemy group” in Kursk, Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram on Monday after receiving a briefing from General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

    Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region on Aug. 6 and have captured more than two dozen settlements there, Ukraine says.

    While Russia has managed to reclaim some settlements, the front line has seen little change in recent months.

    The New York Times, citing U.S. and Ukrainian officials, reported on Sunday that the Russian military had assembled about 50,000 soldiers, including North Koreans, to launch an assault to reclaim territory in Kursk.

    Similarly, CNN quoted an unidentified U.S. official as saying Russia has gathered a “large force of tens of thousands” of troops and North Korean soldiers to participate in an imminent assault.

    The Ukraine president previously said that North Korean troops fighting against Ukrainian forces were taking casualties in Kursk.

    “Currently, 11,000 North Korean soldiers are present on Russian territory near the Ukrainian border, specifically in Kursk Oblast,” he said at a press conference at the European Political Community summit in Budapest last Thursday.

    “Some of these troops have already taken part in combat operations against Ukrainian forces, and there are already casualties,” he added, without providing further information on the number of casualties.

    The Kremlin has not commented on the presence of North Korean troops on its territory. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council last week, Russia declined to answer questions from the United States about its deployment of North Korean troops.

    RELATED STORIES

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    For years, China was widely seen as isolated North Korea’s sole major ally, but its ties with Russia have recently grown much closer.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a landmark treaty on a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” on June 19 in Pyongyang after summit talks, which includes a mutual defense assistance clause that applies in the case of “aggression” against either of the signatories.

    Russia’s state news agency TASS reported on Saturday that Putin signed a law to ratify the treaty with the North, which includes a mutual defense clause in the event of “aggression” against either signatory.

    Putin mentioned on Thursday the possibility of Russia and North Korea holding joint military exercises. He did not comment on the reports about North Korean troops in Russia but noted that the agreement with North Korea did not contain anything new but restored an arrangement that they had during the Soviet era.

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also has signed off the treaty, the North’s state media reported on Tuesday.

    The treaty will take effect from the day both sides exchange ratification instruments, said the Korean Central News Agency.

    North Korea has supplied Russia with large quantities of weapons for its war in Ukraine, particularly missiles and artillery shells, though both countries deny it.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

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  • WaPo Putin-Trump call claim ‘pure fiction’ – KremlinU.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. ©  Chris McGrath/Getty Images

    US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not have a phone conversation about the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

    The Washington Post claimed on Sunday that Trump called Putin after winning a new term as US president to discuss his vision regarding how the Ukrainian crisis could be deflated. Peskov said on Monday that the article was a “vivid example of the quality of information published by even some respectable outlets.”

    “This absolutely does not correspond to reality. This is pure fiction. This information is simply false,” he told the press.

    Kiev previously denied the claim made by the Washington Post in its piece that the Ukrainian government was informed about the phone call beforehand and gave its consent to the US-Russian engagement.

    “Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance of the alleged call are false,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters on Sunday.

    Trump had claimed while on the campaign trail that he could end the Ukraine conflict “in 24 hours,” if US voters grant him a second term in office. He reportedly intends to leverage US military and financial aid to Ukraine to pressure both Moscow and Kiev to achieve a compromise.

    Russia, which currently has the advantage on the battlefield, has said that it will only accept an outcome that addresses the core causes of the Ukraine conflict. Those include NATO’s enlargement in Europe and Kiev’s discriminatory policies against ethnic Russians, according to Moscow.

    The Washington Post reported a phone call between Trump and Putin based on accounts by sources familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

    The post WaPo Putin-Trump Call Claim “Pure Fiction” – Kremlin first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ukraine has released an audio clip of what it says are intercepted radio communications between North Korean soldiers in Russia, as media reported that Russia had gathered 50,000 soldiers in its Kursk region, including North Korean troops, to attack Ukrainian positions there.

    In the audio, uploaded by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, or DIU, on YouTube on Sunday, soldiers can be heard exchanging coded terms in North Korean-accented Korean.

    “Mulgae hana, Mulgae dul,” was one exchange, which translates as “Seal one, Seal two”.

    In another recording, a soldier says, “wait,” apparently giving an instruction to a subordinate.

    The DIU said it intercepted the radio communications on Saturday, adding that the signals were about “ordering them to return immediately.”

    Ukraine and the United States estimate that North Korea has sent 11,000 troops to help Russia in its war against Ukraine, with these forces reportedly stationed in the Russian border region of Kursk, which Ukrainian forces aided in early August. Moscow has faced challenges in reclaiming territory from Ukrainian forces.

    Ukrainian troops have held parts of Kursk since then and Russia has struggled to re-take them.

    The Ukrainian military suggests that the North Koreans may engage in combat in the coming days. The Pentagon has also confirmed the presence of a “small number” of North Korean soldiers on the front lines, speculating they may be deployed in “some type of infantry role.”

    The New York Times, citing U.S. and Ukrainian officials, reported on Sunday that the Russian military has assembled about 50,000 soldiers, including North Koreans, to launch an assault to reclaim territory in Kursk.

    Similarly, CNN quoted an unidentified U.S. official as saying Russia has gathered a “large force of tens of thousands” of troops and North Korean soldiers to participate in an imminent assault.

    Strategic partnership

    Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law to ratify a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with North Korea, which includes a mutual defense clause in the event of “aggression” against either signatory, Russia’s state news agency TASS said on Saturday.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a plenary session as part of the 21st annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, Nov. 7, 2024.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a plenary session as part of the 21st annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, Nov. 7, 2024.

    The treaty was signed in Pyongyang on June 19 as Putin was visiting North Korea. Commenting on the treaty, Putin said on Thursday that it did not contain anything new but the two countries had returned to a similar arrangement that they had during the Soviet era.

    “The treaty we signed with North Korea was the one we’ve signed with other countries. It was with the Soviet Union, then of course it ceased to exist, and we actually returned to it. That’s all. There is nothing new there,” said Putin, as cited by TASS in a separate report.

    Putin also mentioned the possibility of Russia and North Korea holding joint military exercises.

    “Why not? We’ll see,” Putin was cited by TASS as saying, without commenting on reports about North Korean troops in Russia.

    Possible Russian support

    South Korea and its allies have speculated that North Korea could get Russian assistance with its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for its help for Russia to fight Ukraine, which has included large volumes of weapons including missiles and artillery shells.

    The South Korean military said that an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, that North Korea tested on Oct. 31, was launched without the test of a new engine, which could suggest Russian assistance.

    North Korea test fired what it said was a Hwasong-19, a new model, not an improved version of an existing missile. It was launched without testing a new engine, said South Korean lawmaker Yoo Yong-won, who was briefed by the South’s Defense Intelligence Agency.

    “Considering the increased length and diameter of the missile’s fuselage and the increased maximum altitude, we can say the Hwasong-19 is a new ICBM that is different from the Hwasong-18,” the agency said, cited by Yoo.

    The agency said that the fact that North Korea developed and launched the new missile without having to test its engine lent weight to the possibility of Russian technical assistance. Media also reported the possibility that Russia had provided North Korea with the engine.

    North Korea reported a ground-based engine test for a medium-range ballistic missile on Nov. 15 last year, and on March 20 this year disclosed a multi-stage engine ground-based test for a new medium- to long-range hypersonic missile.

    The South Korean military said that North Korea had not been confirmed as conducting any additional solid-fuel engine tests since March.

    “There is a possibility that the North is receiving technologies from Russia under the name of ‘cooperation in the field of space technology’ that could be used for ballistic missile development,” the agency said.

    RELATED STORIES

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    North Korea first tested an ICBM in July 2017. It tested two more that year, including one in November that traveled for 50 minutes and reached an altitude of 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles).

    Over the next five years, the North did not test any ICBMs, but in March 2022, it launched one that blew up shortly after takeoff.

    North Korea tested four ICBMs in 2022 and 2023. The Oct. 31 test was the first this year.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

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  • War never changes. The circumstances, participants, causes and locations may vary, but the essence remains unchanged: war is always a tragedy, since it is waged by people against people. And the suffering of the most vulnerable, silent victims of any conflict – children – always remains unnoticed. While activists and volunteers sound the alarm and try to organize humanitarian aid, the kings of the information field – media corporations – prefer to discuss the main actors of the conflict and cover politics and economics, as the most effective way of attracting an audience.

    Under the current circumstances, it would not go amiss to once again pay attention to such problems caused by war as child trafficking, destruction of families, lack of education and medical care, as well as the constant threat to life and health. Thus, according to the Council of Europe report, Ukrainian children forced to leave their homes continue to face serious danger. The influx of refugees into EU countries immediately led to an increase in the number of cases of kidnapping, illegal adoption and exploitation. As the Council of Europe representatives state, officials do not always manage to detect and prevent the threat in time, which is why the number of victims continues to grow inexorably.

    At the same time, it is important to take into account that serious problems are still remain in Ukraine as well. According to the USAID report, since the early 1990s, the country has been “a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking”. Despite the gravity of the situation, the government has not been able to eradicate the problem, which has only worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic and with the outbreak of the war. Now, when all the attention of the Ukrainian authorities is focused on the war, new waves of mobilization are coming one after another, and officials are discussing the possibility of women conscription, there is almost no hope left for preserving families and ensuring the proper level of safety for children.

    Reading such reports and news, one cannot help but wonder: is the continuation of the conflict worth such a threat to future generations? Soon it will be three years since the US and the EU have been spending enormous sums on militarization and maintaining the war, instead of thinking about peace and looking for ways to achieve it through negotiations. The decision of the outgoing US administration to urgently transfer several billion dollars to Ukraine before Trump’s inauguration is particularly worrying, since it does not seem to even assume proper control over the spending of funds. Why does no one even try to think about how such decisions affect the lives of civilians and their future?

    The post A Silent Cry in the Fog of War first appeared on Dissident Voice.


    This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Martin Averick.

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  • Ever since the November 5 defeat of the so-called ‘Democratic’ Party and of its unanimous neoconservative obsession to defeat Russia with the help of Ukrainians (claiming all the time that doing this is necessary in order to protect Americans and America’s ‘democracy’), the Bilderburg member Donald Graham, who at the 2013 Bilderburg meeting met privately with Jeff Bezos and agreed to sell him the Washington Post, has been instead using his Foreign Policy magazine in order to increase the pressure upon President Joe Biden to escalate the U.S. Government’s proxy-war in Ukraine against Russia up to and including World War Three (WW3).

    On November 5, the magazine headlined “The Biden Administration Now Has an Expiration Date — and a To-Do List,” and reported:

    As of late October, the Biden administration still had $5.5 billion it could throw into Ukraine’s war chest. In the past, that has come in the form of air-defense batteries, battle tanks, and long-rage U.S. firepower that can help Ukraine balance the playing field against a larger neighbor with seemingly inexhaustible manpower and ample assistance from allies in Asia. …

    With no reason to worry about spiking oil and gasoline prices, the United States may be more amenable not only to Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, but also to the unsheathing of additional sanctions on miscreant oil producers such as Iran and Venezuela, which skated clear of sanctions all year thanks to U.S. worries about the domestic impact of an energy war.

    On November 7, it headlined “Ukraine Now Faces a Nuclear Decision: Under a new Trump administration, Ukraine’s government can’t avoid considering a nuclear weapon,” and reported:

    Last month, with little fanfare, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the stakes of the ongoing war in Ukraine as clear as possible…. “Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons and that will be our protection or we should have some sort of alliance,” he said. “Apart from NATO, today we do not know any effective alliances.”

    It was the first time the Ukrainian president had revealed an outcome that has become, for the war’s observers, increasingly inescapable. In this war for Ukraine’s survival, with Kyiv facing both declining men and materiel, the only surefire way of preventing Ukraine’s ongoing destruction is NATO membership—a reality that has gained more supporters since the war’s beginning but still remains years away. Barring such an outcome, as Zelensky outlined, only one option remains: developing Ukraine’s own nuclear arsenal and returning it to the role of a nuclear power that it gave up some three decades ago. …

    Putin, after all, has only grown increasingly messianic and monomaniacal in his efforts to shatter Ukraine. Previous designs on simply toppling Kyiv have given way to outright efforts to “destroy Ukrainian statehood,” especially following Ukraine’s successful occupation in Russia’s Kursk region [“Kyiv has secured a substantial political victory in Kursk whether it stays or decides to withdraw from this territory in the coming months. It has called Putin’s bluff and made a mockery of his stated “red lines” and nuclear bluster.”], as the Moscow Times recently reported. With Ukrainian statehood — and even Ukrainian identity, given Russia’s genocidal efforts — at stake, any nation would understandably pursue any option available for survival. …

    This reality has been made blindingly clear by recent archival work from a number of scholars, poring through overlooked U.S. and Ukrainian documents. For instance, Columbia University’s George Bogden has recently published extensively on the internal debates in both the United States and Ukraine surrounding Kyiv’s post-Soviet arsenal…

    In both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations, U.S. officials placed continued emphasis on reassuring Russia that Moscow could have regional primacy — and that the United States was not trying to take advantage of the power vacuum emerging in the Soviet rubble…

    The reason why the GHW Bush Administration agreed to this demand by Gorbachev was that during WW2, many Ukrainians in western Ukraine sided with Germany against Russia and participated eagerly not only in wiping out Jews but in assisting the Germans and Nazi-supporters such as the anti-Russian FInns to kill Russian troops. If Bush would have gone along with what Graham’s propaganda-magazine says he should have done, then Gorbachev would never have allowed the break-up of the Soviet Union, because it would quickly have meant war against Ukraine.

    Basically, Graham is propagandizing for Biden to cross all of Russia’s (or ‘Putin’s’ — as-if Putin doesn’t really represent the Russian people) national-security red lines. Graham’s basic argument is that though the U.S. and its colonies (‘allies’) have their national security to protect, Russia (China, and other countries that America’s billionaires demand to control) don’t. This gives the U.S. regime carte blanche to subterfuge, coup, sanction, and/or outright invade, wherever and whenever they want to; or like Elon Musk famously said, “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”  (Britain’s Guardian featured an article on 25 November 2023, “‘We will coup whoever we want!’: the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros. Challenging each other to cage fights, building apocalypse bunkers – the behaviour of today’s mega-moguls is becoming increasingly outlandish and imperial”. However, it’s not ONLY “the billionaire tech bros.” but ALL of U.S.-and-allied billionaires who control the U.S. Government and tolerate, if not outright demand, further expansion of the U.S. empire, regardless of the national-security needs of other countries.)

    On 4 June 2024, the internationally well-known geostategic analyst Pepe Escobar headlined at youtube “Putin and China Issue a GRAVE Warning: Tensions Near Breaking Point”, and he reported that WW3 is wanted by Bilderberg=NATO because the billionaires who control Western Governments want to nullify Governments’ debts (such as America’s $36 trillion); they’re now desperate, and EU/NATO breakup will likely come soon. So: these post-Kamala-Harris articles from Donald Graham’s propaganda-mill Foreign Policy are clearly in line with that scenario by Escobar on June 4th, not because they are truthful or even realistic, but because they clearly display this desperation by the billionaires, to retain control over international institutions, and even their willingness to risk destroying the world in order to achieve it.

    I don’t know whether Escobar is correct that cancellation of debts is an objective — much less a main objective — in this, but the reality of the rest of his analysis is hard to refute; and, on 18 October 2024, I headlined an article documenting this, “The Collapsing U.S. Empire.” It opened:

    The neoconservative dream, ever since neoconservatism started on 25 July 1945, has been for the U.S. Government to take over the entire world, but this 79-year-old dream for them (nightmare for everyone else) has now practically ended, because after having played nuclear chicken against Russia ever since that date, the U.S. Government has finally — as-of 9 October 2024 (Biden’s cancellation then of his planned October 12th Ukraine-war victory summit at America’s Rammstein Air Force Base in Germany) — come to the painful realization that their plan (ever since at least 2006) to win a nuclear war against Russia, is unrealistic, and would only leave this planet virtually uninhabitable, a lose-lose war for both sides, instead of to produce the neocons’ ardently hoped-for win-lose war (in which, of course — as the neocons have imagined — the U.S. regime emerges victorious) against Russia.

    The neoconservative chorus (singing to the music of America’s billionaires) are trying to persuade the U.S. public to support what is, effectively, all-out U.S.-and-‘allied’ aggression against Russia. All of this is based upon the lie that Russia started Ukraine’s war on 24 February 2022, America didn’t start it on 20 February 2014.

    On October 10, I headlined “Biden’s plan calls for WW3 to start after Election Day.” People such as Donald Graham evidently want it to turn out to be true — notwithstanding that America’s Government — NOT Russia’s, had started this war. I still have some hope that it won’t. But if it won’t, then Biden will lose his most ardent supporters, neocons (which include virtually all U.S. billionaires — even the ones who prefer Trump). They will feel that he betrayed them. And, in that case, it will have been so — he did.

    However, in either case, a deluge will come soon. Because the collapse of the American empire will not be able to go smoothly. I agree with Escobar on that.

    The post How & Why the Washington Post‘s Former Owner Now Pushes Biden to Go Nuclear Against Russia first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • Warnings are not enough. After Victoria Roshchyna’s death, we need zero tolerance of the detention and brutal treatment of female reporters

    Last summer I began receiving messages about the disappearance of 26-year-old Victoria Roshchyna, a young Ukrainian journalist, who had gone missing while reporting from occupied east Ukraine.

    Since we began our Women Press Freedom project, I and my colleagues at the Coalition for Women in Journalism have received a lot of messages of concern about the safety of female journalists all over the world, but I vividly remember the pain and terror that peppered the SOS calls from Roshchyna’s friends and colleagues.

    Kiran Nazish is the director and founder of the Coalition for Women in Journalism and Women Press Freedom

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Read a version of this story in Korean

    Authorities in North Korea are searching for the source of reports that North Korean soldiers had been sent to Russia to join in the Ukraine conflict, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

    Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that North Korea has sent some 10,000 troops to Russia, and that they will likely be sent to fight against Ukraine “over the next several weeks.” More than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been moved close to the front in western Russia, South Korea’s presidential office said Wednesday.

    But while the rest of the world closely monitors the deployment, North Korea has dismissed reports that its soldiers would join the conflict as “rumor” to its own citizens.

    “Do not try to find out information that the government has not told you. Our participation in the Ukraine War is a rumor.”

    This was a warning from North Korea’s Ministry of State Security after college students started spreading news that North Korean soldiers were on the ground in Russia, a resident of the northern province of Ryanggang told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

    Now, North Korean authorities are searching for the source of the reports and are enlisting students to inform on those responsible, said a university student in the same province, who also declined to be named for security reasons.

    The ministry sent investigators on Oct. 21 to the nation’s top school Kim Il Sung University, and also to the Pyongyang University of Music and Dance, the student told RFA Korean.

    “On Oct. 23, students at my university were told to anonymously report anyone who had spread the rumors,” he said. “Currently, each faculty department is holding a meeting to find out who is spreading these rumors.”

    He said the ministry guaranteed to maintain the confidentiality of those who report on their fellow students.

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    As news of the deployment spread, military families began to wonder about the whereabouts of their enlisted children, so the ministry dismissed the reports as rumor in order to prevent panic, the student said.

    “The news of North Korean troops’ participation in the Ukraine War began to spread around Oct. 10, starting with major universities in Pyongyang,” he said. “There are many children of high-ranking officials at those universities, so important news that is not otherwise well known to the public always spreads quickly among them.”

    North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un visits the 2nd Corps of the Korean People's Army at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Oct. 17, 2024. This photo This was released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 18, 2024.
    North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un visits the 2nd Corps of the Korean People’s Army at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Oct. 17, 2024. This photo This was released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 18, 2024.

    Military families, meanwhile, are frantically making phone calls to try to get in touch with their enlisted children, the Ryanggang resident said.

    “The families are anxious after it became known that Kim Jong Un had dispatched troops to Ukraine,” he said, adding that rumors of possible North Korean involvement in Ukraine had spread previously during summits between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    “Residents did not pay much attention at those times,” he said. “They didn’t take it seriously and treated it as just another rumor.”

    But this time things are different. Residents are more certain that what the government is saying is just a rumor is actually a certainty, he said.

    “Nowadays, the trend is to have one child in a family, so if a child goes to the military and dies, the family line will be cut off.”

    Translated by Claire S. Lee Edited by Eugene Whong.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Moon Sung Whui for RFA Korean.

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